Rev Rider

Clint and I disagree about who initiated the idea of taking a day of vacation to ride a 200k, but the plans came together thanks to a gracious route owner and Eaton Bike Shop in Key West.  We watched the weather and chose the coolest day of the week with the most favorable winds for our ride, Thursday, April 10.

We picked up our bikes from the bike shop Wednesday evening, having them install our pedals and saddles and fitting the bikes.  They were aluminum Cannondales.  Along with the $45 rental came a tool kit with 2 spare tubes, CO2 cartridges, inflator, and tire wrenches.  A quick ride back from the shop and we installed bags, cameras, etc.  I also added to the tool kit my multi-tool and an emergency medical kit.  We planned for a 6 am start.

You have to get up pretty early in Key West to beat the roosters.  They crow all night, and the sound of them accompanied us as we left our Condo at 5:35 to make our way to the starting control.  We were legally lighted, but with only enough lights to be visible to others.  Negotiating some dark streets under construction was challenging, to say the least.  We checked in at a McDonald’s near the start, and pushed off promptly at 6:00 more than an hour before sunrise.  It was a quite comfortable 68°F.

The Key West 207k is definitely an out and back route.  The main cue sheet has six lines, three of those are controls.  However, there is a bike trail along many stretches of the route, and we quickly discovered that (a) they were smoother and less debris filled than the shoulder of the road and (b) often they abruptly end.  We chose to mostly stick to the road’s shoulder, with occasional forays onto the trail.  The shoulders were mostly necessary crossing the bridges from one key to another, and these were the most debris filled.

Those first few miles were all about getting into the groove of riding.  Clint’s seatpost was slipping and we stopped to fix his twice, and mine needed one readjustment.  Good thing I brought the mult-tool.  The tool kit from the bike shop didn’t have one in it.

The first leg (traveling east-northeast) was directly into the 20-25 mph ENE wind.  Clint and I quickly found our rhythm of trading “pulls” in front, although I must admit that with that strong headwind and our slow speeds, sitting on his wheel didn’t feel much like drafting.  I did watch my heart rate drop slightly when he was in front, so it must have been doing something.  We watched the sky lighten toward a hoped for glorious sunrise, however low clouds blocked the horizon.  The skies did have some nice color for a short while.

At mile 40 we got to the 7-mile bridge.  I was anticipating a great scenic ride across this bridge.  What we got was the full blast of the headwind and plenty of fast moving vehicle traffic just a few feet to our left.  We managed about 10-12 mph across the bridge, taking more than 30 minutes to cross.  It was an effort the whole way, and I must say, rather discouraging.  We found a McDonald’s in Marathon at mile 50, and stopped for some food and drink.  Once we were on our bikes again, we discovered that the trail east of Marathon afforded us a little break from the wind, and it was set off well away from the road.

At one intersection, we became heroes to a stranded cyclist.  The woman was on a cruiser and said she had seen a small snake.  She described swerving to miss it, and ended up dropping a chain.  She was unable to put the chain back on.  I pulled out a latex glove and within a short time Clint and I had the chain back on.  The conversation with her was one every Randonneur has in such a situation.  The hapless victim of poor bike maintenance and bad luck is forever grateful for the knowledge and skill we demonstrate in bicycle repair … and astonished that someone would voluntarily ride the distances we ride when they ask about where we had ridden from.  It went something like this.  “Where did you start your ride today?”  “Key West.” “You didn’t start this morning did you?” “At about 6 this morning.”  “No way!  This morning?  And you are here?  Where are you going?”  “To Layton and then back to Key West.”  “Today?”  “Yes, we’ll get back sometime this afternoon.”  Silence.

As invigorating as this break from the routine slog into the wind was, I started to struggle after this.  There were more miles to go, and more bridges … some of them seemed to take forever because there was no stopping the wind on them.  Eventually we made it to Layton and the little shop that was the turn-around control.  Ice cream was just the ticket.  Of course, knowing that a tailwind lay ahead was also plenty of motivation.

