When I arrived at the Rusty Bridge this morning, I announced to the group that I was doing the 5:47 ride. The 5:45 ride on Thursdays is fast. The 5:46 ride is for those who don’t want to press it hard. No one has claimed a 5:47 ride before so I declared it as a relatively easy spin. I immediately had one rider declare his intent to join me, and within a few miles, we had a nice group of four, and later five. It was a nice morning to relax a bit.
We had fog and it was a very balmy 67° F. Glasses fogged easily and frequently. The fog shut down a lot of extra noise. We maintained a conversational pace and talked mostly about upcoming rides. The DC Randonneurs are hosting a 400k ride beginning Saturday and we have several people riding what may prove to be a very warm 4ook. Mike C is planning a 200 k on Saturday. Sweet Sue’s Memorial Day Ride is Monday (either 65 or 100 miles). I’m planning a solo fixie ride across the Eastern Shore on Wednesday (about 115 miles).
I really enjoy the variety of rides we do at 5:45. The fast rides press me into increasing my fitness. The more leisurely rides are a huge social outlet for me. I had an early morning meeting and I know I grinned pretty smugly when others were dragging themselves into the meeting grumbling about how early it was. I had already been up for 3 hours, been on the bike nearly one and a quarter hours in conversation with friends, helped my spouse with some computer issues, showered and was alert and ready for the meeting. Not a bad way to start the day.
I noticed this morning that although our pace seemed pretty easy, I still averaged over 17 mph for the ride. My average heart rate was 124. My speed continues to come up and my heart rate at these speeds continues to drop. I’m always encouraged by that.
So … short answer to the unasked question. Yes, it was a good morning ride.
This Ride: 20.2 miles
Month: 598 miles
2012: 2195.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 16,049.4 miles
Although some weather forecasts called for possible rain this morning, it was dry, clear, and beautiful. Some SPP riders had an email dialog going “talking smack” so as the group pushed off from the Rusty Bridge there was some anticipation of a quick pace. It was actually quite fun watching from the back of the peloton for the breakaway. I never saw it happen. No, really. I watched for a break away and as long as I had eyes on the peloton, no one ever broke away.
Three of us remained on Old County Road rather than taking the loop through Round Bay. Mike C and I were once again determined to reach the turn around point before the others caught us. We made it with plenty of time remaining. As we turned north again, the pace was fast, but not unreasonable until I sucked a large bug into my windpipe.
I saw the bug just at the last moment and felt it as it bounced first off the back of my throat and down just as I inhaled. I could feel it lodged deeply. Now, it is hard to go fast and hack up a bug. So I slowed, coughed long and hard, and eventually dislodged it. Now I was 50 yards back and it took a supreme effort to reattach to the peloton. Just as I did, Mike called out that he had a flat. The main group didn’t hear the announcement, so I slowed, came back and helped Mike attend to the flat. After the repair Mike, Jim, and I backed off the pace and had a more leisurely finish to the ride.
This Ride: 22.5 miles
Month: 577.8 miles
2012: 2175.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 16,029.3 miles
Each day of the SPP 5:45 rides have a theme. There is:
- Mosey Monday,
- Terrible Tuesday,
- Wicked Wednesday,
- Torture Thursday, &
- Friendly Fixie Friday.
When conditions are right and mostly safe, these are the rides that are expected. On any given day, a rider or riders may choose to ride a 5:46 ride, which takes the rider out of the expectation of those speedy three days in the middle of the week. Today, everyone opted for Terrible Tuesday, and still there were two groups.
The rain moved out overnight, leaving the pavement damp in places and a few small places of standing water. I had a pretty quick pace getting to the Rusty Bridge. I’ve determined that how quickly I ride that first 4-5 miles plays a large role in my overall speed for the morning. Not only does a faster ride give me a higher average speed going into the ride, I think it helps set a “muscle memory” speed in my legs and brain (yes, I know that my brain isn’t a muscle) so that a faster speed later in the ride doesn’t feel so fast. It’s only a theory and it works for me, so I’m using it.
