i needed this ride

I'm blaming Laura OLPH for this one.

She was feeling a severe case of bike guilt yesterday: after Cheryl's cancelled ride, Laura went to the gym, and emerged after a spin class (!) to sunny skies and, apparently, a message from Cheryl that they had decided to ride locally anyway, did Laura want to come? Laura had missed the message, and, thus, really wanted to do a ride today.

The local NOAA forecast called for a 60% chance of rain. After a few backs-and-forths of the emails, I agreed to meet her there (with no grace or charm in the agreement, I assure you).

The ride was scheduled to leave at 9:00, and, as I was making the turn onto Disbrow Hill Road to Etra Park, I saw a dozen-or-so riders already leaving. My heart sank; I figured that I had either misread the list, or there was a late-breaking change that I hadn't gotten. But as I got to the park, I saw a few riders gathering, including Gary and Donna, the leader and his wife (who rides sweep; one of the reasons I wanted to do this ride was because I knew she does that I I wouldn't feel I had to).

I had a great time.  We did this route, through the Assunpink (up the hill today, that we went down yesterday), to the Wawa in Jackson, then back via Aggress Road (a couple of neat hills there, too; I was cookin' on Aggress) to the park. Fourteen went, including Tom H of the infamous El Capitain ride, Bob W, Ed&Michelle (married last summer; I heard about their bike-honeymoon!), John D, Jack H.  Along the way we picked up another John who had ridden with me on last month's B+ ride, and he and I had a little support-and-competition thing going.I had a good day, I was strong, and I rode everywhere in the group: up front, in the back; in the middle. I met a couple of folks, too; I hope I remember their names when I see 'em again!

I needed this ride. Due to family demands, I won't be riding next weekend, so if I missed one today, I would have been even more grumpy than usual.

Thanks for calling me out, Laura.

Bastille Day Consolation Ride

"Jim?", Dave C said when he answered the phone

"Yeah. Whaddya know?"

"I know I'm pissed off. Cheryl's cancelled the ride."

Cheryl had planned a Bucks County ride for today, and I'd made arrangements to meet Dave and a couple of the other Pennsylvanians early, and ride the few miles from their development to the start. That meant I had to pack up the car and get going early. Grey skies were overhead, and drizzle coming down as I loaded the bike and left, but I hoped that the signs of clearing that I saw to the southeast meant that the ride would still go on.

No such luck.  At 7:18, Joe forwarded me the cancellation email, but by that time I was already close to the Route 1 bridge to Pennsylvania. I pulled over a few blocks from Dave's house (I didn't know how close I was at the time) and made the call that included the conversation that leads off this post.

It's a tough decision for ride leaders; they have to make the best choice they can  with the information they have at the time. Since I don't lead rides (being perennially lost), it would be unfair to second-guess a cancellation. But this one was especially disappointing, since I had missed the July 4 All-Paces ride when I made a bad call about the weather myself (I was grumpy about that for days!).

Since it turned out I was so close to Dave's house, and the ride start, I set the GPS and found the start location (in case I have to go there again). Then I started home... but on the way, I thought I might just make it to Cranbury in time to make that B ride with Ira.

And I did make it to Cranbury just about in time. And I was pleasantly surprised to see Ken L, whom I've seen rarely since a bike accident over a year ago. He doesn't come out when the weather's too hot (and there may still be some family ill-will about his riding at all), so I was delighted to see him.

Ira, however, was not there; instead, club treasurer Peter F led this ride, apparently his first in some time (we had earlier talked about how he'd stopped leading rides, then stopped riding almost entirely, when his leading got to be like another job). I made the mistake of calling this lead his "debut", and he informed me he'd led over 300 rides... but he's also said he rode only 34 miles last year.

Also not there was Ed P for the B+ ride. Some of those riders came with us, and we wound up with a group that was spread way out; some faster riders way off the front, slower folks struggling to keep up in the back. I swept, and twice sprinted up to Peter asking about directions and letting him know who was off the back.

