Civil War Century 2018

Several days of very hot and humid weather, not untypical for Northern Virginia, were succeeded by the day of rain and wind; Saturday - the day of the ride.  It was hard to read the weather forecast on Friday, as hourly reports for several key places on the route (e.g., Thurmond, Sharpsburg, and Gettysburg) were constantly updated, switching between no rain and some rain; but definitely becoming rosier as the time progressed.  Yet, the thunderstorm that rolled in on Friday evening greatly diminished the excitement, as it was becoming increasingly unlikely I will be riding the following day.

The night passed by; very quiet.  The roadway appeared fairly dry; the updated weather forecast was mild and almost completely devoid of the potential for the rain.  After promising to my wife that I will turn back should the rain start, I departed.  A short, but intense, deluge on my way to Thurmond, further questioned my sanity.  Yet, somehow, the atmosphere brightened after pulling into a grassy parking lot and seeing dozens of other bicyclists unpacking and braving the morning chill.  To ride or not to ride?  

Registered, this time in less than a minute, unlike last year’s almost half an hour, and returned to my car.  To ride or not to ride?  At the moment it appeared that the clouds would hold releasing no rain.  Some folks were departing.  Still dark.  With mixed feelings walked the bike to the road, still battling with myself whether to ride or not.  The problem is that I did not see a good way for returning having once departed.  Well, alea iacta est!  I departed.

Worrying about the rain made me worry less about the first climb, which passed relatively quickly and unevenly.  The first climb down, however, translated the sensation of chill into trembling and bike shaking.  Had to slow down substantially on those long climb downs.  (This impression, i.e., easier to climb up the mountain, than climb down, persisted for the rest of the ride.)  Some mist started after the first rest stop and the roadway that was largely dry, turned to be completely wet.  Then, before reaching the second rest stop at Mt. Aetna, the rain started in earnest.  No place to hide from it.  The rest stop was fine, but could not stay there forever, i.e., longer than 15 minutes.  Continued.  Amazingly, wasn’t even thinking of the incoming three-mile of continuous Raven Rock and Ritchie Road climb.  All I could think of was how to get some warmth and stay safe.  From the bottom of the climb, and through the clouds of the pouring rain, I could see my predicament – the top of the mountain range, where this climb ends.  The climb was not easy and the falling rain helped a lot by cooling down my muscles.

The third stop at Fairfield looked great, even under the circumstances.  Yet, this time relatively few bicyclists were there.  Normally, the place would be bustling with life; with the bicyclists exchanging their tales following conquering of the three arduous climbs in a short succession.  And, the rain was pouring, this time supported by the NE wind, which was making us shiver.  I doubt I am going to forget easily the skinny lady dressed only in a sleeveless top and shorts, and nothing else.  She was freezing!  

Departed soon after realizing that staying there for another few minutes would make me solid frozen (in my mind, at least).  What a pain!  To my horror, I soon realized that I am shaking like the leaf on the wind.  I could hardly control my bicycle, even on the flat road.  Started to beg for some climb up (knowing that one was approaching), to make me work hard and get warm.  I can hardly remember ever being so happy running up a hill.  It helped.  Amazingly, though, while some of us were freezing, some bicyclists appeared entirely immune to the situation.  They would zoom in a high speed down the hill unbothered by the rain, cold, or anything else.  It must be that they were on some sort of bicyclist antifreeze, as there could be no other explanation.  

Riding through the Gettysburg battlefield, and all those monuments, and silent guns, gave me a special feeling of exclusivity.  I mean, how many people (besides us already on the road), would be crazy enough to ride under that weather!  The mild climb down toward the bottom of Little Round Top, was very beautiful.  The alley, with its two rows of mature trees, with almost no traffic, appeared so dignified and peaceful.  Loved that moment.

Skipped the last rest stop at Barlow.  Did not want to risk another bout of cooling down and shivering.  At some point, the rain slowed down, before completely stopping.  It did not rain in Thurmond when I got there, thought the place was muddy.  Shoveled a sandwich and departed, but not before noticing my fellow bicyclists seating and noticeably shivering.  Never saw that many adult people shivering at the same time.

Turned on the heat in my car on the highest setting and departed.  Yet, continued to shiver for more than 15 more miles.  The images, mostly still, were rolling in my head.  All those long stretches of the road, the mountain creeks swollen with water; the local boys sporting their trucks at wild speeds (perhaps to show us, the city sissies, what real machos they are); all these images were rolling and rolling.  All those 166 km (103 miles) and 2050 m (~ 7000 feet) of climbing.       

For Nebojsa

One dash through the Gettysburg battlefield

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is the site of one of the bloodiest battles in American Civil War.  The three-day battle claimed lives of over 53,000 soldiers on both sides.  The Civil War Century rides, which I have participated in the past and described in this blog previously, would lead me through the most southern age of the battlefield.  This time, thanking to a work-related meeting I had to attend in the town, I had the opportunity to explore some parts of the battlefield – on bike.

