Being a Jerk

Over the last several weeks I've been feeling a new impulse while riding my bike. Sometimes I'll see someone doing something near the road - like, within earshot and I'd want to yell something idiotic.

For example, I was in Carlisle and I was passing a yellow Mustang with a for sale sign on it in someone's yard. There was a young guy checking it out and I had to stifle the urge to yell "don't buy it! It's a lemon!"

Then one day I was passing a slow pitch softball game and the phrase, "strike him out!" popped into my head. (This is a pretty rare occurance in slow pitch softball.)

I'm not sure what this urge is coming from - maybe it's from my new Twin Six l'Alpe d'Huez Brewpub jersey (which appears to be no longer available). Or maybe not.

Regardless of where it came from, I know it is now gone. This is what happens when you see people doing the idiot thing you had considered doing. On my ride Saturday while I was on the main drag in Mount Holly Springs I had someone say to me out their car window, "pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal, pedal..." and so on. I'd be upset, but juding by the looks (and sounds) of the minivan they were in, they were probably doing so in envy, wishing they could be on such a nice bike instead of a junky old minivan.

Then last night while riding through Camp Hill a teenager yelled out a car window, "don't fall!" At first I didn't realize he was yelling at me - I mean, why would you yell "don't fall" at a cyclist. I wasn't on a tightrope. I wasn't on a unicycle. I suppose the appropriate response would have been "why? Is that a problem you have when you try to ride a bike? Is that because you get scared and panic when you realize your mom let go of the seat?" But that would be mean and probably not end well, besides, I was too busy riding to get into a battle of wits with the unarmed.

So I've decided not to yell at people when I ride by. Because people who do that are idiots and cyclists get a bad enough rap as it is.

A Little Further than I Planned

First off, let me say, I've decided to forgo posting my weekly log. I'm reaching a crossroads in how I keep fit and how I spend my time, where posting my weekly log isn't likely to help anyone else. With frequent injuries from running and a baby on the way, I'm not likely to have time to train for events in the way I have over the past year.

I will, however try to use my Sunday night post to highlight my big training "event" for the week. In the future it might be a hike with my son or daughter in a carrier on my back, but for now it's still long solo bike rides. (I might mix in some long trail runs once I'm feeling healthy.)

Yesterday Beth was doing some stamping with her friend Anita, so I decided to use that "girl time" to get a little "bike time" in.

Beth made the mistake of not giving me a time frame for when she thought she'd be home. "Oh, so I guess I have until dusk to ride," I said. This was at about 12:15. I had in mind to do a long-ish ride (nowadays, I'm considering "long" to be over 50 miles), but was considering going even longer if I was feeling good.

I left home a little before 1:00 planning to head out to Mount Holly Springs and basically do a 62-mile ride that I had done about a month ago. So I got to Mount Holly Springs after an 18-miles spin and stopped at the Sheetz. Heeding, Mike on His Bike's advice, I carried my water bottle in and asked the clerk if I could refill it at the fountain. I felt bad just taking their water, so I bought a Take Five bar while I was there.

After Mount Holly Springs there's a lot of fairly flat miles out in the middle of nowhere on Pine Road. But the scenery is great, and you pass lots of livestock.

(Sorry, didn't get a picture of any livestock.)

I got out to where I could turn right on Route 74 and head back, but I was still feeling really good. And the sign said it was only seven miles to Shippensburg, and I've never ridden to Shippensburg before, so I turned left.

I think it might have been a little more than seven miles to Shippensburg, because when I stopped at the CVS there, I had tallied 37.5 miles. I went inside, bought a big bottle of water and some Vitamin Water (CVS doesn't have soda fountains - I should have stopped at the Sunoco station about a mile back and saved $1.50)...and a Snickers Ice Cream Bar. King Size. I love Snickers Ice Cream Bars!

