Endurance Ride and Endurance Dog

Randonneurs are like magpies.  We don't earn awards for finishing first, but we can work toward awards that recognize completing a certain number of rides, accumulating certain distances, visiting a certain number of locations, etc.  Some of us (e.g., me) are motivated to collect these awards, which are shiny, metal trinkets.

One award has been in my sights for quite a while: the ACP 5000 Award.  (ACP = Audax Club Parisien, the mothership of randonneuring in the world.)  This award requires completing a 200K, 300K, 400K, 600K, 1000K, Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), a flèche, and enough other ACP events to total at least 5000 km.  You have to complete all the rides within four years of the first qualifying event.  A 1000K has been my only missing piece for the ACP 5000 Award.  Because I'm one-and-done on PBP, my window of opportunity has been getting smaller.  I'm so excited that a couple of weekends ago, I reached my goal!

After completing PBP (1200K) in 2019, I didn't plan to do any brevets longer than 400K, except the elusive 1000K to get the ACP 5000 Award.  We haven't had a 1000K in Georgia since I started randonneuring, and so I was looking for an out-of-state 1000K.  I had planned to knock it out in the spring of 2020 with a 1000K in North Carolina.  Then, the pandemic hit, and all brevets were cancelled for much of 2020.  Randonneurs USA (RUSA) mostly got back in the groove during 2021.  It was time to get serious about my 1000K.  When the 2022 RUSA calendar came out, I searched for 1000Ks within driving distance.  The most convenient one distance-wise and schedule-wise was the Pine Island 1000K in Florida in October.  I locked in my calendar.

I'm so glad the Pine Island 1000K panned out.  I much prefer the coast (Florida) to the mountains (North Carolina).  Also, I found that the flatness of Florida worked much more to my advantage than I anticipated.

PBP was the physically hardest thing I ever did.  With Pine Island being only 200K shorter than PBP, I was somewhat nervous at the prospect of my 1000K.  But I knew I could do it.  Interestingly, the Pine Island 1000K turned out to be much easier than PBP.  Not easy, but easier.  Several factors accounted for that.  The main one was rest.  I went into the Pine Island 1000K better rested than for any other long brevet I've done.  (One benefit to me from the pandemic is that I had a lot less organized activity I had to do, and so for the first time in my adult life, I started getting adequate sleep.  I realized that I had been sleep-deprived for years.  I've tried to be more diligent about getting rest ever since.)  Not having the time zone difference of PBP surely helped, too.  Additionally, the Pine Island 1000K was set up as a series of loops.  We got to stay at the same hotel for the entire brevet, riding a loop each day.  The logistics were greatly simplified, and it was luxurious to get to sleep in a comfortable bed after each leg.  And I got about 6 hours of sleep each night!  (That's a lot during randonneuring.)

Pre-Brevet

I got work well enough squared away to be gone for a few days.  On Thursday morning I headed south in Robert's Bronco.  I can carry my bicycle in my own car, but I needed extra space for a special reason.  Read to the end of my report to find out why :)

The six-hour drive was simple, mostly a straight shot down I-75.  An audiobook made it pretty enjoyable.  Within minutes of arriving at the Comfort Inn in Tavares, FL, I spotted several skinny, middle-aged guys - surely, fellow randonneurs.  About a dozen people had signed up for the 1000K.  I was happy to find that I knew one other rider, Paul from Colorado.  I had ridden with him in 2019 on the Sweet Onion 600K, which was my 600K qualifier for PBP.  At first I was surprised that most of us at the Pine Island 1000K were from out of state.  Then, Paul pointed out that a lot of people there were using this brevet to get the earliest possible pre-registration for PBP 2023.  You pre-register in January of a PBP year, and the date you can sign up is determined by the longest brevet you completed in the previous year.  Riding a 1000K or 1200K in the previous year gives you the earliest sign-up option.

The Regional Brevet Administrator (RBA) for Central Florida Randonneurs is also named Paul.  RBA Paul did a quick inspection of each rider's bicycle to make sure he/she had proper front and rear lights and a reflective vest and reflective ankle bands - all RUSA requirements for nighttime riding.

For now, it was still light outside.  RBA Paul recommended an Irish pub only a few miles away.  I turned this into a coffeeneuring opportunity!  This is my third year of coffeeneuring.  The basic requirements of coffeeneuring are to do seven rides in October and November.  Each ride has to be at least two miles long, and you have to stop to drink coffee or other coffee-like beverage along the way.

