Climate Ridin'

Climate Ride takeaways...

2011-10-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

Alright, so a few weeks later I finally have my head screwed on straight about the whole experience. Here we go:

- It rocked. It rocked a lot.

- I do not like riding in the rain when it is more than something we would call "spitting" in Portland.

- If I'm going to do more hilly terrain, I need to ensure I have the proper gear ratios. What I had was great in straights and downhill, but was unnecessarily difficult when on an incline more than a rolling hill.

- Organized large trip pros:
- Cool people to hang with
- Mechanics who know a lot more than I do about what's going on with my bike
- Van support
- Someone else is cooking
- Less gear to haul on the bike

- Organized large trip cons:
- Zero mile days are not a real option
- Being in the back of the pack is a mentally challenging place to be versus going your own pace (see Day 2)
- Less control over stops and routing
- Some rules I'd prefer to ignore
- Menu was selected by other people who don't eat at all the way I do

More and more, I feel like this ride made a difference if only from the standpoint of the money raised. Figure the average per rider was about $2500. We had a 125(ish) riders, so that means climate change opposition was funded an additional $300,000 minus expenses. How about we say a quarter million dollars going towards the cause? Not bad.

I'm also happy to have taken on a pretty big challenge at my *cough cough* advanced age. Not that I feel old by any stretch, but having recently turned 40, it feels good to have pulled off a physical task that most wouldn't take on in their 20s or 30s. I think there's a big future in bike adventures for me, and I'm looking forward to some of the future challenges.

So... Climate Ridin'? Thumbs up.

The video...

2011-10-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... I still owe the wrap up. But in the meantime, here's the video I put together for tranquilspace.tv:

Catching up: Day 5...

2011-10-09T14:46:00.001-07:00

Camp on the final night had a sunny finish but we heard of the threat of rain overnight. That didn't happen.

It waited til 5:30am. Of course.

So, a cold, early,wet start on our last day got a lot of us motivated to get the hell to San Francisco.

And then the sun came out juuuuust in time for some uber climbs up and over Mt Tam and the Marin headlands to the bridge.

San Francisco from Sausilito

Crossing the bridge

SF side

Finish line at city hall!

More thoughts on the ride in the next post...

Catching up: Day 4...

2011-10-09T14:38:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting on a park bench in Golden Gate Park not far from our pickup point... So, spoiler alert: I made it.

Day 4 was by far my favorite day of the ride. It was a rolling ride with no early hills of note (except one stupid one that was insanely steep but about 2 city blocks long). Most importantly we had no rain.

I'm a big proponent of getting out early, and I was one of the early departures on day 4. I got to the first "water" stop early and did some wine tasting at 9:30am. Hey, it's noon someplace, right?

Moshin Winery

The remainder of the ride through Sonoma County was beautiful but the hills kicked in. Lots of pot holes in the road... The C&O trail is smoother...

The stupid hill

Lunch featured fresh squeezed (pressed?) apple cider. Awesome. Then it rained. Less awesome (but brief).

Last water stop was in a cool town...

... But it was overshadowed by our rogue breakoff group who got oysters and beer:

Deck+oysters+beer+sun = epic.

9 miles later we were in our last camp of the trip!

Gorgeous start...

2011-10-05T09:32:00.001-07:00

The aftermath of the storm...

2011-10-05T09:31:00.001-07:00

Much more like a December storm... Lots of tired wet riders but we're coping.

Wetness aside, the fog was pretty this morning and the lack of rain at dawn was as welcome as anything!

That's my blue tent on the left. No the tree cover didn't help...

The bikes got some cover last night but my saddle is assuredly wet.

Brutal rain...

2011-10-04T23:19:00.001-07:00

The rain is so bad tonight people can't sleep... Lots of wind and wet tents. A few looked at the nearby barn for shelter but it's locked. Bad night. Hope this lets up soon.

Biking this kind of distance is enough of a challenge without rain and lack of sleep thrown in! My tent's relatively dry inside but I've got some seepage or (more likely) condensation here and here.

In a word: "duuuuuuude."

Day 3 ending thoughts

2011-10-04T19:38:00.001-07:00

Technology is odd... I'm in a tent with wifi access but no cell signal.

