Ride Log: July 2012

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Week
7/1 65.5 mi +650 ft  03:42:01 Calories 2890	7/2 90.4 mi +5,306 ft  07:01:44 Calories 4727	7/3 86.2 mi +4,150 ft  05:07:26 Calories 5115	7/4 79.7 mi +1,102 ft  04:45:32 Calories 4320	7/5 119.6 mi +2,407 ft  09:08:49 Calories 7559	7/6 REST DAY	7/7 106.9 mi +2,559 ft  06:35:59 Calories 5095	548.3 miles +16,173 feet 36 hours 21 min 29706 calories
7/8 93.4 mi +2,529 ft  06:10:51 Calories 5275	7/9 74.9 mi +5,230 ft  05:59:42 Calories 2947	7/10 57.9 mi +1,636 ft  03:59:36 Calories 3011	7/11 117.4 mi +2,853 ft  06:52:37 Calories 4874	7/12 83.2 mi +2,249 ft  05:59:02 Calories 3429	7/13 73.4 mi   +916 ft  04:46:44 Calories 3128	7/14 72.8 mi +1,047 ft  05:04:56 Calories 3464	572.9 miles +16,460 feet 38 hours 53 min 26128 calories
7/15 REST DAY	7/16 68.9 mi +1,157 ft  04:24:45 Calories 3447	7/17 107.5 mi  +828 ft  06:43:30 Calories 3306	7/18 100.9 mi +2,422 ft  07:13:59 Calories 4668	7/19 88.6 mi +2,834 ft  06:17:39 Calories 2012	7/20 90.8 mi +2,275 ft  06:10:16 Calories 3927	7/21 84.1 mi +1,836 ft  05:12:10 Calories 2369	540.8 miles +11,352 feet 36 hours 2 min 19729 calories
7/22 58.1 mi +1,301 ft  03:30:15 Calories 2642	7/23 9.6 mi +214 ft  00:46:18 Calories 135	7/24 113.5 mi +2,461 ft  07:27:22 Calories 5554	7/25 76.2 mi +367 ft  05:07:24 Calories 3029	7/26 87.8 mi +925 ft  05:08:36 Calories 1319	7/27 82.8 mi +1,195 ft  05:54:31 Calories 2851	7/28 67.7 mi +1,100 ft  04:43:18 Calories 2834	495.8 miles +7,562 feet 32 hours 37 min 18364 calories
7/29 74.3 mi +1,122 ft  04:40:13 Calories 2465	7/30 REST DAY	7/31 86.8 mi +1,651 ft  05:40:37 Calories 2020	8/1 91.8 mi +1,334 ft  05:58:36 Calories 2019	8/2 79.6 mi +1,424 ft  05:24:11 Calories 2803	8/3 35.4 mi +1,184 ft  02:27:48 Calories 1300	8/4 79.3 mi +4,954 ft  06:02:21 Calories 1876	447.2 miles +11,670 feet 30 hours 13 min 12483 calories

Totals	2318.8	+54,320	98,412	154:15
	miles	Elevation Gain (ft)	Calories	hours

Riding on home turf

My bike was dropped of by the FedEx truck on Thursday afternoon, I put the pieces back together that night. On Friday I took it into my local bike shop, The Bike Lane for a couple adjustments to the brakes and drivetrain. So this morning I headed out on my home turf for a chance to see if I really was a stronger rider, or maybe it was all in my head. My basic training course is along the Fairfax County Parkway bike path to the Route 123 bike path and then down into Occoquan Regional Park. Its seventeen miles out and then another seventeen back home. My best previous time was 2:16:15 last fall, this morning my time was almost five minutes faster at 2:11:30 a new personal best. I also set a new personal best on my assent of Occoquan Park Hill, with a time of 6:02, nineteen seconds faster than my previous fastest time on April 1, 2012. While I am still at the bottom of the rankings, I am getting close to that guy in front of me. We will see if I can knock him off before the end of the year.

Day #51, On my way Home

We had another early wake up in Portsmouth for a 6:00 am breakfast (I cut back a bit) and a 6:45 shuttle to Boston Airport and for a couple of us to the AMTRAK Station. We loaded into three passenger vans and we were off. The Traffic Gods smiled on us today and we missed most of the expected morning backup. We dropped off everyone but Keith and I at the Airport and then "Limo Dave" headed downtown to the AMTRAK station. We were there with plenty of time to spare for my 11:05 train to Washington. I picked up a Patricia Cornwell paperback at a newsstand and something to eat later on the train for lunch. I was soon on my way. When I arrived in Washington, I expected to be met by my brother-in-law Frank who has encouraged my riding and I expect someday to make a similar trip when he retires. As I came through the gate Frank had Peggy and her sister Linda in tow to my surprise. A good homecoming for me. I did have to drive home from the station, having not driven for two months, it felt a little strange, and it took me a while to get up to speed. (I did pass my old workplace at GPO, a new building is going up next door that I had no idea about, someone will have to fill me in on the details) When I arrived at home Peggy had a large map poster with photos to celebrate my accomplishment, and a special cake she had baked. I just heard from Portsmouth Trek that my bike has shipped and should arrive on Thursday, so I won't be off it for very long. Maybe I can get back to spin class for a refresher on Thursday and to catch up with my classmates. Everyone asks what my next adventure will be, I really don't have one in mind yet, but it will be tough to top this one, so I may have to scale things back.

Total Miles 3659.26
Total Hours 247.88
Trip Speed 14.8 mph
P.S. I did lose six pounds while eating like a pig for fifty days, so exercise can work

slide show

Day #50, Manchester NH to Portsmouth NH

We enjoyed a great banquet last night and celebrated a little early. We enjoyed a catered barbecue along with a couple skits and about sixty testimonials, but most of all enjoyed dinner with a bunch of new friends.




