Shit man, it is like birthday week. JAPs have it good I guess.
I have no shown my face at an MTBNJ events since my racing year of 2011 (2 whole races). Not sure if I want to come out of internet hiding.
Moon Shadows are Evil
- Thread starter stb222
- Start date
Shit man, it is like birthday week. JAPs have it good I guess.
I have no shown my face at an MTBNJ events since my racing year of 2011 (2 whole races). Not sure if I want to come out of internet hiding.
Well you did show up to my place for a night ride with Ben, Lance and myself that one time during the winter...
These are the type of mornings I sometimes dream about. Clear, cool and a moon like a spot light in the sky. The contrast between an open field and tree cover was stark. Managed maybe 12 miles without lights, most of that in a 10 mile section just by moon light. Pleasant Valley was something else with the moon light and fog in the little valleys. At dusk the moon was on the horizon was huge and I wish the iPhone camera could even come close to capturing it, however I did stop and try. Legs weren't particularly into riding this morning, but today I could have cared less.
The Moon Convinces Me to Ride by Its Light as I Transcend into the Night: aka, This Unhappy Gen Y'er’s Way of Say'n I Rode by Moonlight for 12 Miles
The Moon Convinces Me to Ride by Its Light as I Transcend into the Night: aka, This Unhappy Gen Y'er’s Way of Say'n I Rode by Moonlight for 12 Miles
Low light pictures with an iphone suck, or at least I suck taking them.
Tour de Pink 2013, Day 2
For the past few years I have ridden a single day of the 3-day Tour de Pink. The overall route this year was Philadelphia to Washington D.C. This year I rode the second day from Lancaster to Fredrick, MD and the route went right through my hometown of York, PA. We drove out to Lancaster on Friday night and I had my wife and son in-tow. Lancaster was always the hipper city compared to York and that still seems to be the case. More night light than I expected and hipsters out and about, albeit rural hipsters, but hipsters nonetheless.
Up at 6, which is an hour to hour and a half later than my normal waking time and almost seems like sleeping in however somehow I don’t think anything before 8 can be considered sleeping in, unless you are soundz and you just slept for 24hrs straight. Get registered and enjoy some breakfast that was blah but what was to be expected. Chat it up with a few peps I know from pervious rides and some of my wife’s friends. I do not see these people often and in this group I am simply referred to as Jodi’s Husband, which is fine because I don’t know most of their names either. Round up the family and head to the start.
Thank a higher power that my son got my wife’s looks
This event is awesome and riding beside breast cancer survivors is always an amazing and even more so since many of these women have ridden a bike all of 200 miles to train to ride 220 miles over 3-days. Chatting at the start one of the guys I know that did RAGBRAI this year have one of those saddles with two noses:
When one long slender object up your ass just isn’t enough
I am asking him how he likes it and another dude rolls up with one and says something to the effect that it is most amazing thing to ever massage his taint while riding and how he bought 2 just to have a spare. I will have to take his word for it as even the SMP saddles make fun of this one.
So announcements and such, cheer, clap, cheer some more and we are off.
The first few miles are chill and I ride with some of the survivors and other peps I know. So most of your know that I am not much of a social butterfly and will eventually leave a group if I get bored or whatever. I left Dustin and crew for dead in PA at TDP two years ago and I have left other groups at HOH and such. Obviously this is a little different but about 3 miles in I decide to bridge up to the faster riders as I have some planned detours from the route. There is a little hill and I ride my normal pace and an alone in roughly 30 secs. I see a group up ahead and catch them fairly quickly I talk with them for a few min and ask them if anyone else is up ahead and they say one group. So after a few min with that group I go try to get on that train.
I catch them right before the first rest stop at 15 miles and it is at that has a miniature golf course that I used to go to as a kid. We are at the rest stop for a few min and are off. Two of the riders I know are good and the other two are a tad squirrelly in a line. I am on home turf at this point am just taking in the changes over time to where I grew up. I don’t have much desire to go back there, but the nostalgia is too much to deny. We pass curbs I used to skate, the taco bell we used to chill at, the gas station we exploded just a few 100psi bmx tires enough that we were banned from using the air and places that are no longer and places that are exactly the same.
Entering the city, I tell my group I am taking a detour to see my grandpa who is in a nursing home a mile off the route. Shortly have I take a left and head to see him as he is in failing health and my mom has given me the “last chance before death” call numerous times now. I visit with him for maybe a half of an hour and I am sure he is just thrilled to see me in spandex and then set back to the route.
