Rev Rider

When I’m not on the bike there is not much to post.

I’ve not mounted the Beast of Satan (trainer) since my last short one-legged ride, choosing instead to work at keeping the swelling down as much as possible.  That’s been very difficult with some of the long days I’ve put in.

I’ve suffered through spectacular January weather.  Right now, it is 66°F and my friends are logging a lot of great miles.

But there is progress to post.

I tried on my cycling shoe this morning before my Dr. visit, and I’ll be able to wear it without excessive pain.

The Doctor gave me a tepid, conditional approval to begin on the trainer with both legs.  My progress is better than normal according to the Dr.  She also asked about my mental health since I’ve been off the bike for a month.  I appreciated her checking in that way.

Physical Therapy will also begin as soon as I can get it arranged.  That’s for range of motion and to further reduce the inflammation.

I’m now counting down the days to February 20th, the date I should be “released” for full activity if the healing continues on course.  I’ve got 20 days to get strong enough on the trainer to ride the 5:45 ride with friends again.

These post-surgery limitations are getting old!  The pain has been compounded by swelling in my foot the past several days.  Elevation and ice help, but as I attempt to increase my activity level, my fatigue, swelling and pain also increase.  My mantras are “I’m patient”, and “Soon and very soon”.  Ha!

I climbed back on the bike again this morning.  One legged riding on a trainer without the opportunity of coasting is simply like riding uphill using only one leg.  Ten minutes was sufficient this morning also.  Now I need to stop listening to my excuses for not getting on the bike.  February 1 is the possible date I’ll be permitted to use 2 legs on the trainer.  I’m looking forward to it.

I am frustrated by the warm weather we’ve had most of January.  There is a lot of outdoor riding going on that I’m missing!

I’m a little grumbly, aren’t I?

On January 6th, I had both my last bike ride for a while and surgery on my right foot.  I had painful bone spurs “dremmeled” off, a bone in my foot cut, and the same bone reset and screwed into place.  It is the same kind of surgery for bunion repair, although I didn’t have a bunion.  My surgeon (a friend) chided me for riding 25 miles on the morning of surgery, but it was the perfect time to get one last ride in.  She muttered something about blood sugar and dehydration.  I say that if they didn’t want me to ride, they should have told me AND scheduled the surgery for the first thing in the morning rather than the 2:30 pm time.  What am I supposed to do, sit around not eating all day?  (It was a really nice ride!)

Since the surgery, I’ve been working at pain management, the constant need to elevate the foot to prevent/reduce swelling, walking like Frankenstein in a surgical boot, being chauffeured from place to place because of driving restrictions, and discovering new muscles when they get sore from walking in an unnatural flatfooted way.   My recovery is actually going well, but my stamina has been dramatically reduced.

Since Monday, I’ve been planning to get on the trainer, but it took until today to actually inflate the tires, change out the left pedal, remove the right pedal, and climb on the “Beast of Satan”.  With my right foot perched on a box, I dropped the bike into the second lowest gear and started my one-legged ride to nowhere.  I got a mile and a half closer in 10 minutes, then climbed off knowing the test had gone well and established the baseline threshold for future rides.  It is an accomplishment (albeit small) just 2 weeks post surgery.  It looks like I’ll be dragging myself back into fitness a little at a time.  I predict that in the next 2 weeks I’ll be pretty good at making proper circles with my left leg (and it will want to become my dominant football player sized boss).

This Ride: 60.1 miles
Month: 60.1 miles
2012: 60.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 13894.8 miles

My first ride of 2012 would also be my first 200k of the year and my first attempt at tackling Big Flat.  I was excited that we had 17 riders on a day that was blustery, chilly, and posed a challenge.  This was SPP’s first ride of Cumberland County Creeksides, although the route was quite familiar to those who had ridden the 300k last year.

To say that the start was chaotic was an understatement.  Most of us arrived at about 6:30 finished our prep and were waiting around for the 7:00 start.  As 7:00 rolled around, one rider appeared suddenly, ready to check in and by 7:06 some of us were anxious to leave.  We started out and gradually grouped up.  At the first turn, we realized that several riders were not with us, as we took a head count, and we waited again.  Someone forgot water bottles, someone else was having trouble with gloves, etc.  That is very frustrating, waiting for those who arrive late and are not ready to go.

