A paper and 10 songs

These were my motivations this morning. I just needed something to make me put on my running shoes and get out the door. So I thought that I'd ride until I found a place with a NYT then ride back. I could've ridden just a mile to the nearest grocery store, but made myself head toward Southpoint and Starbucks. I'd already had some Peet's, so I just got the paper and rode back. As I was riding back I planned my running motivation. Once I was back, I'd go run to 10 songs. No watch, no Garmin, no Strava, no nothing...just 10 songs. No thinking, no excuses, just 10 songs. Whichever ten came up on the new pink iPod shuffle I'd had to buy after washing my purple one last week. It worked. Here's the playlist. 

 

Everything in its right place - Radiohead

Tom Sawyer - Rush

Lazy Eye - Silversun pickups

Hunger Strike - Pearl Jam/Temple of the Dog

32 flavors - Alana Davis

8 easy steps - Alanis Morisette

Hell Yeah - Beck

Reverie - Bela Fleck

I've landed - Ben Folds

Crazy in Love - Beyonce

Bittersweet - Big Head Todd and the Monsters

I must've lost count.

Shut up, Mind.

The boys and I are starting a new ride from the shop, a dirt ride, on the Chapel Hill Trails. We haven't really advertised it yet, so I met up with Chris P. after work and we rode a little on the school side, Occoneechee Trail (no relation to the park we went to on the Virginia tour three weeks ago), and then mostly on the airport side. CdY-Kevin was off riding/recovering from the Pisgah 111k adventure race (congrats!) and BMX-K was recovering from a crash, so it was just me and Chris.

I Strava'd it so I could go back and figure out where I was. We'd gotten about  a mile and a half in when the trail became a little too much for me to handle with a steep, rocky descent, and we decided to ride the other side where Chris knew the trail better and I'd ridden at least a couple times. I remembered some of it from the Wildcat  race. (See previously unposted pics below.)

Since I have yet to buy a MTN bike, I took one of our rentals, a Rockhopper Comp 29er. When I put it in the stand for pedals and a checkup, the 15" size,  I thought I was in for a workout on a really heavy bike that's a little too big for me. (Still don't have my legs and lungs back after being out of commission for over two weeks.) But it turned out to ride surprisingly well. It was tough to handle the wide bars - only caught them on a tree once though. After dealing with the much-too-bouncy front end, I decided to let some air out of the front tire - something I hadn't checked before taking off. Wow. The bike rode better after I let a lot, and I mean A LOT, of air out of the tires. It would've felt even better if I'd remembered to bring gloves, wear glasses and wear some bike shorts. My hands are a little blistered and more than a few bugs ended up under my contacts for a short stay. Note to self: bike gloves, chamois and glasses.

There were some things I chose to walk even though if my mind were turned off, I could have ridden - skinnies and some new-looking log piles. Toward the end of the ride, before the skills course, we came to a descent that put you on a wooden slat ramp around a bend. Chris rode it twice while I was considering if I should attempt it in my food-deprived, shakey state. The pic perspective doesn't show the dropoff that well, but if you're standing at the edge, it looks like a challenge. Yeah, I'll do that next time. *Shut up, mind.*

Wildcat start at the clearing.

Helpful tree.

Des and B-ri.

T and Nate at a map.

Doooood, seriously, LTFU!

Haruki Murakami is one of my favorite authors. I've just finished reading, What I talk about when I talk about running, a memoir-ish account of his novelist's life as a distance runner. The NYT review was pretty harsh, but critics often need to be beaten about the head with a bâtard until they acknowledge their own pretentiousness.

Despite the reviewer's dislike, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I've read a lot of running, triathlon and biking books written memoir-style, and this is the first where my feelings about participation in endurance sport are expressed perfectly. Mr. Murakami and I were ladled from the same personality soup in this and many other ways. I think he might be a fan of my 'no talking' and 'no puking' rules for training. These are some quotes from the book that resonated with me:

No matter how mundane some action may appear, keep at it long enough and it becomes a contemplative, even meditative act.

It doesn't matter what field you're talking about - beating somebody else just doesn't do it for me. I'm much more interested in whether I reach the goals I set for myself, so in this sense long-distance running is the perfect fit for a mindset like mine.

I'm not human. I'm a piece of machinery. I don't need to feel a thing. Just forge on ahead.

How is this any different from pouring water in an old pan with a tiny hole in the bottom?

