Lacking dirt options for the MTB I opted to hit the PRC Wednesday night right last night. Rain was a definite chance and I forgot my raincoat that morning. Ahh well, I won't melt, right?! So, there I've all ready got a strike against the ride. Sure enough, as soon as its time to roll off, the droplets start pelting down. Luckily its a pretty short lived sprinkle and hardly enough to call rain. It just managed to wet the streets and trails back down to the point of being slick.
Just onto the paved trail by Denman's I noted something felt wrong with the bike. Sure enough, I had a flat. First of the year on the road bike so I'm not feeling too bad about it, plus we're early enough in the ride that I can haul ass and catch the group before hammering the loops out by Maffit. I pull off and change the flat pretty quickly and discarded the sharp little 3 point rock that started the problem. I'm off to the races through the connector trail leading to Water Works and noting that its pretty greasy with the dirt having turned to slime on top of the wet asphalt. A couple oncoming riders signal me that there's a large group stopped not far ahead. I'm wondering why on earth they'd be stopped since I know they're not waiting for me.
It would seem (from my observation) that a rider went off the edge of the paved trail and hit the mud. From there he dug it in pretty good looking at the mud caked on top of his helmet and covering half his handlebar. A few people were tending to him and it appeared he'd separated his shoulder or possibly fractured a collarbone. Just as I arrived, the call went up for something to use as a sling. As luck would have it, I happened to have a freshly pulled tube with a hole in it! At least I'm good for something. They wrapped him up and the group was off again.
Now we're all of 4 miles into the ride and I've been rained on, had a flat, and gave minor assistance to a fallen rider. Pretty eventful if you ask me. Halfway through Waterworks I hear something fall to the ground and skid across the pavement. Sure enough, after digging out the tube and being a good samaratin, I've left my bag open and spilled my inflater and remaining tube onto the ground. I stop, pick them up and sprint back to the group. We head on out to the course and just after we turn off Park Avenue, I've got the 2 tail end Charlies and I note my rear tire is feeling a bit "squishy" as I round a corner. Really?! No shit, another flat with less than 6 miles on the clock. I pull off and as luck would have it, I still have a spare tube considering I'd packed 2 in that bag for my weekend adventure on the CIRREM course.
I change the second flat and now I'm down to a single CO2 and patches so I say screw this and head for the truck. As I'm getting back to the Waterworks bridge I see another commuter needing some assistance with a flat. I offer up my last CO2 to help her out. Unfortunately, she has no spare tubes, and the current tube has 4+ patches on it all ready. We can't find the new leak so my CO2 is of no use and I leave her with having called for a ride home. Back at the shop the ordeal is over with all of 12 miles in. Not much in the way of a training ride considering I was hoping to get a good effort in and then do some pacing today in prep for this weekend's race. Definitely not a ride that was meant to be for me. I just hope I've gotten my hi jinks out of the way.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
CIRREM's Revenge
In an attempt to get some revenge on the race course that kicked a large percentage of asses in March, I headed out for some gravel flavor this weekend. I was shooting to be out the door by the time 6 bell rang, but a little dawdling and listening to the wind howl outside pushed me off until a little closer to 6:30 before hitting the road. I opted for a mix of pavement and gravel to get me out to the ride start about 11 miles from home.
A quick stop for a pic and to relieve a bit of pressure and I was off just before 7:30.
As I headed south I enjoyed a nice bit of cross-tailwind which was coming out of the NW at 17 according to the forecast. Soon enough I turn right into a cross-headwind though and started the battle. For some reason, I'd pretty much kept it in my head this time that I was going to stick to a certain game plan. I wasn't going to put in any monster efforts, I'd eat often, and just keep the pace respectable when it came to headwinds and hills. My first actual stop of the ride didn't come until the halfway turn onto Cedar Bridge road and that was so I could get a shot of some of the grades we hit on our rollers. Now granted I have slightly tilted the camera for the shot, but the road does actually pitch up that much after you round the corner.
The next stop was for a quick shot of Old Portland
Once I nailed down the northern stretches that gave me fits and were the scene of my first bonk during the actual race, I was off to the races. I was still feeling good, hydrated, and fueled. Oh and I had the tailwind with me now. I started cranking up the speed a bit as I worked back east on 105th. Most of the giant rollers were now behind me and it was just the 40-50' climbs left. I starting pushing the pace and actually standing to climb these with the wind at my back. Finally with about 3 miles to go both legs decided to cramp almost at the same time. A right quad cramp and a left outer thigh cramp had me gritting my teeth, but so close to home, I just kept on the bike and fought through them. Finally I hit the last little stretch of headwinds for the last couple of miles back to the tap and I was done.
Time for a bit of R&R in the form of a PB&J and a frosty pint of Fat Tire. MMM. I had gone out hoping to knock at least a half hour off my time from March. As it was, including 10 minutes of stop time not reflected on the computer, I knocked an hour and 10 minutes off my time. That would have been good enough for the "W" against the March times. Obviously weather was a huge factor in this, but it still felt great to get the ride I was hoping for in March.
A few postscript thoughts about what went right compared to March:
1) Weather- even 17 mph headwinds don't compare to 35 degrees with rain, sleet, snow, and mild winds. No question about it.
2) Equipment choice- I rode the Axis CX bike versus the 29'er this time. I felt a little slower on some of the really loose gravel sections, but the overall weight and speed of the bike more than made up for that little bit of loss.
3) Nutrition- I had all my nutrition tucked away under my rain gear in March. Add in heavy/wet gloves and I barely ate anything. I bonked twice in March. This time I ate pretty freely- 3 gels, 1 fruit twist, and 1 pack sport beans along with 40 oz of accelerade. I also had my nutrition in a Bento Box where I could grab on the fly and then used my jersey as a trash can for the wrappers (I'm not a fan of just tossing your excess on the road).
4) Pacing- I went out strong and steady, but never nailed it hard. My heart rate average was 157 for the ride, but I don't think I broke 180 BPM for more than a few minutes the entire ride. I don't think this was much different than March, but I definitely felt like I worked a lot harder on the hills in March. I also kept my head in the game by accepting the wind and waiting for my chance to use it to my advantage rather than thinking how much it was slowing me down.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
CIRREM revenge on Saturday
For anyone interested in pounding out some gravel miles and hills on Saturday, feel free to join me on the CIRREM route. Weather looks to be light years ahead of the rain/wind/snow/sleet/cold we had back in March. The plan is to leave my place on the south side at 6AM, route to Cumming (not sure of gravel or road), hit the route at a good solid pace, and then back to my place (possibly stopping for a refreshment at Cumming tap first). Figure 85ish miles total and try to be back by 1ish. No support or stores on the route so plan on carrying your water and food with you. Temps should be great. Leave a comment or shoot me an email- buckshot77@msn.com if you want to join in on the fun.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Meet George
Wow, who thought a day and a half on and a weekend could be packed to the gills with being busy when not too much was really on the plate to start with.
Thursday afternoon I took off a half day (mostly because I could) and also to pick up George from the airport. I'd been following his ultra-cycling blog for a while and happened to note that he was planning on coming to take part in Trans-Iowa V.5 I offered up some assistance in familiarizing him with gravel and whatever else he might need. As it turned out I played host and lent him a bike as well in the form of my Bianchi Axis cross bike. Or should I say, I lent him part of a bike...
We took the flat route back to town and even managed to find some freshly graded gravel (as in we were riding behind the road graded). A short 30 miles and 2 hours later, we were back at my place with just a bit of time to kill before heading out to meet up with Steve and family at the shop. We headed over and Sterling was kind enough to hook George up with a bit of Iowa hospitality (thanks man!) before they headed off to Williamsburg and I got on with the rest of my weekend.
I spent a good chunk of the weekend checking on the various updates posted both by the competitors and Guitar Ted (the organizer). I also tried to shoot some text messages to both guys giving a bit of encouragement only to remember later on that Steve doesn't have texting (doh!) Sadly I learned Steve pulled the plug at roughly halfway, but at least George was still trucking along. He ended up making a well earned finish just under 32 hours after the start. The Axis came back no worse for wear with no mechanical issues during the ride and just a bit of dirt caked on.
Thursday afternoon I took off a half day (mostly because I could) and also to pick up George from the airport. I'd been following his ultra-cycling blog for a while and happened to note that he was planning on coming to take part in Trans-Iowa V.5 I offered up some assistance in familiarizing him with gravel and whatever else he might need. As it turned out I played host and lent him a bike as well in the form of my Bianchi Axis cross bike. Or should I say, I lent him part of a bike...
As is understandable when planning on riding 300+ miles of gravel, you want some comforts of home for sure. So add in a pile 'o' parts
And you get something like this when all is said and done.
We grabbed a good dinner Thursday night courteousy of George and met up with Fuller as well for a quick drink so they could shake things out for the weekend as Steve was providing the transport and possible contingency plan for bailouts if needed in the form of his wife and son who were also joining in on the adventure.
Friday dawned a bit overcast and misty, but we suited up for a spin to loosen up the legs and get George a little Iowa flavor...
Ever the considerate host I dropped us into some gravel rollers down towards Summerset park giving him a bit of an intro into the finer points of gravel and along the way we stopped to check out a Level B Road! George wasn't quite as excited about the condition of the B roads considering he walked the bike about 50 feet into the road and pretty much clogged the drivetrain and his shoes in that span. Gotta love Iowa mud!
We took the flat route back to town and even managed to find some freshly graded gravel (as in we were riding behind the road graded). A short 30 miles and 2 hours later, we were back at my place with just a bit of time to kill before heading out to meet up with Steve and family at the shop. We headed over and Sterling was kind enough to hook George up with a bit of Iowa hospitality (thanks man!) before they headed off to Williamsburg and I got on with the rest of my weekend.
I spent a good chunk of the weekend checking on the various updates posted both by the competitors and Guitar Ted (the organizer). I also tried to shoot some text messages to both guys giving a bit of encouragement only to remember later on that Steve doesn't have texting (doh!) Sadly I learned Steve pulled the plug at roughly halfway, but at least George was still trucking along. He ended up making a well earned finish just under 32 hours after the start. The Axis came back no worse for wear with no mechanical issues during the ride and just a bit of dirt caked on.
Shoot, that's about how it looked before I washed it up on Wednesday night in prep for loaning it out. I was happy to hear it held up as good as it did since its going to be my ride of choice for Almanzo 100 in a couple short weeks. I just need to check over the shifting, pop the bottom bracket out for some well earned greasing and slap her back together. Oh ya, and ride my ass off to get some mileage in my legs.
Dropping George back at the airport this morning, we parted ways. What can I say, he's a great guy and I'm glad that he made it out here to hang with us Iowa boys and he's a good friend to have made. Just another reason I love this sport. For his full race report, check here.
Photo credits to George as well.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
A week of riding and a weekend of not
I took a few days off the bike at the beginning of last week, but by Wednesday the pull was too strong to resist. I actually rode into work for the first time this year which was pretty damn nice if I do say so. I chased the gorgeous weather out the door in time to join Maria from PRC for a few hot laps doing hill repeats at McRea Park. She had to bail after just a lap or two so I stayed around for a couple more before heading off to the shop. I joined in on the Papa John's ride as the Paragon was still sitting broken. While I think my off road skills have been doing well, it seems to have come at a cost of my top end on the road. One lap of the route had me on the verge of hurling by the time we hit the top of the soccer hill so naturally, I opted to hit one more lap just to make it fun. Actually, lap #2 wasn't quite as bad as the lead group backed it down a few notches. We headed back to the shop for some free pizza! Woohoo. I took a slice and then hit the road to join the guys for a taco and beer at Gif's before winding my way home enjoying a perfect evening and a little after dark riding. I wound up with a bit over 65 miles on the day.
Thursday was the return of the "Race like a girl" series at Union Park. I headed over early to help with setup and get a few warmup laps in as well. I felt decent during the warmup and thought the racing would be pretty fun. The racing was fun even though I really didn't do much for results other than act as a good lead out guy only to get dropped as soon as the real roadies turned up the volume to 11. I think there's just a combination of things that I need to work on that are keeping me from having that top end snap. I need some more work on sprinting and high end interval training for sure, but having relatively heavy equipment and wheels doesn't do a whole lot for me either. I was really excited to have Miranda and Corley come out to watch the races as it gave me a chance to share more of what I do with them. We also had a nice group of other spectators which was great to see.
I enjoyed Wednesday's ride in so much, I repeated for Friday. I hopped on the cross bike this time and was even pondering a long route home with a detour through Denmans. I haven't had the chance to ride the dirt on anything other than my fat tires, so I was looking forward to the excursion. Fast forward and the plans changed as we got late notice the zoo was having an event that night. Not one to pass up too many opportunities to hang with my girls, it was a no brainer that we were headed to the zoo. We got to watch the trainers put the sea lions and seals through their paces, do a few activities, and wander around a bit before they kicked us out and we went in search of frozen custard to top off the evening.