Once we were on our way, I started fussing with my Garmin.  It just wasn’t working properly.  Eventually, I figured out the problem, then waited until 10 miles into the ride to restart it, making the math easier for the cue sheet.  All this was done while rolling along enjoying the scenery of the day.  We quite naturally divided into a faster and a slower group.  The goal was to know where everyone was so that in the event of trouble, someone wouldn’t be alone.

I developed a chest cold a couple of days before this ride.  I had a nasty, productive cough and my throat was a sore from the coughing.  By about 10 miles into the ride I noticed that my air exchange really wasn’t up to par, and I would occasionally get a coughing fit that would create a moment of dizziness.  I commented to Mike early in the ride that this one was going to be a struggle.  We were in good spirits and occasionally would slow enough to make sure that the slowest riders were with us.  We took in the scenery.  Diary farms, orchards, horses, cows, mules, a donkey, mountains, streams, and more people out walking dogs than I expected.

We had rolling hills until Mike told us we were at the start of the long climb up Big Flat.  It is about 1400′ of climbing, long and steady.  We ground our way up the mountain.  I was able to stay mostly seated, but it was a long slog.  I targeted climb to my heart rate, trying to keep it around 150 as the valley fell behind.  That translated to about 4.5 – 5.5 mph.  Occasionally we would regroup at a short summit or flat spot, but for the better part of an hour we climbed mostly alone.  It was a great feeling of accomplishment to reach the summit.  We re-adjusted our clothing for what would prove to be a bone chilling descent.  In planning for this ride, I had hoped to achieve my highest speed ever on this long descent.  With snow flurries in the air and a steady wind in my face (even before getting on the bike) I knew at the summit this would not be likely.  I let the bike go, and didn’t touch the brakes until near the curve at the bottom of the hill.  It was a lot of fun, but it was cold!  We were dressed for cycling (moving, generating heat), not for skiing!  By the time we got to the first control, I was ready for hot chocolate and a warm fire.  I got the chocolate.  No fire.

Arriving at the control, we sent the faster group off after a quick photo.  Soon it was time for us to climb back on the bikes and head out.  We were looking forward to new scenery, a gentle descent, and probable tailwinds for our next section of our course.

When cycling becomes increasingly difficult on a gentle downhill, with a tailwind, with friends it is time to re-evaluate.  Each breath I took was painful.  My throat was raw from coughing.  I was getting dizzy more often and nearly ran off the road a couple of times.  Food and hydration were not the issues.  I knew there was no way that I would be able to finish this ride with only half of it under my belt, and I would be impacting the ride for others too.  I was too sick.  I started looking for a place to bail out of the ride.  In Plainfield (about as far away from the start as possible on this course) I found an open restaurant, said “bonne route” to my friends, and abandoned the ride.  I notified Clint and the course owner.  I made some phone calls and found a friend who was willing to drive from Severna Park to get me and the bike and take me home.

Two other riders abandoned the ride after I did.  One had too many flats and one, riding alone, got mixed up between the cue sheet and a GPS, got frustrated, and missed the time limit on a control.  The rest of the riders finished between 11 & 12.5 hours of riding.

This ride was important to me, and abandoning it was hard.  It will stop my continuous string of monthly 200k rides at 13.  But it was the right thing to do.  With my goal of the Fleche in April, I need to be well enough for the surgery to happen on Friday so my recovery time is maximized. It is all about timing.  There is a saying Jeff has repeated to me often.  “Cold in the head, get out of bed.  Cold in the chest, get some rest.”  I guess I’ll just have to call sixty miles with a mountain, “rest”.

As the New Year approaches, I reviewed the goals I set for 2011.

1. 2011 mileage goal = 8,000
2. Days riding = 240
3. Longest Ride = 186.5 miles or 300k
4. Number of rides over 100 miles = 9
5. Time on a bike = whatever it takes
6. Highest 30 day distance = 1000 miles
7. Highest 7 day distance = 350 miles
8. For the blog, more photos, more reviews, more of what I’ve learned and ride reports.

One failure of mine was to not review these goals more often.  I recalled only three of these goals (1, 3, & 8).  If you don’t remember a goal, it is pretty hard to meet it.