We had a flat tire, which the rider fixed, but then the fixed tube went flat, so I gave him a tube and CO₂ and helped him with the fill. (Now you know another reason why you want me to sweep for you, leaders: I carry two tubes, two CO₂ cartridges, a multi-tool with a chain tool, and replaceable links for 10-speed chains. Call me the next time you're planning an unmanageable ride.)

After the break, we split into the faster and slower groups, and some riders elected to simply go home rather than try and keep up with even the slower group (since I was sweeping, I had among the lowest averages, and mine was 16.5, high [though in-range] for a B-rated ride). On the way back, Peter and I got to discussing my trouble with directions; it may be that I just don't put enough effort into learning the routes, but I think I surprised him with just how hopeless I am when it comes to velo-navigation. We did have a few sprints on the way back, and it was a fun ride.

I still wish I'd gotten to see the Pennsylvanians, and the others I'd hoped to see on Cheryl's ride, though. Maybe tomorrow, if the weather holds...?

Naaaah. 60% chance of showers as I write this. Oh, doodies.

to pemberton bakery with the old guys

I've been invited on a number of unofficial pickup rides with the Freewheelers, that don't get in the list,usually because they're scheduled only a few days in advance (to get in the lists, rides need to be planned three to ten weeks ahead, depending on who you talk to). An exception to this occasional-ride rule is Erich W's Ride-to-the-ride. Dennis W leads the old guys out of Byron Johnson park on Wednesdays. That's about ten miles from Etra Park, near where Erich and a number of Dennis's other regulars live, so Erich runs a ride to Dennis's Wednesday ride, most Wednesdays when the weather holds. Since there's also a ride back each time, Erich winds up leading far more than enough rides to earn a leader's jersey, but he says he doesn't give a hoot about such things, and his actions (or lack thereof) in this regard suggest he may be telling the truth.

Erich's rides start 50 minutes before Dennis's advertised time.  That meant leaving Etra at 7:40 this morning, and that came early. I got the car packed (almost forgot my bag with the gloves, headbands, and sunscreen), and had to get gas on the way, but made it to join five others on Erich's ride; we had 20 on Dennis's.

We went down to the nifty bakery in Pemberton, one of my favorites of Dennis's stops, via this route. One of our number noticed a gash in his tire before he left (it held together), and, while there were some slow folks today, they weren't the same slow folks from two weeks ago; the rider who was slow then was crankin' today!  One rider brought his daughter, and two other women came, including ride captain Sue M (and this is a crowd that could use some female energy!).

62 miles for me, at 14.6mph; not worth posting on Strava. That's OK; I was tellin' Erich that Strava is probably not the best fit for me. On the other hand, he relayed a to me couple of overheard compliments, so now my head's so swelled I'm having a hard time getting up to answer the phone.

games make a better world

OK, so it's not a bicycle-related post. Check it out anyway. There's a video below the text.

Game-developer Jane McGonigal first got my attention several years ago with a talk she gave at the SXSW conference on how game developers can induce happiness, and how games are happiness machines. She pointed out the four things that lead to happiness:

1. Satisfying work;
2. Being good at something;
3. Spending time with people we like; and
4. Having the chance to be part of something bigger.

In this video she talks about recovering from a head injury, how she used her game-development skills to enhance her recovery from an all-too-common suicidal depression, and how the stuff she learned changed her life, and can change ours. She does the research and applies it to her life and work, which, to me, increases the quality of her presentation. And she's got a great look.

Check out the video (if you're on an alternate device, here's the original TED page), and you may know better why you like to do some of the things you like to do. And you may change the way you live your life. (Now I know better why I like group rides so much, and why, for me, amicitia quam celeritate is better than Strava*.)

*OK, there's a little bike stuff in this post.

rides a bike tumblr

It's just a feed of (mostly passé) celebrities riding, sitting on, sitting near, or ignoring bikes... but I just can't get enough of it.

pickup ride

Dave H wasn't taken with any of the rides listed in the Princeton Freewheelers' schedule for today, so before the start of the ride yesterday, he arranged for an impromptu ride with Philippe S; Philippe contacted Ira S. and the four of use gathered at Village Park at Cranbury to do about 34 miles today. I had breakfast at Bagel Street, rode in the short four miles to meet them at the park, then rode the eight-mile route back to the parking lot; you can see my total route here. 

