Kyle DeMilner - Ride The Lobster Qualifying Ride Report - Day 2 - March
16, 2008
Start Time: 9:20 AM
Just getting out of bed for the second day of my qualifier was tough.
My legs were very sore from the crash and riding the previous day, but
I knew I had to get out there and ride no matter what. This qualifier
is basically to prove that you can suffer long distance on a unicycle.
Since I have the least amount of long distance experience on my team, I
definitely felt that I had to prove myself and get out there.
I parked in a different lot at Valley Forge to I could avoid climbing
any hills at the very end of my ride. It was raining pretty steadily,
but I was heading east on the Schuylkill River Trail, towards
Philadelphia, which I knew would be mostly flat and paved. The rain was
more obnoxious and miserable than I expected. After riding in it for
just an hour, I called my brother from the refuge of an overpass and
expressed my distaste for the rain. He had no sympathies for me after
riding for a month through New England during one the rainiest monsoon
seasons on record. I don’t know how he did it, but after just an hour
riding in the wet stuff, my respect for that kid multiplied by a
thousand. (www.unicyclemax.com)
I couldn’t take my breaks as frequently while it was raining since
dismounting would usually leave my seat open to getting soaked by the
rain and that would make the seat discomfort worse. So I tried to take
my breaks whenever the trail went under a major highway or regional
railway. The trail towards the city was very straight and flat as
expected, but because of the rain there were very few people out
running or biking and it made the ride feel very lonely. Again, I
sympathized with my brother for his 720 mile solo venture through 6
states.
Once I hit the city, the rain tapered off a little bit, but it was
still too cold to take of my rain jacket. The trail through Manayunk
was unpaved and took me through a graffiti-covered ghetto along the
river. I took some cool pictures through this section but tried not to
stop for too long. After the waterfront section, the trail hits
downtown Manayunk and moves to the sidewalk along Main Street. This was
a little awkward competing with runners and watching for cars pulling
in and out of various parking lots. Eventually the trail pointed me in
the direction of Kelly Drive which was a nice ride. I could have taken
it all the way to the Art Museum which would have made for a great
photo-op, but my knees were killing me among other parts. I decided to
turn around and head home.
The ride back westward traded the rain earlier for some fierce
headwinds.
It was actually harder to ride in than the rain, but at least I could
stop a lot more frequently and give my knees a rest. I stopped almost
every 2km for just a minute or so. When I finally made it closer to the
Valley Forge Park, I stopped and looked at the map to estimate my
mileage. I knew it wouldn’t really be enough, so I rode past the Valley
Forge trail head to do the Audubon Loop in Oaks on the Perkiomen Trail.
I had ridden past the signs for it the previous day and knew it would
be fairly low impact.
Finally, after riding over 60km, I was back in Valley Forge heading to
my car when I noticed a rattle in my water bottle cage. I stopped to
check it out thinking the screws just needed to be tightened, but to my
surprise, the mounts broke off and the whole thing came off in my hand.
I’m sure my crash from the day before had weakened the welds, but I was
still surprised to see them break off completely. I threw the cage in
my pack and headed to the car. I got back around 4:30pm, hit the
bathroom, called the wife to have her start a hot bath again, and
headed home, looking forward to some recovery time and healing.
This was definitely the hardest, most physically demanding thing I’ve
ever done, but I felt great for accomplishing it. I’m looking forward
to riding the lobster even more than ever.
Total distance: 64.9 km
Ascended: 155m
Descended: 155m
Gravel: 6.5 km
Light Rain: 4 km
Heavy Rain: 10 km
Wind: 20 km
Final score: 154
[image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2105/2359275623_99e3322537.jpg]
[image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/2360108542_45722d7734.jpg]
[image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/2359273043_e133f28170.jpg]
[image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2360109966_76e48062b1.jpg]
[image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2359273783_c20fd1531f.jpg]
Calculating tools used:
Google Earth
http://www.emaltd.net/google/gec/utilities/index.asp?l=en
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com
--
BoojiBoy
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