So, how did I do?

1. 8,000 miles: Goal missed.  The unanticipated two weeks off the bike for RAAM is the biggest factor in missing this goal.  I’m still pleased with over 26% increase in miles compared to 2010.  Total miles ridden in 2011 = 7, 715
2. Days riding: Goal missed.  I forgot about this one.  I actually rode fewer days in 2011 than 2010.  I rode 210 days.
3. Longest Ride: Goal surpassed!  The Wallops Island Ride/Seagull Century combination ride netted me 227.4 miles in about 20.5 hours.  That’s almost 22% more than the goal.
4. Number of rides over 100 miles: Goal surpassed!  Fourteen rides were over 100 miles.  When setting the goal at the end of last year, I had not decided to work toward the R-12.
5. Time on a bike: 456 hours 26 minutes moving.  Stopped time is not included.  That’s 113 hours longer than 2010.
6. Highest 30 day distance: Goal missed.  I made 974.8.  I forgot this was a goal.
7. Highest 7 day distance: Goal missed.  I made 337.9.  I forgot this was a goal.
8. Blog goals: Mixed.

So, adding it up, I failed.  Wrong!  These were lofty goals and they helped guide my riding (when I remembered them).  The goals had me riding some days when I didn’t really want to.  In other words, the goals served their purpose.  They stretched me and made me a better rider.

Unexpected Accomplishments

I learned a lot about riding and especially long-distance riding this year.  Between crewing for Randy in the Race Across America (RAAM) and achieving the R-12 Award the experience points are huge.  I have done a nice job learning the hydration and food strategies on these longer distance rides.

Welcome to Fixie Land!  I purchased a fixie this year and have discovered some new challenges.  As a result, I also learned more about bicycle maintenance, component needs, and component quality.  The fixie inserted an added element of challenge and fun into my riding.

2012 Goals

1. Distance Goal = 7,500 miles.  Yes, this is lower than 2011, but the greatest unknown I have early in the year is foot surgery on January 6th.  My doctor says at least 4 weeks off the bike, then only on the trainer for at least 2 weeks.  (I think I’ve mentioned that I hate the trainer.)
2. Longest Ride = Successful completion of the Flèche (at least 360k).  I’ve done the distance before, but the Flèche is a whole different animal.  It will take place April 14-15, no matter the weather.
3. Randonneruing = I’d like to complete an R-24.  The surgery in early January is scheduled such that I might be able to squeeze in a February 200k by the end of the month if the healing goes well.  I believe the R-24 depends completely on the February ride.
4. Blog = I want this to be much more than a simple ride report blog.  I’m still working out that vision.
5. Maintenance = This is hard to quantify, but I want to do even more of my own maintenance.  The gift of a maintenance stand at Christmas will make this a whole lot easier.
6. Have fun = The most important goal of all!

This Ride: 26.3 miles
Month: 645.5 miles
2011: 7,715 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 13834.7 miles

What a great morning for a ride!  It was a little hectic getting out there, but it was certainly worth it.

When I left the house, I was under-dressed for the 30°F temps.  I was nearly to the Rusty Bridge when I turned around, went back home and grabbed my wind vest.  I’m really glad I did.  That light wind protection made all the difference in the world between being chilly and being comfortably cool.  While I was home, I also pumped up the fixie tires.  They were a little on the low side.

Most of our morning conversation was focused on our big ride coming up on Monday.  We have 17 SPP riders signed up for a 200k starting at 7:00 Monday morning, riding from north central Maryland into Pennsylvania and back.  We climb “Big Flat” about 20-25 miles into the ride.  Temperatures and clothing choices dominated the conversation.  It will be below freezing at the start and we will be lucky to see 40° as the high.

While at the Big Bean this morning, Myna treated us to Red Velvet Cake with ice cream.  Dan wasn’t with us, so they didn’t get completely consumed.  Mohammed and Ravi also rode with us into Annapolis.  I think it was their first time with us in Annapolis on a Friday.

Today I’ll tune up the Kona for Monday’s 200k and get my clothing choices nailed down tight.

Watch for a post later today reflecting on the year’s accomplishments on the bike.

