2020 RECAP

A few years ago my friends Scott & Angela got me into cycling organization called “Adventure Cycling” which is mostly focused on touring and longer distance rides, very little racing or ‘exercise’, mostly just getting out and riding your bike. As part of that mission the organization sponsors and advocates for cycling routes all across the US and can provide maps of those routes and other support equipment necessary to ride. They also publish a print magazine called “Adventure Cyclist” which has articles about riding, equipment and other related ‘stuff’. A recent edition opened with the “Letter from the Editor” story about how the Editor in Chief had checked his total biking miles for 2020 and was very surprised that, despite the pandemic and its ramifications on socialization, he managed to ride more miles in 2020 than he had ridden in previous years. I think he said that he rode more miles last year than any other year in his adult life. I found that to be very interesting and so I checked into my Strava account to see what I had ridden for last year.

Strava is a program (I deplore the abbreviation “app” in both cyberspace and restaurants as I feel it is lazy) that gives you all sorts of tools to track your riding (running, swimming, hiking, any kind of activity) by miles, feet of elevation, hours, etc. It’s fairly widely used and allows for you to share your rides with others on the program along with keeps track of your activities over time. Well, according to Strava, I rode at least 81 rides covering 2,426 miles on my bikes in 2020. I say ‘at least’ because I don’t always use Strava when I’m riding around town, just when I’m going to be out for 15+ miles or so. And it turns out that those 2,400+ miles are more miles that I’ve ridden in a year since 2016 when I rode 2,900+ miles in a couple of cross state rides and a lot of three day rides. And I did all of these 2020 miles without the benefit of any organized multi-day rides and only a small number of single day rides like the Tour de Elvis in lovely Albemarle, NC. Also, 81 rides is the most number of rides I’ve done in any year since I started riding and that is even more amazing given the lack of organized rides.

So just like the editor of Adventure Cyclist I’m pleasantly surprised at how riding my bike was more than just a normalcy in the Year of COVID but was actually a high point! While I. and many of my cycling friends, constantly lamented the cancellation of any trips that we wanted to go on I was quietly getting out on my bike 2, sometimes 3, times a week and riding with a core group of friends. We did struggle with COVID protocols at first – learning how to keep our distance from each other, keeping the group small, etc but once we got in stride with a fairly secure and steady bubble of friends we rode quite a bit. And even now we are still struggling with COVID protocols so we can ride as a group but we are doing it, at least when it’s warm enough for my old bones. Granted we have missed the opportunities for post ride meals & beers and general socialization, but we apparently offset that with more rides than usual. We are off to a strong start in 2021!! Looking back through 2020 it’s a wonder to see how I kept my sanity but now that I see how many times I rode and how many miles I covered I realize that my bike was a key component to beating the “COVID Blues”.

So the moral of this story is twofold I suppose…. Always surprise yourself and never stop riding, you’ll find the road, while it may go in circles like last year, never ends. Until next time, keep riding.

 

62 for 62

In late May (May 28 for those keeping records) I did a 62 (actually 63) mile bike ride for my 62nd birthday and I figured I would use that occasion to re-start my blogging about my riding.

Unfortunately I haven’t been riding nearly as much as I’d like, both recently (thanks Corona 😏) and over the last several years (thanks full time employment 😒 ) but I have managed to squeeze in a few rides that have all been fun, so I’ll try to do a quick 3 year catch up and then get to the 62 for 62 story.

#4 comes in handy fetching
beer from the local brewery.

Since my last posting in 2017 I’ve ridden roughly 5,000 miles and most have been on our weekly club rides of about 25 miles at a time with many ~60 mile ‘event’ rides sprinkled in. Most of the event rides have been just one day events but I did ride in several 2 and 3 day rides, most notably the Cycle NC Coastal, Mountain and Mountains to Coast rides. Cycle NC continues to do a great job with all their events and I highly suggest that you try one out, once they start up again – hopefully this August for their annual Mountain Ride. All the rides I went on, whether ‘weekly’ or as part of a larger event, were fun; as I’ve finally gotten to the point where riding is not ‘training’ but either to stay in shape or just for fun. I did manage, with help from Wendy and others from our local club, to ride a 100 mile route from Clayton, NC to Greenville, NC last year on the hottest October day on record in North Carolina. There were times during that ride that I didn’t think I was having fun, yet when looking back, it seems to be one of the best rides I’ve been on in a while. So, nearly six years into my riding experience I am having more and more fun on every ride all while still learning to be a better rider. Some goals have been accomplished while some have been postponed… pretty much a lesson consistent with life in general I suppose.




