In order to validate that winter riding is upon us, Mother Nature gave us a little surprise this morning. With at least 9 riders out on a warmer-than-yesterday ride, a light sprinkle mixed with sleet began to fall near the end of the ride. There is an 80% chance of snow in the near-term forecast. Yes, we are moving into winter riding.
I’m always amazed at the clothing decisions necessary during the winter. A 5° F change completely alters the choices that need to be made. But that is not the only consideration. Other factors include wind speed, planned exertion, humidity/moisture levels, and length of ride. Each of these has a significant impact on the clothing layers needed for a comfortable ride. This morning the other factor was that I couldn’t find one article of clothing that was perfect for these conditions … my skull cap with ear flaps. I found an alternative, but I need to find this soon.
We quickly divided into two groups of riders this morning. Young Republicans were grumbling about the outcome of the Presidential election and were soon off the front with their need to burn off some frustration. Older Democrats rode a more leisurely pace, although it was still pretty quick. It’s not a perfect description of how we divided up this morning, but pretty close.
Near the end of the ride, we lost track of a rider. He was there one minute and not there the next. We doubled back looking for him, didn’t see him, and finally sent Dan out to ride back home along the route to find out if he was still back there. I haven’t yet heard the result, but I suspect a pinch flat because the last time I saw him was when he hit a pothole pretty hard. (Sure enough … he flatted. Dan found him and all is good.)
I’ve decided to attempt to get an appointment to see a Chiropractor today or tomorrow. This sciatica is causing me a lot of pain.
This Ride: 19.3 miles
Month: 91.9 miles
2012: 5,067.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,920.9 miles
For me, winter riding begins when the temperatures fall below freezing. This morning fit the bill.
My thermometer is on a protected porch and it read 33° F. The one weather station nearest our route read 31° F. My Garmin recorded 25° F (but I’ve determined it reads about 5° low). That’s close enough for me in most instances, but because today was the designation for the start of winter riding … I conducted another test. The water in my water bottle read 32.2° F at the end of the ride. That reading works for me. We are now into winter riding. Any colder and there will be ice in the water bottle by the end of the ride.
We were quite lucky that the trail had dried out. None of the leaves were wet and frozen, so there really was only fallen leaves as a hazard on the route. Last night, Dan emailed warning us that it would be cold and challenging all riders to “harden up”. We started out with 4 riders at the Rusty Bridge but soon added 4 more for 8 crazy souls on bikes before sunrise. With the end of Daylight Saving Time, we get to watch the sun come up again for a couple of weeks. By November 25th, the sunrise is after the end of our ride.
I tried a new pair of gloves this morning. I bought them last spring, at the end of the winter riding. They served me well, keeping my hands toasty warm. Unfortunately, with new gloves comes a new entry to the clothing chart and I’ll have to experiment to see just how cold it can be before these gloves are not sufficient. Much warmer than this morning and these gloves will be too warm. A review will follow once I determine the proper temperature range for me.
Winter riding is all about proper clothing layers and ventilation. Yes, ventilation is essential. If the clothing doesn’t breathe, the sweat builds up and makes one cold. After a few more rides with my Showers Pass jacket, watch for a review. I’m experimenting with temperature ranges on it also (although it is primarily a rain jacket).
I’m anxious for winter riding to begin. It always proves to be quite interesting.
Looking ahead for the rest of the week I’m anticipating a cold ride tomorrow morning. We may be at the tail end of a Nor’easter on Thursday morning. Friday I don’t think I can ride because I’m expected to be at an overnight meeting out of town. Saturday is Flatbread, a 200k Brevet that I hope works for me to ride. There is a pastoral care need on the horizon that may take me out of one of the most popular rides of the year. At least 65 people have preregistered for Flatbread.
This Ride: 21.7 miles
Month: 72.7 miles
2012: 5,048 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,901.7 miles
For the second time this fall, I was able to ride a Saturday because Lori is out of town. It is a nice treat because I get to ride with people like Janet and Fran who are regular riders but don’t ride the weekday early morning rides. The SPP 7:30 am Saturday morning ride is a “coffeeneuring” ride (a term coined by Mary G at chasingmailboxes.com). That’s a ride where there is a planned stop for coffee. Our stop was at the Big Bean in downtown Annapolis.
