What is one to do? I set up this plan for people to make contributions to the ELCA Malaria Campaign for each mile I ride. I woke up at 4:45 am to the sound of rain falling pretty steadily. Had I not made this commitment, I might have decided to stay in bed. But I’ve got an enemy that needs to be defeated … the malaria infected mosquito.
I pulled myself out of the nice warm bed, pulled on my cycling clothing, and climbed aboard the fixie for what would prove to be a damp ride. An hour and 15 minutes later, I arrived back home soggy and content.
The pledges are few right now. The project launch was not at a convenient time at the Assembly, but I fully expect more soon. I’m putting the word out.
End of a damp ride. Shower cap kept my head dry.
This Ride: 20.0 miles
Malaria Campaign: 20.0 miles
Funds Pledged: $5.40
A child dies from malaria every 60 seconds.
Today we are in a special moment where we could turn this around. Working though Lutheran churches in Africa, the ELCA Malaria Campaign (ELCA = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) is uniquely positioned to provide mosquito nets, insecticides, medication, health care, education and more to help eliminate deaths from this disease—for good.
The ELCA, through the ELCA Malaria Campaign, is joining hands with eleven Lutheran church bodies in Africa and becoming part of an historic global movement to say, “enough is enough!” No child, no person, should die of a disease that is both preventable and treatable. Therefore the ELCA Malaria Campaign has committed to raise $15 million to help prevent, treat and educate communities in Africa about malaria and eliminate deaths from this disease—for good.
This project is about a year old now, and is already making a significant difference around the world. The ELCA is one of many partners in this global project.
In late May, as I rode 118 miles across the Eastern Shore (Delaware & Maryland) to our Synod Assembly, and in a fit of exercise induced euphoria, I decided to offer my cycling as motivation for people to give to this campaign. There would be two parts to the project.
1. You have the opportunity to pledge funds per mile that I ride over the next year. My annual goal is 6,000 – 8,000 miles. Plan your pledge accordingly.
2. You are invited to join me in a 118 mile ride across the Eastern Shore of Maryland/Delaware on Thursday, May 29, 2014 as we bring the campaign home to our next Synod Assembly. Riders are encouraged to solicit pledges for this ride … and prepare for riding this distance no matter the weather conditions.
FAQ
How do I pledge?
It is easy! You can leave a comment here giving me details (name, email address, pledge per mile). All comments are moderated and I will not make the information public. OR you can email me at earl[at]revrider.net (replace [at] with @). Please provide the same basic information.
How much should I pledge?
This is really up to you. Some have pledged 1¢ per mile. I have one pledge in hand for 10¢ per mile. You may pledge more. Assuming 6,000 mile minimum, a 1¢ per mile pledge would be $60 over a year or $5 per month. A 10¢ per mile pledge would be $600 or $50 per month. Be warned, I may ramp up the miles to make you sweat as much as I am! Note that I’m committing at least 400 hours on the bike over the next year or about 7.5 hours per week. What amount makes sense to you for that kind of time and effort?
How will I know how much you ride? How can I keep track of the miles?
Follow this blog revrider.net. You might even subscribe so that all posts come to your email mailbox. I’ll send out a monthly email to all email addresses I’ve collected.
Where do I send my contributions?
One option is to send contributions to: The Delaware-Maryland Synod, 575 South Charles Street, Suite 202, Baltimore, MD 21201-2428. Mark your check “ELCA Malaria Campaign – Cycling”.
An online option is located at the ELCA Malaria Campaign website. In the “Additional Information” section, mark Earl Janssen in the “In memory/honor” section and using the drop-down box mark the Delaware-Maryland Synod as the “Synod”. That will result in proper “credit” to this project.
How often should I send my contributions?
That is entirely up to you. If you send contributions monthly, they are able to be used more quickly. I do have people who have said that they are going to wait until the end to write one check. Frankly, I think that is harder to do. I recommend at least monthly contributions.
How can I join the ride on May 29, 2014?
Just let me know by email or through the comments that you are interested and I will keep in touch with you as I develop the details. You don’t have to ride the entire distance with us. I do ask that you be in a physical condition which will allow you to ride this distance comfortably. I would suggest that you have at least one ride of 100 miles or more in your recent history. While the route is flat, winds and heat can make the ride quite a challenge.
Could I ride a much shorter distance?
Join us for our ride down Coastal Highway in Ocean City! We will travel from the Delaware/Maryland border to the designated finish line, a distance of about 7 miles. Again, let me know if you are interested and details will follow.
I have questions you’ve not answered.
Leave a comment or email me!
Later today this blog will take on a new project. I’m teaming up with the ELCA Malaria Project, taking pledges for my rides, and supporting the efforts to end Malaria. Details will follow.
