Errandonnee: 11 & 12

Final two Errandonnee trips.

3/9/16, Errandonnee No. 11

Destination: Geisinger Medical Center
Category: work
Bike: Trek 520 disc
Miles: 23.84 round trip
Observation: What a beautiful day. 75° on the way home. Allergy season is starting already.

3/11/16, Errandonnee No. 12

Destination: Dutch Wheelman bike shop
Category: Social call, birthday party
Bike: Trek 520 disc
Miles: 11.9
Observation: I really need rear brake pads!

The Errandonnee is done another year. All that’s left is to submit the control card.
Thanks to Mary at Chasing Mailboxes for another fun challenge.

Errandonnee: 8, 9 & 10

Tuesday, 3/8/16

Jury Duty Selection….
I ( thought I ) couldn’t take my phone to the courthouse, so I have some map shots of the ride track and total mileage on my watch. It turns out that you can check your phone at the door.

3/8/16 Errandonnee No. 8

Destination: Bloomin Bagels II
Category: Personal care – I needed breakfast and coffee before going for jury duty selection.
Bike: Trek 930 beater
Miles: 1
Observation: I forgot to stop the Garmin while inside getting my bagel and coffee.  It looks like I was going in ( big )circles.

3/8/16, Errandonnee No. 9

Destination: Columbia County Courthouse – Jury duty selection
Category: Wild card
Bike: Trek 930, beater
Miles: 3.5
Observation: There’s a lot of people here for jury selection.

3/8/16, Errandonnee No. 10

Destination: Dutch Wheelman
Category: personal business – I paid my bike club dues.
Bike: Trek 1.2 road bike
Miles: 32.9
Observation: It was a beautiful day to take the long way.

Errandonnee: You carried WHAT?…. A dozen eggs

BEFORE

3/7/16, Errandonnee No. 7
For the record, they are peanut butter eggs & there were 11 ( I gave one to my co-worker).

Someone at work was selling these beautiful homemade peanut butter Easter eggs. They are certainly “contaminated” for me (any food that is not vegan), but my family will eat them.

I tried to cushion the container inside a box. I nestled it in with my extra morning layers since it was 25° then and 60° now.

I secured the box on my rack with bungee cords. The box was even marked fragile…. Funny since it was a box full of latex free Band-Aids. I never realized how bumpy the roads are until I was trying not to scramble the eggs during the ride.

I arrived home with the box still secured to the rack. It was time to unveil them and check for damage.

Most of them ended up being deflowered and really beat up. The poor things. They were so nice looking before. Oh well, I’m sure they’ll taste just as good.

AFTER

Category: You carried WHAT on your bike?
Destination: Home
Bike: Trek 520 commuter
Observation: The route home is bumpy.
Miles: 11.8

Errandonnee: Riding to lots of Brick buildings

Saturday was just a little too chilly to go for a group ride, so it was errandonnee time. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I went to a bunch of brick buildings.

3/5/16, Errandonnee No.2

I met a few people from the bike club for our regular Saturday morning bagels and coffee. We talk bikes and future rides.

Category: Social call
Destination: Bloomin Bagels II
Bike: Trek 520 Disc commuter
Observation: 9am was a great time to meet. The place was packed shortly after we got our food.
Miles: 1.9 total

Still 3/5/16, Errandonnee No.3

This was a reconnaissance mission. I headed downtown to the courthouse to see what kind of (bike) parking is available. None. I have to go to jury duty on Tuesday. I suspected it would be bike unfriendly, so I got a beater bike ready. I got a picture since there are no phones allowed on Tuesday and found out there’s no bike parking.

Category: Non-store errand
Destination: Columbia County Courthouse
Bike: Trek 930 hardtail Singletrack ( beater) with slicks.
Observation: No bike parking at the courthouse.
Miles: 2.1

Still 3/5/16, Errandonnee No. 4

On to the next brick building. I stopped by the health food store for junk food. Dairy free sweets. Every woman needs chocolate and my stash was dwindling.