This Ride: 20.6 miles
Month: 619.2 miles
2011: 7,688.7 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 13808.4 miles

Six riders were out for a dark, cold ride this morning. It was 26° F.  Ice was forming at the wet spots on the trail and I noticed some ice in the mustache.

This was a hard morning for me.  I thought about returning home early a couple of times.  That’s the advantage of riding regularly with a group.  They can keep one motivated beyond what would be done solo.  I had little energy in the legs, very little wind in the lungs, and an ache in the Achilles Tendon again. To top it off, my electric toe warmer stopped working part way into the ride.  Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Tomorrow is the last planned ride of the year.  It is fitting that it will be on the fixie, and is breakfast.  I’ll also push over 7,700 miles for the year.  Will it be enough to win the SPP mileage challenge for December’s miles?  I hope so.  I haven’t won a month yet.

Either these are extremely boring, or they give you an idea about how fun cycling can be.  You decide.

A morning ride into Annapolis
This is my first attempt at video online.

Patuxent River Views 200k Part 1
This features some of the early part of the 200k.

Patuxent River Views 200k Part 2
An odd control: Old Parking Meter

Patuxent River Views 200k Part 3
Chesapeake Beach, North Beach, and the Chesapeake Bay ending near Sweet Sue’s

This Ride: 129 miles
Month: 598.6 miles
2011: 7,668.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 13787.8 miles

A few weeks ago I floated the idea of a “Boxing Day” Ride to the Severn Park Peloton, and immediately had some interest.  Eventually, we decided upon Patuxent River Views and had seven riders, including the route owner.  It was nice to meet David S and to ride with him.  We discovered that preparation for this ride was made more challenging because of Christmas.  I think I usually spend somewhere between 2-3 hours prepping for a 200k, and doing that on Christmas Day was a bit more complicated for some.  We had three levels of riders out for the ride.  The top tier are capable of a very quick finish.  The middle tier (including me) can have what I refer to as a reasonable finish.  We had one rider who we knew would be pushing the maximum time limit.  I spoke with him two days before the ride about the reality that none of the other riders wanted to finish after dark, and he seemed content to ride alone.  Many of us questioned that decision, but he is persistent.

The forecast weather kept changing as the ride approached, and finally settled down to temperatures mostly in the 40’s with a brisk (15 mph) wind.  Based on the forecast, I prepared my wardrobe for the 40’s knowing that I’d be chilly at the start but I didn’t want to overheat.  I also didn’t want to take my trunk full of options.  I had a new under seat bag (Christmas gift) that was larger than usual.  It held two tubes, plenty of CO2, some food, and spare batteries.  I hoped that would be enough.  The clothing choices I made were perfect, not least of which were my “cozy feet on steroids” electric toe warmers.  A few minutes on, then 20-30 minutes off kept my toes comfortable the whole ride.  “Cozy Feet on Steroids” will be described in more detail in another post sometime later.  The wind?  It was a factor.  It blew more than 15 mph judging by the whitecaps on the Patuxent River.

We gathered at the Citgo in Harwood for the 7:00 am start, and pushed off about 10 minutes after the hour.  As usual, we were in great spirits and enjoyed watching the sunrise.  A few miles in, David S stopped to make a clothing adjustment, and within a few more miles, we parted company with Randy R and never saw him again the rest of the ride.  The remaining six riders settled in to good conversational pace punctuated by some stretches of quick paceline riding.  Bill W was noticing some intermittent noise coming from the rear of the bike, and when grinding up one of the steeper hills early in the ride, discovered that his derailleur was contacting his spokes when it broke one of them.  With six experienced riders, there were plenty of suggestions thrown around and soon we were on our way after part of the broken spoke was zip tied to another spoke, the limit screw was adjusted, and it was determined that the wheel was “true enough”.  Still, the problem was intermittently persistent through the rest of the ride.

Pautuxent River Views winds its way into Calvert County through some horse farms, McMansions, regular neighborhoods, forest, farm land, and plenty of water views.  It is an enjoyable course, and stays off the main highway for the most part.  Some of the route uses Crista’s “Sailing Down to Solomons” route, mostly on the return.  That means that especially on the return, most of the route is pretty familiar to me.  The winter scenery along the route is always engaging.  Along the return part of the ride, especially around Breezy Point, we noticed that some homeowners have not yet repaired their homes from the storm damage from Hurricane Irene that blew through earlier this year.  I rode the route last September shortly after that storm and then we encountered the persistent noise of chain saws.  All was quiet today.

