Ride Lugged

Day 1 – 88km
(preride: 1.5 ham and cheese sandwiches, water, orange juice, slow release vitamin C capsule)
1 water bottle with energy drink, 1 with water
ham and cheese sandwich on buttered roll, 1 pack Clif Bloks
pork chop steak with potato wedges
2 - 17oz beers, 12oz Coke
2 cups of tea

Day 2 – 83km
2 egg omelette with ham and cheese, 1buttered roll with jelly, 1 with honey, wild berry breakfast cake, cup of tea, slow release vitamin C capsule
1 water bottle with energy drink, 1 with water
large block of fried cheese with french fries, 17oz beer, 10oz Coke
chocolate covered ice cream snack
2 more water bottles, 1 more wild berry breakfast cake
grilled chicken fillets in cream sauce with potato wedges, 2 - 17oz beers, 10oz Coke

Day 3 – 95km
2 buttered rolls with ham and cheese, small side salad, cup of tea, slow release vitamin C capsule
1 water bottle with energy drink, 1 with water
ham and cheese sandwich on buttered roll, 1 pack chocolate wafers
2 hot chocolates, Beef broth soup, small portion of fried meatloaf w/ spicy mustard, espresso, double shot of Becherovka
large ‘Mega-řizek’ pork steak, potato wedges, 17oz beer, 10oz Coke, Becherovka w/ currant juice

Day 4 – 104km
2 buttered rolls with jelly, 3 eggs scrambled with cheese, cup of tea, slow release vitamin C capsule
1 water bottle with energy drink, 1 with water, 1 pack Clif Bloks, 1 pack chocolate wafers
pork à la some Moravian sparrow with sauerkraut and potato dumplings, 17oz beer, 10 oz Coke
1.5 more water bottle
large portion of grilled pork ribs + side salad
1 bottle of local red wine

Day 5 – rest day
2 buttered rolls with ham and cheese, 1 with jelly, cup of tea, 2pc. strawberry breakfast cake, slow release vitamin C capsule
‘czech-style hamburger’ with tomato, cucumber, lettuce, & onion; 17oz beer, chocolate covered ice cream snack
olive, ham, and corn pizza; 10oz Coke
½ bottle of local red wine

Day 6 – 138km
1buttered roll with ham and cheese, 1 with jelly, 1 roll with honey, cup of tea, 2pc. strawberry breakfast cake, cream-filled doughnut, slow release vitamin C capsule
2 water bottles 1 pack Clif Bloks,
ham Pizza, 12oz Coke
1 more water bottle, 1 pack chocolate wafers
grilled chicken baguette, chocolate croissant, 12oz coke
3 – 17oz beers

1. to pedal a bicycle along the edge or gutter of a rugged or rutted path in an attempt to find less demanding, smoother passage. ex. I just rode 500km from Prague to Vienna, and some of the roads were so rough I had to paris-roubaix that shit.

so without yer knowledge, the database has been pushing forward. is it called the database? no. did i mastermind it? not reallby joe whitehair is on board, but he might have been two PBRs to the wind when he said he was. they were a dollar. i mean. cummon. so jay has been working on posting some dirt roads in frederick county, i spent the day teaching kids final cut pro entering roads from the fredrick county rural roads pdf that joe lent me, and so there is quite a bit of info already. right now its just frederick co, with a few roads in VA, in montgomery county. I am working on a seperate one for centre county, PA. I think the key is going to a super simple website that organizes things by state, then county. maybe each county/state could have a dirt road count next to it. right now i’ll start with that blog i keep going on about, so at least the database has a temp home until i learn how to make a website. (over spring break, i swear). wait, doesnt rob know how to do simple html?

check the blog for what we have so far, a quick users guide to labeling and symbols, and other stuff. if you want to add content to the new blog, or join it as a writer, let us know in the comments (ie leave some contact info) hell, that goes for this blog too.

the new blog’s title is dirt road datebase, but its home on the web is dirtdata.wordpress.com

so here is my super quick guide to bike lighting, not really for you to read now, but more so you can ref it later, when i link to it and yeah.

our rambles end in the dark or the dusk, as a rule. people dont believe me when i say a ride is going to last 7 hours, even if it is only a 45 mile ride. you see, we eat, pant, bitch, get flats, warm up and freeze, and all that takes time. plus we are all slower than a potatoe growing spuds in a paper bag, so, we ride along at 6.2 mph, on average.

so: lighting. i think i am going to require it. because if anyone got smooshed on one of my rides i’d feel bad. and i’d have to scrape your brain up and put it in my sigg. and siggs are pricey.

