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

Went out and got 34.3 miles in just before the skies opened up. One of the DF riders got his chain stuck in between his rear gear and spokes so we had to stop to fix that

34.3
1836 elev
14.3 Mph Avg

OOO my buddy let me take a short ride on his Gold rush this morning. It was real sweet. It rides on rails. I was a little shocked about the straight up seat, but other than that I will be putting one on my wish list..lol

 

My ride today was a bust. Was going to use one of the bike rides listed in "Bicycling Routes of Knoxville Tennessee" by Elle Colquitt and Jon Livengood.

Elle is an avid local rider. I never met her, but heard her name many times.

So I went through the book and picked out a short 20 mile ride in Northeast Knoxville.

Well I went to the starting point, started to ride and couldn't find ANY of the streets on the map. Hmmmm. So I thought, OK I will ride about for 15 miles and call it a day. I started by going down Harding Valley road my the Elementary school. That is a LOUSY road to ride on because traffic was awful.

So I thought, OK I will turn off on the nearest side road and ride that the rest of the way. Well the road I turned off on was Campbell Station road. :yikes: That was a small curvy road with lots of traffic going really fast. Plus it was all up and down big hills.

I had enough after 2.7 miles. I turned around and went back to my car. Total miles today 5.6 miles. This ride was a BUST!!! Turns out I went to the wrong starting place for this ride. (No wonder none of the streets were right!)

So I got in my car and went to Anchor Park which was the start of another ride. This time I DROVE the first 10 miles. Pretty scenery but again all UP AND DOWN.

Decided this book was not for me. So I shelved it.

Back to my greenways tomorrow!!

 

Don't see that it was the book's fault... Three letters:
G P S

 

Ride those hills.

 

Advice from a woman you've never met,
Advice you soon learned to regret.
First glance all seemed well,
Unfortunately the road was h*ll.
You took the campbell station route,
One that is horrid no doubt.

All the curves and all the hills,
The place my friend Rob took a spill.
Snake like road, lots of traffic,
Upon gentle nerves the autos wreak havoc.
Your ride was too short, you didn't get far,
Including the distance you rode back to your car.

Don't feel bad, don't feel sorrow,
I have to say, you've got tomorrow.
V-Rex or Strada, who is to say,
both look good on the ever Greenway.
Trees, grass an occasional rail,
Brings fond memories of the Katy trail.

Waving kids, pretty girl smiles
As you zoom on by racking up the miles.
So ride on Jon, ride hard and ride fast,
For these summer days will not last.

 

Keila,

You are quite the poet!!!

I plan to get Red out today and take it to Cherokee Blvd and ride back and forth for 20 miles or so. I know I like that ride!!!

 

Thanks Jon, it comes from having a great english teacher in high school I suppose. We were "strongly encouraged" to memorize poems, write poems, and be able to distinguish between he type of poems.(if we wanted a good grade-as if we really had a choice.) Every now and again, I do poetry so I don't get rusty. And the folks on here are giving me lot of practice

Well, with your new ride, you should have no problem covering the miles.

 

Much better ride today. 22.8 miles without a hitch. All smiles with these miles!!!

 

Friday 9/2/11

Recovering from minor surgery.
10.7 miles. Trouble breathing, all stopped up.
90* Sunny. 17 mph winds.

 

Two days without food and many hours without water left me a tad weak. However, the next day I had an appointment in town so rode the bike. So the appointment was with my massage lady and knowing about what I went through she was really worried and wanted me to call my wife to get me rather than ride home. After all, riding might cause a heart attack! What?

Needless to say, I simply rode home, albeit slow. Slow not because of the warning but slow because that is how I ride and also because I was a tad weak. Still, when I got home I see that the average speed was 14 so wasn't as bad as I thought.

She also wants me to put the seat up more upright because she says it is working my stomach muscles too much and the hips are wrong and..... The big part was she thinks this is why my neck is so bad. Sorry, I can't buy that.

Anyway it was good to get in a 25 miler after going through some tests at the hospital and having to fast. Oh yes, it was not the fasting that was tough, it was the testing part.

 

I wish I could be that slow on a normal basis..lol, I have to bust hump to get higher than 13.

 

Drove out to Clarksville alone on Friday. Did the Sunrise Century on Saturday. Seemed not as many this year, probably due to the weather forecast. Saw 5 'bents before the start, but saw no others on the 100 mile option. A faired Gold Rush and two Bacchettas did the 62 mile option. A lady on an ICE trike did the 32 mile option cuz she said she'd bake from the road temperature on longer rides. By noon temperature was in 90s. A guy at a rest stop had an infrared gun. Pointed at pavement and it read 122 deg.F. By the end of the ride (104 miles) temperature was officially 99 deg.F, but I think it was higher. Also, 15mph wind came up later. Have no idea how many gallons of water/gatorade I put away, but even that wasn't enough. They do a tremendous job of stocking rest areas and providing support. At mile 75 I considering throwing in the towel and calling Support. But pressed on and finished.

 

Good job Dave, glad you made it. Probably need to take it easy for a day or so. Riding in heat like that...hydrated or not, can really take a toll on the body.

 

Way to go Dave

 

Dumbo's. Pay now or pay later. Engine-ears do crazy things.
That is just too hot for old folks. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not impressed.