Not a bad ride, I actually had fun. I did not fall and was mostly dry, but I did get some water seeping into my left shoe. I encountered a few cars in the beginning and I met the neighbor “Dan” of Jeff Shultz. I could tell he thought I was a little off my rocker but was polite about it. I felt safe and took it easy on the turns. The brakes pretty much were useless. I never felt like I was going to fall except when I tried riding with no hands, the bike just wanted to wander all over. The riding was a little tough because of the drag from the ice buildup. Near the end of the ride, the chain was skipping because of all the ice on the teeth. I had a guy in a truck roll down his window and call me a “dumb ass” I just ignored him and kept on riding. I had to pour warm water on the bike to de-ice it when I got back and I used the hose to blast off what was left especially under the fenders.

Hopefully this rain gear I have will keep me dry. I have 8 more miles on the road and they will probably be hilly like what Mike and I faced yesterday. I still have to put the chain back on the cyclocross bike at Connellsville. I should end up a muddy mess by the time I get to Pittsburgh. Dressing will be tricky since the rain gear will make me hotter than usual. The first 8 miles should be a good judge. And here I thought I wasn’t going to get to use the rain clothes. Oh well. I will post again when I stop to eat.- MZ from the Blackberry.

12:30 – Changed bikes to the Lemond Poprad Cyclocross. I haven’t been on this bike in a while. I had to put on the chain and lube it plus set my seat height. I ended up adjusting it out on the trail as well.

2:15 I am posting from the bike trail at 13 mph. The trail is muddy and soft in sections and I am into the wind with 22 trail miles covered. Loooking for food and drink at 2:20pm in the drier sections I can go 17 and sometimes type with both hands. Bye for now.
3:00 stopped to eat. In the last 3 miles I saw and old dude in a speedo thong and a half shirt jogging. Then I passed a guy with two pistols strapped to his back in a shoulder holster. I am eating a turkey club and the best I could do for energy bars is pop tarts and a rice crispy treat. The bike shop right here has some deal with the deli that they can’t sell anything edible. Of course the deli didn’t sell energy packs or energy bars…
The Trail is nice and flat and follows the river. The only problem is that the rain has made the trail soft in sections and muddy. My ride was sort of like a time trial into the wind up a muddy dirt road. There was no coasting because of the rolling resistance slowed you down too fast. There was a 6″ wide strip on both sides of the trail that was packed pretty well but you couldn’t see it, only feel it. In some sections, I took to the roads to get a break as the trail went through small housing areas. Some of the sections near the end were very packed and almost had a paved feel and appearance. I was hauling at this point but getting tired as I grazed one of the posts with my forearm. That woke me back up.
I arrived in McKeesport @ 4:45 and met Becky. I worked on my Route to Downtown and left just after 5:00.

The roads were not that great and rush hour traffic on a friday night was busy, but cars were pretty goon on the whole. it took longer than expected and I got turned around a few times and had to ask for directions. I arrived at the hotel between 6:30 and 7:00 I think. There were @ 50 people out front and they made me feel like a mini-celebrity. There were welcome signs and everything. I hope I can get some pictures of that soon.

Thanks for all the support along the way. The photos should be in the “photos” section, but can also be viewed HERE

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!

As we reached Ellicott City, the temperature dropped and the winds kicked up. We were pelted with rain and blown all over the road. The rail or sleet felt like needles on our faces. We arrived in Downtown Ellicott city to find Mike W, one of the riders meeting us chasing his gloves, helmet and glasses all over the road from the wind. Mike’s wife Madi took our lighting gear and traded for fresh water bottles. with the fronts of us soaked, we stopped in a coffee shop to warm up. Madi went home for clothes and tools. Jim rode home for dry clothes and we met them a mile or two up the road. I changed into some drier clothes and added an outer layer since it was so cold and the wind was making it worse. As we went to leave, I noticed my front tire was flat. quickly everyone pitched in and replaced the tube and we were on our way…for about a mile…another flat, same tire. We started to look for embeded glass and found some including a hole through the tire. In order to construct a makeshift patch, we forced ourselves to eat this ice cold, toothpaste consistency energy gel that was supposed to be some kind of mochajava flavor. We decided against that and Jim K was going to give me his tire, deflated but then we had trouble getting it off the rim so we put the liner back in my original tire for protection and were on our way.

The wind was really bad 25-35 mph with gusts. Mike W, Jim K, Dave T rode in front trying to sheild Keith and I from some of the wind, but it was shifting and hitting us from all sides but a tailwind. Those three stayed with us for @ 2hrs and left just before Mount Airy. We met up with Paul, a rider who was at the start and lives nearby – he brought us spare tubes and food on the road.

Keith and I continued on to reach Frederick for lunch at 62 miles. We headed West over two mountain ranges where I thought the incline would never end. Nothing like any hill we have around baltimore. We climbed for miles and thought we would have a nice downhill, but as soon as we were over the mountain, the winds were stronger and prevented us from getting any speed on the downhills. We had to pedal hard downhill to get any decent speed and the bikes were unstable and all over the place heading directly into the wind.

