Rev Rider

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

This Ride: 32.2 km
Kona Distance: 3,381.4 km
Month to date: 504 km
2010 Total: 4132.2 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: – 67.3 km

Good morning world! I planned an easy solo ride this morning on the trail, with the intent of staying ahead of the peloton. I’m not ready to do the Terrible Tuesday pace. (As it turns out, they did the Solley Road Route.) It’s getting much darker at 5:30 as we move toward the end of summer, but not dark enough that my headlight does any good other than alerting oncoming traffic that I’m present. With the headlight flashing and my rear blinky light blinkying away I went.

It was a pretty morning.  The sky on these humid mornings is full of color as the earth turns us toward the sun.  I kept a relatively easy pace down to the Naval Academy Bridge, pausing at the peak to enjoy the sun peeking through a thin cloud layer just above the trees.  But don’t just rely on my description …

Once I hit the trail again, I met Alex who had ridden the regular 5:45 route (instead of Solley Road) and we stayed together until he jumped off at Jones Station Road.  This was a slight change in plans for me.  I had intended to try B&A Blvd solo, but the companionship was nice, and that would not have been available in traffic.

Up the hill to home, greet my spouse before she set off to work, and now getting ready for a long day of work.  This is how a morning should start.

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

This Ride: 27.7 km
Kona Distance: 3,349.2 km
Month to date: 471.9 km
2010 Total: 4099.8 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: -71 km

“Back from the Dead” overstates the case, but it has been a week where the rides have taken the back seat to a nasty gastro-intestinal illness. Seven full days off the bike. I was itching to get back on again, and Mosey Monday suited me fine.

I woke up to a very humid 75 degrees, pulled off the fenders, re-inflated the tires, filled the water bottles, put on the new shades, and rolled out the door.  Just feeling the breeze as I gradually accelerated was like a sweet kiss.  The ease with which the tires roll over the pavement felt like freedom.  In the early morning light, I was surprised to discover moisture on the roads.  I didn’t know it rained last night.  Occasionally there was a light mist in the air, and there were some threatening clouds in the distance.  Soon I was at the Rusty Bridge and within minutes Chris, Chip, Alex, Brian, and Jeff were also there.  I think only Brian and Alex were “well”, all the rest recovering in our own ways.

It was an easy pace out.  At Old Country Road we hit a surprise.  They are resurfacing the road!  The road crew ground the roadway down some … and improved its condition already.  We were still slowed as we picked new lines over rough roads.  I continued straight at the turn, choosing today to not do the hills in Round Bay, and Jeff joined me.  We rode leisurely, allowing ourselves to be caught by the others at the turn around at the end of the trail.

With the kinks worked out, the pace picked up on the return, and that actually felt pretty good too.  I really had no lung support to speak of, but hung with the group dropping back once about 75 yards.  There was no extra end of ride distance.  The 17 miles for the day would have to be good enough.

It was great to hear Chris talk about his New England ride.  He rode 600+ miles in 7 days with 25,000 feet climbing as a fundraiser for Diabetes research.  It was a major accomplishment for him and he received the appropriate attention and kudos.

Now to get back on track for annual distance I’m planning.  I’m 44 miles short of my expectation for this date.  I’ll claw those miles back in the coming weeks.  Before this illness, I was 63 miles ahead of my planned pace.  Plenty of time to go yet.

I’ve been off the bike for several days now because of an illness.  Nausea, dizziness, and fatigue does not make it easy to be on two wheels.  I miss it.  It may be tomorrow before I can climb back into the saddle.  When I do, I’ll be sporting my new shades.  They came in and I’ve picked them up.

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

This Ride: 41.4 km
Kona Distance: 3,321.5 km
Month to date: 444.2 km
2010 Total: 4072.3 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +101.4 km

Absolutely gorgeous morning!  The sunrise is now after our 5:45 start and these summer morning skies are spectacular.  They are full of color and constantly changing.  It is an absolute pleasure to be out early.  A thirty degree temperature difference from yesterday afternoon doesn’t hurt either.

