GOBA 34 D3 and 4

 So yesterday was beautiful.

  I experienced a Zen moment when rolling downhill for miles.  The sky was blue, the grass was green, pedaling was easy, and flowers were blooming along the side of the road.  There was a long downhill for several miles.  Pedalling was easy.

I was having a wonderful day.  

About half a mile from the end of the route,  I noticed some young boys, about 8-10 years old, playing football in the front of their house.  They asked me if I wanted some water and held up a bottled water.  I checked my water, and I still had half a bottle , so I thanked them but said "no".  Then I heard a pop like a cap gun, and I thought maybe they were shooting at me.  Within a few seconds I realized that my back wheel sounded funny, so I stopped.   Sure enough I had a flat tire.  I was only 1/2 mile from GOBAville, where there was a mobile bike store.  I had several options.  I had a patch kit for a tube.  I've changed tires before, in the cool comfort of my husband's garage, with the bike in a stand, and my husband at my elbow correcting me when I was about to do something wrong.  I haven't ever changed a tire at the side of the road in the hot sun.  I also had a spare tube, but I wasn't sure if it was in the bottom of the pannier on my bike, or the identical pannier that I had left in camp.  So I could unload the pannier and root around in the hopes of finding a tube that didn't need patching, but I would still be changing the rear tire at the side of the road.  A couple stopped and the man offered to help me change the tire.  I told  him about hearing the pop, and he said, "Oh, that's bad.  Sounds like a blowout." So he started looking for a hole in the sidewall, but instead he found a gash about an inch and a half long in the center of the tire.  He said, "well, you can't do any more damage to that tire by pushing it." And he and his wife continued on their way.  I kept pushing the bike.  Riders kept passing me and asking if I needed help... 

After pushing for about 1/4 mile, I rounded the turn into the fairgrounds.  At about the same time a pickup slowed down and asked me if I wanted a ride in to the fairgrounds.  It was one of the riders who had asked if I was OK.  His name was Don and he was from Toledo.  I accepted and he loaded my bike and he took me directly to the bike store's mobile shop.  So nice of him to offer this practical help. 

 The poor young man in the tent was overwhelmed with doing intake, as riders rolled in from the day's ride. His boss has gone for a break and he was working all alone.   He didn't have time to fix anything, he was just taking orders.

I left my bike with him and walked up to my part of the campground. I showered, then  I got a text from my friend from our bike club that she had arrived and was with another friend. They were in the lower half of the fairgrounds.   I let them know that I thought dinner was at the expo center, and they should come up to the main entrance.  Dinner was being provided by GOBA, and was catered by the same Mexican restaurant we had eaten at the night before.  The line was already a quarter of a mile long.  

The caterers were half an hour late in arriving, but once they got there, they moved the line along very efficiently.  It's hard to visualize 1100 people lined up to eat dinner.  The inside of the Expo building was full.

When we left there were still people queued up to get their food. 

 We moved to another building on the fairgrounds where there was a wine-tasting from area vineyards and an entertainer.  I received a troubling phone call from a family member so I missed some of his performance.  

Afterwards I went to pick up my bike.  It wasn't done, but they told me to come back in an hour.  It was a long walk from the bike shop tent, so I wandered over to a barn where 4-H kids were practicing barrel racing, as I had done when I was a kid.  My friend joined me and we chatted until the appointed time. 

When is arrived to pick up my bike, the owner had it ready.  He was explaining the difference between my old tire and the new one I had chosen from the three that the young man had offered me.  I told him it didn't matter because I considered this a temporary repair, since I planned to buy Vittoria Raddoneurs like I had on my other touring bike.  He said he wished he had known that because he had some of those In stock.  But it turned out, not in my size.  But he has a perfectly acceptable substitute,Michelin puncture-resistant ones.  So he said he could install them in a minute or two.  He also told me that my cassette was dangerously loose, and that he had fixed it.  Probably saved my life at some hypothetical point  in the future.  And he only charged me $5 for that service.

