Tex's Luavull Cycling

Wow

2012-01-30T18:56:00.001-05:00

Today has been quite the bonus on the bicycle. The forecast was for 53F in the afternoon, and with a schedule change of tennis conditioning I took advantage to ride in on the Ute. The morning was cool but the afternoon did one better, topping out at 60F with really sunny skies. I even skipped out a couple minutes early to beat the buses and rode "tempo" home, knowing that I would be returning to school for a meeting and to pick up the Dauphin.Once home from that errand, the Monday typical is to take L to soccer, where I planned to ride again. L came down sick and slept the afternoon away, so instead of portaging I jumped on the IF for a local jam. Even though the temps began to fall with the sun, I still had super-pleasant conditions to ride in, and ride I did. It was the first tempo ride I can remember in a while, finishing at 16.1mph. Admittedly no big hills impeded me from big-gearing, but it felt REALLY good.I sure hope everybody go out and did the same in your own way. I feel quite fortunate having stolen 31 miles on a beautiful day.

Zoo Story

2012-01-25T06:24:00.002-05:00

I began to plot a long-running existential analysis of my ride Sunday, one involving The Zoo Story by Edward Albee while ruminating on the duality of existence. You know, Life and Death. Yin/Yang. Black/White. etc. Instead I think I'll just show these pics of a challenging day in the saddle in central Kentucky. It was a good ride, and my longest since November's GravelGrovel. Thanks should go to the good wife for allowing me to mesh a family trip to her mother's with this all-afternoon endeavor.

In our first display, we have a gaggle, no, a coven, no, a bunch of wild turkeys

New pavement along Peacock Rd. Hey! Another animal!

Bridge of questionable repute.

Seemingly more reliable bridge, built more recently than googlestreetview suggests.

A favorite home lying along Stoner Creek.

Animal #3, this time a most friendly farm dog. He snuck up on me when I was climbing out of the creek valley and I heard his nails. There's an outside chance he couldn't bark, because he mouth yapped a bit but sans sound. Very friendly!

Another view through the hedge row. A little piece of England in the middle of the Bluegrass.

My buddy's dog compatriot over a wooden railroad bridge. He seemed more cautious. His friend, though, my buddy, followed me for at least another mile or more. Hope he made it home.

Victorian with roof detail.

The next image I've moved to the bottom of this post because it is/was a bit gruesome, but allow me to explain why I'm posting it. If you read this regularly, you know that I'm fond of blue herons and the like. I would take pictures of bears, but we don't have them readily available. I appreciate their majesty and their place on our greater system. I have a favorite, 'ol Blue, which I try to see as I ride Beargrass Trail. Along Larue Rd. on the ride I saw a Heron flying across my path when, suddenly, he feel to the ground. Most likely he hit a power line and got tangled up, or even shocked. He felt right next to a fence and got tangled up a bit in it, so I tried to free his wing. He also landed with his beak in the ground like a tent stake, but managed to extricate himself. I have an overwhelming sense that he was about to die and there was nothing I could do. Yin/Yang. Light/Dark. The boundless friendliness of Farm Dog in contrast with this misfortune of nature of the Heron. It is what it is.

This was one of the nicer buildings in Ruddel's Mill. Sort of joking, sort of not.

The next batch is of the Colville Covered Bridge, one of 2 I passed in the ride. It wasn't my intention to make it a "covered bridge" day, but why not. And Colville was along a nice path of Bluegrass riding.

I felt good at this point around mile 20, but I also realized that it was a tough day with lots of rollers and occasional wind coming from the SE, hitting me as a 3/4 headwind. Although grey and a bit misty, I focused more on getting the job down and riding on. I was about to cross into territory I had ridden before, but it all still felt quite new. Tough, but new.

Headquarters, of what I'm not sure.

Rolling into Barterville. It looks as beat up as the last time through here.

Animal story sans pic: I was rolling along Buffalo Trace Rd. when I first heard and then saw a young man on a 4-wheeler. More impressively he was piloting while holding at least 3 or 4 leads with horses on them, with another loose horse following. I @##%^ stopped right there. I knew horses to be skittish, and these seemed particularly weathered. As he drove by he said a couple had gotten out and then the rest did and he was trying to get them home somehow. The dirty face and dark circles suggested that he wasn't having fun. I haven't run across a loose horse roaming up the road before.

Looking west from the ridgetop.

Old 68, running down into the river valley. It's closed at the bottom, so only a handful of cars use it.

The old bridge, first blocked by a guardrail and now by the local flora.

The modern Blueridge set-up along the old bridge, with the Licking River and the new bridge in view.

I was tired by this point and making slow time, so at the river I changed tack. Instead of heading east for a bit more mileage and new roads and I turned northish along roads I had traveled before, using the GPS one time to check my route. The rollers kept coming and I even walked a bit along the 18% pitches of Alhambra Rd., scene of a loosened spoke on the Bleriot a while ago. I *always* have issues around this area.

Below we have Johnson Creek Covered Bridge. I have another picture of it somewhere in rough shape. It's a good bit nicer now.

More animals, fighting cocks, which are very common in this area. I couldn't get a pic of the shitty dogs which chased me away from this house.

About as close as the sun got to coming out. Try as it might, it never broke through, leaving the day a chilly upper-40s instead of the forecasted 55F.

Farm road. Fence. Barn. Mud.

The last animals, in this case Holsteins owned by my father-in-law. My route change had me going past his house and into town to my mother-in-law's new residence. These milk cows were pretty chill at first, and then hauled ass down the hill.

I finished the day mostly in the dark, and as luck would have it, it began to rain on me within 2 miles of the destination. Finishing tired, cold and wet seems sort of sad, but this morning I can say that it was well worth it.

My Blue Heron friend, clinging to the fence with his talons. Poor guy. He deserved better.

post...with a picture of Ned

2012-01-20T05:06:00.000-05:00

It's pretty sad that the impetus to do an actual post with pictures- which I think makes posts interesting as opposed to a wash of letters- is due to waking up at 3.30am. It feels like I've done little to nothing with the blog of late, although I do have 8 posts in 20 days. But do they say anything other than, "I'm not riding much", "I'm jogging a bit" or "why am I so fat?" blah blah?Ultimately, my recent exercise efforts have been geared in a different direction than they were in '11, my highest mileage year. While not on par with some of my cohorts, I became mileage greedy last year (I won't put myself up to "mileage whore" status until my miles top 5k). Last year this time I had three 30m rides, two 20m rides and several training 18s. This year, as of 1/19 my longest ride has been 18.6. That said, of the 19 days in January so far (not counting this early morning), I've exercised 17 of them. As recently discussed, I've thrown in walking and jogging along with some 1hr fitness riding and the results are positive. I'm down 5lbs from the start of the year. As any of you cyclists know, big miles means a big appetite, which is how in 2011 I could have a banner 4.5k mileage year but still end up 15lbs+ heavier by the end of the year. So, if weight loss means fewer miles and a better calorie-burn balance, then I'm all for it.

This past Sunday was the Masters World Cyclocross Championships here in Louisville, a dress rehearsal for the real 'Cross Worlds here next year. Having attended several previous races including the USGP series here I was a bit underwhelmed, no, a lot underwhelmed. The crowds were non-existent and the "show" even more so. No music. Minimal to no food. No Belgian beer and frites. The weather turned out pretty miserable in that the middle of the week offered lots of rain, muddying up the course, thereby making all 'cross racers elated, right? Then a snow/freeze thing moved in Friday and the mud turned into impossible mud ruts. These pics are from a Sunday stroll when I went out, got some coffee-to-go from Breadworks in my nifty Kleen Kanteen double-walled thermos (Get One!) and met Barturtle down at the venue to take things in. We stayed a couple hours goofing around and I eventually ran into Nathan, who used to work at Clarksville Schwinn and now is a big-wig for Zipp. Ironically, I had ridden the Crosscheck down there and it was Nate who sold it to me, he thinks in the first edition year of the run. The highlight was seeing Deadly Nedly, American hero Ned Overend participate in what I believe is his first world 'cross championship, coming 22 years after winning the first mountain bike championship in Durango in 1990. I didn't know until recently that Ned owns Boure cyclingware clothing, something Patrick rides in.

Run up. Very chunky at this point.

Fly-over

An "experienced" woman who could prolly kick my ass. The classes were mixed so I don't know who this actually is.

I believe this is the same woman, and if you notice she's already in stars-n-stripes- a Nat'l Champeen- and she is en route to her rainbow jersey. Gggrrrrr!

Ned Overend, Deadly Nedly, in the "flesh", which is to say his lack of flesh is one marker of why he's been a cycling champeen at so many levels for so long. Along with Greg Lemond, this guy IS American cycling. Yes, the One-Nut guy has a bigger name, but asked a long-time fan. This guy set the stage. Can't forget to throw a 'Tomes reference in there either.

After seeing Deadly Nedly take a fall and work hard to catch up, we left- cold hands mostly- and made a stop at the newish Against the Grain brewpub downtown at Slugger Field. After being often underwhelmed at some of our other locals I really enjoyed the IPA and black APA I tried there. And the beer cheese was REALLY good.

Last night I had a brief window and hustled out for some "tempo" miles during L's sax lesson. I say "tempo" instead of tempo b/c my "tempo" seems to be legato. Like my recent effort out of Sawyer, I can ride hard but the speed just isn't there. It's a bit deflating, but that's life. Perhaps I need to work my base back up, because I want to get Stomping Legs again and I haven't really had those since this past Fall.

Lucky 13

2012-01-12T19:51:00.001-05:00

13th day in a row with at least 30min of activity. Need some 2-wheeled action this weekend for sure.

Active

2012-01-10T18:03:00.001-05:00

I miss mileage. I miss being a bit of a mileage "whore" like in October and especially November. I want to do centuries and all-day gravel rides and such, but right now I'm just trying to get back into that Marmot jacket from last winter when there were 15 or so lbs less of me.I publicly thank the teenager for pushing me out the door. I almost sat upstairs with a snack or a cold, refreshing one, but he reminded me that it was January and nice outside- sunny, clear and 50F. I went out the door and did 32 minutes of mostly jogging with a bit of walking just to lower the HR. I can't deny. Walk/Jogging is easier to fit in under a time crunch: choose less elaborate clothing, choose less elaborate shoes, walk out door. That's it.Today was my 11th day in a row of some kind of activity, all save one of at least 30min or more. Of those there have been 4 days of jog/walk, 3 days of the bike and 3 days of straight walking. That's a nice balance. It's a good start to reacquaint myself with that jacket.

Mas "jogging"

2012-01-08T10:48:00.000-05:00

Mom helped get me out the door this morning with the result being an hour and change of jog/walking. Coming on the back side of the course I had taken an "find a tree" break and a middle-aged guy (I think I'm one of those too) passed along our same path and I thought to myself, "Damn, he's slow." Mom and I walked a bit and then starting jogging again with an idea of casually catching him. Never happened.Damn, I'm slow!

trails

2012-01-07T13:01:00.001-05:00

A well-spent sunny morning during Z's track practice. Yesterday I finally changed the tires on the 29er, going back to the Navegal/SplitSix combo I used in Brown Co. and away from the Vulpines that have been on the mtbike since the Gravel Grovel.In a word...spoiled. Brown Co spoiled me. I haven't really done any trail riding since then, and comparing that experience with today I just couldn't be quite satisfied. Where in BrownCo I rode long flowing lines with a reasonably good surface, today in Cherokee/Seneca I fought with many more turns, roots and rocks. Last time I criticized the C/S system on the blog a local rider took offense and left a pithy comment or two, but I'm not criticizing them, per se. I'm comparing a riding style or preference. I prefer long flowing lines over a turny, rooty, tight one. Perhaps I don't have the skill set necessary for making lots of rocky, rooty turns. I had fun and felt satisfied with a good physical effort at the end, but I also have a hankering for some of that. I might need a Waverly visit sometime soon to help assuage my earnings.Good day, though.

Jogging, to put it mildly

2012-01-04T17:44:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get my half hour of something in. I love cycling the most and wish I did it more. About 1.5m into my "jog" I was passed by a guy on a road bike with a messenger bag and a blinkie and wished that I were him.

But,

Walking/Jogging is easier to do when pressed for time. You put on more normal clothes. You walk out the door. You go. Today I "jogged" a little more than walked and feel sated physically. And I'm sure that any of my dear readers who primarily ride but sometimes jog know what I'm talking about. Spring is stupid with tennis commitments much less the boys' activities. There isn't much time. Last year I did great getting in mileage during tennis season. This year I'll do my time on two wheels, but these 30 and 40min chunks of activity are a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Nice pink and blue sunset tonight too.

The Weight

2012-01-04T06:05:00.000-05:00

I looked. I'm 15lbs heavier than I was last January 4. And I can feel every one of them.

2012

2012-01-01T18:38:00.000-05:00

As such, in no particular order:

1. IF Club Racer- The capitalist system provided me the good fortune to get a "dream" bike, a custom Independent Fabrication Ti Club Racer, finally delivered in late February after winter-long planning.It's been an excellent ride so far, falling just slightly into second place on the year due to my unwillingness to ride it in the muck. I never did do a "reveal" post. The Blueridge got a new steel fork and it transformed that bike, becoming my oft-used beater in balance with my 'Precious', the IF.

2. 4459 miles for the year, my highest total ever. A good year on the bike until around Thanksgiving; I didn't feel particularly good after that for the remainder of 2011. The Blueridge won the mileage award with 932m, the Ute the # of trips with 58. My mileage was nicely spaced within my many steeds, although the RB-1 and the SSFrankenTrek got little love this past year.

3. I did my first bike race in years and years in the Gravel Grovel in late November. I didn't finish last, didn't miss the time cutoff and didn't hurt myself, so it's all good. I had a tough ride b/c I didn't feel very good, but the C'dale 29er did it's job and it was enjoyable working towards a goal, as we did all throughout the Fall with our gravel and distance training rides.

4. My strongest ride of the year was a gravel adventure out of Orleans in late August. We were 5 and took in almost 70 miles of Indiana pavement, corn fields and gravel. I have probably never felt stronger on a long ride than on this one. It felt great, and the company of 5 was an excellent one to enjoy a long day in the saddle.