Alex joined the ride for the first time this morning.  He is a member of the congregation and has lost well over 150 lbs over the last year and a half.  He is training for a triathlon and plans to ride the Seagull Century.  He did pretty well.  We started with 7 riders, but soon, I looked up and we had 8.  I don’t know where he came from!

I had a few maintenance tweaks to perform this morning.  My right pedal didn’t want to hold the cleat very tightly so near the end of the ride I tightened it.  I continued to dial in the gears, fine tuning those.  I think I have it pretty close to acceptable.  As Mike suggested in the comments to yesterday’s post, I’ll have to consider the value of continuing with PP.

I was reflecting this morning on how a 25 mile ride is pretty routine these days, and a 50 miler is not an extraordinary event.  Last year at this time (and earlier this year as well) a 35 minute ride of 8 miles was considered a good and acceptable workout.  How things change.

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

This Ride: 45.1 km
Kona Distance: 3,280.2 km
Month to date: 402.8 km
2010 Total: 4030.7 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +88.5 km

After Monday’s very hot ride, I’m not afraid or intimidated by the heat any more.  I can do this, stay hydrated, stay safe, and ride in the heat.  That’s a good thing, because today was hot once again.  The Garmin thermometer topped out at 99.  It was 92 when I started.

This was a “squeeze a ride in” ride.  I had a narrow window between church obligations, and decided to ride early in the afternoon.  This was the first time out after the bike had been in the shop and I was interested to see how well “tuned up” the gears were.  Not satisfactory, as it turns out.  I’ll have to take some time to dial them in a little better.  With the small front front ring, I had most of the gears available, except for maybe the smallest gear because of the angle of the chain.  In the large front ring, where I ride most of the time, I did not have the three (count them! three) largest sprockets.  I really count on some of these.  Shifting the front derailleur was not smooth and it had to be done in the middle gears if I was going to accomplish the shift at all.  I’m either doing something completely wrong or there is a real problem with these gears.  Perils of a compact bike?  Maybe, but it shouldn’t be this bad.

Working through these problems, I still had a very good ride.  I breezed down College Parkway to Oceana and back up to do the hills on St. Margaret’s Road.  Nearly back home, as I was contemplating whether I had time to get a full 30 miles in, I nailed a bee going about 18 mph and it nailed me back.  I couldn’t believe how painful that bee sting was (just below my knee).  I flicked the stinger out (with the venom sack still pumping hard), and kept pushing my way home.  That sting took the fight out of me, and I decided to settle for 28 miles.

Really, despite my whining, this was a good ride.  I’m ahead of my “pace” for the month.  I’ve got an early ride planned in the morning (the 5:45 ride with the Peloton) and am looking forward to that one.  I’ll probably add a few miles at the end, because these “stick to the trail” rides are now getting to be too short for my needs.

After yesterday’s ride, there were some tasks that needed to be completed, and I felt like I accomplished a great deal.

First, I settled on some sunglasses.  This was not as easy as it might seem.  I wear glasses.  I’m what they call a “mature” rider.  That means that bifocals are important.  I could choose prescription riding sunglasses, but I’m finding that many of the companies are just not willing to put bifocals in these sunglasses because they often have such a severe curve.  I’ve looked at stick-on bifocals, I’ve looked at contacts, I’ve looked for a good general solution and because of the expense, I want to make sure these are more useful than just for riding.

Thank you Rudy Project.  What I chose is called “Exception”.

These will be very flexible for my use.  They have prescription lenses behind the sunglasses and I’ll have progressive lenses (so I can see the bike computer and any cue sheets).  The sunglasses are transition and polarized lenses, and either flip up or can be removed entirely.  This is not exactly the style I was looking for, but it was the best compromise I could find.  I’ll be able to use these to read on the beach, drive, or cycle to my heart’s content.  I really was getting tired of squinting.  Hopefully they will arrive in a week to 10 days.  I’m looking forward to getting them.

