Early Morning Cyclist Inspiration

Not quite cold enough to ride the trails, not quite nice enough to ride a road bike.  The Bridgstone (tank) is getting it's workout.  While I stopped to take this picture of snow on the trees one car passed me and they stopped to see if I was OK.  We live in a nice area.

Almost Black & White

Early Morning Cyclist Inspiration

Studs bite into ice below

As morning sun just starts to glow

Across the lake it's quite a show

Inspiration, it does bestow

On this bike I'm mighty slow

It gets me through the blowing snow

So I just have to let it go

 Winter's coming, that I know

It should not fill my heart with woe

But lift it to a new plateau

Early Morning Cyclist Inspiration

 First winter storm of the season. My wife said she was going to take a trail ride in and that sounded like a good idea. The wet mushy dirt roads on the way to the trails that sprayed mud in my face didn't seem like  a great idea.

Hard to see the Trail from the Trees

Once I finally got to he trails they were challenging with big clumps of snow that looked like rocks but weren't and smooth sections of snow that looked benign but weren't.  Nothing too bad, just a few pucker moments.

Wet Heavy Snow Was Just  A Little Slow

The real trouble is that the temp was just above freezing and the ground wasn't frozen.  I'm looking for ward to the mornings to come where frozen trails will make for clean woods commutes.

My Bike Gained Some Weight Over The Ride

Downeast Cyclocross

My second attempt at cyclocross went much better than my first.  I'm not sure I'm that much more fit than I was 2 years ago but a Felt F4X is significantly more competitive than a steel Surly Cross Check.  Based on my last performance I started absolutely dead last in the back of the pack, no need to hold up the others.  I had taken a 1 lap preview of the course and found it to be slightly hilly and not too technical.  Probably good for me since my stamina is better than my mad skills. 
 

The Barrier Crosses were well suited for taller folk, Photo by Maine Cycling Club

For reference, I'm the one in tights that shows up in all of these photos.  The weather was as good as it could get for a day in October.

Weaving Through The Turns, No Crashes For Me

 The Cat 4 race went for 40 minutes for a total of 5 laps which seemed merciful. 

Gasping Cross Racers, Photo by Maine Cycling Club

One by one I picked off 25 of the 41 starters to come in 16th: Downeast Cyclocross 2014 Results

My wife had her first cross race ever and was totally thrilled to not finish DFL.

All Smiles, the whole race,  Photo by Maine Cycling Club

Those USA Cycling 1 day licenses are killer.  The Maine Cycling Club was there to take pictures and an excellent Video of the day  .In all it was a great day despite the relatively high cost of entry for the 2 of us. I'll probably do it again next year as well as some low key races with some easier entry fees.

Acadia National Park - The Carriage Trails

It's been quite a busy fall for biking without much time for blogging.  I'll see if I can redeem my scant last post with one with some more pictures. 

Luckily, the College of the Atlantic was having a family and friends weekend which gave us a great excuse to take a day off and camp in Acadia for 2 nights.  We picked up annual passes for both us and my daughter to encourage ourselves to go back.  The nights dipped into the 30s and the days weren't much warmer when we were riding.

Much Needed Campfire

The moon was a level of beautiful that absolutely cannot be captured by a smart phone.  But at least I tried.

Moon Over The Ocean From Rocks By Blackwoods Campground

We planned on taking the whole day Saturday to ride wherever the carriage roads took us.  I'm not sure if everybody does it this way, but when we set out to ride the carriage trails, we rode them all.  Well, almost all of them.  We rode a few twice and skipped a few due to, ahem, navigational errors.  Day Mountain was the first place on our list.  We had the whole thing to ourselves except for a midget in the trees that offered to take our picture.

 

One Pretty View

After Another

On our way down we did come across a few horse drawn carriages which seemed like a fun way to see the trails...if you didn't have a bike.  We approached with caution and asked the drivers if we could pass.  They appreciated our asking and we were on our way. 

Bubble Pond

We skirted Bubble Pond, previewing the trails we would be doing in the dark the next day.  The reflections were amazing. 

One of many spectacular stone bridges in the middle of the woods.