5. The 'No Road' ride in Fall was another particularly nice time. Three of us did a 'training' ride in Henry and Owen Counties in preparation for the GG. We met the cold, the disappearing road, and some really nice river riding along the Kentucky in both Henry and Owen Counties. I felt good on this day too, and the Crosscheck was an excellent choice, as were my companions.

6. I completed 3 centuries this year, a personal record as well. Of the three, the third was by far the easiest. The first took place in April when I seriously needed a pressure valve day after a busy batch of life. I coerced Dave into going with me for 100+ miles through western Shelby and Spencer (and Jefferson). It was also the first long ride on the IF and was very positive until about mile 90 when I totally ran out of gas. The second was my now-traditional Family Camp Hundy, this year done during temps approaching 100F. It was hot and I suffered, Mightily. I thank my cycling friends for getting me through that one with some well-placed text messages at mile 70 in Danville. The third took place on my birthday, the Bday Hundy. Instead of heat we had an entire day of 55F and rain, sometimes heavy. It was a great day on the bike and again, I'll thank Dave for being complicit in my idiocy. That was another strong day.

7. Holland Frozen Hell was quite an adventure in January. We organized it as an RCCS ride and got a nice joiner group from the Southern Indiana Wheelman MtBike crew. Conditions were interesting with 15F temps and 5" of snow on the ground. Everyone was on mtbikes save Dave, who labored with his LHT+studs. Total mileage ended up maybe around 40, but this was a memorable one and it was great to meet and ride with some new riders who also ride in stupid conditions.

8. I'm not ranking, but the Muscutatuck/Crosley mixed-terrain ride than Apertome organized for February was tough to top. I think the mileage was just short of 50, but we encountered all manners of surfaces including some dirt in CrosleyWMA. We were also joined by Kirk and Cathy, who are very active in the LouisvilleBicycleClub and were game campanions (with Dave and Apertome, of course). The sun shone on us spectacularly that day.

9. SummerCyclingSeason- After a busy Spring of tennis and kiddie soccer I was chomping at the bit to RIDE, and that I did in June and July until vacation. I set a personal monthly mileage record of 627 in June, and that was with no ride over 60m. It was a great month and a half.

10. Although non-cycling content, I have to put our West Coast trip in the top 10. In July we toured from Seattle to SanFran, seeing the urban beauty of Seattle, the hipster chic of Portland, the Blue of Crater Lake, the majesty of the redwoods and the subtle textures of the CA coast before finishing for a brief, nice trip in SanFran. Boy, that was one hell of a way to spend 2 weeks!!! (And golly gee, I love that pic below. Our Dauphin).

11. I almost forgot, but I have to mention my foray to Brown Co SP for mountain biking with Apertome and Dave G this Fall. Did I have any funner day on 2 wheels this year than this 25m of ripping and flowing? Probably not.

You know, others deserved to be included for all kinds of reasons. Michael and I had an excellent ride out of Mucutack for more IN rambling later in the year, and my aborted 40m/97F gravel ride was a memorable one. I had fun this Fall doing Monday evening 'cross practice-sometimes with Dave- for a late season race, but paying $45 for DFL is unnecessary. This year was also one of unmet goals. I was going to do the 200K brevet, but failed to. Dave, Apertome and I were fully planned to do a RedRiverGorge camping weekend but two of us got sick. The 'cross race unfulfilled. December. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things there. All in all, an excellent year on two wheels.

That was December

2012-01-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

As whined about, December was a rough month. Yesterday, PJ, Asher and I met at Heine's Chenoweth for a spirit 30-miler to finish the year out. Everyone was timely and we set down a frisky pace, one I hoped I would be able to maintain for the 30m/2hrs. Descending Lime Kiln Ln. I heard a "thunk" and knew right away that a spoke had failed me. I was disappointed to break a spoke on the fancy wheels after only 850 miles, but those are the breaks. I went by the shop on the way home and got it fixed.I sent PJ and Asher on to finish their mileage and I headed back to Heine's via River Rd. and Indian Hills. I was sort of surprised until now to see that I averaged 16.5mph even after backing off due to the spoke incident and easing up Indian Hills. Makes me remiss that I didn't get a chance to put the hammer down for longer with the guys. Sea lo que sea.

out like a...

2011-12-31T06:11:00.004-05:00

Ending the year with a bit of a whimper. It's been busy and I've been unwilling to sprint from activity to activity to ride to activity, so the riding has dried up. I have gotten a couple good walks in, 1.15hr on Thursday, but I won't be making 4.5k on the year and I won't beat last year's December total. And worst of all, I might not care.

Three of us are riding 30 this morning to finish the year out in style. Again I'll be sprinting from ride to activity, as we're driving to Lexington shortly thereafter for the UK/UL game (except for El Clasico, is there any other?), but it'll be worth it to shot the shit and get a good spin in.

Feliz nochevieja!

Getting close

2011-12-26T17:16:00.002-05:00

Mileage pondering will probably commence within a few days. Mycyclinglog says that I need 56 miles to cross the 4.5k Rubicon. We're on the road Tuesday and Wednesday, but during the the remaining days of '11 I guess I should force myself out the door to have something to accomplish.

Today after a nice 1hr walk (partly with Mom), I commuted on the QB to run down some local beans from Sunergos and Quills for a Detroit Xmas gift. It was a peaceful 13 miles with Dave partly in tow. And the Acorn Rando hauled 2lbs of coffee admirably.

Certainly a better physical days than Xmas day, which was a nice-but-wasted 50F and sunny.

Uh, a little too cold?

2011-12-24T10:03:00.000-05:00

I convinced Dave to meet me for a very early Nochebuena ride. As expected, I have shopping, wrapping and stuff to do today to prep for tonight and tomorrow, so our 6.00a.m. time gave me a window to ride and drink plenty of coffee before the day's proceedings.

What we realized pretty early on is that the listed 33F felt colder and that neither of us was properly dressed. He had (very?) cold toes and a damp torso. I had cold everything. We/I chose to go shorter, turning westward towards Indian Hills instead of a longer loop out Lime Kiln or Prospect. Our descent down Totem had us both braking so as to avert some of the cold pummeling us as we dipped into the river valley. Towards the bottom we ran upon a deer to the right. Not 10 yds. further down the hill on my left side of the road I and another large forest rat almost came to blows. As I said to Dave, "my senses are awake now!" We turn onto River Rd. and made our way through the dark.

At some point along RR I happened upon a significant problem, a first for me. My warming mechanisms were insufficient for, you know, there. I used a paper map I had as a wind block to little effect. We turned towards B'town Rd. and coffee options and I hit the climb up Payne hard to warm up. And my insufficiently warmed area was colder, colder and colder. By the time we got to Highland Coffee I was a bit concerned, but some spent eating, coffeeing and, well, warming up to get me out of the danger zone. Yikes!

We then stopped by Breadworks for more coffee and then it was time to head home for the day. Feliz Nochebuena and thanks to Dave for the cold ride companionship!

Saved by the Dale

2011-12-23T21:33:00.002-05:00

For a variety of reasons, today was a bit of a black day. And that's that. Later this evening LithoDale suggested a nighttime ramble, which I agreed to. And I'm glad I did. We left in the cover of a brisk night and tooled around the neighborhoods of the lower Highlands before venturing into the parks. The first 10 miles were a nice 15+avg (good for me, easy for LD). The next 5 I backed down a bit as we hit the golf course hill and I a bit of general tiredness. We parted about 1m from my homestead and maybe 1.5 from his, still in the cover of a brisk night, but both feeling a bit more energized, or at least physically alive. A well-deserved effort, much appreciated.

Bleh!

2011-12-19T18:01:00.001-05:00

Not a banner way to start the holiday break, at least, the first "official" day after the weekend. We had a very nice Xmas concert last night, one in which I didn't screw up my solo too much. After the concert we traditionally have a tasting party with tables upon tables of goodies to feast on. I was too interested in the sweets so instead ate numerous party sandwiches. At some point I noticed being a little (lot) on the full side but ate a bit more and Lo and Behold the ticker started flopping. Damn!

I took a flecainide at 8.00 hoping that it would do the trick. Alas, it was still bumping around when we went to the after-party, where I had 2 small glasses of wine, although I know that isn't the best course of action with Afib. The way we treat ourselves. Once home I hit the bed and assumed that it would go away.

Which it didn't. I woke up at 7.30 with it still flopping away. I took another pill around 8.00 and then proceeded to waste the day lounging, lethargic, and blah! A long Afib episode takes it out of me and makes me feel quite tired, so today was nothing but that. The couch. The TV. A nap. More.

Tomorrow will be better! Right!?!

Many Turn 'Ville Ramble

2011-12-18T14:03:00.001-05:00

The boys met at 7.00 for a Louisville neighborhood ramble, designed by me to fulfill several goals. I wanted miles. I wanted easy miles. And finally, I wanted to see some new roads without excessive travel. Dave, Asher and Patrick were kind enough to join in for an early Sunday, "pre-life" ride. Generally the mileage was unremarkable but very pleasant. Dave and I rode singlespeeds, Asher his road bike which turned into a SS due to a broken rear mech cable, and Patrick on his AHH. Our path took us through Hikes Point and down into Fern Creek via some neighborhoods. At some point in FC Asher peeled off to head for church, but the remainders crossed the Snyder on Seatonville Rd., one of the few traffic-laden roads of the day. From there we worked west on some semi-country roads which were nice and empty- and COLD- before turning north into Okolona. We ventured across Jefferson Mall safely; thankfully it was closed, and then touched the Newburg area before passing by Male HS and under the Watterson into Camp Taylor. By this time I was pretty cooked but having a great time, especially after the crud of he past few weeks, much less the truncated gravel ride last week. We pulled into the Loop just barely short of 40 miles, although I had an extra 3 due to commuting to and from the Loop.I'm thankful the guys were willing to meet up and take in a somewhat goofy course, but I think everyone enjoyed such a Sunday morning activity, even with the cold. Perhaps now I can enjoy 2 wheels a bit during the holidays.

And I think my phone doesn't like to take pics in the cold. These are even weirder than the ones yesterday.

Old church off Preston Hwy near the airport

Pat needing a foot correction after suffering yet more cold toes.

Dave, Raleigh and AHH

QB in all its pixilated glory

Roll

2011-12-17T17:23:00.001-05:00

As I've documented, I've felt like crap lately, so with sunny skies and no activities in the afternoon, I dragged Dave out for some restorative JRA. We swung west on the Riverwalk, visited McAlpine Locks and Dam via the bridge and then roamed around the West end before coming home via Broadway. A short stop at Highland Coffee finished the day before I had to attend a soccer game. I didn't feel fresh, but 24 unfresh miles is certainly better than eating crap lying/laying on the couch like a beached whale.Tomorrow we JRA some more via a nutty urban course visiting many a new neighborhood. Should be curious.

A little bit o flash!

bridge over McAlpin Locks, which we visited for first time

"Down by the River...."

"Feed a Cold..."

2011-12-16T05:56:00.002-05:00

I'm just now leaving the veil of mucous that has shrouded me for almost a month. And if one goes by the adage to "feed the cold" (never did have a fever), then I've fed myself extra for 3 weeks. And what has it gotten me? My cycling mates are all dropping lbs; I'm at my heaviest, having shot up 6lbs in just a couple weeks.

Sigh.

Vamo'?

Summer

2011-12-14T20:52:00.002-05:00

Fail

2011-12-12T06:33:00.000-05:00

Fail.

We left early to get in 55 mixed-terrain miles so we could get back and do family stuff the remainder of a Sunday. Everything was set, bikes, plans, stops. It turned a little colder than expected at around 18F on departure, but nothing we haven't done before. We also anticipated beautiful clear skies, a real change-up from the endless spit we've had.When we hit the road I took a turn on the first little rise and it was O.K. Shortly thereafter we encountered another little mini-hill, maybe 200metres, and...nothing. No gas. Nothing. My legs were stone, or even worse, painful stone. I had nothing. "I'll warm up." We worked out way to towards Yellowbanks Recreation Center where we encountered our first gravel. "Feeling better. Legs warming up."

Yellowbanks Trail looking south

Up the road. I think Dave is practicing a cyclocross dismount.

Our turn onto Yellowbanks Trail Rd. was a nice one, a pretty run of gravel through fields and wood. Noticing all the tires with "Keep Out!" to our left, we encountered our first snafu at mile 7 when our route was to go west, only we were met with not only "keep out" but a gate as well. No go. Dave and I consulted our digital toys and we decided to re-route up the road a ways. I lost touch a bit at the top of a 1k climb before rejoining on the downhill of S.C.R.900E, a road we've been on a few different times. I lost touch again climbing up to Old64. We turned left down Old64 towards Stendal, the ominous town where Dave decided to sit (for 45min) last winter. We pulled into town after an easy 1.5m climb and gained our bearings, using a westward gravel road to link up to Haul Rd., which was our original destination before the 'KeepOut' situation.

Haul was was an excellent run, nice gravel through forest lands which now comprise Sugar Ridge FWA. We saw hunters' truck and some stations, but nothing too busy on this cold morning. I held pace a bit here but towards the end the road bucked a long false flat. Patrick powered away as he did all day; he had legs to spare. Dave distanced as well. We turned left and I fell a bit further behind before stopping and walking a short hill. At the top I used the time to move the camelback inside my jacket since the tube was frozen solid (yes, I blew water back in). Dave waited for me and Patrick realized what was up. We marshalled on.

After a short rise up to a crossroads (where Dave and I ran into the mtbike crew on the snow ride) I stopped and told the boys I was done, finished. no mas. I implored them to continue the loop and I would meet them at the car. Really, really I wanted them to get their mileage in after driving an hour out of town. Make it worth your while. But they didn't budge. If I was going back they were to. And I was going back. I was empty. Completely.

The return trip was some of the same. Any roller at all- and there were several- I came straight off the back, some of them on which I walked instead of pushing the 36x32. They humored me and kept me generally in sight. It does need to be mentioned that I won the Dubois Co. sign sprint in Zoar, "sprint" being used liberally. We met our last bit of fun with a right turn onto CR850, which was a dirt work road along the powerlines. Fortunately it was still pretty frozen so we didn't run into too much mud. I walked some more. We turned left and met our last stretch of rollers before ending in Holland.

