My epic Coker ride

Off-topic
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Ok, everyone is reporting their epic rides so I’ll do mine – except it’s an epic week!

I went to Cape Cod, Massachusetts for a week of Cokering - what I didn’t plan on was 20-30 MPH winds with 45 MPH gusts! But did I let that slow me down, NO!:smiley: Well ok, maybe a little bit. :stuck_out_tongue:

The week started well on Sunday, with the first monthly(?) Boston Uni Ride (BUR? BURM? MBUR? BMUR?), a ride at Pope John Paul II Park. Four and a half of us (one of us didn’t ride) meet and rode on the paths at the park, exciting the (hundreds of `em) soccer players. I’m not sure how far we rode (as I didn’t put the computer on) not far but fun and, of course, swapped unis (I hate it when someone rides my Coker better than I do - on their first try!)

On Monday I went to Provincetown and rode the bike path into the dunes and around into P town. 25 MPH headwinds up hill {both ways?!?!} to the visitor center then through the Beech Forest (official name, sounds like something from the OZ books) to P town to walk through the tourist trap stores (the kite shop – I will not buy another kite {yeah, right, he will}– but it’s so pretty! {see? I told ya!} and the used book store – how can I not buy some more books? I only have 2,000+ - and Christmas is coming, gotta buy some gifts) where it was more crowded than I wanted to ride in, even though I was asked to several times. No clown music anywhere or missing parts comments, I kept expecting it.
Distance: 9.3 miles; Avg: 5.9 MPH (hey, I said I walked some!) Max: 13.4

Tuesday: Woods Hole to Falmouth through the woods, (ah no wind!) the rail trail portion ended abruptly with a sign – END! The computer reset before I could record the data more than 10 miles, about 8.6 average.

Wednesday, the big one!: Start in Orleans and down to Rte 134 in Dennis on the rail trail. Started at a bike shop (there are several right on the rail trail. The eternal question, which came first, the bike shop or the trail?) With the dappled shadows (UPD) from the trees it’s (oops, almost UPD) hard to (almost UPD) see the root bumps (UPD). Several cranberry bogs and a horrible sign that said Ice Cream! I went in and gave them what for, I can tell you! And a medium vanilla, please. The first 5 miles I just couldn’t get up to speed, no more than 8 MPH {yeah, sure, you wimp} – ah, the computer rest itself to new and the factor was 2154 instead of 2768. The last four miles was too much, I did them after I got back to Orleans so that I would break 30 miles (you’ll be sooorry!).
Distance: 31.25 miles; Avg: 8.7; Max: 11.5

Thursday: Do I have to ride to day? {Yes, you do, it’ll feel better if you ride some - honest (heh, heh, sucker):wink: :smiley: .} Dennis town offices to the south shore, (groan) not much to (groan) talk about and I cut the ride (moan) short because it looked like (groan) rain, yeah that’s it, it look like rain and it was windy, too! Really, the Cape is almost deserted in the off-season, so there wasn’t anything to see anyway. The computer got reset again, it’s much too easy to reset.
Distance: 6.6+ miles; Avg: 8+; Max: ?

Friday: I feel better now, I’m going to do the Cape Cod Canal {sure you are}. A very nice path right on the edge of the canal (it’s a service access). I stopped and talked to some people fishing for stripper {not because I ache, really, he said innocently. hah!}. I cut this one short because of the head wind, honest, the aches really weren’t that bad {yeah, right, do you belive that? I don’t} and I’m macho, but a 25+ MPH headwind for several miles is HARD.
Distance: 5.2 miles; Avg: 8.8; Max: ? (Yep, it reset again)

Saturday: I decided to forgo any riding today (I just had a birthday, I’m old, I need my rest! {snigger}) so that I’d be able to do the entire canal on Sunday. {HAH!!}

Sunday: no riding today, 30 MPH winds – no way I’m riding in that, I wouldn’t ride in that if it was a tail wind! {I don’t believe I have to say any thing.}

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o

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Brian,

That’s a great write-up and a great week of Cokering. I’m surprised it got no replies. It fell off of page one and I just discovered it now. I think this story deserves to be in the main forum, where it will be more widely read (and somehow, here in JC, which is the place for off-topic stuff, it is strangely off-topic).

Some people do their write-ups sort of like “Henry David Thoreau unicycles at Walden”. Personally, I prefer your amusing style. I can certainly relate to the head-winds, the stops to chat which are NOT due to fatigue {yeah, right}, and the insidious lure of the Ice Cream shop (although I find vanilla far too boring and I am shocked that you didn’t pick a flavor that was a bit more, um, flamboyant? interesting?).

You are getting some great mileage! I can’t ride that many miles. And certainly not on consecutive days. Not bad for an old man. :slight_smile: By the way, Happy {belated} Birthday!

Keep the write-ups coming. Your friends here appreciate them.

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Makes me want to get a Coker… anyone wanna donate to the “Buy A Coker Fund” (BACF)? Tax deductible… somewhere in the world I’m sure. :smiley:

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Hey Brian
That does sound like one heck of a week. Maybe the the wind gods will cut you some slack on your next epic adventure:D

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Yeah, I never saw it either. Wondered what happened. Thought that your GPS might have put you on a Ferry to Newfoundland.

Great ride the two of you had.

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Re: My epic Coker ride

Brian, so kind of you to mention me. :slight_smile: Just you wait, my lessons are progressing and I can almost (but not quite) mount unaided and ride a short distance. I’ll be riding your Coker better than you soon! (if we can get the seat low enough!)

Did you put some dollar bills in the stripper’s g-string? :astonished:

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Hey sounds like an awesome week. Coker riding in Wind is fun! Now I got to get back on my Coker :stuck_out_tongue:

You should probably have stuck this on the main forum.

Ken