So it was a blessing that my tire had a blowout.

Today, Day 4, was not a great day.  It was a long day, a 50-mile ride.  I was up at 4:30 to pack my things, eat breakfast, and get my bags to the loading spot for the truck.  Somehow it was 7:00 before I left.  I thought I hit a high point on the route where it would be all downhill after a few miles, and I texted my husband with a screen print and a photo.

 

But I was mistaken.  Shortly after the rest stop there was a sharp downhill with a curve, immediately followed by an  uphill with a 12 % grade.

Everyone walked uphill.  There was no time to shift into a lower gear after the downhill.  There were a lot of smaller hills. 

It turned into a very hot day.  The community organizations in Fairport Harbor prepared a lunch (for 1100 people) that included cabbage rolls that I can say were some of the best I had ever had.  After lunch we rode past a lighthouse.  Fairport Harbor seemed like a really nice town to come back and tour some day when we have more time. 

I stopped at a gas station and bought some sunscreen as the sun was shining very brightly and I could feel my skin crisping up after a couple of days of riding with no sunscreen.  The temperature was 82 degrees.  The route turned to the west and we had a breeze from the east, so I was looking forward to a tailwind.  There were a few hills along the way and the car traffic was really heavy with semi trucks, gravel wagons, and cement trucks blasting by. 

I started having difficulty breathing and climbing the hills.  There was a couple from Xenia riding near me.  I later learned their names were Mike and Sue.  They noticed my difficulty and insisted that I stop in the shade across the street.  They wanted me to sit down in the shade, but I had trouble doing that because of my recent knee surgery, and to be honest, my weight, so we just stood there.   Mike wanted to take my pulse but I told him I could get it from my Fitbit.  It showed 130 even after resting for several minutes, but finally fell to 120.  My normal resting heart rate is 75.  They told me they had just heard of a rider having a massive coronary after complaining of being short of breath.  So, they insisted that I call the SAG wagon.  I consented.  I had ridden about 36 miles. 

The SAG (Support and Gear) driver came, drove me to the rest stop, then transferred me to another SAG driver.   All the SAGs for the GOBA official ride are amateur radio operators volunteering their time for the whole week. They are "people" people.  

GOBAville was set up in a park in Willoughby.  As we drove through downtown, I noticed that it looked like a a charming town with numerous restaurants. 

When we arrived, I went to sit down for a while.   My heart rate did not go down immediately.  It was jumping back and forth between 110-120.  I walked across the paved area to a Port-a-john and back and my heart was racing again.  I visited the medical tent where a doctor examined me, took a history, and told me I was probably just dehydrated.   She said if she had any IV's there she would put me on one, but she did not. So her prescription was to go and sit down and drink at least six bottles of water.

The sun was still blazing down.  Luckily the "Knights Kingdom" where my tent was set up was not too far away from the medical RV.  I got my luggage, took my tent out and pegged the corners to establish my camp spot, then took out my chair and went to rest under the canopy. 

 I drank four bottles of cold water there, adding NUUN tablets to two of them.  I just sat there for a few hours.  My friends came by and asked about me.  They told me that due to the way the GOBA people had laid out the various areas, the showers were up 96 steps.  Other people mentioned 93 steps, some said 98.    No way was I going to do that, with the sun blazing down.  Finally as the sun was starting to go down,  I gathered my things to go up to the shower truck.   I found a way where the incline was less.   It was quite steep, regardless.  As I walked up I noticed the arrows painted on on the pavement indicating that is where we would leave to go ride the next day.   My mental reaction was totally irrational, I got MAD.  I knew I would NOT be able to ride up out of the camping area, I would have to push my bike.  After my shower, I walked down to the village, found a restaurant that looked likely.  Had a great kale salad with salmon.  A couple of glasses of wine, then walked back to GOBA and fell into my tent and fell asleep immediately. 

