Light up the Night

Last night was my second Amish Night Ride with some fellow OCC riders.  Thanks to my new Cygolite Mitycross 350 light system, I have been able to join the small group of guys who defy early sunsets and continue to ride on Wednesday nights.

About 9 of us left the shop at 6:30 and headed south.  We rode nearly the same route as last week: down to Fredericksburg and back, about 35 miles.  Sunset was shortly after 7pm, prompting blinky tail lights and high output head lights to be turned on prior to reaching Fredericksburg.  The temperature was mid 50's when we started and dropped into the upper 40's once the sun went down.

Ryan pedaling toward sunset.

Riding as a group at night is a visual spectacle.  Beams of light move around the road up ahead, while varied blinking sequences of bike tail lights flash out the back.  All this makes for a unique display as a member of the rolling light show.  I'm sure it's equally unique for a car to come upon a pack of us riding the back roads at night.

Riding west towards Fredericksburg.

There's a sense of isolation as you pedal down a dark road.  Instead of being surrounded by the expanding countryside, your attention is constrained to the 40' of lighted road up ahead.  Even with a group of other riders there is solidarity in the night.  The darkness obscures the identity of the person riding at your side.  A turn of the head to check if it's okay to change position results in a good view of the bike light behind, but the rider behind that light remains cloaked in darkness.


Back at the shop we recovered from the high pace of the final miles and the sprint for the last road sign.  Bikes were returned to their car racks, trunks, and truck beds.  We gathered under the security lighting of the bike shop and made plans for next week's night ride.  "Let's ride 'till the snow stops us!"

The post-ride assembly.

Bike Lighting
Following is a link to an article I wrote for the Orrville Cycling & Fitness web site.  The article presents two Cygolite bike lighting systems, complete with on-the-road images of the lights at night.
http://www.orrvillebikeshop.com/articles/lights/let_there_be_light.htm

New Camera Working Well

Last week KT suprised me with a new digital camera for my birthday.  It's a Canon Digital Elph SD1200IS and is very compact, the perfect size to fit in a cycling jersey's pocket.

This morning I decided to commute to work and try for a sunrise picture.  It occurred to me that a slight alteration to my usual route would provide an elevated view to the east.  I rode across Valley Rd. to Batdorf Rd. and stopped at the top of the hill, overlooking the Prairie Lane area to the east.  After trying a couple settings on the new camera I captured the following fiery sunrise picture.

Satisfied with the sunrise pictures, I was about to get back on the back when I then turned around and saw a nearly full moon still high in the sky.

The 40 degree morning air was making my fingers cold, so the gloves went back on and I continued my ride to work.  I'm impressed with this little camera!  More pictures to come.

- AAron

DoG Tour - 85 miles of enjoyment

Today was the Day of Generosity Cycling Tour, an event to support the Grace Brethren International Missions and national missionaries.  Brian, Ryan and myself were along for the 80 mile route, which was actually 85 miles.

Under questionable skies we rode west to Ashland.  It was about 52 degrees when we left and the forecast didn't predict the temperature to make it out of the 50's.  We made a stop in Ashland, near Brian's place of work, for a coffee warmup and then headed north to Spencer.

Coffee break in Ashland.

The bikes took a rest during the coffee break too.

From Homerville north to Spencer we caught an excellent tailwind.  We shared some good pulls as we sped north with ease on SR301.  Brian made the prediction, "I think we are going to pay for that on the way home."

Tail wind plus a good road equals high speed.

Upon our arrival in Spencer we stopped at a convenience store for food and bottle refills.  Pop Tarts, Fig Newtons, and peanut butter cracker sandwiches were the popular choices.  Ryan  polished off a zip lock bag of Cheez-Its he packed for the ride.  I've got to say, I have been entertained over the years by the food he brings on a ride!  :-)

Food stop in Spencer.

Brian's prediction was very, very true.  We were eating a headwind for about 25 miles from Spencer south to Overton.  The sun had sporadically shone itself throughout the ride, mostly between Ashland and Spencer.  But on this final stretch we pedaled beneath heavily overcast skies.

