The Eternal Beauty of an October Bicycle Ride

Sometimes, as we push toward a bicycling goal we lose track of the real reasons we chose cycling in the first place. That's true whether it's a century goal like mine or a yearly mileage goal or a fitness-and-speed goal. We sometimes spend too much time with our heads down and miss the beauty that is all around us.

This affliction seems to become most acute in October. The cycling year is coming to an end. We want to grab one more century or cut n minutes off our time. And, as we all know, October is the most beautiful month of the year. So, I need to remind myself that it's important to pause and enjoy the ride.

I spent yesterday on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The foliage was a bit beyond peak, but there was still a lot of color. I love this ride despite the often heavy and inconsiderate traffic. It seems that every time you turn a corner you see another burst of rainbow colors. The late afternoon sunlight changes the hues of the forest as it glints from different angles. The photo is nice, but it does not do justice to the translucent glow from the leaves as the sun sets behind the forest.

You don't do a lot of miles on Skyline Drive. There's a lot of climbing and a lot of stopping to take pictures. But, a cyclist has a much better opportunity to take pictures along the drive than a motorist. The picture here was taken from a roadside grassy patch where a car can not stop.

So yesterday I paused to remember why I chose bicycling in the first place.

Mastering a Michigan Monsoon

Three Oaks, MI. On Sunday the 25th, I completed the Apple Cider Century here. This is the largest cycling event in the Midwest, with 5500 registered riders. Cars with bicycles on the back streamed in from Chicago and Indiana for this impressively well-organized event. As all large cycling events, this one goes rain or shine. This year it was rain. Rain began about mile five and continued, between heavy showers, drizzle, and a few breaks to about mile 75. It was amazing how many cyclists stuck it out -- at least for the first 50 miles.

There was still a lot to like about this ride. The roads were nice and quiet (except for the crowds of cyclists!). There were several areas of beautiful new pavement -- more than I have seen on many centuries. In fact, in places the rain-soaked road reflected the landscape and sky like a mirror, creating a bit of vertigo. It seemed unsafe, but I never saw a rider down (and there were many riders on these roads blasting across the ice-like surface), so I'm guessing that it was safer than it looked and felt.

And, the terrain was not that challenging. In fact, I did not have to use my granny gear once on this ride! At age 59, I don't have any pride about dropping into the small chain-ring. If I have to, I'll gear way down and tell myself I have nothing to prove. So, the fact that it was not necessary would recommend this as a particularly flat century.

Two other things made this century unique. The countryside in southern Michigan and northern Indiana is criss-crossed with railroads. We were never far from a railroad crossing, and were serenaded by train horns for most of the ride. And, the sheer scale of this event was impressive. The Apple Cider Century has been operating since 1974, so they know how to handle over 5000 riders. Thus, there were marshals at all the right intersections, markings in all the right places, and bathroom capacity to match the size of the crowd at every rest stop.

So, September came between extreme century book-ends. The month started in Tennessee with 100 degrees of bleaching heat, and ended with a 58-degree rain ride. I went from the long days of bright summer to a day-long autumn gloom in which the first hints of fall foliage were appearing at the ends of the tree branches.

This completes my twelfth century of the year and collects state number 34. I'll be taking a short break to vacation with my lovely bride. I'll be back on the bike as early as October 29, and certainly by early November. I plan to finish the year by coloring in South Carolina, Georgia, and possibly Mississippi.

Minnesota: Outriding Jesse James

Northfield, MN. On September 10, I added Minnesota as state number 33. This century was part of "The Defeat of Jesse James" festival. Jesse James has become somewhat of a folk hero in Hollywood and in Missouri (which is where he was from), where he's painted as a post-Civil War Robin Hood. But, historians have found no evidence that James gave the proceeds of his ten-year murderous rampage to anybody but himself.

The James Gang attacked a bank in Northfield, MN on September 7, 1876. The folks of Northfield, in those pre-911 days, realized what was going on, and initiated a firefight in downtown, killing two members of the gang at the scene. They then formed a posse, and chased down most of the gang in Madelia, MN -- 81 miles away. The two James brothers escaped, but the gang was essentially destroyed. Some historians have suggested, since James was a Confederate partisan and targeted the assets of former Union leaders, that this was really the last battle of the Civil War.

