My Most Recent Ride 2010 (Part III of the series)

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Jon, we actually have considered that in the past as there are some beautiful areas down there for sure. But I can hardly stand the heat and humidity here in Michigan, what would I do down there? Of course if we could build on a mountain top, it might be okay. So for now, we'll just have to try to find a way to come and at least visit. I'd love to meet a whole bunch of you good people.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Another option, my house is down in what we call a holler. Nice cool mixed hardwood and pine forest. Its humid but the temperature usually runs almost 10 degrees cooler. Cooler in the winter also but not cold by your standards.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Another area we have considered in in the mountains in NC. But I think Georgia might have better deer hunting and that is one thing I love to do so is high on my list of wants and needs. But, considering our age and what we have here it is unlikely that we will be moving. We've talked about it quite a lot.

We've even thought about getting another motor home to travel with instead of a possible move but with the cost of gas that is a bit scary.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

okay, so yesterday the weatherman said 64 degrees with a few clouds. A few of my buddies and I planned on a tough 40 mile ride that has about 3000 feet of brutal little climbs. We set the time for 9am

The morning dawned very overcast and when I stepped outside it was pretty cold. I went back inside and while I ate breakfast checked wunderground.com to see what their predictions were. Hmmm 47 degrees at 10am and only 50 degrees by 1pm, overcast and a wind beginning at 3mph but increasing to 15-20 by midafternoon. I called my buds and we backed it up to 10.

I had had the Weisel in the shop getting bar-end shifters put on (the SRAM twisties didn't work well at all with the Shimano tiagra RD) and she was ready so we just stopped on the way out and picked her up. Arrived at 10:15 and it was a blustery 47 degrees with a solid sheet of ugly gray clouds hanging low overhead. To make matters worse I had forgotten my shoes. This day was starting to suck.

Fortunately someone had some regular pedals with toe clips and we switched them out pretty quickly getting on the road by 10:35. My shoes were less than perfect being tennis shoes with extremely bendy souls. But not too horrible with the regular pedals, I did notice the extra effort it took to keep my feet on the pedals.

The ride out was tough. For almost the entire first half of the ride we headed east directly into the wind. The Weisel sits me pretty much upright and so I didn't get much help being bent. The climbing started immediately and there wasn't a whole lot of talking as we were concentrating on trying to breathe. Fifteen miles Into The Ride on guy locked his chain down tight inside his small chainring. I keep two steel tire irons and after 20 minutes of $$%#%$#*#*#* we finally got him back on the road. The cold had settled into my bones by then and the ride was becoming somewhat less than fun.

Finally we were at the halfway point after 1 hour 40 minutes of ride time +. A quick stop and we headed back. Man, they all walked away and left me. The wind was getting pretty strong now and with their backs as sails I couldn't keep up. I climb better than they do and so I was able to pull a little back on each climb but they still were probably 1/2 mile ahead of me when we finished.

so after 39.5 miles in 3 hours 19 minutes of ride time we were done. My lower legs were actually shaking from the extra effort (my hats off to any one who routinely rides without being clipped in). The temperature had jumped all the way up to 49 degrees. Cold and wet we loaded our gear grumbling about who had picked this ride anyway.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Riding in the western end of tn.is not much better.I tried to do the polar bear ride on my v rex and made it out 15 miles before a sinus infection stopped me in my tracks.I'm still trying to get over this stuff.Better days are ahead .

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Well with the weatherman saying we would see 54 degrees today, myself and three budddies headed up to the Country Store at Calloway Gardens right on the ridgeline on Pine Mt. We met at 9am and the temperature was a balmy 29 degrees. We ate breakfast and waited until shortly after 10 in the hopes that it would warm up...it didn't.

So we headed out, the good news was almost no wind and for the first two miles we climbed slowly letting out cold bodies warm up. Marshall had come over from Macon with his Bacchetta Corsa to ride with us so I was giving him the primo ride. We quickly developed a pattern, one DF rider was a little faster than the other so Marshall and I take turns riding with the slower guy switching every so often so that we could crank it up as we caught up with the front rider. In that way we got some really good interval work in.

As we climbed up the ridge we could look off both sides down into the valleys below. The cloud cover was pretty heavy so visibility wasn't at its best but still a pretty good view.

At the very top of the ridge is Dowdels Knob where FDR used to like to come when he stayed at the Little White House and enjoying the warm springs. A quick nature break and off we went. We were enjoying almost no traffic while church was in but when we reached Manchester, GA at the other end of the ridge we began to see some cars. The road from Manchester to Warm Springs, Ga was actually pretty busy and we pulled in to a little Chicken Wing restaurant and stopped for coffee and wings but mainly just to warm up. We had been about 25 miles know and the temperature was still about 30.

Once we thawed out we headed back towards our cars. First though we had a pretty serious climb. 400 feet with most of it at a 10% grade..steep enough that there is a run-a-way truck lane. I don't know if it was the coffee or what but I kept the speedo on 8.0 mph the entire way up (the fastest I have ever climbed it). We regrouped at the top and continued on but the hill had really taken it out of our slower rider. We had a few small rollers over the next couple of miles and he was able to catch his breath a bit before we hit the final two tough climbs.

