100K

Almost took the day off from riding.

A couple of days with temperatures in the mid 70's is all it takes to spoil me. Today's high of 55 seemed almost cold, but that wasn't why I almost didn't ride. It was considered as an excuse, though.

First we went to Sam's Club in the morning and spent a large amount of money on luxury items, otherwise known as groceries. By the time we got home it was like 1:30, and I just didn't feel like going. But I decided to make myself go: I could always do a short ride and come home. Didn't quite work out that way.

I warmed up, even if the weather didn't, and the further I went, the more it looked like a 100k ride might actually be possible, even this early in the year. I stopped once at about 38 miles, for about a minute, to refill a water bottle, but that was the only time I spent off the bike. So I went from not going to ride to doing my firs 100k of the year, without any real planning. My legs are a little tired, but I noticed that they felt stronger on the hills the further into the ride I got. Must have been flushing the rust out. Average speed was 16.5.

Supposed to have some t'storms tomorrow, so any ride will depend on their timing.

So Close

I skipped the usual Tuesday evening ride. There was something so demotivating about the 26 mph winds and the knowledge that Wednesday would bring even warmer temps, and no wind, that not even my desire to ride could overcome it.

The anticipated weather change actually happened. Seventy-five degrees and light winds prevailed when I got out of work, and not a cloud in the sky. I set out thinking I ought to push a little and see if maybe I could bring my average speed up, but there wasn't any real goal. Three miles in I noticed my average was 16 mph. Not bad. Six miles in it was 17.2. Not bad, again, especially since it was all into what little wind there was. So, I started thinking - how fast can I go? I started pushing. Did a few intervals, pushed hard up the hills, and by 16 miles I was averaging 18.2. Not too bad for this level of fitness, and the extra ten pounds I'm carrying at the moment (gained since about December, and not leaving without a struggle). I actually managed to hold that average up and down some of the hilliest parts of my ride. Right up to mile 26.3. Then there was the 160 feet of climbing over the next 3.3 miles to home, and that drug the average down. I actually was still at 17.9 at the top of the driveway, but it dropped to 17.8 by the time I got to the shed where I store my bikes (and everything else). I wanted that 18 mph average so much. So close. I think if those 10 extra pounds go away it'll make enough of a difference up the hills to let me get there.

There was also 12 miles of commuting, so it's 42 miles for a week day. Not too bad.
The Thursday ride may get postponed too. My legs are a bit tired and a recovery day might be a good idea.

Are They Serious This Time?

According to this report the federal government's new policies for getting highway funds must put the needs of cyclists and pedestrians in the same category as motorists. I hope they really do. How about putting some funds toward educating people that bikes and pedestrians really do belong.

Tan

There were no plans for a Friday ride. I almost never ride on Friday. I subscribe to the theories of all the cycling books that you've got to have ride days and recovery days, and it seems to work pretty well. How commuting will work into this remains to be seen, but it is a different type of riding, so I'll just call it recovery riding for now. Right now it's sort of intermittent, any way. So ride days are Saturday and Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. But when I left work this afternoon (a half hour early, shhh, don't tell) it was 75 degrees, no wind, and not a cloud in the sky. What, exactly, was I supposed to do? Stick to my training plan? I didn't think so. As an added incentive to ignore my usual training regimen, I won't be riding tomorrow. We are going to visit UNC Charlotte. It's open house day and it's one of several places my son's been accepted, so it's a road trip starting at 6:30 in the morning, getting home, who knows when.

It was a beautiful ride. The weather was perfect. Thirty miles with an average of 17.1. It was the first time in I can't possibly remember how long that I got to wear shorts and short sleeves and sunscreen.

The ten day forecast looks pretty similar. Looks like I can do a little more work on the cyclist's tan I started today.

Calculations

Ok, so I did the math. If I commute the three miles to work I actually save about $3.00 a day. That may seem like a lot, but if you take into account that it's four three mile trips ( I come home for lunch - don't you?) for a total of twelve miles, the commuter car is a 1989 Ford Taurus (V6 with bad bearings and 170,000 miles) and the trip is worst case -cold engine, stop and go through town - well, poor gas mileage is a given. But I don't just save money, according to Mr. Garmin I burn a few (well, several) calories. About 700, in fact. Those calories need replacing. Not all of them at the moment since I've got this extra layer of winter blubber to drag up hills (slowly, painfully), so I need to burn a couple more than I put back. What better way to both get rid of my savings and refuel than to buy some beer. Seems like a win to me, especially when I strap it on the commuter bike rack and burn even more calories hauling it home.

