"I'd Do It Again"

At orientation for the ride, America by Bicycle gave out caps with their logo on the front and, on the back, the phrase "I'd Do It Again." I thought it was a little presumptuous to have that at the beginning of the tour, but now that it's over, I'd say it's an understatement. Now, I would say "I WILL Do it Again."

When I set out to prepare for this ride, my goal was to train enough so that I would enjoy the ride rather than endure it. While the ride obviously involved some work, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. To be sure, some days were extraordinarily hot, but I had trained for that and once I was hot and sweaty, it was just a matter of making sure I didn't get dehydrated. There was a fair amount of climbing on the ride, but again, I had trained for that, and except for a time or two that I didn't get into the right gear at first, the climbs were just difficult enough to be satisfying. I had even found enough rainy days in Southern California to train for the experience of riding in the rain and, though it wouldn't be my first choice of riding weather, it was easy enough to adapt to it.

In the end, I found I was among the stronger riders on the tour, and several of the riders commented on my ability, especially on the climbs. It was great riding, and it was fun to know that it was something others think I am good at.

I look back at the trip as a series of great rides. One reason I love to bicycle is because it allows me to see the country in a way and at a speed I can't get any other way. Although each day involved the goal of getting farther toward our destination, the routes were well chosen to provide great riding conditions and to see the fabric of the areas we traveled. Most of the time, we were on quiet roads with little traffic and great views. We rode through woods where people have worked for hundreds of years, farms that feed us, and communities where we live and work. We visited smaller cities that you will never see if you fly from one point to another and might not see even if you drive. We found roadside restaurants where the owners were thrilled to see us and where the food was simply good and nutritious. I lived on the east coast for 21 years and traveled the I-95 corridor dozens of times; after the last nine days, I now know it far better than I ever have.

Going into the ride, I was concerned in the back of my mind about how I would find riding with a group. Of the 6,600 miles I rode in the 18 months before the ride started, less than 100 miles was with anyone other than myself, and I had gotten used to riding at my pace and with my thoughts. I wasn't sure that I would find riding with others congenial.

I needn't have worried; in fact, I found riding with and getting to know the others on the tour was one of the high points of the ride. And "riding with others" came in a variety of flavors. I spent many miles just in front of, just behind or right next to Chris, and found that having someone close by brightened the ride. But I also rode right with several other riders for just a short while, and the chance to share a brief part of the ride with a variety of people was also enriching. And finally, there were some riders I would not see much at all during the day, but the fact that we had shared the route made the day more complete when we gathered at the end of the day. One of my resolutions coming off of this ride is to spend more time riding with others.

So yes, I will do it again. I'm not sure when, and I'm not sure where. It is hard to carve out 10 consecutive days to do a tour like the one I just completed, let alone the 20 or more days to do some of the longer tours America by Bicycle offers. The training also is time consuming. After sacrificing most of the day each Saturday for the six weeks before the tour, and riding early and late each week day, I was ready for the training to end and the tour to begin. But AbB offers tours down the West coast, up the Mississippi, around New England and across the country and I'm anxious to try all or part of some of these tours in the not too distant future.

Thanks for following my travels here, and if you are a rider, ride safely and remember to keep the rubber part of the bicycle on the road. I look forward to riding with you (again) sometime soon. If you're not a rider, maybe it's time to start . . .

Day Nine -- Hunt Valley, MD to Washington, DC

We started out this morning riding through the suburbs on the outskirts of Baltimore. Although there were plenty of horse farms and woods, there was also quite a bit of traffic compared to what we had been riding through, and the roads were narrow, making the riding a bit more stressful than past days. But we had a pleasant enough ride in perfect weather as we worked our way first north, then west and south to the northern edge of the DC metropolitan area.

Our route took us through the Patuxent watershed and by Brighton Dam, just as we crossed into Montgomery County. While other riders have been dutifully chronicling our crossing of state lines, I had to stop for a picture entering Montgomery County Maryland, my home for over 20 years.





I had arranged to meet Scott Alexander, friend and former minister from Bethesda who has ridden across the country twice (shown below), to meet me along the route and ride in to DC with me. We met up at a small crossroads in Brookville, MD, and I enjoyed catching up with him as we rode into DC. Chris, Scott and I joined a larger group at the last SAG stop, and Scott was very helpful in leading us through Rock Creek Park into DC.

