MTN Biking on New Year's Day

New Years Day (2009) Mountain Biking in Mercer County Park

Like many people around the globe, I was happy to see the back side of 2008 and wanted to start the year off right - on the bike.

It was a cold day (23*F at the start), so the "sensible" option was to stay in the woods. We met at Mercer County Park at noon. Chris brought some CMCs (Chris Made Cookies). It was Mary's first time out with us, but she didn't hesitate to take Chris up on his offer of a CMC.

We had a great group. Mike B., Laura, Chris, Mary and myself. It was also Mike's first time out and he was on a borrowed bike. It took a little time to get him set-up, but then he was off without ever looking back.

We stayed on the West side of the park. (Chris and I had been out a couple of day's earlier and had stayed on the East side of the park. Many of the trails were submerged under 5-8 inches of water. It was impossible to keep your feet dry.) Chris led us through the "Hall of Mirrors." This trail is through a ridiculously tight stand of young oaks. This trail really tests/develops your bike handling skills. There are many spots where the trail is book-ended by a pair of oaks spaced closer together than the width of your handlebars.

Mary has had a great year on the road -- over 10,000 miles before she found out that her frame was cracked at the beginning of December. She was struggling to keep warm, even though we were in the woods. Fortunately, Mike had some hand-warmers that she was able to add to her gloves.

Laura, after being up late hosting a wonderful New Year's eve party, was doing great in the woods. I wish I had done a better job of capturing her jump over the log pile, but she was just moving too fast!

Eventually we found the "playground". Someone has been busy building a number of obstacles that are beyond me. Mike, even though it was his first time in the woods, didn't hesitate to try to make it over the see-saw. No, Chris didn't push him over. Chris was just trying, without success, to keep Mike from tumbling over.

The only downside of the entire day was that Laura's shoe failed her.

In spite of the "wardrobe failure", it turned out to be great way to start the year!

Nearly all of the Cousins

This past September, my nephew David married his sweetheart Jess in Nashville (they are both Vanderbilt grads.) We had a great turn-out. The picture above includes my parents, 14 of their 15 Grandchildren (only missing Jimmy), the two ersatz grandchildren (Helene and Caro), and, of course, the bride. My father likes to claim that his good looks bypassed his children and went straight to his grandchildren. He may be right.

Dr. Phil

Thank you Facebook.

We had all been at Duke together. After graduation Phil seemed to be more interested in piloting large pieces of equipment (moving vans across the South, seismic explor-ation equipment in Montana) than being a captain of industry. A few years later, I was a young father and Ed was a rising Congressional staffer. Phil was making noises about going to medical school. None of us took him too seriously - at least not any more seriously than he seemed to take his poly sci classes at Duke. Shortly afterwards, Ed got married, and somehow we lost track of Phil.

Fast forward 20 years. A few weeks ago, Lizzy receives a Facebook "Friends" invitation from Phil. It turns out Phil had gone to medical school and now is an anesthesiologist in Northern Virginia. After some schedule negotiation, we decide on a date to meet in DC.

Ed let us know that he bought a set of tickets for a Wizards game at a Diabetes charity auction and asked if we'd all like to meet at the game. He didn't bother to mention that the tickets were for a luxury box!

Phil kept us waiting -- he is a doctor after all, but did show up by half time. I always think it is going to be awkward to meet up with a long lost friend. But Phil showed once again that it is really pretty easy to pick up where we left off. Yes, there we spent a part of the evening catching up on the last 20 years, but soon we were back in the same routine of just enjoying each other - we are still the same people with the same senses of humor. It was a great evening.

After the game we retired to a trendy, crowded wine bar (what recession?). Late that night we said our farewells to Phil and found the Metro out to Bethesda.

On Saturday we visited the Pompeii exhibit at the East Wing with Ed, his wife Angie, and his beautiful teenage daughter Madeline.

Fall in Western Mass

At the end of October, Lizzy and I drove to Amherst for Parents' weekend. On Saturday evening, the six Amherst a cappella groups performed. Julie's group, DQ, was the best (of course.) What made it especially nice was that the newly weds, my nephew David and his wife Jessica, drove up from Wesleyan for the concert and dinner. The Concert Choir performed on Sunday afternoon. The choir, while very entertaining, was quite formal. This was in stark contrast to the daring skits and routines performed by the students the night before (which was put on without any oversight from the college.)

