Rev Rider

This Ride: 31 miles
Month: 213.4 miles
2011: 5,330.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,450.6 miles

A quick email discussion took place last night about whether or not people would ride in the rain this morning.  That got some attention.  A total of about 8 riders were out for the early ride (though some were late).  Most took a very quick pace on wet roads.  Not only did I fade quickly, but I was not comfortable with as dark as it was and lights did little to make visibility better.  There was a light mist that fogged glasses quickly.  Dennis and I hung together for the first part of the ride and Jim, Chip and I finished together.  I had planned to ride the fixie this morning, but was concerned that the pace would be too quick for that.  I intend to ride it tomorrow for the 5:46 ride and Chip indicated he would ride with me on his fixie.

I extended the ride just a bit this morning to get 30 miles in, and just as I pulled onto my front porch the rain started down pretty hard.  It has not stopped for 1.5 hours now.  I guess I timed that right, although I think the rain would have felt pretty good too.  Soon, riding in these conditions will be cold and miserable.  I enjoyed the ride.

This Ride: 23 miles
Month: 182.4 miles
2011: 5,299.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,419.6 miles

The remnants of tropical storm Lee is spawning a good deal of rain in our area over the next few days.  At 5:00 am there was a break in the rain, and by 5:45 there were places that were beginning to dry out.  With the rear fender on, I set out and joined only two others for the morning ride.  We kept the speed down some because of the wet road surfaces and some debris scattered around, but had a nice ride.  It only sprinkled once, but it was enough to completely cover us in water in no time.  Although it was a pleasant ride, I cut it shorter than the 30 miles I had planned.

This Ride: 87.9 miles
Month: 159.4 miles
2011: 5,276.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,396.6 miles

The Severna Park Peloton has a tradition of hosting longer rides on major summer holidays (Memorial Day, July 4th, & Labor Day).  This year, there was interest in riding to Washington, DC.  Fran K. put together a route (not an easy task with the high congestion and heavily traveled roadways around here) and we had 15 riders on 14 bikes show up for the 6:30 am start.  Heavy rain threatened all day, but we never encountered a drop.

The route was perfect!  We wound our way through streets and roads that were mostly devoid of traffic.  We enjoyed one another’s company.  We frequently changed up riding partners as we moved around in the peloton.  We particularly enjoyed the trail system in the DC area, although these trails were the sites of all but one of our 4 crashes.  I’ve never seen so many crashes.

Fran crashed as he crested a very steep hill and needed to stop suddenly because the path crossed traffic.  He didn’t have the speed to stay upright.  Tom crashed as he applied front brakes in an “emergency” stop, and was thrown over the handlebars.  Carl crashed negotiating a very sharp turn onto a bridge when a rider near him suddenly stopped.  Bill crashed in DC on some very uneven and hard to see pavement where two levels of street ran parallel to the direction of travel.  With bumps and bruises and just a little road rash, all the riders finished the ride.

In DC we had great service at The Dubliner.  Some of us even drank a Guinness (at 10:30 am) with our eggs.  We did not stay to see the sights, as some were feeling the need to return home.  Good thing too … the rain came down hard within a half hour of our return.

This was simply a nice day with friends.

A good deal has happened and I’ll let you get caught up as I also catch up.

Since last posting a ride, I’ve ridden 6 times during 4 different days.  I did not accomplish my 900 mile goal for August.  My rides included:

• A 22.7 mile ride on Aug 29.  It was the first ride in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, and we took it slow as we picked our way carefully through debris on the trail and roads.  We abbreviated our ride because of downed power lines and downed trees along our route.
• A pair of rides on August 30 for a total of 52.3 miles.  Parts of the trail was still closed.  Our Pizza Ride was also abbreviated because of down trees and power lines.
• An easy 32.3 mile ride on September 1.
• A pair of rides on September 2 for a total of 39.3 miles.  The short ride of 3.3 miles was on my new fixie.