Dave descending 850 from the dirt side

Dave and PJ in the distance leaving me on yet another hill, an unpaved, ungraveled on at that. Bad day. Good road.

Patrick on his new F2 and Dave at the top of a rise after having waited for me. We look cold. It was cold.

Freakin' death warmed over.

We celebrated our shortened ride with some Waffle House in Corydon, at least after Patrick and Dave warmed up their frozen toes in the car. To a certain extent, the "capitulation" on my part helped them cut short a potentially frozen-toe situation. The waffles made much of it all better.

**One good note of today's ride was the performance of the Happy Mediums. I ran them at a relatively low 55psi and found them *excellent* for the surfaces we rode. They had good roll on pavement but also good bite on the gravel sections at that pressure. A definite keeper, and one fat-tire folks should look at for something like a 700c LHT.

Pre-Haul

2011-12-11T05:40:00.001-05:00

We'll be doing some of this today, 55 miles out of Holland, IN with much of the route gravel. And the weather has turned interesting for us. Right now Holland is listed as 19F. The forecast forced me yesterday to mount some gaudy flat pedals onto the Crosscheck a la true winter riding. Otherwise I'm intrigued whether/how the CC will meet terrain demands today. It's certainly faster and/or more comfy than the C'dale over that kind of distance, but we may hit heavy conditions and we certainly will have 3500ft of climbing. If it's *heavy* climbing, I may be missing my ol' gravel grinder. It will also be maiden voyage of the 40c Kenda Happy Mediums.

Report to come.

G.A.S.

2011-12-07T06:18:00.001-05:00

I learned this term from PJ, informing me that it's used in the musician community. Do you know what it stands for? Anybody? Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Buying more shit. And more. And more. I totally get it on their end. Musicians are known for buying more pedals, more amps, more cords, more boxes. You know, gear.

PJ accused me of having G.A.S., of the bike nature. The immediacy of the reaction shocked me. "Yeah, you're exactly right!". I buy shit, especially around this time of year in the birthday/Xmas zone. I think early winter is also the start of the "winter project" season, when you have time to analyze all the reasons why your gear didn't take you to new heights, notwithstanding the issue that fitness accounts for the other, oh, 97%. Many factors have contributed to my GAS, including a generous father, constant disappointment with my weight (which can be remedied with schwag, right?), the internet, RBW and BQ for fostering philosophies of GAS, bike shops who know a sucker when they see one, a consumer frivolity which seems to be encouraged. "Celebrate America. Go shopping!"

I came oh so this close to buying one of these a few weeks ago. I could have swung it barely, and hemmed

and hawed for several days, only to not do so. GAS. Ultimately, would I use the Pugs much? Do we have snow? Do we have endless sand? Do we have endless river flats? Yes, a river, but no flats. I didn't pull the trigger.

Golly Gee, it would have been cool!!

Instead of one big gassy purchase, I've been futzing with many smaller "improvements". A new cassette and rear. Fenders here-n-there. New handlebars. Yet another set of tires. I spent numerous days debating having a custom rack for the IF made but quit slightly dissatisfied. GAS does that to you. The pommes frites go down yummily, but what do they give you?

And, BTW, I commuted today, some 14 miles or so. Finally. The good wife even needed me to stop by the grocery on the way home, so into the long Ute bag I put a gallon of milk, a 1/2 gallon of OJ, a six-pack of Schlafly's Winter ESB (#2 almost gone), berries, a salad, and a box of Cheez-itz. Great bike, the Ute.

Tempo

2011-12-03T12:40:00.001-05:00

Productive, fun tempo ride in the parks during Z's track practice under nice conditions- 48F with some sun. Warmed up efficiently and then kept on the gas while doing a reasonable mix of flats with some hills spiced in. The wind was definitely assisting on the Seneca to Cherokee swing. Now it's time for some Xmas lights, given that I'm too spastic to watch the UK/UNC game. No team I dislike more in the universe than UNC. Cocky bluebloods (who back it up).

November

2011-12-01T17:02:00.001-05:00

556 miles, second highest of year
one 100k race
one century on birthday
one 100k+ gravel training day with compatriots
some 'cross viewing
plenty of steady, uneventful days
not one but two bikes improved (CC and BR)

Good month.

(and December started with a 15m commute)

"Normalacy"

2011-11-30T06:35:00.001-05:00

Good to see the ol' blog is back to normal after a few frantic days of Gravel Grovel viewage. The results came in, and as expected, I was towards the back. Not surprising there, but I'm fine with that. I came in under time and didn't hurt myself. Apparently my post didn't sound like the most positive, but my race wasn't the most positive. I'm still battling the snot that's now been ongoing for 2 weeks now.

How did I battle the snot monster last night? I went out in the dark and rode an hour in the rain at 37F. I got wet and cold towards the end, but the first 40 minutes were quite fine, and the Blueridge+SON did its job to a 'T'. Great all-weather bike, that one. I won't top 600 for the month, but I have mid-500s and feel good about my November riding in general. I may scale back a bit of the distance for December, or at least as many all-day disappearance rides, but I'm enjoying two wheels and need to mentally gird myself for the colder temps.

Gravel Grovel

2011-11-27T06:16:00.001-05:00

You know, I don't have that much to say about the Grovel, but I'm sure I'll ramble for a bit. Suffice it to say it was a full-up Pain Garbage Can and not just a bucket. I've been battling a head and chest cold for most of the week (still am), so my preparation and enthusiasm left wanting. Then Patrick came down ill *and* Michael was a no-go due to mechanical disaster, so going in I was I guess we can say, "meh". The morning was enlivened with a beautiful sunrise and Dave and I arrived in plenty of time to get registered and get the bikes prepped. One of the most enjoyable things of the day was seeing the different rigs being used, ones which belonged in three camps: 'cross, mountain, and other'. I would say that that 'cross rigs ruled the day, with mountain bikes second. In third we had a varied menagerie of bikes like Dave's LHT, a Vaya, a Fargo, Timothy's Monstercross 29er, some frankenbike-looking 80s semi-mtbike things and perhaps a hipster frankensteel or two. It was, by in large, a conservative affair.

The tone of the day was set by our "2-mile neutral lead out", which became a 4m lead out with three extra short hills thrown in. The lead car missed a turn and gave us a great opportunity to red-line just a few miles into the race. I thought I was going to die. After a brief gravel downhill we faced another 10%+ gravel climb to really get things going, and from there things descended into, well, I'm not sure what they descended into. We were in the back, but certainly not all the way in back and from then on really it was a personal ride. Barturtle, Dave and I sometimes rode together, most of the time not, and we would come across other racers, such as a younger guy on a baby-egg blue Crosscheck at the 'bridge', with whom we would ride with a bit but then separate. Going in to the first checkpoint at the end of Tower Ridge Rd. it was fun to see the front-markers going in the opposite direction. I'll give props here to Timothy for a strong effort up Tower Ridge. He dropped several riders on the long false flat up TRRd.. In that Tower Ridge Rd. section, too, folks were still a bit more together so I had a chance to ride amid some different racers, at least up to the Fire Tower sag, where the pretzels were much appreciated. Some racers were availing themselves of the cold Modelo beer at that sag, but I couldn't imagine pulling that off; I was in no shape to play around as I was already on the brink and only halfway through.

The big downhill off the fire tower was appreciated and led us to the craziest section of the day, and one that probably kept me mentally in the race. Combs Rd. is marked as a "road" on maps, but the 2m section amounts to a mixture of double-track, single-track and goat-track. I was quite surprised at how rough this section was, but this video from '10 shows exactly what the Combs section offered. The outbound portion was a little obnoxious because of the number of returning racers, but my choice of the C'dale 29er felt like genius here. I treated the trails as a mountain bike stretch and used whatever skills I have to barrel through. At some point I caught and dropped Timothy here and left poor Dave to take a pee and deal with his own fate. After clearing Combs the Story sag was expected, but in between were four tough miles, not in terrain save the very steep Elkinsville climb, but mentally. Timothy caught and passed me and I just put my head down and slowly made my way to the checkpoint. Dave arrived not too long afterward and we enjoyed apple cider, animal crackers and I a chair. There were still racers at the checkpoint as well, including an All-City rider on a nice All-City cross bike, a guy I would see a few other times before the finish.

We left the far end of the course and made the return leg, me riding behind Timothy and Dave because I was strugg-a-ling (says Sir Charles). Once we made the return Elkinsville climb I again made full use of my granny- a 22x28 perhaps- and slowly chugged, passing Dave and Timothy who had to walk. Shortly thereafter I reentered Combs. This time the path was clearer so I treated it as a full-on mtbike section and barreled and bombed what I could. I caught Vaya rider, who then did an awesome job clearing the climb while I walked the last portion. I caught All-City man, who was smartly riding conservatively on this 'cross rig. I caught Vaya right at the end of Combs and passed him, thinking he would follow but he drifted off the back. All-City man caught me at Maumee and made much easier work up the short climb there. At this point I thought of Timothy and Dave, but after 50 miles you end up riding your own race, as I saw all over the course. There were many fewer groups riding, even the front markers, and many, many more solo riders, a la the old Tour riders from the 1920s. Solitary soldiers.

I was within the last 10 and suffered every minute of those. I almost caught All-City who was walking a hill while I in my 22, but couldn't make contact, and didn't really try. I also passed Mellow Johnny, a tall, strapping dude on a cross bike who was draped over his bars while crawling up the hill, on his feet mind you. The stretch along Horse Camp Rd. is a brutal, long 2m step climb and I cleared all but one portion on the bike, passing another 'cross rider fixing a flat along the side. By this point my arms were tired too, and I spent the last miles riding sitting up, and shaking my arms like a kind of bird mating dance. I finally saw the line of parked cars indicating the entrance to the campground and finished in 6.03, according to the computer. I told Dave that a Victory at day's start would be finishing within the 6.30 for the awards banquet (in lieu of the 8hr "course closed" time at dark) and I had achieved that goal even while snot-congested and hacking. After the finish I had time to fiddle with gear and clothing and wait for Timothy and Dave, who both finished within 10min of me. We recessed to the dining hall for Awards- of which we won none-, Schwag- of which Timothy scored a nice pair of Castelli leg warmers, and Dave a SRAM hat, which he gave to me-, and Food, which meant rice dishes and pie.A few further observations:

I'm pleased with my 29er choice. It certainly made the Combs section easier to deal with. And the gearing was spot-on. A future goal might be to do the ride on a 'cross bike just to see if I could be strong enough to ride the gearing, but maybe not. It wasn't the most comfy after 40 or so miles, but it got the job done.
The WTB Vulpines were excellent. They provided good roll on the road portions and gave me just enough grip on the dirt/mud portions. Recommended. Next time I'll roll 30psi instead of 35+.
The weather gods looked on us very favorably. It was in the 60s all day and the rain held off. I *cannot* imagine the suffering involved with a rainy version of this race.
I ate and drank and ate and drank and I still think I ended hungry and dehydrated.
Cliffbar jello non-food are much easier to eat than Powerbar jello non-food.
Most of my pics are out-of-focus. Deal.

Will I race again? Don't know. I've ridden some of those same roads in the past with Apertome, Dave G, Dave C, Asher and such and I think back more fondly of those rides. I wasn't at my limit however difficult they were unlike yesterday. That said, it is an interesting and instructive enterprise to test yourself. To do the race again, I need to think of better ways of approaching it, whether that be weight loss, gear, or training volume. Or maybe just be comfortable enough to accept one of those Modelos.

Start. Notice All-City checkerboard man. I ran across him a couple more times.

Approaching warm-up hillette, the one that wasn't supposed to be on the course.

Dave and Timothy somewhere around mile 10.

Hoosier Forest

I have other pictures of the same area from the snow ride. Those might be more in focus.

Dave along same bottom run.

The 'bridge' along Hunter Creek Rd. It's closed, but we hop the rails.

??Ghost Wheel??

Combs climb. Timothy at top.

Kirks Ford bridge

Horsies at Story checkpoint.

Timothy at finish.

Dave at finish.

Maysville

2011-11-27T06:08:00.001-05:00

Evening ride under the fading sun.

der Grovel

2011-11-26T20:12:00.001-05:00

I and two comrades completed the Gravel Grovel today. I'm too tired to write, and although it's only 8.12 I think I'm going to bed.Pic is this morning's view in Seymour at a stop en route. Course is after that. More to come. Whew!

"Multi-Task"

2011-11-25T10:03:00.001-05:00

I'm complaining on each of my digital platforms that I've done nothing but ride in the rain and grey for what seems like an eternity. Today, we're about to leave in a while for the in-laws and it's a brilliant blue outside. Horsecrap!

I'll have some stuffing with that Coffee

2011-11-24T12:15:00.001-05:00

I'm fighting a bit of a cold again, so today's 30-miler pre-Turkey burn-off turned into a very lazy 21-miler with not one but *two* coffees stops. We- Dave, Timothy and I- met at one of the open Heine's to do the 30ish miler to Utica and back. By the bridge crossing I knew that today wasn't my day. Yesterday I was mostly vegetative and last night I awoke with a nice chest rattle. I thought I was fine but one in Jeffersonville I decided to turn around at some point and cut things short. I was weak, cold, and ready for the warmth of liquids and sweaters. Once announced, my compatriots both decided to do the same. Timothy carved off for TDay prep, while Dave and I found that Quills' was open, and to my surprise, was restocking the Savory Scone! The cup and snack there was excellent.

From there it was time to crawl home. I decided I need *more* warm liquid to keep things going, and Dave decided to stop with me again; he loves his coffee. Now I'm home and it's time to clean up and mentally prepare for what will be an excellent feast prepared by Mom. She's a great cook and everything will be even more savory than that scone.

Peace and Give Thanks. Most of my readers are employed, have your health, have a healthy activity to participate in and loved ones and friends to support you. We're lucky, I think.

