04/06/2008 Easy 50

One last longer ride before the PA 200K next weekend. Nice route, good weather; shame my heart wasn't in it, or my legs, or something.

The route: Noblestown to Finks to Kelso, Old Steubenville to Potato Garden, 151 to 51 and home.

Thingies of note:

• I got tired of dinking around with the indexed 9-speed shifting (Side note: I have never had much luck with indexed 9-speed for some reason. 8-speed, sure, but 9-speed clicky bits and I just can't seem to reach an agreement.), so I threw the magic lever on the barcon and voila! Friction shifting! Now I'm wondering why I didn't do it sooner.
• This was my second time on Potato Garden. Last time, I was delighted to be paced for a short distance by a blue heron that took off from the stream paralleling the road; this time, a year later, SAME THING. I'm starting to feel as if someone is sending me a message re: totemistic stuff, or at least what my first cycling-oriented tattoo should include. ;-)

After the descent down 151 to 51, I realized that I just wanted to go home, so I skipped the left and river-crossing to Ambridge, and just went right on 51 instead. Says something about my state of mind that I'd rather do the bonus climb on 51 near University Blvd than do the extra 5 flat miles that the Ambridge option would have entailed.

I dunno; it was a really nice ride, and I enjoyed myself, but I'm a little concerned about how well I'll do in the brevet next weekend. 13 hours is a L-O-O-O-N-G time to do 125 miles, even given the truly delightful elevation profile; but I've still got that nagging little voice in the back of my head. On the bright side, it looks like a lot of interesting people will be there, including both rookies like me and highly experienced randonneurs and anciens like Jim Logan and the DC crew. Besides, I'll be the first recumbent rider to complete Tom's 200K, so that's something to look forward to...