Every year for the last 5, except for last year, the year before that, oh and maybe the year before that, we have gone on a moonlight bike ride. Don't jump to the conclusion that it's a romantic ride. Shaun is just not my cup of Tea, nor is John, and Paula would kick my a*&. The moon light ride is an excuse to get together and have fun on the bike path under a bright fall moon.
In the past the ride usually had 6-10 riders, all dressed in very heavy bike clothes and hats. On this ride, long fingered gloves are a must. Tights are a must and something to cover your shoes to keep the cold breeze off your toes is definately required. Minimal lighting is required. Usually Shaun brings one light and everybody follows him. Butt lights are definately required. Many times it is hard to see the biker in front of you so you need the blinky light to tell you when the bike in front has stopped. Even so, even with flashy butt lights, you can really get introuble.. like when you are following Paula through a gate and she decides to stop. Butt lights don't help much when your front wheel is jambed into her rear wheel.. Jeeze.
The Full Moon in October (Fall) was the 13th and 14th. I had asked Shaun some weeks ago if we were going to put together another fall ride at night. He showed no enthusiasm, I got the hint when he said, "No Bryan, I'm not interested." Drats I thought I will have to post the ride myself. So the next day I opened my email to post it, and lo and behold, Shaun was feeling sorry for himself and he posted the ride.. Great, WOW, I'm in. Actually Shaun is 160 miles short of his goal of 2500 for the year, and he needed milage so he sucked the rest of us in on this ride so he would have company. I unfrotunately only have 1200 miles, sadly the season was interrupted in August, but that is another story which I will share with you later on the 2008 My Ride With Duke Closing Blog.
I got home that night and scrambled around for my bike clothes, and the winter stuff. I had a hard time finding a hat that would fit under bike helmet.. I hate those hats they make me look like..............well they are bad. My bike clothes were where I left them last time, under the dresser, in the closet, in a wad by the bedroom door.. Yes I have great system of storage. I was very excited, the Moonlight ride was on!!!!
When Monday arrived I got to the bike path way early before anybody else. I was so excited that I arrived 15 minutes early. Even the looks I got from the walkers as I got of of car with my underarmor top, covered by my long sleeve bike shirt, covered by my yellow vest, my yellow coat, long fingered gloves, my condom hat, my tights, and bike shoes with plastic on them, was priceless. All the stares, and then when I put my light on my helmet they actually gawked. Nobody had the courage to approach me, although a two year old waved at me, he loved it.. but he also had mismatching pair of socks on.
Well I waited and waited. Finally Paula pulled in, Shaun not far behind her, and John Y, road by on Route 8 getting more miles in. When I informed Shaun that he was late, he pointed out that it was still 15 minutes before the appointed ride time. I guess I was excited.
So we stood around and waited and waited for the mass of bikers to show up, but to no avail, just us.. That was ok. Four bikers is better than one.
The weather was terrific on October 13th, warm, for an October evening. We started off about 45 minutes before the sun set, so it was quite light. It takes about an hour to get up to the end so we hit Adams at about 6:30 and the darkness was all around. We snacked in Adams, at least Shawn was snacking, he brought picnic food, one banana. When he finished we headed back. Now the path was empty. No roller bladers, no lovers, nobody, just a dark empty bike path with 4 folks riding slowly, about 12 mph. We went slowly to ensure we didn't out run the head lights, they were all pretty dim and didn't illuminate stuff more that 10 feet
In the past the ride usually had 6-10 riders, all dressed in very heavy bike clothes and hats. On this ride, long fingered gloves are a must. Tights are a must and something to cover your shoes to keep the cold breeze off your toes is definately required. Minimal lighting is required. Usually Shaun brings one light and everybody follows him. Butt lights are definately required. Many times it is hard to see the biker in front of you so you need the blinky light to tell you when the bike in front has stopped. Even so, even with flashy butt lights, you can really get introuble.. like when you are following Paula through a gate and she decides to stop. Butt lights don't help much when your front wheel is jambed into her rear wheel.. Jeeze.
