Month: March 2025

Marching toward Natchez 2025

Reading

Truman by David McCullough. I had been reluctant to tackle this nearly 1,000-page biography only because of its enormity. I am a huge fan of McCullough both on the written page and from his work on PBS. (He narrated The American Experience and Ken Burns’s The Civil War.) This book took him ten years to write and it is a masterpiece. I’m sorry I waited so long to read it. Sadly, there remain only two McCullough books left for me to read.

The Greater Journey – Americans in Paris by David McCullough. So, I read one of them. This book chronicles the artistic, scientific, and diplomatic lives of Americans who lived in Paris in the nineteenth century. It bogs down in places as the author describes paintings and aspects of sculpture for pages on end. Still, I learned a lot about how art is made. The cast of characters is a who’s who of America. Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and dozens more. Not McCullough’s best but well worth the time.

Watching

While Democracy Turns – My wife and I have been watching the coverage of national politics on The Rachel Maddow Show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, and The Daily Show. It seems amazing that we are only a couple of months into the madness of King Donald.

Daredevil – Born Again – For those of you (like me) who have felt that Marvel Studios has jumped the shark, think again. DBA is absolutely terrific. There are reports that the lead actors and at least one supporting actor insisted that scripts be re-written. The producers, to their credit, listened and the result makes for intense viewing. Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin are back. Oddly, most of the plot takes place in courtrooms and offices. Fight scenes are intense but brief and very violent. And each episode has a shocker in it that makes you want to watch the next one.

Tour Aotearoa – Mat Ryder and his trusty American sidekick John rode Aotearoa (New Zealand) from top to bottom in about a month and a half. Check it out.

Baseball – The Washington Nationals are back on the field to try to regain the glory of the 2010s. I’ve watched their first three games and let’s just say glory will be a couple of years in the future.

Riding

Most of the month I have been consumed with pre-tour anxiety. Is my 69 1/2-year-old body up to the task for riding nearly 500 miles in a week? Time will tell. Pray for tailwinds.

I rode 987 miles this month. I included seven long and long-ish rides (77, 63, 54, 53, 53, 50, and 44 miles), many of which were deliberately hilly affairs. The second 53-miler was today’s ride to take in the cherry blossoms in the Kenwood neighborhood of Bethesda. The ride back into a stiff headwind put the hurt on me. I only rode 36 miles indoors so I think it’s time for Big Nellie to come out of the basement. I am on track for 9,892 miles for the year.

The Trace awaits and The Mule abides.

Natchez Trace Tour – One Week to Go

My plan was to do another monster ride this week in preparation for the tour but I decided that would be unpleasant and unnecessary. I did manage to fit in a 44 miler and a 53 miler. The former was mostly on level ground against a howling wind. What’s with the winds these days? Winds are as good as hills in my book so no worries. I do hope that I don’t end up spending a week crawling into a headwind. I survived the Wind River Basin in 2022 but I was gassed when I rolled into Dubois, Wyoming at the end of an 80- or 90-mile crawl.

The 53 miler was a hilly ride to the impossibly lovely town of Clifton, Virginia. The whole affair included something like 1,900 feet of climbing. I rode there then had a light lunch. I decided to take a hillier route back and it worked out just fine. Yesterday I rode to Friday Coffee Club with a light tailwind. Despite being half asleep I rode like a beast. Afterwards I took a side trip to take in some of DC’s famous cherry blossoms. It ended up being an easy 34 miles. Today, with temperatures pushing into the 70s and light winds I rode another effortless 34 miles. I could have gone much farther but I came home to watch the baseball game.

Last summer my leg strength seemed to dissipate after only a few miles. I felt anemic for the rest of the day. It made for a miserable bike tour. It felt like I had aged a decade over the previous year. Somehow over the last couple of weeks, my legs have sprung back to life. It’s very encouraging.

There are several factors that seem to be helping. First, I mostly am riding in shorts. Riding (or running) in long pants has always seemed to be a struggle. Second, I am drinking much more water. When I cover my mouth with a neck gaiter or buff, I tend to drink much less while riding. Third, I have finally found a combination of exercises and a seat position that have eliminated my neck and upper back pain. Fourth, warm weather just floats my boat.

I have only six more riding days before I pack up the car and head south. I think I’ll take another trip to see some blossoms, but otherwise it’s time to taper. Next Saturday I begin the two-day drive to Jackson, Mississippi. The day after that, the 7th, there’s a day riding in a van to Natchez followed by a 12-mile bike ride to see the sights. That’s effectively three days off. I should be ready to rumble when I head north from Natchez on the 8th of April.