My legs were toast after a couple pulls.  I felt like I couldn't recover from the efforts, no thanks to the persistent wind.  Fortunately Ryan and Brian were still strongly turning the pedals over and we pushed onward to Overton.

From Overton it was south to Smithville-Western and a eastward climb out of the valley.  We approached the climb and I dropped my chain shifting to the small ring.  I couldn't shift it back on and had to stop and dismount to the return the chain to its useful position.  Great, a perfect way to start a climb.

Thankfully my legs had recovered during our eased pace, and the blocked wind, on Overton Rd.  I felt better and had a good climb up Smithville Western.  After a long wait to cross SR83, we returned to the church where we had started.

Representing the OCC.

It was a pretty good ride: we stayed dry and warm, the route was enjoyed with some new roads for me, and we helped support international missions.  I'm glad the three of us were able to meet up and ride!

BDAY4ME

Today would be my birthday.  I enjoyed a visit from my parents as well as a delicious dinner by KT.  Mom's apple dumplings made for a perfect dessert.  DNL entertained us during his longest ever sit at the table in his high chair.  Many people said "Happy Birthday" today.  A nice day it has been.

Last night I declared I would ride to work this morning regardless of the weather, perhaps as a birthday gift to myself.  I set my bike out, with new light attached, and laid out my gear to greet me at 6:30 this morning. 

I was on the rode by 6:40 and it was an exhilarating ride, complete with spotty rain and wind gusts of 22mph (per the Weather Channel).  Fortunately the wind was mostly at my back or side.  Several strange looks were received by coworkers as I rode into the building.  Hey, it's my birthday and I wanted to ride!

- AAron

Time to Maul

Friday night's foray into nightime photography worked out pretty well.  I got some good comparison pictures of the bike head lights.  It was surprising how many vehicles were traveling down Messner Rd through the swamps at 10pm+ on a Friday night.  Some of the traffic had to be due to the Triway football game.  The web page bike light review for the shop is en route... link to come soon.


The weather for the weekend messed up plans for riding on Saturday and then messed up plans for riding on Sunday.  It did clear off Sunday afternoon and was really nice out, but the time for a ride had already passed.

Instead of riding a bike I decided to exert some energy splitting firewood.  After an hour I had split a good stack.  I still have about four times this amount of wood cut and waiting to be split.

Yellow handled maul in center of picture.

Let there be Light

Enjoyed a nice morning commute today that began in the dark.  Thanks to my new light, I was able to light it up and ride in the dark.  Too bad it's a camera phone pic, but it's still a nice picture of the sunrise greeting me this morning:

Tonight I'm packing up my new headlight, RYN's new headlight, a camera, and a tripod for a field trip to some deserted back road.  I'm going to try to take some pictures in the dark that show the light output of the lights.  These pictures will end up accompanying a review that will be posted on the shop's web site.  I'll have to post a link once it's uploaded.

Until next time,

- AAron

DNL's First Rainy Ride

In defiance of a forecast for afternoon showers we headed to Fredericksburg for a southerly ride on the trail with DNL.  Unfortunately RYN was not able to join us but HLNA was along for the ride.

Rain was not an obstacle from Fredericksburg to Holmesville but a crazy buggy driver was a bit of a challenge.  Apparently he thought his buggy should not be passed by cyclists because as we first tried to go around he flogged his horse into high gear.  DNL and I were not having any of that so we dropped the hammer and showed him his one horsepower was of no match.  The only problem was the ladies did not do the same so we had to sit up and wait for them.  In the meantime crazy buggy driver caught up.  But this made for great fun because we got to do it all over again.  The second time the ladies caught up was at a crossroad and the buggy was stopped.  KT asked who should go first and the buggy driver said his horse was not willing to move, as horse froth billowed from its mouth.  I'm sure some of these events could be used in an Amish version of Fast and the Furious.

Light showers greeted our arrival to Millersburg.  We sat in the picnic shelter for 30 minutes or so until learning from an Amish guy with a cell phone and radar access that the showers were about passed.  We outfitted DNL with my rain jacket and headed north.

