Sunday, October 26, 2008

Saturday's Ride, Brought To You By

Saturday was a day fit more for ducks than bikes. I had never seen these ducks on my ride before, so they must have thought the same thing. All Friday night and Saturday morning, it rained, but the forecast for Saturday afternoon was "partly cloudy", and , sure enough, around noon it stopped raining and the sky brightened. I changed and got ready for my ride, and as I was about to leave, CJ pointed out that it looked like it was raining, again. She was right, of course it was. Every one's advice was to wait a while and go for a ride later. Since this was good advice from people smarter than me, I did what I always do - I ignored it (that explains a lot about where I am, now). I think it was the most rain and wettest roads I had ever ridden in (on). At least it was about 70 degrees and almost no wind. Aside from getting really wet, it was a nice ride. About an hour in. it stopped raining and the r0ad dried out a bit, and a tiny patch of blue sky appeared for a moment, so partly cloudy, it was. I got in 36 miles @ 17.2, so it was a good ride.

Today was a perfect day. About 65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and light winds. My shoes were still soaked from yesterday, but still, they were comfortable. I got in 30 miles @ 16.7. I still have about 550 miles to reach my goal of 4000 for the year. Not impossible.

Before I left for my ride I did a little maintenance on my bike, lubed the chain, adjusted the headset, which came from the factory much too tight, bit I have been to lazy to do anything about it, and adjusted the shifting. The headset actually made a big difference. It improved the handling tremendously and made it more relaxing to ride. Shifting was improved too. Maybe I should check this stuff more often? My bike is filthy from the ride in the rain, so i suppose I'll have to wash it. That'll make twice. That's two more times this year than my motorcycle, and once more than the cars. I'll get to it.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Endorphinated

It seems that I am a much happier person when I get to ride. Even though I still have some annoying breathing problems when I ride, My mood after is so much better. Must be that endorphin thing.

Both Saturday and Sunday were long sleeve jersey and tights days. It turned cool in a hurry. Thursday was 85. Saturday was 57, and today it was only 52 when I left for my ride. On top of that, the wind was bout 20 mph. You have to work so hard to go so slow battling headwinds like that. I almost stopped after the first 45 minutes on Saturday because I didn't seem to be breathing very well, and it sort of hurt to breathe, but I kept going, and it got better. Not great, but better. I ended up with 33 miles at 16.5. Today was better than yesterday, and I went 30 miles at 16.4.

Maybe I can get a couple of after work rides in this week. The days are getting shorter, so there won't be many more chances.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Saturday

Saturday turned out to be a nice day for a ride, although the wind was 15 to 20 mph. I got in 33 miles. About halfway through I heard an airplane that didn't really sound like anything I'd ever heard before. I finally looked up, and saw it was a B1 bomber - I'd never seen one, either. I was surprised how HUGE it was. I stopped and got out my camera, and even managed to take a couple of pictures, but it was too far away to show anything but a little black smudge. I suspect it was headed to Lowe's Motor Speedway for a flyover before the race.



The leaves are beginning to change, but so far most of them seem to be just varying hues of brown, except for the pretty reddish leaves of whatever this tree is. I think it stood out for me because of the rusted roof on the shed behind it.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Still Here

Ok, so, I haven't been posting much - well, anything, for awhile. Truth is, I haven't been riding, either. I rode once in September, and now, tonight, once so far in October. Been struggling with some sort of breathing problems and experimenting with asthma medicines so I haven't really felt like riding. Tonight wasn't too bad - 20 miles at 16.8, and I felt pretty good. Maybe I'll try again on Thursday.