We arrived downtown DC, the end of my trip, about 2:30, where Toni was there to greet me. I quickly introduced Toni to some of my riding buddies, but then had to quickly say good-bye while squeezing in a quick shower and packing up my bicycle to ship back to California. I hadn't anticipated how hard it would be to leave the trip when most of the rest of the group is pressing on to Florida, and I wish I could go on with them.

Toni and I spent the evening celebrating her birthday, though I was asleep by 9:00.

Here's our route for Monday: 82.1 miles; 1,893 feet of climbing. I plan to give some overall thoughts on the ride in another posting in the next several days, so stay tuned.

Day Eight -- Lancaster, PA to Hunt Valley, MD

We started out this morning riding down to, and then along, the Susquehanna River. After riding in high heat, high humidity and rain, it was a special pleasure to ride on a quiet summer Sunday morning with highs in the 80’s and not too much humidity. Our route took us up and down, away from and back to the river, in what was advertised as a “very hard” day for climbing. The climbing proved quite manageable, and was over by the time we were thirty miles into the ride.

The “down” part of the up and down actually proved more challenging, as a good many of us found ourselves fishtailing around one particular curve on a wet road with debris in the middle. I used all my cycling skills (including a few I didn’t know I had) to stay upright, and was fortunate no-traffic was coming up the hill as I veered into the far lane. Two of our riders, Julie and Debbie, were not quite so fortunate, and took a spill at that point. Debbie escaped with some road rash, but Julie broke her collarbone pretty badly. We are all glum over her injury.

That descent was followed by a long climb out of the Susquehanna River Valley and into open farmland. This is a shot looking back over the river valley, and is typical of what we saw until we crossed into Maryland.

Shortly after crossing into Maryland, we rode through a beautiful wooded valley along Rocks State Park, and then climbed out into the horse country northwest of Baltimore. We stayed in this type of area until we arrived at Hunt Valley around 1:00. Nine of us walked a block to a local restaurant, where we were treated to some regional variations on old standards, including a very good “Eastern Shore” seafood wrap.

Today’s route is below: 67.7 miles; 2,415 ft of climbing.

Day Seven -- Pottstown, PA to Lancaster, PA

Our dousing as we ran into Pottstown yesterday was a warm up for a lengthier bit of rain this morning. We got out in between rain bands, but got pretty wellsoaked within the first hour. I could tell from looking at the relief map that we were rolling through some pretty little hollows, but between the rain and fog, I didn't see much of it. We did get a chance to see a characteristic east Pennsylvania barn before we got too soaked.

The rain made it hard to follow the cue sheet directions along with all the other distractions, and I just about blew past a turn, but fortunately was alerted by riders just behind me. I was able to return the favor a few moments later as they nearly led me past another turn off, but I called them back. There are some definite advantages to riding in a group.

The rain finally let up just as we got to the first SAG stop. We wound around the Maple Grove Raceway where traffic was backed up for drag races, which were likely cancelled due to the rain. Just after that, I came around the corner and found half a dozen wild turkeys crossing the road. I was recovering from a bit of a climb and didn't get a picture, but the contrast in less than a mile from the frenetic bustle of the raceway to wildlife was remarkable.

The countryside abruptly opened up to open farmlands,
and we spent the afternoon riding through cornfields with corn over 8 feet tall surrounding us. We were in Amish and Mennonite country, and saw a couple of horse drawn buggies and carts on the road. The weather was still iffy, so the pictures weren't great, but this gives you an idea of the terrain.

Today's ride was relatively short, and we were all pretty well soaked from the morning's rain, so most of us pushed ahead to the motel in Lancaster and arrived before lunch. We spent a good hour cleaning the day's grime off our bikes and then ourselves and our clothes. As sticky and dirty as I felt after cleaning the bike, a little water and soap left me feeling great. Chris and I ate at the hotel restaurant, which was remarkably good, and I had a terrific burger and a decent glass of wine.

Here's today:s route: 65.6 miles and 2,425 feet of climbing.

Day Six -- Easton, PA to Pottstown, PA

The Delaware River was good to us yesterday, so we continued along it for a while this morning along dinky little roads (the best kind for bicycling!) that ran right alongside the river and were usually called (appropriately) River Road. For a good long while, I was in a stretch between other riders, and more or less by myself. One of the joys of this trip is the chance to ride with others, but it was pleasant to spin along with just myself and the river for a while.