As we pushed off, we were buoyed by the tailwind.  My head was up and we were flying.  Our planned lunch stop was Marathon.  The bridge that once was a long slog into the wind was now like a downhill slope, and our speed was just an expression of how good it felt.  We were flying with little effort.  And then … CLINK, CLINK, PSSSSSSSSS.  My bike got all squirrely and it was all I could do to stay upright as I gently braked to a stop at the end of a bridge.  The front tire was flat.

No problems!  We were now about 70 miles into the ride.  One flat.  I noted that I had a significant cut in the front tire.  I brought a set of tire boots in my repair kit.  I pulled it out, patched the tire, new tube in, inflated.  Ready to go.  I tested the rear tire before mounting to ride.  It was flat too!  I had double flatted!  There was no evidence of anything in the tire that I could find, so new tube, inflate, holding, put it on the bike.  Press down on the tire just to make sure it is inflated properly and BOOM!  The tube blew.  Pull it back off.  Check it.  It was cut too.  Place a tire boot on the tire, new tube, inflate, test, on the bike, good to go!  Clint is looking a little irritated at this point.  We are now down to 1 tube and 1 CO2 cannister between the two of us with 60 miles to go.  We’ll be fine, I say.

The speed comes up, our heads come up, the scenery is glorious.  The blues of the water are spectacular.  Life is good!  We stop in Marathon at a fish restaurant, get our fluids topped off and drained.  I have some soup.  Clint has a fish sandwich.  As we leave Marathon with about 50 miles to go we have a discussion about whether or not we move off the route to go to the bike shop for more tubes.  I remind Clint that we have 2 patch kits between us, and 3 tubes with holes in them.  We’ll be fine.

When we hit the 7-mile bridge again, we are flying!  I ran out of top end gears.  Our top end speed of 33 mph was on the bridge, and we averaged about 25 mph over the length of the bridge.  I glanced down at my Garmin’s thermometer at one point on the bridge and saw 92°F.  We didn’t have much of a cooling breeze as we kept pace with the wind.  It was getting hot.

We figured a little more than two hours home at the rate we were going, but even with a tailwind I was having trouble.  The soup didn’t sit well with me and I was having trouble hydrating.  I asked to stop a couple of times just to cool down a bit and hopefully allow the liquids in my stomach to empty into my bloodstream.  My pulse was fine (often a tell-tale sign for me) but I was increasingly in distress.  With about 4 miles to the end of the ride, I pulled quickly off the side of the road, doubled over, and dry heaved.  Ok, my stomach was emptier than I thought.  I grabbed the bike and noted that my rear tire was flat.  We found a wire protruding from the tire itself, and the close examination revealed this was the culprit.  Fix the flat.  Use our last tube.  I promised Clint I’d ride on the rim if I flatted again before the end of the route.  Once we were past the course end, the bike shop could pick us up.

When we got back into town, we headed directly to the bike shop, another 3 miles inland.  They were about 30 minutes from closing, and they quickly pulled our gear off the bikes as we told the story of the ride.  The owner was clearly excited about our ride.  When he asked me how it went.  I pulled a punctured tube from my rear pocket, handed it to him, and said this has a hole in it.  He took it and threw it in the trash.  I pulled another one and said, “This one too.”  He got a concerned look on his face, and threw that tube away.  I pulled out tube 3 and said, “You can do the same with this one.”  He didn’t say a thing.  I reached back for the 4th tube and he said, “No.”  I said, “Yes.”  I then told him about the two cut tires and the boots inside.  He said, “I’ll replace those tires too.”

I was still suffering some.  Clint wanted a stout beer with ice cream in it.  My desire for a shower luckily won out.  I got back to the condo, dry heaved some more, showered, re-hydrated with water before tackling some food and drink.

Despite this, it was a good ride and a great adventure.

Those interested may look at the Garmin data.  It can be found here.

As anyone knows who gets up and to work before the rest of the world, those early workers are often the ones to discover tragedies that happen overnight.  That appears to be true for a Park Ranger in Severna Park.

