High Tides and Old Fields

Forced myself away from the home office at noon today and took the Zank out for a tour of the surrounding towns and a trip to see my old friend, the Port Jefferson field. Colleague Al has been busting my chops in a huge way to finish a written proposal we started, but at some point I just have to readjust my priorities and get out on the bike. (and any moment now Al is going to call and start screaming F-bombs because I didn't finish my portion of the proposal....)



A fall high tide down the road from the homestead.


High tide around these parts means flooded roads--especially bad with the higher peak tides in the fall.

So I got in a good hour and a half through the surrounding towns, mostly easy, before heading over into Port Jefferson and my "secret training ground" under the power lines (y'know, I take off the team kit and throw it in the bushes, replace it with the black kit, park the team car behind the trees half mile away....). In late summer the field is a waste-high brambly mess, but come the second week of September the town mows it all down for the local apple festival parking. It's not too exciting, but it does have upper and lower fields with a fun little bumpy, washed-out dirt climb that connects them.



Lower field. Very artistic shot through the spacious triangle of the Zank, no?




Upper field. Lots of power lines add a nice, rhythmic buzz in the air and prolly do some scrambling of the chromosomes as well.




And, as an added bonus, the fields are lined with all the shit you could ever want for building some nice obstacles!

With some creative back and forths I've put together some decent 5 minute laps. After my tour of the towns I did 30 minutes--as those cats in Connecticut say--in The Pain Cave before heading home.

Still waiting for Al to call and blow a gasket...