Reunion of sorts

The last couple of days that I've been out I have regretted not packing the camera. A couple of days ago I ran into a heavily loaded cyclist standing at the side of the road at a Y type intersection. Turns out he was in the last few hours of a bike tour that started in Charlotte, SC and was confused by his maps and GPS as to where to turn next. Turns out he was from San Francisco, happily retired (at what I would guess was about age 50), and did two or three tours like this every year - this was his first in the east. So I gave him some directions - he had maybe 30 miles to his final destination - and was on my way. I was trying to do a bit of training and so headed out to an area where I knew I could a couple of big circles of five or so miles and lo and behold, I came up on my friend at another Y intersection and, again, totally lost. (And I should say, in his defense, that the roads in this area have a way of changing names every time they cross a township or county line so maps sometimes lie.) In any case, this time I offered to lead him to a spot where I could send him off and mistakes were impossible. So off we rode through the next town, past a high school with kids just getting out, and back into the country - maybe ten miles in all. I wished him well and watched him heading up the road with his panniers loaded with tent, cooking gear, sleeping bag, etc, etc and was so glad I had Tracy and her wonderful assistants to find our hotels, send us to restaurants and carry our bags - we just rode the bikes and ate. And today, about halfway through my ride I pulled up to a country store/deli and there was Tom Ryan coming from the other direction. Tom's mustache seems a bit bushier and he is still shaving his head but otherwise is the same crank I've know for years. So we had some chocolate chip cookies and something to drink and decided to continue on together. He always knows some little road, frequently with a climb, that I have either never seen or don't remember and we found one today...Pretty road with a long climb - all country with woods or farms on either side. All in all we did about half of a 55 mile ride together and it was a good day. I do so many of my rides on kind of the spur of the moment, i.e., I've finished my coffee and NY Times in the morning and therefore it must be time for a ride. I forget how much I enjoy riding with a friend and we resolved to do this a little more often....

A real summer day

I was on an unexpected backroad and thinking of Kansas and Missouri - because I'm reading all the blogs of the current crop of XC'rs - when I came upon this scene. Sure enough it is still New Jersey but if you look real close and squint your eyes just a bit you can imagine those amber waves of grain and....Well anyhow, the clouds are pretty and it's still a nice little pastoral scene, albeit in New Jersey not Kansas. I did have my share of mini-adventures today but it was a good ride. I was maybe 8 miles out when I reached for a water bottle and realized there was nothing in the two racks. I decided very quickly to retrace my steps and go back home using the recovery route as a kind of training ride - full out for eight miles. Well maybe not full full out but I did push it and felt good for the effort. The bottles were, of course, right where I left them in the garage next to the pump. So back on my way and this maybe 14 miles out and I ran into a road paving operation and a detour up the back road where I found the little scene above....Lots of traffic for a little country road with no shoulders but no problems. Another maybe 6 miles and I ran into another road project with two lanes becoming one and lots of traffic backed up in both directions. This was a little bit more hairy to get through but I turned off at the first opportunity and decided I would think through my entire route home and stay away from the construction folks. So I pretty much stayed on the country roads, followed a couple of little streams that I like - passed a trout fisherman and large blue heron, also fishing I would guess - and managed to get in a little climbing as well. It should also be noted that the temps hit 90 today - first day that I've been out in that kind of heat but lots of liquids and I actually kind of enjoyed it....And finally, on the last few miles heading home I made a left turn and felt a kind of soft slide in the rear tire...stopped to look and sure enough, a very soft but still ride-able tire. The remaining four miles or so were done very carefully but the tire retained enough air to get me home although it is very flat as I write this. Actually this is the first flat I've had with the new bike and certainly the first since almost a year ago - I will be refreshing my skills tomorrow but is always better to change a tire in the garage than on the road.

So for the day, 64 miles, 2700 feet of climbing, and a little over four hours on the bike...a good day in spite of the minor annoyances....And they are talking rain tomorrow and Sunday so I may get a forced recovery day or two.

Tour of Somerville

No riding today...instead we journeyed to Somerville NJ, about 30 miles north to take in the Memorial Day bike races. They advertise themselves as the oldest continuous bike racing event in the country. They have been doing this every year for seventy years and I have been going off and on for the last 15 years or so. The opening event is a juniors race (15-18) at 20 miles and this is followed by a cat 1/2, a seniors (50+) 15 miler, a womens pro + cat 1/2 and finally the mens final, 50 miles of pro and cat 1. They block off a big section of downtown Somerville and set up a course that is something just over a mile in big rectangle. The great thing is that spectators can wander the entire course or find a place in the shade and just sit (we did both) but wherever you go you are right at the barriers on the street. At times the peleton moves so closely that you can feel the draft. The camera, of course, stops the action but believe me those folks are moving when they go by. I had a great time taking pictures and trying to catch the perfect shot...I'm guessing that I got a decent focus maybe half the time but it was fun trying. Truly a great way to spend Memorial Day....

