My Most Recent Ride 2013 (Part VI in a series)

Go Terii Go

 

My circle of riding friends has grown a bit. Liner couldnt ride yesterday but Scott was ready when I arrived at the gate to the Fort. It was raining softly and he asked me what I wanted to do, "I came here to ride" was my reply.

We took off and just about 1/2 mile the rain stopped. The route is hilly but has some nice scenery. Just a out and back we come to a large open valley used for an artillery range. As we started down the 8% grade to the bridge at the bottom we could see dark clouds with fingers of lightening over the top of the next ridge. By the time we finished climbing to the top of that ridge were getting a bit of rain.

With the lightening getting closer we decided to turn back but we hadn't gone far when the rain caught us in earnest. Now just a wet slog back, at least we were not hot. With about four miles left Scott had a flat tire. Hs first words were "I don't have a spare". I was riding the Venom with its 520mm or 24" tires so no help there. Just as that thought crossed my mind I looked down the road and saw another cyclist coming towards us with his head hunched down in the rain.

I asked if we could use his spare tube and he did. He was riding with another guy who rode up as he was fishing it out of his seat bag. What luck! I have risen that road hundreds of times without seeing another soul.

Scott also didn't have a pump or CO2 so I used my pump and off we went. No more issues other than being soaking wet.

As a side note, I was using my Garmin with its internal altimeter. If you look at the elevation graph of the ride you can see the difference caused by the storms low pressure on the gauge's reading.

http://app.strava.com/activities/76290409

 

Hopefully your friend will see the value of spare tubes, patch kits and air pumps!!! Obviously he was not an Eagle Scout!

 

And out again!

Jens had to bolt to work early so I decided I'd take Loke out again today. We took it slow and easy as I regarded it something like a rest day. Even stopped at one point to sprawl in the grass and read. It got a little warm with a white rug sprawled across my lap.

We added the Grave Mount section to the loop so finished with 7.61 miles instead of 5.2.

26 miles to break last year's total. Oh, I'd also forgotten that when I make 804 miles for this year, I'll also tip over 5,000 total recorded miles. That's just what I'll have from Garmin histories. I'm sure I broke 5,000 miles ridden on recumbent trikes months ago. It's just I didn't have any way to record distance before getting my Garmin Forerunner. Rather than guess, I'll just call them 'recorded miles' and let it go at that!

Terii

 

Recumbents - 5, DFs - 0

Yesterday I was out riding while dark billowing clouds circled overhead foretelling rain. (That is what it has been like all year in Tennessee. I don't remember so much rain. But my grass looks great!!!)

I ride a 3.33 mile loop. 6 laps is 20 miles which I do over my extended lunch hour. The first lap is my "warm up" lap and the last lap is my "cool down" lap.

So I started my "warm up" lap and when I made it to the end of the first half of the loop where I turn around, down the hill comes two DF riders in spandex and fast bikes. "Raarooo" as Scooby Doo would say. Even though I was supposed to go easy my greyhound brain knocked reason aside and off I went. Passed them with ease and got a "two for one" on my DF scorecard to start off the ride.

Score Recumbents - 2, DFs - 0

Made it to the end of the first lap, turned and kicked it up a notch to start my 4 "exercise" laps. Got to the end of the lap to turn around and a young guy with HUGE calf muscles came zooming down the same hill as the last two guys. What is this??? Another offering from the greyhound gods??? So dropped down a gear and increased my cadence. Guy didn't have a rear view mirror and didn't see or hear me coming. Zoomed by him and I could tell he wasn't happy. When I couldn't see him in my rear view mirror I slowed down.

Score Recumbents - 3, DFs - 0

I was tootling along enjoying the scenery when something moved in my rear view mirror. I looked again and saw the guy I passed. :bike: He as down in his aero bars pumping the pedals like Jan Urlich! I am sure he thought he was going to fly by me like I flew by him. Wrong DF Doofus!!!

I was riding at 16 MPH. I kicked down a gear, picked up my pace. 18 MPH he was still coming. 20 MPH he was getting closer. OK now I am going to do some serious pedaling. I shifted up to my big chain ring, dropped a gear and took up the pace. After 30 seconds I looked behind and he was getting smaller again. I looked at my GPS and it was clocking 26.7 MPH. (My heart rate was 165 BPM!) Guess with his aero bars and fancy speedy DF bike he couldn't do 26.7 MPH. Too bad. I count that as another win.

Score Recumbents - 4, DFs - 0.