As predicted it's raining steadily right now. The structure situation seemed unresolved at best as the first drops came down so I quickly pitched the tent and got in while still dry. I had plenty of food left over from the ride so I'm sticking it out in here and skipping the evening events. Why bother getting wet?

The ride today was fun... Tomorrow, I'm not loving. The prospect of another icy wet day is not high on my list of to do's but there's not much in the way of options short of skipping and riding windy roads in support vans til I get motion sick. I know... Some choice, eh? I'll probably rock the ride ;)

SF is less than 100 miles away! Crazy!

Not a century kinda day...

2011-10-04T14:19:00.001-07:00

Ended in Gualala today... Fun ride with lots of ups and downs. The mechanic Brian told me what I already knew... My rear cassette is not geared for these kinds of climbs. I always felt I was working so much harder than others on hills despite being in comparable shape. So, that explains it.

My expression here is comical and odd...

Gualala is awesome. Getting a grilled cheese because I can.

Getting shuttled to camp - rain is in the air. Definitely thinking shelter over tent tonight...

Midpoint...

2011-10-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

What a difference a day makes! Cool and dry conditions and I'm rolling about 35 milesinto a 65ish day. The coast has been stunning...

Looking forward to My favorite Mendocino County coastal town of Gualala in the early afternoon!

Rain likely tonight... Might try to sack out in a structure rather than tent it. We'll see...

Day 3...

2011-10-04T05:25:00.001-07:00

Early start!

Should be dry until tonight, then more rain. I have one dry pair of shoes left. We'll see how dry they stay!

Much better

2011-10-03T22:05:00.001-07:00

Had a great night and a good dinner... Tonight's speakers included the 1% for the Planet presentation, which is the group I'm biking with.

Goal is to do the century tomorrow. Bike will be fixed or hacked to work by the time we're out on the road eaaaaarly. 5am van to breakfast and bikes and on the road by 7. Sleep will be outrageously awesome.

Day 2... Welcome to hell

2011-10-03T17:46:00.001-07:00

I have no pictures today, only bad, bad, cold memories...

The rain began last night at 11pm and is... Wait let me check... Yep, still going. Everything got wet, although my tent handled the night ok.

The ride was a brutally wet and windy day hovering around 55. The biggest obstacle was Leggett Hill, a monster between the redwood region and the coast of Mendocino County. I made it up the 6 miles then down the looping, winding 12 miles gaining a new appreciation of wind chill factor. As I approached the final hill before the coast (shorter but steeper) my saddle came half unattached... I lost a bolt someplace on Leggett Hill. So, I vanned the rest of the way to Fort Bragg with a bunch of grumpy Climate Riders.

Turns out everyone had a rough day. So much so, we are now taking over the Fort Bragg Quality Inn tonight. Let me tell you: that hot shower was worth everything.

Weather is supposed to improve tomorrow then degrade Wednesday. The bike needs some TLC but I'll deal with it mañana - tonight is about warm food and a warm bed. I'll return to my (hopefully dry) tent tomorrow night.

When it will rain again.

##Sigh.##

Your bike is busted...

2011-10-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

That's not what the mechanic told me, but it's practically true.

But first... The rest of the ride. My blogging went downhill for two reasons: (a) no signal - I expect that to be an issue for much of the ride and (b) the dynamo? Mmm, yeah not so much. I need to start with lots of juice and not draw do much. That means no streaming football games and even more sadly, no more tracking my ride with the gps. Total bummer.

The bike. Yeah, so the bearings in my rear wheel are shot. It rides, but when I coast downhill my chain loses tension, and it's a bit of an issue. Next bike shop is at water break 2. That's good. Bad? I have a 12 mile decent tomorrow. Rather than coast it I might have to pedal. I'm prepared to hate tomorrow, but we'll see. The upside is we bike to the coast.

Did I mention it's likely to rain all day? Yeah. Awesome.

Yoga tomorrow at 7... off to sleep. Here's some more cool pics through the Avenue of the Giants today. Simply awesome.

Redwoods ...

2011-10-02T10:56:00.001-07:00

8 miles, first break?

2011-10-02T10:05:00.001-07:00

Yep.

And PS I'll be damned if I don't have my Bills on if "we" have a shot at 4-0. Thank you Internet, cell phone streaming and 97 Rock...