We had a good ride this morning, an easy spin and good conversation.

As we were splitting up to head home at the end of the ride, we heard sirens.  Chip and I proceeded past the Ranger Station parking lot and noted several unusual things.  An ambulance was parked in the parking lot with it’s lights flashing.  The gate to the parking lot was closed.  The ambulance personnel and Ranger were standing around in a tight group between the ambulance and a man lying on the ground.  I commented to Chip that this was likely the discovery of a body.

Later, as I traveled that same section of roadway in my car (2 hours later), the lot was still closed.  Police had replaced the ambulance.  A tarp covered the body, tenting over a fence.

We had ridden by that same spot in the dark an hour earlier than when Chip and I rode by together.

Sad.

I will not be posting now until probably Monday, April 14.  See you on the flip side.

April has started pretty good for me.  I rode yesterday on the fixie.  It was a bit of a challenge because the gearing was still set up for the colder temperatures.  I flipped the wheel over this morning before going out and now am running a 46/16 combination, allowing for slightly greater speeds even if it makes the hills harder.

Bryan, Chip, and I simply rode an easy pace as we listened to Chip’s story about an epic 300k  he rode on Sunday, in rain, snow, sleet, 40°F temps, wind and some gravel.  No detail was too small to describe and for us to absorb.  And then, on our way back north, we had 3 close calls.  That’s right, 3 close calls within about 3 miles of one another.

The first was on B & A Blvd.  We were riding the fastest part of the ride, two abreast (because of speed differentials between those of us on fixies and those on geared bikes).  The driver behind us squeezes between us and the oncoming car on this two lane road all while laying on the horn.  Two seconds of waiting behind us would have allowed him to pass without coming close.  Not only did he nearly force the other car off the road in this “no passing zone” but he also nearly took us out too.  Chip ended up chasing down the driver and having a conversation with him at a gas station.  Chip said the conversation went well and props to Chip for not shouting at this driver.  Education was sufficient.

Another driver just minutes later also did not give us 3 foot clearance as required by law even though we were in single file and tight against the shoulder of the road.  A horn was involved also.

Finally, a driver gunned around us across from Hard Bean and swerved back into the lane just missing my bike by about 2 feet, causing me to swerve hard to avoid a collision at 18 mph.

Most days, we get only courteous and careful drivers.  These three really stood out this morning.

Never the less, it was a good morning for a ride.  I put in a little extra at the beginning of the ride, having pushed out of the house earlier than usual.  Wearing fewer layers and having consistent morning temperatures makes getting ready much quicker.  I rode by Planet Fitness and reminded myself how much more fun it is to ride outside than to do all this work in the Gym.

Last night, our Flèche Team met to review the route and to discuss plans for the ride.  It looks like it will be a good ride.  Severna Park to Culpepper, VA to Purcelleville, VA to DC.  I’m really looking forward to it.

One more ride before vacation.

Total distance since June 1, 2013 = 5,588 

Total funds raised for the Malaria Campaign = $7,050

Yesterday: 20° F, 2 riders, no breakfast.  Today: 40°, 13 riders, breakfast.  Today was a lot more fun.

We encountered barely noticeable sprinkles of rain, enough to make some of the road surfaces slick.  We chatted, told stories, got competitive at times, and enjoyed breakfast.  Sometimes is less about the ride than it is connecting with others.  Most of the talk was about the upcoming Fléche (April 26-27) and what to do about our very dangerous inconsistent rider.

I had no speed or energy.  Even getting dropped like I was riding a beach cruiser didn’t sour my mood though.  Since Monday I’ve dropped 4 lbs (some of that certainly water) on a low carb diet and just didn’t have the fuel reserves to go fast.  I’m now down 16 lbs for the year!  I’m presently wearing a medium T-shirt that doesn’t look half bad on me, meaning it isn’t too tight.

The next few days are looking wet, so we will see how that goes.  Hopefully I can get a ride in on Monday to finish off the month strong.