There was an occasional light mist in the air. It was like a clear fog at times. I also took turns conservatively, especially where road paint was involved. We were pretty fast right out of the gate, but it wasn’t a full out sprint. The difference can be seen on Jennings Road. A full out sprint might see us hitting speeds of close to 30 mph whereas the fast day might only be about 22-24. I hung with the big boys onto Old County Road, then decided to attempt my personal record speed on Old County. That means that I didn’t tackle the hill in Round Bay this morning. Brian and Mike C joined me in the shortcut.
I was surprised as I crested the first major hill that Brian and Mike were behind me. I watched my heart rate, and kept it above 168, which means that I was pushing hard. I stayed in as large a gear as I dared, forcing my legs to move toward that sweet spot of 90-94 rpm. I saw a pulse of 172 at one point, but kept pushing. Mid way though, Mike caught me and suggested that we had some work to do if we were going to beat the others to the end of the trail. I suggested we work together. By the time we got to the trail, I had suggested trying to maintain around 22 mph as Mike in the lead dropped to 20. We switched leads occasionally, Mike doing most of the work in front.
I decided to have a little fun as we reached the end of the trail. I parked the bike quickly, sat on the picnic bench, and cheered on the riders as they came rolling in. The scowls were precious. The pace back north was still quicker than I wanted to ride, so I was off the back for a little while. Mike and I waited for Alex at Glen Oban, then pushed it home from there. I pushed hard trying to set a personal record on the last little hill on B&A Blvd. As it turns out, I missed the personal record by two seconds. By the time I crossed McKinsey Rd I looked down and was amazed that my average speed on the morning to that point was 19.2 mph!
I knew that would drop some speed on the rest of the ride home, but I still kept pressing on. I kept the pace high as I climbed the last leg up Highway 2, resulting in my second fastest time on this segment also!
This was a fast morning for me. Using my cycling log and Strava.com for the record keeping revealed that this ride was:
- My fastest time along the whole length of Old County Road, placing me in 8th place overall.
- My second fastest time up Highway 2 toward home.
- My second fastest time up what I call “Little Sprint Hill” on B&A Blvd.
- My fastest average time this year on the 5:45 ride.
- I looked back to 2011 and to my surprise I’ve had only 3 rides faster than this. Two were long rides with tailwinds across the Eastern Shore. One was an amazing 20.5 mph 5:45 ride in September. I didn’t expect that!
And still, the others are much faster than I am.
This feels pretty good. I’m liking the improvement.
This Ride: 22.4 miles
Month: 555.4 miles
2012: 2153.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 16,006.8 miles
Hey kids, it’s two, two posts in one!
Last Friday was Bike to Work Day or as I affectionately name it, “Take Advantage of Bike to Work Day Promotions Day” (TAB2WDPD). That’s exactly what we did, and it wasn’t easy to coordinate!
The email chain showed how complicated pulling this off would be. We decided to meet at the usual time (5:45 am) at the Rusty Bridge … at least some of us did. Our numbers were quite low for a Friendly Fixie Friday Ride, but we continually picked up riders along the route. The goal was to meet first at Big Bean in Severna Park to take advantage of their free small coffee for bike riders. Big Bean opens at 6:30 am. I planned an easy ride, and as it turned out, rode with someone who needed a slower than usual pace, especially on the hills on Old County Road. I was on the Fixie and didn’t mind this slower pace. We had a good chat, and arrived at Big Bean by about 6:20. By the time we pulled off helmets and gloves and had the cleat covers on, the shop opened and in we went. About 5 minutes later, a whole squad of SPP riders arrived, filling the place and increasing the noise level considerably. I had a macademia & coconut coffee along with a breakfast cookie. By 6:50 we were pushing off to the next stop on TAB2WDPD, the official event at the City Dock in Annapolis.
