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

Very nice Jon, very nice.

 

4 miles. First ride since the last one I tried riding from Enköping back to Uppsala. Wednesday, took the trike on the 100 mile round trip to get the gears worked on.

None of the old bike mechanics I knew from last year and year before were there. A very nice American guy did the work instead. To be sure the cables were fresh since the LAST time I took the trike there and immediately had problems with the gears it was because the cables were fouled which they'd never bothered to check, I'd told him to just replace them.

Instead, when he pulled everything apart, he said he found the cables in excellent condition, so blasted out the tubes with pressurised air, oiled the cables thoroughly and strung everything back together to save me about 250 kr.

He was fascinated with Loke and the trike both. Especially the trike when I started folding it up. That just floored him.

So, after some miserable weather over the midsummer weekend, I finally got to ride today to test the gears. Nice... and stayed nice for the entire 4 miles of the River Loop.

Terii

 

Day 1

Day 1 of Ride the Fault Line 56.57 miles in very hot weather. I really need to have a a talk with ALL of ride organizers all over the world. Do not have an almost flat ride for 48 miles to then be followed by 8 miles of hills. Not big hills mind you but every hill feels like a monster at the end of a ride. 6 more days to go.

 

Day 2

Well we fixed part of the ride that I complained about before. Now there are hills at the beginning which were fun, but once again with the hills at the end of a 68.14 mile day mostly into a slight headwind. The legs are feeling it. Good news is I got an extra rest stop when my back tire went flat. We have been promised 70+ miles tomorrow that is extremely flat and hopefully a tail wind. I'll believe it when I see it!

 

I never heard of the "Ride the Fault" ride so I looked it up here.

http://www.ridethefault.com/

 

Day 3

Like a gift sent from above day three was (mostly) wind assisted. A little over 70 very flat miles that my knees greatly appreciated. Caught in a shower as soon as we left and it very quickly turned into another flat tire. Oh well I needed the practice anyway, right? Get to legally ride on a short section of interstate tomorrow to cross the Mississippi river, should be cool and then on to Reelfoot lake, TN and lots of earthquake history.

 

11.5-ish miles.

It was mostly cloudy when I started out and that annoying sort of temperature. Too chilly without an extra layer, but too warm with. The SUN, the few times it made an appearance complicated things as well by turning things up to broiling. It might be chilly in the air, but the sun still knows it's summer.

We just did a city forest loop really. Toodled on the paths toward the forest where we did a 2 mile loop on the shady trails there. Then streaked off for downtown where I found a fruit stand to buy cherries before stopping off at the American food store.

Charles' wife told me the family loved the muffins I baked for them as a thank you to Charles for finding my wallet a couple weeks ago.

Loke had a bad limp briefly. I think he got a sticker in this foot.

Other than that, a nice outing. Certainly worse ways to use up a few hours of a day!

Terii

 

Day 4

What a beautiful ride in western TN. Amazing view from the interstate bridge at Caruthersville, MO. Special thank you to the road crew that closed one lane for our safety and to the local drivers for dealing with us. I amazingly kept my tubes inflated today but did help change one flat along the way. I do have a concerning small Y shaped tear in my rear tire from the rock that caused the second flat. We'll see how long it holds together. This was definitely a day that I would ride again. Miles upon miles of a shaded ridge road. About 54 more miles in the books today and we are officially well over half way done with the tour. A 60+, 50+, and a 30 mile ride left to go. My legs will enjoy a few days off after this week.

 

Day 5 (anyone sick of these yet?)

The sun decided to stay hidden for about 40 of the 63 miles today. It always amazes me how much effect direct sun can have on a ride. Overall it was another good ride today as I have now biked in 4 states in the last 5 days. Any of you that are interested in checking off as many states as possible might want to look into this one. We will be heading back into Missouri tomorrow on a ferry. Many "firsts" on this ride for me.

 

An easy roll of 14.5 miles.

I don't know what I did yesterday, but my back was killing me from about 8 am right through to this morning. This is the worst it's been in a couple years at least.

Jens was working from home today after getting back from a work dinner around midnight. He asked if I minded taking Loke for a trike outing so the Jens/Loke daily long walk could wait until this evening. I told him as long as he was willing to get the trike out of the car for me.

He accepted the Challenge and about 10:30 am, we got moving. As I stood to the side with Loke while he pulled out the stuff in the way and then wrestled trike and seat onto the ground for me. I assembled it, sitting on the ground instead of standing, bent over it like I usually do.

Was a bit wary when my back pained me when I started pedalling, but soon eased.

We did the Ulva/Gamla Uppsala loop. The first for the year. 10 months or more since we last did it. Loke was fairly sluggish for the first 4.5 miles. He perked up once we made the turn toward Ulva instead of Läby, glad to be somewhere we've not seen recent.

We went easy, though Loke did try to break the 8 mph limit I've set. Mostly cloudy, fairly muggy and when the sun tried to push through the clouds it bordered on uncomfortable. The air has still had a faint coolness to it which balanced it nicely.

It was good for Loke to be out for more than a measly 5 miles and did wonders for my back. Loke slept for a couple hours and now he's being a pest as if he'd not had a ride for the entire week. Makes me wonder if Loke could do a tour provided he had rest breaks of an hour or two for every 15 miles.

Terii

 

Day 6

The ferry ride back across the Mississippi River this morning was pretty cool. We had another good day of fairly decent cloud cover to make the ride a little cooler. Right at the end of the ride it led to a fairly heavy rain shower. My dad and I quickly found an overhang to wait out the rain. Of course this has to happen within 2 miles of the end of the 49 mile ride. Tomorrow is the last day of the tour and will be a short one. Can't wait to see my family, my shower, and my bed (in that order).

 

Rode 30.6 miles today. I was planning to take my bent to my starting spot and ride into the Smokies. But I had my wife's car for the weekend and my bent wouldn't fit inside it and the car doesn't have a hitch.

So I left my house peddling my Corsa and made it to Walland and back. Cloudy and cool. One big hill and most of the rest roller hills. A very good workout!!! Heart rate was up the whole time. Good day for my ride. I am getting some miles in before my Silver Comet ride next week.

Plan to document this popular trip out of Atlanta so others can put it on their ride list.

 

5.5 miles. A muggy day, but not particularly warm or cool with not a trace of sun peeking through a solid, but lumpy layer of clouds. Jens went out to a pub in Stockholm with a bunch of guys and predictably, he's not a happy camper this morning. So, I took just enough pity on him to take Loke for a run with the trike.

Just a River Loop, but out at least. Also took a few close up photos of flowers for a project. Not a horrible outing though 5.5 miles isn't enough to scratch the surface of Loke's energy levels let alone put them to rest.

Terii

 

First time....

This would be my first time joining this this section because my rides have been basically commuting to work and some short weekend rides. This year I decided to try and do a century. The last time I did a century Gerald Ford was President. I've been getting there slowly and just finished a 1/2 century and next week I'm going for the Metric Century. In the quotes section there is one that said he told his legs to shut up....oh boy was I yelling at mine. I will keep trying until I finally do it and will add it in then. Until then... good rides everyone!!!

 

Rode a mixture of roads and greenways at lunch today. 16.2 miles. Most of it hilly. This was my last "shake down" ride for my Strada before I tackle the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga Trail later this week. Bent handled like a dream.

It looked like it was going to rain on me the whole time but luckily it didn't And it was a nice and cool 75 degrees out with a nice breeze. Great day to bike!!!