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.