I not only got the commute in today, but a quick 13.6 mile ride after work too. While riding to work goes by at a sedate 14.2 mph, the quickie was a bit better at 17.1. Different bikes and different goals, but still riding.

Excuse me while I replenish....

Good News!

Well, good news for those of us whose only alternative to free, over the air TV, is DirecTV, anyway. Versus is back! Channel 603 has two things I tend to watch to the exclusion of anything else. Bicycle racing, and Indycar racing. It's about time they came to their senses. Judging from this list of wholesale prices for cable channels, there ought to be enough profits out there for everyone without resorting to games of chicken. I mean, it looks like, to me, anyway, about five bucks of my $85 dollar DirecTV bill is going for content. Talk about overhead! Yeah, I know, satellites are expensive - it's rocket science after all, but still....

DST is a pretty nice thing too. Got in a nice 27.4 mile ride after work today. it was cloudy, so it was getting a little dim by the time I got home, but I turned on the Planet Bike blinkey, so I felt sort of safe. Still wasn't all that warm, though, just 55 degrees, and with no sun that feels cool. The rest of the week is supposed to be about 70. It's about time.

One of the things that surprises me about this past winter is the over all brownness of everything. This winter everything went dormant. So much of the foliage here stays green and alive, but not this year. I can see through the stands of trees now and through fences that have always been covered with some sort of growth. It's almost like riding in a new area. I see views and fields I've never seen before. There are even houses I never knew existed along my usual routes. Things are beginning to green up and blossom, though, so this new world will vanish once again.

Begin Again

I am slowly shaking off the shackles of seasonal lethargy and beginning to transition back to some level of fitness. This winter's been, well, wintry. We have lived in North Carolina for almost twenty one years and this is the first real winter we've had. Sure there's been cold and even snow, but that was for short periods with mostly lots of warmth in between. This year it turned cold early and stayed cold. It snowed, what, three, four, times in three or four consecutive weeks and, being cold, the snow was in no hurry to melt. So there's been a lot of doing nothing. Through last weekend I'd managed twelve rides this year, and three of those were on the trainer. Last weekend, though, the long awaited warm up began, so Saturday I managed 42.3 miles and Sunday, 34.2. Both were a slow 15.8 mph average and it was really all my legs could take.

The weather cooperated during the week, too, so there were four days of commuting, plus a quick little after work jaunt Tuesday of 13.2 miles. That evening ride was a more reasonable 17.2 average, so, if I can get my endurance back, maybe there will still be some speed. I topped the week off with a 50.3 mile ride today and averaged 16.5 mph. Not too bad given my lack of fitness. Finished the week with 127 miles, the most since the first week of last November.

Clocks get set ahead tomorrow, so longer after work rides are on!

What would Lance do?

Not what I've been up to, I'll bet. A whole lot of nothing. I hadn't been on a bike since January 19th, and that was riding to work in the afternoon or a total of 6 miles. Snow storms and exceptionally cold weather have made perfect excuses for not riding outside. Setting up the bike on the trainer, well, I'd have to go out to the shed and get the bike, and it's cold out there. There's snow on the ground, and that makes it slippery and I don't want to fall down and hurt myself, now, do I? Ok, maybe it's because I'm lazy, unmotivated and riding inside just isn't any fun.

Yesterday, though, I shamed myself into dragging the bike in and setting it up. Eighteen days without a ride is a long time. I managed a slow (15.5mph) 20 miles, and no, it wasn't any fun, and yes, I am out of shape. So today I decided I'd better do it again. I actually brought the bike in, but before I got a chance to set it up I looked at the thermometer. Forty five degrees, bright sunshine, and a little windy, and I'm setting up the bike to ride indoors? I don't think so. I took the bike back out, put my warm stuff on and set out on a 21 mile ride. My average for this one was 16.4, better than yesterday, but still rough.

I am getting ready to watch the Super Bowl and eat a lot of junk food. I'll need some long rides to burn the calories.

Maybe that is what Lance would do - today, anyway.

