Biking Back from the Dark Side

 

 Today I walked out of the hotel with the most nervous excited feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew we had a tough day of riding ahead, lots of climbing, lots of heat, but knowing I was going to make it. And knowing this dream had been realized. The timing was perfect. I’m out of electrolyte drink. I’m out of my energy bars. I’m out of my sunscreen. I don’t have any clean clothes left.   And most importantly, we’ve run out of country to our east. After a calm and cool 10 miles to start the day, the climb started.  We went up some pretty steep slopes, including one that was almost as hard as the big climb yesterday. Not nearly so long, but it felt a good bit steeper. I think I didn’t have enough to drink yesterday, or didn’t do a good job of replacing my electrolytes. Because my legs felt really crampy to start. And that is not a good thing when you’re pushing heavy gears up really steep slopes. I think adrenaline did a good bit of the work.… all of the aches and pains I was having

  That was hot. And steep. And long.  I’m wearing an ice necklace in this picture (nylons filled with ice and tucked under the jersey)…which is the only way I kept my body temp under 105. We started climbing almost immediately out of the hotel.  It was mostly up for the first 42 miles, but concentrated in two especially steep pitches. The first one was 5 miles and the second one was around 10.   I have been dreading that second one for days. The profile just looked so intimidating on the Ride with GPS software. And when you zoom in on the route, there were some parts that were allegedly as high as 17% grades. I got up the first part and it really helped to build my confidence for the second. As I’m climbing, I try to keep my power meter under control and my heart rate under control. I can throttle back on the power so long as the road isn’t too steep.  (for really steep grades, there’s really no choice. You have to put in enough power into the pedals or you slow down so much you just f

 OK, that was just stupid hot.  When we finished, the heat index was over 100 and the heat was just cooking off the asphalt in waves. But we made really good time. The good news was that we started early, at 6:45, and had a big chunk of the ride in before it got really nasty. John and I led out for the first 12 or 13 miles, and the ride into the first sag was pretty relaxed.  We all grabbed calories and liquid as fast as possible to get more miles done before it got unbearable . About 10 miles outside of the second sag, the Georgia boys caught up to John and I. And foolishly, we grabbed their wheel as they accelerated to something like 22 miles an hour up rollers.  We made quick work of those 10 miles but it was a bit of a white knuckle. And then, because every good thing must be punished, we had a punchy steep climb leading up to the second sag. I got up out of my saddle and my front tire felt funny. I looked down and realized I was slowly losing air.  So I leaned way back in the sadd

 Today was the easiest ride we have left, other than the short jaunt to the Atlantic to dip our wheels on Friday.  But it was hot.  And it’s going to get hotter as we do  three tough days. 100 miles and then 80 and then 90, all of them with mid 90s heat by noon and the last two with very difficult climbs. My fitness level is good, maybe even great, but the heat is a wildcard in all of this. So I spent all day today hydrating as much as I could, and trying to save effort and energy for the next three.  I drank like I did in the Mojave but it wasn’t enough… Despite taking it easier, I’ve got some aches and pains that won’t go away. And probably won’t until I’ve been off the bike for at least a week. I’ve got some strange pain under my left shoulder blade. My left Achilles is tight and bothering me. My feet continue to hurt on longer rides (hot feet from a compressed nerve that runs through the ball of the feet). My left quad is sore. And I have what feels like the start of carpal tunnel

 I chose this title for three reasons. First, we visited the bridge where the famous scene from Its a Wonderful Life was filmed.  Or maybe it inspired the bridge where it was filmed in a studio lot? Not sure. Anyway Seneca Falls has totally leaned into this… calling it George Bailey Lane and decorating the bridge with bells for the angel.  I took the opportunity to expound on the benefits of a carefully managed deposit to asset ratio in a community bank. Second…it really is a wonderful life that affords me the opportunity for an experience like this.  The occasionally difficult daily grind of it all sometimes disguises the extraordinary nature of what I and my friends have been able to do over the last 6 1/2 weeks. And I can’t believe we only have four riding days left.   But I am so grateful. Third… It’s Father’s Day and my three kids have really helped to make this a wonderful life. ❤️ It is strange to be out here riding on Father’s Day. Tanya and I have had a multi year discussion a

 Today was harder than I expected. Maybe it was because I didn’t sleep very well last night. Or maybe it was the crosswind that got pretty tough toward the end or maybe it was the up-and-down all day. Probably it was… I was expecting today to be easy.  🤷‍♂️ The group started out really fast, like they were late for an appointment. Thankfully, my gang got stuck behind a light and surrendered after about 12 miles.  The most notable part of today was this.   After the second SAG, where we took this cool group pic my gang sped up quite a bit. What I mean to say is John was smelling the barn and he sped up a lot. So I threw some grappling hooks, locked myself to his wheel and let him pull me for 15 miles into the wind. Here’s a live action photo of that. TBH, I think the issue was there was a long bathroom line at the SAG and we decided to wait to find a field. But no field was presenting itself and John kept getting faster and faster.  🤔. Happily, he missed the turn to Cheese Factory Roa

What a day!  This was a gorgeous 92 mile ride with great views of Lake Erie. Riding past vineyards,  along wide shoulders and smooth pavement with a breath of tailwind moving us along.  Even the traffic was pretty chill for a Friday.   We crossed over into our 12th state - just three more to go   At the second SAG we stopped at a fantastic ice cream shack (Nick Charlaps 11/10 would recommend).  I tucked into a “small” cone with three scoops of cookie dough and then we soft pedaled our way into Buffalo.   I’m pretty sure I was calorie positive for the last 22 miles… My legs were fresh and strong after the rest day.  The weather was perfect.   And I was riding with great people.   You can’t ask for much more on a summer day… And now, with just seven days left in the tour, it is time for the 2024 Ride Across America Most Valuable Gear Awards.   The rules of the game here are that the gear has to be valuable but non-essential. Obviously without the bike and the biking helmet you can’t ride

  After suffering up and down hills for the last three days, our ride today was much easier.  “Only” 90 miles with less than half the climbing of the last few.  My legs were grateful.  Between the two SAG stops we had a steady downhill that should have been spectacular.   Unfortunately I spoke too soon about road quality and the good state of Ohio presented us with the worst 15 miles of pavement in the last 2800…just excruciating.  I may need to enter the concussion protocol.   No joke…I was vibrated straight into a bad headache and a painful wrist.   Making it worse the highway department HQ along the route was sporting a sign proclaiming “Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Award 2013”…  clearly they've been resting on that laurel for the last decade.  Personally I would advocate for them to aspire to an “excellence in applying asphalt” award.  Happily we recovered from that beating by stopping here And knocking back a “regular size” root beer float   The large could’ve filled two