Rev Rider

This Ride: 23 miles
Kona Distance: 2,361.9 miles
Month to date: 23 miles
2010 Total: 2828.4 miles
Pace to 5254.8 mile goal in 2010: (14.7 miles behind goal pace)

No rides over the weekend. Lori and I went to the beach on Saturday and yesterday was pretty full with work. It felt really good to get out again this morning, and “Mosey Monday” is a perfect way to start the week. There was a light mist when I rolled off my porch at about 5:30, and there were some dark clouds swirling around. I thought about going back for the fenders, but decided that if it rained, I’d just get dirty. The rain never came.

I logged a few extra miles before getting to the Rusty Bridge. My monthly mileage goal is increased from July, and I need to average at least 20 miles per day, whether I ride or not. I’m still trying to work out what that means for each day I ride, but the 5:45 ride alone isn’t close to being enough. We had 5 riders setting out from the Rusty Bridge.

There was a nice easy pace set with a lot of conversation. On the return, on B&A Blvd we picked up the pace, but I was tucked in right behind Clif (on his fixie) and noted one time that my heart rate was 98! Not bad for moving about 18 mph at that point. I’m always amazed at the advantage of drafting on a bike.

Once I was alone again, climbing the hill back home, my legs felt so fresh that I think I had my fastest climb up Ritchie. I added the Magothy Bridge Road/B&A Blvd loop to complete a nice 23 miles this morning.

If all Mondays started like this, there would be no reason to grumble.

This Ride: 33.9 miles
Kona Distance: 2,338.9 miles
Month to date: 551 miles
2010 Total: 2805.4 miles
Pace to 5254.8 mile goal in 2010: (18.5 miles ahead of goal pace)

A simply gorgeous morning! Temperature was 70 degrees at 5:30 and skies were clear. This was the perfect day for Friendly Friday with the Severna Park Peloton. Eleven riders met at the Rusty Bridge, eight went to Annapolis, seven stayed for breakfast.

On our way back, we ran into some of the group riding in the Bike to the Beach ride from Washington, DC to Dewey Beach, DE.  They were stopping at the WWII Memorial just north of the Naval Academy Bridge to have bikes and riders transported from there to the Eastern Shore, where they continue on.  Most of the group we saw were huffing and puffing up the Naval Academy Bridge.  They said they got rid of the sprinters early so they had a leisurely ride.  We got cheered on by the SAG van and are going to be part of someone’s video of the event.  We looked a whole lot “fresher” than they did, and they had 77 more miles to go. (I just happened to see a link last night to their website about this ride, so when we passed by on our way to Annapolis, I knew what was being staged at the WWII Memorial.  Coincidence!)

At the end of the morning ride, Jeff and I added a few miles so I could reach my monthly goal.  I was feeling considerably better this morning, and could have ridden much more, but as it turns out, it is good that I didn’t.  I received a work call that means I need to attend to some funeral arrangements and planning, so most of the rest of my day will be consumed with other things. I hope to do a little bike maintenance also.

I think dehydration is what caused my wooden legs the past two days.  I paid attention to hydration yesterday and I had considerable more energy and strength this morning.

This Ride: 20 miles
Kona Distance: 2,305 miles
Month to date: 517.1 miles
2010 Total: 2771.5 miles
Pace to 5254.8 mile goal in 2010: (2.4 miles ahead of goal pace)

The title says it all. I’m tired. My legs are like logs. Right or wrong, the only thing that got me out this morning was the goals I have set, and that probably isn’t smart. As it is, I’m really considering not riding long and hard tomorrow.  All I need is 33 miles to meet my goal for the month.  That’s the breakfast ride and 8 more.

My goal was to ride with a heart rate under 140, and use the day as a recovery ride.  I got out of the house a little late and prepared myself to be blown away by the peloton passing me.  As it was, I never saw them.

What helped most this morning was that as I neared the south end of the trail, and after considering shortening my ride, I met Jeff who turned around and joined me.  We went to the Naval Academy Bridge, watched the sunrise, then rode steady back home.  I wasn’t much of a conversationalist, but that worked ok.

This Ride: 31.15 miles
Kona Distance: 2,285 miles
Month to date: 497.1 miles
2010 Total: 2751.5 miles
Pace to 5254.8 mile goal in 2010:(Exactly on goal pace)

As it turns out, I couldn’t ride yesterday.  I attended a funeral in Syracuse, NY and spent 12+ hours in a car … there and back in one day.  I really needed to move my legs this morning.

I slept in about an hour, then was out the door before 7 am for a planned 30 mile ride.  My initial goal was to keep my heart rate below 140 and simply do a ride, but soon I was moving faster and just tried to keep it below 150 (except for hills and when I completely zoned out).  My mind was mostly disengaged this morning.  I pedaled, stayed aware of hazards, and that was about it.  It was pretty humid out and near the end of the ride I left a trail of sweat drops in my wake.