Ride 100 Miles, Get the Sticker :)

It has been a "long time" tradition (of about 6 years) that on some day near my birthday I go out for a solo ride and cover the same number of miles as my new age, so this year it was 62 miles for 62 years. In the past many of you have asked me "What do you think about when you’re riding by yourself?" and mostly it is "where am I and where is my next turn and then ‘holy cow, did you see that?’ " but sometimes I actually try to pick a theme to focus on and this ride was one of those – I decided to try and come up with a memory of what I was doing and/or what was happening to me at each year of my life as it matched up with the mile I was at. So at the 5 mile mark I recounted a classic family story of how I snuck out of my kindergarten class and threw everyone into a full on panic until my sister brought me home from school. According to the story (legend) I had snuck into her classroom, laid down beside her desk and took a nice nap. So that’s how my day progressed from mile to mile, year to year. As the miles/years ticked off I recounted stories of where I was at that point in my life and significant things that were going on around me. It didn’t take long of doing this before I started to notice that my surroundings were beginning to mimic the events I was thinking of and that’s when the weirdness took over. The first occurrence of this symbiotic occurrence was at about mile 18. At that time I was enjoying myself during my freshman year of college but yet dark clouds started to roll in and I instantly related them to the fact that at the end of my freshman year I was dismissed from school for (extremely) low grades. It seemed to be worst event in my life and I really didn’t see a path forward. The clouds built and threatened rain with a small sprinkle but relented into just a cloudy, overcast day as I cycled through working at the Duracell plant in my hometown, gaining my feet, and charting a path forward and back to school. Over the next several miles the clouds built and regressed and built again, just as I continued my struggles through school, but all along I could always see an edge to them where they gave way to a clear blue sky and calm breeze at about mile 23 – when I graduated college and took my first job as an engineer. At that point the clouds virtually disappeared and gave way to blue skies that continued on and off with a cloud here and there as I (metaphorically) pedaled through my twenties and well into my thirties. The sky was blue, the wind at a minimum and road was smooth… cycling was very good, as was my life at that time. This is where it got really, really weird…. All during the trip so far I was following a local route that our club uses for their annual "Cotton Country Century" ride. I was following the 62 mile route and it overlaps with the 100 mile route. For this ride the 62 mile route uses yellow markings to guide you and the 100 uses white, but at nearly the same point where those two routes diverge someone swapped the colors and threw me a curve ball… the 62 was painted white and the 100 was yellow… which color should I follow? So I sucked it up and with some help from a friend decided that this little impasse was just that, a minor bump and I decided that I should follow the yellow and continue on. Oddly enough at just about that age I moved from Arizona to Delaware. The riding got a little rough for a few miles as I tried to ensure myself I made the right choice today which was the same self-doubt I was going through back then also. But lo and behold I came across another route marker and it was the correct color and the location agreed with the route list I was carrying. I was clearly on the right path for me and things were good… both today and a few years after moving to Delaware. Then at mile 36, like a lightning bolt, the sky turned dark and it began to rain again. Late in that year, during a night school class on Finance, my appendix ruptured and I woke up in the hospital with tubes in every orifice I had, plus a few new ones. But while I suffered through that ‘bump in the road’ I came to realize just how strong I was and pedaled my way through recovery and into a brighter and clearer future. After that year, my work years and personal years had many more ups than downs and I was pretty happy with my lot in life and the road & weather during this ride. But the real bad weather was up ahead and I could barely see it at the horizon. As I pedaled up to mile 49 everything seemed fine. The road was straight with no turns in sight but all of a sudden everything turned to shit. The road surface got much rougher, the winds picked up and were right in my face causing my speed to drop to nearly single digits. And with those winds came clouds, no, not clouds… just one large cloud that covered from horizon to horizon for the first time today. The rain began and competed the triad of a cyclist’s worst ride – rough road, headwinds and rain. Over the next many years as Sara battled cancer and I stood helplessly by I was buffeted by what can only be described as the worst time of my life and this ride was presenting itself as such. It took hard pedaling to work my way through these gloomy, overcast and rough road miles but I often would feel the wind shift and become a tailwind helping me along as my friends grew tight around me and continued their support in unprecedented ways. I felt their hands on my back pushing me along, not pulling me to somewhere I didn’t necessarily need to be, but pushing me along in the direction I felt I needed to go. I recounted visits and calls and cards all full of empathy and hope and knew that I would be ok because today, unlike then, I knew the outcome (at least up until now). A few miles later the overcast broke up and the rain became a drizzle. Things started looking up and then boom…just like that at about mile 55 my phone blew up with texts and notifications. It was Wendy and our cycling buddies trying to plan our next ride, at just about the very same mile when we met. The skies cleared, the sprinkles subsided and the road got smoother. That left me only seven more miles to finish my day and I can’t say that those were the best seven miles of the day as the sprinkles came and went and the clouds rolled through, but I can say I felt empowered and strong enough to ride through those minor ‘bumps’ as I knew that I had family and friends – both old and new, all metaphorically waiting for me to arrive at mile 62. No, that’s not quite right. They weren’t waiting for me, they were there with me all along, mile for mile, pulling for me and helping me get here today.


