bike.zaloudek.net

This will be short as I need to get going on day 3. I wasted time trying to fix the Thumbnail posting and decided to wait until later to fix it right. The Pictures aresort of working now but they aren’t perfect.
Yesterday i got a nice wakeup call from Mike O, one of my cycling friends from Howard County, only he was in Hancock, MD, having left his house @5AM to come up and meet me for the ride. I was really happy to have someone with me. We left his truck and headed west on PA Bike Route S. We got a late start as I was really beat from the day before. Bike Route S, according to the description “a beautiful ride that saves thousands of vertical feet of steep climbing” Not sure who wrote that lie. The hills were neverending and usually steep. We saw snow at the tops of some of the climbs. We ended up doing 80 Miles. Today I do the last 8 miles to Connellsville and then 40 some miles of the Great Allegheny Passage and then the last 20 or so into Pittsburgh. I hope these first 8 are not as hilly as yesterday. We got up to 45 MPH on the downhills and 3 MPH on the uphills at some points.

Since I didn’t do such a good ride report here is the Ride in Mike O’s Words:

- Rode 80-81 miles, 6+ hrs in the saddle. Late start, around 12 noon.
- Z did a good job finding the air pocket, no joke intended. My intent was to make sure he covered the distance and had more energy at the end of the ride, than I did.
- The last 10 miles, Z left me for dead with his acceleration on the climbs. It was fun to watch him get up the 13% grades. And good to know that he was doing okay.
- In the beginning, I thought my domestique qualities were poor because I couldn’t find the pace where Z would stay on my wheel on the flats or climbs.
- And on that note, I probably asked Z the “question” a dozen times: how was he doing? I think we agreed on speeds of 18avg for the flats, and 8-10 for the climbs. And from thereon, we kept in touch.
- We encountered many 11-15% climbs along the route. Going down hill was a blast, and required little effort to touch 40mph (we had a max of 45mph). Some downhills were steep and rolling, where we built enough speed to crest and begin the next dive. Some down hills lasted easily over a minute. Let me tell you, it was fun.
- The downhills were twisty, but with plenty of gravel. Some of the turns were tight, steep, and dirty. Truly a road meant for cars, even though it was part of the BikePA route. The cleanest lane was in the tire track portion of the road.
- Accelerations were effortless. On one downhill dogleg turn, a car overtook Z while we were doing about 30-32mph into a turn, where we then accelerated out to 40+mph. It felt like we had a motor on our bikes at that point.
- On the flip side, climbing required a gear of 23-25 at 5-9mph. Sit/grind, stand/grind. I’m thinking we easily climbed 7000ft in elevation (when compared to the Civil War Century and Eat-a-Peach). I’m planning to work the exact figures once Z sends me his cue sheet.

- Oh yeah, let me say that Lawyer’s hill is an ant hill (said with an air of arrogance). I’m thinking I’ll never, ever need to sit down, but should be out of the saddle and SPINNING up the hill in a 39/15 from now on.

