50+ mile ride to the Chesapeake Bay

Completed a 50-something mile ride this morning. I don't know how many miles exactly as I forgot to restart the GPS after taking a photo of the turn around point. Once I restarted the GPS, it says 40 miles. I think I missed over 10 miles. I rode around the BWI airport twice and down to the Chesapeake Bay (or at least the closest tributary) and back to the Cayenne. 

Quick 20 miler

Feeling good, I jammed a quick 20 miles early this morning. It’s getting easier to ride fast rides under 50 miles. 

Cayenne Copilot

Quick ten

Feeling fully recovered, I did a quick 10 miles this morning. Definitely getting cooler and the sun coming up a little later. The driveway looks good too.

Driveway reseal

Resealed the driveway early this morning. Looking good.

1998 Porsche Bike brochure

 

Found a Porsche Cars North America Porsche Bike S and FS promotional brochure for sale on eBay. This letter clears up the bicycle naming convention. S stands for Suspension and FS stands for Full Suspension. Very cool. I met the late Bob Carlson many years ago. Super nice guy. He ran the marketing for Porsche Cars North America when it was based in Reno, Nevada. Bob went on to start Rennsport Reunion.

Recovery ride

Took a nice and easy 7 mile ride around my neighborhood today to get a little recovery in after Friday’s century ride and a little bit too much celebrating yesterday.

Oktoberfest is near

 I like to celebrate Oktoberfest as long as possible. Usually from August 2 to the end of October. I’m getting a late start this year but finally got my first selection of German bier. Prost!

My third longest Porsche bike ride ever

Continuing my training for the 184.5 mile C&O Canal Towpath ride later this year, I rode 100 miles on the 1998 Porsche Bike S today on the C&O. This happened to be my third longest ride on a Porsche bicycle. The longest by far was the 129-mile Death Ride on the 2004 Porsche Bike X. After the Death Ride, I now have a pair of 100-mile Century rides on the 1998 Porsche Bike S. 

I got up early this morning and transported the Bike S on the back of the Cayenne S to the Carderock/Bethesda C&O parking area and was on the towpath trail by 7 AM. I figured 100 miles would take seven plus hours, so an early start left afternoon "drinking time" to celebrate if I completed the Century.

My last Century ride on the Bike S was the Sacramento Century in 2016. That ride was part of an event that included mostly flat and all paved roads around the California central valley delta. I was at a disadvantage with a mountain bike compared to those on road bikes and the brutal headwind didn't do me any favors, but today's ride was harder.

The C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) is a 100% dirt trail. It's mostly flat, but the trail ranges from freshly resurfaced, to rocky and muddy sections. A road bike here is a disaster. I blew passed two guys trying to make road bikes work today. I could tell they wouldn't last long. So, the C&O is hard on the bike and rider making it more difficult to ride 100 miles than the Sacramento Century, in my opinion.

Today's ride started in a rough section with lots of rocks and continued along some amazing scenery including canal-lakes on one side and the Potomac River rapids on the other. Next up was the muddy section. I tried to plow through it, but it does slow you down. Then the trail smoothed out with the recently resurfaced area from Whites Ferry to my 50-mile turn-around point just before Harpers Ferry. I made good time through this resurfaced portion.

The ride out I saw lots of deer and the ride back, later in the morning and early afternoon, was full of deer, turtles, squirrels, a beaver, a snake and lots of birds. The C&O never disappoints when it comes to wildlife.

For the most part, my riding was good. I did average 13.4 MPH today. The Sacramento Century I averaged 14.1 MPH. I'm not surprised I was slower. The rougher surface did have an impact on my entire body, particularly my wrists and lower arms. I also had to walk the bike through a detour section, that didn't help but was nice to get off the bike for a bit! I did fair better today than on the 73-mile C&O ride. Today's ride I had raised the handlebars, adjusted the bar-ends and even made an effort not to grip the handlebars as tightly. With all of that, my lower arms were still far worse off than my legs and seat after 100 miles. I'm not used to a rough surface for so long, apparently.

Today's ride was rough in many ways, but good training. I've now completed 178 miles on the C&O. I hope all this training helps with the 184.5 mile ride this fall.

Early morning chilly ride

Rode a short and easy 6 miler this morning as a recovery ride from Saturday’s 61 miles and changing the oil in the Cayenne Sunday. I am getting too old for this! This morning was the first day this summer that I needed to wear a long sleeve shirt. Autumn is near! 

C&O magnetic sticker arrived!

 

Drizzly BWI to Annapolis 61 mile ride

I rode from my house in a light sprinkle this morning to the BWI loop (around twice) and then down to Annapolis on the Baltimore to Annapolis train path and back home for a total of 61 miles. Cooler temps and clouds made it perfect for cycling, but pushing the pace a bit (averaged 14.4 mph) I am spent. I am truly enjoying the new Continental Double Fighter III tires and adjusted handlebar geometry. I was hoping to ride more miles on the C&O today, but the heavy rain yesterday and potential rain today, I decided to delay the C&O attempt until next weekend.

Short and easy

Short and easy early morning ride today testing the legs after last weekend's 70 miler. Aiming for another 70 tomorrow.

73 mile ride on the C&O

Ramping up for this fall's 184.5 mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath ride, I rode the 1998 Porsche Bike S nearly 73 miles from "Mile 0" in downtown Washington DC to White's Ferry and back. The beginning of the C&O at mile 0 is the closest parking lot to my house, but the Rock Creek parking lot is three hours maximum, so I drove a little further up the Potomac River to the Fletcher's Cove Boathouse parking lot.

My target was 70 miles, so from the parking lot I could access the C&O and I rode the upstream direction from Fletcher's to mile marker 35.5 at White's Ferry. Then I turned around and rode back, not stopping at my Cayenne S and continued to mile 0 right at the Potomac River in DC.

My legs and seat did well for the 70 miles, but my hands and wrists are sore from holding on to the handlebar grips over the bumpy dirt trail. This was a bit of a surprise. The C&O is really a flat trail, but the dirt surface is constant and controlling the bike with the bumps, rocks and mud was a lot of squeezing the handlebars. Good to know and more practice on this trail will strengthen my hands ... I hope!

Riding the C&O is amazing. The best way I can describe it is like riding a dirt path alongside the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. Since the towpath is all dirt, you don't feel like you're in a city. And the locks, which there are so many, and the lock houses are historic and look old, you feel like you're in another place and time, not riding in 2020. Off the towpath, everything is green with the Potomac River on one side and the C&O Canal on the other. The canal is overgrown with trees, plants and flowers and with deer, birds and turtles everywhere the canal doesn't look manmade anymore. A couple long stretches the canal turned into lakes. One lake had a lot of granite around it and even granite islands. This lake looked more like a high alpine lake than a towpath. The trees provided plenty of shade and the dirt path didn't collect heat like asphalt. I just kept riding and looking at all the sights.

I am glad I got an early start. Some areas got very busy with people walking and sightseeing near the more popular parking lots. I had most of the trail to myself until I got back closer to DC and then my average speed took a hit.

Couple observations: It was easier to ride the "downhill" direction from White's Ferry to DC. Even though the trail is mostly flat, there is a slight net downhill. When I do the entire C&O I think I'll ride from Cumberland to DC to make it a little bit easier. And the before mentioned bumpy trail wiped out my wrists. So I'll need to find a solution to reduce that fatigue. 

Overall, the 70 miles was a great ride. But I have a long way to go yet!