I refilled my water bottles with the water and Vitamin Water and scarfed down the Snickers Ice Cream Bar. I also dumped a considerable amount of water on my face, back and legs. One of the tricks I've learned to stave of dehydration is to lower your body temperature in any way possible. So when I buy a bottle of water, I always get a bit more than will fit in my bottles, then I take the ice cold leftovers and pour it on me. It's very refreshing. Like Junior Mints.

I was about to head back out (soaking wet) but when I went to throw away my wrappers and empty bottles, I couldn't find a can. I was shocked. The CVS in Shippensburg doesn't have any trash cans! So I used their dumpster. It was labeled "Private Property Stay Out," but hey, it's their trash - they should have garbage cans outside their door. Isn't there a law or something?

So I started back out, headed north on Route 11. After a mile or so I saw a sign indicating Newville was nine miles away on Route 533 to the left. Since it looked like 533 was a lot quieter than 11 I turned left. I rode to Newville, took 233 back to Pine Road and headed home the way I came. I even stopped at that Sheetz again, refilling my water bottle, getting more Vitamin Water and a Red Bull for that extra boost on the final leg of my journey.

I got home around 6:15, with 4:51 total bike time over 81 miles. It was my second longest bike ride ever, behind the Three Creek Century that Beth and I both rode in 2006. (Yesterday's ride just edged out last year's 80-miler - which, coincidentally also included a stop at the Sheetz in Mount Holly Springs.)

Fortunately, I was smart enough to call Beth when I was about an hour from home, so she wouldn't worry about me - but she didn't answer her cell phone and I had to leave a message. I did get a hold of her when I got home to tell her I made it okay. She asked me what I thought about dinner. I said, "I'd like a lot of it."

Gear Review: Continental Ultra Gatorskin Tires

Wow, two gear reviews in two weeks! Don't worry, this will not become a trend (unless manufacturers start sending me free stuff to review...which probably will not be happening).

I've actually been using Continental Ultra Gatorskin tires for several months on my Scott S20 Speedster, and will be putting them on my Schwinn once the tires on it have been sufficiently worn down.

The reason I'm writing about them today, is that Wednesday night, before my ride, I noticed a bit of gouge in the rear tire. I worked the debris that was in it out, then rode on it anyway (it was only 15 miles). Then last night I replaced the back tire with another Continental Ultra Gatorskin tire that I bought on my lunch break.

The fact that I rode on a damaged tire for 15 miles isn't what impressed me. What impressed me was what I found when I pulled the old tire off my wheel. I checked it out, and while there were a few cracks and dings on the outside, the inside of the tire was still perfectly intact. Even where I thought there had been some of the inner tube bulging out it was still perfectly smooth.

This, of course gave me second thoughts about replacing this tire, but all it would take was another good shot by a sharp stone, piece of glass or pointy tooth from a piece of roadkill I never saw coming for me to have a blowout and losing untold minutes on the side of the road booting the tire and replacing the tube.

At first I resisted the idea of puncture-resistant tires because when you gain in durability you lose in something else, whether it is weight, rolling resistance or traction. But as I thought about it, I realized I don't race, don't try to keep up with any fast riders and waste too much time and money replacing lightweight bike tires.

To my surprise, it seemed I hardly lost anything when I switched to the durable Gatorskins. I'm as fast as I ever was (okay, this is probably due to fitness) have had no issues with loss of traction and at 230 grams (for 700x23), the Continental Ultra Gatorskin is anything but bulky.

So unless you weigh your food, ride on a full-carbon bike with all Dura-Ace (or SRAM red) components, and analyze your power output after every ride, you'll find value in the Continental Ultra Gatorskin tire.

The Continental Ultra Gatorskin is available from DirectBicycleParts.com, Bob's Bicycles, and REI.

Little Hills and Big Hills

When I first took up cycling I thought that the course of the Tour de France had three types of stages: mountain stages, flat stages and time trials. In my mind, the mountain stages were ridiculous mountain stages like riding in Colorado or the Sierra Nevadas and the flat stages and time trials were pancake-flat, like riding in Kansas or something. I've since learned that there are some hills in those flat stages, but I've always wondered if there was a stage that sort of mirrored what we have around here.