Once again, the route was often full of wet leaves and required some caution. There were only 4 of us. As the weather cools and winter approaches, there are only a few of us who will continue to ride no matter how cold it gets. It simply makes the coffee taste better. For me there is no cycling season.
The unique part of our morning ride was the pair of ducks (paradox) that waddled into the Hard Bean. I got a photo as they entered. They made it in about 5 feet before they looked around, decided that they didn’t want coffee, and overheard some people talking about duck for dinner. They still lingered around the coffee shop and were a delight to young and old alike. They were even the target of some dogs whose owners really had to work to keep feathers from flying.
It was a good day … but then, every day that there is a bike ride is a good day.
The Invasion of the Paradox (pair of ducks)
This Ride: 24.6 miles
Month: 50.9 miles
2012: 5,026.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,880.0 miles
You may have heard the news. Hurricane Sandy paid us a visit this week. Because of her obnoxious behavior, I chose not to ride most of the week. We expected to lose power in the storm and this was the first time we did not lose it. In our county, somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the people lost power. In any event, we missed the worst of it. New Jersey and New York got hit a lot harder than we did.
We had wind and rain Monday – Wednesday. Thursday I took Lori to the airport early and missed that ride. But this was Friday … breakfast & fixies!
We woke up to temperatures in the low 40’s F and as I usually do in the fall, I over dressed. I didn’t want to be cold. There were just a few of us out, and we had to ride very carefully on the trail. Wet leaves covered the trail completely in spots, and under those leaves there was a fair amount of tree debris, including small branches. That made for a relatively slow ride this morning.
We passed a number of stretches of road where the houses were completely dark and we could hear the telltale hum of generators, especially as we approached the Naval Academy Bridge.
When we arrived at the Hard Bean in Annapolis, Byran and Jeff were there and we sat and talked about 30 minutes more than usual. This was the first time Bryan has been out with us for breakfast since his bike accident in early October when he hit a post, breaking his fork and severely injuring his mouth. He had 23 cm of stitches in his mouth and the Doctor says he can expect to spend nearly a year recovering from the facial and mouth injuries. He will likely lose some teeth. We joked and ribbed him hard, and I think he appreciated it.
The ride back was uneventful. I called it quits after just 26 miles. I may be able to ride with the group tomorrow. Last time I did that there were only 3 of us. Maybe there will be more this time.
(Note: the most astute observers may notice that I have my own domain now. revrider.net is mine and is the primary way to connect with this blog. With that step, I hope to do a lot more than simple ride reports. Keep watching.)
Oh, and look at that! I’ve ridden more than 3/4 the way around the globe since January 1, 2010!
This Ride: 26.4 miles
Month: 26.4 miles
2012: 5,001.7 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,855.4 miles
Twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, the Severna Park Peloton rides from Stevensville, MD to Ocean City, MD one day, and returns the next. Some of us have recently named this the “Gateway Ride” since it is often the ride which convinces participants to become randonneurs. This was the 15th ride, with 15 riders, 2 of which were “newbies”.
We gathered at the Elementary School in Stevensville at 7:30 am and were treated to spectacular colors as the sun rose to a mostly cloudy morning. People were on time. We got the obligatory group photo. We pushed off at the planned 8:00 am departure.
SPP ready for departure
Those first few miles are full of energy and excitement, and yet Gary M took the lead and held a rock-solid steady pace into a headwind for the first 7 miles. Gary really set the tone for the day. We would be pushing headwinds and strong crosswinds all day and a steady pace was the norm. We made our two most dangerous crossings of highways at the Queenstown Outlets without incident, and yet we had to really focus on these crossings. After the crossings, a newbie, KD set himself on the front where he could be found most of the day. He was a machine … or he just didn’t like following anyone.
Most of the first 30 miles found us riding mostly single file dealing with the wind. Occasionally we would ride two by two, but the wind would get in our faces and we would settle in behind one another. We followed this pattern for a while, but eventually we rode two by two and just dealt with the wind.