I also took the Kona into Pedal Pushers for a tune up.  I got her back by the end of the day, with the assurance that the front derailleur works now.  She is in the small ring.  I haven’t had the chance to test it out yet, and this morning it is raining pretty hard.  Maybe I can get an afternoon or evening ride in as a shakedown and fine-tuning the gears.

On my to-do list is to stop by the bike shop for some ecaps, and a few other incidentals.

Here’s wishing the SPP 3Cs riding a 1000k around Lake Ontario a successful finish today.

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

This Ride: 82.8 km
Kona Distance: 3,235.1 km <– This bike now has over 2000 miles on it
Month to date: 357.8 km
2010 Total: 3,985.7 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +100.6 km

The morning started very warm and humid. Six of us gathered at the Rusty Bridge, talked briefly about the 3C’s (Chip, Clint, Clif) riding the 1000k ride around Lake Ontario, then launched out for the ride to Annapolis for breakfast. This was an odd ride. We were often very strung out. Reasons? Well, my legs and lungs had nothing for the climb in Round Bay (Mike struggled too). Dave P flatted. And there was a turtle rescue on Hwy 2. We split up in Annapolis for breakfast. Bryan, Jeff, and I opted for a bagel and coffee outdoors rather than the sit down meal at C&R. Evan joined us later. He had gotten to the Rusty Bridge a little late. The four of us rode back. At the trail, Evan took the lead and soon we were flying along the trail in a pace line. That would be during our 19.7 mph split.

Once we were back in Severna Park, the gang split up, and I decided to continue on for a time, without a clear goal.  I really didn’t want to put in 50 miles today, my legs just didn’t seem to have it in them.  At Aquahart Road, I met another rider (on a mountain bike) and in a brief conversation committed myself to 50 miles.  (Was that really me talking?)  I focused on the idea that I have a goal of 3000 miles July 1-December 31 and I’m raising money for ELCA World Hunger for every mile I ride, so I just kept spinning.  I wasn’t fast.  I sweated buckets.  I ran out of fluids at about mile 45.  I was counting on a drinking fountain in Glen Burnie, but it is broken.  Still, the 51.5 miles was completed without incident and without a lot of struggle.  I just kept spinning those legs.

Milestone: My Kona now has 2000 miles plus on it in just under 6 months of ownership.  I think I’ll take her in to the shop today for a tune up, to check the chain, and maybe to get my front derailleur working properly.  It would be nice to get those gears back.

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

This Ride: 32.2 km
Kona Distance: 3,152.2 km
Month to date: 274.9 km
2010 Total: 3,903km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +75 km

The mid-Atlantic states have been caught in a high pressure system which has had the effect of locking us into very high temperatures.  Yesterday Baltimore reached 104 degrees and we expect to see temperatures of 100 again today.  That means these early morning rides are really important.  At 6:00 this morning it was already 77 degrees and climbing.  I don’t want to be riding in the afternoons, even though that is much more convenient for my schedule.

Having said that, it was a very pretty morning ride.  The sun rose a deep red color.  There were a lot of people out on the trail, and most seemed to be in pretty good spirits.  At one point this morning, a large buck crossed the trail in front of me.  It is always surprising to suddenly see a deer and have to hit the brakes to avoid hitting it.

I cranked out the miles (20 if your kilometer to mile conversion isn’t working) at a fair clip.  I saw Jeff and Evan on the trail.  Jeff’s headlight is really bright.  I could see him coming for a very long distance.  It reminded me of a train headlight on this trail which is a converted rail right of way.

It was a routine ride.  Not terribly fast, but not slow.  I’m really appreciating my Halo sweat band these days.  It keeps the sweat out of my eyes and fits well under the helmet.  It was soaked at the end of the ride.

This ends week 1 of the “Nickel & Dime ’em to Life” project to raise funds for ELCA World Hunger.  This week’s miles = 171.