Category: Personal Care (yes, chocolate is necessary for my well being)
Destination: Bloom Naturally
Bike: Trek 930 beater
Observation: The chocolate sale is over. I almost feel ashamed for shopping for my junk food at the health food store.
Miles: 1 mile

Still 3/5/16, Errandonnee No. 5

Next stop was to drop off the sewer bill. Save a stamp and go for a ride.

Category: Personal Business
Destination: Scott Township Authority
Bike: Trek 930 beater
Observation: I hate being an adult when it comes to paying bills.
Miles: 2.52

Still 3/5/16, Errandonnee No. 6

Final Errandonnee of the day. A quick stop at the convenience store.
Category: Store
Destination: Unity Mart
Bike: Trek 930 beater
Observation: convenience stores are good places for people watching.
Miles: 3.7

Errandonnee #1 – Work

3/4/16, Errandonnee No. 1

Category: work
Destination: Geisinger Medical Center
Bike: Trek 520 Disc touring bike/ everyday commuter.
Observation: I thought maybe I should have brought the winter bike (studded tired) today, but my regular bike was okay.
Miles: 23.6 total

I didn’t realize it was snowing until I left the house. It started as just a few flurries, but then it was laying on the road just enough to make it slippery. My regular bike did ok as long as I stuck to the clear spots. The slushy shoulder was slick.
It was clear coming home. I’m so glad it’s Friday!

The Rewards of 2015

2015

I ride my bike….a lot. I keep track of the mileage all the time. I don’t know why I track it, but I do. It’s kind of an ocd thing.

In 2014 I rode 8300 miles. In 2015 I wanted to beat that number. As the year came closer to the end I knew I was going to beat that 8300; in fact, I had it beat in November. Now what?

Try for 9000? December mileage in PA depends heavily on the weather. I got lucky. It was mild. Hell, it was 60 degrees on Christmas Eve, but the holidays also make it difficult to get out and ride. I rode steadily all month. My longest ride was only 39 miles and by New Year’s Eve day I only needed 14 miles (to reach 9000) and I had to work that day. My commute is about 24 miles round trip. I did it! And I came home the long way. 9013 total miles for the year.

My biking friends knew I was going for 9000. Most of them (the hardcore bunch) rode around 4000-6000 miles for the year, so some of them thought I was a little crazy for going for 9.

We all met for bagels on a Saturday morning in January and they presented me with the tacky trophy and a Shut Up Legs t-shirt. I ride with a great group of people.

So, now what? 10,000?

Thanksgiving Ride and a Twist

Thanksgiving is at my parent’s house 120 miles south. My husband actually had the holiday off and I had Wednesday off too.  So I decided to ride to Harrisburg Wednesday since we had to wait for my son to get home from school before we could leave; I got a head start.

The first 60 miles are fairly flat and kind of boring, but a longish ride in late November is a treat.

I picked up one of my favorite bagels (PB&J) on my way out of town and stopped halfway to eat. I felt like a hobo eating on the sidewalk in front of a store.

This is where the good old PA J route gets sketchy.  I’m certain the PA bicycle routes were not mapped out by anyone that rides a bike. If the person that designated this route ever did ride a bicycle on it, they would probably change it.

The J Route goes along 22/322 just outside of Harrisburg. Not fun!

There is a brief respite on a secondary road that parallels the highway.

I was finally off the major road and I needed a pit stop at Fort Hunter Park. My usual port-o-pot was gone!   I found another bathroom at the park that my bike fit inside. No worries about locking up.

I made it to Harrisburg with a little time to kill before the guys met me on City Island.  I rode up to the Capitol and took a few pictures.

It was getting dark.

I crossed the Wanut Street bridge on to City Island and did a loop around the island. The guys were there to pick me up and we drove the last 40 miles.

Shortly after we arrived came the twist. I walked outside and missed a step. I fell and twisted my ankle and foot. My first thought was the bike. Did I break something? Would I be able to ride? Ouch!

The next morning, Thanksgiving Day, we made a trip to the hospital to get an X-ray. I couldn’t put any weight on it.

Good news; nothing broken. The PA asked me if I could use crutches. I asked about biking. She hesitantly told me I probably shouldn’t bike for at least 72 hours. I could live with that.