We're off!

2011-10-02T09:04:00.001-07:00

This is a goofy self portrait pre ride...

Day 1...

2011-10-02T06:44:00.001-07:00

I've never been a morning person. Then I started biking. I'm still not a morning person but the morning of a big trip I'm up and at em. I promised myself I'd wait til sunrise before I got really going.

Yeah that didn't happen. I took this shot after a shower and a cup of coffee and... Well it was pitch black when I was rockin it all out. The crazy breakfast setup for all 120 of us is getting up to speed so I'll stop writing and get me some calories. I'll need them!

The longest ride of my life...

2011-10-01T19:14:00.001-07:00

Yes, the bike ride starting tomorrow is the longest of my life. The bus ride up here felt like the longest bus ride ever, but I'll leave that part out. I'm here... Tent's up. It's all good.

The redwoods were RIDICULOUS, but since I'm riding through them tomorrow I'll save the exposition for then.

I'm hoping this is one of my few times seeking outlets to charge my gear... The dynamo has me so hopeful for me-generated juice. Hopefully (a) it works, and (b) does not shred my tire. The bike mechanic seems skeptical of anything good happening if there's anything other than road touching tire. I'm thinking it's gotta work, mainly for my pedal power fantasy of only needing to hunt for outlets tonight, pre ride. So there's that.

Songs of note on the ride up:

Undertow, Ivy
So Little to Give, Creeper Lagoon
Hard to Explain, The Strokes

I expect slightly higher tempo songs mañana - wish me luck.

But first - beer. And dinner. Probably in that order...

Location:Kenmar Rd,Fortuna,United States

Solar Living Institute

2011-10-01T14:44:00.001-07:00

We've stopped for our scheduled lunch at the Solar Living Institute about 2 hours north of SF in 101.

It's cloudy.

Is that ironic, or is that Alanis Morrissette ironic? I think it's true irony... but it might be more black fly in your Chardonnay-like. Hm.

Off to the lecture. Maybe the solar dude knows.

View from the Golden Gate

2011-10-01T12:17:00.001-07:00

Next time will be from a bike next Thursday!

About that bus...

2011-10-01T09:36:00.001-07:00

Are you superstitious? I'm not, and I'm kind of glad for that. Apparently our original bus from SF to Arcata is blown up, broken down, unable to move... Something. It's "berry berry mysterious" but I'm happy to take the word of the Climate Ride folks... I'm on a need to know basis and it's fine by me.

So with some time to kill and my Orange playing New Jersey Community College* I'm across the street at the Kezar Pub enjoying some local beer. It's noon on the east coast: no judgment, right?

*sorry Rutgers fans... Too easy.

Day 0

2011-10-01T08:49:00.001-07:00

We're loading up and getting ready to drive up to Arcata. A lot of diversity in terms of bike styles - should be fun to see everyone set up to roll tomorrow morning!

Free day in SF

2011-09-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

Not to go all Hemingway with a dearth of details but it is what it is:

I drank coffee and walked around a bunch. The sun was warm. And I ran with the bulls down Market Street.*

*no, I didn't.

I will not be crossing this bridge* on a bike. I just don't have a good view of the Golden Gate from here... Pretend it's orangey red and we'll call it even?

*the Bay Bridge for the uninitiated.

BART with bike!

2011-09-30T10:55:00.001-07:00

Paying for a cab powered by fossil fuels strikes me as anti-anti-climate change. (nevermind i went to IAD by car... Shhh!) Mass transit from SFO via BART is 8 bucks(ish) and gets me needed weight training exercise.

No, I haven't convinced myself this is a good idea either...

Update... Looks good, except it's pretty obvious it was on the bottom. Exhibit A:

Thats my rear cassette poking through protective layer 3... Thank you cardboard!

Made it to Dulles...

2011-09-30T02:37:00.001-07:00

You know what's a bit terrifying? Handing your bike to someone who doesn't particularly give a damn about it...

Said au revoir to Kimberly and Louis out front... I'll see them in a week in SF!

Oh goodie... Security at IAD. My favorite...

See ya in CA...

All packed up... my flight is WHAT time?

