ChesapeakeSailor

Utilitaire - 8 of 12 - Bike Shop

2012-03-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

Date: 3/4/2012
Destination: Bike Doctor Arnold
Miles Completed: 2.3 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: Bike Doctor is open until 5 on Sundays, just made it.
Dark Ride: No

The day after a wet brevet is bike hygiene day. So I cleaned the road grime off, then went to the bike locker to fetch a tube and restock the on-bike spare after changing a flat yesterday. That's when I discovered I was out of tubes and CO2. Fortunately, BD Arnold is only 1.1 miles away, just right for a quick utilitaire, and I had just enough time to get to there for a couple tubes and CO2 before they closed.

'Cause you know Mr. Murphy and his laws would strike if I tried to commute to work tomorrow without carrying spare tube.

It's always an adventure

2012-03-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I completed a 200K ride with Janet, Gardner and Dave. The Repast at Rocco's route starts in Urbana just outside of Frederick. From the start it runs north to Emmitsburg then North East to East Berlin, PA for lunch at Rocco's Pizza, a traditional neighborhood pizzeria, nothing fancy just good pies. Then doubles back on the same route to return to the finish.

In the last couple of days leading up to the ride, the forecast showed the weather front that had caused such devastation in Indiana and other states with tornadoes would pass through Friday night and in to Saturday morning casting doubt on our plans. But as it got closer to ride time, Weather.com assured the rain would pass early Saturday and we could expect sunny skies and west winds of about 15 mph most of the day.

So the four of us set out a few minutes after 7 and weather.com was spot on, the rain stopped after about 10 miles. Then I flatted at about 14 miles in. Wet pavement causes bits of glass to cling to tires. New tube installed we enjoyed the clearing skies and the ride to East Berlin was uneventful though we could tell the wind was building steadily at our backs as it cleared.

After lunch the skies were clear, the temps unseasonably warm for early March and the wind was blowing quite a bit stronger than 15 mph, I estimated closer to 25. The leg to Emmitsburg was a long 30 miles with that headwind. Every flag we saw was standing at attention and waving furiously.

Then the route turns south and it became a crosswind. Nothing looks quite so entertaining as seeing three of your friends listing to starboard as they try to keep their bikes tracking a straight line in a strong cross wind. Sorry I couldn't get picture of that but I couldn't spare a hand for the camera or I would have been blown off the road myself.

2 miles from the finish a closed road forced us to improvise our final route back in to the finish and added one or two bonus miles.

A short summary of my last few 200K rides.

In January, a friend had to pull out of the ride at the half way point due to worsening lung congestion. (A course of anti-biotics and he was fine in a few days).
In February, wet weather and challenging urban navigation made for a late finish and some chilly riders.
In March, we found much stronger headwinds than expected.

It seems lately there's always some unexpected adventure every time I set out on one of these rides. I have another ride planned in March that will be closer to 300K as we get ready for the Fleche, then the Fleche itself in April with a team of 5 riders; 360K and 15000 feet of climbing in 24 hours. I'm looking forward to more adventure.

Utilitaire 7 or 12 - Commute to Work

2012-02-28T21:03:00.001-05:00

Date: 2/28/2012
Destination: Work - KMSI Offices Linthicum, MD
Miles Completed: 33.3 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: The spring flowers are already blooming
Dark Ride: Yes on the way home.

Another beautiful day. I saw these flowers blooming already on the way in. While on the way home, I was complimented by a driver at a stop light on my reflective gear and lighting. Very good to hear, thank you. Otherwise it was a pleasant, uneventful day on the bike interrupted by a day at the office.

On Feb 28? What do the flowers know that the groundhog doesn't?

Utilitaire 6 of 12 - Coffeeneuring

2012-02-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

Date: 2/25/2012
Destination: Hard Bean Coffee - Dock St Annapolis, MD
Miles Completed: 25.5 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: It was WINDY crossing the Naval Academy Bridge over Severn River
Dark Ride: No

A cool, windy morning. I met a few others of SPP for a ride to Annapolis for breakfast. The west wind was so strong that I had to keep pedaling on the way DOWN from the peak of Naval Academy Bridge over the Severn River to keep my momentum. Normally that descent is good for 30 mph if I just get down in something resembling an aerodynamic position. But on this morning we had to pedal ourselves down off the bridge. Not sure the wind would have stopped me dead, but it certainly slowed me down. Also provided quite boost on the way home.

Utilitaire 5 of 12 - Sporting Event or Concert

2012-02-23T21:13:00.003-05:00

Date: 2/23/2012
Destination: Erik's Basketball Game - Severna Park Middle School
Miles Completed: 35.3 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: My shadow makes me look skinny with the sun at my back!
Racing a motor scooter on my bike is fun.
I love watching my kids play sports.
Dark Ride: Yes at start and finish, but also daylight portions near the office.

Wow - what a great day to be out on the bike. It was warm, 50 deg this morning.. in February!! I left the house a little later than normal about 6:10 am or so and enjoyed a fantastic sunrise. A few miles later I had to stop and take the shot below. I love how the sun at my back in early morning or late evening creates long shadows. Makes me look skinny!!

My usual routine when I get to work is to clean up, change in to work clothes, and spend a few minutes browsing my favorite blogs and comics on line while I enjoy a cup of coffee and snack, usually a banana or a granola bar. Then I begin my work day. Today's blogs included a very entertaining post by MG about how bikers simply can't resist racing each other when there is usually little point to it, especially while commuting through the urban jungle. She's right, there is no point, and yet we often can't help ourselves. Read her post, she tells it better than I do. I enjoyed it and my coffee then got on with the work day.

But the real fun was after I left work. (Isn't that usually the best part of work?) I was headed to the middle school to watch my son (Erik age 8) play in his 2nd playoff game of this basketball season. That's right they won the first playoff game last night!!!

On the way as I was heading south on Oakwood Dr crossing under Rt 100 by the hospital; a fellow on a small motor scooter pulled up awkwardly to my right in the same lane even though I had positioned myself at the light to the right side of lane. Not sure what he was up to, and since he had a motor, I let him pass when the light changed to avoid any conflict. He puttered on ahead and I thought that would be it. Well there is a gentle descent leaving the hospital at that area followed by a gentle rise. I could see he wasn't exactly setting any records once he reached the bottom and started to climb. I was going about 20 mph down the descent at that point and clearly gaining on him. The chase was on. I caught, and then dropped a guy puttering along with probably 50 cc's while climbing a 3% grade! Pointless.. absolutely. Dangerous... not there but it could be if one isn't careful. Filled with self righteous pride and feeling a little smug... ABSOLUTELY!! It was a few miles later as I approached the middle school on Jumpers Hole that I recalled MG's post and realized I'd done exactly the same thing.

At the ball game I was drafted for clock duty. I look silly enough in a day glow yellow bike jersey and my riding glasses with my little wire mirror attached sitting by the sideline cheering. Now I was suddenly thrust in to an important role as part of the officiating crew. This was a big deal. I was in an important position now and feeling a little self conscious in my bike kit. Okay not really, I just sat there starting and stopping the game clock when the refs blew the whistle. Everyone enjoyed the game though Erik and his teammates came up a few points short. In the brutal arena of single-elimination playoffs that meant the end of their season. They played well and held their heads up like great sports.

After the game, the sun had set and I rode the final few miles home. There I enjoyed a great beef stew dinner that my wife had prepared in the crockpot and caught up with the kids and their day. Now I'm posting this and then heading to bed to do it all again.

Utilitaire 4 of 12 - Breakfast

2012-02-11T16:00:00.000-05:00

Date: 2/11/2012
Destination: Hard Bean Cafe Annapolis, MD
Miles Completed: 25.4 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: The bamboo along B&A trail lays VERY low over the trail
with heavy snow on it.
Dark Ride: No.

Met Steve H for a ride to Annapolis for breakfast. It was a beautiful morning, with a heavy wet snow falling gently but not sticking to the roads or paved trail. We enjoyed an easy pace, both noting that the rain pants we wore against the wet weather (snow forecast to change back to rain) sapped a little extra energy out of the legs. Clint met us at Hard Bean and we enjoyed a great breakfast watching the grey morning over Chesapeake Bay.

Bamboo drooping across the trail

Utilitaire 3 of 12 - BANK

2012-02-10T19:00:00.000-05:00

Date: 2/10/2012
Destination: Bank of America 601 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard
Severna Park MD 21146
Miles Completed: 51.5 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: The county has finished repairs on the B & A Trail
between the Ranger Station and the Rusty Bridge!!
Dark Ride: yes. Lighted with SON Hub, Edelux Headlight and Dinotte 400R battery tail light.

Started the morning by riding 3 miles to meet the SPP and ride to Annapolis for breakfast. From there I rode to work up by BWI. Riding home from work that evening I stopped at the bank to withdraw some cash from the ATM. So that's at least 3 possible utilitaire classifications that might apply here, a community meeting for the group to breakfast, a ride to work or a ride to the bank. I'll take the bank since the work and breakfast are regular things and I can only use each twice.

Song of the Salamander 200K

2012-02-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the week the forecast for Saturday was quite pleasant. Temps at the start would be just above freezing and warm towards the upper 40s with mostly sun and calm winds. By ride time it said we'd have a 50% chance of showers in the afternoon. Seven of us set out anyway. The team: Gardner, Theresa, Janet, Jack, Bill, Dan and myself.

The first two thirds of the ride were pleasant and drama free. It was overcast and we never saw temps above 40 but the day rolled by pleasantly. The first few miles across Rockville, MD from the start are a bit of a navigation challenge with cues every quarter mile or less from roads to trails, round the barricade at a dead end street and so forth, the kinds of tricks bike messengers in every major city always master. Then after 8 or 10 miles it settles in to a more typical ride across the countryside. The trip across the Potomac River at White's Ferry was a fun novelty. It's a cable ferry relying on a huge steel cable across the river to guide the barge across and line it up for easy docking at each end.

Once across the river the route picked up the W&OD trail for a few miles from Leesburg to Purcellville, VA before striking out for Middleburg via Snickersville Tpk. It's beautiful horse country with big estates and rolling hills. We got to the turnaround at The Market Salamander just before noon and enjoyed a very good lunch.

The return leg largely follows the same route. We had a little excitement on the trail just before Leesburg when JBo fumbled her water bottle, over-corrected, and swerved up the bank adjacent to the trail. Fortunately the only casualty was a crack in her bar mirror.

After a brief fueling stop at the 7-11 in Leesburg we set out for the ferry ride back to MD and a light, cold drizzle started. Everyone broke out what rain gear we had and we made the ferry a little damp but without further drama.

From the ferry we had about 31 miles to the finish. It starts with a long, shallow climb away from the river followed by a fair quota of gentle but continuous rollers until the outskirts of Rockville. We got a little strung out on the climbing and rollers once or twice and then regrouped before the final leg through Rockville. All the wile the steady rain continued and everyone got more and more damp. The last 8 miles resumes the same urban cyclocross we followed on the way out. But now the sun had set and the rain was changing to snow. We'd been riding in a cold rain for for almost 3 hours and for some, body temperatures were starting to fall, my helmet lamp battery died and snow kept building up on my cue sheet holder. The GARMIN, after calling the route faithfully all day started to get confused whether we were outbound or inbound and was offering mostly useless recommendations. We still had about like 5 million cues to follow across the last few miles. The quirky challenge at the start was now a daunting obstacle in the cold, wet, evening.

Despite my lighting challenge, the bar bag that held my cue sheet was still the easiest to read among the group. We fell in to a pattern where I called out the cues reading by street light as we went and got about 4 miles from the finish before I was stumped and just couldn't reconcile the cue description at Park Rd and Stonestreet with the road in front of us. It's POSSIBLE my brain was a little bit starved of calories and rest by this point. But I prefer to blame it on the odd geography of that neighborhood. The intersection is actually split in to two lights a short block apart and very difficult to describe in a short written description. In daylight while fresh it would not have been a big deal. But we were all wet and exhausted so we took shelter in a Metro Coffee shop to regroup. It wasn't until we were inside that I realized 3 of our party were now quite hypothermic and shivering. One severely. Our challenge was bigger than just finding our way through unfamiliar urban streets in the dark.

Out of the weather we took our time to regroup. Hot food and beverages brought our cold comrades back to life very nicely. Inventorying our gear we shuffled spares among ourselves until everyone had suitable clothes and lights to get going again. A call to the route owner to confirm the details of the cue and we regained our navigation plot and found the bike path we were looking for (less than a block away). The last few miles included one more wrong turn but it only took a couple of block's to figure it out and turn back. A Safeway store never looked so good as we rolled up to the finish. All seven of us finished safe and soggy.

Team work and cool heads kept a problem from becoming a crisis. I don't recall hearing anyone complain all afternoon. Dinner after the ride provided a chance to pat ourselves on the back and celebrate another successful adventure. Some details about lessons learned and equipment choices will serve as fodder for another post.

Added 2/6/2012: Dan took some nice shots of the ferry, the W&OD trail and the horses along the way. SOS Album

Utilitaire 2 of 12 - BIKE SHOP

2012-02-01T22:05:00.001-05:00

Today was Utilitaire 2 of 12. I set out for my office in the morning and lucked out to meet Bill C at the Rusty Bridge headed the same way. Despite the light rain we enjoyed an easy ride to our respective offices near the airport. But no Utilitaire fans I'm not taking credit for a ride to work today. On the way home I stopped for an errand at the Bike Shop. I had to pick up a wheel they were working on for me. The photo below shows how I carried a bike wheel home by bike. The guys at the shop were nice enough to help me strap it on with rim tape and then snap the photo.

Date: 2/1/2012
Destination: Bike Doctor 935 Ritchie Hwy Arnold, MD
Miles Completed: 34 miles round trip.
Learned / observed: You CAN carry an extra wheel on a bike if you put your mind to it.
Dark Ride: yes. Lighted with SON Hub, EDelux headlight and B&M tail light.

Utilitaire 1 of 12 - WORK

2012-01-31T20:54:00.000-05:00

The talented and eloquent bloganista of Washington DC, MG, has thrown down another riding challenge. The Utilitaire 12 requires 12 utility or transportation oriented rides by participants between now and March 16. I'm a bike commuter, I can do this.

So today was ride 1 of 12, as I commuted to work.

Date: 1/31/2012
Destination: WORK - KMSI offices 839 Elkridge Landing Rd Linthicum, MD
Miles Completed: 33 miles round trip.
Learned / Observed: Bananas in bike bags need ample cushioning or they will bruise. :-(
After Dark: Yes

I'm also taking credit on this one for one of my after dark rides. I left home at 6 am before dawn and arrived home at 7:15 pm after sunset. The new SON 28 Hub, EDelux Head Light and B&M 4D Lite Plus tail light provided the lighting.

As a bonus, I got to enjoy some amazing weather. This morning was cool, just above freezing, but clear and calm. Riding to work as the sun slowly came up was great. Coming home it was warm enough for bare arms!!

Since I don't have to turn in my control card until mid March and the rules are some what complicated about what combinations of rides can be claimed each week, I intend to tag each candidate ride each week that might qualify as a utilitaire ride here on the blog. That will certainly include more than 12 such rides in 6 weeks then I will figure out which ones to officially submit on my control card at the end. Should be fun.

Late revision.... almost forgot Utilitaire Rule 9. Photos and observations. Fortunately I did snap a few photos when I stopped for coffee on the way to the office. I was hoping to catch a good panda shot for cycling cap Tuesday but they didn't come out well. However this one of the Surly with my reflection looks pretty cool:

What I learned: a banana in the Ostrich front bag needs to be better cushioned. It was quite bruised when I got to the office.

In Memoriam - David Waas

2012-01-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

David Waas 1950 - 2012

Father, Husband, Brother, Uncle and Friend

60 Deg in January!!

2012-01-07T16:10:00.000-05:00

After Erik's basketball game at 8 it was warming up nicely. I installed a new salsa seat post clamp, and then headed out to go 'round the river. Got half way to Sandy Point and realized I wasn't wearing my helmet, doh!!

Back to the house and then back out with the correct lid. I altered the plan and went down through Annapolis to Thomas Point. 60 deg F with light winds. I got wear a summer kit and my riding sandals!! In January!!

Here's the Surly taking in the views at Thomas Point Park.

Wide Shot, you can just barely make out Thomas Point Light House on The Bay.

Farewell 2011 - Hello 2012

2011-12-31T20:13:00.001-05:00

Well another year is winding down and I feel compelled to join the trend. To summarize the year gone by and look forward to next year.

Here are the goals I published in my last post of 2010 and a quick note on how I did.

Ride 9000 Miles or more for the year - Completed! - I rode 9018 miles this year! It was no slam dunk. I set a schedule for myself recognizing the trend that winter weather would restrict mileage somewhat and I would have to double down during the warmer months with more daylight. But I fell way off my schedule early and spent every month from April on trying to catch up. I didn't get back ahead of my year to date schedule until the Boxing Day 200K on Dec 26th. But I did make it, including a big final push of 872 miles in December!
Get my weight down under 200 lbs - FAIL! - I'm now about 10 - 15 pounds heavier than I was this time last year. I completely lost site of this one. My diet lately has worked strongly against this goal and I think my training / riding efforts will require more focus on intervals, non-bike exercise and the like if I'm to succeed here.
Take and publish more pictures while riding - Partial Credit - I did better with this early in the year than I did later. I flirted with capturing helmet video but found it very time consuming to edit and publish. My thoughts on the blog have also changed and as I wrote less this was also affected.
Spend more time with my family on and off of the bike - Partial Credit - I specifically had in mind taking my two youngest sons on more bike excursions both long and short when I wrote that. I'm taking partial credit for this one though it didn't work out as expected. Zach (age 10) spent much of the year with his arms in casts so his biking opportunity was quite limited and that made biking with Erik (age 8) tough due to the effects of sibling rivalry. But I've been more active with the Cub Scouts and attended more sport events than ever. Like most families we can always do better, but I feel good about the year.

A quantitative analysis might yield a net score of 2 / 4 or 50% for that, which in most endeavors isn't very good. But I actually feel pretty good about the year. Here are a few highlights not noted above...

