As the Year Ends...

As the year comes to a close, I have been able to complete one more century, and bring my December total mileage to my second highest month of the year! I traveled to Sebring, Florida – the home of the Highlands Bike Festival two weeks ago – to partake of the quiet, flat roads and the sixty-degree temperatures. On the week after Christmas, I packed in nearly another 200 miles.

So this makes 2011 my best bicycling year in decades – and probably the best of my entire life. It bests all the years since 2002, which is as far back as I’ve kept any records. I’m not sure how much bicycling I did in the decade after I left the Navy or in the 1990s. I think if I had done over a dozen centuries, I might have remembered it! (I remember doing one or two a year in the 1980s, but there may have been lots more long rides.)

A cyclist friend of mine mentioned that resting in winter time is a good way to avoid burnout. It’s always a balancing act, because one does not want to lose all the fitness that was gained in the previous season. As it turns out, our winter here on the East Coast is looking to be quite mild. There will be several weekends in which we can enjoy at least a short ride.

One of the nicest outcomes this season is the acquisition of a new bike. The crack in the frame of my Gary Fisher hybrid led to a replacement hybrid bike: a Trek Dual Sport 8.4. I like the hybrid arrangement because it allows me to ride the roads and the trails. The tires are a bit rougher, and one can’t really generate huge mileage on these bikes, but they take you places that are a lot more interesting.

Cold weather, I’ve discovered, also cuts down on speed and mileage. In the winter, even if you’re all bundled up, when you look down at the GPS you’ve gone slower and shorter than you expected. Add in a little chilling headwind and the pace drops even more.

A Wet Century

Sebring, FL. Over the course of 35 centuries, I have seen my share of heat, hills, headwinds, and, of course, rain. This past weekend I got some minor headwinds (minor for Florida), and a big dose of rain. I was enjoying the company of Florida cyclists at the Highlands Bike Fest, held annually at the venerable Kenilworth Lodge in Sebring. This is the "land that time forgot": the urban landscape, the street network, the architecture, and the whole 'feel' of the place seems like Florida in the 1950s.

This three-day festival takes advantage of a quirk of Florida real estate: the first part of any new housing development is the access boulevard. This means that the city is surrounded by long, lonely, well-paved and lightly traveled roads. The roads pass through what may someday be houses, but is currently scrubby wilderness (or cattle ranches or orange groves). On the map there are dozens of side streets, and it looks like a crowded residential gridwork. On the ground, however, there is nothing but straight, flat, smooth highway.

There's not much to say about the rain. It was not in the forecast. It danced around a bit in the morning, but began in earnest at about mile 60. For the final forty miles, I was soaked. The temperature hovered around 70 degrees, so it was not that uncomfortable. It helped that the road was smooth -- potholes hidden by puddles can be a big problem. On the other hand, I believe rain significantly reduces rolling resistance, and can add a few points to your speed.

I felt pretty strong at the end. In fact, I was able to maintain over 15 mph on the last long stretch. On the final straightaway through Sebring to the hotel I had enough juice to put on the afterburner.

I enjoy this warm weather break at the end of the cycling season. I did Highlands Bike Fest last December (when it didn't rain!). In fact, I came back to Sebring again to escape the ice, snow, and cold of Northern Virginia. You can walk around in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. You put away the chap-stick and get out the sunscreen. It's a great way to keep your bicycling fitness up for the coming season.

Reflections on the 2011 Century Season

So this was the year I got serious about the cycling quest. With the rides I took this Thanksgiving weekend, I've pedaled over 4100 miles this year -- my best year yet. I've ridden a bike in 21 states in one year, a new high as well. (If I can manage to grab some December miles in PA and WV, I can increase that number by two.)

Fitness and weight loss have been the two most prominent benefits. But, spending over 40,000 hours in thought and reflection with better-than-normal blood supply to the brain can change your outlook on life.

I tend to think happy thoughts -- I'm normally an optimistic person. So my 'discussions with my handlebars' don't normally dwell on the past, on the missed opportunities. I find myself thinking most about the future: plans I need to firm up, conversations I need to have, things I need to do, and -- of course -- blogs I need to write. If I made good on all the things I planned to do while bicycling, I would have so much impact on the world around me that I would bend light. But, alas, we can barely get a start on our dreams. This blog is such a start.