It looks like I’m pretty much on target for my goal of at least 550 miles this month.  Kudos and encouragement to Mike B (Severna Park Peloton).  He is within spitting distance of 1000 miles for the month, a great milestone!

This Ride: 28.0 miles
Kona Distance: 2,253.9 miles
Month to date: 466.0 miles
2010 Total: 2720.3 miles
Pace to 5254.8 mile goal in 2010:(4.5 miles ahead goal pace)

With temperatures in the mid 80s, the humidity lower than it has been for a while, and uncertainty about whether or not I can ride tomorrow, it was time to jump on the bike before I have to get out and cut the grass. It was a nice ride.

My goal was to get a good fast solo ride in.  I rode the Oceana-St. Margaret’s Loop.  I had two 5 mile “laps” at or above 18.4 mph and most of the rest of the ride was in the upper 17 mph range.  My average for the ride was 17.9.  I just couldn’t hold 18 mph.  I only have 2 other rides this month this fast or faster.

What a difference time of day and nutrition levels have for these rides.  When I go out on the 5:45 rides, I often do not eat anything before the ride.  When I ride mid-day, there is more traffic on the trail, crossing the roads is slower, but I often average faster times.  I have to believe that my nutrition, or rather lack of it, contributes to slower morning rides.

Not bad.  50.3 miles on the day.  I’m now just a little ahead of my goal pace, catching up after the week long layoff due to illness.  Ugh.  Now I have to mow the lawn.

This Ride: 22.3 miles
Kona Distance: 2,225.8 miles
Month to date: 438.0 miles
2010 Total: 2692.3 miles
Pace to 5254.8 mile goal in 2010:(23.5 miles behind goal pace)

Yesterday afternoon a line of thunderstorms rumbled through with high winds, lightning, and rain.  Over 23,000 households in our country still don’t have power this morning, and I think many of them live near our Mosey Monday route.  Our ride was impacted as well.  The 72 degrees felt great, even if the humidity was high.

Mike and I met at the Rusty Bridge and pushed off a few minutes after 5:45.  We picked up Chris and Chip at the Ranger Station, and somewhere along the way Dave showed up.  Chip hit a pothole and I’m not sure what mechanical issue it caused, but he sent us on ahead.

There was a good deal of tree debris on the trail this morning, and occasionally we caught a stick or bunch of leaves that were thrown off the wheels.  We had a nice pace going, good conversation, and then we saw that the trail was closed just before the last bridge (after Glen Oban).  From what we could see, a downed tree was completely blocking the trail about 75 yards past the bridge.  It was here we picked up another rider (AJ?), saw Alex, and traveled down B&A Blvd south until it met Ritchie Highway, then U-turned and followed B&A Blvd back into Severna Park.

This is where it got interesting … and pretty scary.  The traffic on B&A Blvd was much heavier than usual, which also meant that people who were traveling on it were unaccustomed to the road and the presence of cyclists on this narrow winding road with no shoulder.  More than once, we were not given 3 foot clearance as vehicles (mostly pickup trucks) accelerated hard past us, then slammed on the brakes once they were ahead.  It turns out that part of Ritchie Highway was closed by the police.  Tree down?  Power line down?  We saw the flashing lights, but didn’t have a clue as to what exactly was the reason for the closure.  It simply made the ride pretty dangerous and we remained hyper-alert.  I’m glad to report that there were no incidents, just close calls.

Because of the abbreviated group ride, and in an attempt to continue to increase my usual distance, I added a few miles at the end of the ride.  If you look at the split times, you can see that I pushed up the pace once I went solo.

The Look pedals are still performing fine … except … the cleat/pedal interplay is squeaking/creaking under stress (such as hill climbs or standing in the pedals).  I’ve read online that some people apply talcum powder to minimize this noise.  I imagine it can be quite irritating, especially on long rides.

The forecast high for today is 88.  If the schedule works out, that could mean an afternoon/evening ride.

(In honor of the Tour de France these distances are in kilometers)

This Ride: 100.1 km
Kona Distance: 3,546.2 km
Month to date: 669 km
2010 Total: 4296.9 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: (11.9 km ahead goal pace)

I learned a lot on today’s ride.  Unfortunately, most of it was the hard way.

The morning started out fine.  I was the first to the Rusty Bridge.  This was Mike’s first Friday ride, Alex is getting ready for his triathlon on Sunday, and no one really was interested in pushing it.  That was fine with me too, since I was planning a 50 mile day.  I think there were 6 or 7 of us to start.  We took the trail to Old Country Road to try out the new pavement.  We hope they’ve got another layer to put down.  It is still hazardous.  It was an uneventful ride into Annapolis.  I did notice that the Naval Academy Bridge has gotten easier this week.

