Memories

This brought back some memories tonight. I recall spending my summers in Vermont when I was about twelve working on dairy farms - either Locke Goss's or Paul Nelson's (if you ever bought a calendar with photos of Vermont, The Nelson's farm was probably on it. I loved all of it, but the best part was being turned loose on a field of hay with either tedder or a rake and a 1948 John Deer. Just pure joy, driving in ever decreasing (or increasing) circles. Really, what could be better than that? Ok, the eighth grade dances were kind of fun, but in a different way...

If you want to see some more gorgous photos of Vermont, especailly the Barnet - Peacham area where I lived, go here Richard Brown knows how to take pictures.

So, where am I in the riding department? Well, after a week with my highest mileage ever, the weather changed and we had a week of thunderstorms and tornado watches. All week. I don't mind riding in the rain, in fact, I sort of enjoy it if the visibility isn't too bad so that I spend too much time worrying about getting run down. But lightning scares me, and I don't want to be chasing Dorthy through the sky in a twister while riding my bike - you know the scene. From 171.71 miles one week to 79.6 miles the next. This wasn't the plan. This Saturday is the annual Tour de Lions charity ride, and, since I don't really know any better, I do the longest ride. Last year it was increased from 60 miles to 75. I made it, but barely, although a dragging rear brake for the last 15 miles may have had a lot to do with the "just barely". My longest ride so far this year is 53 miles. Making the jump from 53 to 75 might be asking just a little too much from these tired old legs. I don't know. Last year, though there was a spot where the 75 mile route and the 40 mile route crossed. At that point, a 75 miler could join the 40 milers and end up with 60. If this year is the same, I won't have to make a decision 'til then. I can do 60, no problem. We'll see how I feel at 50 and go from there.

So far this weeks rides were about 30 on Sunday, 33 on Tuesday, and 22 tonight. A little short tonight, I know, but I just wanted to keep the legs limbered up for Saturday. Average speed for all of them was above 17, so the speed is coming back, nicely.

I'll let you know how Saturday goes.

Open House

We went to the open houses that I mentioned yesterday. This is the front of the Goat Lady Dairy / restaurant. We stopped there first because we had never been there before, a large crowd was already there. We were about to find out why. The first thing we noticed was the gardens.
This was the first one. I now know how inadequate my gardening skills are. The contents of this little patch were beets, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and broccoli. I planted most of those things too, but you are not going to see a picture of how mine are doing. I have a lot of work to do.


Of course. it helps not only to have goats for organic material, but having one of these

certainly would help. I experimented with a little cold frame - green house this spring and it made a big difference with the plants I started. I am already planning a small green house for next year.

We sampled all the goat cheeses, my favorite was the chive and dill, CJ liked the orange.

There was even an interesting sculpture in front of the restaurant. I was impressed with the place, and would love to eat there someday. Seems you have to make reservations more than a year in advance, though.

Then we went over to Rising Meadow. We have been there several times before, for the annual Farm Fest and fiber festival. It is another small, sustainable farm, as well as a Bed and Breakfast. We wandered around looking at the sheep and llamas, and gardens. It is another beautiful place. I was taken with the herb garden. We are working on one, and it may well succeed.

I have a lot of the same stuff, and, believe it or not, it is doing well.

There are some really cool things around here. Small farms and wineries abound. The decline in tobacco necessitated it. Maybe there should be some sort of bike ride to explore them. Especially the wineries. Anyone want to go?

I did get out on my bike this morning. Just did a nice, easy 30 mile recovery ride and averaged about 16.4 mph. It was cloudy and windy and oh, so humid.

I leave you with a picture of a guard llama at Rising Meadow. I would not cross him.

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Garden Party

With Colin having to go to Asheboro first thing in the morning to take the SAT, and then be picked up around 1:00, it seemed like a good morning to work in the yard and plant some things in the garden. the weather for the afternoon looked a little iffy for a bike ride; 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms, some of them possibly severe, but, if they happened, I always had the trainer. I invited everyone I could find to help with the planting, but, well, there weren't any takers. Not much of a planting party after all. I got a lot done, though, but I still have a lot to do.



