Veho Ergo Sum

Today was an almost perfect day for riding...and it is the reason I have titled my little bit of literary nonsense with the Latin phrase above. One of the more obscure facts of my life is that I took 6 years of latin, amazing but true. And secondly, I majored in Philosophy in college (logically, of course, that led to a career in re-insurance...go figure). And so that three-word Latin phrase is the last line on my rider ID band that I wear whenever I go out. So, in an attempt to make a long story short, I was thinking about the meaning of that sentence while I was out riding the roads and hills of the Sourlands and the Delaware River this afternoon. It was indeed a beautiful day - we finally are rid of the heat and humidity and today was a day with sun and clouds and temperatures that I would guess were in the high seventies, eighty at most. I did 70 miles through some of my favorite country...the Sourlands, the Delaware river, the Lower Creek road and the Sergeantsville covered bridge, and lots of corn and soy bean fields: a lovely, lovely day. And, of course, I am still basking in the completion of the cross country ride and the beaty of the last 880 miles that I did a couple weeks ago. I know that so much has been written about cycling by so many people but at the same time...I never feel so much alive, so in touch with everything that makes this life so precious as when I'm on a bike and exerting maximum energy to climb a 20% grade or flying down the other side of the same hill and seeing the mph hit 40 as I go into the last sweeping curve. A young deer jumped out from the bush today and just stood in the road and looked at me as I approached - I actually had to yell out to make sure he moved. How often do you have that kind of moment sitting on a couch watching a baseball game?
I stopped at the deli in Sergeantsville today, a favorite spot for cyclists, and because I was wearing my cross country jersey I got into a conversation with another cyclist, a guy maybe 60 - 65, who said right away "I don't think I could ever do that...". Of course I immediately said sure you can do it: you have a beautiful bike, you are running around these hills - why not? But then I thought later...the beauty of cycling is that you can do whatever you set your mind to. For years the idea of a cross-country was a dream and while I'm not sure I really thought I would do it, I never really doubted that I could do it. If you think you can or think you can't you are right (with all due respect to one of my XC colleagues).

And by the way, I would be happy to provide a translation of the Latin statement but I suspect that you can figure it out...think Descartes.

Hot times in New Jersey

I am not a scientist so I do not have the definitive answer on the global warming issue. However, I do suspect something is going on and we seem to be losing the warm but bearable summer weather that we had in the past. We have had, alternately, either hot-hot-hot or three/four days of drenching rains for the past few weeks. We are currently in the midst of another heat wave with the temperatures in the low/mid nineties (it is mid-afternoon and the temp is 93) with 5 and 6 days of this heat. I got up early today for the second day this week and was out by 7:30 hoping to beat the worst of the heat. And I did, in fact, get in a good ride - although it was warm there was just enough of a breeze and I had enough water to get me through the first forty miles or so. But after the last stop for water and gatorade the sun was high, the heat was up and enough was enough. The last twenty miles was a bit of a stretch...the gatorade quenched my thirst and the water was sprinkled over my steamy head.
Sixty-five miles for the morning but I'm here to say I've had it with these heat waves...no way is it fun to be cycling in 93 degree heat every day...wonder what the temperature is in Alaska?

The Dalton gang rides again....

Well, at least one of them will be riding. Harry Crampton, our Liverpool friend who was integral part of the Daltons on the 2009 cross-country ride, arrived in the US on Wednesday. He signed up for the Anchor House ride (a NJ 500 mile charity ride) and will be heading up to the start point in Burlington, Vermont with Tom Ryan today. In the meantime Susan and I hosted dinner for Tom and his wife Chris and Harry on our back deck last night. Needless to say it was a fun re-union. The last time Harry saw me I was lying on the ground waiting for the helicopter - and the last time I saw Harry was at dinner the night before and he was at the end of the table with a few empty Boood Lites lined up in front of him. He has not lost his taste for the Bood lites and we all had a great time telling and re-telling stories from our shared adventure...Good luck and a safe ride to them both through Vermont, New York and back to New Jersey over the coming week (I only wish I could join them.)