A fine autumn day!
The plan was to ride the Iron Bridge route today. I hadn’t ridden that one in a long time and I knew that it would be beautiful. My bike riding bud Tom W had indicated that he was up for a longish ride today and I was able to take the time off to do just that. Today was just perfect for cycling. It’ll be the last day in the 70’s for some time.
Tom had to pick up a package at UPS by 6, and since we both hate deadlines looming when we’re out riding, we stopped by UPS first. At that point we scrapped the original plan and decided to ride up Blue Level Rd. When we got to the top we would decide where to go.
We decided to ride the Clifty Hollow route in reverse, something neither of us had done. This is a hilly route with 3,200 feet of climbing in 40 miles, and Tom is a strong rider. However, we didn’t ride UP the steep side of Hammet Hill since we were already at the summit, but we did ride down the backside of that bad boy. It was the only other deviation. That is one seriously fine/fast/get yer blood going descent, and that’s why we did it! I topped out at 51 mph. YeeHah!
Taking the Clifty Hollow route in reverse was exhausting. The usual direction has longish screaming descents with short, ‘stinger’ climbs. The reverse direction, the way we went today, had short, steep descents that we didn’t dare to fly down because of their hazardous nature (how a cornfield has changed me!). Afterwards there were the tortuous, long ascents. The stretch of road from 626 to Hadley was especially brutal.
I read somewhere that you don’t really know a ride until you’ve ridden it in both directions, and that proved true with this one. Stretches of road that I usually rocket down were 1st gear slow, leaving me plenty of time to see entire sections for the first time. And what a great time of year to see the land! Everywhere…. COLOR! The misery of dead legs and desperate lungs was balanced with views which had, as friend described last night, ‘Postcard Jesus’ light. The sunlight streamed long, low and clear against a canvas peppered with golden yellows, reds, oranges… Mother Earth has dressed for Mardi Gras..... one last blowout before winter's Lent.
When Tom and I got to the Halls Chapel/ Jennings Road loop, I was shot, but I turned down that road anyway since I had never done it in reverse. I told Tom that my brain was making a decision that my body would regret - something that's happened often in my younger days, but never cycling related... anyway, this time it was worth it. There were moments when I seriously thought about walking some of those rolling ascents, but then I concentrated on turning one pedal over, then the other. Finally we reached the top and it was easy pedaling from there, with premier views of my city from the heights of Glen Lily road as payoff.
After I got home and cleaned up, the kid and I drove the car (horrors!), picked up Tom and headed off to a Mexican restaurant to pig out. Yummmmmmm. There is nothing quite like a good meal when extremely hungry.
What a good day.
Tom had to pick up a package at UPS by 6, and since we both hate deadlines looming when we’re out riding, we stopped by UPS first. At that point we scrapped the original plan and decided to ride up Blue Level Rd. When we got to the top we would decide where to go.
We decided to ride the Clifty Hollow route in reverse, something neither of us had done. This is a hilly route with 3,200 feet of climbing in 40 miles, and Tom is a strong rider. However, we didn’t ride UP the steep side of Hammet Hill since we were already at the summit, but we did ride down the backside of that bad boy. It was the only other deviation. That is one seriously fine/fast/get yer blood going descent, and that’s why we did it! I topped out at 51 mph. YeeHah!
Taking the Clifty Hollow route in reverse was exhausting. The usual direction has longish screaming descents with short, ‘stinger’ climbs. The reverse direction, the way we went today, had short, steep descents that we didn’t dare to fly down because of their hazardous nature (how a cornfield has changed me!). Afterwards there were the tortuous, long ascents. The stretch of road from 626 to Hadley was especially brutal.
I read somewhere that you don’t really know a ride until you’ve ridden it in both directions, and that proved true with this one. Stretches of road that I usually rocket down were 1st gear slow, leaving me plenty of time to see entire sections for the first time. And what a great time of year to see the land! Everywhere…. COLOR! The misery of dead legs and desperate lungs was balanced with views which had, as friend described last night, ‘Postcard Jesus’ light. The sunlight streamed long, low and clear against a canvas peppered with golden yellows, reds, oranges… Mother Earth has dressed for Mardi Gras..... one last blowout before winter's Lent.
When Tom and I got to the Halls Chapel/ Jennings Road loop, I was shot, but I turned down that road anyway since I had never done it in reverse. I told Tom that my brain was making a decision that my body would regret - something that's happened often in my younger days, but never cycling related... anyway, this time it was worth it. There were moments when I seriously thought about walking some of those rolling ascents, but then I concentrated on turning one pedal over, then the other. Finally we reached the top and it was easy pedaling from there, with premier views of my city from the heights of Glen Lily road as payoff.
After I got home and cleaned up, the kid and I drove the car (horrors!), picked up Tom and headed off to a Mexican restaurant to pig out. Yummmmmmm. There is nothing quite like a good meal when extremely hungry.
What a good day.
posted by Woodog at 10:04 PM
1 Comments:
I enjoy the descriptions of your rides. I got rid of my car in august 2005 and it has improvr my quality of life sooooo much.
I don't hardly ever ride my bike though. I live in a city but grew up in the country, so riding in the city frightens me. I walk a lot and take the bus and hitch rides with friends. all these activities help to connect me with my community in a wonderful way.
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