Saturday- had a great 40-miler, just waited too late to get started; got hot early! Summer's coming to South Carolina and, of course, it's gonna be hot! Still, had a pleasant ride through Lexington County with no problems to report.
Sunday- up early to get in a 2-hour "out-n-back" before church, and it's a good morning for it; upper 60's with a wet fog hanging about. Felt great until I hit the trash in the bike lane and destroyed my rear tire. Managed to fix it with a new tube and a dollar bill, at least well enough to get home on. Will have to dig up a new tire today.
Not a real fan of bike lanes. I mean, it's a great idea, but one that needs to be maintained. Unless the lanes are swept on ocassion, they just become pits of debris, defeating the purpose for having a bike lane. Political folks need to keep this in mind, because down the road budgets will get cut and not many will see bike lanes/maintenance of as a priority. Non-cyclists don't get this. They see the cyclist and the bike lane and become irate at the cyclist who will not ride in the bike lane, not knowing why. Anyway, enough soapbox; I'll just ride roads without the lanes.
Be blessed, be safe.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
6 April 2011
Hey, who don't like new stuff?! Picked my pony up from the shop today, had this new crank put in, and just had to go for a test drive this afternoon. The old one was showing a significant amount of wear on the teeth, and I think I had (over time) damaged the spindle/splines with the 20mm pedal extenders I have been sporting for the last year. It appears an increased Q-factor places a torsion on the crank arms which they were not designed for. Now, it looks like, "problem solved!" So, went out and laid it down for 27+ miles and all is well with the world, or at least with my Roubaix. I love this bike and riding it is pure pleasure. Except in the mountains, yeah, that's not pleasure. Trying to increase the lengths of my rides in preparation for AOMM so hopefully Saturday I'll do a metric, bare minimum. Weather is getting better, and able to get out earlier in the morning when temps cooperate. Awesome!
Enjoy your riding, hit your goals, and get home in one piece.
Be blessed, be safe.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
3 April 2011
"After the Bridge Run Century"
Left home early this a.m. to go to Charleston for the ABRC, and had a ball! Rolled out at 0800 in sunny and beautiful 45-degree weather, with the goal of just doing a flat century to get some good saddle-time. Other than missing a turn and having to double-back to make up miles, it was a great day riding through some picturesque backcountry.
Funny thing though: we got back to the start, enjoyed some awesome Sticky Fingers BBQ, drove for two-and-a-half hours to get home, THEN, when I get out of my car, CRAMPS!! I don't get it; You think things would have begun to normalize at that point. Any ideas?
Another nice thing about today: it's cool to drive that far for a bike ride and run into a bunch of familiar faces. Apparently, many folks thought it was a great day for a coastal cruise.
Back home now, with lots of work to be done. I have got to continue working hard on me to prepare for Mt. Mitchell, and my bike needs a new crank. We're thinking that pedal extenders (Q-factor) may not be a good thing; I am a Clydesdale and this situation may be putting some torsion on my crank arms which was not designed to be so. All good, we'll have a new one on board this week and try to get a few miles in before the EMS Memorial Ride to Myrtle Beach in a week-and-a-half.
Hope y'all enjoyed your day as much as I did.
Be blessed, be safe.
Left home early this a.m. to go to Charleston for the ABRC, and had a ball! Rolled out at 0800 in sunny and beautiful 45-degree weather, with the goal of just doing a flat century to get some good saddle-time. Other than missing a turn and having to double-back to make up miles, it was a great day riding through some picturesque backcountry.
Funny thing though: we got back to the start, enjoyed some awesome Sticky Fingers BBQ, drove for two-and-a-half hours to get home, THEN, when I get out of my car, CRAMPS!! I don't get it; You think things would have begun to normalize at that point. Any ideas?
Another nice thing about today: it's cool to drive that far for a bike ride and run into a bunch of familiar faces. Apparently, many folks thought it was a great day for a coastal cruise.
Back home now, with lots of work to be done. I have got to continue working hard on me to prepare for Mt. Mitchell, and my bike needs a new crank. We're thinking that pedal extenders (Q-factor) may not be a good thing; I am a Clydesdale and this situation may be putting some torsion on my crank arms which was not designed to be so. All good, we'll have a new one on board this week and try to get a few miles in before the EMS Memorial Ride to Myrtle Beach in a week-and-a-half.
Hope y'all enjoyed your day as much as I did.
