My Most Recent Ride 2013 (Part VI in a series)

Nice John, wish I was there to watch you ride away from me.

Good ride on the Venom. My buds couldn't make it so I hooked up with a group from my LBS. they were riding a down and out with everyone hitting it like a TT. Hard to do on this route, very hilly.

Three of the guys were on high end Tri bikes and they quickly pulled away. A young guy and a heavy set fellow probably around forty got the jump on me right off the bat and I never caught them. The older fellow I could see the entire ride, just couldn't gain Amy ground. Then there was a 20 something guy and gal. They started just behind me and stayed there the whole way. They came within about 30 feet of catching me on the steepest longest climb and then again at the very end she was breathing down my neck.

After the ride i answered a ton of questions from the bigger guy, maybe a convert soon.

My fastest ride on the Venom with that much climbing. 25.8 miles with a 16.0 mph average and 1569 feet of climbing.
http://www.strava.com/activities/78070758

 

John,

Keep up posted. Loved to hear about others riding group rides.

 

Glad to see others getting miles in!

I went out again today. Coming up on the dead-line for my August goal. I'll break it either tomorrow or Saturday. Laundry tomorrow so most likely Saturday.

Loke and I did 7.2 miles. He didn't seem that enthusiastic, probably because he expected just the River Loop.... AGAIN. We've only done it about 1000 times this year, it feels like.

While the first 3 miles were River Loop, I pushed on toward the cathedral in Uppsala. The skies, which had been gray over all with clusters of heavier, black-bellied rain cells, held off dumping on us until I decided I'd found a decent angle to get an improved photo of the cathedral using my birthday tripod. Then the bottom fell out.

I shoved everything back into the bags and hurried downtown where I parked near an ice cream kiosk to take shelter under their umbrellas. Poor Loke spent the time there begging for ice cream from a family a short distance away. Every time one of them looked at him, he'd woof and wag his tail making them smile and the kids giggle.

Once the chill rain stopped, I hurried on to the hair salon and made an appointment for next week so that my hair will be nice and brown for the road trip!

So, not a bad ride and now all I need is 8.7 miles

Terii

 

No doubt in my mind you will do it.

I also ride the same rides most of the time. I ride for exercise. But whenever I can ride a new place I LOVE IT!!! It feels like a whole new adventure and I can't wait to see what is around the next bend.

 

Aha! They have wireless again tonight.

DALMAC Day 2 Vestaburg to McBain

This morning was relatively warm - 65F, and very wet. One of the heaviest dews I've ever seen. I packed everything I could in plastic and threw my bags on the TOP of the pile in the truck. The original plan was to ride with friends, a.k.a. 'dynamic duo;' but I was ready at 8:00 and they weren't. So I rode alone again. By then, 90% of the camp was empty.
At least today was sunny, with a very slight breeze from the south. The weatherman said 4 mph, and I believe it was pretty close. We went straight north. There was supposed to be an 8 mile detour this morning, but it was rescinded as the road work got done early.
I was doing great - 20.1 mph average for the first hour. Then the climbing started. I refused to do anything to hurt my legs, so I just held a pace that was below my LT. That still had me passing all the bikes I could see.
I made three stops today: Farwell, Lake George Campground, and the stop run by the Marion Cross-Country team. After the last stop, the there were quite a few medium-large hills. I was starting to feel the miles, when I suffered the ultimate ignominity. A semi tractor was pulling a 2-br house, not a trailer. It took up all but about 2 feet of 70th Rd. I let it on to 70th in front of me, but I couldn't keep up with it. I GOT DROPPED BY A HOUSE.
All in all, I did well; and was in the first 10 riders to get to camp. I even found a hard-to-get spot in the shade; and after setting up and showering I went down to the SUBWAY for a cold drink and a cinnamon roll.
Right now I'm indoors and my bike computer is out with the bike; but I think the day's mileage was pretty close to 74 miles and around an 18 mph average. I'll edit and correct it if I find I'm off by much. Along the way I think I passed about 800 bikes. So, in RocketmanTN's scoring system, I'll call it bents: 800, DFs: 0. Only in the last 5-10 miles did I run out of bikes to pass. (That's how I know I'm almost there.) The legs feel great right now and I'm ready to take my nap and be ready for tomorrow!

 

You are out of my league that is for sure!!!! :wideeyed: Of course, I have never been dropped by a house before either. (Great story BTW.)

 

And DONE!

Well, sorta. At least August's goal has been dealt with. Mileage of 2012 = 803+. Current mileage of 2013 as of August 30th = 808.91.

Also, my Garmin Training software shows 5010 miles since getting my Garmin Forerunner in 2007.

