Annie's Back!

It was really nice to get out on the trail this morning with Annie. Here she is (and below) decked out in our Lancaster Covered Bridges Jersey. Despite having had x-rays only yesterday and not knowing the results yet, there seemed to be no reason to stay off the bike. The pain she has is only when the area on the side of the ankle is touched; neither walking nor riding seems to impact it (we hope!) Since she's already been spinning in the house all week and we are still psyched for our big Labor Day ride, getting back on the road today seemed important. We had a good ride, good pace until a train blocked our return. We lost some time going up the Chestnut Street ramp and home on the streets, but it gave us a few extra miles and some good work on the hill. No incidents, thankfully. In fact, the spinning workouts are clearly more strenuous than our usual ride and Annie's general fitness and leg strength seemed better today than if she had been biking all this week.

On another front: we decided to sell the Treks! They just don't seem nearly comfortable enough for where we are now. If we need fatter tires for trail riding next summer we can either buy something with less of a "comfort" set-up since that set-up no longer feels comfortable, or try to get fatter tires that we can change-out on the Fuji's. So, the first Trek, mine, was sold in an hour. The other one, Annie's step-through frame may take longer or may not sell at all. We'll see. Next to go will be the Citizen folders.

Last night we took our second of the four class series on Bicycle maintenance. We learned how to take apart, clean and re-assemble a bottom bracket. Great fun!

I've got the bike with me for some errands, so the mileage chart will be updated later.



Finally, just a quick report on a new book. I read Tour de Life, by Saul Raisin and Dave Shield. It's an unbelievable story. Raisin suffered a catastrophic fall that resulted in a coma and necessitated brain surgery just to keep him alive. His prognosis to live was not good; his prognosis to walk was not good; his prognosis to ride a bike was impossible and his prognosis to race at the professional level was beyond impossible. Never the less he will be racing in the U.S Championships coming up this weekend! The story is moving. The funny thing is that while he emerges as an inspirational figure, the recovery proceeds through personality changes that do not really allow him to emerge as a very likable character. One assumes that as time passes this will change. The writing is not as good as the writing in Dave Shield's novels. He obviously needed to create lot's of dialog where the actual conversations could not be recorded or remembered or were conducted in French and broken French. This accounts for a lot of stilted dialog that one has to just read with a grain of salt. In addition to the link above, I've added the link to the side bar book&movie section for your later consideration.

Countdown To Connecticut

On Friday morning we will board a bus in West Orange New Jersey, after spending the night with Tamar and Alan who live not far from there, taking us to Camp Isabella Freedman in Falls Village Connecticut. We will spend Friday and Saturday there enjoying the Sabbath filled with opportunities to learn and share with others around environmental themes and their relationship to Jewish texts, traditions and communities. On Sunday morning we will ride from Camp Freedman to Camp Kinder Ring in Hopewell Junction New York. There are various routes, but I think ours will take us between 50-60 miles. On Monday we will ride from Hopewell Junction to Manhattan along the Westchester Bike trail, another 60 miles. We are excited and have prepared all summer for this ride. The only problem is Annie's physical condition following Thursday's accident. She is still pretty sore, especially around her ankle. It does not appear to be broken nor particularly sprained and she is walking relatively well. But it is very tender to the touch and she did not bike today for fear of just knocking the foot against something. We thought about wrapping it in bubble wrap but it just didn't seem worth it. She is feeling disheartened and "picked-on" by fate. She did work out hard today on the spinner, so her fitness should remain good. I am hopeful that as the week passes her wounds will heal and her confidence will return. It would be a real shame if the highlight that we've worked toward for the whole summer was ruined because of that stupid dog walker!
So I rode on my own this morning again. I was up early and out quickly and rode with very good speed. I was able to do the loop three times for a 29.8 addition to the mileage chart. I didn't enjoy it as much as usual because I felt badly about Annie's not riding. But it was a good ride.

Riding Solo Again

Good news and bad news. Bad news is that, as expected, Annie could not ride today. Her ankle is making progress, the swelling is down, but she's not road-ready. So I had to ride by myself today. The other bad news is that the weather is not getting any more enticing. It is oppressively overcast today and though I've taken my bike with me to do hospital visits I am now seriously worried about rain.
The good news, such as it is, is that being on my own I was able to get out of the house a bit more efficiently and ride at a harder pace and therefore road 17.6 miles this morning instead of the usual 13. The extra pounding felt good. Since, as mentioned, I have the bike with me I won't be posting today's mileage until later.
Also, since I was alone, I wore my ipod. I know there is a lot of controversy about how safe this is, but I use a one ear piece headphone, only listen to podcasts which I think are not as distracting as music, and have found no problem in hearing everything along the ride: cars, other people, etc. For those offended, my apologies. I "discovered" a new bicycling podcast, which was lucky since I'm all caught up on the archives of my other favorites, The Fredcast, The Spokesmen, The Bike Show, Bikescape,etc. and after the intense activity around the TdeF no one has been putting much out lately. So I found The Two Johns and listened to my first show on this morning's ride. Nice stuff.

Annie Can't Win

After our great ride on Sunday Annie's confidence was just about all the way back and her lingering aches and pains were just about gone. But it seems she just can't win. This morning just at the end of our ride she collided with a dog. Said dog was not leashed and its owner was sauntering along the path some yards distant from the site of the crash. The level of inconsiderateness, stupidity, irresponsibility and self-centered-ness is astounding. The dog walkers, I've said from the beginning, are the worst offenders hands down among the various people who make sharing a multi-use trail difficult. They have no sense of where they are as long as their little puppies have the freedom to do whatever they need to do. We were furious, but, thankfully, it does not appear that Annie was seriously hurt. Her right side did take another hit and until we see how sore she gets we won't know for sure. Her glasses were bent, her head did hit, although not hard, so a new helmet may be in order and the bike will definitely have to be looked at again. The fenders, at the very least, look mis-aligned. I was so angry and so helpless. If it would not have taken hours I would have called 911 just to get a cop to cite the girl. It is, after all, illegal to walk a dog without a leash. We are amazed at how much we try to not only obey the rules of the path, but extend ourselves in the interest of politeness. Always calling out "bikes passing on the left" and so on and how many people just don't care. Cyclists who shoot by us on the left without a word, walkers walking 3 and 4 abreast plugged into ipods, skateboarders and dog walkers oblivious to everything. It really does suggest that the safest place to ride is in the road, but I'm not sure I could get Annie to go for that, especially since we ride when it is still dark and rush hour traffic is just getting going. What a bummer. And to top it off, the weather is still lousy.

I'm Clipped In!