Breakfast at Hard Bean, sitting outside was nice.  It was ice cold in the air conditioning as we ordered, and I don’t think eating inside would have been good.  Clint called Jeff and put him on speaker phone to jerk his chain about not riding this morning.  Something about an early morning work meeting.  It sounded like we got him out of bed.

As we pushed off, the first rookie mistake happened.  I couldn’t get clipped in!  I thought, “Great.  I get new pedals and they stop working right away.”  Then it hit me … I put the covers on when we went in to get our food.  Yes, I was trying to clip in with cleat covers on.  I removed them (while still riding up Main Street), and heard the satisfying “click” when the now free cleats clipped in.

We had a pretty slow pace in the group ride this morning, and as I left Clint and Mike to continue around BWI for my 50 miles I picked up speed a little.  It felt good stretching it out a bit.  I then surveyed my water stores, and realized that I was going to be in trouble on a 50 mile ride in the building heat.  I had about 1 1/2 bottles of water, no electrolytes (forgot my ecaps) and no food.  In Glen Burnie I stopped for Gatoraide and filled a bottle with it (after consuming the water), but neglected to get food.  I don’t know what I was thinking.

I still felt good doing the BWI loop.  It was about 1/4 the way around when I decided that if I was going to do 50 miles, I might as well do 100k.  That would simply mean doing the loop (clockwise) to Dorsey Road, then turning around and doing the loop counterclockwise.  That’s what I did.  The lack of food hit me about 45-48 miles into the ride, on the counterclockwise loop.  I guess an egg cheese bagel isn’t quite enough for much beyond 35 miles.  My legs were heavy and ached some.  My heart rate came up.  I slowed down.  I was also blowing through my water at a pretty good clip.  About the time I completed the second loop, I was down to only a swallow of water/Gatorade remaining in the bottles.

Back in Glen Burnie, I jumped back into the 7-11 picking up another bottle of Gatorade and a banana.  I had a Snickers in hand at one point until I saw the bananas.  Inhaling the banana and putting away at least a quarter of the Gatorade, I climbed back into the saddle and headed home.  A few quick calculations on route so I could get my full 100k in and the final push for home.  Made it!  Again, no liquids left.

The Severna Park Peloton riders have had plenty of lessons about hydration and nutrition on rides this year.  I don’t know what I was thinking going so unprepared.  I’d never ridden this length of ride without some fig bars or something to munch every 30 to 60 minutes.  My average speed of 15.8 mph shows the impact of not being fully prepared.  I’ve got a couple of rest days built into my schedule now.  They are well deserved.

Oh … the Look pedals worked great.  This ride confirmed that they are easier to clip into and I like the float.

I noticed about 2 weeks ago that my right cleat was getting pretty worn.  I tightened it, and on further examination, it needs to be replaced.  That’s the foot I unclip first, and so it gets abused compared to the left one.  I went to Pedal Pushers where I purchased the bike, and they didn’t have the cleats in stock and had to order them.  Since I’m frustrated with the pedals I have and I’ve been in Bike Doctor before, and never saw them to be out of replacements (for what they carry), I decided to look at some more familiar brands.  So, off to Bike Doctor I went, and I started looking at a Shimano set and a Look set.  Both were priced the same, and without really knowing why, I decided on the Look brand.

This is the Keo 2 Max, with a wider base, and about half the weight of my Miche pedals.  I installed them tonight and fitted the cleats on my shoes and noticed two things pretty quickly.  First, they are much easier to click into.  I do a lot less searching for the proper orientation and it seems like I can get into these a lot faster.  Second, they have “float”.  My previous set didn’t have any float, that is lateral rotation while in the pedal.  These are rated at 4.5%, but compared to no float, my foot can dance all over the place.  This will take a little getting used to, but I think I’m going to like it.  Oh, and I bought some covers for the cleats.  I couldn’t get covers for my Miche cleats, and they nearly kill me on tile, wood, and even some concrete because they are so slippery.

I’ll get these new pedals tested out pretty well tomorrow morning.  It’s Friendly Friday and we are headed to Annapolis for breakfast, then, following breakfast, I’m planning a few more miles before it heats up … again.  I am so looking forward to some mid 60’s on these morning rides, but alas, the forecast is for 75 at 5 am, again.

(In honor of the Tour de France these distances are in kilometers)

This Ride: 32.2 km
Kona Distance: 3,446.1 km
Month to date: 568.9 km
2010 Total: 4196.8 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: (59.5 km behind goal pace)

Tired Thursday fits this day well.  I nearly turned off the alarm clock.  I nearly stayed in bed.  I nearly returned to bed.  Once out the door and on the bike, I knew that this would be a planned easier day.  The legs just didn’t want to work.  My awareness of that which was around me was very narrow.  The world was very small this morning.

