Training Log Archive: PG

I've been dealing with all sorts of loose ends as part of the process of settling my mom's affairs, and there was one recently that was quite something.

I'd noticed over the past few years that once a year a letter would arrive for her from Princeton University. It was from the part of the University that dealt with scholarships. My grandfather (her father) had gone to Princeton at some point in the teens (ie. roughly 100 years ago). He was killed in WW1 in France in 1918, and in 1919 his father donated money for a scholarship in my grandfather's name.

So for many, many years there had been a letter each year to my mom saying who that year's recipient was. And some years also at some point a personal letter from the recipient. I read a couple of them, very impressive. I thought it would be fascinating to connect with them, just for a chance to see a view of life through their eyes, but there is always the gap between thinking and doing, and it never happened.

In going through things recently I noticed that the most recent letter, back in November, still had my mom's address on it. I'd changed almost all of her mail to my address, but apparently not for Princeton. I figured I'd better do it or the connection might just disappear.

So I called them up. Got an assistant first, her boss was busy at the moment, gave her the new address, told her the circumstances. And then, just because I was curious, I asked about the details of the scholarship. She'd have to look them up, and she'd get back to me.

About 10 minutes later the phone rang, and this time it was her boss. She was also very friendly, and had looked up the history. A donation in 1919 from my great-grandfather of $10,000. It was invested, with the income each year used for a scholarship for a single student. The current value was just over $1 million and the scholarship amount this year was about $44K. Wow, I thought.

Princeton is not cheap, and 44K doesn't cover a year's cost, but it covers a good chunk of it. All I could think was, what a cool thing for great-grandpa to have done, that each year it is put to such good use.

I also asked if there were any restrictions on the use of the scholarship. "You mean like only for left-handed pitchers from Vermont?" Said with a tone that implied they had a lot of restrictions to deal with. Including one substantial bequest a long time ago that put a cap of $600 on the amount of aid to any one student, and now there were some 800-900 students getting aid from that scholarship each year. No, she said regarding this scholarship and sounding very pleased, no restrictions at all.

And just now, curious again, I looked up what 10K in 1919 would be worth in today's dollars? Less than I would have guessed, 143K. Princeton has done a good job investing over the years.

And hopefully, next time I get a letter from them about the latest recipient, I'll follow up. Never know what I might learn.

C • Good deeds good consequences 18

On the outer loop at North Sugarloaf, hike up the south side, jog most of the way down the north side. Can tell I've not been doing much of this stuff, feeling fragile.

Drove over to NW Connecticut to ride the 74-mile version of the Tour of the Litchfield Hills. An interesting and generally positive experience, though as is often the case in such athletic endeavors, it would have been much more positive had the legs had some zip. But, for whatever reason, they certainly didn't.

I guess the contributing factors were lots of hills, a warm sunny day (it doesn't have to get really hot for my stomach to have trouble processing fluids), old age. And not sure if my pace in the early (and very hilly miles) was too quick; didn't seem like it was, but maybe.

Anyway, by the aid station at 27 miles I had done well over half the climb and was reasonably optimistic. The climb in the mid-30 was a struggle, but even then I thought, just one more real up, mid-50s to low 60s, then flat or down to the end, can't be too bad. But it was just survival mode, lower and lower gears, slower and slower, just try not to fall over or get run over.

And I suppose this ended well, no one had to peel me off the pavement, or shoot me off for an IV, or drive me home. Such things have certainly been done in the past. Maybe I'm getting smarter? :-)

Assuming the legs recover, the only lasting damage was to my shiny bike, and it was pretty trivial. Leaned it against a signpost at an aid station, but it slipped, and suddenly there was a nice scratch on the top tube. Now normally I would pay no attention to such things, but I have been trying to maintain the bike properly (a new experience for me). So I suppose I need to go find a little bright red paint.

By the way, this was a ride, and not a race, but that didn't seem to keep lots of folks from going very fast. I got passed many times, the feeling being that it was as if I was standing still.

Of course, I also passed a lot of folks and my recollection is that all of them actually were standing still (or at least off their bikes). See, I don't like to spend a lot of time at aid stations, whereas for most folks that just seems to be one of the ride's attractions.

C • Good job! 9

Down the east side of the river to Northampton, back the west side. Breeze out of the south, so moving quicker on the return. Pretty good effort all the way.

Corn ride. Mellow pace, breeze from the south.

Have room for a six-pack, but 4 is all we need --

C • Fine tuning ... 2

Turners Falls and Millers Falls, very gentle hills. Worked a little harder than I intended. But lovely morning to be out.

Amherst - Belchertown - Shutesbury (from the back side). Real pleasant ride on a nice afternoon, upper 70's and not much wind. One steep hill, up to Shutesbury from 202, hadn't done it in a long time, not as bad as I feared if you just keep turning the pedals.

Had a decent amount of energy, which is always nice.