next ride we do, you gotta have a head light and a tail light. one that you can actually see with. that means not a light that you cant see with. whats that mean? you need more than 1 watt o’ power, led or halogen. Also, tail lights. get a big bright one. those little watch battery ones dont crank out the jams.

what works? on the cheap and crappy end, those cateye halogen joints that eat batteries (the HL-MC200 is 2.4 watts and costs less than 20 bucks. get two?) on the high end of the led world, b and m’s new ixon light looks ugly, but is reportedly quite bright.  i have ridden with the cat eye el 50o, its better than most, but you need two to really see.  also, eats batteries.

up front, if you make, say 75000 dollars a year and have no constituents, and say, need a new front wheel, get a generator hub and halogen headlight.  super bright, on when you need it off when you dont.  90 for the hub, 40 for spokes, 30-90 for a rim, 30 for the headlight.

right.  so around back…  cat eye’s TL-LD1000 is retardedly bright, ask rob.  not that he uses one.  but his wife does.  cheaper but still good is the hasselhoff approved tl ld600.  its half the cost but bizarrely ugly and bulky.  which would explain why mark uses one.  planet bike also makes the ugly but brightest of the bright ’super flash’ supposedly the only tail light visible in the day time, and at night visi up to a mile.  30 bones to not get run over not bad…

if you do the generator thing, i can help, i’ve set up half a dozen different styles.  leave a comment and i’ll help you out.

OK not only do i wanna know who is coming to the ride so i can make spoke cards, but christine wantsta know so she can make grub for post ride consumption.  So, um, 2 people so far have let me know.  Everyone else get up on it.  Leave a comment.  Yeah, Nah, or ProbablAH.

looks like we are going to have low voter turnout low rider turnout for saturday’s ride.  too bad, cause the weather wont suck like it did for last january’s ride.

sign in/leave a comment if you think you can come.  want a final head count sort of thing.

weather outlook: 40s, partly clouding, 30% chance of awesome riding.  ooooh that was a bad joke.

(look, i aint lyin’)

reminder: this ride will meet at 10 @ the sugar loaf main parking lot, at the bottom of the mtn, in that brick parking lot.  how to get there?  google this address:

Comus Rd & Sugarloaf Mountain Rd
Dickerson, MD 20842

its not too hard to find, provided you have a slide rule and some 1:1o ratio topo maps + an intimate knowledge of the surrounding area.  actually its not that bad.

10 am, mail me a letter if you arnt coming.

Guestimate: the ride will take us all damn day.  eating, riding the ferry, general shit shooting, ect, take time, and so, just to be on the safe side, bring a blinker light at least.

I’m actually gunna bring an area map, in case my directions are knackered.  someone besides me print some out, just in case i forget.

word?  word.

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Ride Update!  Jan 26, 10 am, at the Sugarloaf/Foot o’ the mtn stonghold parking lot place.  I’ve made a revised and more accurate map, that still shows the mileage to be sub 50, and the climbing to be negligible.  I have added what appear to be more dirt roads, more roads without real names, and more instructions like turn at the pond with island and the big tree.  it’ll be like a scavenger hunt, with the prize being ‘getting home before its dark’.  we’ll have lunch somewhere, so pack one, and toe warmers, and noggin protectors, and all that, if its going to be cold.  it appears the ferry charge is MAX 4 dollars.  I bet its less, for bikers.

Car pool people, if’ns ya can.

ok, we havnt had a really long ride in over 2 months. obviously, we are all even more out of shape than we were before we ate that kilo of fudge, 2.1 gallons of nog, and 36 new years toasts.

i have a ride proposal for either next weekend or two weekends after that. a ride from sugar loaf into VA and back, 50 miles, less than 2300 ft of climbing. thats nothing. thats like walking to the mail box. thats like playing cards with your grandmother. thats like chef bouyarde’s tomato sauce.

here’s the link: look at that ride profile. its like the current housing market. its like pat boone singing tutti fruiti. its like vanilla pudding with a plastic spoon.

ok, so how about it? it’ll be fun. you get to ride a boat. you get to go to VA. you get to ride on dirt roads. ditch the kids! ditch the husband! ditch your coke habit so you can pay for the gas!

holla back if your interested and shit and shit. i vote for the last weekend in jan. pick a date. we’ll have lunch. we’ll have dinner. we’ll have flats, broken frames, and cold fingers! we’ll have a half century of rolling hills. we’ll smell cow shit. we’ll look like dip shits. we’ll ford a stream. maybe. i cant really remember where that stream crossing is.

shit i gotta go: i’m on reserve battery power, yo!