What I never heard were stages that were "really a lot of up and down." That's what most of my hilly rides around here are, "a lot of up and down." On Monday night I did a ride on the East side of Rte 15. There was only one long(ish) climb, where I fluxuated between 9 and 13 mph, so I know I was going up, but it wasn't always l'Alpe d'Huez (or even Waggoners Gap) steep.

I also had some fast downhills, including one with a truck warning for an 8% grade for 3/4 mile. (I set a new personal speed record on that hill - 49.76 mph.) But it's not what I would call a "mountain" ride. I'm pretty sure I never exceeded 1000 feet in elevation and most of the climbs were less than half a mile, maybe less than 1/4 mile.

At the same time, though, my average speed for this 36 mile ride was less than my average speed for my 60-mile ride over Blue Mountain. So was this a "flat stage" or a "mountain stage?" Because none of these climbs were hors categorie.

My Brother's Kind of a Mess

Last weekend my mom and brother stayed with us on Friday night on their annual pilgrimage up to Keuka Lake (in Upstate New York). My dad, sister and nephew will be joining them shortly, but they all have work-related things to take care of in the meantime (except for Daniel, of course - he's just busy practicing his jumping.)

Friday night my brother realized that he forgot to pack dress pants and nice shoes for my cousin's wedding that's happening this weekend. I couldn't help him with the pants (but my sister will bring a pair up when she goes), but I did give him a pair of black shoes and socks which might not be dress shoes, but would at least be better than his dirty sneakers. (This is the same brother who is an Eagle Scout and will be attending Clemson University this fall.)

After dinner we got busy looking at baby stuff and Tim was moving stuff around in the car or something and I noticed he left the shoes and socks next to the dining room table - where we had discussed his need of nice clothes for this coming weekend. I picked them up and set them on the stairs that lead up to the loft where he'd be sleeping. I said to Beth, "he's so going to leave these here."

The next morning we got up and had a delicious breakfast of friendship bread and yogurt parfaits. We went to Babies 'R Us and got our crib. (I couldn't believe it, our crib was back!) My mom was pretty excited to do that for us.

When we got home, we picked up the loft and took care of the laundry. Then Beth said, "look what I found upstairs:"

Yep, Tim left the shoes and socks I gave him in the loft. So my brother's kind of a mess. I'm a little worried that Beth may think this is a family trait, what with her being married to me and all...

An Open Letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Dear Faceless Beaurocrat,

I tried to find a actual name of a person to send this to, but there is nothing on the PennDOT BikeSafe website about who might actually be in charge of bicycle policies in Pennsylvania.

This spring I've noticed that new "Bike Route J2" signs have been erected in and around my home town of Mechanicsburg. Last night I rode on Bike Touring Route J2 from where it turns from Market Street to Simpson Ferry Road in Mechanicsburg to its terminus on Market Street in Lemoyne. It was a good thing I went on a Sunday evening because this route would be far too dangerous to ride at any other time of the week.

As an avid cyclist, I find the most desirable roads to ride on are quiet country roads, or if I must ride busier roads that they have wide shoulders or designated bike lanes to ride on. Many of the roads on bike route J2 are neither.

The worst area is north of Shiremanstown on Simpson Ferry Road and as it becomes Gettysburg Road, then State Road in Camp Hill and Lemoyne. This is a very high traffic area with no shoulder and frequent storm grates near the curb that need to be avoided by cyclists - and there is construction going on right now to boot! During the week a cyclist would be constantly hounded by cars driving by very closely and have to navigate tricky intersections (such as near the off- and on-ramps to route 15).

What's most frustrating is that this area could easily have been avoided by riding on Trindle Road (which is busy, but has nice, broad shoulders) north into Camp Hill (where it becomes Chestnut Road) then taking a short back road to Market Street (which is quite broad in its busiest areas) which you could ride to the terminus where route J2 connects with J.

