This past Sunday took me to St. Andrew's, New London. The Rev. Cricket Cooper, their rector, is leaving parish ministry to pursue a career in speech pathology. Cricket is a friend and a former member of the MRC; I wanted to see her in the pulpit one more time before she left. She is a smart, insightful, upbeat, sunny person with a great sense of humor that injects fun into whatever she does. Last Sunday they were celebrating their choirs and music ministry. They did three big hymns with a flautist playing the descants. The also performed an anthem with the adult and children's choirs combined. It was a simple tune, but done in a round with the different choirs taking different parts; very nice. Cricket gave a great sermon. One nugget I remember: Cricket spoke about the fact at the ascension (which was celebrated Thursday before last Sunday) the apostles were not afraid as Jesus was raised up to heaven. In all the other times in the New Testament, the apostles were panicked whenever Jesus left them. By the time of the ascension they knew they would receive everything they needed, and they were joyful. That was something I had never heard before. She then wove that story into the concern that the congregation was having over her departure and their search for a new rector, and how they shouldn't be afraid. She said their new rector was out there already, praying for them to find him or her. It was masterful, and wonderfully delivered. She is a terrific priest, and her church and the Diocese of New Hampshire will miss her dearly. She will be an incredible gift to whomever she works with in her new endeavor. As a side note, Tammy Trahan, the administrative assistant at Diocesan House also made a surprise appearance at St. Andrew's. She provides a lot of assistance to the MRC, and it was good to see her outside of her work environs.
As I mentioned last week, this was a big step up in distance, and I paid for it. The Friday before the ride I was up in Waterville Valley with some college friends as part of our 25th reunion. We went for a 10 mile hike up and over Mt. Osceola, which was spectacular. Then Saturday was spent criss-crossing the MIT campus while wearing boat shoes, not the best for lots of walking. I had a minor shin splint in my right leg after the hike, and it got worse during the day on Saturday. Sarah came down to join me that evening. MIT had a 150th anniversary celebration complete with champagne and fireworks. It was fun, but we got back late, and I hit the road Sunday morning having had only 5 hours of sleep. The ride up was very nice, clear skies and calm winds, but a bit chilly at 42 degrees. I was a bit sore from the hike and walking around MIT, but it was manageable. There was a fair amount of climbing involved, as New London is about 1100 feet above Manchester, and there were a lot of ups and downs in between. The final pull up into New London was a lot of work. My usual post-ride stretch / yoga, performed upon arrival, was good medicine for joint and muscle pain. After the service I had a nice chat with Cricket and several other St. Andrew's parishioners, grabbed a cup of real coffee (something I rarely have) and some fruit at coffee hour, said goodbye, and hit the road. The major uphills into New London of course were downhills heading home, and I really spun my legs on my fixie*. The high revs were not good for my legs, and the pain in the front of my legs got to be fairly steady and a bit worrisome. By the time I got home, it hurt quite a bit. I stretched again, took some advil, and enjoyed Sunday dinner with my family. The next day it hurt a lot. These types of injuries involve in inflammation of the tendons and muscle, which gets exacerbated as you move and load the joints. When I flexed my ankle the muscle and tendon on the front of my leg made a squeaking sound, as if it was rusty inside. It felt weird, and very uncomfortable. The only thing to do about these injuries is to rest the leg, take advil, put ice on it if it gets bad, and wait. So that is what I did this week. It seems to be improving, and with any luck, tomorrow I'll knock out the 40 mile round trip to Milford without incident. I am planning on going to Keene the following Sunday, which is 116 miles round trip, so I need this to get better. We'll see.
* fixed gear bicycle - see the link for details if you are interested. I'll explain in a future blog entry.
The stats:
dist: 99.8
Avg Speed: 15.4
Avg HR: 140
total climbing: 5200 ft
Next Rides:
5/12 (tomorrow): The Church of Our Saviour, Milford
5/19: St. James, Keene
5/26: St. John, Dunbarton
Cricket, Tammy, and me after worship service
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