Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Plan: have everything ready a few days before departing, leaving time for a long ride or two with full gear in order to assess our packing strategy.
The Reality: run around like crazy people for the last few days, spending countless hours shopping, planning, and packing, leaving us with time only for brief (15-20 mile) rides just before it got dark, and never with a fully packed trailer.
These rides were still helpful, however, especially the one we took with me steering in the back. We learned so much pedaling in the other person's shoes and it made a difference immediately. On the following ride I had a much better understanding of Kyle's challenges and when and how he needed me to pedal, and he learned what and when he needed to communicate. I also realized how much I wanted to avoid the back whenever possible. It's incredibly stressful back there, especially managing starts, stops, and steering in heavy traffic. I'm also not as physically suited to it: it's hard to control something that heavy with my shorter and weaker arms. Thankfully Kyle is becoming increasingly comfortable with the back and is willing to remain there fulltime for a week or more until we reach more barren landscapes, unless of course an injury necessitates a switch.
I had been worried about packing from the beginning; I have never, ever been able to travel light. It actually went better than expected, perhaps because I've been thinking about and shopping for the trip for so long. I took 2.5 cycling outfits, 2 casual outfits, a long sleeved shirt, rain gear, and a bathing suit. Through the magic of a stuff sack, it fit into a very small space:
Fitting all of our gear into the trailer was a bit more challenging, so we ended up strapping a small backpack to the top. Still, it wasn't bad, and we'll be riding through Frederick on our third day so we can figure out what supplies to drop or reposition. We were ready to go, or ready enough. Off to Jersey...
| posted at: 06:20 |
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
We're trying to get in as many rides as we can before the big departure so that we can prepare ourselves for the riding and also to test items like the trailer and new clothing. That's right, thanks to my brother we have a BOB trailer for our bike, and thanks to my mother we have a pirate flag to make it visible.
Our first test trip was to and from the Mt. Airy bike shop where we bought the Pino in the first place. Kyle needed to buy a few things and we wanted to talk to them about my foot problems. We lucked out and talked to a super friendly guy who also rides recumbent and has gone through foot hot spots, and he suggested a pair of cycling sandals that might help. I had wanted sandals ever since Kyle got his pair of Keen commutes, so after a test ride and some confusion about sizes I decided to buy Shimano SPD sandals (SH-SD60B). They're like a standard pair of velcro sandals, except the sole is inflexible and has the same clips as my cycling shoes. So far the sandals have worked well. I haven't gotten hot spots while wearing them (fingers crossed) though the designs in the footbed can be annoying during long rides. Overall, however, I think they were a great purchase, especially since we're riding cross-country during the summer.
If only getting to the shop in the first place had been so simple. Kyle mapped out a route that should have been 15 miles each way. Unfortunately, one of the roads on Googlemaps didn't actually exist, so by the time we reached the shop we had already gone nearly 30 miles. Usually I would have been happy for the additional distance, especially since I wanted to make up for skipping the 51 mile Lancaster Farmland Trust ride that day (because of travel and timing issues; we certainly love covered bridges and farmland). By the time we neared the shop, however, I was starving and being burnt to a crisp. Note to self: no matter what the hurried husband says, there is always time to apply sunscreen. When we finally stopped and I put on sunscreen the damage was done. I had certainly suffered bad sunburn before, but I'd never had the sensation of emanating heat for days. I couldn't even bear to touch my legs together. I did, however, get to use a leaf from the aloe plant that Kyle's mother gave me, which was pretty neat.
Other than the unexpected detour and the seering heat, the ride went very well. We had to deal with a number of narrow or nonexistent shoulders, which made Kyle vow to leave Maryland, but we didn't encounter any major problems. We could feel the weight of the trailer but only during steep climbs and head winds (then again, it wasn't even half-full). We enjoyed ourselves and still felt pretty good at the end of the ride.
...
Which was a good thing, since the next day we drove to Harrisburg to ride the Greenbelt with Kyle's father, brother, uncles, and cousins. We also convinced our friend Emily to come along, who had just arrived in Frederick for the summer. The Greenbelt ride, which was part road and part trail, took us through neighborhoods, along the water, and into forests. It was much more scenic and relaxing than the Scranton ride, that's for sure. We got to see a cricket game, river rescue training, and a lot of greenery and bridges.
I also liked that we were riding the Greenbelt in order to benefit the Greenbelt; that's good charity ride logic. I really wish the ride had been longer than 20 miles, but other than that I have no complaints.