Be blessed, be safe.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
29 March 2011
The weather this week is keeping me inside, so yesterday I hit the dreadmill for a while, then threw a DVD in and got on my bike/trainer. The DVD was a Spinnerval, on "Muscle Breakdown;" ain't that the truth! It's a 45-minute workout in fairly easy gears, but intervals of slamming high cadence! I did okay, and felt great after I dismounted, but I worked today and as the day wore on I could feel in my quads what had happened. Wow! Another good session with Coach Troy and his peeps.
Unfortunately, my batteries were aging and I did not capture any data from this. Off to the store for fresh cells and tomorrow I'll mount up. Looks like I'll still be inside tho, lots of rain on the way. No complaints from me, it's washing all the pollen away!
Signed up tonight to do a flat century, the "After the Bridge Run Century" in Charleston, SC. Looking forward to that, should be a good ride through coastal country.
Be blessed, be safe.
Unfortunately, my batteries were aging and I did not capture any data from this. Off to the store for fresh cells and tomorrow I'll mount up. Looks like I'll still be inside tho, lots of rain on the way. No complaints from me, it's washing all the pollen away!
Signed up tonight to do a flat century, the "After the Bridge Run Century" in Charleston, SC. Looking forward to that, should be a good ride through coastal country.
Be blessed, be safe.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
26 March 2011
:"Nothing like a good piece of hickory."Skies looked ugly today so I kept it inside on the trainer. The sweaty rider watched the "Pale Rider" and had a pretty good afternoon. Tried to spend a bit of time in the harder gears as I only have 50 more days until AOMM. Gotta be ready.
Be blessed, be safe.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
23 March 2011
This is what my ride felt like today. Wanted to get a metric century (100k=62.5miles)in, but was getting flogged by the 20mph winds. Several times I had to actually pedal just to go downhill! Enjoy a good workout as much as the next guy, but a flogging still hurts; so, decided I'd make a right at my 20-mile mark and head for home. Made that right and the excitement began! Spokes popping! Broke two spokes on the rear wheel and had to call the SAG wagon. Better to call it in that have to replace a wheel. Saddest part of this whole episode is this: the 8-mile ride home would have been mostly downhill with this brutal wind at my back pushing me the whole way. I would have been rolling! Such is life.
Anyhow, my bike is at my favorite LBS (Harrell's Bicycle World) getting the wheel repaired and a couple of non-priorities taken of. Back in the road on Saturday!
Be blessed, be safe!
Monday, March 21, 2011
21 March 2011
Got some catching up to do, because I'd rather ride than write. Haven't posted in a month, but still, a lot's been happening.
The weather here has been crazy-good, temps up in the 70's and sunshine; been on the road every chance I get. My speeds have not been impressing me at all though. I am averaging speeds like I did two years ago; I have been riding, but regressing. Gotta figure out what's going on and pull out of it.
Made a mistake on St. Patrick's day; two days before the Marquis de Sade, I got out and did a metric. Tried to keep it conservative and not hurt myself, but still it was too much. Last year I finished MdS without walking at all, this year it's another story.
We left North Greenville University (thanks, NGU, for letting us base there!) at 0830 and within 20 minutes we were grunting up Pack Mountain. My Garmin registered two climbs on this mountain at 17 and 15%! This was followed by a fairly flat ride into a stiff wind, pretty much all the way to the bottom of Callahan Mountain.
Rolled down through Indian Camp at some outrageous speeds (Woo Hoo!) and started the climb up through the G'ville Watershed. I love this part of the ride. It's not cake, it is a long, gradual grade that takes you over into North Carolina, but it's probably the prettiest lake I have ever seen. Totally restricted and undeveloped in order to protect the city's water supply.
Once you top out of the Watershed, it's more crazy, thrilling downhill, just about all the way to Tryon, NC. I maintained speeds in this stretch between 30 and 40 mph.
Beyond Tryon, is the infamous White Oak Mountain. I've climbed (and suffered) White Oak, and attempted so this time; but about 3/4 of a mile up, I knew that if I did it this time, I would not finish the ride. So, I spun it around, took the shortcut, and went around. Yeah, the pansy option.
From there, it's a bit of an uneventful though beautiful ride to and through the Green River Cove. But the bill must be paid; the climb out of this gorge is tough! I rode as far as I could until my heart rate told me to get off and walk a bit. Managed to make it out of the gorge and stop at the store in Saluda where I met up with my brother, whom I had not seen since Pack Mtn., hours earlier. He was suffering too, but at least he made it across White Oak.