The misty autumnal weather continued into today though I had hoped for a break. Not that it was raining hard, but misting and dark and very cool for this time of the year. That combined with being a little tired and I got off to a really late start for my Wednesday ride today. I didn't leave the house until around 10:30 and the dismal weather caused me to change my plans for the day. I had hoped to ride up the Wissahiken into and through Mt. Airy in hopes of getting all the way to Wynncote and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical college where I teach. I thought I had mapped out a route that might allow me to take my bike at least sometimes on teaching days. I was also carrying with me a new set of Shimano PD-M324 Pedals that I ordered. They arrived yesterday and my plan was to stop at the bike shop on the way home from the ride not only to have them put on, but more importantly, to see if I could find a comfortable bike shoe given my small, wide foot. These pedals are set up to use cleats on one side but a regular shoe on the other side. I figured this would allow me to use clipless when I'm just out riding, but still be able to wear regular shoes when I'm using the bike during the work day. But the unknown was whether I would find shoes that worked for me. But bummed out by the weather I decided to go to the bike shop first. Indeed I found a really nice pair of shoes, much less expensive than I had imagined, that fit fine. So I waited while they put the cleats on the shoes and the pedals on the bike. At that point I was going to start my ride (in regular shoes) but the weather had worsened. It was really kind of raining so I went home where, following the advice of the salesman at Bicycle Therapy, I stood over the bike in a doorway practicing getting in and out of one pedal at a time. I must say I felt like a jerk for awhile until I found the spot on the first foot and could get in and out reasonably well. Then I started on the other foot. By the time I felt, not exactly comfortable, but willing to give it a real life try, the rain had stopped. Still no sun and cool enough to wear a jacket (in August!) but I re-started my ride with the same destination in mind and wearing the new shoes and working the cleats in and out. Now, before I continue the saga, just let me say that I continue to ruminate on the inappropriateness of the term "clipless pedals." I know the history, that they are called clipless because they replace toe-clips (hence without toe-clips=clipless.) But it is really the only cycling term I've come across that is counter intuitive and, in fact, misleading. These shoes clip into the pedal. They should, by all rights be called "clip-in" pedals. Ah well, so much for logic. Anyway, I managed pretty well. I was told by someone to expect to fall four times while learning to use them. I only fell once. Very minor fall that I hardly felt. I am able to get into the pedals really well now, but getting out of the left to put my foot down is still a second or two slower than I want it to be. But that will come. Do they make a difference? It may be too soon to tell. I certainly felt the extra pull going up some of the big hills I took today and even felt a better level of efficiency on the flats. But I'm no racer and I'm not sure how much in the end they add. We'll see. Meanwhile, now I know what their like.

I rode into Mount Airy and realized that while I wasn't certain how long more it would take me to get to Wynncote and back, I'd already spent an hour and because of my late start didn't have the time to find out today. I had to be home before 4 PM and would need to eat and shower before that. But just riding around Mt. Airy is quite lovely. I passed this great house with this great piece on its front lawn. Took the picture and headed home only managing about 20 miles. Not much for a Wednesday, but I'm still a little tired from the weekend and my legs felt heavier than they have lately.

League of American Bicyclists

Hey, give this e-mail I received a read and consider joing the League. They do get work advocating for cyclists. and if you decide to join, cut and paste the link so that I get the credit! Who does it hurt?


BikeLeague: Be a Member, Get a Member Campaign - Win Prizes


Dear Ira:

Now, through October 19, 2007 you can help power the League across the country with new members … it’s 2,428 miles from San Diego to New York City, and we want to get there with your help.

Each new member that you refer pedals us one mile on our journey across America. Even better, each referral wins you a coupon for Performance Bicycle's on-line stores and when you refer three new members you are automatically entered in a raffle to win a new bike donated by our friends at City Bikes in Washington, D.C.

The process is simple:
This email includes a unique link that allows us to track your referrals. Forward this email to your friends and family. We have outlined the League membership benefits below. Be sure to add the reasons why you continue to support us in building a bicycle-friendly America.

http://www.bikeleague.org/cogs/join/nmgm/51202211

(If this link is not live, cut and paste it into your Internet browser)

Why Join the League?

1. We Protect the Rights of Cyclists
The League has been protecting your rights to safe and enjoyable cycling since 1880. What started as a movement by "Wheelmen" on high wheel bikes to get roads paved continues today with our Share the Road campaign to make sure cyclists are welcomed and respected out on the road.

2. We provide valuable education programs
Through our bike education program - BikeEd - we teach cyclists and motorist life-saving skills. Our national network of League Cycling Instructors set the standard in bicycle education and safety for children and adults.

3. We create better cycling environments
As the leading voice for cyclists in Washington, DC we advocate for more bicycle-friendly environments. Working with state and local bike advocacy organizations through events such as the National Bike Summit we education Congress on the benefits cycling and the needs of cyclists.

4. We promote cycling as the commuter option of choice
We introduce cycling to countless Americans each year, especially during National Bike Month and on Bike-to-Work Day. We believe sharing our passion for cycling with others is one of the best ways to create a bicycle-friendly America.

5. You can create bicycle friendly communities
When you join you'll have the good feeling of knowing that you're playing a crucial role in creating bicycle friendly communities. Town by town and city by city we are transforming how America moves.

6. You will receive all the benefits of membership
As an added bonus of joining, you'll receive great benefits such as 11 issues of Bicycling Magazine and six issues of our magazine, American Bicyclist. League members also get discounts on bike shipping, roadside assistance, bike tours and more!

7. We provide a charitable deduction
The League of American Bicyclists is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Membership dues are fully tax-deductible less $3 for American Bicyclist and $7 for Bicycling magazine.

8. We will use your donation wisely
We understand the trust you are putting in us when you support us with your membership dues. We strive to maximize the amount of your dues that fund our programs. According to our most recent financial audit (2004) we spend 80% of our revenue on programs and only 20% on fundraising, management and general expenses.

If your friends and family are cyclists, they should be members. Refer them to the League of American Bicyclists today!

http://www.bikeleague.org/cogs/join/nmgm/51202211

(If this link is not live, cut and paste it into your Internet browser)

Questions? Email bikeleague@bikeleague.org or call 202-822-1333.

Rules and Regulations: Only League of American Bicyclists members in good standing are eligible to participate. • All online renewals must be received between August 21, 2007 and October 19, 2007 • To receive credit for each new member must use the link from the existing member’s e-mail. • A new member will be credited to the existing member when the new member’s online application is successfully processed. • The existing member will have his/her name entered one time into the prize drawing after referring three new members and once for each new member there after enrolled by October 19, 2007. For example, if an existing member refers three new members, they will get their name entered one time in the raffle and if they refer a fourth new member, they will get their name entered a second time, and so on • Prize drawings will be held on October 26, 2007. Winners will be notified immediately. • Offer void where prohibited.

Still Soggy But Satisfied

I think I forgot to mention yesterday that we did not ride. When I woke at 4AM it was raining and generally ugly out. I felt like we both needed to sleep after Sunday's outing and with the weather being so uninviting I shut the alarm and we slept through until we had to get up for work. Annie used the Spinner but I skipped cycling altogether. Today the weather was much the same and Annie spun again, but I put on my rain gear and rode my 13 miles around a soggy loop. It felt good to be out on the bike and I really don't mind the rain, especially when I'm dressed for it, which I was not on Sunday.

Last night Annie and I attended the first of four sessions on Bicycle Maintenance offered by Philadelphia's Neighborhood Bike Works. There were five other students though we brought the average age up significantly. The others were all college-age kids. The instructor, Rickey was good. We spent a fair amount of time on "bike anatomy" and then each got to fix a flat. Next session is devoted to bearings, after that cables, and I forget what comes after that. I really enjoyed it and look forward to feeling more comfortable about doing my own minor maintenance preventitively, dealing with minor things that go wrong on the road, and just feeling like I understand the machine better. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to build up my own bike someday.

Successful, If Somewhat Soggy

The Lancaster Covered Bridges Metric Century has come and gone. It was a most successful and enjoyable day of cycling. We left our house at 6 A.M. and arrived at the start point in Lancaster at about 7:40. What with taking care of nature, setting up the bikes and checking in at the registration desk, we were on the road at 8:30. The "we," pictured here are Annie, Alan and Jacob. And, of course, me, not pictured, but you know what I look like.