I completed my first 300K in May. The Frederick 300K was a big milestone for me. I'd stretched at least 50% further than my previous longest ride and I finished with enough gas in the tank that I could envision even further distances. I felt like it validated all the lessons I'd learned riding the R-12 the previous year. Prep the bike, dress correctly and above all keep eating and drinking correctly and I can ride on for incredible distances.
In October I combined two events in a 24 hour period for a total of 226 miles or 363K. With 6 others we rode the Eastern Shore Reversed 200K perm starting at 7 pm then headed north to Salisbury for the Seagull Century at 7 the next morning.
These and other big days on the bike have improved my confidence. I no longer approach them with a sense of apprehension. But rather of deliberate preparation. It's a good feeling.
We've cemented our team assignments for next year's Fleche. In April I'll join 4 others in a 24 hour team ride with a minimum distance of 360K. That simply wasn't a realistic plan until recently.
I RODE MY BIKE 9000 MILES THIS YEAR!!!! - I'm psyched about that so it bears repeating. :-)
Another child has left the nest. Our son Justin left this fall for his freshman year at The College of New Jersey in Trenton, NJ. We now have two in college and they are both thriving. The four younger ones still at home are also doing quite well. As much fun as I've had on the bike, that is the most rewarding thing of all.

So yes, it's been a pretty good year. To Tivy, Taylor, Justin, Morgan, Jessica, Zach and Erik - I love you all and am proud of every one of you. Thank you all so much for your support.

As for 2012, here are a few things I plan to do next year:

Complete the Fleche successfully in April.
Complete the Supper Randonneur series of rides: 200K, 300K, 400K and 600K in a single calendar year.
Loose this darned gut once and for all. I will get my weight down to 200lbs. Most of it needs to come off this winter and early Spring to support the Fleche and S.R. rides. It's simple, less weight will take less energy to haul up the hills. These rides will confront some significant climbing. Diet and training will get serious focus the next few months.
Figure this blog thing out. - I need a new vision and theme for the blog. I'll still report on the big rides, but a mile by mile log simply doesn't hold my interest any more and I can't imagine it makes good reading, even for my friends who are too polite to say so. Some ideas I'm kicking around: product reviews, movie and book reviews, and a few more posts around themes like lessons learned commuting, fueling strategies for long rides, pointers for new riders, etc. These sorts of things would serve to summarize my experiences and learning the last couple of years and just maybe, be useful information for others. I would welcome any suggestions you care to offer.

Here's wishing everyone a safe and prosperous New Year in 2012!!

A full day of cycling fun...

2011-12-18T12:15:00.000-05:00

I've written before that one of the best things to come from cycling these last few years is all of the new friends I've made along the way. Yesterday I got to know two more friends a bit better and then celebrate the year with a huge group of them.

About 10 pm Friday I found an email from Ed (The Daily Randonneur) and Mary (Chasing Mailboxes) that they were going on a pre-party century ride leaving out of Crofton; just a few miles up the road from home. As I'm still in the hunt to finish the year with 9000 miles, it seemed like a great step towards that goal, the weather forecast was clear and cool, and a day with a small group sounded like a good time. I wrote that I'd meet them at the start. I gathered a few essentials, laid out the clothes and went to bed.

I intentionally arrived at the start at Caribou Coffee early. I love their breakfast sandwich and wanted to be sure I had time to enjoy one. As I came out of the shop Ed and Mary were busy unloading the bike (they were planning to ride a tandem) and getting ready. Then Mary walked over and admitted she'd forgotten her helmet... doh. We contemplated a quick dash to my house to fetch a spare, called a few other club members who lived even closer to see about borrowing one and finally determined that the K-mart 2 miles in to the ride would be the quickest option. I'm not ashamed to admit I took a little too much pleasure at Mary's expense teasing her about the Sponge Bob or other cartoon helmet she might end up with. After the helmet crisis was solved (plain white or grey?, no Fred here) we were on our way.

This was the first time I've ridden with a couple on a tandem and me, no other cyclists along. The first thing I found is my usual group dynamic was reversed. My excess ballast around the waist usually lets me descend a little quicker than my svelte companions and then I struggle to keep up with them on the subsequent climb. With the tandem it's just the opposite, they have the weight and power of two but the aero resistance of one rider and fly down hills. But they climb at a more scenic pace, taking time to see what's around them. So they'd zoom ahead on the descent and I'd slowly reel them back in on the next climb. (But let's be clear, Ed and Mary are both fitter and far more experienced than I am, I have no doubt they could have left me if they were in a hurry and so inclined.)

As the miles rolled by we rode side by side where traffic and room would tolerate it and visited about all sorts of things. A few sea stories from my Navy days, ride plans and goals for next year, holiday and family plans coming up the next few weeks. The virtues of wool clothing on a cool day, hoping the sun would peak through the clouds. I got a lesson in the mechanics and merits of the disc brakes they use on the tandem and we talked about other recent rides and plans for those coming up.

At mile 40 or so we came on a closed road where it dipped to cross a small marshy creek. It appeared it had been washed out during the tropical storms of late summer and early autumn and had yet to be repaired. Ed took advantage of the pause to adjust the rear derailleur on the tandem while Mary and I assessed our chances of fording the stream around the washed out road. We concluded the gap was just a little too wide to get across in bike shoes carrying a large tandem, especially since the garmin showed a detour would only be a couple of miles. It didn't seem it was worth risking a turned ankle or dropping a bike in the creek. I'll put up a link to the pictures, Ed and Mary take lots of great pictures, when they get them up. But pics won't convey the unique aroma of that particular valley. I counted three deer carcasses by the side of the road all right next to that washout. All of them had ribs exposed but also still had some skin and other soft tissue left. I suppose it's possible they drowned in the flood, but I suspect someone dumped them as road kill or left overs from poaching. Either way they were quite ripe. It was the only unpleasant part of the trip.

The cue sheet had lunch built in a little past half way at mile 58. The detour pushed this out another couple of miles. By the time we got to Jerry's subs, I was hungry. An 8" cheese steak sub and fries hit the spot just right. Then the final push to home. We took an option on the cue that cut 9 miles from the total as we lost a few minutes at the start and a few more with the detour. Even so I had 96 miles on the day. About 10 miles from the finish we had to make another detour around a washed out section of Patuxent River Rd. But by this time we were back in familiar territory and I saw it coming before we rode down to the actual washout. So that detour cost little if any distance.

I love that tired, accomplished feeling at the end of a big ride. This one ended at the same coffee shop where we started. A large hot cocoa made with white chocolate REALLY complimented that sensation well. We exchanged high fives and hugs and then parted company while we got ready for the SPP annual Christmas Party a few hours later at Clint's house.

Ed and Mary joined us at the Provenza's home for the party. There were about 60 people in attendance. The club party is always full of great food, great beer and great people. One of the traditions for this affair every year is recognizing one rider for big accomplishments on the bike and contributions to the club and the sport. The 2011 rider of the year was Bryan Nelson. In one year he finished the R-12, the Super Randonneur series and completed the fleche as part of the SPP team. Well deserved.

But we also surprised Clint. He was unanimously acclaimed Tete de Peloton which I'm assured translates as Leader of the Peloton. THAT recognition is well deserved and very long overdue. He was completely surprised.

It was great day with the many friends I've met on the bike the last few years and fun time to get to know two of them a little better.

'TWAS The Night Before Christmas - Revised by USMC

2011-12-09T09:39:00.001-05:00

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF A FAR DISTANT LAND.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
'SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I WEPT FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
'MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'

This poem was written by a Marine.

A charmed life....

2011-12-03T10:31:00.001-05:00

Wow what a nice morning! I set out at 7, the thermometer read 32 deg F and the frost on the windshields of the parked cars suggested it was really a little colder. Weather.com forecast it would warm quickly once the sun got up. So I layered on two thin wool base layers, my riding jacket, vest and balaclava.. all the things I need to stay comfy at or just below freezing.

I met the SPP at 7:30 as usual and 10 of us rode downtown for breakfast. The sun was rising bright and clear. A little blinding even on sections of the trail where it runs Southeast, directly in to the rising sun at this time of year. Crossing the Naval Academy bridge the sun was downright brilliant.

Breakfast was fun. I struck up a conversation with a couple from Toronto. He's in town to take a 4 day class at the Annapolis School of Seamanship and learn to clean up the "gremlins" (his word) in his boat's electrical system. She asked about how to find a tour of the Naval Academy while he was in class. Nice folks.

Being the weekend and a nice day, someone ordered a beer with his coffee and bagel and soon half the peloton had either beer or spiked their coffee with a shot of Bailey's (that's what I chose). So it was a festive breakfast to say the least.

Stepping back outside I found Weather.com was right. It was warming nicely. I shed the baclava and the jacket, opting for a cycling cap with ear flaps and the vest. Love the Ostrich handle bar bag. Easy to stow the spare clothes. Had a nice conversation riding back with Chip Adams then got home just as the pancakes were coming off the griddle in our kitchen. Sometimes it's quite clear I lead a charmed life!!

Progress, slow and steady

2011-12-02T22:25:00.001-05:00

First two days of the December push went well, 97 miles so far this month.

Year to date: 8243 / 9000 miles.

Remaining for 2012 goal: 757 miles.

Stay tuned to this channel for regular progress updates.

The push is on....

2011-11-30T21:46:00.001-05:00

If you've been following along, you know one of my goals for the year was to ride 9000 miles. I finished November with 8145 miles, 205 miles less than the schedule I set for myself to hit 9000.

So I need 855 miles in December to close the deal. In the summer months i've done that several times over. But in December weather and reduced sunlight make it a tougher job.

Wish me luck.

Great Holiday Weekend

2011-11-27T19:49:00.001-05:00

I had a wonderful holiday weekend. Biking, family, household chores, and of course the opportunity to give thanks for many, many blessings and good fortune.

I rode the bike every day. Bikes and Breakfast seem to go well together. Wednesday through Saturday I rode with some group or another to breakfast everyday. The weather was marginal Wednesday with rain threatening but never materialized. The rest of the weekend was awesome. Cool each morning, just above freezing at sunrise and quickly warming up as the sun got higher in the sky. This afternoon I didn't ride until after I got chores done.. Then I took a quick spin by myself to Sandy Point, St Margaret's then back home. The weather was really nice with temps in the 60s. I rode in shorts and a jersey. Not sure I'll get that opportunity again this year. Total Wednesday thru Sunday: 202 miles.

I'm now just shy of 8100 miles for the year. With 3 days of November and all of December left to ride, I might just make my 9000 mile goal if the weather cooperates and I keep my eye on the ball.

Thanksgiving dinner was a great reunion with the whole family. We gathered at my folks' home in Annapolis. Dad deep fried a 25lb turkey in peanut oil. My brothers, their families and a friend of my daughter's from Argentina all gathered to share the feast and count our blessings. 19 people in all. Such family gathering are always among my favorite events.

Saturday after I got home from biking, I rallied the kids and we got the front and back yards cleaned up and completely leaf free. They did a great job and with so many kids it only took a few hours. Today's chore was repainting the ceiling of two of our bathrooms. A shame to work indoors on such a nice day but it needed to be done and I'm glad to have the work complete.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind. But I sure enjoyed the weekend. I'm ready.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-24T12:06:00.001-05:00

My writing muse has been AWOL this month. But I've still been riding, and if you were paying attention, you might have noticed I've kept the odometer updated lately.

Had a great ride this morning with the SPP. 13 riders met before dawn for a crisp cool morning ride to Annapolis. As we crossed the Naval Academy Bridge the early pink of a fantastic sunrise was growing over the Eastern Shore. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at Hard Bean. Then 9 of us continued on for a spin around Bay Ridge to enjoy more of the sun on The Bay. I was back home by 8:30, and all my sleepy family was just beginning to stir.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone.

To those deployed in harm's way this holiday season, a special "THANK YOU" to you and your family for all you do for us!!

October 2011 - In the books

2011-10-31T21:13:00.000-04:00

Today's ride to work was cold, with temps just below freezing when I left the house. An eerie fog hung in the air as I left my neighborhood but it had mostly cleared out by the time I got to the Ranger Station. The ride home this evening was much warmer with the winter over pants and the heavier of the two base layers I wore in the morning were packed away in my trunk bag.

October's mileage of 823.7 is respectable but I had hoped for 900+ which would have made four months in a row and brought my deficit vs my schedule for the year down under 200 miles. But 4 days off last week to recover from a cold and find my motivation pushed that out of reach. But I think my 9000 mile goal for the year is still in reach. I'm 267 miles behind schedule for the year. But the schedule assumes I'd taper down quite a bit in Nov and December. Instead I need to get in 800 miles each month to round out the 9000 for the year. Daylight and weather will conspire against me but I'm not ready to give it up yet. Consider I was over 700 miles behind schedule at one point, I feel pretty good about where I am now.

The highlight of the month was the double ride on the 14th and 15th when I rode the Eastern Shore Reversed Perm Friday night with 6 others from SPP and then about 3 hours later clipped in for the Seagull Century. 227 miles in 20 hours was a new one-day personal best and bodes well for my goal to ride the Super Randonneur series next year.

Also fun this month was keeping up with MG's Coffeeneuring Challenge. 7 weekend rides to coffee shops over a period of 6 weekends. It was fun to keep track of these and at least once it got me on the bike when I would otherwise have ridden the couch.

A New Perm and Coffeeneuring Number 7!

2011-10-30T21:26:00.000-04:00

Gardner D has been working to plan a couple of new RUSA 200K permanent routes. I joined him this morning to test the cue sheet for one of them on the Eastern Shore. Family commitments this evening kept me from riding the whole thing so we agreed I'd accompany him the first 42 miles and then take a direct route back to the start. I got to see the first third of the new ride and enjoyed a total of 60 miles on the bike myself.

The route is a rough triangle from Centreville, MD to Rock Hall to Chesapeake City and then back to Centreville. We set out from the start about 6:45 and enjoyed a spectacular sunrise that highlighted the fall colors. West of Chestertown as we headed to Rock Hall, every pond we passed was filled with huge flocks of geese and we saw a doe run for nearly half a mile across the plowed fields. One of those clear fall days meant for spending outdoors.

It was also the coldest ride so far this season and acclimating will take a bit. My heart rate seemed to run a bit higher than I would expect in such gentle terrain at 16 mph. But the cold gear all worked just as it should. Wool is wonderful stuff.

The perm Gardner is planning proceeds west from Chestertown to Rock Hall then doubles back on itself for a few miles before turning north towards Chesapeake City. At mile 42 Gardner continued on following his prototype and I split to return to the family and Dad's birthday party. A large flag at the intersection where we parted told the tale. I'd enjoy a tailwind the next 18 miles back to Centreville while Gardner would have to ride into the wind to Chesapeake City.

I stopped on the way for breakfast and coffee at Higgy's Farm Market and Country Cafe (5306 Church Hill Road Church Hill, MD 21623) in Church Hill. There I enjoyed an omelet, bacon, muffin, cup of fruit, coffee and glass of juice. Just what a hungry coffeeneur needed!! The last 12 miles downwind to Centreville were bright, sunny, and uneventful.

I enjoyed the ride and based on the first third I think it will make a fine perm. Later in the day Gardner sent an email and confirmed the rest of the route exceeded expectations. Though a few adjustments are still need to get around a section of dirt road he encountered unexpectedly. I'm looking forward to a new perm on the Eastern Shore.

Higgy's T-shirt Biking 2011

The Surly at Higgy's Biking 2011

Higgy's Biking 2011

Coffeeneuring in the Rain 6/7

2011-10-29T12:35:00.001-04:00

This is the last weekend of the Coffeeneuring Challenge and coming in I still needed two more rides. So despite the lousy weather I HAD to get up this morning and go for a short ride for coffee. My wife wondered on Facebook if the coffee was that good or I was crazy. I'm just too stubborn to let a challenge like this go, even if means a rainy ride in 40 deg temps.

So I dug out all of the cold & wet weather riding gear and quite enjoyed a 10 mile ride to the Rangers Station on the B & A trail before turning back and stopping at The Big Bean right here in Severna Park. It was a good reminder that when tempted to bag a ride due to wet weather, I do in fact have the right gear to wear, specifically plenty of wool layers and the ShowersPass pants and jacket. The V.O. fenders on the Surly are a big help too. I was actually quite comfy despite raw weather.

The Big Bean (558 Baltimore and Annapolis Blvd. Severna Park, MD 21146) is an awesome neighborhood coffee shop. The back of the shop opens right on to the B&A Trail park, our very own neighborhood rail trail and home turf for the Severna Park Peloton. The proprietor, Deb Hoffman, keeps a warm bright shop with great coffee and tea drinks, snacks, WiFi, indoor seating, and an outdoor picnic area right on the trail. It's a fun meeting stop and I enjoy being a regular customer whether I arrive by bike, on foot, or by {cough cough car, hack cough}. When the SPP Fleche team set off this spring, The Big Bean was their opening control. They opened early and had an extra barrista come in so the whole SPP could turn out and launch the team with a proper Bonne Route!! Come to think of it, the weather that day was similar to today, cold and rainy.

This morning I enjoyed a large hot Big Bean Blend coffee and a couple of peanut butter cookies before getting back on the bike to return home and begin a busy day of family fun stuff (football, cub scouts, home chores, etc).

The Big Bean Blend is a delicious coffee Biking 2011

My SPP Cap at Big Bean Biking 2011

Big Bean's Pumpkin Spice is an annual treat. Biking 2011

Friendly Friday

2011-10-29T11:46:00.001-04:00

After a gorgeous Sunday last weekend I came down with a cold and took much of the week off of the bike. By Friday I was finally feeling better and rode to breakfast with the SPP for Friendly Friday. At B'fast I peeled off for Chick N Ruths and caught up with old friends Keith, his wife Kathy, Doug W and Doug B. Then Earl joined me and rode to my office before parting company.

It was the coldest day so far that i've ridden this year, about 40 deg F just before sunrise. I had read of other riders wearing wool socks and continue to use their biking sandals with temps down to freezing. So I gave it a shot, with my SealSkinz wool and water resistant socks and a pair of GoreTex socks over those. FAIL. My toes were numb by the time I got to the office. I think my limit with the sandals is 50 deg F. Upper 40s at the start of a ride if the warm up is likely. It didn't ruin my day, I wanted to find the comfortable limit for the sandals and I did. My other clothing choices were appropriate and I was otherwise comfortable.

The ride home was uneventful for a total of 58 miles on the day.

Still Riding

2011-10-23T19:58:00.001-04:00

I backed off a little after the big weekend last weekend. But I haven't retired my bike just yet.