I rode on fairly quiet roads from the hotel to downtown Tavares, which is a really nice, old-style Florida town (not touristy).  I wheeled around a few blocks to see if any other restaurants struck my fancy, but I decided to go with the Irish pub.

I parked my bicycle by the railing around the patio and went inside to see if I could sit outside to eat.  A friendly waitress greeted me, calling me "milady."  Good vibes already.  No problem for me to join the several other customers who were already sitting on the patio.

I thought about just getting iced tea for my beverage, but how can I go to an Irish pub and not get a beer?  I don't like coffee, but I chose a Guiness Nitro, which was actually pretty good.  It had a lot of chocolate overtones.

A guy at the next table said he is a Guinness connoisseur and insisted that I drink it from a glass instead of a can.  He even went inside and fetched me a glass :)  I think he was right on his recommendation.

I ordered fish chips, which offered a nice Venn diagram overlap between pub fare and my desire to eat fish while I was in Florida.  It was really good, and I'm glad I got some fish then because this was my only real meal during the whole trip.

A woman at another table had on some cologne that smelled good, like patchouli.  The light from the setting sun was beautiful.  I soaked in all the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the warm evening.

My coffeenuering outing helped me relax and focus before my big ride the next morning...

Day 1 (400K to Gainesville)

I set my alarm for 3:00 AM to give myself plenty of time before our 4:00 AM rollout.  I had managed about 6 1/2 hours of sleep - not as much as on a regular night, but I never sleep very well before a big cycling event anyway.  Surprisingly, these 6 1/2 hours were pretty decent quality.

Within a few miles, we started bunching into groups that would stay mostly intact the rest of the weekend.  Happily, I found myself riding with Paul.  We ride at about the same pace, and I was glad for his greater experience on very long brevets.  Additionally, I quickly was reminded of our shared appreciation for dad jokes.  Although the quality of our jokes definitely declined over the three days, they did a lot to keep me going.

In a little under two hours, we reached the first control, a gas station in Oklawaha.  I was excited to see this sign.  I thought it was maybe a sign for a local fair.  Free ride in a sheriff's car - how fun!  Then I read the second part (ha ha!)

With it being so early in the ride, I felt good, and it kept getting better.  The sun rose a little while later (always a spirit lifter during a brevet), and Frank from Maryland started riding with Paul and me to make a very companionable group.

The day's 400K loop took us northward, turning around in Gainesville.  As we approached Gainesville, we rode several miles on a bike path.  It was nice not to have to think about traffic for a while.

One of our controls was at a bike shop in Gainesville.  I had never stopped at a bike shop for a brevet control before - cool!  Even better, they had a bike shop dog!  Her name is Nellie.

Much of the route was out-and-back.  A literal and figurative high point of the day was a bridge on Highway 316.  We had a beautiful view of the woods and wetlands below.  On the return trip, Frank, Paul, and I stopped for a photo opp.  I forgot to get photos from Paul (the only one of us who actually took pictures there).

The guys and I booked it that day.  We averaged 18 mph for about 255 miles, the fastest 400K I have ever ridden!  The flat terrain definitely was helping.  Even so, would I be able to maintain this pace for the entire 1000K? 

Back at the Comfort Inn in Tavares, I took a (wondrous) shower, ate the pimento cheese sandwich I had stowed in my hotel room refrigerator (I was too tired to seek out a real meal), and fell asleep almost the moment my head hit the pillow.

Day 2 (300K to the Gulf Coast)

A separate Pine Island 300K brevet was held on Saturday, concurrently with the 1000K.  The 300K riders started at 6:00 AM.  Several 1000K riders started with them, but Frank, Paul, and I opted for a slightly earlier start at 5:00 AM.  Although my energy level was good, I was a little antsy about continuing to ride as fast as the previous day.  That turned out to be a non-issue.  Paul intentionally started out more slowly, partly for recovery and partly because experience has taught him the wisdom of riding at a pace that you truly can keep up all day.

We rode another mostly out-and-back route, this time to Pine Island on the Gulf coast.  One of our controls (both ways) was Lake Lindsey Deli.

This was a great control with lots to choose from.  Paul mentioned root beer - I hadn't had a root beer in years!  It was delicious with a Cuban sandwich.