For the month, 567 miles.

Total distance since June 1, 2013 = 5,547 

Total funds raised for the Malaria Campaign = $7,029

Yet another sub-freezing ride this morning.  This has been a long and hard winter.  I’ve ridden outdoors only 32 times this year and 19 of those were sub-freezing rides.  That’s 60%!  Many of those days I missed were because of cold or dangerous conditions.  My ride days percentage is abysmal.  It is only about 33%.

Now, I get it that that’s what to expect during the winter in the northern hemisphere.  I get it that it is worse in many other parts of the country.  I get it that whining is not very becoming.  But I’m ready for some warmer weather riding on a consistent basis!  Normal lows this time of year around here should be about 37° F, or about 15 degrees warmer than it was this morning.  Normal temps I will not complain about!

Dan and I had an ok ride, considering that we were both grumbling about the weather.  We took it easy.  Neither of us rode yesterday because of snow and cold.  But it was only the two of us.  Scott met us at the Rusty Bridge, but he was riding on to work.

I’m on track to surpass my mileage goal for the month, despite all the challenges.  Tomorrow’s ride will put me over the top.  Notice that a milestone has been passed in the Malaria Campaign.  Now over $7,000 has been raised … the hard way.

For the month, 540 miles.

Total distance since June 1, 2013 = 5,520 

Total funds raised for the Malaria Campaign = $7,016

On Sunday, March 23, 2014, Severna Park Peloton riders were involved in a crash due to improper group ride behavior.  This post examines what happened and how it might have been prevented through proper group ride behavior.  A link to a video of this accident can be found below.  The images below are screen grabs from that video.

Image 1

In Image 1, you see 7 riders riding into a headwind.  This is on a two-lane unmarked rural highway.  The two riders closest to the camera (and the camera operator) will crash and so this image occurs before the improper group ride behavior.  I’m going to label the riders in this way.  Rider 1 is directly in front of the camera wearing a red & black jacket.  Rider 2 is wearing the bright yellow/orange jacket and has a backpack.  Rider 3, wearing a yellow jacket (and also a backpack) is directly ahead of Rider 2 on the left.  Rider 4 is in the center of the frame wearing an SPP kit with an offset circular logo on the back of his jersey.  Rider 5 is wearing a yellow jacket and is slightly ahead and to the left of Rider 4.  Rider 6 is on the far right front with a white and grey jacket.  Rider 7 is barely visible on the left front just ahead of Rider 5.

Rider 4 is the rider who is the most erratic, and where most of my attention and analysis is focused.

Image 2

Image 2 occurs within just a couple of seconds after Image 1.  A rather disorganized group seems to be organizing into a single paceline.  Rider 4 has drifted closer to Rider 6 on the right side of the road.  Rider 3 has drifted behind Rider 4.  Most rider’s heads are low, due in part to the headwind.

Image 3

Suddenly, Rider 4 moves left.  It appears as though he is attempting to go around Rider 6.  You will note in the video version that his move to the left is very quick and there appears to be no signal or glance to see if this is a safe move.

Image 4

Within the briefest of moments, several things have happened.  Rider 4, who had veered left quickly is now either parallel to or slightly ahead of Rider 6 and is in front of Rider 7.  Rider 3 touched his brakes at the sudden move of Rider 4, causing Rider 2 to touch Rider 3‘s rear wheel and begin to fall.  You can see the bike on its way down.  Rider 1 has nowhere to go except the ditch, cutting off the camera biker who also has only the ditch.  Rider 4 has now crossed the center line of the road and is in the oncoming traffic lane.

Image 5

Camera operator is into the ditch.  That is not Rider 4 at the front of the pack.  Rider 4 has pulled off the left side of the roadway after hearing the crash.

Image 6

Rider 1 and the camera rider have hit the deck in the ditch.  Rider 2 landed hard on the pavement and fractured his pelvis.