The festival includes a century. As most centuries, this goes a bit long -- 105 miles. It was a delightful day, with temperatures in the 80s (they think this was 'hot'!) and no wind. There were beautiful views of farmland in late summer as we climbed the many hills on this ride. I decided that, as I'm visiting Minnesota for my first time, I would slow my pace down and enjoy the scenery and weather. After all, it's not as if I'm chasing down a desperado or anything!

Thus, it was late in the day as I glided into Northfield Middle School. The post-ride shower felt great, the Subway sandwiches were delicious, and it was nice to sit and reminisce. I thanked the organizers, who were dressed as the original Western posse.

Today, the day after the ride, is the tenth anniversary of September 11. I will honor this in several ways. I'll fly on two United Airlines flights, happy to know that I'm a lot safer. I rode my bike this weekend in honor of those who brought other murderers to justice, successful in part because they rode harder and faster. But most of all, in a conflict with enemies who declare that they celebrate death, I've spend the weekend drinking deep from the cup of life.

Labor Day Weekend Doubleheader

On my list of personal 'firsts' is the accomplishment of two centuries in one weekend. I checked that off the bucket list today as I completed the Irene-delayed Delaware Shorefire Century. This Labor Day on-my-own ride (using the cue sheet for last weekend's canceled ride) gave me my last Northeastern State. And, on Saturday, I completed the Sunrise Century, which started in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Today's ride was cool, but breezy. Every time I took a leg with a southerly or westerly vector, I found myself facing demoralizing headwinds. Fortunately, on this course, this provided a tailwind for the final legs. Without the winds, this would be a delightful ride: no hills and pleasant backroads with great shoulders.

Delaware has been that hole in the doughnut for some time. It's the one Northeastern state that I had not completed. Hurricane Irene forced the cancellation of this August 27th ride. As I returned from Tennessee on Sunday, the local forecast looked like rain for Monday through Thursday. But, Delaware was forecast to be rain-free. With Robbie's help, I put together a self-supported century that used the Shorefire cue sheet. In fact, the road markings were still in place.

Saturday's Sunrise Century was something else altogether. Tennessee continues to experience a brutally hot summer, and the temperature on Saturday reached over 100 degrees. It was even hot at 9:30AM when I stopped to patch a flat tire (ugh!). At one point near the end, as we were climbing the last hill, I stopped to let the blood flow back into my shoes. It was so hot that the colors -- the foliage, the road, and the sky -- all seemed to be painted in pastels. There was not a dram of shade to be found anywhere. I waved off the SAG wagon that was sweeping the course for riders too tired to go the last few miles. With the odometer reading 98 miles, I knew that I had come too far to quit now. I poured the last of my water bottle onto my shirt, climbed back on my bike, and pedaled slowly to the finish line.

This brings the total states completed to 32. Next weekend I expect to hit Minnesota, and I have Michigan at the end of the month. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with the heat there. After that, I plan to take a break to do a relaxing cruise with my lovely bride. This is one break that I feel like I earned!

Weather Blues

It's been a frustrating end of the month for the centuries project, mostly because my weather karma has been on an apparent vacation. On 21 August, I attempted a close-to-home century in Reston, Virginia. At about the 65 mile point, I heard a clap of thunder and looked behind me to see a black sky. A quick call to 50CP Headquarters (my wife, Robbie, at home) revealed that there were yellow and red patches on the radar image of the incoming storm. What's worse, the storm looked like it would last for a long time. So, I arranged for a rendezvous in Leesburg, and ended the ride at 75 miles. It was a good thing, as the ride organizers told me there were about 1000 people left on the road when it started to hail.

Last weekend, I had plans and reservations to do the Shore Fire Century in Delaware. As late as Thursday afternoon, the ride organizers were insisting we would still ride. "The rain from Irene isn't supposed to hit until late Saturday," they e-mailed me. But, Irene was bigger than expected (in rain and size, if not in wind and ferocity) and states of emergency and evacuation areas were declared. They pulled the plug late Thursday.