We hit our first planned stop exactly at the planned time at 10:00 am. Dave’s Place in Ridgely is probably our favorite stop. Mary Ann opens the biker bar early for us twice a year. We call in breakfast sandwich orders as we leave Stevensville, and they are ready for us when we arrive. I had wheat bread, cheddar cheese, bacon, and egg. She has chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, brownies, and potato chips out on the table for us. There is coffee and water. We wolfed down the food (that bacon was very thick and perfectly cooked and the cookies were fantastic). Along with our meal, we get a raffle ticket, and about half of us win prizes. I didn’t win anything this year, but Janet won again (as she has every time). The stop at Dave’s Place ends with the group photo and hugs with Mary Ann (who always comments to someone that she doesn’t mind hugging a bunch of sweaty cyclists). As we climbed back on the bikes, Steve H took the lead and led us relatively slowly away from Dave’s Place. That actually worked perfectly … because our bellies were pretty full.
Dave’s Place Departure
The second leg of the ride is nearly 50 miles. We experienced a lot of wind, great conversation, many miles, one crash and one “bonk”. We were lucky there were not more involved in the crash. Jake got too busy talking in very close quarters, and his moment of inattention resulted in him touching wheels with the rider in front of him and he went down hard. His left leg was scraped raw by the rough chip seal surface. He put a hole in his hand through a glove. Other small abrasions were also noted. Some attended to his injuries. A close-by home construction site had a first aid kit. Other attended to his bike, re-aligning his shifter/brake levers, seat, and derailleur. Jake was determined to continue, and rode off into the lead before the rest of us were ready. Later he was seen holding his injured hand close to his chest while he pedaled on. Shortly after this incident, a rider encountered the first of four flats on the day. Eventually, we arrived in Milton, only to notice that another rider had slipped off the back. Curran, our youngest rider at age 18, had been experiencing cramping, and had stopped. We quickly located him and treated the cramping. It was his father who had fallen earlier.
Milton is our longest stop for the day. We ate at Irish Eyes, which has good food but generally slow service. I had “Grown Up Grilled Cheese” with tomato bisque soup. It was very tasty! I had been looking forward to this meal for many miles. It is the same that I had last time. At Irish Eyes, Curran and his father decided to abandon the ride. After the meal, we mounted up for the short ride to Dogfish Head Brewery where we do the beer tasting. There were some very tasty beers we had, including the 120 minute IPA which is somewhere between 15-20% ABV. Of course, we spent more time at Dogfish Head than we wanted to, and eventually pushed off with hopes of more of a crosswind than the constant headwinds we had been encountering.
On this final leg, Mike had a double flat and a few minutes later, the final flat of the day was encountered by another rider. We made short work of both of these, and pressed on into the building wind. Chip was getting antsy, and challenged us to some very fast stretches. That worked for some of us, and gave us a break while the others caught up after we stopped. There were longer stretches with limited conversation, mostly as we battled the wind. As we turned east toward Ocean City, the wind seemed to pick up again and was a quartering headwind and as always on this last leg was brutal.
And then there was bliss for the first time of the ride. As we turned south on Coastal Highway, we had the first real tailwind of the day. There were cheers that were raised and the pace down Coastal Highway was very brisk, well above 20 mph and we hit most of the lights green.
After showers, we had happy hour in the Bodine suite, then on to Lambardo’s for a meal. Most had arranged rides back to Severna Park because Hurricane Sandy was on her way. I got home around midnight.
This was a great ride, full of memories and it goes in the book as another successful SPP ride to Ocean City. Only two riders planned to ride Sunday … the hard men Chip and John. They made it back in good shape.
This Ride: 112.6 miles
Month: 615.7 miles
2012: 4,975.4 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,829 miles
It’s Friday! That means Friendly Fixie Friday Breakfast Ride to Annapolis. The radar showed a shower pass through our area at about 5:00 am, but it cleared out by 5:30 leaving just a light mist in the air as we pushed off at 5:45 with red tail lights flashing on 8 bikes. We had a great energy and conversations were steady as we made our way south on the route. By the time we got to the end of the trail, there were 6 going to Annapolis, with only Bryan leaving his fixie at home.
