Not a Bad Plan

Did a nice little charity ride with The Boyz last weekend. Every once in a while they like to do an organized group road ride.

This was a fundraiser for farmland preservation. 50 miles through the farmlands of Lancaster County. No big climbs (longest hill was less than a mile).

I had done two 50 mile training rides on Sat and Mon the weekend before, Memorial Day, so I wasn't too worried about the ride, though I wasn't sure just how fast these guys would take it. I must say it is pretty amazing how much faster a group of riders can travel than one or two individuals can, using the same amount of energy. It's also sort of fun because you are much more in a pack (or a paceline) on the road than in the woods, so the whole group riding dynamic is a little different. A bit more chatty, a bit more pulling happening, just a bit of road riding dynamic rather than mountain biking.

During the mountain bike races that I like to do, the idea of riding right past an aid station is very rare. To do it three or four times during a ride was very odd. In fact, we didn't stop at any aid stations. I did the entire ride on just two water bottles, finishing with a some to spare. The weather was overcast and the temperature was great, so that certainly helped.

Ronnie, Eric and Louis started to pull away around mile 10 or 15. But Louis got a flat so we all stopped to lend a hand while Ronnie and Eric just dropped him. Nice. After fixing the flat, while putting the tire back on, Louis pinched the new tube, so we gave him another and he changed it again. This time Andrew showed him how to put the tire on without using tire irons.

At the end I was spent, but definitely still felt good, so that was good. They had a nice spread at the finish: omlettes, hot dogs, ice cream, drinks, etc. Though a little Recoverite would have been nice.

I know it's sort of a cliche, all the Amish tourism stuff, but when you see people using horses, a culture that defines itself, partly, through it's modest and time honoured sensible work clothing, and the old-style way of life, it really makes you pause and think a little bit about your place in the world. If nothing else, these people are neither participants in nor spectators of the rat race.

While quizzing my daughter on her post-apocalypse plans a few weeks ago ("So, how would you survive?"), she admitted that her plan was to get to Amish country. I must say, that is not a bad plan.