As a bonus, we got some good dad-joke fuel:

RBA Paul had informed us that over the course of the entire 1000K, we would see most of what Florida has to offer terrain-wise, including urban areas, beaches, wetlands, and forests.  He also said that this day's route had a few bumps - hillier than what most people would expect from Florida.  The area west of Lake Lindsey was the hilliest.  There were some rollers but nothing even as hard as what I'm used to riding at home.  Still, the Florida hills were noticeable on such a long ride.

The biggest drawback to me on Saturday's ride was the significant number of rude drivers.  Florida Man is real.  I also saw a lot of truly mean-spirited political signs.  Sadly, I have become more accustomed to the increasingly vitriolic political discourse these days, but the quantity and extremity (e.g., prominent F-bombs) of some of the signs were unsettling.

Perhaps all this came together to give me a vaguely dystopian feeling as we rode through Weeki Wachee.  As a kid when my family drove to Florida to go to the beach, I remember signs along I-75 enticing people to visit the mermaids at Weeki Wachee.  We never did, but I was always rather simultaneously fascinated and spooked by the idea of the mermaids.  They are still there as far as I know.  As I pedaled through the area, I also sensed a lot of jingoism.  In reality, I only saw a VFW and maybe a few signs for military bases and/or recruiting, but I couldn't shake the feeling of I Dream of Jeannie (set in Florida) gone bad.

We turned onto Cortez Boulevard, which took us toward our turnaround point for the day on Pine Island.  The roads got quieter as we approached the island.  I doubted the wisdom of filling across the channel to build this access road and of constructing houses right at the edge of the small, vulnerable island.  Nevertheless, my sense of dystopia ebbed in the unmistakable beauty of the area.  I had just ridden to the Gulf coast!  I was determined to enjoy it.

We rode to a park at the tip of the island.  Cars have to pay to get in, but we could ride in on bicycles for free.  The actual control was Willie's Tropical Breeze.  I joked to Frank and Paul that this place gave me the willies.  Actually, it didn't.  I had a lot of fun there.  After dipping my feet in the Gulf...

I ordered a Tropical Breeze (mango and frozen lemonade) and relaxed at a table in the shade.

Willie's offers typical beachgoing junk food in a blaze of garish pastel decor.  Groovy music from the 1970s - The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, etc. - was playing over the sound system.  The whole scene had a pleasantly tacky-tourist/chill vibe.

Frank was feeling the heat on the journey back to Tavares.  Shade was scarce, and so we had to make do with stopping for a breather under a bridge.  Paul noted that his wife really stays on him to wear sunscreen, and so he applied it copiously.  He had put so much on at Willie's that he looked like Marcel Marceau.

Frank was grateful for the relatively shady area on the return to the Lake Lindsey Deli control.  At the same time, the hills really started taking a toll on his sore knee.  We took a substantial break at the deli.  As I relaxed on the front porch, a guy on a trike motorcycle pulled up.  He looked a little like Freddie Mercury, enhanced by the fact that he was playing "Under Pressure" as he rode up.  We struck up a friendly conversation.  He described how he had built his trike himself with parts like a motor from a '68 Volkswagen Beetle.  He had even won several motorcycle shows with his trike.  I know nothing about motorcycles, but I was impressed with the guy's skill and passion for his hobby.

We still had about 100K to go for the day.  Paul and I encouraged Frank as best we could.  Our last control of the day was a return visit to the BP in Webster.  (Where does a bee go to go to the bathroom?  A BP station.)  Nothing much appealed to me at this control, but I knew I needed to eat.  I was about to go with Cheez-Its, one of my standbys, when I spied the boiled peanuts; they hit the spot.

Randonneuring is weird; in what other situation would you sit on the curb in front of a convenience store and eat boiled peanuts?

Frank felt truly awful for the rest of the ride.  I know what it's like to feel bad on a ride, and so I greatly sympathized.  On the other hand, I was frustrated that we weren't riding faster.  I kept my frustration to myself, however, because making sure Frank was OK was the most important thing.  Some of the 300K riders joined us for the last miles, and we all limped back to the Comfort Inn together.  Frank was a real trooper to push through to the end.

Paul and I hoped Frank would stick with it through the entire 1000K, but I knew Frank's ride was over as he stood at the hotel desk and cancelled his hotel room for the following night.  He was heading home the next morning.