_
quick update of camera phone shots from the last last week-end ride.
(3rd for december)
fun was had by all (i believe) and then more drinking was had by all.


it was wet, but not too bad.
and i am glad folks showed up to hang out and pedal a bit while i was in town for 45 minutes.


the loop was mostly a dirt loop around sugarloaf, with a few wet sections of tarmac thrown in for good measure.

then we ran back to Frederick for beer, pizza, and a warm fire in the fireplace.

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the dscwdibmssitilmslahcibbjf78hddr was originally slated to take place at 1pm in myersville.  rob pre-drove the course with mark, and they deemed it too hard.  ok.  i can handle criticism.  or can i?  buahahahahaha.  here is my proposed compromise, complied from a dirt roads index that joe whitehair gave me, and a ride profile that he conjoured up.  this ride is longer, but not harder, and has more dirty dirt and chip roads.  you could singlespeed it, easy.  the ride profile shows no climbs over 300 feet.  considering the length, it is really really really flat.  that said, some people might say, oh its long.  but its flat! thats a compromise.  there will be no death march climb, no hills for a walkin’.  there are also numberous bail out points, and a longish section that you could cut out and sit around waiting for everyone else to complete.

my opinion though, is because its longer, we should A. all bring lights, definately.  front and back.  fresh batteries.  check them before you ride.

B. bring toe warmers, ect.  thick socks.  you know the drill.  a weather proof jacket.  ear warmers.  good gloves.

C. we should probally leave corys at 12 not 1.  that way, we’ll get back right when its getting dark.  mark, be there at 11.  you dont read this though.

if there is major issues with this plan, i can tie off the dingle at the mid-point in the ride that gives about 18 extra miles and more dirt road, as well as a view of the potomac river.  i would rather not, but i would really rather have everyone come on this ride.

routeslip thing here.  

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ok. so i have been warned off the trail. obviously this is the last time i ever have any one but me pre-drive a course. at least i know how to lie to myself, and con others into my web of denial. this is from a recent rob to johnson email:

So Mark and I drove the route tonight. I tend to agree with Mark when he says it’s kinda ambitious.
Mostly because of the lack of riding we’ve been doing…and the impending weather that’s predicted.
It starts with a death climb and then turns into beautiful rolling country. But there are several hairy
downhills into death climbs on the other side. To really give you a picture of what we saw…
There was:
-no cell phone coverage for 90 percent of the route
-Several pitbulls on a leash outside of a confederate flag touting homes/trailers…
-two junkyards
-thousands of neighbors trying to be junkyards
-rough pavement with lots of tar
-only about three miles of dirt
-about a mile of sketchy high speed no shoulder road
-random properties that seemed like a good place for a horror flick
-random properties that seemed like a great place to hole up and be cantankerous
-the potential for LOTS of walking up hills
-magnificent views out over valleys
-no stores or gas stations or anything that could sell you a moonpie or cupcake

I’m not saying it’s not possible…just that it would be a bitch for anyone not is great shape.
Also, with a sub 40 degree day with a 50 percent chance of rain and some snow showers…
it would be a completely treacherous road ride…you WOULD NOT want wet rim brakes!!!
DOOM!!!
seriously….some of those descents would produce injury. Especially if the road surface was wet/icy.
So there you have it. It took us over an hour to drive and we went pretty fast…I thought.
I can make you a list of things you should take…but I won’t be on that list.
I’m in no shape to do that kind of ride, nor do I have the clothing.
Mark doesn’t have the bike. So we’re out if you all are in.
Mark did have a great idea of doing a ride from the Shanty of Benson up Hamburg and perhaps include
some single track and lots of gravel roads and then come down, say, by the reservoir or something.
That way everyone could drink and not have to drive to/from a grueling bike ride.
So there you have it.
Oh, the directions were good though. Except for a couple of places. Which I fixed on my Queue sheet.
Call me.

a few things are obvious from this email: rob doesn’t ride with a loaded gun, he thinks brakes that work are a right not a priveledge, and is thinks he is fatter than i am. john wrote a semi similar email with words like ‘white knuckle decent’ and ‘walking’ repeatedly mentioned.

so i have to reconsider. obv we dont want mark and rob to not come. i’m going to work on it tonite. i’m not promising that the revised ride will be easier, but maybe i can cut out the junkyard thing.

for now though, i leave you with this thought: