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Week 4: 19 May through 25 May, 2002
Click
www.bamacyclist.com and navigate to "Where's Mike", then to "2002Fast" to see our ride leader's site
(complete with lots of photos!).
A special HELLO to Mrs. Thompson's class from the Collaborative School!
Day 28 - Saturday, May 25, Dunkirk, NY to Batavia, NY. 83.4 miles.
Today was our latest start ever! A 6:30AM buffet breakfast at the hotel,
overlooking a now calm and sunny Lake Erie; followed by (for me) stretching,
and an 8:30 load and departure. The reason for the late start was twofold: low
mileage, and not a Pedal Museum Tour at 11AM in Orchard Park. Most of us
started out pretty slow, trying to work out kinks of yesterdays long effort,
and facing into a roughly 10mph wind from about 2 o'clock. We road Rt5 and
Rt20 through the Seneca Indian Reservation area. All was very familiar to me,
since growing up in Buffalo. I did a quick timechaeck about 9:30, and
realized I had about 23 miles to do in an hour to meet my Dad at our arranged
rendezvous on Rt240N at 10:30. Luckily Kentucky Mike was near at hand, and he
offered to 'crank it up', so we tooled on in through Hamburg at 20-23 mph to
arrive only a few moments after the appointed time. My Dad was waiting on his
bike, ready to ride, so he led the way down Rt240 through its construction to
the Pedaling History Museum. Please see Mike's website for website address of
this place..., it was well worth the visit. Carl, the owner/proprietor gave us
a complete tour starting with the first veloped (the boneshaker), up through
Pope's mass produced 'The Ordinary' (high wheeler, aka penny farthing), and
listed many fascinating inventions, such as: the aforementioned mass
production with interchangeable parts (later copied by Henry Ford), to the invention
of bloomers and subsequent liberation of women, better roads/infrastructure
in US; and it was really interesting to see how old some ideas really were
like the derauilleur (invented before turn of last century), also full
suspension bikes, and cut-out saddles. The coolest bike he had, in my
opinion, was a Harley Davidson cruiser style bike from the 50's..., kinda
turquoise, mint condition, fenders and black leather panniers...., wow! After
all that inspiring transportation, we left about 1PM to complete the day's ride.
My Dad shoved off me, and rode another 5-6 miles down Rt20E to his turn-off.
That was a thrill beyond description to have him join the trip! We said
goodbye, cranking our helmeted heads together in embrace; then he turned
south to climb a hill and I headed to East Aurora. The day had really
started to warm up, so I was already rolling up legwarmers and pulling off
arm warmers at the red lights, but leaving town there was a pickup along side
of the road with a guy taking photos from his back tailgate. I figured maybe a
local new guy looking for Memorial Day story, so I just road by trying to
look 'part of the scenery'..., but then I noticed there was a cardboard box on
the tailgate wit the the words "Go Marion Go !" written on it, and the guy
finally looks out from behind his camera..., I realize it's Ben Little (!) come
down to say hi. Of course I stop dead and circle back around. HE knows Carl
at the bike shop and had gotten Carl to call him when we left. I know my dad
had told him about the ride, but I definitely hadn't expected a roadside
visit! (Ben is old local friend, the guy who taught me how to trampoline at
local Y in my 'youth'). I gave him a few website addresses, and we agreed to
try and go sailing in July when I return. Karen road by, so she and I took
off in sweep position to finish up. The road gave a few hills, and some
headwind. I was feeling a bit less than fresh as day drew toward 3+ o'clock
and come clouds moved in; but turning north just a few miles from Attica and
heading toward Batavia improved the wind, and I finished out fine. Did last
expected laundry for the trip. Dinner consisted of a search for food + TV
access to Celtics, this was achieved at a pizza joint after bit of walking..., I
kinda watched outta the corner of my eyes as a few of the 'clydesdales'
devoured whole larges. I did my fair share; finishing with a sundae as the Celtics
came back from the largest deficit ever to win the game! Great day all around.
Tomorrow 5AM wakeup to get underway to Syracuse.
Day 27 - Friday, May 24, Niles, OH to Dunkirk, NY 140.6 miles.
Today was the 2nd of 3 days where this trip touches three states on one day.
The day started with 5:45 load, 6AM at Denny's; all 'oatmealed-up', I headed
out at 6:50 under very cloudy skies, temp of 62'. Today's road would convince
someone that it's all downhill from Ohio-to PA-to NY..., or more likely it was
some combination of dead straight, flat road with a bit of tailwind kicking in
and increasing. I lucked into a 25 mile 'drag' by the A-team which launched
me pretty well into this long day. At the 40 mile first SAG, I was all set to sit
back and ride 'pace' when who showed up and jumped outta the van
but..., Fearless Leader Mike..., ahh, I said, please no torture of this troop
today! And Mike did listen, letting me ride in front some to gauge my pace
and we tooled off into Erie, PA still 'gassed' by tailwinds. In Erie we
ducked down to the pier to see big boats, a ferry, Presque Island and the
wharf area while the temp clearly dropped by the foggy lake front, and it started
to rain, some. We lunched soon after at mile 90 with many other riders coming
in. People kind of grabbed more clothes since standing around wasn't too
comfortable. Mike and I took off only to really have the rain kick in.
Incredibly enough, Mike did NOT reach for his cell phone. Here we are passing
through some nice country spotted with wineries and I'm thinking 'chardonnay
and van'..., but Mike stayed on the road (!), and of course so did I. "Don't
worry," He says as we pass into NY at mile 110, "NY roads have the BEST
shoulder of our whole trip!". Hardly has that sentence finished when we pass a
"CONSTRUCTION, Next 18 Miles" sign. Here's a distraction from the rain? First we
run into the road being completely blocked, with a bunch of guys working down a
15' ditch 'where the road used to be'in' ...Mike asks one guy about the length of
the detour, and gets "6 miles" for a response. Mike asks can we cross, and so the
construction foreman let us...., this involved slipping down one grassy, muddy
bank, over some stone, then up a huge dirt pile on the opposite side. Incredibly
a hardhat dude appeared and offered to carry my bike. Since I needed hands
and feet to get up the mud, I was really pleased he'd offered. "Pretty light,
huh?" I said to him on the other side as Mike and I tried to de-mud in
cleaned puddles and Mike called both vans by cell to talk through options.
There was one other walking construction spot, less dramatic, just muddy;
but the road had these disconcerting 'saw cuts' (?) every 2 miles or so.
Perhaps to enable pulling up the pavement..., there were always 2 cuts, about
3.5in wide , 4 ft apart, spanning the pavement. The bike would go over them
luckily, but I found them disconcerting. At least it was flat along Rt5,
and some wind certainly kept us pumping along. Rain abated off and on. I
committed to working the day's distance at as steady a pace as possible.
Cloudy views of the lake were frequent. Every business establishment was
labeled "Lakeside"..., this real estate would be huge pesos in many parts of
the country. Dunkirk arrived. On the far end of a town bigger than I'd
expected, the Ramada appeared. Circling into the lot just off Mike's
rooster-tail, I immediately spotted my Dad standing on the curb waiting in
all that wet! The site of him was swell beyond description. He pitched in
right away as Peter pulled in and we were directed to a hose to wash off our
bikes and ourselves. Barb pulled up with the gear, so it was time to check-in
and unload. We are on the 4th floor RIGHT on the lake. While I warmed up in
the whirlpool and cleaned up, the sun returned. My dad and I walked along
the wharf, watched a large sailboat being lowered in, and saw small-mouth (?)
bass fisherguys everywhere. We ate at the hotel with many of the other bikes.
It was really great the way people would come over and introduce themselves.
It would fit in with what my dad knew from the web, but there is still a lot
to tell! We had great meal..., he was shocked/appalled/amazed? that I 'put
away' all of the seafood platter I'd ordered, good fuel for sure! My pace
today was 18.6 for 140 miles. Yes, wind aided. I'll see my Dad again tomorrow
on the road riding to the cycle museum with us. we have a very late start to see
the museum (8:30!), and only 83 miles, but some headwinds seem to have been
predicted to follow us into NY. We'll see. Today was a good ride. I felt like
I could extend my distance range pretty comfortably from 100, up by 40%, so
that felt like a good endurance gain.
