My Most Recent Ride 2014 (Part VII in a series)

OUCH! Heal up, Jon! I hope whatever you had the surgery for has been flawlessly repaired and smooth recovery!

My mileage is abysmal as well. About 108 miles for the year. Pretty sad given where I was last year at this time.

Terii

 

Having been off the bike since February 16, the physio gave me the okay yesterday to go riding again, but she has restricted me to 20 minutes of flat riding.

I grab the opportunity with both hands this morning and go out for a touch over 20 minutes of riding. A mix of traffic and path. She was right but, 20 minutes was enough for my knee.

Two weeks of restricted riding and then hopefully allowed to do a bit more.

Andrew

 

Goodness! Hope everyone heals up okay!

Went out for a ride today. A real ride! Out into the countryside of an unfamiliar area with new things to see. 3 churches, a few runestones, a stone ship setting, and bronze age stone carvings.

I took it leisurely, enjoying the beautiful weather and beautiful spring landscape. While on the ride, I heard cranes, but couldn't find them for photos. Just as I was leaving the area after the ride the wild life suddenly came out of the woodwork. A gorgeous fox scurried across the road with a hare in its jaws, nearly as big as it was. Groceries for the kids! Then I also finally saw a crane. Of course, couldn't get to the camera.

16.28 miles and blog worthy stuff with photos over the next day or so.

Terii

 

Sounds nice Terrii. I am too far from the countryside to get a leisurely day ride in, so have to settle for beaches

Andrew

 

Sad to hear of so many health issues, I am going through a very minor ailment which is inappropriate to mention in case any one is eating . . . but lets just say it involves running to the convenience , a lot.
I am glad the Terii is getting more riding in.
Its beginning to get very cool here now. Down to 5.5 Deg C [ 41 F ] I am having to organize more layers to wear, my feet are getting numb with cold and I am seeing far less sunshine on my commute.
-
So the Challenge is on to keep cycling even when the weather is against me.

 

A couple of Re-caps ;
3 weeks ago - while riding home { same day as chain broke }. Was riding up hill, I heard a noise and looked in rear Vision mirror to see a cute little fox following. I stopped and it stopped too, was only about 4 m [ 13 feet ] behind me. I started going again and it followed. I stopped again and it also stopped, I turned around and said " I dont have any food " , it just stood there and stared blankly at me . . . Obviously it didnt believe me .
I rode off and it trotted away out of sight.
-
2 weeks ago was riding home a bit latter than normal because of overtime and saw Owl fly across bike way in front of me. Owls are quite rare here in the Suburbs - as are Foxes as well.
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1 week ago riding to work - time 4:50 am, 6 deg C [ 42 F ] about half way to work and I saw a Large lump on the Cycleway. Slowed down as I thought it was a tree down . . .
Suddenly Half of the Lump lept up and took on the silhouette form of a man jumping up and down trying to put some trousers on . . .
I Said "Excuse me" and carefully manoeuvred around the remaining lump on the Track and rode away quickly.
I dont really have any witty comment about this one - but I suppose its a natural setting [ Picture Tree lined Cycleway ].

 

Lol!!

Believe it or not, another ride today. 2 in 2 days. What on earth is going on with me!

Actually, I left Loke home yesterday, I'd promised Jens that I'd take him out with the trike today. I felt a bit guilty yesterday, getting to see new places when Loke's been stuck with the River Loop or other places we've seen over and over. So, the plan was to find someplace Loke's not seen at all or at least very little. There's an unpaved cycle path I knew about that Loke and I had been on last autumn. I think it's actually an old rail line. It had been very nice, so I decided on that, but starting on it a little further away from Uppsala so we'd actually be on part of it we've never seen. Jens would drop us off and I'd ride toward home until we either got home or Loke needed a pick up.

It started out pretty nice. Smooth packed dirt to either side of a a centre line thick with dandelions as much as grass. The wind blissfully was at our back. There was less shade for Loke than I'd hoped. At 70 F or a little warmer and lacking shade, he got quite warm. That meant lots of stops and water gulping in whatever shade of the occasional bush I could find.

