Cycling out the Old, Cycling in the New

Happy New Year!  Bicycle riding - what more appropriate way to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to 2016?

Thursday, December 31, 2015
I get New Year's Day as a holiday at work, and so I took New Year's Eve as a vacation day to extend the long weekend a little more.  This allowed me to join the Gravel Grinders of Middle Georgia for a dirt road jaunt.  It was called the Fried Red Clay Ride, combining portions of two fantastic local gravel grinders, the Fried Green 50 (see 11/1/15 post) and the Red Clay Ramble (see 8/23/15 post).

The organized ride began at the edge of the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge (PWR) south of Hillsboro.  I rode my cyclocross bike to the start to make the logistics easier.  It was good to see some of my off-road cycling buddies that I don't get to see as often, including Benny, Karl, Monte, and Tom.  Monte was particularly stylin' with his handmade fenders, constructed from Hudson & Marshall signs:

About a dozen of us headed out, starting on some of the Red Clay Ramble Roads.  The group mostly stayed together, stopping every so often to regroup.  It was a nice, social ride.  I particularly enjoyed Monte regaling us with tales from Trans North Georgia, which is a 350-mile mountain bike race, and other epic off-road races.  He told us about having to pee on his frozen derailleur to be able to start a midwinter race, making an instant coffee brewer out of an empty Bush's bean can, and some fellow racers sharing their summer sausage and cheese in the middle of a race.  I thought to myself, "This is all kind of extreme."  Then, I thought, "Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black!"

I didn't get to ride on any of the PWR roads because after about 15 miles with the group, I turned back north to head home.  Time at home is a rare commodity, and I had plenty of stuff to do.  I still got in 36 miles, about the same length as the longest option on the Fried Red Clay.

I couldn't stay up until midnight to ring in the new year because I had to get up early for the next day's brevet, but Robert and I celebrated early.  I made us some cheese fondue, served in this groovy relic from the 1970s (I think it belonged to my my aunt):

In addition to the bread cubes, I usually serve broccoli (not pictured) with cheese fondue because greenage at meals is important.  Although Robert eats broccoli, it's not one of his favorites.  I figure that having the option of dipping it in cheese makes it more palatable.  It was no trouble, however, getting Robert to drink the sparkling wine that accompanied our meal.

Friday, January 1, 2016
A New Year's Day ride is almost obligatory for us serious cyclists.  I went for the gusto with the Athens 200K brevet.  About two dozen people rode - a great turnout!  I love how I've been riding with the Audax Atlanta chapter of Randonneurs USA (RUSA) long enough that I've gotten to know so many friends.  A couple of new riders joined us, too: Jason from West Georgia and his friend Chad, who was just visiting for a few weeks.  Chad had to fly out early the next morning to his current home: Kosovo!

Roughly half the group rode together until the third control in Madison, about half way through the ride.  As we left town, I noticed that we were veering from the course that I had uploaded to my Garmin.  Several others agreed that were were going the wrong way.  I called out to the guys that were starting to pull away, but they called back that they were on the right route.  Someone pointed out that Jim was in that group, and since he originally created the route, I decided that that was the best bet.  We figured out where the confusion came from.  The portion of the route between Madison and Buckhead was changed a few years ago.  The map that had been posted for the ride was correct, but the cue sheet was for the old route.  I had built my Garmin route from the cue sheet.  Julie, Andrew, and maybe a few others backtracked to go on the cue sheet route while about 10 of us continued on the newer route.  We thought we might see the others again shortly after our routes reconverged, but we never did.  Although the newer route is about a mile longer, I think we stayed ahead because the guys I was with just hammered it!

There were two more controls before the end.  A brief rest and some food and drink were welcome both times, but it sure was cold when we got back on the bike.  Temperatures were in the 40s and 50s all day.  That doesn't sound too bad, especially for this time of year, but it was a little bit of a shock after the crazy warm weather we had around Christmas.  Also, yesterday it actually felt cooler in the afternoon than in the morning because the air was so damp.  Ah, the joys Georgia's high humidity - it makes our summers feel hotter and our winters feel colder.