The ride was easy, again riding with a number of people who are not regulars on the early morning ride. I achieved a speed just short of my record on the descent to the Naval Academy Bridge (35.5 mph or 167 rpm). Soon enough we were pulling into the crowd for Bike to Work Day, with a dozen SPP riders already there. Whole Foods provided bananas, water, and bagels. We got our free t-shirt. There were whistles and hand sanitizer trinkets. A local coffee roaster was there so I had my second cup-o-joe for the morning. We registered for the drawing of a mountain bike and a bike rack (no SPP members won either of these). At 8:00 we listened to a couple of speeches and then Mike B, Sebastian and I headed up to the airport where they had to go to work.
When I finished riding for the day, I had nearly 53 miles. I went home, mowed the lawn and did some other around the house chores.
This Ride: 52.6 miles
Mosey Monday (this morning) was quite interesting. Five of us met at the Rusty Bridge (but our ranks would eventually swell to 9 riders). It had rained overnight and the forecast was for scattered rain through the day. Every one of us had consulted the radar and concluded that we would stay dry on our ride. Of the 9 riders, only one had a rain jacket. We had an easy ride south. We entered Round Bay and I climbed the hill on the fixie. Just after the hill, the rain came. It was raining hard enough that it was dripping off everything, nose, elbows, feet, chin, ears, etc. It stopped a short time later. I don’t quite know how it happened, but after the rain started, the pace picked up and eventually split our group with four of us content to ride a Mosey Monday pace, and the rest not really pushing it but keeping it faster than we were.
The post-rain ride routine was again played out on the front porch. Strip off the wet garments, use the broom to de-debris the legs, and try not to drip through the house as I enter. Newspaper goes into the shoes to help dry them out. Clothing hits the washing machine to rinse out all the road grime that collects.
But you know, it was a pleasant ride.
This Ride: 24.3 miles
Month: 533 miles
2012: 2130.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,984.4 miles
The idea that I spent the morning “pacing the recovering wounded” makes it sound much more generous than it actually was. But much of life is all in the perspective, and I’m sticking with it.
It didn’t take long for me to discover this morning that yesterday’s fast pace left my legs extra fatigued. I hadn’t yet gone a mile when they started complaining that this would have been a good morning to let them stay in bed. They didn’t like being told yesterday to hammer hard then ignored for the rest of the day as I sat. Here I was, asking them to do more work this morning without proper care. They will probably complain a bit more tomorrow since right after this morning’s ride I drove to Gettysburg for a meeting. Sit in the car, sit in the meeting, sit in the car on the return. This is not what active legs require. Yet, while they complained, they complied with the request and we had a nice ride to the Rusty Bridge.
It took us all a little while to decide on the pace for the morning. Some wanted another hammer session. Dan was out for the first time in 5 days due to illness. Another rider was back for the first time after some shoulder surgery and for once I could say to Dan that I would ride with him to keep him company. He still is not well, but getting better. Our pace was relatively easy, but wasn’t as slow as a Friday or Monday pace. The fast guys were very fast. We slow guys took our time and it was a good ride. I did notice that when I wasn’t pressing the pace on this windy morning, our speed dropped off quite a bit. It was a good morning to be out. I’m enjoying riding in daylight these mornings.
Tomorrow is Ride Your Bike to Work Day, or as I like to call it, “Take Advantage of Ride Your Bike to Work Day Promotions (TARYB2WDP). We will stop for a free coffee at the Big Bean in Severna Park, then ride to Annapolis for free refreshments, t-shirt, give-aways, etc. at the City Dock. It will then be time to push off to accompany Mike to work, ride home, and then mow the lawn. I love how Ride Your Bike to Word Day falls on my day off! Maybe I’ll show you the “bling” from TARYB2WDP in tomorrow’s ride report.
This Ride: 20.3 miles
Month: 456.1 miles
2012: 2053.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,907.5 miles
What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday = steady rain.
Today = mostly clear skies and dry roads.
Yesterday = quick ride in the rain.
Today = Fast, fast ride with heart pounding out of my chest.
