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

Only rode 13.4 miles today. Hadn't ridden in a week so I decided to take it nice and easy the first lap then play Lance Armstrong the second. Cramped up bad though I was going as fast as 25 MPH in most places.

Stupid but fun while it lasted.

Tomorrow I am heading to Coulter Bridge to ride to Tremont and back. Plan to leave Coulter Bridge around 10:00 AM if any one wants to join me. Call my cell

Spoiler: Phone

865-310-7151

that morning if you are coming. We can eat lunch in Townsend on the way back if you want. If not we will head straight back.

 

Did a nice 26-mile ride tonight. I was going to take pics, but I forgot the camera (again!)

Out of the gate, I had to hustle to catch up because it seemed that most of the faster riders left early. It took a couple of miles to catch Tony; but when I caught him, he wasn't going as fast as I wanted to go. Darryl wasn't too far behind, and once I passed Tony the two of them teamed up and tried to keep up with me, to no avail. A couple more fell at mile six. I passed the last of the head-starters at mile seven. At mile eight, I passed a group of about ten bikers who were NOT connected with the club ride. No more bikes after that.

I was pushing my pace right up to my lactate threshhold. My legs were continually on the verge of starting to burn; but they just aren't strong enough this year to push my cardio system. I could get enough air through my nose only; but it was still easier to breathe open-mouthed.

I pushed hard on the hill coming into Mason, and still managed to hit the city limits sign doing 26 mph. One mph over; good thing there were no cops watching! The worst hill of an easy route was at mile 22.5, one we've always referred to as "heartbreak hill" mostly due to its location near the end of the ride. That one got me down to 14 mph. After that I treated the remaining 3.5 miles as a sprint - 28 mph on the downhills and slowing to 21-22 on the up grades. I rolled into the parking lot showing exactly 26 miles, and a 21.7 mph average. Considering the roads, that's about as good as I've ever done. Darryl and Tony showed up ten minutes later. They must've hit the top of 'heartbreak hill' at about the same time I was finishing!

I put the route up on RideWithGPS:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1587415
according to the web site, it's 500 feet of climbing in 26 miles. Pretty flat by most standards, but enough climbing to keep me honest.

 

Speed, Always

Gee, Mr. B. Pedals, you're one seriously fast rider.
Well done!

I'm not.
I try to be speedy, but don't put as much effort into speed as
I used to.

I've come up with a phrase that I like and repeat often:
"I can't climb hills quickly because I'm lactate-intolerant."

Feel free to use my silly phrase as an excuse....

On the other hand, my hot-rodded mountain bike can
cruise at 20mph and sprint to 24mph, with me powering it.
I'm wondering what the bike and I can really do, if I tuned up my
baggy, flapping (drag-inducing) riding costume!

---

You asked what I did to stiffen-up my custom chain stay?

Well, now, look at the chain stay on the Cruzbike Vendetta.
See how tall and spindly it is?
It's made of welded aluminum tubing, of course. Mine is a less-stiff wood/glassfiber/epoxy composite structure.
Do you see the cross member?
It's the short, horizontal tube, welded between the wheel and the bottom
bracket.
That cross member radically stiffens the Vendettas' chain stay.

My chain stay is taller than the Vendettas', so it's even more prone
to flex.
My fix:
-I installed a cross member in my chain stay.
It's a simple, fitted, fine-grained piece of aerofoil-shaped
cedar, glued in place with generous fillets of epoxy.
In addition to that,
-I laminated some aluminum flashing onto
the legs of my chain stay.

I compared the feel of my newly stiffened chain stay with the (much shorter)
welded aluminum stock chain stay.
Mine is stiffer.

In other words, I applied some very old aviation tech. to my
chain stay:
-I built and installed a strut (like a flying strut between a biplanes' wings);
-I epoxied aluminum sheets together to form an aerodynamic, load bearing tube (like a missile body: cold-war rocket science!)

 

I always say I hate climbing hills. That's why I don't make them last any longer than I have to. I can take the small ones in S. Michigan pretty well by using proper technique; but I'm only a mediocre hill-climber when I get on bigger stuff.

 

Well I invited all of you to join me today for a GREAT RIDE and no one came.

Rode 23.7 miles. Here is what you missed.



For you folk who are not from the South, the pretty green leaves in the foreground are our famous Kudzu!

