Rev Rider

This Ride: 15.8 miles
Month: 513.8 miles
2011: 4,788.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,907.9 miles

I learned some things on this recovery ride, a short 15 hours after my 155 mile ride.

I set out with the goal of riding normal cadence but not allowing my heart rate to reach 120.  I accomplished that.  I was pretty slow in the beginning.  As my muscles warmed up, I was able to increase the pace considerably, maxed out the gearing in the small chain ring, and still kept my pulse in the 90 – 110 range.  I never realized that the small chain ring was so useful beyond climbing.

It was a short ride, but the right thing to do.

I’ll be getting my first leg massage later today.

This Ride: 155.6 miles
Month: 498.0 miles
2011: 4,772.4 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,892.1 miles

“I’m never riding my bike again.”

That was the sentiment at the end of the ride today, nearly 12 hours after I left home.  It really wasn’t that bad, but I’m beat.

My plan for the day was to ride to Crofton for the start of a solo 200k, then ride home.  I calculated it to be a total of 155 miles, the longest one day distance I’ve ever done.  The forecast was good.  I believed I was ready.  I prepared the bike yesterday, and opted for the luggage rack on the back since I was riding solo.  I was prepared with food, tubes, first aid equipment, and the like.  It added a lot of weight, and I could feel it on the hills.  I set my alarm for 4:20 with a planned 5:00 am departure.

I woke up at 3:20, and just couldn’t get back to sleep.  I got up at 4 and putzed around until it was time to leave.

The early morning was beautiful.  There was light fog in some of the fields as I made my way through dark, winding, wooded roadways to Crofton.  My pace was slow since I didn’t really know these roads and turns, and it was dark!  I admit that it was a little spooky at times.  A helmet light is a life-saver, letting me see both my cue sheet and the street signs. I arrived with about 10 minutes to spare for my 6:00 am start and was soon checked in and ready to go.

At 6 this time of year the sky is lightening up and within a short time I watched the sun rise red over the trees.  It took a little while for the fog to burn off, and the road surfaces were mostly damp the first hour or so.  My early goal was to ride smart, and not burn myself out.  Looking at my stats, I think I did a pretty fair job at that all the way down to Solomons.  I still made reasonable time, and was pushing off from my break at the 60 mile point in the 200k at about 10:00.  By then, it was over 80 degrees, barely and it looked like I would have the wind at my back on the way home.

I’ve tended to struggle some coming up out of Solomons in the past, so I intentionally limited my food intake at the stop.  I was concerned about dehydration, so I worked at keeping fluids going past my lips.

I’ve gotten pretty familiar with this route, having done it now 6 times.  That is a blessing and a curse.  I now can take in the sights without worrying about getting lost.  I’m also reminded of places where I’ve had trouble before.  Wouldn’t you know it, I cramp up some at the same exact spots.  I think it is more memory than physiological.  The familiarity also lets me know some of the hazardous places, and some of the more interesting sights.

Frequent readers of this blog know that on these 200k rides, I count discarded banana peels.  There were 7 this trip, but the first one didn’t happen until 54 miles into the 200k!  Riding solo, I also noticed some other things.  There were 4 dead snakes in the road.  There was an intact fish (about 9 inches long) … far from any water source.  I also saw a dead 8 point buck.  The antlers were still in velvet.  Near Chesapeake Beach, inside the US Government Property fence I saw no fewer than 7 deer, including a magnificent 12 point buck, a 6 point buck, and 5 does.  I stopped, but they bolted when a car came by.  Sorry, no photos.

By the time I got to Sweet Sue’s around 12:30 pm, it was getting hot.  The temps climbed to about 90.  I brought a sock to use as an ice sock (along with just about everything short of the kitchen sink).  I filled it there, and really appreciated the ice on my neck for the next half hour.  That’s about how long the ice lasted.  I was able to refill it in Harwood, and then again in Crofton for the ride home.  The ice on the back of the neck and especially the sides of the neck really helped me manage the heat pretty well.  I don’t do well in the heat, defined as anything above 85.

I slowed down quite a bit in this last stretch.  I think I was becoming dehydrated.  Climbing the hills was a struggle, and I sometimes found myself crawling up them in single digit speeds, sometimes even below 5 mph.  I tried to maintain a good attitude, and the ice sock helped.  But I was dragging.  I stopped in Harwood for water and ice. Then I simply slogged my way to the end of the 200k.  My time, speed, and time off the bike are very similar to my April ride.

I made a mistake as I prepared to ride home from Crofton.  I grabbed what I thought was a bottle of chocolate milk.  It turns out it was a protein drink, not what I was needing at the time.  For the next 10 miles I debated whether or not I would stop and throw up.  I decided I could wait until I got home, and by then the feeling had passed.  I don’t like to vomit.  I had a terribly slow return trip, averaging 13.5 mph for those last 14 miles.  It was painful too.

