My Most Recent Ride 2008 (Part I of series)

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Go ahead rub it in.

We are getting down in the TEENS tonight and we never get that cold in Tennessee. Talked to a client today in Cedar Rapids Iowa and he said it is supposed to get -27 degrees tonight. (That is right, there is a negative sign in front of that number!!!) Told him that sure would want me to move there!!!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Devils Lake, west of International Falls, was -49 deg.F this morning.

And of course we can look forward to our Tennessee expectation of 6 deg.F Friday morning and around 8 deg.F on Saturday morning, all with negative temperature wind chills. So what's wrong with the South Pacific aside from the occasional flood and typhoon?

Dave

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

I spent time in the Pacific, on the island of Guam (12 degreees north latitude). The weather takes some real getting used to. You wake up in the morning, the outside temp is a very chilly 90, as the sun rises and the day goes on, the temps go to a quite warm 90, and as the sun sets, the temp drops to a bone chilling 90. Oh, and this is all with about 90% humidity.

As for the typhoons, I went through 3 of them during my stays, and except for when the super-typhoons hit you directly, it’s just really wet and windy. I watched 2 of them pass by while sitting in a Jacuzzi, enjoying seeing the waves break about 50’ up on the cliffs by where I was living.

Although I didn’t do any riding there (didn’t have any of my bikes) I did do a lot of walking and hiking. Once you get used to the humidity (well, lack of it for those of you from the central US) it really is quite nice.

The island itself was really neat, with jungle everywhere except where it was cut back. And although the roads aren’t very wide, they did wind through some very beautiful areas.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Curtis:
Enjoyed the pics and the first-hand account.

Don't get me wrong: IMHO Tennessee has some of the best overall weather. Few bad storms, few tornadoes and virtually no 'canes; warm and humid summers compared to the really hot areas; and with exceptions like tonight and tomorrow relatively little bone-chilling and snowy/icy winters. The times in between are actually pretty good for being outdoors.

Now, where did I put those recumbent snow tires?

Dave

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Hang on Ward. If it isn't there already, it is coming but it should moderate a bit before it hits you.

Spent an interesting day today. Right off the bat our neighbor called and she (the widow who I help out) has no water. Oh boy. It is 8:30 am and I bundle up to head out. Hey, it's cold out here. I go over on the atv but it is a rough ride because there is a flat spot on the tires where it was sitting and it is cold enough that the rubber doesn't want to bend!

Let me add here that when the temperature is -15 degrees and you are on an atv, you do not drive fast! It gets a tad cold on the face.

It took quite some time to figure out everything as it is an old trailer and the pump house is some distance from it. The pump checked out fine but then we had to somehow get under the trailer. Then we had to figure out what was what. I could not go under because I can't be around the fiberglass insulation.

Another fellow that was there could not go under the house because he was too large and the space is mighty small. I finally found someone who could go under and we got things thawed out. Then we had to put things back together, which was a job. Then I pushed snow against the house where we took the skirting apart (it is insulated) to give extra insulation.

Today was a beautiful clear day for most of it and early there was no wind. It warmed up to 5 degrees though and then the wind came up. Not really bad, but at that temperature it does not take much wind to chill you to the bone.

The good part is when I'm finally done, I come into the house and the wife has it about 75 degrees or more. Boy oh boy does that wood heat ever feel great! We have a soapstone stove and it is a dandy. Right now it is cooking at 650 degrees and I'm starting to roast a bit so turned it down.

Ride report? I'll be on the bike soon, but not moving along any road. I'll be pedaling next to the stove and sweating instead of freezing.

Cheers everyone!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Beautiful day to ride, 40 plus.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

I'm with you Buddy! Went riding today. First time in WEEKS!!! I could tell! I am turning into such a wimp.

Temperature was 41 when I started and ended at 46 degrees. Sunny and breezy.

If you don't think it has been cold and snowy in East Tennessee, here is a picture of the bike trail I rode today. (Not a bad picture for a cell phone.)