Memorial day weekend

It seems like a while since I did a post - too busy reading the blogs of the current crop of cross country riders, AKA as XC10 (we were XC09). They really seem like a great group and it is fun to read of their adventures. They are going the same way we did - they are currently in Kansas, a five day journey - and cover the same routes, stay in the same motels but their take on the trip is still very different. It is amazing how they see things I don't remember, talk of places we missed but at the same time point out some of the same highlights, take photos of the same views and have some of the same adventures we had. One of the riders met someone who lived only a few miles from one of the overnight stops - the new friend showed up at the hotel with a bucket of home baked cookies. Tom and I met an older gentleman (and I use that term advisedly) who turned out to be a professional beekeeper. He went out to his car and brought back a very large jar of his own honey - true energy food which we passed along to the support folks to share at the SAG...amazing who you meet along the way. Perfect day today - low 80s but no humidity and just enough breeze to cool things a bit when I found shade. I wore my Navy jersey today - partly because it is long sleeved and I did not want to bother with sunscreen, and partly because it is Memorial Day weekend and it seemed to me the appropriate garb for the day. As it turns out I stumbled into the preparations for the parade in Hopewell, a nearby town, and pedaled right down the main drag just minutes before the parade actually started. I think some of the folks thought I might be the trailblazer for the volunteer fire trucks and I got a couple of cheers and shouts of Go Navy...I waved but did not stop to give autographs. All in all a good day on the bike: 60 miles, a tad over 15 mph and over 3000 ft of climbing. Made the beer with dinner extra good.

Thinking of Santa Fe

Went out for a ride today and my mind was going in a million different directions. I read the blogs of all the XC10 riders this morning - yesterday was the Turquoise highway, the ride from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. This is not the longest day of the ride but it is mostly uphill and winds its way through some very pretty country. Last year we had cold and mist that wanted to be rain and it seemed like a long day. The bloggers all reported a beautiful day, warm and sunny and they loved the high desert scenery and the quirky little towns along the way. And I also remember our rest day in Santa Fe which I spent mostly with my daughter and granddaughter who drove up from Albuquerque for the visit. It was really a great day off from the cycling. But at the same time I'm remembering Charlie coming down to the dining room on Saturday night and Tom and I inviting him to join us for dinner - he sat for a couple of minutes and then decided he would re-heat some pizza and went up to his room. And, of course, that was the last we saw of him. Charlie would die in his sleep that night and the next couple of days were very sad for all of us on the ride...As Karen said, the only vacation I can remember that I am thinking "where was I a year ago"....lots of memories. And for the record, I did 52 miles today on a route I haven't seen since last April - was a great ride, no pain in the knee, 2000 feet of climbing and 16 mph....felt good.

An almost perfect day...

One of the 'perks' of retirement (there are many for anyone who is counting) is the ability to grab a day like we had today and head out on the bike. It has been rainy, cold, drizzly, gray the last three or four days and even the one quick ride I did was not all that much fun. Today was blue sky, high 70s, and almost zero humidity - easily one of the ten best days of the year. I have not done the Anchor House training ride yet and decided today was right (minus Federal Twist - I've promised to save that for a friend). I have also had this thing in the back of my mind about doing my birthday ride - in miles rather than kilometres - and to this point the longest I have done has been 62 miles I think, a little shy of the goal. In any case I headed out at about 11 AM, perfect time from my perspective...morning chill is gone, traffic is light, kids are still in school. I probably should have brought my camera - the azaleas are gone but the irises and the wildflowers are out and we are still at that stage where all the fields are a bright and glorious green. I saw maybe half a dozen deer today - they feed at the side of the road and usually look up, give me a funny look and then slide into the woods. Also saw hawks and turkey vultures circling and looking for the hot air drafts that make them float to gracefully. So after several spurts of climbing I settled into a highway that runs alongside the Delaware river and figured I would just put it into a big gear and cruise on this scenic and flat road... Somewhere around the 40 mile point I started to get a bit of a twinge in my right knee (not the leg hurt last summer). So I circled around and started my ride back in the direction of Lawrenceville knowing I had a ways to go but already calculating that today would probably be my high day for the year. Basic geography will tell you that if you travelling on a river road and want to get back inland you had best be prepared to climb a bit and as I turned onto my first major climbing road that twinge came back big time...At this point I realized this thing was going to be with me all the way home and maybe the fun part of the day was over. So...long story short...I cannot remember that knee ever causing me as much grief as it did today. I have a pretty high pain threshold but the last 20 miles or so today were agony. My average dropped down to 13.9 and I loudly rejoiced over every downhill no matter how slight. In the end I did 80 miles (more than enough to satisfy the BD requirement) and did 4500 feet of climbing...in hindsight I think I could have done without the climbing....

Bikes on the Brain...