A couple of times I got dropped.  I figured that I would be riding the rest of the way by myself or possibly with someone coming up behind me, but both times the fastest guys stopped to wait for me.  That was really nice.  They said they wanted to ride like it was a brevet, not a race.  Once again, the camaraderie of randonneurs shines through!

Brandon, Chad, David, Jason, and I finished together with Dick just a few minutes behind.  On one hand I was glad we finished the 127 miles relatively quickly (8 hours, 5 minutes), but on the other hand, I knew I'd be feeling it on Peach Peloton the next day...

Saturday, January 2, 2016
Having been properly fueled the previous evening with our traditional New Year's Day feast of blackeyed peas with Rotel tomatoes, grits & greens, bacon, cornbread, and baked sweet potatoes, Robert and I headed to Macon for our regular Peach Peloton (winter training) ride.  We had a good group of 15 or so.  The route was 100 miles.  I was up for the challenge even though there was about a 99.9% chance that I would get dropped because of all the miles in my legs from the previous day.  I just didn't expect it to be only three miles into the ride!  The guys took off practically from the parking lot like it was a Pro 1/2 race.  I couldn't keep up anyway, and so I stopped briefly to address my wardrobe malfunction.  My knee warmers were falling down.  Also, my ear warmer headband was slipping down my forehead and closing my eyes so that I couldn't see.  It must have looked pretty comical.

Then I saw that Dale and Bill had also come off the back.  They are the elder statesmen of the Macon cycling community.  Even though they are about the oldest riders out there, they are super strong.  Both have had recent surgeries that kept them from riding as hard yesterday, and I was most happy to get to ride with them for a while.

Bill and Dale.  I want to be like them when I grow up.

Alas, they only wanted to ride about 40 miles total, and so we parted company about 20 miles in.  They looped back, and I continued solo.

I wasn't going terribly fast, but I settled into a comfortable rhythm.  The winter bleakness had a certain stark beauty.  I've seen hundreds of cows as I've ridden country roads, but I stopped anyway to take a picture of these simply because they made me happy.

To err is human; to moo, bovine.

As I approached Milner, I saw an old beater of a car for sale in someone's yard.  Written on a window was, "Runs grate!"  I laughed to myself, imagining that it makes all kinds of racket as the engine parts grate against each other.  Whoever buys the car will complain to the owner, who will say, "But I told you it runs grate!"

I made the wise call to stop at the store in Milner.  I bought a big bottle of Gatorade to go with my Clif Bar and stood in the warm store for a few minutes.  Although it was cold getting going on my bike again, that little bit of refueling did me a world of good.

As I continued my ride, I alternated between periods of feeling decent and having to work pretty hard, mainly mentally.  I reminded myself to simply keep going.

One time I turned the wrong way at a T intersection because my Garmin was on the main distance/speed screen, not the map screen.  Of course, it alerted me that I was off course, but before I turned around, I took another quick break at the side of the road.  I'm so glad I had had the foresight to pack an extra package of peanut butter crackers.

The miles rolled by.  The last part of the route didn't go directly back into Bolingbroke but took a jig-jag on Pea Ridge Road and Klopfer Road before going back to the church parking lot where we started.  I just couldn't face the steep climbs on Klopfer Road.  However, because I needed another mile or two to get my full century, I rode back and forth on Rivoli Road, which is flat.  I knew that Robert was waiting for me and probably watching me via the Find My Friends app on his phone.  My backtracking was probably confusing him...

It was.  But he understood when I explained later.  He had been tracking me ever since he finished the ride.  The other guys asked about me, and he told them that at that point I was on Maynard's Church Road.  They couldn't believe that I was doing the whole route by myself.  Robert wasn't surprised a bit.

After the ride Robert and I were both famished.  We headed to Ingleside Village Pizza, which we affectionately call IVP, for the best pizza in Middle Georgia.  They have an excellent beer selection, too.  I had one of my favorites, a Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

Although it wasn't easy, I knew what great training it was to do these two hard, back-to-back rides.  It was like I was getting ready for RAAM again.  In fact, Dale did ask me what I'm training for.  Life, I suppose.  Actually, these rides were good preparation for my big cycling goal this year, completing a Super Randonneur series.  This entails doing a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K all in the same calendar year.  Next up: the Athens 300K on February 27!

