Autumn riding at its best
Yesterday was one of those spectacular New England autumn weather days that surely inspired many to get out and hit the roads. The clear dry air and unseasonably warm temps probably caused a few riders to say "Man, with weather like this, I could ride all day!" Well, yesterday I did exactly that.
I departed home under the cover of darkness just after 5 AM yesterday, layered up with late fall/early winter clothing to ease the bite of the 43 degree chill. But within hours, then sun was up, and so were the temps, and I stripped down and tucked away the extra clothing (a very tight fit for my rear middle pocket) and then it was just smiles and miles for hours and hours.
Well, not exactly. Over the course of the day there were two small stretches where my spirits began to dip and my mind seemed to be dominated by thoughts of "I have how many miles to go????", around mile 90 and again around mile 110. Those low points were brief though, lasting just a few miles before I reversed the gears in my brain and got things back on track.
The route I took (somewhat based upon the map below) required very little active navigation, and offered up almost no challenging terrain, freeing me to use my brain for retrospection (where I concluded that life is going pretty well for me now); planning for the future (and of course many of those plans revolved around the bike); and just enjoying the moment, soaking up the scenery that ranged from farmlands, ocean views, cranberry bogs, and everything else you'd expect to see in Southern New England.
And of course my thoughts inevitably wrestled with numbers to help bridge my gaps in thoughts about life. From counting to calculating, I made note of the following throughout the day:
- 59,520: number of revolutions I turned the cranks yesterday
- 8,362: my mileage total for 2011 after yesterday's ride ended
- 5,926: calories burned during yesterday's ride, or about 8 Big Mac cheeseburgers topped with loads of catsup and mustard
- 197.88: total miles I tallied by the time I got to Orleans, MA
- 197.0: number of Dunkin Donuts I think I counted (I might be exaggerating some, but man it seems like there's one every mile now).
- 96: ounces of water consumed during the ride
- 48: ounces of Gatorade consumed during the ride
- 6: number of cliff bars consumed during the ride
- 2: number of Dunkin Donut's chocolate chip muffins I consumed during the ride (I couldn't pass 197 D&Ds and not stop at least a few times, right?)
- 0: number of clouds seen throughout the day
So over the 13+ hours I spent alone, my brain stayed remarkably fresh from start to finish. What's even more surprising was how the rest of my body responded. Aside from some modest chafing on the inner thighs, I arrived looking (according to Mrs. D) as if I had just finished a Sunday morning group ride.
Almost nothing went wrong for me all day long. Even when things could have turned against me, luck seemed to be shining down upon me just as brightly as the sunlight shone all day long. When the wind picked up, it was at my back, never slowing me down. When my overflowing pockets ejected some of my clothing, it landed on my chain stay and a good Samaritan shouted to alert me before I lost the garments forever. The two times I got lost during the day never gave me reason to be concerned. I had planned only a 190 mile ride, giving me a budget of 10 miles of being lost, and with a nearly due-east route, all I had to do is to look up and seek out the sun to get myself back on course. And when my wallet bounced out of my pocket shortly after leaving Dunkin Donuts, the wind died down and the cars seemed to disappear, ensuring that I had the silence needed to notice the sound of something falling and hitting the road.
I'm not sure if I'll do another double century anytime soon. With all of the good luck I had go my way during yesterday's ideal autumn weather, I can't imagine that my next experience would produce such fond memories. But...after coming up just short of an official 200 miler, I may tempt the fates again, especially when the forecasters predict another day like yesterday.
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