My Most Recent Ride 2012 (Part V in a series)

YUP! I was there but forgot you are closed on Mondays. Now I will remember.

 

Went for a short ride when it finally stopped raining long enough for the streets to drain so I wouldn't need a snorkel.

About 50 F, breezy and gray. Completely unremarkable 4.3 mile ride to get Loke and I out of the house. It was starting to rain again during the last quarter mile. Still felt good to pedal in the open air and on pavement instead of a fly wheel.

Terii

 

I love Sweden!

Loke and I went out under partly cloudy skies around 58 F. We had a bit of SUN and it felt nice. The furry one had a bit of fire in him as we streaked off at high speed with the intention that I'd do the 10 mile loop again though I planned to add a bit with an out and back along a new section of cycle path.

It didn't quite happen that way though. As I was passing the area with the burial mounds where the temple to Odin and the sacred sacrificial grove were centuries ago, I came on an archeological dig. Loving history and archeology as I do, I stopped to watch.

It was quite an extensive dig. Over 100 feet long and 30 feet wide and growing. There were tiny little stakes stuck everywhere. At the end where the backhoe was extending it, there was a raised section. I could clearly see a long line of darker soil in the middle of the dig, about a 3 feet wide and a few other features though not enough to even guess what it was. Fascinated me all the same.

Of course, as I sat there, the sun disappeared and it got chilly which I wasn't dressed for. Also being stressed about Loke's feet, I decided to come home. I still loved being able to watch the work to uncover part of Sweden's past and Loke and I were out of the house for about 3 hours and right at 7 miles.

Terii

 

Cool...and that is how it has been around here for the past few days. It is supposed to get up to he high 70's-low 80's today. That will be nice. Glad to hear you had a good ride.

 

First 300 K onthe Corsa average 14.3 mph--197 miles total.. this was only supposed to be 180 miles but i got lost several times and had 17 bonus miles..lol

13:33 moving time
15:05 total

My fastest 300k before this was 18 + hours.. the Corsa does fly

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/593932

 

Brian, I'll bet you are loving that Corsa! Sometimes those bonus miles can be interesting.

 

That sounds really interesting Terii.

 

I did the Lancaster Country Ride yesterday. Lancaster is a small town south of Dallas and is the beginning point of a very popular ride put on by the Greater Dallas Bicyclists. They have rides of 23, 42 and 63 miles and schedule the ride to coincide with the blossoming of the bluebonnets. It was a little breezy and cloudy which kept the ride very pleasant. I opted for the 42 so I could ride part of the Bluebonnet Trail. There were several other recumbent riders but only one other trike that I saw. The 42 mile route traveled a loop from Lancaster down to Ferris, across to Palmer, up to Rockett and back to Lancaster. It had a rolling section and a couple of challenging hills but was overall very pleasant. Here are a few photos:


Registration in Lancaster by steveheric, on Flickr


At the start by steveheric, on Flickr


On the road by steveheric, on Flickr


Ferris windmill by steveheric, on Flickr


Bluebonnet Trail by steveheric, on Flickr


Bluebonnets by steveheric, on Flickr


Local RBENT members,Jay and John by steveheric, on Flickr


Back on the road by steveheric, on Flickr


Local resident by steveheric, on Flickr


More local residents by steveheric, on Flickr


More bluebonnets by steveheric, on Flickr


Palmer gazebo rest stop by steveheric, on Flickr


Downtown Palmer by steveheric, on Flickr


Old Palmer First Baptist church by steveheric, on Flickr


Another local by steveheric, on Flickr

 

Patti,

Great account and . Thanks for sharing!

 

Patti! Thank you so much for sharing that! Great photos and those of the flowers and horses were gorgeous!

Loke and I went out for a ride today. It was still on the cool side, though couldn't really call it cold. It'd been a few days since my last ride and Loke's feet look fine, so I decided to try the ride I'd intended to take last time when I got distracted by the dig site.

It was crystal clear out when I decided to go. By the time I clipped into the pedals, thin clouds made the sun weak and the wind colder. Sweden does that to me 9 times out of 10.

There didn't seem to be any work going on archeological wise. Only a couple of dump-truck like tractors with huge wheels leaving 3 ft deep ruts on one edge of the site. Not entirely sure what they were doing, but I had to wonder how many of those little stakes they flattened and how much confusion there would be to figure the layers out again.

