Two Wheel Blogs

Fri 8.06: Riding With The Tigers

I was looking forward tonight.

This week had been a long and busy one, with much to do at work and afterwards. The day had started with me getting into the office at 6:30 a.m. for an early meeting. At 4:00 p.m., I headed for the door, my car, and home -- in that order. Once there, I packed my car with a large cooler of water, racked my bike, and headed for the Township Park.

On Fridays, the cross country team meets there at 6:30 to run. Afterwards, they sometimes play ultimate frisbee or touch football. This is a state-enforced "blackout week," when the coach cannot be present for these conditioning runs (technically, they are not "practices"), so I volunteered to swing by with water for them. I parked my car, then suited up and headed out for a ride. Conveniently, the park connects to the Madison Country trail system, so access was quick and easy.

As I headed for the trail, I saw a rider go by. He appeared to be moving at a pretty good clip, so I thought "I should see if I can chase him down." I went after him and, before too long, I was behind him. I assumed I was fresher, so I moved ahead to pull for a while. We had a slight downhill, but still, we were moving at a good clip, about 22 mph. He took the lead back for a while, then I passed him. As I did, I took in his bike for the first time. It was a Schwinn with one crank and one gear. I didn't know he was single-speeding it. Respect.

I followed the trail down to Horseshoe Lake, then turned around and headed back up the Nature Trail, past the SIU-E campus, and then back the Township Park. The runners were starting to gather, so I got the water out and watched them go through their warmups. When they started their run, I trailed after them, curious to see what pace they would run at. I clocked them a 9 mph.

My curiosity satisfied, I decided to try playing fox and hounds with the pack of runners, except I would be chasing them. Once I got a sense of the direction they were heading, I tried to guess predict the route they would run. I turned around and headed in the opposite direction, then tried to get in front of them. The first time, I guessed right and found the pack of runners heading toward me. So I continued in the opposite direction from them. I thought they might run down to the Delyte Morris trail, through the SIU-E campus, along the Bluff Road, and then back up the Nature Trail. So I headed off to intercept them.

Or so I thought. This time, I guessed wrong. The pack was nowhere to be found. So I headed back to the park and found that some of the runners were there, and others had already gone home. I waited for the last runner to get in, then packed up the water (and my son, who had biked out to run with the team) and headed for home. I was a little disappointed no one stuck around to play Ultimate Frisbee; I was really looking forward to a game. But I'd gotten a good ride in, and the pressures of the week were a distant memory.

Sat 8.07: To KDHX and Back ... Almost

I won't be able to bike over to do my radio show next Saturday, so I decided I'd better do so today. I rolled out at 8:30 a.m., figuring that would give me plenty of cushion to get there. When I did my morning run, the flags were hanging limp, so I was hoping there'd be no wind to contend with. Well, between my run and my ride, a little wind picked up, and it was coming from the southwest, the direction I was riding. Oh well...

I took my usual route: the Nature Trail south, then trhough Eagle Park Acres and Madison, across the McKinley Bridge to the Rivefront Trail, then the Ride St. Louis lanes to KDHX. As I rode through Edwardsville and down the Nature Trail, I was struck by how many people were out on the trail. It was a good thing to see. I swung by Panera's for my usual yogurt-granola parfait and bluberry muffin, then headed the station.

Aftre my show, I retraced my route. I moved at a better clip on the way back, but the wind that slowed me on the way down was not a lot of help on the return. I don't know if it shifted (or if I was just tired), but I was not going as fast as I thought I should. As I reached the base of the Nature Trail by SIU-E, I stopped to call my wife. All the ride back, I'd been weighing the options, and I'd decided to head for Sonic where, thanks to an Albert Pujols home run last night, Blasts are only $1.00. I decided I was going to have one, and I was going to invite Diane to meet me there. I found that she had texted me: she was at the health club and invited me to join her there for some whirlpool action. I called her to confirm, then headed for home.

I could have continued up the Nature Trail, but I decided it might be quicker to cut through the SIU-E campus. So I took the Bluff Road to Whitesides, climbed it, then weighed my options. I could have taken any of several roads at this point. Instead, I selected what I thought was the directest route: the Delyte Morris trail. Granted, it's gravel, not paved, but it's ridable. I had just ridden it on yesterday, when I was chasing the cross country team. As I rode, I was planning what I needed to do at home: get my swimsuit, a towel, and my health club pass, and then --

"Hey!" I thought, "what am I doing sideways on the ground?"

Okay, those weren't my exact words, but I did find myself on my side with my bike under me, wondering how I came to be in that position. "What did I hit?" When I turned and looked behind me, I saw it: a manhole cover sticking up out of the ground. I had not seen it (I should have), aand I had ridden right over it. And then I'd wiped out. Me: my elbow was scraped up, and i've got a strawberry on my right hip. (Fortunately, my bibs were not ripped.) The bike: rear tire was flat, left brake grip is bent inward, maybe something else.

I called Diane to tell her I would not be making it to the whirlpool -- though I really needed it at this point. I started walking my bike to The Cyclery. Diane met me on the way, and we dropped off the bike for some repair. Then we stopped at the Market Basket to pick up some kebobs to throw on the grill. That and a couple of Fat Tires did a lot to make me feel better. Still a little sore, still a little scraped up, but definitely feeling better.