Wrap ups and updates

Seems like five days into the new year might be a good time to tally up last years numbers and see where I went. Thanks to the magic of Excel, I don't really have to know what I'm doing. As you can see from the yearly mileage over there, my total was 4877.63 with 213.95 on the trainer. Since my only goal this year was a vague "ride as much as last year" it was surpassed. I'm a little disappointed not to have made 5000, but given the way I've been feeling and the demotivating weather pattern, I suppose not making it is understandable. Either one of those excuses by themselves would not have stopped me. Both of them together ended up being insurmountable. Oh well, there's always next, errr, THIS year. A few other stats:
Number of rides: 164
Average speed for the 4877 miles: 16.48
Highest speed: 39.7 mph
Total time on the bike: 280 hours 13 minutes,
Average ride length: 1.707 hours.
Total calories burned:288805.

Oh, and one race win and gold medal.

I don't know what all that means other than I spent a lot of time on my bike, and I enjoyed every second of it. If I didn't, I'd not have done it.

As for the update, I am now at a whopping 47 miles for the year. Twenty seven on the road and 20 on the trainer. The heartbeat thing is still being evaluated and I get to wear a monitor until January 19. Amazing thing - it comes with a cell phone and is constantly sending my info someplace where someone is keeping an eye on it (or so I was told). I wonder what they think when they see the traces from those two bike rides and heart rates of 170 bpm. One thing is for sure; they'll have some full out exercise data to play with.

Goals for '10? None, really. Same as last year. Except maybe another race win. I'd like that.

Now, if this cold weather ever breaks....

Maybe.....

Well, maybe it won't be too bad. Sunday I rode the same route as Saturday in almost identical conditions and averaged 16.8 mph without ever feeling stressed or out of breath. That was a one mph improvement over Saturday and pretty standard for that route.

Off to the cardiologist today to see what he (she?) has to say.

Red Tape

Seems like no matter what project I get involved in there are always multiple layers of red tape to negotiate. Today's project, though was pure red tape. Finally got the no longer white, almost two year old tape off. Letting me have anything white is a mistake, from the moment it comes into my possession it starts a (rapid) journey to dirty gray. Black would probably be the best choice for me, but I wanted red, so red it is. I think it looks good. Well, at least better.

There were only two things on my Christmas list; red handlebar tape and a new water bottle. I got the bottle too.

Haven't been riding so much the past few weeks. Holiday busy-ness, early sunsets, and uncooperative weather put a limit on the available riding time. On top of that, I just haven't been feeling all that great. Someplace way back there in an earlier post I mentioned a minor heart problem that cycling seemed to alleviate, if not eliminate. Maybe it's age, maybe it's stress, who knows, but after being dormant for a couple of years the irregular heartbeat has returned. Finally saw a doctor about it last week and got put on a medication to slow my heart rate. So far it seems to be helping and today I went for a short 29 mile ride to see how the medication affected me. The ride went ok with heart rates ten to twelve bpm lower than what I usually see. I noticed that maybe I wasn't quite as "aerobic" as before -sort of getting out of breath at the upper rates, but that could just be my imagination. I hope I get to try again tomorrow. As of now I need 151.1 miles to get to 5000, and no, I ain't gonna make it in the next five days. Maybe next year.

Next week more doctors and tests. No fun. There had better not be any mention of not riding.

Resting

Annie had her kitten prevention operation Wednesday. She seems a little subdued now, bit recovering nicely, with short flashes of the little terror she tends to be. I just added up all her vet bills... shots, worming, de-fleaing meds, and the operation. Let me see, at $600 that would make this one expensive "free" stray kitten, and the most expensive pet we have ever had. Still, though, I'm glad she is here.

Toes Froze

Yesterday during my cycling shopping binge I spent a lot of time examining wind and water resistant booties. In the end I elected not to buy them. It is just hard for me to purchase winter type stuff given how short and mild the winters are here. Not very far into today's ride having booties would have been wonderful. Forty two degrees, windy and raining is a pretty good recipe for getting chilled, but even though I was soaked within minutes I was comfortable - except for my feet. The Pearl Izumi Softshell gloves kept my hands warm, but they are definitely water resistant, not water proof. They were soaked through too, but still warm. I rode a whopping 21.7 miles, stopping only because my toes were so cold. It's supposed to get down to 26 tonight, but tomorrow will be about 50 and sunny. Quite an improvement.



Given the dark gray dreariness and limited visibility of the day the addition of the Planet Bike Rack Blinky on the seat post made me feel a bit more secure - although it's probably a false sense, but having it on can't hurt. It is a pretty bright light, though and fits quite nicely under the seat bag.



Today's weather forced the Liberty Christmas Parade to be rescheduled to December 19. We were looking forward to going, hopefully we don't have anything that Saturday to prevent us from attending.