OK all you couch potatoes, no excuses now. Dust off that bent and hop on for FUN!!!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Beautiful day here 56 degrees dry with a little wind, maybe 5-10 mph. I started out probably too fast but ran into a friend who rides a tour easy and his pace was perfect. We rode the Riverwalk just onto Ft. Benning and back for 19 miles at a even 15 mph pace.

The legs were a little wobbly after about 5 miles but I felt pretty good at the end.

Ward

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Also my first time out since early January. Breezy but well over 40 deg. Only did 22 miles, but that was to get to/from the Morristown Country Club (special invite; not a member) and played 3 sets of tennis.

Tomorrow shaping up to be a warmer day, May do it all again then.

Have discovered a "sure-fire" method of knowing whether the bright sparklies on the road this time of year are salt or glass. If you run through it and don't flat, it must've been salt.

Dave "The Breeze"

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Boy it is good to hear people are out riding again!!! :bike:

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Just to help everyone feel better about their weather, last Friday I rode a total of 39 miles round trip. Beautiful blue skies, and in the mid-70s. I admit it, it was horrible, I even had to stop a couple of times and get a few sips of water.

Unfortunately, we have what are called Santa Ana winds, winds that come in from over the desert, so they pick up extra warmth and drop the humidity level to single digits, and usually are blowing at 25 mph or higher.

These winds were blowing when I left, and I was headed directly into them. So, I was holding about a 12 or 13 mph pace. Of course, when I started back home, I got about half way back and the winds switched from Santa Anas to being an on-shore flow. So, I ended up riding into the wind both ways. I did manage to hold about a 15 mph pace on the way back.

The fun part was the DF riders who asked quite a few questions as we rode along. I might have gotten some of them interested in bents, as they did notice my bike was substantially more comfortable than theirs.

Curtis

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Looks like everybody got out today, it was a great day to be out, I got in 30 and yes we dodged some ice on the roads in shady places too. Hey man, no dust on my bents, I may hafta get out tomorrow too....

Don
Original RocketRiders Member #6, August 25, 2004

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Curtis, on the Riverwalk here is Columbus I have a similar problem if not as severe. On the way out as I head south along the river the wind is usually heading north. As I return later in the day the winds have switched and come from the north.

No ice on the roads here yesterday. If I had gotten out the day before like I had planned...there would have been plenty. Just not as motivated as I was last year.

Ward

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

Well it was partly sunny and a balmy 36 degrees yesterday. I haven't ridden in a week because of the cold and wet conditions.

But I did ride yesterday. Since I haven't been riding a lot lately, I was going to do between a 10 and 15 mile ride. I put on my 4 layers of clothing and off I went.

I wanted to stay off the greenways because they are covered with lots of trees and stay wet longer. I rode toward East Knoxville staying off the main roads as much as possible and riding through neighborhood streets.

Now for those of you who do not know Knoxville, east Knoxville is a poorer section of town. As I was riding I saw 4 police cars and 8 policemen at homes knocking on doors, or in the park talking to local residents.

This is a circle ride I have done many times before. This way I see new scenery the whole way. At the furthest point in the ride, when I just start heading back I did a Samsel. (That is get a flat tire; named after the King of Flats, Dave Samsel!) So I pulled over, took of my two pairs of gloves and proceeded to get the tire off the rim.

Now I ride some fancy tire Mike Lundy put on these wheel sets. (I bought the wheel sets from him.) They are high pressure and low rolling resistance. But they also have like a steel belt in the bead of the tire. Now in cold weather, this already tough bead looses most of it elasticity and it was a bit** to get off. But I did. I didn't bother trying to fix the flat there, I just put my spare tube in, pumped it up and off I went.

I came back to the office, fixed the inner tube and stuck it back in my bike trunk on my V Rex. This is a record for me being the coldest time I had to fix a flat tire. Do I get an award???

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride

A Redline trainer came with the RANS Wave. The combo works
well for IT. Yes, that's my rainy day ride. Seven reps 3X/day
gets her done.

Bless you stretch. Hope you get to ride more and flat less.

BTW, trainers don't care whether it's flat or not.