Ride 63 Miles, Eat What You Want :)

SO, thank you all for your support, encouragement, willingness to listen and guidance. Although I rode 62 miles yesterday by myself, I could not have ridden these 62 years without you. Cycle On my Friends. Until next time, stay healthy and keep your chain lubed





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!!

Tour de SoCal 2016 and Into Fall

In early August I spent a few days riding from Santa Barbara, CA to San Diego, CA and enjoyed the ride immensely. It was my first attempt at a 'solo' ride while carrying my stuff for longer than two days and it was my next step in working towards being a 'Touring Cyclist'. 

In order to make this trip 'easy' I decided to rent a bike in San Diego rather than ship mine there. I found a guy that rents nice bikes with racks and bags (aka: panniers) for a really reasonable price and he did a great job in setting me up with a bike and the other 'stuff' I would need to ride. (Peter at 'Stay Classy Bikes' in case you're ever in San Diego and want a great bike!). Once he delivered the bike on Sunday afternoon I added my handlebar bag and my iPhone holder and was ready to go. I spent the rest of the afternoon packing the panniers with my clothes and test riding the whole assembly around the neighborhood. 

Bright and early Monday morning I rode to the Amtrak terminal and caught the train to Santa Barbara. It's a great ride along the coast and you get great views of the beaches and many small towns along the way. You also get great views of the West Coast Marine training base (Camp Pendleton) and the San Onfre Nuclear Generating Station for those of you so inclined. Once I got to Santa Barbara I hopped on my bike and toured around the cool town for a few hours before beginning my trek southward towards my first overnight town of Ventura. The ride was about 33 miles and most of it was along or fairly close to the beach but there was a portion of the route where I had to ride on US 101 for a mile or two. That ride along the shoulder of a four lane divided highway was just a little more unnerving than I cared for! Once I got to Ventura I made my way to the lovely Vagabond Inn and checked in. Ventura is a cool town and I found a nice place for dinner and a couple of beers before hitting the bed early to rest up for my long day tomorrow.

Leaning Against a SeaBee bulldozer

I headed out bright and early Tuesday morning and started making my way along the beach towards Santa Monica. This day was planned to be a long one in order to make up for the short mileage the day before and keep me on schedule. I rode thru quite a few cool towns and stopped in at the "Seabees Museum in Port Hueneme to take a look at some of the history and accomplishments of the Navy's Construction Battalions. After that stop I found a place to eat some breakfast and then headed on down the beach. I rode along the Pacific Coast Highway ("PCH") for several miles including thru the beach houses of Malibu. Once I go through Malibu I stopped at a grocery store to find some lunch and ended up in a great conversation with a young dude who gave me some tips on the route and traffic. A little while later I veered off of the beach walk in Santa Monica and rode up the Santa Monica Boulevard to my hotel.