Crosscheck Gravel Style

2011-11-23T09:46:00.001-05:00

In the 'grovelling for Grovel' entry I posted some pics of my cohorts gravel rides. Barturtle and Patrick were both sporting new mounts. David in turn was on his trusty, rock solid LHT. I was doing my second gravel ride in succession on the Crosscheck, a bike which has vacillated in moods not unlike my own. I was tired of it last year when in MoustacheBar config and almost sold it. The younger progeny wanted me to keep it on the chance that he would interested in riding it as a teenager, which I thought (and think) was a fine idea. I changed out the 'stache bars back to some Salsa BellLaps that I had around.

The advantage of the CC over the LHT or a 29er is sprightliness of ride. It feels like a springy cross bike instead of a "lumbering" touring bike or mtbike. I really enjoyed it on the HenryOwen ride so I took it on the NewWashington Gravel fest hoping for a similar performance. Schwag with comments:

SalsaBell Laps + Salsa riser stem. I *love* a higher position now and this combo did it for me. I never had any hand or elbow problems and felt *really* comfortable all day. I was just able to ride in the drops some too, or at least on the ends. This cockpit is a keeper after debating a move to a new CowBell2 or comparable. No need. Good angle on the brake levers too. Pink tape?
Shimano barcons with 46/36 x 12-34 pieplate in the back. This was the first trip of the extended gearing. There were a couple noisy cog matings, but the new cassette made it such that I rode in the big ring most of the day. Other than our one big climb out of the river valley, the gearing might have even been too small. But that one time you need toe granny is a Godsend. My cohorts could spin up the climb in relative comfort. I had to punish myself in the 36 instead of their 24. New SLX worked great!
Storage: PlanetBike Gas Tank with grub. It flops around but it's alright. MtFeedBag up front with essentails. Didn't use it much other than pure storage. My mom's purple seatbag. I don't if she knows that I've stolen it. When the jacket had to come off Patrick ended up carrying it, which I think is weak. A cyclist should be self-sufficent, so this storage system didn't really work. The front bags were fine, but big rides like this need a bigger saddlebag or lash point for things like jackets.
Like that mudguard? I didn't ask my cohorts if it kept the gunk out of their mouths.
VittoriaRando35s: great on rough roads. Fine of smooth gravel. Torture on soft gravel. I had a *terrible* day in the rough stuff. It was all soft and devoid of good lines and these hard tires pummeled me. Frankly I whined about it all day. Based on my experience of these 67m, I decided to ride the 29er for GG. I know I appreciate the ride characteristics of this machine more, but I can't be beaten like that. And watching Patrick and Timothy ride off the front in gravel sections was sobering.
Garmin60cx mounted on stem. Worked well although the angle was a little strange. Dave and my routes didn't always correspond, so that was awkward.

grovelling for the Grovel

2011-11-21T05:24:00.001-05:00

A group of us all decided a while ago to do the Gravel Grovel the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The GG is a 60m gravel race south of Bloomington, IN, terrain I've ridden in a couple times. Our usual gravel sojourns include *plenty* of time to smell the flowers, look at pretty trees and rest at the end of every challenge. I would call it 'gravel touring' instead of 'racing'. As such, there has been an impetus of late to up the ante a bit, increase the pace and fitness, limit the stops,and mentally prepare for a "race".

Yesterday four of us- Timothy, Patrick, Dave and I- hit the roads north of New Washington, IN for 60+m of road and gravel, dare I say Training, in preparation for the GG. It further provided a shakedown ride for numerous new and reconfigured bike choices for the GG and the future. Oh, and it rained, not as much as Tuesday's Hundy, but it was another somewhat warm, very wet day on the bike. Because of the precip I don't have pics to share; you'll have to hit up Dave's entry for that. His bike pics, which I don't think he posted, are much better too; mine are shite. And his gps track is more functional, as mine ended up spliced into 3 sections. TechnoFailure all round. Suffice to say, though, that at the end of the day we were all good and knackered after a day of healthy pacing, challenging gravel and plenty of rollers to keep us honest.

Our exit from New Washington was uneventful and we quickly had to shed some layers around mile 6. Our first gravel arrived at Arbuckle Rd., a path Dave and I did in the past. Last night I remember it being a highlight as a series of field and trees tucked in tight along a creek. This time it had me strongly considering my bike choice- Foreshadowing- for GG. I again was riding my Crosscheck with its 35s, which I did to some success a few weeks ago in Henry Co. This section with its chunkier, softer surface pummeled my skinny skins. Patrick pulled on ahead a bit and we convened at the next turn to wait for the other two. What transpired was a 30min game of cat-and-mouse with us separated from Dave and Timothy. Apparently Dave had a different turn listed on his gps, one which passed a chained gate I had seen on Arbuckle. Text messages decided for us to move up on the course a bit to S. Hutchinson/Hutch Rd. They never showed. More text messages decided to meet and the end of Hutch. They never showed. A neighbor first and foremost warned that we "would be shot by hunters if we returned to the woods, oh, and two cyclist had passed that way a while ago". Thanks. S.Hutchinson, as last time with Dave, was a highlight as one of the most non-road paths you can find in modernity. Great stuff.

So the cat-n-mouse continued until we caught Dave and Timothy after a 3m chase. The group then settled in to a group rhythm after which we found one of the next highlights of the day, a northern loop along what Dave said was a branch of the Muscutatuck (again, pic on Dave's site). This was a nice 3-4m stretch of more worked-in gravel with obvious tire tracks, and more hunters. The Crosscheck was much happier in this area and I found myself rethinking again. At some point we turned south into the wind and rain and headed on paved roads towards Hanover, stopping at some point to refit rain jackets for the increasing precipitation. The run into Hanover was uneventful albeit wet and foggy. After more technofumbling we found a pizza place to eat lunch where I ordered a small spaghetti, although Patrick's large looked much better. Warm food girded out bellies for the last 25m on the day. Little did we know the last 25 would be more challenging than the first 45.

We left Hanover diving down to the river on a white-knuckle descent on Hanover Beach Hill Rd. and hit the bottom land S. River Bottom Rd. along the Ohio. What began as a nice gravelly mundane section turned interesting after seeing a "Road Closed- Travel at your own Risk" sign. The road surface changed from rideable to boulderiffic. Patrick and Timothy with their 2.1s rode up the road while Dave and I on our 42s and 35s respectively really struggled for purchase and a straight line. In hindsight this stretch only lasted perhaps three miles, but it erased any chance of me riding the Crosscheck for GG. I need big rubber for similar potential sections. No, the 29er ride won't be as nimble, comfortable or even fun, but that three miles was a near-low point.

We climbed out of the river valley on W.Prospect Rd., again, a road Dave and I had previously ridden. I remember it being easier last time, but perhaps that was the mileage speaking. I recently had a 'pie-plate' cassette put on the CC, and the gearing change worked to excellent effect on most of the route. On this climb, though, I would have preferred a nice granny ring to save the legs. I outclimbed the others not due to inherent strength, but that I had to push a larger gear because I had no bail. Whew!

At the top we faced a headwind and tiring legs. I took a little runner through Saluda, IN at what could have been a school and pushed the pace a bit across Big Saluda Creek and turned left onto Taylor- another Dave and I road- and was prepared to up the ante. My legs were tired but I still felt relatively good. Taylor changed that. Last time through I really enjoyed Taylor for its sweep and farm vistas. This time, again, the surfaced had been recently graded and proved chunky, soft, and mostly miserable on the 35s. Again, the 29er was stuck in my mind. We turned left towards a short section of gravel on which I refused. I would meet the others at the end but none for me, thanks. They easily obliged and we turned south into the wind where we met more gravel before finally turning west, finding more slog, er, gravel along Little Egypt Rd. and then *finally* meeting our southwesterly roads that took us back to New Washington. For some reason I took a runner the last four miles or so and barreled head down into the wind and finished "first". Today I feel more beat up- much more beat up- than I did on Tuesday's century, so I'm not quite sure that was a good idea.

Dave put together an outstanding course with a significant amount of gravel, which was perfect for GG practice. Also, while the 60F and raining weather wasn't optimal for sunshine cyclists, I think it made for a more memorable and productive day of "training"; it certainly felt more like training than usual, with some big efforts here and there to make things interesting. I enjoyed it thoroughly and will probably find it more fun than the actual Grovel this upcoming Sunday.

And now, new bike list (with terrible flash pictures):

Patrick's new Fargo3, running Woodchippers, Kenda Smallblock 8s and an Old Mountain rack. He wanted more hauling practice, so he asked to carry my rain jacket for part of the ride. I obliged.

Timothy's new Origin 8 dedicated gravel monstercross machine. I don't know as many of the specs, but it seems like a great set-up with compact double gearing, Kenda tires and a couple different bags for carrying all the shit needed for rainy gravel grinders.

Dave's LHT with 42 Schwalbes and fenders. He rode his standard machine and complained less than the rest of us. Lesson to be learned?

**I just erased by Crosscheck pic. I'll have to do a separate entry.

Post-Hundy thoughts 1.3

2011-11-16T15:07:00.001-05:00

Usually when I do a mega-ride I write nice, long-winded entries full of pictures of varying quality. I like to do so as a means of reminding myself of the experience as much as supplying my many readers the opportunity of living vicariously through my cycling.

This time I have fewer thoughts to record; the ride itself was the long, rambling narrative instead of the post.

Weather: it rained on us for the first 80 miles, rarely pouring, but virtually always steady in every way. We also saw temps about 55F all day long. I was never cold, never warm,and never comfortable, but I was adquate mostly all day. It certainly goes in the books as one of those "because I could" moments. Imagine, my century in Sept. was in 100F temps, yesterday's 55F with constant range. I figure if I could put up with that, I can face other miserable challenges.
Clothing: We knew going out that the forecast looked on us unfavorably, but I dressed the part in wool tops, bottoms, hat and gloves along with a rain cape. I used my lighter army-surplus gloves; they were the weak link of the day. My hands were often slightly cold. Next time: Dry gloves, Dry socks. I brought a dry hat and dry light-weight socks, but I needed replacements of comparable nature.
Bike: The Blueridge was superb. I had very little back, neck soreness. The cockpit is spot on. Eventually I will change to alternative crankset gearing (mostly b/c I like the compact on the IF so much). As such, the downtube shifting was seamless and smooth but I think it did contribute to some crotch soreness as I regularly leaned over onto that "spot" during the course of the day while shifting (a lot during the many rollers). Aside some tights/shorts/"spot"/seat issues, the remainder of the bike experience was excellent.
Food: I think I did a little better than usual, although I was facilitated by the weather in that I didn't have to drink as much. I took in my first snack in Shelbyville, munched a little mid-course and then we ate a good-sized meal in Crestwood. Dave mentioned in his post that he can take in more than I can, and I agree. A big meal always feels like it's going to come back up while on the bike. However the bigger meal- cheesy bread, Dr. Pepper, meatball sandwich- did sustain me for another couple hours. I think I need to work on eating more regularly and in smaller portions. And I've decided that I like gels and other "non-food", certainly for long days. I would have paid $5 for a "gu" a few times.
Bad Spot: Somewhere in there I thought I was going to get through my first century sans "black spot" like those that have plagued me in previously efforts. Typically it's around 75-85m but yesterday I felt strong all the way through the rollers and hilly parts. Once we dived down the river escarpment onto Rose Island I though, "home free, flats all the way home!". Instead I had to stop at the end of Rose Island and take in some grub at mile 80 and really had to concentrate from there on in. It wasn't a get-off-the-bike moment. I didn't lay down in the wet grass, but I grimaced and gritted the teeth all the way down the trecherous rush hour of River Rd. Dave and I stayed close during that last portion as a means of support and protection during rush hour. When we hit Indian Hills I got off the bike for a few moments before making it in those last 6m. In some fashion, it will always happen. Eat!
Pace: I'm not very fast on long rides, but I feel like I'm getting steadier, more consistent. My times (avg) for my centuries: 7.41 (13.2) /7.24 (14.2) /7.29 (13.7) /7.30 (13.6)-understanding that they're all over 100 but of variable of a few miles. Notice a trend? Every single on at the 7.5hr mark moving time. I didn't compute stoppage time, but I know the HotternHellHundy in September had the longest air-conditioning break. I next goal might be to do as consistent a time and get the total time under 9hrs and then closer to 8. I think it can be done. Keep moving. Be consistent. Be fit.
Mas Pace: I averaged 14.2 on the IF in September in 100F temps *and* I think the computer was registering when I walked two hills. That's the machine I want to use again under more clement conditions.
Set-up: So much for being short-winded. the pic below shows use of the Acorn Rando bag and my Garmin 60cx mounted on the stem instead of the bar like September. Both decisions get very high marks. The gps unit was much easier to deal with in that position; too bad it wouldn't run "route" and I had to rely on Dave's "track". Shite! The rando bag was great, but the BR has interrupter levers at the moment. Not for long, though. This weekend it'll be losing those for some new cockpit elements. And, yes, Dave and I wore reflective gear all day, ran lights all day and got rained on all day. Quite!

I thank Dave (with a few pics beetwix the rain) for being willing to go out at the drop of a hat for such a long, tough day. It was a lot of fun and I'm very proud to have finished in the conditions. I think, too, that yesterday's hundy was a better tempo than the others I've done. The avg. speed was little lower, but it felt like a good tempo to take. Great day.

The day's proceedings

2011-11-15T06:24:00.001-05:00

I'll admit it. I am taking a "personal day" and am playing hooky from work. I am turning 42 years-old today. I am riding my bike for approximately 102 miles. We'll be mixing in some very well-known terrain such as 148 into Shelby Co. and later Goshen Ln. and ol' Rose Island Rd. We have stops in Shelbyville, Crestwood, and I'm sure a few more spots along the way as needed.

The image at the bottom is presently filled with green and yellow, a real smorgasbord of precipitation. The temps will be in the mid to upper-50s, so it's one of those "really wet, not that cold" moments, so wool is on the menu. I'll take a rainy, chilly Hundy mostly any day, especially on a birthday. Why not?

Riding around

2011-11-13T18:14:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning involved a somewhat spirited run down to the river to the U.S. Gran Prix Cyclocross race for a quick view. I had to stick an early ride in since later I was to drive the teenie-bopper down to the State Cross Country race, which we did (and Manual runner Cassidy Hale with the 3A win!!). It was another nice, tough ride on the Crosscheck, which as become the "bike to abuse, but faster than the LHT, which is also abused".This morning I plotted a two-tiered attack, scheduled around church choir practice. We're now in preparation stage for the Christmas Concert, so I'm taking one for the team and going to 9-10 Sunday morning practice. Today, that meant I was up early and off to see LithoDale race the Cat4 starting bright and early at 8.00. I stayed for the whole race and gave my best effort to yell at Dale when I could Below are a few of the pics I took at Eva Bandman.

