Greetings Loyal Readers :) !!!

I'm Back !!

At the end of my last blog entry I talked about falling off of my bike and hurting myself. Turns out I actually had three hairline fractures to my pelvis and I had to stay off of my left foot for quite some time as I healed. I did go to physical therapy quite a bit in order to try and make sure I healed the best way possible and to try to improve my flexibility. In early March I rode my hybrid for a few miles off and on and then I rode 'sag' on my hybrid for the ECVELO "VeloDame" ride. All of that was a good experience so I gradually moved myself onto my road bike and back out on the road with the club rides. Now I'm happy to say I'm back on my bike and riding at almost the same level as before...it was nice to have to take time off from my bike during the winter and stay warm inside whenever everyone else was suffering the cold winter rides :)

Riding...

Lena (my road bike) and I got back on the road just in time for spring and have managed to go on lots of good rides. The CycleNC "Coastal" ride in beautiful, tiny Oriental, NC was a great weekend ride with old and new friends. The wind was a little more than we would have liked but we couldn't really ask for nicer temperatures and sunnier skies. Turns out that I wasn't quite as ready to ride as I thought as I hit the wall (virtually, not another accident) at about mile 60...the problem is that we were on a 70 mile ride ! After limping home and taking a few minutes to rehydrate I was just about back to normal and ready for the 'fried seafood extravaganza' of a dinner...I told you that CycleNC does THE best job of all and they didn't disappoint. Our Sunday ride was just as breezy but short enough that I managed to avoid the virtual wall and enjoy our whole ride with the bonus ferry ride.
Shortly, and I mean shortly, after the Coastal ride I drove down to Greenville, SC to meet up with the "Greenville Spinners" and join them on their annual cross state ride of South Carolina.What a great ride it was as I got to ride across my 'home' state of SC. Leaving out of Moonville (just south of Greenville) on Wednesday morning we rode about 70 miles thru the beautiful upstate area down to Newberry. The next day we rode 68 miles from Newberry to Aiken and got to see some of SC's "Horse Country" and have a great meal at Auten's after the long day's ride. Just about 2 hours after I arrived in Aiken the bottom dropped out and it rained well into the night. The next morning was clear and cool and the road was drying as we started out on the 'Long Day' of the trip for 95 miles down to Walterboro. It was really cool to pass thru beautiful downtown Blackville and see the town where my Sister and her family lived for a while several years ago. After a quick stop at the southern fixture of Waffle House fine dining establishment I was done for the day and anxious for a 95 mile shower! The last day of our ride really had me riding down memory lane as we rode what was planned to be a short 45 mile ride from Walterboro to Beaufort. As I pedaled along some roads my family drove when I was very young it was really cool to see some of the lowcountry scenery and also to pass thru the town of Yemassee which has been part of my family's lore for many, many years.

"Beautiful Beaufort By the Sea, 24 Miles from Yemassee"

 

Marines Flying Low Near MCAS Beaufort

I also got to see the entry gate of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most elusive project "Auldbrass" and stop to see if I could get someone to give me the inside tour...no luck there. Pedaling into Beaufort along the really cool Spanish Moss Trail was fun and then after a short stop for lunch I let me sister talk me into making a ride down to the town of Port Royal in search of my childhood home. (Well, at least for 3 years.) After a quick conversation with a helpful church lady (and with my sister on the phone) I found our house and took a quick photo and pedaled back towards Beaufort where I met up with college buds Michael and Beverly Whitaker for a couple of beers dockside at one of the local yacht clubs. All in all it was a great trip put on by a great club from Greenville. Every day they had at least three well stocked rest stops along the route and did a great job coordinating the hotels, return bus, luggage handling, etc in order to make the ride as pleasant as possible. The weather was beautiful except for the fairly strong winds every day but given it was the first week of May in SC I'd take that wind over the possibility of 90+ degree, humid SC days!

So, now my list of states that I've ridden across stands at five - Iowa, North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi and South Carolina (and 1/3 of California). All have been great in their own way with their own highs and lows and I'm glad to have ridden all of them. Hopefully I can get another state on my list sometime this summer/fall, so stay tuned for updates.

NEW BIKE!

What?!?!?! Another new bike?
Yep, just last week I made my next step of becoming a touring cyclist when I picked up my shiny new Salsa Marrakesh from Frank's Cyclery in Raleigh, NC. It's a great setup for touring with racks on the back and front, spare spokes, Brooks leather saddle, three bottle holders, super duty steel frame and extra low gearing for hill climbing with lots of load. And it's orange. Her name will be #4. :)
 

I took it for a ride today (41 miles) and yesterday (25 miles) with a few of the local club members and it was quite the haul pedaling 30 pounds around on super soft tires, BUT I managed to end up with an average speed of about 16mph which is pretty much my normal speed so I got that going for me. I'm looking forward to putting many, many miles on it over the next many years, so let me know if you've got a ride you're looking into, I'm likely to join you for a few days !

That's about it for now. I hope you all enjoy these goofy blogs and look forward to your questions and comments. Enjoy your day!!