And that my friends kicked off the weekend of not riding. Oh sure, I had great intentions of riding, but they never materialized. Saturday morning I woke up to threatening skies and decided to give into to snoozing and lounging around for a while longer. I finally made my way out to the garage and got a few things done on the motor I've been tinkering along with. I can't say really that I've been working on it as its taking me forever so I think tinkering is much more apropos.
Miranda was working Saturday night so it was Corley and I hanging for the evening. We ventured off to a friend's wedding to watch them share in the nuptials. It was a really laid back affair and more of a formality than anything else so we just kicked back, enjoyed some free food and cake, bid our best wishes and headed out. We capped off the evening with a trot our Jordan Creek including (to the horror of my wife) a trip into the germ pen of destruction aka the mall play area. Corley had a blast and as figured I had to peel her away from the play area when it came time to depart. I've been in search of a winter coat to replace the trusty yellow steed that has served me the past 4 or so years. I'm about a month late catching the end of season sales and now I can't find a damn thing so I'm thinking I'll have to resort to online clearance houses such as REI and Sierra Trading Post. Anyone got a link to a favorite winter coat they want to share? Preferably, I'd like to find something with a zip out liner so I can use it multi-season.
Sunday dawned overcast and wet. Though it wasn't raining, I didn't feel like taking the risk of getting soaked by going for a ride so I pitched that out the window again. I opted for a bit more time working in the garage and tinkered a bit further along. Miranda had a gift show that seemed to be a bit of a flop (per most of our excursions) and Corley and I loaded up to do dinner with friends. Miranda joined up with us after her show and me made quite the evening getting together with friends to create a fancy meal with new flavors. All in all, quite an evening. Yup welcome to my life.
Thursday was the return of the "Race like a girl" series at Union Park. I headed over early to help with setup and get a few warmup laps in as well. I felt decent during the warmup and thought the racing would be pretty fun. The racing was fun even though I really didn't do much for results other than act as a good lead out guy only to get dropped as soon as the real roadies turned up the volume to 11. I think there's just a combination of things that I need to work on that are keeping me from having that top end snap. I need some more work on sprinting and high end interval training for sure, but having relatively heavy equipment and wheels doesn't do a whole lot for me either. I was really excited to have Miranda and Corley come out to watch the races as it gave me a chance to share more of what I do with them. We also had a nice group of other spectators which was great to see.
I enjoyed Wednesday's ride in so much, I repeated for Friday. I hopped on the cross bike this time and was even pondering a long route home with a detour through Denmans. I haven't had the chance to ride the dirt on anything other than my fat tires, so I was looking forward to the excursion. Fast forward and the plans changed as we got late notice the zoo was having an event that night. Not one to pass up too many opportunities to hang with my girls, it was a no brainer that we were headed to the zoo. We got to watch the trainers put the sea lions and seals through their paces, do a few activities, and wander around a bit before they kicked us out and we went in search of frozen custard to top off the evening.
And that my friends kicked off the weekend of not riding. Oh sure, I had great intentions of riding, but they never materialized. Saturday morning I woke up to threatening skies and decided to give into to snoozing and lounging around for a while longer. I finally made my way out to the garage and got a few things done on the motor I've been tinkering along with. I can't say really that I've been working on it as its taking me forever so I think tinkering is much more apropos.
Miranda was working Saturday night so it was Corley and I hanging for the evening. We ventured off to a friend's wedding to watch them share in the nuptials. It was a really laid back affair and more of a formality than anything else so we just kicked back, enjoyed some free food and cake, bid our best wishes and headed out. We capped off the evening with a trot our Jordan Creek including (to the horror of my wife) a trip into the germ pen of destruction aka the mall play area. Corley had a blast and as figured I had to peel her away from the play area when it came time to depart. I've been in search of a winter coat to replace the trusty yellow steed that has served me the past 4 or so years. I'm about a month late catching the end of season sales and now I can't find a damn thing so I'm thinking I'll have to resort to online clearance houses such as REI and Sierra Trading Post. Anyone got a link to a favorite winter coat they want to share? Preferably, I'd like to find something with a zip out liner so I can use it multi-season.
Sunday dawned overcast and wet. Though it wasn't raining, I didn't feel like taking the risk of getting soaked by going for a ride so I pitched that out the window again. I opted for a bit more time working in the garage and tinkered a bit further along. Miranda had a gift show that seemed to be a bit of a flop (per most of our excursions) and Corley and I loaded up to do dinner with friends. Miranda joined up with us after her show and me made quite the evening getting together with friends to create a fancy meal with new flavors. All in all, quite an evening. Yup welcome to my life.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Bent, Broken, and Bummed
Squirrel, Griz, and I loaded up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to head down to Bone Bender. Rain had been in the forecast most of the week and hope as we may, it was unavoidable. I had switched to my rain tires and was as ready as I could be. I figured after slogging through rain and near freezing temps at CIRREM not too long ago, some mud and rain wouldn't be too bad.
We set up camp and I took off for a quick preview of the course. We'd all ready been dumped on during the drive down and the rain returned as we set up. I sputtered through roughly a half mile of the course and knew it was going to be pretty ugly. I was stoked about the first MTB race of the year and my first enduro having signed on for 6 hours of "fun". We lined up for a LeMans start and were blasted off at the stroke of noon.
I wasn't really thinking much other than to get out quick and hopefully not be held up too much in the mud bogs. I hit the singletrack somewhere in the top 15 and started the slipping and sliding. I actually did ok for the first portion as it wasn't a whole lot different than trying to ride Denmans during the winter snow and ice. I made it past one rider on the singletrack and another as we hit a spot of paved trail into the 2nd section. The wheels fell off here. The mud started turning to goo and even though my tires weren't yet balling up into being completely useless, I couldn't get enough traction to pedal through. I hopped off and ran a few 50 yard sections, but was still riding a lot of it though I was all ready keeping my heart rate in the 180's now. Oops, so much for going out at a pace I could maintain for 6 hours.
About 2 miles in, my rear derailleur starting hiccuping. I'd back pedal to clear it and go again. On about the 4th shot through it clogged solid and broke the hanger. It wrapped clear up to my front derailleur and even shredded a new section of housing I'd put on Thursday. Damn. Not quite sure what to do, I scratched my head for a minute and thought I'd head back to camp to see if I could straighten things out. After slogging for about 15 minutes, I stopped in a field and thought I'd try my hand at single speed conversions in the middle of the field. I threw the bike over, scraped as much mud as possible off and went to town. Ya, that didn't end well. I think somewhere in here I set my sunglasses down as well and managed to not pick them back up once I gave up and headed back to the tent.
I knew it was going to be an interesting day as I was all of 2.2 miles in and watched riders trickle past for another 30+ minutes as I worked on my bike and then headed back. I wasn't the first one back as others had given up before me, but I think I may have been the first broken bike back. Over the course of the afternoon I noted a good dozen or better other riders with very similar broken bits. The bike shop on hand offered to fix me up and send me back out, but I opted to stay and hand up bottles and do whatever I could for the other guys still riding.
I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some cleaning on bikes, bottles, and drinking some beers. Not exactly the way I planned on spending those 6 hours, but not the worst thing in the world either. I'd say the highlight of the weekend other than watching Squirrel kick some ass was getting to hang with some good buds for the ride down and back and spending some hours with like minded fellows.
Sunday's teardown and cleanup of the bike left me a bit more bummed. Beyond the broken hanger and lost sunglasses, I found the derailleur to be trashed due to the main spring being over stretched (backwards), the chain trashed (I kinda knew that all ready), and one of my newly installed ceramic bearings was now making crunchy noises. All told roughly $150ish in damages when you factor in the lost glasses. That pretty much shot my enthusiasm and has kind of left me moping around a bit this week. Add in that my sternum has been giving me fits and is hurting worse than when I first hammered it a week ago (hopefully that means its healing) and I'm not too motivated to get back on the saddle. I'm thinking a little fun riding this week is in order with commuting tomorrow, riding over to the PRC ride, and then catching up with the guys for tacos at Gif's. Maybe Thursday I'll break back out and do some more riding though I don't think the Paragon will be back in shape until this weekend at the earliest.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Bone Bummed!
Broke the rear derailleur 2 miles into the first lap. Muddy as all get out down here but its not raining and the sun just came out. Squirrel is in 1st place overall on the 1st lap!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Not that anyone asked
But here's my opinion on the subject of bikes, cars, and something that should never have happened in the first place. Set yourselves down for a good long while as it'll probably take me that long to get it all out.
Bikes and cars, they're oil and water if you ask me. They're both liquid, movable, and have certain desirable properties, but if/when they get mixed up, you're going to have some problems. Ask anyone that's gotten some water inside an engine destined to be lubricated by oil and you'll see right away a little water doing damage goes a long way even when totally overrun by the quantity of oil. However, this doesn't mean I don't think the two can't coexist mostly peacefully. Here are some problems as I see them and seem to be echoed in a number of responses to articles published by the Register and other local media.
1) Bikes don't pay for the roads therefore they don't have the right to be there. The law grants us the right to be there. The same as it grants you the right to own guns. You say your tax dollars pay for the bike trails we eschew in order to ride the road. Our taxes also pay for a police department so why do you need a gun? It's your given right and you choose to exercise it, the same as we do. As a matter of fact, I exercise both of those rights and have begun to wonder if I should be exercising both at the same time for personal protection. Obviously that's a bit tongue in cheek, but when you feel like you might be the next target, the through does cross your mind.
Solution: I'm not against paying a licensing fee for my pleasure of riding on the road. Heck, we're "supposed" to pay a fee for riding on the RRVT even though its funded by taxpayer money. If it means that drivers see us as having paid our dues to use the roads, I'm just fine with it. I'd pay $20 or even $50 per year in hopes that it will buy me a bit more safety or at least recognition that I too pay for the right to be there. Sure, I'm paying more money for a right I all ready have, but then again, we do it every time we pay the gas tax to drive our vehicles as well. The only stipulation I'd have is that traffic enforcement treat us as an equal on the road at that point even though I realize that might be a bit far fetched.
2) Cyclists think they're above the law when it comes to obeying traffic laws. I've got to admit, I think the cagers (car drivers) have a valid point on this one. Until the law says we can legally roll stops signs/lights, not signal, roll through stopped traffic, and generally ride in a way that puts the least penalty upon our legs, then we're at fault. Arguing that drivers break the law just as much as we do is pretty lame and not going to get us anywhere. Its no different than your child saying he should get away with something because his buddy's parents let them do it. We have to be self policing. I can't even begin to throw the first stone, I roll through signs (sometimes) and generally do what I can to keep my momentum from being broken on the ride.
Solution: We have to police ourselves. We can't expect equal treatment under the law and blatantly disregard the ones that don't favor our sport. Sure, it sucks stopping and starting on a bike; especially if you're riding clipless. Taking your hands off the bars to signal a turn shouldn't be a big deal. If you don't like it and don't do it, be prepared to get a ticket. The bottom line, its our own personal choice to be out there and therefore we have to deal with the limitations that we have set out for ourselves and how the law treats those limitations. I'll be doing what I can to ride as closely as possible to the law as I can. Considering I'm an equal opportunity offender in a vehicle when it comes to speeding and such, I don't want to hear anyone chastising me if they see me breaking a law (unless of course you never break ANY yourself).
3) Bikes belong on "bike paths" and I (the taxpayer) paid for them so why don't you keep your butts on them. Sure we have bike paths, I even helped pay for them (as a taxpayer), and yes I love riding a nice stretch of black label when available. That being said, bike paths don't always go where we want and in some cases, neither do sidewalks. So, if we're left with no other options to get from point A to point B, either you (the taxpayer) cough up funds to pave a bike trail/sidewalk to everywhere I want to go or accept that I will be on the road with you. "Bike paths" are actually multi user paths that have to be shared with various other types of foot and human powered traffic. I can't remember how many times as a roller blader (snicker all you like), I was surprised and/or crashed due to a bike blasting past me at speed on the bike path. Even if they weren't riding very fast the speed differential could easily be close to 2:1. That's not much different than cars and bikes on most residential streets. You have to be prepared for whatever situation you come up on whether riding or driving. Might may be right in regards to who has the right of way, but that should also come with using that right responsibly.
Solution: This ties more into my first solution of being licensed to ride on the street. If you want to ride just paths and sidewalks, no license needed. If you want to avoid those hassles and ride where you need to, grab a license.
4) Bikers don't get equal treatment from law enforcement when it comes to accidents. While I can't say I've personally had to deal with this issue even though I was a victim of a right hook hit and run when I was younger, I think there is a lot of truth in this argument. To me, it seems like cyclists have about as much weight in enforcing penalties as a piece of property. I.E. you hit someones mailbox, cow, etc, you have to pay for the damages and might get a minor ticket, but you're not going to be charged with a felony unless you were drunk, impaired, or someone managed to tape you saying that you were going to run this guy down and kill him while he was riding his bike.
