Rev Rider

This Ride: 26.5 miles
Month: 26.5 miles
2011: 1,510.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 7,629.9 miles

If you came here looking for a ride report for the Horsing Around Sugarloaf 200k you will have to look elsewhere. Friday night, the group looked at the forecast for the ride and wisely decided not to ride. I was the hold out, willing to ride if anyone else was going to go. No one took me up on the offer. I watched the radar for the day. Light rain and 38 degrees would have been the start. At least one major thunderstorm rolled through. It never got above 45 degrees. Several of the riders delayed the ride by a day, riding today. I expect them in soon.

With Friday and Saturday’s rides called by rain, I was itching to get out today.  The weather was gorgeous, and Jeff was willing to ride with me, so we went out shortly after 3:00 pm.  It was breezy, but comfortable.  I had bare arms and some skin on my legs showing.  That felt really good.  We moved south on the crowded B&A Trail, jumped off at Old County Road, and rode the morning route to the end of the trail.  I suggested that THE WALL might be a good choice, and Jeff was up for it.  He showed me his favorite route to THE WALL, where just before the climb you can pick up speed to above 30 mph so that you can coast up to the first turn.  Frankly, this is cheating. Even so, my heart rate spiked at 176 bpm on this 18% grade.

We jumped back on the trail, turned south, and headed for the City Dock in Annapolis.  I was unprepared for the traffic!  Coming down King George street by the Naval Academy Gate, I took the corner at about 15-20 mph and suddenly saw that traffic was backed up.  Hard braking, skidding, side slipping, and steering around the vehicle kept me from crashing but I did stop well past the rear bumper of the car.  Jeff had a good laugh, and the guy in the car may have needed to clean his pants if he was looking in the rear view mirror.

We stopped at Hard Bean.  Jeff offered to buy me coffee, and I nearly took him up on it, but recalled that I’m so old that caffeine after 2:00 pm keeps me up all night.  Matt K stopped by and said hello.  Soon we were pushing off again and made our way back home.  There was no repeat of THE WALL, just a comfortable pace back up the trail and home.  It was really good to get out.

This Ride: 25.9 miles
Month: 552.5 miles
2011: 1,483.7 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 7,603.4 miles

This is my last ride for the month. I’ll take a rest day tomorrow in anticipation of the 200k on Saturday.  The forecast is for a cold rain, so it is a perfect day for a rest day.

I got out earlier so I would be sure to get enough miles in to reach my goal for the month.  It worked out.  I had about 7.5 miles in before meeting up at the Rusty Bridge.  Four of us pushed off from there and picked up two more along the first few miles.  We were grateful for 38° F and especially noted the warm pockets of air that must have been about 5 degrees warmer.  I wore one layer less than I did yesterday morning, and I was quite comfortable … if not a little warm.  I used the morning to evaluate clothing choices for the 200k, since the start temperature is supposed to be about where it was this morning.

I set an easy pace on the first half, and people were willing to ride at that pace … until the turn around.  We then picked it up and soon I had fallen behind.  I just don’t have the speed or strength that these other guys have.   They are very accommodating.

The monthly goal has been met.  I’ve ridden 775 miles more this year than the same period last year.  I’m presently 150 miles ahead of my planned pace to reach 8,000 miles by the end of the year.

This Ride: 21.9 miles
Month: 526.6 miles
2011: 1,457.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 7,577.6 miles

Same average heart rate as yesterday. A little quicker average speed.  About the same temperatures.  Perceived effort was much less.  What a difference a day makes.

Six of us were out again with what seemed like a slower pace and identical temperatures to yesterday.  We pushed off from the Rusty Bridge just a little later than usual, and spun through the usual route without Dan, who had alerted us he would not be riding this morning.  There was a good deal of conversation about the upcoming “Horsing Around Sugarloaf” ride this coming Saturday, especially the weather forecast which has swung from a predicted high of 66 down to low 50’s.  A good stiff breeze is also forecast, so it will be another chilly ride.  All too soon I hope to be complaining about the heat.

Clint was out and described some of last weekend’s ride.  Nearly 60 riders participated.  I’m disappointed Clint will be missing some rides in the next two weeks due to work and family obligations.

We also discussed the problems with Garmin Connect.  Uploading to Garmin Connect is very inconsistent, and fails more often than not.  I have an email into Garmin about the problems.  Another GPS mapping program that is intriguing is Ride With GPS.   I like some of the ways they format the ride map, and some of the metrics they pull from the Garmin device.

