Since I last wrote in this blog, I rode a simulated Day on the Ride out of the Presidio in San Francisco. It was exciting to be with 600 other people who have also been preparing for June 3. We went out to Nicasio and the Marin Cheese Factory and then back. It was a very high spirited group. People really looked out for one another and were very conscious of safe riding practices.
That was in sharp contrast with some parts of a ride I did last Saturday. The Wine Country Century is a supported ride sponsored by the Santa Rosa Cycling Club. A year ago I never would have believed I would be riding 100 miles in a day. But my focus on steady increases in mileage (since the disastrous week in March where I over-reached) and consistent care of my knees made Saturday a notably unextraordinary experience – for me. But the very idea of a century was outrageous last summer!
In this image I am really enjoying a curve on Westside Road, just north of Porter Creek. I was really feeling good - there's a short descent in the shadows just before this - I'm just flying with the momentum from that downhill leg! This is mile 52, at 11:45 am. Lunch was 18 miles away at Warm Springs Dam!
The experience was very different than the rides scheduled by the AIDS Lifecycle Team! There were a total of 2500 riders doing 4 different courses (35 mi, 100 km [62 mi], 100 mi, and 200 km [124 mi]). At times where there were a lot of bikes in sight. What was disconcerting was the number of riders who were just not thinking. Some failed to move right for a car behind them and others rode abreast in pairs or triples. Many riders behaved in ways that increased the danger for those around them. There were even a few riders with iPods or Bluetooth phone earpieces.
This was the first time that I actually felt that riding alone might be safer!
Lee asked me last night what I thought about while riding. Frequently there is a conversation with the rider ahead or behind, about almost anything. Over the last 4 months, the group that has been going on training rides in Sonoma County have gotten to know one another pretty well. So there are conversations about kids, travel, other rides, bicycles, the wildflowers, the weather, the hill, and the distance to lunch!
My own reveries tend to be about things ... in particular ... things on the road. For years I have always picked up rusty washers, bolts, lock hasps, flattened cans, distressed sheet metal parts of unknown origin. For a while in the City I took pictures of the random collections of debris that formed in the eddy's of street intersections. But while riding I am rarely willing to stop and pick something up. I do lust for the some wonderful sightings ... a tow chain with hooks, a beautiful hubcap, or a clevis pin from a big towing hitch. This has led me to consider taking things from my own collections and returning them to the wild! Releasing them from my imagined uses (assemblage, collage, sculpture). Probably won't happen. There isn't a 'catch and release' program for road finds! Besides, I wouldn't want to create hazards for others.
Frequently, especially when alone, I think of the real goal and all the ways that HIV and AIDS have crossed my life in the last few decades. People who were lost, friends with siblings that died, or families with members who were infected. And the changes in relationships this disease created among those connected to infected individuals. A somber mood results from these reflections. And a renewal of my commitment.
Here is a brief summary of my training results for the last month:
Weekly Goals for Apr......... Results Week of (4/9)
125-150 mi ............................... 168
12-14 hrs .................................. 11
55-75 longest ............................ 73
Weekly Goals for Apr......... Results Week of (4/16)
125-150 mi ...............................161
12-14 hrs .................................. 23
55-75 longest ............................ 13
Weekly Goals for Apr......... Results Week of (4/23)
125-150 mi ............................... 238
12-14 hrs .................................. 20
55-75 longest ............................ 78
Weekly Goals for May......... Results Week of (4/30)
125-175 mi ............................... 152
14-16 hrs .................................. 11
55-75 longest ............................ 100