 

At least it's not your famous poison ivy! Nice looking spot.

 

Approximately 3 miles. I went to a resale store, flea market, and garage sale. I bought a second trailer. It's less convenient than my first trailer, but for $10 I assume I can modify it or use the parts easily enough. I saw an ice cream truck driver buy snacks at a gas station.

 

Been looking for a new trailer also. I like the child (2) trailers myself. found one at a flea market in Ohio last weekend; looked new still had the box for $25.00. Since i was in my brothers sedan i had to either take my van seats out of his trunk or pass on the trailer. Broke my heart to let it pass.

 

Well, I didn't do any riding myself so to speak, but Dave came by the shop Wednesday to say hi and Jon came by the shop yesterday to say hi. Nice of them to do so. Hopefully I can get them to join in a club ride soon.

 

Just got back from a short ride. 7.09 miles which was the river loop with extension. Loke ran great!

Yep! That's right! Two nights at the vet and I have something resembling my old husky back! He was hyper-bouncy at the clinic, even destroyed fencing at their outside kennel when they tried to put him out there.

The vet and techs even TOLD me to take him for a decent run to burn off some of the energy. The anatomy in the area of his surgery wouldn't be impacted by a run and he'd rest better if he wasn't climbing the walls.

He had a lot of his old energy back which he's been lacking a bit the past few months. I guess that might be a good indicator of how big a problem his glands were!

Terii

 

I am so glad Loke is back!!!!!

 

So am I, Jon!

Another run with Loke this morning. 6.91 miles. Following the vet's recommendation to keep him exercised so he'll be less bothered by his butt.

All I'll say about this run is 'icky'. Bleah hot and feels more like swimming through the air than anything.

Terii

 

Ride Like Hale 2012

Last minute decision last nite to go to Rogersville & the 2nd annual Ride Like Hale. Now remember why I said last year that I wouldn't be back. Hate the route. Only 1100 ft climbing in 36 miles but last 10 miles are just dangerous. Good weather & dry roads. Constant hills n rollers. Did the 36 miler this year hoping that the route change would bypass the blind curves & heavy traffic at the end. Alas, it was not to be.

Ed & Paul were there with tricked out trikes. Mark Powers doing some tune ups & service but he didn't go on the route. About 100 riders but no other 2 wheel bents beyond my Corsa.

Ed threw a chain 2 miles in. I went on to first rest stop & waited til they showed up. Then left while they were pulling food outta their large panniers. Didn't see them again.

A nice BBQ lunch back at the school. Since I only did the 36 miles this year it was nice to have several people to eat with. The 62 mile Challenge (finish in >3hrs) had several finishers.

Went to visit Mom in Bean Station, then did another 15 miles in Morristown to round out the day to 50 miles. Avg about 13.5 mph for the day which isn't bad considering the route & underpowered engine. ET for main ride 3h5m, PT 2h45m.

 

Yesterday went out with the intention of lots of easy miles in preparation for the Savannah Century. We picked a route without too much climbing and kept the pace an easy 13-15 most of the time.

About 40 miles Into The Ride we were just into Ft Benning, had stopped at a store to refuel when my wide called. I had put her Streetmachine in the Element just in case she wanted to ride. The call, she had dropped her chain, the good news is she was only about two miles away. We sped over to help her, she had shifted into the big big combo of gears and it was locked up tight. Don't eve know how she was able to do it. Dropped the rear wheel to loosen the chain and had her fixed up in a jiffy.

We took off picking the flattest route we could. The Streetmachine is probably the most comfortable 2 wheeled recumbent out there, but it's a heavy dog on hills with the weight and the suspension eating up the Power. She did extremely well for not having ridden much lately and she ended up with about 25 miles. I pulled in with an even 60.

 

Yesterday was broiling, but today is great so Loke and I went out for another short 7 mile ride.

Fuzzy also had a check up early this morning. The vet is quite pleased with his healing and said it looks good and he's showing no signs of pain. He grinned when I told him how hyper happy Loke was for his runs. He added it was his wife's idea to prescribe exercise instead of rest for Loke because of his high energy. His wife is the very sweet British woman who works as a vet tech at the clinic.

So, I'm at least able to nickel and dime my year's mileage totals upward. I think I'll hold off on taking Loke for longer rides for a while yet.

Terii