Signs of Hope

You know things are bad when you are excited to see toilet paper at the supermarket. We are able to get most of what we need to at the supermarket, except flour. Sometimes we can't get the brand we want but each week we are finding the shelves a little more stocked. We even found some hand sanitizer this week.

 Now it was from some local distillery and smelled like some horrible bath tub gin (which is more or less what it is) but we put it in a spray bottle and can use it to wipe down surfaces we have to do now after they have been contaminated from something coming from the outside world.

Things are far from normal and even when they do return to normal it is going to be a different type of normal. As to when we will be able to ride in groups again who knows so for now all my rides are solo rides from my house.

Since traffic is low I have be doing rides across Rt 1 on roads I'm usually a little reluctant to ride. Although it is spring the weather hasn't been great. I have gotten rained on during my last three rides and yesterday when I went out it was a little cold and really windy. I am known for a certain ride signature. My rides start with some climb close the beginning of the ride and somewhere along the way there is usually a bridge out. When I'm leading rides I get a lot of complaints about the hills and the bridge outs. When I'm riding solo there are also lots of complaint (mostly in my head). I would change my ride signature but I got to be me.

Yesterday's ride went from my house across some open farm fields and up New Rd to the canal. The first 20 miles of the ride was painful as I'm not in great shape yet and I was fighting a 20 mph headwind most of the way. At Blackwells Mill I ran into Jack and road a few miles together.

My ride took me through the middle of Princeton on Nassau Street. I normally won't ride on Nassau Street but knew there would be light traffic and wanted to see what the town looked like with things shut down. There are some cafes and restaurants open, for take out, and one of them smelled amazing. Princeton is quiet but has not reached ghost town status yet.

The purpose of going through Princeton was to check out the bridge on Alexander Rd that is being replace. It has been a while since I went passed a bridge out sign so it felt like something I needed to do. I headed pass multiple signs and barriers and checked out the bridge.

It looks like they have the bridges finished and paved and are just working on the curbs and walls surrounding the bridge. Even though it was Saturday there was some construction workers working on the bridge. I approached one of them and asked if the bridge was passable. He said yes but that there was a lot of construction with heavy equipment going on at the other end. He said he was glad I asked because a few people and even a car drove right through and pissed off the guys at the other end. From what he said I implied that he was saying only assholes would try to go over the bridge while they were working on it. I'm willing to walk through water, mud and take the risk to go over partially finished bridges but don't want to be an asshole about it so I turned around and took Washington Street back over Rt 1.

Alexander Rd will probably be finished in another month or so. It is probably safe to go over on Sundays and nights when no work is going on but should be avoided otherwise.

Moment of Zen

When my wife and I go on one of our driving trips we usually try to stop for lunch at some kind of scenic vista. We call it our moment of zen. It's a way to make sure we have a few minutes of relaxation on our vacation instead of just rushing around to get some where or see something. 

Riding has always been a stress reliever for me and I know it is that way for other people too. Part of the stress relief of riding is just getting out of the house and exercising. Part of it is getting into a different mind set. When I'm riding I forget about work and other things going on in my life and just concentrate on turning the pedals. On a good day when I'm ridding by myself I can really connect to the bike and tune into my body and get into a meditative state.

As part of the wellness program at work I have taken some mindfulness and meditation courses. I did it to get money put into my HSA account and the mindfulness and meditation courses are the shortest and easiest to complete. Most of these courses were a bunch of guided meditations with a guy talking in this droning soft voice telling you to empty your mind and find your center. It reminded me of those Saturday night live affirmations skits. It was useless.

However it did get me curious about meditation and led me to a book by Dan Harris (of ABC news) called "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics" which explained meditation from a scientific point of view with out the religious overtones. After reading the book and a couple of others I came across a good description of what meditation is.

Your brain is like a highway with thoughts racing back and forth. You are the dog, on the side of the road, frantically chasing after each thought. What meditation does is calm the dog down so it just sits quietly on the side of the road and watches each each thought go by with out chasing it.

Some of the meditation practices have helped me recently during the passing of my mother. They helped me keep my anxiety in check as she was in the hospital and hospice. Some of these same practices are easy to apply when riding and was something I was sort of kinda doing anyway. These practices should come in handy as I will be doing a lot more solo rides.