When I finally left for a ride the skies looked a bit ominous, but I figured I'd go and see how far I got before the storms came. I didn't expect to go very far. I was wrong. The storms never came, and there was a lot more sun than clouds. I got to work on my "wacky" cyclist tan (as Sam calls it). Every time it looked like it might be time to think about stopping, the sky would suddenly clear and the sun break through. So, I ended up riding 53.36 miles, the most since 7/5/2008. I also averaged 17.2 mph, not too bad, given that it was a little windy and I wasn't really trying very hard.

Well, I say "not too bad", but I'm not sure. I finally figured out how to put the data from the Garmin on here, like Sarah does. That's the elevation profile from today's ride. Not much flat around here, is there?

The week: It looks like my highest mileage week, ever. 171.71 miles. That surprised me. Hope I can keep it up.

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be a lot like today's. We are also going to go to the open houses at Rising Meadow Farm and The Goat Lady Dairy. Hope they have plenty of free samples and CJ doesn't try to buy too much yarn. I also just found out that it is strawberry picking season. I'll be doing that soon.

WOW

For those of you in New England, I have been wanting to mention, and keep forgetting to, that it gets dark almost an hour later here than up there. Makes after work rides wonderful.

How many days do we get like this? It was 76 degrees with not much humidity, and bright sunshine at 5:15 when I left for my ride. There was a fair amount of wind coming from the south, and to be honest, if it was ten degrees colder I'd be whining about the wind, but for some reason, the warmer it gets, the less I mind it. Sure, I was riding straight into it when I was doing my intervals, so there was no speed to go with the effort, but I really didn't mind. I was smart enough to just run the intervals up to my lactate threshold instead of going full anaerobic like the last time, so it wasn't so bad. I did five one minute drills with one minute recovery in between. It felt pretty good, so maybe it's time to increase the time.

I rode 33.22 miles in at 17.3 mph. Not bad, and pretty close to what I was doing last year. Thirty three miles after work seems like about the right distance since it leaves some time for supper and maybe doing something in the garden.

I finally updated the yearly mileage over there on the right.

I could use more days like this.

The Pollen Forecast...

That is the roof of my car. Believe it or not, I washed it yesterday. That gives you some idea of what the Weather Channel means when they say the pollen level in your area is high. Ya think? No wonder I have to keep stocked up on allergy medicine. Even had to use my inhaler today.

Even with a head start on the weekend's chores by mowing the lawn Friday evening, Saturday's ride ended up being a short one crammed between lots of other stuff. By the time I had gotten a haircut, washed the car, changed the tire from the mismatched spare to the repaired flat of last Sunday morning, and spent all my money (and the kid's inheritance) on food at Walmart and Sam's Club, it was after 12:00. I also had to be home by 3:00 because it was prom night. There were pictures to be taken, and Colin had to be with his friends by 4:00 to go out to eat (The Black Pearl in Greensboro - looks like a neat place, but he said I couldn't go. Go figure....). I got out about 12:30. It was a gorgeous day, about 90 degrees, some wind, full sun. Traffic around Liberty wasn't too bad for the Antique Festival, and bazillion yard sales and flea markets that take place on the two Festival weekends every year. It looked like the turnout was huge, given the number of cars I saw parked in the fields at the Festival site.

I rode 36.2 miles at 16.5 mph.

Today was a little warmer, about 92, and I got out a little earlier, about 10:30. The plan was to go for a longer ride, but not really push too hard. It was a success on both those counts. 50.93 miles @ 16.4 mph, with fairly low heart rates throughout. You know, sometimes it is nice to just slow down, putter along, and enjoy the ride and scenery. But it also helps to be in something resembling good shape, so you can.

I managed to stay reasonably hydrated, losing about four pounds on each ride. That is about the max I can lose and still feel ok, and it seems to be taking a bit more to stay at that level. Is that an age thing, I wonder?

Next ride - Interval Tuesday.