Jeff and Phil met us at Hard Bean. We had our usual fare and Myna treated us with apple cake and ice cream. Even Dan couldn’t finish it all although he gave a valiant effort.
As we pushed off after breakfast, we noted that it seemed darker than usual and there were a few light sprinkles in the air. I had carried my lightest rain jacket, just in case. I decided to put it on mainly because it is always very chilly riding from downtown Annapolis to the top of the Naval Academy bridge. It is not that the air is cold. It is that the light sweat we generate on the ride to Annapolis has migrated from our bodies to our clothing, and we don’t notice it much while sitting and eating. When we go back outside, the damp clothing sucks the warmth right out of us. The Naval Academy Bridge has enough of an incline that we start sweating and warms our core.
The skies remained dark and there were a few light sprinkles as we made our way back onto the trail. The sprinkles grew in intensity, then suddenly, about the time we entered Severna Park, the rain came down hard. There were a few flashes of lightning I noted just about a mile from home. We had expected a clear ride back home, but the weather closed in a lot faster than predicted. This is a radar grab of what hit us.
None of us saw this coming!
I had scheduled a contractor to meet me at home at 8:00 am this morning. He was sitting in his vehicle on the street in front of the house as I pulled up. The look on his face was priceless. His only comment was, “It’s raining pretty hard, isn’t it?” Yes it was. I’m glad it was in the mid 60’s F, so it wasn’t so bad.
This Ride: 26.4 miles
Month: 421.4 miles
2012: 4,781 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,634.7 miles
After last weekend’s 235 mile ride, I suffered. The immediate recovery work after the ride was the worst it could be. A few beers. No protein/food. Sit in an extended cab of a pickup truck with legs cramped into an immovable position for 90 minutes. My muscles were sore. I had some sciatica in my left leg. I rode Wednesday morning a few miles, but it was painful.
And then there was Friendly Fixie Friday. I really enjoy those. I felt better. I was regaining strength. My legs didn’t hurt as much. It was a nice day.
Today, with Lori out of town, I had the rare opportunity to ride the Saturday morning breakfast ride. I woke up 15 minutes before the ride was to start and quickly grabbed what I needed for the chilliest ride of the season. It was 35° F, and I was late enough that I simply caught the few riders along the trail rather than the meet up spot at the Rusty Bridge. We had a nice, slow, easy pace, and met up with some regulars at the Hard Bean in Annapolis. There were no incidents, close calls, or challenges. We rode, talked, and enjoyed the crisp fall weather. We lingered long at the Hard Bean as others trickled in. I rode with 2 others to the coffee shop and left with 6.
It will now be Wednesday before I ride again. I’ll be at a conference.
This Ride: 22.6 miles
Month: 372.9 miles
2012: 4,732.5 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,586.2 miles
The Goal: 310 miles on 3 back to back rides
The Reality: 235 miles on 2 back to back rides
The Story: Worth telling, and you are welcome to read it. The ride was long … so is the report. Part 1 is available by clicking here.
Part 2 of this ride really begins when we arrived at my daughter’s house. I had called her from the WAWA (at 4 am) and let her know we were on our way. We arrived about 10 minutes later, and she and her husband bustled us into our sleeping quarters and we were soon sawing logs. The plan was to wake at 6, eat breakfast, then meet up with Alex for the Seagull at 7. That plan worked better than we expected. I slept about an hour. We had what the others later called a gourmet breakfast. Egg & cheese on an English Muffin, coffee, juice, banana, and banana bread. It really hit the spot.
We called Alex who had agreed earlier to help “pull” on the ride and arranged a meet up spot, and soon we were on our way.
The Seagull Century is a large, well supported ride, with about 8,000 cyclists. There are 2-100 mile routes and 1-100k route. Novices and racing teams alike participate. We started at 7:00 and stayed near the front of the main field. We were feeling good and strong and our pace showed it. I have my Garmin set so that it records my average speed for each 5 mile “lap”. Early in the ride, my data shows these 4 consecutive 5 mile average speeds: 20.3, 22, 20.3, 20.3. That’s an average speed of 20.7 mph for 20 miles. I loved the speed, but it was certainly draining.