The requisite photo of the Santa Monica pier.

I found a nice Japanese place for dinner and then crashed into my bed, very tired after the 70 mile and 8 hour ride.
Wednesday was supposed to be a relatively short ride down to Long Beach but instead it turned into a long, long day....the ride thru Venice, Hermosa, Redondo beaches was really cool. I found a great little breakfast spot to fill up before my 'off route' ride thru Rancho Palos Verdes. The Adventure Cycling route that I used prefers to ride inland and thru Los Angeles but I really didn't want that kind of hassle so I found a guy who had a route thru the Palos Verdes area and chose to ride it. Riding up hill from Redondo Beach was quite a challenge and then as I went thru Palos Verdes there were more and more hills although they were quite short. In the middle of Palos Verdes I found a neat museum called the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. It was a cool display of some of the artifacts found in the area and some exhibits about the whales that are often seen right off the point.

The view from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center

 After leaving the center I continued on thru Palos Verdes and then down the hill into San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles. As I rode past the Battleship Iowa I noticed that bumps felt a little rougher in the rear and that the bike squirmed a little more than usual under braking as I came down any hill. Yep, the rear tire was just about flat. Being tired and lazy I quickly asked Siri where the nearest bike store was. (For those of you who don't know, Siri and I have a very contentious relationship and she rarely answers any question for me but I figured she'd be kind enough to sense the urgency and help out.) Much to my surprise the 'nearest bike store' was only 800 feet behind me so I made a quick u-turn and slowly pedaled back to (wait for it) Captain Kirk's KiteBoard store. Luckily Captain Kirk is a cyclist and he let me use his pump to reinflate my tire and then he gave me directions to the true nearest bike store. They changed my tube quickly and I was again on my way. I finished the last many miles of the day riding in rush hour traffic along a six lane road just south of Long Beach and into the Long Beach community to find my hosts for the evening. When I started planning this trip I was hoping to make use of a web community called "Warm Showers" that puts touring cyclists together with hosts that are also cyclists. Unfortunately I only found one for the five days that I would be traveling as many that I contacted did not reply and almost all the others seemed to be busy. But Tracey and Amy were great hosts in Long Beach and shared their place and dinner with me along with stories of touring around South America!
I got up really early the next morning and quickly rode to the Catalina Island ferry terminal. I had not originally planned to go out to Catalina but when I realized that the terminal was close and that there was another terminal several miles to the south I figured I could put in a side trip without adding lots of miles to my trip. Catalina is a really cool little island and has some of the most interesting plant life in the southwest with much of it only found on the island. It's fun to tour around but as it is an island there are quite a few hills. I made my way up to the Wrigley Botanical Garden and enjoyed the time off the bike to see some of the interesting plants and buildings there.

The view from the "Wrigley Memorial"

 I rode around a few more of the roads, had yet another extra large breakfast burrito and then caught the ferry back to Dana Point beach for some more coastal riding. Leaving Dana Pt and heading south is perhaps my favorite segment of the ride. Directly south is San Clemente and it is a pretty cool little town. I stopped in a bike store to ask advice about the route and as I walked in the owner looked at me and said "Stay on the route, you don't want to try and short cut over towards the highway." He said that many people stop in and ask about the route that appears to be lots of stop and go compared to what appears to be an easier route a little further inland. I chatted with him and his wife for a few minutes and found out that they met on a 'cross country' touring ride when she was in high school and he was in college. They had lots of good stories from the years riding together and were eager to share them all it seems. After a while I thanked them for their help and stories and headed south. Once I got out of San Clemente the scenery was good as it turned from urban to dessert and then passed by the San Onefre Nuclear Generating Station ("SONGS"), many campgrounds on the beach and then onto Camp Pendleton Marine Base for a short period of time.

Campground on a short cliff right above the  ocean just south of San Clemente.