Monday - rode the mosey Monday ride with the bike club at 5:45 am. 26.2 Miles
Tues and Wed - No rides
Thursday - Another light, early morning ride with the bike club. 22.5 Miles

Friendly Friday - Followed the normal routine in the morning and rode with the club to breakfast then to work. 40.8 miles. No ride home. My father called mid-day and asked if I'd take his care home from the airport (my office is 1 mile from the airport). So we put the bike in the back of Dad's car and I took him to the airport to catch his flight, then drove home. This was NOT the ride of shame. It was a beautiful day. Instead I was simply being a good son and doing Dad a favor.

Saturday - Coffeeneuring 4/7 - got in a quick ride to Java Diva's for a cuppa joe before heading to NJ for the day to visit Justin for family weekend at The College of New Jersey. It's his freshman year and my first visit to the campus. Among other highlights we saw him sing The National Anthem at the TCNJ homecoming game with the Chorale Group he belongs to. A great day.

Java Divas is at 8355 Ritchie Highway. Pasadena, MD 21122 an 11 mile round trip from home by bike. The serve good coffee, a nice selection of danishes, muffins, and other snacks to go with the coffee. And the baristas... well they are just very lovely young ladies.

The Surly at Java Divas From Biking 2011

In addition to coffee and snacks, JD offers other products as well Biking 2011

Sunday - Coffeeneuring 5/7 - Then intercept the OC 13 crew.

I set out from Stevensville at 10 am. My first stop was The Trailways Truckstop 610 Ruthsburg RdCentreville,MD21617 at the intersection with US 301. It's a truck stop. They serve fresh, strong, hot coffee and breakfast dishes heaping with eggs, hashbrowns and your choice of bacon, scrapple, sausage or ham. It's filling and tasty. But you can't order a latte or a frapacino.

From Biking 2011

After a cuppa joe and hearty breakfast I continued on in search of the SPP OC 13 riders. They were westbound from Ocean City on day two of OC 13 - SPP's 13th round trip journey to OC from Kent Island. I couldn't join them for the full trip since we had family plans to check up on the freshman in New Jersey Saturday. But Sunday I was free to ride. So I rode their planned route backwards. The intercept worked just as I'd hoped. I found them after 43 miles on Knifebox Rd and then accompanied them back to Stevensville were we toasted the lovely weekend with beer and burgers.

Total mileage for the day: 86.9

Big Night and Day on the Bike

2011-10-17T21:11:00.005-04:00

I did it. 227 miles in just over 20 hours. That's a new personal record for me in a 24 hour period. Here's how it all unfolded...

Eastern Shore Reversed

I opted to drive to the start of the Wallops Island ride Thursday evening and spend the night in a hotel. It allowed me to coordinate my work commitments more easily Friday from one place all day with phone and internet (instead of spending all afternoon driving) and let me arrive at the start fresh, rather than stiff from the long drive. It worked well for me.

Seven of us met in Wallops Island for a 7:00 pm planned start. By the time everyone arrived, unloaded bikes and checked in to the control, we were a few minutes late pushing off.   That made some of our crew a little impatient since everyone prefers punctuality. But it's a flat route and there was never any pressure on us trying to meet the control time limits the rest of the evening. The turn around control shuts it's doors at midnight but the brevet time limit gave us until 1:52. So had the business been closed we would have had to find some other "proof of passage" but as it was we arrived about a half hour before they closed for the evening.

Each rider had one or two bright white head lights on the bike based on his preference, and a helmet lamp. Multiply all of this times 7 riders and we must have made a very imposing sight for on-coming cars and trucks on a dark country road. Several times through the night the drivers coming the opposite direction would actually slow down until they could better see what was coming at them and be sure we were clear of their travel lane.

Probably 2 dozen or more deer crossed our path in the course of the evening. Once or twice they crossed the road so close as to startle the lead riders and cause a bit of sudden braking. After that we tried to make a habit of scanning the open fields with our helmet lamps, looking for the reflection from their eyes and saw several more groups at a distance that let us enjoy the spectacle without risk of collision. One group included two small fawns following the larger deer across the road. Really beautiful creatures, even in the dark.

If I'd written a script in advance, I would have been pretty darn close the night we actually had. The weather was about as perfect as we could ask for. Clear, with cool temps, a bright moon, a light breeze that was mostly a cross wind and not really a factor in the ride. This route is also on mostly rural roads with very little traffic allowing us to ride two or even three abreast most of the night and talk while we rode. I've written before that even though randonneuring is designed to emphasize individual self-reliance, I enjoy the friends I've made, the camaraderie, and the team work that often makes for a successful finish.   126 miles cycling in the dark is a great adventure and lot of fun when riding with friends. It was my first all night ride and also the first half of what would be my longest day on the bike.

Many thanks to Chip, Dave, Bryan, Dan, Jeff and Earl. It was a lot of fun, and I appreciate that some of you might have preferred a bit of a faster pace but that instead we rode together and enjoyed the great night on the road.

The Garmin reset after the first 9 miles, this is the rest of the ride.

Seagull Century

We finished back at Wallops Island at 4:30. From there Dave, Dan and Bryan were heading home for a weekend with their families. Chip, Earl, Jeff and I were headed 40 miles up the road to Salisbury for the Seagull.

I grabbed a quick breakfast sandwich and juice at the Royal Farms, changed in to a fresh kit, then packed the bike and headed north to Salisbury. Once safely in S'bury I managed about an hour nap in the truck before the 7 am start.

Earl and I had planned to ride together for both events. At Wallops Island we were 7 guys in the dark. No SAG van, only each other for support. It was prudent to stick together on the night ride. At Seagull we were with 8000 other riders on the best supported charity ride on the East Coast, with bright sunny weather. There was no reason for concern and it made sense to regroup so everyone could ride at his preferred pace. Chip and Jeff rounded up a few like minded friends from home at the start and set of at a brisk pace.

Earl and I set out to finish. And with a little help we did just that. It seemed at every turn we were saying hello to friends from home there to enjoy the great weather. They knew what we were up to with the double ride and kept offering encouragement.   Some went zipping by, others were at the rest stops the same time we pulled in. But it was Mike C, Doug and Alex who hung with us much of the day and pulled in to the head winds when the course turned west.

Somewhere around mile 50 Earl got bored and decided to liven things up with an acrobatic display. He touched Mike C's rear wheel and lost control of the bike. If he'd had a shoulder to work with he probably could have pulled it out. But instead the roadside was tall, wet grass leading down to a dry, sandy ditch. As the bike stopped abruptly in the sand Earl was unclipped and ready for his big dismount. The crowd roared it's approval as he launched over the bars, tucked his shoulder and rolled to a safe landing on a bed of pine needles.

Okay it was really one of those moments where time stops and the action unfolds in slow motion. I was behind Earl and swerving to avoid him hoping I didn't crashing in to any other riders. Watching him flip off of the bike was a terrible sight. A small crowd, including at least one car stopped to make sure he was okay, and remarkably, he was. He jumped up, we brushed the sand from rider and bike, inventoried all the critical parts on both and got going again. The whole thing was over in 5 minutes. Fortune was smiling on us.

At the Assateague stop we took the time to refuel. If you've ever ridden the Seagull you know the support stations are extremely well stocked with food, drink and helpful volunteers. We took full advantage of this at each stop and enjoyed the hospitality to top off our tanks. But we also knew the tough part was still coming. Up 'til now the wind had been either a cross wind or tail wind the whole way. Now it would be a head wind most of the way to the finish.

Mike C, Doug and Alex stuck with us the whole way and we accepted their assistance, especially Mike's as he pulled much of the next 40 miles in to the wind. We still owe you guys a few beers. Some confusing hand signals from the police directing traffic at a busy intersection caused a sudden stop and another incident of bumper bikes though I was lucky the incident started at slower speed and I had more room to work with to the right of the road than Earl did so I managed to stay up. But the decaleur holding my bar bag broke loose. We jury rigged it with velcro and zip ties and kept going.

At the last stop at mile 85 they serve ice cream and apple pie. After I found a patch of grass to lay down the bike and sat down myself I was too tired to move. A few minutes later Earl was shaking me awake. Mike brought me my pie and filled my camel back for me. I was exhausted and frankly a little embarrassed to realize I let them wait on me like that. Thanks guys.

Then we mounted up and rode 15 more miles in to the wind and the finish. 227 miles in just over 20 hours time!! My longest stretch on the bike by over 40 miles. After the ride everyone stowed their bikes, and changed clothes, then we regrouped in the beer garden to congratulate ourselves. It was a big day. I was exhausted and very satisfied that it turned out so well.

I knew I'd be in no shape to drive at that point and had another room reserved a mile from campus. A hot tub and then a bed, never felt so good.   I slept 12 straight hours Saturday night.

Seagul Century

Mosey Monday

2011-10-10T21:02:00.001-04:00

Met the 5:45 Club ride then rode on to work. There were 8 of us and we had a good time going over plans for the big night ride Friday evening and Saturday. I'm getting excited about this. We plan to meet in Wallops Island, VA and ride the Eastern Shore Reversed 200k perm. We'll start at 7:00 pm and ride through the night. Then we'll head up to Salisbury and ride the Seagull Century. That'll be 225 miles in about 18-20 hours.

The weather forecast is shaping up very well. We should have a clear night with moderate temperatures in the 50s and 60s, calm winds, and moonlight all evening.

Wish us luck.

Coffeeneuring (3/7)

2011-10-09T22:14:00.000-04:00

Had a great ride this morning with Chris and Bob to Caribou Coffee in Gambrils (2638 Chapel Lake Drive Gambrills, MD 21054).

Caribou is a real treat. They serve an incredible sandwich with egg, cheese and sausage that has a hint of maple in it to sweeten it up. The coffee selection is fantastic and very tasty. I took a second cup in my thermos to go after we left. We lingered there almost an hour enjoying the nice outside seating as the sun got a little higher and the morning warmed up. The three of us hadn't ridden together in months and it was great to catch up.

After the coffee we continued to Annapolis and passed briefly through downtown Annapolis to gawk at the Sailboat Show crowds then we all returned home to resume the day with our families.

I may have committed a coffeeneuring foul. Chris snapped a picture of us at Caribou but I forgot to get one myself. I will link to Chris' photo when it's up and throw myself on the mercy of the chief coffeeneuse.

This ride: 35.9 Miles

Bob and I at Caribou - Photo Courtesy of Chris Lane
Added after initial publication of this post. Biking 2011

Coffeeneuring (2/7) Navy Football Tailgate

2011-10-08T22:02:00.000-04:00

Saturday I took it easy. It was a gorgeous, clear morning and there were 2 or 3 club rides going. When the alarm went off at 5, I just couldn't get moving. I slept until after 9 and enjoyed a lazy morning reading the paper.

I headed out just before noon for the Navy Football tailgate party in Annapolis. I stopped at Naval Bagels in Arnold (1460 Ritchie Hwy Arnold, MD 21012) along the way for a coffee and a bagel. It's conveniently located adjacent to the B & A trail which provides for great people watching while sipping a cup and enjoying a bagel. Their coffee is basic and not for the connoisseur. But it made for a nice pick-me-up before I headed on to Annapolis.

At the tailgate festivities I saw my old roommate and several other classmates I hadn't seen in years. It was a great reunion and totally unexpected.

Total Ride: 15.2 Miles

Naval Bagels Biking 2011

The Surly enjoys the tailgate party Biking 2011

Still Riding

2011-10-06T09:39:00.000-04:00

Yep, still riding regularly, just fell behind jotting it down here. A quick summary since my last post.

Thursday - Nice day, uneventful ride to work and home again.

Friday - Rode to breakfast then to work. Left work a bit early and enjoyed a great ride home. Until the last half mile. Had a terrible close call in my own neighborhood. I came out fine but quite conflicted about how I responded. Particularly in light of my mild rebuke of another rider whose reaction inflamed the situation only two days before. I've drafted the whole story and will post it once I've a little more perspective of time to reflect on the whole thing. (Sorry that's not meant to be a tease, though I suppose that's how it may come off).

Friday - Sunday - camping with the Cub Scouts. Awesome fun, even if it was a little wet. No biking over the weekend though.

Monday - Another day off the bike

Tue - rode to work with Bill C. First time we've been able to connect in months. Good to see him out and about. Had a pleasant and uneventful ride home.

Wed - Rode with the 5:46 club ride then to work. Also a pleasant ride home. Love this Fall weather now that the rains have stopped.

Today - another Cub Scout meeting this evening. So I rode 30 mi with the club at 5:46 and then drove to work to allow a quicker return this evening. Still loving the clear Fall weather.

Upcoming Plans:

Friday - Road trip to Richmond, VA tomorrow for work so no ride planned unless we get home early enough for a quick spin in the evening.

Weekend - chock full of fun, Cub Scout popcorn sales, football for both boys, field hockey for my girls, Navy football; the sailboat show is in town and I hope to ride another 80 miles. So much fun to be had.....

Next weekend - epic ride planned. I will join 6 friends from the bike club for a midnight ride that's become a tradition of sorts for some these guys. We'll set out from Wallops Island, VA at 7 pm Friday evening the 14th for a 125 mile round trip to Cape Charles, VA through the night. If all goes as planned we'll finish around 4 am. But.... we're not done yet. Then we tool up the road 40 miles to Salisbury, MD and clip in at 7 am for the Seagull Century. 225 miles in about 18 - 20 hours! Let's hope for more of this CLEAR, cool, Fall weather. I'm really excited about it.

Can't we all just get along?

2011-09-28T19:57:00.001-04:00

I had a great ride this morning with the 5:46 riders and then continued on to work. I was going to write about peer pressure as an aid to keep us working out. But then my ride home happened....

At the intersection of Dorsey and WB&A Blvd I was leaving the trail to head south on WB&A. A cyclist who arrive at the light just ahead of me had already hit the pedestrian walk button and we waited for the walk signal. Just as we clipped in a wave of eastbound traffic arrived on Dorsey Rd slowing to stop. (coming form our right). In a span of about 3 seconds I saw this all unfold:

a car came in much too hot and finally stopped very abruptly, blocking the cross walk as we were trying to... cross. He apparently didn't see the red light and he certainly didn't see us on the bikes, and a jogger who had joined us.
the rider ahead of me moved to ride behind this car then in front of the other traffic, all stopped a reasonable distance back.
at this point our impatient driver realizes he's blocking the cross walk and puts it in reverse, almost striking biker number one who puts his left hand out and touches the trunk as the car lurches to another sudden stop. I was yelling to the driver at the same time to STOP!
rider 1 makes a profane remark to our driver
our driver puts it in park, returns the profane greeting and raises him one by getting out of the car
rider one takes the challenge and circles to the front of the car.
blows were avoided when biker 1 realized he didn't have his cell phone and could not snap the picture he wanted of driver's plate and nose extending beyond the stop line
additional "pleasantries" are exchanged and everyone parts company as the light changes again, all riders and pedestrians safely across the intersection

Fast forward to my own neighborhood a half mile from home. Manhattan Beach road is a comfortable, wide blvd past the gas stations and up the first rise then narrows abruptly as it crosses in front of the American Legion post. I typically try to "take the lane" as I crest this hill. From the top of the rise until I make my left it's all down hill with little shoulder. It's simply safer for me to hold the lane the last 1/4 mile until I make my left.

Just at this crest where things neck down a speeding car comes up beside me despite my position in the middle of the lane. She gives me much less than three feet clearance and immediately brakes, slowing to match my speed. Then turns left in to the American Legion parking lot. She made an unsafe pass around me in to oncoming traffic to save herself one or two seconds over the time it would have taken to simply slow down and follow me. I doubt any sober driver would try the same move if I'd been in a car but she couldn't be bothered to follow a slow vehicle an additional 50 feet!!

The first driver was wrong and knew it, and simply got angry when called out. Biker 1 inflamed the situation by resorting to profanity and yelling rather than simply letting it go. Driver 2 was also in too much of a hurry to be bothered slowing for cyclist.

What's the hurry folks? Slow down, smell the coffee and let's all get where we're going safely.

Weekend at Elon

2011-09-25T22:35:00.000-04:00

My wife and I traveled to Elon, NC this weekend to see our oldest daughter Taylor, now in her Junior year at Elon U. I've known this for some time now, but it was quite apparent this weekend as Taylor introduced us to her friends and professors and shared a bit about her role as a resident assistant.... my little girl is now only a memory. She's grown in to a beautiful, self assured young woman. I miss her already. We had a great weekend including an exiting football game. Elon beat The Citadel in overtime 18-15.

I took the bike and managed a couple of rides while we were there as well. Saturday morning I got up at O Dark Thirty to get in a quick ride before we met Taylor for a full day. I had also hoped to hit the local coffee shop right off campus and score my first of 7 Coffeeneuring Challenge rides. But the coffee shop doesn't open until 9 am on Saturday's!! So the coffeeneuring was a big "fail", but the ride was fun, though a little foggy and of course, dark. I was glad to stretch my legs after the long car ride the night before.

Sunday I opted out of the receiving line at the University President's house and went for a longer ride through the central NC country side. It was great. At that hour on Sunday there was NO traffic. The fog was burning off slowly and the heavy dew was shining on the fields, the grass, even the spider webs. When I got back to Elon, The Acorn coffee shop (116 North Williamson Avenue, Elon, North Carolina) was open for business and bustling. I enjoyed a Pumpkin Latte and a chicken salad sandwich. Coffeeneuring 1 / 7 complete. Then caught up with Tivy and Taylor for another great day on campus.

The Acorn Biking 2011

A sandwich, pumpkin latte, and water at The Acorn.
Perfect post-ride meal. Biking 2011

An easy pace for Friday

2011-09-23T09:35:00.000-04:00

My wife and are traveling this weekend to see our oldest daughter at college in North Carolina. So my routine is starting a little differently today. Rather than riding from breakfast in Annapolis all the way to the office I simply came back home. After a half day of work chores from here we'll set out around noon time.

The trail and roads are wet from rain overnight and more expected today. Though we lucked out and had a nice break from the time I left at 5:15 until I returned home at 7:45. Friday tradition and the wet conditions kept the pace down and we could enjoy a conversational pace. 9 riders were out this AM and 7 of us went on to breakfast.

I joined the riders this A.M. at the Hard Bean for breakfast instead of C & R and we had a great time then back home to wrap up work stuff and off to visit the young lady who used to be my little girl. She's still mine, but she's no little girl any more. Proud of her.