I’m now 23.4 miles from my month’s goal distance of 550 miles with two days to ride (and sketchy weather forecast).  One more good day and I’ve got the miles.  Next month’s goal is 650 miles.

Ride With GPS screen shot

This Ride: 23.5 miles
Month: 504.7 miles
2011: 1,435.9 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 7,555.6 miles

If cycling was always this hard, I don’t think I would be doing it for very long. There wasn’t much that was pleasant this morning.

Six riders were out in 28 degree temps.  The warmer weather is teasing us and winter has not yet lost it’s grip.  After a little grumbling about the temperatures, we pushed off for an easy Mosey Monday.  I guess it was pleasant enough until the hill at Askewton.  As usual, I dropped back.  I’m slow on the hill.  After the hill, I never really was able to catch up.  Dave stayed with me, but it was a struggle from there on.  Every stroke was an effort.  On B&A Blvd I had a quad cramp up, and it remained painful the rest of the ride.  Nothing felt mosey about this ride … except the average pace.  The effort to achieve 15.3 mph was the equivalent of a 17 mph expected average.

I did see Mike at the end of my ride as he was commuting north on the trail to work.

And so ends my first year with my Garmin Edge 500.  I first used it on March 29, 2010, and so I looked at my Garmin Connect logs for the past year.

• 239 Activities (65% of the days or 4.5 days a week)
• 6780 Miles
• 423:15 Hours
• 16 mph Average Speed
• 135 Average Heart Rate
• 210,833 Calories (58.5 lbs)
• 28.37 miles Average Distance
• 129.4 miles Maximum Distance
• 20.8 mph Maximum Average Speed
• 41.1 mph Maximum Speed
• 155 Maximum Average Heart Rate

This Ride: 30.3 miles
Month: 481.2 miles
2011: 1,412.4 miles
Total since 1/1/10: 7,532.1 miles

What happened to Spring?  This morning’s temperature was 30° F, a temperature we haven’t seen for at least 2 whole weeks.  By the time I got back home, there was ice in my water bottle again.  I though we have turned the corner and left this behind.  Oh well, warmer temps will come soon enough.

Nine riders were out this morning (really 10, Jim K somehow got ahead of us, and didn’t ride with us until the return).  Eight were out for breakfast.  It was a good morning ride, although I struggled a good deal.  It wasn’t easy this morning.  I’m still looking for what the pattern might be for these rides that seem to be more of an effort.  It was a relaxed pace.  Several riders are riding a Brevet tomorrow.  I think we had better weather at the beginning of the month for our ride than they will tomorrow.  We continue to have lively conversation about the route we will use in the mornings.

I’ll be sending off my letter to the bus company today.  I’ll be anxious to see if I get a response.

I’m really looking forward to next Friday’s ride.  It will be my one year anniversary of riding with SPP.  I’ve missed five Friday breakfast rides in that year, and only 3 of those Fridays did I not ride at all.

• Friday, April 9, 2010 (sick)
• Friday, June 4, 2010 (out of town)
• Friday June 10, 2010 (out of town.  Rode in Gettysburg, PA)
• Friday, July 16, 2010 (sick)
• Friday December 17, 2010 (Rode Sailing Down to Solomon’s 200k)

I think that makes Fridays my most consistent ride day, and one in which I’ve often put in longer rides.

This Ride: 23.9 miles
Month: 450.9 miles
2011: 1,382.1 miles
Total since 1/1/10: 7,501.8 miles

Often, getting the miles and exercise time in is just a matter of showing up.  That’s what 5 of our regular riders did this morning.  It rained yesterday.  It rained hard at times.  It rained overnight.  There is rain in surrounding counties.  But it wasn’t raining here this morning and it was 40° F.  Going out the door I knew that there would be someone to ride with.  It was a  good morning.

We had an easy pace going, with a good deal of discussion about routes (in response the the bus near-miss) and the upcoming rides.  The DC Randonneurs are hosting a 200k brevet Saturday, and the forecast is calling for the possibility of wet weather.  The “Four Guys and Another Guy” team are also in the middle of planning their Fleche ride in mid April.  Just the logistics of that ride involves a good deal of planning.