Day 3 (300K to the Atlantic Coast)

Paul and I headed out at 5:00 AM again the next morning.  We rode a little while with Elly, who was really nice.  However, he told us that he would be riding slower and urged us to continue on at our own pace.  Paul and I soon joined up with Josh.  I greatly enjoyed riding as this threesome for the remainder of the brevet.

This third day had the most beautiful scenery.  We rode through farmland and national forest.  It was my favorite day of the brevet.  As if that weren't great enough...we saw a Florida black panther, which is endangered!  Our sighting lasted only about 10 seconds, and we determined what it was somewhat by process of elimination.  It was about the size of a large dog but moved like a cat, and it was too skinny to be a bear.  Because all three of us saw it, I feel more confident in our identification.

At one point I was pulling.  I must have zoned out because Paul commented that we had just passed a turtle in the road.  Turtle?  I had to turn around and rescue it!  I rescue turtles, even in foreign countries.

The first control of the day was about 53 miles in at a Kangaroo Express in Seville.  I let my stomach be my guide (i.e., whatever looked appealing), and I chose a burrito that I heated up in the microwave - true convenience store grub.  I had never gotten something like this on a brevet, which kind of amazed Paul.  I'll admit that it tasted really good.

The next control was a Circle K in Bunnell about 24 miles farther.  I knew I needed to keep eating, but nothing appealed to me.  Josh perfectly described what a multiday brevet is like: "My body is ravenous, but nothing sounds good.  I feel kind of pukey and kind of like I could eat a whole pizza."

We arrived at the Atlantic Ocean at Flagler Beach.  From there we rode south, parallel to the ocean, for about 12 miles toward Ormond Beach.  There was something magical about riding along the coast.  Even more special was getting to ride on opposite coasts of Florida on back-to-back days.  I simply had to put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean as I had done the day before in the Gulf of Mexico.

Josh had been eager to go to Publix in Ormond Beach for lunch.  I agree that Publix has been a good place to stop on more than one brevet.  They have tasty sandwiches, fruit, Gatorade, etc. and decent bathrooms.  After a substantial and refreshing stop, we were encouraged that we had less than 100 miles to go.

A Florida native, Josh gave us a heads up that we would be riding through a beautiful wetland area as we headed away from the beach.  It was, in fact, the most scenic part of the entire brevet.

Only one more control, a return trip to the Kangaroo Express in Seville, remained until the finish.  We were tired but knew we would make it to the end.  As we rode back through the farming area, I stopped to get a picture of grapefruit growing - something I had never seen!

We were tired as the day's light faded.  More dad jokes and some Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey distracted us for a while.  We stopped to don our reflective gear and kept pedaling.  Some of the roads were rather rough, especially along the shoulder.  Not long after the sun went down, I was drafting behind Paul and Josh.  Pow!  I hit a nail that I hadn't seen in the road.  My back tire went flat.  All this time without a mechanical - we were only 20 miles from the end.

I had a tire repair kit and went to work.  I want to be self-sufficient on basic repairs like this, but my Trek Domane that I was riding has Gator Skin tires, which are really hard to get off and on the rim.  The guys might have left me to my own devices, but as we were stopped by the side of the road, kamikaze mosquitoes attacked us!  We hadn't noticed them while we were moving on our bicycles.  Josh and Paul stepped in to speed up the tire-changing process as we all did the mosquito dance.  I'm sure it would have looked funny to an observer, but it felt excruciating.  Also, I wasn't laughing because I was embarrassed to accept help and subject the guys to the mosquitoes.  At the same time, I also greatly appreciated their assistance.  Part of randonneuring is helping each other out.  Maybe this was good karma for sticking with Frank the day before.

We motored for the remaining miles.  I pulled as much as I could, doing penance in my mind because of the flat.  We got back a little before 9:00 PM - a safe and successful 1000K!  We finished in just under 65 hours, well within the 75-hour time limit.  I was also thrilled because based on my PBP finish, I thought I might be finishing the 1000K in the middle of the night.  Maybe I could have finished a few hours sooner, but the deliberately moderate pace that Paul set on days 2 and 3 kept me from being wiped out at the end.  Besides, having rando buddies was a lot more fun as well as safer.