I take a slightly different way back and hit a local climb and KOM it. I didn’t really plan on that but I’ll take it. I had planned on hitting some other climbs but I was trying to meet my wife at a certain time at the end and didn’t want to extend it too much. So off through the finer parts of York and out to the countryside. I am in no mans land, no one to draft and the few groups/people I come across are going much slower than my liking. Thankfully, there was a tail wind my “training” has conditioned me to ride the same speed for a long time. Got to the second rest stop to check in and was still ahead of most people. Back at it and with the tail wind I am flying. I aim for a 20mph avg as I was moving pretty good on the flats an rollers. I also KOM a section on the outskirts of Gettysburg that I didn’t know was there. Through Gettysburg and battlefield and stop to take some pics
In the distance I see two hills and know that they must be Big and Little Roundtop and take my second detour to go check them out. Growing up near there I have been on roughly 120 field trips to the battlefields but as a kid I don’t think you appreciate this stuff like you do as an adult. So I ride up to the top of little round top and walk over to check the view. This ridge played just a little part of why we don’t have the confederate flag flying over the land, so I take it in for a min. I also wanted to see Devil’s Den and see it in the valley below.
Lots of people died here and stuff
Go down to Devil’s Den and somehow got a picture that isn’t littered with cub scouts and other tourists. Chill there for a min and make my way back to the route. The battefields are something of a national landmark and the roads within the park are simply superb, smooth pavement, small hills and windy. I highly recommend if you are in the area. Back on the route I get to the next rest stop. Call the wife and I have a little extra time until she will be at the end.
Devil’s Den
Lots of people died here and stuff too
Looking Up Little Round Top
Nothing says honor your country's hallowed ground like fluorescent green shirts (note, I am wearing pink polkagyle spandex).
Coming into Emmetsburg, MD, I see this in the distance:
So I try to find a way to ride up it. I see one other guys from the ride and ask him if he wants to find a way up that and he looks at me like I have a huge dick growing out of my forehead, so I took take that as a NO. Make my way there and I don’t find a road that goes to the top, but one that sort of does and I ride that then back to the course.
For the past few years I have ridden a single day of the 3-day Tour de Pink. The overall route this year was Philadelphia to Washington D.C. This year I rode the second day from Lancaster to Fredrick, MD and the route went right through my hometown of York, PA. We drove out to Lancaster on Friday night and I had my wife and son in-tow. Lancaster was always the hipper city compared to York and that still seems to be the case. More night light than I expected and hipsters out and about, albeit rural hipsters, but hipsters nonetheless.
Up at 6, which is an hour to hour and a half later than my normal waking time and almost seems like sleeping in however somehow I don’t think anything before 8 can be considered sleeping in, unless you are soundz and you just slept for 24hrs straight. Get registered and enjoy some breakfast that was blah but what was to be expected. Chat it up with a few peps I know from pervious rides and some of my wife’s friends. I do not see these people often and in this group I am simply referred to as Jodi’s Husband, which is fine because I don’t know most of their names either. Round up the family and head to the start.
Thank a higher power that my son got my wife’s looks
This event is awesome and riding beside breast cancer survivors is always an amazing and even more so since many of these women have ridden a bike all of 200 miles to train to ride 220 miles over 3-days. Chatting at the start one of the guys I know that did RAGBRAI this year have one of those saddles with two noses:
When one long slender object up your ass just isn’t enough
I am asking him how he likes it and another dude rolls up with one and says something to the effect that it is most amazing thing to ever massage his taint while riding and how he bought 2 just to have a spare. I will have to take his word for it as even the SMP saddles make fun of this one.
So announcements and such, cheer, clap, cheer some more and we are off.
The first few miles are chill and I ride with some of the survivors and other peps I know. So most of your know that I am not much of a social butterfly and will eventually leave a group if I get bored or whatever. I left Dustin and crew for dead in PA at TDP two years ago and I have left other groups at HOH and such. Obviously this is a little different but about 3 miles in I decide to bridge up to the faster riders as I have some planned detours from the route. There is a little hill and I ride my normal pace and an alone in roughly 30 secs. I see a group up ahead and catch them fairly quickly I talk with them for a few min and ask them if anyone else is up ahead and they say one group. So after a few min with that group I go try to get on that train.
