Proud and Jealous of my Niece

This Ride: 22.2 miles
Month: 75.3 miles
2011: 6,617.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 12737.2 miles

The title has nothing to do with the morning ride, but everything to do with Tiffany and Greg’s Awesome Adventure which will begin in short order. This is their itinerary:

November 20 – Drive south to visit grandparents @ Gulf Shores & Tampa Bay
December 1 – Fly to Iquitos, Peru, from Miami Florida
December 10 – Fly to Cuzco, Peru
December 27 – Fly to Santiago, Chile
January 3 – Bus to San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
January 11 – Bike Carretera Austral from Bariloche to Puerto Natales
February 22 – Backpacking Torres del Paine Circuit
March 1 – Sea Kayaking from Puerto Natales
March 9 – Bus to Tierra del Fuego
March 20 – Bus to Buenos Aires/Montevideo
March 27 – Fly to Miami, drive to Kansas City

The bike portion of their trip is a nearly 1100 mile trek along the coastal Andes.  Details are here.

Follow this adventure if you like.  You can get email updates whenever they are able to post to the blog.

Tiffany and Greg’s trip was on my mind this morning as I rolled out of bed and hit my morning ride.  I mentioned it to a few of the riders.

We had 8 riders out in temperatures in the low 40’s.  We seem to be pretty constant with about 8-9 riders these days, but there are about 12-14 who make up this gang of 8.  Yes, there usually are a few slackers who stay in bed rather than enjoying one another’s company.  An email thread went around last night from someone who had joined us after a hiatus, and he described how great it was to do a ride with a group of regulars.  He was out again this morning.  We once again split into two natural groups, a faster and slower group.  We are now into our winter riding pattern, which has Wednesdays billed as “fast” and the rest of the days easier: Mosey Monday, Timid Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursday, Friendly-Fixie Friday.  Much of our time this morning was spent coaching some new winter riders on techniques to stay warm and tricks we’ve all learned through experience and conversations with other experienced riders.

My thoughts were also on my next 200k.  On Saturday, November 12th I’ll be riding the Flatbread 200k (only my second organized brevet … all the rest have been permanents).  This will complete the requirements for my R-12 award.  I’ll join about a dozen SPP riders who have achieved this award.  I’m really looking forward to the ride.  But in the meantime, I’ve got some work to do.  The bike needs new tires, a new chain, new brake pads, a general cleaning, and I’ve got to chase down a clicking sound that I’ve yet to locate.  This will be my first time installing a new chain.  I can’t think it will be hard, and I’ll save about $10 doing it myself.