Amazingly, I'm finding I'm actually enjoying spinning up hills now. It came as a shock to Loke when we hit what I call the 'Rollercoaster' section of the ride. Hills that I tended to creep up at 5 mph or less, I managed to keep up at 10+ mph. Made that up/down stretch much more fun. Loke especially loved it once he quit giving me disbelieving stares. Of course, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and a bit encouraged at the improvement in my knees! The speed of flex even just last year used to hurt as much or more than force applied.

I explored the new section of bike path to the north only discover it wasn't for bikes at all. It's a short access road (ended after about a mile) for houses since the road they sat on is being changed into a 'non-meeting' road. Meaning there'll be a barrier between lanes and access only at on-ramps. Not exactly a highway, but not far off it. Forbidden to bikes too.

We did 13 miles today!

Terii

 

The weather that created 120 tornados in Oklahoma recently is coming through Tennessee this afternoon and evening. Sooo, I went took an early lunch (10:30 am) to ride. I decided to go a greenway to get some protection from the high winds.

16.8 miles later my strategy worked somewhat. I didn't get rained on. I did hit a lot of wind. Or should I say a lot of wind hit me. I felt like I was back at the Florida beach with the 20 MPH headwinds going west. But made it back and glad I was blown around like a kite today!

 

Hmm. We've all been rather quiet on this post for the past 4 days.

Jens and I are going his parents this evening. Loke usually comes along to beg for food and be harassed by the standard poodle, but she's currently in heat so home he stays. We always try to make sure he's had a long walk in these situations, but Jens caught a 6 am train, so I gave Loke a run with the trike.

At 7 am, it was cloudy and trying rain, right at 40 F. By 11 am, it was 30 F and SNOWING. Snow? In the latter part of April? Come on! Bad enough our highs this month have been nearly 5 degrees colder than average even if our lows have been right on the money.

Actually, I figured snow would be better than rain since lycra tends to shed snow. Dragged out my bulletproof thermals to put under my cycle top and bottoms and wrestled everything out the door.

Miserable is the only word for it. Right from the beginning. The wind was brisk and blew the flakes right at me while Loke wanted to do his 15-17 mph mile long charge. Little ice needles drove straight at my eyes. I tried wearing my sunglasses/goggles, but the white stuff just stuck to them. It was rather like trying to look through a snowball. Somehow, we managed most of a mile and a half with me half-blind while peeking out between my fingers.

During that short stretch, I discovered the gloves I had were useless for the weather and my lycra top collected snow which promptly melted and seeped through the wool beneath. When I stopped being stubborn and put on the face mask, I gave a happy sigh of relief.

I'd hoped to give Loke at least the 6+ miles of the river loop with extension, but decided the risk of smashing into a light post or flipping in the slush was too great. We did just 4+ miles before I made it back to our door... shivering.

Terii

 

Terii,

No one wants to follow THAT report of riding in SNOW in late April. It will make the rest of us look like sissies. So I guess I will be the sissy!!! :

I rode my Bacchetta yesterday down in Townsend again. Started at U-Man, rode to the Coulter Bridge and back.

21.8 miles.
69 degrees.
Mostly sunny.
1 hour 15 minutes.

I did the first half of the Friday morning 44 mile Smoky Mountain Recumbent Rally (SMRR) ride and all of the 20 mile ride. I was specifically looking at the bicycle marks on the road. I bought red paint for our weekend to mark the ride. There is one other ride which used red on just part of our ride. The marks were faded, so I am going to buy a can of black paint to remove those marks in the 3 areas they cross our path so there will be no confusion. So we will have RED bicycle road marks the whole way for both rides.

Just a heads up, the Friday morning ride at the SMRR is an out and back. The 20 mile ride goes from U-Man bike shop to the Coulter Bridge and back. It is 10 miles out and 10 miles back. No rest stops or bathrooms except at U-Man.

The 44 mile ride is the same ride for the first 10 miles, then we continue another 12 miles to Howard Pinkston Park. The park has bathrooms and water available. I also plan to have a cooler there with snacks for the group.

Both rides will be well marked with new paint, so if you want to go faster or slower you can and just follow the road marks. We also have a cue sheet for you. Since this is an out and back ride, you can turn around any time you want. If you want to do 30 miles, then ride 15 miles and turn around. If you want to do 10 miles, go out 5 miles and turn back. You can't get lost! The final distance is totally up to you.

