Greetings bloggers!
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted here on the J Blog. Things have been all over the place. We had a lovely week of vacation in Delaware, followed by a lovely week of stay-cation to recover from the week of vacation, followed by coming back to work and trying to dig out from a million tasks that had piled up, leading me to wonder why we go on vacation in the first place. So, with a bit of that all behind me, it’s time to talk about my second favorite thing ever.
Bikes!
With the pandemic causing all kinds of uncertainty at the beginning of summer, a lot of rides that I would typically have geared up for and hit were cancelled. But as things calmed down, the fall rides opened up. At the moment, they’re all still there, but I’ve got my eye on you delta variant.
Mclain Farm Gravel- This Saturday!
To warm up a bit, my good friend and fellow lunatic David and I will be hitting up this gravel ride in Ohio. We’re doing the small track, which will still clock us in at 35 miles and darn near 4,000 feet of elevation. I have been doing a little bit of hill climbing on the new gravel bike, but to say I feel underprepared is a understatement. I’m just sitting down after a sub-1000 feet of climbing ride, and my legs feel like jello. So…I’m nervous.
DC to Pittsburgh
After that, I’m leaving on Wednesday to drive to DC, and then bike my way home. This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while. It’s going to be part cycling experience, to be sure, but it’s also going to be many parts prayer retreat/spiritual discernment. I’ll be doing most of the ride solo, and so I’ll have a lot of time at night in the tent to pray, to think through what’s going on here at the church, to discern where God is leading me in this season of life. I’m really really excited about it! David is actually going to start in Pittsburgh and ride to DC, so we’ll pass each other in the middle, so I won’t be totally alone out there should I come across a mechanical or something like that.
The Quick and the Dead- September 25
Here’s the ride that’s going to end me. We actually rode this guy two years ago, but it was a much smaller and different route. It nearly broke me in two. So naturally, because they made it longer and harder, we’re going to try again. This sucker clocks in at 53 miles, and 6,395 feet of elevation. The map on Ride With GPS thinks that it will take me four hours, and that is just absolutely adorable. My only saving grace in this ride is that instead of white knuckling down all the gravel descents on my road bike, I have Percy the Adventure Bike (TM) ready to rock and roll.
That’s a whole lot of riding back to back to back! My hope is to take a camera along with me and make a few videos of these experiences, but that’s always my hope and it rarely happens, so stay tuned.
I know this is all about cycling, but what are you looking forward to this fall? What adventures await you?