My First metric Century and then some
11-13-07 | 08:28 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Downtown Spanky Brown
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,108
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From: Enola, Pennsyltucky
Bikes: Motobecane Phantom Cross Pro Kona Lana'I
My First metric Century and then some
On the 10th of November I had the pleasure of completing my first Metric Century + 14.52 with fellow BFer The Historian. I was a brisk Saturday Morning at 8am when we departed, 38 degrees and spitting a light rain. Unshaken by the weather we headed around the Historians home town and around a few area's of historic interest including a covered bridge, historic theater where scenes from "The Blob" was filmed, and a historic canal. Go figure, The Historian has a tremendous knowledge of local history amongst other subjects. After working our way through a town whose name eludes me at this point (Neil told me it's name many times), we met up with a trail head in Valley Forge. The local woodland critters were rather tame; one particular family of deer didn't mind me riding past at less than an arms length. Continuing down the trail we met up with the Schuylkill River Trail which we took into Philadelphia. Along the trail the "Schuylkill Navy" was out in force. The local college's had their rowing teams out and were drawing quite the crowd. We eventually made it to the Philadelphia Art Museum were we stopped for a few pictures and a much needed rest/stretch. The return trip was considerably more difficult. The hill intervals defiantly favored the up portion. I didn't notice the trip to be incredibly difficult until mile 50, the last 26 miles were defiantly tough to grind out. But with encouraging words to each other and the sheer desire to finish the ride under our own power we eventually finished. Towards the end of the ride while chatting back and forth an odd thing happened. Neil said something along the lines of “Thanks for coming out, if you hadn’t come down I would have probably stayed inside and not done much”. To which I responded “Thank you for having me down, I would have probably done the same thing if you had not invited me down to ride with you”. At first one might read that and think little of it until you consider just what we were saying. We were thanking each other for dragging the other out of bed early into the cold and rain to put ourselves through the trials of distance biking in adverse conditions. I bet you didn’t know a Trek 7.5 FX made for a good mudder and gravel bike did you? Neither did we, but I must say Neil handled it with grace. He is quite fast on that bike, both uphill and down hill when the road isn’t too curvy.
Distance: 76.52 Miles
Time: A shade or two over 8 hours factoring traffic, red lights, pedestrians, stops signs, lunch and being a tourist.
Average Temp: 42 degrees
In closing I would like to thank Tom Stormcrowe for starting the “Clydes/Athenea’s Seeking Ride Buddies” thread where I made originally made contact with The Historian. In addition I thank all the Clydes and Athena’s for your inspiration and guidance in my bicycling and weight loss. You’ve all showed me what one can do with proper knowledge and determination.
Ride on,
Bau
Distance: 76.52 Miles
Time: A shade or two over 8 hours factoring traffic, red lights, pedestrians, stops signs, lunch and being a tourist.
Average Temp: 42 degrees
In closing I would like to thank Tom Stormcrowe for starting the “Clydes/Athenea’s Seeking Ride Buddies” thread where I made originally made contact with The Historian. In addition I thank all the Clydes and Athena’s for your inspiration and guidance in my bicycling and weight loss. You’ve all showed me what one can do with proper knowledge and determination.
Ride on,
Bau
11-13-07 | 08:34 AM
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,210
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From: Alexandria, VA
Bikes: Firefly custom Road, Ira Ryan custom road bike, Ira Ryan custom fixed gear
Great story...you make me want to drive up there for a ride.
BTW, watch the deer. I worry about spooking them when they're too close. A 300 pound critter jumping into me while I'm doing 20 mph is not my idea of fun. When I see them like that, I usually yell something so they give me a little distance.
BTW, watch the deer. I worry about spooking them when they're too close. A 300 pound critter jumping into me while I'm doing 20 mph is not my idea of fun. When I see them like that, I usually yell something so they give me a little distance.
11-13-07 | 09:32 AM
#3
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,373
Likes: 8
From: Columbus, OH
Bikes: '08 Surly Cross-Check, 2011 Redline Conquest Pro, 2012 Spesh FSR Comp EVO, 2015 Trek Domane 6.2 disc
Excellent job! Next big mark: 100 miles!