Neither a fast ride nor a long one; for the three of us who rode on Bob's ride yesterday it was kind of a recovery ride for that fast-paced listed-as-a-B (but there were riders who picked up the pace, and a few times the folks off the front had to do U-turns to catch up to Bob's route); for Ira (who called the route) it was (I think) a back-on-the-bike-for-the-first-time-in-several-days ride.  We went up to Dayton and across Route 1 at Sand Hill road, and went up a hill I never noticed, even though I live near it (it's just different when you're driving!).  Then down a piece by the canal, and to the Main St Café in Kingston, where we met John D & Jane B. They're moving into a new house, and, days later, going to France for a ride-on-the-Tour-de-France-route vacation... and it sounds incredibly dense to me, to have to do all that stuff! John told us about his troubles getting the cable installed in the new place, and showed us his iPhone Tour-de-France app, which was cool.

Then back on the bikes, mostly straight back to Cranbury. We cut past the health center near College Rd, then back to the park, avoiding the densely-trafficked Plainsboro Road. My not-quite 46 miles is enough for today.

hottest day ride

Temps were predicted to go up to 100° today (and I saw that on the car thermometer on the way home), but after missing group rides both days last weekend, and missing the all-paces ride on July 4 due to early morning rain, I was going on a group ride today if they were later to find my lifeless body on the road somewhere, like a suburban Tommy Simpson. Tom H had a ride planned for Burlington, but he was planning to shorten it due to the heat, and that's a long way to drive not to do a long ride, so I decided to do the B-rated ride out of Cranbury. Sometime-photographer Ed C thought he might go on the infamous "B+-that's-really-an-A" ride, but probably thought better of doing it in this heat, so he came on this ride, too, as did Dave H, Cliff H, and sixteen others (including y'r ob'd't servant).

I drove to Bagel Street Café in Plainsboro, then rode to the start point at Village Park in Cranbury along the route that Cliff showed me a few weeks ago (I wasn't sure I was going to have the energy to do it all in the afternoon, and I wanted the extra miles {it turns out I did the extra miles in the afternoon, too; see the whole route here [and doesn't that route look like an upside-down picture of an anteater sticking out its long, prehensile tongue to slurp up the Bagel Street Café?]}).

About 57 miles; the group ride was about 41. We got spread out, and eventually the folks for whom I was sweeping in the back got cut off from the main group. The main group was faster than I would have thought in the heat today... and, frankly, I was faster, and stronger, than I thought I would be. The route went by the infamous "Ptomaine Ptowers" rest stop in Clarksburg, and we stopped at Phil's, where I loaded up on liquids - I went through well over 96 oz. of  water and juice today, and didn't have to use the bathroom until I got back home, which is a suggestion of how dehydrated I was (and the scale was kind when I got on it before I drank anything!).

Three of use who had fallen off the back were making our own way home when I ran over a rock and got the dread snakebite puncture. This was my first tire change in over a year, and, while Cliff was impressed with my effort, I'm sure that most of the other Freewheelers would have sent out for a pizza and gone to a movie by the time we were ready to ride again. Cliff stayed with me; the other rider went on (thanks, Cliff!).

When I got home, the tube was defective: I couldn't get the valve to release the air in it (I used a CO₂ cartridge,and wanted to make sure I replaced the gas with real air... and the valve wouldn't release). Rather than be stuck on the road with a funky tube, I changed it, so now I've got a fresh tube, with real air, and two new tubes in the bag. While I had the bag open, I looked at the patch kit I was carrying, and it looked like it was fossilizing (what was going ON in there?), so I've got a new one of those, as well. I guess I'm grateful I didn't have to use that stuff until today, because it looks like I might have been stuck if I were depending on it! I guess I gotta check out the contents of that seat bag more often than once every eighteen months or so, huh?

only a lack of imagination

When people say, "Nobody would ever do that!", what they mean is they would never do that, and they hope that the people with whom they associate think the same way they do.

a thought on suffering

It says, eloquently, something I've thought for a long time. I got it from Oddman.

good enough

Although I had plans to ride to the Freewheelers All-Paces ride today with Ed C, it rained twice today before 8am, and by the time the weather cleared, it was too late for me to get to the start in time. So I went on a ride by myself.