I'm not sure what kind of advisory committee comes up with the bike routes, but it seems unlikely that an experienced, local cyclist had any input in the choice of this route. Instead of helping tourists find safe, scenic roads through this area, it guides them along a dangerous route where there is little more to see than strip malls and construction vehicles.

Best Regards,
Jeff Lorow
another-mile.blogspot.com

Week Log: June 15-21

Monday: Bike 23.3 miles, 1:20 Typical Monday night ride - would like to have gone further, but legs were feeling a little noodle-ish, so cut it down to 23 miles.

Tuesday: Bike 8.6 miles, 33 min. Lunchtime ride (hilly).

Thursday: Bike 8.3 miles, 33 min. Lunchtime ride (hilly again).

Friday: Bike 9.2 miles, 32 min. Lunchtime ride - four laps around the business center, then two around the parking lot.

Sunday: Bike 16.8 miles, 1:02 Took Pennsylvania Bike Route "J2" North from Mechanicsburg to its terminus in Lemoyne. You can expect a future post about this ride.

Total: bike 66 miles.

Really would have liked to have gotten another longer ride in in the evenings or Saturday afternoon, but the weather just wouldn't cooperate. We've had so many thunderstorms already, I can't imagine what August is going to be like!

My foot has been feeling really good this week, but I'm committed to taking the rest of the month off - I've had a similar injury in the past, and just when I'd think I was out of the woods, I'd try to run on it and it would ache again. So this time, I'm just giving it the rest it needs to heal. Besides, I'm having a blast on my bike - it's not the greatest option at lunchtime, once I really feel warmed up it's time to get back to work! But exploring all the back roads has been a blast, and I feel like I could spend the entire summer just finding new routes to ride.

I'm the Reason

Golf is among my favorite sports. It would probably be my "A" sport if it wasn't so expensive and it gave me the same kind of workout that running and cycling does...and if I had a whole lot more time to play.

I played my first round of golf of 2009 last weekend with my Dad. I always keep score. Except this time, I didn't because I stunk. I couldn't keep my head still for the life of me and I was constantly topping the ball. And my chipping was bad - but chipping has always been my weakness.

But I love golf, and I know once I get some practice in, I'll at least not embarass myself out on the course. (If I had time to really practice regularly, I think I could be a mid-80's player - but for now I'll settle for mid to high 90's - once I've had at least some practice.)

However, I don't ever see myself buying a house on a golf course. Maybe if they offered a lifetime club membership with the home, but I've played enough golf to know that I don't want a house adjacent to a golf course.

You see, I sometimes play at this course down near Carlisle that will be unnamed. And it seems that every time I play that course someone in my playing group hits an errant shot into a house. Often that person is me. Okay, usually that person is me.

It goes like this: I hit the ball poorly; it has a big slice or maybe I caught it with the toe of my club and I see it sail over the trees that are supposed to protect the homes along the course. Then I count; one, two...BANG! Sometimes I get lucky and there's no bang, but the ball is lost forever under a porch or in a pit bull's cage.

So if you want to know why I won't buy a home on a golf course, I'm the reason.

Product Review: Detours Mighty Midge Stem Bag

Last week I went into my bike shop looking for a way to keep my cell phone handy while I ride. Since the baby's due date is less than two months away, I'd like to keep the phone some place I can actually hear it ring, and that would not be in my seat bag. Besides, since I switched to the small Banjo Brothers bag that Fatty gave away with the 100 Miles of Nowhere registration, it takes some work to jam a cell phone in there, too.

They showed me two options, one attached to your seat tube and had only enough room for a phone. The other was the Detours Mighty Midge Stem Bag, which, as I said out loud when I picked it up, has room for a digital camera. So I bought the Mighty Midge.

At first, I was a little concerned that the bag might be in the way, being right up there next to my computer and handlebars and all. But once I had it installed, I realized that I never use that area anyways. It did slightly obstruct my view of my cyclocomputer, but unless you need instant feedback from your bike every moment of a ride, this shouldn't be an issue.