Josh immediately went to take a shower, not even taking the shower beer that RBA Paul offered him.  (Shower beer - brilliant!  How had I never known this is a thing?)  However, rando buddy Paul and I decided to eat first.  Dominoes pizza arrived a few minutes after we did.  RBA Paul also had a variety of adult beverages, including beer, cider, and Scotch.  I can't tell you how good that pizza and Scotch tasted!

Post-Brevet

As if the Pine Island 100K weren't epic enough...

I also brought home Olive!

She's a Galga.  (Galgo = male, Galga = female)  Galgos are sometimes called Spanish greyhounds.  They look similar to regular greyhounds but are a different breed.  Greyhounds are sprinters while Galgos are endurance runners.  Galgos are used for hunting in Spain.  They typically are used for only one season and then are killed or abandoned, so Olive is truly a rescue.

Galgos have been on my radar screen for several years, and now seemed like a good time to adopt.  The closest Galgo adoption group to me is Greyhounds in Motion in Florida.  The timing worked out for me to bring Olive home after my 1000K.  Now you know why I needed to take Robert's Bronco on my trip: to carry both my bicycle and Olive!

I told my rando buddies about Olive.  She also motivated me throughout the ride.  I counted down the miles: "Less than 500 miles to Olive!"  "Less than 400 miles to Olive!"...

As I drove home, I let my mind linger on the magic of the long weekend.  I completed my 1000K and, thus, the last requirement of the ACP 5000 Award.  I got to do it while exploring some surprisingly beautiful and varied parts of Florida.  Florida is definitely more than beaches and Mickey Mouse!

John Anderson's song "Seminole Wind" had been playing in my mind all weekend.  Now I listened to it on the drive.

Ever since the days of old
Men would search for wealth untold
They'd dig for silver and for gold
And leave the empty holes
And way down south in the Everglades
Where the black water rolls and the saw grass waves
The eagles fly and the otters play
In the land of the Seminole

So blow, blow Seminole wind
Blow like you're never gonna blow again
I'm callin' to you like a long-lost friend
But I know who you are
And blow, blow from the Okeechobee
All the way up to Micanopy
Blow across the home of the Seminole
The alligator and the gar

Progress came and took its toll
And in the name of flood control
They made their plans and they drained the land
Now the Glades are goin' dry
And the last time I walked in the swamp
I stood up on a cyprus stump
I listened close and I heard the ghost
Of Oseola cry

So blow, blow Seminole wind
Blow like you're never gonna blow again
I'm callin' to you like a long-lost friend
But I know who you are
And blow, blow from the Okeechobee
All the way up to Micanopy
Blow across the home of the Seminole
The alligator and the gar

Then, I listened to Tom Petty, a Gainesville, FL native.  In recent years I have really come to appreciate his large catalog of good, solid music.

Best of all, Robert, Allie, Fleetwood, and I have a wonderful addition to our pack.  As you can see, Olive already blends in well <3

Good Eats Randonée

Last Saturday was the best kind of ride - just riding for fun and enjoying being outside.  I started by going to the farmers market.  I got some tomatoes and the first muscadines of the season!

After dropping off my produce at the office to pick up later, I continued on my journey.  I planned to ride about 75 miles total, stopping in Eatonton for lunch.  The best way to get from Monticello to Eatonton via bicycle is on Glenwood Springs Road.  I had a couple of options for getting to Glenwood Springs.  I took Goolsby Road to Fullerton-Phillips Road.  Then, I turned from Fullerton-Phillips onto Highway 212.  I could have stayed off of Highway 212 completely, but this gave me an extra mile or two toward my goal of 75.  Fortunately, traffic isn't bad on this section of Highway 212.  Also, this took me to Glenwood Springs via Rabbit Skip Road and Stanfordville Road, which are some of my favorite roads to ride on.  It turned out to make my ride a little more adventurous, too.

I was riding on Highway 212 when I spotted another cyclist ahead of me.  His bicycle was loaded down, and he was walking.  As I approached him, I called out hello so I wouldn't startle him.  He looked very hot and sweaty.  I asked him if he needed anything.  Before he could answer, I offered him one of my water bottles; I hadn't even drunk out of it yet.  He took it appreciatively.  I saw a large container of water in one of his saddle bags, but I didn't ask questions.  I also offered him the Zuda Bar from my pocket.  He tried to refuse, saying, "You need that."  I replied, "That's OK.  I'm going to a store."  I had packed the bar merely as a backup anyway, but I'm sure this guy needed it more than I did regardless.  Maybe other people would ask where he was going, etc., but I try to stay out of other people's business.  So, I just asked again if he had everything he needed.  He said yes, and I pedaled on.  I thought about him for the next few miles, wishing him well on whatever journey he was on.