Clouds started rolling in as we were leaving Saluda, and as we approached the Watershed on the return trip, the rain began! I don't mind getting caught in the rain, but those drops can sting when speeds get up! I should have been more nervous (cautious?) than I was, but the road felt good and I did my best to read it, so down the hill I went with all I had. At one point, the rain had slowed almost to a stop, so I got in the drops and gave it all I had, and saw 41 mph on a fairly flat straightaway! One of these days I'm gonna bust it and it's gonna hurt...
Stopped at the bottom to group up with some friends for the last 8 miles or so and the weather began to worsen again, with thunder and lightning, so we decided to take the alternate route back; same distance, less climbing. It's still early in the year, we were all shot!
Made it back safely to NGU, where sunshine, dry clothes, and a boatload of delicious baked spaghetti was waiting for us. Thanks to Mark Janes and the FreeWheelers for yet another awesome day on the road.
Another highlight was riding with a blogger friend Kathrin, you should visit her over at "BarkLessTriMore" . She is going to do AOMM this year and I have all confidence in her.
Really felt the burn the next day, so I wanted to do some easy spinning just to loosen up a bit. Loaded my son and our mountain bikes up, and visited the Sandhills site of Clemson Extension Center. We had a great time, it's a beautiful area full of trails and ponds and even some exhibits.
Anyhoo, that was a lot of catching up to do. Now I need to get caught up around here so I can hit the road again Thursday!
Be blessed, be safe!
The weather here has been crazy-good, temps up in the 70's and sunshine; been on the road every chance I get. My speeds have not been impressing me at all though. I am averaging speeds like I did two years ago; I have been riding, but regressing. Gotta figure out what's going on and pull out of it.
Made a mistake on St. Patrick's day; two days before the Marquis de Sade, I got out and did a metric. Tried to keep it conservative and not hurt myself, but still it was too much. Last year I finished MdS without walking at all, this year it's another story.
We left North Greenville University (thanks, NGU, for letting us base there!) at 0830 and within 20 minutes we were grunting up Pack Mountain. My Garmin registered two climbs on this mountain at 17 and 15%! This was followed by a fairly flat ride into a stiff wind, pretty much all the way to the bottom of Callahan Mountain.
Rolled down through Indian Camp at some outrageous speeds (Woo Hoo!) and started the climb up through the G'ville Watershed. I love this part of the ride. It's not cake, it is a long, gradual grade that takes you over into North Carolina, but it's probably the prettiest lake I have ever seen. Totally restricted and undeveloped in order to protect the city's water supply.
Once you top out of the Watershed, it's more crazy, thrilling downhill, just about all the way to Tryon, NC. I maintained speeds in this stretch between 30 and 40 mph.
Beyond Tryon, is the infamous White Oak Mountain. I've climbed (and suffered) White Oak, and attempted so this time; but about 3/4 of a mile up, I knew that if I did it this time, I would not finish the ride. So, I spun it around, took the shortcut, and went around. Yeah, the pansy option.
From there, it's a bit of an uneventful though beautiful ride to and through the Green River Cove. But the bill must be paid; the climb out of this gorge is tough! I rode as far as I could until my heart rate told me to get off and walk a bit. Managed to make it out of the gorge and stop at the store in Saluda where I met up with my brother, whom I had not seen since Pack Mtn., hours earlier. He was suffering too, but at least he made it across White Oak.
Clouds started rolling in as we were leaving Saluda, and as we approached the Watershed on the return trip, the rain began! I don't mind getting caught in the rain, but those drops can sting when speeds get up! I should have been more nervous (cautious?) than I was, but the road felt good and I did my best to read it, so down the hill I went with all I had. At one point, the rain had slowed almost to a stop, so I got in the drops and gave it all I had, and saw 41 mph on a fairly flat straightaway! One of these days I'm gonna bust it and it's gonna hurt...
Stopped at the bottom to group up with some friends for the last 8 miles or so and the weather began to worsen again, with thunder and lightning, so we decided to take the alternate route back; same distance, less climbing. It's still early in the year, we were all shot!
Made it back safely to NGU, where sunshine, dry clothes, and a boatload of delicious baked spaghetti was waiting for us. Thanks to Mark Janes and the FreeWheelers for yet another awesome day on the road.
Another highlight was riding with a blogger friend Kathrin, you should visit her over at "BarkLessTriMore" . She is going to do AOMM this year and I have all confidence in her.
Really felt the burn the next day, so I wanted to do some easy spinning just to loosen up a bit. Loaded my son and our mountain bikes up, and visited the Sandhills site of Clemson Extension Center. We had a great time, it's a beautiful area full of trails and ponds and even some exhibits.
Anyhoo, that was a lot of catching up to do. Now I need to get caught up around here so I can hit the road again Thursday!
Be blessed, be safe!
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