The Mighty Midge is the perfect size to hold a camera in the main compartment, a cell phone in the smaller compartment on the flap and a little cash to buy Red Bull and Vitamin Water at a rest stop.


I don't recommend putting much more in it. On my "perfect ride" on Saturday, I discovered that if you overstuff the main compartment by say, putting a handkerchief in it, the flap doesn't close properly and magnets that keeps that main flap shut are less effective.

My only complaint about the Mighty Midge are those magnets used to keep the flap closed. They're a nice idea if you ride on well-paved roads, but if you use this on a mountain bike or if you have some rough pavement you'll find that the flap sometimes pops open. Fortunately, this won't make anything fall out of the bag, since both compartments are held shut with zippers, but it is annoying. Also, I found that if you put change in the clear plastic sleeve it puts some extra space between those magnets making their fastening power even weaker.

That being said, I never realized what a pain using a seatbag is until I didn't have to use it. I don't what the Mighty Midge does to your aerodynamics, but it does make it a lot easier to whip out your cell phone or camera while you're still straddling your bike - albeit at rest, I haven't tried pulling anything out on the fly yet - and wouldn't do so with my camera, but if I needed quick access to my cell phone, I could get it out much easier than reaching back below my seatbag.

I definitely plan to keep the Mighty Midge and use it on most of my longer rides, and any ride that I want to have "better than cellphone quality" photos from. If you like having a camera with you and don't like the awkwardness of reaching into a saddle bag and aren't ready to put a big (freddish) handlebar bag on the front of your bike, you'll find the Mighty Midge to be an excellent third option.

The Mighty Midge is available at REI.

The Perfect Ride

On Saturday, I rode, what I consider the perfect ride. It had a little of everything.

1. Busy Roads Through Town
Not really busy, but "urban-esque." It was like riding your bike through a big city, without actually going through the city. The Borough of Carlisle is a really good cycling town. It's about ten miles away, but once you get there, most of the roads are flat and four lanes, but it's rarely congested with traffic (at least on Saturday mornings).

2. Big Climbs
From Carlisle I followed route 74 towards Blue Mountain at Waggoner's Gap. I expected a hard climb - but it wasn't that tough. It was long, and I spent the entire climb in the granny gear, although I noticed my speed upped from six to seven miles per hour after the second switchback. As I crested the top I saw a truck warning sign, so I watched for one facing the other side so I could get the grade: 8% for 2.5 miles.

3. Quiet Country Roads
There are plenty of quiet roads in the Cumberland Valley, but it turns out that there isn't much traffic on the other side of the mountain in Perry County. I saw a lot of houses, but was only passed by a few cars. I also passed some dense forest and occasional wildlife (mostly ground hogs, but I did see two turtles on the side of the road).

4. Less Big Climbs
It turns out that the Northwest side of Blue Mountain is a little hillier than the Southeast side. One one pretty long climb, I though to myself why am I wasting all this energy on these little hills over here? I still have to get back over the mountain! Then I looked up and saw some power lines that I realized were headed over the mountain and realized I was on the mountain. Sure enough, about 1/4 mile later I saw the sign:


Which, by the way is 500 feet lower than Waggoners Gap (about 1/2 the size):


I shot down on the Cumberland County side at 40 miles an hour and meandered my way to Carlisle then home.

Also worth noting about this ride: no rude or oblivious drivers. I didn't have anyone pull out in front of me, turn right in front of me or otherwise be obnoxious. And my top speed: 45.2 mph - but it wasn't coming down the mountain, it was on a smaller hill in Perry County that happened to be a bit steeper. And there were plenty of flats if you like sprints, the ride from Mechanicsburg to Carlisle (and back) has very few hills, and nothing I'd consider a "climb".

Week Log: June 8-14

Monday: Bike12.7 miles, 49 min. Did a lot of hills in those 12 miles.