All of the Rt 9 motels were fully booked, so we ended up staying at the lovely historic Deerfield Inn about about 15 miles Northwest of Amherst. This turned out to be a nice surprise. Deerfield is truly a living history museum. Driving through town too quickly, you might see it as just another quaint, well maintained, small New England town. Scattered among the families, schools and shops, are over a dozen homes and other 18th century buildings which have been meticulously restored and furnished with authentic pieces. With your museum admission, you can stroll from house to house and ask questions of knowledgeable guides.

Sunday morning, the very hospitable receptionist, mapped out a ride on a piece of scratch paper. The ride while short, had one good climb and terrific vistas. I'll bringing my bike on our future trips to Amherst!

MTK MBK (Montauk Mountain Biking)

As summer waned, Lizzy and I dropped Julie, our daughter, at college. Like any normal 19 year-old, she was much more interested in re-connecting with friends then with spending additional time with her parents. Sunday morning we headed to Montauk via three ferry trips: New London to Orient Point followed by quick trips on and off Shelter Island. Driving off the ferry at Orient Point, we found ourselves in the middle of hundreds of riders halfway through the North Fork Century. Even though it was a pleasant day for a drive through beautiful countryside, I would have much rather been out on the bike. As soon as we arrived in Montauk, we met up with Lizzy's brother Ger and his wife Tina. Ger and Tina were out in Montauk for the better part of the week, along with assorted members of Tina's extended family. Ger and I immediately headed out for a ride, letting everyone know that they didn't need to wait for us to start dinner.

Ger and I found some beautiful trails along along a sandy ridge in Shadmoor State Park. We meandered up to the lighthouse at Montauk point using a combination of the road, legal and questionable trails. It was a great warm-up ride.

Monday morning we started at the bike shop to pick up an extra tube and to ask about the best trails. The surly teenager (I'm used to those) behind the counter pointed us towards Hither Woods state park and convinced us to buy a trail map (good idea.) Not having time to ride all 40 miles of the park, I pressed the angry adolescent to recommend his favourite trail. He pointed out "Serpent's Back" and described it as "the Sweetest Trail."

Riding North out of Montauk, we quickly found our way into the park. The trails range from packed gravel roads to nearly hidden single-track; from firm and flat to short, steep climbs. Riding through Laurel Canyon affords a terrific vista across the island out to Block Island Sound. We rode for almost two hours before we came upon the Serpent's back trail.

Not really sure what the malcontent mechanic meant by "the sweetest trail", I was expecting a serpentine trail with many twists and turns. What we found is a nearly straight run from South to North, following a series of steep uphills and fast downhills. I quickly learned that if you wanted to get up the following hill, you first needed to build momentum on the downhill. At one particularly steep downhill, I noticed too late that the bottom was deep sand and down I went. As falls go, fortunately it was more spectacular looking than it felt. Head over the handlebars, I landed flat on my back on relatively soft sand. Since he was behind me, Ger witnessed the fall and knew to take it a little more carefully. With adrenalin flowing, I got back on the bike and enjoyed the remainder of the sweetest trail.

For years I've been trying to convince Ger that he needs to wear his helmet. After the Serpent's Trail, he knows why. I'm confident that he will be with a brain bucket the next time we ride.

Leaving the Serpent's Trail we found a lovely single track along the shore. It was a great way to recover. But since the day was still young, we turned back to the center of the island to find some more hills to climb. My chain decided it had had enough. Fortunately were only a couple of miles from the road, and were able to call Lizzy to come and rescue us. Just another example of how lucky I am!

A Birthday in Burnsvile (NC)

My mom turned 80! I flew to NC for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. She and my dad (almost 83) spend much of the Summer in the mountains of NC. They remain independent and active in spite of the toll that age has taken -- both of them suffer from arthritis and have had multiple joint replacements; my father has recently developed bulging discs.

It was a great weekend. We had a few nice meals, watched some Olympics, played some scrabble, and visited the mountain in Burnsvile.

My mom has always been a strong proponent for biking. Part of this was that, with six kids, she needed us to be independent, and by 1st grade, I was riding my bike the mile to school. In the 60's she convinced Coral Gables to build a bike path down Old Cutler Road and into Matheson Hammock. This was quite an accomplishment, long before the dawning of activists groups such as Critical Mass, and during a time when people really did believe that what was good for GM was good for America.

On Sunday, my parents and I drove up to the "Mountain" outside of Burnsville. This is a piece of property that my father bought 25 years ago that backs up to the Tennessee border and the Appalachian Trail. My brother Steve has recently built a beautiful four season home on part of the property. Nothing quite compares with the rustic charm of the original log cabin.