/RANT/

Because I work "in the industry" I have to have some concern, understanding and appreciation for all varieties of athletes. The kitted-out racers, the type-A triathletes, the uber-cool MTB types and magazine-forum-reading-techy-gearheads as well as the riders that would fit in my stereotypical category. But man, sometimes I just want to scream, "LTFU and enjoy the ride!" Like yesterday when a caller was beside himself because his cycle computer was in KM instead of Miles mode and was convinced his training ride was ruined. Geeez dooooood, LTFU! (And try to remember that bike shop employees are PEOPLE too. Oh, and reading the manual for something you purchase is always recommended. Despite our awesomeness, we don't memorize manuals for every single device that goes on a bike.)

For every person like that though, there's always a gem from the day that I can go back to for a laugh after being irritated beyond normal by unreasonable 'athletes.' You may appreciate this as well. Through two separate and unrelated conversations with coworkers evolved the descriptor, basement-dwelling-mouth-breather emerging from the dark hole of bike ignorance.

/endRANT/

I feel better now. Enjoy the ride.

Peet's, LOAF and new route

Finally breathing a little easier, GP and I (I know, it's a little sick that I refer to this bike as I would a human friend...but it is what it is) had a lovely, pleasant and perfectly Feisty ride along a section of the ATT to LOAF - the hip, downtown Durham bakery and Friday morning bike commuter destination. About halfway I ran into Branson and Aubry (sp?). Lil' biker dude was on his 12 inch with training wheels. I came up on them just as A. was lifting both legs straight out - "airplane" is what B called it. I thought they were riding the entire way (about 9 miles!) to LOAF and was impressed. After going on ahead and seeing B later, I found out Lil' Biker Dude was riding to school. Still a nice ride for a little guy on a bike.

Once at LOAF I saw Steve, who had to leave as I got there, and met a couple new people, David and Lisa and we sat outside on the church pews with some coffee and got to know each other a little better. We discussed some plans for bike parking that could take a car spot in front of LOAF. Shhhh. Didn't hear it from me.

It's not ice-sock time in NC yet, but it was humid and almost 70 degrees at 7 am. One of the things I can't stand about bike commuting is working all day without having a shower after a sweaty ride. But again, it is what it is. Actually, aside from the shower issue, I think I've found a new route to work in Chapel Hill. The weird thing is that the bike ride part puts me almost 10 miles further away from work than I am if I start from my apartment. But, the advantage is that LOAF is on the way if I use this as my commute route. 

If I leave around 7 am I have a 45 minute ride on the ATT away from cars and through green, green loveliness, enough time for about a half hour of pastry, coffee and conversation with real live people - bikey, commutey, real live people, a few minute ride to the Durham bus station, a half-hour bus ride where I can relax and read more Haruki (What I talk about when I talk about running), and still arrive at work 45 minutes early. That leaves plenty of time for de-sweatification using some Rocket Shower and the hose out back. (What I wouldn't give for a shower at work.) 

This particular morning I double caffeinated myself with some Peet's Italian Roast before the ride to LOAF. All in all, it was a pretty perfect bike to work day celebration. Pan au chocolat for everyone!

Excuse me, please.

By now you've seen this image:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/russia-boy-on-bike-moscow-tiananmen-photo_n_1503295.html?ref=world. This image belongs to Ms. Ioffe listed in the HP article. I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it. It's just so amazing.

No doubt it made the rounds on the web because it is a powerful image. Most people probably did not need the press to point that out, nor did we need the association with Tiananmen to feel something beyond the ordinary at first, second and third glance. 

Today as I was helping a mom with her daughter on a similar bike I thought to myself, as I'm sure many others have, how different life can be just because of where you're born. That child, her child, will grow up in a place where, more than likely, she'll ride neighborhood streets free of protests, armies, riots and the like. It will be riding the cul-de-sac, in the driveway near manicured lawns wearing a helmet for her. I hope she appreciates it....someday. I also hope that the little boy in the picture has a long, fun bikeriding life.

The articles say that this little Russian boy was just curious. But aren't we all?

************************************************************

On another note, it's been almost two weeks since I've ridden my bike. Good thing I decided to keep my car. The awful bug that was maybe part strep, part something else, is still hanging around and while it had its steely, lung-squeezing, throat-closing grip on me, I didn't have the strength to bike to work, work 10 hours and then bike home. But I think I'll take the Princess to Loaf tomorrow and catch up with some local bike commuters/randos (maybe Sag, JayJay, Bing, BCB, etc.) and enjoy the morning get up late and sit with my head over a pot of boiling water before work.

Happy Friday to you.

