Because today is Good Friday and I have family coming in also for the three days, I planned a shorter ride this morning. That made it an easy Friday ride.
The full moon was low in the sky, and turning from white to yellow as we met on the Rusty Bridge. A dozen riders were out, and it was a pleasant trip into Annapolis without incident. I rode the Kona this morning. I had the front wheel checked out yesterday, and after some minor adjustments wanted to ride it as a test ride before the Flèche. Everything was working properly on the bike except I need to tweek the front ring shifting a bit. Coming out of the small ring to the big ring isn’t as smooth as I would like it to be.
Of the 10 of us at breakfast, 8 of us were Flèche team members, so most of the discussion was about the upcoming ride. The weather forecast this far out couldn’t be better. I hope it holds.
The return trip was uneventful, and finally dwindled down to me riding solo as people separated from the group to head home and off to work.
It was a gentle day.
It was a good day to ride a bike.
This Ride: 32.3 miles
Month: 112.1 miles
2012: 1045.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,898.9 miles
Days to Flèche: 8
The demands on my time this Holy Week have ratcheted up considerably, especially since my colleague gave birth on Tuesday and we’ve had more people than usual with significant medical issues. I’m still finding time to ride, although I must admit … if it were not for the impending Flèche, I might have stayed in bed several of these mornings.
Tuesday I did stay in bed.
Wednesday I rode a very easy ride with three others. Although we didn’t push it at all, I turned in a respectable average speed and a very low average heart rate. I noticed more noise coming from the front hub of the Mavic wheel, so I got an appointment at Bike Doctor to have them look at it next Tuesday. Meanwhile, I’ve contacted Larry and will drop the wheels off with him today to have him take a look at it. I don’t want a seized wheel to stop the big ride.
This morning I was out on the Fixie and rode most of the route by myself. I got dropped on Old County and never recovered the distance. I still put in my fastest average speed this year on the Fixie, so that’s a nice accomplishment.
These Rides: 50.6 miles
Month: 79.7 miles
2012: 1013 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,866.6 miles
Days to Flèche: 9
After a little rain overnight, the pavement was damp, the temperatures were in the mid 40’s and it was a good day to be out on the bike. We had a good deal of wind, but 3 fixies and 4 other bikes were out and a nice easy pace was held. We did Askewton much to the grumbling of several. No one pressed hard. There was a lot of conversation about last weekend’s rides and the upcoming Flèche.
At the “normal” end of the ride, I extended some, riding with others on their way home, then jumped on Benfield and rode home by myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
As I was entering these miles into my log I discovered that March 2012 I rode more miles than any other March by over 100 miles. Not bad!
This Ride: 29.2 miles
Month: 29.2 miles
2012: 933.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,786.9 miles
Days to Flèche: 12
On Thursday we woke to 60° F temps 13 were out and the guys were feeling frisky. We hammered down the trail, cut over to Old County Road where two of us remained on Old County while the majority went into Round Bay to tackle Askewton. My goal was to get further down the trail before being caught. I was several hundred yards from the end when I saw the train headed my way. They caught me. Mike nearly held them off, but also got caught just a few yards shy of the end of the trail. How fast were we? My ride maximum was 32 mph and that was within the first few miles. We were often well above 20 mph.
Having burned out during the fast first half of the ride, Mike and I rode back relatively leisurely. At the end of the ride, I still had a record (this year) average pace of 17.5 mph for the whole ride. The fastest 5 mile split was 19.6 mph average, and that included some uphill.
After the ride, Dan put out an invitation for more riders to join us for the Friendly Fixie Friday ride. A total of 16 riders showed up, 11 going to breakfast in Annapolis. We even had John Z and his wife on a tandem this morning. With that size of group, we naturally fell into small conversational groups. Later, Jerry showed up in Annapolis. He had been on target to join us (from Catonsville) but had flatted and as a result, missed the start. He rolled into Annapolis on another flat. I provided him with a tube.
