Ocmulgee to Oconee

Robert came up with a great idea for Peach Peloton: ride from the Ocmulgee River to the Oconee River and back.  His goal was to dip our bicycle wheels in each river and ride 100 miles total.  It was tricky for him to plan a route on decent roads that met these criteria, but he did it.  Yesterday nine of us gathered at Juliette Park on the Ocmulgee River.

Cal, Van, Allen, Tony, Jason, and Robert.  Cody is getting his shoe covers.  I'm not sure where Chris is.

It was the coldest Peach Peloton of the year!  The temperature was 28 degrees at the start and only rose to the mid 30s that afternoon.  We bundled up in our warmest riding gear: balaclavas, jackets, insulated shoes, hand warmers, etc.  The wind was rough, too, at more than 10 mph.

Robert and I were the only ones who dipped our wheels into the Ocmulgee River.

I told the other guys that they had no sense of adventure!

Typically on Peach Peloton, I do a few pulls at the beginning of the ride but then settle in at the back to draft.  Because I get dropped so often, I don't want to expend too much energy pulling.  Jason and I were on the front when it was time for my first pull.  He wasn't half-wheeling me; he was whole-biking me!  I think the wind made it harder than usual for me.  I peeled off to the back pronto.

I had put some hand warmers inside my gloves.  The warmth felt good, but they were too bulky between my hands and the handlebars.  I needed my usual grip.  Therefore, at the first nature break, I put the hand warmers in my jersey pockets.  At the second nature break I took a Lara Bar (lemon - my favorite flavor) from my jersey pocket.  The hand warmer had made my Lara Bar warm, too - delicious!

The busiest part of the route was about a two-mile section on US Highway 129 near Gray.  We rode single file.  I was the last one and got dropped on a big downhill.  I often have difficulty hanging on anyway on the downhills because I'm lighter than the guys, and this time whoever was on the front probably went a little harder to minimize our time on this highway.  Also, a gust of wind made we swerve.  I was fine, but I did feel some adrenaline.  Whenever I felt one of these gusts of wind yesterday, I sang in my mind, "Sailing...takes me away to where I'm going."

We rode through some unfamiliar parts of Milledgeville to the Oconee River Greenway.  Time for our second wheel dip!

Then, it was on to Blackbird Coffee, a much swankier than usual store stop.  I got a cinnamon roll and matcha green tea latte.  A large blackbird sculpture hung over the counter.  If it had been any later in the ride, I would have thought it was a buzzard who had come for me.

When we got back on the road, I couldn't keep up much longer.  I had expended a great deal of energy to ride at the peloton's pace.  So, I rode about the last 40 miles by myself.  I didn't mind because I felt so much better when I slowed down.  Actually, I still made pretty good time given the difficult conditions.

Riding solo also gave me the opportunity to stop for a picture of Smokey Bear at the Georgia Forestry Commission office.

I've taken photos of my bicycle with Smokey a number of times before, but I think this was the first time when the fire danger has been extreme.  It must have been extreme because of the low humidity and significant wind.

This was also a great stop because I needed food and water.  I ate a Clif Bar and felt much better.  My energy was up again for the last 10 miles.  In fact, I set a couple of late-ride goals: finish with less than 6 hours of moving time and finish before 4:00 PM.  I met both with a few minutes to spare!

Back home, it felt so good take a shower.

I put on my super fuzzy pajamas with feet - my favorite thing to wear after riding all day when it's especially cold.  We hadn't had a real lunch, and so I cooked dinner a little earlier than usual.  Robert opened a bottle of Riesling, and I cooked green curry shrimp, jasmine rice, and kung pao carrots.  It was so good!

It takes a lot for me to call a ride epic, but this one was epic!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I'm looking forward to a great year of riding and, hopefully, a little more writing than last year.

I always go on a bicycle ride on New Year's Day.  Usually it’s a 200K brevet. However, because New Year’s was on Saturday this year, I rode Peach Peloton with my Macon cyclopeeps instead. My cycling team has a new points system to help keep everyone engaged, and one way to earn points is to ride at least eight Peach Pelotons over the winter. Yesterday's ride got me up to six, and so I shouldn't have any trouble riding two more Peach Pelotons before the grand finale Pine Mountain Challenge on February 5. It was a good but hard ride (i.e., the usual - ha ha!). We started in east Macon and went toward kaolin country, a nod to Peach Peloton's roots back when godfather Chad Madan led it.

Another reason I opted for Peach Peloton is that the New Year's Day brevet was the Athens 200K. I ride this route a lot as a permanent. Additionally, we have another brevet later in January, the Albany 200K. I enjoy that one in a different part of the state, and I'm already looking forward to the peanut butter ice cream in Plains! The biggest downside to not doing the Athens 200K yesterday is that Calista from the D.C. area was in town. I'm sorry to have missed her.

A benefit of Peach Peloton is that it was only 82 miles, giving me more time to cook New Year's dinner than the brevet would have. Among my rando buddies, I’m about the only native Southerner, and so they’ve never had much sympathy when I’ve told them I have to get home after our ride to cook black eyed peas and collard greens. My teammates, however, are mostly Georgia natives and were also looking forward to going home for traditional New Year’s fare yesterday.

I was telling my teammates about Grits and Greens, a recipe from a friend and my favorite way to eat collards. Several wanted the recipe (see below). I'm pleased that this year's New Year's dinner was extra good: black eyed peas, Grits and Greens, bacon, sweet potatoes, and cornbread pancakes. The oven went out last week, and so I cooked the cornbread batter as pancakes rather than baking it in my cast iron skillet like usual. (The new oven should be here in about 10 days.) Also, I remembered that I had one jar of homemade chowchow left from the last batch I put up - perfect for the peas. Finally, I made sure to cook the collards for Grits and Greens in plenty of liquid so that I would have pot likker for my cornbread; those are some good eats, especially with some vinegar pepper sauce on top.

Grits and Greens

1 cup half-and-half
4 cups chicken broth, divided
1 cup grits
1 lb. fresh or frozen collards
1/4 cup butter
1 to 1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Combine half-and-half and 3 cups of broth in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and add grits.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until done, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, cook greens in 1 cup of broth until tender (may need to add more broth and/or water).  Drain well.  Add butter and cheese to grits, stirring until melted.  Stir in greens.