When I got home, I checked the saddle sores that were developing.  It had gotten painful to sit since about Sweet Sue’s.  I even applied more Butt Butter at Sweet Sue’s before I left.  I’m really sore.  My shorts were soaking wet.  I could wring sweat out of them.  I weighed myself and verified that I was dehydrated.  I lost 5 lbs or a little over 3% of my body weight today.  No wonder I was struggling!  But I expected highs of 86, not 95!

All told, it was a great accomplishment.  155.6 miles!

These Rides: 132.2 miles
Month: 330.4 miles
2011: 4,604.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,724.5 miles

It has been a while (8/4/11) since I last posted any rides.  I’ll use this post to bring you up to date.

Friday, August 5th was a great day for a ride.  It was the regular breakfast ride to Annapolis, with pleasant temperatures and great company.  As I recall, about a half dozen of us made it to breakfast.  Following that ride, I continued on, riding up to the airport and doing both a clockwise and counterclockwise loop.  On my way back, I saw a group of senior riders.  The youngest may have been over 70.  May I still be on the bike then.  Later in the day, I added almost 3 miles as I dropped my car off at the body shop for repairs.  Total distance for the day = 73.3 miles.

Later that evening, we loaded up Lori’s new to her car and headed off to Ocean City.  I tried to take the bike, but couldn’t get the bike rack to work on the car in the short amount of time we had before leaving, so I left the bike at home and sat on the beach all week.  I read, got browner, and gained some weight.  The rest was nice.  We returned late Saturday, 8 days later.  Rain was heavy on Sunday.  No ride.

Before going to the beach, I had planned to ride a 200k on the Monday following our return.  The forecast was for scattered thunderstorms all day, so on Sunday I arranged for the ride to be shifted to Wednesday, the one day all week where there was a decent forecast.  I’m glad I made the switch.  I went out for Mosey Monday’s Ride, got in 22.4 miles with the last part in a light drizzle.  Shortly after ending the ride, the rain poured down.  I looked to go out again later in the day, but the thunderstorms were pretty persistent all day.  It would clear up, and then, another cell would bloom.  Most were very localized … right over any route I could take from home.

Tuesday opened beautiful.  The skies were clear.  The temperature was in the mid 60’s.  I arranged to ride the 5:46 ride (not fast) because I’m planning the 200k for Wednesday and didn’t want to overexert.  As it turns out, one of our new riders, Barry, was coming out for the first time after his wife’s sudden death a couple of days ago.  We resolved to ride an easy pace with Barry and had a dozen riders out.  It was an easy conversational pace.  Ann Brennan was also out.  At the end, I added a few more miles, with even more planned for later in the day (since the car is still in the shop and there are some errands to run).  For the first part of the day, I logged 36.5 miles.  I hope to have 50 by the end of the day.

Tomorrow should prove to be quite a day.  I’ll be riding Sailing Down to Solomons again, with a twist.  I’m going to ride to the start and back home again after.  I estimate that will give me 150 miles on the day, my longest day ever.  It will be solo.  I’ll leave home somewhere just before 5:00 am and who knows when I will get home.  I plan to ride an easy ride, focusing mostly on my heart rate and cadence.  I want to finish strong rather than exhausted.  My plan right now is to minimize time off the bike also.  We’ll see how that goes once I hit Sweet Sue’s some 120 miles into the ride.  Stay tuned, as they say.

Friday, August 5

Monday, August 15

Tuesday, August 16

This Ride: 19.5 miles
Month: 198.2 miles
2011: 4,472.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,592.3 miles

It was after getting dressed and putting the bike outside before I discovered it was raining.  It was a light rain, but it was raining.  I went back into the garage, pulled out my fenders, installed only the rear one, and pushed off in the rain.  That didn’t help my attitude much this morning.  I had been arguing with myself since waking up about whether or not to take a break today.  There was every excuse in the book.  My legs hurt.  I didn’t sleep well.  I’m fatigued.  I have a busy day lined up.  My shoes were not completely dry.  You get the picture, and now it was raining.  Visibility was awful even without the raindrops on the goggles.  I started out grumpy and figured I would be the only one out.  I wondered if I would even ride if that were true.  It wasn’t feeling like it.

I went past the Rusty Bridge to my usual turn around point, and on the way back to the bridge saw headlights.  Dave was out.  That meant I would hear, “How are you going to learn how to ride in the rain if you don’t ride in the rain?” Soon, another rider showed up, and we were three.  We pushed off, not seeing any other lights.  I discovered that like me, the other rider was too far committed to ride to bail when he discovered it was raining.  We did the usual route, being careful on the paint and in the turns, but still having a fairly brisk pace.  We averaged 17 mph in the rain, after all.  To tell the truth, the rain let up about the time we pushed off  from the Rusty Bridge.  Most of the ride was ridden in a light mist to heavy humidity.  The road surface was wet.  Brakes didn’t work well.

