TGIF- 8/26/11

I could really get over this whole "extremes" thing we have going on in MD. Flash floods, horrific downpours, earthquakes (we don't have earthquakes in MD!!!) and now a hurricane is scheduled to make an appearance this weekend. I don't know what we did to piss off Mother Nature, but WE'RE SORRY!



This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating as part of the Routing & Signs crew at the LiveStrong event in PA. Honestly, I did this as a favor to a friend who needed live bodies to round out a last minute squad to post signage along the route. More honesty: I worked this event despite the fact that it's associated with LA.

Anyway, we experienced the extremes on this trip as well, from the reaction of the locals to weather. Friday our fearless leader made friends with someone who objected to him temporarily parking on the side of the road in front of their house to post signs. Really? Locals in one section demanded that no signs be wire-tied to existing street signs - because unstable signs on stands is so much better? Before the ride got started, some locals took down various crucial directional signs - thankfully we figured it out before the riders came though.

On the flip-side, many locals - including the fantastic Landis Store folks - were super supportive to riders and our crew (the restaurant is worth the side-trip if you're in the area).

Then there was the monsoon - we were in a pickup truck so rain sounded like it's pelting the roof. I stated to my partner that it almost sounded like hail. Oh, there was no "almost" to it - it was genuine, nickel-to-quarter-sized hail. Seriously?!?!?


After a long day of taking down signs on Sunday, we arrive to the load-lot to sort and store for the next event. The minute I pulled in, it started raining. Not - oh-what-a-relief-rain - no, it was - are you kidding me?- rain. Apropos way to end a long and arduous weekend.

As for this weekend, I'm hoping the weathermen are off the mark on the hurricane. I wouldn't mind a couple of nice, long road-rides outside and really don't want to worry about water in my basement. If someone has some pull with Mother Nature, I'd like to call in a favor...

Rain, rain go away

The plan for my Wednesday-morning ride was to time the trip from my house to the TMR ride start. The question wasn't whether I could ride to the start (as all the other TMR riders do), it was more of - what time do I have to be out the door, which leads to the more important question of - what time does my alarm need to go off?

I was feeling pretty spry after a good run on the Tuesday edition of TMR ... I can already tell a difference in my riding just from the couple group rides I've done recently. Rolling out around 645a, the skies were still a little dark and the air felt heavy. It felt like rain but the roads were dry so off I went. I made the right turn from Bonnie Branch onto Montgomery lane and very shortly had ChildTime Daycare (TMR start) in my sights. Satisfied with the run and starting to do math in my head to answer the questions above, I made the turn around to go home. I felt a little drop of moisture on my arm. Figuring it was just sweat, I pressed on, wondering if I had time to go down Ilchester instead of the out-and-back.

I made the executive decision to get home the fastest way possible due to darkening skies so out and back was the route of choice. It started raining as soon as I made the turn. It wasn't a downpour but given my recent anti-falling motto, I wasn't thrilled. The run out was mostly uphill so the run back was mostly a fast downhill. In the rain. On fresh pavement. I don't know why, but fresh asphalt makes me nervous - I think it just LOOKS slick and I am admittedly gun-shy.

Anyway, by the time I got to the bottom of the hill it was a full-on downpour. As I high-tailed it through the park, I saw several walkers who got caught out. Two other women on cruiser-bikes rushing home. A daily park-walker who was prepared with an umbrella. Several mountain bikers standing under a bridge, waiting for the rain to pass.

I saw no reason to stop - my recently cleaned caad10 was already wet and dirty from road spray. My new headlight was flaking out b/c water was getting into the housing. I had squishy-puddles in my shoes and my kit probably looked like an inappropriate-for-young-eyes bodysuit. Everyone I passed looked at me like I was crazy but I had to get home to get to work. I quietly gave thanks to the boy - he put gator-skins on my wheels a few weeks ago. Changing a flat in this monsoon would have been a debacle.

... where did i leave my umbrella?

The minute I rolled into my neighborhood, the downpour turned into a drizzle. Sigh. I promptly sprayed off all the loose debris from my bike and then looked around for newspaper to stuff in my shoes. I had just taken out the recycling so I did the next best thing - opened them up and left them, face down, on the a/c vents. Up to the shower and off to work I went.

I'd have been more bitter if it wasn't so warm out. I'd have been less bitter if I hadn't just done a rockstar job of cleaning my still-new ride.

This morning the plan was ride to the start of TMR and branch off half-way through to get home and into work in time for an early meeting. My alarm went off at 515a. I looked out the window and saw wet roads and drizzle. I made the executive decision to reset the alarm and went back to sleep.

(in case you are wondering: 35mins to TMR start-point. this means out the door by 520a. this means up by 5a. heavy sigh)

The Ellicott City Underground

Last Tuesday I happened upon a group ride during my morning jaunt through Patapsco State Park. I had no idea what was going on as I delicately stepped through the 25 or so riders during a re-group at the entrance to the park. I gave a polite "excuse me" and "hello, there" as I passed through - they looked at me the same way I was probably looking at them ... as in, what the heck is going on there?

I continued on, knowing they'd catch me at some point on Lawyers Hill. They did, about 3/4 of the way up. Everyone was very polite as they cruised past me -cyclists can be total jerks in that position so I appreciated it. After I crested the top/caught my breath, I chased up to the guy nearest me and asked what was going on. Oscar (as I found out his name later) patiently answered my questions as we pedaled and while caught at the stoplight on Montgomery Road, I got a little more information/encouragement to check out this group, known as The Morning Ride.

I continued on my way, solo, absolutely astounded. I've been jealous of the DC/VA crowd as you guys have so many options for group rides just about any time or anyplace you can sneak out on your bike. I've been here for almost 9 years (no idea how this happened) and always traveled to DC/VA group rides, traveled to Davidsonville rides or trained relatively solo. How is it possible that this many cyclists live in my general vicinity and organize rides in my backyard and I never knew about it?!

After getting all the relevant info, I posted up for the Thursday morning ride. I am not racing right now (and thereby have not been specifically training) but I have been riding. That said, training relatively solo or marching up survival climbs does NOT amount to group-ride fitness. Also, I haven't been on a group ride since my last little ... incident ... so I had no idea how comfy I would be on unfamiliar wheels. All this I knew this going in but I had to face it at some point, so why not now?

The alarm went off at 515. The meeting point is about 35-40mins away by bike and I just couldn't stomach seeing 4 o'clock twice in one day so I drove to the meeting point. I felt like a total wuss because everyone else rode in. Ah, well ... I've gotta ease into this! A nice size group showed up and we picked up more along the way. The ride was fast but relatively safe - I know the roads but I don't know the acceleration or sprint points so I was caught out a few times. More than one person paced me back to the group during the ride (thank you!!) but overall, I was pretty happy (given all my excuses above) with the ride.

Maybe this isn't such a local "underground" cycling community - maybe it's been right there and I just haven't been looking. Either way, I'm absolutely stoked at the option of doing this ride once or twice a week and discovering all-new motivation for riding and training.