Fastest / Not Fastest

Riding, if nothing else, is a decent stress reliever. Another round of "cost cutting" today, unemploying 5 people and gutting our infrastructure doesn't make for a very pleasant day. We still have to get through tomorrow. I feel sorry for those who are gone, and, of course, worried about what my fate is to be. With that kind of day, getting on the bike was badly needed. The fact that it was sunny, about 80 degrees with light breezes made it even better. I just put my head down and rode. Not really pushing, but not taking it easy, either. It was mindless, relaxing and stress relieving. It ended up being 32.86 miles with an average of 18 mph. Or, maybe, 33.17 miles at 18.2 mph, which would make it equal to my fastest ride, ever. You see, the thing is, there is this little discrepancy between the Garmin and the Cateye I had used up until last Christmas. The Cateye reads .2 mph higher all the time, and it is getting it's readings off a meticulously measured rear wheel. The Garmin gets its readings from satellites several thousand miles away. Which is right? It only matters for consistency, I guess.

In the end, it was a good ride, and plenty fast enough, either way, and I got to forget about things for a while.

Anyone need an Engineer/It manager/ welder / draftsman/etc?

Sunday Ride

Sunday didn't start the way I thought it would. This was the day the kids from Eastern Randolph and Providence Grove left on their trip to Washington DC, Gettysburg, and Philadelphia. My son ("the boy" according to his sister") was going. That meant we had to get up at 3:30 so he could get ready and make it to the school in time to make the bus, it was leaving at 5:00. We left about 4:40 for the ten minute ride to E.R. About 100 yards into the trip I decided the car did not feel right, so I stopped, got out and looked at the tires. The left rear was flat. Back to the house and a quick swap to Sam's car. We made it in time.

My legs still hurt from yesterday, but I wanted to ride, so I resolved to actually do what made sense - a nice slow recovery ride. My normal Sunday route sort of lends itself to that kind of ride - it is the most flat of all the routes. It actually worked out, for once. I rode 35.5 miles and averaged 16.7 mph. Best, though, my heart rate never got above 159 and mostly hovered around 140 to 145. I think that counts as a real recovery ride.

I am tired, though. I still have not recovered from last week's 2,000 miles in a Toyota Camry, and today's escapades didn't help. I did not take a nap, but I should have.





Isn't that a neat house? I have ridden past it several times, and never seen it until today. You can't accuse me of being observant. I only noticed it because I stopped to take that new picture up there in the header, and I only noticed that because I switched my normal direction on that road. I was going downhill instead of concentrating on getting up the hill. Maybe I need to look around?

I should have napped....

Now, THAT Hurt

Since there was only one ride in the past week, and my legs felt a little achy and tired I figured today would be a good day to add more miles and more hills. That probably was not the smartest choice, but smart choices are not what I am known for. The first 18 miles went well, so I took the left turn off the Julian - Ramsuer road onto Old Liberty Road and headed for Gray's Chapel. There is a lot of uphill involved, but the only way to get better climbing is to climb. At some point my heart rate went way over max, to 180 bpm, and never really went down to "taking it easy" zone again. I was determined, though to get the most out of the ride, and I was comfortable with the higher than anticipated heart rates - I ended up with a162 average for the ride - but my legs were not happy at all. In true biker fashion, I pressed on regardless.

So, how did I fare? Well, 49.13 miles at an average of 16.8 mph. Not too bad if you consider that a lot of the last 20 miles was spent not only battling tired legs, but also attempting and failing, to bring the HR down to a reasonable number. I am SO out of shape.

Since I am planning on doing the annual Tour De Lions charity ride about mid May, and, of course, I want to do the 75 mile route, which just happens to have some steep climbs right at the end, so, there is a lot of work to do. Maybe I can get there.

Today's weather? Absolutely perfect NC spring. Eighty one degrees, full sun, not much wind. Does it get any better than that?

Tomorrow probably should be a recovery ride, but....

Poor Pitiful Me

Well, I didn't forget how to ride during my week off. When I left for my ride it was a sunny, slightly breezy 68 degrees. I dressed in my summer stuff, left, and after about half a mile thought maybe I should go back and put on the tights and long sleeve jersey. That is pitiful for a transplanted New Englander. I didn't go back, though, and I warmed up nicely. I ended up with 33.16 miles and my highest average speed of the year - 17.8. I intended to just take it easy, and mostly I did, but towards the end when it looked like I might get an 18 mph average, I pushed a bit. Didn't quite make it, this time.

The weekend is supposed to be warmer, and we have now gone a whole day without rain. Hope I can get some miles in.

