The end of the year is fast approaching, so it is time to take a look back at some of the good, a little of the bad, and some of whats to come. Note hat this post will not contain End of Year Stats, because there are actually a few more days left to add to those. So, let's dive right in...
BEST ALL AROUND DAY OF RIDING:
Late March at George Pierce Park with Brianna Sisterson and Jay Starr, followed by another longer ride with just Jay, starting in Buford, going towards Buford Dam, then south to Suwanee, then back to Buford.
The thing about this ride was the pure wanderlust of it. It was Spring, and the first really nice day of weather, so we all got together and just absorbed the excellent-ness of being outside. There was no real agenda other than having fun...and we did. Brianna skipped the second leg but GPP was fun since when "Big Ring Brianna" is along, she makes sure the pace stays up.
This ride also pushed Jay right to the limit of, and possibly slightly over his comfort zone. By the last few miles we stopped a few times because he had some cramping, and then at a certain point he decided if we stopped again he wasn't going to be able to get going again, so he toughed it out til we made it back to the car. I was struggling myself...neither of us really killed it with base training or anything during the Winter. But...this ride sort of set the bar for what we would do for the rest of the year. We knew we could do AT LEAST what we did that day, so from then on it was all about ramping up.
Finished with an excellent pizza at Mellow Mushroom Suwanee.
TOUGHEST RIDE:
Wrenched Bicycles Thursday Night Shop Ride, September 18
The story here is that it was pretty late in the year, I was feeling pretty good about my year of biking so far, and I had already ridden with the
Wrenched Bicycles Monday Night Social group, so I figured I would give their Thursday night ride a try. It ended up that it was just me and two heavy hitters, Todd Berry and David Latty, who are both waaaaaay faster and more fit than me. When I saw that it would just be us three, I actually started putting my bike back on the car, but they were like, no...you are already here you have to ride now! So I headed out with them.
I don't think this was a tough ride for them, but for me it was a huge challenge. First off, I had no idea where we were, where we were going, and how long or hard it would be, so I was super concentrating on keeping up but budgeting energy. We headed up into the northern parts of Gainesville GA and took some great roads. Todd and David stayed on the grind but never dropped me during the early portions, even though they could have at any time.
After about 15 miles I was having fun but at the same time really starting to feel it. On my weekend rides there is a certain amount of mental preparation I do, and I almost always know the route beforehand, so I can play some pyschological games with myself to help finish the ride. But by this point I was starting to think "Is this ever going to end?" I think it was mainly because every time my inner compass told me we were heading back towards town, they would take an unexpected turn and head back outwards again.
At a certain point I knew we were on the way back though, and we settled in for a looooong descent, which was fun. I was kind of hoping that closing the loop would be filled with easy sections, but that was not to be. The hardest challenge of the ride happened next. The name of the Strava segment is
Oconee Circle White Sulphur to Red Light Sign and it was brutal to me. Two miles long, and almost all of it climbing, AFTER doing everything we had already done. I hung in there pretty good, and then something hilarious happened. While the three of us were grinding it out up this monster, two other riders from Wrenched, who started the same ride waaaay after we did, just went bounding up the climb blazing past us like it was totally flat. It was actually very inspirational to see that a hill like that could be done so fast. On the downside, Todd and David both took off to catch up with their bike shop bros, got dropped and really didn't know where I was. The only thing I could do was keep going and hope that at some point I'd see a blinky light far in the distance.
Eventually they waited for me, and I rode with the whole group back into town. The pace had stepped way up though and I was barely hanging on. By the end the two faster guys were off the front, and I ended up finishing with Todd and David. When I got back to the car I was pretty beat, but I also felt great mentally because I knew I had just pushed waaaay into territory I had never been in before, both suffer-wise and achievement wise. I also knew that this particular ride, although it was not the longest, was definitely the toughest, and the peak of my season. Turns out I was right.
LONGEST RIDE:
52.5 Miles - Silver Comet Trail with Jay Starr. This was a super fun day. As you know the Comet is super flat, so this wasn't specifically a tough ride, but I will say that by the end, my butt was more tired of being in the saddle than my legs were tired of pushing.
FAVORITE RIDE:
Mountain biking at Haw Creek Park with my step brother John Frady and Jay Starr.