Two Weeks to Go

My preparation for the Natchez Trace bike tour continues. On Friday I intended to ride to Friday Coffee Club. I stepped outside and was greeted by a temperature of 40 degrees and gale-force headwinds with brutal gusts. The couch grabbed me with its tractor beam and I was back to sleep in seconds.

After my slumber, I pulled out my daughter’s freestanding tent to make sure I knew how to set it up. Most tents work more or less the same way so hers went up in only a few minutes. I discovered two interesting things about it. First, it is HUGE. It’s at least two and half times the size of my lightweight backpacking tent. Second, it is a side-entry tent. This means I don’t have to do the camping equivalent of a kick turn every time I leave the tent. Yay! I might even have room to do my back exercises.

It’s not a tent; it’s a condo!

I pulled out my sleeping pad and used the air sack to inflate it. I also have a little electrical inflator that I can use if I want to wait a few minutes. The batteries were still good but I dug out some spares just in case. I tossed the pad in to the tent and put my sleeping bag and new, bigger pillow in, too. Then I tested it out. Tres luxe, cherie!

Later I managed to go for a 35-mile ride on The Mule. It was considerably warmer but the winds persisted. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it went. I could have gone much further.

Before the ride, I addressed a couple of problems with the CrossCheck. When I put the bike away after Thursday’s 50-miler I noticed that the back wheel had locked up. Hmm. On close inspection I found that a tensioning spring that holds the brake pad away from the rim had come loose. (I think this happened when I put the bike down from the car rack when I got home Thursday evening.) I compared the spring on the bad side to the one on the opposite side and reseated it. Problem solved. Or so I thought. I also repositioned my bell which had been moved during repairs. (NBD.)

Yesterday I went for a relaxing ride on the CrossCheck. Once again I dealt with howling winds. (It isn’t my imagination; this spring has been much windier than normal.) I made it about 15 miles before using a bathroom. I took the bike inside and, upon leaving, turned it around and dropped it. Once again the brake spring came unseated. Hmm.

I tried to get the spring to re-seat but it kept coming loose. The spring is mounted on a post welded to the frame. There is a screw that goes through end of the post to keep the spring in place. I noticed that the screw had come loose. Ah hah! I reseated the spring then used my multitool, I tightened the screw, locking the spring in place. Success! (Multitools are designed to save space and weight, not for ease of use. This simple repair took 10 or 15 minutes as I turned the screw one quarter turn at a time. With a proper Allen key, it would have take two minutes, tops. The time is not a big deal unless you are trying to do a repair in the rain on the side of a road. Note to self: bring some proper Allen keys for the tour.)

Repair completed.

The rest of the ride involved going into DC, around the Tidal Basin (where thousands of tourists were wandering around looking at the not-yet-in-bloom cherry trees) and up the Metropolitan Branch Trail. I found a bench in the sun and took a load off, eating some Belvitas while checking my phone.

An informational display on the National Mall

After my snack I headed back home. The wind and the gusts were quite intense especially the crosswind on the 14th Street Bridge across the Potomac. (I think I can. I think I can. Made it!) Once on the Virginia side, I had a nice tailwind for the last 13 miles home. I had taken my time but covered 44 miles with ease. Once again I had all kinds of gas left in my tank.

Last night I checked the guide that Adventure Cycling sends to its bike tourists. The guide says that in the month before you start the tour you should work your way up to rides of 50 to 70 miles, seeking out the kind of terrain you will encounter on the tour. That’s exactly what I have done.

When riding around home, I see things I see every day. Six or seven hours of this is really tedious. On a tour, six or seven hours riding in places I’ve never seen before is invigorating. At 12 miles per hour, riding across North Dakota is actually pretty interesting. (Not that I’d want to do again.)

The weather looks pretty good for the next ten days so I’ll probably get one more long ride in.

On Thursday baseball starts and reading season comes to an end. The Nationals will be lucky to finish in third place so I’m keeping a lid on my expectations.

Pollen, Booster, and the Medical Merri-Go-Round

Well, spring is here. We’re actually getting a few warm days. They happen to feature strong winds but that’s not the best part; tree pollen is through the roof. If you live in the DC area, you do not suffer alone. If they put a tariff on antihistamines, there will be a revolution. (Admittedly, it is hard to stage a credible revolt when the rebels have puffy eyes and are coughing and sneezing incessantly, but you get my point.) I started taking 24-hour antihistamines a few days ago and added Flonase today. My eyes are still itchy but I can function okay.