Day 26 - Thursday, May 23, Wooster, OH to Niles, OH 100 miles.
Writing this update from the William Mckinley Library in downtown
Niles, OH. A second beautiful day was enjoyed by everyone on
the ride! The day started sunny and maybe 50ish at 6:45AM,
but by 9, the temp was clearly on the ride.
Today was another day of farmland riding; flatter than yesterday
with a PM tailwind (SSW) kicking in (bringing tomorrow's weather
change?). We had tremendously great lunch site by a small lake
with several people fishing. Joel from our group actually jumped
in swimming! Well, that's one way to do laundry I guess..., brrr.
I had an excellent easy ride. First time in just jersey/shorts
since..., can't remember..., over a week anyway. Tried to save energy
for tomorrow's long one. Well, just a short one from Ohio. I'm
off to ride into the motel, clean up and eat. Another rest day
100'ert logged!
Click
here to see sort of where we went on day 26.
Day 25 - Wednesday, May 22, Marysville, OH to Wooster, OH. 106.8 miles.
Left early at 6:30-6:45 to sun rising over fields full of frost. Saw a
beagle accompanying 'his boy' to the early AM school bus. Our route was
almost immediately rural. It was so nice to see the sun. By 9AM the temp was
clearly on the upswing. Morning SAG consisted of 'loosing layers' into the
'schlep clothing' box for the first time in many days. It was comfortable to
be outside again! And the route was extremely scenic Ohio farm country, with
greening fields and flowers and beautiful old barns. The countryside was
rolling. Our path would take us over 4K ft of climbing today..., 'good
hill's'..., the roller-coaster kind where (when your legs are good enough) the
goal is to use momentum + some ooomph to 'get over' ..., then repeat. Right
before lunch we did a particularly scenic part along a river, followed by
climbing, then lunch at a dam site. 'Fearless Leader' Mike was in my group
and after lunch he 'led the charge' over the hills. He gave us a few
'airforce drill shouts' for motivation ..., we were all 'privates'..., or was it
'maggots'..., anyhow the laughing didn't help with the hills, but I had fun on
the bike today! Entering Wooster, we went into town to a bike shop to pick up
a few things before finding the motel. Good lasagna and desserts at Country
Kitchen next door, followed by a long walk since sun was still high at 8PM.
What a welcome change to the weather! Tomorrow..., a 'sub-century' at only 92.
Click
here to see the approximate route for day 25.
Day 24 - Tuesday, May 21, Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH. 105.8 miles.
Day started with Martina pulling back the drapes in our 3rd floor Holiday Inn
room to find the window covered with moisture. Oh no..., cold AND rain!! But much to
our relief, it was just some kind of ventilation problem..., and the outside
world was MERELY cold and cloudy. We ate breakfast in the Inn basement
restaurant. It seemed peoples' mood to face another day of cold kind of
matched our cellar elevation. But with our 4 column queue sheets and promises
of backroads, we started out per usual. Within 4 miles we were into Ohio and
EDT. I rode with Karen and neither of us professed to feeling fast legs under
our tights/booties/layer and more layers. We passed plants covered against
frost. Farms got bigger, and with drier looking soil there started to be some
activity of large chemical spreading tractors and even larger equipment that
apparently injects 'human-based' effluents back into soil. That is for
non-directly edible crops. These tractors were tall enough to ride under, and
they kind of bombed down the roads between fields..., definitely no temptation to try
and draft! We saw two deer running through several fields parallel to us
until they jumped across the road. First SAG was by a shallow waterfall and
river preserve. The sun made a brief appearance which warmed the air considerably
just when it peaked through. We kept 'slugging' as a few hills kicked in;
crossing 2 and 4 way stops, working our way E, then N, then more E. Lunch
SAG wasn't until mile 75, by which time I was a tad bonky. SAG was at a
church and Barb said we could go into the basement to warm up where some women
were prep'ing for an evening Chicken Soup Dinner. So I walked around back and
went in. Along with my cup of coffee I got a sermon from one woman about how IF
the trip would let church KNOW we were coming they could be SURE to be open
so there'd be BATHROOMS available. I thanked her for the coffee. She gave me
about 6 more sentences all with the word BATHROOM in them, so I was getting the
feeling she'd witnessed some too-typical bike behavior that didn't please
her. I continued to thank her for the coffee and moved on to how nice it was
to have a folding chair to sit on while eating, versus standing or a curb. Hey,
not my mission to reform the behavior of others, but I do agree that
sometimes JUST because people are on a bike..., well, whatever. Another woman
came over to talk and she proved to be wealth of information about farming. She
told Karen and me we'd been seeing soybeans and alfalfa all day, that the
golden 'weedlike' flower I guessed was goldenrod was actually a weed
appearing where beans were sown last year since beans can't get much
fertilizer. It's pretty prevalent, but she said farmers plan to rotate in
corn which can get fertilized and that will take care of the weed. She also
correctly identified the violet flowering plants as a type of phlox, not the
sweet pea I had guessed.