To be a favorite ride does not mean it needs to be the toughest or the longest, it just needs to be the most FUN. Haw Creek is a super easy trail that is located halfway between mine and Jay's house, so we will often meet there when we feel like we should ride, but when neither of is is committed to a zillion miles of driving. This time we brought my brother along, as he had been wanting to start biking a bit, and had actually already gone on a few rides with us. Since this was a chillmode ride, I me and John got appropriately wasted before we even made it to the park. Beers continued each time we would finish a lap. Then, on our final lap, about halfway around the loop, the sky instantaneously opened up witha torrential downpour! There weas nothing we could do but keep pushing, so push on we did. The rain felt great, and all of a sudden it was all about just getting back to the car. We kept a pretty good, slippery pace and made it to the end, but then John realized that somewhere on the trail he had lost his eyeglasses. So, we headed back in, creeping along in the rain trying to find them. I ended up doing almost half of the loop before turning back. In the end he did retrieve the glasses. By the time we got out of the woods, Jay was gone. Then the sun came out.
We laughed our asses off all the way home. BONUS LEVEL: I was riding Ye Olde GT Talera which has steer 26x1.5 street slicks...corners were wicked drifty fun.
RUNNERS UP: My birthday ride in Flowery Branch with Brian Mershon and Jay Starr, and doing the entire
Swamp Rabbit Trail, SC with Greg White.
BUCKET LIST RIDES COMPLETED:
BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
Getting over my social anxiety, and fear of being too slow, and joining some actual group rides. First was Performance Great Ride Series Roswell, followed by Performance Great Ride Series Buford, Adventure Cycles Tuesday Night Weekly, Wrenched Bicycles Monday Night Social, and Kirkwood Sunday Ride. I started at the beginner level and moved up to the "B-Group" at Performance Buford. I have a real tough time making friends as old as I am, since everyone else has a family or is married or whatever, but I actually started to make a few friends on some of these rides.
BEST ROUTE:
Any of the routes we took during the Wrenched Bicycles Monday Night Social group rides out in Cleremont GA and the surrounding areas. This is an area where Georgia starts to become very rural, so there isn't a zillion tons of car traffic. This means you get some momentum, and long periods of good speed. To put that momentum to work, there are lots of decent size.grade hills as this area is somewhat where the Appalachian foothills start. Seriously beautiful countryside.
BEST NEW BIKING BUD:
My good buddy Keith Mox, Baltimore MD. I am sure that I knew Keith at least as an acquaintance when I lived back in Baltimore, but things from those days are a little blurry. We definitely have a bunch of mutual friends and he hit me up on Facebook after seeing me post about doing Baltimore Bike Party in July. We ended up syncing up at the halfway point and I hung out with him and his crew for the rest of the ride, and at the afterparty. Turns out we think the same way about most things bicycle related and seem to have a lot of similar bike related goals. Glad that I reconnected with Keith, he is one of the Good Guys. Hopefully one day we'll be able to do a long distance ride, or at the very least ride another Baltimore Bike Party.
WORST RIDE:
Critical Mass September -- DragonCon Edition. Some girl accused me of grabbing her butt while riding. Then later in the ride, some guy almost ran into me, then made some kind of remark about how I didn't know how to ride. I was really trying to make the best of the ride so I apologized to the girl even though I never touched her (what she really felt was the stupid triathalon double bottle rig sticking off the back of her seat when she tried to sit down too far back on the saddle) and I just ignored the other guy because he was trying to pull some roadie superiority on me (I was riding my Talera which is a mountain bike set up for street). There is no way he would have been so smug if I had been on my road bike, and as for the girl, well, some people just can't help but be jerks I guess. I hate to say it but Critical Mass in general has gone downhill (for me). I just don't have as much fun as I used to there, and it really isn't worth fighting traffic to get into Atlanta for (for me).
INJURIES / NOTABLE WRECKS:
NONE! Let's hope this is a trend that continues into 2015!
NEW BIKES / GEAR:
Aventon Cordoba Fixed Gear
SOLD BIKES / GEAR:
Peugeot 1986 Fixie Conversion. It served me soooo well, and I am going to miss that bad boy.
GOALS FOR 2015:
One thing I definitely learned from group rides and meeting some of the heavy hitters that ride them, is that almost everyone in the area is obsessed with riding the "Gaps", and pretty much set up their year to train for it. "Gaps" equals the
Six Gap Century and the shorter versions of that ride, including the Three Gap Fifty. I was definitely told by one of the strongest riders in the Wrenched Monday group that I should try the Gaps ride, and that I could most likely make it if I rode smart. So, in 205 I need to at least head out that way and give it a try, even if it is not party of the organized ride. No way I could do the century, but I'd love to clear the Three Gap. A heavy goal.
I'd also like to Ride more with my buddies Graham and Mershon. We all live pretty far apart from one another so it may be hard but mot impossible.
I'm hoping to continue to expand my circle of bikey friends.
And of course, I am hoping to cover more miles and do more climbing.
2014 was a pretty good year for biking!