Scratch that, I have one complaint: I am tired of people assuming that I do little or no work in the front of the bike. I heard so many cracks like "You getting a free ride up there?" and "Don't show my wife that bike" and "That looks like a sweet deal for you" and while I laughed I was not amused. Yes, riding in the back is more difficult overall since you have to steer, but I always have to pedal the same speed and at times I'm pedaling harder (Steep hills are becoming my thing; I'm weird). Even Kyle got annoyed on my behalf, and offered to make me an "Actually I'm working just as hard" t-shirt.
Otherwise it was an awesome day. After being waved across the finish line by enthusiastic volunteers with bubbles and flags, we picked up our Greenbelt t-shirts and enjoyed hotdogs in the shade. They also supplied Vitamin Water, which I had previously never tried. The liquid itself was ok, but the packaging was amazing. The label told me that I was drinking "dragonfruit" that helped Agnes bench press llamas. Good stuff. At the cars we had more food thanks to Kyle's uncle, and then we headed over to an outdoors store to buy me a pair of Marmot rain pants. One less thing on the list (which is still disturbingly long considering that we leave in about a week). But hey, yay for bicycling, and for a ride that was enjoyable and scenic and taken at a steady but not exhausting pace. I hope our trip will be the same.
| posted at: 06:11 |
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Friday, May 15, 2009
My old sunglasses served me well. They originally belonged to my brother, who bought them at K-Mart for a mission trip to Mexico. They survived all the dust, dirt, and hazards of construction work but when my brother got home he promptly abandoned them for his Oakleys, so I claimed them because I had lost or broken yet another pair of sunglasses (which is why I never buy Oakleys). I may have looked a little strange in men's sunglasses, but not as strange as I would have looked in any of the women's sunglasses that I saw in stores, since this was the era of giant bug-eyed shades. (I guess it's still that era, but I'm hoping the trend will pass soon.) They served me well for several years, even after my friend borrowed them for a frisbee game and promptly got hit in the face. They didn't break though, and the blood wiped right off. Eventually one of the ear pieces snapped - I'm still not sure how - so I was forced to replace them with a pair of slightly giant, slightly bug-eyed lady sunglasses (I did the best I could). When I needed new cycling sunglasses, however, I dug out the old shades - yes, I'm a packrat - and put them back together with electrical tape. You can barely tell with the helmet - or that's what I tell myself - and I've worn them for cycling ever since.
Now that we are heading across the country, however, Kyle convinced me to buy new sunglasses that had peripheral cover, earpieces that stayed together on their own, and interchangeable lenses so that I could shield my eyes as the sky darkened and still be able to see. Hopefully Corey Hart wasn't a cyclist...
Comfort is also key, so I wanted to try them on instead of shopping online. I went to the Performance Bike store in Charlottesville because they send us coupons and because I always like the people working there. After some advice from the guy behind the counter and a lot of deliberation at the sunglasses wall, I went with the Performance Quatro.
They have 4, count'em 4 interchangeable lenses: clear, grey, yellow, and brown, which cover all possible lighting conditions that we'll encounter. I was incredibly happy with them...until I wore them outside the next day. The holes right under the top frame, which I suppose are meant to let air through, also of course let sun through, and that created a small problem. They create bright spots at the upper edge of my vision that don't affect what I see but are certainly annoying. I almost returned them but I didn't have much time before my next planned ride, so I convinced myself that I would get used to them. And so far they haven't been bad. My helmet straps tend to push sunglasses up higher on my face and against my forehead, and in that position I can barely see any sun dots. I don't think I'll be bothered after all.
I've encounter another problem, however: the difficulty of popping the lenses in and out. Instructions are included and theoretically easy to follow, but squeezing and moving the nosepiece was a massive struggle each time and I think I may have bent it. I hope I get better with practice or these multi-lens shades are much less convenient than they seem. I should have bought a pair like Kyle's that have two separate lenses - much easier to move in and out. The fit and the comfort level are great, however, and I'm not going to buy another pair without giving these sunglasses a thorough trial run. We'll see how they do.
| posted at: 09:01 |
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Kyle hadn't yet uploaded the photos from the Tour de Scranton when I wanted to post an entry about it, and we also had a few random shots from test rides sitting around. I decided just to make a seperate entry, since there haven't been many photos on my side of the blog lately. Enjoy!
The Start:
Welcome to Scranton:
Kyle's father (you can see that there were a few nice neighborhoods):
For a long portion of the trip all we only saw brush, sun, cars, potholes, and a slight but eventually torturous uphill:
Kyle takes his cousin for a spin on the Pino in the parking lot:
Uncle Bob gets a ride too:
Fixing the bike on a ride around Frederick. This became a common sight (though Kyle doesn't always match everything this perfectly):
I probably should have been helping at this point but I took shadow photos instead:
The End
| posted at: 11:22 |
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