The winter medical merri-go-round continues. I’ve seen both my eye doctor (routine visit) and my hand surgeon (all’s good with the carpal tunnel recovery). On Sunday I received a covid booster shot. Coming up, my spring dental visit. Then I’m off the carousel.

Between the pollen and the booster, I woke up on Monday feeling pretty dreadful. I managed a 30-mile ride. Barely. On Tuesday, with warm weather, I planned a 70+ mile ride. I knew within 10 miles that my body was having nothing to do with such foolishness. Riding a big counterclockwise loop around DC, mostly on bike trails, I managed to eek out 63 miles. The last 10 I was on fumes despite actually bringing a decent amount of food and water.

Yesterday, I picked up the Tank at Bikes at Vienna and headed out the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. My intent was to ride all the way to the western terminus of the W&OD in Purcellville, Virginia. The round trip would have been 69 miles. Along the way I would stop at a barbecue place for an energy boost. Well, I got a late start leaving the house then chatted with Tim and Beth (Hey, this ICE trike would be just perfect for you!) for close to an hour. After consulting with Beth, who told me the barbecue place was about 25 miles away, I changed my plan and headed out for a late lunch.

Beth was only off my ten miles. I came upon the Carolina Brothers Barbecue place at 16 miles. Still wanting to cover 50 miles, I rode another nine miles before stopping for some Belvitas and a view of the countryside. I knew that my fantastically energetic ride was not caused by Beth’s tune up or my fabulous fitness. I had been coasting on a strong tailwind which, of course, became a headwind beatdown for the second half of the ride. At 34 miles I stopped at the barbecue place and ate entirely too much. The rest of the way I felt like my stomach was a bowling ball. Panting and wheezing, I struggled against the wind all the way back to Vienna.

Nice view at the turnaround point

I expected today’s recovery ride to be a 30-mile slog but it turned out to be a piece of cake. I suspect the booster’s side effects are behind me. Adding Flonase helped too. I ended up riding 35 miles and had all kinds of energy left when I arrived back home.

After the ride, I received a couple of e-mails from the tour leaders. In one I was advised that I’d need a headlight and a red blinkie taillight. I have a handlebar bag so I normally put my headlight on my helmet. That’s not going to work for my neck for six or more hours a day so I tried mounting it on my front rack. I’ll test it on the way to Friday Coffee Club. I have two blinkies. One is a big red disk that hangs from my saddle bag. I got it for free years ago. It stopped working so today I opened it up and replaced the batteries. Alas, the patient is kaput and I am out $16 for the odd-sized batteries.

In the second email we were advised not to ride “heavy touring bikes” and to use lightweight road bikes instead because the last two days will be long and hilly. Why on earth would you not use a touring bike for a bike tour? You would think they’d tell us this before we signed up for the tour. Which begs the issue, is this a tour or a roadie event? Grumble, grumble.

As for the “heavy” remark, The Mule is offended. My faithful steed has crossed dozens of nasty hills (Hoosier Pass, Monarch Pass, and Hardscrabble Mountain in Colorado, Cedar Breaks in Utah, Carson Pass in California, Rogers Pass in Montana, Middlebury Gap in Vermont, and the Kancamagus Pass in New Hamsphire, to name but a few). There may be some walking now and then but as Steven Wright says, “Anything is walking distance if you have the time.” So to the tour leader I say, “Leave the light on for me.”

Natchez Trace Tour Prep – Going Long

With warming temperatures it was time to put on some shorts and go long. I’m still not completely over my cold but I have to take advantage of this weather while I can.

On Monday I rode The Mule into a stiff headwind for about 27 miles. My route was flat for the first 15 miles, using the Mount Vernon and Rock Creek Trails. Most of the rest of the ride was the gradual uphill to Bethesda on the Capital Crescent Trail.

I stopped at a trailside rest area just before Bethesda Row and had a packet of Belvita breakfast biscuits. 230 calories. Then I continued northwest past the National Institutes of Health and through North Chevy Chase.

I took a right on Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park and followed it all the way back to Georgetown where I retraced my route back home. All told I rode 54 1/2 miles. It was nice having a tailwind for the second half. I realized that 230 calories is nowhere near enough so I made a mental note to up my food game.

