Back on the Bike

One of the folks at our table on the last night of the Eastern Seaboard ride threw out the question "when do you think you will get out on the bike again?" My initial thought was the first day I am home. However reality intervened and I spent most of the first few days catching up on chores, dealing with real estate matters and calling contractors to get the house up to the requirements of the inspectors. But over the weekend I did get the bike out and had two very different but equally great rides. And for anyone from ES11 who might be reading the two photos above are a bit of a sample of the colors we all hoped to see in New England. New Jersey is not quite at it's peak yet but the trees have definitely turned and I had a whole bunch of pretty views on Saturday's ride. More than anything it was simply a good feeling to get back on the bike. It was cool but clear and sunny and even with a bit of a breeze a perfect riding day. After riding 1600+ miles I feel like I'm about as fit as I've been in a while and as I started out my only regret was that there were no big dogs to throw down a challenge. I did have one moment where I had to yell "on your left " at another rider and must admit that there was some satisfaction at cruising past this (younger) person at an easy 20 mph. I also re-discovered the world of hills - I was only three miles from my house when I hit a 8% grade - something of a surprise after the relatively flat Southern states. For the day I had 2600 feet of climbing over 51 miles and as I recall we had about 600 feet for the 55 miles or so we did the last day into Daytona. And about halfway through the ride I stopped at a country deli for a moment and bumped into a crowd of Anchor House folks, most of whom I knew from past rides. After a few minutes of ES11 stories I joined them for the next 10/12 miles - almost the same feeling as riding with the groups on the ES11 ride, fun stuff. Sunday's ride was completely different but as much fun as anything I've done this year. My daughter and family came down for the afternoon and Timmy, the five (almost 6) grandson brought his bike with him. His mom followed the blog and told him about the ride and he wanted to ride with Papa. And so, Tim on his single speed little fat-tire bike and Papa on his Cannondale set out to explore the neighborhood. We live in a developement with only minimal traffic and with sidewalks so we set out together to explore. Tim is nothing if not 200% energy so his little legs were pumping like crazy as he set out to prove he was at least as fast as I was. We went up and down the streets, waved at neighbors out raking leaves, and even struggled up a couple of short climbs. It was great fun and truly a rare treat to be able to call my grandson my riding partner for an hour or so. All in all, an almost perfect weekend.