qwik n dirty

plans change.
plans are made.

plan j:
lose weight, get 'fit'.
vive' le Tour.

Plan h:
poach three days, missing
out on the first two.

Day 1/Stage 3:
I happily embrace my inner roadie.
I love riding road bikes, smooth,
efficient and plenty of time to take
it all in.

We climbed up Reddish, which I
was actually looking forward to.
And we got to descend out of the
saddle, double yeah hawll!

Moyer's Gap is a special spot,
nice sustained 19% ramp at the
top.

"This is gonna take everything I got." - Buck


Then it rained, and we road a shit
ton of wet fireroad.  My road bike
now hates me. Everybody ended up
numb, one way or the other.


Day2/Stage 4:
Big & Schlossy.
Tony B'town & I commuted
north, catching on the last 5yrs,
following the caravan of mtb
clad vehicles.

We ride mtn bikes north on the road,
make a few turns, settle in.  Parade
up into the forest, parade some trail,
stuff the front end and bang a leg off
the bike.  Ouch.
 Long is timed section, big ups,
groovy down and empty at the bottom.
Regroup. Ride/hike to the overlook.
Hang out for a bit with fellow
slummers and take it all in.

Lunch, sketchy fireworks, FREEDOM!
Then on that first steepish slimey bit
of down, slow speed stuff of the front
and over we go. Bang.

Do I still have all my teeph?

Yeah?  cool, I still have all my teeth.
But I am spitting out blood, neat.
Really busted my lip on that one...

Typical regroup/recovery and finally
back to steady gunning slumming'
tempo after an hour or so.

Just in time to make a wrong turn
and not realize it.  Get to the bottom
and hit an unmarked T, hmmmm.
There's skidmarks, there's tracks,
there's a downed tree blocking that way,
so go the other. Left is north, right is south.

Eventually find the road, and yeah,
I'm off course. Fuck, shoulda turned left
back there, so I guess I need to turn left
on the road and head north towards
where that left pops out and wherever
the hell we're parked.

Then I made some very poor route choices,
starting with that left turn, and for the next
hour or so and went for a very long, very
lost spin on the roads up around Bryce Resort
in the exact opposite direction of where I
needed to be going. It was a long trudge
backtrack down 42 and back over the Orkney
Grade where serendipity reigned and I
was picked up quickly at the crossroads
on a hunch.

JamesK, I owe you, you too Sue G.! Thank You!

So after that 2hours of extra roadieness,
the busted lip and other additional impacts,
I was feeling kinda hollow come Sunday,
so I saw the peloton off and went home,
tail between my legs.

vive leTour'

!

oh yay, another one

Jeb Bush:
“We need to make sure that we protect the right not just of having religious views, but the right of acting on those religious views,” he said.

Does this asshole understand how fucked up this view is and what a Pandora's box he opens up with that statement? Fucking conservatives.

boom.

March was a rough month,
weather, mental state, all
very cold and grey.

Peak belly hit sometime
about mid month. Then
the weather broke, and we
began pedaling again.

Then the relationship broke,
and I really began pedaling
again, or at least 100% on
my terms, again. Man I love
those old school BSRR's..

So, just crossed that old school
base build 1000mile threshold
sometime in the last week,
and according to the scale,
15lbs has been left behind
out along that quiet white line
since those March doldrums.

Targeting another 5 to 10,
but don't call it a comeback,
I'm just looking to be not quite
so far off the back on Sundays.


And I sure do love to ride my bicycle.

'guiding'

'guiding', it ain't easy.  period.
tough day, saw some good fish
while crawling around the banks
of the Letort in the later morn.

had one live action test case to
demonstrate what usually happens
when you encounter one of those rather
large, 'you get one cast' type of fish....

to which I got exactly one cast.
Big old 18"+er saw the leader
overhead, and bolted.....All in
front of the former el Presidente'
of the Angler's Club of NY.

