#rubber side down

[relicatessen]

roll with fire

[stevestonbike]

Gotta good W.E. ride but cool again

I did 72 km at a average of 25 kph. It started out sunny then got cloudy then the last ten minutes I got rain. It was cool again, I had three layers on and needed them.

My average speed was good as I had wind and some hills. So Fitness is coming on for medium length rides. I will be better once it warms up.

I ran into several groups of Lotus riders. First was at the "Sanctuary Cafe" where some of the old C group was waiting in line for treats. They probably had about a 90 minutes of riding in. That Cafe is ten minutes from my house and I pass it often. I hope to see people there, and this time did. And this time I stopped.

We talked about my accident and how I was doing. They talked about their riding season so far. A few have gone hard at it and are well past me in distance and such. I bid them cheerio and took off.

I carried on and bumped into another Lotus group at a train crossing. A big train was parked across the road. I do not argue with trains and waited. As I waited about ten riders pulled up from the club. I think they were either the "A's" or killer "B's". I chatted up a couple while waiting for the train to move. Once unblocked I took of. They quickly passed me and held an easy 3 to 4 kph better than what was comfortable for me in the wind. (B's then) Had I tagged on the group I could have held that speed, but not alone. I will not ride with a group yet. I am waiting on my second covid shot.

They took off East but I turned North after a couple miles and looped back around to cross over the bridge to Cambie Street in Vancouver. At the base of the bridge I ran into three more Loti. One was Roland my favorite German Speaking Asian. With him was the new leader of C group, and old Ray. Ray is in his 80s and a few years ago I suggested he get an E-bike as he had a lot of trouble with hills and keeping up with the slow group. AND HE HAD DONE IT. He had a really trick Specialized Ebike and he was quick with it. Just enough thrust to keep up while still getting some exercise. He was in a very happy place. I am so glad I helped even in the tiny way I did.

I wondered why the club was so spread out, and why the C leader was not with the C's, but I guess they broke up at the Cafe.

The new C group leader told me he had heard a lot about me and that the old crowd missed me and had a lot of fun riding. That made me feel glad. I do miss the gang, but I do not miss getting up at 6 AM to make the meet ups on Saturday. I much rather sleep in or spend time with the grandchildren.

We split up on the Vancouver side of the River and I took off up Cambie. They went along Kent to Heather Street (a route I hate, so many obstacles ) which is parallel to Cambie. I turned West on 37th and ran into them again! They went in three directions with the new guy heading along 37th too. I caught him up. He asked how did I make it fun for the group. I told him I was never very serious and let the group spread out if they wanted, and if they knew the route. I stayed with the slow riders to help if needed. And we stopped for ice cream. Hard riding on the North shore was always followed by ice cream in Stanley Park.

It has to be fun else why do it? It may still be physically challenging and even exhausting, but it can still be fun. My basic measure is if I can do it anybody can. It is just a matter of speed.

I sorta got twitchy about the club. I may try to ride with them later on if we can arrange it. They do not do club rides on long weekends. I always ride on long weekends. Though I have to do a brake job on my Mini some time soon. So much stuff.

keep the rubber side down!

[littlecondo]

Made it out on the TT bike today. It was a longer stretch of road but it had more traffic and it had some teeny tiny inclines. I was much more comfortable getting in and out of aero and started building up how long I was spending in aero too. After I stopped wobbling about I also worked on steering - I won’t be going around corners in aero anytime soon but I can make the bike go where I want it to (always a bonus I find). The wind was ESE and I really felt it while heading east - initially it was quite disconcerting but by the second go around I was able to handle it a lot better.

The saddle isn’t perfect and the nose feels too wide so it may need to be changed but that will be after I spend more time on the bike. The gearing is also different to my road bike and I’m not hugely comfortable putting down the power just yet but I no longer feel like the bike is out to get me.

It’s all about the small victories.

[aristocraticmotorcyclist]

at The Invisible Gallery April 2 - 10 Rubber Side Down: The Art of Two Wheeled Culture Hours: April 2-3, 12-5pm April 4-10 by appointment Opening Reception: April 2, 7-10pm

Organized by CHAS RAY KRIDER

[northfortco]

Day 13 – Karaoke in Dresden

Ohio sounded like a dream compared to the Appalachians. Even the cyclist I met along the way said Pennsylvania was the hardest. But I also forgot that eastern Ohio is the foothills of the Appalachians and most the day I spent proving that. 

What I thought would be a quick jaunt over to Cadiz, OH turned out to be one big hill up to the town center. When I arrived, there was a small diner for food. Not fitting in at all I ordered a delicious $6 breakfast and watched as locals and farmers walked in all knowing each other paling around. Asking about each others family members and who was working where that day. Places like this do exist! I thought I'd been in places where everyone knew each other but not like this. Brilliant.

I have no idea what I biked that day. Upwards of ninety miles maybe even a century. Following the USBR 50 bike route off of another GPS App, I was on and off gravel roads all day. This route was a joke. Whichever politicians put it together do not cycle or even care about them. 

It wasn't until I hit Dresden that it all turned up for me. Wanting to hit Newark I settled for a little Bed & Bed at the edge of town. The Pines of Dresden owned and operated by one cool couple is what supporting small town America is all about. They took me out to karaoke for Dresden's only bar closing blowout. Never have you heard so much country music sung at karaoke and sung so well too. 