My Father was stationed at Camp Pendleton way back on 1967 or so right before he took his 'beautiful and fun tour of scenic southeast asia' with a bunch of Marines but I doubt there's much left at Camp Pendleton that was the same ~50 years ago. Once I got off of the base (before they shaved my head) I headed into Oceanside to find the home of my old friend Julianna.
It was a rough ride up lots of hills to get to Julianna's house and at one point I even heard myself 'wheezing', after which I pulled over for a few minutes of rest. After dinner and a few beers with friends I hit the bed for a much needed rest. Early the next morning I was up and heading back to the beach route for a short ride down to San Diego. I had hoped to ride all the way to the Mexican border but I was running short on time and couldn't seem to figure out the logistics of getting a place to stay down there and then a ride back up to SD.
The segment between Oceanside and San Diego was varied and very nice. The route passed thru quite a few towns - Carlsbad, Encinitas, DelMar and LaJolla. All are 'famous' for their own reasons and each present a different challenge to a bike rider. There is one spot just north of LaJolla where the road drops out of the hills and all the way down to the beach. The view of that drop from above was pretty cool but it served as a harbinger for the hills to come as LaJolla sits up high on a cliff. The grind up the hill seemed relentless as it was almost straight and you could barely see the end. It turns out that 'the end' was merely a turn and there were several more feet to climb as I passed by the famous Torrey Pines golf course and various Scripps research facilities. LaJolla is a very pretty area with lots of cool shops and lots of small coves along the beach.

 

People hassling seals at "Seal Cove" in LaJolla. Come on, it's "Seal Cove" not "People Cove", leave 'em alone!

It's a quick trip downhill from LaJolla into the San Diego beach community of Pacific Beach where my friends and I vacation together every August. I rode to the hotel we always stay at, had a quick visit with a few friends from the area, checked into alternate hotel prices and then decided to settle in for the night the Beach Cottages for the night. After I picked up my bag from a local friend (thanks Rachel!!) I could finally change into some clean clothes, get dinner and then hit the bed for the evening. I fell asleep agonizing over not riding all the way down to Mexico but when I woke in the morning I was happy to know I had just ridden the distance I had, seen the towns and views I had seen and met the people I met. 

California is a cool place and I have always enjoyed my visits there but seeing the 400+ miles I saw from my bike gave me a new perspective on the place. It's even more scenic than I thought, still cool with a 'hippie vibe' that seems to be natural to many of the residents and a culture that really supports the cycling community. Almost every town had nice painted lanes for cyclists and some of them even had dedicated and separated cycling lanes, very few drivers seemed to resent having cyclists around and the local cycling community is enthusiastic in their activities and support of cycling as a daily activity. All in all it was a great ride ! ! !

Into Fall

After returning from California I have basically just been riding in our weekly club rides and a few one day rides into the Fall. Our club (ECVelo) has also sponsored a couple of really fun rides including their "Cotton Country Century" ride in September and more recently their "Toys for Tots" ride in late November. The century ride went really well and we had a great turn-out for a nice ride thru the cotton fields and other fields of Eastern North Carolina. On the other hand the Toys for Tots ride was one of the most brutally cold and windy rides I have ever been on, but at least we did some good by collecting toys for the Toys for Tots program so that warmed us up some once we finished the ride.
I also rode in the annual "Hincapie Gran Fondo" that is put on my Hincapie Sportswear and benefits the "Meals on Wheels" program in Greenville, SC. It is a great ride with lots of people participating and wonderful views of where the Blue Ridge Yawns It's Greatness along the NC/SC border. The day before the big ride it was good to meet some of the other Hincapie Ambassadors and ride with them for a few miles and then to ride along several miles of scenic roads and steep hills as the leaves started to turn during the 50 mile ride.

So, that's about it for now except for my recent fall. On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I was riding with a few friends when another rider and I collided. Unfortunately I couldn't get my foot out of my pedal before I fell over and I landed square on my left hip. It seems that I have issues with falling to my left as that is the same side I fell on in Mississippi back in April. My hip is still pretty sore and I am still using crutches to get around about a week later but I can tell it is getting better so I'm hoping to be back on my bike sometime next week!  I'm sorry this edition has taken so long to publish but I just got lazy and quit writing it right after California. Hopefully my spring update won't be this behind schedule and I'll have a lot of good rides to report on! Until then - stay safe, happy holidays and Go Tigers ! ! !