Stopping at at The Jordon Pond House for a cup of coffee seemed like a good idea until we found that enjoying a cup of hot brew involved getting on a waiting list, being seated, being served and sitting in a sea or tourists... so we left.  We road 5 miles to this spot and had lunch.

Lunch Spot, Not a Tourist in Sight.

From there we made our way to the northern end of the island and to COA to jump in the ocean and play a pickup game of Quidditch.  My wife jumped in the ocean, I played Quidditch.

This is the Ocean, In October, In Maine - Nuff Said

Aside from playing a made up game and feeling like on idiot running around with a broom between your legs the game had enough rules to make it a fun and competitive sport.  Unfortunately it didn't have enough people to carry that out.

Live Quidditch Action

From there it was back to the campsite for dinner.  We took mostly carriage roads back to Seal Harbor and Rt 3 from there.  For some unknown reason, the carriage roads on private land are closed to bicycles but there is no exit to the roads even though the roads and paths cross so there was a little tromping through the woods.  I've yet to figure out why bikes aren't allowed on private carriage roads and horses are.  At least my bike doesn't shit on the trail.

Home Sweet Home

My daughter came to join us for a campfire and dinner before she headed off to a show.  We on the other hand were making it an early night because we had plans.  At 0-dark thirty (O-dark = 5) we road out of the campground on a combination of the park loop and carriage trails to get to the top of Cadillac Mt for sunrise.  At this time of year the summit of Cadillac is the first place in the US to see the sunrise.  The park loop road was amazing - 1 car for the whole time we were on it.  The carriage roads were even better - not a soul to be seen.  Then we turned up the road to the summit.  We were passed by about 200 cars in 3.5 miles.  That's a lot of cars on a dead end road.  After a good climb, we got to the top to find where all those cars were: Everywhere!  All the lots were full, the sides of the road were lined on both sides and cars were backing down the road between them.  I guess we weren't the only ones with that idea.

I was able to get a glimpse of the sun through the people

We stopped at the top long enough to have coffee and some Biscotti while our bikes took a rest. 

Our Bikes Had Fun too.

On the way back to the road we had one woman ask "Do you need Chocolate and Peanut Butter".  We looked back slightly puzzled.  I wondered if they were filming some kind of candid camera recess commercial.  We polity declined saying that we had just finished our biscotti but I do still wonder what kind of chocolate she was offering and if we should have taken some.  I've heard bad things about taking candy from strangers so I think we made the right choice. 

The 7+ mile downhill with no cycling effort was brutally cold.  We road the rest of the park loop road back to the campsite stopping a few places along the way and still got back to the site to have it packed up and on the road by 9:30.  We stopped back at the college to say goodby on our way out of town.

On our way back through we made a pitstop at the The Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory and Fort Knox for a picnic. 

We're Going Up There

 The little windows at the top of the picture above are where I am standing in the picture below.  If you are taking the coastal route to Acadia it is worth the stop if the day is clear.

Amazing 360 degree view from the top.

Can't Wait To Go Back!

515 Miles in 2 Weeks Might Be a Record for Me

Between my normal commutes, a few long rides around the Cumberland Fair and 3 charity events, that's what I have logged.  The statute of limitations is expiring on this post so I'm going to make it brief. 

Loon Echo Trek

Set out to ride 100 miles.  Got lost. Road 111 miles.  Made some new biking friends from our own town.  Had a beer and some chicken and went home.

Fight Back Festival/Not Dead Yet Ride

$125 Raised. Road with the fast group.  Finished 60 miles in a shade over 3 hours.  Nobody was at the finish line when we crossed.  Had a beer and a hamburger and went home.

The Dempsey Challenge 2014

$1100 Raised.  ($1.1M for the whole event) The weather was perfect.  I road with my wife for the whole event.  Had a beer and a lobster and went home.

Normally I post pictures (the "candid" part) but I don't have any so I am offering a full refund for anybody that feels they were slighted.

OK, now I can post a weekend at Acadia blog.

Winter Darkness Seems Early

I head out into the darkness.
My lights are my only guide.
A rocky path,
A low tree branch,
Avoided.
Slowly, imperceptibly, daylight creeps in.
The day awakes as my lights slumber.