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

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

My memory of my last Gondolier repast is a horrid one:
let me just say that I'll never eat there again
and even more remarkably?
I still like pizza.
A lot.

On a more positive note, my level speed is creeping up
into the lower-mid 20's;
my new average-speed record is up to 17.8MPH!

(I bet that my speed would shoot up if I wore skin-tight
clothing... as opposed to my nice cool shorts that parachute
out into wind-scoops at speed.)


---

Short conversation with a car driver who forced me to brake heavily
to avoid colliding into his vehicle:
(His driver's side window was rolled down.)
Me: "HEY!"
He: "HEY!"

I chose to laugh at this.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Lots of recent discussion of various ways to handle this situation. IMHO you did the right thing. Anything more puts you at risk.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Rocks never talk back. I know, I'm just stating the obvious.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

No risk no glory!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Nice riding weather; nice ride!

I treated myself to the flattest ride possible, close to home.
So flat that there are only two hills!

22 miles at an average speed of 18.2 miles per hour!
I surprised myself with both my speed and *ahem*
my need to share (brag)!



-Everyone I waved to, waved back;
-one pedestrian even managed to wave to me first, before
I could. I waved back, of course;
-the two D.F. riders I blew by (at only 20MPH) did not wave back.
One of 'em even averted their head!
Ah well, it made me smile....

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

We have a road like that in Sevier County called Dolly Parton Parkway!!! :rolf2:

BTW if you don't get the joke, I am attaching a picture of Dolly. This is a visual!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

I don't know the cup-size of the flat (flat!) road I rode to/on...
or the cup-size of Dolly Parton Parkway,
but punnily enough, the name of the road I sprint on
is, Frontage.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

They don't call 'em The Great Smoky Mountains for nuthin'. The French lie when they say anything more than a teacup is too much. And I've been to the Grand Tetons, too. They're too sharp and pointed. Not like the smooth curves of the mountains 'round here.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Alrighty then!

Back on track....

Yesterday was a great ride.
Not only were my fellow road users playing nice,
the weather was practically perfect and the breeze
kept most of the leaves blown off of the road.

All that an' the bike was working very very well.
No parts fell off (no leftover parts!):
I'd just done a complete service on it the previous day
and installed the cleaned and freshly lubed chain, just before
my ride.

-18 miles at an average speed of 17.8MPH.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Now that the weather has gotten cooler, my riding has become more consistent. I rode everyday last week and Monday and Tuesday of this week. (Today I break my string of rides due to work. )

Riding between 15 - 20 miles per day at lunch hour. My flat tire problems have ceased since I replaced my Primo Comet back tire with a Schwalbe Marathon tire and a 26 x 1.5 Schwalbe tube. (Quality of Schwalbe tubes are EXCELLENT!!) I just ordered a 20 x 1.5 Schwalbe Marathon front tire for my V Rex so they match and give me better puncture resistance. (Though I never did get a front flat tire.)

This is PERFECT riding weather so get out and enjoy it.

I am hooking up with my friend John Mullins in Nashville to ride together again this December on the Nashville greenway. We did that last year and had a blast. John rides a home built recumbent I call a "star ship" because it is so heavy duty and low to the ground.

Here is a short video of John's bent if you missed it before.

Click here

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Had a great ride today. I started out from my house a little after 9:00 am and rode over to our Starbucks, around 2.5 miles away. Had some coffee and got a bottle of water since I had forgotten to bring water with me.



My plan was to ride out the Oak Ridge Turnpike to try out the new bike lanes on the newly widened portion of the road.

Leaving Starbucks, I turned left on the Turnpike and headed out of town to the west. The bike lane started just after Turnpike's intersection with Illinois Avenue.



The new bike lanes are great! They run about four miles currently, from the intersection of Turnpike and Illinois out to the old guard house where lots of bike rides have traditionally started.

I doubt that's happening as much these days because just beyond the guard shack, there is now work going on to widen the next segment of the road from two to four lanes. The previous widening project, that was just recently completed, took around two years, so I'm guessing that's about what the next segment will take, too.



That lasts for about 3.5 or 4 miles of orange barrels in the shoulder. On my way out, the barrels were all pushed over to the right edge of the shoulder, so most of the shoulder was free for me to ride on. On the way back, the barrels were more in the shoulder, but this time they were mostly on the left edge of the shoulder so I was able to ride with the barrels between me and the traffic.

The barrels end out where the road widens out to four lanes near the 95/58 split. I rode on out to the intersection with I-40, then continued the mile and a half further to where 58 intersects US 70. I turned around there and headed back.

Stopped at the Weigel's near the interstate to visit the necessary room and drink some water, then pedaled on home. At my turnaround point, my computer was showing 19.67 miles. By the time I got home, it was saying 39.03. Pedal time was about 2.5 hours. Total time on the ride (including stops) was about 3.5, so I wasn't hurrying. I stopped to take pictures and rest and adjust my clothes (I had cleverly dressed in layers so judicious removal of specific layers here and there kept me comfortable as the temperature went from downright chilly to amazingly pleasant).

It was a great ride. Got some interest in my bike from a couple of guys having a picnic at the old K-25 overlook.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Yesterday I rode the second farthest I’ve ridden on my ‘bent. I added a ~20km leg to the Sea of Galilee loop I ride. The addition goes south on the rolling hills along the Jordan river. As a bonus half the 20 kilometer addition was some newly paved tarmac which made for some nice cruising.

On the downhills (4-5% grades) I can easily hit 65-70 kph (40+ mph) which on a bent is great fun.

The weather was excellent in the mid 70’s with only light winds. Traffic was minimal as is typical for Saturday mornings here.

All in all it was a fun ride with 82.5kms (~50 miles, half a century!) in 2hrs 42mins with 450 meters (~1480ft) ascent and 30.6kph pace (bit more than 19mph). The best was not having any quad pains or calf cramps. Admittedly my left knee complained some towards the end but is already feeling better today.

One thing I’ve noticed over time is that as I get stronger I am using my neck rest less and less. In fact now I only use it intentionally on the downhills to be a bit more aero.

For a little more than a week now I’ve been running a dropped chain. I now have a single TerraCycle power idler and two Terracycle floating chain tubes and that’s it. No return idler or long chain tubes. I can’t really say if I’ve improved power transfer but if I think it is faster that is good enough!!

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Wow, great ride Freddy. 2:42 is very close to the pace I rode on my century two weekends ago in 5:32 ride time 5:37 total time. I had a lot of wind on the ride with about 35 miles directly into a 15-20 mile wind. Not as much climbing only about 2500 over the 100 miles.

I'm with you in using the neckrest on the downhills. I will sometimes use it on very steep climbs as well.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Fall is the best season to ride over here. It is not too hot, humid or windy for that matter. I expect it will take at least another half year of riding before I'll be able to hold a 19mph pace for an entire 100 miles. First I'd like to see that I am able to do it for a metric century.

As it is I never was a super long distance rider. I am harboring some secret ambitions to maybe participate in a masters TT event of 25km they have in June. That of course is a different story .

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Check with the organizers. Some don't care what you ride, but some won't allow 'bents.