We eventually left the river and climbed out of the Delaware River valley into the surrounding Pennsylvania countryside. Most of the day was spent rolling through farmland and some country estates. As we have traveled south, the dense New England forests have given way to more open woodlands and farms.

While the group today was broken up into smaller groups, many of us were fairly close together, and we had just about the entire group at our second SAG (rest) stop in an open park about 45 miles into the ride. The wife of one of our riders (Andrew Stroukoff) joined us for dinner last night and brought chocolate bundt cake and chocolate chip cookies, which we broke out at this SAG stop. I think we stayed here longer than most stops. . . .

Shortly after this stop we rolled into Skippack, PA, a small town with a good collection of little restaurants, and several of us stopped at "Butterflies" cafe for what has become the almost obligatory chicken wrap and smoothie lunch. The proprietor was thrilled to have us, as she has been struggling in this economy since she opened in July.

A line of thunderstorms made the final run of 20 miles into Pottstown a little exciting. The sky grew quite dark and a strong cool wind whipped us around for a while. There were strong thunderstorms and hail in the area, but we escaped with just enough rain to get us thoroughly wet. Just as the first few drops began to fall, Chris and I were passing a peach orchard selling peaches out of the barn, and we ducked in in case we needed to get off the road. After about five minutes, we decided to press on, but stopped long enough to enjoy some freshly picked, sweet, ripe and juicy peaches.

Here's today's route: 70.6 miles, 1837 feet of climbing.

Day Five -- Port Jervis, NY to Easton, PA

Today was all about the Delaware River. Our hotel last night was a few hundred feet above the river in Port Jervis, and tonight in Easton we are just about a half mile away from the river, and we weren't much further away from the river at any point during the day.

We spent most of the morning in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, where there were fewer cars than cyclists -- at least today. It was foggy and moist all morning, so we had few great views of the surrounding highlands, but it was relatively cool and pleasant riding.

We swung away from the river a few times, and that always involved at least a bit of a climb, as the terrain pitched up sharply on both sides of the river, as shown here. We didn't have to climb this particular escarpment, but there was one climb that felt almost like it!



For a good part of the morning, Chris and I rode out ahead until we caught Cindy Holthouse -- who's always leading out ahead -- and then rode with her until lunch. She's shown here, resting comfortably after the morning's hills.

We stopped for lunch at a standard road-side sandwich and ice cream place, which had great wraps, shakes and fruit smoothies. Chris and I were with the first group to arrive at lunch, but left last, and took up the rear in the afternoon. Though it was fun to let ourselves go and put in some quick and hard miles in the morning, I'm taking care to enjoy the trip and not try to "win" it. Unlike this video (thanks Ellen!) it's NOT all about performance, at least on this trip.

After lunch, we rode on quiet roads that ran right alongside the river on both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides. The riding was generally on even grades along the river (with just enough exceptions to remind us what climbing was like). The dampness of the morning had dissipated somewhat, but it was still cloudy enough to avoid being hot, though the air was still close whenever we stopped or slowed for a hill.

Here's today's route: 74.2 miles, 2,310 feet of climbing.

Day Four -- Poughkeepsie NY to Port Jervis NY

Our ride this morning started out crossing the Hudson River on the Mid-Hudson Bridge. We had to walk the approximately one mile across the bridge, which was just as well, as it would have been a bit harrowing for me to ride a narrow sidewalk hundreds of feet above the Hudson.

We quickly climbed out of the Hudson River valley, and rode through quiet wooded countryside, wetlands and small towns beneath the prominence of Milbrook Mountain in the Shawangunk (White Faced) mountain range. As someone said, they are not quite as impressive as the Grand Tetons, but they were still a distinctive backdrop for the ride. We were still in wine country, but all the wineries were closed, so I was not tempted to stop for any tastings today.

After we swung away from the Shawangunks, we rode through gently rolling countryside on an easy and relatively short ride. A few weeks ago, if I had done this ride, I would have remarked about the spectacular beauty, quiet roads and fun riding. Today, it was just “another great ride.” The fact that the spectacular has become commonplace is a testament to what a great trip this has been.

Almost the whole group of 18 riders stopped for lunch at a deli/market in Otisville, New York, a small town that consists of just a handful of buildings. While we were there, I think bicycles well outnumbered buildings. The proprietors of the market were thrilled to have us visit and very helpful.

