I know. Missing out on beachin' and ridin' with *both* Bob and you??

(I am looking forward to the camping trip, though -- I just wasn't really focused on the dates; when my friend said "Hey, we want to get a bunch together to camp at Niagara Falls for a week," I just said "Cool! I'm in!" )

I've already penciled in "OC, July 4, 2011" and I'm already looking forward to stories from this year's trip!

I haven't made a final decision yet, but I might not be much fun in OC this year either. It's a hard time for me to take off work and my co-manager always takes vacation the week of the 4th so, it's a very tight weekend.

I'd like to spend one day with Teresa and Sunday is the only option. As of now, I'm planning on riding out on Friday with NR. Yes, there will be beaching and beering. Then I'll plan to leave the next morning (Sat.) and head back. So, no ponies for me unfortunately.

I would love to do the OC ride one year. This July 4 I will be somewhere around Gouda, Netherlands. Everything I've read makes it sound like a cyclists paradise, no road rage, no treating cyclists like their freaks. Strange how two cultures can be so different. I've heard Amsterdam is so quiet because of the lack of cars, more bike whooshing than anything. Well, I'll see for myself and report back.
We'll be taking our own bikes. I was going to rent but Brit Air lets you take your bike as your checked bag, our panniers will be carry ons. You can ride right from the airport to the city center, which I guess you can do from BWI as well, sort of.

Our rough itinerary.
Day 1-recover from flight in Amsterdam.
Day 2-Bike/walk/eat/drink around Amsterdam. No smoking though as my 12 year old son will be with me. I hear the pot bars are mostly for tourists anyway.
Day 3-Bike from Ams to Utrecht and get the train to Rotterdam.
Day 4-The Grand Start of the TDF, just hang out all day and watch the time trials, the spectacle.
Day 5-Work our way up towards Gouda, looping around to see a bunch of windmills
Day 6-Gouda to Dan Hague (sp?) or Leiden towards the beaches on the North Sea.
Day 7-Work our way up the coast.
Day 8-Loop back to Amsterdam.

We're hotelling the first two and last night, camping every night in between, unless we find a cheap little inn that we can't resist.

I'll take plenty of pics.

The guys I've been riding with on Sundays and now early weekday rides have planned an Adirondack ride about a week after I get back, so back to back adventures.
The ADK ride will be a long weekend, start in Saratoga and up towards Lk Placid then to Burlington. We have my brother in law as a sag driver. 80 mile days, nothing right?


Day 7

Well, if you go, we need to start early--like leave my house at the latest by 6am (or, I could meet you somewhere along the way if that suites you better.)

Hopefully, the weather will be cooperative and not blazingly hot by the time we roll into OCMD.

I'll be doing the "credit card" thingie, carrying nothing other than the barest of essentials.

Harry keep us filled in as your trip goes. On your itinerary, day 2....you are a tourist.

NR: OC trip looks like it's coming together again. should you change your mind you are welcome to my trailer to haul your gear;-) There's a guy on the touring forum who is your complete opposite. He carrys everything. He just broke his rear eyelet on a Kona Sutra on his first tour through the ADK(but at least he didn't use a sag wagon...jk Harry).

GB if you ride back to back 300Ks then you're halfway to P-B-P.

As a friend once said to me "I'm a traveler not a tourist" Yah, I know I'm a tourist but I won't be wearing
A-spandex
B-any type of cycling jersey except perhaps my solid orange Ibex wool. No chartreuse!!
C-No mirror stuck to my head.
D-I would say no helmet but that opens me up to all kinds of abuse. Watched a video of commuters in Utrecht, must have been hundreds of cyclists in real clothes and no helmets. In the states, yes you need a helmet as it is a war out there. Of course it won't do a lick when you're run over, mostly for just falling off your bike.

Haven't posted in a while but had to chime in that the Baltimore commute weather has been splendid this week!

He won't be *that* kind of a tourist -- at least, not with his minor child along for the ride, LOL!

That trip sounds great, Harry, I'm looking forward to hearing all about it! I was in Amsterdam for a few days about 100 years ago. I don't remember much, though. But there were definitely no bikes involved.

I'm good to go. Just haven't decided whether to roll back the next morning or on Sunday. (might have to let my body decide that)
I plan on leaving my place at 5AM.




BTW: I love this event. https://tourdivide.org/leaderboard Start was this morning.

Endurolytes. It is basically a glorified salt tab. They do work well for me and I guess for you too. You don't need to buy them through Hammer. Most bike shops carry them.

That looks fantastic! I'd heard, vaguely, of this race, but I'd never seen the Web site.

It reminds me a little bit, just in terms of basic vibe, of another ride that I recently heard about for the first time and that I think would be a blast to do -- Crush the Commonwealth.

