Sunshine Of My Love

Sweetness and the Hopeville flyer can back from a short trip to the bike-spa of Sunshine Cycle-Works in Colchester. Chris and the boys did the final pre-trip tune up, squeezing in two customers who have little regard for time constraints during the busiest repair week of the year. These guys are the best!

Here is one for you guys:

Three Days to Launch - Trial Packing

Car packing 101 - Do not celebrate your success at fitting everything into the Ford Escape, until you look around a bit. Smiles and fist bumps of the picture above turned to chagrin and we realized two boxes of kitchen stuff were still on the floor of the garage. After some mussing and fussing we re-arranged and everything got aboard with us being a lot less smug. The final load is pictured below.

Ten Pounds of Crap In a Five Pound Box

It fit!

'Nuff said!

GPS Madness

In an attempt to dial in our bike computers to match each other we spent most of our ride yesterday fiddling and diddling with our settings. We have a "measured mile" on our road (pays to have runners in the family). We kept riding up and down trying to get it right and then worked on it more during the ride. Most maddening is that no matter how we tried we had a difference of 4 hundredths of a mile for every 3/10ths of a mile. Miniscule, right? Except as you extrapolate that to longer and longer rides the differences pile up. If you are trying to coordinate together on a cue sheet or you have a mechanical or medical problem, and you need to know how far away your help is it can really mess things up.

We even pulled out our phones and tracked our bike computers along with our GPS based Map My Ride App. Closer to Marsha's bike computer, but sometimes matching mine and then going back to being closer to hers. There was not one consistent pattern we could zero in on. My computer actually would run ahead of Marsha's quickly climbing to .09 and then mysteriously dropping back to .06 to match her for a while.

There are many reasons why bike computers will vary from each other. Different tire pressure, some type of interference between the cadence sensor and the handlebar unit, or with the cell phone some type of interference between the phone and GPS satellites and/or cell towers. The fact that I out weight Marsha by 100 pounds can change the diameter of my tires as I push them down more.

So, we decided that we will live with it, or perhaps spin my wheel a few hundredths to catch up to Marsha's computer before we start a ride so we even out. The GPS based phone apps we usually hold in reserve as it really sucks down the battery and even with our extra battery packs, the ability to have juice to call for help is more important than recording the ride. Around home for a workout ride or to measure a new route, fine, but out on our western wanderings, an extra layer of security in battery life is a trump card.  

Airline Trail in Colchester

With Marsha and my photography sensi Mike Babinski out on the rail trail for a 25 mile spin. Nice tip on the people shot, did not execute the flowers very well.

Phase 2 Planning

This is the update for the second leg of our trip. Couple of open spots but there is a fine line between not having a place to stay and the surrender to the serendipity. We hope we are walking the line.

Leaving Cheboygan we will travel to Ashland WI, staying at an inn that got great reviews. The Apostle Islands are nearby. From there it will be a short day to Bemidji  where will explore the Paul Bunyan State Rail Trail and associated trails for a couple of days. Then a long day to Medora ND to stay in the Amble Inn, and then into Theodore Roosevelt National Park for a couple of days. Then up,a few TBA days ending up in East Glacier to stay at the Brownie's Hostel & Bakery on July 23rd. We then want to work our way into Waterton in CA with full plans yet to be determined. Check the Calendar Tab, and Map tab as we will be updating there.

Ode to Joy

We did a 30 mile ride on this beautiful late spring morning. There is poetry in Woodstock when you turn right onto Joy Road. I am blessed to live in a very pretty place of hayfields, stonewalls, and curvy roads of rolling hills. Of all of places Joy Road is always true to it's name. Your heart leaps as you know you have over a mile of swooping curves and rolling breakers. You finish one hill with speed and power up and over the next to settle back in for the next part of the roller coaster. And at the bottom, Sweet Evalina's Stand with tempting treats as you mark the halfway point of the ride.  We found joy, patriotic cows and a stone mile marker in Abington. Great ride, and the back problems I have been suffering were not a problem for most of the ride.

Trial Run #2 - No Fish for Breakfast

Camping weekend #2 to work out more kinks in our systems. At Austin Hawes Campground on the Farmington River in American Legion State Forest, one of our favorite CT camping spots. One of the best trout streams in CT. Alas no fish for breakfast as they were beyond the skill of this fisherman and it is a catch and release section of the river anyway. Note to Mike Babinski - below note that I do pay attention on how leading lines and foreground objects contribute to composition. Note to Doug Hammerstrom - thanks for teaching me about fly fishing.

Airline Trail Pomfret

Newly constructed section of Airline Trail in Pomfret looks like a super highway.  Hoping that they add one more layer of stone dust but this will work if need be. Rode in from the rail trail where it crosses the road in the Natchaug Forest. They are moving along with the trail construction but have a ways to go. Encountered mud and traprock and did a lot of walking. It will be great when done.

Schedule Updates

The updated schedule calls for us leaving on July 6th or July 7th. We will head to Cooperstown and visit the Baseball Hall of Fame, then to Niagara Falls. There is a private campground on the Canadian side. Then off to Port Huron MI to a state campground, going through Frankenmuth MI on our way to the Michigander on July 10-12. Nailing down campground reservations this week. 

Every Adventure Needs A Theme Song

I don't know how the tradition started but it seems that every major adventure we have had, ended up having a theme song.  A good road song, one where you can roll down the car windows and sing along as you eat up the highway miles. A song that somehow captures the spirit of the time, maybe with a little tongue-in-cheek, double entendre, wink wink, Bob's your uncle inside joke.

With a few personal edits and great thanks to the Barenaked Ladies - here is our choice:

Barenaked Ladies – Lovers In A Dangerous Time

Don't the hours grow shorter as the days go by,
We never get to stop and open our eyes.

One minute you're waiting for the sky to fall,
And next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all.

Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

These fragile bodies of touch and taste,
This fragrant skin, this hair like lace.

Spirits open to the thrust of grace,
Never a breath you can afford to waste.

Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

Shakedown Run #1

Working out the kinks in the gear and travel set up with an overnight trip to Hopeville Pond State Park. Will be heading over to bike path at the Amtrak station near URI for a ride today. 

A Little Biking in Michigan

Looking at the two day section of the Michigander  Bike Tour on July 11-12. Hello Cheboygen! Will consult our resident experts on all things Michigan tomorrow night.

Second post

We packed up a box with kitchen stuff for our trip and Steve sorted through fishing stuff.