Post ride posting

So here's the post mortem on the ride for Haiti. Paul and I survived the ride just fine. Paul seems to like me again, which is nice, and I gather that he doesn't hate bicycling as much as he did while he was riding across country. It's clear that his friends think that the ride was quite an accomplishment, so I think that helps. After about two weeks of remedial partying with friends, Paul is now back in Toronto, preparing for the new school year. He is riding his fixed gear bike and doing it at a pretty fast clip. I think he is happy about that too. He has an interview scheduled with an on-campus bike shop. Apparently, his experience cycling across country is a plus there too.

I took a couple of days off after returning home to catch up on things that I had left undone in my preparations to cycle across country--most notably, my income taxes. I had lost my study while on the road. Missie converted it into a bedroom for the Norwegian foreign exchange student who is living with us for the year. The hunt for records and tax preparation software among the boxes that held the remnants of my study was an adventure.

Back at work, my colleagues gave me an incredible reception. My Tax Policy Center colleagues took me out to lunch, and my Urban Institute colleagues threw a surprise party for me. I missed it, of course. The plan was that I would show up in my office at the appointed time because I had an appointment with one of my senior colleagues. That plan would have worked in May, but I had not yet gotten into the habit of looking at my calendar and so completely forgot that I was supposed to be somewhere. Someone called me on my cell phone and told me that I had forgotton my meeting. The party was nice. Despite the pressures of working 6 hour days, my colleagues found time to produce a wonderfully whimsical map showing some of the high points of our trip. It is still hanging outside my office.

I've been cooking a lot, but trying not to eat too much (a seeming conflict that I have been reconciling only imperfectly). I've gone to about every farmers market in town since I returned, buying fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches, berries, fresh cheeses, and everything else that looks good. Last night, I made a risotto with 7 different kinds of mushrooms that I found at the farmers market yesterday. The ride across the culinary wastelands of America has really made me appreciate food.

I got back home in great shape. Although almost everything hurt at some point during the ride, by the end, I was riding analgesic-free. For a few days, I felt like someone 25 years younger with no aches or pains of any sort. Unfortunately that didn't last. I was going to list the joints and muscles that have hurt since I returned, but that's too depressing. Suffice it to say that a more active than usual 51-year-old feels significantly worse than a 51-year-old nut who exercises for 5-8 hours a day. I also lost some weight during the ride, although it is slowly creeping back up to its pre-ride level.

I'm cyclling much faster than I did before the cross-country trek. Two weeks ago, I averaged 18.6 mph on a very hilly 71 mile club ride and was passing fairly fast riders going uphill. That was great fun. Next week, I've signed up for a hilly century, called the Civil War century. A month ago, I would say that it would be no big deal, but we'll see whether I have regressed. If I survive that, I will be doing the Potomac Pedalers century the week after. Needless to say, I still like bicycling and I enjoy being lighter and stronger.

It's been hard getting back into the swing of work. I feel like I need a vacation, but that won't happen anytime soon. I think wistfully about the days when I had no responsibility more taxing than choosing where and when to stop for lunch. I've got lots of responsibilities now (again). I want to tell people who ask me to do things that I'd love to do it, but can't because I'm biking across country in a few months. That worked great in the spring, but seems less effective now. I'll have to come up with another ruse.

This is probably the last post to this blog. It amazed me that so many people read Paul's and my posts and enjoyed them. It was fun for us knowing that we had an audience.

Thanks again for your support.

Len