Kenny Lucas
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| How not to jump a creek |
Saturday morning I got a 7:10am wake up call from Scott Kelly telling me to hightail it over to Wakefield Park. Now I've been trying to get Scott to come riding with me for months. Throughout this time I've offered time and time again to take different routes and areas to explore. I don't believe I ever asked him to call me at 7:10am on a Saturday to go riding.
I met him and John Kidd at Wakefield Park at about 7:30am. John Kidd was there already, prompt as he will always be, and then Scott rolled in. Mounting their bikes, they really didn't strike me as well seasoned riders. Scott said he checked out his bike, but he was riding on two flat tires and a clown bike. What's up with these guys and their small bikes? (Danimal?) John Kidd had a hybrid with road tires and a seat post with a built in shock ... how long ago did they stop making those?
It was pretty wet out there as a torrential rain came through the evening. They appointed me as leader and I decided we'd stay clear of the off-road trails since it was so wet and John would be slipping on the smallest twig with his tires. We did ride some very light trails and it was entertaining. Note to fellas: You need a little speed when approaching hills. The fact that neither of them had toe clips didn't help.
Scott wanted to see where the trail went under RT236 so we rode up that way. On the way back we rolled through a stream and Scott wanted to check out where the other fork of the trail went. We went over there and there was a 6' drop into the creek with a short steep incline on the opposite bank. Scott asked if I did this kind of thing. I said I haven't, but I would. And so I tried. He said he was scared for me to try it.
The mistake was not enough speed. It's around 8am on a Saturday and my brain isn't firing on all cylinders. I was thinking about getting up the embankment on the other side, rather than the 6' drop into the creek. I backed up a bit and started pedaling in a low gear. I reached the drop-off, pulled up on the tire, but my gear was so low that the front tire started dipping prior to my back wheel clearing the ledge. Straight down like Jared does pencil's on the diving board. I felt my front fork with 130mm of travel completely compress and then my face smashing into the creek bed followed by the rest of my body. Thankfully, it was a hot day and the creek water felt great! No injuries other than bumps and bruises. I vowed to come back and do that drop-off again with more speed and a video camera. Stay tuned for a YouTube posting of how to do it correctly.
I had to get back to the car by 8:30am for my Truro tennis match at 9am. I broke the strings on my one and only good racquet and thus had to play with my backup. The match was fairly quick with Bill Young and I losing by a break each set. It's still better than being in the office.
Back to the house for a change into dry clothes and onto the bike again. I planned on 3 laps of my 17.5 mile loop around Wakefield and Accotink. The first lap is always fun and fast. There is a little heavy breathing on some hills as the body is acclimating to the ride. 1hr 10 min's for the first loop. The second loop feels a bit different physically. The muscles are moving well and time usually passes quickly, except when you get hungry.
I figure I had been pretty active for over 4 hours so far in the morning. The breakfast of two Quaker bars and a coconut water had run its course. On the Mountains of Misery century ride a few weeks ago they had boiled potatoes at the later aid stations. Simple cut up pieces you could grab, add salt and chew to your stomach's content. Those potatoes tasted like food from the gods. On the second lap, all I could think about were those potatoes.
No one was boiling potatoes for me on this ride so my mind raced to come up with the next best thing ... McDonald's French Fries !!! I pass one at Pickett near the end of each loop. My single motivation, single focus, sole purpose in life was to reach McDonald's. No other thought, intent or idea distracted me from my goal. I made it, and being as ridiculously muddy as I was, there was no way I was walking into the place. So I stood in line behind a few cars at the drive-thru and chowed on a large #5 quarter pounder with cheese, powerade and the potatoes! Words do not do justice for how good that #5 tasted.
Lunch completely invigorated me, but I was still getting a little pooped. Almost 35 miles on the body, plus the tennis match, plus the 6' face first drive was taking it's toll. I stayed with the plan for 3 loops and continued on. Admittedly, I may have dogged it a little bit on that 3rd lap. I did make the final loop amassing 52.5 miles with about a 4 hour duration.
Little rest for the weary, as I got home, showered and then off to a party where badminton and basketball were the theme. Rockland's catered the event and it never tasted so good.
Sunday morning was less than an ideal feeling trying to get out of bed. Nothing "hurt", but the fatigue was high. Thank goodness for Father's Day! Michelle made a king-size breakfast that was fantastic. I strung my tennis racquet and left for a USTA tennis match at 12:30pm. Getting going for this was a bit rough, but in end I think it helped. Rob and I lost that match 7-6, 2-6, 9-10. The final set is a 10 point tie-break. We ran out of time down 9-10 ... I'm chalking that one up as a DNF.
A quick trip to the library for some books with the family and then back to Truro for Jared's tennis clinic. Bill Donnell was down there with his son and the two of us hit for another hour. I honestly thought something bad was going to happen given all this physical exercise. It was hot, we had no water, and we hit for a solid hour very aggressively. Nothing bad happened, and I actually felt pretty good afterwards.
All of this is in preparation for the Wilderness 101 mountain bike century on July 30 in Rothrock and Coburn National Forests in PA. Given this weekend's physical output, I'm starting to think that I might be able to finish that ride.
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