Peach Peloton

There's probably not a better cycling workout in Georgia than Peach Peloton.  We ride every Saturday from November until the beginning of February, increasing the distance and intensity as the training season progresses.  The early rides start around 70 miles, ramping up to 100+ miles by January, and culminating with the Pine Mountain Challenge, which is approximately 130 miles.  After the first few PP rides, the group does rotations.  Then, attack zones are added.

Being female, I simply can't ride as hard as the strongest guys, but I've found ways to work within my abilities so that I usually can hang with the group.  The basic formation is riding two up, in which we ride in a double paceline.  The front two people pull for about five minutes before rolling to the back.  When I get to the front of the peloton, I almost always peel back immediately without taking a turn so that I can conserve my energy.  The guys are fine with this.  Also, it mixes up the pairs, which aids socialization (perhaps good, perhaps bad...)

During rotations, i.e., a continuously rotating paceline, I sit in, which means I stay at the back and let the others rotate.  Rotations are usually done counterclockwise; therefore, I usually sit in on the left-hand side.  I try to be very aware of cycling safety and etiquette because the last thing I want to do is interfere with anyone else's ride.  Sitting in does save some energy, but it still can be a challenge to hang on.

When the attack zones start, I don't even try to take part.  Fortunately, the guys regroup after an attack zone.  Even though I don't attack, I push myself during those sections so that they don't have to wait too long for me.

Today's PP was as hard a ride as I can remember in recent history.  There haven't been any attack zones yet this season, but today we definitely had rotations - very long sections of rotations.  The first rotation started at about mile 25 and went through about mile 50.  I felt pretty good and thought I wouldn't have any trouble staying with the group the whole way.

Our one stop for the ride was at about mile 55 at Blackbird Coffee in Milledgeville.  Although I don't like coffee, I love tea.  I had thought I might get a chai latte, but the day was so unseasonably and wonderfully warm that I opted for a good old Coca-Cola Classic instead.  Blackbird Coffee also has a tempting array of baked goods in a display case.  Robert was one of the first ones from our group to go through the line.  He got a cinnamon roll that looked delicious.  I can't even think of the last time I had a cinnamon roll, and so I set my sights on the last one in the case.  Mmm...  But Cal, who was ahead of me in line, got that last cinnamon roll.  Drat!  Oh, well - I had a raspberry-white chocolate scone instead, and it was quite tasty.

We got back on the road, and rotations started again at about mile 65.  That's when things got serious.  Really serious.  We were averaging over 19 mph.  I didn't struggle too badly until we got on Highway 57 heading back into Macon.  It's a 4-lane highway, actually quite good for cycling, but the rollers are significant, particularly when you're going hard on such a long ride.  I was tired, and my mind wasn't processing very much.  All I could do is look at the long grade right in front of me and tell myself simply to get to the top of it; I didn't think about any hills or miles after that.  At the next climb, I repeated this process.  A little at the time - a good approach to life as well as cycling.

The rotations lasted until about mile 90.  I hung on!  The guys finally eased up as we approached Macon.  I asked them if "cyclocide" is a word.  If it is, they tried to commit it.

We had about 6 more miles to go.   To avoid the heaviest traffic, we took our frequent route through the Ocmulgee National Monument.  Just a few more miles through downtown, and we were back at our starting location, Jittery Joe's in Mercer Village.    I'm glad that Cal, Cody, and Van are as obsessive as I am.  The route was 96 miles, but we wanted to ride 4 extra miles to make it a full century.  We rode through the Mercer campus.  I had had time to ride an extra 1.75 miles before PP rolled out this morning, and so I didn't have to go quite as far as Cal, Cody, and Van at the end to get my 100 miles.  I think they were a little jealous that I got to stop before they did.

I was thrilled and proud of myself for lasting to the end.  That was not an easy accomplishment.  I'm grateful for a beautiful day to ride, a safe ride for everyone, and good cycling friends who both help and push me.