We leisurely rode about fifty miles to the coast, stopped once for our last SAG stop, flooded a bakery in Exeter with RED-WHITE-BLUE jerseys while sampling pastries. Stopped at a little diner for a cold drink. Gathered at a Junior High School and got a Police escort to Wallis Sands Beach. We dipped our wheels in the Atlantic Ocean in front of a crowd of friend, family, and strangers enjoying the beach. I dropped my bike off for boxing and shipping. We finished today. It will take me a while for all this to soak in. Not a lot to say right now. I look forward to my own bed and a normal schedule real soon.

Day #49, Brattleboro VT to Manchester NH

I started the day at 7:00 with another good breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Brattleboro. We loaded luggage at 7:30 and I was on the road a minute later, a mile into the route, I was already in New Hampshire. I was riding alone, so I took a picture of the sign rather than waiting for assistance from the next rider. At last nights Map meeting, I somehow misunderstood how much climbing we were going to be doing today, I thought they said that they had rerouted us to reduce the amount of climbing. I still ended up with over four thousand feet at the end of the day. We passed thru several small towns and villages this morning, most very quiet because it was Sunday, but when I arrived in the town of Greenfield I was serenaded by the Congregational Church carillon. Not far away we had a SAG stop next to the Town Hall in the village of Francestown. Both of these towns are exactly what you imagine a small town in New England looks like. Tonight we are in Manchester, I was here once before in 1997, my daughter Shannon was competing in her very first Junior Olympic Qualifier race and edged out a couple local girls for a spot in the Junior Olympics in Charlotte NC. The kayak slalom race course was downtown on the Merrimack River next to some old mills. 2012 Olympic Slalom Paddler Casey Eichfeld was also competing in that race in 1997 at about age 7.

Tonight is our trip celebration banquet and Ray from London who was injured a couple weeks back and had to leave the trip, has rejoined us for the banquet and at the beach in Portsmouth on Monday.

Total Miles 3606.43
Total Hours 244.32
Trip Speed 14.8 mph

slide show

Day #48, Latham NY to Brattleboro VT

The trip staff switched things up on us this morning, we loaded luggage before breakfast, as the Holiday Inn didn't start serving until 7:00 am. The Hotel staff seemed to handle our crowd pretty well, they were restocking items before things ran out. I rode alone today, we were doing about five thousand foot of climbing and I wanted to set my own pace. I rode without my usual bag in back to lighten the load a bit. We had about five miles to warm up before the first climb as we crossed the Hudson River and started climbing out of the river valley. At the thirty-two mile mark, we entered the state of Vermont (home of the Vermont Dairy Association, the makers of Bag Balm, an essential component of providing seat comfort to most of the riders on the trip). We passed through several small towns today such as Bennington, Wilmington and Brattleboro. In Bennington we passed the Burlington Battle Memorial which looks similar to the Washington Monument, as well as a collection of colorful moose statues. We passed the Big Moose Deli outside Hoosick Falls. I was also surprised to see a lake at the top of one of our climbs at "Big Pond". After summiting Hogback Mountain, it was almost all downhill to the hotel. As we approached Brattleboro, we stopped at a covered bridge for some pictures.  We also stopped at a couple bike shops looking for jerseys to commemorate are arrival in Vermont. My bike performed well today after yesterdays mechanical problems. Climbing seemed easier than those first big climbs back in Oregon. I think both me and the bike are in better shape at the end of the trip.

slide show

Day #47, Little Falls to Latham NY

You start a trip like this with the goal to ride every single inch from coast to coast. What we don't understand during the goal setting process is that part of reaching this goal is under your own control, but there are other factors which can prevent you from what you set as your goal. Weather, road construction, and mechanical issues, all out of your personal control can all cause you to miss part of a riding day.
Today I had my crank bearings disintegrate about twenty miles into our scheduled seventy five. I got a call in to Mike Munk the trip leader and he was able to shuttle me up to the first SAG stop. Mike put my bike on the work stand and took apart the crank, what we found was not good, one of the bearings had disintegrated and wore a large groove into the crank shaft. The damage was bad enough that the crank set would have to be replaced. I trip to a bike store would be required because we were not able to remove one of the bearings with the tools at hand. I also was presented with a couple additional options, Mimi's husband Ward, who had joined the trip in Niagara Falls, offered me his expensive bike for the day, saying it was more important for Joel to do every mile than for him to complete this one day of a partial trip. Mike also offered to tear apart his wife Barb's bike and use parts of it to repair my bike (the parts would be removed at the end of the trip). I decided that I needed to be at the bike store to approve of whatever charges they wanted for the parts and labor to fix the bike. Both were very generous offers from people who were strangers two months ago, but who now are part of my bike family.
Mike and I set out for a bike store, the first place the internet sent us was no longer a bike shop, the second was Trek dealer, but so small as to not stock the required parts, third times a charm as Freeman's Bridge Sports was able to obtain the parts from a local distributor within an hour. They then pointed me to the diner across the road for lunch. The mechanic installed the parts and had me back on the road, sadly not where I left off at the twenty mile mark, but right on the planned route to the hotel in Latham. I rode the last fifteen to twenty miles and finished the day. In someway I think the problem was preventable, I had the bike gone over before the trip by my home bike shop, I had Jim the trip mechanic take a look at it the last two nights and he was not able to diagnose the problem. Maybe I didn't communicate the symptoms I was experiencing clearly enough to lead him in the right direction. It could be my style of riding, I push as high a gear as you can for as long as you can before thinking about down shifting. But it doesn't matter, because in the end its not the total miles, its the places, experiences, the people, the new friends. My life has been enriched by the trip and I am sure it will open new possibilities for more adventures during the rest of my life.

slide show