Plans

The thing with plans is that if the best laid ones often go awry, the casual "tomorrow I'm gonna..." type don't stand a chance. Seems to be a good reason not to plan ahead, so mostly I don't, much to the dismay of several people around here who would like to know what we are "gonna do tomorrow". My usual answer "We'll see".



With my flat shortened ride last Saturday (planned 65 miles, completed 34), a scant 20 miles on Sunday, then only managing to commute Monday morning for an additional 6 miles, today's vacation day looked like the perfect chane to do a little catching up. I planned a nice long midday ride. I got 2.5 miles. Then I heard the dreaded tell tale hiss, silence, hiss, silence, hiss of a deflating tire. The rear tire again. It didn't go unnoticed last Saturday when I repaired that puncture that the tire was getting a bit, umm, thin. Four thousand miles will do that, I suppose, but even though the cords were beginning to show through I figured I could get a few more miles out of it. Throw that on the bad decision pile, especially since I went to Performance Bike last Saturday after I got the flat and picking up a new tire would have made sense - which is my excuse for not doing it.



If I was going to do any more riding this weekend it meant I'd have to take a trip to Greensboro today and get another tire. Good thing I had the day off! Having driven the 25 miles to the big city, I couldn't just go one place, so first it was Performance, then REI, and I couldn't just get one tire, I got two, along with some other stuff:

Performance supplied me with the tires, citrus degreaser, and Velcro strap thingies to keep my pants from getting sucked into the chain when I commute. I had one, but I think Annie took it. She does things like that. I came away from REI with a pair of Pearl Izumi (I like their stuff best) water and wind resistant winter gloves and a Planet Bike tail light for the non commuter bike.

Today, then turned out to be a little like an early Christmas. The bike now has a new rear tire and is all set for tomorrow, which is supposed to be 40 degrees and raining. Not the best riding weather, but my hands will be warm. Not that I'm planning to ride....

Stylin'

Ignore the fact that my ineptitude as a photographer caused me to include a closeup of one of my fingers. I'm new to this camera in a phone thing. This bike caught my eye, first because it was parked at the gas pump, and second because of the unique handlebar installation. I am not sure how the brakes might operate, but, maybe it's a practice thing. The electrical tape is a nice, but I'll bet somewhat sticky, touch. Not sure I'd want the sharp ends of those brake levers pointed at me. Not long after I saw that, I came across this, too at Riding Pretty :

So I guess what I saw is the '09 small town North Carolina version of 1970's California beach coolness. At least his bars and brake levers will only puncture pedestrians.

It was a weekend of half rides. Saturday I intended a 100k ride, but ran over something 34 miles in and flatted the rear tire. Although I had everything I needed to repair it, I just called home and had CJ come pick me up. I figured by the time I got the tire fixed my motivation to ride another 28 miles would be gone.

Lately my Sunday rides have been 40 miles, but today I decided to use up some of the leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes in Potato Rosemary bread (we have a huge rosemary bush in the garden) so I squeezed a 20 mile ride in during the second rise. Truth is I'd spent a lot of time raking vast quantities of leaves this weekend, and 20 miles was plenty.

The bread was amazing, by the way. CJ made turkey soup to go with it, and it was a good combination.

About 326 miles to go to get to 5000.....

Rested?

Thinking that those three days off the bike I mentioned yesterday had left me rested and ready to flatten hills and battle moderate headwinds I set out on a 100k ride. I felt good when I set out, but about halfway through my legs told me they'd had enough. I kept going, even though it was a struggle and finished 100k with an average of 16.1 mph. My legs were stiff and sore, and tired and the usual apres ride stretching was. uh, difficult, to say the least.

Don't really know what the problem was, but I feel like either my allergies are acting up, or perhaps I am coming down with something. Hope not. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be better than today's (which was pretty nice, even though the wind was 10 to 15 mph) with light and variable winds. I have come to the conclusion that "variable" is a euphemism for " no matter what direction you go, the wind will always be in your face.

But I got 100k in today - so I accomplished what I set out to do.

When up on the roof there arose such a clatter

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. With apologies to Clement Moore.

Much to my dismay, it was not Santa and eight tiny reindeer. No, it was what was left of hurricane Ida bearing the gift of a lot of rain and 40 mph winds. This pine tree became so excited it decided to swap vertical for horizontal, and picked the only direction where anything could be damaged. I don't think I ever went from sound asleep to fully awake that fast before.