After a back-breaking days ride, talking with the locals and sharing my stories with them felt incredibly right. Riding across America is about these experiences; also, it's about eating some delicious Bed & Breakfast food.

[northfortco]

Day 12 – The Great Boondoggler

The ride out Pittsburgh was too easy. I set out for the Panhandle trail that connects Pittsburgh to Steubenville, OH via the West Virginia panhandle. An old rails to trails path that makes for smooth flat riding and a dusty bike. Such smooth riding took me past my exits, and I had to backtrack on every turn. 

There was no planned spot to stay at; no campground on the map, or pre-booked visit with friends. Pure road and pedaling; continuing until I couldn't go anymore. Off into the countryside, my only plan involved asking permission to throw my tent up in a yard or field.

Most of the day went smooth until Ohio where the roads were crumbly in Steubenville and a few planned roads turned into impassable freeway.  Filled with gravel country roads where slow pedaling takes over, rural Ohio is painful.  

When it came time to start thinking about tonight's camp, I was low on battery and signal. There's several ways to find sleeping arrangements. You could ask a farmer, police station or fire department if you can pitch a tent there or in the local park; none of which I was around. Then there's freedom camping also known as stealth and bandit camping. 

Freedom camping is the better term for finding a secluded spot where no one would stumble upon your camp or visibly see your tent from the road. Early leave and leave-no-trace principals apply here and takes some grit. 

Boondoggling is the loving term my Mother and Father use to blanket what I do. So when I pulled into a Churchyard that night, having asked a nursery where one was, my Mother replied, “Boondoggling it, eh?”

I was and in fact they know they're miss representing the term. Citing also that the term boondoggling has been used to define migrating communities living in RV's on US government land. 

But there I was beside a Church, The Great Boondoggler, for the night. Talking to a few locals who decided to stop by for a chat. 

[northfortco]

Day 10 – Losing My Shit

Every day brings a new set of challenges. Having prepared for the trip as best I could I knew something would happen that wasn't planned. The seventy-seven-mile ride into Pittsburgh wasn't the problem. Even my growing apathy for how much gear I had to carry wasn't a problem while on the trail. Dropping my ID and credit card somewhere on the trail was a big deal. After all that good time, I made into the city, ruined with a single drop. 

A trail volunteer gave me a hand to try and find it driving me around. Him and his wife were generous with their time and fed me some snacks. Staying calm was all I could do. The ID and card were missing, but at least I had some cash and another credit card divided in my other pannier. 

I searched for a good hour and half for it on the road and each of my bags. Instead of panicking I called my support team, Mom & Dad, so they could bring some identification in so I could pick up a new ID somewhere.   

The trail volunteer dropped me off at the hotel downtown where I'd  booked a room for my parents. I was still able to check in having held onto an old work badge with my photo and name on it. 

Then my luck changed after I had already canceled my credit card; another cyclist found my bag that also held some business cards with my contact info. A late evening email offered to drop off my things to me the next day. 

When something goes wrong, it may get better. 

[northfortco]

Day 08 – Positive Mental Attitude

I’ve been having my share of up and down days. The better part of the week hasn’t felt great. Days colored with fear and doubt. Maintaining a positive mental attitude (PMA) when your next town, or cell signal, isn’t as close as you thought—arduous. Giving up sounds refreshing and also in poor character. I'm not going to give up, but it does sound enticing. So I get up and continue pedaling until the anxiety dissipates, and I’m free to think of more interesting subjects. 

Today’s mood: less doubtful, more positive. There are the same number of hard hills as any other day—by my count more. Short and steep, the climbs take longer than the falls except one I walked halfway up and rode down. It took six hours to hit Rockwood where I picked up the Great Allegheny Passage and did another thirty miles in an hour and a half. 

I must have been in a better mood knowing that once I hit the Allegheny it would all be a 0.5-1% grade downhill into Pittsburg. Even with nearly everything closed on Sunday in Rockwood and no cell service my PMA was unaffected.

It was at the campground I hit my wall. The quarter mile hike up a gravel with my one hundred pound bike at the end of a seventy-seven-mile day chipped away the egg shell holding in my PMA. To top it off I had no campsite reservation, and the camp office had already closed. Half way up I started back down. 

There’s a better way, I thought. Catching another cyclist making her push uphill to the campground I asked, for help. Was there another way up? No. This path was the best way in, but asking was enough to gain a whole lot more.

Saving me from carrying my whole pack up she pulled up my tent pack while I kept everything else that started off the conversation. Not only a traveler like myself she walked from Pittsburg to an Indian Reservation in the Dakota’s pushing all of her supplies in a baby stroller. As we swapped stories of the road, I realized the sad mood I’d been in were completely normal adjustments. As I told more tales from each day, I saw how awesome those onerous trials were.

Knowing when the “fun” has started has been gnawing at me since I’ve left. But fun is just a word used to describe the memory of an experience. Pushing myself has been fun; each day it has made my faculties a little stronger. Keeping a PMA is about remembering when things go wrong you're confident that you've learned enough skills to get through, and you have the ability to learn another.