I catch them right before the first rest stop at 15 miles and it is at that has a miniature golf course that I used to go to as a kid. We are at the rest stop for a few min and are off. Two of the riders I know are good and the other two are a tad squirrelly in a line. I am on home turf at this point am just taking in the changes over time to where I grew up. I don’t have much desire to go back there, but the nostalgia is too much to deny. We pass curbs I used to skate, the taco bell we used to chill at, the gas station we exploded just a few 100psi bmx tires enough that we were banned from using the air and places that are no longer and places that are exactly the same.
Entering the city, I tell my group I am taking a detour to see my grandpa who is in a nursing home a mile off the route. Shortly have I take a left and head to see him as he is in failing health and my mom has given me the “last chance before death” call numerous times now. I visit with him for maybe a half of an hour and I am sure he is just thrilled to see me in spandex and then set back to the route.
I take a slightly different way back and hit a local climb and KOM it. I didn’t really plan on that but I’ll take it. I had planned on hitting some other climbs but I was trying to meet my wife at a certain time at the end and didn’t want to extend it too much. So off through the finer parts of York and out to the countryside. I am in no mans land, no one to draft and the few groups/people I come across are going much slower than my liking. Thankfully, there was a tail wind my “training” has conditioned me to ride the same speed for a long time. Got to the second rest stop to check in and was still ahead of most people. Back at it and with the tail wind I am flying. I aim for a 20mph avg as I was moving pretty good on the flats an rollers. I also KOM a section on the outskirts of Gettysburg that I didn’t know was there. Through Gettysburg and battlefield and stop to take some pics
In the distance I see two hills and know that they must be Big and Little Roundtop and take my second detour to go check them out. Growing up near there I have been on roughly 120 field trips to the battlefields but as a kid I don’t think you appreciate this stuff like you do as an adult. So I ride up to the top of little round top and walk over to check the view. This ridge played just a little part of why we don’t have the confederate flag flying over the land, so I take it in for a min. I also wanted to see Devil’s Den and see it in the valley below.
Lots of people died here and stuff
Go down to Devil’s Den and somehow got a picture that isn’t littered with cub scouts and other tourists. Chill there for a min and make my way back to the route. The battefields are something of a national landmark and the roads within the park are simply superb, smooth pavement, small hills and windy. I highly recommend if you are in the area. Back on the route I get to the next rest stop. Call the wife and I have a little extra time until she will be at the end.
Devil’s Den
Lots of people died here and stuff too
Looking Up Little Round Top
Nothing says honor your country's hallowed ground like fluorescent green shirts (note, I am wearing pink polkagyle spandex).
Coming into Emmetsburg, MD, I see this in the distance:
So I try to find a way to ride up it. I see one other guys from the ride and ask him if he wants to find a way up that and he looks at me like I have a huge dick growing out of my forehead, so I took take that as a NO. Make my way there and I don’t find a road that goes to the top, but one that sort of does and I ride that then back to the course.
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continued....
So now I am around 90 miles and starting to feel it. At this point the roads are good and the scenery too and it all kind of looks like this:
Then into Fredrick with not so great roads and then a really crappy road to get to the end hotel. Ride in and see my wife and son, who has a cowbell and a sign to which the other people at the end are glad to see the cowbell stop ringing. After that we go to my wife’s uncles house and they take us to see their horses to which my son rides them:
Hey Sexy Lady
And the house they that board them at has these:
Dad, Were Not in Jersey Anymore
This was a great day on the bike, good roads, a tail wind, nostalgia, good people and a great cause. 107 miles and 5 min short of a 20mph avg almost solo century.
So now I am around 90 miles and starting to feel it. At this point the roads are good and the scenery too and it all kind of looks like this:
Then into Fredrick with not so great roads and then a really crappy road to get to the end hotel. Ride in and see my wife and son, who has a cowbell and a sign to which the other people at the end are glad to see the cowbell stop ringing. After that we go to my wife’s uncles house and they take us to see their horses to which my son rides them:
Hey Sexy Lady
And the house they that board them at has these:
Dad, Were Not in Jersey Anymore
This was a great day on the bike, good roads, a tail wind, nostalgia, good people and a great cause. 107 miles and 5 min short of a 20mph avg almost solo century.
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great write up kev. hope my philly ride in october is half as eventful.
The nerve.
