Moving On

The original purpose behind The Fourteen Percent Ride has long since been fulfilled. So, I've decided that Mighty Proud will be the last posting. It just seems right.

But, don't worry. Or maybe you should. In any event, I plan to continue. I'll keep riding. And writing. Click here to come along in my new blog ~ The Long White Line. <-- check it out!

Thanks

As I've ridden for the last two years, I've picked up on the fact that Shirley, my darling wife, has been more worried about my safety than impressed with my "accomplishments." How do I know this? Well, when I'd come back and tell her, for example, that I'd hit 53.6 mph going down FO, she'd reply, "I don't want to hear it." Being the sensitive sort I figured out, after many such comments, that just maybe we were not on the same page here. But last week, she told me that she would "greatly reduce her focus on the 'fear for my safety' issue." We talked about the tour, looked at some maps, researched nutrition suggestions on the internet, and so on, just enjoying the idea of the ride. How nice is that? Thank you, Shirley!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

One Ton

Two thousand pounds. One ton. A lot of whatever it is in the pile. Today, my ride total for the year rolled on past 2,000 miles. A ton of riding. According to Google maps, my 2015.3 miles would have gotten me from La Crosse to Leucadia, California had I set out and kept going. Yet here I am, still in the 54601 zip code.

What do I have to show for all of this riding? Improved riding skills, to be tested in less than 7 days. I've lost 10 pounds and rearranged some of the remaining weight. I have really weird tan lines, especially on my head, which shows the pattern of my helmet ventilation openings. And in spite of having not gotten anywhere, I've seen some beautiful countryside. Up close. A ton of riding. A ton of experiences. A ton of fun. And a little suffering (special recognition in this category to the top of County FO), the investment required to gain that ton of great riding.

Today I finally did the O-K ride. OK, it was actually OK**2. If you know the FORTRAN computer programming language, you'll recognize K**2 as "K-squared" or KK. Heading out of Stoddard, I went up County O past the deer farm. Today, I just kept going, by County K and on to Enterprise Road. Along this stretch of rolling hills, I encountered more of the Amish one-horse shays (7) than cars (3). Then it was down Enterprise to County KK and back towards Chaseburg. A really nice ride with a fun descent; a hill with long, steep, fairly straight runs. There was, however, the one sharp curve with a thin covering of gravel. I had to brake. Brake! On a descent. Bummer. After the descent, the road wound through a scenic valley. A foliage-covered hill on my left and low fields to the right. KK eventually ends at Highway 162, which I took through Chaseburg. From there, I went out County K to Hohlfield Road, climbed the bluff along Wrobel Road and traversed the ridge back to County K on Brinkman Ridge Road. A local history lesson, written in road names. At home, the computer showed I had racked up 43.1 and gotten 15.3 miles into my second ton of riding.

Total ~ 2015.3 miles

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