As I turned onto Rabbit Skip Road, I was soaking up the warm summer morning and feeling good after my brief encounter with the cyclist, which reminded me of how we're all connected to each other and all living things.  Then came Stanfordville Road with its fun, swoopy curves through beautiful forest.  At the end of Stanfordville Road, I turned right onto Glenwood Springs Road.  Right after the turn is a bridge over Murder Creek.  A family was standing on the bridge looking at the creek.  I waved as I rode by.  A little girl who looked to be about four or five waved back.  She was wearing a T-shirt that read "Enjoy Your Life."  I'm not one to go looking for signs, but I'll take that as a sign.

About eight miles farther, I reached Eatonton.  It was good to go back to Tienda Tarimoro, a wonderful Mexican market.  Most of the inside contains the market, which has all kinds of treasures: produce like nopales (cactus pads), Mexican Coca-Cola with real sugar instead of corn syrup, Pope John Paul II candles, etc.  You enter the store through the tiny restaurant portion.  Lunch was my first order of business.

The very friendly owner of the market (I should learn his name) sat down with me for a moment.  I asked him how things were going, and he said it's very busy.  I'm glad he has built such a good business for himself.  By the way, he has done some beautiful rock masonry on the exterior of the building.  Robert told me that the man lives on Highway 16 on the west side of Eatonton, where he has done similar attractive rockwork.

A few minutes later, a guy came in and said, "I want to get some of that small, white cheese."  I replied, "OK, I'll let you do that."  No wonder he mistook me for an employee as I was wearing the traditional Mexican cycling kit.

My lunch was soon ready.  It was delicious as always.  I got my usual: sopes with carnitas (roasted pork).  They were topped with the most flavorful queso fresco.

Sopes are made from masa.  They are kind of crispy and kind of chewy and have that wonderful corn masa flavor.

I ordered water to go with my meal.  I thought the waitress would bring me a glass of tap water, but she brought me a bottle of water from the market side.  I'm not a fan of bottled water, and so I swapped it for a Mexican soft drink.  That's more fun anyway.  The grapefruit flavored one is my favorite.

When I finished, I walked to the cash register to pay for my lunch.  Even though I didn't get one, I admired the assortment of Mexican pastries.

I also saw something that I hadn't noticed before.  There are three brightly colored phones, two red and one yellow, that are set up for easy phone calls to Latin American countries.  They look like the phone that Commissioner Gordon uses to call Batman.

Because water wasn't as readily available at Tienda Tarimoro as I expected, I made another quick stop at Eatonton Presbyterian Church to refill my water bottle at their outdoor spigot.  Being down to a single water bottle, I made sure to take advantage of water when it was available.  I topped off again later at Providence Baptist Church in Shady Dale.  I've been grateful to get water at both of these churches a number of times before on bicycle rides.

I made one more stop a few miles from the end: the new Dairy Queen in Monticello.  It was the first time I had been there.  It's next to the old Dairy Queen, which will be repurposed into a convenience store.  The old Dairy Queen was there for more than 50 years.  The new one is nice, but the interior doesn't have the charm of the old one.  (But how could it compete with etched glass deer atop the booths at the old one?)  On the other hand, the new one has more features, including ready-to-go ice cream cakes and outdoor seating.  I took my caramel cheesecake Blizzard outside to eat it, and it started melting fast!

 Bonne route and bon appetit!

25th BBQ Bass Ride

Last Saturday was Robert's and my 25th BBQ Bass Ride.  Who knew that a fun ride we did in 1998 would become an annual tradition?  It started small: about 4 of us rode a loop to Hillsboro for Tillman's BBQ (long gone) for a total of maybe 18 miles.  We thought that was pretty epic.

The mileage and number of friends have grown over the years.  We've had close to 30 riders in some years, and routes have been as long as 75 miles.  Last Saturday there were 16 of us, and we rode about 60 miles.

The ride started from Jordan Engineering.  I went uptown early to pick up some fried pies from Laverne Howard at the farmers market on the Monticello square.

Apple, peach, and sweet potato fried pies!

Laverne makes the best fried pies!  They have been a wonderful addition to the BBQ Bass Ride in recent years.