The weather was warm and dry, perfect for a short hike. The only other times I had been to the Mountain was with my kids when they were just about 10 and 12, so hiking was limited to strolls along the road and through the meadows. I decided it was time to try to climb up. Up I went.

I made it to the top of the ridge, but wasn't able to find the Appalachian Trail. On the way back, I did get off course a tad, which required a rather steep climb!

Finally Did A Century

I've been biking for 40 years. When I was a kid, the bike meant freedom. Even after I started driving, biking remained an important part of my life. The bike has allowed me to cover greater distances than on foot, while remaining close to the ground. I found both of the houses that I have bought while scoping out neighborhoods on my bike. There was a period of 10-15 years where I spent more time playing tennis than cycling. I've learned that biking is much gentler on the knees. Three years ago I joined the Princeton Free Wheelers and started cycling regularly. I've made some good friends and enjoy cycling more every week. I did my first century last week at the Princeton Event. Check out Laura's Hill Slugs Chronicles for a nice write up http://perpetualheadwinds.blogspot.com/2008/08/pushing-boundaries.html.

Martha Vinyard vintage 1988

We first visited the Vineyard in the Summers of '87 and '88. Lizzie and I were young parents. Mark and Laura were in love that first summer of '87 and were married by the next. Mark, one of my college roommates, and fellow engineering student, had called a few months earlier to ask if we wanted to go in on a beach house. I'd never heard of Martha's Vineyard, but always trusted Mark to arrange a good time! We learned that getting to the Vineyard is a bit of hassle, but once there, everything seems far away. The house was on Tisbury Pond, a short boat trip to an isolated section of South Beach. I still remember the exhilaration that Mark (in photo), Laura, and I felt as we jumped off the dunes onto the deserted beach.

Back then, we were into biking, but Mark, ever the engineer, always seemed as interested in working on the bikes as he was in riding them.

Mark and Lizzie are also great friends. The three of us had already traveled to Vermont and Montreal. This was our first time traveling with Laura - but it would not be the last!

Back then, Julie was just an infant and Ed was a toddler. Now they are both in college. You can visit Ed's cartooning blog at http://edmoorman.blogspot.com/ Julie is following her passion for music, especially voice, while studying at Amherst.

Mark and Laura share a love of food and of entertaining. We had a memorable 4th of July party that summer. Mark and Laura's had offered an open invitation to their friends in Boston. Little did we know that news of the party spread around Cambridge like wildfire and soon we had over thirty people show up at the small house on the pond for a night of fun under the stars. Mark and Laura responded by pulling out all stops for a great evening.

Back to Martha's Vineyard (July 2008)

We shared a wonderful week in Martha's Vineyard with our friends Mark (at left) and Laura and their terrific children. This was a first trip back to the vineyard in nearly 20 years. While I have fond memories of visits to the Vineyard in the '80's I was put off returning by all of the hype the Vineyards received during the Clinton years. I was sure the island was going to be over developed and commercialized. I was more than pleasantly surprised! Not only has the development been managed well, but more than a third of the island has been set aside as publicly available land. This has made the island even better, especially for hikers and bikers!

I managed to get out on the bike every day of the vacation. Some of the rides were hops to town to get coffee before the rest of the house woke up. Other's were longer treks around the island either on my own or with Mark or Lizzie (my wonderful wife). One memorable ride included a ride up island to Gay Head. We included a an excursion to view the famous cliffs (with the rest of tourists) and biked around to the small marina (at left) on Menemsha pond. The best biking is definitely off-road. There are dozens of named trails and paths through parks and land set aside by the MV Land Bank. In addition, there are quite a few publicly accessible "ancient ways" through private land.

Of course, there is more to MV than biking. Every day we visited a different beach - each with it's own character. On a couple of days we loaded up the Mark's car and took the short ferry over to Chappaquiddick. The trek across the infamous bridge and the four wheel drive through deep sand leads you to truly beautiful and deserted beaches.

Lucy is a very serious fisherman. She spent hours surf-casting. But unfortunately she wasn't able to pull in the big one! (Luckily, the local fisherman had much better luck and we were able to find wonderfully fresh fish in the market.)


We stayed in a cozy home on Lake Tashmoo. Each afternoon we went out in the canoes to get fresh clams for dinner. Each evening we sat out on the deck and enjoyed cocktails as the sun set. No wonder this was the most relaxing vacation I've had in years!

Wildlife Adventures in Our Backyard

Sometimes you don't need to travel far for a little adventure.

Yesterday I was catching up on some paperwork when Julie, just back from college, excitedly called from the back door. I was sure she was going to point out the pair of wild turkeys that have take up residence. What we saw was just a bit more dramatic. A red-tailed hawk had successfully hunted a rabbit and was now preparing his afternoon meal.