On lap 5 of my ride spotted another DF rider. This was a lady on a comfort bike but moving along at a good pace. I cheated here. I got to the first crossover (the street I ride is a boulevard and had a grass with trees median. Along it are crossovers so you can change directions.) turned and I was after her. Well I passed her without even trying hard. If I was fishing, I would throw this one back. But still it was a valid pass.

Final score Recumbents - 5, DFs - 0.

Now I did pass another DF rider but she stopped right before I passed her so I didn't count it.

Great day for a ride. And that was fun!!!! The greyhound gods were smiling on me today!!! (Most times I don't see anyone. It is lonely out here ...)

 

And yep, out again! Jens pleaded so prettily for me to take Loke for a rolling walk. 4.6 miles.

It makes me laugh, but the hares that frequent the backyard of our apartment building won't run from me when I pedal over the grass as a shortcut to the car. They'll just sit up, ears erect with noses wiggling like mad as I go by. If I happen to be heading right toward them, they'll slowly move aside and just keep watching me.

Terii

 

That is funny! When I lived in Athens, Ga the deer were like that. I walked the dogs every night and there was a herd that stayed in my back yard. They would just hold very still and if I didn't look at them they would stay put. There was so much deer scent in the yard the dogs didn't notice.

 

Now that is really weird. My dog would have gone nuts.

 

They did at first and the deer would run away as soon as I opened the back door. Five years later, the dogs had become "blind" to the smell and if the deer didn't move they would not notice them.

Great ride Thurs evening. A bit of rain, enough to cool us off and take the steam out of the roads. Lots of hills as usual and we headed out towards the most remote corner of the post. We say deer, a group of wild pigs, and a rattlesnake that struck at Scott when he tried to move in for a picture.

The views were fantastic from the ridge tops as the storm had left very interesting clouds in its wake. A bit slower and a lot more work on the Venom than the Cheetah.

http://app.strava.com/activities/76803119

 

Wow, seeing all those critters must have been pretty neat. Bet you felt like you guys were in national geographic episode that evening huh?

 

Sure did, great views also as the storm left some really fantastic cloud formations in its wake.

50 miles yesterday. No critters but lots of joggers and a few cyclists. I put up a faster time on a you segment on Strava than I had with the Windcheetah or the Sea Dragon. Partly because I never tried hard on the Dragon and this particular stretch of road really plays to the Venoms strengths.

It's loaded with cracks and heaves in the pavement that make it difficult to hold onto speed with the narrow track and the 20" front wheels on the Cheetah. The Venoms 24" front really smooth it out. Of course now I will have to go back and try and beat my time with the Cheetah.

.http://www.strava.com/activities/77420738

 

16.25 miles remaining for the August goal I've set. Managed to chip off 5.23 miles (River Loop) today in spite of feeling like complete and utter crap. Moving is not fun...

Still with just a few days remaining, I didn't want to give up on breaking 803 miles because my body loves nothing more than inflicting suffering on me. So, in spite of each turn of the pedals feeling like a double punch in the gut, out I went.

Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow and go ride after my dental appointment...

I WILL beat 803 miles before end of August.

Terii

 

You are inspiring. I am sure you will make your goal.

 

Thank you, Ward. It's nice to hear that when I mostly feel miserable and whiny.

Just one of those times when I'm fed up with my body's betrayals trying to ruin my plans. So, I suck it up and try to push through as much as I can. If I stopped every time I didn't feel well, I'd probably have less than half of the year's miles I do.

Terii

 

BlazingPedals, reporting from the road, on DALMAC 2013. This year I'm doing the 5-day West route, which has about 500 cyclists and has overnights in Vestaburg, McBain, Elk Rapids, and Petosky, before finishing in Mackinaw City on Sunday Sept 1.

Lunch was in Perrinton, where the local VFW puts on a big food line. I had a sloppy joe and some potato soup, which was filling. By the time lunch was done, the sprinkles had finally tapered off to nothing; but it was still overcast and muggy.

A bit further down the road I took a pre-planned detour to bypass the rail-trail for the last 10 miles. My route was relaxing, with very few cars; AND I got to see the bustling city of Elm Hall (population about 30.)

I got in to Vestaburg at about 1:00. My overall average for 75.93 miles was 18.2 mph. Not too shabby for a headwind day! Once there, I finally saw my first blue sky. The SUN came out and the heat index rose into the 90s. Maybe clouds would have been better! A shower and a short nap helped, and then a couple bottles of water completed my recovery. Now I'm waiting for dinner so I can take another nap!

I don't know from one stop to the next if I'll have Internet; but I'll report in if I do. I think tomorrow's stop has wireless.