We rode the trail and Old County Road route out this morning, avoiding the hill on Askewton Road.  We came back our regular route.  I added a little at the end just because I’m needing those miles in order to reach my goal of 550 miles for the month of March.  The moisture in the air really wasn’t too noticeable unless we were going fast, although it did take about 5 wipes of the glasses over the course of the morning to clear the water spots off the lenses.

I didn’t ride yesterday.  The forecast was for rain.  Tuesday night I did replace my rear tire.  I’m done with Gatorskins.  I’ve had more luck preventing flats with other tires.  I installed a Continental 4 Season tire and a new tube.

Breakfast Ride tomorrow!

This Ride: 24.8 miles
Month: 427 miles
2011: 1,358.3 miles
Total since 1/1/10: 7,478 miles

It was a nice 49° F this morning, and more riders were out.  It seems that many of the regulars saw the radar yesterday before the ride and chose not to ride with the storms that were on their way.  Smart.

We had plenty of discussion about a possible new route.  Some are suggesting reversing our normal course to put us on the road sooner, possibly avoiding more traffic.  The matter isn’t quite settled yet.

About 1/3 of the way into the ride I noticed my rear tire getting soft.  At the turn around, I took the time to add air, pinching my finger in the process and raising a pretty good blood blister on my index finger.  The tire held the rest of the way home, although it was getting soft again.  Time to change it out sometime today.  I just don’t know when that will happen.

I still overdressed.  I need to start wearing the vest instead of the jacket and have something on my arms for these nearly 50 degree mornings.

This Ride: 22.3 miles
Month: 402.3 miles
2011: 1,333.5 miles
Total since 1/1/10: 7,453.2 miles

What a morning! I’ll say that again. What a morning!  There was no way I could predict the events of this morning.

Despite last night’s morning forecast of a 60% chance of rain for the 5:45 ride, I set the alarm and decided to make a game-time decision.  At 4:45 the radar on my phone showed no rain in the area (it has done this to me before) and I double checked outside and there had been no rain overnight, so I got ready and pushed out the door by about 5:20.  It was a comfortable 46°F and breezy.  I rode down Magothy Beach Rd to B&A Blvd and took that back to Ritchie Highway as a way to put a few extra miles in before meeting up with the group at the Rusty Bridge.  As I came onto the trail at White’s Road, I met Dan, and we rode north together, passing the Rusty Bridge turning around at Elvaton, then returning to the Rusty Bridge.  No one else showed.  We pushed off, anticipating picking up some riders at the Ranger Station, and found Ben waiting there for us, but that was it!  We puzzled over the low turnout for quite some time, while enjoying the quiet morning ride.

Late last week, one of our riders reached out to the Severna Park Striders, a running club, asking the early morning runners to carry lights and wear more reflective gear.  We’ve had several near misses as runners dressed in dark, non-reflective clothes have been nearly invisible to us until we are right on them.  This morning, everyone we saw running while we were headed south had a light.  We expressed our appreciation.

Once the three of us turned around at the south end of the trail, we saw the lights of two other riders, who immediately turned around.  We caught up to Chip and Jim K, and rode with them north on our morning route.  Just before getting to Glen Oban, we saw the first flash of lightning in the north.  It was then that Ben said that rain was coming, but we should be able to beat it.  (And I simply thought that the forecast was completely wrong rather than just off timing wise.)  We picked up the pace on B&A with the lightning becoming more frequent and the thunder rolls closer to the flashes.

Then we experienced the bus incident.  This is my account.

I was out ahead of the other 3 riders moving at a pretty good clip.  I hear the “car back” call, and since I’m riding in front … on the white line (no shoulder at this point) I simply maintain my position and speed.  I hear Chip yell out, “Hey!”, and within seconds a school bus brushes by so close that I’m buffeted and could have touched the bus with my arm only partially extended had I swung it out.  I have no idea how close the mirrors came to my head.  Ben, who had been riding behind me sprints behind the bus to catch it.  The bus driver pulled over in the gravel parking lot on the trail side just before Brandywine, a place where we often see him stopped because he is ahead of schedule.  Ben caught him, got him to open the door, and informed the driver he had been too close to the cyclists and asked if he could give us more room.  By then, the rest of us arrived and a shouting match ensued as the bus driver yelled at us to stay off the road and challenged us to call the police.  Things were rapidly escalating, and it was starting to sprinkle, so we decided to move on, after noting the bus company and the bus number for our complaints later in the day.  Jim K and Dan took off for home, and Chip, Ben & I rode in a pretty heavy downpour the rest of the way home.