SUMMER DOLDRUMS

Here we are in the midst of summer and I have not upheld my end of our "blogging deal" and updated you on my latest cycling escapades...so, here goes:

BIKE VIRGINIA

 Bike Virginia ('BikeVA') is a great organization that organizes the state ride in Virginia. For years it was a 'cross state' ride much like the CycleNC "Mountains to Coast" ride that I rode last fall but now it is a 'two stop' ride where you set up your camp for three days of riding, break camp and move to another location and then have three more days of riding. With other summer 'obligations' looming (we had to go to the beach some time, right?) we opted to just ride the weekend portion in Woodstock, VA and had a great time! The headquarters was on the grounds of the Massanhutten (?) Military Academy and Bike VA did a great job with organizing the ride so that there were plenty of spaces to camp, plenty of food options and a lot of great routes to ride.
Over the weekend we rode three rides that went thru the really beautiful central Virginia area and at one time we passed a sign that said "West Virginia State Line 12 Miles" so we were obviously 'out there' in the country. The total mileage for those three rides was 178 miles (37+104+37) and they were all fun but I'm not going to kid you - the guy who put a 2 mile, 8% grade climb at mile 88 of our 104 mile ride on Saturday is a cruel bastard. 
One of the most exciting events of the weekend was that I hit 6,000 miles on my bike. I purchased it almost exactly two years ago to the day and it's been a great bike to get me this far in this amount of time.

Translation: "It's Gonna Get Ugly"

Lots of nice scenery !!

6,000 miles in TWO years !

 The rest of the rides were pleasant and full of really cool vistas and things to see along the way. And as usual with rides like this, we got to meet lots of really nice people to share our stories with.
Bike VA does a great job and it would have been fun to ride "Part Two" but I needed to get to the beach, so I drove from there to Corolla on Sunday for 2 1/2 weeks with friends. And I managed to get in a few rides during that time too :)

RIDING with the BRANDS

You may remember that I told you I would be riding with a few old friends as part of my learning how to tour. Scott and Angela Brand are some of the first people I met when I started my 'work life' in Arizona way back in 1982 and are still very good friends to this day despite the mileage between us now. They were riding from north central Colorado all the way to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and were kind enough to let me tag along with them for their last six days of riding from Richmond, Va thru NC and over to the Outer Banks. Their friend John Crofts had joined them a little earlier in the month and I took an Amtrak train to Richmond to meet up with them there. The next morning the four of us left Richmond and rode the really nice and almost brand new "Capital Trail" that is a cyclists dream as it meanders southeast towards Williamsburg, VA. It was a great ride despite the wet conditions and we encountered lots of local and some long distance riders along the way. After a great dinner and good sleep we spent the day touring around in Williamsburg and then headed across the James River then next day to begin a cross country trek towards my house in Greenville, NC. We found a nice B&B in Murfeesboro, NC for our overnight after a good ride and then we were up and on the road early the next day for the long ride to Greenville. It turned out to be a little longer than we wanted thanks to some poor planning on my part and as the day wore on the wind picked up and created havoc with our riding speeds. BUT, we made it to my house and feasted on tasty Eastern NC barbecue for dinner.

Scott making a few last minute adjustments before we head to Belhaven, NC

The 'view' from my seat most of the time - map with highlighted route and open road

 We took the next day off and took advantage of it to get a pesky issue with Angela's bike taken care of, take a short tour around Greenville and have a good dinner followed by a good nights rest. We then hit the road again and made quick time all the way to Belhaven where we stayed at yet another nifty B&B and met lots of interesting locals. A short ride to Swan Quarter was followed by a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride across the Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke Island and we were on the Outer Banks. It's always cool to take people over to the Outer Banks for the first time and traveling by bike & ferry was a great way to see just how remote the banks are.

One of Blackbeard's victims?

We checked in to Blackbeards Lodge, had a good dinner and a restful night and then parted ways the next day as they pedaled north to Hatteras and I began my trip home. 
Riding with experienced touring riders and learning from them was quite the experience. Hopefully I'll retain a small portion of what I learned and observed as I continue to try and become a touring rider. Scott & Angela's total trip was about 50 days and covered over 2,500 miles... as usual, I hope to be like them when I grow up :) 

Me, Anglea, Scott and John leaving Ocracoke Island

Are You Watching the Tour?

