Sat/Sun 3 & 4 May 08
Saturday was supposed to be my third year doing a 75 mile training ride out of Easton, but I didn't quite finish it. Contrary to weather reports from earlier in the week it was a gorgeous day. We had a huge group of folks training for the Ride for the Feast, as well as a large contingent loosely affiliated to Team JA - who I spent most weekends last summer riding with...
We headed out of the parking lot and made our way towards Oxford. It is hard to believe how much this area has changed in just three years - new shopping centers and tons of houses dot the landscape...
our first major highlight is the
Oxford-Bellevue Ferry;
This tiny craft holds about three cars plus this day 20 bikes for a short trip across the Tred Avon River - and claims to be the oldest privately operated ferry service in the country. It always makes a fun break and distraction from the ride.
From there we headed into St. Michaels for a quick break at a coffee shop before riding out to the tip of Tilghman Island. We fought a strong head wind along this stretch by forming a nice paceline of 9 or so riders... we then circled back to town for lunch before starting the final leg of our trip back to Easton.
About 8 miles out of town we turned onto some tiny farm roads - giving us our first real break from the traffic... this was also our first chance to stop riding single file and be a bit more social - which may have proved to by my undoing.
Somewhere around mile 64 or so a moment of inattention on my part caused me to touch wheels with the rider in front of me. Before I new it I was lying in the road with a half a dozen riders trying desperately not to run me over. Thankfully they were paying attention and managed to avoid me. In the end I think perhaps three of us wound up in the road, but I seemed to be the worst for the wear.
The gang was quick to settle me down and keep me from trying to get back up. It was clear immediately that my ride for the day was over - and after a few minutes it also became clear that I might be well served by a visit to the ER.
The highlights (and low-lights) from here included;
- Aesha taking control and taking my hand when I hit the deck - I won't soon forget her calm voice telling me to keep still and making sure I was well enough to get up off the ground - then discovering she had suffered her own fair share of road rash.
- Discovering the long tear in Steve's wheel that resulted from his heroic braking effort that surely saved my ribcage...
- The ER doc (who used to ride)asking me when my last big fall was (at least 5000 miles ago) to which he responded - "so you were due"
- Kelly and Bart pushing their faces into the window while the ER doc was telling me he thought I needed a Cat scan - and then Bart promising to make me carrot cake muffins.
- the ER nurse asking us if we were all from the 'Western Shore' - a phrase I rarely hear, but that never fails to conjure up that New Yorker cartoon of the US - only in this case all of the US would be depicted at the 'Western Shore' except of course Delmarva
- Kelly and Steve breaking the news about my bike to me gently... there's still hope but it seems like it may have faired worse than I did.
- the first of my two CAT scans - they tell you to sit still then the little table jumps around like one of those quarter rides in front of the grocery store.
- defnite low-light- having the ER doc tell me there was something questionable on the CAT scan and they wanted me to admit me for observation.
- The third attempt at putting in my IV that resulted in my greatest blood loss of the whole experience as I bled out all over the towel, TV remote and who know what else...
- The ER nurse who eventually secured permission to give me water and brought me this 32 oz container (pictured below) and said "don't ask what we measure in this, but I figured giving you an 8 oz cup would be a bit of a joke.
- the mixture of frustration and excitement when it was suggested that I might have to be medi-vac-d to another hospital for the lack of a doctor who was willing to admit me - I've always loved a helicopter ride.
- the excellent Strawberry shake that Steve brought me from the DQ
- having the admitting doc mistake Steve for my dad - subsequent experience with him leads me to believe that was a comment on the child that fell off his bike and not on how old Steve may have looked...
- The excellent Pad Thai that Joanne showed up with... from Easton - who knew
- Kelly txt-ing me to let me know how much fun my car is to drive - and to ask how I was doing.
- the nurse tech how woke me abruptly at 6 am by rolling me over and sticking a thermometer in my mouth in one motion all while screaming 'mr pearl' - she then scolded me not to roll out of bed while she stormed out of the door.
- the diabolical contraption posing as a chair that Joanne had to spend the night in
- watching Tour De Georgia coverage from my hospital bed
- having the Neurologist tell me how crazy he thought cyclists were for riding through St. Michaels.
