Neil Fein's Blog

Neil Brennen and I have come to realize that we have different touring needs, and we've decided that Shake, Rattle and Roll has been our last tour together.

I'm sorry to see this happen, but I'm glad we rode together for the time that we did. It's been fun, and we learned a lot from each other over touring 700+ miles together, not to mention day rides and organized rides.

Even if not explicitly stated, NOW has always been at least somewhat about learning and improvement. "What can we do better next time?" was a standard conversation after a tour.

• Packing - I tend to overpack, and I still do. I like to think that I've improved since I brought 4 paniers and a huge camp roll for a 2-day trip.
  
• Climbing - the hills of Chester county (where Neil lives) are truly epic. Our tour to Bethlehem highlighted that there are always steeper hills.
  
• Camping - I've now camped 4 times with NOW, the only camping experience I have to date. I'm at the point where I can set up and break down in a reasonable amount of time, and can get a decent night's sleep in a small tent.
  Planning - Mapping appropriate roads, setting the length of the day to something realistic, and planning to ride in an area that's interesting to begin with are all important things to know how to do if a tour is to be successful.

Labels: bicycle, bike, neilsonwheels, touring

Neil B. talked me into doing a 50 mile club ride this weekend, the Brandywine Dog Daze in Westchester County, PA.

We were originally meaning to do local riding by his house, to train for next week's Lancaster Century, which is also very hilly. But Neil wanted to show oif his new hybrid bike, and he is faster; he dropped me twice, and finished the course a few minutes ahead of me.

I made decent time on the new tires, but I ended up walking my bike up the steeper hills. I like the speed I'm getting out of them, although I miss the control of knobby "mountain" tires.

Here's a map of the course. (I forgot my camera, and have no pictures.)

Labels: bike, neilsonwheels

Graffiti poetry seen on the Rutgers Livingston Campus, Piscataway, NJ by the barracks. I got a little dizzy standing in the middle and trying to read this while spinning clockwise.

We racked up 60 miles riding Neils on Wheels V and VI this past weekend, and I impressed Neil B. with my abilities to get us lost two miles from my house.

Neil got along well with friends of ours we were able to meet up with. He seemed to hit it off with Steve and Grazina in particular. And I think he has more in common with Martha than with me in some ways. (They have academic writing in common. He's been published a lot writing about the history of chess.) It's always fun to succesfully introduce a new friend to old friends. We now return to your regularly scheduled cynicism and bitterness.

Labels: bike, neilsonwheels, rutgers

Neil's come over for the weekend, and I showed him around the Rutgers Busch/Livingston campus (Pisacataway, NJ) yesterday. We explored a lot, and we found things I'd never seen. Such as a helipad. I had no idea there was such a thing here.



I'd say Neil is making me look bad by being deadly earnest. Good ride today. After a day of pointless noodling, we have a planned ride for tomorrow.

Labels: bike, neilsonwheels

The day after riding a metric century, and I feel pretty good. This was my second 100-kilometer ride, and I'm getting better at them. The first took 9 hours (a lot of breaks!), and this time it took around five and a half. It's somewhat easier when there are rest stops set up by the bike club, and you stop at a designated point and only then. Aside from pulling over to have a sip of water or have a quick stretch. Neil and I are counting this as Neils on Wheels IV, even though it's a larger ride organized by the White Clay Bicycle Club in Delaware. (Neils on Wheels III was a warmup ride the day before, by Neil's house.)

It's very different riding with a large group, and this was my first organized group ride of any sort. It's more of a structured ride, which makes for a more disciplined attitute to riding. The first metric I did was a 50-mile ride with a friend a few weeks back (Neils on Wheels II) , where we met at the trailhead. Riding to and from from the train station brought my distance for the day up to 100km. 100 kilometers on a bike sounds like a lot to ride, and it's certainly not a to be undertaken by a noob biker without some training. (Go here if you need this in miles.)


Cyclists at the 25km rest stop in the middle of the first loop of the doublecross metric.

The ride was divided into four parts of 25 kilometers. The first two combined made up "loop 1", which took us north and into Maryland for a few minutes, then back around in a rough circle. We ended up at the starting point, a high school, where we had a quick lunch before getting back on the road. A map might make this clearer:








It was mostly a flat ride, although the hills seemed to get harder as the ride went on. That really has more to do with me than the terrain, I suspect; looking at the elevation profile, the hills did get a little steeper near the end, but not by much. (The bottom of the map is a link, you and poke around there if you want to see more about the route map.)


Tandem pulling into a rest stop.

There were a lot of tandem bikes, and I spotted one fixed-gear bike. We ended up at the high school we started at, where we had a quick lunch before getting back on the road.

The ride was all on local roads, mostly long, straight county roads or major town streets, but staying away from congested areas. The areas we went through are mostly farmland.


Tandem setting out on leg 20 of the ride (25-50km).

I couldn't have fathomed it if I'd been told a few years back that I'd be riding these kind of distances. I'm proud of this, and very happy I can pull it off. Best of all is to see how I get better with each long ride. Thea "covered bridge" metric century in Lancaster this August if going to be fun! It'll have less traffic, but more hills. Mmm, hills...


Myself, Henry, and Neil, after finishing the ride.

And thanks again to Neil, and Henry for shuttling me around, and to Martha for meeting them halfway and driving several hours to meet them halfway. And thanks to Henry's rad hitch bike rack. I think the purpose of SUVs is to transport multiple bikes.


In the car, going home over the Delaware Memorial Bridge.


(Click on the pictures for more information and a bigger version.)

Labels: bike, neilsonwheels

Great ride along the Delaware River Towpath Canal. Neil and I racked up over 50 miles together. We started from Lower Ferry Road in Trenton. I've never ridden this far in one day before, neither has Neil. Thanks again, Neil for pushing me to do this!

I am sore all over, particularly all over one particular place.

Neil mentioned a funny post over at fatcyclist.com that mentioned that men who take cycling pics tend to go for pics of them in action, and women tend to take posed shots. So here are some posed shots of us in action.

Neil (not me) on his bike:


Me. Pic by Neil.


This is an amazing trail. The entire thing is actually around 70 miles long. It runs from Landing Lane Bridge in New Brunswick, down to Trenton, then up north again, ending in Milford.

We're already planning the next ride, probably in Bucks County, PA.

And here's this week of riding:

3 Jun - 3.47 miles, local roads, bugs
4 Jun - 8.6 miles, pavement, grass and lots of mud. Had to hose caked mud off my tires.
5 Jun - 6.42 miles, streets and traffic. I hit 25mph on a long, gentle uphill (Woodbridge Ave in Edison.)
6 Jun - 3.79 miles home from carpool, 5 miles later in the day.
7 Jun - 13.4 miles. Hit 25mph several times! Averaged 16.75 mph.
8 Jun - 64.7 miles, Delaware River canal towpath

Total for the week: 105.38 miles

Edit: This ride was Neils on Wheels II.

Labels: bike, neilsonwheels