The last 15-20 miles of the ride consisted of a gentle run into the town of Port Jervis, which lies where New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey meet. About a half dozen of us came into town together, under somewhat threatening skies, and we quickened the pace a bit to avoid getting caught by a thundershower. In the end, we only ran into a few drops of rain, and the sun was emerging as we climbed up the last little hill to our hotel.

We ate this evening at a typical, small town diner, where I enjoyed getting to know Cindy Holthouse, from the Boston area, and Jean-Francois Munn, a labor lawyer from Montreal, a little better. With my ride almost half over, and most of the riders going on to Florida, I am beginning to wish I could spend more time on the ride getting to know more of the riders better.

Here’s today’s route: 68.9 miles and 1,750 feet of climbing.

Day Three - Windsor Locks, CT to Poughkeepsie, NY

After an early start this morning, we quickly got away from the developed area near the airport and into the Connecticut countryside. We climbed over a ridge between Mt. Horr in northern Connecticut and Mt. Nero in southern Massachusetts and then enjoyed a fast drop to the Barhampstead Reservoir at the Saville Dam. The fog over the reservoir cleared just as a group of us arrived, and we were able to get some good pictures of the architecturally interesting dam, which (although it was still a bit hazy) you can get an idea of from the picture.

Much of the rest of Connecticut involved long, fairly gentle climbs matched by easy descents as we wound our way up and down the hills in northwest Connecticut. Just before we reached New York, though, we encountered the first climb that reminded my of my training rides, a relatively short but significantly steep climb up Fink Hill on the corner of Wetauwanchu Mountain (you have to love those names). Just after that climb, Chris and I arrived in Salisbury, Connecticut, where we were joined by several other riders for lunch at a quiet cafe' a couple hundred feet off the road.

The countryside in Western Connecticut and on into New York is much more open than we had been through yesterday, and we could see the rolling hills we were riding through across farmland that reminded me much of Wisconsin. There were corn farms and a few cattle farms, which contributed their own distinctive odor (though most of the day involved more pleasant smells).

Late in the ride we followed the "Duchess County Wine Trail" for a while. Though we didn't directly pass any wineries, the Millbrook Vineyard was only a few miles off the route we traveled. If it had been earlier in the day (and not quite so hot), I might have been tempted to take a side trip, though wine tasting and hard riding don't really go together well!

Besides farming, the other predominant activity in Western Connecticut and Eastern New York appears to be education, with several prep schools scattered along the road, the most prominent of which was Salisbury School, shown here.

The last 15-20 miles into Poughkeepsie got a little long, mostly because it once again got quite warm. Also, although the terrain didn't match that of the morning it wasn't the steady descent into the Hudson River Valley I had expected, but continued up and down. Poughkeepsie's urban flavor surprised me for an upstate New York town, and we rode into town through the type of area you wouldn't exactly seek out. Tonight we are staying in downtown Poughkeepsie, just a few blocks from the Hudson, in a hotel that is several steps up from the Days Inn and Quality Inn we were in the last two nights. We walked to a nearby Chinese restaurant, and had a lively dinner with the whole group sitting at one large table.

Here's the map of today's ride: 89.5 miles and 3400 feet of climbing. (Note: the feet of climbing is from Map My Ride, which generally underestimates the total. We actually believe today involved about 4900 feet of climbing. I'm using Map My Ride's total just because it corresponds to what you'll see if you click into the map.)

Day Two -- Worcester, MA to Windsor Locks, CT

We all were able to get a somewhat earlier start out of Worcester this morning, the better to get a short day's ride in before the heat became too unbearable. We were only partially successful, as it was 70 and quite humid before we had gone half a dozen miles, and it was well over 90 when we finished about 2:00.

The day started with a storied climb up "Dead Horse Hill" as we were leaving Worcester. The hill proved to be a challenge for the first automobiles and (rising to the challenge) locals soon organized car races up the hill. On a modern, lightweight bicycle, the hill was no worse than several on my daily commute to the office, but the stories made it seem special. Pictures were taken of a group of us at the bottom of the hill.

The ride followed beautiful country roads from Worcester to Sturbridge in Southern Massachusetts, and then from Sturbridge to Stafford Connecticut. The countryside was similar to that of yesterday's ride, but a little more open, with more country farms and ponds scattered along the way. A bunch of us stopped by New City Pond outside of Staffordville for a photo op that couldn't be passed up. Here are Debbie, Chris and me. We did think about jumping into the pond to cool off!