That GPS Thing

Let me begin by assuring you that, since I am a male, I am my own GPS unit. I always know where I am going, never need to ask directions, and, of course, have never been lost. Just ask CJ.

Sam has a Garmin Nuvi she got for Christmas, though, and since I had never used one and already knew where I was going, I thought we'd use it on the trip, you know, see how the machine compared to me. I was shocked when Sam plugged in our destination address and a pleasant female voice (from this point on she will be known as Betty) informed me that our destination was 640 miles away. Six hundred and forty. That's two hundred less MY ROUTE. Now, saving the time it takes to drive 200 miles seemed like it might be a good idea, given that we were starting kind of late and it was going to be a quick trip. So lead on, Betty.

Within the first mile it was obvious that she intended to take us up Interstate 95. I had never gone that way since it goes through all the major east coast cities, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, but that 200 miles was so tempting. Things went well until we got to the north side of Richmond, where the speed of traffic varied from stopped to 45 mph. This was the pattern from Richmond all the way to the north side of Baltimore. That wasn't Betty's fault though. As we went through Washington, however, I had the first little pang of doubt. It was when we saw the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial and the Capitol Dome. Then , when she told me to exit onto Pennsylvania Ave., I lost faith. I was also stopped in traffic. Now, I am sure that may have been the shortest distance, and maybe under some circumstances it might be the fastest, but not that day. Not having a map, though, left me with no choice but to follow Betty's directions, vowing that if she ever got me back on 95, I would stay there. Eventually we did get back on 95 and there I stayed. It was fun to ignore the "reconfiguring" and "go .2 miles and make a u-turn" she kept insisting on at each missed exit.

At 2:00 AM, 15 hours into the trip, we were in Rock Hill CT so we stopped there. The next morning we drove another hour and a half and Betty proudly announced that we had arrived at our destination. Oh, it turned out to be 840 miles. Exactly the same as the route I always take. Just to top it off, there are no tolls on my normal route, but we paid $27 to come up 95. Thanks, Betty.

The return trip on Monday was down Interstate 81. Betty was silenced, and relegated to map only mode. It took 13. 5 hours to get home. Same 840 miles, included stops for lunch, and a couple of side trips to Walmart (OK, we let Betty find those for us, and she did a good job). Best of all, not much traffic.

I will admit, though, that seeing those monuments in DC, and seeing all those cities lit up at night was kind of cool, and I never would have without Betty's optimistic mileage calculation, and it all worked out. But I won't go that way again.

I almost took my bike, but there wasn't time to ride it, and the weather wasn't really all that great, temps in the 30's and lots of wind, but maybe next time. I'd kind of like to ride up Mt. Wachusett just to see if I can.

It was nice to see New England again.

You Might Think

You might think that someone who can get on a bike and ride fifty miles or so without ever once stopping would be in pretty good shape. Well, maybe you wouldn't, but, I did. Tonight I found I wasn't. It was time to do a little speed work. You know, start getting the average speed up. That requires, uh, intervals! I don't dislike intervals, but, they can be rough, especially at first, and tonight was definitely "at first". I did five of them, maximum effort, one minute each, with a minute recovery in between. My legs were willing, but my lungs objected in no uncertain terms - burning and hurting, which I ignored. I am stubborn that way. Ok, I'm just stubborn, as some people will attest. When I really am in shape I can maintain that effort for about twenty minutes, so one minute may seem short, and is, but ya gotta start someplace, and I have.

But, did it work, you ask? As in did I go faster? Well, yeah, I did. At the end of the five intervals, about ten miles in, my average was 18.3 mph. At the end of the ride, 32.72 miles, the average was 17.7. That's the fastest since August 21 of last year. Not bad, and it can only get better, right?

I hope to ride tomorrow, I have the day off, but intervals two days in a row are not a good idea.

Last Week and...

I got in all four rides last week, finally. Weather cooperated, as did the motivation, and I ended up with 136.51 miles. I think that's the most for a week this year. I got in Sunday too, so this week has a good start, but that won't last (more on that later). Saturday's ride turned out to be 44.68 miles at 16.7 mph. The wind wasn't in my favor and I set out thinking it would be a short ride and I'd just take it easy. Taking it easy worked well, and the ride ended up longer and faster than it should have. Funny how that works. When I don't push, I go just as fast as when I do, but I feel better at the end.