There was a discussion early in the ride about whether or not we would skip any rest stops. We voted to stop at them all. It was a nice way to break up the ride and to keep fueling since we were already running deficient. The rest stops were at 25, 42, 62, & 82 miles, and I personally appreciated every one of them.
The Seagull Century has about 3 lanes of traffic. On the far right are the slower riders. On their left is the general passing lane. On the far left is the lane for the very fast groups. We spent most of our time in the middle lane. It was a real confidence booster to have ridden 150 miles and still be passing people consistently.
The Seagull Century was an absolute blast for about the first half. There aren’t many stories from that half because it went by fast and was so much fun. I was eating and drinking well and my energy level was high. Everyone else seemed to be doing pretty well too. It became more of an effort at about mile 55 as the winds picked up and decided to blow into our faces. We expect this as we approach Assateague Island, but it is always unwelcome. We hit the Rest Stop on Assateague ready for some more food. They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, cookies, and other goodies. I took my lead from some others and chowed down two sandwiches and fruit. We stood around and talked some, then finally, after a longer than usual respite, hit the bathrooms and pushed off. We saw only 2 ponies grazing by the side of the road and tried to pick the pace back up to where we had been.
I say tried, because a series of unfortunate events occurred. First, I noticed that my stomach was not happy with my food choices at the rest stop. I even thought about pulling over to throw up. Mohammed had the worst of it. He was “bonking” bad, and in fact had some symptoms of heat stroke. Within 5 miles, he admitted that he couldn’t ride any longer, and we stopped in some shade to help him cool down. Clint and Alex had already gone ahead, so I texted them to let them know what was going on. After a few minutes of rest, we started out again and Mohammed could only keep a pace of about 13-15 mph going. The wind was continuing to build in our faces, making the effort even greater. Somehow we were able to drag him to the next Rest Stop, but not before attempting to convince him to take the sag wagon or some other way to abandon the ride. At the Rest Stop, most of my attention was directed toward making sure I got ice cream, and making sure we cooled Mohammed down. I got him some ice (half of which he promptly gave away <grrr>) to use on his head and neck. I got him to the first aid tent where he got some electrolytes. I convinced him to lay down in the shade where he was. All these techniques helped, and he climbed back on the bike somewhat refreshed.
He needed it. By now, the wind was brutal for the last 15 miles. Flags were standing straight out. It was almost always in our faces. I pulled long and steady into that wind, feeling strong, but not feeling fast. (I wanted to have had more rest at the rest stop and was quietly fuming about that.) I think it was near this time when we suggested to Mohammed that he not ride the last 82 mile leg we had planned. He agreed. By this point in time Mike was struggling with the wind and the mental game. Clint and Alex pulled off fast into the wind and I saw Mike was dropping back. Not wanting to over do this last leg of this ride, I dropped back and offered what little wind break I could for Mike, encouraging him along the way. Those last 10 miles are always the longest.
Soon enough though, we were back in town and I suggested to Mike that we ride across the finish side by side. This was a team effort. We finished just before 3:00, our last half much slower than the first half.
We were still uncertain about our timing for the 3rd and final leg of the trio of rides. Mike checked the weather forecast and radar and discovered rapidly falling temperatures, a rain front moving our way, and increasing headwinds all the way home. With that news, I took a poll of the now 3 remaining riders and none of us raised any objection to staying to have a beer or three instead of riding home into that mess. Not one of us could find a reason to ride any longer this day. So, we had a beer or three while we figured out the logistics of getting ourselves and our bikes back to Severna Park.
Remember the cashier at the Shore Shop in Stevensville? We found her step son, gradually convinced him that we had met his step mother and that he should take our photo and text it to her. Mike and I made a point to stop in on our way home, and when she saw us her eyes lit up and had to tell us about the text she got with our photos in it. It was a nice end to a long day.