And so the current numbers:

Month of August: 843.1 miles
Current Month: 71.6
2011: 5,189 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,308.7 miles

And now, a word about the fixie.  I had attempted to have an old Viscount frame from the late 1970’s converted into a fixie (fixed single gear bike), but the good mechanics at Bike Doctor recommended against it, twice.  I went to Penny at Light Street Bicycles in Baltimore and after looking at what she had in stock, I decided to purchase an Origin-8 Uno.  It is a charcoal grey (much darker than this stock photo).

My short ride reveals that it will be a learning curve for this bike.  If the wheels are turning, so are the pedals.  I’ll write more about it later, including the reasons I have for riding a fixie.  My kids think I’m nuts.

As for the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.  We relied on a generator for 6 days before the power was turned back on.  We are on a well, and had no water other than what we could drag into the house during those 6 days.

Yes, I’m riding.  Yes, I’m short of my goal for the month; about 80 miles short if I don’t ride today … and I’m torn.  Hurricane Isabel left us without power and water since Saturday night.  I’ve ridden something like 74 miles this week, but I’m not sure I’m going to ride today.  I got a shower last night for the first time since Sunday and I’m not sure I want to “mess it up”.  Funny, isn’t it.  Water is my concern right now.  Unless I get the generator hooked up to the well pump, I’ll have to haul more water into the house for flushing and dishes and washing.  That consumes some time!  The forecast is for power by 11:00 pm Friday.  I seriously doubt our utility company will make that projection.  Until power (and then internet) are back up, posts here will be infrequent.

This Ride: 26.4 miles
Month: 768.1 miles
2011: 5,042.5 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,162.2 miles

Yesterday, Mike B. and I made arrangements to ride together this morning for something like 60-70 miles. We settled on a ride to breakfast then to Ellicott City.  I received an email this morning indicating that plans had changed, so I resigned myself to another longer solo ride.

We had a good turn out for the breakfast ride.  Sunrise doesn’t happen now until we are getting to Annapolis, and it is always pretty.  Soon our whole ride will be in the dark.  There were six for breakfast.  Much of the conversation centered on the approach of Hurricane Isabel.  If she tracks just a little bit west of forecast, we will get some pretty serious weather.  Our PBP riders should get home just in time for the hurricane/tropical storm.

On the way back from breakfast, I decided not to ride longer today.  My legs are tired, and I should still be able to get my miles in next week.  I doubt I will get to 1000 miles for August, but I’ll get my 900 mile goal.  Not only do I need the rest, but I’ve got some storm preparations to make, especially with the possibility of power outages.  We are being warned that outages could take several days to repair, depending a great deal on the track of this storm.  We are also trying to decide whether or not to take the planned trip out of town this weekend.

This Ride: 28.6 miles
Month: 741.7 miles
2011: 5,016.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,135.8 miles

There were seven riders out this morning for a warmer start than yesterday’s finish. Five sprinted off the front. Mike C. & I couldn’t hold the pace, so we pressed our own speed as much as we could and had a nice ride to the end of the trail. We waited for Scott, who had not been able to keep up with the fast guys, and the three of us rode back together until … Mike popped a rear spoke at Glen Oban. We wrapped the spoke to its neighbor, opened the rear brake, and Mike rode easy, choosing to get back on the trail to avoid big hills since he didn’t have much breaking from the rear brake. Scott and I rode and talked about the upcoming Seagull Century. It still intimidates him some, but really wants to ride it. I waited on Mike at Robinson Road, and we rode back to his turnoff for home together, and I continued on then home rather than extending my ride. (Yes, that means Mike will have me on monthly distance at the end of the day.)

We’ve gotten some recent updates from other riders.  Chip has completed Paris-Brest-Paris (1200k) in just over 79 hours.  Not bad, considering that he had to replace his bike frame during the ride because his cracked.  Cliff seems to be still going, although there are no recent updates since Brest.  He became ill, saw a physician, got medicine, and had to rest.  A DC Randonneur was killed while riding Paris-Brest-Paris.  Thai Pham was hit by a truck and killed.  In other news, Sebastian, who was in an accident a few weeks ago still doesn’t remember even leaving the house.  The police said that a car turned directly into his path and he struck the car, flew through the air 10-15 feet, hit his head, and cracked some bones.  Sebastian is a huge advocate of (1) helmets, (2) Road ID, (3) Flashing front lights.  He expects to be able to go back to work soon.  Neal, who crashed June 1 and shattered his pelvis is slowly recovering.  He is still a few weeks away from load bearing on his legs.  This can be a dangerous sport.