__________________
"I feel like my world was classier before I found cyclocross."
- Mandi M.
"I feel like my world was classier before I found cyclocross."
- Mandi M.
11-13-07 | 10:34 AM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
On the 10th of November I had the pleasure of completing my first Metric Century + 14.52 with fellow BFer The Historian. I was a brisk Saturday Morning at 8am when we departed, 38 degrees and spitting a light rain. Unshaken by the weather we headed around the Historians home town and around a few area's of historic interest including a covered bridge, historic theater where scenes from "The Blob" was filmed, and a historic canal. Go figure, The Historian has a tremendous knowledge of local history amongst other subjects. After working our way through a town whose name eludes me at this point (Neil told me it's name many times), we met up with a trail head in Valley Forge. The local woodland critters were rather tame; one particular family of deer didn't mind me riding past at less than an arms length. Continuing down the trail we met up with the Schuylkill River Trail which we took into Philadelphia. Along the trail the "Schuylkill Navy" was out in force. The local college's had their rowing teams out and were drawing quite the crowd. We eventually made it to the Philadelphia Art Museum were we stopped for a few pictures and a much needed rest/stretch. The return trip was considerably more difficult. The hill intervals defiantly favored the up portion. I didn't notice the trip to be incredibly difficult until mile 50, the last 26 miles were defiantly tough to grind out. But with encouraging words to each other and the sheer desire to finish the ride under our own power we eventually finished. Towards the end of the ride while chatting back and forth an odd thing happened. Neil said something along the lines of “Thanks for coming out, if you hadn’t come down I would have probably stayed inside and not done much”. To which I responded “Thank you for having me down, I would have probably done the same thing if you had not invited me down to ride with you”. At first one might read that and think little of it until you consider just what we were saying. We were thanking each other for dragging the other out of bed early into the cold and rain to put ourselves through the trials of distance biking in adverse conditions. I bet you didn’t know a Trek 7.5 FX made for a good mudder and gravel bike did you? Neither did we, but I must say Neil handled it with grace. He is quite fast on that bike, both uphill and down hill when the road isn’t too curvy.
Distance: 76.52 Miles
Time: A shade or two over 8 hours factoring traffic, red lights, pedestrians, stops signs, lunch and being a tourist.
Average Temp: 42 degrees
In closing I would like to thank Tom Stormcrowe for starting the “Clydes/Athenea’s Seeking Ride Buddies” thread where I made originally made contact with The Historian. In addition I thank all the Clydes and Athena’s for your inspiration and guidance in my bicycling and weight loss. You’ve all showed me what one can do with proper knowledge and determination.
Ride on,
Bau
Distance: 76.52 Miles
Time: A shade or two over 8 hours factoring traffic, red lights, pedestrians, stops signs, lunch and being a tourist.
Average Temp: 42 degrees
In closing I would like to thank Tom Stormcrowe for starting the “Clydes/Athenea’s Seeking Ride Buddies” thread where I made originally made contact with The Historian. In addition I thank all the Clydes and Athena’s for your inspiration and guidance in my bicycling and weight loss. You’ve all showed me what one can do with proper knowledge and determination.
Ride on,
Bau
Here is some additional detail:
The route was through the former steel town of Phoenixville, along Bridge Street and the Colonial Theater. The Colonial was featured in the 1958 horror film The Blob. Each year Phoenixville hosts Blobfest, complete with a re-enactment of the film's famous scene of the screaming movie patrons running out of the theater.
We passed Lock 60 of the Schuylkill Canal, the last surviving lock of the canal, in nearby Mont Clare. We met the Perkiomen Trail in Oaks, rode through Lower Perkiomen Valley Park to the intersection with the Schuylkill River Trail, and followed that down to Manayunk. We rode through Manayunk, missing the famous "wall", and reached the Art Museum. We both posed for photos - Ben is being kind to me by not posting mine; I'm up about 15 pounds and I look very crooked, like an oddly shaped sausage. Near the Museum there was a sculling event, and all the local teams had boats on the river. We had to ride carefully among all the pedestrians.