It was a fantastic feeling, and our first experience of riding in such a mass. We later learned that there were 3,305 cyclists on the ride. Cyclists of all shapes and sizes with all manner of bikes: recumbent, tandems (a surprising lot of them) mountain bikes and very, very upscale performance bikes. It was really neat seeing them all gathered. And it was really neat riding amongst such a contingent. Of course, as the day wore on and we fell further and further to the rear, we were eventually riding quite a bit seemingly by ourselves, although even at the end we were always in sight of a group or two of other riders.

The first 34 miles, until the lunch stop were marvelous. Much more hilly than we'd expected. The lunch tent is pictured here. Not long before we reached the lunch tent we crossed the first of the seven covered bridges, also pictured here. By the time we crossed the other six the weather didn't allow me to stop and snap a picture. Also at about the same time or just before we reached lunch, the weather was good enough to stop and snap a few "candids" along the road. That's Annie and me. Then Annie, me and Alan; then Annie, Alan and Jacob.






After lunch things got messy. The rain became steady, fairly hard at times. I think we still really enjoyed the ride but there is no question that we would have enjoyed it more on a nicer day. We were, however, aware of the fact that more typically the weather for this ride might be sunny and very hot and humid. All in all we agreed it was worth the trade. A very hot and humid day would not have been easy, especially up the hills. Just as we hit the 52 mile mark we made our first and only mistake following the route. This resulted in our climbing a very steep hill that we later learned used to be part of the ride but had been taken off because it was too challenging. When we realized our mistake and went back down the hill we came upon the SAG wagon making its rounds. Soggy and tired and, I think, disheartened by the last unnecessary hill, Annie hitched a ride, her day of riding finished. She did a fantastic job! She had never ridden over 30 miles and certainly never on this hilly terrain and in this lousy weather. She really showed her stuff and I was very proud of her.

Alan and I continued (Jacob had already decided to ride ahead to keep a faster pace for part of the ride.) We made much quicker time and devoured the last 10 miles pretty quickly. I can't tell you how satisfied I felt riding back into the start/finish point, nor how good the ice cream provided there tasted. It was just great. It took us a few minutes to figure out where Jacob was, but then we packed up and headed home for dinner together being prepared at home by Tamar and Shuli. We were all famished!

Among the other highlights to mention in passing were, of course, the country itself. Just stunning. But more than just stunning, inspirational when you really looked and saw that people were still living on the land, working the land and living in small sustainable communities. Given my present feeling that cars are truly the root of all contemporary evils watching the Amish families pass by in their horse and buggies and their bicycles no longer looked like a quaint idiosyncrasy but a reminder of a road not taken. Congestion, people living in more and more isolation, people living too far from work, not to mention the environmental crisis, all can be attributed to the automobile. Maybe these Amish knew something we don't want to know? These pictures were taken while riding and didn't come out too good; one shows an Amish buggy passing and one tries to capture a couple of kids riding behind ion their bikes. It was fun seeing the Amish/Mennonite kids riding in their Sunday best as all of us passed in our Lycra. Also, none of them wore helmets!
































The other highlight was the incredible job that the Lancaster Bike Club does to host this ride. I couldn't believe the amount of work necessary and the number of volunteers manning the water stations, the feed stations, marking the route, riding the SAG wagons and generally providing a wonderful time for over 3000 riders. I will certainly write to them and express my appreciation ASAP.

Annie and I both certainly feel ready for our Labor Day ride with Hazon now. That will be 50 miles a day for two days. Piece of cake!

On To Lancaster!

We did our usual, and final, ride today before Sunday's Covered Bridges Metric Century in Lancaster. There were no mishaps, which at this point was really all I was worried about. That somehow something would go wrong with one of the bikes or someone would fall and we would not have time before Sunday to mend either machine or person. But all went well and we rode our 13 miles. Tomorrow we will rest on the Sabbath. Our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter will join us for the Sabbath and then Tamar and the baby will stay and visit friends in Philadelphia while Alan joins us for the ride. Friend Jacob will meet us in the morning and we will caravan cars the 80 or so miles to the starting point. We are hopeful of arriving not long after the 7:30 opening of registration - we want to allow ourselves as much time for a leisurely ride as possible. The course closes at 4:30 PM and I don't expect we will have a problem finishing. I've got the bike with me today for some errands later in the day, so I'll add the total mileage later. Meanwhile, I look forward to reporting on Sunday night or Monday.
If you need something to read, try this:
from the mouths of babes also listed among the news stories in today's side bar.

Finally, I should mention the scandalous comments made by Transportation Secretary Peters regarding the "waste" of funds that she accuses Congress of spending on Bicycle trails and infrastructure! In contradiction to the law and stated policy of her department to build bicycle infrastructure, the Secretary intimated that the reason bridges and other road infrastructure was suffering in this country was because Congress was busy plying money into cycling. This is ludicrous. Would that Congress really would take bicycling infrastructure seriously enough. I won't say that Congress is innocent of wasting transportation funds on "pork" projects, but bicycling is not one of them. The League of American Bicyclists is asking folks to write the Secretary. I have done so and you can too from this site: do it now!

The Usual

After yesterday's great ride, today was back to business. I have a very busy day filled with appointments at my office. No opportunity even for a ride during the day. We did our 13 miles and I'll have to feel satisfied. I will say that after climbing up and down the hills yesterday, rather than feeling the least bit sore, my legs felt much stronger today. I was riding in bigger gears much more easily. We are all getting very excited about Sunday's Covered Bridge Metric Century.

A Great Ride...But No Picture Of Mindy

My friend Mindy invited me to ride with her today and it was fabulous. the weather is incredible, especially for August. It feels more like May. Our meet-up place was Old Rittenhouse town along the Wissahickon trail. The trail has been newly paved and is exquisite both beneath the wheels and from the perspective of the eyes. This first photo is of the falls just at the entrance of the path off Ridge Avenue.

















She led us out Wissahickon Avenue all through Mount Airy and into Chestnut Hill. This is an area of Philadelphia that I am not really familiar with. Despite having lived here 20 years I actually don't get out of Center City very often. The homes and estates we road by were incredible. Hard to believe we were still in the city. And soon enough we weren't. We crossed into Montgomery county, Whitepain township, I believe, and were riding past farmland. We stopped for this second picture by one of the farms. that's me in the foreground and horses in the background, in case you couldn't tell.(Actually, the horses really didn't show up in this one, I guess.)




















A little further on we passed a fabulous estate with a lake in its front yard and these fountains. The picture doesn't do the place justice, but I couldn't resist.

















We rode until just past Wings airport, a small airport in Montgomery County and then turned back. We traveled some beautiful roads, took some exhilarating descents and, of course, the necessary climbs to earn such descents.






Finally we arrived back at Wissahickon and had lunch at what Mindy says is a well known cyclist's eatery: Bruno's. Basic, but satisfying.









After lunch we rode back via The Forbidden Drive trail which I had ridden about a year ago with my Trek, but never thought I should take the Fuji on its packed gravel road. However, it turned out to be very manageable; only a few extra rough spots. We parted company back near Old Rittenhouse and I continued on the drive until it met up with the paved part of the path that I had taken in the morning. Soon back down to Ridge and the Schuylkill and home for a round trip of 40.2 miles. Great prep for Sunday's covered bridge ride, especially the ups and downs. And, come to think of it, we passed a covered bridge along the Forbidden Drive, but I didn't stop to take a picture. I did take a picture of Mindy, but it came out way to dark to publish. But thanks to her for a great day of riding.