GOBA 2023 Day 2

 My ride today was approximately 30 miles.

We saw covered bridges.  

One bridge was very short.   It was built by the local vocational school to gives students experience in engineering and building bridges.

  The GOBA routes were for 30 or 50 miles.  Since the ride on Tuesday is mandatory of 50 miles, I thought I should not push my endurance to the limit by doing to 50- mile trip today. 

It was still a beautiful ride. 

Last week I clumsily bruised my hip, and on this trip I found that starting my bike from a stop causes pain as I shift my weight onto the right pedal.   So I'm trying to pace myself.

I found out at the 25-mile mark , where I was expecting lunch, that lunch was not available on the short route. 

This have me pause to reflect on my overall satisfaction with the trip.   

The night before I was very uncomfortable camping. It was unseasonably cold.  I wore my rain jacket over my pj's to bed.   My tent site (and I chose it) was a little sloped and had uneven spots.  All I did all night was toss and turn.  Every time I rolled over, my Therma-rest mattress went one way and my silk mummy-style sleeping bag went the other. I tried to put everything back together and roll the other way, and I ended up trying to roll uphill.  At my age and level of joint stiffness, that was quite a chore.  My foot , inside the sleeping bag, got up against the sidewalk of the tent and the heavy dew soaked through the tent wall into my sleeping bag.  I awoke, cold and miserable, with wet feet, at 52 degrees. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and had similar issues, plus some leg cramping.   I must be a little dehydrated from being out in the wind all day.    So I got up on the wrong side of the bed, so to speak.

Why don't they have lunch for riders on the shorter routes?  What kind of reference to all bodies on bikes is that?

Anyway, I ended up eating  lunch at a Taco Bell, leaving the planned route for a quarter mile, before finishing the last five miles.  I was hot and tired when I arrived back at the campground.  I sat in the shade and drank some water. Before gathering my things to use the shower truck.  The mobile shower truck can be seen just behind the rainbow-colored mobile apartment unit in the photo below.

This type of shower unit was developed after hurricane Katrina, according to the vendor who was monitoring the queues of the 1000 people lined up for the 24 shower stalls over a couple of hours.  

A friend from my local club arrived this afternoon, so I had dinner with her.  We went to the Mexican restaurant that I had passed on the way to the Strawberry festival last night.  She was pleased with her vegan dinner, and I had seafood tacos.  They weren't like any other shrimp tacos I ever had, but they hit the spot.

Then we revisited the strawberry festival, and finally walked across to the park where the opening ceremony took place. 

The director of the ride apologized for the disorganization that many riders had experienced.  He explained that this is the first time in the northeast corner of the state for many years.  In contrast to previous years where GOBA was welcomed in the towns visited as an economic boon to the community, in Northeast Ohio, the reaction was like "What's GOBA?" 

After his speech and some recognitions, there was musical entertainment.  My friend and I did not stay, but rode back to camp. 

GOBA 2023

 I arrived in Jefferson, Ohio, today for the 2023 Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure.   I picked up my registration packet and talked to Penny briefly while buying a T-shirt.  

 I was wearing my Mid-Ohio Bikers jersey, and she mentioned that she really enjoyed riding the Fall'N'Leaf ride that the club has sponsored every year until this year.  She wondered if the drop in attendance might be due to the change of TOSRV from spring to fall.  Something to think about and discuss with the club.   

I set up my tent where I was directed by the Knight's Kingdom.  I subscribed to the lower-tier "bring your own tent" service.   The big benefit of this for me is the closeness of my designated spot to the Porta-Johns for middle of the night trips, and that they provide fresh towel service daily.  They also provide camp chairs and snacks, and a sitting area with a canopy for shade. 