Robert set up the lobby at Jordan Engineering to receive our friends.  This year we had swag to celebrate the 25th BBQ Bass Ride!

Everyone signed in so I would know how many deluxe plates to order from Fresh Air BBQ.

I called in and payed for the order before we rode.  Garrison was our excellent SAG driver this year.  He picked up the BBQ for us as well as provided ride support.

Robert had mapped a great route.  As we rode on Pitts Chapel Road, I was having an in-depth conversation with Brian Rogers, our new teammate from England.  I just discovered that he's a big Rush fan, too.  We talked about Neil Peart's literary references in their lyrics, Brian getting to see Rush in his hometown in England, and the excellent Rush documentary, Beyond the Lighted Stage.

I was feeling so good, grateful for my community of cycling friends.  It was a warm, sunny June morning - my favorite time of year.  The western end of Pitts Chapel Road is kind of swoopy with beautiful woods on either side.  The sky was blue, and everything was the vibrant green of late spring.  Queen Anne's lace was blooming along the road.  For a few moments, I was fully present and happy.  It was the best part of the whole day.

Just a few miles farther, it was time for our party stop.  Robert had found a great location, a secluded spot behind the Newborn community center, next to a cemetery.

"I want you to bury me right over here."

I ducked behind this building for a nature break before I saw the door.

It must be at least a two-seater.  Maybe all 16 of us riders could have fit in here at once.

Garrison pulled up with the party supplies a few minutes after we arrived.  When Robert and I originally started the ride, it was just the BBQ Ride.  However, after a few years it became the BBQ Bass Ride when we added Bass beer.  We wanted decent beer for our ride, and we were into Bass back then.  For a few years we had only Bass, but eventually we started offering a variety of beers (including a Foster's oilcan for Bill).  We still like to get at least a six-pack of Bass each year.  Ironically, I couldn't find any Bass for our 25th BBQ Bass ride, but we had some acceptable substitutes.

The BBQ Bass Ride is the only time I have a mid-ride adult beverage.  My second favorite part of last Saturday was when I got back on my bicycle after the party stop.  The beer made me feel really good, and I loved everybody soooo much!

Amazingly, the group stayed together for the whole ride.  We rolled back into the Jordan Engineering parking lot, changed clothes, and sat under the two tents Robert had set up for us to enjoy BBQ and fried pies.

I truly love this annual get together with friends from various parts of my cycling world.  I'm grateful for each person who could join us.

Our BBQ Bass shirt from 2003

May I Ride

May is my favorite month.  It has Robert's and my anniversary (yea!) and the best weather of the year.  It's now June, but I still want to write and remember a few highlights from May.

Indian Springs Ride

Robert and I were trying to figure out how to ride and kayak on our anniversary weekend.  We came up with a great plan.  That Saturday morning, he drove over to Dauset Trails do a group MTB ride, taking the kayaks in the trailer.  I rode my road bike over and met him at Indian Springs.  I had sent a picnic with him in the car, which we enjoyed in the park behind Yahola.

We went to the ice cream shop for dessert.

Next was kayaking on the lake at Indian Springs State Park.

We saw at least three blue herons!  (I think we saw one of them twice on different sides of the lake.)  Robert has a pretty good zoom lens on his camera.

I rode home on my road bike, stopping at the spring before I left to refill my bottles with some delicious sulfur water.  It tastes like liquid hard-boiled eggs.

By the way, we got to go for a tandem ride the next day.  It was mainly to get ready for the Georgia Tandem Rally a few weeks later, but it was also an enjoyable way to remember our getaway transportation from our wedding reception 27 years ago :)

Almost caught him

Valley of the Giants

The next weekend was a big race, Valley of the Giants.  But first I have to describe the amazing week leading up to it.  I have just embarked on an exciting new adventure, the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership (IGEL).  It's a leadership and personal development program that addresses environmental issues.  My class has 31 people.  I like them a lot.  Most are from the metro Atlanta area, and most come from large work environments, e.g., Coca-Cola, Shaw, EPA, EPD, etc.  I'm excited to represent Middle Georgia as a single-employee company, Polyscape, LLC.

IGEL consists of five four-day sessions, held every other month in various parts of Georgia.  Our first session was in the mountains, at the Lodge at Amicalola Falls.  This actually worked out well logistically because IGEL ended on Friday, and Valley of the Giants was the next day in Blairsville, a little farther north.