We went back to the holiday celebration and had our Thanksgiving meal. No turkey for me. I brought stuffed acorn squash.

Crutches and an ace bandage. I suck on crutches.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I did wait 72 hours to ride, but only because I couldn’t carry my bike out of the basement. The steps and a bike were too much for a couple days.

Final Coffeeneuring Ride – #7

I had a mission for this ride; bike shop then coffee.  My work bike has been making all sorts of noises lately.  The kind of noises that scream “clean me!” while also slowly driving you nuts.  I cleaned the bike in the basement then headed to the bike shop to deal with disc brake noise.

They have been doing some remodeling at the shop and it’s looking great.  Ronnie took care of my squeak and I browsed around the shop before heading out for coffee.

Coffeeneur #7

1. Sheetz, Route 11 Bloomsburg, PA
2. 11/14/15
3. Sheetz Bros. French Roast coffee, black, to go
4. I was going to get Dunkin Donuts coffee, but there was a huge line.  I went further East and got a Sheetz coffee knowing that I would get to fight the headwind coming home.  My husband and I already drank a pot of coffee in the morning, but I wanted more.  He remarked that he didn’t want anymore so I went for my cup while he was (asleep) on the couch watching football.
5. Sheetz isn’t really bike friendly.  There’s plenty of stuff to lock to, but no bike rack.  I just leaned my bike against a wall where I could keep an eye on it.  I wasn’t in there long and I brought my thermos to carry the coffee home.
6. 7 miles on my Trek 520 touring/commuter.

Bike friendly? No.

Into the thermos for the ride home.

I wish I was headed the same way that flag is blowing.

Back home to watch some football on the couch with my coffee. And wouldn’t you know it, my husband wanted another pot of coffee later in the day.

Another year of Coffeeneuring done.  Thanks to Chasing Mailboxes for hosting again.

Coffeeneur #6

Coffeeneur #6

My regular riding partner is finally back. She was in NC with her husband and they rode the Hincapie Gran Fondo and the Bookwalter Binge.  I’m glad they are back. We decided to ride on our own since the other choice was with a bunch of A group guys.  We’d rather our own pace.

Coffeeneur #6

1. Retherford’s Village Produce on Rt 487 in Benton, PA
2. 11/7/15
3. Apple Cider, cold
4. We did our favorite ride climbing up to Waller.  We have a pit stop at the top for a snack and restroom, then we drop into Benton and loop back. I was hoping to find cider at a local farm on the way through Benton.  They had fresh cider signs!  We asked about the cider and they only had gallons.  The owner offered to sell us whatever we wanted (smaller amount). We each dumped one of our water bottles and filled them with delicious cider. Cider is my new favorite drink.
5. It was a bike friendly stop because it was outdoors.  We rolled right up to the stand.  Really nice people too.  Their son wrestles for Penn State and their daughter plays field hockey for another college (which I can’t recall).
6. 48 miles on my Trek 1.2 road bike

Heading back to town.

Coffeeneuring #5

Sunday, November 1, 2015

The jackets are all puffed up from the wind. It was a struggle at times going against the wind.

Coffeeneur #5

1. Bloomin’ Bagels II, 7th Street, Bloomsburg, PA
2. 11/1/15
3. 1854 Dark Roast, black and a PB & J on a blueberry bagel. To go.
4. I met a few of the guys at the park for a club ride. We did the Catawissa rollers, went into Mifflinville then looped back up on a ridge and into Lightstreet instead of the flats.  We fought the wind most of the way. We had a couple steep kickers too. It was a tough weekend for me.  Two club rides with guys only. I have to work a little harder to keep up. I stopped at the bagel shop to get a coffee and bagel to go.
5. Not really bike friendly. There is no bike parking. I lean my bike out front and keep an eye on it from inside.
6. 37.5 miles on my Trek 1.2 road bike

Watching them prepare my bagel.  They just remodeled the serving area to keep the customers flowing through more efficiently.

Coffee to go in the bottle cage and a bagel in my jacket pocket.