Fun & Fitness over 50

Today I rode with my friend Brad and his wife who are training on a tandem towing their 2 kids in a trailer for the Love146 benefit 55 miler in Sept.

We rode from their house in the "hill towns" outside of Albany, NY. There's no way to ride anywhere out there without encountering some significant hills.

The first was Cole Hill which I had heard about but never done (up, that is. I've gone down it). It is about a 15% grade in sections and fairly long. This was to start without getting warmed up. Wasn't too bad but there was plenty more climbing before the ride was over. That was a hard 30 miles. I'll be feeling it for a couple of days.

One thing I learned. Brad raced for the Air Force in Italy so he taught me how to say "car back" in Italian: Macchina! (pronounced "mah'-key-nah") Or more properly, it's what the Italian riders say when we would say "car back". They're just saying "CAR!"

Dropped my chain into the rear dropout once and off the big chain ring once. Brad offered to adjust everything and clean the chain. I think I'll take him up on it but I want to watch so I'll learn something too.

And hooray! My gps worked properly. Here's the route:

Berne