First "Group" Ride Ever...Fail

Today I went on my first group ride ever. It was supposed to be a 63 mile loop from the foothills up to the mountains, which summited at Caesars Head. This trip did not go as I had planned...but I learned a few things.

1. A steel touring bike with wide tires (my bike) is about 5 times slower than a carbon fiber road bike
2. Even if they may have a $5,000 bike and are in decent shape, it's no fun to get passed by a 75 year old guy
3. Its also not fun to get passed by a 45 year old guy who looks pregnant
4. I really want one of those fast road bikes so I can actually see what I'm made of!
5. The directions are important to figure out before you start riding. You could take a wrong turn and end up cyling 20 more miles than expected (Oh well, it was nice to get 80 miles in)
6. I wish there were break stations on all of my rides that were stocked with delicious food
7. Cyclists make all sorts of crazy hand signals when riding together in a group...I have no idea what any of them mean

Even though I was inconsistent with my speed and wasn't able to stay with a pack for most of the time, the experience was nice.

A couple other nice things from this past week...

1. TTR bikes hooked me up with some new tires and a tune up for an amazing discount! My new friend Micah from over there is about my age and has a cool story. His dad is a missionary in Thailand who started making extremely nice bamboo bikes over there so that he could employ some locals and reach out to the community. Check out their website at www.bamboobikemaker.com Here is one of their bikes

2. I have now lived in the same city as my girlfriend for a week and a half :)
3. While finishing up my ride today I saw on a church sign the verse that I wanted to be my theme for the recovery of my achilles. "Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers work in vain" Psalm 127:1...so again, praise God for a great recovery so far!

8 days until Bike for Burundi! Make a tax deductible donation at http://www.bikeforburundi.com/

The scariest thing that's ever happened to me on a bike!

So long Seabrook Island. The beach front resort where I have lived for the past 1.5 years can no longer be called home. Although I will probably never live in a place as beautiful again, more so than the daily dolphin sightings and the pristine maritime forest, I will miss the people. I was blessed with an incredibly encouraging atmosphere to work and teach children in, but it was time to say goodbye to dear coworkers and welcome a new phase of life...the phase of full time missionary (aka unemployment).

I'm now in Greenville, SC and am training for the next 2 weeks to prepare for the Bike for Burundi (http://www.bikeforburundi.com/) challenge. It's an exciting time, but after only 2 days, the mountains have humbled me. The Appalachians are probably 1/3 as tough to ride as the Sierra Nevadas, but I have been huffing and puffing nonetheless.

Yesterday, after I climbed Sassafras Mountain, the tallest mountain in SC, which measures in at a "whopping" 3560 ft, I almost died on the descent. This mountain did not have switchback roads. This mountain road also had springs next to it which leaked onto the asphalt. These factors did not phase me when ascending, but when I started back down I was in for the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever experienced on a bicycle. It was not that my brakes stopped working, but that they worked too well. Since it was not raining, my rims were dry. The road, however, was not. As I plummeted at 40 mph I tried to pump my brakes, but my touring bicycle does not have as nice of an ABS brake system as my old Subaru Legacy did. My rear tire locked up and it whipped to the left, then to the right. My heart stopped as I thought I was going to be thrown from the bike and would slide down the road face first...somehow I recovered and made it down the mountain. My adrenaline was rushing for the next 15 miles or so and I was pretty afraid.

Lesson learned = Fishtailing is scary = avoid braking too hard on wet roads = avoid wet roads whenever possible, especially if you are going downhill at a 45 degree angle.

That experience on Sassafras Mountain was more frightening than when I severed my achilles tendon in a crash last summer. The achilles accident happened so quickly and then I was in shock. With the wet road situation yesterday, I actually had to think about the reality of what almost happened. But anyway, speaking of the achilles injury that happened on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, I bought a Swamp Rabbit Trail cycling jersey yesterday! It was a bit on the expensive end, but I had to buy it as a sort of souvenier, or a "take that, stupid stinkin trail! you didn't keep me down forever, and now I'm going to ride across the country!" sort of thing.

Here is an example pic of the jersey.

I actually love that trail, and 100% of proceeds go towards trail maintenance. Hopefully they use the dollars I gave them to smooth out the trail edges!

18 days until the ride! Help the orphans and pygmies in Burundi by making a donation dedicated to Jeff Hennessy at www.bikeforburundi.com/donate/