When I was a kid, I would see my Mom getting ready to go out, and would ask her, "Where're you going?" And she would respond, "Crazy . . . want to come along?"
Well, I never did take her up on that offer. (I don't think, anyway . . . some may have a different opinion on that.) But today, Jeff and I decided to go bonkers. The Bonkers Metric, that is. Not sure why it's called that,* but it's actually a quite lovely ride. And if you are going to go Bonkers, you may as well enjoy the trip, right?
The Bonkers Metric is put on by the Delaware Valley Bicycle Club. It's actually very small ride, especially in comparison to the Bloomin' Metric, which also took place today, and which we decided to eschew, for various reasons. Bloomin' riders number in the thousands. Today's ride? Probably in the hundreds. Handful of hundreds. But that's actually fine with me. Rides can be overcrowded (The NYC Five Boro Tour comes to mind, here); I just don't really enjoy that sort of thing.
The Bonkers began at Parking Lot 15, Ridley Creek State Park, 8 am sharp. We got there a little after 8. I was dithering some about what to wear. This morning was really cool (it did rain yesterday), but it was supposed to get into the 70s by early afternoon. What to wear? I settled on knickers, a short-sleeved jersey with extenders, and my favorite convertible jacket. Turned out to be just right. I shed about as many clothing items as Bose sheds cat fur.
As we were unloading our bikes from the car, I was looking at Jeff's rear tire, thinking (in a not-quite-enough-caffeine-induced haze, I guess) that it looked kinda weird, kinda flattish on top. Well, duh! That's because it IS flat. So I said, "Jeff your tire is flat." "FLAT!?," he said, "I guess I can't ride." "Well, of course you can ride," I told him, "I have tons of tubes in the car." And to prove it, I started rooting around in the storage bin, coming up with 3 different brands, some of which would actually fit his bike, rather than mine.
Next, I had to determine why the tire went flat. After all, Jeff's bike had been sitting in the RAV since last Sunday's ride out of Thurmont . . . and it was just fine then, no problems at all. I took a closer look at the tire. No cuts, no nails, no wires, tacks or staples. Weird. I took the tube out and inflated it. Ah . . small hiss at the stem. Looks like the tube developed a small pinhole leak at the juncture between the stem and the tube. I quickly changed it (if you're going to flat, do it at the car . . . you get to use the big pump, not the little weenie on-bike pump).
After washing the dirt off my hands in achingly cold water in the Women's restroom (not quite cold enough to stop my heart, but close), we were off.
Vermont ain't flat. Neither is Connecticut. And, for that matter, neither are Pennsylvania's Chester and Delaware counties. I've described the Civil War Century's 50-mile ride as hilly, but it ain't nuttin' compared to the Bonkers' 50-miler. It officially qualified as a "rolic" (private joke). We called on Granny liberally throughout the entire ride. We've done SCU rides before that are hilly, notably the Quad Country Metric, but we've always done the short option . . . 21 miles, in the case of the Quad. Today was the first time we've attempted a hilly longer ride. True, we did get to roll along some nice ridges, and we had a number of reaaalllly long descents. But we paid for them in climbs, tho' I have to say that I think we had probably more nice long downhills, than long uphills. And it was completely beautiful. Lovely neighborhoods of towering trees, vast lawns and stately stone houses. Some of the scenery very much reminded us of parts of the U.K., in the Cotswolds. No thatched roofs, though, nor any 13th century churches.
We did have some headwind, but it wasn't bad, and we had plenty of tailwinds, too. I have decided, BTW, that I much prefer a hilly headwind to a flat headwind. In the hills, you at least get some downhill respite. When it's flat, you get NONE. AT. ALL.
The first, last, and only rest stop was midway through the ride, at Mile 26. I was running on the fumes of 1/4 of Jeff's leftover bagel when we rolled in. I quickly scarfed: (1) a piece of apple crumb pie, (2) two homebaked brownies, and (3) a slice of pumpkin loaf. You'd have thought I was hungry, or something. A fellow standing nearby mentioned that there was a long climb not long after the rest stop. "Ah -- I knew there was a reason I just ate 4 desserts," I said to him, tucking another brownie into my bike pack for the "after" portion of the climb.
Imagine my disappointment when the climb turned out to be fairly ordinary, tho' a little longer than I am used to.
Yes, I had the brownie anyway. Did you have to ask?
Regular readers of this blog know that I had knee surgery on February 2, and didn't bike for the entire month of February. I've been doing some moderate riding since then: about 75 miles a week for the last month or so, with the longest ride being the 36 mile Icicle Ride in March. Today's ride was my longest post-surgery attempt to date. And it was, unfortunately, not entirely successful. No, I didn't SAG. But I considered it. You see, my knee decided to stiffen up a little at about the 35-mile mark. We were coming down a very long descent, and I guess I had my right knee bent the entire time. At the bottom of the hill, I tried to straighten my knee. Uh oh. Pain. I've had this stiffness some, off and on, the last few weeks, but it's only been momentary, after I've been sitting a long time.
Today, it wasn't momentary. But the stiffness did get better, during the ride. (I've iced it this evening, and reviews are mixed; if I keep it straight, it's relatively pain-free. But I just tested it, after sitting for a while. OUCH. I'm slowly unkinking it as I type this.) I made it back OK, after revisiting the rest stop on the way back (no, I did not lie, it WAS the one-and-only rest stop). I sure hope it clears up in a day or two.
I am most definitely NOT going to do FANY this year. I'm not quite ready for big-time primetime.
Jeff's legs kinda went out on him, too, during the last part of the ride. He's not been riding as much as I this spring, and he doesn't have the miles in his legs yet. But he did fine, really - he just had to stop briefly after each hill, the last 10 miles or so. He's really happy he did the ride - he feels good, unlike this time last year:
And I am happy for him, as I know he went through some rough patches last year, ones that seriously interfered with his ability to bike.
We had our post-ride meal at Iron Hill Brewery, which is getting to be something of a tradition. We went to the one in West Chester, and enjoyed sweet potato fries, seared salmon, spinach couscous, and spring vegetables. We passed on dessert, having had several during the ride. Thank you, DVBC, for having such a wonderful variety of food at the rest stop! Some ride clubs offer stale bagels and fig newtons. DVBC evidently understands the true concept: riding AND eating are both equally important.
Oh, forgot to mention: there was a Starbucks on the route. Yes, we stopped.
*"Bonkers" is the name of the cartoon strip that runs periodically on the DVBC web site . . . title character's named "Bonkers," oddly enough. I'm sure there's a story behind that. Just don't know what it is.
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