A fast start to the day...

2011-09-21T21:43:00.002-04:00

I met the SPP morning ride for the 5:46 start before pedaling on to work. I hadn't done that mid week in some time and it was good to see everyone. Several riders have started using strava.com to track rides over familiar territory and compare each others performance. The numbers on a one mile stretch of Old County Rd. show I generate more power in my legs then the lighter faster guys, but they're still faster. Not sure I need a GPS and fancy web site to tell me that. It was fun and I think I'll try to make a habit of meeting them a couple of times a week. Another bonus, the extra miles in the morning mean I can take a direct route home in the evening and still hit 40+ miles on the day. My habit lately has often been the other way around.

Tonight on the way home I rode to my first ever parents planning meeting with my Cub Scout den. I held it at Bill Bateman's Bistro (a local pub if anyone not familiar with Severna Park is reading). which might have contributed to the strong turnout. I think we're off to a good start. The meeting schedule through the end of this year is set and I don't have to lead the lesson plan for a single den meeting! The other parents are all willing to lead various activities, all I had to do was ask. Then I pedaled in a light rain the last two miles.

Monday...

2011-09-19T21:18:00.002-04:00

Uneventful rides both ways. The weather was really nice this morning. It was tempting to just keep going rather than let work interrupt a nice bike ride.

Catching Up

2011-09-18T10:57:00.000-04:00

I took Wed and Thursday off of the bike to give my legs a rest and accommodate a busy schedule.

Friday I followed routine and rode first to Annapolis for breakfast then to the office and finally home in the evening. Breakfast was fun. Old high school friend Andy joined us at Chick n Ruth's. Andy now lives in Indiana with his family. He came to town with his son Leigh who is applying to the Naval Academy. They were to visit the admissions offices and tour the place. Great to see him again after all of these years. Wishing Leigh all of the best in the application process. Rod and I, as alumni of the place, stand ready to assist where we can.

On the way home Friday evening I rode straight to Kinder Park to watch Zach's football team take on Crofton under the lights. My folks were in attendance as well as Tivy and I. Zach is playing on the line on both sides of the ball and is on both the kicking and receiving teams. He was literally on the field for every play the entire game. This with a broken right arm! The cast stops below the elbow and the coaches wrapped it in foam and duct tape to limit it's damage as a weapon. The referee inspected the padding and the doctor's note before agreeing to let him play. Zach and his team won a close one against Crofton under the Friday Night Lights. My chest was 3 sizes bigger for the final 5 miles riding home after the game.

Saturday I participated in the 1st riding of the Iron Furnace Fifty miler in Snow Hill, MD. That's a long way to drive for a 50 mile bike ride, but I'm glad I made the effort. It was organized as a charity fund raiser for Furnace Town and the local Snow Hill Rotary club. Another old friend, Allan G sits on the board of both organizations and was instrumental in organizing the thing. He had appealed to me to participate when they first announced it back in the spring and I agreed.

The route overlaps and follows portions of the Seagull Century run every year from near by Salisbury. Of course it's flat and tours the farm tracks that cris-cross so much of the Shore. Quite pleasant, traffic was non-existent. They paid a service to design the route and document the cue sheet. I suspect they'll get an earful from some riders about a couple of points of contention that may lead them to believe they didn't get their money's worth. Here's my take:

1) the route was great, no major roads to cross or ride along. Traffic was almost non-existent. That should not be overlooked how nicely that contributes to an enjoyable day. I will not recommend any changes to the route when I submit feedback.
2) the cue sheet correctly documented the mileage along the road route, but did not take in to account the 1.5 miles from the main road to the actual rest stop inside of a state park. That added 3 miles to our bike computers and made the remainder of the route a little tougher to navigate without GPS. (I have a gps and had pre-loaded the route, but many riders of course do not).
3) The hard core roadies with carbon frames and 23 millimeter tires inflated to 125 psi will also register their displeasure with the rough condition of the state park roads. On my 32s with a steel frame I just took it as an excuse to slow down a little.
4) with about 7 miles to go the route retraces a small stretch of road ridden earlier in the ride in the same direction. On the first time past this intersection the ride turned right. The cue sheet and stencil marks on the road documented this clearly. Fast forward 40 miles the route now calls for the rider to go straight. But the cue sheet is much more vague at this point and the same road stencil is still there pointing right. That needs to be cleaned up.
5) the rest stops around the route were well stocked and staffed by helpful volunteers.
6) the lunch and beer at the finish were included with the registration fee and were fantastic.

In short the route is fantastic. The documentation needs to be cleaned up slightly and perhaps the state park rest stop moved to a more convenient spot. Not bad at all for a first run by a team who'd never done it before. I'll go back again next year of the schedule permits.

More clear weather...

2011-09-13T21:13:00.001-04:00

Uneventful rides both ways to work with beautiful, clear weather. Sorry to read that some riders don't get to enjoy such nice weather in Great Britain and other locales as summer winds down.

Met several others of the SPP for Tuesday Night Pizza. Not sure how many more of these we'll enjoy since as the evening daylight fades.

Can we bottle this weather?

2011-09-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

We're heading in to the nicest weather of the year as autumn approaches. The rains have cleared and the floods started to drain. The humidity has broken and the temps have moderated. While we're not immune to the occasional rainy day, the next 6 - 8 weeks should be great riding weather.

The pavement was still wet this morning; but otherwise it great to be outside, cool and clear. With a little luck I managed to intercept the SPP 05:45 ride this AM as I headed to work and rode with them for a couple of miles.

The ride home this evening was just spectacular. I took the long way round WB&A to Burns Crossing to MD 175 and back up Genl's Hwy. The work at Burns Crossing and Old Mill hasn't begun yet. So the intersection is still passable by bike despite the "Road Closed" sign.

The weather was just awesome. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks.

A slow, lazy tour of AA County

2011-09-11T14:42:00.000-04:00

Motivation was weak this morning when I woke up. I wanted to get 60 miles in to preserve my streak of 200-mile weeks (M-Sun). I finally did make it out the door so beginning the week of July 18-24 my streak now stands at 8 consecutive weeks of 200 or more miles.

My first stop was Heroes Pub which opened early for the 9/11 anniversary to toast and remember the firefighters and other victims of that terrible day. It was packed. I had a guiness and breakfast sandwich while visiting with a few of the firefighters and their families there. As the place filled up it seemed making room for others after I finished my meal made more sense than having another pint or two. So I said goodbye and moved on.

I took Defense Hwy West to Rutland Rd. towards Davidsonville and followed the familiar rando route for Sailing to Solomons. My plan was to continue on Rt 2 south to Harwood Rd and then pick up the end of the route back to Davidsonville. But washouts on Harwood Rd (still passable by bike) and Patuxent River Rd. (not passable even by bike) forced a detour. I ultimately took Queen Anne Bridge Rd back to 214 and continued to Riva Rd to Annapolis.

I stopped in downtown Annapolis for another sandwich and a drink then finished the day by climbing up St. Margaret's Rd to Sandy Point and then home. I'll notify Crista and Dave about the impact of the washed out roads on their respective permanent routes by email.

Making up some miles...

2011-09-10T15:46:00.000-04:00

No excuses.. I was a weather wimp this week and stayed off the bike while the left overs of Tropical Storm Lee thoroughly soaked the area. We had more rain this week than we often get in a month. It just kept falling and falling and falling. By Wednesday every creek, slough, and river was full to bursting, at which point road surfaces and bridges starting giving way. Several in the club continued to ride each morning. More than once I went to bed and resolved to join them in the morning. Each morning I'd see the curtain of rain in the street lamp near our driveway and opted for an extra hour of sleep instead.

So finally this morning I got on the bike and joined the club for the Saturday "Bagel" ride to Annapolis. It felt great to get back on the bike. After coffee and a breakfast sandwich at City Dock I rode out to Arundel High School in Odenton to watch my youngest son Erik, play football. He and his team carried themselves well but were outplayed by Crofton and lost 19 - 0. So they are now 1-1 on the season and still have some opportunity to keep improving.

Then I felt compelled to make up for a few of the miles I missed this week and headed up Burns Crossing Rd towards the airport. A small section of Burns Crossing has been closed because the road surface was washed out where it crosses Severn Run near Old Mill Rd.

From Biking 2011

This one shows the damage to the road surface on Burns Crossing Rd.

From Biking 2011

Here's the debris pushed by the flooding creek up against the guard rail. The creek flows from the left just out of view of this shot.

Amazing what the force of water can do. A bulletin on the AA County Police Dept page indicated officers had to help a couple stranded in the running water Wednesday evening at this location. The elderly gentleman lost his footing and fell in to the water, the police had to hold him up so he could breath until additional officers arrived and they could safely help them out of the flood. I think we're well served by the AA County PD.

From here I continued up and around the Airport Loop. On the east side of the airport about a mile north of Dorsey Rd I encountered another cyclist who had stopped and was sitting on a bench holding is phone in one hand and balancing his bike with the other. Most riders and runners sitting on these benches are simply stopping to rest or to take a call on the phone. I'm not sure what made me ask if he was okay but I'm glad I did. He wasn't. He was feeling faint and had just called 911. I stowed his bike behind the bench, confirmed he had in fact reached the emergency dispatcher and then helped him lay down on the bench. John remained conscious and answered my questions for the next couple of minutes until the cavalry arrived. I left him in the capable hands of the BWI Airport Fire Dept paramedics. The Dept of Transportation police also arrived and promised to look after his bike. I hope all is well for him, but there was little else I could offer at that point and continued on my way.

After all of that I arrived back home about 2:30 pm. Another 60 miles logged in.

Ride to DC

2011-09-05T21:08:00.000-04:00

The SPP kept it's holiday tradition of longer club rides today. Several of us expressed an interest in riding somewhere we'd not been recently (or ever) and Fran put together a nice route from Millersville to DC. I had no idea DC's trail network was so extensive.

Unfortunately we displayed our lack of familiarity with the nuances of riding in dense urban areas. The trip was uneventful on the open roads until we reached the more crowded areas in the city. Then we had a few clipout accidents and close quarter bumps with one another navigating the tight turns on the DC trails. The worst of these occurred on the way home when one rider braked a little too hard on the NE Branch Trail and went over his own bars. Fortunately no one (and no bikes) were hurt though the bar flip was a bit scary.

Despite the bumper bikes the ride was a lot of fun. Our destination was The Dubliner Restaurant on North Capital street. There we had our choice of breakfast or lunch fare everyone seemed to enjoy their meal. I had eggs benedict with salmon and a pint of Guiness. Yumm!

Mary (Chasing Mailboxes) and Ed (The Daily Randonneur) are members of our neighboring club the DC Randonneurs and honorary members of SPP. They live in DC and met us for breakfast to share stories about their big ride on PBP in France. They also joined us for part of our ride out of town. It was great to see them. Here are some pics Ed took along the way.

Many thanks to Fran for the leg work to plan the route. It was another fun day on the bike.

The Nanny State Run Amok

2011-09-05T20:05:00.000-04:00

http://bikewalktn.blogspot.com/2011/08/arrested-for-riding-bike-to-school.html

The blog entry above tells the story of a mother, Teresa Tryon, in Elizabethton, TN who has been told by the police that she may be guilty of child neglect for letting her 10 year old daughter, a 5th grader, ride her bike to school, a trip of 7 - 9 minutes according to the mom.

The story makes the specific point that Mrs. Tryon asked if her daughter had done anything wrong and was assured she had not. Only Mrs. Tryon is accused of any wrong doing. So that would seem to rule out riding on roads where cycling was specifically prohibited.

I don't spend much time in TN and have no personal knowledge of the town of Elizabethton. I don't know this mom, I've not interviewed her nor the police to get both sides of the story. So it's quite possible there are relevant details, such as vehicle speed along the girl's route, or the local crime rate, that have not yet come to light.

But in addition to the details above, here's what what I could find on Google...

The town of Elizabethton reports a population of 13,900 and change living in 5900 homes in an area of 9.5 square miles http://www.elizabethton.org/about/s_summary.html A look at the map and Google Earth shows that New Stony Creek Rd on the east side of town appears to be the only road in town that has the travel lanes for each direction physically divided, a couple of other thorough fares run east to west across town and would likely support more than simple neighborhood traffic. http://g.co/maps/pkk5

That leaves many, many blocks on a neat grid that look to be mostly residential.

If the girl rides at 9 - 10 mph (the speed my 10 year old son typically manages over any distance) that would mean her 7 - 9 min trip is between 1.17 and 1.35 miles.

My wife and I give our kids boundaries that let them ride a similar distance unsupervised in our neighborhood. Unfortunately a very busy 4 lane highway lies between our home and their school so the commute to school is not an option for our family. But that seems unlikely to be the case in Elizabethton.

We have all kinds of negative trends in this country that would suggest biking or walking to school would be a good way to start addressing them: air pollution, dependence on foreign oil and childhood obesity come to mind as just a few.

What ever happened to the days when we let our kids assume more and more independence as they grow and trusted a parent's judgement to decide when and how to extend those boundaries?

I hope the police in Elizabethton either point out quickly to the Tryon's why Miss Tryon's cycling constitutes neglect by her mother or apologize to Mrs. Tryon and then go find some real public safety problems to solve.

Football by bicycle

2011-09-03T19:09:00.000-04:00

The challenge:

Erik's Football game at 10:45 at Kinder Park
Navy Football tailgate party Navy Marine Corps Stadium 12:30
Navy Football kickoff 3:30 - but I need to leave the party for Zach's game
Zach's Football game at 16:00 at Kinder Park

How to get out of Annapolis just as the game is about to start and traffic is at it's worst? The answer was obvious; "commute" to the games by bicycle. That way I'd be largely immune to traffic.

I started the day at 7 and met the SPP for the bagel ride. I skipped the Bay Ridge loop after bagels and returned straight home with Chip. That was a great chance to hear about his PBP adventure in France. It was quite a ride. I'll post his summary here once he sends it out. But the support he got when his frame cracked re-enforces the best in human nature and even casts the French in a pretty good light.

I then proceeded to each game by bicycle; had a great time, and racked up over 60 miles on the day. I would have liked to have stayed and actually watched the Navy game but the overlap with Zach's game made that impossible. So I enjoyed the tailgate party with several Navy classmates including my old room mate Donny Wright then bid them adieu and pedaled back up the trail to Zach's game. Eric, Zach and Navy all won. It was a fun day, my commuting plan worked perfectly and I was largely immune to traffic.

Friday rides

2011-09-02T19:30:00.003-04:00

Met the club for the Friday breakfast ride to Annapolis this morning. Other than a little wet pavement it was an uneventful ride. On the way to work after breakfast I helped an older teen who was riding a kid's BMX style bike that was way too small for him. The crank was loose, he used my multi-tool to tighten it up and we each went on our way. Later I met Isaias O'daniell coming the opposite way. We stopped and spent a few minutes catching up. He's on a mission to catch the leaders of the Endomondo mileage challenge. He has quite a task, but he seems determined. The ride home this evening was uneventful.

Weekend plans changed a bit. Instead of Tivy and I heading to NJ, Justin is coming home for his birthday. Football tomorrow and bike rides are still on.

The power company is making progress re-connecting the final customers to the grid. Earl had a big day, he got a new bike and his lights came on. The pics of his new fixie look nice, a bit of retro look with clean lines like a fixie should have.

Slowly getting back to normal

2011-09-01T20:46:00.000-04:00

The disabled traffic lights, downed trees and other obstacles thrown along my commute by Hurricane Irene last weekend have mostly been cleared. Power was restored to our home Wednesday afternoon. Not all of my friends and neighbors are so fortunate. There are plenty still without power. Depending on their circumstances the impact of this ranges from mildly inconvenient to a critical health risk. One friend relies on a well for water, no power, no well pump, no water. He and his wife are experiencing all of this at significantly greater inconvenience than my family and I did. Another friend has a child with significant, chronic medical challenges including the need for breathing support when she sleeps. They have had to take turns keeping an eye on her through the night to make sure she isn't overcome by sleep apnea. That's far beyond mere inconvenience.

If there's a silver lining in all of this it's been the weather. Since the storm left the area Sunday afternoon the weather has been almost idyllic. Low temps each night have been 58 - 62 deg F and highs during the day around 80 deg F. Humidity has been low, the skies clear with no further rain and only light or calm winds the whole time (sailing races were cancelled last night due to lack of wind). So no one has suffered from either heat or cold during all of this and the utility crews have not been hindered in their work by weather.

The great weather also made it easy to stay motivated and keep riding despite the other challenges of storm clean up. After 5 straight days I took yesterday off. Then this morning I joined the 5:45 ride with SPP and THEN rode on to work. This evening I took the long way home for 55 miles on the day. Tomorrow is the usual Friday breakfast ride with the opportunity for another big day on the bike. Then a 3 day weekend.

It will be a busy, fun filled weekend. Football games Saturday for Erik, Zach and the Naval Academy. On Sunday Tivy and I are driving up to The College of New Jersey to visit Justin for his birthday (do I really have a 19 year old son?) and Monday will likely be a nice long bike ride with the club. Hmm, none of that leaves much time for yard work or chores does it?

Can we bottle this weather

2011-08-30T21:14:00.000-04:00

58 deg F this morning when I left the house. Mid 70s for the ride home. Clear, calm, if I could only skip the 8 hour stop at the office in the middle of the ride it would be perfect. Met the SPP for Tuesday Pizza night.

Traffic Lights Still Out

2011-08-29T20:49:00.001-04:00

I'll never swear or curse at a traffic light again. As impatient as I may get waiting for them to change, living without them is downright hazardous. Two days after the big storm, major lights are still out on Dorsey Rd, Rt 3 and Rt 2 along my commute home.

Let's be careful out there and look out for one another until the utility crews can get us all back on the grid.

Community Service Ride

2011-08-28T19:15:00.000-04:00

I met several other SPPers for a post hurricane ride to see to community and how much damage was sustained. Fortunately Irene spared us her worst. There are many down trees and the resulting power outages, including my own home, will linger for days. But overall it wasn't really that destructive in our area.

We stopped and cleared what we could from the trail where we encountered fallen trees or limbs blocking the path. One in particular between Severn and Boulters was too big for us to muster without a chain saw to break it up first. Another across Boulters Way dragged some power lines down to the road and was guarded by a county police office who refused to let us pass even though we could see a clear path under the wires. So we took MD 450 instead and came back the same way, just as we often do in the winter when the path hasn't been cleared of snow.

