just the obligatory camp setup photos
The ride down was mostly uneventful.
Normally, I just bomb down the hills, but I tend to ride the brakes around here because there are hidden rocks sticking up out of the road, just an inch or two, and I occasionally hit one. I tend to stand up on the pedals on the steeper descents with my butt as far back as possible with my thighs squeezing the front of the bike seat. That way if i hit a bump I don't bruise my tailbone, and it's easier to manage the tires bouncing.I did hit one particularly bad rock on the ride down, and it made the rear wheel hop up in the air. I skidded a little when the rear wheel came back down, but I didn't wipe out! Did a cool side skid. I always skid with my rear tire going to my right hand side. No idea why.
The rest of the ride into town was quite nice. I have these new Shokz Openfit 2 earphones. They don't go in the ears at all like normal earbuds. they're more like mini bluetooth speakers that hover over the ear canal openings. Sound quality is better than my induction headset, but on busy roads with lots of road traffic, they're useless. But for quiet gravel roads they're great! they also have built-in microphones that make phone calls easier.
So the brief 2 mile ride from the end of cedar river road into town on rt 28 kind of sucked sound-wise. I just switched from my audiobook to music, and enjoyed the ride into town when cars weren't zipping by. It was 11:30a.m. sunday morning, so I think I was just catching all the campers leaving Lake Durant.
At Stewart's I did a proper pig out.
2 cheeseburgers (they're not big, 2 for $6)
1 small pringles can (360 cal size)
1 ice cream cookie sandwich
half a Schwep's Ginger Ale
for later I also bought a couple more clif bars and a double snickers for the ride tomorrow. When biking, I always eat 200-250 calories each hour, and I drink plenty of fluids. Keeps me from bonking on my 3-4 hour rides.
There was a chicken bbq option from Knights of Columbus at the high school a few houses down, but I'm not used to rich food and didn't want to risk it. Colon blowouts and biking don't mix!! Guessing the chicken would be ridiculously salty (based on the smell in the air), and the sides would probably have a lot of mayo or butter.
I felt great on the ride back. More calories in the belly than normal, and the last time i had red meat was on my birthday (got a single cheeseburger at Five Guys with Jacqui)
Anyhoo, got back to camp after a good climb. got some decent photos on the ride back of the brook and local barns with character
there were 2 short sections of 12-15% grade on the climb back. In other words, steep. I might have to walk those on a fully loaded bike, but I rode it just fine today. but partly why I wanted to do the Stewart's ride was to scout ahead if/when I do the mini bike tour idea i have starting from my parent's house. Biking from rt28 up to Wakely Dam, and from Wakely Dam up to Cellar Mt on cedar river road are totally doable IMHO. I feel ready for it.
The rest of Sunday was just another swim, dinner, campfire, and a good night's rest. Jeff had his weekly game session with his friends on a Zoom call. They were impressed he did it from middle of nowhere, but i think he was also doing that on his month long Canada trip. Yay Starlink!
Monday morning, another oatmeal bowl, and then I did a hike down to Wakely Pond, to Northville Placid trail, to an old jeep trail, to the Mt Wakely trail and back to camp. The little jog out/spike on the upper left of the loop I hiked in the screenshot below was me getting temporarily lost on a jeep trail that just ends. I doubled back and found the turn I missed. It's not clearly marked, you need a good gps to find your way, but I didn't feel like hiking Mt Wakely again so soon.
after my hike, i ate a bean wrap for lunch and then Jeff and I biked from Wakely Dam down to Otter Brook.
I really wanted to try a soak in the cold water down at Otter Brook. That was my goal of biking all the way there. While I did that, Jeff went to the very end of the road to the snowmobile bridges and doubled back.
I can 1000% confirm the brook water is CHILLY! I found a nice rock to sit in the pool I found and the water was over my belly button, but I couldn't bring myself to fully submerge. Everything from the waste down went numb. The cold water felt nice on the legs as much as I could feel them. After a 5 minute soak, I splashed water over my head and upper torso and then walked back to the bike by the road. I'd left my bike clothes drying on the picnic table of the unoccupied site by the brook. Nicer to put on warm, sun dried clothes instead of cold, sweat soaked clothes. I did bring a small camp towel to dry off before putting the bike clothes back on. And my wide cut speedo's The sides are like 8-10 inches long, so it's as modest as a speedo gets imho. Like the old school Superman Red briefs
Anyhoo, i was definitely tired on the ride back. I was struggling to keep up with Jeff, so when we started to hit the climbs to get back up to the Cellar Mt Trailhead I told Jeff to just go ahead and I'd meet him up there.
He got to the Cellar Mt trailhead 15 minutes before me, but I'm ok with that. I got to put my bike into easy gears and just spin my way up without killing myself. I put on an audiobook and enjoyed the ride
There were lots of moments like that today and on yesterday's ride. I like just looking up through the tree branches to the sky as I ride sometimes. As I jokingly told Jeff on the ride today, I hope i can watch a video of that on my deathbed, like that scene of Saul's passing in Soylent Green. Trees overhead are one of my favorite views. Just watching the trees go by as i pedal along underneath.
Back at camp I skipped going for a swim and did a proper shower with soap. well proper with my geyser sponge shower gadget, but that was the first time I'd used soap in a few days. I've just been swimming and putting on deodorant after. All my clothes smell like wood smoke and insect repellent. so how much does it matter?
i also planned the food well on this camping trip. I finished up the baked beans I made before leaving on the trip, and the curried red lentil, rice mix I made with my truck kitchen supplies. Usually I bring way too much.
Tomorrow morning i have just enough soy milk for a protein smoothie, an apple, and a few pieces of my homemade chocolate coated almond protein bars. To me, they almost taste like fudge, https://www.cottercrunch.com/chocolate-almond-no-bake-protein-bars/
for lunch on the drive home Tuesday, i have enough mex beans and southwest sauce for a wrap and that's all the food in the fridge. I usually bring way too much, so I'm happy I had just enough this time. Feels like I dropped 1-2 lbs. If I hit 215 something before boothbay, I'll officially be 60lbs lighter than I was last time I was up there. And again, 210-215 is my goal long term, staying well under 220.
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