The Biking Three By Bruce Julian 11, 10, 2010
We met at the bear on a cool, cloudy, and very windy day. It was Wednesday Nov. 10, and some of the Wednesday Group asked, why was some of the Tuesday Grouper’s there? I had mapped out a short ride, ( 71 miles) for a few hardy, crazy, or amazing
( that’s a good word for us ) bikers. Sandy B. and Mark C. answered the call, and had their bikes there and ready for the 9:00 A. M. starting time. We three couldn’t get any of the Wednesday bikers to go with us, so the three of us past by the wooden bear about 9:05A.M. and we were off. With the wind at our backs we were soon up to 15 M.P.H. heading south. Reaching Ballahack Road in about 15 minutes we made a left turn and were heading east, crossing Hwy. 17 in a single bound with no traffic coming either way, but with the north/east wind we slowed to 13 M.P.H. and we did this until we reach Taft Road where we turn south once again. Here the pace picked-up and we hit 17 M.P.H. and we thought this would be a piece of cake, Not ! As we reached Battlefield Blvd. we turn north and the cold wind hit us right in the face, luckily we only had a half of a mile to go this way and here we had 22 miles under our belt and this was our first planned stop. We all headed for the bathroom after downing 3 or 4 bottles of water before leaving, ( one of Ned’s tricks ) to keep away the cramps. Calling in to check with Margaret and Jane O. and letting them know where we were, I found out they were still at the Cracker Barrel eating pancakes. Margaret had our truck with a bike rack on it just in case someone had trouble on the long trip.
Now we were heading south/east and the wind was at our back once again, but not for long, reaching Sanderson Road the trail turn north/east and now we were peddling with stronger strides to fight this wind once again. Passing by the St. Brides Prison, we hope no inmates were breaking out on this cold day, to interfere with our beautiful bike ride. Crossing over Cedarville Road, we now had open fields on both sides of the road and the winds blew harder. Here we saw the first of 4 deer, in the ditch along the road that had been hit a few days earlier. Too many deer or too many cars, how do you see it ? The farmers were out in their fields picking their soybeans and as we reached Blackwater Road, we had two big 18 wheelers, loaded with the beans breeze by us. The heat from the big diesel engines felt good for a second or two, but then they were gone and the cooler air return. On Blackwater Road we only had a short mile to Blackwater Store where we had our second planned stop, reaching 35 miles. Sandy pulled out her PB&J sandwich from her pack and Mark and I drank another bottle of liquid. I also called Margaret and they were about 100 yards from the Cracker Barrel and waiting for us to call in and give a report. I told them to hang out there and wait for us, that we would be there in about one hour. There was only about 16 miles before stopping for a real lunch, so off we peddled.
Crossing over the Blackwater Bridge we once again had the wind in our face and the going was tough. We had a little reprieve from the wind as we turn west onto Head of River Road. Almost reaching the end of this road we had another encounter with trucks. This time we were passed by 5 large Dump Trucks and as they came by each one got a little closer to our bikes. Mark said, he thought one brushed his elbow as it went by. We had 3.5 miles on Long Ridge Road and open fields on both sides with that beautiful wind blowing right into our faces once again. I heard Mark call out, Bruce, we our down to a single digit for our speed, so I pushed a little harder on my peddles and tried to reach 10 M.P.H., after all we were supposed to maintain 13 to 14 M.P.H. Ha ! Ha ! On this road I had lived with my parents, brother and two sisters way back in the 50’s for ten years, so we made a unplanned stop at my old house. As the jets from Fentress Air Field flew over head, I told Sandy and Mark all about my childhood living there with all the fun we had growing up as kids. We also had the planes flying back then (50’s) and as we move away in 1962, we vowed never to live that close to an airfield again. Pushing on, we got to Centerville Turnpike, here we went south for about one half mile and then turning into Woodard’s Mill housing development with lots of trees, we had no more wind for almost one and a half miles. Hillwell Road, then Battlefield Blvd., we reached the Wawa Gas Station and here we met up with Margaret and Jane and we took a long 30 minute break and had lunch. This was 50 miles and three hours into our trip. The Sun came out as we were eating and this help somewhat with the cold weather. Margaret and Jane headed back towards the Bear on Hwy. 17. and we climbed back onto our bikes and moved on.
On our last leg of this trip (21 miles) we had planned not to stop, but as we reach the Fire Station # 13 on Benefit Road, I needed water, Mark needed a bathroom and Sandy was ready to push on for a 100 miles, but we didn’t. After drinking 2 bottles of water we jump back onto our bikes and finished our last 6 miles. Passing the Bear once again it felt REAL GOOD ! Margaret was there waiting for us, but Jane had headed home a few minutes earlier to get ready for the club meeting. It was 4:00 P.M. and we had covered 71 miles. We want to do this again, but with warmer temps and a whole lot less wind