Blogging is Light When the Weather is Great

Springfield, VA. I just got back from a mid-day, mid-week bike ride through a nearby park. I enjoyed 32 miles of quiet park paths or neighborhood streets abandoned for the dungeons of work and school. It was a sunny 65 degrees with light winds. There is a hint of color in the foliage this first full week of fall. September is a great month to be retired!

Although I've acquired no states since my trip to Wisconsin, I've been able to ride a century for both of the past two weekends. On the 16th I drove up to Carlisle, PA to enjoy the Three Creek Century, an annual offering of the Harrisburg Bicycle Club. I must say, I took my time because the weather was so nice and the scenery was so pretty.

Last weekend was our own bicycle club's century. The Potomac Pedalers offers the Back Roads Century in Berryville, VA. I helped out with preparation on Saturday so that I could do the ride on Sunday. The day was a perfect copy of the previous week. Again, I lingered at the White Post rest stop, munching on the club's famous 'tomato sandwiches'. (I had loaded the pallets of said tomatoes onto the truck the previous day, so this was the fruit of my volunteer labor!)

Carlisle, PA

With all this nice weather it's becoming obvious why, years ago, the League of American Wheelmen, designated September "National Century Month". This was, of course, back when the LAW sanctioned, supported, and helped to organize centuries. Now there is no national century organization.

This is all prologue, however, to my upcoming frenzy of states. This coming weekend I'll hit state #47, Louisiana, with the Crescent City Century. The following weekend, I'm booked for state #48, Nevada -- the "No Hill Hundred". Somebody asked me if that was sarcasm, and if the ride had a lot of hills. I had not thought of that! I'm going to be checking the website and the map profiles.

And, on Saturday, October 27, I plan to collect state #49, Mississippi. The 'Longleaf Trace', a large rail-trail near Hattiesburg, offers their second annual century ride. That will color in the continental US red from sea to sea and border to border.

Hawaii will be left. I'm in the process of booking a Backroads bicycle tour of the big island in January. After that there's nothing to do but write the book!

100 Miles of Wisconsin Shoreline

Sturgeon Bay, WI. Door County is the peninsula to the northeast of Green Bay. It's a beautiful part of Wisconsin, rolling farmland, small coastal villages, and quiet roads. It sometimes bills itself as the "Cape Cod of the Midwest", but this is like Cape Cod of the 1950s -- before the tourism and development. The Door Country Century is an annual event with a long history. It moves north from Sturgeon Bay along the coast, visits several beautiful parks, beaches, and coastal overlooks. The century finishes with a 30-mile flat ride along the east coast.

It was a perfect day: temperatures in the mid-60s and winds from the north. Thus, for the latter half of the ride, we had the wind at our backs! The rest stops were superbly organized, and even near the end of the day everything was available. Each stop had its special feature: strawberry shortcake, cheery pie, or cheese curds. (It is Wisconsin, after all.)

So, the Burma Shave signs said:
   We love bikers!
   We cheer for riders!
   And the Packers!