UFO Bike

Considering how long I've been riding, you'd think I wouldn't make rookie mistakes.  I did tonight, though.  I had forgotten to charge my headlight, and it went out about three miles into my dirt ride.  A full charge should last about four hours.  I thought I had used up only about an hour from the most recent charge, but I guess I had used more juice than I remembered.  Having two headlights would help.  I did have a second one, but it got lost during RAAM.  Everything became community property then despite having my name on my stuff.  Regardless, I really need to get into the habit of charging my lights after every ride.

My headlight went out on this same route several weeks ago.  That time I thought I was using a freshly charged light, but I hadn't fully connected it to the charger.  D'oh!  I was about 3/4 of the way through that ride and called Robert to come pick me up.  Tonight, however, I was determined not to bother him again, particularly since he was in the middle of a trainer workout back at the house.  Thus, tonight was an exercise in problem solving.

Fortunately, there is almost no traffic on my dirt routes, which is why I feel comfortable riding them at night in the first place.  I moved my taillight from the back of my bike to the front.  The steady, red light on the brightest setting gave me just enough light to find my way.  It reminded me of going to the Nightcrawlers Program at Zoo Atlanta some years ago.  My group spent the night at the zoo and got to see some really cool behind-the-scenes things.  When we visited the reptile house, the zookeeper gave us red flashlights to observe the animals, explaining that red light is much less irritating to them than regular white light.

I rode carefully, partly because the path was dim and partly because Jordan Road, my nighttime dirt road ingress/egress, was graveled fairly recently.  There are still some significant sections where the gravel hasn't settled in well, making for a rather challenging ride even with a fully charged headlight.  Thankfully, I navigated the treacherous sections safely.

As I turned off of Jordan Road onto the paved highway leading back to my house, I heard my neighbor's dogs, as usual.  They always bark and sometimes chase me, but fortunately they have never been truly aggressive.  Tonight, with my freaky front red light, I must have looked like some kind of UFO bike.

Thanksgiving Spin

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  (Federally recognized holiday, that is.  I get pretty excited about Groundhog Day, Pi Day, and International Talk Like a Pirate Day, too.  Arrr!)  The reason Thanksgiving means so much to me is that over the years, gratitude has become more and more important to me.  It’s what makes life abundant.  The more thankful I am, the more I find to be thankful for.  Of course, I’m thankful for the big, obvious things, like Robert, our dogs and other animals, our home, our health, family, friends, and work.  But it’s so fun – and gratifying – to find subtler things to be thankful for: a cup of hot tea every evening after dinner, clouds in all their fascinating forms, clean tap water, the way sunlight looks at varying times of day and year, learning (from books and from life), a fairy ring of mushrooms, good smelling soap, the freedoms I have at this time and place in history, finding connections with such seemingly different people…  The list could go on and on.

High up on my gratitude list is cycling – no surprise there.  If you follow my blog, you know that I love all types of cycling, whether it’s road riding, gravel grinding, randonnuering, or tandem riding.  One type of riding that I haven’t written about much is my spin class, jSpin.  Robert started jSpin about five years ago because he got bored with riding his trainer in the basement all winter.  He bought about a dozen spin bikes and converted the break room at Jordan Engineering into a spin room.  Several instructors teach classes on Monday through Thursday evenings.  Also, we occasionally host a movie spin on Sunday afternoons during the winter when it’s cold and/or rainy.  Not only is the exercise part great, jSpin gives me the opportunity to spend time with friends and neighbors whom I might not see otherwise.

I go to the class that Robert teaches, which is the Monday class.  It makes a good recovery ride if I’ve put in a lot of miles over the weekend.  Usually, though, I try to keep up with Robert’s instruction, which focuses on interval training with heart rate monitors.  He also enjoys planning the music for each class as much as the workout.  Occasionally, I substitute teach for Robert if he has to go to an evening meeting.  My more frequent contribution, however, is a music spin show.  I love coming up with themes.  Therefore, I came up with a music set for tonight’s Thanksgiving spin.

We started with a classic tune associated with Thanksgiving, “Simple Gifts.”  This is a Shaker song written in 1848.   Although it’s often thought of as a hymn, it’s really a dance song.  I discovered a beautiful version with Alison Krauss singing in her lovely, ethereal voice, accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma’s exquisite cello.