We had someone come this morning and remove it from the house. I would have, but I don't do heights, and climbing on a roof doesn't do anything except instill fear in me. So I paid someone with a bucket truck to do it. That truck is neat, though. Now, if I had one of those..... Anyway, it turns out there are two holes in the roof where branches punched through. We repaired those by slipping a couple of pieces of sheet metal under the shingles. Should be pretty watertight long enough for us to get repairs scheduled. The sheet metal, by the way, was cut from an old cookie sheet. Use whatever you have handy, I guess.

Ida brought my riding streak to an end at 28 days, and now I have been off the bike for 3 days. Yeah, I could have ridden the trainer and kept it going but there are parts of my body that are thanking me for the time off. Tomorrow, though is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's so those body parts better be ready.

Today

Dressing for a ride this time of year seems to be a no win thing. Trying to find something that might be comfortable when it's about 45 degrees at the start and 70 at the finish is next to impossible. I manage to dress so I span the entire range from too cold to too warm, but, for a brief period in the middle, I'm just right. Shades of Goldilocks there....

Now that I'm riding both bikes it amazes me just how different they are, and how much faster and easier to ride the Roubaix is. It can't all come down to weight, can it? Of course I can't put a rack on it and convert it into a commuter, anyway. Maybe pedaling that extra 12 pounds of bike plus about 10 more pounds of stuff back and forth to work is good for me. Can't hurt.

Got in a little more than 100km today (actual was 64.05 miles) and averaged 16.5 mph. This also was my 25th consecutive day on the bike. Should be able to make 30, easily. So now I'm at 4307.19 miles with eight weeks left in the year. Is 5000 miles really possible? That would be an average of 86.6 miles per week. This week was 154.54, so maybe....

Giving Credit

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but with procrastination being one of the things I do well, it keeps being put off. Since I am waiting for both the sun and temperature to rise before setting out on a bike ride, now seems a good time to take care of it.

Besides - it moves some other stuff to the back burner. That's always a good thing - means I'll have something to do later.

Way back in December 2007 I posted this about a close encounter of the frightening kind with a tractor trailer owned by Allen's Family Foods along with a copy of the email I had sent them complaining about it. I never got a reply, but that doesn't mean it was ignored.

Allen's operation in Liberty is pretty big, and it is rare to go for a bike ride without encountering at least one of their vehicles, whether it's a car, pickup truck, or tractor trailer. Since I am out there so much, I see them all the time, and ever since I wrote to them there has not been one single instance where one of them has passed me with anything less than a wide berth and care. They always stay behind and follow until it is safe to pass. For that, I am grateful.

I can't know if my writing to them caused this, but it doesn't really matter. The respect and responsibility their drivers show for other traffic should be commended and an example for other vehicle operators - cyclists included.

I see, all the time, in cycling blogs and sites the complaints about how we are treated by drivers of motor vehicles, and it is all valid. It takes a lot of courage and faith to go for a ride on public roads. I guess we should give some time to pointing out when an effort is made to reduce the danger, and give credit to those who do that. Maybe that's a step forward in the process of educating drivers that bikes belong. Maybe getting the support of corporations through educating the drivers of their vehicles would be a good place to start, and maybe it would trickle down to everyone.

Shoe Repairs

While both my bikes are fitted with Look pedals, I wasn't paying enough (any) attention when I bought the ones for the newer bike. Because I don't RTFLable (neither will I RFTM, when one is available) I ended up with pedals using the Keo cleats on the new one, while the pedals on the old bike use Deltas. I ended up not riding the old bike anymore, and there was an ancient pair of Performance cycling shoes stowed away in the closet, anyway, if I wanted to, so there really wasn't a problem.

Then, a month ago I started this commuting thing....

The first few days I wore my steel toe Red Wing work boots, which felt a little weird pedaling on clipless pedals. but it seemed to work ok. After about a week of that, though, I decided to leave the boots at the office and wear the old cycling shoes to ride. Wow, does it ever make a difference both in comfort and efficiency.

Within a couple of days I noticed the soles were separating from the shoes, though.

Not wanting to buy another pair of shoes or pedals, plus being cheap and broke, I decided to fix them. Here's how.

I got some Loctite 480. It is great stuff. I have used it to stick two pieces of steel together, and was amazed at how much it took to break them apart.

Here is how I applied it.

And then clamped them together to let the adhesive cure. I let them sit like this for about three hours, which is overkill, but I had the time.
So now the shoes are as good, if not better than new. And, much to my amazement, I did all this without gluing my fingers together - something I usually do when I use Loctite. All in all, a success.