My return to writing the blog has taken
longer than originally planned, mostly because there hasn’t been a whole lot of
subject matter, due to my self-imposed building hiatus. I had previously mentioned
space and budget limitations, and I was determined to make a sale on at least
one of the completed bicycles I had in stock before finishing one of the other projects
I’ve had lined up.
I have to admit that I was quite simply
lacking motivation to write, as some other commitments were requiring my
attention, and I was finding some other interests more attractive when I had free
time. I’ve also been dealing with a nagging health issue that has been wrecking
my sleep, and there are days that I just felt “off”.
It had also been difficult to motivate myself
to exercise, particularly during dreary December. The day after Christmas I visited
my friend Ryan, who has a Zwift indoor trainer setup, since he had been encouraging
me to drop by and give one of the races a try. If you aren’t familiar with the
product, Zwift is essentially an online video racing game that uses interaction
with other cyclists on their trainers for a competitive and fun way to do
normally monotonous indoor training sessions.
Ryan and I of are very similar dimensions,
though he is of much slighter build, and I was able to pretty much hop on his
bike as it was set up for him. I was even able to wear a pair of his spare
shoes, so we didn’t have to switch pedals for my shoe/cleat compatibility.
I was scheduled to participate in a race
with about 200 other cyclists looking to work off some of the guilt from the
previous couple of days-worth of indulging. We were going to do a twelve-mile criterium,
featuring a circuit around the streets of London! The rear dropouts on Ryan’s
bike were hooked up to a flywheel that not only changed resistance to simulate
the hill climbs on the undulating race route but also vibrated to replicate the
feeling of riding over small sections of cobbled streets in the U.K. capital.
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| A Zwift screen capture, approaching Trafalgar Square |
Ryan had very smartly arranged a couple of
fans, not only for a bit of realistic air movement but also to provide some
much-needed evaporation when things would inevitably get sweaty. He then put me
through a neat little pre-race intro, complete with personalizing my game character
with a Cannondale bicycle and custom-colored team kit to match! I did a couple
warmup laps to see the course then lined up at the start line when race time
approached.
In retrospect, I really wished I had tried
Zwift a couple months earlier, when I was in close to peak form, as my fitness
had dropped off considerably during a cold and very wet December. It had been
decades since I had experienced the intensity of a race situation and the
constant effort such a short event requires. The racing experience was fairly
realistic, as you even draft behind other riders in the group and receive the
benefit of less resistance, though slight.
I was about three miles into the event when I
worked my way up near the front of the peloton and noticed a small group moving
away. I then made the huge mistake of trying to jump across on my own and blew
up when failing to make it. Much like real cycling races, I was then spit out
the back of the peloton when caught. Now I was fighting my way through other
riders who were falling apart and losing contact with the main body of
cyclists.
I eventually found a group of about eight riders
going at a comfortable pace, rotating through to share the work. Although we
definitely weren’t going to catch the elite group, we were holding pretty
steady behind the peloton, and we were near the middle number of total participants.
Ryan provided plenty of encouragement and enjoyed seeing me outsprint my mates
at the finish line. After a bit of a panicky catch of breath after the effort, I
commented that Zwift is definitely an effective method of training. No
doubt, it also helps to break up the otherwise boring indoor sessions!
After such a lousy December, we have really
been treated to some reasonable cycling weather in 2020. We’ve had almost no
frozen precipitation, leaving the roads clear of dangerous cinders and frame-damaging
salt. There hasn’t been very much rain either, and it seems to have only done
so on days which I hadn’t planned to ride.
Although I haven’t really done any routes
about which I would write a whole article, I have been taking some of my regular
routes and tweaking them a bit to include some new territory. I often do a loop
from Harleysville out around to the east of Lansdale and use the Route 202 Parkway
Trail to reach Doylestown. I would usually work my way back on relatively flat
roads through Chalfont, Colmar and Hatfield.
This time I headed northwest through the
appropriately-named Hilltown Township and took on a couple of cripplingly steep
climbs on my way to Sellersville. I then followed Route 152 back into Telford
and weaved over to Reliance Road to head back to Harleysville.
Last week I started a ride on the Chester
Valley Trail just west of King of Prussia and pedaled out to the trail’s
current terminus in Exton. I continued along Commerce Drive and Whitford Road
to reach Clover Mill Road. I made a right turn towards Downingtown on Boot Road
and the climbing began, although the first incline was an overpass for the
former Pennsylvania Railroad main line.
A couple blocks later I turned left on
Southwind Lane and headed over the right-of-way for the PRR’s Thorndale Branch,
which was a low-grade freight line. This railbed would make an excellent rail
trail, as it eventually heads over the Brandywine Valley Viaduct near Downingtown.
In my cycling dreams I'm riding this trail over to the huge truss bridge in Whitford (a flyover structure at the PRR
main line) and somehow connecting to the Chester Valley Trail near the Main
Street at Exton shops on Route 100.
Back to reality, I was climbing (more of the
long drag variety than super steep) over the South Valley Hills that parallel Route
30 and eventually coasted down into the Harmony Hill Nature Area. A steep
descent led to Route 322, and I made a very cautious left at the stop sign onto
this busy road.
I made a very sharp left turn, almost
doubling back, onto Valley Creek Road, which follows a beautiful route weaving through
the woods along the (you guessed it) Valley Creek. I rode past a couple of horse
farms and many early colonial homes along the way and eventually reached the Twin Tunnels that allow the road to pass under the previously-mentioned
railroads. The tunnels are subject to many local legends, and I didn’t want to
become one, so I allowed all of the traffic to clear before making my way
through the spooky spot.
The site actually includes three tunnels,
as one redirects the creek and another is an abandoned road route.
The weather yesterday featured bright sun
and temperatures approaching sixty - I was quite comfortable in shorts and just
a long sleeve cycling jersey! I set off on one of my favorite loops through the
Oley Valley farmlands. Unfortunately, I didn't notice a constant 10 mph wind in forecast and found the experience to be a mix of pedaling
bliss (with the wind) and torture (against). Still better than pedaling indoors, though!
The best news during the past week was a
bike sale, as a couple of really nice guys dropped by to check out the Casati Fibra I’ve had available since autumn. Frank was just getting into some
serious riding and brought along his knowledgeable friend Scott for advice. I’m
happy to have an empty slot up in the rafters so I can finally get back to the Masi Nuova Strada build I’ve been waiting for months to complete.
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