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

By the way, if anyone is interested, the website for the nite ride is www.niteride.org ...maybe some of the midwesterners would want to join us next year

 

Cheetah runs

http://app.strava.com/rides/11609560

I took the Cheetah out for her second ride on a road I really like. It has a couple of nasty climbs and some long gradual grades with plenty of wind. Makes for a pretty good comparison.

Last year I took the Dragon out that way, went about twice as far

http://app.strava.com/rides/1281297

18.6 average on the Dragon vs 17.2 on the Cheetah. The most interesting thing and something I never would have guessed is I set my PR today on one of the nasty climbs. 12.2 mph average vs 11.7 on the Dragon.

Where the Dragon really shinned was on the downhills with a top speed of 37mph vs 30 on the Cheetah. The Cheetah suffers from pretty severe pedal steer which adds some excitement when going downhill. When I am not pedaling she is the most stable descender I have ever had. Not only that but eerily quiet. Having all the cables tucked away and the chain line so perfectly straight, no brakes hanging in the wind to cause any fuss..all adds up to whisper quiet. I felt like I needed some elevator musak piped into my helmet. Next stop ground floor.

On the flats the Dragon has a slight edge and I do mean slight. My average today would have been better if I hadn't lost my recumbent legs over the last six months. I had some cramping coming back and had to take the very last climb pretty slowly.

I must say overall I am very pleased.

 

Nice write up. I understand about the loss of recumbent legs. I'm still working on mine. Speaking of legs, how is your wife doing these days?

 

Yesterday in Nashville

Last month I bought a new Bacchetta Corsa from Mark Powers at Power on Cycling in Newport, TN. Mark made that experience very comfortable, informative, and fun. Mark is a Great guy. If you need anything recumbent he either has it, can get it, or can MAKE it.
Yesterday morning I rode 24 miles in Nashville starting at the wave pool parking area at Two Rivers Parkway. Over the Cumberland River to Shelby Bottoms greenway, thru Shelby Bottoms to Titans Stadium, back over the Cumberland River into downtown Nashville, up 1st ave to hook up to the greenway again to Germantown. I took the streets back into downtown. While crossing Broadway at 3rd ave I got a flat on my rear tire. I walked a block to a great shady bench in front of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center where I changed my tire twice! (first tube was pinched between the rim and the tire bead…Aaarghh!) Back over the Cumberland to Shelby bottoms and back to the car. While crossing the greenway bridge over the Cumberland I stopped to enjoy the breeze, a lady named Phyllis stopped to inquire about my bike. Turns out she and her husband own a company called Rhoades Car, they make 4-wheeled bicycles right here in Hendersonville, TN just north of Nashville. We had a wonderful conversation, exchanged e-mail addresses and were on our way.
The new bike is great, it had been over a year since my last ride, the LWB that I built three years ago grew more and more impractical. Too low for the road, too long (8.5’) to fit in anything but my old farm truck (that my wife refuses to ride in), and way too heavy at over fifty lbs. I love riding the Corsa, every ride my legs and breathing come back more and more. Climbing gets easier with each ride as well. This bike is Fun and fast, and it fits in the van with my wife’s Electra Townie that she loves to ride as well.
Happy trails....

 

Sunday Morning Ride

It's my favourite time of the week to ride, as the roads are so empty.

Inspired by a recent question about keeping cool, I went ahead and mounted
my new helmet scoop -replacing my prototype- and rode with
it for the first time.
It works fine...and if I tuck my chin, the scoop does not 'see' the slipstream
and I pick up a little downhill speed.
Win-win.
My girlfriend, a working graphic designer, wanted to tart it up with a
colorful design, so she gets to do just that... with full discretion.
She gets to draw/paint whatever she wants!
(I'll post a photo when it's all done, don't worry.)

I only saw two other fellow bicyclists on my ride.
Is it a coincidence that they were both grinning with glee like me?!

Anyway, 25+ miles averaging 16.5mph.



No dog encounters either!

 

Coming along slowly but she has been getting out on her trike and
the Eliptigo. Has lost a. Muscle tone in that foot.

 

John,

I rode with you and the Blue Bullet a couple of years ago. I was impressed you could even get that bohemeth bike up those hills.

Mark is who I bought my Strada from. You now own a GREAT bent. I will give you a call to ride again together this December. Bundle up!!! I hope I can keep up with you now!!!

 

Jon,

Great to hear from you!!
Yes please let me know when you will be in town, it will be great to ride with you again.
Are you planning to ride the Sunrise Century in Clarksville TN on labor day weekend? I'm planning to ride the 62 mile route.
There is a Century called Crusin In the Country in Claxton, GA that I am planning to ride my first 100 miler November 12th. Any one planning on traveling there? Check out thier web site, this course is very flat and there is a very large recumbent turnout.

 

Foggy mountain.........., no break-down

Saturdays ride on the rain-slicked Cades Cove, TN loop.

A special thanks to the real engineer who figured out how to push the camera's start button and capture some kids playing!

 

Another ride yesterday, but solo!

After two days in a row with 20+ mile rides, it seemed best to give the furry one a rest. Probably a good choice since he seemed tired and sluggish.

Jens dropped me off at the same church he'd picked me up from so I could rejoin the Klarälven Trail again.

It was wonderful. It was ****! Severe rain, wind, low grade hills that went on for miles and just had my legs for lunch. I could have stopped any number of times, but I went on. 40+ miles and I made it the end of the trail which I did not expect to see!

There was even a time I made a guy on a road-bike fight to catch up, then he had to fight to stay ahead... and that was when I was flagging to push on.

My knees were screaming and I was almost too exhausted to move. The sense of accomplishment was compensation enough. I haven't ridden that far in years!

I've posted the first day's ride on my blog. I'll post the ride on the 23 tomorrow with the finish on Wednesday which will be the 40+ mile slog fest!

Terii

 

Terii!!!

 

Way to go Terii. Looks like you have had a great trip and Your furry friend as well. How are his paws doing? There is a fella here in town with a 10 month old Husky and he runs with her on the Rail Trail. 90+ degrees and she pulled him along for a 6:28 minute mile. I told him about you and to keep an eye on her pads.

 

Awww. Huskies are cute at 10 months old. Or any age for that matter. When she gets her full growth, she'll be hitting a 4 minute mile!

Loke's paws were a little thin on the second day because the rain meant the duck tape wouldn't stick to his socks. Unprotected socks last less than 2 miles. So, he had to run farther than I wanted without the socks, but no limping at least!

Other than that, his feet are doing pretty good. No infections. This makes the longest he's gone without me dragging him to the vet to start another round of treatment since early December! I guess depriving him of carbs is finally working!

Terii

 

Just spent a long weekend in France with my friend Graham and our ICE sprints. 0430 start on Friday to drive down to the coast and take the tunnel under the English Channel to France. Far to early but it did mean we could get a decent cycle in each day. We managed 130 miles over Fri/Sat/SUN despite howling gales all weekend and torrential rain on Sunday. The trikes performed brilliantly and as always French drivers were courteous and thoughtful towards us (unlike the UK !). Despite picking an area around the Bay of the Somme which was pretty flat, I seemed to find routes that had some seriously steep hills, for the first time ever I was down in the granny gear ! Still good for building those recumbent legs. I've attached a link to some photos.



http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?i=1&db=1&pw=cah1fRJc&a_id=5639947

Adrian

 

Those pics were pretty nice.Thanks for posting.