Based on the latest guidelines there will be no group rides for quiet a while. Its just not worth the risk. I have been scheduling some zoom meeting with the insane bike posse to check in with them and socialize. This past weekend I also posted the route of my ride and some of the posse intersected my route so we could have a quick safe distant conversation. However I expect all my rides for the next month to be solo rides. It is tough riding 40 to 50 miles by myself but it does help that it is spring and the trees are starting to bloom. The hawthorn trees are at peak now as are the magnolias and cherry trees. There is a certain joy to watch the rebirth of spring.

It is going to be tough not riding in a group and still be motivated to go out and ride but I'm comforted by the words of Winston Churchill after the battle of Dunkirk.

 "We shall go on riding our bikes to the end. We shall ride them in France, we shall ride them on the seas and oceans (?), we shall ride them with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our right to ride bikes, whatever the cost may be. We shall ride them on the beaches(unless they are closed), we shall ride them on the landing grounds, we shall ride them in the fields and in the streets, we shall ride them in the hills; we shall never surrender our right to ride (unless of course Dr Fauci tells us to )"

So okay maybe Winston Churchill wasn't talking about biking in this quote and I might have changed it just a little but you get the idea. In any case stay safe out there and keep in touch.

It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine

In the "Before Times" people gathered in crowds to celebrate momentous events. For birthdays, weddings, and various holidays people could gather in reception halls and eating establishments and eat an amazing variety of food. There were places where people gathered in large auditoriums and watched moving pictures showing epic stories. There were large stadiums filled with 30,000 to 50,000 people watching overpaid athletes play sports with millions more watching on TV. If you didn't want to be part of the crowd you could go to any of the many well stocked grocery stores and buy food and cook an intimate dinner at home.There were endless travel options available from cruises to the Caribbean, a trip to Rome, or tours of mysteries of far away lands like China. We didn't know it at the time but it was the golden age of humankind.

                                            
I am a science fiction fan and have watched many apocalyptic end of the world movies This week as the number COVID-19 cases increased and the government took more actions to try to slow the spread and flatten the curve I got the feeling like we are in one of these movies. To be clear I'm actually not overly worried that the world will descend into a state of lawless chaos. I think our state is doing the right thing and in a few months we will all make it out the other end of this with some interesting stories. I think the best analogy is that this is similar to what felt like to during WWII when the government had to put restrictions on travel and ration food and supplies.

Even with the new restrictions my situation isn't too bad. I work from home anyway so work is more or less the same as usual. We were well stocked before the crisis and have been able to get most of the stuff we need to hunker down and carry on. These restrictions will mean, however,, that I won't range as far and wide on my normal bike rides as the weather gets warmer. The PFW and most other clubs have cancel all club rides to support the push to slow the spread and have everybody practice social distancing.

Even though the governor has asked everybody to stay home and only travel to get essentials it doesn't mean you can't go out and exercise. You just can't congregate in groups and must keep your distant from other. With this in mind I did go out for a ride today and invited a few people along. The people I ride with are losers, loners, insane people nobody would go near, people who understand the seriousness of the situation and know how to follow CDC guidelines to keep themselves and the people around them safe. We did ride farther apart than we normally do and when we took a break we still kept our distance. I actually brought a visual aid with me (a six foot string with a nut on the end) that I spun around my head to show what a safe distance is. Jim took a video of it so I hope he posts that.
 

 

It was good to catch up with everybody and see how they were fairing during this crisis. Everybody is anxious, of course, so its important to get out and exercise not only to feel better physically but also to improve your mental state. I intent to keep riding as much as I can. I will probably keep the rides a little shorter and stay close to home. That way I can bring all the food and drink I need and won't have to worry about going into a store and possibly leaving with more than the food I bought. 

This is definitely one of the worst crisis to befall our country and really the whole world. I am both heartbroken and encouraged by some of the things I see people doing around the world. There are many wonderful random acts of kindness. Especially seeing the people sing from their balconies, in Italy, as way to come together and lift their spirits in amid their tragedy.

I do believe we will get through this even though I think there has been a few missteps in the initial response. As Winston Churchill said 

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else"

So hunker down and stay safe. Here are a few tips to help you. 

• To escape a pursuing zombie you will need to out-run it, and this means being in good shape
• Always double tap. When in doubt, don't get stingy with your bullets.
• Wear a seat belt. You won't be driving along easy roads anymore: with numerous things to avoid you need to be ready for a crash!  
• Before getting into the car and driving off, check the back seat for any hiding zombies.