Because this was my first real possible ride for this project, I pulled myself out of bed to head out into a steady rain. No one else from the club showed up, so it was a solo rainy ride. Once again, the reality of riding in the rain was better/easier than the anticipation of riding in the rain. It was a really nice morning.
Near the end of the ride, I noticed that I was either going to be trapped behind a school bus on Jennings Road or I was going to have to kick it and stay ahead of the bus. Not only did I manage to stay ahead of the bus, but I also set a Strava Segment Personal Record on that section. I guess being chased by a school bus is a good thing.
This Ride: 20.0 miles
Month: 20 miles
2013: 2555.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 22,328.8 miles
I’m in Ocean City, Maryland. I’m going to be sitting all day in meetings. I had better ride my bike.
I grabbed my bike kit from yesterday’s hot ride and offended myself as I pulled on the stinky gear. Off I went to the north, gradually picking up speed. I caught all the traffic lights green and I kept moving up the gears. It is a gorgeous sunrise off to my right, starting deep red and gradually resolving to a bright white.
Five mile lap timer goes off: 18.7 mph average.
The buildings begin to get a little further apart, and soon I am moving into Delaware onto Fenwick Island. The road is mostly devoid of vehicles. It is still very early.
Five mile lap timer goes off: 19.7 mph average. This is feeling great! With a planned ride of about 20 miles, I look for the turnaround on this divided highway and within .3 miles find one. I turn around and am immediately riding a different ride. I keep grinding away.
Five mile lap timer goes off: 14.8 mph average.
I was expecting a phone call from home, so I had an earbud in, and sure enough, the call came in. I kept riding and grinding away. I watched the destination get closer and kept working it. At a traffic light, a guy on a scooter pulls up with a vacuum cleaner between his legs. He lights up a cigarette and pulls away. Counting down the miles. I’m tired of wind.
Five mile lap timer goes off: 15.2 mph average.
The hotel is in sight. Just half a mile to go. Legs are burning. Done!
This Ride: 20.6 miles
Month: 590.6 miles
2013: 2535.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 22,308.8 miles
For the third year in a row, I decided to ride to our church’s Assembly in Ocean City rather than drive. Two years ago, Jeff and I rode together. Last year, I rode the fixie in the rain. This year was different than either.
My lovely spouse was willing to drive me across the Bay Bridge for a 6:30 am start in Stevensville. She was anxious about my going off alone on the bike again, but knows how important riding has been for me these past 3 years and simply takes a deep breath and steels herself for the day.
It was a lovely morning for a bike ride. The skies were mostly clear. The sun was tinged pink from the humidity in the air. A breeze was blowing from the SSW. That breeze would build all day and really made the last part of my ride quite challenging.
I had loaded the route from OC-15 into my Garmin and turned on Virtual Partner so that I could compare my ride to what we did as a group ride in October 2012 as we rode into the teeth of Superstorm Sandy.
I made pretty short work of the first leg into Ridgely. I was 6 minutes ahead of last October’s ride … and that was with no drafting! Occasional tailwinds are a nice thing. I would get comfortable at a particular speed, then increase the gearing by one or two and push harder to pick up more speed. This seemed to work pretty well all day. I stopped at the Subway in Ridgely (Dave’s Place only opens for our OC rides). It was a short stop of only about 20-30 minutes, long enough for a cup of coffee, a small sandwich, bathroom break, and refilling of the water bottles. I was intensely focused on hydration since the forecast high for the day was about 90 degrees F.
Rolling along after Ridgely, I started to really zone out. At one point I looked down and was surprised to see a German Shepherd 6 inches from my right calf. He had been silent. I yelled in surprise and the owner also called out at the same time so it distracted the dog and I spun away without even so much as saliva on my leg. That was a close call!
It was starting to get pretty warm, and occasionally I’d stop in the shade to blow off some of the heat I was generating. I had the most fun heading into Milton with the best of the tailwind of the whole day. I considered bypassing Milton itself, but I was down to only a partial bottle of water at that point and knew that I would be turning from a downwind run into a quartering headwind. I stopped in a coffee shop just as a group of about 10 riders were leaving. They were on a 40 mile ride. I had already logged 77 and was looking at another 40 or so to go.
I had half a tuna salad sandwich and a strawberry smoothie. I think it took until the brain freeze from the smoothie to stop sweating. Water bottles were filled and the camelback got loaded with ice and water. I absolutely loved putting that on my back as I pushed off.
True to the predictions, as I left Milton I encountered strong quartering headwinds … sometimes just headwinds. I had previously calculated the wind speed at about 15-18 mph by riding downwind and noting my speed when I started to feel wind in my face. Temperatures climbed and I stopped having fun. In Millsboro I stopped, had an ice cream sandwich and poured refrigerated water over my head to cool down. The Garmin was reading 96, although the bank thermometers were reading about 88. I would push on for 8-10 miles, then stop in some shade for a little while to cool off and catch my breath.