Of course I'm watching the Tour de France, just as I have for years and years. I think there has been a lot of great racing and I always marvel at just how fast those dudes ride - sometimes up to 40mph on the flats and over 60 on the downhills! That's crazy fast. Chris Frome, Peter Sagan, Tyler VanderGarden and all those dudes are really top notch athletes that perform at their peak not just once a week, but EVERY DAY for three weeks! BUT, I don't kid myself and think I'll ever ride like that. That speed and style of riding requires a lot more effort that I can put forward and would also require a time machine to take me back 30+ years! So I'll stick to my slow riding and enjoying the scenery as it rolls past at 15 or so mph :)

 

NEXT?

Right now I am in the process of planning a trip from Santa Barbara, CA down to San Diego, CA in early August. It's only about 250 miles and I am hoping that I can do it in about 5 days. The Adventure Cycling route runs pretty close to the coast and that should provide cool and pretty riding. The neat thing about this route is that the train runs parallel to it so if I 'blow up' somehow and feel like I can't ride the whole thing I can always take the train back to San Diego where I'll meet up with several friends for our annual California Beach Trip. I plan to use an online app called "Warm Showers" that is a network of touring cyclists that allow others to stay in their houses during their rides. So far I've had positive responses from two and hope to get a couple more before I head out to California. If I can't find any Warm Showers hosts then I'll just resort to staying at cheap motels as I don't think I'm up for camping while riding quite yet. Wish me luck and keep up with the ride on my "James Ride From the Couch.." facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/jamessridetoragbrai/?fref=ts

After that and as the summer winds down I'll probably be doing a number of one day rides unless one of you hits me up for a week long adventure to somewhere - well? ? ? 

Until later, take care and keep riding your bike ! ! !
 

SPRING TRAINING

My spring riding was going well and I had enjoyed being back on my bike and out in the weather until Tupelo, more on that later. Once we got started in the spring our Monday night riding group grew a little and that makes riding more fun, our local group put on a successful 'Women's Ride' in an attempt to get more locals riding and I rode in a couple organized rides including a very fun "Coastal Ride" put on by CycleNC. AND I took a week long trip that covered the entire length of the Natchez Trace from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN - all 442 miles of it! And now that my arm is finally getting better I just got to the point where I can type well so I figured I'd better finish this blog.

Natchez Trace Ride 

At the "welcome sign" near Natchez, MS

The Natchez Trace is a National Parkway that is essentially a two lane road that travels along an old Native American path that was also used by traders way back in the day. There is no commercial traffic on it and the speed limit is a maximum of 50 mph so it gets only tourist traffic except when it passes near metropolitan areas, which are few and far apart. It runs from Nashville, TN all the way down to Natchez, MS (which is in the southwestern corner of Mississippi). Think of it as a "Blue Ridge Parkway" without the mountains. The total mileage is 442 miles and it is probably the best asphalt I've ridden on from start to finish. It passes thru farm land and forests and there are a ton of historical places along the way to stop and view. The trip was organized by "Adventure Cycling" and we had 12 riders and two guides. We camped out at state and private parks almost every night with the exception of a hotel near Jackson, MS and a camp called "French Camp" where we stayed in a guest lodge. Several of us took a few side trips along the way just so we could see some different scenery and/or get some ice cream.

Born in a "Shotgun Shack"

 The highlight of the side trips was a venture into Tupelo, MS to see the birthplace of Elvis...we ate breakfast at a local diner, visited the hardware store and then saw the house that Elvis and his family lived in until they left Tupelo to move to Memphis. It was a great side trip until we took a wrong turn and I fell off of my bike and injured my left wrist, arm, elbow, shoulder and right thumb (?!?!?). Essentially I tried to scoot my bike over a bump in the asphalt and didn't turn my wheel hard enough into it so the bike went one way and I went the other - O U C H! is the four-letter word I screamed as I bounced off of the pavement.  One of our guides had an ACE bandage and he wrapped my elbow so that I could finish the ride that day and later at camp a doctor that was in our group took a quick look at it and said that he felt like I didn't break or tear anything, just bruised/sprained it all. I finished the rest of the ride for the week and became one of those "EFI" riders (Every Friggin Inch) who doesn't quit or get off his bike. A label I'll proudly wear considering that earlier this spring I cut two rides short due to weather/cold/rain...I am glad I got to finish this one! AND I am proud to say that I've now ridden across THREE states: Iowa, NC & Mississippi.  