Odd how the Fall colors of the ground correspond with the Fall colors on this trashed cup.

Run-Up!! Hup Hup!!

Juxtaposition of the "classic" Bleriot in front of the very flashy, modern 'cross support vehicles.

Teenage leader of the Cat4 race bunny hopping the barrier. All the kids are doing it. He flubbed a run-up in the last minute of the race and took second. He's fifteen or something like that.

Stage Two was me high-tailing back to church to catch practice. I did stop near the race site and took a few pics of Beargrass Creek.

I tried to catch a cool image of the race on the bridge and its reflection. Didn't quite work.

After practice, the third stage began with me meeting Dave at Sunergos for a cup before our ride. He was coming off a big 100K Populaire yesterday, but I was looking for mileage. It soon became apparent that such a goal was not to be. We were buffeted with 20-30mph winds out of the S and SW, the direction we attacked on the way out. It was quickly obvious that I didn't have much uumph, and Dave was happy to oblige with a moderate pace while recovering. As the ride towards Iroquois went on, I felt more and more like crap. We bagged earlier notions of heading out into Jefferson Forest for more substantial mileage and instead toured around Iroquois Park a bit. As ever, I love the top of that park. Dave has ridden with me enough to know of my proclivity for grassy fields.
\

Bleriot against a very different background that at the 'cross race.

Night

2011-11-08T21:29:00.001-05:00

The chirp of crickets as their time comes to a close, the hum of tires on a smooth surface, the drone of traffic vacillating as my momentum shifts, crunch, crackle and snap of plummeting leaves after losing their tenuous grip, "was that just a critter in that drain?", heavy breathing at that right turn. Dark, quiet, noisy.

"Dusty Bike"

2011-11-08T17:24:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I made a reasonable effort to tweak a fender line, but in my frustrating capacity I slightly mis-drilled the bolt hole I needed and put the line slightly to the right of the desired. Frustrating. Story of my mechanical life. No harm done, but not an elegant solution.

I recently posted a long effort to be a bit more evocative in my ride descriptions. Pondero, though, better did the trick, and all in one brief paragraph. Excellence.

Posts and Rides

2011-11-08T09:04:00.001-05:00

I worked my tush off on that last post and I got nary a comment. Goes to show I shouldn't be wasting my time on trying to sound literate!

Dave and I took a fun ride last night, doing a soccer practice ride. Instead of 'cross we chose a road ride, as the 'cross course is pretty dang dark with the time change. I rode the Blueridge, which I an exceedingly in love with. It does everything I need it to do well, including participate in a spirited road ride like last night. We yo-yo'd the pace with hard and easy efforts via Indian Hills and St. Matthews. Once in the parks we saw a gaggle/mob/throng/group of lit-up cyclists, I presume a LBC club ride with everyone fully lit, many with bar and helmet lights and reflective vests. It looked like Close Encounters as a ship comes up over the horizon. Fun. After tempo through Cherokee we took the Beargrass Creek Trail and then to Mellwood for the return. After passing Brownsboro, Dave put in a big-gear attack; obviously he was feeling saucy. I had to dig hard to pull him back, which I did in about a half-mile. Once I took a brief breather I did the same to him, digging very deep for a while before leveling off. He and never ride like this, but it was fun. The evening's efforts gave me a very enjoyable 59min ride. Dave turned and rode home, prolly giving him 30m+ on the day.

As to the Blueridge, I just mounted a new front fender to replace the one I trashed on the Orleans ride. I need to tweak the front line a bit, as the rack in pushing it down a little close to the tire for comfort, and giving me some rub here-n-there. I'd also like to try a new bar. The Salsa Bell-Lap, for me, has no drops position whatsoever; I hate it. Patrick has a FSA Wing Short-n-Shallow which I might try. Many of the newish bars are 31c (or whatev the new standard is), but the present stem is 25.8c, so I'm leery of changing out a stem that is definitely working for me on basic tops and hoods riding position. Not sure what to do. I do want new bar wrap and to remove the interrupters. Fresh tape and easier access to the rando bag make the BR a perfect rando mount, or near-perfect enough.

I'm closing in on 4000m for the year as well. I'm excited about that and hope to have a productive Nov and Dec, as I usually do.

Now that was an adventure ride!

2011-11-04T20:31:00.000-04:00

Last night I finished an article out of the recent Bicycle Quarterly, a ride report from an "amateur" rider in lieu of a report or review from the owners. I don't know whether the author is an amateur or a professional writer, but he so greatly invokes the ethos of the Yorkshire Dales with its sheep, hardscrabble hills, desolate moors, impenetrable bogs, vistas and villages. I wish I could evoke a similar response with my own write-up of our extremely interesting foray on Sunday into Henry and Owen Counties, but I don't think I have the same gift for the written word. Suffice to say, our venture of nearly 12 hours total time (driving+riding+trekking+eating) was one of the most interesting of my recent years of gravel reconnoitering.

Our party included Dave, me, and the 'other' Timothy, Barturtle, with whom we rode back in August at our Orleans70. After coffee, a muffin and a superb peanut cookie courtesy of Java Brewing we made our way to our departure location in New Castle, home of Hammer and Mama, parents of my college roommate. Good people, very. The route would be a roughly figure-8, with stints of gravel in both Henry and Owen, a Kentucky River crossing at Gratz, and unknown store stops based on vague information found in our technological ether. The boys had been warned.

We were met with crisp Fall temps around freezing, blazing azure skies, and almost immediately the confusion of technology and a lack of leadership. My gps unit was confused and I didn't heed Dave's exhortations, and as such we missed our second turn. It perhaps was going to be "one of those days", We descended a somewhat gentle slope into a creek run and found our first gravel of the day on Flat Rock Rd., a pleasant, mundane gentle sweep downwards towards the Drennen Creek valley. This portion was bounded to the left by low rock walls and limestone cliff, and the right the open view of a brook, frozen foam flowers. Timothy nicely pushed ahead while Dave and I alternated shot-making along the descent.

Descent on Flat Rock Creek Rd.

Towards the bottom we first noticed what looked to be a run along the right, a definite crossing, albeit one too rough for bicycles. We continued straight, perhaps another .1m, to find signs of construction or merely the results of boredom with a bulldozer. The road had disintegrated into the creek with large piles of rock and trees pushed to form a wall, or merely a large pile of trees and rock. Where had Flat Rock Rd. gone? Both Dave and my gps units showed the road, and I had inspected the KY.pdf, which definitely showed a road along this route, but there was no road. "I don't see any road at all, sir." Timothy wins the gardenia for his initiative, as he set about building a crossing using large rocks across a narrow passage. Without one we would have all been knee-deep or better. Instead, after manly rock throwing and the dainty removal of shoes and socks we made it across, but across to what? I was pretty insistent that there was a road somewhere.

Flat Rock Creek Rd. continues behind Dave's head. It didn't look like a road to me.

Facing west up Flat Rock Creek Rd.

Dave and Timothy inspecting local road-building techniques

Timothy admiring our impromptu bridge-building project of our own.

Socks

After some befuddlement, we ascertained that the road was the creek was the road, so we followed some 100 yards until seeing, for lack of a better term, an opening venturing upward to the right that could have been a road in a past life. We rambled, pushing the bikes, until we found a house, barking dogs and what looked to be Drennen Lane on the far end of our creek escapade. We had made it to the other side.

Bike "Ride"

Yes, this passes for a "road" on most KY road maps

And again I return to the BQ article. Where the author evocatively describes the landscape and how to be within in it, I regale of a military operation of crossing the River Kwai. I would rather paint the scene of a very cold Drennen Creek running, sunlight skimming off with a low sun to the east, bottom land, scrub, roiling landscapes carved from many a creek run, soft terrain underfoot interspersed with Kentucky limestone rocks and boulders. Scrubland, but beautiful scrubland.

The Crosscheck as gravel-grinder. I enjoyed the bike immensely throughout the course of the day. Guess that means it was a good choice.

We soon found tarmac after a meaty 20% climb up Point Pleasant Rd. I felt good here and tempo'd up in my larger climbing gear that the ones sported by my compatriots. Somewhere along this stretch Timothy returned the favor with a powerful uphill sprint to keep the group's pace moving forward. Dave was suffering at this juncture. We stopped at Eastern Elementary school for a snack break and shortly found out next gravel juncture along Joe's Branch Rd., again another creek run descent along a more acute vertical cut of what I can only assume is Joe's Branch. Timothy used the term "baby heads", one I think I observed previously describing the large cobbles of Flanders, i.e. kindercoppen; a most apt description if you ask me. While the terrain of the valley was a bit more severe, the descent more acute, it was the surface that soaked in my attention. Riding 35c Vittoria Randos instead of my more customary 1.75" Contis, I found myself having to more carefully chose lines. On occasion water drainage channels filled with course stone spanned the entirety of the path, disjointing my trajectory like speed bumps in a subdivision, only speed bumps with jagged edges hurtling towards me at 20mph in a barren landscape rife with trees, vermin and detritus instead of cookie-cutter homes, mailboxes and absurd yard art.

Dave in the distance on Joe's Branch Rd.

Joe's Branch was sublime. At the base of the run, after crossing a newly poured cement drainage bridge, we took a left onto Six Mile Creek Rd., a two-mile run of near-perfect gravel riding. The surface provided a bit of variety, but wasn't too stony; the CC cruised with ease. We also found a little climb mid-run to mix up the texture, and best of all, it harbored us blanket-like to the left with a snug hillside. On the right the land opened a bit to fields and then Six Mile Creek. Interestingly, for most of this portion the land to our right comprised a gun range, which during deer season left us jittery and much desiring of bright orange safety vests. "Promise, we're not deer!!". This stretch emptied into tired town of Lockport, with its river malaise, unfortunately-closed-on-Sunday-morning store and dueling church vying for lost souls. Seems the Baptists were winning.

Timothy on Six Mile Creek Rd. ensconced in a cedar 'allée', on of my favorite spots of the day.

Lock at Lockport

Church of a by-gone era in Gratz

After a brief glimpse of the lock we turned north and soon crossed over the Kentucky River and into Owen County, a new territory for my riding experiences. Dave had read of possible food opportunities in Gratz, but our inspections led to nothing more than vine-covered churches, dilapidated homes and the need to find more open terrain away from the unease of a past lost in encroaching modernity. The next stretch along nearly proved Dave's undoing. A rolling road along the river country pushed him further back. At one point we lost contact only to find him a bit later having wrestled with yet another gps conundrum. His unit stated to turn right. Unfortunately the route I had sent him did not contain the updated deletion of Severn Creek Rd., which local maps had as a dead end. Dave was at his own dead end because we had left him proverbially dangling in the breeze. Somehow we reconvened and set sail for Monterey, down hard by Sawdridge Creek and the river. Another river town. More squalor. Small red brick homes flooded time after time. More derelict buildings devoid of use or benefit. A small empty Christian church on a Sunday morning. Better times had been had. One of us asked a local gentleman about opportunities for food and he gave some in a round about way. I was swept me back to a risible anecdote including my wife, France, teeth and a truck

In 1993 my wife and I took our honeymoon in France where we spent time in Paris and in the Loire Valley visiting chateaux. We reserved a room at one of the many B-n-B's in the countryside as a means to experience 'la coeur' of the country, all cigarettes, vin, and fromage . On our first night we found a delightful BnB that lay adjacent to a local canal bounded by fruit trees and hedges with "du, du, hoele?". Our Savonnierres reservation was at the home of Madame Carré and her large, stupid dog, Sallee. Upon arrival in the town, we found no sign, no indication of any BnB to speak of. We asked a petite maiden at the local boulangerie; alas, we had found the only person in France who seemed fearful of us. We drove to and fro. We took took a right into the countryside along Le Bas Bray until we encountered two Frenchmen who, according to the wife, upon being asked for directions said something about a tree. I think the lack of teeth didn't help hte explanation. We drove back to town only to find that the large white box truck parked at the crossroads in town had moved, thereby revealing a very effective BnB sign, pointing directly to Madame Carré's house just next door. The homemade apricot marmalade was delightful.

I am a language teacher. I teach Spanish and revel in the sounds and intricacies of language. I love dialects, idioms, expressions, and varied diverse accents. I have a generally good ear for the cadences of language. That said, I could barely understand Monterey man. His advice, once deciphered- and much appreciated by the flagging Dave-, led us to a gas station/store up a ways where we feasted on home-made sandwiches, salty chips, scrumptious-yet-disgusting Swiss Cake Rolls, chocolate milk, dried meats, and assorted caloric-rich foods that provide no nutrients to speak of. After our repast, it was time to return.

Our bellies (some ample) girded for yet more adventure, our senses not yet sated for texture, I immediately set us astray, in of all places, Monterey, KY, population 167. Our next appointment was to be Old Landing Rd., another bit of gravel according to our cartographic sources. Exiting on the west side of town we were faced with a ribbon of dirt, even less a "road" in some ways Flat Rock Rd.; it resembled nothing more than a way for tractors to access the low-slung plains with their flood-enriched fields along the Kentucky. I charged, and Timothy shortly thereafter taking the lead.

Logic told me that any possible road marked as "unimproved" may offer numerous textures, be they gravel, rock, dirt, grass or fading pavement for that matter. Once our progress was halted heavily along the banks of the Kentucky, with nary an exit in site, I knew that my own piloting skills had been revealed as suspect. We had no choice but to return to the bustle of Monterey to reconvene. With no obvious evidence of Old Landing road in plain sight, the obvious albeit boring solution was to return via 355, our outbound path.

Kentucky River locks from afar, next to Lockport where we had been 1hr previous.

*Not* Old Landing Rd.

Before making our mundane way back first Dave had an encounter with a muddy puddle, from which his shoulder and neck became intimate with the hard, crusty bottomland of Owen County. Wracked with pain he crawled well over 75yds and pulled himself free of his crankset via a roll of bailing wire and an axe handle.