When I turned south along the beach, the wind kicked up another notch. I tried drafting the busses for a while. They stopped too often, even though their speed was about right. When I passed the Comfort Inn where we end the Ocean City Rides in the spring and fall, I was 3:16 ahead of last year’s pace. Of course, I did not have a one hour stop at Dave’s place, a one hour stop at Irish Eyes in Milton, and did not visit Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton which are all formal stops on those rides. Even so, I was pleased with the speed.
By the time I got to my hotel at 21st Street, I was ready to be done. I averaged 17.1 mph on the day solo. That’s respectable, especially with the headwinds the last 40+ miles. I sat outside to cool down for a while. When I went in to register, my room was not yet ready. I had to cool my heels at the bar drinking the darkest stuff they had … Yuengling.
The shower felt great. I wandered the boardwalk until I found a place serving all you can eat ribs and sat down and polished off a rack and a half. I could have had more, but that was enough.
Despite application of sunscreen, my arms really darkened and I have nice sharp tan lines. My knees fared much better.
You can click here to see my route and stats.
This Ride: 117.6 miles
Month: 570 miles
2013: 2515.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 22,288.2 miles
After a long 8 days with no days off work, I decided that it was time to get my May 200k completed as a way to force a day off. That meant a solo ride today. I chose my own Tour de Del-Mar route with a planned 6:30 departure. The forecast was for upper 60’s at the start, getting into the mid 80’s with a reasonable wind. There was a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms. As a way to make the ride more interesting, I chose the fixie. One of my unmet goals has been to complete a 200k on the fixie. The route is flat. Wind is the only real challenge. I flipped the wheel over to give myself a little bigger gear for the flat conditions and packed as lightly as possible.
The morning started off with a spectacular sunrise. It made me a little worried. You know what they say, “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” Within moments after the sun peeked out from behind clouds, thick dark clouds moved in. It would be hours before I saw the sun again. I evidently chased the rain. I ran across wet roads on several occasions, but was never rained on all day.
With a light tailwind for the first 50 miles of the ride, I made some really, really good time. I averaged over 18 mph for that distance. I was riding smooth and it felt really good. I changed the Garmin display so that it only showed the route and the time. I did not pay attention to my speed and heart rate like I usually do. It took me some 40 miles to get the turn by turn directions working right, and when it did, it was very helpful. One thing I also did differently this ride was to pump upbeat music into one ear. I used it to keep my cadence up. I really think that contributed to a pretty fast day.
When I turned south, my speed immediately dropped as I was now riding into the wind. The forecast had about 5-10 mph winds out of the south or southwest. I quickly noticed that flags were standing straight out and snapping in the breeze. The forecast underestimated the wind. Several times I wished I had a wind gauge on my bike to measure some of the peaks. But the pedals kept turning and I kept moving. I appreciated the breaks due to the trees and loved it when the road turned so the wind was on my beam or even a quartering tailwind.
When I arrived at my lunch stop in Harrington, DE, I was ready for it. I was tired. My legs ached. I wanted to stop. I had 51 miles left to go. After some Gatorade, part of a tuna wrap, baked chips (for the salt), water, Motrin, and ecaps, I was ready to go. It was amazing how much better I felt … at least for a while. It was now a slog into the wind, and pretty wide open fields on both sides of the route. My speed decreased again, and I found myself stopping to rest much more frequently. I’d stop for a minute or two, attend to nutrition and hydration, and then press on again.
When I arrived in Denton, I had a ChocoTaco which really hit the spot and its effect lasted for at least a few miles. Actually, the anticipation of ice cream carried me at least 5 miles into Denton. The sun was starting to come out and the temperatures rose quickly into the low 80’s. My pattern of riding for a time, then stopping for a short break helped my energy level, mostly because it helped me cool off and catch my breath.
The last 15 miles went pretty quickly, even though I was going slower than I wanted to. Sometimes it was the wind. Sometimes it was the heat. Sometimes it was fatigue. But the pedals kept turning (that’s what fixies do) and soon enough I was finished.
It wasn’t until I was done that I realized that this was the fastest solo 200k I’ve ridden. I averaged 16.8 mph and pushed the fixie further in one ride than ever before. Both of these are significant accomplishments!
I was toast when I got home. I could hardly move. My feet had a couple of hot spots. I was crusted in salt. After a shower and a few hours of rest, I started moving comfortably again and now 4 hours later I’m feeling pretty good.
If you are interested in my Garmin track, it is here.