I did all the wrong things after the ride (sit in one position in a cramped car, no food with my beer, no recovery massage or food intake, limited fluid intake) so I’m stiff and sore 12 hours after the ride. There are no regrets to not finishing the 310 miles. It was an audacious goal, and given the right combination of circumstances, entirely possible. It simply was not possible this time.
It was another great “over the top” SPP ride with some good friends.
235.3 miles at an average speed of 16.9 mph all in under 20 hours.
Hmmm … what is next?
Most of the route, there were a few other extra miles before this ride.
Mike, Clint, & Earl after the decision to end the day of riding.
This Ride: 235.3 miles
Month: 305.1 miles
2012: 4,664.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,518.4 miles
The Goal: 310 miles on 3 back to back rides
The Reality: 235 miles on 2 back to back rides
The Story: Worth telling, and you are welcome to read it. The ride was long … so is the report.
Seven SPP riders signed up for both the 200k (125 mile) Seagull Salvo and the 127k (82 mile) Seagull’s Revenge with four crazy people planning to do the Seagull Century between the two rides. Mike B coined this longer ride “The Seagull Circus”. As the ride started, “circus” was the appropriate name.
Six of us gathered at Ram’s Head in Stevensville for a little dinner before setting out. We had a 7:00 pm start planned at the Shore Shop. One always attracts attention wearing biking clothing in a restaurant, and most of us were having trouble walking across the hardwood floor in our biking shoes. After a meal of black bean soup and part of a burger and the necessary pit stop following, I and the others rode to the Shore Shop where we encountered an entirely wonderful cashier. She was very interested in our planned trip, especially since her step-son was going to be riding in the Seagull Century the next day. She told us how to find him and say hello. We said we would be on the look out for him (among 8,000 other bike riders on 3 different routes). Meanwhile, we watch 6:30 come and go and Mohammed has not shown up yet at that promised time. Then, we watch 6:45 come and go. No Mohammed. At 6:50 we are getting concerned and wondering whether or not he will make it and if he does, how long will his late arrival delay us. No Mohammed at 6:55. At 6:56 a car comes careening into the parking lot with Mohammed behind the wheel. He asks us where to park. Team members assemble his bike for him. He goes in to check in, and it is 7:06 as we push off into the rapidly growing darkness. This first leg will be completely in the darkness. Within a few miles, those of us stewing about his late arrival have cooled off and we’ve settled into our rhythms.
One of the realities of riding with a group on a long ride is that you have to trust one another and you have to work together for a successful event. Communication is key. Much of it is unspoken … unless spoken communicates better. How fast do seven riders go? Just a little faster than the comfort level of the slowest person and slower than the comfort level of the strongest, fastest rider. Who is slowest and who is fastest often changes hour by hour depending on nutrition, hydration and plenty of other factors, including mental. Riding mad at someone can cloud the judgment necessary for a safe ride.
The first 10 miles of the ride were challenging. We are establishing our patterns and that takes time. The pavement was rough and full of potholes that were hard to see in the growing darkness. Traffic was heavy. And then we came to the Highway 50 crossing. This crossing has always been dangerous. We cross it at least 4 times a year on our Ocean City Rides, so it is familiar to us on Saturdays and Sundays. Not so much on a Friday evening with bumper to bumper traffic, many of whom are driving to ride in the Seagull Century. While we were debating about how we could cross, a vehicle in each lane stopped (rather than move at the 25 mph flow of traffic) and let us go across. I’m guessing they were cyclists. It was really the best option.
From there, we were on familiar roads. Our Ocean City rides and Chip’s Flatbread ride use the same roads. As we left Centerville, we started looking for the moon, anticipating it’s rise. The stars were out, but with our headlights and red tail lights, our night vision wasn’t the best for star gazing … oh, and that little thing called riding a bike at 15-20 mph. It wasn’t long before the course took us onto a highway with wide shoulders and very smooth pavement. That allowed us to pick the pace up and we had some good fast speeds going in a pretty tight paceline, especially for night time riding. Traffic was very light. Our first control was at the Royal Farms in Chestertown, and it was the last place along the route where we knew we could obtain food. I had discovered earlier that many of the convenience stores on the Eastern Shore close as early as 9:00 pm. Mohammed had placed water at mile 72, so we knew we had that waiting for us.
