December...already?

Blog. What blog? I seem to have slipped out of the habit of writing a few lines of prose every second or third ride. I think that at some point this summer I started thinking that perhaps there was not a lot new under the sun when it comes to riding around Mercer/Hunterdon/Ocean counties and I just didn't head for the keyboard after the ride.
Perhaps needless to say I certainly did not give up on the bike. I was, in fact, out today for a very pleasant forty+ miles - December fourth by the calendar but I was in shorts and sweating with a long sleeved jersey. It was a kind of re-entry ride. Coming up on the end of October I was on track to hit my target mileage of five thousand miles but the fates intervened. The first big blow (pun intended) was Sandy...We were, of course, housebound for a couple of days hiding from the storm: high winds, lots of rain and generally miserable. Halfway through the "dark and stormy night" the lights and everything electric went out. As it turned out we were without power for eight days: i.e., no lights, no electronics (PC/TV)and no heat. The first night Susan and I played scrabble by candlelight and it was kind of fun, like camping out. The next night the temperature dropped to 30 degrees and it became a little less fun. We found the big down comforter and did some snuggling to get through the cold nights. Meantime we camped out in Wegmans (local super-supermarket) for power, heat and meals. And all that being said...we were lucky: no trees on the house, no six feet of water throughout the house - there are many others who are still suffering.
All of which is to say that I was not out riding a bike for awhile. The rains were not so bad but the downed trees in this area were incredible. Roads were closed, live wires on streets, and in some cases trees into houses. Even today I'm seeing the power companies out replacing wires, power poles and finishing the repairs they started a month ago. The amount of debris at the roadside could provide the raw materials for a small lumber yard.
So by Thanksgiving we had recovered - among other things had to restock the fridge, everything we had was tossed in the garbage - and a large part of our family here for dinner: Katherine and her three and Kelli sent two of her three (she had to work). A great time was had by all - Thanksgiving is truly one of Susan's best holidays and she did herself proud.
One of the inevitable consequences of being a grandparent is that in any group of grandkids (there were five for T-giving) you can almost guarantee that at any given time at least one of them will be carrying the germs of the last head cold that raced through the 1st grade, the eighth grade or maybe even the whole school. When the games had been played, the football games watched and all the dishes put away Susan and I collapsed in bed and my last thought was how successfull I had been at avoiding the one child who seemed to have the sniffles...So Friday came and I got my first ride in three weeks: cold but somebody wrote that the average T-giving meal is around 3500 calories - and that's before the pumpkin pie - and the average 50 mile ride is good for about 3000 calories. Good start, right? Sunday morning I woke up with the scratchy throat, the beginning of a runny nose and immediately went to the medicine cabinet. I poured every known remedy into my body throughout the day but to no avail...Monday morning I was totally gone to the cold - achy, feverish, carrying around my own personal box of Kleenex - long story short, the cold lasted a full six days (and of course Susan finally got it as well).
Which brings me back to the beginning. I finally got out again today and was able to finally pass the 4000 mile mark for the year. I know I will be out again as long as the weather holds (no snow, temps above 40, light winds) but I've stopped chasing the 5K mark for this year. I've explored much of Ocean county this year along with the eastern side of Mercer...not so many hills as we have to the west but beautiful horse farm country. There were also a couple of centuries to mark the summer - one of them punctuated by a heavy duty thunderstorm for the last five miles, a somewhat frightening experience.
On another note, I learned that one of my 09 XC colleagues, Barbie, got herself engaged a few weeks ago and I wish her all the very best...She deserves it.
Another rider from the Maine/Fla ride did the west coast from Washington to the Mexican border...other than the fact that he camped (not my preference) it looked like a fantastic experience. I was glad he shared his photos and comments but it did stir up more than a few thoughts of 2013...who knows?