Habitat Ride, June 23 & 24

[Zen]

Always wear a helmet!

The weather was beautiful, winds were about 15mph and I was feeling pretty good until I got to a hill that I just wasn't prepared for. I couldn't get geared in time. I tried to muscle it up but it just wasn't gonna happen so I tried to unclip. That wasn't going too well either so I resigned myself to a fall.
In sticker bushes.
Just in time, I got my left foot unclipped. Which was fortunate ore else my entire right side would look like this.

I took one wrong turn because for some reason I thought i knew where I was going. I didn't. It was OK though, I didn't go that far and downtown Emmittsburg is beautiful this time of year.

On to Gettysburg.
Still having trouble shifting on front chain ring and had to walk it up a great S-curve hill.
It was only eight miles until lunch but there was no way I could make it without being able to shift. I had to sag to the lunch stop.
This is the only photo I took in Gettysburg. I swore I took a shot of that S-curve but I guess not. I was waiting for someone to come ride up it. Obviously that didn’t happen.

LUNCH STOP


my one is blue!
At lunch the wonderful mechanic angel (I think his name was Clarence) adjusted my derailleur and I was fine. We were getting further up into the mountains (or depending on where you’re from, hills). I had to walk it a few times but was determined to go on.




Until the cramps set in. I had been drinking Gatorade all day but because I am taking two very powerful diuretics (aldactone and furosemide) due to chronic liver disease I haven’t yet figured out how to overcome this. More training, perhaps. I was two miles away from finishing and had no choice but to sag it. I ended up doing a total of 40 miles the first day and I was pooped.
Absolute exhaustion hadn't set in yet when these were taken


Fortunately I didn’t have to camp, I got to sleep in one of the rooms as a reward for being one of the top fund raisers!BIG BIG BIG thanks, you know who you are!

There was live music at the campsite and this silly little show they do each year. I enjoyed it mostly because my friend Wendy was holding her sign upside down



and her halo kept falling off

The second day was great. Weather, scenery, strength, everything. Until we started going down the mountain. The road through Catoctin Mountain National Park is steep, winding and a high traffic area. I don’t call myself a downhill weenie for nothing, I was a nervous wreck and glad to get to flat land. Unless I can find an alternate route I may skip the second day next year.
This was my first year on a road bike, I actually did this on an old mountain bike last year but sagged a LOT more.
That’s it, not much of an epic tale.
This is in Thurmont, Maryland, the start and end point


I’ll be back.

[Zen]

Just wanted to apologize for forgetting to resize the photos and say I rode the entire ride in the drops and had no neck pain, no shoulder pain and thanks to the Terry Falcon X no butt pain either!

[RolliePollie]

Wow Zen! The ride sounds amazing...great pictures! What gorgeous scenery. Congrats to you!

I like your pretty blue Trek. I have a blue Trek too but it's a darker blue. However, I think the two bikes would look quite nice next to each other. Too bad you're all the way across the Country!

[madscot13]

those pictures are great. i am happy you did not have to rough it in a tent. maybe you should talk to your tdocter about diuretics and riding and he/ she can help

[Zen]

Wow Zen! The ride sounds amazing...great pictures! What gorgeous scenery. Congrats to you!

I like your pretty blue Trek. I have a blue Trek too but it's a darker blue. However, I think the two bikes would look quite nice next to each other. Too bad you're all the way across the Country!

Plenty of room for guests here

those pictures are great. i am happy you did not have to rough it in a tent. maybe you should talk to your tdocter about diuretics and riding and he/ she can help

I doubt it, he'd probably say something along the lines of "it's amazing you're doing the things you're doing". He once congratulated me for reaching the 5 year survivor mark. Survivor? It never even occurred to me death was a possibility.
He then told me the first day he saw me he thought I was a goner. I guess I showed him, eh?
__________________

[Kalidurga]

Ah, I was hoping you'd do a ride report!

1) Was that big S-curve through Devil's Den, by any chance? I love that curve, it's fun

2) Your photos of all those purty bikes together made me drool

3) So, since you got to use a room for more than showering, how was the lodge? Is it as nice as it looks?

4) Please tell me you didn't ride down Rte 77 (I think that's the route#...) between Catoctin and Cunningham Falls parks! You couldn't pay me enough to ride my bike on that road, even if it were totally flat. I've seen huge campers swinging around the curves of that road and taking up both lanes!

5) From the sound of it, Zen, you're my new hero of hill riding. The Catoctins may be baby-size mountains, but that makes them humongous hills!

Glad you had such a great time!

[Zen]

1) Was that big S-curve through Devil's Den, by any chance? I love that curve, it's fun


It probably was, there were a lot of boulders through there that I imagine were good hidey places for soldiers.

how was the lodge? Is it as nice as it looks?

your standard hotel room but it's luxurious when you're exhausted.

Please tell me you didn't ride down Rte 77 (I think that's the route#...) between Catoctin and Cunningham Falls parks!

That's the one. Now you can understand when I say I was a nervous wreck

[Kalidurga]

Gettysburg is one place where I do enjoy practicing hills. We'll have to plan a ride up there sometime after our C&O ride.

[Zen]

Let's roll!