No, no, no. Dave did meet the Owen Country floor, and I did have to straighten his right brake lever a bit before we commenced further inspection for our textured route. We seem to have found remains of the Really Old Landing Rd., but this portion wasn't remotely passable, and with heads hung low in resignation, we slowly pedaled towards 355. On a whim Timothy veered to the left on Taylor St. and I, seeing a potential turn at the next block, took a turn at the front where, by excellent fortune, the rumpled pavement plunged down a slight swale and onto Old Landing Rd., a highlight, at least, of my day. It abutted a cliffside leading along the river bottom, with varied fields to our left of dried corn, pasture grasses and more scrub. Unfortunately my pics reflected the bouncy nature of gravel terrain; my favorite shot is out of focus. Old Landing shortly left the bottom lands and began to climb somewhat abruptly onto an escarpment, with the river below and classic, rolling Kentucky woodlands to our right. Signs indicated land belonging to some type of state program, later to be revealed as the Roberts Tract of the KY River Wildlife Management Area, which are basically state-owned hunting areas. We paused briefly to adjust our garments, as the sun had finally joined us and helped to warm our efforts. The labors experienced finding Old Landing Rd. proved well worth it, at least for me, as revealed in the sensations of the river, the varied nature of its gravel under tire, and the gentle transition from bottomland to a kind of woodland parkway tucked nigh on the Kentucky.

Out of focus, but I have to include it anyway. The orange of the leaves juxtaposed with the gravel make it worthwhile regardless of image quality.

Old Landing Rd. with the Kentkucky to the left and a WMA to the right. Outstanding!

Our return continued, although slowly. Timothy experienced a little sponginess in his rear tire, which turned into a mostly flat tire. I, stopping for the boys, made an attempt to alight by a traffic sign to adjust something, and instead found myself adjusting my momentum in my descent towards the ground, still clipped in. Dumb! Dave, however, was rallying. We stopped at Lockport and availed ourselves of a picnic table in the park where Timothy could change a tube. Dave availed himself of the store across the street for more sustenance. I availed myself of the table bench. In short order we were ready for further gravel, first meeting Six Mile Creek Rd. on the return leg, and then turning left followed SMCRd to its terminus.

Aces Grocery in Lockport. Googlemaps makes no mention, and Mapsource has it located 6 miles away. Technology.

Dave wondering how he can get a 'boss' gravel grinder like the Crosscheck.

Six Mile Creek Rd's western leg proved to be one of the main challenges of the day. While as flat as mamaw's kitchen table, the texture was a rough as papaw's mood at breakfast after third shift. Timothy's preferred 'baby heads' became inveterate shards of cow bones and entire stone fences dumped in the middle of the road just to make the trip more interesting. As the denizens of Paris-Roubaix are wont to know with their teething ring still moist, the more efficient way to make war with the road is to trample it, Genghis Khan's horde running roughshod across the Asian steppe. I geared down and stomped, praying that the 35s would support the onslaught. Eventually I danced around Timothy- who was now experiencing shifter issues- and Dave, who rode a smart and steady line and who remained as the rearguard in support of Timothy. I rode those four miles as aggressively as I could muster, stopping twice to gain a rearward glimpse of my colleagues. While Dave was providing support at the rear, I did the group a service by engaging two growling river mutts in a grand game of chase for well along a half-mile. By the time they acquiesced they had nary the energy to confront further prey and tucked tail home as Timothy and Dave rolled by.

Crosscheck cockpit, with Salsa Bell-lap (already coveting Salsa CowBell2, with usable drop), 2 mountain feedbags and Vittoria Randos 35s. A change in bar angle at mile 6 (the creek) made all the difference.

As the superb SMCRd came to a close, Timothy needed to attend to his onerous shifting. Emptying his luggage of all contents (foreshadowing), he found his extra master link and replaced the stiff link which has befouled his SMCRd traverse. Once completed we began our final leg, this on the paved 573 all the way to New Castle. Our previous hours had been dominated by a landscape of rocks, puddles, rivers, woodland, serrated cuts along old pathways made for rough, manly work. We enjoyed our newfound smooth tarmac, but we suffered consequently given the need to climb away from creek bottoms and towards the town which is always built on a hill. I climbed relatively comfortably on the Crosscheck, which was a prior concern, but Timothy and Dave used the good fortune of easier gears to spin along while I fought my machine to eek out the necessary forward momentum. We reconvened several times, but we became malleable points along a slinky as we ebbed and flowed from hillcrest to trough to hillcrest. At some point Timothy rallied, his mechanicals behind him, and the three of us paced forward. I took the final runner into town and we finished quietly, satisfied, and a probably a bit tired. Now *that* was an adventure!

1.1 And poor Timothy lost his phone along the route, probably during the tire change in Lockport or the link change at Six Mile Creek.
1.2 I talked Dave into McDonalds on the road home, ravenous. Never again. Never.

HenryOwen Mixed-Terrain

2011-11-03T19:56:00.003-04:00

I momentarily and accidentally posted a bit of a substantial ride report that I'm working up for this past Sunday's 60m mixed-terrain ride that Dave, Timothy and I undertook. It was so fun and so interesting that it inspired me to be a bit more literary, and I've yet to add the pictures either. So, that report will be coming soon. Below is the gps to wet your whistle a bit.

"Fun"

2011-11-03T19:26:00.001-04:00

Am I supposed to have fun riding a bike in the fading light of day surrounded by thick, dark clouds all while being precipitated on in varying degrees spanning sprinkles to near downpours, all at a tenuous 50F when wet feet and wet hands cease being comfortable? Is that fun?

Why, Yes, it is! It is very much!

Rides

2011-10-29T13:03:00.001-04:00

First commute (16m) for a while yesterday. It's turned cool since I last commuted, but I stuck my hand in and found something warm to wear. Somehow I managed to hit a head wind while riding all four cardinal directions. Go figure.
Two miles this morning to Breadworks for a cup and some scones for the crew. Mellow, brisk start to a beautiful day.
Met Dave and we took a road ride to get the legs moving. He didn't feel great, so we kept it flattish and at a moderate to easy tempo. Every now and then I goosed it just for fun, but we have big plans for tomorrow, so moderation was the key today.
Today's was the first time in a LONG one for the IF. I never blogged about it, but I had some crazy bottom-bracket issues a few weeks ago pertaining to water. Seems that the IF didn't come with a BB shell drain hole. Odd. OYLC took care of the BB and drain hole issue and today it rode 'like butta'. Today's was also the first ride on some Challenge Paris-Roubigi 27s. As some may have noticed, I'm not too good at doing reviews. In fact, I never did a full pictorial IF redux. The word on the street was that the PR's were/are soft, smooth, and flat-prone. Today, no flats and an amazing ride. More to come.
Tomorrow we have 55m of road and gravel to explore in Henry and Owen Co. The skies will be completely clear and sunny with leaves changing, so it should/could be a great day. Get out there!!

el Peso

2011-10-26T06:34:00.000-04:00

I'm struggling with weight again. Again. It's been right at one year since my last batch of heart/health episodes and since then I've lost 20lbs and gained exactly the same 20lbs back, within a half pound. I'm the perfect example of the classic American yo-yo, right?!?! I'm not going to beat myself up though; time has shown that such thinking only makes things worse.

So, where to? Back to basics. Using MyPlate. Weighing every day. Putting down the junk food!!!! Sometimes I think, "what's the right plan? how do I do this?". No, that's scurrilous thinking. Eat moderately. Eat fruits and veggies. Eat salads. Don't eat cookies, ice cream, and snack crackers if at all possible. Minimize the booze. Take a dose of Dr. Oz below. Middle Path. Moderation.

**Cut out Soda

**Don't eat after 8.00 p.m. (or 3 hours before bedtime)

**Move 10min a day

**Don't eat snacks larger than your fist

**Track your weight every day

I was looking at my weight graph from this past summer, having weighed myself sparingly. What jumped out was the 5lb weight gain in June while having my highest mileage month every. Sorry LD, no ectomorphic body here. Probably the best kind of cycling for me is 1hr a day with no big mileage days. They make me eat too much.

But we'll try to throw some longer cycling in there. Life has to provide some treats, right?

Sunset 'cross

2011-10-24T20:18:00.003-04:00

I spent all weekend in a rotovirus-induced haze. Full on "bleeehhhhhh".Today I took a restorative nap at work from 1.40-2.20. I'm sorry for all you taxpayers that I spent 40 tax-supported minutes asleep, but it was better than $80 or whatever they're paying subs these days. With nap in hand, I convinced Dave to meet me for our usual Monday night 'cross ride, although this was to be a bit more relaxed than our usual "hot laps". We rolled around RRCC a bit and then linked to the Eva Bandman course which has been ridden in recently in preparation for the Storm the Greens race there this weekend. So far for this Fall I'm 0/2- no camping and no cross. Now I have to get extra-focused for Gravel Grovel.The EB course has a nice mix of steep short ones, sand, twisty turns, grass drags and a few steps thrown in. Given my present fitness and health I'm glad I'm not racing, but I think I'll have to head down this Sunday for some pics.

My hero, Dave, 'crossing it up in work clothes on a LHT.

A crew doing crew on the Ohio at sunset.

Another first century (L.B.)

2011-10-24T06:14:00.002-04:00

I'm mired in a loop of sneezing, sniffling, aching and blahing, so in lieu of any real cycling, I wittle the day away vicariously cycling through others. What brightened my day the most was the recounting of Lovely Bicycle's first century report. While usually designing and facilitating georgeous bicycles in MA, she's in Germany for some reason, and decided to undertake her first century ride, in this case solo (not unlike my own in '10; I've yet to do a group century). Hers gets more interesting with her sense if panache in completing such a ride. In typical cycling terms, a century would entail lots of Lycra, carbon and non-food gels. LovelyBicycle, though, pulls off a sense of Euro styling, riding her first hundy in woolens on a steel city bike. Stylish and invigorating. Interesting too, just as the rest of us "mortals" face dark times on long rides, she also hits her bad spot somewhere in the second half, but a little tea and food reinvigorate her spirit. A great blog, a great ride, and certainly great style!

Puny JRA

2011-10-22T15:33:00.000-04:00

Puny. My early week misery turned into a sore throat/ick/quack/uck yesterday and today. I left work a bit early yesterday, came home, and napped for a couple hours. Today after some morning teenager drama Dave and I took a very easy ride, he on his new (to him) Big Dummy and I on my reciprocal cargo bike Ute. We mostly roamed, eventually reaching the 'Cross park down on River Rd, where we went cargo 'crossing for a few minutes. Pretty funny, if you ask me. After that we stopped by the shop where Dave ordered a new stem and I picked up a fresh tube for the IF.Dave followed me home where we checked out the new drilled bottom bracket drain hole on the IF. I guess I should blog about the general experience, but I'm not up for it yet. After that, Dave helped me mount some Paris-Roubagi tires on the IF. I bought them when I got the bike but hadn't tried them out. They were the most difficult tire I've ever mounted, but they're supple. I'll try them out tomorrow if I can.

Dave 'cargo 'crossing' on the Dummy. Schweet!!

Nothing good

2011-10-20T06:10:00.001-04:00

I have nothing good to report. The IF has a sketchy issue with the BB after a brief batch of rain riding. We have our camping weekend coming up in a couple days and Michael is sick. That's no good. The weather is changing and I'm not adapting. I haven't had a solid, long ride in weeks. Yes, Sunday's 42m was great; we got out. But I don't feel like the fitness is any better. This week I've been playing taxi driver in the afternoons, but then I've been unwilling to get back out after work for a workout. Henceforth, this week has been binge eating and no activity. It's a fucking joke.

What was lost

2011-10-15T08:26:00.002-04:00

Friday afternoon meant no soccer, no cross country, and no excuses to stretch out the commute. I rode the Bleriot again for said purposes and encountered a blustery afternoon, but with gorgeous temps and skies. As I head west I felt fortunate that the extremely stiff wind (gusts to 40mph) was straight in my face on the way out. Knowing so wet the whistle for a good effort to get downwind and let 'er rip.In and around the Shawnee Park area I decided to spend a brief moment solving, or at least attempting to solve a puzzle from last week's long Friday commute. Last week I slopped through the remnants of the Riverwalk Trail, which is now being reclaimed by the river unfortunately. On the far side, perhaps in Portland or along Lannam Park, I noticed that while my fancy Garmin Edge500 (an awesome product, btw) was still tabulating, my nice cateye mini was, in fact, incommunicado. Or inexistencio. Or just plain missing. Apparently it had fallen off somewhere in the bushwacking, and I didn't have the gumption to retrace 10 miles worth, especially through the muck. TWS strikes again! Right up there with the lost glasses from '09 or so.

So yesterday I determined to re-trace a small portion of the closed, muddy path, right along the golf course where I had to hurdle a few trees and barriers. After a slightly muddy run from Thursday's rain I finally came to the most likely spot, right next to a low-slung tree trunk that caused me to clamp down firm on both brake levers. I dismounted and almost immediately the first spot I looked there she lay, my Cateye mini ever so slightly covered with grime and leaves. It was sleeping in a slightly inconspicuous spot, but one I fear that would have swallowed the mech up in another week or so, perhaps with the next rain. I picked it up and threw it in my bag b/c my handlebar was already full of doo-dads and went on my way, hoping for that tailwind.

Once I turned onto Bank Street the effect was immediate. I immediately hit the 20mph mark and held that all along Bank Street through Portland, even hitting 24mph at some point. Once I turned onto Market I maintained the pace up until downtown where traffic slowed me. I was mired in bridgemania traffic for a while before dismounting, walking through the 2nd Street intersection and remounting on the other side. A stop by OYLC brought me a new Planet Bike Gas Tank (not even on their site yet!), one of the new top tube bags made perfectly for gravel grinders and adventure rides. From there it was directly home, although it might have been fun to catch a bit of the Halloween parade along Baxter. A fine afternoon, and for a change luck found me with respects to find lost things.

And the Bleriot did just fine, again.

Slow

2011-10-11T16:04:00.000-04:00

no further insight. I commuted slowly and I'm pleased to have done so.