Solution: Treat our bikes as vehicles and us as the driver, no better, no worse. If someone hits us (accidentally or not), hurts us, and leaves the scene they'd get charged with a number of moving violations and possibly a felony or two. Accidents happen, I assume that responsibility every time I ride my bike. However, if someone appears to be blatantly trying to damage my person as in road rage, then there are additional penalties that need to be levelled.
5) Passing a group of cyclists sucks. No argument from me on that one. However, it seems cyclists hear that argument anytime we're in a group no matter if we're riding single file (paceline is too long to pass) or as a bunch on the road (I can't get around them). It seems we're damned if we do or don't here. But, if we have a right to take up the roadway however we see fit, whether it be over to the right shoulder or the full lane, passing isn't that difficult. I don't see it much different than having to wait for slow moving farm equipment or even tractor trailers from time to time.
Solution: The only solution to this is patience and adherence to the law. Pass in a passing zone when safe to do so. I can't recall the number of times I've wondered when a car is going to merge back into the pack on a TNWC ride as they try to pass on Morningstar drive. It's certainly much easier to plow us down than head on another driver. Partly for that reason, I'm usually pretty heads up about what cars are passing and where my nearest escape route is.
6) This guy on a bike was drunk and swerving all over the road. As long as I'm working on pissing off other cycling groups, I may as well hit the party guys/baggers as well. Luckily, I've only had to ever deal with a few drunk bikers on the road during my time behind that wheel. However, the last time, really changed my opinion. Someone obviously had spent too much time at the Cumming tap and road up the bike trail to the bar in Orilla. He wobbled out in front of our car (and others) using up both sides of the highway on his way from the bike path to the bar. Luckily, we all were watching for his drunk ass and slowed to nearly a stop until he could negotiate his way into their parking lot.
Solution: I don't know that a full on OWI is the answer as I believe those laws are meant to deal with people that show a greatly increased risk of harming people or property other than their own when driving impaired. However, I do think public intox or something along those lines should be used as a deterrent for riding on the roads while impaired. However, this should be applied to road riding only as I don't necessarily see a lot of difference between operating your bike while drunk on a bike path, than walking down the sidewalk while equally drunk. Unless you're being a public nuisance, you're just going to increase the amount of road rash you cause yourself when falling off the bike versus falling down while walking.
Yet, after all this verbiage and wordiness, I'm still drawn to a simple thought. There are too many people pissed off on every side of every issue that refuse to listen. We ALL have to find an equal ground and take responsibility for our own actions in EVERYTHING we do and we can't be selective about how we do it.
I'm riding tonight to show that I support my friends that have been injured. I'm riding tonight because I want people to see that we're people too. I'm riding tonight to show that cyclists can be responsible in their actions. I'm riding tonight because I want to ride my bike.
PS- Though I'm a numbers junky and would lover to see a huge influx of hits on my blog, I'm compelled to ask that if you wish to share this opinion with anyone, please copy and paste, but do not link to this post or my blog. With a decent amount of personal information on here, I'd rather not find myself fending of jerks and a-holes on either side of the argument lest I have to pull this post.
Bikes and cars, they're oil and water if you ask me. They're both liquid, movable, and have certain desirable properties, but if/when they get mixed up, you're going to have some problems. Ask anyone that's gotten some water inside an engine destined to be lubricated by oil and you'll see right away a little water doing damage goes a long way even when totally overrun by the quantity of oil. However, this doesn't mean I don't think the two can't coexist mostly peacefully. Here are some problems as I see them and seem to be echoed in a number of responses to articles published by the Register and other local media.
1) Bikes don't pay for the roads therefore they don't have the right to be there. The law grants us the right to be there. The same as it grants you the right to own guns. You say your tax dollars pay for the bike trails we eschew in order to ride the road. Our taxes also pay for a police department so why do you need a gun? It's your given right and you choose to exercise it, the same as we do. As a matter of fact, I exercise both of those rights and have begun to wonder if I should be exercising both at the same time for personal protection. Obviously that's a bit tongue in cheek, but when you feel like you might be the next target, the through does cross your mind.
Solution: I'm not against paying a licensing fee for my pleasure of riding on the road. Heck, we're "supposed" to pay a fee for riding on the RRVT even though its funded by taxpayer money. If it means that drivers see us as having paid our dues to use the roads, I'm just fine with it. I'd pay $20 or even $50 per year in hopes that it will buy me a bit more safety or at least recognition that I too pay for the right to be there. Sure, I'm paying more money for a right I all ready have, but then again, we do it every time we pay the gas tax to drive our vehicles as well. The only stipulation I'd have is that traffic enforcement treat us as an equal on the road at that point even though I realize that might be a bit far fetched.
2) Cyclists think they're above the law when it comes to obeying traffic laws. I've got to admit, I think the cagers (car drivers) have a valid point on this one. Until the law says we can legally roll stops signs/lights, not signal, roll through stopped traffic, and generally ride in a way that puts the least penalty upon our legs, then we're at fault. Arguing that drivers break the law just as much as we do is pretty lame and not going to get us anywhere. Its no different than your child saying he should get away with something because his buddy's parents let them do it. We have to be self policing. I can't even begin to throw the first stone, I roll through signs (sometimes) and generally do what I can to keep my momentum from being broken on the ride.
Solution: We have to police ourselves. We can't expect equal treatment under the law and blatantly disregard the ones that don't favor our sport. Sure, it sucks stopping and starting on a bike; especially if you're riding clipless. Taking your hands off the bars to signal a turn shouldn't be a big deal. If you don't like it and don't do it, be prepared to get a ticket. The bottom line, its our own personal choice to be out there and therefore we have to deal with the limitations that we have set out for ourselves and how the law treats those limitations. I'll be doing what I can to ride as closely as possible to the law as I can. Considering I'm an equal opportunity offender in a vehicle when it comes to speeding and such, I don't want to hear anyone chastising me if they see me breaking a law (unless of course you never break ANY yourself).
3) Bikes belong on "bike paths" and I (the taxpayer) paid for them so why don't you keep your butts on them. Sure we have bike paths, I even helped pay for them (as a taxpayer), and yes I love riding a nice stretch of black label when available. That being said, bike paths don't always go where we want and in some cases, neither do sidewalks. So, if we're left with no other options to get from point A to point B, either you (the taxpayer) cough up funds to pave a bike trail/sidewalk to everywhere I want to go or accept that I will be on the road with you. "Bike paths" are actually multi user paths that have to be shared with various other types of foot and human powered traffic. I can't remember how many times as a roller blader (snicker all you like), I was surprised and/or crashed due to a bike blasting past me at speed on the bike path. Even if they weren't riding very fast the speed differential could easily be close to 2:1. That's not much different than cars and bikes on most residential streets. You have to be prepared for whatever situation you come up on whether riding or driving. Might may be right in regards to who has the right of way, but that should also come with using that right responsibly.
Solution: This ties more into my first solution of being licensed to ride on the street. If you want to ride just paths and sidewalks, no license needed. If you want to avoid those hassles and ride where you need to, grab a license.
4) Bikers don't get equal treatment from law enforcement when it comes to accidents. While I can't say I've personally had to deal with this issue even though I was a victim of a right hook hit and run when I was younger, I think there is a lot of truth in this argument. To me, it seems like cyclists have about as much weight in enforcing penalties as a piece of property. I.E. you hit someones mailbox, cow, etc, you have to pay for the damages and might get a minor ticket, but you're not going to be charged with a felony unless you were drunk, impaired, or someone managed to tape you saying that you were going to run this guy down and kill him while he was riding his bike.
Solution: Treat our bikes as vehicles and us as the driver, no better, no worse. If someone hits us (accidentally or not), hurts us, and leaves the scene they'd get charged with a number of moving violations and possibly a felony or two. Accidents happen, I assume that responsibility every time I ride my bike. However, if someone appears to be blatantly trying to damage my person as in road rage, then there are additional penalties that need to be levelled.
5) Passing a group of cyclists sucks. No argument from me on that one. However, it seems cyclists hear that argument anytime we're in a group no matter if we're riding single file (paceline is too long to pass) or as a bunch on the road (I can't get around them). It seems we're damned if we do or don't here. But, if we have a right to take up the roadway however we see fit, whether it be over to the right shoulder or the full lane, passing isn't that difficult. I don't see it much different than having to wait for slow moving farm equipment or even tractor trailers from time to time.
Solution: The only solution to this is patience and adherence to the law. Pass in a passing zone when safe to do so. I can't recall the number of times I've wondered when a car is going to merge back into the pack on a TNWC ride as they try to pass on Morningstar drive. It's certainly much easier to plow us down than head on another driver. Partly for that reason, I'm usually pretty heads up about what cars are passing and where my nearest escape route is.
6) This guy on a bike was drunk and swerving all over the road. As long as I'm working on pissing off other cycling groups, I may as well hit the party guys/baggers as well. Luckily, I've only had to ever deal with a few drunk bikers on the road during my time behind that wheel. However, the last time, really changed my opinion. Someone obviously had spent too much time at the Cumming tap and road up the bike trail to the bar in Orilla. He wobbled out in front of our car (and others) using up both sides of the highway on his way from the bike path to the bar. Luckily, we all were watching for his drunk ass and slowed to nearly a stop until he could negotiate his way into their parking lot.
Solution: I don't know that a full on OWI is the answer as I believe those laws are meant to deal with people that show a greatly increased risk of harming people or property other than their own when driving impaired. However, I do think public intox or something along those lines should be used as a deterrent for riding on the roads while impaired. However, this should be applied to road riding only as I don't necessarily see a lot of difference between operating your bike while drunk on a bike path, than walking down the sidewalk while equally drunk. Unless you're being a public nuisance, you're just going to increase the amount of road rash you cause yourself when falling off the bike versus falling down while walking.
Yet, after all this verbiage and wordiness, I'm still drawn to a simple thought. There are too many people pissed off on every side of every issue that refuse to listen. We ALL have to find an equal ground and take responsibility for our own actions in EVERYTHING we do and we can't be selective about how we do it.
I'm riding tonight to show that I support my friends that have been injured. I'm riding tonight because I want people to see that we're people too. I'm riding tonight to show that cyclists can be responsible in their actions. I'm riding tonight because I want to ride my bike.
PS- Though I'm a numbers junky and would lover to see a huge influx of hits on my blog, I'm compelled to ask that if you wish to share this opinion with anyone, please copy and paste, but do not link to this post or my blog. With a decent amount of personal information on here, I'd rather not find myself fending of jerks and a-holes on either side of the argument lest I have to pull this post.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Birfday!
Happy third birthday to my beautiful baby girl. Im playing hooky today to spend it with my ladies.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tuning it up
Heading into next weekend's 6 hour challenge at Bonebender, I thought it would be good to get some hours in on the Paragon at an endurance pace and also to check out my new hydration drink I'm testing out. After failure at last years Dirty Du, with the Hammer nutrition stuff, I decided to try something different. Basically, the Hammer drink was making me bloated and gassy as I'd drink it during the race and still was too sweet as it left me wanting plain water after only a bottle of their product. I think it may have also played a part in my bonk last year at Almanzo so it's time for something new.
My goal was for 5-6 hours at the Center trails/Denmans doing loops where I could compare lap times. I wanted to check out the hydration and also work on some long term fueling to see what I could stomach other than just gels. I took along a PB&J to try out and other than I stopped to eat it, it went down really easy so I'll be taking those this weekend as well. I'm thinking I may try cutting them into quarters rather than just halves and see if I can eat while riding.
I hit the trails bright an early heading out from Ashworth pool at 7 for the first loop. I headed off through Rollercoaster including the hill climb from the Dirty Du as part of the loop before dropping into the main trail. After that, the rest of the loop was paved trail to a little portion of J-11, then over the bridge to Denmans, Dirty connector to Squirrels, Rhythm, and then the trestle bridge to Hillside before dropping back to the parking lot. All in all I could only squeeze 11.5 miles out of my loops. I'm not sure if I'm taking a shorter version of Hillside or if it is a combination of things like using the paved trail in lieu of Dirty connector in my loops. In any case, 60-61 minutes were my loops with 11.5 miles and 500' of climbing per loop. A good start for the 11 mile 1200' per lap I'll be hitting next weekend.
First loop was perfect and I wore my windbreaker as a precaution against the temps. Less than halfway through I was sweating my butt off so it came off after the first loop. I grabbed a gel at the end of the first loop, but didn't eat it until after Denmans. On the 2nd loop I switched bottles to a new one and stopped to wolf down a half a PB&J. I was also stretching as I stopped which garnered some comments from a couple walking by about how I must be training hard since I was eating and stretching simultaneously. I'd really found the flow through Denman's by the 3rd loop and was hammering along while still on cruise control as far as the overall effort I was putting in. I was just starting to feel my legs as 3 hours were rolling closer and I was up on Hillside.
