Training Ride

[Griff]

Dad dropped in at about 3pm yesterday offering to watch the kids and play frisbee with the dog if I wanted to get a road ride in. The old guy is virtue. The outdoor thermometer said 90 degrees F in the sun and baby it was humid. I put 70oz of gaterade in my hydropak and another 20? in a large water bottle.

My ride starts and finishes on a steep mile long hill. A couple weeks ago the state guys did the oil/tar and chip routine, leaving a lot of loose material on the surface which has finally been run off the road in the last few days. I was finally able to carry some speed off the hill, leaning into the one hard turn without having my wheels wash out. I haven't measured the loop but its around thirty miles of very hilly secondary roads. I enter New York at the one place locally where PA has has the superior surface, the result, I believe, of a local quarry being found responsible for destroying the old road. I mashed the pedals pretty good along Tracey Creek road but lost momentum on O'Connell where the town of Vestal did a more recent seal job with smaller round stones and oil/tar which behaved like ball bearings. From there I turn on to Underwood up past Kopernik observatory. As I crested Underwood, I could see an old guy getting his mail with a very suspicious looking mutt at his side. As quietly as I could manage, I got on the big ring and wound it up. As expected, the dog dove at me, causing his owner to go off on him but my timing was perfect, he missed me by a good foot and I was flying down the steep side of Underwood free and clear. Near the bottom theres a sharp left hand curve that steals most of your juice but thems the breaks. At this point, I have a choice, I could slip over to my father-in-laws for a cold drink or plug on. I plug on, its very hard for me to stop for anything mid-ride, even in this heat.

I'm at my half-way point and I'm guessing I have half a pak of water plus my reserve bottle. The aptly named Castleman road is next. Lined by McMansions (copyright UT) this climb is usually punctuated by a harried desperately middle class whitey in an air conditioned AWD someting or other. Today its Mrs. Harried Whitey dropping off the other Moms after whatever but at least I get a nice smile, Mr. Whitey resents my freedom too much for eye contact. I need to think about something else right now because unlike the bulk of this ride there will be no shade for awhile and I'm climbing. I'm gonna pretend that the pain on the top of my knee is making me stronger. The tar is snapping and pooled in the wheel tracks so I try to stay up out of it. I bog for a second as I hit a very deep puddle of it, then I end up going through some sand. The stones are rattling off my chain stays and the tar is forming a C between the rear wheel and my left stay, I gotta check the dish on that wheel. There will be no more sneaking up on dogs/people on this ride.

I crest the first hill on Castleman and wind it up a bit on the backside. There is the prettiest little fieldstone house here with a really steep roof sitting just off the road. While trying to figure out what the classification of the house would be and whether or not its an owner-built, I blow the shift at the bottom of the steepest climb. So I creep up the climb past a house thats all decks, you really can't make out the building they surround. I've never seen anyone out there...

I glaze over for a while and turn on to Ridge road. The tar is really bad here and the road isn't in the best shape. There is a short climb, fortunately in the shade, by the time I'm done I'm really overheating. I'm making a lot of noise as I motor past some teenage footballers but at least I'm descending. I pass a really big guy chilling out on his front porch working on something... mmm icepop. Gives me a big grin, he knows what I'm thinking. I swing on to Underwood again carrying good speed down to O'Connell. There should be a nice descent on this road but the new surface makes that dicey so I have to stand up to big ring it back on to Tracey Creek. Knowing I lost a lot of time I hammer along Tracey Creek back to PA, getting passed on a climb I stick to the car on the down hill until the driver gets frustrated and opens it up a little. I swing through the trailer park which was once the center of crime locally but is now quite nice, apparently the owner sold the plots off so there are only a few pretty nice trailers now.

I climb by the cemetary, seeing the Murphy bros hauling hay down the main drag probably for a horse owner. I'm lucky not to have met them on the road, since people like to pass wagons at strange times. Predicting traffic is huge when cycling out here. I buzz the flat at a good pace, pass the spot where my wife wiped out and then approach THE HILL. A car with no direction signal screws up my initial climb since I don't know where they're going I have to slow and let them pass. I emptied my pak by the cemetary and drank half my bottle since. Its quite steep at the bottom so I'm creeping when I hit the corner. Its a great corner on the downhill but on the climb you realize how wierd the bank is. I drain the last of my liquid and just put my head down and go. The hill eases a bit and I go to the middle ring. When I get to the house, the Mrs is home making a mega batch of pesto with corn on the cob. Life is Beautiful.