I LOLed at the dick on the forehead, thanks. Awesome ride and impressive speed! I'll give the credit to the wind though 😀
Also known as a google alert!
Decide to write a little recap about yesterday as it was a milestone as my longest ride mileage and just a fantastic day on a bike. Last week on twitter there was some back and forth between some MTBNJ regulars relating to racing cross and fashion sense and the end result was mattybfat saying that this is the time of year where pedaling all day is the way to go and I couldn’t agree more and planned to do as such.
Many of you know my riding patterns, 1-2 to hour loops at tempo, the majority of days and very few long rides. I rarely get to pedal all day but the Covered Bridges ride is one day I like to commit to. When I do ride, I like to get the most out of the time I have taken from other things and last year I rode to and from the ride and this year I planned to do the same….
So I did something of a taper last week so I would have something in my legs for this long day. Didn’t look much different than my normal weeks but I kept the rides slightly shorter and did some commuting to just spin out a bit. By the end of the week I felt fantastic and it was one of the weeks I could eat whatever I wanted and my weight stayed the same. Speaking of such, I started riding a bit more since this weather is tits and if you looks at my history, my highest hours/month are between October and March. Anyways, I dropped about 2 lbs since August and have been maintaining that without really watching what I eat. So this makes me 10lbs less than May when I stopped eating bagels and muffins for breakfast every day and replaced it with greek yogurt. This is the longest I have maintain any change in my diet and it is reflected in ability to climb faster than I did previously.
I had a loose plan for the day and was looking for some different was to the start of the ride. Last year I rode along the river to and from and this year I wanted to stay in the hills to add some elevation overall. I set out just before twilight and the moon was bright enough to add a little light and more than enough to see by. It was incredibly clear the entire day with strong winds out of the west, which ment I would be riding into it the whole way there. Took a relatively flatroute to outside of Sergeantsville, went through a covered bridge and then headed north on 519. I stopped to take this picture will long shadows over a field and the moon still out. I rarely stop on my rides and criticize Capers for doing such, but when I stopped, there wasn’t a sound to be had other than the wind in the trees and grass (and this song stuck in my head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlcIKh6sBtc
) and it was one of those moments you are just happy for the things you have a feel blessed to be in that place at that time. Other than that AH-HA moment, nothing much to report and made my way to the start of the ride with 33 miles.
Long Shadows – Rosemont Ringoes Road
Get to the park and go to register, where M-O is the only place there is a line…. Also, the dude in the yellow is fucking pissed no one is in the F-H line.
After checking in, ate 2 Krispy Kreme donuts, had some hot cider and just do some people watching for a min. All the crazies were out due to the nice weather and it is always fun to see some of the stuff people wear and weird setups they have. I didn’t see anyone I knew (I know like 15 people), so I headed out. There was a little bit of a traffic jam before the tow path and I was stuck beside some lady that was analyzing how the line at the porta-potty could have been mitigated and I immediately knew I needed to remedy that situation and I just got around her just before the path. Whew.
The start was in the low 40’s and I pride myself on being able to pick the right clothes from what I have learned and many other people just don’t do the same. Within the first 2 miles, saw multiple people stopping and wrapping their fleeces around their waste and such or stuff things in to their gigantic seatbags. I am spinning along hoping to find someone to latch onto and no dice. There is a long low-grade climb for awhile and all I am doing is passing people. That is the pisser about going solo to one of these rides. Unless you are lucky to latch onto a group, you aren’t gonna see anyone faster unless they come by you or you catch up with someone at a rest stop. Luck is not on my side in that respect and I just continue to solo.
One thing I was glad to see is that every person was not stopping at stop signs and such. It stinks when people are stopped and you come by and just blow through it and I was able to avoid that un-comfortableness. A mile or two before the first rest stop, there is a really fast downhill that ends at a traffic light. The intersection is an odd configuration and I could tell the light was traffic generated, meaning if a car doesn’t come, it ain’t a changing. So I am with about ten people and they are just sitting there. I did stop but end up going through and got numerous comments for doing such but one, they can SAD and two, I get the last laugh because that light was never gonna change. The hill before the rest stop is fairly long with a few steep-er sections and people are hurting. I saw one guy they looked bad enough I almost asked him if he was ok, but that would be a super dick move as I am spinning a 90 rpm cadence and it would just look like I am rubbing it in. I think I passed 200 people on this hill.
At the rest stop I immediately notice the lack of home baked goods as they have all packaged stuff, can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I fill the water bottle and slam some chocolate chip cookies and I see people I know from the Tour de Pink and talk with them for a min. They are doing the 50, which the courses are the same except for the middle. They know I am not even gonna act like I am going to ride with them, so I head out. Leaving the parking lot I see Trek Bob (I don’t know his last name but you may have seen him in almost any of the shops in the area and he rides a TREK even though none of the shops he goes in sells them). I ride with him for a few miles but he is waiting for a friend, so off I go.
At this point in the ride I noticed that they took out at least two bigger climbs compared to last year. There is one steeper one around mile 40? But other than that, it is all smaller rollers. We are out of the woods now and in some fields and I just settle in a cruise along. Every so often I acquire some wheel sucker but they never last the second a small hill comes. Still don’t find anyone to latch so just keep doing what I am doing. Another rest stop with a few baked goods but still lacking from previous years. I eat a homemade kandycake style thing and it taste like crap, I throw it in the grass.
More of the same, small hills, a few wheel suckers and before the last rest stop, I pass the people from the TDP again, which they rode 13 miles less, hence why they knew I wasn’t gonna go that pace, oh and and a covered bridge here and there, this one being right after the last rest stop:
BTW, at the last rest stop there were more home baked goods and I slammed like 2-15 chocolate chip cookie bars and some snicker doodles. They were the shit….
Anyways, climbing out of this bridge, there is an older guy that sees me right as I am about to pass him on his left. He immediately picks up the pace and starts to move over. I find this amusing and just stay beside him, my front wheel maybe even with his cranks and he just keeps moving over and over until someone is coming the other way and I drop back. Good job dude, you win. I pass him after the next intersection and never see him again.
In the home stretch now and on some really skinny roads. Lots of rider around and there is an colder couple in a civic and a girl in a jeep liberty. They are having trouble passing and I am keeping pace with them and passing them here and there where people won’t move over. On this steep little rise, there is a guy in a NYC gran fonda jersey that is riding solo in the middle of the road. I am two back from him and this car is trying to get passed but this dude won’t move over for no reason at all. I am all for taking the lane, but this dude was pushing it. He is about to get a move over fucktard from me but he tries to sprint up this little hill and leaves a UGGGHHHHH at the top and stops, so that took care of itself. I felt bad for these drivers as they just couldn’t get around everyone. They final got away at the same spot where the dude on the hybrid handed Manny his ass a few years ago.
Many of you know my riding patterns, 1-2 to hour loops at tempo, the majority of days and very few long rides. I rarely get to pedal all day but the Covered Bridges ride is one day I like to commit to. When I do ride, I like to get the most out of the time I have taken from other things and last year I rode to and from the ride and this year I planned to do the same….
So I did something of a taper last week so I would have something in my legs for this long day. Didn’t look much different than my normal weeks but I kept the rides slightly shorter and did some commuting to just spin out a bit. By the end of the week I felt fantastic and it was one of the weeks I could eat whatever I wanted and my weight stayed the same. Speaking of such, I started riding a bit more since this weather is tits and if you looks at my history, my highest hours/month are between October and March. Anyways, I dropped about 2 lbs since August and have been maintaining that without really watching what I eat. So this makes me 10lbs less than May when I stopped eating bagels and muffins for breakfast every day and replaced it with greek yogurt. This is the longest I have maintain any change in my diet and it is reflected in ability to climb faster than I did previously.
I had a loose plan for the day and was looking for some different was to the start of the ride. Last year I rode along the river to and from and this year I wanted to stay in the hills to add some elevation overall. I set out just before twilight and the moon was bright enough to add a little light and more than enough to see by. It was incredibly clear the entire day with strong winds out of the west, which ment I would be riding into it the whole way there. Took a relatively flatroute to outside of Sergeantsville, went through a covered bridge and then headed north on 519. I stopped to take this picture will long shadows over a field and the moon still out. I rarely stop on my rides and criticize Capers for doing such, but when I stopped, there wasn’t a sound to be had other than the wind in the trees and grass (and this song stuck in my head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlcIKh6sBtc
) and it was one of those moments you are just happy for the things you have a feel blessed to be in that place at that time. Other than that AH-HA moment, nothing much to report and made my way to the start of the ride with 33 miles.
Long Shadows – Rosemont Ringoes Road
Get to the park and go to register, where M-O is the only place there is a line…. Also, the dude in the yellow is fucking pissed no one is in the F-H line.
After checking in, ate 2 Krispy Kreme donuts, had some hot cider and just do some people watching for a min. All the crazies were out due to the nice weather and it is always fun to see some of the stuff people wear and weird setups they have. I didn’t see anyone I knew (I know like 15 people), so I headed out. There was a little bit of a traffic jam before the tow path and I was stuck beside some lady that was analyzing how the line at the porta-potty could have been mitigated and I immediately knew I needed to remedy that situation and I just got around her just before the path. Whew.
The start was in the low 40’s and I pride myself on being able to pick the right clothes from what I have learned and many other people just don’t do the same. Within the first 2 miles, saw multiple people stopping and wrapping their fleeces around their waste and such or stuff things in to their gigantic seatbags. I am spinning along hoping to find someone to latch onto and no dice. There is a long low-grade climb for awhile and all I am doing is passing people. That is the pisser about going solo to one of these rides. Unless you are lucky to latch onto a group, you aren’t gonna see anyone faster unless they come by you or you catch up with someone at a rest stop. Luck is not on my side in that respect and I just continue to solo.
One thing I was glad to see is that every person was not stopping at stop signs and such. It stinks when people are stopped and you come by and just blow through it and I was able to avoid that un-comfortableness. A mile or two before the first rest stop, there is a really fast downhill that ends at a traffic light. The intersection is an odd configuration and I could tell the light was traffic generated, meaning if a car doesn’t come, it ain’t a changing. So I am with about ten people and they are just sitting there. I did stop but end up going through and got numerous comments for doing such but one, they can SAD and two, I get the last laugh because that light was never gonna change. The hill before the rest stop is fairly long with a few steep-er sections and people are hurting. I saw one guy they looked bad enough I almost asked him if he was ok, but that would be a super dick move as I am spinning a 90 rpm cadence and it would just look like I am rubbing it in. I think I passed 200 people on this hill.
At the rest stop I immediately notice the lack of home baked goods as they have all packaged stuff, can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I fill the water bottle and slam some chocolate chip cookies and I see people I know from the Tour de Pink and talk with them for a min. They are doing the 50, which the courses are the same except for the middle. They know I am not even gonna act like I am going to ride with them, so I head out. Leaving the parking lot I see Trek Bob (I don’t know his last name but you may have seen him in almost any of the shops in the area and he rides a TREK even though none of the shops he goes in sells them). I ride with him for a few miles but he is waiting for a friend, so off I go.
At this point in the ride I noticed that they took out at least two bigger climbs compared to last year. There is one steeper one around mile 40? But other than that, it is all smaller rollers. We are out of the woods now and in some fields and I just settle in a cruise along. Every so often I acquire some wheel sucker but they never last the second a small hill comes. Still don’t find anyone to latch so just keep doing what I am doing. Another rest stop with a few baked goods but still lacking from previous years. I eat a homemade kandycake style thing and it taste like crap, I throw it in the grass.
More of the same, small hills, a few wheel suckers and before the last rest stop, I pass the people from the TDP again, which they rode 13 miles less, hence why they knew I wasn’t gonna go that pace, oh and and a covered bridge here and there, this one being right after the last rest stop:
BTW, at the last rest stop there were more home baked goods and I slammed like 2-15 chocolate chip cookie bars and some snicker doodles. They were the shit….
Anyways, climbing out of this bridge, there is an older guy that sees me right as I am about to pass him on his left. He immediately picks up the pace and starts to move over. I find this amusing and just stay beside him, my front wheel maybe even with his cranks and he just keeps moving over and over until someone is coming the other way and I drop back. Good job dude, you win. I pass him after the next intersection and never see him again.
In the home stretch now and on some really skinny roads. Lots of rider around and there is an colder couple in a civic and a girl in a jeep liberty. They are having trouble passing and I am keeping pace with them and passing them here and there where people won’t move over. On this steep little rise, there is a guy in a NYC gran fonda jersey that is riding solo in the middle of the road. I am two back from him and this car is trying to get passed but this dude won’t move over for no reason at all. I am all for taking the lane, but this dude was pushing it. He is about to get a move over fucktard from me but he tries to sprint up this little hill and leaves a UGGGHHHHH at the top and stops, so that took care of itself. I felt bad for these drivers as they just couldn’t get around everyone. They final got away at the same spot where the dude on the hybrid handed Manny his ass a few years ago.
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At this point I am around 90 miles and feeling great and maintaining a higher cadence. I finish the ride and do some more people watching before I head home. You could have spent all watching this crowd. A few things I noticed are incredibly large saddle bags, fluorescent jerseys, very overdressed people, a few on recumbent bikes, a few on elliptical bikes and even one dude with this bibs over his jersey, which you know there always has to be one of them. Oh and clip-ons galore, which help your 14mph average spike to 14.05 mph…
I also noticed that these things travel in packs:
Fluorescent Posse Looking to Regulate
Large Seat Bag Epidemic
Seat Bags and Clip-Ons, The Horror.
Must be something within groups that they think whatever they have is the norm. I guess this is just human nature in group settings but all I can say is that Arwen’s Mom’s bike and outfits and Lance’s knee warmer sans arm warmer with fedora look would feel right at home on this ride.
One the way home, I ended up have more time than I expected and decided to not ride the river back and find my way to some of my favorite roads out this way. PA 32 is in specially bad condition up this way so I bail out on Dark Hollow Rd and climb back up the ridge. I stop to take a shity picture of the headless bike man:
I am finding my way to bomb Tohicken Hill Road, which is one of my favorite hills in the area. Unknowingly am back tracking part of the route and go through one of the covered bridges the opposite direction. Eventually I found the downhill, which was like descending through a yellow tunnel, most certainly fits in the tits category. Then I see this in Lumberville, which I thought was good:
Trying to decide where to go from here and stop to take this, which used to be a bigger waterfall:
Then did a semi normal route through New Hope, climbing up the ridge before I got there and over eagle road on the way home. Somewhere around here it is mile 119 my legs are starting to feel it on the hills. I am taking it easy for the most part but still feeling it. Stop to take a selfie on Washington x-ing bridge and then rode through the park on the NJ side.
If There Isn't a Selfie and a Strava File, it Didn't Happen. I alos thought selfie ment something different...
Felt really good at the end, which is nice. Finished off the ride with a few spin around my neighborhood.
This was my longest ride to date mileage wise and definitely up there with my most favorite days on the bike ever. I had the legs, the time (no pressure to be home at x time) and super fantastic weather. After I got home, spent the evening with my wife and son and it was the perfect way to end the day.
These are the days when you know there wasn’t much more you could have gotten out of life.
Covered Bridges 2013
In other news, I did my first ever recovery ride today……
I also noticed that these things travel in packs:
Fluorescent Posse Looking to Regulate
Large Seat Bag Epidemic
Seat Bags and Clip-Ons, The Horror.
Must be something within groups that they think whatever they have is the norm. I guess this is just human nature in group settings but all I can say is that Arwen’s Mom’s bike and outfits and Lance’s knee warmer sans arm warmer with fedora look would feel right at home on this ride.
One the way home, I ended up have more time than I expected and decided to not ride the river back and find my way to some of my favorite roads out this way. PA 32 is in specially bad condition up this way so I bail out on Dark Hollow Rd and climb back up the ridge. I stop to take a shity picture of the headless bike man:
I am finding my way to bomb Tohicken Hill Road, which is one of my favorite hills in the area. Unknowingly am back tracking part of the route and go through one of the covered bridges the opposite direction. Eventually I found the downhill, which was like descending through a yellow tunnel, most certainly fits in the tits category. Then I see this in Lumberville, which I thought was good:
Trying to decide where to go from here and stop to take this, which used to be a bigger waterfall:
Then did a semi normal route through New Hope, climbing up the ridge before I got there and over eagle road on the way home. Somewhere around here it is mile 119 my legs are starting to feel it on the hills. I am taking it easy for the most part but still feeling it. Stop to take a selfie on Washington x-ing bridge and then rode through the park on the NJ side.
If There Isn't a Selfie and a Strava File, it Didn't Happen. I alos thought selfie ment something different...
Felt really good at the end, which is nice. Finished off the ride with a few spin around my neighborhood.
This was my longest ride to date mileage wise and definitely up there with my most favorite days on the bike ever. I had the legs, the time (no pressure to be home at x time) and super fantastic weather. After I got home, spent the evening with my wife and son and it was the perfect way to end the day.
These are the days when you know there wasn’t much more you could have gotten out of life.
Covered Bridges 2013
In other news, I did my first ever recovery ride today……
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