I opted to not ride a long day today. I had given up my only tube, and I had a string of “luck” that kept me cautious. As I was riding my warm-up ride to the Rusty Bridge, a bunny ran across the trail and ran directly into my right leg just above the ankle. Bunny noggins are a sharp crack to the shin when they hit you head on. I was glad this was a bunny. The last time a critter hit my leg while riding, it was a squirrel and it ran up my leg and up my arm before I flicked it off with an elbow fling. That squirrel ended up in the front spokes of Janet. From what I could tell in the dark, no bunny was injured in today’s incident.
Later, I had stopped at a traffic light and after turning on to King George street thought I had clipped back in properly. I was accelerating, and was up to around 20 mph when my right foot released the pedal and suddenly I was on the fixie with one leg turning at 90 rpm. It threw the bike off balance, skidding just a bit on the rear tire as I wrestled it back into line. I didn’t go down, but it was close. After I regained control, I slowed enough to re-clip and proceeded on my way. I encountered a traffic jam at the entrance to the Naval Academy, and nearly tumbled as I tried to squeeze between two cars. The one ahead stopped short and I had to really crank the bike over to avoid a collision.
So, you see, I had no business being out on the fixie all morning solo. Besides, I have a ton of work to do at home today and want to get to it.
This will bring the month of March to a close for me. After the surgery, I set a goal for March of 400 miles. I’m way above that.
April brings the Fleche (2 weeks!). May brings OC-14, and maybe another ride to Ocean City at the end of the month.
These Rides: 48 miles
Month: 657.8 miles
2012: 933.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,786.9 miles
Days to Flèche: 15
I’ve been feeling an overall fatigue the past several days and this morning’s ride showed it. Everything about it was work. We had a good group out. Chip said that yesterday, he rode alone. There was some tentativeness about doing a fast ride this morning. Once we got to Round Bay, I stayed on Old County with 3 riders and the rest went to do the hill. They caught up with me at Joyce Lane and I sucked wheel to the end of the trail. I guess they decided to ride faster.
Coming back, I was alone. I got dropped and puttered my way back. Ben waited for me at the trail reentry point, and we rode the rest of the ride together. I hadn’t seen Ben for months, so it was good to catch up some.
This Ride: 22.4 miles
Month: 609.9 miles
2012: 885.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,739.0 miles
Days to Flèche: 17
The video is up. It doesn’t look like it is very steep. I calculated 22° at the steepest. I still wouldn’t want to do it on a fixie.
This morning the alarm rang. I turned it off. I went back to sleep. I wasn’t rewarded by nice rest, but rather by a very disturbing dream. It was a dream where I was out of control of circumstances where I should have been in control. I would have done a better job getting up and getting on the bike.
I resolved to go out later in the day, and was out about 30 minutes later than I planned and for a much shorter period of time. Riding alone these days just isn’t as much fun. Cycling has become very social to me.
I was testing out the new camera mount, and I think it works pretty well. As I rode to the end of the trail, I wasn’t feeling very spry and I wasn’t into speed, so on a whim I decided I might as well do THE WALL™.
As I remember THE WALL™, it is this monster climb of 18-20%. A rider’s weight is not sufficient to propel one up this pitch, but rather you have to pull down on the handlebars in order to get enough downward pressure on the pedals to even move up the grade. I’ve probably ridden it less than half a dozen times.
I was disappointed. THE WALL™ is still an 18-20% grade at its steepest. Climbing it still spiked my heart rate to 177. But the climb wasn’t all that awful. It was as if THE WALL™ was getting long in the tooth and just doesn’t pack a punch like it used to. I’m not intimidated by it any more. It is not something to be avoided or only challenged on occasion. This is a confidence builder for the Flèche.
(Having said that, I’ll not ride the fixie up this climb any time soon.)
Right now my computer is processing the video of my climb up THE WALL™. I’ll post a link later.
It was a short ride, and I’m glad I got out.
This Ride: 16.8 miles
Month: 587.5 miles
2012: 862.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,716.5 miles
Our Flèche Coordinating Meeting happened last evening. Although it might have seemed like it was an excuse to have a beer together, it turned out much more than that. The SPP Team Captains, our emergency responder, and two other riders met and we accomplished a great deal.