Sorry, these are for the zombie apocalypse. That will be next summer after something goes awry with the COVID-19 vaccine causing some people to turn into zombies. (I'm sure the SyFy network is already working on this movie.) In any case just follow the CDC guidelines and you will be fine. I also recommend reaching out on social media and keeping in touch your friends and family.  Although we can't physically meet we can still stay in touch and help each other through this. 

Social Distancing

So I wasn't able to ride last week because I had a cold. And before you ask, no it wasn't COVID-19 just a normal head cold. Based on the news the word of the day seems to be "Social Distancing" and I suspect it will be one of the top words of the year. It turns out I'm a natural social distancer. I work from home most of the time. I only occasional go to big gatherings like concerts or plays and haven't been to any in over a year. I have very few family gatherings. In fact the only regular social gathering I have is my weekly bike rides with the Insane bike posse. To some this may sound like a very solitary existence but its really not.

I spend at least 15-20 hours a week on web conferences usually with video talking to the 30 or so people I work with. I have known most of them long enough that we talk about our lives as well as getting work done. Web conferences are not a good as physically getting together but its close and gives me some social interaction with the people I work with. Besides The team I work with is dispersed all over the world so it is very hard to physically get together anyway so we have go use to interacting in this way.

Of course I also have my wife who will now be home a lot more now since the college she works at has closed and changed everything to online courses. Unfortunately this won't work for her since she teaches water aerobics in the pool so there is no easy way to teach that remotely since none of the student have their own indoor pool.

Both my wife and I being home full time should not be a problem as we will celebrate our 30th anniversary this week so we get alone just fine. I would offer some wisdom about what it takes to have a long successful marriage but won't for two reasons. First every couple is different so there is no "one thing" or set of rules to follow to have a good marriage. Two I'm not exactly sure what I did to make the our relationship last so long. I only know that I'm glad to still be with her after all these years.

Today I was feeling good enough to go for a ride. Jim had a ride out of Blackwell Mills but I'm still not at 100% and didn't want to have to push myself as his rides have become faster lately. I did a 35 mile loop around the backside of Allentown. The nice thing about doing a solo ride is that I can try a few roads that I won't even take the insane posse on. For example I know Breza Rd has some gravel but someone told me it was rideable where as others told me to stay away. So I tried it today.

There is a short unpaved stretch of about a half a mile with the usual random pot holes and occasional washboard gravel but it can be ridden. It is like Woods road. You can ride on it but probably shouldn't so I don't think I will try it again for a while. The other good thing about being on my own is that I tend to look around more and noticed this carving on Polhemustown Rd which I never noticed before.

I'm not sure if it is new or I just never saw it before. Somebody put a lot of work into it as it is one of the better carvings I have seen.

 It felt good to get out and ride after close to two weeks being stuck in the house with a cold. I no longer have cabin fever but do miss riding with other people. I should be a full capacity by next weekend so it will be good to catch up with everybody and see how they are handling the situation. For me the restrictions on gatherings and social interaction won't make a lot of difference in my day to day life especially because we had a good supply of toilet paper before this all happened.

Leap Day Trail Ride

Although I have been riding over the past couple of weeks I really haven't had anything to write about. This Saturday however I decided to take a ride on the Columbia Trail and saw some interesting things along the way. It was a cold weekend which is why I decided to do a trail ride. I wasn't expecting anyone to join me since its a long ride to High Bridge but was happy to be joined by Laura and Ricky.

The Columbia Trail is build on an old central Jersey railroad that was once used to transport iron and coal from mines in Morris County. The tail is 15 miles long and goes from High Bridge to the other side of Long Valley. The trail is mostly hard packed dirt and gravel and is well maintained. We did hit a few muddy spots but nothing that was really difficult to ride through.

There is a lot of good scenery on the trail especially near High Bridge where you are riding above and along some branch of the Raritan river. We actually decided to leave the trail about a mile in to ride the road and path next to the river. This let us get some close up pictures of the river.

And feeder streams

As well as the Columbia Trail bridge that goes over the river.

We got back on the trail just before Califon and continued on toward Long Valley. Last time we did this trail we actually road up the 30% hill on Middle Valley to prove it could be done. This time I was feeling a little sluggest and didn't want to bother.

We continued on toward Long Valley. Although it was mostly sunny when we started it had clouded up. It was about 30 degrees when we started and it didn't really get much warmer so I was happy I had my warmest gear on.

There is not much real scenery the last 5 miles to the end of the trail. We turned around and headed back to a coffee shop in the middle of Long Valley by Schooley's Mountain Rd. It was good to take a break as I was getting tired. I have noticed this year that the cold seems to affect my riding. It just seems to take more effort to maintain my normal pace in the cold.

