winter blues ride on valentines day

 

The parking lot at the start. If the roads had looked like that, my part of the ride would have been exceptionally short.

I haven't posted about a ride in a while. A little of that has been due to the cold and snow (this snow has been hanging around over three weeks. It's nearly unprecedented), but I have been on a ride since the last post. I'd planned to write it up the following day, but that night, my wife and I were in an auto collision.Nobody was hurt, and it was not our fault... but the other driver lied to the policeman, and the policeman wrote it up as the other driver's story. I've had depression, and some post-traumatic stress, over that. 

So much so, that The Excellent Wife (TEW) of almost twenty-nine years, on this Valentine's Day, when she heard that Laura OLPH had posted a ride, told me I was going on the ride and we would remember Valentine's Day in some other way (we're working it out). It was to be only thirty miles, and only one demanding hill. And TEW was not to be argued with.

Still, I worried about being able to do it. Between the depression, some weight gain (I'm sure related to the depression), and winter out-of-shape-ness, I was afraid I'd be off the back. And there WAS all that snow. It has cleared off the roads in the lowlands here, but what would the roads look like up in the Sourlands, where we'd be riding?

You've seen the pics at the top of the post. We had about eight cars among the participants, and had to find places where we wouldn't a) get stuck in the ice, and b) present a barrier to someone else if they wanted to get out of the lot without our having to move our car. I decided that if the roads looked anything like that, I'd bail.

 

 We were ten. Laura's blessedly short route was clear (mostly) of ice and snow (there was some melt-and-refreeze that we had to deal with). And the only demanding climb was the one at Stony Brook. We mostly stayed together until we didn't -- we can blame winter legs, and one rider on a fat-tire gravel bike. A rider was new to our group, and I volunteered to sweep, because that "Jim's gotta be a caretaker" thing dies hard, especially when I'm fighting off a bit of depression (have I mentioned that enough yet?)

 

 

We stopped at Boro Bean, after a bit of kerfuffle about the route. We weren't sure the Bean was open (it was)... and we had to get creative about putting the bikes up; nobody had been diligent about clearing the bike racks.

And, of course, nobody was sitting outside at Boro Bean, as the outdoor tables were still nearly seat-deep in snow. 

 And back. I'm glad I went: it turns out I'm in better physical shape than I thought I was, and it was a tonic to get out of the house, do something outdoors (that didn't have to do with moving snow or ice), and see people who I like and who like me. 

Ride page. 

But I'm so done with all this snow and ice. (I'm done with ICE, too, but that will be a blog post that doesn't get shared.)

two things i know

 Two things I know:

1. The good opinion of a fool is not worth having.
2. It is an honor to have certain people as enemies. 

first post of the year

 

First post of the year.

Three weeks ago, I did a ride I didn't post about, because later that day, I was in a collision in the car. Nobody hurt, and the car is to be repaired... but aspects of the collision were such that I was shaken about it at the time, and I've had post-traumatic stress from time to time since.*

*Not PTSD; I would not demean the people who genuinely suffer from this by equating my situation with theirs. But my experience does share some of those features, in type, if not in duration or intensity.

I was anxious about going out on the ride that Tom H emailed about last week (it was last week, even if it was only yesterday, right? Like, today's Sunday, and that's the start of the week). In addition to the twitchiness about the recent collision, there's the fact that I haven't always been able to keep up with this group. But the ride was to be only 35-ish miles, and flat, and I wasn't too disabled after a too-good meal and a demanding theatrical experience yesterday*, so I agreed to go.

*Anna Christie at St Ann's Warehouse in DUMBO. It was worth the trip.

Tom assembled his insane bike posse. 

 

Before we departed, Tom told me that if I'd continued to avoid his rides, he was about to come by the house and get me. The gesture of friendship was warm and reassuring.

You can see the ride page here. The weather (in the low 40's) wasn't as cold as other days we'd been out, and we started with a tailwind. It was pleasant riding with these people, with whom I have decades of riding experiences. 

Conversations started and flagged as we proceeded. Sometimes, talk is replaced simply with presence.

After a few miles, I found that I did better keeping my chain on the small ring and keeping my cadence high; I was better able to manage hills (the little we had), and the headwind when we experienced that. I'm also able to ride comfortably in the drops on both my bikes, and I found that I could go almost a mile-per-hour faster in the drops than on the tops or ramps, making no other changes and with no more noticeable effort. At my age especially, it's good to be flexible.

I was NOT sorry, though, when we passed Etra Park and I figured we were about six miles from the end. This is about the longest distance I want to do when I'm in this condition.

I expect it will be longer in the spring, when the weather is more congenial, and I have (I hope) a bit more fitness.