Taking My Suits In

Our usual loop this morning and then I took the bike to work for a very busy day. After meetings from 8:30 until noon at my office, I rode to another local synagogue for yet another meeting. The ride between the meetings was a welcome respite. After work I brought the new suits I bought after last summer's weight loss following my taking up cycling to the tailor. I've lost at least as much since then, probably more and those new suits weren't looking to great. but I was able to bring them to be tailored and I hope they will look good when finished.

Tomorrow I am riding with a friend and student, Mindy. She is taking me to some of her riding haunts out past Mt Airy. I'm looking forward to a long ride and exploring new vistas. Check this space for details.

Meanwhile, I'm slowly getting pictures taken on the West coast to work. this one is of my two sons in LA, taken by their friend and loyal blog reader Jacob.

A Bit Of Local Touring

I had some errands to run, hospitals to visit and the like, and it was just too nice a day not to take advantage of getting in a few more miles today. So after the errands I continued down Pine to Delaware Avenue and turned southward. But I didn't get too far before I decided that riding around in the heavy traffic amid the big box stores just wasn't doing my spirits all that much good. So I turned back west toward home, but decided to go up Christian Street instead of one of the larger streets like Washington. I discovered a very nice route. Christian is a wide, two-way street lined with mostly residential, small and interesting commercial properties and is relatively lightly trafficked. It goes through the Italian market which was lovely, passes a number of notable Philadelphia landmarks included in these photos from my treo; The first is one of the many buildings by the mosaic artist

Isaiah Zager. Mr. Zager's work is all around Center City Philadelphia and is one of it's treasures.

The second photo is of John's Water Ice. A landmark of a different kind, but hands down the best in town. As I was on my way home for lunch I didn't imbibe.
All in all a nice break in the middle of a summer's work day. Before heading back for an afternoon of appointments straight through the day.

Enjoy!

A good solid ride this morning; Annie seems to have regained just about all of her confidence. There not being much more of anything interesting to report about us, I thought I'd share this fun video:



Courtesy of Velorution

Instructional Ride

Gorgeous weather set the scene for our second group ride under the sponsorship of the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia. This one was an instructional ride for new riders. I thought it would be a good idea though I don't think we qualify quite as new riders anymore. Just a way to meet some people, ride a new route, and, why not, pick up a few pointers. I also wanted to ride later in the day rather than getting up at the crack of dawn and then rushing to get to work. So I went to work; to services and then a couple of appointments and I was finished by 11:30 and picked up Annie and we headed out to the azalea garden behind the museum and there met up with about 25 people. There were three ride leaders and the total mileage was really nothing - 10 miles start to finish. but there were stops every few miles where the leaders talked about different aspects of bike maintenance, safety, etiquette etc. They were really nice people and very earnest in their desire to make bicycling more accessible and enjoyable. I would say there were a few real rank beginners, but most everyone was actually more like us, just out to pick up a few pointers and take a nice easy ride. The route was through Fairmount Park again, part of which we traversed on our breakfast ride two weeks ago (you remember - when Annie fell after we went off on our own in the rain.) This time we went through other parts of the park including crossing the Strawberry Mansion bridge which is a truly beautiful structure that I'd never had occasion to see before in my 19 years in Philadelphia. We had a great time and it was especially fortuitous in that Annie was still feeling pretty nervous after the fall and then riding and not being happy about the bike set-up after the ill fated tune-up. We actually took the bike in on Friday afternoon to a different bike shop, one much closer to our house: Bicycle Therapy - and were very happy with their service. They seem to have gotten the bike pretty much back to where Annie wanted it. Still, she was nervous. I think this paced ride with people through street traffic and park roads really built her confidence back.

After we ended the ride we took of for West River Drive and tacked on another 10+ miles before coming home. Not as many miles as we usually ride on a Sunday, but a successful, and I think, needed day of fun on the bike. I feel better about next week's metric century and the big Labor Day ride looming ahead.

Dark Mornings

The morning's are getting darker and darker. We are using lights again for the first two or three miles. Today, with storm clouds hovering, it was positively night-like for much of the ride. But we made it without rain. Annie's ride still needs some fine tuning and I'll work on that later today. I hope we can go on a good sized training ride on Sunday and that her bike will be as comfortable as it was before the fall and tune-up.

Meanwhile...

Just read on Triple Crankset blog about a new cycling movie. I'm psyched! Here is a picture and the synopsis from the web page. It is an IMAX film and according to the schedule in the publicity it will play in Philadelphia at the Franklin Institute in October 2007.But I haven't been able to confirm that information, so be forewarned.



SYNOPSIS

A jumpy home movie shows a six-year-old boy learning to ride his first bicycle with help from his father. The narrator tells us that with each moment, each new experience stimulates growing networks of cells in our brains. "We used to think these changes happened only in childhood, but now we know that our brains never stop developing — they keep wiring and rewiring themselves with every experience and every challenge." After several initial failed attempts — and even crashes — the boy begins to show improvement and confidence. Finally, he is riding alone in a seaside park, amazed at his own accomplishment.

Cut to a spectacular full-screen aerial shot descending the steep eastern escarpment of the Col d'Aubisque in Southern France. As the camera drops down the mountainside, we discover a ribbon of cyclists and vehicles streaming down a narrow, twisting, corniche road. This, says the narrator, is the legendary Tour de France – a 3,400-km, three-week bicycle race that has been called the world's most grueling sports event, and the ultimate test of the human brain.

Australian pro cyclist Baden Cooke and his French teammate Jimmy Caspar are two of the 200 riders competing in the legendary race. Just to finish in Paris, they will need to avoid danger, stave off crushing pain and fatigue, control their emotions, seize fleeting moments of opportunity, and stay highly motivated. It's the brain that controls all of this.

As the tightly-packed peloton speeds towards the first sprint finish of the Tour, the sudden crash of one rider sets off a horrific chain reaction, and nearly 100 riders are taken down. Jimmy Casper is one of the most severely injured. To everyone's astonishment, he opts to continue in the race for as long as he can. Meanwhile, Baden, one of the few unaffected by the crash, manages to win his first ever stage victory, thus becoming one of the favorites to win the coveted sprinter's green jersey.

As the race unfolds, the destinies of Baden and Jimmy diverge. Jimmy desperately wants to help his team by remaining in the race, while Baden becomes the unexpected team leader. As the race crosses the Alps and the Pyrenees, the film combines spectacular live-action footage with cutting-edge computer graphics and medical imagery to demonstrate how each brain responds to experience and challenge in ways we're only just beginning to understand.

"Our goals may not be those of pro athletes,” says the narrator as the remaining riders reach Paris at the end of the punishing three weeks, "but we're all wiring ourselves to win. Any activity that challenges us, and gives us a sense of purpose, will nourish and strengthen our brains."

The film ends as it began, with the home movie of the 6-year-old boy triumphantly riding his two-wheeler on his own. "We fall, we get up, we learn," says the narrator, "Powered by the human brain, there is no end to what we may achieve."

A Quick Morning Ride

The humidity lowered and we had a quick 13 mile morning ride. Kids and grandkid here today so not much time for a report. But here's a recent picture of granddaughter Shail and I from the Pocono's.