So, today's ride was a 2 parter. I needed 8.7 miles.

I headed out the door with Loke and he was SOOOOOOO SLOW!! I can't even say he was sluggish. Slugs were laughing as they passed us. After 7.6 miles (took more than 1.5 hour), I called Jens and told him to get the furball at the mall.

After Loke was on his way home in the car, I was off like a shot, streaking toward home. I also decided to join up with the River Loop and do it for not only extra distance, but for exercise too. There wasn't much of that on the first bit with Loke except for a few short climbs. I finished up with 6.01 miles in less than 35 minutes. I probably could have shaved that down under 30 if I'd been fresh, but ah well.

In spite of my bafflingly (worryingly) pokey husky, it felt good to get the mileage out of the way and the accomplishment feels good.

Terii

 

Your stories are really cool! I like reading them.

 

I'm in Petosky MI tonight and I've got WIFI again! SoI'll play catch-up:

First, I was close enough with Thursday's stats. They were really 74.3 miles and 18.2 mph average. Not gonna edit for that small difference!

DALMAC day 3 Friday 8/30/13
Today I waited for Dynamic Duo(tm) and the rest of the group. We left shortly after 8:00. Today the route was different from prior years - it went through Cadillac and then to Kingsley before going up to Traverse City. We went the 'old' route - through Fife Lake and Williamsburg. I love doing the stretch up Williamsburg Road to Elk Rapids. There are a few climbs, and a bunch of FAST rollers!
The weather was threatening - 80% chance of thunderstorms, some severe. There was a big storm showing on RADAR, just coming ashore at Elk Rapids and traveling SW. I didn't see any way to miss it, so I packed a rain jacket and stashed my cameras.
By Fife Lake, we were still dry. The skies to the north looked pretty bad, though. Lunch was at the deli at the supermarket. While we ate under the overhang at the front of the store, it started raining. It rained pretty hard a few times. We hung out for about an hour, waiting to make sure the rain was really gone and for the roads to dry off a little bit. Apparently, the storm had changed course once it hit shore and was going more ESE, which kept all but the one cell we saw ahead of us.
The traffic on Supply Road was terrible - 30 cars backed up behind us. Once we got off that and onto Williamsburg it got better, though. With a few miles left until Williamsburg, I took off on a downhill and kept going until the stop. High speed for the first downhill was 45 mph, and I held 27+ until the stop at the church.
After the church, we spend a few minutes trying to cross M-72, which was bumper-to-bumper in both directions. Once past that, I took off again. The worst hill slowed me down to 16 mph by the top; but most of them let me maintain 20-22 on the climbs and MORE on the descents. I got to camp just as the young kids were unloading the last truck and my bags were coming off. Perfect!
Instead of spaghetti at the school, we took the shuttle in to town and ate at the bar. The temps have cooled noticably, and I think tonight will be great for sleeping. Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and warm, but not as warm as it's been so far.
Mi - 62.3
Av = 18.2
Max = 45.3
TT = 5:45

 

Sat 8/31/13 DALMAC day 4

One day left!!! Today was supposed to be nice, and it was. We started with temps in the high 60s and mostly sunny. It got into te mid-80s by the afternoon. Wind was a mixed bag, but not strong from any direction.

With legs that were more toasty than they should have been given the limited amount of go-fast used yesterday, I opted to stay with the group and do an alternate route mapped out by a fellow club member. It took us up the west side of Torch Lake and up to Charlevoix for lunch. We got food from a sub shop and ate at a park by the harbor. After lunch,we hit a bike trail. It was awful! All twisty-turny, up and down while the road to the side was straight and (mostly) level. There were stop signs for every driveway, any shade meant roots had already destroyed the pavement, and it was so narrow that we were barely missing the oncoming bikes. Top speed, regardless of effort, seemed to be about 14 mph. When all the driveways started getting curb cuts too, I called "enough" and took the road. After that, the group quickly dropped off the back and out of sight. I got to Petosky, and took the long way up Mitchell Street. My mileage was short of a metric, so I rode around the back and out the other side of the school campus, did laps in the and then went back. A final lap around the parking lot got me over the magic 62.1 mile mark.

No shade at the school. I tried to take a nap but it was too hot. Tomorrow the weather report is for increasing chance of storms after about noon. It's a short day, and we should be done by then. All we'll have to worry about is getting rained on while we wait for the busses home. I've sort of given up on the idea of trying to make the bridge crosing - it would involve leaving right at 7:00 and doing the last 55 miles or so in less than 3 hours. (The bridge closes to bicycles at 10:00 am.) I could probably do the speed, but I don't want to get up that early! And, I've kind of got my heart set on a pasty for lunch in Mackinaw City. So I guess I'll stay with the group tomorrow, even though they're slowing me down a bit!
Mi = 62.4
Av = 16.5
TT = 5:40

 

I had my doubts when we first left the apartment, but today turned out to be a glorious start to September.