Then the gravel began and with it the hard slog. Stones the size of pigeon eggs or larger and loose and deep. It went on and on and on. At least the scenery was pretty. Oh, did I mention the nice, brisk tailwind? Not that it could help much. With that nasty gravel and my legs still pretty tired and therefore weak from yesterday, we crept along at 4 mph, sometimes slower. Not entirely bad. Even on the stretches lacking shade, it was hard for Loke to get overheated at that pace.

I was thrilled when I saw the signs for the butterfly preserve section of the ride. That didn't last long. The gravel changed colour and was mixed with more dirt, but the lovely solid, packed surface we'd so enjoyed in autumn had bee GRATED. Loose stones and soil. At least it was still pretty, the wind was still at our back and for Loke there was shade.

Very nearly had a bad moment along the butterfly path. The path is MUP in the most literal sense. Everything that isn't motorised is allowed and that includes horses. I saw a man approaching on horseback. They were about 100 yards away when I stopped. The man approached a little closer and then said that he'd move off the path a bit to let us pass. About 10 yards off the path, he stopped so I slowly started forward. The horse spooked. She tried to bolt, but the man struggled to keep her from running. She fought the bit, dropping her haunches in a half rear as she back up, dangerously close to a natural slope steep enough that it could have rolled her right over her rump.

Naturally I stopped as soon as I saw her ears flatten in distress. Once the man had her settled, he said he'd move her further into the trees. So, I waited until I could just make out they'd stopped and turned to face the path again. I went by slowly. This time, the mare only snorted and watched warily. I felt quite bad about the whole thing. Poor horse. Me, the trike and the dog probably made up the weirdest thing she's ever seen.

Then it was back to the pedal grind.

I was glad when we reached a hard surface. Been a while since I was that overjoyed to reach pavement.

We still didn't do much faster than 6 mph. On the pavement, even in the rare shady areas, it was warmer than on the shady sections of the unpaved cycle path. I steered us through some parts of the city I've never been and soon we came out near the city forest. From there, I headed to the ice rinks (now dry and unused) near the river. Loke's feet were looking pretty thin and he'd covered 11 miles, 10% more than his previous 'longest run of the year'. Slow and steady increases is what I'm after, so I called Jens to get the fuzzy.

Me? I headed onward along the river and through central Uppsala. I stopped for ice cream, parking in a shady spot to enjoy a waffle cone with strawberry, chocolate and cherry dream. Mmmm.

Arrived home with a total of 14.3 miles. Just 2-ish miles less than yesterday!

Okay. Now back to work on the blog of yesterday's ride!

Terii

 

May 16th's ride posted on my blog. Photos of medieval churches, a stone ship setting, runestones and, of course, scenery!

Terii

 

Breakfast ride

It is official, I have turned into my father. Woke up this morning and hopped on the bent to head out for some breakfast. It has obviously been too long of a break as my legs are awfully tired. A little over 51 miles later, I am home with a full stomach and a sense of accomplishment!

 

Any chance of a link to your blog?

Thanks
Andrew

 

Andrew,

The link to her blog is in her signature in blue. Click on "Cycling Babble" and it will take you to her wonderful blog of triking through Sweden.

 

Signatures are not showing for me even though they are turned on, hence the question.

Thanks but.

Andrew

 

Oops! Sorry! Here you go!

http://terii.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/out-and-about/

Terii

 

Another ride. Just 8.75 miles as we looped through the city on an errand to drop something off at my in-laws. Unfortunately, I was just about there when I realised I'd left it at home!

Still a good ride. Found a runestone and it's a pretty day. Exercise is never wasted.

Terii

 

Playing hooky

Took a day off work and threw the bent in the truck and rode with my wife to her work in order to ride back home. After taking my standard dose of "You're crazy", from my wife's coworkers I got a wonderful wind assisted ride in on an amazing morning. 28.11 miles of almost traffic free country roads. A wide load semi about knocked me off of the road with its turbulence, always a fun experience. Road a 16.5 mph average on what turned out to be a much quicker ride than I had planned.