Continuing our warmup, we got a little more upbeat but still stayed rather mellow with “Touch of Grey” by The Grateful Dead.  Incidentally, that’s something else to be grateful for:

Then, the feast began.  We had “Mashed Potatoes” by The Kingsmen.  Although my family always has sweet potatoes instead of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, I hear that mashed potatoes are a pretty common menu item for other people.

How about some gravy for your mashed potatoes?  In this case, it was “Wavy Gravy” by Kenny Burrell, an aptly jazzy segue.  I had searched for music by the counterculture icon Wavy Gravy but didn’t find anything that I thought would work for spin.  I was pleased to discover this song by the same name.

Thanksgiving dinner must have The Cranberries.  I included my favorite song of theirs, “Zombie.”  It’s quite somber, being about the ongoing war in Northern Ireland, but the music and lyrics are powerful.  The bass guitar toward the beginning is on my list of Top 10 Best Guitar Riffs.

At last it was time for the star of the feast, The Byrd(s)!  Did you know that the lyrics to “Turn!  Turn!  Turn!” come from Ecclesiastes?  (That’s my favorite book of the Bible.)  “Turn!  Turn!  Turn!” has that quintessential 1960s sound.  Although I’m proud to be a Gen Xer, I’ve got to hand it to the Boomers for giving us some great music.

What’s Thanksgiving turkey without dressing to go with it?  I don’t know of any dressing songs, but The Dave Matthews Band sings “Cornbread,” which is the main ingredient in dressing.  And it’s not stuffing.  Here in the South we eat dressing, which is cooked in a separate pan, not inside the turkey.

Time for dessert!  We had pumpkin pie thanks to Smashing Pumpkins.  The song was “1979.”  By the way, at the end of this post is the world’s best pumpkin pie recipe.  It’s from my mother.  Actually, she got it from the Eagle condensed milk can years ago.  The two biggest keys are to chill the pie thoroughly before serving and to use real whipped cream on top – no spray-can stuff.

If you follow the recipe, of course you need some Cream to go on top of your pumpkin pie.  And make it “Sweet Wine,” a nice accompaniment to dessert and another excellent, bluesy/jazzy song for the set.

Wait!  You can’t put plain cream on your pumpkin pie – you must “Whip It!”  (Whip it good!)  Devo will help you with that.

In case you’re a teetotaler, you might rather have a little coffee with your dessert.  Frank Sinatra serves it up all-American style with “The Coffee Song.”  This also reminds me of Thanksgiving morning in my kitchen.  I enjoy cooking at a leisurely pace, drinking tea (ironically, I’m not a coffee drinker), and listening to Frank Sinatra.  This little ditty is such a fun one.

If you overdid it on our Thanksgiving feast, perhaps you need a “Remedy.”  The Black Crowes not only have your prescription, they fit in with the autumn decor.

As delicious and enjoyable as Thanksgiving dinner is, in the end this holiday is really about being grateful.  That’s why I ended our Thanksgiving spin show with “Thank You.”.  I love hard rockin’ with Led Zeppelin, but this beautifully melodic song is my favorite of theirs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Simple Gifts” – Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss

“Touch of Grey” – The Grateful Dead

“Mashed Potatoes” – The Kingsmen

“Wavy Gravy” – Kenny Burrell

“Zombie” – The Cranberries

“Turn!  Turn!  Turn!” – The Byrds

“Cornbread” – The Dave Matthews Band

“1979” – Smashing Pumpkins

“Sweet Wine” – Cream

“Whip It” – Devo

“The Coffee Song” – Frank Sinatra

“Remedy” – The Black Crowes

“Thank You” – Led Zeppelin

Pumpkin Pie

2 C canned pumpkin (1 can)

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 unbeaten egg

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust (use homemade if possible)

1/2 pint whipping cream

1 tsp. sugar

1 capful vanilla extract

Mix pumpkin, condensed milk, egg, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger on low speed of an electric mixer.  Pour into pie crust.  Bake at 375 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted near middle comes out clean.  Cool.