The route was the usual one to get my minimum 20 miles.  I saw Jeff on his way to ride with the Peloton.  I have no idea if he recognized me.  I noted that Old Country Road is now newly paved and painted.  It will be fun to ride that road tomorrow morning.  It should be smooth and fast.

The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous again this morning from the Naval Academy Bridge.  I did lift my head out of my funk long enough to enjoy that before grinding it back home.

To cap it all off, I also fell.  Coming off B&A Blvd and back on to the trail through the small parking lot, the front tire left the pavement and went onto the grass.  Rather than ride through the grass, I tried to turn back on to the path.  That was a mistake.  The tire was parallel to the path and about 2-3 inches below it, so when the sidewall hit the edge of the path, down I went.  I was able to unclip fast enough to catch myself, but went down to one knee, then my right shoulder.  At least I hit grass.  I’m not indestructible like Jens Voigt, but no damage to me, the bike, or the path.

Jens Voigt is gaining cult status.  His fall on the descent Tuesday, and his decision to continue the race are what legends are made of.  Posted in our peloton’s group email are some observations about Jens.

• Jens doesn’t get road rash.  The road gets “Jens Rash”.
• Scientists report that Jens Voigt has replaced diamond as the hardest substance on earth.
• The National Institute for Highway Safety now uses Jens Voigt’s face to test the durability of new road surfaces.
• When Jens Voigt goes for a bike ride he doesn’t move forward, the earth rotates underneath him.
• Jens Voigt’s sweat is now considered a performance enhancing substance by the UCI.
• American Electric Power has hired Jens Voigt to ride a trainer hooked to a generator, which will provide electricity for 3 million homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as part of Jens’ off-season training plan.
• If Chuck Norris and Jens Voigt got in a fight, Chuck would still win, but he’d break his hand on Jens Voigt’s face doing it.
• Jens Voigt knows the secret to cold fusion, but he’s not telling until after he retires from the pro-peloton.
• Jens Voigt could win 8 Tour de Frances in a row, but he won’t, because Jens Voigt doesn’t need to show off.
• Fabian Cancellara’s time trial bike is powered by Jens Voigt.

(In honor of the Tour de France this month’s distances are in kilometers)

This Ride: 32.5 km
Kona Distance: 3,413.9 km
Month to date: 536.6 km
2010 Total: 4164.7 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: (63.2 km behind goal)

This morning’s goal was to ride hard, ride fast, and keep it up … solo.  I’m not ready to ride with the Peloton quite yet on these fast Tuesday – Thursday rides.  As I started out this morning, I noticed that the headlight did illumine some of the roadway ahead of me.  It was able to cast a few shadows on obstacles for at least the first few minutes, then I switched back over to the blinking light.  As the fall comes on, I’m probably going to have to spring for a brighter light if I am going to ride early in the morning.  My 2 watt LED just won’t cut it.

My first 5 miles felt quick (and the Garmin shows I averaged 18.9 mph), but my heart rate was pretty high too, so I backed off some, occasionally picking up the pace.  The second 5 miles averaged 17.9, still quite respectable, but the 3rd 5 miles had the hills and I was really struggling to keep up the pace.  Once I hit the trail again, I tried to step it up, and thought I saw the blinky tail lights of the Peloton way ahead.  (I might just have to time this trip in such a way that I catch the last half of the Peloton’s ride.)  I used that to attempt to close the gap, and did notice that I seemed to be catching up.  That in itself would be a major accomplishment.  As it turned out, it was Alex ahead, training for his triathalon.  He reversed directions, and we acknowledged one another at a combined speed of about 35-40 mph.

I decided to try B&A Blvd back, the usual Peloton route, and as I neared “downtown Severna Park” I noted two cyclists ahead.  I worked again at closing the gap, and noticed this time I was succeeding!  Within a few miles, I had made great progress, and just after Robinson Road joined the two riders, Clint and my friend Mike.  This was Mike’s first ride with the Peloton (on Wicked Wednesday!).  Clint had honored the no-drop rule (he will disembowel anyone who does not honor it) and was riding Mike’s pace.  A half mile (or less) later, I missed my turn home, caught the next one and then climbed the hill home.  That stretch “chasing down the breakaway” I again averaged 18.9 mph, despite riding with Mike and Clint for part of it.

All told, my fast day wasn’t as fast as I hoped … 17.9 mph over 20 miles … but still respectable.  I was able to wring out the sweat from my headband without any real effort.  Disgusting.  It was steamy.

Oh, and the sunrise was even better than yesterday’s.