The blog may get less picturesque while I'm gone; discovered tonight that with this Weebly app I can only access photos that I've taken with the iPad. I downloaded some pics from my camera to the iPad but can't use them. Bummer. Two other wizard minds in the house agreed it's another limitation of the Weebly app. Of course I can take pics with the iPad but it's not exactly convenient to whip out on the trail. We'll see. Can't have a naked blog for two weeks either.
Today Washington, tomorrow Pittsburg, the next day I ride...a gradual on-ramp to vacation. I wonder if the ride itself will be like a marathon where I'll have to temper my enthusiasm so I don't go out too fast. I can't be peaking too soon after all -- the whole first half of the adventure is uphill when riding the trail from West to East. I have not even looked up the weather in Pittsburg. It will be whatever it is and we ride regardless. I put in my request for sun however.
The blog may get less picturesque while I'm gone; discovered tonight that with this Weebly app I can only access photos that I've taken with the iPad. I downloaded some pics from my camera to the iPad but can't use them. Bummer. Two other wizard minds in the house agreed it's another limitation of the Weebly app. Of course I can take pics with the iPad but it's not exactly convenient to whip out on the trail. We'll see. Can't have a naked blog for two weeks either.
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The support van following me on my ride is completely virtual. It has no extra chain, no spare tire, and no mechanic. But it’s no less important. My virtual support van is filled with great friends who believe in me, who have encouraged me to do this trip and who lift me up in life in general. They worried when I said I was going to ride alone, and then applauded when a friend decided to join me. They offered advice and ideas about bikes and bike touring. They showed interest. They joked with me about rain and bears and other potential hazards (Frank, you’d better be wrong about mountain lions!). And now it’s down to this…off I go, knowing that regardless of how the actual trip turns out, I am ready both physically and mentally, having grown in both dimensions as I prepared to ride these past five months. Thank you to everyone who now joins me in spirit as I ride. Wish me fun and good weather!
Timing is everything Life is all about timing...the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable becomes available, the unattainable, attainable...the weather clears when you need it to, you're in the right place at the right time, you were meant to meet or win a raffle... nothing is a coincidence. As I was shutting down at work today, activating the "out-of-office-go-bother-someone-else" auto reply on my email, saying good-byes and collecting 'happy journey' wishes from colleagues, I was having a terrible case of butterflies in my stomach. On the way home, I was thinking, 'I don't know how much longer I can keep thinking of bike/ride stuff to keep blogging about.' And then the expression, "timing is everything" popped into my head...followed by, 'good thing it's time to leave on the actual trip!!' I don't know if the weather will be kind, but I do have faith that these next two weeks will be the right time for me to do this ride and in the right place. It is, quite simply, my time. That was a calming thought. I've been known to say encouragingly to friends fretting about life transitions, "you are exactly where you need to be." We may not buy that line of thought in the moment, but in the future, when reflecting back, we know it was so. It's like this...it didn't work out with the Love Of Your Life and you thought you'd die, only to meet someone a few years later that you actually loved more and probably would not have been interested in without all those other years happening first. Or you're angry and ticked off that a police officer pulled you over on the way to the airport, making you miss your flight, so you go grumpily to the bar where a casual conversation with another weary traveller leads to a remarkable business deal two years later. Instead of letting nerves get a total hold of me this evening, this kind of thinking got me back to a place of courage and faith and excitement. It's all going to be good. It's my time. I'm going to be right where I need to be. Corporate investor relations groups must observe a quiet period prior to the release of the company's quarterly and year-end financial results. This is to avoid the potential for selective disclosure and they do not talk to analysts, investors and such during that time.
I'm in my own self-imposed quiet period - no more cycling until I hit the trail. Cycling has consumed me for five months. Now I want to get some pre-tour leg rest and let the excitement and anticipation build. I want to be eager to get back on my bike. (I don't think there's any chance I wouldn't be!) The not-riding coincides nicely with my need for packing/final prep time. I'm so almost-ready that I'm even going to use my first vacation day to go to a football game. And then I drive to DC the next day. Stick in front wheel caused injury As a kid, did you ever attach a baseball card to your front bike fork with a clothespin so it would intentionally flip against the spokes and make noise? Seemed harmless, right? But now, riding on wooded trails, I've come to see sticks as evil. They are probably the greatest hazard I will face on the ride. I've read many stories of sticks flipping up and getting caught in the wheel or the derailleur. Both places produce the same result -- a rapid deceleration that throws the rider over the handlebars. This kind of accident happens very quickly, with little time to compensate. And the injuries reported are significant. I'm not Speed Racer, so I have more reaction time to avoid sticks than faster riders, but it's hard to just keep your head down, focused on the path, seeking out lurking sticks. I still hit them too. These trails will be loaded with sticks, especially after storms, and if autumn's leaves are down, they may even be harder to spot. Aside from falling and getting injured, I don't need a messed up wheel out on the trail either. I'll be super-vigilant and careful. I went to the How to Fix a Flat class at Genesis Bicycles last night. I figured it was cheap insurance to prevent an actual flat while on my ride. And it was nice to see my Genesis friends one last time before I go. I can’t say enough about how nice and helpful everyone who works there is. They are genuinely excited for me too.