I got out of the house a little later than expected this morning and knew that I had to get home early to get cleaned up before a 7:30 meeting. Who has 7:30 meetings? When I arrived at the Rusty Bridge, I could tell that the horses were ready to race. Some guys only come out for the speed runs. Out of the gate, the pace was fast at first, but then it slowed a little … down to only about 22 mph on the trail. I hung on. As we made the turn onto Jennings Road, I was convinced that I’d be unable to hold the pace and it was here that I peaked for the day at close to 32 mph. Sure enough, by the time we hit the trail again, we were going fast and again I thought I’d loose the group, but then they slowed some and it was possible to maintain the 20+ mph past Robinson Road and onto Old County Road. I resolved to remain on Old County Road and set myself up on the yellow center line. Two other riders followed me and the rest went through Round Bay.
I was now determined not to get caught before the end of the trail. That meant keeping my heart rate up in the red zone and making sure my pedal strokes were strong and circular. Brian and I played tag a little, but by the time I hit the trail, I was ahead by some considerable distance. Brian is a strong rider, and as I conserved a little energy he caught up to me. I ducked behind him for a little while, then passed him and led for a while at around 24 mph. Soon I was fading, and he passed me just before the end of the trail. Scott was doing his best to catch us both before the end after having gone through Round Bay, and he nearly did so. I loved his comment at the end of the trail, “Now I feel like I need to vomit.”
I was spent. I eased back on the speed as I moved north on the trail, and when I got to Glen Oban I waited for Mike C who was lagging the whole group after an attempt through Round Bay. We rode back from there together, still keeping a pretty good pace. Along the way, we saw Chris L out on the bike! A hearty cheer and a thumbs up for him! I cut the ride short, skipping the last two miles and headed home the quickest way.
The results were good, not record breaking, but good. Average speed for the morning was 18.1 mph. I had one 19.8 mph 5 mile “lap”.
That was fun. I don’t want to do it every day, but it was fun.
This Ride: 19.4 miles
Month: 435.8 miles
2012: 2033.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,887.2 miles
There were two distinct rides this morning, the first was shorter than the second. Both were enjoyable.
The first ride was my route to the Rusty Bridge. It was dark and overcast. The lights on the bike gave me a small cone of light, just enough to see where I was going. The streets were damp to wet, but it was not raining. My mind was in full “pause” mode and the legs just made circles. I think I really didn’t wake up until the fox crossed my path. From then on, it was bunnies all over the place. When I arrived at the Rusty Bridge, Dave was already there, and it didn’t surprise me. He had “called Chet out” in an email last night. Chet had said he planned to ride unless it was raining. Dave asked why rain would stop a triathlete. With heavy rain approaching, I was fully expecting a display of testosterone. Sure enough, Chet showed up too. In the end, there were 6 of us who rode this morning. We had various ways to deal with the predicted rain. Dave had a shower cap over his helmet (it is a very effective method of keeping your head dry). Chip wore a rain jacket. I wore my cycling cap to keep the rain off my glasses. All of us had rain jackets in our jersey pockets.
The second ride began just as we pushed off from the Rusty Bridge. That’s when the rain started. It was very light at first. Eventually it simply became a steady rain. I rode with Jim K who was riding a fixie this morning. The rest eventually pushed off ahead at a little quicker pace. As the potholes filled up with water, we were careful to avoid the standing water. On Jennings Road, we met a car coming around the corner, and missed a collision by just a couple of feet. By the time we got to Old County Road, any hope of staying dry was completely out of the question. Even my water resistant shoes were starting to fill up. My wool socks wick water well, right from my ankle into my shoes. There was no need to use the rain jacket now. It was not cold enough to need the jacket for warmth so away we splashed down the trail in the 65° F rain.
The rain was heavy enough that debris was being washed off the roads and my bike at the end of the ride was much cleaner than at the beginning. Arriving home, I called out for a towel. Stripped off as much wet clothing as I dared on the front porch of the house, and came in feeling pretty refreshed. We don’t let ourselves get very wet with rain these days. Umbrellas, rain coats, boots, etc. all are used to keep us dry. I poured water out of my shoes, wrung my clothing out and dumped everything I could into the washing machine.