So after doing our small part to aid the cleanup we finally made it down town Annapolis. It was mobbed, everyone enjoying the nice clear evening and dining out if they didn't have power at home. We settled on the Severn Inn back on the north side of the river and enjoyed beer and appetizers on the deck.

Tomorrow it's back to the daily grind at work.

Pre-Hurricane Century

2011-08-27T15:58:00.001-04:00

I've struggled this week to keep to a daily routine on the bike. Earthquakes, hurricanes and especially back to school season, simply disrupted the normal flow of family life at the Binnix family compound. But things fell in to place nicely this morning to catch up on the missing miles.

With preps for Hurricane Irene largely done last night, including a last minute decision to purchase a 2500W emergency generator, I didn't wake up this A.M. feeling compelled to attack the "to do" list that often comes with weekends. Further the kids' scheduled games this weekend were already cancelled due to the pending storm, but the forecast said that Armageddon likely wouldn't start until mid afternoon or early evening, so it looked like I could steel away for the entire morning and even a little beyond lunch if needed. I did just that.

I started at the Ranger Station at 6:00 with the usual club ride of zippy speed demons. But both Bill C and I opted to let the racers go early and rode the Solley Rd route at a more moderate pace. Carl B originally set out with the fast kids but decided he'd prefer our company and hung back until we picked him up about half way round the course. We got to Java Divas with 15 minutes to grab a cup o' Joe before joining the 7:30 ride at the rusty bridge.

This was well attended with 17 riders heading downtown for a bagel and to see what the city looked like for hurricane preps. Not much to see except for the sand bags stockpiled near by and ready to block flooded door ways as the water rose. The group thinned some after bagels and coffee then 12 of us headed around Bay Ridge. The Bay looked grey and threatening. But several kite surfers and wind surfers were ejoying the first breezes from Irene. The anchorage for commercial shipping was also impressive with over 10 ships at anchor, I presume planning to ride out the storm. Normally one would expect only 2 - 3 vessels at time there, waiting for their loading piers to open up in Baltimore. Today they stretched in a line well south of Thomas Point.

On return to downtown Annapolis I couldn't sell a ride through Crownsville to anyone and parted with the rest of the club to keep stretching my legs. I made it through Crownsville and to within about 8 miles of the airport before I saw any rain. At the airport I made for my office and stopped to check that all of our non-essentials were secured and the essentials correctly attached to a UPS. Then I turned for home. The fleet of utility maintenance vehicles BGE has mustered on an empty lot off of Elkridge Landing Rd, staged for storm response was impressive. A state trooper stood sentry to control access. Good to see the authorities taking the approaching storm seriously.

To round out an even hundred miles and catch up on my weekly goal of 200, I rode past our neighborhood while heading south on the trail and continued all the way to the trail head at Boulters Way then returned and threw in a final lap around our neighborhood before I returned home 100.5 on the day and 202 miles for the week. I got home at 1:30 a bit wet but before any heavy rain or wind came through. So I've met my weekly 200 mile goal for 6 straight weeks. If there's a window after the storm tomorrow afternoon, that will be a bonus.

So now we hunker down and ride out the wrath of Irene. Prayers for the safety of all in her path, including my home and my neighbors'.

Fighting for every mile

2011-08-26T17:32:00.001-04:00

Nothing about this weeks' schedule as been 'normal' or 'routine'. In the last seven days we've experienced or prepared for: earthquakes, hurricanes, kids away to college, first day of school for younger kids, car breakdowns while delivering kids to college, and a visit to the Ravens to play a scrimmage at half time.

So I've been left to fight for time to ride every mile. Got a brief ride to Sandy Point and climbed The Wall this afternoon. Looks like tomorrow morning before Hurricane Irene crashes the party will be the last chance to get a ride in. May start very early and try to stretch it a bit.

Quick update

2011-08-24T07:40:00.001-04:00

Updated the mileage after a good morning ride with the club. I'll catch up on thoughts about the earthquake and other excitement when I get a minute.

Catching Up

2011-08-22T23:31:00.001-04:00

Catching up...

Get To The Point

Sunday I made plans to join Crista Borras for one of her weekend DC Century training rides. She organizes these on Saturday AND Sunday many weekends year round as a way see the beautiful countryside, enjoy a little of it's cuisine, and prepare for randonneuring events. I've met Crista and Chuck at several brevet events sponsored by the DC Randonneurs but I'd never joined them for one these less formal events. My training and personal schedule came together nicely Sunday and Crista's chosen route in southern Maryland offered a little less climbing than many other events in Frederick and points north and west. So I made plans to join the ride named Get To The Point through Charles and St. Mary's counties. Another attraction was that I'd never ridden in that area. I shared my plans on the SPP mailing list and Doug Corby put his hand up to join me.

We met Chuck and Crista at the appointed time and place Sunday morning. It was only the four of us, Chuck and Crista on their tandem, Doug and me. Many of the other regular participants are in France riding the Paris-Brest-Paris Grand Randonee, a 1200K ride held every four years. More on that below.

The weather was slightly warmer than pleasant but it's August and it could have been a lot hotter. The forecast warned of a chance of pop-up storms late in the afternoon and we discussed the idea that we might want to take one of the short cuts already documented on the cue sheet if the weather looked threatening.

Not 2 miles into the ride my cell phone started beeping with alerts about a problem at work. Fortunately a quick call to the data center corrected it. I juggled all of that on the bike worried I'd have to ask for a break or encourage them to ride on and I'd try catch them at the first rest stop. Fortunately it didn't come to that and I could enjoy the country side.

The farm country was pretty with corn crops, horses, sheep, tobacco and evidence of exhaust from the buggies used by the Amish community in the area. Most of the countryside is flat but every so often we'd encounter a few stingers to get our heart rate up and make sure we were awake.

Chuck and Crista are fun to watch on the tandem. The epitome of team work. At a point when any rise would approach they'd stand up in unison. But as far as I could tell they either weren't speaking at the time or the conversation was about anything but the bike and standing to attack the climb didn't interrupt the discussion. They just knew when to stand up and sit down together. I've seen other tandem teams who.. to put it delicately... weren't quite as smooth. If I ever get one, I'll be reaching out to them for tips.

About 15 miles in Chuck indicated he wasn't feeling well and we took a short detour to a convenience store. At that point our leaders decided it was best to turn back. I was a little concerned about letting a friend head back with only one bike while feeling ill, but these are two of the most experienced riders I know and they encouraged Doug and I to ride on and enjoy the day. Reluctantly we agreed and did just that. Later we got an email assuring us they made it back to the car just fine.

So Doug and I enjoyed the countryside and each others company while looking forward to lunch at Morris Point Restaurant that Crista recommended on the cue sheet. Lunch did not disappoint. As the name implies it sits on a point between two creeks, a couple of miles by water from the Potomac River. The proprieter Chris Soussanin offered us a pitcher of ice water and two cups before we could say a word or find a seat, he knew simply by the way were dressed and the sweat on our brow that we were thirsty. A bowl of diced water melon and cantaloupe also came out without asking, a real treat. I had a crab cake sandwich and Doug the soft shell crab. Delicious. If you're not a seafood fan they also offer a few "turf" options on the menu but this is a seafood place offering views of the water and friendly service.

As we left they asked us what bikers like to eat. They have signed on as sponsors for an upcoming charity ride and will be manning a rest stop and providing food. They took notes as we rattled off suggestions. It was well worth a 50 mile bike ride.

Checking the weather it looked like the chance of storms was increasing so we opted to take a couple of the short cuts built in to the cue sheet and cut our century plan down to 83 miles on the day. We finished in a light drizzle the last 2 miles but missed the big weather.

The local randonneurs know that Crista's cue sheets are very precise and easy to read. She also has a knack for picking routes through scenic, rural countryside with light traffic and finding great eateries to look forward to. Apparently she puts the same planing effort in to these less formal century rides and since they are not ridden "for credit" the options for short cuts are included too.

Thanks Crista for sharing all of the great planning and research. We were sorry you couldn't join us for the entire ride and glad to hear that Chuck was feeling better. I'm looking forward to joining another ride sooner than later.

Paris-Brest-Paris

Several friends are in the French countryside as I write this are riding the Paris-Brest-Paris Grand Randonee. 1200 kilometers held every 4 years with thousands of riders from around the world. So a late Bonne Route!! to Chip, Clif, Mary, Ed, Nick and all the others taking part in this big adventure. Early reports on Twitter show they've had to tolerate some heavy rains. Clear skies and tail winds the rest of the way friends. I'm looking forward to hearing about it when you come home.

Dodging T-Storms

2011-08-18T21:40:00.001-04:00

Ooops, either weather.com was wrong or I just didn't look at the radar closely enough. It was obvious my plan to leave the office at 4 pm and go chase some big miles this afternoon was flawed when I saw the dark clouds roll in about 3 pm. But when the rain stopped and the sun poked through around 5:45 I checked the radar and it looked to me like I had a window to get home. NOT! But I'm getting ahead of myself....

I've been traveling for work from Monday through Wednesday this week and did not get a ride in. I was due for a one day break but three days off the bike was two too many. The work trip was productive for my customers and I, but every minute of each day was pre-programmed with business or social events. I barely got a short walk around the block in. So finally Wednesday afternoon, our business concluded, I bid my customers farewell and departed the fine city of Toronto for home. The flight was uneventful and I was back home with my family before 9 pm last night. Exhausted and glad to be back where I belong. I was ready to ride this morning when I got up.

The ride to work was uneventful. I slept until after 6 and knew I had to confront the jammed in-box typical of the first day back at the office. So I took the shortest route in and made the most of the day clearing the backlog. I had one call set at 3:30 and was looking forward to heading out as soon as it was over. Which brings us back to my introduction.

At 3 I noticed the clouds go dark outside my window and checked the radar for the first time. It looked like a 4 pm departure would put me right in the middle of the tempest. Complete with National Weather Service warnings to stay indoors. Okay, back to the in-box and knock a few of Friday's chores out while I'm still here. I'll just wait it out. Then the call got moved. More in box items cleared, almost to the bottom.... BOOM! Big lightning strike right outside my window.

My boss called from his home and offered to come back to the office and give me a lift home. "No thanks the radar says it will clear soon." My wife sent a text and offered to come pick me up. "Thx, but it's clearing up and the radar says I have a good window". Earl warned me in a tweet to watch out for tough weather. I trade notes on FB with Isaias when he got off of his bike to take shelter at a post office in Joppatown. But I KNOW I'm going to be okay, that's much further north and east of me.

So finally about 5:45 I get on the bike confident of calm weather sufficient for me to get at least 24 more miles in, if not the 40+ I'd planned had I made my original 4 pm escape.

I made it a mile before I got a clear view to the South. This didn't look good. By mile 5 I was seeing a lot of lightning and hearing the thunder claps almost immediately, it was close. The skys opened up. I pulled over and put on my reflective sash and switched the lights from blinking to solid. Finally just past half way home I stopped at the Wawa on Veterans Hwy and checked the radar on my phone again. The email was full of more warnings from the National Weather Service and the map now showed several angry red blots headed towards me. But I was now just over half way home. I had bravely (foolishly?) spurned all cautions and offers of transportation. NO WAY could I accept the ride of shame now. I'd wait at that darned Wawa 'til midnight if necessary to avoid asking for help.

So I stood under the awning of the Wawa and watched the storm go by. Finally about 7:30 it looked like the last one was now well north and heading away from me. I made it home without further incident. Wet, and a little grouchy that my plans for a nice long afternoon ride were wrecked by the bad weather and a poor effort reading a forecast. I made it home safely at 8:15. Harrumph.

Consolation Ride

2011-08-14T19:49:00.001-04:00

Plans this morning to ride an early 100K populaire were scuttled when the forecast for "scattered showers" turned in to a tempest with driving rain, wind, and lightning.

I got a consolation ride in this afternoon, 20 miles between showers. That rounds out 200 miles for the week, and 4 weeks in a row where I've ridden 200+ miles from Mon-Sun. 6 weeks straight with an average of 200/week, includes one week at 179 miles. I feel pretty good about that string but had hopes for a bit more this weekend.

I'm traveling for work tomorrow morning and will return Wednesday evening. That may make 200 miles tough to hit Thu through Sunday. We'll see.

It was the realization that 200 miles / week for 50 weeks a year would get me 10000 miles for a year that makes that an attractive marker. 10,000 miles is out of reach this calendar year but if I can keep that pace going through the end of this year, I should still reach my 9000 mile goal for the year and I'll be riding strong in to the winter for a good start to next year.

The Surly's getting a bit of a make over. A front rack, good sized bar bag, new fenders, new bar, leather wrap in lieu of bar tape, and ultimately a new rear rack are all in the works. I've been tackling them in stages. Front rack, bar bag and fenders done. So far so good. I'll post picks and write a bit more about the project once it's all complete.

Today's Public Service Announcement....

2011-08-11T23:20:00.001-04:00

PLEASE WEAR YOUR HELMET.

This from a thread on our bike club mailing list today, posted by a member who suffered a tough fall last evening

"I will say that the helmet did an admirable job of keeping my noggin safe. The doctors thought that I might have some head trauma due to the force of the impact but after a few tests everything looks good and the helmet barley has any noticeable damage. There's a small chunk of foam missing in the front, probably from the impact. Rest of the helmet looks unscathed.

Also the road ID came in handy. I got a lot of compliments about it from the e.r. staff since they were able to pull my emergency contact info from there since my phone batt[ery] was dead" [sic]

He reports two broken clavicles,sternum and a rib or two, but none will require surgery and he expects to be back on the bike after two months or less of convalescence. He was discharged from the hospital and sent home this evening after only one day.

I think the message here is obvious, the missing chunk of foam kept his head off of the broken list. The Road ID got the e.r. staff in touch with his family and medical history in short order. We should all remember both lessons.

I wear a RoadID because many club members wear it and it's the first such product I was introduced to. There are several other similar products/services out there that address the same concern. Give the athlete an easy to wear id token that is unlikely to become separated from him in an accident. The code on the id let's the medics unlock your medical history and contact list (on line, by phone, etc) to better take care of you if you can't speak for yourself. You decide what info to record with the service that the medics can access. I'm endorsing the concept more than RoadID's specific product, though their service seems reasonably priced, and the wrist form I selected is easy and comfortable to wear. www.roadid.com

Heal quickly friend, we're glad it wasn't any worse and looking forward to having you back on the road with us.

====

Today was gorgeous day for riding. Enjoyed the trips to work and home again in such nice weather. Also put me over 5000 miles for the year!

Punctures!!

2011-08-09T21:23:00.002-04:00

It seems it's been my turn to entertain the puncture fairy this week. This afternoon I got out of the office a few minutes later than I had planned and still planned to ride all the way down to Millersville Rd before turning towards SP to meet the Tuesday pizza ride at SQs.

The pavement was wet after an earlier shower and sure enough I picked up another piece of glass. The time to change the tire cost me enough that I cut it short and rode over Grove Rd and Brightview.

Made it to dinner by 7 and enjoyed a salad at Squizito's with the Bodines. Then I made up the miles with a loop around my neighborhood before arriving home. 40.1 miles on the day.

But that was my third puncture in the last week. Each time I found a sharpie and removed it. No ghosts or wire splinters hidden in the tire. Just plain bad luck.

Okay miss puncture, please go entertain someone else.

Still riding...

2011-08-08T22:09:00.001-04:00

I installed new pedals and a replaced the jockey wheels in my rear derailleur over the weekend. Both seem to be in good working order after riding with them Sunday and today.

Here's what 13K miles does to a set of jockey wheels. For the unsuspecting, the one on the left is the old one, the one on the right is new.

From Biking 2011

So the new gear seems to fine, but it didn't come with new legs. Sunday and again this morning I just felt like lead. This afternoon on the way home from work was a little better, not sure what caused it. But it was a struggle to just keep moving forward on both rides.

Here's hoping for a little energy the rest of the week.

A pleasant surprise

2011-08-06T13:03:00.004-04:00

After 9 straight days at an average of 40 miles per day I was ready for a break and took Wednesday and Thursday off of the bike this week. It was a good choice. I felt great Friday and again today.

Friendly Friday with the bike club was fun. It was clear and the humidity was low. Breakfast sitting outside at the dock with friends was a treat. It would have been very easy to just ride on and skip work. But of course I couldn't really do that. Earl joined me for the ride from Annapolis to work. Always fun riding with Earl.

After work I rode to church where I met my family. My teen age daughters Jessi and Morgan were counselors at the day camp the church ran all week. My youngest sons, Zach and Erik were campers. The camp emphasize spiritual education through performing arts and final presentation of the Old Testament as a musical by the campers was priceless.

This morning I rode to Annapolis with the club. After coming back up the trail I continued north a few extra miles to the Ranger Station then stopped for another snack at the Big Bean. The surprise came while I was sitting by the trail sipping my coffee and reading. Isaias and his friend Maxine rode up and stopped to join me. Maxine is training for a 24 hour ride coming up in Columbia to raise money for the Livestrong Foundation. 24 hrs to make as many laps as you can around a 2.4 mile loop. Isaias had to declare his frame a total loss last weekend when the threads of his bottom bracket stripped in such a way that it couldn't be recovered. Today he was sporting his new Ridely cyclocross ride. He says it feels great and seems to be really enjoying it. We watched the world running, walking and riding by while we caught up and solved the world's problems.

After a short visit I headed back home to rejoin the family for the rest of the weekend. A bike cleaning will fit in there somewhere.

How accurate is the weather forecast?

2011-08-01T20:44:00.004-04:00

This is not a scientific analysis. Just my own observations. This afternoon's forecast as I found it on Weather.com proved to be incredibly accurate. About 4 pm I could see the end of the day's "to do" list coming and clouds outside of my window. The day was ripe for T-storms and I assumed they were bearing down on the area. So I called up the details to try and figure out if I should leave quickly or plan to sit tight for a while and let them pass. The radar map showed a cluster north and another cluster skirting just south, but also showed I'd could expect a clear path all the way home if I left promptly. The dark clouds outside my window were the cell that would move south.