When riding in a group of cyclists, one must assume every action one rider takes affects the other riders.  Some adjustment is made by other riders with every move an individual rider makes.  If those moves are unpredictable, then chaos ensues.  If those moves are predictable, announced, and done considering what impact they might have on others, then there is greater safety.  Several mistakes were made here.

1.  Rider 4 made a sudden and unpredictable move.  There was room to slow down behind Rider 6.  There was not sufficient room to move left.

2.  Rider 4 did not signal a move to alert the riders behind him.

3.  Rider 3 was suddenly caught with the option to brake to avoid a crash OR to move left.  For whatever reasons, Rider 3 chose to brake unexpectedly and without signaling.

4.  Rider 1 and the Camera rider (no, not me) had a clear exit to the right into the most forgiving ditch I’ve seen.  Although they went down, there were no significant injuries to them.

All other riders behind the camera were able to avoid a crash.

Here is a link to the video … all 11 seconds of it!

Learn from other’s mistakes.

This past weekend was Severna Park Peloton’s annual spring OC ride.  Although this is a favorite ride of mine across the Eastern Shore of Maryland and through Delaware to Ocean City Maryland, I was unable to ride both days.  A friend also was needing a 200k, so a few weeks ago I developed a 200k ride that used the same stopping points as “controls” and made plans to ride the 200k.

And then, I got the crazy idea to do it twice.  As the plans became more firm, the decision was made to (1) drive to Ocean City early Friday morning where I would leave a car.  (2) Ride the route reversed  with Jeff S.  (3) At the end of that ride, we would get in Jeff’s car to drive back home across the Bay Bridge and stay overnight at home. (4) Drive back across the Bay Bridge and meet up on Saturday with those riding the OC ride, but the 3-4 of us doing the 200k would leave 15 minutes early so as to not violate RUSA rules.  (5) We would meet the OC riders at controls along the way and then at the end of the ride join them for happy hour and dinner.  (6) Finally, I’d drive home from Ocean City and be ready for work early Sunday morning.  Nice plan, huh?  This would be about 250 miles on the bike in 2 days (about 40-50 more than the OC riders would get).

Jeff and I left at 5 am to start this trip, and watched a glorious sunrise as we drove to Ocean City.  We were able to push off on the bikes shortly after 8 am for what would prove to be a very challenging day on the bike.  Temperatures were in the low 40’s F at the start.  It wasn’t long before we hit significant headwinds that would push against our progress the entire day.  Nevertheless it was a great day to be on the bike.  We traveled through many of the forested areas of the Del-Mar-Va peninsula (where we would catch a bit of a break).  Jeff has not ridden much this year and his fitness level is well below what it should be this time of year.  That meant that I spent a lot of time in the front and didn’t get much drafting relief from the wind.  I watched my heart rate climb and there were long stretches where it was much higher than I like to have it … but we were traveling only 12-14 mph against the wind.   The frogs were out in force, and there were times that the sound of their songs even drowned out the noise of that wind.

Friday’s ride finally ended, and I realized that I had spent very little time enjoying the scenery because of the wind.  We had a respectable time for the conditions (under 11 hours), which late in the day also included light rain sprinkles (for which we were unprepared).  It was clear that Jeff was not going to be riding Saturday.  He was in some serious pain the last 20 miles.

After a short night with only fitful sleep, it was time to go back and get my car.  Without that motivation, I might have stayed home and slept.  But the car, knowing that in about 5 weeks I’ve got the Fléche, and in July I’m riding 1,000k around Lake Ontario, I need to get long distances in my legs and get the experience of a multi-day ride.

Dan and Scott C and I met up with the gathering of OC riders, said our hellos and goodbyes, and pushed off at about 7:20 am for our trek to Ocean City.  In Queenstown we saw an albino squirrel, the most auspicious wildlife spotting of our entire trip.  We made pretty good time to Dave’s Place in Ridgely, MD considering some of the headwinds we hit.  We arrived about 40 minutes before the OC group arrived and got to spend quality one on one time with Mary Ann.  We got our breakfast sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and coffee, and when OC riders came in, we left, knowing we had a much longer distance to the lunch stop than they did.  The winds were still tracking in such a way that we had some challenging headwinds.  There are almost always headwinds on the Eastern Shore!  It was warming up fast.  We stopped several times just to change out clothing.  We watched the temperatures climb from the upper 30’s through 40, 50, 60 and into the low 70’s.  My white pasty legs even saw sunshine for a good part of the ride.