Just like that, my day was over. I was crossing the angled log on the way down Hillside almost done with loop #3 and misjudged the timing as I was working on increasing my speed crossing it. I didn't get the back end up in time and it hit hard enough to buck up the rear end of the bike and I flew over the bars. I hit with both hands outstretched in Superman form and then bounced my chest off the ground as well as I slid to a stop. Spitting out dirt and leaves, I rolled over and assessed the damage. No broken bones, but I knew I would be feeling the hit soon enough so I called it quits before I even stood up. I eased my way back down, stopping to talk with Teri for a moment and then decided I may as well finish the last half mile of my loop and then head home. I eased through it and still gained almost 30 seconds over my previous lap so I must have been cruising pretty well before I hit.
Here I am at the end of the loop with the "I ate sh!t and didn't like the taste" look on my face. Nothing seems to be damaged other than some bumps and bruises so at least I should still be good to go for next weekend.
Friday, April 10, 2009
A mish mash of gut bombs, that guy, and riding
I'm getting lackadaisical about writing in my blog. Damn, I've gotten good rides in, decent things to talk about, and occasionally some free time to write, but the motivation has been lacking to put keyboard to screen. Shoot, I even spent a bunch of money on new gear. I think maybe losing my money clip last week kind of shot my enthusiasm in the ass partially. Its just a pain to have to work about replacing everything. To date, I think I'm about 80% whole in getting things put back in place that were lost. In any case I digress.
We hit another work day at Summerset last weekend. All told there were 30+ of us out there which was awesome to see. I kinda sorta volunteered to lead a crew through the Riverside trail doing clearing and cleaning. All was well until we got to a couple areas that none of us were sure where the trail went so we lost a few minutes tracking the correct line down and then getting it cleared. We made it through all but roughly 1/4 mile that includes some new routing that will need to be dialed in the last work day. Other than that, it was wide open and flowy. Fast isn't quite the word as it definitely needs some burn in and is suffering from various sand deposits that rob your forward momentum. After we broke for lunch it was time to roll the full course. I was a bit apprehensive considering Fuller and I's last time rolling through seemed pretty damn tough. All in all, it went much better with all the work that has been done and I cleared all but a couple of the climbs without much problem. It'll be a good workout for sure come race day.
Tuesday I had TNWC on the brain and while I was out replacing some items from my money clip, I opted to hit Panchero's for lunch. All in all, the burrito was damn tasty, but the shell was definitely undercooked per my definitely. Nothing like having to peel the burrito shell off your teeth while eating. A couple hours later as I was thinking more and more about riding my bike, I began to realize the burrito had indeed become a gut bomb. Uggh, it just was sitting in there like a rock that refused to move. For the most part I ignored it and got on with the ride. I made it north of Ankeny again as the pack was mostly just cruising until a truck cut us off and we pretty much all hammered our brakes. As soon as that happened, the pack fired up and took off. I couldn't get my legs to make any response and was out the back just like that. I kept my head together and rode hard the rest of the way home and felt like I got a worthwhile ride in, but I still need to figure out how to dig deeper when I need it.
Wednesday signalled the return to dirt in the form of the Taco Ride. I somehow found myself designated as the ride leader which is ok by me, but meant that I should at least feel some sense of responsibility for getting everyone through the lap and back home. We had a new guy named Matt that was in town from Indianapolis show up so I definitely wanted to make sure he didn't get lost as we wound our way through. I found myself in a new position as we worked through Denman's. Lou and I were cruising along, at a decent pace but not killing it, and I suddenly found myself being "that guy". The guy I used to always be chasing. The guy that was off the front and seemingly just having it on cruise control. Don't get me wrong, I've still got plenty of, "those guys" to chase Pete, Lou, Squirrel, Kyle, etc, etc, but it was interesting changing perspective for a bit. We looped Denmans, Squirrels next, had a beer break courtesy of Sammy at the firepit, rolled Rhythm, Hillside, Rollercoaster, and then a reverse lap of Denmans before calling it good enough. Some beers, stories, and tacos later, we split out of Gif's and called it a night.
I'm finally getting to a happier place at work. The looming deadlines and schedules that have hung like thousand pound weights are beginning to be passed and lifted one at a time. One more small push to the end of the month and things will be done on this project and I'll be onto the next big thing. Its nice knowing that things are wrapping up at least on one project.
Home life is also shining more and more. Our daughter turns 3 years old in a few short days. Its hard to believe. I never knew you could love something so much and at the same time, sometimes in the same instant, be totally driven insane by it. Yup, sounds like love to me. I can't wait to see how much she grows in the next year. Most days, its hard to believe she's only 3.
I'm focused right now on next weekend's Bone Bender 6 hour race in Missouri. Beyond the nervousness of having never ridden the course and seeing that the course map shows 1200 feet of climbing per 11 mile lap, I'm actually relatively calm about it. I'm just planning to go, put in a good solid effort and see where things shake out. I'm mostly interesting in seeing if I can find some things that work to keep me going for that many hours in a row. I've got some plans to take a few additional nutrition choices with me that I hope to try. My long term goal is to make a passable effort for the Boone 24 hour race as part of a 2 man team.
We hit another work day at Summerset last weekend. All told there were 30+ of us out there which was awesome to see. I kinda sorta volunteered to lead a crew through the Riverside trail doing clearing and cleaning. All was well until we got to a couple areas that none of us were sure where the trail went so we lost a few minutes tracking the correct line down and then getting it cleared. We made it through all but roughly 1/4 mile that includes some new routing that will need to be dialed in the last work day. Other than that, it was wide open and flowy. Fast isn't quite the word as it definitely needs some burn in and is suffering from various sand deposits that rob your forward momentum. After we broke for lunch it was time to roll the full course. I was a bit apprehensive considering Fuller and I's last time rolling through seemed pretty damn tough. All in all, it went much better with all the work that has been done and I cleared all but a couple of the climbs without much problem. It'll be a good workout for sure come race day.
Tuesday I had TNWC on the brain and while I was out replacing some items from my money clip, I opted to hit Panchero's for lunch. All in all, the burrito was damn tasty, but the shell was definitely undercooked per my definitely. Nothing like having to peel the burrito shell off your teeth while eating. A couple hours later as I was thinking more and more about riding my bike, I began to realize the burrito had indeed become a gut bomb. Uggh, it just was sitting in there like a rock that refused to move. For the most part I ignored it and got on with the ride. I made it north of Ankeny again as the pack was mostly just cruising until a truck cut us off and we pretty much all hammered our brakes. As soon as that happened, the pack fired up and took off. I couldn't get my legs to make any response and was out the back just like that. I kept my head together and rode hard the rest of the way home and felt like I got a worthwhile ride in, but I still need to figure out how to dig deeper when I need it.
Wednesday signalled the return to dirt in the form of the Taco Ride. I somehow found myself designated as the ride leader which is ok by me, but meant that I should at least feel some sense of responsibility for getting everyone through the lap and back home. We had a new guy named Matt that was in town from Indianapolis show up so I definitely wanted to make sure he didn't get lost as we wound our way through. I found myself in a new position as we worked through Denman's. Lou and I were cruising along, at a decent pace but not killing it, and I suddenly found myself being "that guy". The guy I used to always be chasing. The guy that was off the front and seemingly just having it on cruise control. Don't get me wrong, I've still got plenty of, "those guys" to chase Pete, Lou, Squirrel, Kyle, etc, etc, but it was interesting changing perspective for a bit. We looped Denmans, Squirrels next, had a beer break courtesy of Sammy at the firepit, rolled Rhythm, Hillside, Rollercoaster, and then a reverse lap of Denmans before calling it good enough. Some beers, stories, and tacos later, we split out of Gif's and called it a night.
I'm finally getting to a happier place at work. The looming deadlines and schedules that have hung like thousand pound weights are beginning to be passed and lifted one at a time. One more small push to the end of the month and things will be done on this project and I'll be onto the next big thing. Its nice knowing that things are wrapping up at least on one project.
Home life is also shining more and more. Our daughter turns 3 years old in a few short days. Its hard to believe. I never knew you could love something so much and at the same time, sometimes in the same instant, be totally driven insane by it. Yup, sounds like love to me. I can't wait to see how much she grows in the next year. Most days, its hard to believe she's only 3.
I'm focused right now on next weekend's Bone Bender 6 hour race in Missouri. Beyond the nervousness of having never ridden the course and seeing that the course map shows 1200 feet of climbing per 11 mile lap, I'm actually relatively calm about it. I'm just planning to go, put in a good solid effort and see where things shake out. I'm mostly interesting in seeing if I can find some things that work to keep me going for that many hours in a row. I've got some plans to take a few additional nutrition choices with me that I hope to try. My long term goal is to make a passable effort for the Boone 24 hour race as part of a 2 man team.
Friday, April 03, 2009
It was the best of times
It was the worst of times. Ya, I know, stealing other peoples work, isn't cool, but as you could read from my last post, I had a pretty crappy turn of events after a killer ride. I'll detail the ride here so it can get as far away from that turd laden punchbowl as possible. For anyone that has been on the Center Trails in the past few days, you know how absolutely primo the conditions have been. The line is clear, you can see for miles, the weather is crisp, and the dirt is "tacky, yet refined".
I burned some serious wife points last night and got the pass to go riding again before the conditions were lost. I tried playing it cool, but I think my giddiness to go riding again probably wasn't well hidden in the face of a mountain of dishes and other household chores I really should've been helping out on. I'm sure I'll be making up for that tonight! In any case, I raced home as soon as I could escape the grip of the "Man" and ripped through getting changed and back out the door. I parked at the shop so I could say hello to the boys and have a few minutes spin via the levee trail to warm things up.
Feeling a bit spunky I decided to see where I was in comparison to last years Quarter Rage efforts. I ripped off a 22:40 something on my first pass through. Not blazing by any means, but a good start considering I've still got the tubes in and slower rubber mounted. I'm hoping to get much closer to 20 flat by the end of the year. Judging by my pace and comfort level on my final lap (in reverse) of the night, I don't think it's too far out of the question.
I met up with Kyle, Taylor, and Rick Noyce for some more fun at 5:45. We headed back down for my 2nd lap through Denman's where I chased Kyle pretty much all the way through. I felt like I was hammering the trail and wasn't having any problems with the various log-overs or even the tractor tire. All was good and right. We headed through Squirrel's nest where I washed out in some sand as did Taylor right before I got there. Once through that, both Kyle and Taylor gave pause to the gnarly looking drop through the wash by the river while I plowed through it. They had enough of the sand though and headed back for more flatlanding in Denmans while I opted to stress the legs on Hillside and Rollercoaster.
I ran Hillside about every way I could think of back and forth and I'm pretty certain I rode about 99% of the track up there including one dead end washout. I rode a few of the trails a couple times just linking things together and even road some backwards. I even cleared the angled log that always makes me pause and did it pretty much at speed. Nary a bump felt on the chain ring as I sailed my happy ass over it and carved my way down the hill beyond. After that, it was time for a requisite lap of Rollercoaster. I blasted everything and had a chain skip cause me to stop at the bottom of the switchback, but that was the only hiccup on that trail. I even cleared a nice rock at the entrance by the pond that I'd previously only been eyeballing. Something was just clicking with my ability to hop obstacles for sure.
I finally turned back as it would soon be dusk and I hoped to make it in time to the shop for a post ride brew. I attacked Denmans in reverse and everything fell into place. The flow just seemed even better that I ever remembered it. Logs barely made bumps as I cleared them with ease. I cleaned one new (for me) log out by the firepit that I hadn't attempted before and I had my eye on the prize. The entrance log to Denmans has amazed me from the get go. Watching the good riders hop it like it was nothing more than a twig put me in awe. As I rode, I was determined to give it a go tonight. At the worst, I'd be at the end of my ride and have a nice little crash to laugh at, but maybe just maybe things would be right and I'd clear it too.
I'll have to admit, as I approached it from the back side, I chickened out and went around. The angle just didn't seem right and the approach to steep. I circled through and came out of the woods headed towards home. Then, I circled back, eyed the target and cleared it with ease. Shoot, I don't know that I've ever cleaned anything quite that easy. I'm sure I let out a whoop of jubilation and then just to make it official I went ahead and hit it from the back too. It wasn't quite as clean as I made it over and then had to push off the tree on the far side after I was over it, but I made it.
Of course, you know the rest of the story....
I burned some serious wife points last night and got the pass to go riding again before the conditions were lost. I tried playing it cool, but I think my giddiness to go riding again probably wasn't well hidden in the face of a mountain of dishes and other household chores I really should've been helping out on. I'm sure I'll be making up for that tonight! In any case, I raced home as soon as I could escape the grip of the "Man" and ripped through getting changed and back out the door. I parked at the shop so I could say hello to the boys and have a few minutes spin via the levee trail to warm things up.