Later in the day I had a brief errand that earned me another mile and I spent some time readjusting brakes and shifters on Annie's bike. She was not happy with the way it came back from the shop yesterday!

Also wanted to mention that I have now reached just over $3200 in funds raised for our upcoming Hazon ride. Annie has raised just over $1000, so we've done very well together. I am grateful to all our friends for their contributions and support. My total has earned me a number of "favors" that are offered for incentives. I think I've earned the socks, the shorts and the jersey. Only a couple of hundred dollars more and I think I reach the GPS! So, if anyone has been meaning to make a contribution to Hazon, the Jewish environmental education and advocacy organization, in support of its goals and/or our Labor Day two-day 160 mile ride, please feel free to click the link on the right sidebar.

Drinking The Air

The temperatures are expected to top out at around 98 degrees here today and the humidity is so high that you can just about drink the air (if it were cleaner!)which is expected to make the "heat-index" rise to between 103 and 105. I actually love the heat and don't have much of a problem cycling in it, but decided that caution was the better part of valor today and knew I would not attempt to get to Valley Forge and back or some such 50 mile journey. Too bad, my legs felt incredibly strong this morning, probably due to not having ridden yesterday. So I did, without trying or being conscious of it, ride at a higher cadence/mph. I only rode 21.8 miles out to Manayunk and a bit beyond. I took the tow-path all the way to its end at Nixon and River Road just for something different. Not a great idea. the Fuji handled it ok, but I felt like I was rattling the whole way, could only go about 8 mph and kept expecting a flat. When I reached River Road I turned up Shawmount and returned through Manayunk via the streets. Much better, although traffic in Manayunk was so bad that I did dip back onto the tow path for a few blocks.

Obviously, my bike is back from being tuned yesterday. I also had them add front and rear fenders and a rack on the back. So today I stopped at Zoom in Manayunk on the way back and purchased a nice single pannier for the rack. I like it. I can dispense with the handle bar bag that I've never loved, and have much more room for books, papers etc. allowing for more efficient use for work days. And I didn't find the extra weight a factor.

Swung by the barber for a haircut and the library to pick up a book on hold. Despite not being consciously affected by the heat, I did drink the entire Camelback that normally lasts me close to the 50 miles I travel on Wednesday's.

Between The Rain Drops

It is going to be one of those weeks: showers and thunder showers are predicted for much of the week amid the hot and humid weather. We were able to ride this morning and it was clear from the streets that it had rained heavily overnight and it began raining heavily again just as we pulled up to the house at the end of our ride. But in between we had a good loop or 13.2 miles. Annie rode strong, though she says she is still a little nervous on the bike after last weeks fall. Hopefully, we will get enough practice in that this will pass before our first big ride later this month - the Lancaster Covered Bridges Metric Century on Sunday August 19th. That, in turn, is our tune-up for the Labor Day Hazon ride. Early medical appointments will preclude tomorrow's ride (although I may be able to get out alone either very early or later in the day; we'll see.)And then Annie goes to New Jersey on Wednesday. So I am using the hiatus to bring her bike in for a tune-up. We need it before the big rides and she especially needs it after the fall. I'm hoping to bring both bikes in, get mine done first and pick it up tomorrow night so that I can ride on Wednesday and then pick hers up late Wednesday so it is ready for her on Thursday.

Getting Back The Rhythm

Annie and I were up and out by 6 A.M. which was actually slightly later than a regular weekday morning, but early enough for a Sunday. Unfortunately I have to work on this beautiful Sunday morning; weddings must go on. And anyway, Yoshi and Josi are here from California and Tamar is coming down with the baby, so it is going to be a busy family day after I finish the wedding. So we were up for an early ride and managed to do the loop twice for 20.8 miles despite the growing crowd of Sunday morning walkers and runners and bikers as we came around the second time and despite the Triathlon that was getting under way on the West River Drive. We missed it's beginning and were able to ride unencumbered in the road. The temperature was perfect and the humidity well down. The extra loop, I think, helped get Annie close to being back to the excellent rhythm she was riding in last Sunday before she went down. She is still a bit sore in the ribs and thumb, but looked much stronger today.

New Blogs To Share

An uncharacteristic Saturday night posting, though I did not ride today. I wanted to point your attention to a group of new blogs that I've added to the Favorite Blogs list on the sidebar. Each of these came to my attention from the list on the Purple Pig that I mentioned last time. By surfing through many of Alberto's favorites I came across these that I really enjoyed. First, of course, is The Purple Pig itself. Then I found Crazy Biker Chick, which I really enjoyed, Then came The story of a bike and a stubborn cyclist and The DrCodfish Chronicles all really enjoyable and well done blogs on different aspects of the pastime. Finally I just loved The Old Bag, a wonderful, witty blogger. All of these have been added to the sidebar and I invite you to check them out.

The best part of surfing the blogs is learning things you don't know. While I enjoyed all of these, it was reading The DrCodfish Chronicles that brought my attention to Randonneur-ing, or long-distance, non-competitive cycling. There is a national Randonneur Association as well as local ones and they sponsor a series of events called Brevets, unsupported long-distance rides of differing lengths. I am just learning from the various web pages what this is all about, but this may be a new and exciting direction for me to take in the future.If you're interested here's a final link for tonight: the Randonneur USA site.

Annie's Back

Slightly tentative and with some trouble using the left shifter with her still strained thumb, Annie was back on the bike this morning. It was good to have her out on the loop again. We had an uneventful ride of 13.1 miles.

Received a very nice comment on the July 29th Post "Our First BCP Connected Ride - A Blast" from Alberto, I believe from Spain, who authors The Purple Pig blog Check it out

Recovery Ride

Luckily I had a great massage scheduled for last night, so the effects of my 50 mile ride were quickly dispatched with. Yet, my legs felt rather tired this morning as I rode my loop alone again. It is also getting very warm out there. Managed the usual 13.4 miles without much else to report. The extra few tenths of a mile due to having to double back to the Chestnut St access ramp because the Locust Street access was blocked by a train.

An Auspicious August Opening

Annie is getting closer to being able to ride again; perhaps tomorrow. Too bad that she was home on a Wednesday since our kids are away on vacation and she didn't go to be with our granddaughter and yet we couldn't go for a ride together. That being the case, I left the house at 9 A.M. and didn't return until about 1:30, 50 miles later after a ride out to Valley Forge. I haven't done this ride in awhile so it felt really good and it was a perfect day for a ride. It is getting hotter, but so far the humidity is under control (watch out for tomorrow!)and I was home before the really intense heat of the day. I did, as usual on a 50 mile ride, fully drain my 70 oz. Camelback and stopped to buy water from a guy who sells it on the side of the road at Kelly drive. Though I was almost home, I needed it. I drained one .5 liter bottle and then another. This first picture is at Valley Forge, the view of the lovely shady tree I chose to rest beneath in the picnic area. The cyclist is not me.

The next photo is the view of my new yellow riding socks, just for fun, as I sat on a bench looking through the trees at the Schuylkill not far from home, but I needed another rest stop because my feet hurt from pedaling. This is a problem I'm trying to solve. I usually ride 25-30 miles without a problem, but then I get pain, probably nerve pain, in my toes. If I stop for 5 minutes it goes away, but comes back more and more quickly as I ride. Next stop 20 miles, then 15 then 5, etc. It is caused by the (mis)shape of my toes and I'm working with the podiatrist to see if it can be improved. It's not fun, but doesn't stand in my way.