The Full Moon in October (Fall) was the 13th and 14th. I had asked Shaun some weeks ago if we were going to put together another fall ride at night. He showed no enthusiasm, I got the hint when he said, "No Bryan, I'm not interested." Drats I thought I will have to post the ride myself. So the next day I opened my email to post it, and lo and behold, Shaun was feeling sorry for himself and he posted the ride.. Great, WOW, I'm in. Actually Shaun is 160 miles short of his goal of 2500 for the year, and he needed milage so he sucked the rest of us in on this ride so he would have company. I unfrotunately only have 1200 miles, sadly the season was interrupted in August, but that is another story which I will share with you later on the 2008 My Ride With Duke Closing Blog.
I got home that night and scrambled around for my bike clothes, and the winter stuff. I had a hard time finding a hat that would fit under bike helmet.. I hate those hats they make me look like..............well they are bad. My bike clothes were where I left them last time, under the dresser, in the closet, in a wad by the bedroom door.. Yes I have great system of storage. I was very excited, the Moonlight ride was on!!!!
When Monday arrived I got to the bike path way early before anybody else. I was so excited that I arrived 15 minutes early. Even the looks I got from the walkers as I got of of car with my underarmor top, covered by my long sleeve bike shirt, covered by my yellow vest, my yellow coat, long fingered gloves, my condom hat, my tights, and bike shoes with plastic on them, was priceless. All the stares, and then when I put my light on my helmet they actually gawked. Nobody had the courage to approach me, although a two year old waved at me, he loved it.. but he also had mismatching pair of socks on.
Well I waited and waited. Finally Paula pulled in, Shaun not far behind her, and John Y, road by on Route 8 getting more miles in. When I informed Shaun that he was late, he pointed out that it was still 15 minutes before the appointed ride time. I guess I was excited.
So we stood around and waited and waited for the mass of bikers to show up, but to no avail, just us.. That was ok. Four bikers is better than one.
The weather was terrific on October 13th, warm, for an October evening. We started off about 45 minutes before the sun set, so it was quite light. It takes about an hour to get up to the end so we hit Adams at about 6:30 and the darkness was all around. We snacked in Adams, at least Shawn was snacking, he brought picnic food, one banana. When he finished we headed back. Now the path was empty. No roller bladers, no lovers, nobody, just a dark empty bike path with 4 folks riding slowly, about 12 mph. We went slowly to ensure we didn't out run the head lights, they were all pretty dim and didn't illuminate stuff more that 10 feet
The only event that happened on the 13th was that the moon actually came out. It was almost full. We watched it rise from the trail as we pedaled back to the Lansboro parking area. The interesting thing about these rides are that it's so quiet the only noise you hear is the rolling tires through the leaves, and the whisper of the wind past your ear. Totally amazing, these night rides.
We liked it so much and since we only got 21 miles in we did it again the next night.. Except this time we started in Adams. Very close to Ms P's house. In fact as I drove by I saw her sitting on her steps already to go. Turns out she was waiting for a parent to pick up one of her day care kids. Boy you could tell she was mad when she drove up to the meeting place. What a look. It took her 7 miles to calm down.
The next night was supposed to be a real full moon and that might have made a difference if the sky was clear but alas, it was cloudy so when it got dark, it got dark. Good thing Shaun brought the big Mamma headlight that illuminated the trail up to 25 yards. My poor little light illuminated about 10 feet in front of me.
The ride down from Adams was cool. The fall foliage was in full force and the ambient light really put a display on the trees. We saw lots of Rabbits, the atypical bike path cougar cat (Paula's favorite), and a relative of a friend of Shauns. How come he's always saving snapping turtles? I kept looking around for it's mother. I figured like a bear cubs mom that some giant freaking snapping turtle would charge out of the swamp and chew our legs off. Of Course Paula and John were standing 10 feet away from this beast. (PS the claw you see is Shuans gloves, impressive aren't they?)
The cleaned the trail so there wern't a lot of dead leaves on the trail so we could go a bit faster. It's very scarry going through leaves, you don't know if they are slippery or if there is a big stick in them. Fortunately for us neither issue applied. When we reached the Lanesboro parking area, it was not quite dark.
The ride back up to Adams was quiet and dark. No moon, the clouds covered the full moon, a peak every now and then but sadly only a peak. We didn't talk much on the way back. We just kept the pedals turning.
Back at Adams, I was pretty happy that the weather was so warm. It was a great ride, and we had a good time. Maybe the next time we do this (3 or 4 years from now) we will get to see the moon.
Great ride Shaun, I hope you make your goal.