So I wrapped up the work stuff and headed out with an eye on the sky. Those southern storms looked awfully close. CRACK! The first thunder sounded just as I clipped in, then a few rain drops. And that was it. I could see the southern storms and hear occasional thunder the whole way home. When I got a flat at Burns Crossing and MD 175 the southern storm looked even more ominous and the thunder continued to encourage me to change that tube quickly. (Did I mention I live south of the office so I had to head towards the southern cell the whole time).

BUT I NEVER GOT WET!!

When I got home, I looked up the radar map that showed the recent history (as opposed to the forecast) and it looked nearly identical to the forecast I recalled before I left work. The cell to the south tracked exactly as forecast, close but no rain on Mike's one-bike parade.

I just find it incredible that the convergence of meteorology and communications technology (The Internet) have come together to give us such a complete picture, literally, of what to expect for a 6 - 12 hour time horizon, and it's all just a few clicks away. Remarkable.

Here's the route I took home. I stretched it a little further down Burns Crossing before turning for home to get in 40 miles on the day. That will be a key number for a while. More on that in another post.

Tour of Southern Anne Arundel

2011-07-31T15:42:00.002-04:00

Set out this morning at 04:00 with Dave, Matt and Alex to ride the new RUSA populaire route that Dave put together: Tour of Southern Anne Arundel. The route is essentially the northern half of the Sailing Down to Solomons 200K permanent.

I signed on because at 102K (63.5 miles) the distance was exactly what I needed to round out 1000 miles for the month of July. I did it!! The others were looking for a slightly longer workout and the early start suited all of us to beat the heat and allow time for the rest of the day with family, church, chores, etc.

At 04:00 we beat the heat and the traffic. The first half to Chesapeake Beach was entirely in the dark. We set a crisp pace and with no traffic could ride 2 x 2 and talk while we rode. We arrived at the turn around just in time to see a great sunrise over The Bay.

Matt took this shot along Fairhaven Rd just north of Chesapeake / North Beach.

Sunrise over The Bay. Courtesy of Matt Kisner

About half way back I picked up a sharpie in the rear wheel. Otherwise the ride was without incident. It was Alex' first RUSA event, it put me over 1000 miles for July and capped a big week with 281 miles in 7 days.

After we got home I took my two youngest sons out to celebrate. We had breakfast at the The Breakfast Shoppe in Severna Park. I had a 3 foot stack of pancakes, a dozen eggs, and a pound of bacon. Well not quite, but I was famished and enjoyed a hearty meal, then came home and took a nap. A good Sunday all around.

Goals

2011-07-28T20:36:00.003-04:00

I need goals. If there's not something I'm reaching for I quickly revert to a sleepy couch potato. On the way to work this morning I cleared 850 miles for the month, which is the goal I set for this month when setting my "schedule" for the year. Of course not all months have gone so well. I set out in January to see if I could ride 9000 miles this year. As I write this I'm still 620 miles behind schedule for the year. So with this month's quota out of the way. Every mile I ride the next three days makes up for miles missed when I wasn't being so diligent. The stretch goal now is to get to 1000 miles this month and see if I can do it again next month (the Aug plan is also 850 set at the beginning of the year).

This morning I saw Dana Dobbs. He was on his triathlon bike spinning and ensuring it was correctly dialed in for a race this weekend. He's looked after me often at the bike shop and I understand from my nephews he is quite a stern task master as a teacher at Broadneck High School. Good guy and easy to root for when he competed in the Hawaii Iron Man last fall.

This evening's ride home wasn't has hot or humid as I'd feared. I took the Dicus Mill route again, the descent is much nicer when sure footed on dry pavement.

Tomorrow is the Friendly Friday ride with SPP to breakfast then to work and finally home in the evening. Should be close to 60 miles and take a nice bite out my last 118 towards 1000. Can I entice Earl to ride with me to the office in the morning?

The longest mile....

2011-07-27T08:58:00.001-04:00

Is from my bed to the bike. Once I've conquered that, the rest of the day usually goes well.

Didn't commute in today as tonight is sailing and I can't make it from the office to the dock in Annapolis in the hour allotted if I do it by bicycle. So I enjoyed a morning ride around the river instead. Cool, clear, no haze and the humidity is pleasantly low. Shame this won't last. Forecast says we're headed back to the 3H's this weekend. Hot Hazy and Humid.

Peer pressure

2011-07-26T20:52:00.002-04:00

Last week I noted that consistency is key to success. Then promptly took 4 days off the bike; ugh. Plenty of excuses: it was HOT, I was on vacation and didn't want to get up early, the kids wanted me to spend time with them.... and one could easily have served a little cheese to go with all of that whine!!

I find peer pressure a useful tool to help achieve consistency. At the beach on vacation, I had a wonderful time with my family, but no cyclists in the bunch to apply the gentle nudge (or violent shove when needed) to get me on the bike. On the contrary, the extended family beyond my wife and kids thought I was nuts riding as much as I did. I'm back home now and riding with friends it's a little easier to find the motivation; like this rather pointed reminder (challenge?) from Earl. Thanks.

I got another surprise when Chris sent me an email suggesting we ride home together and join the other SPPers at Squizitos tonight for dinner. He had ridden in to the train station to catch his train to work and we'd be going the same way anyway. Good to catch up.

So just over 40 miles on the day; and I feel great. G'night all.

Re-entry

2011-07-25T20:56:00.001-04:00

First day back at work was rather uneventful. That's a good thing after two weeks of vacation. This vacation was the least disrupted by work, that I've had the last few years, very nice. Had a great time at the beach with the kids, sailing, swimming, and of course biking.

Rode to work and back. Took a new route home, WB&A --> Burns Crossing --> Dicus Mill Rd --> Benfield. Adds a mile or so to taking WB&A to Tompson and over to New Cut. Not sure how I felt about the winding decent on Dicus Mill on wet pavement as there were showers earlier in the afternoon. But I think it will do to add a little variety occasionally. Gonna try and stretch the ride a little both ways this week and see if I can't crack 1000 miles for the month. May have to ride a century this weekend to make it work.

Le Tour

2011-07-24T23:17:00.000-04:00

I'm not a racer and I don't find Le Tour de France to be compelling enough to hold my attention for three weeks. So I didn't tune in until the last couple of days. The crash highlights were macabre and I wish all of those injured a speedy recovery. But I gotta give Laurens ten Dam props for getting back on his back after his crash in stage 14. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/43828138/ns/sports-cycling/displaymode/1247/beginSlide/35/ A great example of rule 5 in action.

Congratulations to Cadel Evans and to the Schleck brothers.

Randonneuring Is a Team Sport

2011-07-21T11:32:00.004-04:00

Randonneuring is a Team Sport and I'm fortunate to belong to one of the better teams around; the Severna Park Peloton. Randonneurs USA (RUSA) emphasizes friendly camaraderie and that is absolutely the most appealing aspect of it to me. But in my experience it often goes beyond that.

Any randonnee is by definition a long ride and will test the randonneur's readiness and preparation. This includes his fitness, his equipment and a simple checklist of important things to bring along. In temperate weather a 200K brevet can be a wonderful way to spend a day. Fall colors or spring blooms show off nature at it's best in the mid-Atlantic region. Throw in a couple of good companions and you have a recipe for a fantastic day on the bike.

But most of us aren't content to only ride on nice days. We layer on some additional challenges to test ourselves. Sometimes we fix the date for a brevet months in advance and short of extreme storms (or sometimes in spite of extreme storms), we ride in whatever weather Mother Nature provides that day: rain, heat, cold, wind, whatever. Or we set out to repeat the 200K once each calendar month for 12 consecutive months in pursuit of the R-12 award. This also forces us out on the bike throughout the year in periods of long daylight and short, in months when the temperatures average in the 20s or the 90s, an R-12 award winner has to confront it all. We ride longer events that can stretch the adventure over several days with little time for sleep (did I mention each randonnee has a time limit?).

Randonneurs can and often do ride alone. Such adventures provide their own sense of satisfaction. But in report after report, you'll read that when the going get's tough, camaraderie progressed beyond friendly banter. It was those friends, team mates, that got everyone through the day when it might have been tempting to call it quits, or when the right tool or spare part repaired an otherwise catastrophic mechanical failure. Sometimes we plan in advance to complete the event together and choose to stay together when one or the other member needs a break or a hand repairing a problem on the bike. Other times these teams form spontaneously on the road as riders with a similar preference for a comfortable pace find themselves together. Regardless of how they form, I find they are essential to the successful completion of many radonnee events when the circumstances become challenging. Officially, each rider signs up and commits himself to take on the challenge (and the risk according to the waiver we sign) alone. We don't formally obligate ourselves to look after one another. Yet we often accomplish so much more together than we could alone.

My first brevet in January, 2010 was probably my coldest and toughest day on the bike I've ever had. But Chris and I had agreed in advance we'd stick together. Smartest plan we ever made. I couldn't have finished that one alone. As my first event, a failure that day might have kept me from even trying again.

In December, 2010 I was down to my final month to complete the R-12. The weather is always suspect that time of year and daylight is a scarce commodity. I was dreading the prospect of riding a 200K alone in such conditions but I had to finish the challenge. I reached out to the team for a hand. Clint and Earl answered the call to join me on a wet snowy morning at 6 am, well before dawn. Schools were closed because the road conditions were deemed unsafe for bus travel. But we rode anyway. I successfully completed my R-12 that day and celebrated the event in fine fashion that evening with friends.

In May of this year I was attempting my first ever 300K ride. The weather was near perfect. The challenge this time was pushing on 50% further than I ever had. Three of us formed our team on the road. My team mates that day were both PBP veterans, Nick and Justin. I was the rookie in the group. But once we settled in together, their encouragement made the extra miles glide by without a problem.

Yesterday Earl Janssen and I teamed up to ride Eastern Shore Reversed 200K permanent. This was Earl's 8th month in his pursuit of the R-12 (he started on that same snowy December ride). July is another challenging month to complete a randonnee. It's usually HOT and humid. Yesterday lived up to those expectations. On paper the course from Wallops Island, VA to Cape Charles and back looks like one of the least challenging available. Flat as a pancake it is estimated to involve only 500 ft of climbing. We joked about the "hill" coming up if we could actually see a dip or rise of more than a 5 - 10 feet. When I first rode this route last October it went as expected. The weather was near perfect, temps between 60 and 72 deg F the whole day, low humidity, and a light Easterly breeze (cross wind) to help keep me cool.

This time we saw a high temp over 98 deg F and humidity over 90%. The wind was negligible until the very end, when a light breeze lifted from the North, a slight headwind. We started at 6 am hoping to cover as many miles as possible in the cooler parts of the morning and minimize our exposure to the toughest conditions. But the heat would inevitably come at the END of the ride after we'd already been at it for a hundred miles. By noon it was simply oppressive. We finished successfully by working together, encouraging each other, and being smart enough to recognize the conditions were stressful and required prudent breaks. We also covered a LOT of ground quickly in the first part of the morning by alternating the lead every 5 - 10 minutes and drafting behind each other. This let us hold a 19 - 20 mph pace early before the day got too hot and further cut our subsequent exposure to the tough conditions later in the day. A solo ride in that heat would have been torture, and a good candidate for DNF (did not finish).

These are just a few examples of the teamwork I enjoy so much while biking. Poke around my blog and you'll find other examples big and small. But it really IS why I keep riding.

Earl has also posted his thoughts about yesterday on his blog.

Consistency is the key

2011-07-19T11:59:00.000-04:00

I've known for a long time that consistent training and exercise is the key to consistently improving performance. And "performance" in this context can be loosely defined. What's your objective: weight loss? improved stamina and health? ride 1 mph faster on average? Chances are most of these will improve in unison if you train consistently. I've not been very consistent the last couple of months and it's been gnawing at me. I've encouraged new riders who ask for my input to ride every day. "20 miles per day will do you more good than 40 miles every other day." Is the how I try to explain. But if you check out my Garmin logs you'll see that it's been rare that I string more than 2-3 days in a row on the bike since the 30 day challenge back in April.

This morning two friends reinforced this point for me. I don't think they had me specifically in mind when the sat at a keyboard and noted their thoughts. I'm a hundred miles away on vacation and haven't seen or ridden with either in over a week. Though I do have plans to ride with Earl tomorrow. Yet there it was on Earl's blog this morning. Later Jeff would post similar thoughts to club mailing list about how poorly he felt getting out of bed and how much better he felt after riding this morning, noting also that he hadn't been consistent lately.

So I'll be paying more attention to how many days each week I throw my leg over the bike. Today makes three in a row and I have a date with Earl for a 200K tomorrow, so of course that commitment will be plenty of motivation to get me up and moving for number 4. Thursday will be the true test. I need to get up and put in a light 20 miles + Thursday to work off the lactic acid from tomorrow and to keep my own commitment to consistency.

Today's 30 miles was fun. I know I have a big day tomorrow so I set a shorter goal than the last few days and I watched my heart rate, shooting to keep it under 130 with a nice consistent cadence. It's exactly what I'll need on the flats of lower VA shore tomorrow.

Lewes - Milsboro - Ocean City

2011-07-17T12:51:00.002-04:00

A good Sunday Morning workout at the beach.

Wandering Around Lower Slower DE

2011-07-12T18:23:00.004-04:00

Southern DE often goes by the nick name "Lower Slower Delaware". The economy of the area is split between agriculture and beach tourism. I'm obviously here participating in the later. The exact origins of the nickname will likely never be known. Some visitors use it derogatorily (sp?) when things don't live up to their hyper charged lives back home. Cell phone service can be spotty, convenience stores aren't open at all hours, there is not a fast food joint on every corner, business can still be done with a handshake for many services. These and other aspects of life here can be either infuriating or endearing depending on ones perspective. My family and I keep coming back for vacation because we love the place.

Today I rode through the shore towns of Slaughter Beach, Prime Hook and Broadkill Beach. They epitomize this less hectic lifestyle and they are lovely. Mostly residential strips along the beach with only a small general store to acknowledge commerce of any type. Specifically I was looking for a control point that could be used in Slaughter Beach to develop a randonneuring permanent route of at least 200K based on Chip Adam's annual "Flat Bread" brevet. The brevet runs at a scheduled time when we know businesses will be open to provide a receipt and initial our control card as "proof of passage" to the riders passing through. A permanent route is ridden at the rider's preferred schedule so the means for establishing passage must be flexible enough to accommodate a rider at almost any time of day.

The general store in Slaughter Beach is open 8 - 6 pm six days a week, closed on Tuesdays. Similarly the Broadkill store is open 7am to 6pm seven days a week. The Broadkill store also by the way makes a delicious chicken salad sandwich.

So open businesses in these little strips may not support riders at any hours. We'll have to either route the ride away from the beach to the larger "metropolis" cities of Milton or Milsboro where one can find a Seven-Eleven open all night, use an "Information Control" that asks the rider to answer a trivia question he could only know if he was actually there, or may be in spirit of Lower Slower DE we could simply restrict the perm hours to days / times when these establishments are open. We'll see.

To the Beach!!

2011-07-10T19:45:00.003-04:00

Had a great ride to the shore yesterday. Things started looking up Friday evening. I was checking off "to do's" at work at a furious pace so I could be away and be reasonably sure I'd be unmolested by my electronic leash (mobile phone) while I was gone.

Then I got a text from Chris asking if I'd like some company for the first few miles of my trip to the beach. Now a good afternoon was looking great. We set a plan and met at the Park N Ride at Jones Station Rd and Ritchie Hwy at 05:00 on Saturday morning. Chris drove us over the Bay Bridge, even obliged me and stopped for coffee and a breakfast sandwich on the way.

We clipped in at the middle school in Stevensville at 05:45 and set off. It's been a while since Chris and I had a chance to ride like that it was fun to catch up. He stayed with me as far as Centreville then had to turn back for home and get ready to host the celebration of his parents-in-law 60th Wedding Anniversary!! Happy Anniversary Mr. and Mrs Smith!!

The rest of day solo was wonderful. As the sun came up and it warmed up an odd thing happened for Maryland in July... the humidity fell! The haze cleared and it got to be downright pleasant as I toured the corn fields of the Eastern Shore and Delaware.

There was a very light breeze from the north. Just enough to appreciate it whenever I came to a complete stop. Last year when Dave made the trip with me we had much hotter and more humid conditions. We also didn't plan our water supply correctly for the rather long stretch from Greensboro, MD to Milton, DE without passing a convenience store, gas station or other easy water supply. Eventually we simply stopped at a home and were treated wonderfully by the lady of the house.

This year I enjoyed more mild conditions though it was till warm, with temps above 80 deg F most of the day. In Ridgley, MD (5 miles before Greensboro) I topped off the camelback and three water bottles. I was now carrying over 3/4 of a gallon of water. I was prepared for this stretch even if it was a touch cooler. It worked out just about right. I was down to less than half a bottle by the time I rolled in to Milton just after 11 am.

Of course I stopped at the Dog Fish Head brewery in Milton where they have a tasting room that is always serving free samples of their latest brew. Even before lunch they were open and happy to serve me as I was wearing one of their jerseys. I generally avoid bike jersey's that are commercials for someone else's product, but the art work on the DFH makes it look like there are beer bottles sticking out of the back pockets, it's a classic. And I really enjoy many of their beers. They are constantly experimenting and offering new ales. Yesterday's tasting featured their Namaste, which they describe as a Belgian-style white. Very tasty. If you roll in to the tasting room with their jersey on and announce you pedaled 80 miles to get there, they treat you well!!

While enjoying the tasting room and visiting with the employees and other visitors, I got a text from my eldest son that he was already on the way to Lewes in my truck. So after a tasty samples at DFH I decided lunch could wait until I finished the final 12 miles. I met Justin and we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Irish Eyes pub on their deck by the canal in Lewes. Then we checked in with realtor to collect the keys to our rental. After unloading the truck I carted my umbrella and a towel across the street to the beach where I enjoyed a cool dip and a refreshing nap on the beach.

Vacation has started out very well!!

My kids are very talented...

2011-07-08T13:38:00.001-04:00

My daughters starred in this, produced by their friend Doug...... Enjoy.