- over-hearing the nurse receiving the results of my second CAT scan and repeating "It's negative" - and interpreting that to mean there was nothing in my head - less funny was waiting four more hours to have the doctor release me...
- my co-workers who were shocked to see me alive today, because I was so sparse in my description to my assistant that she told them I was hit by a car and therefore wouldn't be in on Monday.
- The Strawberry Rhubarb crumble that Joanne made me on Monday night which I'm having leftovers of while I type this...
60+ miles on the day
675 to date
This was our first ride in the new kits Aesha acquired for us. It was great fun rolling along in a paceline decked out like a team - definitely turned a few heads. This was also my first ride wearing bib shorts and I'm sold - won't be doing long days without them again.
Kelly, Lindsay, and I started out from home and rode to the start of the ride in Carrol Park. It was great fun to ride through the city at 7 in the morning - so quiet and virtually no traffic. After a very peaceful journey we were pleasantly surprise to discover a large crowd had gathered in the park to participate in the event. We quickly found Steve and got signed in...
Our first rest stop was at Patterson Park at the Pagoda providing us with a nice view out to the marine terminals and beyond. A history of the Pagoda is HERE and a nice article about the 2002 renovation is HERE.
After the rest stop we headed up Washington Blvd. past Hopkins Hospital - then at Gay Street, Kelly and I realized the we were going right by the 1887 American Brewery building and decided we had to take a detour to show it to Steve and see how the renovations were going. A little bit of info can be found at Urban Atrophy.
From here we headed up past the old Clifton Park Valve House.
Then past Clifton Mansion - the former Hopkins estate.
Above is the gang of seven, mostly Steves, who I spent the bulk of the ride taking turns in the wind with [Kristin is the 7th - see here - for another version minus one Steve plus Kristin]. To get to the sofa you have to rewind 95 or so miles to Rehoboth.
There on the on the side of the road was the most remarkable orange velvet sofa basking in the sun atop a manicured lawn with a hand lettered sign "FREE" - It seemed obvious to Kelly and I that this would make the perfect pit stop to chill out and regroup. We had just begun to sit down when the gang began to come into view... naturally it also seemed a great photo opportunity...
This tiny craft holds about three cars plus this day 20 bikes for a short trip across the Tred Avon River - and claims to be the oldest privately operated ferry service in the country. It always makes a fun break and distraction from the ride.
- the mixture of frustration and excitement when it was suggested that I might have to be medi-vac-d to another hospital for the lack of a doctor who was willing to admit me - I've always loved a helicopter ride.
It started off as a lovely day - albeit a little breezy as always for the eastern shore. As the day progressed clouds rolled in and it got a bit colder, but at least we never got wet. At the end of the trail we missed a turn or two and wound up south of 50 a little earlier than intended which was just as well. The rest of the route basically followed route 8 south along the center of the Island. Every few miles or so we dipped into one of the many housing developments that do the island and looped in and out of the rodes that follow the coves and creeks along the bay - as Steve described - much like the petals of a flower. Below is a nice map of the trail and a bit of the island from the bikewashington website (it is a more clear on their site)
Shortly after leaving the trail Steve and I split off from the group and alternated between a decent 20+mph paceline mostly on rt. 8 and then more leisurely pace in the neighborhoods. This was my first real effort of the year and I'm happy to report that I mostly was able to stay on Steve's wheel - though I did let him take longer turns in the front out in the wind. At one point we got to hammering along and missed a turn - adding a few bonus miles. This worked nicely as we were able to rejoin the group a little later after we went back and looped through the neighborhood we had skipped.
Got to try out my new wheels and tires - so far I'm very happy with them -- can't wait to get them out on the open road - they feel like they'll be quite fast... (thanks for the tip steve)
The B&A is a nice ride for the winter - relatively flat and little stopping and starting - which I find is nice to keep from overheating/getting damp and from getting cold waiting at lights...
We kept a pretty relaxed pace on the way into town, but as usual Kelly and I picked it up a bit on the way home - sorry Bart. All in all it was good ride - really nice to be back out with the gang for some miles.
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