It was a great morning for a ride. To think I almost stayed in bed when I saw the radar this morning with the storm on the way. Look what I would have missed.
This is a screenshot of the rain near the end of the ride.
This Ride: 24 miles
Month: 416.4 miles
2012: 2014.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,867.8 miles
There was a constant threat of rain overnight, and I expected to wake up to wet streets … again, or even some rain. We’ve often joked that there is a dome over Severna Park preventing rain many times when all around us is wet. This was another one of those mornings. I woke to dry streets, and there was evidence of a few sprinkles along parts of our route, but I never actually felt a raindrop. It is now sprinkling as I write this 40 minutes after the ride.
It was a beautiful morning. We had maybe 8 riders out, three of us on fixies. The fixies set the pace, easy on the way to the end of the trail and a little more spirited on the way back. But being Mosey Monday, it really wasn’t all that fast. (Wow, I just looked at the stats … 18.7 mph average over a 5 mile “lap”. Ok it was a little faster than I thought.) The rest of the riders seemed to be willing to simply stay on the wheels of the fixies.
It was a nice morning. We saw two deer, plenty of bunnies and squirrel. We had great conversations about this past weekend’s 300k ridden by three of our guys. Kristy joined us. It was a great start to the week.
Yes, there are parts of the route I still test myself on. What I push on varies with the conditions and how I feel. The return on Jennings and up Ritchie Highway home logged some pretty good times. My little sprint hill attempt on the fixie was thwarted by a bus and the need to pass another cyclist in order to get a good time up the hill. It felt good and I was reminded this morning how much I love the fixie.
This Ride: 23.6 miles
Month: 392.3 miles
2012: 1990.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,843.8 miles
It’s Friday. That means Friendly Fixie Friday, and it is a puzzle as to the distance I ride. We had a nice ride to the Hard Bean, with a pretty easy pace and lots of conversation. Several were preparing for tomorrow’s 300k, so the conversation was focused on that ride and it’s preparations. All told, nine of us made our way into Annapolis, including Evan for the first time this year.
At the end of the Breakfast Ride, I continued on and decided on a simple loop around the airport. I simply rode, with little on my mind. You might say I simply let my brain sleep while my feet kept the pedals turning. I recall very few thoughts unrelated to road hazards on this ride.
This Ride: 52.8 miles
Month: 368.7 miles
2012: 1966.5 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,820.2 miles
I went to bed uncertain, looking for any kind of excuse not to ride. I woke up in the middle of the night to rain. I almost turned off the alarm, but that would have meant waking up more than I really wanted to, so I left it alone, resolving to stay in bed. When the alarm rang, I checked the radar, and the rain was gone, and wouldn’t be coming back during the morning ride. I hauled myself out of bed, still undecided. It was Wednesday … Wicked Wednesday. I didn’t really want to go fast. I resolved to ride my own pace alone, got dressed, put on a fender, and headed out the door.
On the way to the Rusty Bridge, I stopped no fewer than 3 times to adjust the fender. It must be getting to gnat season. There were clouds of gnats on occasion along the trail. It was always a surprise because my lights didn’t illuminate them so suddenly there they were, hitting my face and dotting my teeth. By the time we collected everyone there were five of us. We had an easy pace, and no one seemed interested in hammering today. In fact, Dan said he was kind of glad that the young guys weren’t out this morning, because they worked him hard yesterday. We climbed the hill in Round Bay. We rode easy and talked the whole way. Chip and I talked about our next absolutely crazy plan … that is coming together nicely. (Ride an overnight 200K from Stevensville to Salisbury for the Seagull Century and then when that is done ride back to Stevensville for a 315 mile day on a brand new route designed especially for that long ride.)
In the end, I’m glad I drug myself out of bed for a nice ride. Anyone I meet today will likely appreciate it too, even without knowing it.
This Ride: 23 miles
Month: 315.9 miles
2012: 1913.7 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,767.4 miles
Rev Rider 