Monday was a rest day. I tootled around the Fort Hunt area where I lived for 20 miles. I felt sluggish before I rode but as soon as I started pedaling my body was, you might say, in gear.

My original training plan was to do 50 miles, rest, 60, rest, 70 rest. Today the weather was pretty darn good. Sunny skies with temps up into the 70s. So off I rode, once again following yesterday’s route to DC. This time, however, the wind was at my back. After a cheese sandwich snack, I left the Capital Crescent Trail after a couple of miles and climbed the steepish hill away from the river to MacArthur Boulevard. I took MacArthur six miles west, including the grind over the reservoir complex. At Persimmon Tree Road I left MacArthur and climbed. After about a mile the road transitioned to rollers, just the kind that can wear you down. At River Road in Potomac I took a left and headed west. River Road has a series of challenging hills that are definitely granny worthy. Just when I thought I had run out of gas I came to Seneca Creek where I took a left and rode to Rileys Lock on the C&O.

To get to the towpath I crossed over the dry canal. I hadn’t counted on the sides of the canal being so steep so I didn’t have enough momentum to crest the far side of the ditch. I came to a stop and planted my right foot. I knew I was in trouble. It was just too steep. As I swung my left leg over the bike to dismount, the bike and I slid and we toppled over to the right. I heard a “SNAP” on impact. After feeling utterly foolish for falling, I got it together and pushed the now-upright bike onto the towpath.

After a few hundred yards I was happy to see that my fall hadn’t damaged the rear derailer. All my gears worked just fine. The snap faded from my thoughts. I pedaled aggressively down the towpath, now into a headwind, several miles back to Great Falls Park where I stopped to eat my PB&J sammie and reload my water bottles.

Rather than continue down the flat towpath, I climbed about a mile out of the park back to MacArthur Boulevard. The climb is very much like those out west, anywhere between one and four percent grade, requiring more persistence than strength. One thing I noticed is that my climbing form had reverted to the mechanics I used so successfully in my cross country ride in 2018.

Over the top I rode with the big metal things down the windy wooded slope. This is one of my favorite stretches of road in the DC area. Once at the Old Anglers Inn, the road levels out. Now I had to grind away for about 27 miles to get back home.

As I rode I munched on my last packet of Belvitas, stashed in my vest pocket. I could tell that I was starting to flag when I had to re-cross the hill at the reservoir. I was pooped.

Just keep going.

When I arrived at Gravelly Point Park I stopped to finish off my Belvitas and watch a few planes land into the headwind. While watching I felt something odd about my right break lever. As it turns out the snap that I heard during my pathetic flop was a piece of plastic trim on the brake lever. Other than protecting the inner workings of the lever from rain, I don’t think it has much of a purpose. I guess I try to find a replacement somewhere or, failing that, attempt a superglue repair.

The broken plastic bit. Annoying!

The last 11+ miles were a slog but I made it home in one piece just before the sun set. The middle of my back was pretty achy (it felt fine while riding) so I took an Advil. I’m going to slide my saddle back a smidge to see if that helps.

My total mileage today was 77 1/2. That’s the longest I’ve ridden since late July and easily the hilliest ride I’ve done since the 50 States.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I go to the eye doctor and maybe get a Covid booster. (I need to check with my insurance to see if they’ll pay for it.) And maybe I’ll bring my bike to some shops near home to see if they have that plastic brake part.

As for this evening, I will eat like a Conehead. Mass quantities.

I Really Need to Get It in Gear

I’m about a month away from the start of the Natchez Trace tour. By now I had hoped to have done a 50 mile ride in preparation. Then I caught my wife’s cold. Let’s just say it has not been a productive week on the wheel. Despite feeling lousy, I managed to do six 30-mile rides. One day when my cold was at it’s peak, I managed an hour and a half on Big Nellie in the basement.

To assuage my feelings of anxiety, I have been dealing with a number of annoying odd jobs, which someone on the interwebs called problitos. These are the things that you know you ought to do but the day never comes to actually do them. In the last month or so I’ve placed magnets on the doors of some kitchen cabinets to hold them closed (with only modest success), re-attached a piece of wood trim that fell off the top on one of the cabinets, tracked down and installed some florescent bulbs for a couple of under cabinet lights, turned on the water to the outside of the house, did 10 days of laundry (the result of waiting for a plumber to deal with a clogged drain), did our taxes, and found a yard service for the summer. I also downloaded the maps for the tour.