Feeling a bit spunky I decided to see where I was in comparison to last years Quarter Rage efforts. I ripped off a 22:40 something on my first pass through. Not blazing by any means, but a good start considering I've still got the tubes in and slower rubber mounted. I'm hoping to get much closer to 20 flat by the end of the year. Judging by my pace and comfort level on my final lap (in reverse) of the night, I don't think it's too far out of the question.
I met up with Kyle, Taylor, and Rick Noyce for some more fun at 5:45. We headed back down for my 2nd lap through Denman's where I chased Kyle pretty much all the way through. I felt like I was hammering the trail and wasn't having any problems with the various log-overs or even the tractor tire. All was good and right. We headed through Squirrel's nest where I washed out in some sand as did Taylor right before I got there. Once through that, both Kyle and Taylor gave pause to the gnarly looking drop through the wash by the river while I plowed through it. They had enough of the sand though and headed back for more flatlanding in Denmans while I opted to stress the legs on Hillside and Rollercoaster.
I ran Hillside about every way I could think of back and forth and I'm pretty certain I rode about 99% of the track up there including one dead end washout. I rode a few of the trails a couple times just linking things together and even road some backwards. I even cleared the angled log that always makes me pause and did it pretty much at speed. Nary a bump felt on the chain ring as I sailed my happy ass over it and carved my way down the hill beyond. After that, it was time for a requisite lap of Rollercoaster. I blasted everything and had a chain skip cause me to stop at the bottom of the switchback, but that was the only hiccup on that trail. I even cleared a nice rock at the entrance by the pond that I'd previously only been eyeballing. Something was just clicking with my ability to hop obstacles for sure.
I finally turned back as it would soon be dusk and I hoped to make it in time to the shop for a post ride brew. I attacked Denmans in reverse and everything fell into place. The flow just seemed even better that I ever remembered it. Logs barely made bumps as I cleared them with ease. I cleaned one new (for me) log out by the firepit that I hadn't attempted before and I had my eye on the prize. The entrance log to Denmans has amazed me from the get go. Watching the good riders hop it like it was nothing more than a twig put me in awe. As I rode, I was determined to give it a go tonight. At the worst, I'd be at the end of my ride and have a nice little crash to laugh at, but maybe just maybe things would be right and I'd clear it too.
I'll have to admit, as I approached it from the back side, I chickened out and went around. The angle just didn't seem right and the approach to steep. I circled through and came out of the woods headed towards home. Then, I circled back, eyed the target and cleared it with ease. Shoot, I don't know that I've ever cleaned anything quite that easy. I'm sure I let out a whoop of jubilation and then just to make it official I went ahead and hit it from the back too. It wasn't quite as clean as I made it over and then had to push off the tree on the far side after I was over it, but I made it.
Of course, you know the rest of the story....
Karma's bitch
Yes, I am officially owned by Karma. She done stuck it, broke it off, and didn't even offer up a reach around. As opposed to my well played April fools prank of saying my bike was crushed in an unfortunate crane accident at work, this one is real. I went from the highest point to pretty damn low in about 2 seconds flat once Greg informed me that my seat bag was hanging wide open and had apparently puked all of it's contents somewhere during the last 25 miles of mostly singletrack. That makes this the 2nd time I've had this particular brand of bad luck. It happened last summer and I lost just my keys only to find them pretty easily. I would swear I double checked the zipper was done up right before pulling out last night, but apparently it wasn't and I'm the only one to blame. The tally wasn't terrible, but bad enough- 29'er tube, 2 CO2 canisters, CO2 inflater, spare link, keys, and my money clip with ID and credit cards.
Kyle actually found the keys on their second lap through Denman's after I'd headed off to get some Hillside action. He was kind enough to turn around from the other side of town and run them back to the shop so I could at least get home. I definitely owe him a beer or three. Around 7:30 I headed back out with my bright as light mounted up for a slow lap of Denmans to scour for the missing money clip. With the light pretty well dead, I headed home a little after nine empty handed. I was back out before the ass crack of dawn (about 5:15 AM for those unfamiliar with the terminology) and spent 3 hours walking every step of the trail I didn't cover on bike last night. I can now pretty much say I'm intimately familiar with about every step of the center trails and then some. A few others are keeping an eye out while riding this afternoon, but I've pulled the plug on the cards all ready so I'm just hoping to get the ID back so I don't have to get it replaced.
Kyle actually found the keys on their second lap through Denman's after I'd headed off to get some Hillside action. He was kind enough to turn around from the other side of town and run them back to the shop so I could at least get home. I definitely owe him a beer or three. Around 7:30 I headed back out with my bright as light mounted up for a slow lap of Denmans to scour for the missing money clip. With the light pretty well dead, I headed home a little after nine empty handed. I was back out before the ass crack of dawn (about 5:15 AM for those unfamiliar with the terminology) and spent 3 hours walking every step of the trail I didn't cover on bike last night. I can now pretty much say I'm intimately familiar with about every step of the center trails and then some. A few others are keeping an eye out while riding this afternoon, but I've pulled the plug on the cards all ready so I'm just hoping to get the ID back so I don't have to get it replaced.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Musings
The shop was packed with Wednesday night riders last night. The PRC Papa Johns Ride was kicking off for the year and though there was no official announcement, the taco ride kicked off as well for us dirt lovers. A few of us met up for some dirt lovin good times.
The trails were in conditions that were nearly unbelievable. They were dry yet tacky and perfect for riding. The only thing that possibly could have made it better was if they'd been ridden a little more to clear the line of some debris, but I don't think we could've asked for any more.
I let my arm get twisted to hang with the guys and hit tacos when I really should have hit another lap through Denman's on the return route. I even considered joining Courtney for an additional lap with lights, but by the time I rolled out of Gif's all fat and happy, it was too late and I needed to head for home.
As for the musings, something struck me last night and carried over through this morning. It had been a week since I'd been on the bike. A busy week at that with lots of stuff going on both at work and home. That's life. That's how it happens. In the past few days, I've really been pretty blah and beat down feeling. Even before I got on my bike last night, I was all ready calmer and in a better mood than I'd been in almost a week. Getting on the bike only cemented the feeling into place. Chasing Squirrel around and blowing the cobwebs out just drilled it into my head. I NEED to bike, I want to bike. And getting out on my bike makes me want to get out on my bike even more. It's a self perpetuating cycle (haha) so to speak.
I think it's starting to become more clear to me. If I want peace of mind, sanity, focus, and clarity, I need that time on the saddle. Now I just need to figure out better ways to work my biking into life and vice versa.
The trails were in conditions that were nearly unbelievable. They were dry yet tacky and perfect for riding. The only thing that possibly could have made it better was if they'd been ridden a little more to clear the line of some debris, but I don't think we could've asked for any more.
I let my arm get twisted to hang with the guys and hit tacos when I really should have hit another lap through Denman's on the return route. I even considered joining Courtney for an additional lap with lights, but by the time I rolled out of Gif's all fat and happy, it was too late and I needed to head for home.
As for the musings, something struck me last night and carried over through this morning. It had been a week since I'd been on the bike. A busy week at that with lots of stuff going on both at work and home. That's life. That's how it happens. In the past few days, I've really been pretty blah and beat down feeling. Even before I got on my bike last night, I was all ready calmer and in a better mood than I'd been in almost a week. Getting on the bike only cemented the feeling into place. Chasing Squirrel around and blowing the cobwebs out just drilled it into my head. I NEED to bike, I want to bike. And getting out on my bike makes me want to get out on my bike even more. It's a self perpetuating cycle (haha) so to speak.
I think it's starting to become more clear to me. If I want peace of mind, sanity, focus, and clarity, I need that time on the saddle. Now I just need to figure out better ways to work my biking into life and vice versa.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A bit more like it
As I mentioned yesterday, I have been feeling like my training efforts have been a bit substandard so to speak. That's not to say that I haven't been riding hard here and there, but the times I'm supposed to be going out for a truly hard ride/race simulation, I've been giving only 80-90% effort and getting done with the ride having some gas left in the tank.
Last night I was lucky enough to get a preview of the new PRC Papa John's route. Its similar to last years Wednesday night route, but with a new start location and some interesting routing to get the group out to the same area as last year. It should be a great time.
Roughly 8-10 of us rolled out from Rassy's and some indecision left myself and Courtney off the front and on our own. We rolled a light or two the others didn't make and even with a slow down on the way out to our loop, we didn't see the pack again. Once we hit the loop which consists of 6.75 miles of rolling hills interspersed with a couple decent climbs, I hammered it. Soon enough I was on my own completely which was fine by me as I wasn't planning on it being otherwise. A good breeze out of the west at 15mph hampered things a bit, but in reality didn't even phase me compared to the struggle from the night before. I was on the cross bike to keep things a bit more challenging and to get some additional seat time in prep for taking it on the Almanzo 100.
The first lap clicked off in 22:05 and I kept on it for another lap finishing out in 22:29. Pretty even considering I was covering almost 7 miles each lap. By the end of the 2nd lap I had hoped to catch the rest of the group, but alas they were nowhere in sight. I was feeling the burn pretty good and satisfied with having put in a good effort. I guess my designation for a good effort is determined by how light headed and slightly nauseous I feel at the end before I start recovering. There was definitely a tinge of burn in the stomach last night and just enough bending around the edges to call it quits. I backed things off a bit and still moved along at a decent clip back to my truck. 31 miles and a shade under 2 hours off the clock. I did meet up with a few riders still chatting back at the shop and talked to them for a minute.
After that, it was off to the nirvana of tacos, beer, and buddies. Tom joined me for some chatting as we chowed on tacos and Courtney showed up a bit later as well since he had a few extra miles needed to finish out his century. A good effort rewarded by some indulgent fueling. Probably not the best solution on keeping myself lean and mean, but you just gotta enjoy the spoils sometimes.
Last night I was lucky enough to get a preview of the new PRC Papa John's route. Its similar to last years Wednesday night route, but with a new start location and some interesting routing to get the group out to the same area as last year. It should be a great time.
Roughly 8-10 of us rolled out from Rassy's and some indecision left myself and Courtney off the front and on our own. We rolled a light or two the others didn't make and even with a slow down on the way out to our loop, we didn't see the pack again. Once we hit the loop which consists of 6.75 miles of rolling hills interspersed with a couple decent climbs, I hammered it. Soon enough I was on my own completely which was fine by me as I wasn't planning on it being otherwise. A good breeze out of the west at 15mph hampered things a bit, but in reality didn't even phase me compared to the struggle from the night before. I was on the cross bike to keep things a bit more challenging and to get some additional seat time in prep for taking it on the Almanzo 100.
The first lap clicked off in 22:05 and I kept on it for another lap finishing out in 22:29. Pretty even considering I was covering almost 7 miles each lap. By the end of the 2nd lap I had hoped to catch the rest of the group, but alas they were nowhere in sight. I was feeling the burn pretty good and satisfied with having put in a good effort. I guess my designation for a good effort is determined by how light headed and slightly nauseous I feel at the end before I start recovering. There was definitely a tinge of burn in the stomach last night and just enough bending around the edges to call it quits. I backed things off a bit and still moved along at a decent clip back to my truck. 31 miles and a shade under 2 hours off the clock. I did meet up with a few riders still chatting back at the shop and talked to them for a minute.
After that, it was off to the nirvana of tacos, beer, and buddies. Tom joined me for some chatting as we chowed on tacos and Courtney showed up a bit later as well since he had a few extra miles needed to finish out his century. A good effort rewarded by some indulgent fueling. Probably not the best solution on keeping myself lean and mean, but you just gotta enjoy the spoils sometimes.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The wicked wind of the west
TNWC #1 and #2 are now in the books for the year. What a change since last week. In episode #1 not only did I make it north of Ankeny, but actually made it to the Slater turn before popping off the back. We had a large group that was well mannered if not down right civilized. Even after I fell off I was able to hop in with the B group and rotate through a paceline for a bit and then got dropped again when we turned south, but at least there was tailwind at that point. Temps were in the 60's and overall great. A northerly wind kept the pace pretty mellow as we headed out which I'm sure helped to keep me on as long as I did. Previously, the north edge of Ankeny was my best for sticking with the group. I think a good part of it is that I need more than just the roll through town to really get warmed up.
Last night was a whole different ball game. I was glad for not only the long sleeve jersey, but the long sleeve winter base I had on as well. 50 and WINDY was the name of the game. We had cross tail wind all the way out which meant I knew we'd be going fast out and suffering back. I got popped early on and then caught back up at a stop light before getting dropped again another mile down the road. Such is life. At least I wasn't the first one off so that's an improvement over last year.