Wednesday: Bike 8.4 miles, 31 min. Lunchtime ride (hilly version)

Friday: Bike 8.8 miles, 33 min. Lunchtime ride (flat version)

Saturday: Bike 60.9 miles, 3:49 To Carlisle, up and over Waggoners Gap, over Sterret's Gap, back to Carlisle, then home.

Total: Bike 90 miles

I wish I could have gotten out more consistently this week, but stormy weather meant I couldn't ride after work. Would have also have liked to have gotten out today, but after yesterday's ride, plus loading and un-loading all of our gifts from the baby shower, I just didn't feel much like moving today.

I did have a GREAT ride yesterday, though and I'm pleased to say that I finally made it over Blue Mountain. It was just a matter of picking the right gap. I'd still like to go up Lamb's Gap at some point, but the two gaps I went over yesterday were WAY easier.

"That's the Kind of Shape I'm In."

I mentioned briefly in a previous post that Beth had been in a minor car accident while I was on my way to South Carolina on Thursday. While I'm thankful that the car accident was minor and Beth is okay, minor car accidents can be a major hassle.
The body shop called on Friday to tell us that our new side mirror was in, so Beth took the car in on her lunch break to have it installed.

When she arrived (or maybe when she was checking out...I don't remember) there was a cyclist in line trying to drum up donations for a charity ride of some sort. He didn't strike Beth as the most humble athlete in the world.

"...speaking of almost dying, [apparently he's a very lucky cyclist what with all these near-death experiences] last week I was riding up Lamb's Gap, because that's the kind of shape I'm in. And I was coming back down and this young guy passed me going like 40 miles per hour - which is dangerous at those kinds of speeds, so I started pedaling like crazy to catch back up with him, and on my bike started shaking and I could tell something was wrong."

I'll continue in a moment, but first I'd like to point out that passing him at 40 mph is dangerous, but apparently him passing you at more than 40 is perfectly safe?

I take it back, I won't continue, because the rest is pure drivel about how he thought his bike was falling apart - but it wasn't (he also mentioned that he managed to pass this "kid" that had passed him).

So now because I'm a guy who is naturally competitive and it annoys me that a jerk did something that I failed to do a couple weeks ago, I really want to ascend Lamb's Gap on my bike.

Tomorrow is Beth's baby shower, so I'm going to have a little time to myself. So I plan to cross Blue Mountain via Waggoner's Gap (which I suspect is less steep - but probably longer), then come back via Lamb's Gap, because the Northwest side of the mountain is a little easier than the Southeast side, and I don't think I'm ready yet to ascend Lamb's Gap on the Southeast side. Because "That's the kind of shape I'm in."

Another Mile's First Ever Photo Contest

Yesterday after my bike ride I noticed something hanging on my deraileur wire near my bottom bracket. I pulled it off and took a photo. If you can name what this object is, you win...nothing. But you'll have my respect. It took me a minute and I was actually holding it in my hands instead of looking at a crappy cell-phone picture.

Everything in Moderation...Especially Chicken Wings

To me, chicken wings are among the funnest foods to eat. Kind of like barbecue ribs. Something about hanging onto a greasy piece of meat and have to work it off the bone with your teeth. They're not the healthiest thing in the world, or even the best tasting, but they're fun.

Six years ago, my friend Jason got married. For the bachelor party we went to the ESPN Zone (we weren't exactly the wildest bunch, even back then) in Baltimore's Inner Harbor then went out in search of sustenance. Somebody mentioned the Hooters in the Inner Harbor, and I said "wings? I could go for some wings!"

I was flashing back to my college days when I worked at the snack shop and occasionally got to take home leftovers of whatever the days' special was - the end of the special coincided with the end of my shift. One day the special was wings and I brought a box loaded with wings back to my apartment. Then I sat down and ate them. All of them. All forty of them.

So we purchased a bucket of 200 wings to share among the six of us and took it back to the hotel. (This was roughly around midnight. Probably later.) We at as much as we could. Turns out the wings from Hooters are a little bigger than the wings we served at the Falcon Express. I think I downed about twenty and then couldn't handle any more. There were four of us staying in that hotel room that night.