By the time the decision needed to be made about whether or not I would continue to add miles, I was done.  My attitude had not improved much and I even took the shortcut home.  I withdrew all the miles I had banked earlier in the week and still was about 2 miles short of where I wanted to be by the end of today’s ride.  I think I can make that up tomorrow.

Now to re-dry my shoes, re-lube the chain, and to eventually stop whining.

This Ride: 54.6 miles
Month: 178.7 miles
2011: 4,453.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,572.8 miles

The overnight thunderstorms didn’t materialize.  Jim K & Mike B emailed last night that they intended an easy spin for this morning, and I latched on to that hard.  Mike then emailed early this morning that his legs said “no ride today”so it was down to Jim and I.  We didn’t see Jim from the Rusty Bridge at the appointed time, so the 4 of us gathered took off, with Mike C. and I riding easy.  Jim caught us by the time we got to Old County, and so the rest of the morning ride was at a nice conversational pace spinning easy.  We did get to see a doe with a spotted fawn this morning.

After the usual ride, I decided to go around the river.  Skies were somewhat threatening, but everyone assured me I’d be fine.  Near Crownsville at mile 32, the skies opened up and the rain came down steadily.  I was either in rain or very, very wet streets (water running in the streets) for most of the rest of the ride.  I loved it (for the most part).  The water was cooler than the air temperature, so that felt good.  The spray off the back tire was actually a little refreshing where it hit me.  My shoes did feel a little soggy, and my hands suffered some from wet gloves, but other than that, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

I really took it easy on the ride.  I kept my heart rate in an easy range, and that sure helped with my attitude.  My legs felt tired by the end of the ride, but even my legs would not have complained about more miles this morning.  But there are things to do and errands to run, so I made my way home, stripped off wet and sandy clothing directly into the washing machine, showered, and I’m ready for the day.  I’ll degrease and lube the drive chain later this afternoon.

This Ride: 33 miles
Month: 124.2 miles
2011: 4,398.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,518.3 miles

There is nothing slow about the Tuesday Night Pizza Ride.  It has been a while since I’ve been able to ride with this group for this ride, and I had forgotten how fast it can be.

I went out a little early and took it relatively easy.  I met Jim along the way, and we rode slow together, being a little early and it being 97 degrees F out.  At least the humidity was low, and even a slow speed brought enough breeze to keep us cool.  Soon we were ready to go … with 14 riders.  We soon lost one to a mechanical, and Ann B rode with us a little while but I think the pace was a little fast for her.  We were up and down with speed on the trail, there being a lot of foot traffic.  I was a little concerned when we passed a park ranger in a vehicle.  We were doing about 20 mph and the trail speed limit is 15.  Not only that, but there have been some letters in the newspaper complaining about fast riders.  The ranger waved as we passed.

We pressed on.  On Holly Drive, we saw a herd of deer … about 6-7 animals.  We breezed through the loop there above 21 mph.  The hills on St. Margarets Road split us up a bit, but we regrouped along the trail, and headed back at an easy pace.  Clint joined us on this stretch of road, but couldn’t stay for dinner.

At Squizitos, we polished off more than 3 large pizzas, a 12 pack of beer, a lot of water, and a few other meals.  Jane and Mike B joined us.  By the time we left the pizza place, the temps had moderated even more and it was quite a pleasant evening.  Some suggested that we keep riding, but no one seemed very serious about that.

One of the statistics I keep on my rides is a moving 30 day distance.  In the past 30 days I’ve ridden 975 miles.  That is the most I’ve ridden in a 30 day period of time ever.

It was a nice night.

This Ride: 30.8 miles
Month: 91.1 miles
2011: 4,365.5 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,485.2 miles

Once again, the legs were not there for Terrible Tuesday.  I was fast enough to hang with the group until Round Bay, then stayed on Old County Road and allowed them to catch up.  I hung with them on the trail until just past Glen Oban, then faded fast.  It was a moderately quick ride for the 8 or so riders out.  In the end, I rode with Mike C from the south end of the trail and added a few bonus miles to get to 30 miles on the morning.

This was one of those mornings where I just put in the miles.  I’ll be adding another 30 or so miles this evening with the Tuesday Pizza Ride, so the day will again be somewhere above 60 miles.  I was able to maintain 21 mph or higher on the last hill of B&A Blvd.  That hill has really served to help my confidence on the smaller hills.  It will soon be time to set the same kinds of goals for the hills on Old County Road.  It is all part of becoming a better hill climber and changing my attitude about these little rises.  Then, when the rides go into winter mode and we stop going fast three days a week, I’ll be ready for the hill in Round Bay making it my target all winter.