Our track took us more directly into the wind than the OC track, so we arrived in Milton well after the OC riders.  The final push into Milton was the most fun.  We had a tailwind of about 20 mph so as we rolled down the highway at 20 mph, there was no breeze.  It was dead calm.  When we pushed to 24 we had the slightest breeze in our face.  It was heaven.

The OC group decided to eat at Dogfish Head Brewery but we stuck with the original plan to eat at Irish Eyes, where we were going to find food more suitable for our tummies.  I had grown up grilled cheese with a cup of tomato bisque.  It is my favorite there.  Service was slow, as usual, and we pushed off at least an hour after the OC gang had left Dogfish Head.  After about 10 miles of headwinds/crosswinds, we turned so that we had a quartering tailwind, which was glorious!  We let the bikes fly again, pushing along at over 19 mph for long distances.  Our last 2 miles were into the wind again, but by that time, no one cared.  This ride was finished in well under 10 hours.

Happy Hour was good catching up with the stories of the other riders and telling our own lies.  Dan and I opted to skip dinner and drive home a little early and I was back home by 9:30 p.m. and in bed by 10.

So, 20.5 hours of bike time in 33 hours.  Total distance was 254 miles on the bike.  There are some interesting differences between the rides.

Friday: Average rolling speed = 14.7 mph; 10 hours 46 minutes; 8 hours 37 minutes rolling; Average heart rate 138 bpm.

Saturday: Average rolling speed = 16.8 mph; 9 hours 40 minutes; 7 hours 35 minutes rolling; Average heart rate 121 bpm (my heart rate is always lower after a 200k, even with equal or greater effort).

These were two great days on the bike … and garnered some extra funds for the Malaria Campaign.

That’s also 3 200k rides in the Month of March!

For the month, 482 miles.

Total distance since June 1, 2013 = 5,463 

Total funds raised for the Malaria Campaign = $6,987

“The Collapse of Will” … that’s what you get when all the possible excuses combine in the same space and time.

Here are the ingredients:

• Early morning ride (getting up at 4:45 am)
• Long work day (8 am – 9:30 pm)
• Skipped breakfast (unintentional)
• Salad for lunch
• Get home from work at 9:30 pm
• Make a 20 minute call to the credit card company because of an unauthorized charge
• At 10 pm, knowing I’m going to bed soon, I snack on 3 small wedges of Laughing Cow cheese.
• In bed by 10:45 and asleep by around 11.
• Alarm goes off at 4:45 am
• It is really dark outside.
• I got up and tried to get ready and all that resulted was going back to bed until 6:30.

Yes, nutrition failure, sleep deprivation, and long work hours can make it hard to ride.  I’ll do better tomorrow.

After my 200k yesterday, I commented to Lori that I probably should ride this morning.  She agreed.  I texted Mike B to confirm that he too was riding and committed to riding.

Legs aching, I pulled myself out of bed to honor that commitment.  I fought off the temptation to text Mike and tell him I wasn’t coming out.  I got ready, and soon was out the door on my way to the Rusty Bridge.  Traffic was unruly.  It felt cold.  My legs hurt.  But, I got there.

Soon enough the legs were happy, spinning easy.  On the hill on Old County Rd Mike, Bryan, and I let the fast guys go and took it easy the rest of the way.  We had a lot of conversation and even the traffic lightened up.  It made for a very nice recovery ride.

And I got back home before 7 a.m.  That means I finished 150 miles in that 24 hour period.

For the month, 188 miles.

Total distance since June 1, 2013 = 5,168 

Total funds raised for the Malaria Campaign = $6,840