The place we stopped "The Coffee Potter" was nice rest stop and comfortable place to hang out.. Not sure about the quality of the coffee but there were plenty of goodies to eat and they had normal drinks and gatoraid. 

After the break we had about 10 miles to go to get back. There was some light snow flurries on our way back. I had to take a brief rest break a Califon because I was feeling like I was about to cramp. The brief rest break seemed to allow the gatoraid I drank at the coffee shop to kick in because I didn't cramp for the rest of the ride or during my ride in the car.

The last 5 miles back to High Bridge are probably the most scenic of the the trail . During winter the trail is not as colorful as during the summer or fall but there are a few other interesting sights to see. There are these gnome homes which are bird houses with some gnomes or fairies in them. There is also some wood carvings along the way like the owl at the top of this post. However my favorite sight was the dinosaur pile.

No sure what this is for but the large brontosauruses/dragon thing has a speaker in its belly so I'm assuming that it plays music or some dinosaur sounds sometimes.

By the time we got back to the start we had just over 30 miles in. It was a long ride for a cold day. We also did about 1600 ft of climbing, according to my GPS, so it was a good workout. I haven't been on this trail in a few years and am glad I did it again. Hopefully the next time I do it the weather will be a little warmer.  

Midwinter Beach Break

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this year which means an early spring. Now the little rodent isn't really that accurate but if you believe him then we are probably half way through the winter riding season. So far this season the weather has been on the warmer side with almost no snow. I have only been on the mountain bike once so far this year and the rest of the time I have been able to be on the road.

After a couple of weeks doing Jim's ride from Blackwells Mill I opted for a solo ride to the shore. We had to put a new furnace in our place in Avon a couple of months ago and wanted to head back there to make sure it was all still working.

It was good to do a solo no pressure ride where I could go at my own pace and stop where I wanted. It was a cold day and just warm enough for me to do a road ride. It was sunny though and I had a good west wind to blow me to the shore so once I got a few miles in I was warm enough and it was an easy ride. Since I have done the route to Avon many times there is not much thinking involved so I can relax and enjoy winter scenery such as it was. Although I usually like doing long rides with a group I don't mind occasionally doing a long solo rides where I can into a meditative state and de-stress a little.

Of course it was still a Tom ride because there was an unexpected bridge out. On Ocean Ave about a quarter mile from the finish the drawbridge that goes across the Shark River inlet was being repaired which means the bridge was up with no way to get across and swimming across the inlet with its fast moving current was not an option. This mean a two mile detour at the end of the ride.

After a little maintenance work at the condo it was off to Hoffman's for a well deserved dish of ice cream before heading home by car. If the weather for second half of the winter season is anything like it has been so far it means my mountain bike won't get much use and I may get good base of miles in before spring time arrives.

Family and Friends

Its been a tough few weeks. My 88 year old mother went into the hospital at the beginning of January to cure an infection but because of some recent problems with her kidneys there were complications. Unfortunately after a couple of weeks of treatment there was nothing more the doctors could do and my mother passed away. I am sad, of course, but grateful that she was herself and pain free until the last few days.

In times like these it is good to have people to support you. My family is not one of those that get together a lot but we get along with each other well enough. My parents live with my younger sister (the one on my mothers lap in the picture) so she was the one who really took charge and had to deal with the day to day problems. I did what I could to support her and my father and think it was good that we could help each other through this crisis.

I also had a couple of friends reach out and offered their support. It was a simple email that just asked if I was okay and told me to hang in there. The content of the message wasn't important the fact that there was some one out there that cared was.

This past week I had to stay in New York city for a set of meetings for work. I was thankful for the distraction. It also gave me the chance to get together with a lot the people who I only see on web conferences. I enjoy working with most of my colleagues and it was good to see their physical persons instead of a head bobbing on a computer screen. We had some fun happy hours and dinners.They had heard about my mother and expressed their support which was comforting.  

I did manage to get a ride in before heading to New York, this past week. I did Jim's Sunday ride from Blackwell mills. I wasn't in the best shape for the ride and cramped at the beginning but it was good to be around my friends and share what happened with my mother.  It felt like group therapy and helped relieve some of the tension I was feeling.

I am definitely emotionally bankrupt and physically tired after the last couple of weeks but am thankful for the family and friends that help make getting through these crises a little easier.