He was a trooper on the Letort and
wish we'd done better on Mtn Creek
in the afternoon. I picked up a few, a
couple decent sized rainbow stockies,
some small wild browns and chubs,
he got into some smaller wild browns...


there's a mild regret of outfishing
the sport you're sporting, which is
why 'guiding' is in quotes...today's
role is to put 'em over fish, advise
if the vibe is there, but not hold
hands....take your buddy fishing
sort of deal, share some local
knowledge if you can, history,
stories like those you've heard
from guides while guided, but this
is your neck of the woods.  And,
yeah, so, it's cool to bring your rod,
unlike actual guiding...so, anyways.

Do wish he'd gotten onto more decent trouts,
weird to feel guilty-ish about having a bit
of success today...tough conditions all around,
weather and all has been goofy, cold rain thru
the week with flows up and now back down
quick, early clouds and getting' sunny in a snap...
curious to hear how the other's fared.
Plan B was a spot on the Breeches...grass is
always greener, ya know?

but, Like I said, weird to feel guilty-ish about
having success, but this guy's fished places
I'll only ever dream of, literally...I've dreamt
of places he's fished and has access to, and he
seems to be good people, know what I mean?

Former el Presidente' of the Angler's
Club of NY, I'm here to put you onto
some fish, sooooo, yeah, I'm, uhhh,
gonna demonstrate here, that there in
that tight pocket water you just walked
up by, there're at least two 6-8" wild
browns and a nicely colored
13" stocker rainbow.

and a chub, plus the other fleeting
shadows I kicked up as I waded thru.

maybe I just have knack for it.?
been doing it for awhile now I guess,
and these are my home waters...


I did get his card & some flies
that I'm gonna stash away, along
with an invite for lunch if I'm ever
"up in the city"....a visit to the
"Museum that serves Lunch."

Which would be amazing I'm sure..
can't imagine.

So, I guess I must've done
something right, eh?

good times,
good. times.

"the cupcake ride"

top of the knob before the downhill
really goes down the hill...I hear voices.

real ones.

catch two fellas, not part of the group.

"is this the CupCake Ride?!"
"are you riding with the CupCakes?!"

uhmm, I guess so, yeah...

[& thanks for letting me by,
the mythical unicorns of
TumblingRun should also
be along at any minute...]

qwik notes.

things I should write down.

Roxbury is tough fucking climb.
Gizmo stats showed sustained 15-16%
early on, then a ramp from 12ish up 15%
as you roll up thru the line cut.

274 is pretty steady, some 13-14%, but
nothing unexpected after descending
it a few times, just a steady grind.

Germantown.  oy, loose bullshit
scattered 'gravel' over hardpack.
hell of a climb regardless,
sustained 13-14% for the last
7 or 8 or so minutes with some
nice views to the left, will take
pics next time I drive it.

Horse Valley Run, it is my river Ganges.
Soak the legs, mile 65, reboot and shuffle
the deck. Have a snack at the store, then
75ish north until...that right turn.

74 South up over Tuscarora.....ouch.
It's a beast, in three parts.  Pitchy bits for
ten minutes on up around the left hand bend
until the tight right hander.  Tough kick to start,
13ish if I recall give or take, then the mid
section between hairpins is manageable,
steady 9ish recovery pitch for ten minutes
before the turn with three fun ramps that top
out at 14-15% just before rolling over the top.

Ride across a big rolling valley, things are
getting interesting...

Wagg's is Wagg's as pr usual, it sucks.
Even mores at 100miles in. The right leg
cramped up as the pitch steepened, been a
while for that classic scenario...pushed thru
it and still somehow set a Strava, PR....so
must be doing something right, I guess.....


having a good time regardless.

pr baby, p.r.

p.
freakin'.
r.

that was fun,
111 on the gizmo,
longest for me,
solo solitary road ridin'

long day checking to
see if certain demons
have been exorcised..
signs point to yes.

the full answer.....well,
it was an amazing day
for a ride on a bicycle.

pieced together a grand
daddy BSRR route, that
quickly looks like a stepping
stone.  

to some place.