- Long and recurring were the hills. “What goes down, must come up, is how I tempered any urge to hammer”. And with Z sitting on my wheel, it made it easy to control the “breaks”. lol.
- I have to admit, I played tortoise. Having cramped my legs and strained a calf on the OC ride, it was the first time back on the bike for me.
- I think Z rode smart by riding in the draft. There were quite a few times he went off the front. But only where gravity and easy bursts of speed made sense to do so.
- The BikePA trail was a nice rolling stretch of local roads that mainly kept us in the valleys. I recall Z said the BikePA was a 20mile detour. For the most part it was relatively easy, since it kept us in the valleys with rolling hills (there were some rising hills though). I can only imagine had we faced the mountain range headon, how much tougher the ride and number of climbs would have been.
- Near the end, the BikePA route lost its reputation and became very hilly though.
- On White Horse Rd (part of the BikePA route), the hill had a Loooong, grinding climb and 3 false peaks. Cresting the first false peak nearly sapped my energy when I saw we weren’t done climbing. There was even a dead hawk on the shoulder to attest to the brutal nature of what was in store up ahead for us.
- We encountered snow, ample amounts of it, at higher elevations. Z has pics. And seeing it justified the hills that we were climbing. None of the trees were in bloom, or near bloom anywhere along the ride.
- The entire landscape was interesting. Lush green grass in the valleys, brown dirt on the farmlands, and bare/brown trees (and spots of snow) on the hills. The valleys looked like fall. The higher elevations looked like winter with no snow, forest fire-like (but no charred trees), compared to Maryland.
- The peak temperature was about 55-60, and at times the wind got up to 15 knots (my guess). The temps became chillier as the cloud cover and evening came around. Still we were hot, and I mean hot with sweaty clothes, from the climbs and sheltered valleys. Stopping presented an immediate chill, and I was glad to keep moving.
- Overall, the locals were friendly and approachable. We even received a thumbs-up from a passing car. On the downside, there were one or two cars that did the intentional swerve or horn blaring at us. One good ol’ pickup truck (think banjo music, please) accelerated and came head on across the center line at me, from the opposite direction.
- The folks who saw us and waved/spoked definitely sparked energy in me. We saw quite a few kids who would run around and get excited at the sight of our bikes cruising by. It’s times like those, where you collect yourself and show good form, no matter how tired you are.
- Dogs? There were some. Two friendly owners called off their dogs who were charging across the yard at us. In other instances, I played Dog Whisperer and won, by keeping the dogs at bay. I pointed out this achievement to Mike Z, who wasn’t impressed. Oh well, I forgot that I was there on the ride in a domestique capacity.
- The cows were huge cycling fans. With visibility so good, they spotted us from a long distance and lined the fences. It was interesting to look out yonder and see these cows with all their heads pointed in your direction. It was a good thing that they were not free-roaming, or African Cape Buffalo (known for attacking lions in Africa).

- So instead of yellow sunflower plants, the background colors for Z’s “tour” were black and white. Only once did the cows run, during a flier that Z took up to our feed zone, where we waited for Becky. I think the cows would have followed Z had they not been fenced in.
- On that note, Becky was super. I could see or hear the frustration (or maybe boredom) in her at times, but still she was awesome. Out in the middle of nowhere trying to keep yourself occupied, while then being called to come and find two bikes in the middle of nowhere didn’t appear any easier than riding.
- There is no way my wife is going to come along and drive around like Becky did, and risk getting lost. We took a turn that was tricky, easily missed, and in a bad cell zone. But somehow Becky found it, and off in the distance came a familiar van with a white bike on top! Lunchtime was on!!
- I ate everything I carried: 8 gels, 1 banana, 1 power bar, snack bar (and a sandwich that Becky brought us). And drank 4 bottles of water/energy drinks.
- Z has strange drinking habits. Lacking a lemon slice or cherry for his water, he laced the contents of his water bottle with an empty, rolled-up Enervit Cheer pack. http://www.performancebike.com/product_images/400/20_1340.jpg
- Overall, just a great ride, rain or shine, a real challenge, even a character builder of sorts.
- An organized event isolates you from the elements in a man-vs-nature sort of way. It was a tough ride, knowing you had to get from point A to point B for a purpose, for pride, because you had to. No 20-mile rest stops on this ride. Stores/water were hard to find and there was no way to replenishment at the right time, had we needed to. At one covered bridge, I wondered could we drink from the local streams if we had to.
- It helped that the sun was shining, but the challenges are the same in the rain. The only true difference, in my mind, would be bombing downhills in the rain.
- I’m convinced we could have finished the last 20 miles to make it a century. I guess Mike Z will find out if those last 20 miles today (Friday) will get him out of the hills we had on Thursday. But daylight was growing short, and 80 miles of rolling to very steep hills is no small feat. Plus, I had no lights.
- Quite a few times, Z and I related to the TDF riders about the similarities. Only we (well, Mike Z really) did it with less support and entourage.
- This ride (which we should do again) needs a name. And of course, it needs to be named for Mike Z, who put it together.

Thanks Mike!