One of the other members of our club subscribed to the top-tier service. Her rented tent was put up by the Boy Scouts before she arrived.  I ran into the MOB bike club secretary, who is camping in the big general camping area at the fairgrounds. After unloading and parking my car, I got one of the chairs from the Knight's Kingdom.  I set it up next to my tent.  I sat down.  I couldn't get up.  After my knee replacement surgery last winter, I do not have full range of motion in my knees. I can't get enough leverage to push up out of the chair.  One of my fellow campers came by eventually and, although I was embarrassed, I asked her to help me get out of the chair.  I took the chair back to the "headquarters" of Knight's kingdom and looked for one of the chairs specifically made for heavier people.  My weight is just around the standard chair limit, so I thought perhaps an oversized chair might work.  I asked the young woman manning the booth if I could sit in one they already had set up as a trial, explaining that she might have to help me up.  No good.  I could not stand up out of the chair.  She had to help me.  She was very thin, and looked a little weak, and I wasn't sure if she could get me out.  (I later learned her name was Rose.)  But with just a small boost from her, I was able to stand up.  I went back and got my own camping chair out of my bag.  I was really glad I brought it.  The seat is not so deep, and I can rock forward as I rise, so I knew that it would be the chair I would use for the rest of the trip. 

Being an overweight cyclist in a camp full of 1100 other cyclists, most of whom are very athletic, I have to spend time and energy on things that they don't give a thought to.  Like what chair to sit in. 

 I rode into town looking for a bite to eat.  

 The town of Jefferson is holding its annual Strawberry Festival.  This is held at the Depot Village, a cluster of historical buildings dating from the late 1800s.  I rode in search of the festival, hoping  to find a food truck. 

On the way, I nearly ran over a cell phone lying in the street.   I picked it up so that it wouldn't get run over.  I found the Depot Village, and was immediately struck by the aromas emanating from a food truck serving smoked and barbecued meat, which I can't eat any more since my stomach surgery.    

The next thing I saw was the restored train depot.

The inside held mannequins who were dressed in reproductions of 1880's fashions.   I was entranced, as this is very similar to what Katy Kelly would have seen as she embarked on her trips to teach sock knitting.  

The museum held photos of the employees of the train station from 1890's, and a railroad map.

  The docent was very knowledgeable of the railroad history.  The mobile phone rang While I was speaking with him.  I answered and told the owner where I was and that he could pick up his phone at the train depot.  He wanted me to bring it to him-really?  The docent agreed to give the phone to the owner and put it in a drawer.  They were having strawberry shortcake in one room.  I chose not to partake, and wandered through the rest of the village.

There was a general store. More 1800's fashions were displayed, as well as a reproduction Sears catalog.  I looked for advertisements of knitting machines but found only socks, mittens, and sewing machines. 

The re-enacter in the general store was trying to tune a violin, but broke a string, so instead we were treated to music from a hurdy-gurdy. It operated by turning a crank, like a bicycle or a circular sock knitting machine.

A matchbox keeper was on the counter.  

The bicycle pictured is a called a penny-farthing, for the relative sizes of the front and back wheels.  The reenactor had a reproduction of one outside, which he rides when he's not playing the hurdy-gurdy.

There was a table at the far end of the festival  manned by the local genealogy society.  I took a business card to follow up on a possible connection between the Mrs. Fettig who sewed the clothes in the railroad depot and the Fettig who rented the top floor of the Franz and Pope factory in Bucyrus.

I stopped to have my photo taken at the photo-op spot.  

There didn't seem to be other food options at the festival.

Other options in town for eating were a Mexican restaurant, a diner, a Subway, and McDonalds. There were lots of bikes at all of them, and a line queued outside the diner. I chose the Subway.  

It was getting chilly as the sun went down. I sat on a bench at one of the fair buildings for a while, then I went to my tent. I put on an extra T-shirt and my rain jacket, and crawled inside my sleeping bag.  

More tomorrow 

Bike Club

 I was elected as President of the Mid-Ohio Bikers this year.  One of the first things I asked for from the outgoing President was a copy of the by-laws. 