Blogging Again

2011-07-06T22:30:00.002-04:00

A New Approach

Hello and thanks for stopping by. I took some time off from the blog the last month or so to re-consider what I was trying to do and say. I probably won't be posting daily summaries any more: I rode my bike today, I went to work, I stopped and got a bagel. It was getting dull to write about and I can only imagine how it read if you weren't there. I read and enjoy blogs that DO summarize daily activity. If one writes well, the routine can be compelling. But I don't see myself as such a gifted communicator. So my posts will be a little less frequent. I'll keep the mileage tracker up to date and I'll write a post when I have something I think is worth sharing. Big rides, periodic summaries of my activity, and observations from the road. I may wander in to other aspects of life off the bike too: family, work, and maybe even a few thoughts on the dysfunctional drama that is U.S. national politics (gasp!)

With this new approach I've gotten my own web domain: www.chesapeakesailor.net and I even set the background to a photo I took myself. You're impressed, right?

A slow month in June.

In my athletic endeavors, June fell short of my expectations. I only biked about 500 miles, I ate too much and packed on a couple of pounds. The goal was 850 miles and to loose a couple of pounds. No excuses, I just lost focus.

Mixing It Up

But I have started mixing up my activity. Dave is a long time friend, all the way back to our days as Boy Scouts and team mates on the High School track and cross country teams. He's an accomplished marathon runner and tri-athlete. Now he's coaching me as I take up running for the first time since college. He's helped me devise a training plan to get ready for a 10 K race in September, The Dogfish Dash

Biking has helped me develop good cardio vascular conditioning; and my legs have grown significantly stronger in the last two years.... for turning the pedals. I can ride for a 100 miles with minimal breaks. But running for even short intervals causes muscles and tendons to ache that I'd long forgotten. It'll be an interesting summer getting ready for the Dash. I'll write about that a bit more in another post.

To the Beach

This week I'm wrapping up projects at work and getting ready to head with my family to our annual vacation at the beach. I'm very much looking forward to that. Like last year, I plan to ride from home to the shore after packing the vehicles. Tivy and our teenage son Justin will drive the gear and young ones down and meet me there Saturday afternoon. Just two more days in the office, then freedom!!

America the Beautiful

2011-07-04T20:39:00.004-04:00

Today I escorted my sons and a couple of the other Cub Scouts from Pack 858 as we rode our bikes in the Severna Park Independence Day Parade. It's the quintessential small town parade: fire trucks, small businesses, politicians in convertibles, MS Maryland made an appearance, churches, bands, sports teams and of course the Scouts. Several thousand people turned out to watch. We had fun celebrating the birth of our great nation. There was a picnic at the park where the parade ended with hot dogs and snow cones for the kids.

It was just a fun day for all of our neighbors to come out and celebrate what's right with our country. We have some big challenges ahead. As we debate different approaches to those challenges and competing visions for our country's future, let's try to remember that we are all neighbors and let's try to keep in mind what we were celebrating today. I think we'll be just a little bit stronger for it.

Slow down and smell the Coffee

2011-05-29T10:24:00.024-04:00

My writing muse as been missing in action lately, but I've been on the bike regularly and feeling great, commuting, and bopping around Annapolis and Serverna Park with the club. I've also enjoyed riding with Bill C while commuting to and from work. This has become a regular partnership to the extent that we can synchronize our schedules. All good stuff.

The holiday weekend has presented some wonderful riding so far. After the club ride yesterday broke up, Chris and I set a date to ride again this morning. We managed to draw Bob C out too and the three of us enjoyed a great Sunday morning.

From the Park N Ride at Jones Station we rode down through Annapolis and out to the Caribou Coffee in Crofton. It's gonna be a hot day, but at 7:00 it was pleasantly cool and the wind flat calm. We kept the pace easy and enjoyed watching the world wake up on a lazy Sunday morning. The horse farms south of Genl's Hwy are especially peaceful this time of day. At Caribou we enjoyed a cuppa joe and a gnash then returned through Millersville to complete a lap around the River.

25+ riders together in a big pack can be an exciting experience and a lot of fun. But sometimes a ride with two or three friends can be the perfect way to spend a morning. I'll stop there before I break out in Kumbay Yah or something. I enjoyed the company gentlemen, thanks.

Monday and Tuesday - Catch up post

2011-05-17T20:49:00.012-04:00

The weekend was occupied with a camping trip with Cub Scouts. GREAT fun for all the boys, their dads and a few brave moms who joined us.

But come Monday morning I was feeling the pressure to get an early start at work and drove in. Got a lot done and got a nice ride in Monday evening. Out to Sandy Point and down through St. Margarets to the river, then home via Boulters and the Trail.

Today started with a lousy forecast and I almost bagged the bike ride. But a timely text from Bill C to try and coordinate our commutes got me up and moving. We couldn't synch our schedules and never did see each other. But two exchanges via text message was enough peer pressure to get me moving. I'm really glad he did. The actual weather was much nicer than the forecast I never got wet either direction. As the forecast cleared the SPP put out word for a Tuesday Pizza ride and I met them at Squizitos for a salad, a slice and a beer. Thanks Bill for getting me moving.

Sometimes It's good to miss the excitement

2011-05-13T14:48:00.031-04:00

Friday's are great. I get to ride in the morning with my friends to Annapolis for breakfast then off to work. Sometimes by bike, sometimes by car, depending on the evening plans. But the morning is always a good way to kick off the weekend.

This A.M. we had better turnout than usual. Chris hasn't been out on the bike in a while but joined us for the ride to Annapolis, Dave too, Janet and 9 others.

The ride down was at a social pace, we had a great time catching up with one another. The weather was nice. Once downtown Dave and I split from the pack to meet Rod, Doug and Doug for breakfast at Chick -n- Ruth's while the rest went to Hard Bean.

Dave recently completed the Boston Marathon and has agreed to be my "coach" as start running a bit to diversify my exercise and try to get my weight trending down again. So we used the ride home to lay plans for starting my running program. At Jones Station Rd I broke off to head home for a shower and then drive in to work.

So far nothing really remarkable. But after my shower I saw a cryptic email from Bryan, who had been out that morning. "The answer is what goes thump thump thump thump? Now what is the question?"

A few minutes later Earl responds "What sound does Janet's bike make after breakfast?"

I had just ridden to Annapolis with them but we were apart for the ride home. What on earth were they referring to?

Well Earl settled the matter a few minutes later when he posted his blog. First I'll spoil a few details for you: the squirrel didn't make it, and no bikes or riders were hurt during this incident. Those with a weak stomach should stop here. Those who choose to continue be warned, the following tale is not for the squeamish.....

Friday the 13th was unlucky for this creature

5:46 Ride with SPP

2011-05-10T10:16:00.009-04:00

Rode with the bike club this A.M. as I have a social engagement this evening, also with the bike club, that makes commuting to the office by bike tight. Dan Oldale had also sent an email last night suggesting we split the morning ride. At 5:45 those looking for a sprint workout would shove off and at 5:46 those of us looking for something less than Warp speed would set out. Well the 5:46 start had 8 riders to 4 with the sprinters. The sun was up bright and clear, and the morning was cool. We had a great time.

Recovery Ride

2011-05-09T23:34:00.007-04:00

After the big day Saturday I took Sunday off from the bike. This evening after work I got in a quick recovery ride to try and work some of the lactic acid from my legs. Went out to Sandy Point and down St. Margarets to the river, then home. Didn't push the pace, just spinning. It felt good.

Frederick 300K - Wow I did it!

2011-05-07T21:20:00.005-04:00

I completed the Frederick 300K Brevet sponsored by DC Rand this Saturday. That's 187.5 Miles in one day. Prior to this my longest single day on the bike was 200K. As the day started I was nervous and excited about breaking new ground and going so much further in one day than I'd ever been before.

I needn't have worried. Riding the R-12 last year I completed that 200K distance once each month for a year. That provided more than ample experience. I've also had some great coaching from the other randonneurs in the SPP (Thank you all.) I knew how to keep my pace in check when tempted to keep up with cool kids who ride really fast (just let 'em go), I knew how to eat and drink to keep myself correctly fueled (continuously in small portions), and I new how to dress for the expected weather conditions (wool base layers rule). These may seem like trivial details but they really are skills one learns along the way. It also helped that the weather was perfect.

All of that added up to a fantastic day, and one of my major goals for the year completed.

The course was relatively mild interrupted by 3 big climbs. Click the GPS map below to see the climbing profile and other details. The two biggest both came in the first 60 miles. That was another nice feature of the course, the hard work was all front loaded. In between the big climbs the ride was a tour of farm country, orchards and small towns in the valleys of Pennsylvania.

The biggest climb, Big Flat (no idea where the name comes from), features 1400 feet of climbing over 16 miles, it starts with some foothills and quickly builds to a long steep slog. It was long and big and it just kept going up, and up. But there was a reward. From the summit of Big Flat I barely had to pedal a stroke for the next nine miles to the control in Shippensburg. That was really something. The GPS track also shows my max speed was 40 mph. I had to ride the brakes because I couldn't always see around the next bend. But I'm sure if I'd let it go I would have seen 50+ mph. That's just not for me. I'll keep pushing my limits on longer rides, but I'm not sure I want to chase any land speed records.

The farm country in between these hills was scenic, and the traffic was light. This is the land of covered bridges, orchards and horse drawn buggies. Also some very nice rolling creeks. I saw them all along the way.

From Frederick 300K

Bill Smith took this shot of me shortly after the covered bridge. I look pretty good don't I?

c William Smith Frederick 300K

From Frederick 300K

And cows, lots of cows. All good rides feature at least one animal story, usually a loose dog chasing the rider(s). We encountered a loose cow. She was outside the pen and just staring at me as I rode by and realized no barrier separated us. I tried to point her out to Nick and Justin who were a few yards back, but she started trotting out in to the road before they noticed what I was saying. They wound up with a much closer look at her than I got. She wasn't charging or threatening them and just kept going in front of them. We stopped and told the family in the farm house about the stray, but the lady of the house didn't seem concerned so we continued on our way. I hope they corralled her before she tangled with a car on the road.

On big rides the pack always starts to stretch out according to pace. This happened naturally as we approached Thurmont at mile 15 and the first real climbs. I soon found myself hopscotching with the same few riders. I finished the last third of the ride with Justin and Nick Bull. Both are veterans of PBP and very experienced riders. The three of us found a comfortable pace and spent the miles getting to know one another a bit. Nick is the president of DCRand and invests considerable time and energy helping to make these events work. I appreciated the company and the chance to meet new folks on the road. Justin was riding a recumbant bike, and this also provided some interesting conversation as he shared it's quirks and features. I want to thank them both for the company, it made the time and the miles go very quickly.

Before we knew it we were entering Thurmont again, only 15 miles to go. By then George had caught up with us and our pack was four. We stopped for one last refill of water when a van pulled up beside me in the parking lot. Bryan and Clint doubled back on the route to check on me before they drove home. They had finished a couple of hours earlier. You remember, the cool guys who ride real fast..... Thanks guys. One more hour and were passing Ft Detrick and turning in to the Hampton Inn. I'd made it.

No I haven't retired my bike

2011-05-06T10:17:00.025-04:00

A lack of a proper training plan after last weekend's Ocean City ride, and a little poor discipline in the "early to bed, early to rise" department led to almost no miles this week. But I did get out this morning for Friendly Friday and the ride to Annapolis for breakfast. Gorgeous morning. It looks like the rainy spring may finally be behind us.

But the big news is tomorrow. I'm planning to ride my first 300K brevet tomorrow. I think the week's rest may actually help. It will be the longest single day of riding I've ever attempted. The route starts in Frederick, MD and heads north in a big loop through Pennsylvania before returning to the start. One notorious climb up "Big Flat" comes about 1/3 of the way around the course. We start at 5 am and have a 20 hour time limit to finish by 1 am on Sunday, though I'm hoping for more like 10 - 11 pm Saturday. Here is more detail

I'm excited and of course experiencing a little bit of nervous energy. I'll tweet my progress at the control stops, my handle is chespksailor on twitter if you care to follow along. Wish me luck.

Ocean City

2011-05-01T21:30:00.178-04:00

I finished out the #30daysofbiking challenge in grand style Saturday. 18 riders gathered at the Stevensville Middle School in Stevensville, Md the 12th edition of the SPP ride to Ocean City. The weather forecast was postcard perfect. Temps near 50 deg F in the morning would warm to the mid 60s. The reality started a little overcast but otherwise lived up to it's billing. It was really great day for a bike ride.

We were all decked out in new outer wear to match the club's kit. In cool weather the jersey was often covered by vests or jackets. Now we have vests and jackets in club colors too and they look great. The cool start was also the perfect conditions to try out the new vest and I'm happy to report it worked quite well.

At the start. See more.... OC 12

Chris Lane and some friends of Jeff Schultz met us at the start to take some picks and wish us well. Then we had quick briefing on the route, the need to stick together and we were off. Riding with such a large group is always a lot of fun. New friends to meet, old ones to catch up with, and an incredibly efficient peloton when the angle on the wind isn't optimal. This route also lends itself so well to a social ride. Most of the miles are on rural country roads. Traffic is light, the terrain is flat and we can easily ride 3 or more abreast to talk. It's really a lot of fun that way. That the wind was pushing us along just added another nice note to the day.

The miles rolled by very quickly and effortlessly. It seemed like it was no time at all and we were rolling in to the breakfast stop at Dave's Place in Ridgely, MD approximately 1/3 of the way in to the ride. The origin's of SPP's tradition to include Dave's Place as a regular stop on this ride shift a bit with each telling. But generally include some variation of looking for shelter and calories when the weather was cold and rainy on an early edition of the ride 5 or 6 years ago.

Dave's Place is a bar in a rural farming town and by it's appearance would be a very unlikely stop for a group of cyclists. It's not normally open at 10 am when we roll in. But on that first visit years ago Chip and Clint charmed the owner Mary Ann and she has been opening up to fix us breakfast ever since. We called ahead with our orders. On arrival Mary Ann had coffee, fresh baked cookies and brownies, and breakfast sandwiches with each rider's choice of bread, cheese and meat.

Once we're all served, Mary Ann came out to hold court. She's quite a character, gregarious, generous, and entertaining. She always has a couple of small gifts for us to raffle off. This year it was a set of lottery scratch off and powerball tix. Earl, Bryan and I all won the raffle to receive the lottery tix, but unfortunately none of our tix won. Maybe next year.

Breakfast at Dave's Place. See more... OC 12

After a group picture with Mary Ann we set out again. At this point three of our group turned back. This was planned, not due to any problem, the routine lends itself well to that and allows some to participate who might otherwise have to settle for another tour of Anne Arundel County. So Bennie, Ray and Jeff Scho turned for the start and 15 of us continued on our way. Freshly fed and with the weather warming slightly, we made a few wardrobe adjustments and pulled any supplies needed from the Bodine's SAG van, then we were off.

The miles continued to roll quickly. The last clouds cleared and as the course turned a little more southerly, the tail wind started to push us a little faster. We were flying across the countryside at 20+ miles per hour and having a great time. Lunch at the Irish Eyes in Milton, DE was quick and delicious, then we pedaled a few blocks across town to the Dogfish Head Brewery. They brew a great series of exotic ales, and they are also a sponsor for Randy Mouri's RAAM adventure. Randy rode with us Saturday. The DFH convenient location along our route, the tasting room with free samples, and the gift shop with great looking jersey's are reason enough for us to visit. Randy's affiliation with company gave it extra significance.

So our time in Milton was rather extensive before we got back on the bike to finish the trip to Ocean City. Again we picked up our spirited pace and the wind just kept pushing even faster. The group was also full of a bit of mischief. As fast as we were moving, one or two of the group wanted to go faster still and the group would break in two as some tried to hold the faster pace while others preferred to keep their heart rate below zone 5. After two or three cycles like this the team took action to hold back the instigators.

Fun and games on the road. See more... OC 12

Such shenanigans continued much of the last leg, until attention shifted to final sprint the barn. As we approached the final turn on to Hwy One in Ocean City six of us started sprinting hard for the finish about 2 miles out. Earl and I couldn't really hope to hold with the others and just pushed ourselves as best we could. Just then with a half mile left we had our only close call of the day. An inattentive driver pulling out of a parking lot didn't see us despite white strobes on the front. Earl recognized his slow drift in to traffic might be dangerous and pointed him to me. I shouted with my best military command voice to catch his attention and he looked quite startled. Incident averted.

Then we were done. Chip and Randy turned around and rode back through the night after about an hour's break in OC with us. Remember Randy is training for RAAM and this sort of thing is routine for him. Earl's wife Lori drove my van to OC to meet us. This allowed Earl, myself and 3 others to head back home for Sunday commitments after a delicious dinner with the crew in O.C.

We had the route in hand that Randy and Chip were following so after dropping Earl's daughter in Salisbury we were able to plot an intercept course and check in with them about 10:30 in the evening. They reported they were doing well and didn't even accept offers of water or spare calories we still had in our bags. On those small country roads it was really dark, no light pollution and brilliant stars. Their LED tail lights were brilliant and we easily spotted them a half mile away. An email this morning confirmed their safe arrival in Stevensville shortly after 2 am. Another confirmed that the 8 riders who returned today also had a safe and successful ride.

In addition to the photos, I shot some video but that may take a while to get edited. Earl also wrote a nice report on the ride. I will add my video and links to other folks' photos as they get them posted and share it with me.

Many thanks to John and Janet Bodine for the SAG van support (they each ride one way and drive one way), and all of the planning for the hotel, dinner etc. Thanks also to Lori for driving the second van to allow several of us the luxury of a one way ride. Finally thanks to the other riders, I had a great time.

Friendly Friday - Day 29 of #30daysofbiking

2011-04-29T20:32:00.007-04:00

I met the SPP 5:45ers for the breakfast ride to Annapolis. A great morning with clear skies and wonderful sunshine. I met Rod and Doug for breakfast at C & R and we enjoyed nice morning together.

On the way back home I encountered a crew mowing the grass and other growth along the B & A Trail. I fully expected to slow and possibly to have to dismount and walk around them. Imagine my surprise as they pulled to the side to let ME go by.

It was a beautiful morning. And I'm looking forward to an entire day like that tomorrow riding to O.C. with the club. It should be a great day.

Day 28 #30daysofbiking

2011-04-28T22:31:00.006-04:00

After a full day I finally clipped in for a quick ride around the neighborhood at 9:30 pm. One of my neighbors has a nicely lit flag displayed in front of his home.

Day 27 of #30daysofbiking

2011-04-28T20:26:00.021-04:00

Day 27 - My Birthday

Wednesday was a big day. It was my birthday and the kick off of Wednesday Night Races - our weekly summer sailboat race in the Chesapeake Bay.