Although we missed the hunt, we were allowed to witness the culinary event. The hawk took his time prepping his meal. He rolled the rabbit onto its back, ripped open the the gut and carefully pulled out the entrails, leaving them in neat pile beside the carcass. He then enjoyed a leisurely meal in the shade of our oak tree.

The hawk couldn't be bothered by my photographic efforts and cared even less about Julie watching, with a combination of fascination and revulsion, from the deck. After about 15 minutes the predator had his fill. He attempted to move the remains, but with great effort he could only drag them about a foot away from the pile of entrails. He flew up into the tree for an after meal rest until heading back to the woods.

You might say our townhouse with its shared yard is a representative microcosm of New Jersey. New Jersey is the most populous state in the country. Traveling the Turnpike through refineries outside of Newark airport, you could be excused for mocking our motto "The Garden State" embossed on millions of license plates. But you don't have to travel far off the highway to find miles of rolling country roads. Similarly, we only live a few hundred yards from Rt. 1, but our yard backs up to the D&R canal and beyond the canal is a large track of protected woodlands. It is encouraging that the wildlife is clearly thriving in spite of the continued development.

A Hill Slug Rides the Vienna Hills

After some quick scratching on the back of an envelope, I calculate that I've spent more than 1500 days traveling on business over the last 20 years. Yet, I can count on one hand the number of trips where I've been able to combine any leisure other than a nice dinner, maybe a quick walk around the city, and too much time spent in the bar. Not one trip where I've been able to combine any cycling – until my last one...

As soon as I found out that I had a pending business trip to Vienna, I emailed my friend Ernst to let him know that I could be in town on the Sunday morning, and asked if he would be up for a repeat of the mountain bike outing that we had done last September when I was there on vacation. Ernst is, for all intents, my big brother, having lived with my family for a year as an exchange student when we were both teenagers. When we rode in September, he seemed to get a lot of pleasure out of briskly riding up hills where I was forced to dismount and walk up the steepest sections. Fortunately, Laura's rides have continued to improve my conditioning.

After an overnight flight, I find myself at Ernst's on a temperate, overcast Sunday morning. A great day for a ride! We're joined by Bizzy, Heinz, and Heinrich. Ernst lives in the 19th district on the very edge of Vienna. It is only a short ride through residential neighborhoods until we're on a dirt road riding through vineyards. Beyond the vineyards is the Wienerwald (Vienna Forrest). The overcast skies and misty conditions resulted in photos that don't due justice the beauty of the rolling hills.

After about 30 minutes, it becomes clear that Ernst and I have some become separated from the rest of the group. Fortunately Ernst's ever-present mobile phone works in the hills and soon the group is re-united.

Soon we come to a fork in the road, I can't read the sign, but Ernst lets me know that now the climbing starts and that it will be uphill for the next 30 minutes or so (oh joy!) While not as steep as what Ernst brought me up in the Fall, it was pretty steady climbing (think 3 or 4 climbs up Long Hill Rd strung together.) At the top, the loggers conveniently left a makeshift chair for Heinz to rest upon and enjoy the view while he waited for me to slug it up the hill.

After a combination of ridge riding and climbing, we made it to Kahlenberg. Kahlenberg is at 484 meters is a popular destination for locals out for a hike or bike, as well as for tourists. There are broad terraces that offer wonderful views of Vienna. In clear weather you can see through Lower Austria to Slovakia. In spite of the limited visibility, we still took a moment to enjoy the broad vista. This picture below (from Wikipedia, courtesy of Clemens Pfeiffer) gives a much better sense of the vista.

Behind the terrace is the Baroque Church of St. Joseph, also referred to as the Polish Church. The church was built to honor King John Sobieski of Poland who stopped to pray here before leading his troops to the defense of Vienna against the Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

The ride back from Kahlenberg featured some spectacular downhills, a few reasonable climbs, and some great vistas as we rode along the ridge. All too soon, we were riding through the vineyards and back in Ernst's neighborhood.

On the way back, we stopped so that Ernst could give us a tour of the house that he recently bought. Ernst and his wife, Margit, are renovating this to be their dream house where they will spend the next 50 years together. I was pleased when Ernst pointed out that the renovation includes a nice guest room!

The new house is within walking distance from Ernst's current house. After a quick final ride, we put the bikes away, and cooled off with a dip in the pool and a nice Austrian beer.

In closing I'll provide my comparison of a typical Hill Slug ride with my Sunday excursion in the Vienna Woods.