Epic day in the saddle

broderic on June 12, 2008

Okay. This is a blow-by-blow account of one of my finest days riding my bike around the neighborhood. I linked in several routes and climbed some hills. I was moving along pretty quick and I was feeling fine. The cyclocomputer says 26.96 miles at 15.0 mph. I spent 1 hour 45 minutes on the road. That was fun.

So, I come home itching to ride. In my mind, I want to do a longer route, but haven’t had the inclination to just do it. Today could be the day. I’m feeling fine. I ate spaghetti for dinner last night and for lunch today. Carbo-loaded!

I load up the trusty old steed, drink a few glasses of water, then push off from the door and head to the same old route — down Pleasant. I bomb it hitting 42 mph. The bike is a little squirrely today as I’m not sure that it has the proper tire inflation. At the bottom of the hill, some dumb lady stops at the one lane bridge and I lock my brakes. I need to practice that better. I skid up besides her. While trying to slow down, I was downshifting my gears, but I also instinctively back up my cranks causing me to throw the chain. I fix it on the side of the road.

When I get back to the route, I have to hurry across the bridge chased by a car. On I go through the cool woods, left at Deerpark, bombing past the Ravens training facility. I eventually end up in New Town climbing the first hill. I have to drop it into the granny gear, because I’m not warmed up yet. I do the loop then right, instead of left, onto Deerpark and through Soldier’s Delight I go. I was startled by a bunch of gay-ass teenagers. I give them the finger, daring them to come back. Fuckers.

I take Berryman’s lane to Reisterstown Road where I do a u-turn, but then I head for the SPCA of Baltimore County. That’s downhill, so when I reach it I turn around a climb back up. Not bad.

Back to Church where there’s another hill. I climb again not bad. I’m flying at this point maintaining the 15 mph average. I head for the other hill on Church, climb it and head for the Tollgate hill. Before that I bomb another long hill. My bike has a relatively short wheel base, so all the bumps, dips and cracks in the asphalt were jarring. On the Tollgate climb, I practice spinning, concentrating on my form. I know now that I have to lower my seat as I bounce around too much while in the saddle. It’ll be just a smidge (2cm) lower next time.

Once more around the block and I am home.

Flew through that hour and it was fun. I have to do that again sometime.

Link of the Day [6.11.08]

broderic on June 11, 2008

Lightning is scary. So be careful.

I often wonder what I would do if I got caught out in a thunderstorm while out on a bike ride. You see, my bike is steel, all the better to be nice conduit of electrical energy. I’m riding a lightning rod. So when a storm comes up, should I abandon my trusty steed and duck for cover? I don’t know. I hope to not find out. I’m a little bit scared thinking about it.

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

Condition Red

broderic on June 10, 2008

I finally rode my bike.

This weekend was the hottest so far for the summer. It was record temps and high humidity, and it was hot enough to send out a code red for extreme conditions. Whatever you do don’t do anything to strenuous during the peak daylight hours.

I was stupid, and went out shortly before noon. I figured to get a ride in and jump in the pool afterwards.

The ride began somewhat fun. A right onto Greenspring and a quick jaunt to Caves. There must’ve been a tail wind, because I was flying. I really thought I was in shape, but it’s been two months since the fatwars and I’m home as a veteran so I deserved my rest and pie. I’ve lost all conditioning since then, but I am mentally thinking I am okay. With the tailwind, it looked as if I was flying and the conditioning was still there. On the turn around on Park Heights, the tailwind became a headwind and reality set in.

I was pedaling, but seemed to go nowhere, 12mph! And it was slow. The melting tarmac added to the problem. As I crested the hill and down the other side into the valley, the heat began to build. Halfway through the ride, I knew I had to get out of there as the heat was becoming oppressive. I was going to have to take the shortcut — up Dover Road.

I have never ridden up Dover Road. And it was only my fifth day in the saddle all season. Dover Road rises up a hill for at least half a mile. It’s probably not good to take it on the hottest day. And it wasn’t. I made it a third of the way, got off and walked the rest of the way up. My spirit was broken. I bonked. I spun the rest of the way home.

I was hurting for the next half hour trying to cool down and get hydrated. It was really something.

The next day though was fun. A tad earlier in the day. Less humidity. A slight wind. It was great. And I was running quick. I think it’s coming back. The feeling of the need to go for a ride. I’m starting to smile.

Link of the Day [6.15.08]

broderic on June 1, 2008

A while back, my cousin came back home for a couple days. He tells me that he’s now commuting to work on a bike. He’s also looking to get a junker to convert into a cargo bike. Here’s a company that makes just that.

http://nihola.info/

Link of the Day [4.28.08]

broderic on April 28, 2008

Bike sharing is coming to our nation's capitol. This is the idea where
for a slight fee you can borrow a bike to get from one point of town to
another. It's going to service a small area. I hope it gets popular.
I hope the bikes are available and not stolen. I hope you get out and
use it when you don't have to take the car.http://www.smartbikedc.com/

Bring the funk

broderic on April 20, 2008

Took the new steed out for a ride on the NCR trail yesterday morning. That’s why I got it for. To be a more rugged bike for riding the NCR or other bike trails around the area (BWI or Annapolis).

Things to know about this bike. It’s a single speed and can be set to fixed gear. One gear. To go faster I have to pedal faster. To go up hills I have to grind them. It’s weird, but I hope that it will help develop some leg speed and some strength.

So, the NCR is flat. I did 26 miles. And I wasn’t even winded. Legs weren’t jelly for this early in the season. I have to thank my work outs for that. At first it felt too easy on the ride, but I targeted a 15mph speed. Didn’t get there because I had to slow down some.

It was somewhat cold also in the morning. I had to go back and get my jacket from the car. It warmed up around 10. Lots of people started showing up and the trail head was packed.

I think I can do this to PA and back. Next time, I’ll go out longer. Earlier. Faster.