Bicycling is a solitary exercise -- especially the way I do it. I have to wonder what my life would have been like had I spent 40,000 hours playing golf in the past year. Of course, I surely would have been less fit and less successful in weight loss. But, I would have enjoyed a world of conversations, an interchange of ideas that does not seem to take place while you're in the saddle. (Don't get me wrong, I don't play golf and I doubt I would enjoy it -- it's just that golf provides a valuable counter-example to cycling.)

So, while there are no regrets about the path I've taken, I think I can say that I enjoy cycling with other people. The centuries that were the most fun were those in which I found other riders who moved at my plodding pace. And, the bike tour I took was likewise a pleasant moment: spending vacation time with people who climbed the same hills, saw the same scenes, made the same turns, and were pushed by the same tailwinds. Not to mention rain showers, traffic, and potholes. Sharing with others and extended conversations help to round out the bicycling experience, knocking off the rough corners of riding solitude.

All this leads to my next post, which will be about my plans for 2012 and beyond. Preview: I expect I will be able to finish the project in the coming year or so. So, don't touch that dial!

End of a Great Season

Springfield, VA. With the previous weekend, this brings to an end a season of highly satisfying accomplishments. All told, I completed centuries in fourteen more states. My total at the end of 2011 is thirty-five states. I have achieved probably the most important accomplishment of all: I feel great! I'm planning on celebrating this Saturday by doing a century (what else!) from my own front door.

I spent last weekend in Georgia's beautiful fall countryside on roads that could not be more deserted. The ride was called "Cruisin' in the Country" and it certainly lived up to its billing! The weather was much like the first century of the year: 70 degrees and no wind! Even though equipment problems kept me from finishing the 100, I did rocket along at a 16-mph pace -- my fastest yet.

I've updated the map at the bottom of the page to show my plans for next year. In the coming weeks, I'll post more reflections of this year and more information on the rides I plan to do in 2012. The short version is: I expect to finish all but Alaska in 2011, and knock off the fiftieth state in July of 2013. That gives me some slack so that, if I fail to complete a century in 2012, I have the first half of 2013 to try again.

FestiVelo: South Carolina's Bicycling Festival

I spent last weekend in and around Charleston, South Carolina. There is a modest bicycling event there called FestiVelo. FestiVelo used to be held in early December, often under conditions of early winter. This year the organizers have chosen to move the date to early November. This allows them to grab a little warmer weather, but sacrifice some of the Christmas colors and lights. Most riders are quite happy with the change.

The actual century on Saturday was cold and windy, but warmed (eventually) by bright sunlight. FestiVelo headquarters -- the start and finish -- were in a lakeside Navy-run recreation area near Monck's Corner, South Carolina. The course was amazingly flat, and in a calmer day I probably could have set a new record. As it was, I finished at my usual time: about 4PM.

South Carolina has not quite decided what it thinks about bicycling. Most drivers gave cyclists a wide berth. Some, however, chose to pass close to me at high speed. It's always subjective, but it seemed as if this was more common than in places like Minnesota or New Jersey. Additionally, there were side-paths along some major roads, but they were disjointed. They would go on for about two miles and end abruptly, only to start up again three miles down the road. Local bicyclists must be incredibly frustrated!

This ambivalence probably affected the negotiations with the local authorities. The ride organizers seem to have promised that we would be 'off the road' by 3PM. I certainly had every intention of finishing by then, but the headwinds ate away at my pace, and added about an hour to my time. The last 20 miles of the ride were on pretty quiet roads (or wide, sparsely-traveled four-lane highways). While it was lonely, it was warm, calm, and pleasant. I accomplished my goal of finishing with a smile.

I don't think I saw more than 100 people on this ride. This stands in stark contrast to the thousands who rode in the rain in Michigan the end of September. I guess getting to South Carolina is a bit difficult. I met several people from Virginia and Maryland who drove down.

This leaves me with one more state to complete this year: Georgia. I'll move from typing this blog entry to packing up to fly to Savannah. I'll be enjoying a century that I've been wanting to do for a long time: Cruisin' in the Country. After that, I'll publish the end-of-year map.

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.