My Most Recent Ride 2011 (Part IV of the series)

Lets try again.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvr48Js

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvgpXPD

Ok they now work-I had to use the Short version of the URL to get it to work right.

Jon, I am not sure about the Grandpa thing-I do wonder how close we all are in age though-are most here in 40's? All except buddy of course. Who is in his 20's.

 

Nice Brian yo=da=man. Good looking rig, didn't understand the seat question. You have one of the best money can buy.

I rode my bicycle today with the group. Had a lot of fun. When I opened
the lid on the van, the P=38 had a flat on the rear. Quickly changed the tube and got it on the road. In all the excitement, I left the water in the van. It was hot-tern Hades, but I stay well hydrated all the time so came
out unscathed. Five of us, no pics and no proof. Proud of you Brian, keep
on riding.

 

I will be 60 this year. What about you? And your new links work like a charm. Your bike looks very much like mine. We have twins!!! But my engine isn't nearly as powerful!!!

 

Rode yesterday. The heat finally broke a bit and I figured Loke and I could go out without stroking out. It was still pretty warm for the furry one though, so we did just a 6.75 miler.

Jens and I are taking a trip to the far north. Leaving tomorrow. I'm not sure I'll ride the trike much though we're taking it with us. Three days of easy travel to Europe's northern most point, three days there and then three days back to have a few days left to buy a new car when we turn in the company car. Jens is hoping a job offer will come through shortly when we're back. We're both feeling a bit antsy without an income even if we do have 1 year's salary in the bank.

Terii

 

Well from the pics I have seen you look a whole lot younger than that. Ill be 43 this year.

 

I'm just a couple months from 69. It's beginning to feel like it too but I'll keep on doing whatever I can do.

 

Well you are blowing me away!!!

 

30 mile club ride today average 13.1 mph, 1581 ft of climb. Took it pretty easy, nothing really to note.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/314186

 

Rode 24 miles at lunch which got me over the 1,000 mile mark this year. Rode early while it was somewhat cooler (84 degrees. Now 92 degrees and climbing.)

 

With the Tour de France on all of the riders are out here in Columbus, we saw probably 100 or so. That certainly makes for a target rich environment for someone with greyhound brain.

Nothing much on the way out the Riverwalk, we did see two big groups preparing to launch. We rode out 16 and took a moment to rest as Mike who doesn't ride that much was pretty winded. While stopped we had a group of eight go past us heading out, but they turned around almost immediately and started back just in front of us. A solo rider then passed us heading in. He was down in his drops riding with a very determined and high cadence. This looked like it could be fun even though I was riding the Venom.

We started back and slowly picked up speed until we were running about 22 mph. Over about 2 miles we slowly gained on the solo rider until we passed him. Bill, if you like riding trikes, wait till you start passing guys on their expensive uprights on one....PRICELESS!

Liner and I slowed it back down after a mile or so to let Mike catch back up. The solo guy passed us back with a sheepish grin and we cruised along at about 17mph over the next three miles. Around a corner, there saw the group of 8 riders, they had stopped for a break and were just getting back on their bikes. The fellow that really stood out in this group was obviously a gym rat, upper body all pumped up and he wasn't wearing a shirt. We rode on with out pace still around 17 and they passed us in a tight little paceline almost immediately.

Liner and I let them get about 150 feet ahead before we made our move. Riding side-by-side (didn't want them to think we need to draft) we reeled them in pretty quickly and they were holding about a 20mph pace. We held on to 21 mph as we passed. A few minutes later here they came, giving it all they had with the gym rat at the front on his carbon bike with its very deep dish aero wheels. The sweat was pouring off of them and you could see the stain of their effort. Again we let them get 100 or so feet ahead before we hit it.

This time I have to work like a demon on that trike. I hit and held 24.5-25mph and was running 24.8 when I was passing their now beginning to crumble paceline. The lead guy looked at me and asked where the engine was. With that the wind was knocked out of them and they sat up and waited for the two who had dropped off. Liner, who was just a bit behind, and I slowed as well to let Mike catch up. Up ahead loomed cardiac hill.

Now cardiac isn't that long at may 4/10's of a mile. However it has about a 10% average grade peaking at 12%. Gym rat, a real young thin guy and a girl passed Liner and I just before the turn onto the climb. As we made the turn I hit the afterburners and passed them like they were standing still. I put it on 10mph and held it for the first half of the climb but my lungs were about shot after the run up to the climb. The young thin guy danced by me and was at least 50 feet ahead of me at the summit. No one else was even close. Liner was next up, then the girl, then gym rat who looked like he was done. Mike and two of their group began cramping on the climb and had to walk. I rode back down the hill and slow pedaled back up with them to the top. What fun!

As they regrouped he continued past them and didn't see them again. But the day wasn't over. We still had about 8 miles left to go. Once up cardiac there is another very short climb and then a nice downhill. As we started down we passed two riders almost to the top wearing the jerseys of on of the local bike shops. I didn't think much about it at them time. Mike was working out the cramps in his legs so we just let him dictate the speed over the next three or four miles. It was about that time that the two guys with the bike shop kit on passed.

There seems to be something about the trike that makes other riders really want to work hard to pass. These guys were now running about 20 mph in their drops with the weaker rider riding as tightly as possible. I had decided that I was just going to let them go. It had been a good night but the legs were feeling the effort. Mike and Liner egged me on and just before we lost sight of them I decided to give it a go.

This area is very flat, perfect for a bent and again I was able to pick it up to about 24mph for the chase. They saw me coming when I was about 30 feet behind them and tried picking it up more but they never had a chance. Again the comment as I passed was "where's the motor", spoken with a rueful grin. He then asked if he could catch my wheel and I replied "I doubt it". Even though my legs were screaming I held the pace until they were barely visible in my mirror. I knew the marina where most everyone parked was only about 1.5 miles away so I hammered until I got there and was resting in plain view as they rounded the corner.

So 38 miles in 2:08 with an average speed of 16.7mph on a terrible flat route with only 700 feet of climbing.

 

Bad boys, bad boys....., whatcha gonna do..........

Ward, you are bad; wipe the gnats off your teeth!

My 'bad' is at a rest stop where my ankles rest atop the pedals eating my peanut butter sandwich and SUN Chips as I recline on that Ventisit-padded recliner chair! It's really hard to tell just how close to death I really am at times!

 

Greeneville Hiking Club Ride

Six of us did a daily ride. This one was at the Philadelphia area of
Washington/Greene counties. Sprinkling rain and thunder as we
pushed off. Five miles Into The Ride the sky opened up. One of the
ladies spotted a barn close to the rode and went right on in, it just
seemed like the thing to follow her. The other four rode
on and, of course, got soaked. Don't know how far we rode or what
time we got back, but I do know I'm not going to miss any of the
fun group rides. You young fellers just keep on speeding through
life and leave the roses for me.

 

I can go slow when I want to Buddy......oh wait, there goes someone now, gotta go

 

Now we know.....

In your prior life and for seemingly no apparent reason, you were the neighborhood dog that chased bicycles!

 

Ed, you could be right but more often than not the comparison was usually a bit different.