It turns out that the by-laws are out of date, having been written in the 1970's and as far as I know have never been updated since. The club has operated very informally for many years. 

So I am now drinking out of a firehose. Learning about club insurance programs, incorporation as a non-profit, and liability as a director or officer.  Some club members were advocating to disband the club since no one was stepping up to be the next president. 

It is interesting, but it is a lot to digest.  I would be interested in how other clubs are organized.  There is not enough time in the day. 

I am working as hard as I was when I was getting paid. 

A group of us went riding last week when the weather was good.  Today it is snowing. 

Club Ride

 Three of us rode on Tuesday.  We can do this!

Back in the Saddle

 I had my knee replaced on the Monday before Thanksgiving in 2022.  I haven't posted anything since last year, because I have obviously not been riding my bike.  

About a month ago the physical therapists discharged me from their care.  I have achieved a 118-degree range of motion.  My goal had been 120, so I didn't quite make it in the time period they allowed.  I was riding a stationary bike in their office, and occasionally the recumbent stationary cycle at the fitness center next door. 

I have ridden my road bike twice since then.  Maybe three times, if you count the time I spent earlier this week getting a new fitting with Tom Wiseman of Cycling Solutions in Akron. The first time I rode, I rode for about 10 minutes.  The first couple of revolutions were quite painful, and I wasn't wearing my bike shoes with cleats.  After my knee warmed up, though, I was able to ride a little.  The second time, I put on my bike shoes and rode 10 miles along the bike trail.  I wasn't able to clip in for any length of time, and when I did, my right foot flip-flopped to get the leg through the rotation.  

On the day of my bike trail ride, the temperature was in the high 60's, and the snowdrops were in bloom along the trail.  The next day it was snowing again, and it has been cold ever since.  I can't wait to get out and ride more regularly.

At the fitting, we decided to install shorter cranks on my bike so that I can turn the pedals through the rotation easier, and also decided not to ride with my bike shoes for the first part of the summer. He installed flat pedals with studs that will grip my shoe.   I set a follow-up appointment after a few months of riding to see if further adjustments will be necessary.  I'm waiting for Zappos to deliver a new pair of tennis shoes because the ones from last year got pretty dilapidated. 

I also decided, after talking to Tom, that I will be selling my 2010 Madone.  The geometry of that bike is for racing, not touring, and there is not much he can do to make it more comfortable for me. 

The Pause that refreshes?

I realized that I owe my readers an explanation of why I have been Missing In Action for the last two months.  The short answer is that I have been physically and mentally out of touch. 

After I finished my Yarn trek in the Dayton area, I returned home, to be struck by a urinary tract infection.  I had a fever of 103 for several days.  Of course I went to the doctor, and the third antibiotic was a winner.  My temperature had been normal for a few days when it came time to participate in the Pedal Across Lower Michigan ride.  I had been waiting for three years for this.   I had paid my registration fee after the last ride, then the ride was cancelled for two years due to COVID.

Unfortunately, just before we were to pack for Michigan, a tornado touched down near us, and our power went out.  It was out for 5 days.  My husband hooked up the generator, and we were OK, but we had to wait until the power came back on until we could leave.  I checked with the volunteer organizers for the ride, and they said it would be fine to start the ride at any point along the way.  So, when the power came back on, we headed north.  I looked at the map for the 2nd day of the ride and realized there were a lot of hills.  Probably more than I wanted after having been sick for more than a week. But the third day of the ride was a 55 mile ride that was mostly flat and slightly downhill.  I thought that would be a great day to start.  So my husband dropped me off in Clare, Michigan and I set up my tent. 

Morning came bright and early.  Michigan weather is so nice for bike rides.  There is usually low humidity and moderate temperatures. The sky is usually blue and the grass is green. 

The ride went through Coleman, Michigan, which is where we used to buy grass-fed beef. 

