End of the ride....

I realized today that I am suffering a severe case of "blog withdrawl". The XC10 ride ended on Friday with their last short ride to Boston and no more will we have the daily accounts of mountains, wheat fields, rolling hills, centuries and all the rest that make up the cross country adventures of this year's riders. I have been truly addicted, checking for their posts a couple of times a day and I really feel like I got to know some of them very well. I would like to visit every single one of them and, after a ride of course, find out just what they intend to do after such a marvelous adventure. At the same time, I must say that following all these folks across the country has made me more determined than ever to pick it up and complete my own journey next year. My current plan is to meet the XC11 group in Champaign and go from there. I was out today for about 60 miles (in 94 degree heat, BTW) and all I could think of was completion of the ride - I guess I am already training.

The forecast this morning was for a wicked hot day and the reality did not disappoint. I started out with temps already in the 80s and by the time I got home (four hours or so later) it was 92. Amazingly once I got rolling I almost enjoyed the heat. I went through a huge amount of liquid and had to stop at a couple of country deli's for more water bottles - aside: I always wonder whether these little places that sell water by the bottle would simply give tap water if we asked for it? In the end I did about 65 miles and went past the 2000 mile mark for the year.

One of my stops today made me think of Nancy from XC09. Along one of my frequent routes is a former private airport. It was, in fact, one of the very last grass landing strips in the country until it was sold a couple of years ago. In fact, one bit of trivia is that it was used by Charles Lindberg in the late 20s/early 30s - the Lindberg family lived about 20 miles from the airport until the very famous kidnapping of Charles Jr. in (I think) 1932. In any case the little airport carried on for years and was a favorite with some of the local aviation fans for years. It was sold to a joint venture of three towns to become a soccer facility for the three town leagues. Behind the old hangar there are still three unclaimed airplanes that just kind of sit while the grass grows higher and higher around them. I'm sure the kids need the soccer field but it is also kind of a shame to see this bit of aviation history gradually fading away. Was also thinking today of how much I'm going to miss the XC10 riders and their blogs. They have one more long day and then the ceremonial ride to the Atlantic and their long adventure will be history. I feel like I have come to know them and have really enjoyed following and occasionally commenting on their stories. I have strong feelings for the group that did XC09 but it has been interesting to see this group come together and hear them comment on the bonding that takes place on a shared adventure like a cross country bike trip. We who ride bikes become part of an amazing culture.

Thanks and then some

Not to belabor the point, but I cannot help but be very aware that exactly one year ago today I a) took a very short bike ride, b) was treated to ride in a helicopter, and c) spent the rest of the day in the OSU hospital in a kind of haze of morphine drips and cat scans and xrays. Amazingly enough one of the thoughts I do remember was thinking that if the bike wasn't too banged up maybe I could catch up with the XC group in Erie...Somewhere around 8 or 9 o'clock a team of young doctors showed up to let me know what a dumb idea that was. - Anyhow, the only point of this little bit of musing is to state that one year later it was a gorgeous day in New Jersey and I went out and rode 72 miles today with 4600 feet of climbing and I was thinking thoughts of gratitude and appreciation for this wonderful life every foot of the way...

Random thoughts...

Just finished reading the first several posts on the blogs of this year's XC riders. Today's ride of one hundred and four miles was the last full day ride that I did last year. I remember sitting at dinner with Alec - we both agreed that the century we had just finished was the easiest we had ever done and we both felt that we might have been in the best physical shape of our lives. And tonight I cannot help but wonder if Tracy had a few extra words of warning for the group on the left turn in Delaware - "traffic comes up really fast, make doubly sure you have a clear lane for your turn". If it was a little closer I would be out there myself directing traffic.

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....