Monday 'cross

2011-10-10T21:02:00.001-04:00

The pattern changed a bit this evening with the inclusion of Dave, who traveled down to RRCC after work for some 'crossing on his LHT. He removed the pannier and a few blinkies but still crossed with his rear rack and SON, which I think is awesome. I just realized that a better bike for the RRCC course might be his RaleighSS with some nice 30s. I rode the CrossCheck again, but with a tire change. I have been running monstercross Panaracer FireCross, 45c behemoths which weigh 10lb each, but which also engender an extreme amount of confidence. Not long ago I picked up some new Clement PDXs, which are marketed as mud tires but which have a nice raised center ridge for the pavement, so I mounted those up and pumped them to 60psi, right in the middle of the suggested range. A boy my size is *never* going to run 40psi true cross style, so be it.

Dave met me at the vehicle to stow his pannier and we followed my usual pattern. We rode over to RRCC and took an easy warm-up lap to introduce Dave to the course. We then hit our first hot lap in 6.53 for a 15.2avg. Not bad in the grass, albeit hard, beaten-down grass given our lack of rain. We then did a nice, easy cool-down swing before diving in to the next hop lap, this one at 6.58/15.1. The times are mas o menos, b/c the start and end points are ballpark but not exact. This time we took a little longer cool-down out towards the end of RRCC before taking in our last hot lap of the evening. We/I decided to do the course backwards for variety, but this put us (Dave) in a perilous situation of which I will elucidate. The western end of the course has a cross tie run-up, which also has a little worn path up the right side which I usually use; I can't remount for shit. In doing the course backwards we come at it from the high side of the steps. I knew roughly where it was and took the path descending and thought of whether Dave would remember as he was a bit behind me. As I rounded the tree and looked I saw Dave descending and thought, "cool", and motored on, finishing the last lap in 7.00/15.2avg again. Eventually I saw Dave moseying towards me through the field where he began to regale me of the fact that he did *not* descend via the path but had come straight down the cross-tie steps, but had managed to stay up. His bars rotated a bit down and he though the wheel was out-of-true, but that turned out not to be the case. They're Big Stairs! And I told him that if he could handle those then any mtbike obstacle was within his skill level.

We took an easy final cool down via the Cox Park path before returning to the car after a bit more than an hour of riding, well, for me. Dave commuted home as well so he's got me on mileage in spades for the day. I had a really good day on the bike, though, and the PDXs at a medium psi made for a nice tire for the conditions. I'll have to ride them when it's a bit more soupy after some rain and make a long-term review. They're a hell of a lot more supple than the FireCross's, that's for sure.

Fortuition

2011-10-09T12:31:00.001-04:00

I've been struck with a dash of lazy on this excellent weekend, but coffee and egg products motivated me enough to get out of the house this morning. I eventually met Dave at Highlands Coffee, a shop I don't visit as much as others, but one that does probably have the best selection of goodies in the city. After some breakfast, we ventured for some JRA. Sorry, LithoDale, no training or HRM today. We just rode around, me on the Quickbeam- DAMN, that's a nice ride, especially on a lazy Sunday morning- and Dave on a BigDummy he's borrowing/test-riding. It's a cool rig and I hope Dave can work a deal b/c that bike is right up Dave's alley.I also give thanks for having both the good fortune and good taste to assemble such a nice stable of bikes. At present I have several bikes that provide a spectacular ride for their given purposes. Today it was the QB. On Friday, the Bleriot. And on. And on. I'm very lucky, and descending out of CherokeePk this morning on the smooth-as-silk QB that realization of good fortune came to me. I'm lucky, for that and in so many other ways.

Long ramble commute

2011-10-07T19:59:00.000-04:00

Two days in a row with no taxi service. I knew I had a distance window this afternoon so I pulled off a first (or near first) and rode the Bleriot as my commuter rig. I don't have enough luggage for a full commuter experience, so I left some papers to grade at home, planned for lunch out (a burgeoning tradition with teacher friends now that we have a Papalino's and a Qdoba close-by), and packed judiciously. I used the Big Loafer for clothes and tools, including the use of bungees and the top rings for extra clothes. My personals went in the bar bag. The addition of a front Blaze 1W and a rear PB made me good enough.

This afternoon I warmed up pretty quickly and intentionally rode a hard tempo up Algonquin. At some point in the mix I had a strong suspicion that I had a nice tailwind b/c my computer (non-GPS) was reading 18-19mph, which might be a bit brisk for the Bleriot. Or I was just feeling gooood. At Shawnee I took a turn down to the Riverwalk for a change in speed before jumping back onto Northwestern Pkwy. The sight, though, of the 'Path Closed' sign drew my attention. I had tried one other time to guerrilla ride the flooded path but last time was immediately swamped by mud. This time things appeared to be a bit drier. The portions along the golf fence were bushy and rutty but rideable. At some point I almost ran into not one but different different limbs which were hidden by brush. The first I saw quickly enough to stop easily and walk around. The second, though, was lower to the ground and it took a full two-handed power grab to stop. However I landed, it jerked my right shifter a bit, but there were no other visible signs of damage (foreshadowing...)

Once I lowered down off the golf course portion I found lots of dried mud, but it was passable. Other vehicles, I assume 4-wheelers, were taking advantage of the terrain, and I saw one pair of mtbike treads. Progress was slow-going and I had to walk a few times. I even ran into a couple walking, when they inquired from me if the "mud was going to end?". Well, sort of.

It's sort of sobering that this portion of the Riverwalk, by far the most interesting section, was being given back to nature. Wonder if there are any lessons learned for Louisville famed future Louisville Loop. I have no confidence.

After the off-road portion I reconnected with the Riverwalk proper and vacillated between spirited tempos and periods of rest. I snaked through Waterfront Park with thoughts of maybe going all the way to Indian Hills, but turned towards home and OYLC where I was going to ask them about a front end creak I've been experiencing on the Bleriot. They were super-busy so I re-directed towards the Beargrass Trail and Cherokee, where I took in three frisky hills. No, the first, golf course hill I took at a friskly pace. I rested a bit on Hogan's Fountain and Chaufer's Rest was a push. It was a beautiful day for a ride, one which included tempo riding, mixed-terrain riding, urban riding, park riding and neighborhood rolling. What's not to like on a Friday such as that?

Commute

2011-10-06T17:06:00.000-04:00

First commute in a while (records show first in last couple weeks!). This morning I couldn't imagine going any slower. After seeing my present weight on the scale I rode in depressed, morose and general blah. This afternoon I had to play crosscountry taxi a bit later so I had a finite window to make haste on the ride home.. I punched it as much as I could on the LHT, giving myself two hills to climb (Illinois Ave. and Valley Vista). I maintained a good pace until I ran into L who was walking home from the bus stop and we chatted a bit before finish. It turned out to be an average day, pretty slow in the am, but peppy in the pm. Bag it. I'll take it.An (interesting) aside, I wore the HRM this afternoon to monitor my efforts. It's interesting that you can be in breathing and leg difficulty but your HR rolls along at a moderate rate. I slowly begin to understand why the Tour guys have to ride tempo for an hour so their hearts are actually ready to work enough. My average was pretty suppressed for much of the ride, but it was only 27min worth. And I punched it, especially on the Illinois Ave. hill but my HR got nowhere close to the rates seen while 'crossing. I know you readers *really* don't care about my HR stuff. I'm not sure I do either, but again I do. I've got a goofy heart and I think it pay to pay a little attention to it.

historical PBP

2011-10-05T06:32:00.000-04:00

Long, informative account of a Seattle Rando's PBP. I don't remember where I found it, but as the original link stated, this account is much more positive than the many "hardest death march of my life" accounts.

Context

2011-10-03T20:26:00.001-04:00

Went out for a damn easy spin during L's practice, my now-ritual Monday evening ride. Of late it's been cyclocross, but after yesterday's adventure I needed to take it really, really easy. In fact I've been a little body sore all day after 4 hours of mtbike pounding.The IF hadn't been out of the stable for a while, so it was the weapon of choice. Ironic, right? The fastest steed in the stable going on a veritable walk? I also used the HRM to stay within that 60% they tout as easy/fat-burning, yada yada. Early-to-mid-ride I noticed some creaks coming from the bike. Odd, really. As I went on they became more and more prominent. My primary guess is that I gave the IF a good washing recently and must not have relubbed the chain. As soon as I came home I did the deed, so soon I'll take it back out for a test run and hopefully the creaks will have stopped.Very mellow. And in the end I averaged over 13mph, which is about what I do on the LHT or Bleriot. Context, speed is. The day. The bike. The riding partners. The premise. It's a bit in the eye of the beholder.

BCS #2

2011-10-03T06:28:00.000-04:00

Some observations:

That was a hard day in the saddle. Ride time a bit short of 4hrs, total a bit more than 5hrs. And while the BC trails are primo, they're still mtbike trails, so lots of roots, rocks, trees and features to maneuver around. I forget what a full body workout mtbiking is, especially if you're working the downhills and not just coasting.
BCSP is mighty substantial. We rode every trail in the joint except for Schooner, which begins and ends with the nastiest looking rock gardens I've seen. Generally the trails are laid out really logically with features around every corner, but in a way that keeps things "flowing" (borrowing their terminology). Well, except for ThunderGulch or whatev it's called. That trail (the upper half) was just shitty. Too many rocks and off-camber crap. It might have helped if we didn't run into probably 20 bikers along there; it was the only crowded spot the entire day.
I didn't really have my climbing legs much- helped by Michael setting down a *furious* pace in the opening couple hours-, but, MAN, I felt great on the downhills. I've never "shredded" like that. I'm pretty sure I found the purpose of the C'dale F29er/Caffeine, the bike with the dumbest name ever. It's never been a great bike in the twisty stuff close to the house in the parks, but here at BC where you can open up the throttle a bit, the C'dale performed wonderfully, especially on the downhills. I just read the review of the aforementioned link and they mentioned it being a stable machine with a somewhat long wheelbase and I couldn't agree more. I bombed down the hills and felt really secure. I've probably never had the opportunity close to home to really let loose. That said, the rear end is a bit tight (hmm?), so it wore down by back end after the day. I was thinking "Thudbuster" at some point as a way to take the edge off.
Michael and Dave couldn't have been better ride mates. Everybody stayed together the entire ride and was really supportive. Dave knows the trails like his own yard- he helped build some- so his observations were really helpful for a newby. Michael, setting a hard pace early on, set the day up for what it should be, an honest attack in every good way.
I'm ready to go back already, not just yet, but soon enough to take in the trails a bit more and help make some decisions as to my favorites. To be honest I like the *Easy* ones b/c you can open it up the most, but some combo of North Tower, Aynes and/or Green Valley was worth the price of admission for sure! And Hesitation Point. Can't forget that climb/descent down through the PawPaw and Hickory.
Due to how my family schedule shook out, I had the time and we ended up getting a table in busy Nashville, IN at Big Woods Brewing. I was quite impressed with the nachos and the Stout. Again, worth another return down the road, and a hell of a way to finish the day.
It's Monday am and I'm still a bit bone tired

Michael, representing early on after putting me in difficulty on the early climbs.

Dave. Dave's a baller, but the most mellow one around. I just got the feeling that he could take off whenever he wanted, but that he enjoys the camaraderie more.

Black, white and red woodpecker on right side of left tree.

Terrance Malick?

Abandoned homestead

View from Hesitation Point

Nice rest after a tough climb.

Rock garden along Walnut Trail, where both Michael and I lost our edge.

Bridge blur

I have a new-found respect for all those idiots out in Kamloops and such with miles of these things.

BrownCoSP Big Day part 1

2011-10-02T18:38:00.001-04:00

mas 'cross

2011-10-01T19:02:00.000-04:00

It's a smidge busy, no, I lie. It is busy, but that's not the only thing dictating my riding. Yesterday morning I had a great window to do lots of mileage. Instead I hung out and relaxed and eventually went for coffee with 'L', which I *always* enjoy. That gave me 3m for the day.

Later that evening after lots of driving children around I got antsy and went out on the Blueridge with the SON and did a bit more than an hour, totalling 16m. I felt pretty good, although early efforts had me slow some in the second half. At some point I heard something and later noticed that I had popped a rear spoke. OYLC will have to attend to that. (no camera, no computer, so no data save using the HRM again.)

Today is 'Z's bday and we had 2 soccer games as well, so it was a quickie 'cross session with Lithodale from 3-4, my only window and his as well. Wow! Riding with LD makes for an interesting time b/c he's *way* stronger/faster than I am, so it was great to push me, but in pushing me I fell over, metaphorically speaking. I warmed up a bit and then did a hot lap for myself, which was him warm up. He dropped it down a gear or few the second time and I spun a bit and joined him at different parts of the course where I could cut. From there we went west to Eva Bandman to take a look at the future (maybe) World's course, which at the present is taller, bushy, wet and generally no fun. We headed back to RRCC for a few more laps, the last of which I tried to do at some kind of pace. Looking at my final data stuff I noticed that I hit 179 as a maxHR, which mathematically is as high as it should be, 220-41. Yikes! Actually somewhere during that last lap I felt a little something and backed off a bit, although I looked at my HRM and I was in the 160s, so who knows. It was great to get out and fun to ride with LD, something I haven't done in a while.

Tomorrow is a big day up at BrownCo. I'll have the camera with me for that one, and certainly some stories to tell afterwards.

'cross

2011-09-28T22:06:00.001-04:00

Time was of the essence, so after picking up 'Z' from cross country (his first hard run in a while with so much soccer), I got home and hit the the 'cross at school next door (not my school). It's a bitch of a course with a bit of flat on top, a middle portion with a stair-step descent, a divebomb descent down to the creek, a rooty trail across the backside leading up to another grassy run. From there it's uphill time before a run-up with stairs and then back around school while gasping.I used the HRM again. Once I saw low 170s while I was about to lose my stomach through my nose, I figured I should probably slow down. I used that general benchmark the rest of the way, putting in (most of) a 'hot lap' until I approached the upper-160's and slowed down until I settled down into a more normal pace. Two more observations:

my run-ups are devastating in their intensity.
'cross is sort of hard.

