This past weekend Matthew (6 Yrs old) and I were able to attend CAM 2007 for our first time at this event. Thanks to Gayle at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Richard Chambers at One Less Car for making it possible. We had a great time and would love to go next year for all 4 days.
We started off Early Saturday morning and made the drive from Severna Park to Princess Anne on the Eastern Shore. We arrived at the University of MD campus around 8AM and got our registration information, picked out our camping location on the field and got changed into our cycling gear and got the bike ready with drinks, cameras, etc. Matthew was using the Camelback. We picked the casual ride for Saturday with an 18 mile length.
By 9 AM we were underway and saw a few riders on the return trip from earlier in the morning. By 9:10 Matthew already needed a potty break and not kind we could take “on the road” I pedaled on for several miles looking for a stop, but all we saw was farmland and woods. As we came to an intersection, I looked up the satellite view on Google Maps and there looked like a possible commercial area a few miles off course. We ended up taking a 4 mile detour to take care of business. We also replenished his drink and bought a candy bar. Before we had even finished the detour he had to go again. (I need to keep this in mind from now on) About half way into the ride we had a small incident. While standing, he somehow slipped and scraped his leg in two places. After a short rest, some comforting and another potty break, we were on our way back. It was hot and sunny and we were feeling it. On the return trip my left knee started hurting again in the exact same way it has before, but I stuck with it. Our 18 Mile ride had grown to 22 by the time we arrived back and and then 24 miles as we rode around the campus. This was Matthew’s longest ride ever up from 14 miles on Wed 7/11.
We had a lot of fun the rest of the day. We set up our tent in the Football field and we did a few races around the track. I rode the tandem and Matthew rode his bike with a decent head start. I was not able to catch him on 3 attempts. We ate some lunch at camp and went over to the showers and pool. They had a really nice pool with 3 foot and 12+ foot diving boards. We both tried the smaller board until Matthew dared me to jump off the high dive. It was really scary, but somewhat fun. After I did it Matthew jumped off twice. I tried to get the camera, but 2 times was all he would do. We swam for a while and then watched a movie in one of the rooms. Dinner was really great. We had meal cards and went over to the Student Services Bldg and they had a buffet style meal and even Matthew found some things he liked. After dinner we went to the Hawaiian luau for kabobs, fruit and chocolate fountains. We answered a lot of questions about the tandem setup from parents with kids. After the luau, we went over to the theater and listened to Dr Gabe Mirkin give a talk about cycling performance and nutrition that I enjoyed and Matthew hated. It was dark now and we had fun with some glow sticks in the field. One exploded with “alien blood” on Matthew that we washed off quickly.
We slept good and woke up before our alarm and rode over to breakfast. Breakfast had a lot of choices and we (I) selected the Medium route for our ride. It was two 18 mile rides with a rest stop in the middle. I figured we could rest for a while and just take it easy. We packed grapes and got the bike ready with drinks and our gear by 8AM.
We left the start and from the beginning had a nicer ride than the day before. It was cooler and there were a lot of other riders out on the course and Matthew liked catching and passing them. We chatted with a few until we had to stop for potty breaks or move on. By 8:15 he had eaten most of the grapes I packed, but was doing better with not drinking as quickly as Saturday. My knee felt better on Saturday after the swimming, but not wanting a repeat of pain I tried to select taller gears and did not coast to keep it under load. We did coast for butt breaks when requested. about 15 Miles in our queue sheet blew away so we kept other riders in sight. We had one problem where we were trying to catch a rider and going along at 27-28mph and hit a dip in the road which caused Matthew a lot of pain in his ankle. He said it bent his foot upwards a lot. I promised to keep the pace slower unless we were coasting downhill. The rides on both days were mostly flat, but the wind seemed to be constantly against us but for a few short breaks. We reached the rest stop at the half way point and relaxed and refueled. I enjoyed the tomato sandwiches and cookies while Matthew ate goldfish crackers. At the park we were in there was a playground and Matthew tried out all the equipment, but really liked the merry go round. It was making me ill so I got off. Now, I told him multiple times that it would make him sick, but he kept going round and round. 5 minutes later we were looking at his grapes from earlier in the ride (not as fresh looking I might add) and the goldfish crackers.
After a brief recovery period we set back out on the course. The return trip was nice with a few shaded areas, some gentle climbs and more wind. I showed Matthew how if you got down low it was easier for me to pedal into the wind. It was cute later when we were going like 3 mph back at campus I heard him say something like “do you feel that? I’m getting low…” On the way back we paced a few other riders until it was time to hit the gas and we let them eat our dust. We picked off quite a few more riders before the end with the wind really making it tough. Our average speed was reduced by riding around campus afterwards, but I think it was in the 16 range. We returned to cheers and cowbells with 37 Miles, 38 before we left for home. He was really proud of his new record mileage. Matthew had some snacks at the finish while I did track stands solo on the tandem and rode tight circles with the front wheel at a 90 degree angle. We showered, took down the tent and headed home tired and happy. looking forward to next year. It would be great to have a group go to the ride together. There are enough rides to suit everyone. Next year they are rotating the location to a different area but may stay on the Eastern Shore.
Pictures are here
Video is here