I ended up pretty much alone as we headed out of Ankeny and then an A9Y rider hit one of the shortcuts turning west 2 miles before the normal turn. Bratz also tagged in with us and we shared the work into the west wind. We were working hard to maintain low teens even rotating through the paceline as the wind howled at 25+ mph. Once we turned back south to hit Polk City, the wind seemed a lot less wicked. I knew we weren't done yet though as we still had to cross the mile long bridge. We caught a number of other riders who had taken another of the shortcuts in Polk City and formed more of a paceline as we hit the bridge. Just keeping in the draft was a chore as we were buffeted from the front and side. We all made it just fine and turned back south.
Just a mile or so into the south we got passed by the lead group that had run the full loop (we cut off 4 miles). After too much hesitation, Bratz and I gave chase and were actually making up ground as we rotated with each other. Being new to drafting though, Bratz gave it a bit too much gas on his pull and popped off the back when I took the lead. Alone again, I just held my speed to what I could muster and the front group headed off into the distance. Just before the tanks at Camp Dodge another rider passed me and indicated I should hop on, so I obliged and we blew on into the Merle Hay turn. We held up waiting for another group of riders at this point and were joking a bit on how much the wind sucked. We finally rolled back to the start with 2 hours on the clock.
My pace dropped 1.5 MPH from last weeks average. and I'd gone 4 miles less. My muscles ached when I got done, but nothing major. While I know I'm in better shape right now that at any point ever before, I'm starting to have this annoying habit of trying to keep some gas in the tank at the end of the ride. I remember numerous rides from last year getting back to my truck and having to fight the urge to hurl if I breathed too deeply. I'm actually staying with the group easier this year with less effort, but I still think maybe I should be pushing harder to stay with the group and hammering through the entire ride rather than keeping something back. TNWC is supposed to simulate a race effort so I should be giving it my all, I just haven't made it click yet.
Last night was a whole different ball game. I was glad for not only the long sleeve jersey, but the long sleeve winter base I had on as well. 50 and WINDY was the name of the game. We had cross tail wind all the way out which meant I knew we'd be going fast out and suffering back. I got popped early on and then caught back up at a stop light before getting dropped again another mile down the road. Such is life. At least I wasn't the first one off so that's an improvement over last year.
I ended up pretty much alone as we headed out of Ankeny and then an A9Y rider hit one of the shortcuts turning west 2 miles before the normal turn. Bratz also tagged in with us and we shared the work into the west wind. We were working hard to maintain low teens even rotating through the paceline as the wind howled at 25+ mph. Once we turned back south to hit Polk City, the wind seemed a lot less wicked. I knew we weren't done yet though as we still had to cross the mile long bridge. We caught a number of other riders who had taken another of the shortcuts in Polk City and formed more of a paceline as we hit the bridge. Just keeping in the draft was a chore as we were buffeted from the front and side. We all made it just fine and turned back south.
Just a mile or so into the south we got passed by the lead group that had run the full loop (we cut off 4 miles). After too much hesitation, Bratz and I gave chase and were actually making up ground as we rotated with each other. Being new to drafting though, Bratz gave it a bit too much gas on his pull and popped off the back when I took the lead. Alone again, I just held my speed to what I could muster and the front group headed off into the distance. Just before the tanks at Camp Dodge another rider passed me and indicated I should hop on, so I obliged and we blew on into the Merle Hay turn. We held up waiting for another group of riders at this point and were joking a bit on how much the wind sucked. We finally rolled back to the start with 2 hours on the clock.
My pace dropped 1.5 MPH from last weeks average. and I'd gone 4 miles less. My muscles ached when I got done, but nothing major. While I know I'm in better shape right now that at any point ever before, I'm starting to have this annoying habit of trying to keep some gas in the tank at the end of the ride. I remember numerous rides from last year getting back to my truck and having to fight the urge to hurl if I breathed too deeply. I'm actually staying with the group easier this year with less effort, but I still think maybe I should be pushing harder to stay with the group and hammering through the entire ride rather than keeping something back. TNWC is supposed to simulate a race effort so I should be giving it my all, I just haven't made it click yet.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Weekend rewind
Shooting back to the weekend here since there were some bright spots of note. Friday night we took off to Kansas City to visit some friends. With Bone Bender having been moved to April 18th, we had all ready scheduled to go down and stay so we just kept our plans. Luckily the construction on I-35 in downtown KC wasn't nearly as bad as expected and we still made it to our friends place on time even though we left over an hour later than we anticipated. From there it was a quick turn around to a killer BBQ joint called Oklahoma Joes. Great food and cheap for the amount of food you get. We met up with a few old friends that are holdovers from my car racing/playing days and had a great time catching up on things. Back to our friend's house after that where we put Corley down for bed and then killed some time with a few drinks and playing a couple games before hitting the sack.
There also happened to be an anime convention going on at one of the connected hotels. There was every type of costume you could imagine and what appeared to be an overload of scantily clad underage tweener girls and a number of older-creepy guys. You make the call, but I think one group probably attracts the other. I didn't have the stones to straight up stop and shoot some of the costumes, but I'm sure you can imagine.
MMM, warmth, gravel, and sun. How could you not be smiling?!
I parted company at this point needing to head back in time for Miranda to get to work. I cranked up the wick a bit and managed to add a full MPH to my average by the time I got back to the truck. 60 miles and a shade over 3 hours of riding for the morning. I was one happy camper. 
Saturday had us up at a relatively tame hour and off to breakfast to join up with another couple friends that couldn't meet for dinner. Chatting and catching up ensued as usual. On leaving the restaurant we got a great compliment. The friends that we stayed overnight with made the observation that we'd done a pretty good job of raising Corley in regards to her speech, manners, and general disposition when paired up against the other 2 kids in her age range that had been present at the meals. Made Miranda and I pretty proud.
After we bid our friends adieu, we headed off to Union Station in downtown KC. We hit the Science City which is similar to our own Science Center, but personally, I thought this was way cooler. They had a larger variety of activities and just cooler things in general for the kids to try their hands at. Corley had a ball checking out the various attractions.
After Science City, we finished wandering around Union Station and headed over to Crown Center which is connected by skywalk to do some shopping and grab some lunch. While at Crown Center, there were definitely a few things of interest. There was an OZ display going on celebrating some anniversary of the movie release. It was crawling with people, but we managed to wiggle our way through. Corley thought the trees were pretty interesting.
There also happened to be an anime convention going on at one of the connected hotels. There was every type of costume you could imagine and what appeared to be an overload of scantily clad underage tweener girls and a number of older-creepy guys. You make the call, but I think one group probably attracts the other. I didn't have the stones to straight up stop and shoot some of the costumes, but I'm sure you can imagine.The afternoon was really nice when we headed out so we opted to walk outside through a couple park areas on our way back to the car.
A few short hours later and we were back at home grabbing some much needed rest from the beginning of the weekend.
I got up early Sunday to join a few roadies for a "zone 2" ride out towards Van Meter. Apparently Zone 2 is code for kill it as long as you can and then back it down a bit from there. As we hit the hills out towards Grand on UTE rd, I thought seriously the coffee and bar I'd had for breakfast would be making it's second appearance of the morning. Luckily we swept through a housing area to take a look at Tony Nichols latest project house and I got my wits back about me. After that it was mostly a game of sitting in and watch Tony show off. The highlight of which was him passing us uphill while pedalling with 1 leg, showoff.
After almost 2 hours in "zone 2" it was time for something a bit more relaxing as I met up with the gravellers for a jaunt out on the Booneville loop. The pace was much more mellow as we rolled out and having been properly warmed up all ready, I hit the hills with a little more gusto than the rest and got to Booneville with enough time to make a quick pit stop at Waveland West.
MMM, warmth, gravel, and sun. How could you not be smiling?!
I parted company at this point needing to head back in time for Miranda to get to work. I cranked up the wick a bit and managed to add a full MPH to my average by the time I got back to the truck. 60 miles and a shade over 3 hours of riding for the morning. I was one happy camper.Not one to waste a gorgeous afternoon, I took Corley out to the park for the first time this year. It took me forever to find the park entrance since I'd only ridden to it before, but eventually we made our way in and she played for close to an hour before we packed it in. A great way to cap off the weekend.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
TNWC tonight
RDS5K is meeting at Grounds for Celebration at 5:15ish. Can't say as to the rest of the group of riders as the original BW location has been mentioned along with thee old Targhetto building on Euclid at the rver bridge. See you soon, though you may think twice once you figure out what the video is actually in reference too...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Some things I learned
If nothing else, the race this weekend put into perspective some definite gray areas for me. Lucky you, the reader, I'm going to put them down in no particular order and let you sort them out.
1) If you're aware of the weather conditions and start the race when its ugly, be prepared to suffer long and hard for your foolishness. I'm sure most of us racers heard from someone this weekend that we were a bunch of crazy fockers to be out there racing (let alone riding) on a day like Sunday. I thought I was pretty well prepared, but the weather gave me a hard kick in the junk that I won't soon forget.
2) Waterproof/resistant shoes can just as easily turn into watertight containers. I didn't think much about water running down into my shoes other than knowing it would happen and trying to keep it from happening for at least a little while. I didn't realize once it entered, it wouldn't be able to escape due to lack of venting on the bottoms of my winter shoes. Luckily I didn't end up like this. Granted it was nowhere near as cold down here as up in Alaska, but cold extremities for extended periods of time are no joke.
3) My gloves even when sopping wet kept my hands from going numb. Even though I was planning on them resisting the water more than they did (going to treat them to some water repellent soon), my gloves did a good job of keeping my hands from going past the point of just being cold and were actually relatively speaking "warm" or at least not as cold at a few points even after they were soaked to the bone.
4) A waterproof shell is an amazing thing. I was soaked over roughly 75% of my body. However, my core was toasty and sweaty (but not overly so) and my head was dry thanks to a couple great pieces of equipment. The main piece was my Pearl Izumi jacket/shell that cost me way too much when I bought it, but has repaid itself in numerous conditions. The 2nd piece was my choice to go with a wind/waterproof fleece balaclava versus just a hat. The sleet on course really drove this point home as I was able to pull it up covering almost my entire face during the nasty descents where ice pellets ricocheted off us at 30+ mph.
5) My amfib bibs did a great job of keeping my legs warm, but seem to have gone beyond their usefulness in the water repellent role. I might try hitting them with some water repellent spray, but for the most part, I think they're used up in that area. They still do a great job of keeping me warm enough even in extra nasty conditions. I've ridden them down to zero degree windchill with just bib shorts underneath and still been comfortable enough that I didn't think about needing another layer.
6) Be prepared for your bike gear to turn into a crappy mess when done and possibly using up some of the parts. Upon tear down and inspection last night I noted both my bottom bracket and rear derailleur were pretty trashed (moreso than the rest of the bike). The derailleur can be cleaned and greased enough to remain in service, but I think the bearing on the BB are too toast to do anything other than limp along so it will be getting replaced. Additionally, the shifter cables were coated inside the housings in a fine layer of wet gravel dust. My right hand still has a charlie horse from the amount of effort it took to upshift as the race wore on. I thought it was just my hands getting cold at the time. Other than that, the bike was covered in a fine layer of crap, but nothing a good washing couldn't cure. The chain and cassette will both need worked over in the solvent take and I might eyeball the chain for replacement too pending how it looks once cleaned and lubed.
7) Be prepared for the conditions as much as possible when selecting your ride. In my case, it was unprepared with my bike choice. Had I been home on Saturday, I would have had the opportunity to check out the gravel conditions first hand and would probably have brought the cross bike. I think I could have knocked a solid 20-30 minutes off my time on the cross bike with the condition of the gravel. As I was guessing, I opted for the safe choice and missed the mark. Better safe than sorry, but in this instance I should have been able to put home field advantage to use. I rode gravel 4 days before the race including some of the race course. I knew how concrete the base was before the rain, I just didn't know how much softening the rain had done.
8) If you're going to listen to music during a race like this, at least have the forethought to put together a long ass playlist that won't need to be repeated multiple times to get you through the course. As I couldn't reach the IPOD on my arm other than to hit play or skip, I had no way of moving to another playlist unless I wanted to stop and strip off my jacket and that wasn't happening.
9) If racing in weather where nutrition is going to be needed to finish the race, make sure it's easily accessed. I eschewed putting a bento bag on my top tube due to the ridicule I've received in the past from several other racers. Granted, in some cases its definitely a bit overkill, but Sunday it would have shined. As it were, I ended up spending precious energy and time stopping to get nutrition and additionally not spreading it out as much as I should have. I bonked and recovered a couple times during the race and all I really needed was a gel or shot of something a little sooner than I took it on, but I didn't want to stop and get it out of my jersey pocket which would involve stripping a glove off, rummaging under my shell, and probably stopping or slowing to a near crawl.
I think that's probably enough lessons for now, but it covers pretty much everything that I vividly remembering being a point to think about during or shortly after the race.
1) If you're aware of the weather conditions and start the race when its ugly, be prepared to suffer long and hard for your foolishness. I'm sure most of us racers heard from someone this weekend that we were a bunch of crazy fockers to be out there racing (let alone riding) on a day like Sunday. I thought I was pretty well prepared, but the weather gave me a hard kick in the junk that I won't soon forget.