I will lead the 44 mile ride and plan to ride at a 12 mile pace (Intermediate pace). So if you are a speed demon, you can sprint out ahead and meet us at Howard Pinkston park. If you are a beginner, I would encourage you to do the 20 mile or less ride. It is fairly flat with one hill. It is an easy ride and beautiful ride following the river. Bring your camera for terrific pictures!!! The 44 mile ride has another bigger hill just before the park. Remember what you go up and over going out, you get the do the same coming back, so pace yourself accordingly.

The goal of the ride is to be done by noon so you can have lunch with your family in Townsend at any of the many restaurants there.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but my ride yesterday naturally flowed into WHY I was riding it.

 

Elmer Fudd's Two for the price of One Stew

[Ward, this story is for you! You did this to me!!!]

Another gorgeous Knoxville day. Busted my butt at work this morning so I could leave 30 minutes early at lunch and ride Cherokee Blvd. Cherokee Blvd has just been paved so the surface is BEAUTIFUL. First time to ride it in two months because of the new paving job.

Decided to ride 20+ miles today. I was cruising around my 3 mile loop minding my own business, admiring the physical fitness of all the lady joggers... when just before a turn I spotted two wabbits all decked out in fancy riding gear and fast bikes going the other way.

Huh!!! (That was supposed to be the sound Scooby Doo makes. Click here to hear it.)

I looked at them... They looked at me. They got out of their saddles and accelerated. I felt the Challenge slapped across my face. My eyes widen. My ears perked up. Focus sharpen on the prey and my nose smelled..... wabbit stew in the making!

At first I hesitated. I have already ridden 15 miles and this is the first I have seen them so they are just probably starting a ride. They looked like good riders. And fresh.

Then I thought, fresh meat for wabbit stew.... greyhound brain kicked it and there was no turning back! [Ward, I told you this was your fault!!!]

So I shot around the turn trying to estimate how far ahead they were. I was pumping and my legs were protesting because I had already done 15 miles at a decent clip.

Around one bend..... no wabbits in sight. Couldn't smell them either.
Over a hill ... no wabbits in sight but I smelled them. My mouth started watering.
Around another bend.... my legs are protesting more
I started to back off, but FAR up ahead in the distance I saw wabbits.

My legs immediately went into overdrive.
My mind shut down the leg protests.
My eyes focused solely on the prey.
I smacked my lips.

Man they were going fast!!! They came to a hill and both popped out of their seats. Their legs were driving their peddles like well oiled pistons. They kept up their speed as they round another turn and I lost them.

I had downshifted to gain speed the upshifted to keep the speed up. 20+ MPH and holding.

At the last hill I could see I closed 1/2 my distance to them. From the hill it is a slight downgrade to the turn.

The wabbits felt comfortable and just peddled normally and slowed down for the turn.

I UPSHIFTED down the slope and looked at my speedometer reading 26 MPH. I braked hard, leaned heavily into the turn, downshifted and started pumping up the slight hill.

Wabbit were still 800 feet ahead of me. I keep my pace up at around 22 MPH and on an uphill slope pounded the peddles and caught up to them. The guy was talking to the girl and looked behind and saw me drafting. Took about 1 1/2 miles to catch them, but I did. Fast little wabbits!! I stayed behind drafting them while I was convincing my heart not to explode just yet.

They are young (mid 20s to mid 30s.) They look very fit. Guy had big calfs from lots of riding and was wear a Bike Zoo jersey. (For those that don't know Bike Zoo is where hot shot DF riders get their gear and ride for the team.) Girl had her racing jersey, hair in a braid and knew how to push her peddles.

I looked at the speed and we were doing 21 MPH. Stayed behind for a minute to catch my breath. (Remember, I am an old man!) I saw my opportunity. A long stretch with a slight uphill. Now all DF riders know recumbents can't climb hills, so they weren't worried.

I downshifted, yell "on your left" and sprinted. They didn't even try to respond. They were spent. I look back and I lost them in my rear view mirror in 30 seconds.

So two young juicy wabbits met their match from a 60 year old man. I smirked with satisfaction. I kept about a 21 MPH pace down the back half of the loop and to my car.

The only thing better than wabbit stew, is wabbit stew with a BEER. Sure wish I had a cold one in the car, but alas, I must get back to work. I will have one tonight to celebrate along with a dozen ibuprofen!!!

 

Way to go Jon!!! That makes me grin to the max...how dare they "challenge"...who do they think they are?!? They don't know your age...so for all they know you are just a pedaling "machine". Looks like you just joined greyhound club...