December Riding

December has been a tough month for me.  First, something early in the month put me in a real funk.  I wrestled with it for several weeks.  In the meantime, my work schedule also has been much busier than usual.  For the first three weeks of this month, I was on the road for all but two workdays.  I didn't finish decorating my Christmas tree until the morning of Christmas Eve!  That is definitely not the norm for me.  Fortunately, I've had several bicycle rides to help me keep it all together.

Chops & Hops Populaire

Our Audax Atlanta group had the Chops & Hops populaire on December 14.  Typically we ride populaires (100K long) audax style, meaning everyone stays together.  This is in contrast to brevets (200K or longer), which we ride in the allure libre style, meaning everyone goes at his/her own pace while staying within the overall time limit.

Being in the audax style, Chops & Hops is a chill, social ride for me.  I especially enjoyed getting caught up with my rando buddy Robert N. while we rode.  He's back on the bike only recently following a hip replacement.

A highlight of the ride was the first control, a convenience store near Monroe.  Someone discovered that they had homemade cathead biscuits.  I'm talking about the real deal, buttermilk and all.

There were a bunch of different fillings available for the biscuits.  I got a fried bologna biscuit.  Outstanding.

Brad got a Spam biscuit.  As we all stood around the parking lot eating our biscuits, we discussed all kinds of important things.  For example, do you know which state has the highest per capita consumption of Spam?  Hawaii.

When we got back to the parking lot where we started, Robert N. gave me the neatest gift:

The manufacturer is a British company who wants to promote good will between cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.  They also brought me some Christmas cheer.

After the ride we all gathered at Chops & Hops.  I started with a flight of four excellent craft beers on tap.

The ones on the other side are called Hobnail and Sparkly Princess.  I didn't want to take a picture of Sparkly Princess because I don't want anyone to think I am one.

I really enjoyed the company of my rando buddies.

Robert N., Wayne, me, Joe, Brad, Andy, and new friend Richard

Bartram Forest

The day after Chops & Hops, Robert and I went for a mountain bike ride.  This time we visited Bartram Forest near Milledgeville.  This was the first mountain bike where I really had fun.  I've decided that mountain bike riding is like skiing because the trail ratings are similar.  I've been trying to ride black diamond trails; no wonder it's been frustrating!  I need to start with some easy, green trails like at Bartram Forest.  The green trails there are flowing with few technical aspects.  I was able to ride easily and still get a little practice maneuvering through the pines.  In fact, it felt like a cross between skiing and road biking.

What a treat to see some longleaf pines!

As I get more comfortable on the green trails, I'll be ready to challenge myself on some intermediate, blue trails.

Peach Peloton

After missing the first two Peach Pelotons in December because of randonneuring, I finally made the third one.  It was good to ride with my Peach Peloton guys and to get a solid workout.  My form was better than I expected.  I stayed with the group the whole time.  That was partially because they went at a more moderate pace for the last 20 miles or so (early Christmas present to me!).  Even so, Robert says it was a hard ride; his normalized power was higher than the previous week.  Maybe my interval training in recent weeks is starting to pay off at Peach Peloton.

Christmas Eve

I took Christmas Eve off from work.  My most pressing tasks were complete, and more importantly, I simply needed some down time.  Dirt road riding was the only business at hand.

I felt like I got my Christmas present early.  What a beautiful morning to ride!  It was warm for Christmas Eve, and the sky was a brilliant blue.  Even after several days of rain, the dirt roads were still very ridable.

The only really wet spot I encountered was at Bike Jump Pond on Jordan Road, where it overtopped the road a bit.  I was still able to ride through it easily.

By the way, Robert and I call it Bike Jump Pond because when his father was a little boy, he and his friends would zoom down the hill (located behind me from my photo vantage point) and jump off their bikes into the pond.  Sounds like a blast.

More Dirt

On the day after Christmas, I originally thought I would do a road ride.  However, by the time I wrapped up things at the office, daylight was fading.  Another dirt road ride it was.  That turned out to be a very happy change of plans.

I headed out shortly before dusk.  My ride didn't have a lot of sunshine, but it had a lot of soulshine.

This is double churches at Campbell Crossroad.  (The second church is behind this one.)  I don't know if anyone goes to church here, but someone put Christmas wreaths on the door.

A spectacular sunset makes this cut-over timber a little less stark.  Note the old deer stand.

I wonder why more people don't take advantage of enjoying the outdoors.  I'm convinced that much of our physical and mental illness is because of a disconnect with the natural world.

Biking and Hiking

I had made Christmas Day my off day last week for exercising, and so Friday became a workout day.  First, I rode to Hillsboro Lake, one of my favorite paved routes.

I rode early enough in the afternoon to get back for a hike with Robert near the Ocmulgee River.  We've been wanting to hike together again.  Additionally, following recent rains, he wanted to check a couple of bridges he had built along the river trail.

Two types of turkey tail mushrooms on the same log

Fun mountain biking feature where you have to duck under

Hard to see from the photo, but I'm trying to show how the trail goes right next to the river

Monster poison ivy vine

A recent storm carried one of Robert's bridges downstream.  We disassembled it and carried it back to where it's supposed to cross the creek.  He'll come back and rebuild it with bigger nails and secure it with cables.

That third-grade gymnastics class paid off.

Another Peach Peloton

Time for another Peach Peloton this past Saturday.  Robert has organized the rides this season, and he's had a fun challenge for the riders.  He carries a whistle and blows it a few times during the ride to signal a sprint (three short blasts) or an attack zone (one long blast).  Whoever wins a particular challenge gets a bandanna to carry in his back pocket - green for a sprint or yellow for an attack zone.  There's an ongoing points challenge for the season.  I have no chance whatsoever in these challenges, and so I just have fun watching the guys.  However, this past Saturday I could have gotten the green bandanna...

