Sunday, March 08, 2009
Our First Epic Ride
Today it was finally time for our first real ride on the Pino, and we were ridiculously excited. As always Kyle was in charge of navigational concerns, and he thought we should first drive to the nearby Utica Park so that we didn't have to navigate downtown Frederick on the tandem, and from there head towards Gettysburg. 
It turned out to be almost as difficult to navigate downtown Frederick while driving a car that was considerably smaller than the tandem strapped to its backend, but it was probably still the best plan.
First we stopped off at Frederick Coffee Co. to pick up food - a toasted bagel, two giant apple crumble muffins, and two Snickers bars. We breakfasted at the park and then headed off towards Gettysburg, not sure whether we would ride the whole way there or turn back earlier when our knees began to protest. We ended up surprising ourselves: our knees protested plenty, but we still made it to Gettysburg...the looooong way. Turns out my captain only sort of looked at the map and didn't bring it along, and his creative back road navigating added about 25 miles to the trip. Major kudos to Emily - Kyle's former roommate and a middle school geography bee champion - for guiding us back to main roads over the phone. 
Our ride ended up being 67 miles all told, which is less than most of our days will be during the trip (80-100) but much farther than I had ever ridden before (36). I was actually happy about the added miles; my right knee screamed every once and a while but otherwise I felt great riding in the front and wanted to go as far as possible. Kyle started out just as energized but gradually became less pleased since he was stuck on the unyielding saddle and without any back support. I offered to switch, but he decided that being more comfortable wasn't worth the effort required to swap our pedals (our cycling shoes currently clip into different kinds but we'll fix that before the cross-country ride). Overall, however, we both had a fantastic time. I have truly never been that happy on a bicycle before. Singing and giggling may have occurred repeatedly. We also saw and learned quite a lot...
What we saw:
Covered bridges - two of the three in Frederick.
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A ton of farms, farm animals, and hay bales. Kyle couldn't understand why I needed so many photos of horses and fields, but I took them without slowing down so he couldn't really complain. They aren't fantastic - see Flickr for a few - but it was a good experiment in panning and shooting while pedaling. I used Kyle's small digital camera and was pleased with how well it dealt with movement.
Several agitated dogs. More on them later.
A group of friendly bikers (of the motorcycle variety) at Sheetz. I totally fail for not taking a picture with them.
A half dozen bathrooms, ranging in sketchiness. I have a very demanding bladder, something I suppose I'll have to get used to.
Taneytown, which I found rather awful. Everything seemed rundown and depressing except for four nice houses flanking the Fire Company. And the best part of town, the large park, inexplicably had no bathrooms anywhere, which was my primary focus at the time (surprise surprise).
A Welcome to Pennsylvania sign that looked equally depressing.
Tammy! Tammy is a Funkster friend who was stuck in Gettysburg over spring break finishing her thesis, so we took her out for milkshakes at the local diner and a brief ride on the Pino before heading homeward. It was a fantastic way to break up the ride.
Mount St. Mary and its cool tunnel under the highway. It came in handy since we decided to take a more direct way home on main roads.
The art of starting and stopping. We're still working on coordinating our pedaling and clipping in/out whenever we start or stop the bike, but it's getting smoother every time.
Our cycling styles are not as different as I thought. We actually had very little trouble setting and maintaining a pace and effort level that worked well for both of us, and our climbs and descents went just fine. Our ability to match each other was one of my major concerns, but after this ride I'm no longer worried at all.
Still, we probably want pedals that aren't slaved together. Right now if one of us pedals the other person also needs to pedal and at the same speed. While our paces generally matched, there were many times when Kyle had to coast and stand to give his sit bones a break but I would have been happy to continue pedaling. We also both experienced knee pain but at different times; having a little more flexibility could really help with minor injuries. We're not entirely sure how unslaved pedaling works on the Pino, but we know that it's an option, and one that the Mt. Airy shop owner has used.
Pedaling and sharp turns don't mix. Currently any sharp turn brings my heel into contact with the front wheel unless I really contort myself. Hopefully the problem will be ameliorated when we extend the boom.
I am still really, really, really terrified of dogs. I knew this, of course, but it's worse than I suspected. We saw a number of riled up dogs on our ride and I felt in real danger three times. The first was a loud, shaggy mutt that barked insanely at us from the side of the road. It wasn't especially scary as barking dogs go, but nonetheless I froze entirely. I forgot to pedal. I forgot about the Halt at my side. I forgot about everything except for my fear of dogs and my memory of being attacked a few years ago. Thankfully Kyle's yelling snapped me out of it and I started to pedal and fumble for the Halt. The dog didn't come after us but my heart was racing and lodged in my throat for several minutes after we passed it. The worst experience of the ride, however, was when an absolutely terrifying rottweiler charged across the lawn towards us. Kyle yelled at me to pedal and to grab the Halt, and while I was faster this time it still made me an emotional wreck. I spent the next two or three miles still clutching the Halt, breathing heavily as my heart raced, and trying not to cry. The third encounter was at what I dubbed The Halloween House because it was still decorated for it. There were three dogs this time, medium sized and hyperactive. I managed to avoid paralysis and but found myself muttering "I'm scared, Kyle" two or three times. Man am I pathetic. I'm upset that I'm still so vulnerable to dogs. But I just have to hope that I'll get better about it, and that when a dog finally attacks the Halt and I will be quicker than it is.
Well that was a downer last note; sorry about that. Let's remember that we weren't actually attacked by any dogs, but had an amazing and accidentally epic ride. We saw a lot, learned a lot, and really and truly enjoyed ourselves. I really can't describe how happy I am about the ride, and I'm even happier that it was the first of many more to come.
| posted at: 19:19 |
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