The reactions of non-cyclists to seeing seven riders out after dark far from any place that a reasonable person would ride a bike is always interesting to me. There are the quizzical. “Where are you going?” “How far are you riding?” “Why are you riding at night?” There are the comedians. “Hey Lance, can I get your autograph?” There are the *%#*)@^ $%*(@#. Usually their comments are undecipherable. Sometimes they are dangerous, blaring a horn long and hard as they approach. Some will buzz close to us, never mind the law that says you must pass a cyclist no closer than 3 feet. We had more than our usual share of the latter group. A slow head shake is sometimes all that can be “said”. The best reaction, at least the one I like the most, is when some one asks us for directions. If someone is on a bicycle, they must know the area, right? The look on their faces when we reply that no, we are not from around here and don’t know where xxxx street or Bobby’s Barbecue is located is precious. It causes them to question all their assumptions.
In good spirits we set off for the next control, an information control only about 15 miles away. (A control is a place where you have to accomplish something in order to prove you were there, usually at key point on the course to prevent shortcuts.) The road was good, but it had us longing for quiet country roads rather than highways. We got at taste of the country roads as we turned south, and also got our taste of a light headwind that persisted through the rest of the remaining 75 miles. We got some good practice riding in a pace line to minimize the effort this headwind added. It was along this stretch that the moon made it’s appearance. It was a 3/4 moon with a planet (Jupiter?) very close. It was very pretty. Every so often, I would declare, “Oh, I know where we are!” Even though I helped put this course together and drove it to make the cue sheets, traveling through the night with headlights designed only to illuminate the roadway for a bicycle means other landmarks might be missed.
We saw our share of wildlife, especially on the dark country roads. Two deer, including one that caused our leaders to swerve and brake to avoid hitting it. That nearly caused a pile up. We saw a fox. We smelled 2 or 3 skunks. Cats were out in towns. Everything else had seemed to go to sleep. Homes were buttoned up tight and soon their lights were out. Towns were rolled through with only a few people out and about in cars. We even saw a convenience store that was completely shuttered, no glass showing, which is unusual for around here.
As night settled in, the temperature dropped. We gradually added layers. For most, the arm warmers came out first. Then it was the wind vests. Clint was cold and at one point had arm warmers, knee warmers, skull cap, wind vest, & rain jacket on. I was content with a wind vest and arm warmers in temperatures that hovered close to 60° F, but usually was just a little warmer than that. Often we commented that the night was just perfect for the ride.
At mile 72 we found the water and refilled bottles. At mile 101 we had another information control. The Garmin was showing an ETA of anywhere between 3:00 & 3:30 most of the night, usually depending on how long we were stopped to take on water or relieve ourselves of water. We stopped under a street light once to add clothing, and only noticed the man in the car parked in the driveway as we were pulling away. Odd.
With less than 10 miles to go, we were starting to get anxious to finish. On this dark country road, is where the only incident happened. Clint looked up at the stars trying to remember the name of the constellation Orion, when his front wheel crossed and rubbed my rear wheel. Within moments, unable to recover, he went down hard. His knee was scraped pretty bad, and we were able to pool enough resources to stem the flow of blood. His bike was fine. But this meant that the last 10 miles would be a little harder for him than it needed to be.
We pulled into the WAWA at about 3:45 am, under my predicted 9 hour estimate. There was some parting of ways as three riders planned a short stop and then were going to head back to Stevensville (82 miles). Four of us headed to my daughter’s house where we could take a nap and have breakfast before leg 2.
All my bags are packed I’m ready to go
I’m standin’ here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin’ it’s early eve
The bike’s waitin’ it’s blowin’ the horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could die
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
Cause I’m leavin’ on a bike now
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go
Rode the Breakfast ride this morning as a warm up. Kinda crazy to ride the morning of an all nighter!
This Ride: 27 miles
Month: 69.8 miles
2012: 4,429.4 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 18,285.1 miles
Rev Rider 