Monthly Mileage

July has ended and I've accumulated 427.3 miles for the month and 3259.7 for the year. My original goal was to try to cycle 4,000 miles in 2007. I am on a pace to reach 5,000 miles, but much can happen between now and the end of December. My July mileage was over 100 miles less than my June mileage which I found surprising since I was on vacation for the whole month of July. However, my various trips and the loss of some of my long day-off rides made a big difference. July was still respectable.

This morning Annie was still too sore to ride. So I was out by myself again and went a bit faster around the loop, allowing me to start around again. There was not going to be enough time for a double loop, but I was able to stretch my morning ride to 16 miles and then used the bike this morning for some errands,accounting for the rest of the recorded distance.

Back In The City

And back to work today. It was a bit of a shock to the system to wake up at 4:45 A.M. again, but I did it and was on the road by 5:50 without Annie. Her soreness and stiffness from yesterday's tumble increased exponentially throughout last night and although she is feeling quite a bit better today she may not be back on her bike for a couple of days. So I rode the path alone. Then I took the bike to work and used it for a variety of errands during the day. My mileage at this point is 16.6 and I think I'm finished for the day, but if it turns out that I'm not I will adjust the mileage total in the sidebar.

Our First BCP Connected Ride - A Blast!

Annie and I left the house at 8:30 A.M. to meet up with a ride announced on the listserve of the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia. A Sunday brunch ride, 40 miles round-trip to Norristown. The plan was to have brunch in Norristown, check out the Farm Park there and return home. At 8:50 four of us left 22nd and Spring Garden Street in a light drizzle. Annie and I had had trepidations about being able to keep up with a group ride and even though I had e-mailed the organizer, Henry, to check out the anticipated speed and received a satisfactory reply, I was still a little nervous. But Henry and the other rider, Mark, were great fellows, great riding company and pretty much our speed, both literally and figuratively. We followed a lovely route through Fairmont Park but by the time we were near Merion it became clear that the rain was not going to stop and that the projected 40 mile ride would be too risky. We continued through Merion, into Narberth and ended up at a Mall in Wynnewood for brunch. Excellent food, I must say! After eating we headed home in the continuing rain, going back on more heavily trafficked roads, a good learning experience for Annie, ending up in Manayunk and picking up the Schuylkill path there for the duration. All in all 20 miles, but much more interesting then we usually do, more hills, more traffic and really nice companionship. It felt like a new stage to our riding lives and we both loved it. But we didn't feel we'd had enough when we separated from Henry and Mark at Lloyd Hall. We needed to get a few more miles in and ride a bit harder. so we decided to do another loop around the trail for good measure. not long after this decision Annie missed a cub cut getting from the road to the bike path and went down. she had a nice case of road rash on her knee and elbow, seemed to have strained her thumb and bruised her ribs. Trooper that she is, she got back on and we continued as though nothing had happened. We had a great ride except that after an entire morning of light rain, the thunder roared and the rains came down heavily. We were sopped through and having trouble seeing through it when we got back to Lloyd Hall, so we stopped and took shelter there for a few minutes. Sure enough, the rain passed and, lo and behold, the last mile of our journey was dry. in fact the sun slowly came out and was brightly shining by the time we arrived home. wouldn't you know it. But the fact that the weather cleared did allow me to immediately take the bikes outside to clean off the bikes, clean the brake pads off, lube the chains and get everything ready to ride again tomorrow. Our final mileage was 31 miles.

Home Sweet Fuji

Not much time to write before the Sabbath. Sorry about not getting the pictures mentioned in previous posts up yet. I'm working on figuring out the Treo.

We had an uneventful trip home and after unpacking and a quick lunch, Annie and I rode a double loop on the trail. Pure bliss! so nice to be back on the Fuji! My legs felt like power hammers after doing all the hills of the past week. Great ride. We are looking forward to a Philadelphia Bicycle Club ride on Sunday: 40 miles back and forth from Norristown with brunch in between.

Unbelievable rumors from the TdF today. Say it ain't so, Solar!

More soon.

Thursday - The Whole Lehigh Gorge Trail!

Our plan for this morning was to find the Glen Onoco access point in Jim Thorpe, PA and ride up to Rockport and back, but Annie awoke feeling like she needed a rest day. So off I went on my own. It took a bit of work to actually find the access road, but I did. It was about a 40 minute drive from where we are staying. I started off on my ride as the day cleared out the last clouds from overnight rainstorms. A beautiful day for a ride. And I rode to Rockport and kept going all the way to White Haven and back: 45.7 miles. I took a few last pictures with the Treo.

No bad news from the TdF so that’s good news.

Tomorrow we head home. We hope to ride the Fuji’s when we get home. It will be nice to ride the old Schuylkill path again! But it will be great to ride the Fuji again. Part of the difficulty of riding here, especially with the hills I did most of last week both with Alan and alone, was riding the Trek. It was definitely the right choice for the Lehigh Gorge Trail, but even there, its weight certainly added to the effort we were putting out and the fatigue we (especially Annie) were feeling. Beside that, I just don’t find it comfortable anymore, the set-up, the seat, etc. It will be very nice to get back on my regular ride.

WednesdayFrom Rockport to Tannery Road and Back

As planned, we drove to the Rockport access point and rode up hill to Tannery and then back down to Rockport. We covered a little less territory, 19.1 miles, but were much less tired. For Annie it was especially good. I got a few new pictures along the way with the new Treo. Hopefully I can figure out how to get them uploaded.

Soon after we returned home we heard that Michael Rasmussen had been sacked by Rabobank and the Yellow Jersey was out of the TdF! Unbelievable! What could happen next! Well, only that Cofidis team was also expelled from the Tour! There is almost nothing to say beside: How sad; how shameful; how demoralizing. Again. Believe it or not, I’m still a fan.

Tuesday:From Tannery Road to Rockport and Back

With our company gone and yesterday’s pouring rain passed, Annie and I struck out for a good ride along the Lehigh Gorge Trail. We drove to the Tannery access point, to which I’ve been riding these last few days but which would have been to steep for Annie to traverse and rode down the path to Rockport and a bit beyond. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ride. The ride back to Tannery was definitely on an uphill grade. Perhaps a grade of 2%, 3% at the most but it made a difference and took a bite out of Annie. We managed 23 miles and were both pretty wasted from the work up hill. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Rockport, ride the uphill first and then back down, which should work out better.

Meanwhile, we returned to the house to hear the news that Alexander Vinokurov had been kicked out of the TdF along with the entire Astana team. How sad! How shameful! How demoralizing! I’m trying to maintain the attitude that the “system” is working and that as each cheat is exposed and punished the number of cheats will finally diminish and disappear. Wishful thinking? I don’t know, but the hold that the magic of the race and the super-human efforts of the (clean) riders still enthrall me and I will continue to follow the TdF as well as Pro-cycling in general. I’m still pulling for Levi and he is still in a position to win.

Monday - A Total Rain-Out

Today the rains came and stayed…all day. We used the day off to go into Stroudsburg and visit the Verizon store. I am eligible for a phone upgrade and acquired a new Treo with a Windows platform PDA. Having web capability and being able to access my email allows me to forgo the trip to the Main Street Coffee Works for the rest of the trip. It is too difficult to actually manage the blog on the Treo. I can read it and read other blogs and web pages and keep up with the news, cycling and otherwise, but these posts will be posted ex post facto when I get home on Friday.