All that’s left is to go shopping for stuff for the tour. I need just a few items: a mess kit for eating in camp, a power pack for charging my phone and lights, a bigger camp pillow, and a handlebar mount for my cell phone. I was going to buy most of this today but REI is having a sale in a week so I decided to wait. I could order this stuff online but REI and Dick’s Sporting Goods (where I’ll get the mess kit) are about 15 miles away. Perfect for a rest day ride.

The last several days were cool and windy. Today, I rode 13 miles into a gale. I suppose that’s good prep for the tour but it wasn’t much fun. Until I turned around. On the way home I stopped and bought a book to tide me over until April.

I hope to ride 60-ish miles tomorrow, 70 on Tuesday, and maybe another 70 later in the week. The distances sound like a lot but as I alluded to above I ride about 30 miles a day with relative ease. The plan is to ride 30 miles. Eat lunch. Ride home.

Still, I continue to have pre-tour anxiety. My brain bounces between feeling confident in my level of experience (this will be my 14th tour) and my ridiculous mileage base (10,000 miles per year for seven straight years has to count for something) and feeling old (I’m 69 1/2) and fat (so many cookies, so little time). The daily mileages on the tour may seem daunting but I won’t be carrying half the crap that I do on my unsupported tours. That has to count for something.

I know that last two days of this year’s ride will be hilly. To get myself mentally prepared I took a look at the elevation profiles from my tours of the last two years. They look somewhat similar to this year’s tour but with one big difference: the scale. In 2023 I rode across the White and Green Mountains of New England. Admittedly the daily mileages were lower but dang were those climbs nasty! The Kancamagus Pass in New Hampshire alone was orders of magnitude harder than anything the Trace will throw at me. And I did that one in the rain.

Middlebury Gap in Vermont was nearly as bad. I did walk the last 200 yards of Middlebury Gap when I was unable to hold a straight line of travel. I think the gradient near the top was 12 percent. Oof.

I just need to keep in mind that when I’m bike touring I’ve got all day. No hurries. No worries. To paraphrase Steven Wright, everything is biking distance is you have the time.

With enough snacks, all things are possible.

Old Man on a Bicycle

Tour Prep Marches On

My preparation for the Natchez Trace tour is going okay. I can ride 30 to 35 miles without breaking a sweat. I could easily have done much more than 30 yesterday but high winds made riding unsafe. As it was, a large tree fell across the Capital Crescent Trail northwest of DC. I have had three close calls with tree falls so I’m not about to take any chances.

All but one day on the tour is longer than 30 miles so I need to up my mileage game. Fortunately, mother nature appears to be willing to cooperate. Daytime temperatures will be rising into the 70s next week. We’re saved! That, combined with the change to daylight savings time, should give me ample opportunities to go long.

Mow money, Mo’ bikes?

I’ve given myself plenty of time to ride this year; I hired a lawn service. I’ve never done this before but I had reached a decision point. My 20-year-old gas mower is all but kaput. It has a frozen blade, a broken handle height adjuster, a broken deck height adjuster, and a carburetor that clogs. Enough. A new electric mower would set me back north of $600. (Some self propelled mowers cost a stupefying $1,100.)

I honestly don’t mind mowing the lawn (except in the dog days of summer) but it turns out that the ideal weather for lawn mowing is also the ideal time for bike riding. Hmmm. Another consideration is the fact that when I’m away on my tours, my wife gets to do this chore which I am sure she doesn’t like. DIY lawn care also adds to the stress of family travel. If the lawn doesn’t get mowed before we leave, we come back to grass out the wazoo. Then there is the Rootchopper lawn quality pledge: do only the bare minimum. We haven’t aerated the lawn in 20 years and the ground is hard as a rock. Not surprisingly we have a pretty impressive weed farm.

Since I ride around the Mount Vernon/Fort Hunt area several times a week, I know which lawn services do a good job. I ruled out the services that work on high end properties figuring they’d be too expensive. I obtained three estimates, eliminated one right away based on a contract that was unclear, and did a cost comparison. I also checked Washington Consumer Checkbook, a sort of local Consumer Reports publication that gives user-provided reviews. Both companies had comparable feedback, all positive. So I went with the low bidder.

My wife suggested that once I get rid of the lawn mower I’ll have ample parking space for another bike. Who knew there’d be collateral benefits?

I’m beginning to like this lawn service idea more and more.