With Loke being so incredibly sluggish, Jens suggested new ground to see if it's boredom. So, I plotted a route and he drove us to the chosen church to start. Loke MOVED! He was much more enthusiastic and interested in the surroundings and kept a good clip... when I was slowed to a crawl by crazy winds and hills. It would figure. The day I finally plan a ride somewhere other than the river loop, the winds go from near perfect calm to rampaging over the Swedish landscape again.

It was also drizzling when we were making the drive.... and cold. I had to wear a jacket. Fortunately, the rain stopped about the time we arrived at the church and the day just got better. Soon the SUN was out in a blue sky filled with puff-balls of clouds.

The ground wasn't completely new, but a good ride all the same. I even took a pause at a manor house. The lawn and hedges and such were perfect. The buildings less so. Paint faded from the plaster. Plaster cracking and falling away from the brick beneath. The main building of the manor was actually two large houses facing each other with a horse-shoe single story wing at one end and the gardens to the other. One of the main structures was what looked like a hoarder's nest! Nothing but crap shoved in nearly from floor to ceiling! Oddly, there was even a surgery lamp jumbled in the mess and not one from like the 50's, but one that wouldn't be out of place even in a modern hospital scene.

Just so peculiar!

Loke made the full distance and as we finished up with 22.19 miles by arriving back at the church we started from, a man, perhaps in his 80's greeted us. He asked about the trike and Loke and how far we'd gone. Then he said that the water at his house comes from a wonderful natural spring, would Loke and I like some? Well, after tepid water in plastic bags for most of the day, I wasn't going to say no to that.

We followed him a short distance around to his snug little house, painted yellow and white, almost completely hidden in an overgrown garden intermingled with an apple orchard. It was a nice wait for Jens, chatting with the man and his wife. Then the gentleman left me with his wife for a short while and came back with a bag of fresh picked apples to take home.

So, fresh off the tree apples, wonderful conversation with wonderful people and Loke acting like his old self as I accumulated miles. A very good day!

Terii

 

Sunday 9/1/13 - DALMAC day 5

The last day of the ride! I waited around almost forever for the rest of the group to get ready. We finally left the campground at 8:30 - we were almost the last ones to leave - and I quickly discovered it had been a mistake. We got a first-gear grinder right out of the parking lot, and everyone else, being on uprights, all got out in front of me. Then we got a 35-mph downhill and I caught back up. After a turn at the light at the bottom of that hill, we got another nice downhill - I hit 46 mph, coasting past the furiously-pedaling tandem team. At that point, all of them jumped on the MUP. Have I ever mentioned I don't like MUPs? So I stayed on the road and didn't see them for the rest of the ride.

The couple miles between Petosky and Harbor Springs was warm-up. The legs felt pretty good; but after 4 days of riding, there wasn't a lot of excess capacity in them. So once I got past Harbor Springs and onto the Tunnel of Trees, I ran them up to just below my lactate threshold and had some fun passing bikes. LOTS of bikes. Sometimes I went past them so fast that it almost scared ME. I took some vids, but I haven't yet had a chance to see if they turned out. I stopped briefly at Good Hart to get some more water, then hit the road again. Amazing fly-bys were pretty much the norm. I even had to slow down for one curve that had a 25 mph speed limit. At Cross Village, one guy tried to latch onto me for a pull. That lasted for about ten seconds because at the edge of town I upshifted and accelerated back to 25+. After Cross Village, the bikes thinned out a lot. After a long shallow climb away from the Lake, I turned and started down one of my favorite speed runs: Cecil Bay Road. After a small climb, it's a long shallow downhill for a couple of miles. A wedgie might take it at 22 mph. A paceline might take it at 25 or 26 mph. I took it at 30-31 mph. Even after the downhill part ended, I was still pulling 27 and 28 mph. I blew by a couple of uprights and one of them remarked, "jeez, there's another of those recumbent rockets!"

That got me thinking, "Captain America must be up ahead." Sure enough, a few more miles up the road, I came across Harry and Bob (aka Capt America) who both ride GRRs with stars-and-stripes body socks. Bob is 71 and Harry isn't too far behind. By then I was on the 'home stretch,' passing all the lakeside houses outside of Mackinaw City. At the finish, I pulled into the high school long enough to say hi to the staff, then turned back around and rode downtown for some food.