2011-09-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

The bike bag - bubble wrap and all

If you ever want to know the current airline regulations and fees for oversized baggage, give me a yell. I know how they roll, and trust me they love playing hide the ball on the actual price.

So, for Virgin America (love them, by the way... how many airlines can you say that about?) the trick is... yes, they take your bike. But it costs $50. HOWEVER, be sure to keep the bike bag below 50 lbs, or they start asking for first borns. Frontier... about the same. A good airline for flying with bikes too.

Duct tape is your friend

I managed to stuff a bike bag and a large duffle with all of my gear, snacks, clothes and assorted miscellaneous stuff for 10 days of combined traveling, biking and being in northern California. A few of my big ticket items:

- Bike with an electric generating dynamo... because plugging into outlets are for suckers.
- An iPhone and an iPad because I apparently cannot be disconnected from 2011 even for a moment... unless there's no cell signal or wifi (a high probability in parts of Mendocino county at minimum)

Orange rain jacket and a lot of supporting stuff

- Newly waterproofed gear - weather reports... um, yeah... notsogood. notsogood. Rain probable the last 3 days it looks like. I'll be rockin orange in support of my alma mater on the way up to Arcata (Go Orange) and some red, white and blue for my 3-0 Buffalo Bills as I pedal the roads listening to them on Sunday morning...
- Coffee, an aeropress and an immersible water heater... except I need to plug that in (curse you dynamo for not being 110 volts!)
- Lots and lots of Nirvana on the iPhone (see above). I'll need them to get up some of the hills...
- And much, much more. 83 total lbs. in fact.

More from the SF side of things... I have a free day Friday to do my thing and get organized. Saturday is the ride up... Sunday we roll.

But I have to be up at 4am tomorrow... so, good night.

Getting packed

2011-09-28T21:44:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe it's almost time! More to come as I pack up more tomorrow - lots to prepare for weather-wise. Looks like a wet ride for sure midweek, which should be a challenge. Waterproofing my gear is a priority tonight!

Hill day

2011-09-11T10:52:00.001-07:00

Not much to report from the weekend. I chose to leave the main bike at home and do some hill work over the weekend at the cabin. Rain and a need for some work on the backup bike made it less than stellar, but I did manage to defeat a hill that had continually kicked my butt for the entire summer. I'm hoping to do one more big trip this week, then relax into the CA trip. More to come...

Catching up: my latest rides

2011-09-05T07:46:00.001-07:00

I've been a bit remiss in logging these rides, so here's a little cleanup:

Harpers Ferry ride

I had a couple of days out at the cabin so I decided to do another C&O adventure, but wanted to go the opposite direction from last time. That means south(ish) to Harpers Ferry.

The ride overall was pretty uneventful... I loaded the bike up again with heavy car camping gear only to remember, "hey there's that crazy hilly road detour, right?". Right. Undetered, I kept packing. I'm in bad need of a good hilly workout at that point.

When I was about 2 hours into the ride I realized I forgot my wallet. And cash. And credit card. Dumb. I texted my very patient and helpful girlfriend and we decided to meet for lunch in Shepherdstown. She brought my wallet and I gleefully paid for lunch.

The ride felt great after a long layoff, and I was rewarded with an empty campsite a mile or two from the bridge to Harpers Ferry. Rather than haul it across the river like last time, I locked it at the rack on the MD side and went all pedestrian style to WV. I drank 3 beers with dinner because dammit I could.

Early return the next day, and the detour segment felt good. I'm getting the hang of hills... Thankfully. I have a bazillions in CA in October.

Map of the return trip (the outbound trip bonked):

Harpers Ferry trip

Total miles = 123.6

Lake Ontario rides

I had yet another trip scheduled to visit my home town of Rochester, but this time I was able to strap the bike to my car and get some rides in. I'm fortunate that my patents live on Lake Road, right on the shores of Lake Ontario... It's a tremendously favorable biker route. A bunch of people have circumnavigated the Lake by bike, which sounds really cool after these rides.

Saturday I rocked a ride from Webster to Pultneyville. I got some great views on the way including Ginna (pronounced GIH-nay) Nuclear Plant and, of course, Lake Ontario. The weather was crazy muggy and hot for this time of year, but it didn't get in the way of attacking some of the more challenging hills of the season for me. Much harder ones to come, but my confidence is increasing. Good egg sandwich in Pultneyville (despite Ohio State dude's pokey pace - and yes, I had to go there Buckeye fan).

