I have been reading Algorithms to Live By over the last month. It a great book about how real world problems relate to some standard computer algorithms. The book talks about some interesting issues. One of them is the Explore vs Exploit decision. This is the decision all of us have to make when we need to decide if we want try something new or go with what we know to be good. Like should I try the new restaurant or go to my old favorite. Going to a new one may be disappointing but it also could be become a new favorite. In most cases you should explore as it expands your choices and increases you knowledge of the world. This is something I agree with and try to follow especially when planning out bike routes.
Today's ride was an exploration of some roads in Warren county. This was similar to a ride I did last year. I wanted to change it up some more but was away this week in Dublin for work so didn't have a lot of time to work on the route. Being in Dublin was also not conducive to getting ready for one of my hillier rides this year. Besides the travel and working long days it didn't help that I was in the city where Guinness is made so I had to have a few and then a few more. For the record Guinness does taste much better in Dublin.
I got back from my trip late Friday night so I wasn't looking forward to the ride as I was travel weary. When I woke up Saturday it was already on its way to a hot and humid day. I brought some gator aid with me on the ride to try and stay hydrated. When I got to Frenchtown Jack and Jim was already there then Blake showed up a few minutes later followed not long after by Laura.
We followed this route which I made less hilly and a little longer than last years route. The main goal was to visit the Blue Army Shrine and ride along the Delaware as it is both flat and scenic.
As we headed up hill towards Clinton I felt the fatigue of my week of travel and tried to conserve what energy I had by using lower gears and spinning more than normal. I managed to make it over the hill and into Clinton with out too much of a problem. My main concern was the hill after Spruce Run which was the steepest climb of the ride. Going up it I shifted to my granny gear at the bottom of the hill and climbed it as slow as I could. It one of those hills that get steeper as you climb it so at the top I was at my max heart rate but I made it and actually felt better than I expected.
The road after the climb, Black Brook is a shaded rolling hill and very scenic. Then we made our way through Glen Manor and Hampton on our way to the Blue Army Shrine. On the way however we hit two problems with the route. The first was Dutch Hill Rd which is a steep winding downhill on a beat up road. This was the hill last year where Laura's rim got so hot from braking that it caused a bulge in the tire. This time there were no issues with tires an every body made it down safe but this is one of the hills we will never do again.
The other problem was getting across Rt 31 on Rymon Rd. I don't remember this being a problem last year but there was constant traffic and we had to take more risk than I wanted in order to cross the road. So this intersection is off the list of places to ride. Part of exploring is learning where not to go
After getting across Rt 31 we were on to our main attraction the Blue Army Shrine. The shrine is neither blue or has anything to do with an military army. It is a catholic shire dedicated to the Lady of Fatima who is credited with seeing a vision from the virgin Mary. You can find more details about her story here. The mission of the people who built the shire which was to fight against the atheistic policies of the Soviet Union and their Red Army. The member wore blue ribbons, hence the name blue army. If you want to read the whole story check this out.
The Blue Army shire is an odd place with some strange statues on the lawn and a tall chapel at the top of the hill which was one of the steepest hills we climbed. After checking out the site we headed to Asbury for a break. There is a new coffee shop there. The place is a little expensive and the baked goods are just OK but there aren't may other choice to stop around here. At the stop we ended up running into Mike H and his ride.
From Asbury the ride is much flatter although there were a few rollers we had to get over. When we got to Bloomsbury I decided to make a slight detour to the planned route and check out the center of town and see what happen to the general store we used to stop at (its not a pizza joint). When I signaled a left turn both Laura and Jim told me I was wrong but I yelled trust me. So when I made the left, Jack followed me but Laura Jim and Blake went right. Its nice to know after 10-15 years of leading these people on rides all around this state that they have so little trust in my navigation skills. I will admit to occasionally getting lost but that is part of the fun of these rides and since getting lost was in the actual description of the ride I think they should have trusted me. To be fair I should have made it clear that I was just taking a small detour through town and not making a major change it the route.
After splitting up and going through town we did meet up soon after where I busted them for their lack of trust in the ride leader. Like the Belmar PBC ride publishing the route in advance so everybody can have it on their GPS can sometimes cause a fractured ride.
After Bloomsbury we made it to the Delaware and the nicest part of the ride. As Jim reminded everybody this is one of his favorite roads in the state. It was getting hot at this point. I had been drinking as much as I could and even taken a gu pack to not cramp. I was actually feeling better than expected. I was slowing down, however, and took a little longer to get up some of the rollers on the way back but knew I could make it. I did feel on the verge of cramping but I think the gu does help.
We were all pretty tire by the time we got back. It was a good ride with some good parts and a couple parts that we will never do again. The value of exploring is in the fun of the journey itself and the knowledge you gain as part of it. There are times when I want to do a tried and tested route and don't want the mental strain of exploring but most of the time I will choose to try rides our routes where I can do some exploring.
No comments:
Post a Comment