The End Of Summer

Rode a brisk 13.5 loop today plus a couple of extra miles doing errands to end August with just over 429 miles. My year to date total is, as expected, way down from the previous two years. Riding tomorrow should put me over the two thousand mark for the year. Still not too shabby, I guess.

It was cold this morning. Well, I guess 62 degrees isn't cold, but it sure felt different. We were dressed in long sleeves and the unmistakable reality of summer's end and autumn's approach was in the air. I'm sure there will be plenty of hot days yet to come, but the change is coming. As I may have mentioned, we are already using lights in the morning when we go out.

A week from Sunday is Bike Philly. It will be the first and only organized ride that we've done this season. Strange, after so many rides the past two years. But it has been that kind of year. I'm looking forward to it.

Tough Day - Late Ride

I officiated at a funeral for a 24 year old man who took his own life. It was a long and draining day. I did not ride this morning having been out working too late last night to get up early. So after the funeral I came home and changed and rode 22 therapeutic miles. I actually didn't ride well. My legs felt sluggish. Maybe tired, maybe not used to riding late in the day, maybe the heat; but the ride felt great.

Catching Up

The summer heat and humidity has been here for real this past week and I love it. Annie and I continue to ride regularly but nothing out of the ordinary so I haven't felt much like blogging. We had a great ride Sunday morning and then drove to New York to visit our kids. We spent some time walking through Central Park and I got a nice photo of the pedicabs at work, but lost it. We rode Monday and Tuesday as usual
but I took Wednesday, traditionally my long ride day, off. Didn't get on the bike at all. I really needed the break and felt much better. Yesterday and today my riding was much stronger and faster.

While we were in NY on Sunday the annual Lancaster Covered Bridge Metric Century was going on. We've done that ride the last two years but chose not to this year for a bunch of reasons. Sadly this week I read the following article.

Bicyclist Killed During Ride Through Rural Pa.
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) ― A cyclist participating in a bicycle club ride died after a collision in Lancaster County.

Lancaster Bicycle Club spokesman Ed Gower says the crash happened about 9:30 a.m. on Sunday during the club's Covered Bridge Metric Century Ride.

Police would not release the victim's name or any information about the incident.

Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said the 60-year-old man died of traumatic head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gower said 4,100 riders participated in Sunday's 63-mile ride. Now in its 31st year, the ride winds through some of the county's rural areas and passes through six covered bridges.

A real shame.Later articles explained that the man lost control of his bike on a descent and went over some kind of embankment.

Hope the weather holds for the weekend. Lots of rain predicted.

Bikeways Meeting

An off day riding-wise. Even though it is Wednesday, my usual day for a long ride, other obligations interfered. And Annie was home, which she usually is not on Wednesday. So we were up early and did our usual loop together.

But tonight I am writing from a public hearing about the proposed Center City Bikeway plan - to replace one lane of car traffic on Spruce and Pine streets with a generous bike lane. The meeting is just getting started, so more later.

Later: A great presentation by the city with theusual strident responses by those against on the one side and those for on the other. Either way the city is going ahead and then we'll see.

Long Ride To Nowhere

I rode close to 50 miles today, though when I went out I hadn't really intended to. Reports continued to suggest that parts of the trail to Valley Forge were still in a state of disrepair from Sunday's storm and I didn't want to deal with it. So I just went around the loop and kept going and going. I only stopped briefly at Logan Hall for a cliff bar and to refill my water bottle after loop 3. This photo was taken near the end of loop 4 when my foot was hurting and I took another break. I sat at a picnic table for 10 minutes or so surrounded by the geese. Not exciting but a decent way to work off my stress.

The Hazards Of City Riding

With summer weather finally here we had a lovely morning ride...except for the realization that it is already getting darker when we leave the house a few minutes before 6 AM! Not quite needing lights yet, but I can see the day coming and I'm not happy.

Switched to the Brompton for a day riding around the city. Only as I prepared to come home did I notice that a friendly pigeon had left me proof of his existence on my saddle. Nobody talks much about that particular hazard of city riding.

This Time The Rain Won

It seems like we've been racing against the rain for weeks. Up until today we've been lucky, getting our various rides in before or between storms. No such luck today. We were out at 6 AM and were caught in a torrential downpour around 6:30 coming up the end of Kelly Drive, over the bridge and (then it really started to come down) along West River Drive. We were soundly soaked, but it had abated by the time we reached the museum and we continued along our way. Not so bad.