An Amazing Day!

Today was Mark's 60th birthday. He decided to celebrate by riding 60 miles and having a piece of the famous pie at the Eaton Place. He invited his cycling group buddies along, and Laura, Lisa and I were available and up to the challenge.

And what a challenge in turned out to be! Riding into a head wind of 10 to 15 miles per hour, we started out this morning at nine. By 11:40 we had completed 30 excruciating miles and arrived at the restaurant. We met Bill there who had chosen to ride a little shorter route and got there ahead of us.

We had a great lunch together (I had the coconut cream pie on the Laura's recommendation!) and then started the 30 mile ride back to Oxford. Bill led us out of town and then we sped up with the wind as our friend instead of our enemy. What a great experience to have a 15 mph wind pushing you along! It wasn't all easy riding -- even the west routes were tough with that north-west wind. But most of the time, we flew!

All in all, it was a fantastic day. All of us were happy to celebrate Mark's big day. And I completed a metric century, my longest ride since a dog knocked me off my bike back on July 1.

Happy Birthday, Mark! And thanks for letting share in your big day.

It's Brookville Tomorrow - if Weather Permits

Bill sent out an email earlier today confirming that our breakfast ride Saturday morning will be to Brookville. Departure is from the Oxford Community Park at 7:30 am. The weather is a bit iffy, with a chance of thunderstorms or rain showers. So if weather permits, we'll see you in the morning.

Dave's for Breakfast on Saturday

Bill has announced the ride for tomorrow morning: College Corner for breakfast, then maybe a loop around the area to total roughly 40 miles for the full ride. It looks like the weather will be cloudy but dry with comfortable temperatures.

Departure time will be 7:30 am from the Oxford Community Park near the Fairfield Road entrance. Hope to see you there.

We're Off to Brookville in the Morning

Bill just sent out an email announcing that our breakfast ride tomorrow will be to Brookville, Indiana. Riders will stop at the Goldfinch restaurant for pancakes to fortify for the return trip to Oxford.

Departure time is 7:30 am from the Oxford Community Park near the Fairfield Road entrance. I'm hoping to make part of the ride tomorrow, so I hope to see you there.

Jumpin' Jerseys

Laura sent me a link to a website offering some "offbeat" cycling wear. It's called Primal-Sports.com. It has some really interesting stuff. Thanks for the link, Laura. Here are a few examples:

The Bicycle Rack Gains Status

At nine strategic locations around New York City, the simple bicycle rack has been elevated to the status of modern art. The New York Department of Transportation and the art gallery Pace Wildenstein, commissioned musician and biking enthusiast David Byrne to design the new racks. According to The New York Times, Mr. Byrne thought it important that the racks be of the same thickness as existing bike racks, "to help identify them as practical racks and not just modern art."


Left to right; top row: MoMA, Olde Times Square and Villager. Middle row: Coffee Cup, Wall Street and Ladies’ Mile. Bottom row: Hipster, Chelsea and Jersey.

Liberty and Freedom this Saturday

Bill just announced the destination for the Saturday morning breakfast ride: it's Liberty and freedom from the onslaught of returning Miami students. The departure time is 7:30 am from the Fairfield Rd. entrance of the Oxford Community Park.

Bill points out that if Matt joins the ride, the group will follow the "Tour de Crehan" route. The weather promises to be another miracle for cycling:

Cycling in Reverse

Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting story about how one man and his blog has set back the cause of safe cycling in San Francisco, of all places.

The city was about to add to its network of bike lanes and add additional parking places for bicycles, when Rob Anderson filed suit claiming that additional bike lanes will lead to more pollution and demanding that the city conduct an environmental impact study!

The city has conducted the expensive study over the past year and is getting ready to issue its findings. But Mr. Anderson is already planning to challenge the report -- again in court. He hasn't even seen the report, but he wants to challenge it. Hmmmmmm.

If you'd like to read the full article, click here.

Also of interest -- and perhaps explaining the attitudes of people like Mr. Anderson -- is this Wall Street Journal video about a worldwide cycling phenomenon called "Critical Mass."

How about a 46 mile ride on Thursday?

Marlene has announced a beautiful ride this coming Thursday. The destination is the Miami-Whitewater park in Hamilton County. Oxford riders will cover about 46 miles round trip. They will stop for lunch at the Miami- Whitewater Golf Course patio.

The plan is to depart from the Oxford Community Park, near the Fairfield Road entrance, at 7:30 am. The weather forecast is for an extraordinary day. Come out and enjoy it!

A Bit of Inspiration

One of my favorite books is Younger Next Year, a how-to guide for the next third of life written by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry Lodge. The subtitle is "A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond." The book inspired me to take up cycling again, and by following the plan, I took off 30 pounds. Matt told me he also read the book and follows the advice closely.

Last week, one of the authors, Chris Crowley, posted this inspiring story on his blog (click on the story for a larger version):

It must be Camden Tomorrow

Bill just confirmed that the Oxford cycling group will head to Camden tomorrow morning. Every third Saturday, the Masonic group in Camden puts on a terrific all-you-can-eat breakfast; biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, pancakes and sausage, coffee and orange juice. All for $4. What a deal!

The cyclists will be leaving at 7:30 am from the Oxford Community Park near the Fairfield Road entrance. It looks like another miraculous day for cycling. Hope you can make it.

The Eaton "Pie Ride"

Jim organized a special Wednesday ride to Eaton that took place yesterday. Of course, the true motivation for such a long ride is the excellent pie at the "Eaton Place" restaurant. I got to drive up with Melva and join the nine hardy cyclists who made the morning ride. They had a great day for cycling, took in a couple of covered bridges, and clocked about 58 miles round trip.