The 1-hour lunch break, taxed with about 15 minutes of preparation, gave me a very limited window of opportunity, which I gladly took.  The weather was sunny, but cold.  Emmitsburg Road brought me to Peach Orchard and Wheatfield Road.  Turning left into the Wheatfield soon made me pass Sickles Avenue.  Because Wheatfield Road is where the Century ride passes through the part, I did have the opportunity to see the sign for Sickles Avenue.  This time there was no question: this indeed was Sickles Avenue.  The road was apparently named after Daniel Sickles whose blunder, reckless drive for higher ground, almost cost the Union the entire battle.  In short, he singlehandedly moved his troops toward Emmitsburg Road thereby leaving his flanks open to the Confederates to attack.  Only the reserves send the last-minute saved the Union from an almost certain catastrophe.  And, the same Daniel Sickles apparently got the road named after him!!? 

The next stop was the Devil’s Den; a collection of large boulders, positioned at the bottom of the all  important Little Round Top.  Observing this spot from the saddle, made me wonder how exactly the battle could have been played out there.  It was hard for me to grasp that hundreds of soldiers lost their lives at this rather small area.  The next stop, Little Round Top, a relatively small hill, strewn with boulders of various sizes, which proved to be a key to the outcome of the second-day battle and thus the battle overall.  Mr. Chamberlain’s unorthodox approach gave the Union an important moral boost.   Again, bicycling up the hill was relatively easy.  Getting up there and looking down toward the Devil’s Den, made me realize that Little Round Top was not exactly invincible; it could have been taken. 

The time was passing rather quickly and I had to return to the meeting.  Thinking of those days in July 1863, made me almost entirely obsolete of anything on my way back to the hotel.  An important place that continues to shape our lives even today.     

Riding with Varia

 

  

Varia is rearview bicycle radar manufactured by Garmin.  Shortly after my bike accident in May, I stumbled onto an online clip demonstrating the performance of Varia.  The clip, extoling the Varia virtues, was a promotional video made by the manufacturer.  Yet, it appeared convincing.  In principle it works like this: you install the radar on the back of your bike, usually at the seat post tube, and connect it wirelessly with either its own dedicated monitor unit, or with your compatible (Garmin) cycling computer.  The radar senses the incoming objects (read: vehicles) moving toward your back, it flashes red light toward the object warning the vehicle operators, and warns you by giving you a visual and/or acoustic signal through your monitoring device.  

 

After having used the unit for about 2,000 miles of riding, I could offer some observations on the unit’s performance.  The good: the radar does sense the moving object at the distance of up to about 150 m.  In most situations it shows the count of the incoming objects (up to 6). The unit makes the bicycle more visible by, depending on the setting, flashing the light at the incoming object(s), or only lighting the additional bars.  Not so good: if you ride next to a busy road, the radar will be showing the vehicles on the road as driving straight behind you.  This is, it does not reflect their precise location.  Of course, you figure that out quickly.  Similarly, if you are riding on a four-lane highway, or similar, the radar will be lumping all the cars together into a single file positioning them all straight behind you.  This, again, you figure out rather soon.  The battery is good for up to a total of about 5 hours.  Compared with the longevity of the computer’s battery, this is rather short, though understandable considering the intensity of the light the unit emits.  The bad: you cannot rely simply on the radar as the means of telling you what may be moving behind you.  This in itself is not necessarily bad, but could be risky early on until you, the rider, become aware of the limitations.  Another unfavorable thing is that the unit is set to make you aware of the objects moving at least 9 miles faster than you are.  This means that not every, say car or truck, will be detected as their speed may be falling below the threshold.  Therefore, looking back before making any turns is a must.  Also, a vehicle could be approaching you fast, which you see on the unit, before it would disappear from the screen.  In reality, the vehicle could be still behind you, perhaps lurking for an opportunity to pass you.  But, simply because the vehicle’s speed fell below the 9-mile threshold, you might not be able to see it on the screen.  Again, you must turn your head before turning the bike.  Furthermore, one should not rely on the unit’s count of the moving objects.  Such count is usually OK when there is one, or maybe two vehicles.  But, with multiple, the unit may lose its count and give you the wrong read.  

Yet, overall, my impression is rather positive; I like Varia.  Though not perfect and with some substantial deficiencies, the device is a big step in the right direction.  It is particularly good if you for whatever reason forget to monitor your environment, say while riding on an empty back road, thinking that the whole world is yours.  It will quickly remind you that you are not alone, and it will flash to the vehicle operator warning him/her of you, the bicyclist, on the road.  Contrary to some clips you can find on the internet that show both bars on the screen employed with the vehicles moving in both directions, this is not how it works.  You will see only the vehicles moving from your back toward you.  The device does not report the vehicles moving in the direction opposite of yours simply because the radar ray points toward the back and that is it.  Also, do not be alarmed before your first use by not seeing those orange/red/green bars on the monitor. For them to show, there must be a moving vehicle in the picture.  Only then the bar will become orange/red, before turning to green once the vehicle has passed.