The rest of Saturday was spent on long neglected yard work. I cut down several trees near the house that I didn't want to get any bigger. The 20 mph wind was blowing directly toward the house, so, things got really interesting. The trees were just big enough to hit the house, and. well, they tried, but I got it figured out and they all missed. It was close, though.

Sunday, another great, bright, sunny, windy and warm day (77 degrees) was great for another easy ride. About 10 miles in I saw another biker coming toward me. As we passed, I waved, and also noticed that the bike was loaded. I mean really, loaded. It had four saddle bags on the back that were the size of the biggest suitcases I had ever seen, another one on top of the luggage rack, and a big stick with a red flag fluttering behind it. I turned around and caught up to him. When I asked him where he was headed, he told me he had just left Carboro that morning and was going to the west coast. Pretty cool. His name is John, and He looked to be about 22 or 23 years old. Hopes he makes it. I chatted with him a while then turned back around and finished my ride. 36.62 miles at, you guessed it, 16.7 mph.

As for the rest of the week, well tomorrow's high is supposed to be 50 with 30 mph winds, so I doubt I will go out. It improves a bit as the week goes on, so we shall see.

Spring is really here.

Lots of flowers are blooming and everything is turning green. We've had plenty of rain so far, and today was no exception. Since I have taken vacation days today and tomorrow, and today was a "scheduled ride" day (I use that term very loosely), I decided to get my ride in early. Most of the reason for that was that, although it was dreary and raining in the morning, the forecast for the afternoon was for thunderstorms. Ride in a thunderstorm? Thanks, but, no thanks. They still haven't come, though, and it's 4:00 in the afternoon.

Given the visibility out there I finally relented and attached my five LED Cateye tail light to the left side seat stay. It is not aesthetically pleasing, but, there are times when it might make a difference. Besides, it unclips and goes in the seat bag when it isn't needed. Since it had been stored in the seat bag of the other, old Fuji for the past year, the batteries weren't up for much, and went dead within the first three miles. Since I go through town in the first three miles I stopped at Family Dollar and got some more. Wow, that thing is bright when it has a fresh power source.

With the temp at 58 and the rain, I wasn't sure what to wear, so I overdressed and was a bit too warm, but that is always better than being too cold. I got in 32.87 miles and averaged 16.7 mph and got very wet.

Tomorrow we are supposed to have more thunderstorms and winds up to 40 mph, so I don't anticipate a ride.

This afternoon I got to take CJ to Greensboro to shop for yarn. She shopped, I sat in the car with a laptop and tried to find a wireless network I could connect to in the downtown. I found two that were open but I couldn't get on the Internet with them.

I might have to wash the bike tomorrow, though. I am always amazed at how dirty it gets on a wet road.

I Confess

I didn't ride yesterday. All that talk of motivation and, blah, blah, wilted in the face of winds a bit stronger than predicted. To ride in 25 mph winds takes about all the perseverance I can muster. Yesterday they ended up being 35 mph. Some sort of sanity prevailed. I mean, really, I ride for fitness and fun. I don't get paid to do it. While riding yesterday was certain to help my fitness level, it sure wouldn't have been much fun. I stayed on the couch. Watched TV.

Today, though, I got in a rare Monday after work ride. Sixty eight degrees, 3 to 5 mph winds and partly cloudy. It made up for yesterday. A nice 29 mile ride with an average speed of 17.2. An hour and forty minutes, non stop, on the bike. If I can get rid of the extra ten pounds of winter blubber, there might be some real speed in these old legs.

If I ride tomorrow, I'll be back on "schedule"

Riding Again

So much for my ambition last weekend of finally getting back on my four day a week riding schedule. I went out on Tuesday and about 10 miles into the ride I started having problems shifting the rear derailleur. It was sort of random, but frequent. Some shifts would take two clicks of the lever, some just one. On top of that, I'd do a down shift and the derailleur would do an upshift, then a down shift. To top it off, it would sometimes simply shift itself. Up. Down. Whatever, and usually the opposite of what I needed right then. It had a mind of its own. Needless to say, this made the ride a bit difficult, and I almost stopped, but, being stubborn, and not knowing any better, I persevered. It turned out pretty well. I did 22.04 miles with an average of 17.6 mph. At 18 miles I had an average speed of 18.5, but the last 4 miles of that loop climbs 150 feet (I know that thanks to my Garmin!) and was into a light headwind, so there wasn't much hope of maintaining that average. Given the bike problems, I was sort of happy with the final result.