We were riding single file on Highway 42 in Monroe County.  It was a quiet stretch of road.  The Butts County sign was just ahead.  I made my move...I sprinted for the county line sign and got it!  Robert says that if he had thought more quickly, he would have blown the whistle when he saw me go.  Oh, well - it was still fun.  As the peloton caught up, Stony joked, "So, you'll race for Butts."  I replied, "I like big Butts, and I cannot lie."

I hoped I would be able to hang with the group, but I was prepared to ride solo.  Good thing.  I stayed with the guys for about the first 30 miles.  They then dropped me like a bad habit.  I knew they would make a store stop in Monticello at about the halfway point.  They went to the Circle K, but I kept going, stopping only briefly at the chamber of commerce office to refill my water bottles.

Riding at a moderate tempo pace, I played a game.  How far could I ride before the guys caught me again?  Could I make it to 50 miles?  Yes!  How about to Hillsboro?  Yes!  The county line?  I almost made it.  The guys caught me about a quarter mile before the Jones County line.  They were doing rotations.  I jumped on the back and sat in.

I stayed with them until the attack zone on Jarrell Plantation Road.  Everyone regrouped at the end before we turned onto Highway 18.  I hung on for a few more miles, but some of the strongest guys pushed it hard as we climbed away from the Ocmulgee River.  That was it for me and the peloton.  Even so, I had a good ride.  Also, I kept pushing myself to the end, setting and keeping goals for average mph and average power.

Birthday Ride with Chad

Yesterday I went for a ride with my cycling buddy Chad.  But which cycling buddy Chad?  I have six of them!  (That must have been a popular name in the late 60s to early 70s.)  This time it was Chad Briggs, visiting from Alaska.  His parents live just over the state line in Alabama.  Whenever he comes for a visit, our mutual group of cycling friends try to get together for a ride.  Yesterday it turned out to be just Chad and me, but we had a great ride in the Silk Sheets area.  Coincidentally, it was also his birthday!

Chad and I met at the Blue Eyed Daisy bakery in the Serenbe development.  I had mapped out a 100K (62-mile) route for us.  Between some time trials I did several years ago and the Silk Sheets 200K brevet, I know my way around the area fairly well.

The route started in south Fulton County and went south into Coweta County.  Did you know that you can sit on the square in Newnan and see a Coweta woman?  Or even a Coweta man?  Looking back, I probably should have routed us around Newnan.  Traffic wasn't that bad, but it definitely was the busiest section of the route.  On the other hand, keeping that section allowed me to take some photos that I regretted missing when I did the Silk Sheets 200K brevet the first Saturday of this month.

I'm so glad someone is looking out for the cows in space.

It was great to see my friends Ray and Tina Egan out on my ride!  Ray coordinates the Sasquatch Ride and, in fact, looks like a Sasquatch :)

It was very good weather for December.  We avoided the rain, and temperatures ranged from the upper 60s to low 70s (ha ha! just like the years when Chad was a popular boy's name).

Chad and I had lunch at the Blue Eyed Daisy after our ride.  I can vouch for the pimento cheese.

Overall, 2019 was a great year.  I may have had a hiccup here at the end, but I'm looking forward to 2020!

MTB

I’m still working on getting the hang of mountain biking.  Last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was my most recent MTB outing.  I joined Mark, Monte, Robert, and Stony for a ride out of Juliette that went on the trails near the Ocmulgee River.

I stayed with the guys for the first few miles on River Road.  That wasn’t a surprise because it was regular dirt road riding – nothing technical.  As soon as we got on the connector to the Ocmulgee River trails, however, they dropped me like a hot potato.  Having fully expected that, I was glad I had uploaded the route to my bike computer beforehand.

The trail right next to the river was the most fun for me.  For the first time it felt like I was controlling my bicycle rather than vice versa.  The best way I can describe it is that I felt on top of the bike.  The guys waited for me at the end of this section, and I happily shared my progress with them.  That was the last time I saw them…

As usual, I fell a few times.  At least one time I got a photo of these cool mushrooms:

 There were several really steep climbs.  Once or twice, I gutted it out all the way to the top – goal!  More commonly, I went off track (still getting used to the turning radius of my bike) and had to get off my bike mid-climb.  Then, I wouldn’t be able to get going again and would have to walk my bike the rest of the way to the top.

The trail took me to an area of cut-over timber.  It was difficult to follow the trail, even with my bike computer map.  Eventually, I picked my way through.

Next came this completely kamikaze hillside.  I don’t see how anyone could ride up or down these slopes.  I had to hoof it for a good way.

It was a beautiful, warm fall day.  The only downside was that in some places, the leaves were so thick that it was hard to discern the trail.  A few times I had to rely on my bike computer’s compass to get me back on track.

Navigating while trying to avoid trees and other hazards was wearing me out.

When I finally got to Smith Mill Road, I had had enough beating.  I took the regular dirt roads back to Juliette.  I can’t say that I really had fun, but I was determined not to have a bad attitude.  I keep telling myself that it’s healthy for me mentally and physically to learn a new skill, particularly if I have to work at it.

Trying to follow the trail reminded me of the Brady Bunch episode where Marcia joins Greg’s Frontier Scout troop.  The handbook has no stipulation that a Frontier Scout has to be a boy, and so Marcia sets out to complete all the required initiation tasks.  The last task is following a trail through the woods.  Greg was supposed to blaze the trail for her, but he admits to Mike that some of his marks are kind of small.  (Greg wants her to fail that task.)  Marcia makes it.  So will I.