After these two hills the roads got smaller and quieter for the most part through Middletown, Boonesboro, Williamsport, but they were constantly up and down with most of the down again fighting the wind. Finally Keith and I made it to the Western MD Rail trail which was just 100 miles. 1st hundred for Keith in 13 years? right? We covered the last 11 as our fastest 11miles at 16mph.

– Keith dropping me on one of his flyers
Average speed for the ride was 13.something. We stopped to refuel and eat and nature calls, but mostly were out there from 5:45 (5:55 for me) and finished at 6:40 or so battle worn and tired and hungry. Keith’s calorie watch ( I’m sure it tells time too) said 6500 calories. Tomorrow I am mostly on the PA Bike Route S. Feel free to drive up and join in for a few miles. Thanks for all the help today. I have some clothes to return, Jim’s jersey, Mike or Madi’s black wind shell, somebody’s glove liners.

– at the finish. We ate at the restaurant in the background. I was soo hungry.

Here is Keith’s Version:

Today was tough. All hills, All wind, All day. Brutal headwinds!!! Brutal!!!
There was a point near mile 86 just before turning left on to Route 56 where it was pancake flat. The headwind at that point was so strong that Mike Z and I were killing ourselves just to maintain 9 mph – I’ve never ridden in anything like that before. The peculiar thing about yesterday was that we would climb for miles at a moderate pace just to crest the hill into a massive headwind that required us to pedal hard because coasting downhill actually made our bikes severely unstable. I really thought yesterday was going to be the day that I would be blown off my bike.
When we hit the Western Maryland Railway Trail we were so glad to be out of the wind and off the hills that we actually hit speeds in the 20s – and no I didn’t take any fliers – no more mushroomed shaped potatoes for you Mike Z!
At the end of the ride we ate at a restaurant right off the trail. I was about to eat my own arm. Mike Z and I almost fell asleep in our plates. Stacey and Becky met us that the end. Stacey transported what was left of me…and my bike back to Ellicott City.
Becky and Mike Z traveled back to Hagerstown to find a place to stay. Yesterday was truly a test of will. Neither of us was going to cut the trip short.
All Hail Mike Z for putting this together and pushing on without us. Hopefully the next 2 days are a tad easier and shorter.
Good Luck Mike Z!
My thoughts are with you, man!
Peace.
Keith

The snow let up but the roads stayed wet all the way to Ocean City. Chip got a flat and then the poor guy had the cold greasy “tire change hands” for the next 1+ hours until we found a place to wash up. The extra large coffee I had probably wasn’t smart either as I was stopping every 5 minutes. Those things slowed us down and for a while there it seemed like we stopped as soon I was warming up each time. My hands and feet felt really cold. Later, we ate lunch and dried off/warmed up as much as possible. One of the ladies working at Burger King asked us if we were scuba divers! I can’t remember when we got in, but the moving average speed was 18MPH. Chip met his wife down there and Clint and I stayed at my In-law’s Condo. We had a big dinner at the Bonfire all you can eat. It cost $27, but I bet Clint at $50 worth of food. We dried all our clothes in front of the gas fireplace and tried to clean the bikes and chains a little, but the grit was everywhere. (And I had completely removed and cleaned/lubed my chain Friday night…)

I had serious doubts about making the ride back Sunday. I was really tired Saturday night and the legs were fried. We got up early the next morning and I felt a lot better. The temperature was @ 18 degrees with a 9-10 MPH Headwind. We ate breakfast, had 10 people say we were crazy and got on our way. Right away my left knee was killing me. I thought it would warm up a bit and I also took some ibuprofen. After a few miles we stopped and got hand warmers. I put one on my knee but it didn’t help. After @ 7 miles Chip’s wife called to check on us and I packed it in, I knew the only bail out option was then and I didn’t want to get 1/3 into the ride and be holding them back with no other way to get home. I rode back with Katie and they continued on. When I got home, I decided to go out for a short ride. I felt OK, so I rode down to Annapolis and back. I at least got 35 miles in so I was happy since last night I thought I might never pedal again. The original plan had been to stay in OC Sunday and ride home Monday. I might have been able to do that, but I am happy with how I did either way. It was fun.

Chip and Clint pressed on without Mike, despite temps that never reached 30. They stopped several times to defrost their water bottles and refuel, once at a Moose Lodge bar, using their microwave! They fought headwinds all day averaging only 14 mph for almost 8 hours. Clint was on his new aero bars from Mike O most of the 14 hours on the bike (Sat+Sun). Some say we are crazy, but unless you have the bike gene, it’s hard to comprehend how three guys could have so much fun doing something few have ever done in such frigid temps. At least it was sunny and dry, there were no attack dogs along the route, the scenery was great, and we made it back to the B&B by sunset. I met the guys with hot coffee and ibuprofen and ferried them back over the bridge.

Our sincere thanks go to Katie for taking us over the bridge again this year and hauling our luggage to the beach. We could not have done it without her. And for those who wish they could have joined us (yeah right!), we’ll do it again in warmer weather April 1-2 (seriously).

Here is a link to all the pictures:
Pictures are Here