After lunch, I was a bit cold for a few miles until food and effort kicked
in. I still have surprisingly dead legs, with some intermittent 'twange' in my right
knee..., but I feel like warmth will help, so until it returns I will..., do
what I can and ride easy. Saw a temp of 44'..., but it felt a bit warmer than
that. Rode solo in from lunch, last 30 miles and it helped me find, not
exactly a pace, but let's say a rhythm. The road kill has switched to
predominately raccoon. Ohio has VERY CLEAR street signs out in the country
(Massachusetts could take a lesson...). The intersections have BOTH roads
labeled..., quite a helpful concept. Electric fences seem to be fairly popular
out here as well..., been chased by many dogs but many seem to stop at the
"line in the sand".
Yesterday a beautiful black lab chased us full out running parallel across
the back of his cornfield, before making a right hand turn to zoom out the drive
and screech to halt at top of the drive..., good thing he didn't know about
diagonals..., but he sure looked like he had nice life protecting his domain.
Entering Marysville, I passed the Ohio Rehabilitation Center for Women..., and
kind of wished the 'A-Women's-Team' was there for a photo op; right after the
prison was a sign for "Marysville - Where the Grass is Always Greener"..., well,
sure. Came through the 'strip'; chowed, walked, lubed chain, now awaiting
for the Celtics game...., on at 8:30..., figure I'll see at least 10 minutes or so.
Tomorrow some hills and some warmth predicted..., hope BOTH are true!
Click
here to see the approximate route for day 24.
Day 23 - Monday, May 20, Lebanon, IN to Richmond, IN. 102.9 miles.
Today started with a 6:30AM van hop to the Roark Bike factory just N of
Lebanon. FL Mike rides a Roark Titanium, so we were off to meet the owners
and tour the factory. Bikes are a small, but obviously very important part of
what Roark, Inc does. Immediately upon coming into the lobby, on display was
one of the owner's 14.5 lb Roark Ti road bikes complete with Campie carbon fiber
pedals, 650cc wheels since he felt the geometry was better. Roark does a lot with
ZIPP wheels (right down the road) and also Rolf. The gear around there was
AMAZINGLY cool. They've been in business since '95, and offer a quality
customized frame for a competitive price. We ended the tour with coffee and
bagels then several members of the Roark riding team came back to ride part of
the day with our 'faster' crowd. The Ti bikes we have in our peleton are
many..., Merlin, Seven, Lightspeed, and several Roarks. Excellent adult "toys".