Here are some photos of the day taken by photographer Jim:

Something to Celebrate

I didn't ride this weekend -- still recuperating from the bicycling accident. And Marilyn didn't ride either. Instead we traveled together to my hometown of Canton, Ohio where we met up with most of my extended family to celebrate the 90th birthday of my amazing Aunt Theresa.

At age 90 she is still living in her own home with a little help from her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. She is active with church, friends and family. She never forgets a birthday card for each of the countless members of her extended family. And every Thursday, even though her eyesight is failing, she helps at the church kitchen to cook a nutritious meal for the poor. The week before her birthday, some 50 volunteers fed over 600 people. Aunt Theresa took care of the salad. For 600 people. Like I said, she is amazing.

So we had a wonderful celebration to wish happy birthday to this wonderful woman who has made us all feel so loved for so many years. And we were all richer for the trip. We strengthend our connections with each other and hugged the kids and took lots of pictures.

Most of all, we got to show Aunt Theresa just how much she is loved.

Congratulations, Grandpa! Again!

Virgil called yesterday around noon to say that he and Trish are grandparents... again!

Julie and Jed are the proud parents of an eight pound baby boy; Jonah Jai Hamilton. All are doing well.

No doubt we'll get to see a picture or two soon. Congratulations to the happy families.

ADDENDUM: Late this evening I received this picture of the new grandson from Virg:

It's Brookville Tomorrow - with an Option

Bill, who is back from NC, just sent out an email that the Oxford group will bicycle to Brookville tomorrow morning. That means a stop at the Goldfinch Restaurant for breakfast before heading back to Oxford.

For those who want to get in a shorter ride, Bill is riding to College Corner and stopping at Dave's cafe, before heading back. He's thinking of going around Acton Lake on the way back to Oxford.

Both rides will start at the Oxford Community Park, near the Fairfield Road entrance, at 7:30 am. The weather should be absolutely perfect for cycling. So come on out and meet the group; none of them bite. (but watch out for the dogs!)

Welcome back, Bill! We missed you.

The Journal Spotlights Jim's Favorite Ride

Maybe you've gone along with Jim B. on this ride described in The Hamilton Journal yesterday. I think a part of the Oxford cycle gang did the ride this morning. Thanks, Jim, for sending along the article.

Click on the article to see a larger, readable version.

Click on the map below to see the route described in the article.

New Backpacking Trail Nearby

Virgil sent me a link last night to a website describing a new hiking and camping area with a trailhead near Germantown.  It's called the Twin Valley trail.  It combines an existing network of trails in Germantown and Twin Creek MetroParks with a connecting trail that offers 22 miles of backpacking and overnight camping. From the website:

"Secluded camping opportunities are sprinkled throughout this 22 mile trail that connects Germantown and Twin Creek MetroPark. Group and secluded backcountry camping will allow everyone to experience the wilds of the Twin Valley and this rural corner of Montgomery County like never before."

Sounds like a neat adventure. I'm looking forward to checking it out once I trade in my medical boot for some hiking boots.

Here's the LINK.

Album of Photos from the Bon Ton Roulette

I've set up a web page to display about 35 photos from last week's Bon Ton Roulette ride.  You can view the album slideshow by CLICKING HERE.

Also, if you have pictures from the Bon Ton ride that you would like to share, you can add them to this web page.  Just click on the "upload" button at the top of the photo page and then select the photos you'd like to share.

Likewise, if there is a picture you particularly like you can download it to your computer.  Just click on the picture, then click the "download" button.

Enjoy!

Saturday Sausage Ride

The Oxford bicycle group is planning a ride Saturday, August 2, to Liberty, Indiana.  Jim and Bill say the plan is to stop for a sausage breakfast at the restaurant in Liberty before heading back to Oxford.

Departure point is the Oxford Community Park  near the Fairfield Road entrance.  Riders will depart at 7:40 am. (Note the change in time from 7:30.)

All riders are welcome!

Bon Ton Roulette

Now for something a lot more fun. Seven people, mostly from Oxford, did successfully complete the 300 miles around the Finger Lakes in New York last week. It was challenging and they hit quite a bit of rain thoughout the week. But they completed the trip.

Congratulations to the Bon Ton cycle gang! Here are some pictures from their week long ride.

Bark Bark Bark

What a lousy way to start this blog. I spent much of 2008 training for a 300 mile bicycling trip around the Finger Lakes region of New York. My wife and I had planned the trip for months. We were going with a group of friends and fellow cyclists.

Well along in our training, we were completing a 60 mile ride in Preble County, Ohio, truly bicycling heaven. As I rode past a farm house on Gettysburg Road, a Golden Retriever charged full speed into my bike, hitting the rear wheel. The force of the impact knocked the bike over hard. And me with it. My feet, of course, were clipped into the pedals. So the impact, twisted my leg in a very unnatural way, tearing a tendon and muscle fibers in my calf. As I fell over, my natural instinct was to put my right arm out to break the fall. As I hit the pavement, I drove my extended right arm into my shoulder, making a mess of the tendons and ligaments in the area.

Needless to say, those few seconds of impact destroyed the months of training I had put in and ended my quest to ride the New York Finger Lake region this year.

The dog attack and resulting crash took place on July 1. Five weeks later, I am still recovering. I go to physical therapy two to three times a week. I am learning to walk properly again. My shoulder is still weak and sore. Thankfully, I will be back on the bike again, but it will probably be another three to four weeks. And some time after that before I am back to riding real distances.

So I make this plea to dog owners everywhere. Be responsible. The dog that attacked my bike and ruined my quest for the Finger Lakes had a history of running out at passing cyclists. What does it take for owners to understand the dangers involved and the price of even a relatively minor crash like I experienced? Please: get a clue. Fence your dogs. Or tie them up. Or contain them in the barn or the house. Please, be responsible. Before someone gets killed.