Bikes on the brain, or words to that effect - I think I may also have heard the word 'obsessed'. And it is probably true to some extent. I have been reading the blogs of the current cross-country riders, thinking of my own adventure last year, and then simply enjoying yesterday's almost perfect day. Saturday was windy and gusty but yesterday was a day full of blue skies and those big, white, puffy clouds that make me want to take another picture every time I turn a corner or crest a hill. And, of course, at this time of year we have had our rains and sun and the greens of the grass are almost as spectacular as the blue skies. So great ride 62 miles, 3700 feet of climbing and home in time for dinner out with Susan - can't beat that.

One of our company from last year's cross country made a Facebook comment a few days ago to the effect that she could not remember another vacation where, one year later, she was thinking almost daily of what she had been doing one year ago. And I can only affirm and attest to the same phenomenon. The 2010 edition of that ride started last Sunday and armed with URLs for half a dozen blogs I have been following their adventures and living the ride vicariously all week. I went out today for my own ride and as soon as a bit of headwind came up I immediately flashed back to the breezes we experienced last year. This is perhaps the toughest one week period of the ride. They do back to back centuries through the desert, go immediately into the the climbing in the Arizona mountains and that while they are still getting used to the fact that they ride every day - no chance for a day off to recover. I, of course, was riding through the familiar roads around my town but I was seeing the mountains, climbing the hills and thinking of where I might stop for a few minutes of gatorade - and, oh, why didn't I put a Payday in my pocket? Alas, I didn't have Tom rumbling and grumbling beside me, didn't see Hank and Champ at the deli that I passed and Nancy and her distinctive bike were nowhere to be seen on my roads. It was still a good ride: 40 miles, 1800 feet of climbing and enough humidity to raise a real sweat. And tomorrow is Saturday - all the weekend warriors will be out on the roads and we get a bit of the cameraderie that adds so much to the experience of the bike.

Has it really been a year?

Today I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera along on the ride. One year ago today Tom Ryan and I boarded the plane in Newark and arrived mid-afternoon in California, eager, anxious but ready to start the adventure of a lifetime. Today we got together for what was really the first real ride since we parted in Ohio (we did have one short ride in November but I was still in recovery mode). And so I rode over to Pennington (6 miles maybe) to pick up Tom just as we had done so many times in training last year. The skies were a bit threatening when we started, in fact we had a few random drops (and we both hate rain)but the clouds moved out and the sun and blue skies took over and we had a terrific ride. For those who might care we did 55.5 miles, 3200 feet of climbing and a leisurely 14.5 mph. We pretty much agreed that not a day goes by that we don't think of that ride and the people we rode with...and we did our best today to hash over all of our memories: too many to recount here but let it be said that we had a story and a memory for virtually every day and every-body we shared the ride with. Tom is, of course, training for the Anchor House ride (and he is ready) which I will almost certainly not be doing but we both agreed that we could understand Mike going back and doing the ride again. I ride a lot on the spur of the moment, i.e. the jobs are done and Susan and I have no plans and I'm gone, so it was good to ride with a friend. It was also good to measure my progress (i.e. recuperation) against Tom's riding. Suffice to say I felt pretty good about where I am today - won't be running down Fred or Jim this week but then we didn't do that last summer either.... So to all XC09'rs who may be reading know that we were thinking about you today...wish we could all be starting out from Manhattan Beach on Sunday.

One K Day

Today was one windy day...I could easily have titled this entry as D-Day as in Dalhart day. Within the first mile I was heading into headwinds of 20+ mph and really wondering if I wanted to ride that badly. I had chosen my M jersey (thanks Al) and inspired by the famous fight song decided 'what the hell', the sun is out, it's a beautiful day, I can handle this. And of course, the good thing about the wind is that it is constant: doing a round trip from home means that at some point you will find that it becomes a tailwind and that can be delightful. So after fighting head and cross winds for the first ten miles I finally made the critical right turn and had several miles of pure tailwind - I looked down at the Garmin at one point and was cruising at 24 - that is a good wind. So I finally found my way into the Sourlands with a bit of uphill but lots of trees and they cut the wind to something manageable. As I was headed back home, maybe 15 miles out I came out of a section of trees and saw that sun seemed to have disappeared. A huge bank of very black clouds was being borne by this wind directly into the path I had to take. At this point I had the wind in my favor again and so decided to run for it - actually I didn't have a lot of choice, my wife was having lunch with a friend and chances of a rescue were pretty slim. So I kicked it up a bit and decided this was going to be one of those training rides where you just go like hell for as long as you can. I dropped into a high gear and took off watching these clouds and seeing trees bending at angles I would not have thought possible. Every time I looked down at the computer I was doing 21/23 mph, much faster than my usual pace but there was also a certain excitement trying to outdo the wind and outrace the coming rain. Bottom line: I started feeling a few drops the last couple of miles but I made into my driveway and garage ahead of the rain and with my heartbeat still under the limit I've programmed into the Garmin. And I must say it was one really fun and exciting run. And a quick P.S....I hit my first one thousand miles today, hurray. Last year with all the training for XC I was actually at 1800 at this date but given our weather and the fact that this year I'm just doing this for fun I'm pretty content with hitting 1K this early in May...