To read more go to roarkcyclery.com. Got underway at 9Am for the 'daily
100dert'. Sun gave way to clouds. I was dressed for low 50's and felt I'd
made good choices for me..., tights, polypro, armwarmers, booties, swapped
from headband to full skullcap and fullfingered gloves after seeing a "47'"
as I pulled into lunch. The early AM ride was through 'suburbanized' farm
country along rural routes; ride included a fair number of 4-way stops, but
traffic was low, the horse farms and golf courses numerous. First SAG was
jazzed up with BEST COOKIES yet from Joe's wife. Joe, who went home last night,
did return..., but even more importantly his wife Linda made these SWELL
cookies to add to the peanut butter ones from Mike's family yesterday. Cold =
eat more. Question is..., can I eat more.... Anyway, road with Tore and Tom,
pacelining at about 18mph. It was the first day in a while with only a light headwind
(5-10mph). After lunch, more of the same, as skies darkened. I feel like I am
slowly recovering some fresher legs after 'the rain ordeal' into Springfield
3 days ago, but after 80 miles I was starting to work on different ways to keep
some pace and comfort on the bike.... OK... I was getting a bit 'cooked'. Our
groups stayed together by paying a bit of attention to each other and came
into Richmond for about 5+ miles through the town. Past Earlham College and
downtown before getting out to 'the strip'. Arrived in 16.8 mph ave., not bad
for such a cold day I think. Had a very unexpected surprise at the hotel with a
message to call Howard Smith. While I showered, etc. the phone rings from the lobby
and Howard is there!!! What a surprise! He knew just what was needed as he
took me and the kids immediately to an Italian restaurant to help remove the
'glazey bonk' from my eyes. Hadley and Greg ate and played with spinning
quarters while somehow our table managed to get an extra serving of lasagna
which I just happened to eat too. Howard said Eddy Merck said the best way to win
the Tour was not to eat too much, hmm. Anyway, he ate the dessert so I
didn't explode. Then we went to Target and got something the kids could swim
in and use this summer. We went back to the pool/whirlpool where I got to see
photos of the Smith's place in Ohio while the kids 'like fish' enjoyed the
pool and talked to everyone. I whirlpooled too, then they changed into PJs
for the car trip home..., beating me into bed by not much I'm sure. Howard used the
webpage and got a call from Bobbi et al to help him with the logistics. I might see him
on the road tomorrow as we approach his house. It was a fabulous visit,
full of news about past/present/exuberant kids/carbs and bike talk. He looks
just the same..., still carrying a SIM bag! OK, off to sleep, trying apparently
to store up energy/vigor for (can it be?) only ONE more day of record cold.
We continue eastward...
Click
here to see the approximate route for day 23 - just can't get Mapquest off Rt. 70!.
Day 22 - Sunday, May 19, Champaign, IL to Lebanon, ID. 100.6 miles.
Strange deja vu' starting day at Bob Evans 2 times in a row. To compound my mental
confusion, I ordered the same "Cakes and Eggs". Think I'm ready for an oatmeal
day soon. We started at 6:45, 47', clear, some wind. The wind prediction was
NNW, but it was pretty soon apparent that 10-20 mph ESE, with our route due E
was going to be the tune-of-the-day. Hey, we are increasing our lead as
'most headwind crossing'. It was nice quiet Sunday AM with light traffic,
flat road, farms w/ some flooded fields. There are a lot more towns now,
coming every 5-10 miles, vs the 20+ miles in between further west. My legs were
still feeling somewhat 'cooked' from the 'rain-marathon' of 2 days ago. Guess
us 'oldsters' need a little more time. So I went for 'constant' effort and
ended up riding about 16mph into the wind with the 'women's team'. We crossed
into Indiana at mile 42. Kentucky Mike had family join him at lunch SAG,
including his wife who was along to ride. In good trek tradition, she ended
up with a flat along the way..., we were watching some dark clouds, as well as
noticing how ALL flags were blowing on our noses. With 15-20 miles to go I
lucked into meeting the A-team Express and got pulled into Lebanon behind a
rolling windblock. Life at the Comfort Inn improved immeasurably when the
scheduled masseuses showed up. Half an hour really helped work out some of my
'wiped-outedness', plus gave me good indication of how my shoulder continues
to improve. It rained some after most people we in. Stayed cold though, with
high of 55-57 all day. I borrowed a desk umbrella to get some take-out. Now I'm
enjoying the Celts game, and have route rap pretty soon. Tomorrow is bike factory
tour in the AM (Rourk titanium), which should be good break in routine of
cranking out our 'Daily 100'. OK, time to call it a weekend.
Click
here to see the approximate route for day 22.
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