These encounters with school bus drivers is unfortunately not rare.  We have to be careful in our response because we encounter these drivers every weekday morning, and if one of these drivers decides to attempt intimidation, one of us could get seriously injured.  A 200 lb cyclist is no match for a school bus.  An option this morning might have been to block the school bus, call the police, and let them sort it out.  Rain was coming.  The situation was escalating.  That would not have been wise.  Phone calls to the charter bus company with a time, location, and bus number is a good option.  A call to the police department might also be a good idea.  I’ll also compose a complaint letter to the charter company.  I’ll include the details, and the remediation we desire.  A copy of this letter to the police department might also be a good follow-up.  This needs some corrective action, but also documentation to help keep it from escalating.

In the meantime, our riders need to make sure that we are riding safely, responsibly, and with a great deal of caution.

The ride was a little shorter than I had hoped for this morning.  If I’m going to get my goal miles in by the end of the month I need about 25 miles per day out riding … or add another day into my plans.

Out any longer and we would have been in trouble

This Ride: 53.5 miles
Month: 379.9 miles
2011: 1,311.1 miles
Total since 1/1/10: 7,430.8 miles

As spring returns to Maryland, and the temperatures start their steady increase, it is easier to extend the Friday morning breakfast ride, and this morning was a perfect day to do just that.

We had 11 riders out for the morning ride, including some who we’ve not seen for a Friday morning in quite some time (most notably Janet & Jeff).  There was an easy pace and a lot of conversation for the ride into Annapolis.  With so many riders, it took a little longer to get our food, but it was a nice time with so many around the table.  Those of us who rode all winter are really appreciative that the weather is warming and others are now coming out to ride.

Bill C & I waited until Mike B was done at Chick & Ruth’s, then we accompanied him on his commute to work and then continued the Airport loop and wound our way back into Severna Park.  Bill is a stronger rider than I am, and so I was doing a lot of “keeping up”, but it was still a lot better than riding the last part solo.  Part way back, we stopped as I stripped off the arms of my vest/jacket and switched to short fingered gloves.  It was 50°F at the start at 5:45, and by 9:00 it was about 60°.  There are a number of other riders who plan to get out today in the forecast 70°+ temperatures.  Bill also showed me another route to the B&A trail from where the trail crosses I-97.

So … a nice easy 50+ miler at a pretty reasonable pace is a nice addition to the miles.

I keep far too many stats on my ride spreadsheet, but note that I’ve got 667.5 miles the past 30 days and for the month of March I’ve already exceeded my miles for March 2010.  These stats serve to provide me encouragement and help to keep me focused as my goals revolve around them.

This Ride: 22.5 miles
Month: 326.4 miles
2011: 1,257.6 miles
Total since 1/1/10: 7,377.3 miles

We had a group of 10 out this morning for a brisk ride on St. Patrick’s Day.  Davi was out with a green bike, and a couple of people extended a “Top of the mornin’ to ya” greeting, but that was about all one would note for marking this day.  We set a comfortable pace on the normal route and had a lot of conversation going.  The Fleche Team has submitted their route.  More riders have submitted information for “Horsing Around Sugarloaf” in 2 weeks.  We could see a pretty good turnout for Friendly Fixie Friday tomorrow judging the comments from this morning.

Once we hit the turn around point, the pace picked up some, especially on B&A Blvd.  I was able to stay with the group until the last hill, then dropped off some.  I also cut the ride short as I’m attempting to score an iPad in Annapolis.  I still came up short.

I’ve started getting out a little earlier in the mornings to get a few extra miles in before I join up with the group.  That worked pretty well this morning as I was out the door close to 5:15 and had 6+ miles in before hitting the Rusty Bridge for the group ride.  It was a pretty morning.  The frogs and birds are noisy.  The bunnies are out and encourage us to chase them.  More people are out walking the trail and most of these new spring walkers are not wearing reflective gear or lights, making them very hard to see.  I’m sure they just don’t understand why the bikers hog the trail.  It’s because we often don’t see them until we are nearly on top of them!

I didn’t ride yesterday because there was a 70% chance of rain in the forecast.  It didn’t rain for the ride.  Oh well, I needed the rest.