Return trip was much the same route, with a couple of shortcuts - daylight was fast fading, and neither of us had lights.
11-13-07 | 12:06 PM
#5
Out fishing with Annie on his lap, a cigar in one hand and a ginger ale in the other, watching the sunset.
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 16,049
Likes: 29
From: South Florida
Bikes: Techna Wheelchair and a Sun EZ 3 Recumbent Trike
No worries, both of ya! This is exactly why I started the thread as well as the locater map 
PLeased it worked out 
CongrATS ON THE RIDE, bAU!
PLeased it worked out CongrATS ON THE RIDE, bAU!
I also thank Tom for bringing Ben and I together for rides. And Ben for coming out so early in the morning on such a dreary day.
Here is some additional detail:
The route was through the former steel town of Phoenixville, along Bridge Street and the Colonial Theater. The Colonial was featured in the 1958 horror film The Blob. Each year Phoenixville hosts Blobfest, complete with a re-enactment of the film's famous scene of the screaming movie patrons running out of the theater.
We passed Lock 60 of the Schuylkill Canal, the last surviving lock of the canal, in nearby Mont Clare. We met the Perkiomen Trail in Oaks, rode through Lower Perkiomen Valley Park to the intersection with the Schuylkill River Trail, and followed that down to Manayunk. We rode through Manayunk, missing the famous "wall", and reached the Art Museum. We both posed for photos - Ben is being kind to me by not posting mine; I'm up about 15 pounds and I look very crooked, like an oddly shaped sausage. Near the Museum there was a sculling event, and all the local teams had boats on the river. We had to ride carefully among all the pedestrians.
Return trip was much the same route, with a couple of shortcuts - daylight was fast fading, and neither of us had lights.
Here is some additional detail:
The route was through the former steel town of Phoenixville, along Bridge Street and the Colonial Theater. The Colonial was featured in the 1958 horror film The Blob. Each year Phoenixville hosts Blobfest, complete with a re-enactment of the film's famous scene of the screaming movie patrons running out of the theater.
We passed Lock 60 of the Schuylkill Canal, the last surviving lock of the canal, in nearby Mont Clare. We met the Perkiomen Trail in Oaks, rode through Lower Perkiomen Valley Park to the intersection with the Schuylkill River Trail, and followed that down to Manayunk. We rode through Manayunk, missing the famous "wall", and reached the Art Museum. We both posed for photos - Ben is being kind to me by not posting mine; I'm up about 15 pounds and I look very crooked, like an oddly shaped sausage. Near the Museum there was a sculling event, and all the local teams had boats on the river. We had to ride carefully among all the pedestrians.
Return trip was much the same route, with a couple of shortcuts - daylight was fast fading, and neither of us had lights.
__________________
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
11-13-07 | 01:38 PM
#6
Senior Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,798
Likes: 1
From: Highland Park, NJ, USA
Bikes: "Hildy", a Novara Randonee touring bike; a 16-speed Bike Friday Tikit; and a Specialized Stumpjumper frame-based built-up MTB, now serving as the kid-carrier, grocery-getter.
Congratulations on completing the metric. The city you're thinking of - Phoenixville? That is indeed a beautiful area to ride in, we'll be riding from Norristown to Philadelphia next weekend.
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Tour Journals, Blog, ride pix
My bands:
Tour Journals, Blog, ride pix
My bands:
- Uke On! - ukulele duo - Videos
- Ukulele Abyss - ukulele cover videos - Videos
- Baroque and Hungry's (Celtic fusion) full-length studio album Mended.
- Artistic Differences - 8-track EP Dreams of Bile and Blood.
11-14-07 | 07:46 PM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
My account of the ride is posted here:
https://historian2wheels.blogspot.com...r-11-2007.html
Please note the rare shot of me NOT hiding behind a bike. Thanks again to Ben for riding with me, and for the photos.
