Life Is So Good

A few weeks back I wrote about periodic communities, and another one of sorts that we are a member of is a group of families that get together every year for a camping trip.  We have been doing this for the past 13 years, and the past 3 or 4 we have been going to Pawtuckaway State Park over Labor Day weekend.  The dads of this group used to all work together, the moms had a play group going for several years, and the children are close in age and more of less grew up together.  We don't see each other as much as we used to, so it's fun to catch up each year and see how everyone is doing.  The size of the group is starting to shrink a bit as kids go off to college, but I have a hunch we'll be doing this for quite a few more years to come.

Since Pawtuckaway is about 15 miles east of Manchester, we decided to go to a church further to the east, in Durham, about 20 miles from the park.   Once again Sarah and I did the jaunt on my brother's tandem.  It's pretty hilly around the park, and we did some good climbing and then enjoyed a long 40+ mph downhill to the flatter area towards the seacoast.  This was the first ride that we had extra familial participation:  Cathy Menard, a member of St. Paul's Concord and the Diocesan Finance Officer met us at St. George's.   It's very cool to see another person in bike garb in the pews in church.

Sarah and I were pushing pretty hard to get to St. George's on time.  We made it with 3 minutes to spare.  I was a sweaty mess, no time to stretch, just get inside, find a bathroom, put on the EBP bike jersey (I don't wear it on the rides anymore because my sweat makes the signatures run), and get in a pew.  I quickly said hello to the Rev. Michael Bradley as I rushed into the church.  He seemed to take it all in stride.  It was a great service.  There was a descant on one of the hymns, so Sarah got to strut her stuff a bit, always a treat.  When she does that, I just stop singing and bask in the beauty of her voice.  Life is so good.  Being in a college town, St. George's does some cool stuff on campus, including hosting undergrad and graduate student groups.  They also have a forum between the 8 and 10 services where they invite professors and other interesting folks from the campus community to speak.  Very cool; I'm going to have to catch one of those sometime.  Michael seems to be the perfect campus ministry guy; I love the energy of a college town.  We talked to a number of people at coffee hour; one person told me that she was inspired by what I was doing.  Inspired.  Wow, I never expected that..  Maybe this thing is going to have some impact after all.

We rode part way back to the park with Cathy and her partner Betsy, cruising along back roads enjoying a sunny warm New Hampshire Sunday afternoon.  We had to climb back up the hill to Nottingham center, payback for the zoom down a few hours earlier.  After a few more up and downs we enjoyed one last downhill back into the park, then a dip in the lake to cool off.  It was a perfect New Hampshire day.  Life is so good.

The stats:

average speed: N/A (we need to get a cyclometer on the tandem)

dist: approx 40 miles

total climb: N/A

average HR: ?  (i forgot to write it down)

26 Miles With Irene

On Sunday August 28th Irene showed her lovely face in New Hampshire.   That day I did 130 miles the really easy way:  I rode 104 miles in our minivan.  But, I made up for it by riding the other 26 miles through a hurricane, a first for me.  We were just wrapping up our vacation in Lyme (see the prior week's post), and the original plan was for me to ride to Woodsville, about 26 miles, then ride all the way back to Manchester, a little over 100 miles further.  My family would pack up and meet me back home.  On Wednesday that week my wife informed me: "You know, there's a hurricane coming, and it's supposed to hit up here this weekend."  Oh.  So, I spent the rest of the week watching the weather, wondering if I would be able to pull off the plan.  I was thinking if the hurricane just slowed down a little bit, I'd be able to sneak in the ride before the weather got really horrendous.  And, if the wind pulled around to the north, it would practically blow me home.  What could be better?  Well, as I looked at the weather each day, the forecast got worse.  Heavy rain, winds around 40 miles per hour, out of the East and Southeast, more or less right on the nose.  40 miles per hour is enough to stop you dead in your tracks and/of blow you clear off the road.  Nope, not going to try that.  So, we revised the plan.  I'd still ride to Woodsville where Sarah would pick me up after service and we'd drive back to Lyme, grab our boat and bikes, and head back to Manchester.  Not ideal, but at least I'd get to experience Woodsville.  Secretly I hoped that the storm would slow down a bit and I would be able to get up there before the rain and the wind, very wishful thinking.  At about midnight Saturday, we heard the distinctive sound of steady rain on the roof of the cabin.  I tossed and turned as I thought about riding the next morning, and when the time came to go, it was no better.  It's a weird thing when you have to head out to ride in the rain.  You know you will be soaked 5 minutes after you hit the road, but you still put it off and try to stay dry as long as you possibly can.  I cowered under an umbrella as we walked down the hill to breakfast.  But, after a quick bite it was time to get going.  Of course I got the expected question from folks as I put on my shoes and helmet: "Your going to ride in that?,"  as they pointed to the steady wind blown rain outside. 

Once I got going, I settled into a groove.  The bike felt good, the rain wasn't too bad.  There was only one problem: I was slow.  The wind was steadily picking up, and instead of being out of the ESE, it was straight from the North, at least as far as I could tell.  I don't know how fast, but it was easily 15 gusting to 20 by the time I got to Woodsville.  This may not sound like a lot, but it is a huge drag, both figuratively and literally to push through this kind of wind, particularly with steady rain stinging the face.  The other problem was that I miscalculated the distance, thinking it was only 23 miles.   The extra three miles and the lower speed were going to make me late.  We were late last week; I didn't want to do that again.  So I pushed as hard as I could, still barely averaging 15 mph, and made it into church just as the organist started the entrance Hymn.  It was a pretty thin crowd, given the storm and the fact that Woodsville is a small congregation anyway.  I stood out like a sore thumb given the fact that I was a wet and dirty mess, which was fine.  This was an accepting crowd.   I got to introduce myself at announcements and got a number of signatures at coffee hour.  Then, the broom wagon showed up right on schedule and I abandoned the ride, at least for the day anyway.  Unlike in the real Tour (de France), in this one you can get a lift and still go back to ride another day.  In the end, it was very wise not to try to ride home.  Irene was a serious storm, and regardless of the wind, there might not have been a road for me to ride on.  Not to mention, I shouldn't be out there needlessly putting myself at risk.  Our police and fire departments had plenty to do without having to rescue some knucklehead who decided to ride 100+ miles through a hurricane.  26 was enough.

The stats:

average speed: 15.1 mph

dist: 26.4 mi

total climb: 1200 ft

avg heart rate: 148