Says the Web site: "A 400 mile challenge from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Just you and your bike. No support, no spectators, no prizes."

https://ctcpa.blogspot.com/

Oh spit. I like that.

As far as the Great Divide race goes: the rider call-ins from the past races were priceless. Some talked about encounters with cougars. One guy fell in with a gun toting anti gov't survivalist. Last year this English woman Jill (?) raced on a single speed. Halfway through she got an intestinal infection that was so bad she barely managed to stumble into a local hospital. She was treated there for 36 hours at which point she got back on the bike and finished the race within the time limits !!!!!!

... and then there's RAAM that is also in progress. https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raa..._webcat_id=109

twas great week, but the heat is back

Hmmm, don't remember! Perhaps you were "that"kind of tourist:-)
That is a good one. I think what a whimp I am when I start whining and cramping @ mile 75.

Thanks, got'em plus Gu and Nuun tablets for water bottles. I'm ready for the next ride. I was down in your hood yesterday, hon. Quite a little festival.

Just got back from the Tour dem Parks ride. Didn't ride it as I was to help with the barbecue. When I arrived they sent me out for traffic control. Apparently there was a mix up and I was needed. Rode out to Windsormill rd and Gwynn Falls Trail. Lots and lots of cars and cyclist. We had to stop cars in both directions. Very hard intersection to control. Too many cars at high speeds. They gotta figure a better route next time. Needed 2 traffic guys to stop the cars. There was a small fender bender(not my side:-) when 1 car obeyed us and the 2nd one didn't. Cops, firetruck and ambulance(only needed the cops) really clogged up the works after that.
Overall it seemed like a success even with our little bender. I believe they got 1000 cyclist, ran out of T-shirts, had lots of good food and Resurrection Ale. Got to love those folks at Brewers Art. I don't know if they donate the kegs but kudos as it is really good beer. They had no cups as they were trying to be green. We drank beer out of our water bottles
Finally met Nate Evans. Bicycle coordinator of B-more. Nice fella. He has started a new blog but I can't remember what it is. He's going to email me and I'll post. Also met one of the coordinators for cyclovia(sp??), Mike. He helps out with B-more Bikes (or something like that). He also got my email and I'll post his contact for folks if they are interested. Apparently cyclovia is going to be pretty big(12 miles??) in the near future. Going to need a lot of volunteers but I think they might be hiring the cops for traffic.
Was a really hot one out there but it was nice as many cyclist thanked us for our efforts

Still recovering from yesterday's solo ride:

Essex to Delaware City and back--not many words, just data:

https://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/33627 - Part 1

https://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/33628 - Part 2

----
Google map of the entire route (rendered in BiM):

https://bimactive.com/ba/ui/route_det..._routeID=28660

BDOT’s “UNOFFICIAL” Bike Blog https://bike.baltimorecommutes.com/
It's going to be interesting to see if we actually get a 12 mile route for Sunday Streets and if it is going to last more then one day.
Windsor Mill Rd and Gwynns Falls Trail is a real pain, I wish we could force a street closing there. We have a run around the inner harbor and no problem closing President St but closing Windsor Mill for cyclists unheard of.

Thanks Barry. Folks were talking about you at the Tour......all of it good;-)

@NR: any cramps?

No--dodged them this time, but I felt like I was going really slow on all of the climbs during the return.

I -should- try the NUUN stuff, since performance has a "starter" kit at $7.

Would anyone be interested in starting a Washington DC metro area group?

You should go ahead and start one. Nobody here bites, imho. But, make it a thread, not a group.

"If you build it, they will come."

I think they replace gatorade so the cost is actually cheaper but you still have to get some water to mix.

I didn't have any Gatorade Saturday--just water, orange juice early on, then water and iced tea later. For food--do I really want to go there?--2 pop tarts and a glass of milk before leaving home, some beef jerky/sugar jelly candies/brownie at mile 75, and a strawberry smoothie at mile 131. [I think I need to clean up my nutrition like when I was a runner--I ate "clean".]

Anyway, I order 2 starter kits (I need new water bottles anyway) and replacement tabs of Nuun from Performance. We'll see how that works out.

My God, and you live to tell about it.

What's up everyone.

I have a trek 7.3 FX and live near the hunt valley entrance to the NCR trail. i wanted to check it out but didn't know if the "crushed gravel" was going to mess up my gears and such

thanks

steve

Your bike will be fine, in fact it's just about perfect for trail riding. (It comes stock with 32c tires, right?) I used to live less than 2 miles from mile marker 2, and rode the NCR all the time on my road and cyclocross bikes. The trail surface will obviously get your bike dirtier, faster, than road riding will, and you might get a few nicks in the paint down below, but it's not going to cause any real damage to your bike.