Tour Day 3: The ride home

On day 2 of the tour, when we were in Boydton at the craft fair, a lady had earnestly asked JoAnn if we were foreigners. I'm guessing she'd thought that because of our bike clothes, but maybe it was the goofy-happy-so-stoked-to-be-off-work-riding-our-bikes grins. Recounting that and the occasional Woohoo!!! made for good laughing material on day three.

My grin was starting to fade a little as I noticed something foreign taking up residence in my throat overnight. I hoped it was just another cold night in the tent that was making me sniffly, but I had a sneaking suspicion it was more. About 2am, after reading my latest Haruki Murakami novel for an hour or so, I decided to give in to some drugs and found a Tylenol PM in my stuff from my last backpacking trip in the Smokies. It was out of date, but all I had. What a lifesaver. I was able to sleep for a solid 4 or 5 hours before we were up.

Breakfast was oatmeal and fruit, but we all agreed we'd hit the Micky D's on the way out for second breakfast. It was Sue's birthday, Woohoo!!!, and the skies turned beautifully blue by the time we had camp and our bikes packed up. No sign of rain, but it was definitely cooler than day one, and warmer than yesterday. Clothes from the first two days were packed away and the clean jersey and shorts went on with the capris and O2 jacket for warmth. I'd ridden with mittens yesterday, but put those away too. Although I still put the toewarmers in my shoes. The capris came off at lunch and the O2 jacket was on-off-on-off as we'd stop and cool off, then warm up riding again.

At about the state line, JoAnn and I were talking about RAAM this year while Sue rode ahead and we missed a turn. Our friends Nancy and her husband John, a rider and her crew chief from last year, are teaming up to tackle the race and we're excited and hopeful that they'll do it. JoAnn and I were both hoping to crew for them this year, but my job change and other commitments made it unrealistic for me. We're both bummed that we can't be there for them, but sending all the good juju. During the morning another crewbie friend, Elizabeth, let us know that she would be riding Calvin's Challenge in Ohio if we wanted to join her. Of course we wanted to join her, but it was also impossible. GO ELIZABETH!!!! Woohoo!!! I was supposed to run the Flying Pig Half Marathon in Cincinnati that weekend with some friends, but a combination of being sick and a change of plans kept me here.

Anyway, Sue didn't hear our shouts once we'd realized our routing error, so I hung back while JoAnn fetched her and we were on our way. No more navigation errors after that. 

One highlight of the day was lunch at the convenience store that had advertised fatback on the way out. We parked our bikes along the side of the building and headed toward a picnic table, but then the fumes from the gas pump made us find a cement spot in the other direction. We feasted on bagels and PB, apples and bananas. The potatoes were saved until Stem, but Sue had more cookies. The sun was now out in full force and it felt great, but was still a little chilly. 

Later there was another stop at my "dream" house. We stopped to take some pictures of the abandoned clapboard building with porch that ran the entire length of the front. My camera had died at the end of day 1, so while JoAnn took pics, I imagined where I'd put a garden, working out in the yard, and having lemonade or iced tea on the front porch while lazily lounging southern-style with my riding buddies, family and friends on a day like today.

We rode on and only stopped a couple more times, once for ice cream, before the last Woohoo!!! and arrival at JoAnn's. More pictures, some recap, car talk, birthday plans and a cold beer, thanks Joanna!, on the front porch. I noticed after half of mine that I was getting a little buzz and decided I'd stop and get on home. Three miles til my front door and a hot bubble bath. 

Can't wait to do it again. Maybe Key West to Bangor.

Tour Day 2: Little towns loop

We woke up on day two to a cold morning and something like I-40 on the lake. What looked like powerboats in huge numbers were roaring across our field of view. We didn't find out til the end of the day what it was all about.

I left the wool on while Sue heated water for coffee and oatmeal. Instant coffee has never been tolerable, but I had heard good things about Starbucks Via, so I brought some along. Verdict - it's still instant coffee and undrinkable to me. Usually I pack some hot cider mix or hot chocolate mix, but had decided to take the via instead. Live and learn.

It was a little difficult getting started in the cold after a tenuous night's rest/sleep, but I put yesterday's jersey overtop a long-sleeved Patagonia lightweight base layer and my REI hiking capris (purchased for RAAM) over my shorts from yesterday. I was able to wash everything out the night before and it was mostly dry by morning. A pair of toe warmers in my shoes and my O2 jacket on top and I was ready for action. Sue and JoAnn also wore some warmer gear. Rain was predicted for the day and there was no sign of the sun. It was a grey day, but we decided to do a 40ish mile loop to hit Boydton, Chase City and Clarksville, in that order. Splorin was our goal.

