Saturday
Tim and I met up at Breadworks, as usual, on Saturday morning for an urban spin. The ride was pleasant, but it’s really the only kind of riding we’ve been doing recently. We schemed to do something about that.
He did play a game of Spot the Turkey at my expense, but that’s how we roll sometimes. If you follow that link, you’ll see that I’ve gained some weight. More on that later.
I was up quite early Saturday morning. Diane and I bike-pooled to her work on the tandem. Then I rode home to grab my rSogn to meet Tim for the morning ride.
After the ride, I went back, grabbed the tandem, and took it to the shop for some minor repair. I then picked Diane up and headed home.
Later, Diane and I rode the tandem again, this time across the newly-opened Big Four Bridge. We checked out a burger & beer place in Jeffersonville before riding back home. The Big Four Bridge has no car traffic, but the crowds of pedestrians made this a walking-speed ride.
Sunday
Diane was on her own on getting to work. I had other plans. I had the rSogn packed and ready to go when Tim pulled up in his car with his Atlantis on the rack. We loaded my bike and headed for New Washington Indiana.
Tim and I have ridden the New Washington area before. It’s got enough hills to be interesting, but it’s not brutal. It has enough gravel to add texture to the ride. It’s low-traffic and our Sunday morning began with beautiful weather.
Much of the route was wide-open farmland.
Some of it was a bit more forested.
We had navigation issues. Tim used his Edge GPS, which isn’t meant for routing. I didn’t have the route, and my GPS was at home with a broken mount. We meandered in the general direction, but managed to make a wrong turn on to a long dead-end road. It wasn’t wasted. It was one of the better roads on the ride.
We had planned a reasonable 35 miles, as both of us are out of shape. At 20 miles I was done. My right ankle is still weak. The ankle kept trying to turn while pedaling. It was painful, but I managed the last eight miles back to the car.
After I was home, I still had a few errands to run. I was extremely slow on the bike, but I managed without injury.
Monday
Monday, being Memorial Day here in the States, brings various celebrations. Louisville has the Mayor’s Hike, Bike, and Paddle. I had already planned to ride this on the tandem with Diane, but Asher contacted me about riding with him and Denis on their tandem. Tom and Jen joined us on their Rans Screamer (tandem recumbent) – and it was a party.
There was a huge variety of bicycles to see. John brought his velomobile – probably the only one in Louisville.
There were a few ‘bents, and a few tandems, but I only saw one tandem ‘bent: Tom and Jen’s.
The first part of the ride was very crowded. I spent most of that time at a walking pace in close quarters. That’s a bit of a challenge with a tandem among wobbly children.
At one point Denis, started a water fight with me. I retaliated with my water bottle. Diane ended it by dumping water on me. It was already unfair – Denis, Asher’s stoker attacked me, the captain. He had his hands free to aim. I had to steer. Then my own stoker turned against me. All is fair in love, tandems, and water fights. I did get the last squirt in later in the ride. I zoomed past Asher and Denis’s tandem, drenching the surprised Denis along the way.
I have recently put a new saddle on the tandem. I hate it. I think I’ll be changing back to the old one. I was rather sore by the end of the ride. The six of us had a meal and beer at Against the Grain before going our own way.
Whew!
Over those three days, I rode 104 miles. I’ve certainly done more, but not recently. I’m out of shape and too fat. I went to work today by car. I was really sore. I left early due to a massive headache. I’m slightly sunburned. I guess I need to work on my physical well-being.