Food & water stops included a Wawa at mile 36, a Subway in Dowell at mile 71, and a Convenience Store (that’s the name on the sign) in North Beach at mile 107.  As usual, we entertained the staff and customers of these places with our gaudy tight-fitting clothes, stink, and stories of unbelievable distances on a bicycle.  It is always fun to engage people with our riding in the cold, and riding these distances.  My daughter put it best just a day ago, “I don’t like driving a car 125 miles.”

Several of us struggled after the lunch break.  I struggled more than the rest.  A six inch sub is too much in my belly to begin the long gradual climb that begins at Dowell.  Our group of six stretched out some on this leg, and some time before we reached Chesapeake Beach there were two riders off the front.  I saw one buck in the fenced in area outside Chesapeake Beach.  No one else saw it because traffic was behind and passing and required more attention.  Outside of North Beach we passed the other two riders, and entered the steep hilly section of the route.  It was between Chesapeake Beach and Deale that eventually the three strongest riders went off the front, leaving three of us in the middle and Randy somewhere behind us.

My new cassette is not suited for climbs.  I need to buy a new one before the ride next Monday.  I also have a barrel adjuster that is not holding position, and so when I shift into the small front ring, the bike would not shift back into the large ring unless I stopped and readjusted the settings.  That is another minor mechanical repair needed before next Monday’s 200k.  Climbing some of the short steep hills (especially the one before Deale) was quite a challenge in the big ring with a 21 tooth cog.  I could have been on the fixie for the way it felt.

We hoped to finish before sunset, but we watched the sun go down as we were in our final stretch.  We finished 20 minutes later.  That is a day where we saw the sunrise and sunset on the bike.  Not a bad day in my book.

Mike B and I met up at Brian Boru’s for a tasty $5 burger and a couple of beers after the ride, and after showers.

I made contact with Randy’s wife and over the course of the next couple of hours, eventually, Randy decided to end his ride in Deale with only 25 minutes of time left and 8-10 miles to go in the dark on unfamiliar roads.  He called me about 9:00 pm as he was headed home in his truck.  He had missed some turns and had to walk his bike up some of the hills.  This was his second attempt at a 200k.  The first he successfully completed in November (Flatbread) on a flat course with about an hour left on the time limit.  Hills, cold, alone, wind and dark make a difference.  He gets some experience points.

Thanks go out to David S for the route and to all who rode this ride.  It was a great day to be on a bicycle with friends.

This was my R-13, my 13th consecutive month riding a sanctioned 200k.  I had my fastest speed on a bike on this ride.  My Garmin recorded a 42.4 mph peak.  I lugged the camera on the helmet nearly the whole ride, thinking I was taking stills.  As it turns out, for some reason it recorded video.  That means time is needed to process those video files and get them uploaded to a YouTube Channel.  I know I keep promising video links.  It will come at some point.

Today (Tuesday), I’m off the bike.  Clothes are washed.  Maintenance will be performed.  I’ll likely get out for an easy ride tomorrow and the rest of the week.

January 2nd is our next 200k.  We are starting in Emmettsburg for “Cumberland County Creeksides” and should have about a dozen riders out.  Long range forecast is for dry, windy, and temperatures from 30-50 F.  Oh, there is that mountain we climb too.

This Ride: 24.9 miles
Month: 469.6 miles
2011: 7,539.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 13658.8 miles

With Lori out of town for Christmas, I had a chance to ride the Saturday morning breakfast ride into Annapolis.  I slept in.  I got to the start at 7:30, and soon seven of us made our way south on the trail at a much more leisurely pace than I’m accustomed.  A couple of newer riders helped hold the pace down.  Clint and his family passed us on the Naval Academy Bridge, headed for Hard Bean and when we arrived, saw another group that had ridden at 6:00 finishing their breakfast.  Mike B and Bryan N lingered long enough to accompany Randy R and I back up the trail.  It was a nice ride.

I do have to say … riding the bike in daylight makes me notice how dirty the bike is.  I’ll have to clean it up some before Monday’s 200k.