So with a ride time of 3 hours and 9 minutes I finished with 43.34 miles and an adverage of 13.7. The temperature was a balmy 34 degrees and we watched the icicles melting on the eaves of the country store as we ate the meatloaf and black-eyed peas enjoying the heat coming out of the vent under our feet.

The Weather Man is an A**H***

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Dennis you will be surprised to learn the humidity here in east tn. is probably not as bad as you have in michigan. I was pleasently surprised myself...

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Wow Gene. Every time we've been there it has been terrible. Maybe it is just that the temperature is higher.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

I don't know Dennis, I spent 35 years in the southwestern desert area and didn't really notice the humidity when i got stranded in east tn. But when i went up to visit my folks in Ky. and Ohio i could not remove enough cloths to get comfortable.....

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Nice looking afternoon yesterday. Just a few clouds, not too much wind with a temp hovering around 60 degrees when I got ready to ride. The Riverwalk was flooded again so we started out at the new Infantry Museum. A nice slow pace for the first 6 or 7 miles before we hit the first hill, I hit it hard and kept my speed about 17 to the top. I didn't have to wait long for my partner because he is getting stronger all the time.

We decided to go out Sunshine road and hit the hills out there, hopefully running the big downhills before it got dark. Wind was picking up a little bit but we made pretty good time to the foot of the hills with an adverage hovering just over 15. There are a series of stepped climbs with short flats or slight downhills in between. By the time we reached the turnaround point we had a shade over 20 miles and still were holding onto a 15 adv. On one of the hills I saw a mama pig/boar with at least two piglets following her across the road. So we stopped and refueled on top of the ridge and watched the last rays of the SUN disappear.

Nothing better than dropping 200 feet in elevation on a 9 or 10% grade in the absolute pitch black dark. No moon, no streetlights, not even any glow from the city which was a good 7 or 8 miles away. I didn't want to overheat my rims so I just went ahead and gave the dragon her head sitting up to try and create a windbrake with my body and I still hit 33. My headlight did a fair job of lighting the road even at that speed and it has a wide enough pattern that I would have seen an animals eyes if they lurking near the shoulder.

We blasted up the next two rollers and were climbing a short one before the next big downhill when suddenly there were lights everywhere. An entire convoy of army vehicles came around the curve behind us, trucks and humvee's. We pulled over and let them go and quickly the darkness surrounded us again.

It was getting cold now. I hadn't worn my heavy stuff, light gloves and no shoe covers, lighter long-sleeve jersey with just an thin baselayer under it. I figured the temp was approaching 40 and with the wind-chill on those downhills it was getting pretty cold. My toes were getting the worst of it. My triathalon shoes are basically soles with mesh. Nice and light and very cool during the summer. No good at all in the winter. I just pushed it out of my mind and we kept on.

We were back to the flat land and we were cruising along at 18-19. A little traffic as we began to get back onto the main part of post but no problems with all the lights we were carrying. A phone call from my wife and I stopped to talk, my bud kept going. Long flat straight stretch and I could just make out his lights as I started back so I put the hammer down picking it up to 29 and reeled him in pretty quickly. Man was it getting cold.

A couple more miles and we were done with 40 and change. My adverage ended up being 15.6 while my partners was 15.2. I real good midweek ride. I'm feeling pretty strong and with any luck I am going to have some strong rides this season.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Good job. You have such good weather down there. Up here it has done nothing but rain and rain and be very cold. Today it was just dumping the snow like mad, road were pretty nasty. Got to take the big truck out in 4WD. Unfortunately by now it is all gone thanks to mr. sun...

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Ward,

Thanks for your posts. I always love reading about them. I just wish I had your Greyhound brain (and body)!!!!!

Sadly, I haven't ridden in 3 weeks. My new V Rex is waiting for a new chainring. It has been in the shop for almost a month!!!

It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad, that I bought a treadmill, to just get some exercise. I am putting the treadmill together. Should be ready tomorrow. I HATE that I will get more exercise on a treadmill than my bent.

But the best joke I have heard lately is the Global Warming conference held in Washington DC this week was cancelled because of snow.

Where is Al Gore when you need him?????

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

29 degrees last night and today never warmed up, wind blowing like crazy. No riding today.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

It is more like no riding THIS ENTIRE MONTH!!!!

On a funny note, I heard on the radio yesterday they had to cancel a Conference on Global Warming in Washington DC because of snow!

Where is Al Gore when you need him???? (Probably snowed in somewhere!!!)

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

It's so bad that I resorted to riding the stationary 'bent at our church activity center. But that's boring. And tennis is out cuz the courts are full of ice. So, I've been twice this week to the racquetball courts. In my pre-cycling days my two big activities were tennis and racquetball. Haven't played r'ball in over 5 years when everyone else around stopped playing. Now it seems to be having a resurgence. Gratefully after 9 games (about 3 hours total) my knees feel OK. Having to re-learn all the nuances, esp. how to get down low to the floor to make a kill shot. At least it's a way to keep in some shape (round is a shape, right?) until weather warms up and dries out.

Dave