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

This Ride: 25.86 km
Kona Distance: 3,120.04 km
Month to date: 242.69 km
2010 Total: 3,870.79km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +71.29 km

Terrible Tuesday wasn’t for me this morning.  Yesterday’s “Sweet Sue” ride was conducted on just 2.5 hours of sleep the night before and I took advantage of every minute of sleep I could this morning.  I planned an easy ride for the day, early in the day.  The forecast has highs of 100 for the next couple of days.

Early into the ride I decided on a maximum heart rate of 130, so that’s where I focused.  It was a nice ride.  Versus TV right now is running a commercial where Indy car drivers are talking about getting heart rates of up to 170 while they are sitting down.  I witnessed adrenaline having that effect on me at the one place where my heart rate spiked.

The B&A Trail is not only the spandex highway in these parts, but it is also a social place.  A cruiser bike rider had stopped to talk to two of her girlfriends who had been walking.  Their social group required the entire width of the trail.  I called out early.  No response.  I called out again.  Nothing.  Then just as I began to call out, “Stay where you are” (so I could negotiate around them), they moved, scattering directly into my path on the grassy side of the trail.  Luckily I had chosen the biker side, she was slower having to also move the bike, and I had slowed enough that I missed them.  Does it really take much to move to the side of the path for even a short conversation?  Although I had been slowing, my heart rate spiked to around 135 and it took longer than usual for it to come back down.

This day was a little less than I need as a daily ride to make my end of year goal.  I’ll have to keep that in mind.  Riding and losing ground seems worse than not riding at all.

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

This Ride: 99.46 km
Kona Distance: 3,094.13 km
Month to date: 216.94 km
2010 Total: 3,844.88 km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +74.03 km

There is a tradition of sorts of a Severna Park Peloton Ride to “Sweet Sue’s” in North Beach, Maryland. I started seeing emails about the ride Saturday evening and thought that it would be a good chance to do a group ride. After a few calls, emails, and text messages, I was in.  We met at the Davidsonville Park & Ride at around 7:30 am. Six riders showed up. We had two no-shows. Mike evidently had a mechanical problem with a new chain and a new rider never appeared. We shoved off at 7:40 with Janet, Jeff, Bob, Charlie, and Jane (who had never ridden with the group before although she had recently completed a Century).

It was apparent pretty early that the pace needed to be adjusted to Jane.  I’m glad it wasn’t me.  This southern part of Anne Arundel County is lovely.  We were on winding hilly tree-shaded roads a good part of the time.  Temperatures started to climb pretty rapidly from a comfortable start of about 70 degrees to the peak on the Garmin showing 104!  At least the humidity was low, and as long as we were moving, we were in pretty good shape. I never did find the temperatures oppressive.  Our pace was slow enough that there was a lot of conversation going on.

Hydration and electrolyte replacement was key today.  All of us went through water and electrolyte replacement beverages pretty rapidly.  Coming into North Beach is a pretty long downhill stretch.  I was able to increase my fastest time to 38.7 mph.  It was not as terrifying as the first over 38 mph downhill.

We arrived at Sweet Sue’s and it was closed.  The shop is closed Mondays.  After inquiring of a local, we found a different place for breakfast, and soon were camped out on the covered deck sucking down ice water and having a good time at breakfast.  Why does it always take so long for breakfast that the legs start to stiffen up?

On the return, Jane set a pretty steady pace and off the front we pulled ahead, stopped and waited, pulled ahead, stopped and waited.

We stopped for a few minutes at the place where a Severna Park Peloton rider died last year on July 3.  It was a cardiac event on this same ride.  I never did meet him.

The horses had been locked in the gate too long for this ride, and with about 5 miles to go, we really strung out the group.  It was a slight uphill most of those last miles.  Soon we were all back at the cars, put the AC on high, loaded the bikes, and journeyed back home.  The thermometer in Jeff’s van read 101 near my house.  I was surprised to see the Garmin record a peak of 104.  It was over 95 the whole way back.

This was an enjoyable ride.  No one fell.  No one flatted.  No one got in trouble with dehydration.  Traffic on the road was light. We missed you Mike.