The Long Commute

Yesterday's commutes added up to 32 miles. The church I work for has multiple locations, so I've been peppering in some bike commutes to the newest campus. But that campus is a 20 mile ride from my house. So the mileage is starting to add up. Home to Campus A, Campus A to Campus B, and Campus B to home would be a total of 40+ miles. But Mondays are my day to drive the boy to school and work at the other campus. So that probably won't happen much. But, like yesterday, I'll bring my bike on the car and ride after I take him in. I'm loving the extra miles!

Get out there.

Nonesuch Place

On my last camping trip, a friend mentioned that there was a campground in Nonesuch, Kentucky. Now for those non-Kentucky readers out there, Nonesuch probably doesn't sound like an actual town. But I assure you, Nonesuch is, in fact, a real place. It's not only real, but it's a pretty great riding distance from my house, too. So this past weekend I did a scouting trip to see the potential camping at Nonesuch.

The ride to Nonesuch is farmland the entire way. Traffic isn't bad and there are Share the Road signs along the entire route. I'm assuming that's a sign that other cyclists are out there, too.

The Nonesuch Grocery & Hardware store is basically the entirety of Nonesuch. It's a bit like a time warp. When I pulled up, this car was the only one the in the parking lot. I wondered if I had hit 88mph on a downhill and didn't notice my flux capacitor kicking in.

Just an FYI, the Grocery & Hardware store also has karaoke, billiards and church services on Sunday. That's a multi-use building if I ever saw one.

From the Grocery store, you just head down towards the river. It's about 20 minutes of coasting down and down and down and down. Nothing around you but farms and barns and beasts of the field and birds of the sky.

This farm post had a grumpy look to it. He stared at me with his one eye as I zoomed past.

At the bottom of the roller coaster is a boat ramp and campground. The campground is nothing to write home about as far as amenities go, but I'll certainly bunk down there in the future. There's great primitive sites right on the river and enough privacy to make you feel like you're removed from modern culture. No cell service. No wifi. Just a general store and a bathhouse. I like that.

The climb out was beastly. I really enjoy a long slow climb every once in a while. And that day I appreciated it. "Find your gear and keep on the pedals," my mind said. A short while and a lot of sweat later and I was out.

I'll be back to Nonesuch for a camping trip. It would be a great S24O destination. I'd like to have nothing more than a fishing pole and a hammock for a campout here. It'd make for  a good time.

Get out there.

Buckets

Buckets of rain poured down on me on this morning's commute. I wasn't even riding my rain bike. The LHT took it like a champ, though.

Get out there.

Road and Dirt

I'm really liking the idea that I can pull off of the road and ride the LHT wherever I'd like it to go. Lunch today was one of those journeys. Five miles of pavement leads to a few miles of trails at a local MTB park. The LHT is perfect for such a ride. Plus, I had a couple buddies, one on an LHT and another on a Cross Check, that wanted to join.

Our first break from asphalt was a mighty offroad climb. Time to change from those roadie gears to something a little more docile.

Trevor and Noah are killing it these days on road miles. I couldn't hardly keep up on the five miles over. But neither of these guys ride dirt. So it was fun to explore a new surface.

Skinny tires didn't stop Trevor.

Another LHT in the dirt.


We pedaled hard on the way in, found a spot for lunch, then I had to scoot out. I didn't want to be late for a meeting. So I mashed the pedals hard to get out of the woods and made a solo journey back to the office. Good stuff.

I'm thinking I'll write some thoughts on the LHT + dirt combo on here soon. Stay tuned.

Get out there.

Shellac'd

The Brooks that was on loan from Jason became a permanent ficture on the LHT a couple weeks ago when I decided it was a worthy throne for my rear end. With the aesthetic that that purchase brought to the bike, I thought it would be appropriate to finally shellac the cotton tape.

I chose the maroon tape because I thought it would look great without shellac, while still offering a close match to a Brooks if I ever decided to upgrade my saddle. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

After two coats, it's a pretty close match. What do you think? Like it?

Get out there.

Lunch Break

Today's weather and schedule opened up an opportunity to ride some dirt on the LHT over lunch.

It wasn't an actual dirt shredding session. It was more like using a bicycle on dirt trails to get to a good lunch/coffee spot.

I had a reptilian visitor during my coffee brew. Apparently, everyone loves the smell of fresh coffee. This guy came right up to me, stopped for about a minute, then went on his way right past me. We bonded.

I wasn't out long and didn't get into anything gnarly (although during my creek crossing I dropped my foot into the water... soggy shoes for the rest of the work day, I guess). I just slowly and gently rode the road bike through the woods and casually made my way around. That's a great way to spend an hour over lunch.

Get out there.

Shorts are Back!

Shorts are back on the commute! ...so is Neil. Neil's my neighbor/coworker who occasionally rides with me. Now that the weather is nice again, Neil and I were sporting the shorts for this ride. That also meant that, with no cold weather gear, we made it there faster than any other commute this year. I love summer!

Get out there.

Spring Breaking

I'm off this week for spring break. More time to ride, less time to blog. But I thought I'd squeeze one in here. Just got back from a 20 miler. Explored a new gravel road to nowhere. Good riding, though. The LHT is a fun gravel bike.

Found an old abandoned house. I hopped off the bike and peeked inside. I'll be honest... a bird fluttered inside and I just about crapped my pants. I ran about 10 yards back to my bike and felt too foolish to go back for photos.

I may or may not be back to blogger this week. I've got some bike maintenance planned and I hope to get in a 50 miler before the week's out. We'll see if it makes it up here, though.

Get out there.