This Ride: 132.2 miles
Month: 351 miles
2013: 2296.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 22,069.2 miles
While riding on the roads there will be occasional “close calls”. One of our strategies to reduce that danger is to ride pretty consistently; the same time, same route, and in a predictable manner. Most of the vehicles on the road are being driven in a similar way, so we encounter many of the same drivers each day, and they learn that we won’t really hold them up for more than a few moments.
This morning was different. While traveling on B & A Blvd in Severna Park, on the most difficult section of the road (no usable shoulder, no passing zone, hills reducing visibility of oncoming traffic, and a rough road surface on the right half of the road lane) a truck from Metropolitan Bath & Tile nearly hit my head with his right side mirror, then nearly clipped Ravi who was about 20 yards ahead of me. The mirror missed my head by mere inches. Ravi was missed by less than a foot.
There was no way to accelerate and catch the driver. We vowed right then and there to report this infraction to the company. I emailed them when I got home. Clint called a regional manager. The regional manager promised to talk to the driver. My email went unanswered (over the past 8 hours). This was our first incident in a year and a half on this section of road. The last incident was with a school bus driver who later revealed that his actions were intentional.
I’m simply thankful for the many courteous drivers out there.
This Ride: 20.5 miles
Month: 125.5 miles
2013: 2070.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 21,843.7 miles
Everyone who exercises regularly has THOSE mornings. You know the ones I mean.
- I don’t want to get out of bed.
- They won’t miss me.
- One day off the bike won’t hurt.
- I’ll just hit the snooze button once.
- I have an early meeting, it will be easier if I sleep instead of ride.
- I told Dan last night that I was iffy for the ride this morning.
I was all ready to use every one of these this morning. But routine got the better of me. I woke a minute or two before the alarm rang. I lay there in twilight sleep. The alarm rang. I got up and was mid-way through the preparations before I remembered that I had these excuses all planned. Oh well … I’m up. I might as well go out.
And so the ride happened despite my well-laid plans. We rode in the fog. We had a brisk pace. It was cooler than it had been all week. I did have to cut it a little short because of the early meeting.
It was an enjoyable ride. Thanks only to routine.
This Ride: 19.3 miles
Month: 59.1 miles
2013: 2004.4 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 21,777.3 miles
Our 9 riders eventually broke into two groups this morning. There was the fast group. They survived the climbs on Old County Road with energy to spare. Then, there were the rest of us. With hearts pounding and lungs screaming for air, we slowed down just a bit and watched the tail lights disappear into the distance. It really wasn’t that bad, but it happened.
At the end of the day, I was surprised. I had my fastest ride of the year on our normal route and achieved the fastest times this year for me on 5 different Strava segments. It didn’t feel that fast, but I did keep the pressure up and really didn’t let myself slow down too much. There were spots where there was still some energy that was left on reserve.
The most fun was on my little sprint up out of Round Bay near the end of the ride. I entered that small hill third in line, and kicked it hard just before my starting mark. I climbed the hill hard in a high gear and noticed that Marcus was right on my tail. I kept the pressure up and actually accelerated at the top of the hill. Marcus was drafting tight to my wheel all the way up, and after he caught his breath he commented that I always use that spot to start a sprint. Yep, I sure do. I erased 1 second from my best time this year, and I’m only 1 second behind my personal best on that short segment. That record will fall. Will it be in May? I hope so!
This Ride: 21 miles
Month: 39.8 miles
2013: 1985.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 21,758 miles
After nearly two weeks off the bike for a vacation in Ireland, it felt good to get back out there spinning pedals. It was misty damp, but warm and I eagerly anticipated getting out there to ride with friends. Mike B said in an email he would be riding. When I got to the Rusty Bridge, there were no headlights on the horizon. At 5:46 I pushed off alone wondering if I would be riding my inaugural ride alone. Soon enough, Mike was there (he slept through the alarm) and we picked up Chip along the way for a threesome.
We talked about Ireland, about the 300k Mike rode on Saturday, and caught up on news. We rode easy and really didn’t push things hard at all.
In the last month, we’ve decided that Tuesday’s ride would end at the Big Bean for coffee. We parked the bikes, went in, and sat in the front window area sipping the hot brew.
It was then that the thing happened that made our day.
A boy of about 3 came in with his mother after inspecting all our bikes. He checked us out and wanted to know if they were ours. He looked at us with eyes that just couldn’t believe that he met some real cyclists and we briefly chatted him up. When we finished our coffees and went outside to go our separate ways, he had to come and see us off. He was simply in awe. I felt like a superhero, spandex and all.
My parting words thrown over my shoulder were, “Always wear a helmet when riding a bike!”
It was a good morning.
This Ride: 18.8 miles
Month: 18.8 miles
2013: 1964.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 21,737 miles
Rev Rider 