A few miles up the road we stopped at Millpond Country Store in Stafford, a quaint general store with a copious selection of handmade sandwiches available. It was a bit early for lunch, but we couldn't resist. We felt a little less out of place in the cool room in back than during our lunch yesterday, though we did share the space with a coffee clatch of locals that was just breaking up.

This first part of the ride involved a fair amount of up and down, but it was pleasant to have the fairly short climbs broken up with some fun descents. After Staffordville, the terrain leveled out, but the roads were more crowded and the countryside a little less rural. After a day with many miles of peaceful countryside, it's a bit of a let down to finish just outside the boundary of Bradley International Airport, but it hasn't been too noisy and we're enjoying being in comfortable air conditioned rooms during the hottest part of the day.

Here's today's route: 66.3 miles and 2100 feet of climbing.

Day One – Portsmouth New Hampshire to Worcester Mass.

I woke early enough this morning to take the short ride to the Maine border on the Piscataqua River just as the sun was rising, so I will be able to officially say that I cycled from Maine to DC. I was rewarded with the smell of salt air on a quiet Sunday morning, and a terrific sunrise over the Harbor.

We ate breakfast after a short ride from the hotel, and then started out for Worcester. We enjoyed the quiet traffic and relative cool of Sunday morning, though the day soon got warm, and the temperatures we saw on bank signs and the like by mid-afternoon were in the mid-90s, with far more humidity than we get in Southern California. Most of the route took us through wooded New England countryside and small towns, but part of the ride took us through the heart of Lowell, Massachusetts.

For most of the morning I rode with a fairly large group that included a majority of the 18 riders, but by late morning I was riding with just Chris Fly (an emergency room doctor from Augusta, GA) and Debbie George (a nurse from Elkhart, IN). We were fairly evenly paced (though Debbie, coming from the flat state of Indiana, was a bit disadvantaged on the hills) and enjoyed riding together, especially as we together sorted out the sometimes confusing directions on the cue sheet.

Chris, Debbie and I were riding together as we began to get hungry for lunch, and found a place that looked promising just as we were leaving Lowell. We feared we wouldn’t find anything else for a while, so stopped, even though the place (Café Madrid) turned out to be a sit down restaurant doing a Sunday brunch business. We didn’t quite fit in with our sweaty cycling gear, but they served us anyway (albeit a bit slowly), and we had delicious wraps and a chance to cool off for about an hour. Chris and Debbie are pictured here, just after lunch.

The ride was a comfortable 92 miles (and with the side trip I took before breakfast, I just about put in a century today). There was little climbing compared to what I am used to in Southern California, and none of it strenuous. We climbed one little bump on Sawyer Mill Road, and were rewarded first with a short rest by a quaint horse farm, and then with this view out over central Massachusetts, complete with the obligatory New England stone fence.

Due to our long lunch and fairly frequent stops to chat, we didn’t get in until just about 5:00, but made relatively good traveling time, covering the 92 miles and 1800 feet of climbing in a little over six hours. For those of you who like maps, here's today's route.

A few days in Massachusetts

Toni, Ryan, Kyle and I flew to Boston on Thursday, arriving at Logan Airport about 4:30 in the afternoon. My brother, Bill, drove us out to my niece Karen’s house in a suburb of Boston (Natick), where we brought in Thai and Korean food from Dah Mee and briefly caught up with her family before we continued to Northfield in Western Mass.

We spent Friday at my brother’s house, where Ryan and Kyle learned to drive a riding lawn mower and got a quick view of several of the colleges in Amherst. I got my literary fix as we passed Robert Frost Hall at Amherst College and, a few minutes later, Emily Dickinson’s house. As my brother drove me around the area in his Miata, I was focused as much on how steep (or not) the hills would be to climb while on a bicycle as I was on driving in a convertible with the top down on a sunny, warm day. Though I haven’t been able to ride since I packed my bike up last Sunday to ship out here, riding has remained on my mind! We ate well of the local fare: pancakes with fresh, wild blueberries for breakfast, sweet Maine lobster and fresh corn for dinner.