These Pocono's Are Real Mountains

I've never really thought of the Pocono's as mountains. The word only signified a region, a place we went for vacation. Certainly it is because they are mountains that people go there for vacation, but the full impact of that never really dawned on me. Well, I can tell you, this may not be the Alps or the Pyrenees, but these are real mountains and I've been climbing them all week. This weekend I did another ride with Alan: 24.5 miles down the Lehigh Gorge Trail and to and from the trail via the roads. We climbed over a thousand feet along the way. 25 of these kind of miles are a lot harder than twice around the Schuylkill loop, I can tell you. The kids are gone now and Annie and I will ride the rest of the week ourselves. Probably taking the car to the trail again and trying to stretch out our distance along the trail. Given the difficulty of my internet set-up, can't promise daily updates, but I'll do my best.

Finally With Annie On The Trail

Annie and I finally got to ride the trail together this morning. I rode into town and to the access point while Annie drove her bioke there and we then rode about 16 miles round trip. It was lovely until the end when i received a phone call about a death in my Congregation. A very venerable member for whose funeral on Sunday I will have to return to Philadelphia. I'll leave here in the morning and , hopefully, be back with enough time for a late day ride. So it goes.

A Late Day Ride

We awoke to the predicted rain this morning and no one felt like riding in the rain up here. So we hung around and did a few vacation-like things until lunch. After lunch the skies had cleared and the sun was making its way out. Alan (my son-in-law – pictured) and I decided to get in a late day ride. We set off with the general idea of finding the route we’d used yesterday from the Lehigh Gorge Trail, Our “short-cut” back to the trail again. We failed but found an exquisite route on very lightly trafficked country roads. I managed to stop and get these shots to try to give an idea of the beauty, but also the elevation. We rode 13 miles but so much of it was climbing that I was good and spent by the time we returned. Of course, I rode over 40 hilly miles yesterday, so perhaps I needed the easier day. I hope that the weather will be good in the morning and Annie and I can get to the trail…she will love it once we get there, but we’ll have to drive to the access point as 4 or 5 miles among these hills are going to be too much for her.

Today’s schedule allowed me to watch the TdF stage live rather than waiting for the “enhanced” coverage (replay) at night. I found it to be a pretty boring stage and since I’m writing this without Internet access I can’t even check for the names of the winners.

Back At Main Street Coffee Works

At which the connection is very tenuous, so I'm skipping the pictures and getting down to the details. I rode 15 miles this morning. Annie quit after 6. I finished the loop twice within the development and then continued into town, that is, White Haven. Four miles and plenty hilly but not as bad as the hills I did within the development. After breakfast, Alan and I went out. Back into town and then to the trailhead of the Lehigh Gorge Trail. We took the trail for about 15 miles and then turned around. The trail itself is pretty much flat and quite beautiful. I hope to get some pictures up before I'm done. the trip home we took a "short-cut." Probably not a good idea, but actually this time it worked out ok. We probably saved a mile or two and traveled less heavily trafficked roads. But the hills were killers! Alan's GPS says we managed 1400 feet in elevation along the ride. It was a great workout and gave me 42.8 miles for the day.

All along the way I was receiving updates on my cell phone via Twitter from David Bernstein of the Fredcast. So when I returned home I knew today's stage was almost over and I watched the end. Great stage and I still think Levi is very well positioned.

Hello From White Haven, PA

Well, we arrived yesterday without incident and after running around collecting groceries etc. we settled in for the next two weeks. We rode this morning within the development in which the house is located. My monthly mileage is likely going to go down, but it is deceptive, since these roads are all hills! I rode about 10 miles today, (Annie a little less) but we took some really big hills, pretty much like the hill in Manayunk on Umbria street, except when it was finished, after a refreshing flight down, we were going up again, a few more times! It is very good practice, no doubt. The area is quite nice. In order to get a little flat recovery we circumnavigated the lake a couple of times. Annie really liked this part of the ride.

We are only four miles from the trail head into Lehigh Valley Gorge State Park. We will ride the rail-trail in the park sometime this week and probably more than once. It is a 50 mile round trip journey but I think less challenging terrain. At least one such ride will be with Alan, our son-in-law. Alan, Tamar and Shail arrived this morning and we are already having a ball with the baby.

I am writing from the Main Street Coffee Works in White Haven where Wi-Fi is available for the price of a cup of coffee. Not sure if I'll bother to come down here everyday, but should be able to keep in reasonable touch.

Luckily the house also gets Versus and I was able to watch the TdF last night. Very interesting and somewhat surprising, so far. I expected the potential leaders to attack more yesterday, but they are obviously saving themselves for the Pyrenees.

Off To The Mountains

Both Annie and I, and the Peloton. Today's first real climbing day should shed some light on the eventual outcome of the TdF. Let's Go Levi!

Meanwhile we are finishing our packing and will soon be out the door to spend the next two weeks in the Pocono's. As mentioned earlier, Internet access is unknown at this time. I hope I will be able to share our rides in the country as they happen, but if not, I'll bring home some good pictures.

We rode a double loop this morning, 21.7 miles. West River Drive has been re-surfaced and was a dream to ride on. And I can't remember a Sunday morning when there were no events going on, so no crowds and no one setting up their tents etc.

Preparing For The Pocono's

Annie and I rode a double loop this morning, 21.1 miles. The rest of the day will be spent on last errands before we leave for our two weeks in the Pocono's.

We are probably going to take the Treks with us so that will be prepared to ride different kinds of surfaces, despite the fact that we will miss the Fuji's.

I will be using the bike again today for many of the errands, so today's official mileage will be added later.

I have signed up for the Fredcast's twitter updates of the TdF. Every couple of minutes I get a race update. I love it. Perhaps next week, if I'm on-line, I will comment on the various daily podcasts covering the TdF. I have subscribed to four or five and have definite opinions among them.

Finally, I have no certainty regarding how accessible the Internet will be for us these next two weeks. You may hear from me, you may not, or it may be intermittent.

An Exceptional Day For A Ride

The humidity broke and the temperature came down a bit and the weather was made for cycling today. Despite being on vacation I was up at 4:45 with Annie and we did our morning loop. Except that she returned home after one loop and I continued for two more. I would have done a fourth loop if I'd remembered to bring a power bar or something with me: I was starved! That came to 30.9 miles. But I had many errands to run around town and in this weather nothing was going to keep me off the bike. I rode with my messenger bag to a number of different stores collecting things we need to take with us for our time in the Poconos beginning next week. It's amazing what you can fit into one of these bags! And, of course, I forgot things at different stores along the way and had to go back and buy the things I'd forgotten on the first run. Nothing better for fighting what would normally be a very annoying situation than to make the run again on my bike. In the end, though I felt like I was on the bike all day, I only added about 10 miles to the total. But it was great fun. I discovered a Bike Store that I hadn't known existed on 4th Street. I guess I haven't been down that way in awhile, as the owners said they'd been there over a year. Nice little store called Bicycle Revolutions.


Meanwhile in today's stage five of the TdF Filippo Pozzato won the stage. But there's more!



"While Italian heartthrob Filippo Pozzato earned a hard-fought sprint win in stage 5 of the Tour de France, Thursday's big news developed at the back of the pack, where pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov lost 1:20 to his fellow GC contenders after crashing hard with 24km to go in the testing 182.2km run from Chablis to Autun."