2) Waterproof/resistant shoes can just as easily turn into watertight containers. I didn't think much about water running down into my shoes other than knowing it would happen and trying to keep it from happening for at least a little while. I didn't realize once it entered, it wouldn't be able to escape due to lack of venting on the bottoms of my winter shoes. Luckily I didn't end up like this. Granted it was nowhere near as cold down here as up in Alaska, but cold extremities for extended periods of time are no joke.
3) My gloves even when sopping wet kept my hands from going numb. Even though I was planning on them resisting the water more than they did (going to treat them to some water repellent soon), my gloves did a good job of keeping my hands from going past the point of just being cold and were actually relatively speaking "warm" or at least not as cold at a few points even after they were soaked to the bone.
4) A waterproof shell is an amazing thing. I was soaked over roughly 75% of my body. However, my core was toasty and sweaty (but not overly so) and my head was dry thanks to a couple great pieces of equipment. The main piece was my Pearl Izumi jacket/shell that cost me way too much when I bought it, but has repaid itself in numerous conditions. The 2nd piece was my choice to go with a wind/waterproof fleece balaclava versus just a hat. The sleet on course really drove this point home as I was able to pull it up covering almost my entire face during the nasty descents where ice pellets ricocheted off us at 30+ mph.
5) My amfib bibs did a great job of keeping my legs warm, but seem to have gone beyond their usefulness in the water repellent role. I might try hitting them with some water repellent spray, but for the most part, I think they're used up in that area. They still do a great job of keeping me warm enough even in extra nasty conditions. I've ridden them down to zero degree windchill with just bib shorts underneath and still been comfortable enough that I didn't think about needing another layer.
6) Be prepared for your bike gear to turn into a crappy mess when done and possibly using up some of the parts. Upon tear down and inspection last night I noted both my bottom bracket and rear derailleur were pretty trashed (moreso than the rest of the bike). The derailleur can be cleaned and greased enough to remain in service, but I think the bearing on the BB are too toast to do anything other than limp along so it will be getting replaced. Additionally, the shifter cables were coated inside the housings in a fine layer of wet gravel dust. My right hand still has a charlie horse from the amount of effort it took to upshift as the race wore on. I thought it was just my hands getting cold at the time. Other than that, the bike was covered in a fine layer of crap, but nothing a good washing couldn't cure. The chain and cassette will both need worked over in the solvent take and I might eyeball the chain for replacement too pending how it looks once cleaned and lubed.
7) Be prepared for the conditions as much as possible when selecting your ride. In my case, it was unprepared with my bike choice. Had I been home on Saturday, I would have had the opportunity to check out the gravel conditions first hand and would probably have brought the cross bike. I think I could have knocked a solid 20-30 minutes off my time on the cross bike with the condition of the gravel. As I was guessing, I opted for the safe choice and missed the mark. Better safe than sorry, but in this instance I should have been able to put home field advantage to use. I rode gravel 4 days before the race including some of the race course. I knew how concrete the base was before the rain, I just didn't know how much softening the rain had done.
8) If you're going to listen to music during a race like this, at least have the forethought to put together a long ass playlist that won't need to be repeated multiple times to get you through the course. As I couldn't reach the IPOD on my arm other than to hit play or skip, I had no way of moving to another playlist unless I wanted to stop and strip off my jacket and that wasn't happening.
9) If racing in weather where nutrition is going to be needed to finish the race, make sure it's easily accessed. I eschewed putting a bento bag on my top tube due to the ridicule I've received in the past from several other racers. Granted, in some cases its definitely a bit overkill, but Sunday it would have shined. As it were, I ended up spending precious energy and time stopping to get nutrition and additionally not spreading it out as much as I should have. I bonked and recovered a couple times during the race and all I really needed was a gel or shot of something a little sooner than I took it on, but I didn't want to stop and get it out of my jersey pocket which would involve stripping a glove off, rummaging under my shell, and probably stopping or slowing to a near crawl.
I think that's probably enough lessons for now, but it covers pretty much everything that I vividly remembering being a point to think about during or shortly after the race.
Bone Bummer
Race postponed until the 18th of April. Definitely a bummer as it runs up on top of the opening salvo in the IORCA series, but alas, it is what it is. I'm sort of relieved as it gives me a bit more time to tweak things and un-tweak others (namely my left leg).
My bike was a mess when I tore into it last night and definitely wasn't going to be fun to clean up and service just to trash it again this weekend. I'll take some time to do some serious spring cleaning now and stay off the bike for another day before getting back on track. I'm hoping to get healthy enough to hit TNWC starting next week and hang onto the Q group (inside joke).
I'll try to put something together over lunch reviewing the various thoughts and things I learned after CIRREM.
My bike was a mess when I tore into it last night and definitely wasn't going to be fun to clean up and service just to trash it again this weekend. I'll take some time to do some serious spring cleaning now and stay off the bike for another day before getting back on track. I'm hoping to get healthy enough to hit TNWC starting next week and hang onto the Q group (inside joke).
I'll try to put something together over lunch reviewing the various thoughts and things I learned after CIRREM.
Monday, March 09, 2009
CIRREM recap
What a way to kick off the race season. CIRREM was a kick in the nuts to say the least. I remember thinking a couple of times throughout the course that if I made it back to the finish and had enough energy, I wouldn't mind sharing that kick in the nuts with Kent or Jed who organized this suffer fest. OK, so it was all in good fun, but the thought made me smile a bit.
I made it down for the free breakfast burritos and other goodies provided by the Cumming Tap, but a late night run back from Omaha left me running on about 4 hours of sleep all told. I wasn't quite up for stomaching a burrito though so I managed to eat half a cinnamon roll and half a Clif builder bar. Not exactly the breakfast of champions or the hopeful endurance racer, but it was as best I could do. We gathered about 25 strong for the start of the race in the rain and slop at 9 AM. While it was raining steadily, the gravel was in better than expected condition with a solid base and overall it was pretty firm considering the 1.5" of rain we'd had on Saturday.
Right off the bat I didn't feel that buzz in my legs. I stayed with the lead pack for about a mile and then slowly worked my way backward until I was pretty much last man standing. I knew it would be a long race and as I warmed up the engine, hopefully I'd real in some of the people that cooked it right out of the gate. I kept the pace reasonable and slowly I did real in a few people. the most notable thing in my mind was where I was gaining ground. Rolling the downhills and flats I maintained, but on the hills I seemed to gain the majority of my ground. I really think I'm a pretty weak climber, but my sitting down and cranking the hills seemed to garner me a lot more speed than those climbing out of the saddle.
Around 15 miles in, I noticed the rain starting to seep into my shoes as it drained down off my legs and into the neoprene cuff on my winter shoes. Nothing much I could do, but wait for the inevitable cold and sogginess to set in. By 20 miles in, I had water literally sloshing inside my shoes. The nice thing about winter shoes is they're really well sealed on the bottom side. The really bad thing about winter shoes is they're really well sealed on the bottom side. I now was riding in two partially filled canoes with water sloshing back and forth on each pedal stroke. By mile 25, my feet had settled into being uncomfortably cold and nearing numb. I'm not sure where they actually went numb, but I just remember noting that it felt like I was pedalling with two solid boxes attached to the bottoms of my legs. Its a great feeling I tell ya!
Somewhere in here Dennis suffered a crank failure and a couple of us stopped to phone some roving support to get back to the bar. I also passed Chris down from Rochester fiddling with a dropped chain on his fixie. Both would make opt out of the race and head back for the warmth of the Cumming Tap. I would be lying if I didn't say thoughts of pulling out were in my head for a solid 3/4 of the ride. I'd make deals with myself and then renegotiate every few miles until I finally got close enough to the end that I knew there was no reason to quit. Through to this point, we'd been having bouts of rain, sleet (feels great on 30 mph descents), and chunk rain/snow mix along with the varying winds.
A nature stop about midway up a rise put me off the back and chasing again. Trying to pee when your hands and various other parts of your body are approaching critical levels of cold takes a while. I think I lost close to 5 minutes stopped before I could get moving again. I took the opportunity to suck down a gel and got back on the bike feeling much less bloated and overall in better spirits. I could still catch glimpses of the large group ahead of me as we'd hit long stretches of rollers where they'd be a hill or two ahead of me. I was slowly closing in again.
At the checkpoint the group in front of me were stopped to warm up and catch some nutrition. I gave them my number and after digging out a half clif bar and a gel to eat along the way, was back on my bike in just a minute or two. I opted to keep moving and eating in lieu of sticking around with the group. That decision probably saved me from DNFing as just after I left, the group collectively decided to head back towards the start and meet up with Sumpter's lady driving the big black van of salvation. I mistakenly thought the one person I was decidedly racing against was part of the group I'd just passed. Kurt Benson and I have had some fun going back and forth trying to beat each other at a few various races and were engaged in some good natured smack talking during this race as well. In my haste to leave the checkpoint, I hadn't noticed that he'd kept right on going as well. I also made a 2nd mistake at the checkpoint. I'd opted to run with only 2-16oz bottles for the race and didn't take advantage of the refill station. I'll get back to this later.
From the checkpoint on we really suffered the hills and wind even more. A push up the monster hill on Old Portland road was the biggest grunt of the course, but it was the 5 mile stretch headed due north shortly after that where I hit the wall. I finally got off the bike with numb feet, cold hands, and little energy to walk a short stretch. I could see a few riders at varying points up in front of me and wondered if they were suffering the same as I. I also got passed by a way too energetic Kent along in here somewhere and wondered how he'd gotten behind me. Sucking down a gel as I walked, I felt every so slightly better and hopped back on after walking about a 1/4 mile. Eventually, as I rolled north, I realized I was indeed picking up ground on at least one rider in front of me. By the time we'd turned east again, I was pretty close and eventually caught up to Ben who was suffering mightily on his fixie and walking a number of hills. We chatted for a bit and I learned Kurt was actually up the road at this point and I resigned myself that he was in better shape for the day.
We were somewhere around 10 miles left to go when I began to bonk again, I was running dangerously low on water and even lower on energy. I snuck out my last bit of food in the form of a pack of sport beans I'd grabbed from the schwag table at sign up. Never having tried them before, I was pleasantly surprised to find they gave me a nice shot of energy and I was back to chasing for a bit. Up ahead, I could make out a figure all in black. There was my rabbit. Kurt was moving about the same pace as I was, but again, I made up time on the uphills. Ever so slowly, I gained ground on him and caught back on.
Regardless of the suffering throughout the course, the real fun was the last half hour. Kurt and I duked it out for a semi-climactic finish. I caught him a couple miles out of town and rather than attempt to kill each other pushing the pace we reached a gentleman’s agreement to find a suitable sprint point close to town and go from there. Kurt, ever the showman, decided to make it more interesting by wiping out hard not once, but twice inside the last 3 miles. He dropped a wheel off into a crack on a nasty wooden bridge flipping over the bars and apparently didn’t think he’d done enough damage at that point and opted to have me roll over a couple various body parts as I attempted to miss him. Holding to the agreement, I waited while he got himself back together and we let that sneaky Ben Shockey slide past us. I also have to give some major ups to Kurt's chase crew for refilling my bottle at this point as I was out and sinking into a stupor fast.
From there we determined the turn onto 25th street would be the start of the sprint (if you can call 7 tenths of a mile a “sprint”). I did my best to drop him off my wheel as we headed up a slight incline since that seemed to be my strong point of the day. Alas, I had nothing left in the tank and he gritted his teeth determined we would be sprinting it out across the Cumming Highway to the tap. As we both stood up to hammer the last hundred yards he later told me he was attempting to give me the old slide job and cut me off. A slight miscalculation on his part (only by 5 feet or so) had him bouncing off my back wheel and skidding across the highway leaving me to finish out the sprint wondering what the hell just happened. We finished close enough to DFL to taste it, but alas, we weren’t quite that lucky.
I finished 10th, Kurt 11th, and one final finisher rounded out 12 of the 25 starters. 13 DNF's so I feel good just having completed the ride. I did walk away with some pretty sweet schwag in the form of a case of Off Kilter Ale courtesy of Olde Main Brewing!
All in all I great day to suffer on the bike and damn was I glad when it was done. I'll post a few more post race lessons and thoughts a bit later on.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Stretching the legs a bit
Took off on an early ride yesterday thanks to the ladies at PRC. We headed out from East Village towards the wilds of Altoona and beyond. The plan was to roll through a lap of the Altoona Road Race course coming up April 4. All told I think 12 or so of us rolled out around 3:30 including birthday girl Keely and her dad. Funny, we had 3 Rick's on the ride (myself, Keely's dad, and Mr. Noyce).
