my original plans, based on the forecast for balmy, 60+ degree days this weekend, called for another long ride today. three things conspired against those plans: the rain that was forecast to start a little after noontime; finding out that we were, indeed, renting the house for a year, so i'd need to spend a fair amount of time packing up clothes as well as ski and hiking equipment; and the fact that when i woke up this morning, there was no way i actually wanted to ride again.
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| "up for breakfast" in downtown manchester |
but plans are plans, so i bucked the usual routine of heading into town to load up on a hearty breakfast at "up for breakfast," my favorite local morning stop for stacks of fresh blueberry pancakes. instead, i wolfed down some toast, yogurt, orange juice and tea and was out the door.
this morning i headed south towards the village of jamaica. actually, it's not just south of winhall/bondville on routes 30 and 100, it's also downhill from where i was. i forgot just HOW downhill it was. it's only about eight or so miles away, but the last three and a half miles are all down a steep 8% grade hill. lovely going down it; a hummer coming back up.
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| hey! not settled in 1761! |
the poor folks in this town have had the worst luck. if you think it was bad with our house having water from the creek/river up into our living room, consider this -- our house is on the floodplain. so, in that once-in-a-hundred year storm called hurricane irene that hit us two years ago, we got it good. but the river that overflowed into our living room picked up some serious speed when it went downhill into jamaica. so much so that it took out the bridge and road going into town as well as the road leaving town.
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| the river in calmer times. note the scouring up the sides of the riverbank |
basically, both figuratively and literally, jamaica became an island right after hurricane irene hit vermont. for days afterwards, the only way to get supplies and help into town was by boat.
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| the rebuilt bridge into town. they're still working on the riverbed |
and you'd think the folks in jamaica had had enough with super storms, but when sandy hit, yup, it knocked out the power in, of all places, jamaica. winhall was fine, as was manchester, but poor jamaica couldn't catch a break and couldn't find its lights for days afterwards.
looking back in three days of riding up here, i have yet again come to learn things about myself and the things going on around me. i wasn't sure i'd be strong enough to climb the hills i set out to attack this trip, but i'm more than glad i was. that will really help me as i get into the psychology of the sierra nevada's and the rockies.
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| another good spot for breaky |
however, just to keep my wits about me, it's nice to get slapped upside my head every once in awhile. this morning was no exception. there i was, feeling cocky about attacking the last mile of the 8% grade this morning. had a nice cadence going; not rocking too much back and forth as i was settling into my climb. feeling good. then, out of the corner of my eye, i see a guy ride past me, easily doing nearly double my speed. looking good with a nice, smooth rhythm about him. and yeah, as my son jesse reminded me later this afternoon when i was telling him about my ride this morning, the guy was probably a good 20-30 years younger. but it reminded me to take things in stride, not get too full of myself and to remember to be mindful of what's going on all around me, not just right in front of me...at all times!
being that it's springtime up here in vermont, i should have remembered that it's black fly season (as well as whatever other small, dark flying creatures are out and about this time of year). i should have remembered because i have a bad habit of breathing through my mouth when i'm riding, not through my nose. as such, my wide open mouth was a perfect funnel for all the insects i swallowed these past three days. who the hell needs protein bars when you've got the live stuff on the tip of your tongue!!
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| dorset west road, the best leg of yesterday's ride |
i want to give a quick shout-out to keith, the bartender at solo, the place where i've been eating dinner the past two nights. keith and i got talking after my first day's ride about bike routes around manchester. he's the one who suggested the ride through arlington and up and around dorset. the sweetest part of this weekend's ride was the dorset west road. smooth, freshly paved, with gorgeous homes all along the way and lilacs and tree blossoms making the smells as wonderful as the sights. at one point, i'm cranking it up to 20+ mph, settling into a tuck on my aerobars while van halen was cranking out "panama." for a couple of minutes, it was pure heaven :-)
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| hmm...ate breakfasts at the counter; ate dinners at the bar. anyway, this is a classy place in south londonderry. |
finally, i don't know what it is about my ipod, but i swear it's possessed. and in a very good way. first, for those who are shocked that i ride while listening to headphones, i keep the volume turned way down. i can still hear the music or a monologue from eddie izzard or lewis black, but i keep it low enough so i can hear either a car or truck approaching from behind me as well as a fellow cyclist letting me know if she's coming up on my left. i may be crazy, but i'm not stupid.
anyway, i don't know what it is about my ipod, but it has it's own sixth sense about my musical needs. i always set it on shuffle when i'm going out for a long ride. shorter rides, i'll just select a specific playlist, but longer rides i'll just let the ipod wing it. so how does it always seem to find the right tune for the right moment? why, when i'm battling fatigue or doubt will it play a song such as elton john's "the bridge?" or why does it play van halen's "top of the world" just as i'm approaching the top of a major hill climb? i kid you not, if i'm not feeling it and i need a moral boost, the next song on the ipod is never something like handel's "water music" or al green's "take me to the river" or even a comedy routine -- it's always some hard-driving tune that pumps me up (yes, including elvis costello's song by the same name) and gets my head back on straight. it's as if my ipod is hardwired into my central nervous system. it just knows what i need. whatever the reason, i'm just glad it does.
next stop...san francisco.
until then, remember what you learned at last year's bondville fair: "never suck all the juice from a tractor."
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