My Most Recent Ride 2012 (Part V in a series)

Full ride description and bunches of photos posted on my blog!

Terii

 

Good for you Terii. I got out for a ride today too. Summer came today and will do a repeat tomorrow.

 

Recumbent power!

I haven't been posting much, do to some personal issue that I may explain later, once everything is in order..lol but I have been doing a little bit of riding here and there.

I'm gonna have to brag about the Corsa, man is that thing fast. I set my fastest time ever yesterday.

I attended the Annual Rich Rau ride held in Berryville VA. The ride is on roads that I usually ride so I know what to expect. I started off near the front because I wanted to see if I could hang with the Hammerheads for at least part of the ride. Well off we went I hung with the main pack which broke away at a pretty good clip right away.

I was with a group of 8 or 9 DF's I think over the first 20-25 miles we were averaging close to 20 miles an hour. I did not get involved in the pace line but rode beside them most of the way only peddling hone needed to make them think i was taking it easy, Then all of a sudden the three front riders took off and I got behind a bit. I eventually caught up to the leftover main group and passed them.

I saw them behind me trying to regroup and charge on me but I put the hammer down and watched as their pace line disintegrated. I was actually hurting myself getting bit of a side cramp but they grew to tiny dots in my rear mirrors and I never saw them again until the finish.

Several people commented on how fast the bike was but the guy who lead the charge was heard saying ..ooo I didn't want to push it because I have another ride next weekend...Yeah right..That dude was going balls out and could catch a stinking lay down bike..lol

I ended up with a 19.4 mph average finishing 51.7 miles in 2 hours 40 minutes. Not bad for a bent!

http://app.strava.com/rides/8872924

 

That's some good riding Brian. Indeed, the Corsa is one fine bike!

 

Well, I did my longest ride for the first time in three years. Not just tooling around my parking lot or riding a little down the backstreet. I only did the short ride, since I kept my bike shop open I had to get back. I did 22 miles on my little Bike E from my bike shop to Coulter Bridge and back. I was surprised at my performance. I did better than expected even with my bum leg so to speak. I did learn rather quickly that even though I can ride with my leg brace I have to do it slower...I cannot ride my normal way with the brace. Using the speedometer from another rider, I was able to gauge my avg speed. So after not doing any real riding in 3 years, 3 rounds of chemo and not having as many gears as I like, my avg was about 14mph ±. At times it was either a little more or a little less, but over all I was satisfied with it because it was not below 10mph and it gives me an incentive to do better...to try and get back to my old avg. The unfortunate thing that happened is that I did have to walk a few times...not because of leg problems, or even fatigue...my seat SUCKS!. I was in real pain and lost all feeling "back there". At one point I couldn't hardly stand because of the pain. So I walked and met up with this older lady on a cruiser and we talked for a while as we walked she will be coming by the shop this week to check out some recumbents. So anyway, overall I like to think I did pretty good.

 

Congratulations!! Hopefully no where but onward and upward!

 

Your average speed after being off for 3 years was better than my average when I was trying.

Congratulations, now, you need to find a bike shop that has decent seats.

Curtis

 

Summer Weather

-and the biking is easy.



Other than a family out on dirt bikes and one D.F. lycra-clad rider,
I was the only bicyclist I saw today.
So that's, what, five bicyclists in 21 miles?
Not many!

The guy going the other way, wearing team colors, riding his D.F.,
waved back and we traded grins;
the family on their dirt bikes never acknowledged me.
Granted, I flew by them at my cruising speed of 20mph...
which did not give them much time for any sort of communication!

I stopped by a pickup, parked by the side of the road, to
adjust my handlebars, clean my mirror, sip some water, re-tie
my shoe and admire the bright yellow tailgate sticker on the pickup truck.
It read, "Share The Road" and featured graphics showing what a 3'
passing margin looks like.
Nice.
Guess who's truck that was?
The biking family!
They never acknowledged me....
Pretty funny, actually!

21 miles riding today, which includes stops and some walking.
I had to dismount by the American Bulldogs' neighbourhood, as
that loose, collared female dog was challenging me with teeth bared,
fur fluffed and low growling on stiff legs.
As usual.
Which, as usual, slowed my average down a bit.
-On my return leg, I flew past that same dog doing 22mph
and announced my arrival with my bell!
She can only run about 19mph.

Anyway, 21 miles at an average speed of 17mph.
Not too bad!

 

17-ish miles. That's what my tour amounted to.

Still had a nice day though! Took it VERY slow, but that was because it was so HOT and I didn't want poor Loke to have a heatstroke. Long stretches just roasting beneath the SUN in a cloudless sky with no wind. I dealt surprisingly well with the heat. Last year and the one before the temps we had today would have had me sick and dizzy. Loke spent most of the time with his tongue bouncing off the road as he went along

Then he started limping just before I reached the 2nd church of the day. I didn't know how much further we'd need to go to find a place to camp and if he could do more than another mile. I suppose I might have been able to camp at the church once services were over. Still if he had been tenderfooted in the morning, I'd have been stuck for the entire day with Jens at work.

So, now we're home, Loke's flat as a rug and I'm disappointed. Still Jens insists it was an accomplishment to have packed and planned at least. I'll make a full post on my blog involving peacocks and dustdevils in the next few days.

Oh! And I managed to break my Burley!

Terii

 

Write up and photos of yesterday's ride posted.

Terii

 

My wife is out of the boot and managed a ride today. We took out the trikes on the rail trail and rode 11 miles with a 9.3 average. I thought she did pretty good. Still gritting her teeth at times with the pain.

The new MUP was packed! Tons of people out enjoying a cool cloudy morning. There is also a new Bike shop right on the trail that is renting and selling TerraTrikes. Had one guy ask a lot of questions I even let him take a short ride.

Now....lunch time.

 

Hot and Hilly

Yesterdays' ride was a Challenge for me.
I chose to ride my hilly route twice and
to do it in the late morning heat.

Twenty-two miles at an average speed
of 15.3mph.

I saw a few sweat-soaked riders out riding....
One couple in particular stood out.
We passed one another, early in my ride:
they were smiling and looking fresh.
We passed one another late in my ride:
they looked both wet and stressed.

As long as I maintained some speed
and avoided mashing along uphill, I
kept my cool!


---

Today, a national holiday, I'm boycotting the road.
And servicing my bike instead.

 

Sounds like an awesome day, Ward! Particularly with the wife. Glad to hear she seems to be healing well in spite of the teeth gritting moments.

Terii

 

Ward, how nice of you to keep pace with your wife. I hope she is doing well and doesn't over do it. Since she is out of the boot so to speak, how is her walking? Will she still have to have therapy?

 

Thanks guys, the walking is coming slowly. Better just a bit each day.