Once home I checked the bike over, but couldn't find the problem. I'd adjust the cable, but nothing made any difference. It was late, and I gave up. Next night I brought the bike in the house and set it up in the trainer so I could adjust things and watch tings and maybe find out what was wrong. Watching it shift was kind of entertaining. I'd shift it one way, and the bike would go the other, first, then do what I'd commanded. Like it was rebelling. "You can't tell me what to do" I get that from the kids, too. So, finally, I pulled the the housing away from the shift lever, and "Well, there's your problem!". All but two strands of the cable had failed. Easy fix, but no spare. The worst part was, I'd been working in High Point, a half mile from a bike shop, all day. If I'd known what the problem was, a spare would have come back to Liberty with me. Thursday's ride was now cancelled. Friday night I went to Performance Bike in Greensboro and spent $6.00 on new shifter cables ( proud of myself, that was ALL I bought), came home and replaced the failed one. Truth is, I haven't even looked at the other one, but, since it gets shifted, like, once on a ride, when I am out of shape, and never when I am not, it isn't a pressing matter. I suppose I should at least give it a token look. Maybe. Later.

Today's ride went much better. The bike shifts like it did when it was new (note to self: replace cable before 4,000 miles). It was supposed to rain all day with thunder storms in the afternoon. I got out around 11:00, rode 42 miles, averaged 17 mph, and stayed dry, it was just starting to spit a little rain as I got home.

Tomorrow is supposed to be partly cloudy with 25 mph winds. It'll take some motivation to go out and fight that, but I'll probably go. Uh, maybe....

Key Lime cake is sitting on the table, waiting to replenish the calories I burned today, and tomorrow and... I added some lime zest to the recipe thinking it might make it more tangy. We'll see, soon.

Spoiled?

That's in my front yard. It's getting to that time in North Carolina that is just amazing. Everything blooms and flowers in the next few weeks and the temps are moderate. Freezing cold in the morning and in the 70's by lunch, usually with intense warm sunshine. I think the only thing that might compare to the beauty of nature in the spring here is the beauty of the fall in Vermont.

I managed to ride four of the last six days. As noted earlier, I got two weekday rides in after work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday I felt like I might be just a bit spoiled. I left for my ride about 12:40 and the temp was (supposedly) 53 degrees. I dressed in my cold weather stuff figuring it would get warmer as it got later. I went about a quarter mile and turned around. I was freezing! I went home and in my only concession to the weather, got my full finger gloves. That helped a lot, and although the temp did climb to 57 or so by the end of the ride, I was never quite warm. I got in 42.44 miles at 16.7 mph. not a bad ride.

Today was quite a bit warmer. I dressed the same as yesterday, except for the full finger gloves. It was about 62 when I started and 65 when I finished, so I was borderline over dressed. Today was just an easy recovery ride because my legs were just a little tired from yesterday, but in true cyclist fashion, I ended up going a lot faster than I planned. At least I shortened the mileage, 29.8 at 17.2. Legs are still tired, but I am not riding tomorrow. I hope I can get back on my schedule of four days a week.

I got the garden tilled yesterday and today I got in two rows of beets. I can't wait to get the rest of the plants going. There isn't anything better than food you can walk out, pick and eat.

Two In a Row - Really

Every week day since March 9 has included at least one trip to High Point to work on a broken server. A couple of days required two trips. All of them included a missed lunch and a late return to Liberty, and home. That deflated any motivation I may have had to ride after work, and last weekend was a complete cold washout. But yesterday I did manage to get in time and I did today as well, although today I didn't even get a piece of Barb's Key Lime cake for lunch because it was gone. I have to get that recipe. So, even though I was running on a half bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats from 6:45 AM, I couldn't NOT go, given the perfect weather. Sixty eight degrees and almost no wind. It felt good to get out there and I got in another 22 miles @ 17 mph. That's pretty good since last night I rode a mostly flat 21 miles and averaged 16.8, while tonight's was one of the more hilly (?) rides. So, an improvement. Can't go tomorrow, though. My son is in a play at the high school, so I think I'd better go to that

I have noticed a couple of riders out in places I don't normally see anyone. Maybe I can find someone to ride with. Hope so.