This is such a bummer because every other day has been beautiful. Temperatures are in the low 80s with bright sunshine and sharp shadows. There is a tangible drop in humidity. This morning was so cool you couldn't sit outside in shorts.

This weekend, I'm going to attempt to double up on the centuries. I have plans to do the Sunrise Century in Clarksville, TN (which does both TN and KY) on Saturday. I fly home on Sunday, and will attempt the Delaware Shore Fire Century self-supported on Labor Day. (The bike club was nice enough to send me the cue sheet.) The weather forecast for these two locations has been all over the map, so it will be a small miracle if I can finish all this.

How long does your weather karma go on vacation for, anyway?

Indiana: A Sequence of Unfortunate Events (Ends Well)

Sometimes, you just have to decide you’re going to persevere. I was in Howe, Indiana for the “Amishland and Lakes” century last weekend (August 6th). There was a lot to like about this ride: the terrain was mostly flat, the weather was warm but not hot, and there was very little wind. The organizers were very friendly as were the riders, and the food on the campus of the former Howe Military Academy was cheap and surprisingly tasty.

The name of the ride came from the large Amish population in the area (the lakes were definitely a secondary feature, but I understand the name is traditional). The Amish tradition here was no different than elsewhere: They avoid most modern conveniences – most prominently the automobile. Thus, we would pass numerous horse-drawn buggies and carriages. While this was charming, it also meant that we would ride 100 miles among the horses’ much-less-charming residue. What started out as interesting sensory reflections of a bygone era, by the middle of a summer afternoon, became the main focus of our riding attention. We had to avoid both potholes and ‘horse apples’.

After an early start, I made good time as far as mile 38. I found a rider, Barb, a florist from Ohio, who wanted to start early as well, and expected to ride the same pace as I. 38 miles in, I developed a flat on my front tire. I searched for a while to no avail to find what in the tire caused the small slit in the tube. In putting a new tube on, I spent too much time chatting and too little attention to what I was doing. I did not notice that I had failed to seat the tire bead. I brought it all the way to pressure before my spare tube blew out with a convincing retort.

I went back to attempt to patch the original tube. The glue in my patch kit had dried out, but a passing cyclist loaned me some from hers. During inflation, the valve stem broke rendering my last good tube useless. I called for a SAG and walked to the last intersection. An hour later, I discovered the SAG did not have any tubes my size -- they gave me a ride back to the ride HQ at Howe. After the purchase and installation of two new tubes (and a new patch kit!), it was about noon. I decided to attempt to finish the century by taking the 62-mile route that began at Howe. I went past the first rest stop after it closed, but I was able to make the others in time. I finished the ride after 5PM, happy to color in Indiana.

Back in the Saddle!

I'm winding down preparations for the Indiana Amishland and Lakes century on Saturday. (Links are on the right column.) I did a dry run metric century last Sunday, and I felt pretty good. Amishland is pretty relaxed: temperatures forecast to be in the mid-80s, and the terrain is flat. I've decided that my mantra will be: you're here to enjoy yourself! If I'm not having fun, then there's no point in going through all this time, expense, and aggravation.

So, I hope to bike 100 miles with a smile on my face on Saturday. I hate to get ahead of myself, but there's lots more to do in the coming two months. Some of them sound like a lot of fun, like Minnesota's Jesse James Century.

I signed up for the Reston Century near here on the 21st. It turns out there really are not many out-of-state options that weekend. I'll do the ride if the weather cooperates, but I've done many centuries in Virginia. There's no need to be a hero -- especially if temperatures reach the boiling point again.

I've also noticed that there's significant weight gain over a century weekend. I think it's human nature to over-compensate for these endurance events. Much has been made about 'carbo loading' in advance of these events, but it may be just hype. I think the best recommendation is to eat a reasonable but not excessive meal the night before, a good breakfast, and top off as you ride along. It's incredibly easy to take in more calories than you ride off. (For the record, I estimate a century rides off more than 5000 calories.) It's a balancing act. If you don't take in enough, you reach the restaurant or the ride dinner famished and start eating the plates and napkins.

I'll post a new map Sunday! Hi Ho, Silver, away!