Saturday, John and Adele were looking for a short ride and I wanted to go long. So I rode solo. It would be my last long ride opportunity for two weeks since orientation craziness will have me working every day between now and early September.
John had been talking up the scenic beauty of the valley in, and around, Fultonham OH. So I mapped out a route of 85 miles and lots of back roads. I knew the area would be hilly, but I made a strategic decision to take out the Karate Monkey single speed. Sure the carbon road bike, or cross bike would have been more practical choices, but the KM just cries out "Simply Adventure" and it seemed to fit my attitude.
I left the house at 6:30am which is just about the time it is light enough to see the bike path heading through the woods. I mentally divided the ride into 8 sectors so that I could manage the long day. The first two would be relatively flat and made easy going on the SS 34x17. But sections 5, 6, and 7 would be hideously hilly and really hit me hard. The field above was taken at 8am. It was still quite foggy out with shrouds of mysterious white enveloping the hilly landscape.
At one point I popped out on a gravel farm road and met up with the famous Ohio circle barn. This landmark is really off the beaten track and I only happened upon it by chance. It really is very beautiful.
This was probably the most scenic spot on my ride. A nice smooth gravel road way removed from civ. Ironically, there wasn't very much gravel on the ride, but what there was, was very nice.
A winding Ohio farm road that characterized much of my ride, as much as I could manage. I had a bite to eat at a small grocery mart in East Fultonham and then headed north to Zanesville. The heat was out and we had a typical steamy, hot day. From Fultonham up to Toboso I encountered an endless barrage of steep hills. Up one ridge and down the next. The SS was really hurting after a while as my legs started to lose steam. I managed to scale all of them and finished the ride with 20 miles of flat bike path. A very nice day to purge all the stressful thoughts in my head.
I think I am entering a different place in my biking. I am loving the adventure more than the speed. I switched from running to biking because I was burnt out on the competitive, high intensity, elite-level training schedule of a fast runner. But it has taken me a while to transition my mind as well. I think I am getting there now. A summer of unsuccessful attempts at "being the fast guy" on the racing scene this summer and a greater enjoyment of engaging the landscape on its own terms is making it clearer to me. Maybe the fact that I took out the KM SS this weekend tells me my transition on going well. Some food for thought.