Mike C. served notice that he intends to ride more consistently in the winter this year.  I’ll help hold him to it.

I’ll post the Pizza Ride results tonight.

This Ride: 60.3 miles
Month: 60.3 miles
2011: 4,334.7 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,454.4 miles

July is over … August begins, and with that, new goals and new challenges.  The original goal is 900 miles.  I’ll need to work out a date for the August 200k.  The burning question impacting both of these is whether or not I take the bike on vacation.  If I don’t, I lose a week … but that might not be so bad either.  Those decisions will be made soon.

But this morning 9 riders were out for a leisurely Mosey Monday.  It was a very relaxed pace, and a lot of good conversation occurred.  We heard about Clint & Bryan’s 200k Brevet in PA, NJ, & NY which they describe as one of the prettiest they’ve done.  We speculated about Chip & Clif out on their back to back 200k rides.  They are in full prep mode for Paris-Brest-Paris in two weeks (1200 k).  Soon the ride was over and I announced I was continuing on until it got hot.

I made my way up toward the airport, intending to complete at least 50 miles today.  In fact, to accomplish my mileage goal and riding only 18 days this month, I need to ride 50 miles per day.  It was a relatively relaxed and easy ride.  At the bridge over I-97 I stopped to help a woman who had dropped a chain on her new 5 speed bike.  She was sitting there so dejected, with dirty fingers, waiting for her husband to arrive to help her.  She had made a shift on a hill and the chain popped off.  Let me tell you, those chain guards make things a little more challenging, but only barely.  I had the chain on in an instant and she called home to cancel the husband.

The heat gradually climbed, and soon I was ready to make my way home.  There were some additional miles I could have added, but I was getting some abrasions and was soaking wet, so I simply headed home.

It was nice to have 60 miles in for the day.  That gives me a little in the bank in case I need it later.

This Ride: 28.1 miles
Month: 904.4 miles
2011: 4,274.4 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,394.1 miles

What a difference a day makes. Despite a little soreness in my thighs, my legs felt good today and the ride was easy.  I’m glad, because the heat and humidity was back in full force.  It was 80° F as I left the house at 5:20.  I took a shorter route to the Rusty Bridge, adjusting my derailleurs every few hundred yards to get them dialed in properly.  I think I’ve got them where they need to be now.  There were about a dozen riders out, with most going into Annapolis for breakfast.  Some are preparing for a 200k ride in the Poconos tomorrow, so there was a good deal of conversation about that.  Bryan will complete his Super Randonneur Series tomorrow, that is a 200, 300, 400, & 600 k brevet in one calendar year.  Funny, he will finish with the shortest ride.

Mike B and I traded jabs back and forth about the miles we are riding.  I conceded the distance to him.  He is riding to work today and hopes to complete 1000 miles this month.  I’m stopping at my 904 miles for July.

As I look forward to August, I may take my week of vacation completely off the bike.  That means I may not hit my original goal of 900 miles for the month.  We will just have to see how it goes.

The reference to pie in the title?  That’s what I had for breakfast this morning in Annapolis.  It was mighty tasty.

Photo by Clint

This Ride: 50.8 miles
Month: 876.4 miles
2011: 4,246.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 10,366 miles

My July 2011 goal is 900 miles.  I’m now a simple Friendly Friday breakfast ride into Annapolis away from that goal.  I don’t even have to do my regular Friday bonus miles.  Mike is using my miles as motivation to extend his distance.  He achieved 850 miles (his monthly goal) this morning on the ride into work.  Now he is talking about maybe 1000 for the month.

We had 10 people out for the Thrashing Thursday ride this morning, and right out of the blocks, Dave sought to establish a fast pace.  After a few hundred yards, I knew I couldn’t hold a fast pace at all this morning, and so hung back.  Mike C. also stayed back, and we rode together for the first 23 miles of the morning.  As soon as he headed home, I worked on my front gears, and finally got them working well enough to shift between the big and small ring and back again.  That hasn’t worked all week.  However, by the end of the ride, my cassette wasn’t shifting properly.  I’ll need to take the time later today to check all this out.

I continued around the river, taking my time.  I really struggled.  The humidity has come up and my legs are dead tired.  I was glad to finally get back home.

Highlights of the ride today?  I saw a fox cross the road just before dawn.  I didn’t flat when I hit something in the trail that popped out from under my tire with a report as loud as a .22 caliber gun being shot.  I worked out a noise in the bike.  It was the rear spindle needing to be tightened.  In the last 30 days I’ve ridden 919 miles.