Midland is the home of Cathy Guisewite, the comic artist responsible for the strip "Cathy". Cathy is featured in a mural under a bride, as are several of the city's other highlights. 

Midland is the home of the Tridge, or three-way bridge.  I had to cross it.  I walked, but several riders rode even though there were a lot of pedestrians. 

The route for the day followed the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail and it is one of the nicest trails I have ever ridden.  Recently paved, broad and smooth. 

I was pedalling fairly slowly.  I stopped at a restuarant, the Creek Grill,  for lunch and it was really good salmon on a salad.   Maybe the best I had ever had.  Or maybe I was just really hungry. 

I finished the ride, at the tail end, followed by the SAG drivers.  I found my tent and luggage and picked a campsite on the school property in Bay City. I showered and then ate dinner inside the school.  As I was putting up my tent, one of the volunteers came by and was telling everyone to make sure and lock up bikes because the security in the area wasn't the best.   Well, that's OK, but with 400 other cyclists on the ride, I was sure there were probably better bikes than mine.  Regardless, I locked up my bike and settled in to sleep. 

I thought I would sleep really well because of the exercise.  But I ended up tossing and turning all night.  My Fitbit recorded that I slept only two hours.  I couldn't believe that, but it did record a heartbeat all night so I know that the battery wasn't dead and it was making contact with my arm. 

In the morning, I woke up just before the sun was rising. I tapped my fitbit to check the time, and I saw a multicolored explosion.  I thought "Oh, crap, I got it wet in the shower last night and now its ruined." I rolled over and went back to sleep.  When I woke again, the sun was peeking over the horizon.  I got up and opened my tent flap and I realized that I could not see out of my right eye.  The image below is similar to what I saw out of that eye, only instead of poppies in the background I saw tents and cyclists. 

Photo Credit: Vision Center

I wasn't sure what was going on.  I was pretty close to the luggage truck and I asked the volunteers standing there if there was any medical support for the ride.  They said they would be happy to call me an ambulance. That seemed a little bit like overkill, so I thought I would wait a few minutes and see if it cleared up.  I went inside the school building, and it did seem better.  I later learned that in the dim building, my pupil probably opened up and allowed more of the peripheral vision in.  I ate breakfast, and when I went back out again, the spot was still there.  I decided to pack up my tent and get my luggage on the bus and then figure out what to do.  When I bent over to fold up my tent, and straighted up, my vision cleared up as if the grey spot had been washed away!    So now there was really no need to call the ambulance. 

Since it was still early, I rode my bike to the first rest stop.  I called my opthamologist. She said if I could see, it wasn't a medical emergency.  I took the SAG wagon to the next school, and my husband came and came and picked me up.   This set up a cascading series of medical appointments over the next month. I've seen opthamologic specialists, cardiac specialists, neurologists and vascular specialists.  I had a biopsy and a Doppler test.  I was in a general state of anxiety, afraid they would find something and afraid they would not find anything.  I was told this event was similar to a stroke and I was possibly at higher risk for a stroke. So far they've found nothing serious. 

I did manage to go on several short group bike rides.  I've ridden my regular Tuesday  rides with my local group of friends, as well as Shelby Bicycle Days in northern Richland County on July 9. We rode flat roads past country fields where they had just harvested the grain. 

 I rode with my husband and his friend around Kelly's Island. 

 

This isn't our boat but I thought it was clever the way the bikes were loaded and stored. 

 

And I've taken a few short rides from our farm into town in Southwestern Michigan. 

I am glad to still have my sight and overall health.  As it turns out, I'm actually pretty healthy for my age.  My BP and lipids are normal, and there isn't any neurological issues.   I have been reading  several books about sugar in the diet and whether or not it causes metabolic syndrome.  I guess the jury is out on that question.  Further research is needed.  In the meantime, I will be doing everything possible to scrutinize my diet for added sugars and saturated fats.  And I'll be monitoring the Nutrition conference at the White House in September.