I took my road bike to IGEL with me, hoping to get in a little riding on at least a few of the days.  I did, but I had a big surprise: the Lodge at Amicalola Falls sits atop a huge hill.  And I mean huge!  The climb is about 1.25 miles with an average grade of more than 12%.  Parts of it are about 25%!  I don't know when I last attempted a climb that steep - probably back in the 2000s when a few of us climbed Brasstown Bald to watch the end of one of the stages of the now-defunct Tour de Georgia.  Anyway, the climb up to the Lodge at Amicalola Falls was killer.  I did it twice while I was there.  It inadvertently helped me; I figured if I could do that climb twice, I could handle anything that Valley of the Giants threw my way.

Robert came up for the race, too, and brought my gravel bike.  He raced the intermediate route (61 miles), and I raced the long route (88 miles; it was supposed to be 92 miles, but at the last minute the Forest Service closed one of the roads we were to ride on).  Yes, there were some serious climbs.  The hardest was a dirt road up Wolfpen Gap that I had never ridden.  I gutted it out.  I managed to ride up the entire way, even passing a few guys who had to walk.  There were a few other big climbs later in the race that I had encountered on Brian's Gravel Monster, our first Georgia gravel randonneuring event a few months ago.  Already being familiar with those later climbs definitely gave me a mental boost.

Only two women completed the Valley of the Giants long route, my friend Julie and me.  However, Julie didn't read the race rules.  The entire route wasn't timed.  Only four sections were.  I hit it hard during the timed sections but went fairly easily on the rest.  She finished the entire course before I did, but I went faster on all the timed sections and, therefore, won.  Sometimes it pays to read the instructions!

The race organizers use the timed-section format to encourage people to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and not just hammer the whole time.  This format appeals to me anyway, but it particularly suited me this time.  I was tired going into the race, which I attributed to staying up too late every night talking to my IGEL classmates (totally worth it, though).  However, when I got home I discovered that I also may have felt fatigued because of COVID!

Two of my IGEL classmates tested positive while we were there despite all of us being required to be vaccinated and boosted.  We learned of the first case on Thursday and the second case on Friday morning, our last day.  I did a COVID test that Friday afternoon.  Because it was negative and I didn't have any symptoms, I continued on to the race in Blairsville as scheduled.  However, when I got home Saturday night, I did a second COVID test, which was positive.  About the same time, my symptoms started.  They were mild, and I felt normal by Tuesday.  Even so, I stayed in isolation, using the guest bedroom and bathroom and working from home.  What a bummer to get COVID after being so careful to avoid it for more than two years.  But as Robert said, it was nearly inevitable that we would get it eventually.  I'm just grateful it didn't affect me too badly.  I'm even more grateful that I didn't pass the virus to either Julie or Robert.

I scrupulously read the COVID recommendations on the CDC website.  I saw that I needed to stay isolated at least five days.  Unfortunately, that meant that Robert and I couldn't go to the Georgia Tandem Rally the next weekend.  On the other hand, I still could ride my bicycle by myself.  Within a week I was back up to full speed.

Mid GA Peaches 200K Brevet

I was happy that I was able to do the Mid GA Peaches 200K according to plan.  Six of us gathered in Thomaston last Saturday for this beautiful route on many roads familiar to me from Peach Peloton.

The mode of names of my cyclopeeps is Chad (5).  Still, it's pretty cool that I have 2 cyclopeeps named Graham.  I got to ride with both of them on this brevet.  They had never met each other.  I differentiated between the two of them by calling them Graham the Elder and Graham the Younger, a la Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger.  The resemblance is uncanny.

I told them to look philosophical for this photo.

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Younger

We even got philosophical during the ride.  Graham the Elder got behind for a while.  When he caught up, I told him I was glad to see him because I was afraid he had DFOed.  I had to teach him what that meant (Done Fell Out).  Then, I asked him whether it's worse to DFO or DNF.  Graham the Elder said that DFL is best.

Peach ice cream at Dickey Farms was the highlight of the ride!

I also clued the two Grahams into the availability of free, cast-off, fresh peaches behind the building.

One for the road

The next best thing to peach ice cream and fresh peaches at Dickey Farms was learning that Hollis Road in Upson County no longer has rough chip seal.  Now it has nice, smooth pavement.  As Linda Richman would say, "It's like buttah."