These Rides: 113.6 miles (22.3, 38.83, 52.5)
Month: 713.1 miles
2011: 4,987.4 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 11,107.1 miles

I was able to get two rides in on my birthday yesterday.  The first was the usual 5:45 ride.  It was a chilly 58°F at the start.  It seemed pretty fast to me, but I was still dragging at the end.  I didn’t continue on, knowing that I was riding the evening Pizza ride later in the day.

Lori gave me the go ahead to get my old late-70s Viscount bike converted into a “fixie”, so I took that in to the Bike Doctor for the conversion.  It should be ready in a little over a week.

Mid-day, we had an earthquake.  It was pretty significant.  It rattled the whole East Coast of the U.S.  Of course, that became the topic of conversation for much of the Pizza Ride.

We had a dozen riders for the Pizza Ride.  It was a moderate pace, and pretty enjoyable.  Carl had a flat, but changed that out pretty quickly.  At the end of the ride, several spouses joined us, and we tried out the new to Maryland “Fat Tire” from New Belgium Brewing Company.

This morning’s ride started out about 2 degrees warmer than yesterday morning, and was quite pleasant.  Mike C, Mike B, and I rode the 5:46 ride, a little easier pace letting the faster riders (about 5 of them) go.  At the end of the ride, I continued on around the airport.  Near the airport, I encountered an emu that I’d never seen there before … and never heard anyone else describe either.

The emu posed for a photo for me

I took it easy today, and am glad I did.  I have quite a few tasks to do at home and so I’ll be busy today.  These were a couple of the most pleasant days to ride all summer thus far.

This Ride: 58.8 miles
Month: 599.4 miles
2011: 4,873.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,993.5 miles

What a beautiful Monday morning!  Despite yesterday’s very heavy rains, the humidity was coming down and reasonably cool temperatures greeted the 8 morning riders including Jesse, brand new to the club.  We took it easy today, keeping the theme of Mosey Monday intact.  Following the morning ride, I continued on solo around the river, then to Sandy Point State Park and home for almost 59 miles at a relatively easy pace.

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I recall that last year on my birthday I rode a mile for each of my 54 years.  This year, I’ll likely ride two rides, the early morning ride, and the Pizza Ride, and will get more than a mile for each of my years.

Curiosity just got me.  In the last year, over 7,600 miles on the bike.  Not bad for an old man.

This Ride: 26.8 miles
Month: 540.6 miles
2011: 4,814.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,934.6 miles

I’m still a little sore.  I went for a massage last night, and it was about 90 minutes of torture.  The massage therapist described me as being a little tight, and she found every sore muscle in my body and worked it.  Thanks for the Father’s Day gift, Kirstin!  I had hoped that I’d be less sore this morning, but such was not the case.

The morning ride was good.  We had 9 out as we began.  It was an easy pace heading down the trail.  We had some dampness due to last night’s rains, but not enough standing water to really worry about.  Mike B got a flat on Boulter’s, just at the south end of the trail.  Six of us ended up at breakfast at the Hard Bean (Mike went to C & R, as usual).  We got caught up on what Clint knew about our 2 riders in France for the Paris-Brest-Paris ride and Clint regaled us with stories about his much delayed flight from Boston last night, especially when he attempted to use our morning ride as a bargaining chip to catch a flight out sooner.  It was a nice casual time.

On the way back, Clint flatted on his fixie (rear wheel of course), and had a bad replacement tube, so that change took a little longer than usual.  Mike still didn’t catch us though, and with two flats in the group this morning I still arrived home only about 10 minutes later than usual.  I opted not to continue on this morning.  I was feeling pretty good, but I’ll put in longer miles next week and should still be able to accomplish my mileage goal for the month.  I’ve ridden only 269 miles this week, with about 36o left to go for the month.