I'd kept track of my time, since even though I didn't leave early enough, I wanted to see if I could have made the bridge crossing by leaving camp at 7:00 and getting on the Bridge before they closed it to bikes at 10:00. The answer is, YES! I was to the Bridge at the 2:50 mark - with a 7:00 start I'd have made it by ten minutes. I may go for it next time; as far as I know, nobody has ever done it before.

miles = 54
avg speed = 19.5 mph
time = 2:50
max speed = 46.4 mph

 

Savannah Labor day ride with Betty. Warm but not too hot, probably around 78-80 degrees it looked to be a beautiful morning. We opted for the 58 mile ride as Betty's longest ride so far has been 45, i also did not want her out too long after noon and the mid 90 degree temperatures started really cooking. We arrived with plenty of time all was in order. I spoke briefly with Don a Bacchetta team member then we headed for the start.

Just about to begin and I had a flat. I probably changed that tube as fast I ever have. A quick check of the old tube and it seemed to be a valve failure. Good! No worries with the rim or glass etc. in the tire. Aired up some with the little pump, ran it back to the car to top it off with the real pump and back to the start just in time.

Betty wanted to start at the back of the pack. The ride almost immediately crosses the Savannah river over a nice high bridge and she was a bit intimidated by the climb and the sheer number of riders. She needn't have worried.

The climb was a steady 8-9% grade and with the new gearing on her bike she had a relatively easy time. We were in the last handful of riders over the bridge so the crowding was no issue either. Over the top then the fast downhill to the flatlands below.

This road is extremely rough and I remembered from last year the large number of riders that had had flats. With that in mind I told Betty to stay to the left of the white line and not to let the cars intimidate her. I rode behind, my Dinotte taillight working well to keep the drivers alerted to our presence. When the road surface demanded it I would take the lane so Betty could move out to avoid the multiple craters. Over the course of the day we would see about a dozen riders changing flats. The good news was there were many SAG vehicles to help out.

Betty rode her ride. Keeping a nice steady cadence, she set a pace that would hover around 13 mph for the entire ride. A few times I would sprint ahead to pop my hear rate up but I rarely left her while i was keeping a watchful eye out for any problems that might arise. For the first 30 miles or so we had a nice strong head or quartering headwind. No issues for Betty, "it's keeping me cool, I like it". This was showing signs of being our best ride ever!

We would pass and then be passed by the same riders over and over again as usually happens on these rides. The funniest was when we were passed by a 20 something year old girl. We had been on a long straight stretch for miles and she sloooowly crept up in us and passed. When she did, looking down she said "Y'all are doing a real good job out here" much like you would talk to a child. I said " You are too" emulating her tone of voice. Even Better, Betty and I would finish 15 or 20 minutes before she did. (she rode the same 58 mile ride).

Around the 50 mile mark we passed a bank with the sign reading 95 degrees. The breeze had died and there was mo shade but Betty was doing just fine , she was in a groove. She was having some issues with sciatica from the long car ride but nothing related to the her bike or the ride. You could also tell as they say she could smell the barn. She never changed her pace or cadence but the look of determination was all over her.

Just about that point we were passed by what I guessed to be the lead pack of riders in the century ride. Don on his CA2 and another bent rider on a highracer were at the back of the pack. I told Betty I would be right back and kicked the Cheetah into gear. They were moving along very nicely and it took me a minute or two to catch them....but I did! Man, we're they surprised when I pulled up beside the 10 or so riders on their left and said "hey, how's it going?"

Don told me that they were indeed in the lead group and asked how our ride was going. After a few pleasantries at 20+ mph I told me have a great ride and faded back to wait for Betty. We found Don afterwards and he said they completed the ride in 4:15. Go Don, way to represent!

Betty and I pulled in 4:28 after the gun with 58 miles under our belts. The Garmin showed a total average of 12.3 mph but her moving speed was around 13. Lunch with our friends here in Savannah at Cracker Barrel and Betty was dragging me around downtown shopping.
Edit: after putting it in the computer 4 hours 6 minutes ride time for a 13.96 moving average.
930 feet elevation gain.
A great day!

 

Sounds awesome for both you and Betty, Ward! Better than I've ever done! Go her!

I finished the post from yesterday's ride. Pictures of a few churches and scenery that went from murky gray to bright sun in a blue sky with puffy clouds. Oh, and photos of the manor though a bit from a distance so you can't see all the junk through the windows or the cracking, flaking plaster.


Terii

 

Thanks Terii, knowing that there are other ladies out there riding motivates her quite a bit. Now she is talking about a century!