New Bike, Moab, & COVID-19
April, 2020
As the reality of the pandemic becomes the new normal, life is changing.
After spending the first half of April isolating alone in Williamstown, I’ve moved back in with my parents up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. At this point, it seems increasingly unlikely that we’ll be running any summer trips at Overland. Until that final decision is made, the majority of our team has been furloughed. Regardless of whether or not we have work this upcoming summer, my housemate, Matt (currently shacked up with his family in NJ), and I are looking to get back to Williamstown for at least the month of May as we await our work fate. Until then, I’ve been spending some quality time with my parents and younger sister, who is home from Brooklyn. But before I look too far ahead, there’s lots to catch up on in the biking world since that surprise first race....
It took Magnus a couple more months, but he was finally able to convince me to invest in a gravel bike. In late January, my Trek Checkpoint SL5 arrived. With slightly wider & knobbier tires and a more forgiving frame geometry than a road bike, this beauty is designed to take on the roads less traveled. Magnus had also convinced Matt to buy the same bike (different color, of course), and both bikes arrived almost simultaneously. Unfortunately, they arrived during one of our busiest times of the year at work, so after Magnus helped us assemble the bikes, they sat as decorative pieces in the living room for a couple of weeks.
It was also around this time that I was talked into investing in an indoor bike trainer & a Zwift subscription. Magnus is very effective when it comes to advising me on how to spend my money on bike related equipment. For those unfamiliar, Zwift is an app that connects to a smart bike trainer - as you ride your real bike, set up stationary in your living room or (in my case) garage, you move through the virtual Zwift world alongside other real people doing the same in their respective homes. The app tracks your distance, time, and other training metrics along the way - an excellent way to keep the legs in shape during the cold months!
It wasn’t all too long until I was able to finally get outside for the first time on the gravel bike, which was also my first outdoor ride in a couple of months. On a particularly warm Sunday afternoon in early February, Magnus led me on a loop along as many dirt roads as we could find. We zipped along some of the same roads that Magnus had taken me on earlier in the fall. I couldn’t believe how much more confident and comfortable I felt on this bike in comparison to my road bike. I was all in. In my journal entry for the day of the first outdoor ride of 2020, I wrote that “my obsession with biking hasn’t wavered at all.”
Matt demonstrating proper hike-a-bike technique on a ride we dubbed “Frozen Toes”.
That early February ride also taught me that it’s possible to ride outdoors in the winter. More challenging? Certainly. Colder? Absolutely. But always worth it. Over the next month and a half, some combination of friends would join me in an afternoon biking adventure ride. Just riding the gravel bike seemed to push me to explore new territory. Using the route planning tool on the Strava app, I found myself prioritizing a way to ride new roads every time I could get outside. Turned out, our little town nestled in the Berkshires was filled to the brim with stunning gravel roads that, for over 3 years, hadn’t even been on my radar. As a person who had once found comfort in riding the same couple of loops over and over, I now found it invigorating to ensure that every ride was slightly different than the one previous. Sure, we had to carry our bikes through snow or over a creek every once and a while when I’d accidentally route us on unmaintained roads, but it was all in the name of good adventure. In fact, I found myself feeling more rewarded after rides in which we’d get far enough off the beaten path that a little hike-a-bike was necessary. Can’t say that my friends always felt the same, but they stuck with me!
Enjoying a post ride sunset beer with Matt & Quinn.
Throughout early March, the news about COVID-19’s spread continued to dominate the national media.
I had a week-long trip to Moab planned with college friends for mid March, and, like most everyone else, was unsure if traveling was safe. In the end, I opted to go for it. I boxed up my mountain bike and flew out of Boston, much looking forward to a few days of biking in some warm weather and reconnecting with friends I hadn’t seen in a couple of years.
The flight was eerily quiet, with some folks wearing gloves, others wearing masks, and some proceeding like nothing was out of the ordinary. Weird times, eh? My college best friend, Lani, picked me up in his bright yellow van, and we made our way to the AirBnb in Moab to meet Mac, who had settled in and was awaiting our arrival.
Sunset in Moab.
Within an hour of arriving, I’d unboxed and built up my mountain bike. We were ready for action. Mac, who knew the area, took us on an evening ride where we witnessed the sun setting perfectly behind a ridge of snowy mountains in the distance. The fading light was trance like, and we lingered just a smidge too long at our mid-ride lookout spot - the short ride home was slow and steady as darkness set in.
The next three days were blissful and simple - wakeup, ride some spectacular new trail or road in perfect weather, get home for lunch and a quick rest, then head back out. Each night ended with homemade dinner, a couple of beers, and a round or two of Settlers of Catan. Couldn’t ask for much more.
Cycling along 4x4 roads near Arches National Park.
Through this week, I kept a close eye on the news. In the four days I was in Moab, my team at work had transitioned to working from home, my housemate Matt had headed back to his family’s house in New Jersey, and Europe had closed its borders. Then, National Park campsites in the Moab area were vacated and closed. There was talk of the entire town of Moab shutting down, following the precedent already set by larger cities around the country. I needed to get back home, before the lockdown progressed to a point where travel might become impossible. I rebooked a flight back to Boston three days earlier than originally scheduled and arrived back to Williamstown to settle into my two weeks of self isolation.
It was toward the end of those two weeks that our team at work learned that we were to be furloughed. I made plans to head to Maine to join my family. My sister had already moved up from Brooklyn, and I soon slotted in as the final piece to the family puzzle.
O’Brian family ride in Maine!
I feel incredibly fortunate to have a family I love to fall back on and move in with, a landlord in Williamstown who is understanding and flexible given the dynamic circumstances, and the financial stability to not have to immediately worry about finding another source of income.
The unexpected family time has been lovely, but I’m looking forward to getting back to Williamstown. While the coastal biking in Maine is beautiful, it just doesn’t compare to the endless gravel roads and rolling hills that I’ve come to love so much in the Berkshires. Adventure is beckoning, and I must answer the call!