DNL in rain gear on the trail.  He says: "Daddy out kicked a horse!"

Now the bikes sit in the garage covered in an gross slurry of buggy droppings sprayed up from the wet trail.  They are certainly due a good washing!

- AAron

Eggcitement in the Backyard

I do believe it is time to introduce a project, especially with the big news of the day: we have our first egg!

For the past couple years KT has been interested in raising chickens.  This spring I gave in and built her a chicken coop as a birthday gift.

After submitting concept drawings to KT, I had an approved plan and began construction of what would be called a "chicken palace" by the neighbor.  The barn siding is 140 years old and was purchased from a farmer down the road.  He also gave me corrugated steel roofing a few years back to cover firewood piles.  I reallocated a few panels from the firewood area for use on the coop roof.  Enough talk, pictures tell the story:

 

 

And now, back to the big news of the day, four months after moving into their palace one of the six chickens laid her first egg!  Hopefully there are plenty more to come.

Monday Bike Commute

Mondays are a good day to ride to work, the morning ride makes for a nice introduction to the work week.  Last year I began commuting a couple days per week and surprised myself...

I thought the morning commute would be a bother.  I like to wake up and get to work as soon as possible.  For example, if I get out of bed at 6:30 I'm out the door by 6:45 and at work by 7:00 if driving to work.  I figured a 40 minute morning bike commute would have me thinking "come on, I just want to get to work to get the day started!"  And I figured the commute home would prompt me to take a longer route and add miles.

As it turns out, I thoroughly enjoy the ride to work and the ride home sometimes seems a bother.  Waking up on the bike is enjoyable and I still get to work by 7:30 if I leave home by 6:50.  On the way home I automatically take at least a slightly longer route due to traffic, there's too much traffic on my morning roads at the end of the day, but often end up thinking "come on, I just want to get home!"

With DNL in the picture it is more desirable to get home without delay.  Several times this year I have ridden to work and had KT pick me up while she is already on this side of the town getting groceries, etc.  Today Katie is going to pick up my bike during the day, after a grocery run, and I will ride home with a coworker.  He wants to see the chicken coop I built in the spring (now there's a project I'll have to share in a future update).

Oh yeah, a big benefit to pedaling to work... seeing a bike every time I turn around at my desk!

First post! Two rides in one day.

I guess this would be the first post to my freshly created blog.  Hopefully it does not become stale too soon.  My intention is to use the blog as a diary of sorts, to record notable rides, projects, and more.  So without further delay...

On my first ride of the day... I left home around 8am.  With RF planning to race at the Knob tonight I was riding solo.  The first destination was Fredericksburg, which brought the climb across Harrision Rd. west of Fredericksburg into play.  I stopped at Lem's for a morning coffee.

Munson Knob from Shreve Eastern Rd.

In Fredericksbug I jumped on the bike trail and rode to Holmesville.  The trail was pretty much empty of other users so I had a nice time trial south.  In Holmesville I left the bike trail behind and ventured acrosss a series of county and township roads, resulting in a not so direct routing to Shreve.

By this time the morning clouds had lifted and blue sky was in full affect.  I was wearing arm warmers with a short sleeve jersey thinking the warmers would be pulled mid ride but they remained on arms for the full ride.  My guess is the temperature did not make it much above 70 during my ride.

Blue skies on Springville Rd.

From Shreve I connected Jefferson, Springville and McKee Roads to get back home.  While eating lunch and sipping another cup of coffee I decided to start this blog.

Second ride of the day... with DNL under the care of Grandma, KT and I headed out for an afternoon ride.  We did a loop that passed us through the Killbuck Marsh twice: Messner on the way out and Willow on the way back.  It was a nice ride beneath the continuing blue skies.

KT riding east on Messner Rd.

And now... it's getting close to game time.  I wore my OSU jersey today but I'm not sure it will be of any help for the Bucs tonight against USC.

On the way home from our ride KT and I saw the Goodyear blimp,

presumably flying south to Columbus for the game. 

Signing off,
AAron