The next morning was a blur, I remember a terrible rumbling in my gut and the hotel room smelling like a flatulant teenage fryer operator after an eight-hour shift and a two hour run. I showered and put on my tux for the wedding but still wasn't feeling right.

We all made it to the church in plenty of time, although once there I had to make several trips to the men's room - one cutting a little close to the ceremony. The ceremony itself was uneventful - although Jason claims he definitely smelled something, it definitely wasn't me - and I don't remember the reception being much of struggle.

But the drive home that evening - 2 hours to Harrisburg, in the rain, with my window cracked to keep the fresh air coming in (and the rancid air flowing out) was a bit of a challenge.

So if you're getting married or headed to a bachelor party remember to take it easy on the chicken wings.

1000 Miles Solo

For the first time in my married life I drove down to South Carolina without my wife. Since Beth is seven months pregnant, she didn't feel much like sitting in a car for eight hours twice in the same weekend.

Besides, my parents' house is a little full these days. Along with my brother who graduated from high school on Saturday, my sister and her two-year old is living with them for the time being. I'm pretty flexible about sleeping arrangements, so I slept on the floor of my brother's room - something I wouldn't subject my wife to - especially this weekend!

I left home a little before ten on Thursday. Beth had a doctor's appointment, but since we both thought that it would just be a "you have nothing to worry about, you and the baby are great" appointments, it didn't seem necessary to stick around for it, as long as I got a full report right after the appointment.

Sure enough, I got a call around noon that Beth and the baby are just fine. So I kept trucking down I-81, keeping an eye out for NASCAR trucks heading up to Pocono for the race. (I saw Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s, Jeff Gordon's, Carl Edwards', Jimmie Johnson's and several other lesser know drivers' trucks go by.)

After I stopped for lunch at a Sheetz in Virginia, I got another call from Beth. On her way home from the doctor's appointment a Buick hit her on it's way into her lane. (The driver apparently didn't realize that two cars cannot occupy the same space at the same time.) Everything turned out fine, although our Honda Civic is a little beat up.

I got to my parent's at around seven that night and we had pork and rice for dinner and played cars until our brains couldn't function well enough to keep playing. I slept surprisingly well on the mattress on my brother's floor and woke up at almost nine o'clock.

It turns out that sleeping in wasn't a big deal, because with all the rain it meant that I couldn't take my bike out and we wouldn't be taking the boat out on the lake that evening. So I spent some time bonding with my nephew, Daniel.


He's a very fun kid and he loves burp/fart noises. What boy doesn't? We played with his Spiderman ball and played guitar hero (he has his own non-functioning guitar) until it was naptime, which didn't go down so well.

That afternoon I had my bike ride with my dad, on some nice flat South Carolina roads. Not flat flat, just flat compared to Pennsylvania roads.

Saturday morning I planned to ride on the ASC Greenway, so I set my alarm for 6:45. I got up got dressed, grabbed breakfast at McDonald's and headed to Fort Mill. When I got there the trail was closed. So I got back in my car and drove back to my parents' house.

My dad must have been itching to play golf because he talked me into playing at a course he belongs to. I had to borrow my mom's clubs and I wore my Keen Newport Sandals - which turned out to not be so bad (the sandals, not the clubs). I hadn't played since last summer, so it was ugly, real ugly. Although I did par three holes, so there were a few glimmers of hope.

We had to rush home to shower and change and make it to Tim's 2:00 graduation ceremony. The ceremony was surprisingly short especially for a class of more than 300, but not short enough for Daniel who had to be escorted out by his mom when they were in the W's.

Sunday morning we had breakfast, then it was another 500 miles driving home. Going away without Beth was strange, since I hadn't done so in so long, and while I liked having full control of my schedule, I missed her like crazy and probably won't be going away like that in the future.

Week Log: June 1- 7

Monday: Bike 20.7 miles, 1:15 Hills!

Wednesday: Bike 8.4 miles, 30 min. Brought my bike to work and used my lunch hour to ride. Since my foot still won't let me run, I might as well do something with that time!