Before I even left the house I learned that I am now officially a celebrity. Ok that's overblown but my bike was featured on MG's blog Chasing Mailboxes. Mary writes much better than I do. Rather than merely a chronicle of her riding adventures, and she has many with her husband Ed, she actually tells stories and writes articles about biking, people and the things she sees. So I was thrilled when she contacted me and wanted to include my Surly in her series about "Bikes to Like". Here's the post and the results of our email "interview". Mike B's Surly Long Haul Trucker.

To get from work to the docks in the evening I have to drive to the office. So I started the day with the 5:45ers. The group opted to split the ride: those who wanted a sprint took the Solley Rd route at Mach 2. Earl and I took the trail south in a more leisurely pace and picked up Jeff and Ben along the way. The four of us continued all the way to the top of Naval Academy Bridge hoping to catch a sunrise but the cloud cover wouldn't cooperate. I did take the video cam. Here we are approaching and climbing the bridge.

After riding and work it was back to Annapolis for the races. A great evening. The crew of Diamond in the Rough is a fun bunch. We're also fortunate to have a consistent group and function well as a team. The wind was blustery, a challenge after 6 months off and we were a little rusty. Bumping the mark cost us a 10% penalty on our time and took us out of contention. But we also kept the boat under control and effectively improvised when the vang broke, which is more than some of our competition can say. We watched several "knock down", but no one was hurt or went swimming. Races like that with the strong weather make for great tall tales back at the bar afterwards.

It was a great way to celebrate my birthday.

Day 26 - #30daysofbiking

2011-04-26T20:57:00.000-04:00

Great ride to work this A.M. I slept in just a little, then rode to work after sun up. It was my fastest one way trip to work ever, avg speed 16.7 mph, uphill. I felt pretty darned good about myself, thank you.

The ride home offered no new records or such. A head wind and a day of work limited that leg to a more standard pace. But still a pleasant afternoon. Add in dinner at SQ's with some SPP friends and it was a pretty good day all around.

Wednesday evening is opening night of sailing, and Thursday evening is the Cub Scouts Bike Rodeo both require my attendance before 6 pm which oddly means a bike event will prevent a bike ride to work on Thursday. So I plan to join the 5:45 ers the rest of the week and see how I make out with the speed demons.

I'm also very much looking forward to the ride to Ocean City Saturday. The weather forecast is looking absolutely awesome for that one. Fingers crossed.

26 days done of #30daysofbiking.

Day 24 and 25 - #30daysofbiking

2011-04-25T17:35:00.002-04:00

Day 24 - Easter Sunday -

Recovery from the 100K on Saturday, and a busy family day kept me at the bare minimum to keep my 30 days pledge. At 9:30 in the evening after all the day's celebrations were done I rode 1.5 miles 'round the hood. I hope everyone had as wonderful a day on Easter as the Binnix Family.

Day 25 - One way to work.

I rode the bike in to work. Nice warm morning. Saw Earl and Lori in their car as Earl dropped Lori at work at the hospital then confirmed in a subsequent note that he was off to a morning ride. Otherwise uneventful. Eldest daughter Taylor was home for Easter and had to catch a lunch time flight back to school. So she drove to my office at noon, turned over the truck to me and I deposited her at the terminal. After the whistle blew I placed the bike and my other accoutrements in the truck to drive home.

It will be an inconsistent week for mileage with sailing, sports, scouts and other such competing for my time and attention. But then on Saturday we have the big club ride to Ocean City. Very much looking forward to that. Should be a great day.

Tour de Carroll - 2011

2011-04-23T20:41:00.000-04:00

I met my Uncle Dave Waas at the Dutterer Family Park in Westminster, MD for the 2011 edition of the Tour de Carroll a charity ride round hilly Carroll County. This is our second year participating in this ride and our second year getting rained on.

We started in a light, cold shower and it continued steadily for about an hour. Then the rain let up and we enjoyed a cool ride the rest of the day. They altered the route a bit from last year. The area is quite hilly and very beautiful. The new route avoided a few of the most imposing slopes but offered plenty of steady climbs, each with a grey, foggy vista of it's own. Quite beautiful even in clouds and mists.

The area suffered some strong thunderstorms and one or two confirmed tornadoes last weekend. Throughout the ride we saw the freshly downed trees in the wooded areas, fresh stacks of cord wood where the debris fell inconveniently across the road or driveways. The aromas of farm country are also wonderful, dairy farms, spring blooms and in a few spots the fresh cut cypress and oak from all of the cleanup.

I was surprised by the turnout. I don't know the final numbers, but I counted close to a hundred riders. This on a ride that might have attracted a 300 - 400 on a nice day. I arrived a bit early and it didn't look promising at first, only a small handful of us. But as the start approached the crowd arrived, we all exchanged cheerful grousing about the weather and suited up for the day. Clearly a little sunshine would have brought out more, but those who arrived were ready to take the tour at the appointed hour, in whatever conditions we would find.

Riding with my uncle is always inspiring. He clearly shows the benefits of a lifetime of healthy habits and exercise. Demonstrates I'm doing the right thing pursing similar habits, even if I took them up a little later in life.

Day 22 - Friendly Friday Then Work and Home

2011-04-22T20:15:00.001-04:00

Met the 5:45 riders at the R.B. for our weekly breakfast ride to Annapolis. 10 of us met at the R.B. for ride to Annapolis. Four Guys and Another Guy got to retell the fleche tales for the umpteenth time this week with a new audience. I don't think they mind. To a man they said they'd do it again, though they did have a few lessons learned to do differently next time.

At breakfast I met up with old friends Keith and Mark who I haven't seen in a while. Great to visit and catch up. Then Earl joined me for the ride to work near BWI. He seemed to be having trouble getting is mojo by as we approached his turnout to go home he rode past and committed to stick with me the whole way to the airport. I think he enjoyed the longer morning ride as much as I did.

The ride home wasn't so great. Cool and rainy. Getting wet is not so bad, I had my rain jacket. But the mess to clean up on the bike, and my clothes is gross.

Big weekend coming up. I'm riding the Tour de Carrol with my uncle Dave Waas tomorrow. Daughter Taylor is home from college any minute and then we all get to celebrate Easter. Looking forward to it.

Day 22 complete. Ciao.

Day 21 - A nice round trip to work

2011-04-21T21:12:00.000-04:00

Set out a little later than usual this A.M. Sun was up and the temps were pleasant, just cool enough to require arm warmers and a light weight liner under my padded bike gloves. There was also a bit of a head wind but it was just a nice morning to be out.

I met Earl at White's road. He was on his way home from the 5:45 ride and we stopped briefly to exchange pleasantries. Then I was off to the salt mines, the head wind just enough to add a little more to the work out.

The ride home was awesome. Temps near 60 I could pack the glove liners and arm warmers away and just ride, with a tail wind too!

Erik had another game at Cypress park and I got there in time to catch several innings. My Father also came to see him play. Amazing how much he's grown in a year and how much better he and his teammates grasp the fundamentals now. It's really fun to watch.

A lot of chatter on the mailing lists today. The SPP has the big ride coming up to Ocean City in a week and the logistics of who will go round trip and who needs to shuttle home Saturday evening require a bit of coordination but it's all coming together.

Chip Adams also published his ride report from the Fleche last weekend. Quite a feat as these guys had to not only keep moving in torrential rains and strong winds but had to keep improvising their route around roads closed by the authorities due to flooding. Quite the "Epic" ride. I know that description gets overused but I think it applies to the 4 Guys and Another Guy team and the 237 mile journey they completed in just 24 stormy hours. If Chip give's his O.K. I'll re-post it here. It is worthy of preservation.

Day 21 of #30daysofbiking complete.

Day 20 #30Daysofbiking

2011-04-20T20:35:00.000-04:00

With good weather predicted I left the skinny tires on and had no incidents. I'm down 10 lbs since mid March and I think that helps with flats, spokes, etc. This evening I left the laptop at work which also lightened the load a bit for the ride home this evening and tomorrow's ride back to the office. Posting this from the kids' computer.

The result was a zippy ride both directions, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. On the way home I reached Cypress park in time to catch Erik's last at bat. He hit a single and ultimately scored. Very cool.

20 Days done for #30daysofbiking.

Catch up Days 17, 18 and 19 of #30daysofbiking

2011-04-19T21:22:00.001-04:00

It seems to be a recurring pattern lately, I'm biking more diligently than I'm blogging:

Sunday the 17th:

I took Zach and Erik for a ride on the NCR trail Sunday afternoon after church. We met my brother Todd, and his family wife Heather and daughter Kaitlyn who live near there. They took young Kaitlyn for a walk on the trail and we caught them on our bikes and enjoyed a short visit while the kids climbed around the sandbars on the Gunpowder river. It was sunny, clear, and a wonderful day out with my boys.

The only downside, the left rail of my Brooks saddle split a mile from the end of the ride. I stood the rest of the way to the parking lot. It was late enough that I couldn't get a replacement from any bike shop (tried at least 4) until Monday

Monday the 18th:

After work I went to the bike shop to get a new saddle. Took the bike for a test ride with the new saddle. It's all set but now I have to break in a new Brooks saddle. After 10,000 miles the old one was just about right. Crap.

Tuesday the 19th.

No mojo this morning. So I slept in and drove to work. After work I took a short ride to Squizito's and met Janet, John, Jim, Jane and Jeff for dinner.

#30daysofbiking in tact

4 Guys and Another Guy - Big Send Off

2011-04-16T10:44:00.001-04:00

About 10 of us from the SPP met at the Big Bean coffee shop to send off the 4 Guys and Another Guy fleche team. A fleche is a 24 hour team ride. All participating teams finish at the same place at approximately the same time. This year the finish is at a Marriott in Arlington, VA. Each team is riding a different route over 24 hours to finish at the Marriott tomorrow morning for breakfast. The event details are here

SPP's 4 guys + 1 team will ride north to PA then west and south through MD, West Virginia and VA in a big arc to arrive at the finish. Neat that they planned the start right here in our back yard. After coffee and snacks the team posed for photos, got their control cards signed and were off. We followed for about a 1/2 mile then wished them well and broke off.

Next up was the weekly club ride to Annapolis where we enjoyed another snack (we like coffee shops) and watched the winds build up and whip the flags downtown. Then a quick ride back home. A nice start to the morning. The teams will likely face some wet weather but I'm sure they'll all do fine. I shot some video. I'll get it edited and posted later.

Next up, a day with the kids and sports. Day 16 of #30daysofbiking complete.

Thursday and Friday

2011-04-15T22:00:00.004-04:00

I missed my blog post last night but not my bike rides. Thursday featured great weather, an uneventful ride to work, then to the evening Cub Scout meeting, ice cream shop visit and finally got home about 8:30 pm. All by bike. A really nice day.

Today I met the 5:45ers at the Ranger Station where the buzz was all about tomorrow's Fleche ride. 5 riders are setting out from Severna Park on Saturday for a 240 mile ride to Arlington, VA by way of PA, and WV before they make to VA. A big arc North, West, South then East. After the ride team put their bags in Bryan's truck for transport to the finish, we all set out for Annapolis for Friday Breakfast. We had a great visit at the Hard Bean then headed out for our day.

Earl kept me company from Annapolis to work. We had a very nice trip. I always enjoy riding with the good reverend. Then work happened. Ugh....

The ride home was cooler than I expected, and also featured a bit of a headwind. Throw in a little fatigue, 2 calls from the boss and it was a slow ride home.

But the big news is that this week marks the first time in 2 years of biking that I managed a full week commuting, 5 days M-F, round trip to and from work on the bike. I did 5 days in a row once last year but it included a weekend. This is the first time I've done it on a regular work week. The biggest barrier is usually the evening schedule, or my inner weather wimp. But this week I managed to navigate both and pulled it off. Yeah me!!

So that's Day 14 and 15 of #30daysofbiking complete

Peer Pressure

2011-04-13T21:37:00.001-04:00

Peer pressure is often blamed for inspiring all kinds of mayhem, especially by young people. But I've found it can also be harnessed as a great motivator. This morning was a good example. The morning lived down to expectations set by the weather forecast. 49 deg F and light rain before sunrise. But Bill and I had made a date to ride to work together and I wasn't about to contact him that I was pulling out at the last minute. He indicated similar feelings.

So I overcame the nearly overwhelming desire to silence my alarm and roll over. Instead I suited up and headed out in to the mist. The reality of riding in those conditions wasn't nearly as bad as thinking about it while lying in a warm bed. A wool base layer and my rain jacket worked just right to keep me comfortable. I got a little warm on the climbs along Andover Rd at the end but otherwise it was fine.

The weather cleared earlier than forecast and the ride home was quite nice. By prior agreement Bill and I knew we couldn't synchronize our return trip so I rode home solo. Took the long route home along WB&A Rd to score a few extra miles.

Day 13 of #30daysofbiking complete.

Commuting and Pizza

2011-04-12T21:09:00.002-04:00

Met Bill C for the ride to work this A.M. It was balmy and the ride was uneventful. Nice to have partner along. The forecast made clear we shouldn't expect the same for the ride home.

It was much cooler when we met for the return ride, and there was some light rain, but not the heavy showers forecast. Also a bit of a headwind.

Bill and I parted company at the Rusty Bridge as usual and I continued to Squizzito's for the first weekly Tuesday Night Pizza Ride of the season. Of course I was the only one there who arrived on a bike. Had a nice dinner with Janet, John, Ben and Ben's wife Rachel. Very nice lady, I'd not had the pleasure previously of meeting Rachel. We all encouraged her to bring her bike out and join us for a Saturday bagel ride to Annapolis.

After the pizza and a couple of beers I returned home. Still dry as the heavy showers just never happened.

Fuzzy Bunny Slippers

2011-04-11T20:17:00.004-04:00

Okay that title will have to just keep you guessing for a minute....

Slept in this morning and didn't get started riding to work until after the sun was up. But what a nice morning to ride in. Temps right around 60 deg F, no wind. Warm enough to wear my shorts and jersey, and no winter or insulated clothes of any kind!! Hello Spring, and welcome. We've been looking for you.

Got a text mid morning from Bill Cunningham suggesting we connect for the ride home. We both arrived 5 min early for the rendezvous on Andover Rd and enjoyed a brisk pace home, even picked up a drafter who followed for a few miles and introduced himself at a stoplight. It is my worst social handicap that I can't remember names well, we'll just call him Drafter.

Bill and I made a date to brave the showers tomorrow and meet at the Rusty Bridge at 6 am for the ride to work. Peer pressure is a great way to get on the bike when it would otherwise be too easy to skip it.

All was well until I'd been home and in the house about 5 min. Then quite suddenly the pollen hit me. My eyes started burning I wanted to claw them out. A shower took care of that. Now it's officially time to go on the Clariton.

Oh the title of this post.... Saw this goofy kid walking on The B&A trail just before I got off at Jones Station to return home. Check out his footwear...

Day 11 of #30daysofbiking complete.

Annapolis and Back

2011-04-10T10:52:00.001-04:00

Met my friend Rod for a ride to Annapolis this morning. When we arrived downtown we ran in to Bryan, Janet, Dave, Gardner, George, and Bill who were enjoying a Sunday visit downtown as well. Cool and overcast but dry, it was a nice morning to be out. Lots of folks on the trail running, riding etc.

Also saw a bit of interesting work on the Naval Academy Bridge over the Severn River. An unusual looking crane with a cage that could lower a workman over the side to inspect, paint, etc while the truck was parked on the bridge deck. I had the helmet cam on and will post the vids later after the kids' sports and other excitement for the day winds down.

Late addition - another example of my not-so handy work with the new video camera. Nothing compelling here, just me playing with the editing tools from the raw video the GoPro captured.

Saturday Bagel Ride

2011-04-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

It was cold and damp Saturday morning, but Weather.com said it wouldn't rain, and it didn't. Janet, Steve and I set out from the RB for Annapolis and had a nice visit on the way. Ben met us at Hard Bean.

After breakfast Ben, Steve and I set out round the river through Crownsville. I finished up with a quick visit to Kinder Park to see the festivities for Green Hornet's opening day of Baseball season. The kids, including Erik and hist team, were having a great time.

After the ride the day included a Lacrosse game for Zach and dinner with Rod and Sandy. A good Saturday.

Day 9 of #30DaysOfBiking complete

Fighting for Every Mile

2011-04-08T21:15:00.006-04:00

The winter was a disappointment for me. I finished my R-12 last December and my mileage in Jan and Feb fell significantly. Work was busy, the weather was lousy, and maybe I just needed a break. Okay, slowing down a little on the pedaling is no crime. But I packed on several pounds along the way. Very frustrating. I worked hard to loose those pounds only to find them again sitting on my A** over the winter.

In late March as spring emerged I came roaring back and finished at a great clip. I logged 300 miles in the last 10 days of March and lost several pounds. Things were looking up.

But at every turn this week I'm back to fighting myself for time on the bike. Today was typical. I woke to light rain and 45 deg temps. I set out anyway, hoping to catch a couple of the others from the club for the Friday ride to Annapolis for breakfast. It was not to be, so I rode solo. I skipped the hills on Old County and just stayed on the trail wondering if I should have worn the rain pants in addition to the jacket. My legs were getting damp and cold despite doing all the work.

I arrived in Annapolis and enjoyed a great breakfast with Charlie, Rod, Doug, Earl and Jeff. Maybe today would turn out well despite the dodgy weather. RING!!! Work started abruptly with more drama than I care to recount, while I was still savoring my second cup of coffee with friends in my favorite greasy spoon diner in downtown Annapolis. Back to reality. I had to accept a ride from Earl and get back home to a computer quickly. My bike just barely fit in his back seat. Thank you sir for the lift.

But #30daysofbiking is still in tact. 8 down, 22 left. I guess it could be worse. This concludes Mike's whining for the week. Thank for stopping by. Look for more sunny posts and a chance to play with the video camera again this weekend.

No zip

2011-04-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

It was a great spring day. But I felt sluggish on the bike and I don't know why. After the ride in to work I assumed short sleep and perhaps not enough grub after last night's ride. But I ate well all day and still felt like I was running on fumes on the way home. I guess there's still the matter of sleep. Shame because the weather was great.

From work I rode to the high school for a Cub Scout den meeting then came home.

Now I'm gonna eat dinner and get a full night's sleep.