As some of you know, I’ve been a bit waylaid this season recovering from a reconstructive knee surgery. I haven’t been out riding since May and my bicycle has been mocking me ever since. Every time I walk by she whispers: “hey bautieri, HTFU and ride me you little p*ssy”. Well, nothing gives you the urge to ride quite like irresistible combination of new bike stuff and a nice day. I had recently acquired some new cross tires, WTB Cross Wolfs for my Tricross, and my friend purchased a 2011 Trek X01 the night before…so a ride was in order. Heeding to what little good sense I have about me, we selected a rail trail. Specifically we choose Lancaster County’s Conwago(sp?) trail which connects the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail. Something flat and that had many road crossings in case my partner had to head back to the truck and SAG me out.
The weather was perfect, mid 50’s, sunny and not too windy. We set off into what was left of the fall foliage and had a great afternoon of riding.
Here is a picture of my bicycle, Miss Evil, posing with her new shoes. Her clipless pedals have been removed and replaced with platforms for the time being:
Now it’s a tradition for both “real cyclists”™ and the wannabes alike to get out and ride your age on or around your birthday. I happened to be three weeks overdue so once I was reasonable certain that my knee was in good shape, we set out to cover 26 miles. Well, the turn around point and came went. I’m glad we pressed on as we were rewarded with some neat things to see.
Here is a photo of a wrought iron bridge we crossed shortly before entering the town of Cornwall Furnace. It’s a bummer how cruddy my pictures turned out. Next time I’ll have to bring something with a little better camera than my blackberry:
Miss Evil with her new friend “Hugs and Kisses” (Good name for a bike with Xs and Os on it)
Now there is one aspect of riding with friends which cannot be stressed enough. Always, and I mean always, take the time to goof off. In Cornwall Furnace we found a gigantic keg which was built in 1969 to hold rootbeer. It was restored by a local Boy Scout troop in 1999 and I assume it’s been under the canopy since. My Google-Fu has not turned up any definitive information on it, so I’m going to go with the explaination that it is a big ole keg for the sake of being a big ole keg. Good enough for me. I think I’ll have some since I was running low on water anyways:
All in all, we covered 32 miles and had a blast. My "sit bones" need some work but all in all I felt pretty strong while riding.
It’s good to be back.
Bau