On high speed of electric mixer, beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form.  Spread whipped cream on top of cooled pie.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Thoroughly chill pie in refrigerator before serving.

FDR Little White House 200K Brevet

The FDR Little White House 200K route is a great one.  I enjoyed doing it as a permanent last year (see my 8/3/14 blog entry), but it also made for a memorable brevet.

Because it was a brevet, many more people rode it yesterday than when I did it as a permanent.  Yesterday, Daniel the speed demon flew off the front.  I'm not sure I could have kept up with him even if I tried.  I was happy to keep up a much more sustainable pace with Julie, Josh, and Ed.  We talked about everything from biscuits to civil rights.  Actually, Julie and I did most of the talking.  It was a lot more than I'm used to; at the end of the day, my throat was sore!

At the control in Manchester, Ed got a frozen treat that was shaped like an old fashioned Push-Up:

Ed's purchase was a multicolored all-fruit frozen concoction, but the plastic push-up part was the same.  It reminded me of something I hadn't thought of in years.  When I was little, I collected four of the plastic push-up parts to make axles and wheels, taping them together in pairs.  I attached them to a shoebox, cut a portion of the shoebox lid off, and made a car for my stuffed animal rabbit.  Let the good times roll.

Midway through the brevet was a control at FDR State Park.  Because food options are limited in the area, Ian arranged a wonderful picnic lunch for all of us riders.  He and his wife Chris prepared much of the food, including chili, vegetable soup, delectable homemade pimento cheese with horseradish, and hearty muffins that were kind of like morning glory muffins.  Additionally, Wayne made some flapjacks, a bar-like-cookie creation with a unique ingredient: golden syrup.  They make excellent bike food.  Josh - and possibly others - provided chips and other sides to complete the picnic:

Iron Chef Ian

I asked Ian, "Don't cows have four stomachs?"  He replied, "They have at least three, but I'm not sure if they have four."  I said, "Well, they have more than one anyway.  I wish I were a cow so that I had enough room to sample everything."  FYI, this morning I saw my friend Phil, who is a cattle farmer.  He confirmed that cows have four stomach.  Udderly fascinating!

There were several beverages available at the picnic.  This one must have been referring to me because it certainly wasn't Ian, Chris, or Wayne:

Pine Mountain is one of my favorite areas of Georgia.  I don't think I had ever visited in the fall before.  The view from atop Pine Mountain is beautiful in any season:

Julie and I headed out from lunch and rode the rest of the way together.  I had been so excited to see her name on the list of registered riders because I hadn't had the chance to ride with her in a while.  Yesterday was actually her first brevet since she was seriously ill back in the spring.  I knew that she had been ill back then, but I had no idea it was a life-and-death situation.  It is truly a miracle that she has recovered so well and could ride 133 miles with me yesterday.  That was after she rode 90+ miles the day before that for her birthday!  I'm sure that the fact that she takes such good care of herself is the reason she is still with us today.  Getting to ride with Julie yesterday was the highlight of the day.  She and I will both do some extra celebrating this Thanksgiving!

Besquished BeWednesday

Tonight I did my first after-work dirt road ride of this season that was completely in the dark, thanks to Daylight Saving Time ending last weekend.  I was a little hesitant to get started, but once I was out there, I remembered that getting going is the hardest part.  The ride was fun, as usual.

I did have a bit of an extra challenge tonight.  It’s rained over four inches in the last few days, turning the dirt roads into peanut butter.  It slowed me down noticeably, and of course my bike and I were both quite sloppy when we got home.

About 20 years ago, Nick at Nite showed back-to-back episodes of classic TV shows on weeknights, focusing on a different show each night.  One of my favorites was “Bewitched,” which was played on Wednesdays.  Thus, they called it Bewitched BeWednesday.  In one hilariously memorable scene, Endora casts a spell on Darrin, causing a storm cloud to rain right over his head.  Outraged, a drenched Darrin confronts Endora.  Endora coos, “Oh, Darrin, don’t you look all fresh and dewy?”  I could have used one of Endora’s storm clouds after my ride tonight. For me, it was Besquished BeWednesday.