Saturday, my brother drove me up to the start of the ride in Portsmouth, while Toni and the boys headed into Boston for some sightseeing before they catch a train to New York on Sunday. Traffic crawled most of the way to Portsmouth, and I arrived just in time to check in, get my bike put together and head off to orientation. I had hoped to ride the few miles up to Maine, but so far have only been able to take a spin around the hotel parking lot to make sure the bike is in working order.

There are 18 of us on the ride, the vast majority of whom are going all the way to Florida. Most are from the east coast, though a few are from the Midwest and Texas; none has come as far as I have. From conversations around dinner and the orientation, it sounds as though we have a very experienced group of long-distance riders. Several have ridden with ABB on previous tours, and those who haven’t sound as though they’ve been riding long distances for a good number of years.

Preparing the Machine

In my last post, I spoke a little bit about what I have been doing to get myself (aka the engine) ready for my tour. Last week my riding was interrupted a bit as I took my bike (aka the machine) to the local bike store to get it ready for the tour. For those of you who know a lot about bikes, I ride a Trek Madone 5.2 in the touring configuration. For those of you don’t know quite that much about bikes, it’s a carbon fiber bike similar to many racing bikes, but configured a little more comfortably for long distance touring. For those of you who know nothing about biking except “Lance Armstrong,” the bike is a consumer version of the one that Lance rides, and he named it after the Col de la Madone, a hill on one of his favorite training rides near Monaco.

I bought the bike last July after the bike I had ridden for 35 years finally needed a repair that only someone interested in restoring antiques would make. The Madone weighs in at about 18 pounds and is a delight to ride. But after a year of only the most basic maintenance, it was in need of some in depth attention. America By Bike has a checklist of recommended tune-ups that is two pages long and – though I had done all the maintenance on my old bike – I decided the 10-12 hours it would probably take me to go through the list was better spent riding. So I took the bike in to a pro, and had a complete “rebuild,” which involved taking everything apart, thoroughly cleaning and tightening all the parts, and relubing all the connections. They also concluded I needed a new chain and large chainring – my miles of riding and hill climbing having stretched the chain and worn the chainring.

It was an expensive process – the maintenance alone cost almost twice what I had paid for my original bike 35 years ago. It also was somewhat time consuming, as I had to return for parts that had to be ordered and for some fine tuning. But the smoothness of the ride and the confidence I have that nothing major will go wrong on the tour were worth it.

America By Bike has warned against bringing fancy racing bikes on the tour, as the roads can be hard on high-end machines. Mine is not quite truly “high-end,” but I worried that it might be just delicate enough to raise questions about its durability. Then I remembered that mine is basically the same bike Lance Armstrong rode in the 2003 Tour de France, when he took this little detour. (Sorry about the advertisement at the end.)

After watching this, I'm fairly confident my bike will hold up to the roads in New England and the mid-Atlantic.

Introduction

Some of my friends and relatives have said (well, at least one has) they would like to follow the progress of my bicycle tour of the Upper North East in August 2009, so I will try to post here occasionally until the tour starts, and daily during the tour from August 15 to August 24.

The tour starts in Portsmouth, N.H., and covers about 650 miles ending in downtown Washington, D.C. Our route will take us from Portsmouth to Worcester, Mass., Windsor Locks, Conn., Poughkeepsie, New York, Port Jervis, New York, Easton, Penn., Pottstown, Penn., Lancaster, Penn. and Hunt Valley, Maryland before ending in DC.

The tour is organized by America By Bicycle, and is fully supported. Each day ABB carries our belongings and follows the riders as we ride an average of 75 miles to our next destination.

I've been riding increasing mileage each week since January, when I decided to do the tour, and am now riding about 250 miles a week. My rides have included several centuries (one hundred mile rides), including beautiful rides in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in Central California and a spectacular ride in Sonoma County in late June. I've covered lots of territory surrounding my home in La Cañada, including several rides up Glendora Mountain (shown here) just to the east of us and plenty of circuits around the Rose Bowl about five miles from my house. Since this spring I have been riding the fourteen miles to work several days a week, adding mileage to the commute by taking swings around a six mile circuit in Griffith Park.

Altogether, I've ridden over 4,500 miles since the first of the year, and though I can't say I've enjoyed every minute of it (a climb to the Mount Baldy ski area was particularly grueling), I've gotten a great deal of satisfaction from the rides. I think I'm in about the shape I want to be in for the tour and think the hours of riding will pay off.