I had previously agreed with The Excellent Wife that I wouldn't ride to work, but I took a ride that way today because I figured traffic would be light on the holiday. I continued into New Brunswick, then along Easton Ave, then down to 514/Amwell Road. I took a back way through Colonial Park, then down the canal, and back home. 26 miles, average 16.8.

The best part was I did it on the commuter bike (see the bottom of the linked post), wearing my cotton McBride Ride t-shirt, civilian shorts, and Teva sandals. Take that, Strava-nauts.

another view of strava

Friend Dave C (not Dave H, from the previous post) has other thoughts on Strava. From an email he sent me:

I love the way it's kind of extends the ride, we can sit at the computer and study the ride, I am already yearning for more details, I want to know how fast I was going on this section or that section, or even how fast some one else was doing, what I did and were they we're faster, etc etc. hills and sprints(...)

But he's got a concern:

(M)y fear is active Strava, you know its only just around the corner, the next gen of bike computers will have everything we have now, but you won't have to wait until you get home. We will enter into the "I'm just going to ride that section again, I know I can do better". I fear it's going to turn bike riding into another video game. It's getting close to that now.

If that happens, I'll turn off that feature. That need to continually do better will suck most of teh fun out of my rides. And if it's not fun, why bother?

more thoughts on strava

Friend Dave H has been responding to my Strava progress, and apparently following the Strava lawsuit, as well. In a comment on one of my posts, he posted this link to a discussion of the merits of the suit.

There's the usual polarized discussion: the partisans of "FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" on one side are saying that everyone is responsible for his own actions, and nobody is doing dangerous stuff because of Strava who would not be doing it anyway. On the other side are the "Ban everything remotely dangerous!" folks, saying that the mere existence of Strava is too sore of a temptation and it should be done away with.

And don't we all know folks in both those camps? In fact aren't we in one or the other of those ourselves, sometimes?

But there's also the beginnings of some sense in the middle.

The argument that Strava hasn't changed behavior doesn't hold water with me. I don't know that Strava has changed my behavior, but I can allow it to suck me into a competitive attitude that I don't really like in myself.  One of the riders who commented on the post the Dave linked to said:

I know at least one rider who doesn't wait as often and I might be stopping less frequently on the longer downhill runs just to see how I compare with others. If I'm doing it to some extent, others are most certainly endangering others by pushing harder on the downhills.

But it also doesn't make sense to me that Strava should be done away with. Nor can I see that they have any liability.

From the linked article:

The lawsuit, filed yesterday*, accuses Strava of negligence and is a result of his family wanting "justice".

"They [Strava] assume no responsibility. They don't put cones out. They don't have anybody monitor and see whether a course, or a specific segment, is dangerous," said Susan Kang, the lawyer representing Flint's family. "I strongly believe, and Mr. Flint's family strongly believes, that it is only a matter of time before somebody else dies."

*The suit was apparently filed 6/18/12.

I don't buy it. I don't see how Strava is liable. The rider assumed the liability as soon as he got on the bike. It was his decision to go for the course record, and it was his primary responsibility to ride safely.

 I don't descend well. I've only broken 40mph once; I'll not soon do it again... and, frankly, riding like that is too scary to be fun for me, so I'm giving up the quest for the 45-to-50-mph downhill. I don't feel I can do it safely, and it's my responsibility to ride within my limits.

I'm sorry for the family of the rider who died. But that rider took on his own risk.

Still - I think I'm going to limit my Strava exposure. I'm not sure I like what I might allow it to make me.