Wearin' Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Although no one in this family has any Irish, we all managed to wearing green today. Ok, for me, I take green with me every day. No, not money, I have none. But my eyes are green, which, according to the internets (so it must be true)is the rarest eye color - 2% of the world's population, for whatever that is worth. Anyway, for today, we did the green thing, had the traditional corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner, without beets, because Food Lion didn't have any, and beer (for me). I also had some green cake at work (Barbara's concoction) that turned out to be a key lime cake and was an interesting flavor, sweet and tangy, it was really good, and it was my lunch since I was tied up on a conference call with our corporate help desk and Dell enterprise tech support for 3 hours.

Until today, I had been unable to take advantage of Daylight Savings Time since I have spent every day in High Point trying to resolve some computer issues. Today, though, I made it back early enough and the weather was nice enough so I finally got out there. Just 21 miles, but it was a great ride. I am hoping to get another one in tomorrow.

And Now DST, and Riding in the Peloton?

Now with Daylight Saving Time the after work rides can commence. With the cooperation of weather and motivation, of course.

Today's weather was, indeed, a carbon copy of yesterday's with the exception of the wind. A bit breezy with a pretty much steady 20 to 25 mph wind out of the southwest. I decided that today's ride would just be a slow recovery ride and that I would not battle the wind for any kind of speed. My heart rate stats reflect that. Yesterday my average HR was 161 with a max of 175. Today,it was 145 and 165. Not working very hard, even though when I turned into the wind I had to use the small chainring going downhill. I think, though maybe I discovered what it's like to ride in the peloton when I had a tailwind. Level ground, 33 mph, and no effort. None. Heartrate at about 140. That felt so cool, and so fast. Granted, in an actual peloton there would have been a lot of stress because of all the riders around, but still, to go that fast without having to work is amazing. I paid for that when I turned into the wind, but it was worth it.

So, today's ride was 29.5 miles @ at a sedate 16.1, but it was fun, mostly because, when it got rough, as in into the wind, I just went slow and enjoyed the ride. Sometimes maybe that's the best thing.

SPF 30

This was my front yard Monday morning as I left for work. We got about 6 inches of snow, at least on the elevated surfaces. The ground was warm, though, and the roads, snow covered as they were, were passable. Even for southerners. The temperature barely got above freezing, but with the ground warmth and bright sunshine the roads were completely clear by , oh, noon. Perfect storm. Pretty white snow on the ground and no complications. It was all gone by Wednesday night.

Ok, I am not exactly sure where I left off in the ride record department, and am too lazy to go back and figure it out, so, as far as last weekend went, 17 miles on the trainer on Saturday and the same on Sunday. Both took an hour. Nothing too exciting there. I had every intention of riding during the week, but well, ya know?

So we segue to today.



It is 6:15 as I write this. I am sitting on my deck enjoying a PBR, watching the sun go down - the deck faces SW, and waiting for a BBQ sandwich.

In order to not feel guilty about a ride today I started out with changing the oil in my Camry, then did some long overdue yard work. About 12:00 I'd had enough of that, or at least I'd made it look good, and slathered on the sunscreen for the first time since - well, since sometime back in maybe October, put on the short sleeve jersey, and the cycling shorts and went for a ride. It was just an amazing day, weather wise. I got in 40.7 miles and averaged 16.7. At about 20 miles I had an average of 17.8, so maybe I am not so slow. The wind picked up and changed direction, though, so I couldn't maintain it. In fact, the last 5 miles went from an average of 17. 2 to the 16.7. That same 5 miles is ridden at the start of my ride, and it went from 16.3 to 17.5 then. So much for the wind.

Still, a great day, and tomorrow is supposed to be just like it.

HEY, I just got bitten by a mosquito. Going in and getting another PBR out of the fridge.