The Assault on Mount Mitchell 2022 – A Baby Seal was I
July 30, 2022 § 2 Comments
When Terry Downs sent me the registration link, this seemed like a great idea. I was going to sign up for Ride the Rockies again, and having this activity in May would force me to get out there and train, because this beast is a monster. In case you aren’t aware, Mount Mitchell is the highest point East of the Mississippi. The term highest has to be understood. The Appalachian Trail does NOT traverse Mount Mitchell and so Clingman’s Dome (soon to be renamed thus ridding us of another Confederate traitor) is the highest point on the AT. Mount Mitchell Highlands NJ is the highest coastal point South of Maine (Cadillac Mtn though is on an island). Mount Mitchell in NC is the highest thing around for man miles. This ride begins all the way South in Spartanburg South Carolina and generally winds it’s way North and West until it ascends to the Blue Ridge, and then its South to the final climb to the summit. One hundred two miles and more than 10K feet of elevation gain.
« Read the rest of this entry »AT Massachusetts – Baby Seal
October 21, 2020 § Leave a comment
Baby Harp seals have to be among the cutest most innocent looking creatures on the planet. I know, there are a lot of critters out there whose young are super cute, and that includes human critters as well, though let us be clear, sometimes, there are some real ugly babies. But this isn’t about ugly babies, it is about cute and innocent, and launching into something with the greatest zeal and perhaps over estimation of just where on the fitness scale one actually sits.
« Read the rest of this entry »Catching The Monday SFCC Train
November 16, 2017 § Leave a comment
I knew I was going to San Fran Cisco, and I knew I wanted to ride my bike. Where to start? I could describe my first forays into exploration, however I should just cut to the chase. I finally googled “San Francisco Cycling Club”, and the top hit was SFCC, or San Francisco Cycling Club. What better name exists for a 100% hit, I know not.
Fools Classic 2017 – Who’s the Fool Now?
April 15, 2017 § 2 Comments
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a person lacking in judgment or prudence Only a fool would ride Fools Classic without knowing what thy got thyself into.
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a : a retainer (see 1retainer 1) formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble: The designers of Fools Classic are entertained by the motley fools who sign on for their event.
b : one who is victimized or made to appear foolish : dupe History has made fools of the many who ride Fools Classic. -
a : a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding That fool must be MENTAL and has no idea what Fools Classic is going to do to them.
b : one with a marked propensity or fondness for something a dancing fool, a fool for candy, a cycling fool
In some ways it seems pretty simple to apply each of these to the participants involved in the 2017 edition of the Fools Classic.
Dirty Dozen 2016 – Or “You Can’t Put a Road Up That!”
January 3, 2017 § Leave a comment
A Pittsburgh native and his brother first came up with the idea for a ride/race around Pittsburgh’s many varied neighborhoods that included climbing the steepest grades that road engineers felt could be paved and still be called a road, AND people would still build their homes there. While it may not have been a named ride then, it wasn’t long before the ride achieved local legend status, and became known as “The Dirty Dozen”. Why it isn’t a “Baker’s Dozen” makes no sense since there are thirteen competition hills in the ride, but I think “Dirty” sounds meaner and tougher than “Baker” (Think Charles Bronson vs. Nicholas Cage).
Thor The Destroyer
August 19, 2015 § Leave a comment
I could tell already what kind of Hustle Ride it was going to be. Me, I was already aching and quaking from a 14 mile AT hike along the NJ NY border from High Point State Park to Wallkill River Wildlife Refuge. As I seem to do on all of those AT hikes is I forget to start off with Ibuprofen and continue an Ibuprofen regimen throughout the day. I know I would ache a lot less on Tuesday if I did.
Stung! The Tuesday Night Hustle Rides Again
July 22, 2015 § Leave a comment
Sometimes it is amazing what you can get when you cry Waa Waa like a baby and call out to your friends “Why won’t you come out and play with meeeeee?” Tonight was the first Tuesday Night Hustle after last weeks rant, and I was both surprised and relieved to see a larger turnout. In addition to Doug and myself, we started out with Maxipad and Jack who rode in with Dougie. Tony managed to make it out tonight and in spite of his already ridden that morning! We got Grant back out again, but he was recovering from an infection for which antibiotics were prescribed. Finally we had a new person show up who had just heard about the ride. Mike from Atlantic Highlands. I had never seen him before, but he was riding a nice bike. I did point out we would warm-up out to Sea Bright and then turn the gas on.
What Happened To The Tuesday Night Hustle?
July 15, 2015 § 1 Comment
If you are a bike nut, and of course when I say bike I mean bicycle, and not a motorcycle. Really we would say a cycling nut because we are “cyclists”, and not just “bicycle riders”. What is the difference? WTF knows, but there is a difference! So, if you are a cycling nut, and you are nuts enough to race your bicycle, and by race that could be race in mass start events like weekend criteriums, or road races, or it could be race as in you are a tri-head, but you really really really love the cycling portion of the event, and to go fast on the bike is something that you think about all the time when you aren’t riding.
Along comes a weekly ride that you have been waiting for. A ride that you have read about in other parts of the country, or friends of yours from Ogalala post to their Facebook accounts every week about this ride that totally kills them, and you think “Damn, why isn’t there a ride like that at The Jersey Shore?” Sometimes you have that ride on weekend if the right people show up, but generally you want something like that during the week. Something to break up the week and give you a decent workout mid-week, and prep you for whatever the weekend will bring. Something that has you just on the limits of your abilities, until you fall back and drop back in behind the last person of the pace line and ahhhhh, just enough relief that you realize you can hold on for another turn.
Big Bird's Adventures 
Meriam-Webster provides the following definitions of fool, slightly modified for this print edition