This is pretty cool - I found a plugin (WordPress Flickr Post Bar)that allows me to insert pictures from Flickr into any post that I write on the blog. If this works correctly the next thing in this post will be a picture from Goshen, VA where we took our borrowed tandem on our Wedding Anniversary.

26 Degrees this morning when Becky and I took the tandem out to meet with the Saturday “Bagel Riders.” We were off to a late start due to some fashion changes. The riders or should I say rider met us on the trail. We rode with Clint Provenza South on the B@A Bike trail to the end and followed the roads into Annapolis. We stopped off at a coffee shop/book store near the docks and got some hot coffee and a muffin. The return trip went by way of Generals Highway and through Gambrills. Was her longest ride yet even farther than Turkey Day. We did @ 33 miles today. I felt good as we kept the pace reasonable. There were a few hills and I am still trying to figure out the best approach and gearing to use. The temperature was up over 10 degrees near the ride’s end and very sunny.
What I wore:
Shoe Covers Trek
PI Tights thin
PI Shorts
LL Bean Silk base
SS Jersey
Cannondale Jacket (now too big)
Full Balaclava - To hot at the end

Becky Wore:
Shoe covers - Thick
Cannondale Tights Thick (not paid for yet)
Cannondale Tights Thin
PI Base (mine)
SS Jersey
Cannondale Waffle LS (mine)
Windstopper Jacket (mine)
Full Balaclava (mine)

Thursday Ride Report:
It was a pair of tandems that set out on this blustery day. It was quite a site to see - Two captains with their beautiful-skin-tight-lycra-clad-stoker-wives providing that extra burst of back seat power. We left following the Bike Doctor Saturday route and made good time through the first part of the ride. As we turned right onto Harmans road I pedaled through the turn to see if Becky was awake and caught my inside pedal on the road which appeared to lift the rear wheel and move it over a few inches. I pretended like it was normal and continued on after my heart rate returned to normal. As we turned onto Dorsey Road and started uphill, I thought I may have lost the rear engine as we were losing ground to the Tambeaux-Turbo-Tandem but as we reached the top and recovered it appeared that we had just overheated a bit. The short and steep up the first part of Race road hurt a little but the roller coaster ride that followed was worth it. Things were uneventful past the horse farm and over Rt 100. We took turns pulling down Race Rd, but the power was tapering toward the end from the Zaloudek team. The climb up Ridge Road felt a bit different on the tandem than on the single. I had to surrender to the granny gear on the front but we kept relative speed with the TambeauxTandem thanks to a tamer charity pace they were setting. As we rose over the last few inclines Becky was doubting my claims of “that was the last hill.” We had already exceeded all her previous mileage records at this point. We returned to the parking lot safe and sound and went on to our respective Thanksgiving Feasts. I am realizing that I am much more wiped out after a Tandem ride. As I sit here writing this though I do feel recovered enough at least to show up Saturday, but I see it is going to be really cold - I may have to try my new foot warmers.