Other than that nasty episode we all had a great time and enjoyed the rural scenery and stopping to enjoy many historical exhibits along the way. All the riders were lots of fun to meet and share riding stories with but none of our stories could top the story of Rich... in 1964 he and a high school buddy rode their new 10 speed bikes from Ohio to California AND BACK. No phones, no internet, no Strava, no nothing. I'm still in awe of how someone could do that now, much less 52 years ago!

Four of us at mile marker 442!

As usual with trips like this the first few days drug by and then the last few flew as we tried to enjoy as much as we could. The weather cooperated almost all the time with the worst being a 2 hour rain one afternoon and two days of mean headwinds during the last two days. The temperatures were perfect for riding but a little chilly for camping but we all survived to meet up for a going away dinner at the famous "Loveless Cafe" on the outskirts of Nashville. If you ever want a fun and unhurried ride thru the deep south I would highly recommend riding the Natchez Trace! !

A fairly typical day on the Trace...lots of pretty flowers!

 

 

CycleNC Coastal Ride

Not something you see everyday....

My hurting arm really caused me to cut back on my riding but I figured I should ride in the Coastal ride since I had already paid for it :). So we headed to Edenton, NC in late April to enjoy three days of scenic riding around the eastern part of NC. CycleNC is an organization that does a great job organizing three rides every year: 'Coastal', 'Mountains' and 'Mountains to Coast'. I rode in last years hurricane shortened Mountains to Coast ride and marveled at their ability to run such a great ride despite all the conditions they had to deal with. They did not disappoint with this ride. The routes were great, the rest stops were well stocked, the camp sites were really cool and the rest of the events were great - CycleNC could teach a lot of organizations a ton on how to run great rides!

BROWNIES for Days ! !

The "PB & J Ladies" have been fixtures on the three CycleNC rides I've been on...

 A highlight of the weekend was getting to spend some time with new friends Meredith and Dave from central Virginia. I met them on the Natchez Trace ride and it was fun to see and ride with them again. 

What's Next?  

This year I was again chosen to be a "Hincapie Ride Ambassador" and have really enjoyed meeting the people at Hincapie Sportswear, the other Ambassadors and being able to wear their truly superior cycling gear.  They set us up again with great stuff and have been good resources with cycling questions I've had and it's been an all around great time. Check them out and also check out their "Gran Fondo" ride in the fall, it's a fun time in the mountains just north of Greenville, SC. 

#RideHincapie and #GoTigers

I have been able to start back riding more and more as my arm heals. I hated having to alter my plans for this summer due to my arm injury but it was just too unpleasant to ride and kind of scary in crowds since I could not handle my bike as well as I need to; so I have passed on several rides so far, most notably the "Assault on Mt Mitchell". That is a very tough 100+ mile ride that spends the last 25 or so going straight up to the highest point east of the Mississippi. Oh well, better luck next year! I traded that ride for next weeks "Tour de Vino" in the Yadkin Valley area of central NC and am looking forward to seeing a new area of the state. 

After that ride I am awaiting the arrival of my friends Scott and Angela as the ride their way across the US from Colorado to the Outer Banks of NC. I'm hoping to meet up with them in Richmond and then ride with them down to Greenville and on to the Outer Banks. They have been having a blast and learning a lot about touring that I hope to learn as I ride with them for a few days. You can follow their ride on their blog at: Outer Banks By Bike. I promise you it's a much better blog than mine with fewer words and many more photos!

Later in June Wendy and I will be riding in the three day "Bike Virginia" ride near Woodstock, Va and I'll combine those days with my Richmond to Williamsburg ride I'll do with Scott and Angela to say that I've ridden across Virginia ! After all that I hope to find one or two more one week tours to take, so keep your eyes open for me and let me know if you see anything in your area that looks like fun!

Until then, have a great time and stay on your bike ! !