What A Season!

It's the end of the MOA mileage contest. 6 months, April through October. 15,600 and something miles, not my highest mileage year, but certainly my best season ever!

I topped off my miles this weekend meandering the back roads of Cape Cod. The temps where high 50's, 100% sun but the days short, going dark at 6:00. Kevin and I headed to a family party at my aunt’s in Falmouth. We said our hello's, enjoyed some food but got antsy quickly. We made an impromptu decision to grab a hotel on the Cape so that we could do more riding Sunday; it was a very good idea! As with most of our trips this year, we really enjoyed our miles, making more stops, taking pictures…smiles not just miles this year.

We kicked off mileage season in April with a trip to Corning, NY. It was the weekend of the Rounder’s gathering and we had wanted to join them, but the thousand mile trip to Indiana was going to be all slab miles, have dinner, turn around and high tale it home. We both realized this was not how we wanted to spend our time. We’d already taken the Friday off, so we decided on the Corning trip. Remember the scored roter incident? Funny, how I forget about mechanical problems.

Late in May I enjoyed a day at the track at Loudon Int’l Speedway. I love the pictures I came home with and memories of opening the K12’s throttle on the backstretch. Check that off my list. I don’t think I’ll be going back.

Memorial Day weekend found us dodging the rain drops in Plattsburgh, NY. As we talked about this trip recently, Kevin had to remind me that it was raining that weekend. We had such fun hiking at Ausable Chasm, watching the Sox win a game while sitting in a New York sports bar and enjoying the riding in Upstate NY and Vermont. With the right state of mind, you make your own fun, no matter where you are.

Late June and July had Lisa and me on the road for our big trip. Big Big Big. 35 days, 25 states and 9,000 miles. Countless hours of planning. I don’t regret a minute of the planning and would strongly urge you to do likewise if you want to undertake your trip of a lifetime! The last week of our trip had the most glitches, and it’s not surprise it was the week that I planned out the least.

My miles slowed to second gear after I got home from the trip. It was a combination of things. It’s no easy task to come back to “the real world”. Completing such a big event left me blue, and being blue it no time to hop on the bike. And because I did not want to do any forced marches, I passed up many mediocre opportunities to get out on the bike.

I really left all of that behind me this weekend. I felt the joy of a newbie as I rolled down the hill Saturday morning. All my pent up frustration over missing the previous sunny weekends was gone. I was out, riding on my own, nothing to prove, no deadlines to meet; just me, my favorite bike and a gloriously sunny New England day. There couldn’t have been a better way to top off the odometer for another riding season.