Uneventful... in an Eventful Sort of Way...

I think the last thing my legs wanted to do this past Saturday morning was pedal. After 112 miles since the prior Sunday, the Ice Cream Odyssey didn’t seem like a viable option for my body. But alas – I had already paid the $20 (actually $40 since Sarah was riding too, though I doubt I could have talked her out of it had I really wanted to), so it was off to Medina for more biking.
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Sarah’s mom took the girls, and we dropped Isaac off with my mom before heading to the starting line. Dad followed me and Sarah over, and the three of us met up with my cousin (Krista) and her husband (Will), who were the original reason we had signed up for our 3rd Ice Cream Odyssey adventure. After signing in and taking our freebies back to our cars, we hit the road, two-wheel style.
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It was somewhat slow going to start as all five of us had trained separately – other than one ride dad and I had done together, and one that Sarah and Krista had done together. Each of us wasn’t really sure what the other four could handle, so we all stayed relatively well in our comfort zone, pushing a little more every so often when we realized the other four could handle a bit more.
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Just shy of the 10-mile mark, the paths split off – the 25-mile route went one way, while the 42-mile and 65-mile routes veered off together. We had signed up for the 25-mile ride, but our ambitions told us to go 42. Not long after the split (around the 10-11 mile marker), Will’s back pain had increased to the point of causing him to want to turn back. We convinced him rather than go back and hit the 25-mile route to just return the way we had come, which would save him a few miles in the long run. We’d later come to find out he got lost and probably ended up riding over 25 miles!
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At the halfway point, we stopped to turn in our voucher for a free ice cream – okay, I’m sure it was part of your ride cost, but the ticket said “free”, so it felt free! As we walked back to our bikes, a loud “hssssss” spewed out from nearby. Krista’s bike decided it was time for the rear tire to pop – weird in that it didn’t pop on the road but blew after it had sat for 10-15 minutes while we enjoyed some ice cream; weirder in that she had just purchased the bike the day before! But she was prepared – kinda! Unfortunately, we didn’t have a spare tube; fortunately, it was an organized ride, so a “sag” volunteer came to our rescue. At the time, we didn’t have a spare tube, but a passing tandem saw our need and miraculously had the correct size for her back tire! After “sag guy #1” inserted the new tube into the tire and placed it back on the bike, “sag guy #2” brought over his handy floor pump – which promptly popped the new tire before hitting even 100 psi (while this isn’t very high for a road tire, hers were only made for 85 psi – oops!). So we waited for Century Cycles to show up with their extra tubes, tools, stands, know-how, and the like. After fixing her rims and giving us tube #3 for the day full of air, Don had us on our way… a little later than expected, but hey, Will was still out on the road somewhere…
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The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful, and we were welcomed back with a cookout. The raffle tickets were had been given earlier in the day proved worthless to me and Sarah, though dad, Krista, and Will all won something!
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For an 8:30a start, getting home after 4:00p seemed crazy. But we stopped and had a couple cups of coffee with mom in picking Isaac up first. By the time we got home, showered, and crashed, I was beat. The girls didn’t get dropped off by grandma until after 7:00p, so the remainder of the day was, thankfully, uneventful.
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Sunday after church, the girls had their end-of-season softball banquet, which was more like a big picnic with a dip in the lake. But they got 3D medallions with their names on the back, of which they were very excited about. Then we hung out in the lake all afternoon – well, Sarah and the girls did. Isaac and I found some shade and played with the diaper bag all day (hey – if he’s going to be that easily entertained, I’ll take it). He did get in to the water at one point, though we took him out for fear of sunburn. He loved it! Splashing around constantly, you'd think he was a different child (mine) by how he screams when he takes a bath. Another long day out of doors ended uneventfully, thankfully again.
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Dad brought me his bag and rack for my rear stand during work on Monday so I could carry more than just my wallet and keys for the commute. Then after work, Alex “helped” me pick out some new riding shorts and shoes and Eddy’s in Montrose. It was good time spent with a goofy girl. During our ride home, I asked her how she liked the bike store. She said her favorite part was the spinny chair she had sat in while I shopped. I told her I was surprised she didn’t get so dizzy that she threw up… but she affirmed me that, no, she wouldn’t throw up… she had already had her flu shot! After explaining that there are many things other than dizziness that can invoke vomiting, she asked: “dad – what would happen if you swallowed a cricket?” I don’t know where she gets these things…
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Tuesday morning, the Akron area had a record rainfall: “A U.S. Geological Survey gauge in South Akron registered 6.81 inches in a 24-hour period, an amount that is likely to occur only once in a thousand years, said Ron Gray, a canal hydraulics operations manager with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.” As noted in my prior blog, I was facing trails of many kinds again, but I wasn’t going to let nature deter me from commuting since there was no more rain in the forecast for the day. But rather than take the Tow Path for fear of flooding, I went the higher… and I mean higher… route and rode in Route 261, which has a couple crazy hills. While there’s more traffic in the afternoon commute, I’ve avoided this route mainly due to the cars and the hills; however, it cut out about 5 miles and 25 minutes of biking, so it could become a regular morning commute. The hills are steeper coming home, and the number of cars at least quadruples, so I stick with my Tow Path route for the ride home. BUT… Tuesday, the waters were still flooded by the evening ride home. I had to get off my bike to walk around water standing on the Tow Path 3 times. Two other times, there was no way around, so I just slowed to a crawl and biked on thru. Other than the standing water, the ride home was uneventful… again. However, I did see an osprey searching for dinner as I headed just south of Main Street on the path. I think he saw me coming and circled back around to try his spot on the canal after I had gone by.
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After a church picnic and a late night, it was hard rolling out of bed Wednesday, so I took the shorter, higher route again this morning, losing (that means I was a bit slower) about 1 minute from my prior morning’s commute. The ride home was awful - the Tow Path was closed, as were several familiar streets. Unfortunately, the only option I could come up with was take my morning commute the opposite direction, which meant some killer hills. I'm not a hill guy, but I used my granny gear 4 times on that trip home yesterday - all within a whopping 8.84 miles!!! With the crazy heat wave rolling through this week, temperatures were about 100 degrees, and I looked like I had just gotten out of a swimming pool by the time I got in the house. Thankfully, Sarah and the kids weren't quite home from the pool, so I jumped in the shower to cool off. After that, nothing really happened... except we went to be early (9:30p) due to sheer exhaustion for us both.
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I hope there's a better route open for travel on the way home today...