We all lightened up our loads. Sue took off all panniers but kept the handlebar bag, JoAnn opted for one pannier and I kept both, but took out some unnecessary stuff. After cleaning up the dishes and the campsite a little we rode out along a fairly deserted highway 58 on our way to Boydton hoping to find something interesting. As luck would have it there was an arts and crafts fair in that little town, so we rode in, took some pictures at the newly remodeled town hall  and decided to walk the fair, set up in a smallish parking lot, after we'd had second breakfast.

We rode around and asked the locals where to eat and were directed to a convenience store that I'm certain I've used as a control on the KLL. We were really hoping for some eggs and toast, bacon for the non-vegetarians, but it was getting difficult to find. JoAnn asked the proprietor of the establishment about where we might find such a breakfast and he indicated in his best English (not his first language) that he would make whatever we wanted. So we had egg and cheese sandwiches all around. I was still looking for that first cup of real coffee, but the pot looked like it'd been sitting awhile and I passed. Still hungry, I bought some powdered sugar donuts that tasted a little like Playdough. As the day went on, I realized what a mistake it was to have eaten those. Yuck. But the egg sandwich was fantastic.

After second breakfast we rode over to the fair, looked in all the booths and toward the end happened to end up talking to the mayor's wife and a certain J.D. and town historian, Mr. Beale. While the mayor's family knitted, Mrs. Mayor told us about the town's designation as best rest stop on Bike VA a few years back. A town of 454 people baked over 1000 cupcakes for the event. That is something! Mr. Beale showed us his photos of the town and told us all about the history of some of the buildings and the connection between Duke University and Randolph-Macon College. I wasn't listening so much to what he said as how he said it. He had that distinct southern VA accent that I rarely hear in NC, but greatly admire. Warmer people you've never met. Everybody tried to get us to stay for the teaspoon lunch, but we wanted to get on our way.

On to Chase City. The ride was chilly and pleasant. I had the iPod in one ear for part of the way listening to some Gary Clark, Jr. and singing out loud, but not loud enough for the company to hear. I was feeling kinda yucky from those donuts and another sort of tired feeling was starting to settle over me. Soon enough we were in Chase City looking for some hot chocolate. With not many options, we settled on an Eye-talian joint that had hot tea. Close enough. We had our tea, came out and it started to rain. We all put on the rain gear and as I was covering my new panniers with their rain covers I noticed a rip. Ugh, but a chance to use my duct tape. No problem. Next stop Clarksville. The rain gear was on-off-on-off. Not really much rain to speak of, for which I was very thankful. 

There's a blank in my memory here because I was so excited to hit the Micky D's for a large latte that I must've blocked everything else out. Once in Clarksville and either after or before the latte (you know you're jonesin' for caffeine when you keep time according to latte, P.L or A. L.) we did a little shopping for dinner at a small farmer's market stand. We picked up a cantaloupe, sweet potato, tomato, green beans, apples, and some strawberries, then did some shopping at the Carhardt store across the parking lot. Sue and I were in luck. They had shorts that we'd both been looking for. It was so fun to go shopping and put all that stuff in the panniers. A cantaloupe! JoAnn's idea.

After the shopping was finished, we rode back into the park and made a stop to see what all the commotion was at the boat dock. There were trucks hauling boats as far as the eye could see. Turns out it was a bass fishing tournament and the reason for the number of boats out on the lake racing to their fishing spots at dark-thirty this morning. We hung around and watched them weigh in some fish. If I ever figure out how to open up Sue's pictures and the movie off my phone, you'll see some fine footage of  less-than-prizewinning fish right before they're returned to their watery home. These fishermen were not the friendliest bunch but they tolerated our presence well enough. We learned a little about the rules of bass fishing. Bass fishing rules. Huh. But that's what bass fisherman would probably say about crazy bike riding, like rando, rules.

Once back in camp we whipped up one heck of a supper. Rice and orzo with fresh green beans, tomato, and roasted sweet potato. Apples, cantaloupes and strawberries for dessert. Later I pulled out a mini serving of nutella and breadsticks that I'd picked up in a Clarksville convenience store near the entrance to the park. Even later Sue and I hung by the fire and roasted a couple marshmallows while JoAnn took a post dinner stroll.

It turned out to be another cold night in the tent and the beginnings of what is now full blown strep throat - but I'm on the upside of it. Ah, the things we do in the name of relaxation and biking.