Friday, May 01, 2009
Tour de Scranton
Kyle and I were incredibly excited to take our Pino on its first charity bike race...even if it was in Scranton. I know it's the home of The Office and the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Barons and Penguins but let's be honest, Scranton is a rather depressing city. You'll notice I haven't included any scenery photos of our 50 mile trip because, well, there wasn't much to see. The only great photo I missed was a man dressed in a leprechaun and/or pirate costume sitting beside a mannequin on his storefront. Come to think of it there were also mannequins at one of the car shops... maybe it's a main street theme. We also rode through the birthplace of First Aid; I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds like a good place for me. Mostly, though, we just saw nondescript buildings, a lot of sprawling brush, and the worst pavement that I've ever ridden over - good to see that PennDOT has only gotten more useless since I've left the state.
We also saw something I didn't expect, given what I've been warned about nearby Binghamton: the sun. A lot of it. It got miserably hot at times and the salt build-up on my helmet straps and sunglasses was disgusting. Remind me why we're taking our trip in the summer again?
We ran into mechanical trouble almost right away - problems with the long chain again. We (mostly Kyle) did maintenance on the side of the road for the first of four or five times that day, and Kyle's father was nice enough to wait for us down the road each time. The worst problem, however, was pain. As usual the saddle was rough on Kyle, especially his back. The ride took more of a toll than usual on his arms and shoulders because his body was tense from the stress. The traffic (which was troublingly busy for a bike race) and the potholes made him very anxious, and he's still adjusting to steering such a long and heavy bicycle. Meanwhile my feet were apparently on fire. For long stretches of time I had searing pain on the balls of my feet and my middle toes. Sometimes it would go away on its own and sometimes I had to wait until the next rest area, as it disappeared whenever I unclipped. At first I wondered if the scorching sun could have heated the metal clips enough to burn through the sole and my socks, but a quick check proved that wasn't the case. My best guess so far is pinched nerves, since pain would occasionally shoot up my shin. I knew my feet would cause problems on the trip, but I was expecting blisters or arch pain, not invisible flames. It's definitely a problem I'll have to examine further and hopefully solve before we set off across the country.
Thanks to the pain and the sun and the fact that neither of us has had much training time recently our performance wasn't amazing. We haven't rigged up the special cyclocomputer yet, but based on Kyle's father's stats we traveled around 12 mph. Once we add a loaded trailer and meal breaks that won't give us enough miles per day. Still, given the pain and the sun and the insufficient training we decided to be content. Oh, and I almost forgot the hills. One of the hills, mercifully just before a rest stop, was probably the steepest thing I've ever climbed, and judging by the grumbling it was the steepest thing many of the cyclists had ever climbed. The funny thing is, I liked that hill - impossibly steep but relatively short - a lot better than the gradual but sun-baked and forever-long incline earlier in the ride. No one seemed to agree with me though, so maybe I'm just crazy.
So far this post sounds overwhelmingly negative, I know, but there were also positives to the Tour de Scranton (which, by the by, benefits a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program). Though the route they chose could have been better, I was impressed with the friendly people running the event. It was well-organized and well-supported and they gave out good food and drinks before and after. The best part, however, was the community... and the instant celebrity. It was fantastic to talk to so many cyclists, and I'll admit we loved all of the calls of "Wow!" "Nice bike!" and "Look at that!" from cyclists, volunteers, and spectators alike. We saw some impressive things too, like the video camera mounted on a guy's helmet. I don't think we'll be that cool, but we do want to mount Kyle's camera on the bike to use its time lapse setting one of these days. What we didn't see was a single other tandem bicycle, which I thought was strange. As all of the attention we received proved, you rarely if ever see a Hase Pino, but regular tandems aren't that unusual. We definitely felt the difference between our long, heavy bike and the rest of the field; we made a killing on the downhills but had to really push everywhere else. I now understand why there are rides and races just for tandem bikes; it really is a different ride in some respects.
We learn more about the bike and each other each time we ride, and even though Kyle was really stressed we managed to cooperate well... most of the time. I also took the first step towards dealing with my dog problem. To resist my paralysis instinct I'm training myself to sprint whenever I hear a dog barking. I imagine the sudden speed is just as jarring to Kyle as my stopping was, but he agrees that it's a much better response. We didn't encounter any dogs close up during the ride - which is good since we forgot the Halt - but we did hear a lot of barking, and each time I kicked my pedalling into high gear instead of letting fear slow me down. Definite progress.
And of course the best part of the ride is the reason we chose Scranton in the first place - family. We rode with Kyle's father, hung out with his uncle and cousin afterwards (they rode a shorter route together), and enjoyed dinner and all the comforts of home at his parent's house the night before. It was a good visit and something that I really needed at the time.
So while the Tour de Scranton wasn't the most enjoyable ride, it had its good moments and was unquestionably a beneficial experience. We're hoping to participate in a number of charity races after the wedding, which I will of course be sure to share here.
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| posted at: 05:10 |
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