Covered Bridges Out 'n Back
Covered Bridges Out 'n Back
The covered bridges ride is an annual ride held by the Bucks County Cycling Club and is probably one of the best organized rides in the area. In 2010 I did this ride with Leo and Iggy, which was an epic fail course wise since we missed the first turn and went the wrong direction for 20 miles before we called and only rode 10 miles of the actually defined course. Last year didn’t work out for me and this year I was excited to ride as it is one of my favorite areas. I decided to ride to and from the ride to make for a long day.
Headed out it was just a peach of a morning and I watched the sun rise before the clouds ate the second almost minutes later. On the way there I kept it as flat as possible and chilled along the river. NJ 29 south of Lambertville sucks riding wise since there is very limited shoulder in a bunch of areas. I decided to take this route since I was alittle behind schedule so this was the quickest way. In L-ville I texted Capers to see if he was riding and he bailed since I continued on. Went over to PA at Lumberville and chilled on PA 32. Felt really good.
Got to the ride, registered, at a donut and chilled for a few min to see if anyone I knew came by. No one I recognized was around so I started the route. These super large group rides are weird as a single rider because it is always kind of odd latching onto a group where you don’t know anyone. Timing wise it sometimes doesn’t work out either as a few minutes difference means that you may not even see a group that is going the same speed as you. Anyways, on the first and only gravel road, I found myself with a few guys and a girl and it seemed like they were liked minded in terms of speed, so I stuck with them for a bit and eventually lost them. Just before the first rest stop, I had a slow leak a wrench from Guy’s cycles changed it for me, which was nice that I didn’t have to change it myself and use a CO2.
One of the best parts of this ride is the rest stops. Pretty much all homemade stuff and I think I only ate 2 items of my normal on the bike stuff and replaced that with roughly 52 chocolate chip cookies. Yum. At the rest stop I linked up with the previously mentioned group and stuck with them for the rest of the ride. Turns out the girl was worked for one of our friends so we chatted about that for awhile. The one guy of the group was attacking on every hill and I didn’t take the bait as I knew I would pay for it on the 30 miles home. Normally I would be game for such activity but I knew I made the right decision later in the ride.
Around 10 it starts raining, but is a nice rain and is on and off with nothing heavy.
About 15 miles from end, two of the guys want to pick up the pace and I am game. Go we are off and moving at a pretty good clip. The other two guys are much stronger on the flats but I still take my pulls. We pick up a few people here and there until one long low climb where we shed all of the guys. I am feeling pretty good but in the last five miles there is a bunch of small ups and downs and after the last second to last covered bridge I really feel it climbing out. I know I am cooked and shortly after I tell the guys to go ahead after the yellow in the tree started to look much, much brighter that I think they should. They stick with me for awhile but on the last bridge of the day, they go ahead. Ironically, it is the same spot where the dude on the hybrid passed Manny in 2010. The same did not happen to me this year, but I didn’t feel good at that point.
At the end, I grab another donut and 12 more cookies and am off. Ride home is almost the same and I am hurting a bit but feel decent.
So 126 and 7+ hours on the day, which I think is a longest day milestone for me. I have to admit I enjoy the rain like we had yesterday, just seems to go with the roads I was on and the colored leaves. These are the days where having the right clothing helps so much and I pretty much nailed dressing for the day. I happen to have on my Rapha jersey and my is that thing the most comfortable jersey I have ever worn for an extended period and didn’t stretch out like the other wool jerseys I have (probably because only 40% but still).
No real pictures, I suck, but here is one of the grit of the day.
Covered Bridges Out 'n Back
The covered bridges ride is an annual ride held by the Bucks County Cycling Club and is probably one of the best organized rides in the area. In 2010 I did this ride with Leo and Iggy, which was an epic fail course wise since we missed the first turn and went the wrong direction for 20 miles before we called and only rode 10 miles of the actually defined course. Last year didn’t work out for me and this year I was excited to ride as it is one of my favorite areas. I decided to ride to and from the ride to make for a long day.
Headed out it was just a peach of a morning and I watched the sun rise before the clouds ate the second almost minutes later. On the way there I kept it as flat as possible and chilled along the river. NJ 29 south of Lambertville sucks riding wise since there is very limited shoulder in a bunch of areas. I decided to take this route since I was alittle behind schedule so this was the quickest way. In L-ville I texted Capers to see if he was riding and he bailed since I continued on. Went over to PA at Lumberville and chilled on PA 32. Felt really good.
Got to the ride, registered, at a donut and chilled for a few min to see if anyone I knew came by. No one I recognized was around so I started the route. These super large group rides are weird as a single rider because it is always kind of odd latching onto a group where you don’t know anyone. Timing wise it sometimes doesn’t work out either as a few minutes difference means that you may not even see a group that is going the same speed as you. Anyways, on the first and only gravel road, I found myself with a few guys and a girl and it seemed like they were liked minded in terms of speed, so I stuck with them for a bit and eventually lost them. Just before the first rest stop, I had a slow leak a wrench from Guy’s cycles changed it for me, which was nice that I didn’t have to change it myself and use a CO2.
One of the best parts of this ride is the rest stops. Pretty much all homemade stuff and I think I only ate 2 items of my normal on the bike stuff and replaced that with roughly 52 chocolate chip cookies. Yum. At the rest stop I linked up with the previously mentioned group and stuck with them for the rest of the ride. Turns out the girl was worked for one of our friends so we chatted about that for awhile. The one guy of the group was attacking on every hill and I didn’t take the bait as I knew I would pay for it on the 30 miles home. Normally I would be game for such activity but I knew I made the right decision later in the ride.
Around 10 it starts raining, but is a nice rain and is on and off with nothing heavy.
About 15 miles from end, two of the guys want to pick up the pace and I am game. Go we are off and moving at a pretty good clip. The other two guys are much stronger on the flats but I still take my pulls. We pick up a few people here and there until one long low climb where we shed all of the guys. I am feeling pretty good but in the last five miles there is a bunch of small ups and downs and after the last second to last covered bridge I really feel it climbing out. I know I am cooked and shortly after I tell the guys to go ahead after the yellow in the tree started to look much, much brighter that I think they should. They stick with me for awhile but on the last bridge of the day, they go ahead. Ironically, it is the same spot where the dude on the hybrid passed Manny in 2010. The same did not happen to me this year, but I didn’t feel good at that point.
At the end, I grab another donut and 12 more cookies and am off. Ride home is almost the same and I am hurting a bit but feel decent.
So 126 and 7+ hours on the day, which I think is a longest day milestone for me. I have to admit I enjoy the rain like we had yesterday, just seems to go with the roads I was on and the colored leaves. These are the days where having the right clothing helps so much and I pretty much nailed dressing for the day. I happen to have on my Rapha jersey and my is that thing the most comfortable jersey I have ever worn for an extended period and didn’t stretch out like the other wool jerseys I have (probably because only 40% but still).
No real pictures, I suck, but here is one of the grit of the day.