Fried Green 50

Today was the annual Fried Green 50, a most excellent gravel grinder in the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge.  As always, Monte Marshall and the Ocmulgee Mountain Biking Association (OMBA) did an outstanding job of hosting the ride.  I had been looking forward to it so much, even with the LTO (less than optimal) forecast: 100% chance of rain.  It really wasn't bad - misty rain until the very end of the ride, when it did start falling more significantly.  These definitely weren't the worst conditions I had ever ridden in.  Besides, it was fun to experience the Fried Green 50 in a different way.  Those who stayed away today missed out on a great time.

The Fried Green 50 is always held on the first Sunday in November.  A few years ago Monte added a Saturday ride called the Sac o' Suds 50, held the day before the Fried Green 50.  Both rides start in Juliette and have connections to locally filmed movies.  The movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed in Juliette, and the Sac o' Suds in neighboring Jasper County was the scene of the tuna theft and murder in "My Cousin Vinny."  I recommend both movies.  Anyway, I didn't do the Sac o' Suds ride yesterday because it has significant sections of single-track, and I'm not a very good technical rider.  More importantly, with yesterday being Halloween, I had to continue my 18-year tradition of being The Mad Doctor at Haunticello (trick-or-treating on the square in my hometown, Monticello):

We were encouraged to bring almost outdated bike food for the Fried Green 50 rest stops (covered dish SAGs, as Monte called them - love it!).  I was happy to share some gummy fingers, bags of blood, eyeball gumballs, etc. leftover from The Mad Doctor.

We rolled out right at 10:00 AM and had an actual neutral start this year, unlike last year when the fastest guys disregarded it and took off like a rocket.  Today I rode a few miles with the front group but knew that wasn't sustainable.  Instead, I settled in with a group of four guys who seemed to be riding at about my pace.  We mostly stayed together until about halfway through when we hit a butt-kicking 12% grade.  Being smaller than the others, I have a climbing advantage.  Also, I had just eaten a Clif Bar, and I got a good stream of energy right about the same time.  A guy named Alan (hope I'm spelling it the correct way!) and I pulled slightly ahead and wound up riding the rest of the route together.  It was nice to have a riding companion; often at these types of events, I ride mostly by myself.

There were six creek crossings, and I'm pleased to say that I didn't bust my arse on any of them.  They were really kind of fun, not to mention picturesque.  Here's my friend Benny stylin' and profilin' at one of them (photo purloined from Facebook):

I had forgotten my bike computer, and so I collected ride data with the Strava app on my phone.  Because my phone was in my pocket, I couldn't track my mileage or how fast I was going.  Everything was by feel - kind of a small bonus challenge for the ride.

I fueled better this year than I did last year, and so the last few miles weren't as hard this time.  Also, Alan and I chatted a good bit, making for a much more enjoyable ride.  We didn't even mind the extra muddy conditions toward the end.  There was also one tricky little section where we had to dismount and walk up a brushy, steep grade.  I suppose some of the really serious mountain bikers might have been able to ride up that part, but I'd like to see them do it.

Little kids love playing in the dirt; why do adults forget how fun it is?  Back at the parking area, I asked Benny to take a photo of me to document my grime:

Then he insisted on getting a picture from behind, which really shows the dirt:

I was thrilled to be the first female finisher!  Monte always comes up with wonderfully unique awards, and this year was no exception.  I received a green tomato-esque icosahedron (20-sided polyhedron):

After some post-ride vittles, I said goodbye to everyone and headed home.  The first thing I did when I got there was recheck my Strava data.  I wasn't able to see it on my phone app, and so I thought I had somehow accidentally deleted the file.  The best solution I could think of was to get a file from one of my friends.  It wouldn't be exactly my data, but it would be close enough on mileage and elapsed time.

In the meantime, my friend Cal gave me kudos on my ride - huh?  I don't know what happened or how he found my file, but somehow Strava had the ride date as 7/27/15 instead of 11/1/15.  With a little Internet research, I figured out how to correct the file and re-upload it.  (The Google knows all...)  I'm glad I get to use my real data.

A big thank you again to Monte, Trudy, and everyone with OMBA for today's Fried Green 50 - see you next year!