Lake Ontario 1

total miles = 35.5

Sunday brought early thunderstorms nearby, so I delayed til midmorning. My hope was to get out to Sodus and back... Which I accomplished, but not quite as far as I'd have liked. I got in just shy of 50 total miles and made it to the town of Sodus, but not Sodus Point (time was my enemy since I had midafternoon plans). Still, the hills felt good and I brought back a cherry pie for my dad and apple butter for my mom (awww!). Headwind was *brutal* coming back so I'll need to get used to that.

One mistake I made again was pushing past natural break times. I took only one for lunch at MM27 and felt it at the end. Taking breaks before feeling fatigue = your friend.

Lake Ontario 2 at EveryTrail

Total miles = 46.7 miles

Big props to my buddy James for rockin a multiweek ride from Portland, Oregon to SF. I am truly outclassed!! He rode a close approximation of my route from Fortuna to SF so I'll be mining tips from him next week for sure.

Next big ride: the big loop on my birthday on 9/9. Or I'll drink beer. Maybe both.

Saturday ride (40 miles)

2011-08-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

I was off for a week in NYC¹, which meant an extended time off the bike. Since I'll be going on yet another week (FL this time) without a bike, I thought I'd sneak in a 40 miler on my one day home.

¹Why did I not bike in allegedly bike-friendly NY? "Hey they got bike lanes, didn't you hear?" All it took to confirm my "yeah right" attitude was the cab ride to the bus stop on the return home. Dude turned left through a parallel bike lane, with a biker about 3 feet away. Never looked. Biker was smart and assumed the driver was going to decapitate him. Smart biker. NYC biking and me will happen... just not for a while.

So, the morning came early... like it usually does... only with a lot less light than I've been used to. I guess that sunrise time thing the weather guy does² isn't full of lies. I left about 6:30 and decided to go past my usual Great Falls destination and push for a total of 40. Rather than be smart and break at MM20, I decided to turn around and break at Great Falls, which meant a longer than usual opening 25 miles. I think that's about as long as I would normally like to go on a ride of 40+ miles before a break. Totally doable, but I suspect it would wear me out later in the day to not pace the miles more.

²Explain to me, why the weather people - trained meteorologists at best - are somehow responsible for reporting sunrise, tides, and even less relevant to their trade... meteor showers? They all do... coast to coast. I've never understood why. Is astronomy a required minor in weather school, or are is a universal truism that weather nerds dig heavenly objects?

I hit some weather about midway back from the Falls... nothing crazy, just some light rain. Honestly, the cooler temperatures are a welcome relief from the month of July, so the rain was fine by me. I washed some of the C&O grime off the bike afterwards and briefly considered getting some new gears installed while in FL. After a quick spin, I decided it's time to suck it up and try some hill training before I hack up the bike with lower gears. If that's a no go, I'll make the changes.

So, the plan is to do some gym-based biking while at the conference. No, I won't bore you with mileage of my biking there...

Miles this trip: 40.1
Total miles trained: 1113.5

Gearing up

2011-08-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked me about gear... I think the topic can be outlandishly boring, so I won't go into full detail all at once. I'm not exactly a bike-head, so I don't get excited about brands, weights, and all the mundane stuff. I'm learning I do want to make some gearing changes, so I'll talk a bit about that here too.

My chariot for Climate Ride

I ride two Marin hybrids... no not at the same time... one that leans a bit more road and one that leans a bit more mountain. I like them both, and I like Marin as a company... I think you get good bang for the buck, and the mountain hybrid has been with me for more than 10 years of sometimes uncaring rides. I've found the gearing on my road hybrid (see left... the one I'll be riding in CA) is a bit too high for what I need (and forgive my lay terminology here if you actually know what you're talking about). I need some lower gearing to accommodate what, to me, are going to be some pretty brutal hills. That's a project for tomorrow and beyond, because I expect that will require at least a new rear cassette... but who knows. That's what good bike mechanics are for, so off I'll go to the local shop.

Oddly enough the biggest issue with this ride is not the training or the equipment itself... it's getting the damn gear to California from DC. I did a ton of research and after a lot of back and forth on to ship or fly, I decided to fly the sucker. It has as much to do with my flight itinerary as anything else, but I think I like the idea of knowing my bike is traveling on the same plane as me... plus it looks like it might be cheaper. Maybe. I think.

I bought a Sette padded bike travel bag online and I dig its overall look and think it should serve me well for the future. Take a look at shirtless dude's video of the bag. Note to shirtless dude... would have been way cooler if you had packed a bike in there too. Just sayin.

Speaking of gear, I'm also thinking about getting something very alt energy producing: a dynamo that will charge a front lamp and my iPhone while I pedal. I found that my iPhone's battery is a rockstar if it gets a signal, but tries so hard to find a signal when there is none to be found (i.e. rural MD on the C&O) that it burns through a charge in about 6 hours. Since I like the data collection, mp3 playing, safety line, and other features of said phone, I need more juice. We'll see what I end up getting, but I figure this might make me the ~~cool kid~~ tech nerd at Climate Ride. And I'll have a charged phone, unlike the poor saps who'll be searching the campgrounds to charge their Zunes for an outlet.

Ok, that wasn't nice. Nobody has a Zune.

Who else believes in climate change?

2011-08-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Insurance companies, except they are sort of lousy at measuring the economics of it. Which is odd since they're all actuarial about everything...

Cabin to Cumberland and back: 156 miles

2011-08-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Check out pics with snarky commentary here.

Part 1, Cabin to Cumberland (Saturday 7/30)

One more weekend left before I leave town on a few trips that won't include my bike... so I decided to make it a good long ride with some camping mixed in to see how it would feel.

Friday night was a late night as I loaded up my bike. And I mean loaded it. I used mostly car camping gear, so I had a wide load. Honestly the weight wasn't awful... maybe 30 lbs? I'm sure that would be horrifying to a real touring person, particularly since I lashed it all to a single rear rack. Thank you inventor of bungees. I wonder if dude's last name was Bungee?¹

I got out a little after 6 and the temperature was really nice for a few hours... then that devil heat² we've been afflicted with kicked in. As you can see in the map data, there is a slowish climb all the way up there (a few flats and downhills too, but trends up) so the slog got sloggier as the day went on and I started tiring a bit.

weather is different than climate

The Paw Paw tunnel was a real highlight. And by highlight I mean "kicked in my claustrophobia and was therefore not fun." The tunnel is friggin huge, so there was no good reason to feel claustrophobic other than the nagging certainty that this engineering marvel of 1850-something was inherently unstable and would bury me at any moment. Good times. Oh, it's pitch black and I left my light at home, forgetting about the whole mile-long-pitch-black-tunnel-thing. I survived. Whatever.

I decided to roll all the way to the campground at MM180 and pitch the tent, then roll the remaining 4 miles into Cumberland for dinner. My iPhone was running low on juice, so I found a bbq place that had a nice spot near an outlet and mediocre food combined with AC. In the immortal words of Charlie Sheen..winn... nah, I can't do it.

"Congrats, you're half done"

I rode back to the tent in temps near 100 in the sun... once back in the tent, I pretended to listen to Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest but was asleep before Award Tour. That's not long. It was 6pm.

Oh, forgot... I should mention I bought a battery operated fan. Pre-use of said fan, I would have mocked me for it. Post use? If you camp in this godforsaken heat, do yourself a favor and get a battery operated fan. I pretty much gave up summer camping after moving from Oregon to DC, but technology has given my summers back to me. And by technology, I mean D-cell battery-driven gear. Who knew they even made D cells anymore?

cabin to Cumberland at EveryTrail

Part 2, Cumberland to cabin (Sunday 7/31)

Let me begin by urging you not to camp at MM180 on the C&O. Beautiful and cool spot, and very convenient to Cumberland (a mere 4 miles away) but holy hell is it noisy. Campers were great, but the stopped freight train must have had some freezer unit car, because it ran AC all night... and not quietly. At 5am, the farmer on the WV of the river switched on the pumps to irrigate the crops. All that said, I was out... like... a... light. 81 miles the day before on 3 hours of sleep = zzzzzz.

