Fine Tuning the Morning Ride

5:05, the alarm starts playing the AT&T theme. I roll out of bed and creep my way through the darkness. Peeing in the dark is a skill learned, but it helps to have a large bowl and good aim. I have a large bowl. Brushing away the sleep from my teeth, I feel a little excited about the morning ride. Not as excited as last Friday, but excited nonetheless. Kissing the wife goodbye, MB mumbles to be safe and to send her a message when I get to York. Done and done. Lucia the dog doesn’t even raise her head, she’s used to me getting up early and doing things without her!! She’ll get me back when I get home.

I’m a bit ahead of schedule, so I take my time double checking my list (forgot my belt anyway, but it wasn’t on the list!). Tires pumped up to 120 PSI, and I am ready to roll. Based on last week's ride in, some adjustments to the route were necessary. That monster of a hill up Centerville Road was a ride killer. I think it took me a long time to recover from that, so I wanted to see if I could avoid it. Chomping on a the remains of a rock hard PowerBar, I go over my route in my head again and again.

I have a general idea of where I am going this morning, but it will be a little bit of winging it. Heading out the door, the neighborhood is still asleep. My blinky red light is protecting my rear, and my headlight is shining on the road ahead. It’s just about 5:30, and there’s not much of a sign of dawn yet.

So last week, I rode across Valley Road to East Petersburg and then on to Centerville Road by Kelly Cadillac. It was after that where the uphill ruined me mentally last week. Today, I tried to find a route that would get me to 462 without many hills. Problem is that there is no easy way to get there. I finally decided on a route that would involve me zig sagging across the three Pikes here until I could reach Dillerville Road. Dillerville Road would take me directly to 462 while avoiding most of the downtown traffic.

Cruising down Oregon pike, I zig on to Roseville Road. I promptly Zag on to Lititz Pike. Then, I zig and zag through a neighborhood shoehorned between Lititz Pike and Fruitville Pike. This dumps me out to Fruitville pike and I only have about 100 yards to Dillerville Road. On Dillerville, I see some things unexpected, like a guy riding against a green light through a busy intersection, and another guy on the Dillerville bridge smoking a stogie as he rode his bike.

Crossing over Harrisburg Pike, I enter another unknown neighborhood. It turned out to be a very nice neighborhood with some very pretty homes. A slight uphill and then some downhills, across Marietta Ave, until I finally reach my turn, Columbia Ave, 462.

462 was not what I expected. Despite the shoulder, I really had to ride in the road. The shoulder was comprised of many patches, loose stones, and sewer covers. Traffic was light, so it wasn’t much of a problem. The dawn has finally arrived and I switch my headlight from constant to blinky. The rough shoulder persists for the better part of two miles. However, many landmarks tic past, and I feel like I am making good time without exerting much effort. In fact, I realize that I am conserving energy, which is good, since it is a long ride to York.

Past Centerville Road, the road and shoulder really smooth out and I am really in a good zone. Even though I am not really thirsty, I force myself to take frequent water bottle breaks. This seems to be helping keep me moving.

Cruising in to Columbia, I note that I am doing the posted limit, 30 MPH! I also adjusted the tire size in my onboard computer, and I think it just about correct. I feel the cross breeze in my face and start to think I’ll have a nasty headwind going across the bridge.

Crossing the bridge, I find out I am right! Ugh!! It’s Ok, I still have a lot of energy this morning. I also think the bridge is not as flat as it first appears. After about half way, I notice I am pedaling faster. The steep climb out of the river basin is even easier today. I had told myself I’d take a break somewhere along the way, but I’m feeling good, so I keep moving.

The rolling hills leading to Hellam and beyond melted away this morning. Getting closer to East York, I start trying to see if I can smell the donuts cooking at Maple Donuts. It was almost half a mile I had to smell that sugary goodness.

Riding in the city of York today was different than last Friday. There were a lot more cars, and I got stuck at more red lights. Again, I didn’t have a problem at the I-83 entrance, and same for the media stripped Philadelphia street.

Rolled in to work, it was 7:10, the same hour and 40 minutes from Friday, but I was much less exhausted. After my shower, I was dressing and realized I had forgotten my belt!! Whoops! Oh well. Been grazing since then. Two packets of oatmeal, a banana, a corn muffin, a cup of coffee, and water. I will get a ride 18 miles to Mountville. From there, I’ll ride the rest of the way home.

Today’s ride was really encouraging. I didn’t feel tired at all during the ride or that I was over exerting myself. This reminded me of a long slow distance run. My goal is to keep the same level of exertion and increase speed to decrease time. Certainly, weight workouts and hill workouts are going to be the key to that.

Mark