Friday: Bike 23.3 miles, 1:47 Rode my mountain bike with my dad. It was on the road, so it really wasn't a mountain bike ride, but since my dad has a hybrid, it would be frustrating to bring the Scott down to ride with him.

Total: Bike 52 miles

Didn't run at all this week. I'm probably going to just take the rest of the month off from running, and hopefully that will be enough rest for my foot to heal.

Training this week was sparse, since I had commitments Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, then drove to South Carolina on Thursday to see my brother's high school graduation ceremony. I think I'll probably post on the trip later, but for now I'll just say that lots of rain = closed trails.

I'm Sick of Getting Hurt

Beth pointed out to me a few months ago that it seemed like I had one good year running that ended with the Harrisburg Marathon, then ever since then it's been one thing after another breaking down and forcing me to take time off.

I don't know how some people do it. They run 50-60 mile weeks consistently and seem never to get hurt. I run 20-30 mile weeks and I'm hurt all the time. It started with a sore knee after Harrisburg. Then retrocalcaneal bursitis, then ITBS, now I have what I suspect is a stress fracture in my foot.

I don't know if it has to do with my shoes, or how quickly I build miles, or the surface I run on. Or maybe it's the time of year or that I don't warm up properly or stretch often enough.

All that to say that I'm thinking change is on the horizon. Change in how I work out and how far I run and what those workouts look like. I mentioned to Beth that I thought maybe next spring I'd give up long distance running and just do 4-miles a day at lunchtime then take the baby on a good long hike on Saturday. That is, if the baby likes hiking in the carrier we got.

I can't see myself giving up running all together. Exercise has proved to be the best prevention for the migraine headaches that I'm occasionally plagued with. I have a prescription for Imitrex that I use once every three or four months now, instead of two or three weeks as in the past. That in and of itself is motivation enough for me to stay in motion. There's all the long-term stuff too, but if you've ever suffered from migraines you know that once you find a system that works for those, you stick with it!

I'll be taking the month of June off of running in hopes of getting my foot at least mostly healed in time for the Harrisburg Mile. I'll take the long-term planning from there.

Hills, or Getting Some Perspective

Since my bowling league ended at the end of April, my new Monday night ritual has been the "quick" bike ride. That is, a ride usually under an hour that gets me back home in time for dinner.

Last night, instead of taking my usual flat, 15.6-mile route, I decided to cross Route 15 and hit some hills.

Most of this spring has been spent building endurance in anticipation of the 100 Miles of Nowhere. No need for hill training when you're going nowhere, so I've stuck to flatter routes and have enjoyed exploring many areas in the Cumberland Valley that have been new to me.

But since my failed attempt at Lamb's Gap on Saturday, I figured I needed to get my quads in shape so I'm changing my focus to shorter, more difficult rides. So last night I hit as many of my most familiar hills as I could fit in before 6:30. It started right off with the hill on Rossmoyne - which was a good warm-up, then the hill on Arcona road.

As I crested Arcona, I could see the Winding Hills development and noticed a hill that I used to think would be fun to descend on a mountain bike had been paved so I went that direction and climbed that one. I looped around back to Arcona, met Route 114 (at the top of a hill) and turned left towards Lewisberry.

In that direction there is a hill that has beaten me in the past. It's long and the steepest parts are saved for the end. But I ascended that one with relative ease - a lot of grinding in my "granny gear" but not nearly the kind of exertion I put forth at Lamb's Gap.

I descended that hill at over 40 mph, then did a quick climb of that hill (on the less steep side) to experience another 40 mph descent (that would make three on the day). Then after that I headed towards my old nemesis from my former commute, Slate Hill. No problem, again I spent some time grinding in my granny gear, but I had plenty of gas left in the tank when I reached the top.

All in all, I had a hilly 20-mile ride and lots left in the tank. I am a WAY better climber than I used to be, and I am SO going to beat Lamb's Gap this summer!