Merrily We Roll Along

Friday after school, Vicki picked me up so we could out to Walden Park in Walnut Creek. This park is just yards from the intersection of two major bike paths: the Iron Horse Trail, which runs about 40 miles from Martinez to Dublin (and 7 miles north of the intersection), and the Contra Costa Canal Trail, which has two six-mile legs that meet at the Iron Horse. Ride two six mile legs and one seven mile leg round trip and you get 36 miles. You could get the same riding the Iron Horse, but it wouldn't be as interesting or pleasant.

We are riding with Marlow on Sunday, May 6, as part of Team Schwab, to raise money for diabetes research. We have chosen to do the 50 mile ride. Until yesterday, my odometer was broken, so we didn't really know how far or how fast we were riding; mostly, we guessed. Now we know. We average a 7-minute mile, 8 miles per hour. Last night, we rode four hours and 36 miles; next weekend we'll shoot for 40-45 and the weekend after that we'll invest six hours in a 50 mile ride. Marlow will finish her 50 miles in about 4 hours (she rides at an average speed of 12 miles an hour and is, of course, much younger than us). Before you ask, yes, I have consulted with my doctor and this amount of exercise is fine.

Those of you with long memories will realize this is child's play to me; I rode from SF to LA in 1997. You can read either a summary of the ride or an achingly detailed journal. Suffice it to say, if you want the executive summary, that the ride amounts to six back to back centuries (100 mile rides), more or less. A 50 would have been child's play to me a few years ago; it is still something I think I could do immediately because I spend 15-25 minutes a day pedaling on a stationary bicycle. The only problem with a 50 is the problem Vicki discovered yesterday; if you take your time, you won't tire out, or break or sprain anything, but your tail end will become extremely sore. Mine less so than hers, but let's just say every time we sat down Saturday, we were reminded of Friday's ride.

Someday, I want to ride the bike path in West Virginia that is a former railroad line and runs through some beautiful country in the Appalachian Mountains. If you've ever done it, tell me about it.