For the most part we kept the pace at a decent tempo though I kept trying to push the hills just to see how my legs would respond. There really isn't much climbing on the way out to the course with the exception of a couple smaller hills and one slow climb at the edge of Pleasant Hill. We regrouped at Four Mile School and took off from there enjoying a pretty decent cross tailwind. After pushing a couple hills early on, a group of 4 of us broke out and kept the pace up as we followed the loop. We hit a pretty crazy crosswind and then headed back into the headwind as the course looped around. I hadn't been on the course before so the hills were a bit of fun for me. I could definitely envision the damage some people with climbing legs would put on the others during the race. I even managed to pop the other 3 off the back on the final climb up to Vandalia where I pushed the pace to purposely test myself. Strangely enough I felt good at the top and opened up a small gap at the same time.
After that, we regrouped and rolled back to the school working on some drafting techniques with the tri-guy who stayed in the front group. A quick break while we waited for the main pack and a few more minutes chatting and we headed back to town. Keely treated us all to some massive rice krispie treats in honor of her birthday and thanks to her mom and dad. We gorged ourselves for a few minutes and rolled ourselves back to head home. 2 hours and a shade over 30 miles on the bike all while enjoying 75 degree weather in early March! How could you ask for much more?
Just a friendly reminder for those interested in gravel: CIRREM is this Sunday. Hope to see you there and enjoying some suffering out on the course.
For the most part we kept the pace at a decent tempo though I kept trying to push the hills just to see how my legs would respond. There really isn't much climbing on the way out to the course with the exception of a couple smaller hills and one slow climb at the edge of Pleasant Hill. We regrouped at Four Mile School and took off from there enjoying a pretty decent cross tailwind. After pushing a couple hills early on, a group of 4 of us broke out and kept the pace up as we followed the loop. We hit a pretty crazy crosswind and then headed back into the headwind as the course looped around. I hadn't been on the course before so the hills were a bit of fun for me. I could definitely envision the damage some people with climbing legs would put on the others during the race. I even managed to pop the other 3 off the back on the final climb up to Vandalia where I pushed the pace to purposely test myself. Strangely enough I felt good at the top and opened up a small gap at the same time.
After that, we regrouped and rolled back to the school working on some drafting techniques with the tri-guy who stayed in the front group. A quick break while we waited for the main pack and a few more minutes chatting and we headed back to town. Keely treated us all to some massive rice krispie treats in honor of her birthday and thanks to her mom and dad. We gorged ourselves for a few minutes and rolled ourselves back to head home. 2 hours and a shade over 30 miles on the bike all while enjoying 75 degree weather in early March! How could you ask for much more?
Just a friendly reminder for those interested in gravel: CIRREM is this Sunday. Hope to see you there and enjoying some suffering out on the course.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
It was a f#$%ing beautiful day!
... and it should be another awesome one today! I can't wait to get out and ride.
Met up with Chad, Squirrel, Conlan, and Gov for our ration of gravel yesterday. Squirrel opted for some easy putt putt action since he's still recouping. The balance of the group followed my lead (the fools!) and we headed on the gravel south of the airport hooking up with old Army Post before hopping onto the Great Western off of 63rd. We actually headed back south again up a mowed path that runs perpendicular to the Great Western and ties into the gravel running east/west at the top of the hill. A nice little shortcut that kept us off of 63rd. At the top of the hill is a parking area and we found a couple "parking" or more correctly, f#$%cking their brains out in the front seat of a SUV. I'm sure it was a little midday rendezvous of a nefarious nature, but hey, who am I to judge. At least they were enjoying the day as much as we were!
We wound our way towards Orilla and further south on a stretch that is getting ready to be converted to tarmac (what a shame). The headwinds out of the south were fun, but nothing major as the beauty of the day was hard to beat. As we topped a nice steep paved hill Conlan, Chad, and Gov opted to head back while I kept on cruising for a little more mileage. I worked a little further south before turning west and heading into Cumming. The gravel was absolutely beautiful and I cranked up the pace with a cross tailwind. You can't tell I'm enjoying the day, can you?!
I briefly considered finishing out the loop by heading over to Booneville just north of Cumming, but alas the sun was still getting ready to head down, so I opted to cut my enjoyment back short and work back east to Orilla. I did make a strategic decision and added the hilly loop portion of the Ritual Ride onto my route by working down to Walnut Woods drive and doing the soccer hill climb. I was starting to get gassed by the time I worked up to the top of it and headed back to Waterworks and onto Conlan's house where I was parked. 2.5 hours in the warm sun with just shy of 38 miles ticked off and I was a happy camper. I'm headed back out at 3 for another day of soaking up the sun. At least it seems to make coming in to work at 5 in the morning worth my while!
Monday, March 02, 2009
Dirt is hard
Or at least harder when it's frozen solid. Tired of spinning away and going nowhere inside, I headed out early on Sunday morning. As most of my fellow partners in crime are prepping for the sunny skies of Tucson this week, I didn't think anyone would be interested in several hours of cold riding so I headed off alone. On Saturday I tried to get a 2 hour ride in on the trainer and was finding it so monotonous, I hung up the towel after 70 or so minutes. I'll post more about that later as I have some thoughts on training that are starting to creep into my head.
This is actually the more rideable section of road. Beyond the hill behind my bike in the top picture was a mass of solid ruts spanning the entire width of the road requiring full concentration to navigate including walking a short stretch or two. However, I navigated that section just fine, but my luck soon ran out as I botched moving from one rut to another shortly after I stopped to shoot these pics. One second I'm upright and moving forward, the next I'm still moving forward, but now I'm sliding along my left hip and shoulder. Ya, dirt is hard when it's frozen! Ouch. No damaged to the riding gear and bruises will heal so off I head again.
I also managed to catch a nice tailwind at this point of the ride. Though I was routed mostly east/west today, the few sections heading south were tempered by sucking it up as I had to roll north into the wind. Amazing how much stronger 10-15 mph winds feel when they're piggy backed on 10 degree temps. I began to notice as I rolled west that the right side of my face and my right foot were getting increasingly cold. Not much to do at this point but soldier on.
I stopped to consult my map a few times, but for the most part the route was pretty easy to follow. I had one major run in with a pack of 3 dogs just south of Norwalk that got my heart pumping a bit. As I rolled up to the house, 3 medium dogs came running and barking straight at me. I didn't try to out sprint them and opted for the loud voice and yelling at them. Luckily they stayed just far enough back for me to roll past without getting nipped. A few other dogs barked and showed a little attempt at giving chase, but nothing major. It had been so long since I rolled through the countryside, I'd almost forgotten about dogs.
Around 2 hours in, the cold was starting to get me down a bit. For the most part I was staying pretty toasty, but my cold toes were nagging as they'd go from cold to seriously cold, to almost numb and then back to cold again. Seeing that I was going to be running way over time if I rolled the additional 3 miles into Cumming, I headed back north at Orilla catching some pavement before I logged back onto the gravel that runs just south of the golf course on old Army Post.
It was on this stretch I had an almost oh shit moment. After reading too many blogs about crazy guys doing crazy things on their bikes in way below zero temps, I tend to be a little more mindful of my own vulnerability when riding in cold temps. I had no idea what the temp was other than I knew it was as cold or a little colder than I'd ridden in before when I factored in the wind. As the gravel passed under the 65 bypass I stopped to adjust my IPOD armband as it was slinking its way down past my elbow and beginning to bother me. I pealed off my jacket noting the solid layer of frost I'd been building up under it (nothing new) and pulled off my gloves as well. My hands had been comfortably warm all morning and were actually a bit damp with sweat, again nothing new. I got the armband adjusted and put the coat back on. Now time for the gloves. Oh shit, my left hand had stiffened up in the cold air and nearly become immobilized in just a minute or two. With a sweaty inner liner to my gloves and barely able to wiggle my fingers, I literally yanked the glove down over my hand to get the glove back in place. I was amazed at how hard it was getting the glove back on and felt lucky to get it on when I did. I realize I wasn't really in any major danger of losing an appendage to the cold as I had a number of alternate ways to heat it up, but it brought the risk involved with cold weather riding back to the forefront of my attention.
By now I was 2.5 hours in and ready for home. I rolled back in jumping on Army Post to head back to my place and got home with just over 3 hours on the clock and 37 miles down. Not a barn burner pace by any means, but it was good to get out and suffer for a bit. I'll need to draw on that this coming weekend when I head out for CIRREM. I'm short on long distance rides and though I know I can get it done, I need to know that I can put up with a little suffering too. I hope to see a number of you there.
In any case, after 70 minutes, I knew I needed to be outside to get properly motivated. Sunday dawned with a blue bird sky and unbeknowst to me, below zero wind chills. I headed out on the 3 hour tour route knowing that I could cut it short in a couple different spots in case I wasn't maintaining a quick enough pace to roll it all in my 3 hour block. I was a bit excited as I had mapped out a route that would leave me rolling new stretches of gravel and exploring a bit more of the local countryside while still being within the safe confines of being semi local to home in case the need arose. I imagine that I'm not unique in the fact that there are probably hundreds of miles of roadway within 10 miles of home that I've never explored.
I added a dirt road loop that Brian had taken me on last summer during our exploration down to Summerset. It looked like this during the summer: (oops guess it's time to upgrade my flickr account as it's more than 200 pics back!). In any case, at that point in time it was a rut laden treacherous stretch of road where we had to pick our lines through ruts 1-2 foot deep in spots. I guess I was expecting something a bit better for the winter, but as you can see, that wasn't to happen.
This is actually the more rideable section of road. Beyond the hill behind my bike in the top picture was a mass of solid ruts spanning the entire width of the road requiring full concentration to navigate including walking a short stretch or two. However, I navigated that section just fine, but my luck soon ran out as I botched moving from one rut to another shortly after I stopped to shoot these pics. One second I'm upright and moving forward, the next I'm still moving forward, but now I'm sliding along my left hip and shoulder. Ya, dirt is hard when it's frozen! Ouch. No damaged to the riding gear and bruises will heal so off I head again. Just before rolling into Summerset park I came across thousands of geese setting on the ice at one of the conservation areas. It was cool to see so many of them just hanging out in one spot.
I also managed to catch a nice tailwind at this point of the ride. Though I was routed mostly east/west today, the few sections heading south were tempered by sucking it up as I had to roll north into the wind. Amazing how much stronger 10-15 mph winds feel when they're piggy backed on 10 degree temps. I began to notice as I rolled west that the right side of my face and my right foot were getting increasingly cold. Not much to do at this point but soldier on.I stopped to consult my map a few times, but for the most part the route was pretty easy to follow. I had one major run in with a pack of 3 dogs just south of Norwalk that got my heart pumping a bit. As I rolled up to the house, 3 medium dogs came running and barking straight at me. I didn't try to out sprint them and opted for the loud voice and yelling at them. Luckily they stayed just far enough back for me to roll past without getting nipped. A few other dogs barked and showed a little attempt at giving chase, but nothing major. It had been so long since I rolled through the countryside, I'd almost forgotten about dogs.
Around 2 hours in, the cold was starting to get me down a bit. For the most part I was staying pretty toasty, but my cold toes were nagging as they'd go from cold to seriously cold, to almost numb and then back to cold again. Seeing that I was going to be running way over time if I rolled the additional 3 miles into Cumming, I headed back north at Orilla catching some pavement before I logged back onto the gravel that runs just south of the golf course on old Army Post.
It was on this stretch I had an almost oh shit moment. After reading too many blogs about crazy guys doing crazy things on their bikes in way below zero temps, I tend to be a little more mindful of my own vulnerability when riding in cold temps. I had no idea what the temp was other than I knew it was as cold or a little colder than I'd ridden in before when I factored in the wind. As the gravel passed under the 65 bypass I stopped to adjust my IPOD armband as it was slinking its way down past my elbow and beginning to bother me. I pealed off my jacket noting the solid layer of frost I'd been building up under it (nothing new) and pulled off my gloves as well. My hands had been comfortably warm all morning and were actually a bit damp with sweat, again nothing new. I got the armband adjusted and put the coat back on. Now time for the gloves. Oh shit, my left hand had stiffened up in the cold air and nearly become immobilized in just a minute or two. With a sweaty inner liner to my gloves and barely able to wiggle my fingers, I literally yanked the glove down over my hand to get the glove back in place. I was amazed at how hard it was getting the glove back on and felt lucky to get it on when I did. I realize I wasn't really in any major danger of losing an appendage to the cold as I had a number of alternate ways to heat it up, but it brought the risk involved with cold weather riding back to the forefront of my attention.
By now I was 2.5 hours in and ready for home. I rolled back in jumping on Army Post to head back to my place and got home with just over 3 hours on the clock and 37 miles down. Not a barn burner pace by any means, but it was good to get out and suffer for a bit. I'll need to draw on that this coming weekend when I head out for CIRREM. I'm short on long distance rides and though I know I can get it done, I need to know that I can put up with a little suffering too. I hope to see a number of you there.
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