- Although we had planned to coordinate bag drops, Chip encouraged us to rethink that. Ultimately we agreed that in the spirit of Randonneuring, we would all carry the items we needed, and have no bag drop at a control.
- Cue sheets were shared with Chris, our emergency responder. He is looking forward to the opportunity to chase us across Pennsylvania and Maryland, some reading time for his class, and watching us deteriorate from spry to exhausted cyclists.
- Transportation issues were resolved. With a finish line different than the start, we have to pre-drop vehicles and grab our rider who lives in Virginia.
- Strategies were discussed. Stories of near disaster were told. Each previous Flèche ridden by SPP members has been memorable and epic in its own right. This year we are hoping for something far less than epic.
- A little tension remains around the 22 hour control. We’ve got a few days to work out those details.
- A planned social for most of the local riders and spouses is planned. I simply need to grab the venue.
The next steps for the riders:
- Make sure the bikes are ready
- Keep riding those base miles
- Make lists and collect the necessary items. Clothing decisions have to wait, but almost everything else is fair game.
- Testing equipment. (I’ve ordered and installed a camera mount on the bike. I’ll be testing it out in coming days. Finding the real estate on the bike to mount it was quite a challenge. I’ll also be testing my battery back up for the Garmin.)
All this planning is a sign of excitement and enthusiasm for this event.
If every work week started like this, I would never complain about Mondays.
The ride this morning was simply fabulous. We had 10 riders out. (I rode the “missing man formation” because one friend had planned to ride with us and he bailed at 4:30 am. Why do people text me at 4:30 am? That’s twice in a week!) Our pace was a true Mosey Monday pace, quick enough that we we ride comfortably, and slow enough that conversation never has to stop. I rode the fixie, as did two others.
I love the fact that on the one significant downhill that we have it was all fixies in the front. Those who coast down the hill just don’t keep up. Of course, the story was much different climbing the hill in Round Bay. That was 5-6 mph.
The sunrise is clawing its way back from Daylight Saving Time and it is getting light near the end of the ride.
Too soon the ride was over. It would have been great to continue for another hour.
This Ride: 22.3 miles
Month: 570.7 miles
2012: 846.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,699.8 miles
When we did a head count at breakfast this morning, Friendly Fixie Friday had brought 10 riders to Annapolis. We were a loud and rapidly moving bunch, consuming coffee, breakfast sandwiches and fruit torte cheesecake with narry a crumb left. I had extra cheesecake because I planned a longer ride on the fixie this morning. You might recall that yesterday I was uncertain about which beast to saddle up and ride today. It all came down to efficiency. If I rode the fixie, I could shorten the ride and still get the equivalent of 125 miles in. I was looking for 80-90 miles, but Mike B urged me on to consider breaking the century mark on the fixie.
I accompanied Mike to the airport where he broke off to ride to work, which left me with some 65 miles of solo riding if I were to accomplish the century. (My previous longest distance was just over 70 miles.) The temperature was climbing, the sun came out and burned off the fog, and soon I was doing calculations about how to get the distance in. I took a detour to Elkridge, using the gentle hill rather than the 10% grade. I’m pleased to say that no rider passed me on the airport loop, but I passed a lot of other riders. I wonder if they noticed the fixie. I made my way to Sandy Point where the Bay Bridge was still shrouded in fog and sun bathers were out on the beach. I looped and twisted and turned until by the time I got home I had 101 miles. I’m feeling good, strong, and could do more miles, but there are chores to accomplish at home.
I’m still astonished at the speed the fitness is returning. Two weeks ago I rode 60 miles on the fixie, averaging 15 mph and average heart rate of 138. I had to take a nap following the ride. Last week I rode the Kona 65 miles, averaging 15.5 mph with an average heart rate of 135. Today I rode 101 miles on the fixie averaging 16.4 mph and average heart rate of 139.
Bring on the Flèche!
This Ride: 101 miles
Month: 548.4 miles
2012: 823.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 14,677.5 miles
Rev Rider 