The big loop

This weekend I had the opportunity to ride on the roads I that I rode on as a kid.
 
On Saturday I rode a very well supported metric century with my uncle.  Together with thousands of others riders, we rolled along the scenic back roads of Lancaster county - through covered bridges, by Amish farms and rolling pastures.   It was a joy to ride with someone who shares my love of riding.
 
For Sunday I plotted a route that would hit all the highlights in the area.  I climbed the biggest hills in the neighborhood.  Hills that seemed almost insurmountable as a youth.  I rode to the neighborhood where I lived until I was 11.  I past that church my family used to walk to every Sunday.  I rode on the roads where us neighborhood kids would ride to go fishing or to go to the store to buy ice cream.  I rode by the bike store where I got my first (used) 10-speed.  The original 2 rings and 5 cogs 10 -speed, that is.  I rode by the house where I grew up daring to dream of some day being able to make a living in auto racing, and of being good on a bike - whatever that meant.

I rode by the first place I ever got knocked unconscious on a bike.  And the second..

I rode the routes I used to drive as a teenager.  Everything seemed so much closer together now.  I rode by the farm where my Dad grew up.  I rode by developments where lush farmland used to be.  I passed many new businesses, and many of the old ones, occasionally passing a horse and buggy or Amish "scooter".  

It was a great weekend on the bike.

The kid is now grown, but the dream's alive!

 See you at River's Edge on Saturday and Dark Mountain on Sunday!