The crisp, cool air we’re having now energizes me….it’s amazing how much easier it is to move. I wish I could ride this morning instead of work! This is the kind of weather I hope for on the trail. Yesterday, I got 98% packed and went up to the Columbia Trail with fully loaded bags on the bike for the first time. I had been just planning to ‘surprise myself’ with the load on the trail, and just deal with the extra weight. But when I weighed my packed bags on the bathroom scale and discovered that I’d lost more weight riding than I now intended to carry, I was more inclined to give them a go on the bike. Sure enough, I didn’t even really know they were there as I rode. Cool.
Boy, the trail was so busy yesterday that people were waiting for parking spaces in High Bridge. There was a lot of tree damage along the tail from the storm Saturday night. I spoke to a young couple who’d been walking a baby on the path when the storm blew in. They had to run for just slightly safer open space, as trees were cracking and falling all around them. They seemed quite spooked and had returned to the trail this sunnier day to see the aftermath of what they’d run from. The baby, incidentally, wasn’t frightened at all! Kayak fisherman The weekend after Labor Day and what a difference on the D&R Canal. I rode for 9 miles before I passed anyone. The various parking lots were wide open and only one small group of tubers was on the river, compared to hundreds on other weekends. I enjoyed the solace, happy to not be calling out, "on your left" quite so often. I imagine the 'crowds' will be down on the GAP/C&O too... This may have been my last really long ride now before my trip. And somewhat curiously, my butt was hurting at mile 30. What's with that?! There should be no sore butt anymore! I chatted with this kayaker... he was fishing while letting the current move him down the canal...looked very relaxing. He goes after small mouth bass, but often catches sunnies. Today wasn't a good day for fishing, but he was seeing a lot of snapping turtles and herons. The most interesting part of my ride today was when I was resting at the Delaware River Bridge in Lambertville. Closer to the bridge, a young man set up a tripod aimed at the bridge and while he was messing around setting it up, a neon-vested bridgekeeper left his shack to yell down at the guy. Bridge at Lambertville I couldn't quite hear everything because of the noise cars make going over metal grating. But the gist of it seemed to be that people are prohibited from photographing the bridge from below! I thought maybe that was an anti-terrorism thing, but as the conversation progressed, I heard snatches that indicated the bridge image was copyrighted and one needed permission to photograph it! (But not before I'd already taken my photo!) When I got home I googled to try and learn more, but found nothing. So who knows...that photographer did pack up and leave though. For the record, I don't think anybody should be able to copyright a public structure and certainly not prevent a photograph of it! As a taxpayer, I own part of the bridge and I should be able to have a photo of it. That bridgekeeper would do little bridge-keeping it seems if he had to chase everyone with a camera. Just saying. 1,000 miles! It depends I suppose -- on your starting fitness level and on your ultimate goals for the ride. In a few weeks, I will know if I did enough. I'm pretty sure I did. Today the odometer on my bike hit 1,000 miles. I've actually ridden more than that because I was using another bike in the spring. But it's a nice milestone to hit a week before my trip. I think the bike is ready. :) As for me, I'm a bit surprised that my legs can still get sore and very tired, depending on how hard I ride. If you've moved your legs in tiny circles thousands of times over 6 months, shouldn't they be fully conditioned? I'm quite interested to see how they will feel riding 12 days in a row. Sounds like a boring blog already, doesn't it? But I promise you two cool videos.
As a health and safety professional, I have done many risk assessments over my career. So naturally, I was curious about the real and perceived risks of biking. A real risk is not using a helmet and riding without your hands on the handlebars (saw that yesterday on a road I wouldn't even choose to cycle on b/c of its nonexistent shoulders!). A perceived risk is the odds of being mowed down by a gazelle in the African tundra. Link to video #1. Scanning websites, there seems to be about an equal numbers of sites that portray the low risks of cycling and those that attempt to scare you into never cycling. Frequently reported risks include dogs, potholes, people opening car doors without looking, not being seen, road rage and erectile dysfunction. Personally, I rank that last one pretty remote. But the road rage risk is where video #2 comes in. Have a look at this bus passing a biker and then plinking him off the front corner of his bus intentionally. Astonishing. The perceived risks of an activity are not as bad when you choose the activity voluntarily. I choose to bike ride; no-one is forcing me. If you were forcing me to bike against my will, I bet I could come up with a huge list of reasons and facts to demonstrate how risky bike riding is (and then I would pelt you with them until you drop your silly idea). Instead, I take precautions to prevent the worst risks, do things to minimize the impacts of the possible ones and just accept other risks, while hoping against them nonetheless. Enough about the risks...what about all the fun I'm having? Wouldn't give that up. |
DorkyBikeShortsFour months from now I intend to ride 334 miles in 10 days -- from Pittsburgh to Washington DC -- by myself. This blog will document the journey. Archives
October 2012
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