Read the rest at VeloNews.com

Home, Humidity and Hushvod

My travel day went smoothly yesterday and I awoke ready for a spin on my Fuji this morning. But I wasn't in the mood to go out on the Schuylkill. So I decided to head up Walnut Street with the thought of hooking up with Lancaster Avenue and taking it up into Wynnewood or thereabouts. I took Walnut to its end at 69th Street but when I turned I suddenly felt less comfortable riding over to Lancaster for some reason; partly it was pretty hot and humid. So I turned back on Chestnut and headed back into town, slipping over to Pine at 19th and taking that down to Columbus Blvd, this time heading South over to Oregon Street, up to 22nd Street and home. A relatively short route of my own making, just to see more neighborhoods, and try to find a little more hilly ride than my usual morning ride. All told it was 18.5 miles, but it felt like enough. I still have a few errands to run this afternoon for which I can use the bike, so my daily total should creep up a bit.




I came home to learn that "Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) won the fourth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, outkicking Robert Hunter (Barloworld) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank) in a mass dash to the line. Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara (CSC), winner of the prologue and Tuesday's second stage, retained the leader's yellow jersey..." (VeloNews.com)

Goodbye LA Ride

My last ride on the Jamis here in LA. Another beautiful morning for a ride. I continue to get out and back before the sun burns through the morning fog...perfect! I am crediting myself with 25 miles today, though I think I may have ridden further. I took the same route as yesterday and then doubled back along Balboa looking for the extension of the path that Shaul and I took the other day in order to find the Velodrome. Instead I took a turn that put me on a path taking me under Balboa and through the park ending up on the same loop I'd already taken around Woodley and down to Burbank and back around to Balboa. I didn't mind the extra loop and when I came back on Balboa I found a second path that did, indeed, take me through the other side of the park and around to the Encino Velodrome, pictured here.













I tried to get a shot of the closed track and this is the best I could do.


After getting my pictures I headed home for a good breakfast cooked by my son. The weather here is supposed to be relatively mild, so there is a chance that , now that both boys are here, we will take another ride this afternoon. If so, I will report.

Meanwhile, the 2nd stage of the TdF was won by Gert Steegmans, a Belgian from the Quick-Step team who beat out his own team leader, Tom Boonen. There are no changes in the overall standings and until we get to the later stages it will be impossible to gauge who the real big guns will be. But I guess the Tour is already helping to push the doping stories to the read. Even the NY Times had an interactive feature on the Tour on its front web page this morning Check It Out

Special From The TdF

Here are the hightlights of today's 1st stage of the tour, compliments of Velonews.com

Still in LA

Instead of being on an airplane this morning I rode the loop that I now call my own: along chandler to the busway, along the bike path to Woodley, around the golf course until it hooks back up with the bike path on Balboa, around to victory and then along the bike path back to the busway to Chandler and home. I was out before the sun burned through the morning fog; in fact home before it had. Given the heat wave that seems like a good idea.

Incredibly, Shaul does not have Versus on his TV so I've had to scrounge around the Internet to figure out what's going on at the Tour de France. I was not surprised by Cancellera's winning the prologue; I was surprised at how well Hincapie did and how poorly Leipheimer did. But there is an incredibly long way to go and I am still hoping for Levi.




THIS JUST IN: Robbie McEwan won today's stage while Concellara retains the Yellow Jersey. The big names are in the hunt: Vinokoura is about 30 seconds back and Levi about 40.

Hello From LA III

Back in LA after a hectic and somewhat stressful visit to Eugene. My plane returning yesterday was just enough late to wash out the possibility of an afternoon ride. I was drained, it was hot, and we had to get ready for a dinner appointment with Josi (my son's fiance)and her father. A pleasant time was had by all, by the way.

So I woke early and left Shuli sleeping and went for my ride. I'll claim 15 miles for the ride, although it is difficult to estimate, especially since I had to stop two or three times to answer calls from Annie back in Philadelphia. But it felt great to ride and I found a new wrinkle on the trail I've been riding. It took me on a lovely loop on Woodley (see photo,) around Balboa Park and the golf course there.

The only other news is that I've extended my stay and will not be flying out until Tuesday morning in order to get a day or so to spend with Yoshi who is returning from his assignment in Florida to LA on Sunday.

A Brief Break

I left Los Angeles yesterday morning for a brief stay in Eugene, Oregon to visit my sister and Mother. A pleasant visit in a beautiful place but the logistics of bringing or renting another bike were too much. So I am in this beautiful, bike friendly town without a bike. I return to L.A. tomorrow morning for a few more days of riding with Shaul before returning to Philadelphia.

Instead of riding I had time, especially airplane time, to read. I picked up Bill Strickland's new memoir called "Ten Points" on Monday. It is a wonderful book! Bill is the executive editor of Bicycling Magazine and this book interweaves his learning to race, learning to parent, and learning to live with the traumas of his childhood. It is very well written and if you're interested in learning something about bicycle racing from the inside this is a great read. But it is much more without being maudlin. I strongly recommend it and would certainly appreciate it if you order through this blog:


Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable 4th of July!

Hello From LA II

I suppose it's always another beautiful day in LA, but today was certainly no exception. We were out of the house a lot earlier in the day, though not as early as when I'm home and working. We rode out around 9 AM and rode for about an hour and a half covering about 25 miles. We took the same route as yesterday but did not go into Balboa Park, but kept going on the bike path until it seemed to end. We then picked up a different bike path and kept going until we thought we'd gone far enough, though we hadn't reached the end and had no idea where it was taking us. But it did take us past the Encino Velodrome! Which was kind of exciting. We doubled back into the driveway and found the entrance to the velodrome which, of course, was closed. But we checked out the schedule of activities. Unfortunately there is nothing going on while I'm here, but I hope the boys will come see a race or something and let me know about it.

Most of this path we were on follows the route of the Metro and is between the Metro and the street, completely out of traffic. It is a great path, though not necessarily the most scenic, the views in the distance, like the one above are not bad at all.

At each Metro station there are bike racks and, more impressively, bike lockers as pictured below.













I felt much more comfortable on my rented bike today and had no trouble using the gears. It turns out I hadn't looked at it closely enough when I wrote yesterday. It is a Jamis Ventura. I'm still not sold on the drop bars for me, but I enjoyed them more today and could see becoming so.

Hello From Los Angeles

Not counting the one lost piece of luggage it was an uneventful flight and my son Shaul picked me up at the airport and after a quick lunch, a bit of relaxing and catching up, my future daughter-in-law (with my other son, Yoshi)Josi arrived with my bike, rented from Hollywood Pro Cycles look them up when you next need to rent a bike in LA. We took off for a ride to Balboa Park and around the Park for a few miles and then back home. A quick ride in really hot, unshaded weather. Without an odometer I can only guess, but I think it was about 14 miles.



So, here's Shuli on his Specialized



And a very pretty patch of trees through which we passed on the way home.





And a rare shot of me without my helmet.


The bike, something called a Ventura, worked out pretty well. It is the first time I've ridden with drop handles and so far I can't say I like them. I may get used to them, and I have to take into consideration that the bike wasn't really fitted for me, but I managed. Learning to use the click shifting on the break as opposed to the twist shift that I've always used also took some time. I'm doing OK, but I'm still not always sure exactly which gear I'm in. By the end of the week I imagine that I'll be pretty well accustomed to both, but that doesn't mean I will like it.