Terex

On the Covered Bridges ride in Bucks County, PA today I saw one fellow wearing a 50+ jersey. Jut wondering how many may have ridden, and which route. Two other club members and I did the metric century. There was quite a bit of climbing, and after a 64 mi ride yesterday, w/ 6000 ft of climbing, I'm quite tired at this point. There was a big turnout today on a crisp, autumn day.

Neil_B

That was probably "guybierhaus" riding. He wrote elsewhere that he was riding the 33 mile route. I rode the 50 and didn't see him. I was too busy questioning my sanity for riding this climb-fest to look for him.

Speaking of BF posters riding, I rode with "freemti" and his son. "NelFein" and his wife rode one of the flat rides, and "LittleDarwin" wrote that he was coming.

guybierhaus

Yea, I was riding with my 50+ jersey today. I had it pulled over a Covered Bridge long sleeve T shirt from a prior year. Light blue sleeves sticking out from red jersey wasn't the best combo. But I was freezing at the start and most of the ride. Didn't want to cover jersey with a wind breaker, so I suffered. I got at least 4 "love the jersey" comments. I rode the hilly 33 route, as I found the flat rides too boring. Did walk for a short piece on two hills; but generally found the ride enjoyable. Actually the first organized ride this year that I didn't get so bored that I put on my mp3 player. As an aside, I discovered it's not a good idea to eat sauerkraut the night before. And no I got no extra boost with each gas release.

Managed two photos of bridges.

Sandwarrior

Looks like it was a great ride through some outstandiing scenery

Neil_B

Here is an edited version of my blog posting on the ride:

Little problems can ruin your day if you let them. Tim, his son Ian, and I all found this out today at the Bucks County Covered Bridges Ride.

The three of us planned on riding the metric century. Shortly before Tim was to register he discovered his cycling shoes were at home, 90 minutes away. After some prodding Tim managed to find a set of platform pedals with toe clips to use. He then left his water bottles in the car, along with his food, as we started the 50 mile course.

Meanwhile, I was shivering under a base layer, jersey, sweatshirt, and t-shirt. Long fingered gloves would have helped me stay warm against the brisk autumn air. But they were back at MY house, alongside my climbing skills. I had to walk the first of many hills on this ride - see the elevation profile to understand why. I quickly fell behind my friends.

I caught up with Tim and Ian at the first rest stop, just in time to offer my multitool to help fix a problem with Tim's pedals. A couple of miles out of the rest stop, Ian fell, banging up both the rider and his four day old Surley Cross Check. Ian was bruised; the bike had to have the front brake loosened to the point it barely functioned. The brakes worked well enough that Ian, and his dad, thought he could continue.

Ian himself was barely functional for the rest of the ride. In addition to some scrapes and a bruised hip, he was suffering from the ride itself, never having ridden 50 miles before, let alone 50 miles on hills like these. Father and son making a wrong turn at one point and adding 4 miles to their day didn't help Ian. It did help me, since I caught up to them at the last rest stop. Or more accurately, they caught up to me, arriving just as I was to leave. We left the final rest stop at 5 minutes to 2, and completed the final 12 miles of the ride by 3.

Little Darwin

Actually, between the cold weather, and battling a cold decided that I should skip it.

My cycling adventure this weekend was limited to the Trexlertown swap meet.

guybierhaus

Ride pictures are posted and here's the proof I was there. Just another posting of my $10 pic. Note I saw camera and sat up straight, or even stood up, can't recall, just to show off that jersey.