Ok, so the return trip was pretty uneventful. I saw a ton of deer on a mostly empty trail through the morning. I got to Paw Paw in what felt like record time, so I crossed the river and went to the gas station for an egg and cheese biscuit. That may sound gross, but to be honest... best thing ever. About then it started to heat up. That forecast for lower temps Sunday? Lie. Total lie. 95 at least and the sun baked right through you.

I took a long break in Hancock (I used the WMRT again... I couldn't risk downed trees on the C&O and I just think the NPS pays less attention to that 22 mile parallel stretch since there's far less traffic). The 11 miles to the crossing plus the climb was brutal... I ran out of water towards the end, but at that point it was all about getting back so I pushed through. Tough slog... so looking forward to a time when these temperatures will be a joke as I'm freezing my butt off on some fall-ish ride.

So... I've ridden every inch of the C&O. What's next?

Cumberland to cabin at EveryTrail

Miles this trip: 156.0
Total miles trained: 1073.4 (!!)

Yet another Great Falls ride...

2011-07-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

Great Falls at EveryTrail

Much nicer ride today... looks like the weather is 50/50 for the C&O completion ride I'm hoping to do this weekend... we'll see!

Miles this trip: 30.5
Total miles trained: 917.4

WMRT-C&O heat index loop

2011-07-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

WMRT C&O heat index loop at EveryTrail

Heat index was well into the 80s at 6am when I started... I decided to forgo the hill work that normally bookends this trip, but the conditions definitely warranted the over-caution.

Lots of trees down on the C&O outbound between MM114 and Hancock, so I switched over to the WMRT for the remainder of the ride. Feels like I'm cheating on the old C&O, but since most people use the paved WMRT it seems the NPS isn't as speedy clearing the trail in the 20 mile section that they run parallel.

I made pretty good time, and it was a good test of not having certain equipment. I left my gloves and bike shorts in DC (easy there... I had shorts, just not my usual), so it was good to see I didn't *need* them. Ok, I broke down and bought new gloves. But the shorts weren't a necessity even for 44ish miles.

Apparently we have a cool down (upper 80s now qualifies as a "cool down") but I think my grand plans to finish the C&O between MM114 and Cumberland might get squished again next weekend with another heat wave. boo. We'll see...

Miles this trip: 43.8

Total miles trained: 886.9

Training well under way

2011-07-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

Climate Ride California is several months away, but I'm already 7 weeks deep into training for this trip of a lifetime. Arcata to San Francisco... 300 miles in 5 days, and the finish line's the Golden Gate. Yes, I agree... that's awesome.

Tranquil Space and TranquliT are proud members of 1% for the Planet. The amazing thing about members of this organization is their commitment: they give 1% of their earnings to environmental causes. I'm proud to be a part of such a progressive and community-minded set of organizations. Climate Ride is a natural extension... it's a fundraiser and an awareness raiser for global climate change, an issue I've been interested in for a long time.

I believe global climate change is one of the biggest issues of my lifetime, but I'm equally confident that we possess the ability to make changes in what we do, how we move, and how we power our lives in order to halt the idea of making Oklahoma City an oceanfront resort community.

So, I mentined Climate Ride is an awareness raiser and a fundraiser... here's where you come in. Every mile I pedal (all 300 of them!) is dedicated to raising funds for groups fighting the climate change threat. In order for me to participate, I'm asked to raise at least $2400 in pledges. Tranquil Space and TranquiliT are donating their part, but your dollars will help support the nine beneficiary organizations whose work focuses on climate education, clean energy, and bicycle infrastructure. Good stuff right?

How about throwing some support behind me? $25? Maybe a touch more? Any size donation is appreciated and in return, I promise to bring you along virtually for the ride:

- updates on my training rides (some of which are nearly as cool as the CR itself)
- insight into what its like to go from "lapsed" biker to full-on bike psycho
- videos and maybe a podcast if people are interested
- daily updates from the ride... technology rocks. I may be able to do live video from the stops with my iPhone, connection-willing!
- and more!

So, stay tuned here for more information. And if you're interested in throwing a few bucks at the effort, it' much appreciated. Here's where you go:

climateride.donordrive.com/participant/timmooney

Also, all donations are tax deductible... you know, if you're into that kind of thing.