View Atherton 'Cross in a larger map

2011-09-26T20:51:00.001-04:00

Golly Gee, I've been better. Work was a Monday. Same ol', same ol', but I was sort of wiped all day. By the time I got home my head was pounding, but L had soccer prac so I wanted to continue my new-ish tradition of riding during his practice.Dave was wandering around so he met me down on the river and we took an *easy* bike stroll. Post-work and pre-home I went by Swag's Sports Shoes- a running store I first visited literally back in '83 or so- and bought another heart rate monitor, in this case a Polar F6, which they sold me for a very fair price about $30 under the online list price. I have an older Polar which is sans battery at the moment. The prob with Polar is that they strongly suggest you send them back to the workshop for a new battery and re-pressurizing and such. So, if you have to do the switch you're out your HRM for a few weeks. Now I have 2. Overkill? No, I've decided not at all. I'm going to use one on most of my workouts both to improve my workouts, i.e. to not go too hard, and to have data on file if I have another "issue". I think it's $$ well-spent.

Dave and I did almost an hour, an easy hour, even more subdued by the headache. By the end of it I was experiencing heart burn too. Geez! But I got a workout in, which is better than nothing.

Applications and Polemics

2011-09-25T16:14:00.000-04:00

This morning provided a melange of cycling polemics. The plan was to be a trail day with the Bloomington crew. Instead, polemic #1 rained on our parade. Wash out. No trail ride, and this all embued with a "will it/won't it?" kind of tension starting Friday. Into the mix came PJ with designs to ride big this morning to prepare for his GA trip. So, I had the primary trail option with a "rain date" long distance back-up with PJ. And since the dirt designs looked grim, the frothy brew of road back-up rose to the top of the cup. Polemic #2. The trail ride was cancelled. And PJ was to have hit the road at 5.15, so the back-up chicken had flown its coop.

And yet I was in kit, basically ready for a day of two-wheels and I became determined that *something* was going to happen, so I drew the Bleriot quiver for my bow and away I rode, 6-shooter in hand! No, there was no gun and I let the metaphor get out of hand there.

I decided to ride to Sunergo's first and then to let the morning unfold. Dave has/had been laid up, nurse Betty style, so I didn't know if we could make contact, but I let his suggestion guide my direction. He mentioned catching Vic's LBC ride at 9.00, so I at least had a plan. I would coffee it up, ride to Vic's and see what happened.

"Application"- this is a term Drew taught me during the IF design project. For the frame and subsequent parts, what would be the application? How would I specifically use said part? I appreciate Drew's insistence in this b/c I think it's the best way to approach a particular part issue. How am I really going to use said tire, brake, frame...Today I found that I had missed what the Bleriot's application was.

**I just lost all the rest of this post. The Bleriot is a fine bike, not a race bike. I need to ride it like an all-rounder and not a pure road bike.Furthermore, I had some kind of heart incident at the latter stages of the club ride. I felt good and outclimbed numerous people on the ride while on the Bleriot. And then it went "FLOP" something like 3 times. ???? I don't know. It disturbed me and I'm still bothered. Polemics. And Applications

C'dale set-up

2011-09-24T06:03:00.000-04:00

After our brief, fun ride out at Waverly last weekend I'm sort of jazzed about forays on the mountain bike. It's Fall, don't you think, the catalyst to escape the summer bugs and excessive growth and to carve warm-hued leaves and dry trails? Sunday I'm going up to Brown Country to carve what everyone says are some of the best trails *anywhere* locally and some of the best in the East, and I hope that my bike helps me to do that. I put it in the shop earlier in the week to spruce it up a bit: brake check, new chain, extra pressure in the Lefty fork. At home I took off the large Banjo bag that had been on there for winter riding and replaced it with an older smaller bullet bag for tube and small tool. I removed the pedals as well. I have some on-loan XTR pedals I'm going with instead of the silver M424s. I also put a Garmin e500 mount for data pleasure. The boys will take care of the directions on this one.No pics yet, but some to come for/from tomorrow. Weather is meh!, but I don't think it'll stop us.

"Praxagora, Where is that damn woman!?"

2011-09-23T17:13:00.000-04:00

Easy...

2011-09-20T16:49:00.002-04:00

After spirited rides both Sunday and Monday, today was all about relaaaxxxinnnnggggg. I prolly did 11mph both directions and it felt great. I got my ride in and did it on my mellow terms. Hope everyone else got a ride in today on your own terms yourself. Treat yourself!

'crossing it

2011-09-19T21:22:00.000-04:00

Blast from the past!!! Lithodale has inspired me to dust off ye ole 'cross bike for a bit of muddy groveling action. Out of nowhere I decided to revive the forlorn Crosscheck for its original purpose. L had soccer prac at 6.00, for which we would have to leave at 5.30. Unfortunately I was drawn into a Law&Order-CI from which I could not extricate myself until 5.00. In those 30min I

found and dressed in sufficiently ratty cycling clothes given that it had rained all day and that it would be a mud bath.
removed the rack and rear fender (that fender will get new life somewhere. it's a nice city rack)
removed the 30c tires and mounted the 45c Panaracer Firecross, the heaviest, slowest tires of all time, but *perfect* for the soup.
mounted an Edge500 computer mount
removed the old, rusted flat pedals for future (i.e. 20min later) installation of (old) TimeATC pedals.
find my old Shimano cross shoes with Time cleats and the other crap I needed, including something to protect my key fob from the muck

It was as active a 30 as I've had of late. We arrived, I paid for the tshirts (other story) and got ready to ride. Basically, I did a short warm-up and dove into the first "hot" lap at mostly full gas. Because my gas isn't all that gas, well, it was mostly "gas" to me. I pulled off and prepared for the next "hot" lap, for which I used the "lap" function on the Edge. That lap was at 9:03 doing the "road" link first. I think the wind was coming pretty heartily from the west, so that route provided me straightaways into the wind. On my cool-down I noticed two other 'crossers doing an easy lap. Last week (on the mtbike) there was a whole pack of youngsters; they must have stayed away from the mud. I hit the lap again and went into my third "hot" lap. This time I ran up behind the two 'crossers, holding my spot for a while until I got a chance to pass. Funny that I hadn't been in a race situation for YEARS but that's where I was, looking for room to pass. The dude let me by and I finished my 3rd "hot" lap at 8:45, 18sec faster than #2, and with the slow traffic behind the 2 'crossers.

I spoke to Lithodale later and he encouraged me to do StormtheGreens in late October, the weekend after our RiverRiverGorge weekend. The Cat4 race is 30min, which is basically 3 of my "hot" laps plus a bit. The challenge, I guess, would be to avoid the DFL (google it if you need), but if I feel good and have a non-injury race, who gives a crap? Mas training? Maybe?

our own FURLY

2011-09-18T11:34:00.001-04:00

I'm tired, whether from exertion or from getting up well before the crack of dawn. We all need miles for Fall plans, so Pat, Dave and I met at 6.00 for a brisk early morning 50, I so I could get home for family doings and Pat the same. I left around 5.30 to get a warmup in (and to rival Dave who always gets a few more miles than I do). They were both at the Loop when I arrived and we hit it, using Eastern Pkwy to link up southward towards Iroquois and our first hills. I set a firm tempo up Iroquois in the pitch dark, glad to have my SON lighting my way. Excellent choice there.We circled around the back of Iroquois where Pat pipped me at the top of the disc golf hill; I left just a bit too early on that one. A quick water break led us onto Southern Pkwy and a somewhat big gear roll downtown. I wasn't feel too great, right in between gears if you understand me. I wasn't strong enough for the next cog and burned my legs, but the cog up had me at my limit with my breathing, but thankfully for me we started hitting lights. Unthankfully, we seemed to hit every light on 3rd and Market streets.A quick roll across the stench of Butchertown had us at a road block at Frankfort, apparently for a run/walk down along River Rd, our route. We found that we could use the right lane, and impressively the left lane was full of runners. We then hit Mockingbird Valley hill, me taking a steadier tempo before giving it some more gas at the top up "green" whatever road. I managed to stay ahead of Pat this time, but he was climbing much better than last. We then had a brief stop during which Pat tried to figure out what was up with his front mech, but to no avail. A swoopy downhill in Indian Hills delivered us to the bottom of the traditional Indian Hills climb. I backed off a bit b/c I was tired of blowing at the top of every climb and it worked pretty well. Pat almost got me that time.River Rd allowed us to tempo up a bit, but it started drizzling and gave us a headwind (I think). That set the plate for Wolfpen Branch, during which I tried a little move up on the third portion but overcooked it, with Pat going by me easily. Tired legs. All that was left after that was Barbour Ln. and our last quickie climb. I felt pretty in control for 75% and the last 25% blew up entirely. Again, overcooked it. Gonna have to work on that. We reconvened at the top and cruised by Pat's place and dropped him off. Dave and I were blessed on the return via Westport with a tailwind and downhill, so our tempo increased a fair shake until pulling into St. Matthews where *suddenly* food became necessary. And Plehns was in order to quench said pang. After a donut (2?) we bridged through the park in the later stages before stopping at Twig-n-Leaf for a warm breakfast. Funnily, some long-time LBC members were there hiding from the drizzle. They decided to bag the potentially wet ride. Sissies!The end result was 58 well-earned miles, and all before 10am. That nap is gonna feel spectacular this afternoon!

p.s. In discussing bike usage this morning, Dave and I speculated on which bike(s) I was using more this year, especially between the new IF and the updated Blueridge. As of this ride today, I've taken exactly 22 rides on each bike, with the IF leading the mileage race 721 to 655. Basically the difference is that the IF has 2 centuries this year and the Blueridge none. The bike with the most trips in '11 is the Ute, the neighborhood bike of choice. The bike with the fewest miles is the RB-1, with one trip of 8.5m. Pathetic. Two bikes haven't been ridden, the Redline 9.2.5. and the old C'dale Criterium. I'm going to try and give that to my uncle today to use if he would like. The 9.2.5. needs to be cabled and sold. And perhaps the RB-1 needs anew home too.

Fall Plans

2011-09-17T19:43:00.000-04:00

There's been lots of talk on google+ about bike plans among the bike guys of late. I have 3 rides lines up, one per month. That'll keep me sufficiently motivated and excited, but it will also allow for soccer and cross country time too. So:

Sunday 9/25- I'll be driving up to Brown Country, finally, for a half-day of trail riding up there with Apertome and Dave G. EVERYBODY talks about how fun the BC trails are. Also, mostly everybody talks about them in terms of good flow instead of gnarly technical challenges. I like that.
Sat/Sun 10/22-3- At least 3 of us will be going to Red River Gorge for a 1-night bikes+camp weekend. We'll drive down early Sat and take in 100K of E.KY/DanielBooneNF mixed-terrain goodness. After a good camp we'll do the 28m RRGorge Loop, road in nature this time, before heading home at lunch Sunday.
Lastly the posse is all planning on taking on the Gravel Grovel, Saturday 11/26. That's another 100k worth of pure gravel, double track and some singletrack. Given it's status as a "race", we/I'll need to be in reasonable shape to not miss any cut-offs.

Big Fall. Exciting stuff. I was just prepping a bike for a 50m "training ride" tomorrow morning moving out at 5.00am and thought to myself that I'm really enjoying bike riding these days. The older I get, the better it is. Can't say that too often.

Waverly

2011-09-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

No photos, but Dave and I have an excellent time (at least I did) on a short ride at Waverly this morning. I hadn't been out there for a couple years but it's Fall and there is no better time to hit the trails. I've also been somewhat incommunicado about Fall plans, but one of the dates is a day trip next weekend to Bloomington to Brown Country Park to ride with Apertome and Dave G, and today's effort was intended to prep for that a bit. Best as I can tell, I hadn't been to Waverly since November, 2008 and much has changed. KYMBA had already done trail work out there, but the modern trails differ substantially. The old ones were more verticle- up hard and down straight- making for a trying and tiring time. The new trails have an amazing amount of "flow". Dave and I only had time to do the front trail, "Fresh Air", and the back trail, "Twisty" somethingorother. My chain broke on the second trail, but fortunately and funnily enough we found the trail end about 100ft up the trail. Dave used the MonocogSS and did a great job plowing through things with partial slicks, no front suspension and only one gear. We had to suck wind occasionally at the tops of climbs, but what they've done at the modern Waverly is reward any climbing with *amazing* swoopy, flowy descents, most including berms, jumps, bridges and turns to carve. My skills aren't particularly good, but both on the front and back trails at times I let loose and got some speed going and began to "carve" a bit. FUN! The bike is in the shop now for a chain, some front fork air and a little love, and I'll be really ready for next weekend. I'm hoping very much that we have weather like today. Perfect.FUN!

WestEnd Loop

2011-09-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

Whew, long, windy commute loop home in the afternoon. I had made grand plans to do even more but I needed to stay at work a bit longer. Then I started making good time and pushing a big gear going due west. Uh oh. Due east wasn't so much fun, but I put it 26 on the day.

Commute

2011-09-14T20:55:00.002-04:00

Commuted yesterday. Rode hard in the pm. Slowed down when hot. Today didn't ride. Feel sort of blah, but I'll perk up.

On a more important meta-note, why did my "goofy" post get so many more hits than usual? the google+ reference? Do I need to refer to google+ every time I do a post. Then maybe due to google+ I'll get lots of hits and can monetize my blog and be a good capitalist like all other good Americans, especially Americans with google+ accounts.

'Cross-ish

2011-09-12T19:56:00.000-04:00

Had soccer taxi this afternoon so no commute, and then more soccer taxi 6-7. So, during L's practice I got the 29er out and rode some 'cross trails at RRCC. It's something. Better than nothing. "Time" is total, ride time was about 45min. Ran into cross country coach marking course and talked to her for a bit.

Miles

2011-09-09T17:48:00.000-04:00

I wasn't paying attention, but this first week of September I passed my mileage from all last year. I finished last year amid health problems and whateve else with 3,024, which was about 600m less than 2009. I remember being disappointed. This past week with the HnHFCH and some commuting I'm up to 3,059, not up with FatGuy and certainly no Bikeolounger, but sheeyat, I'll take it. And the Fall may prove promising. On deck (hopefully) is a late-October gravel/trail weekend with some camping thrown in and in late November we're talking a GravelGrovel with the extended RCCS crowd. And of course I have to train for such events.

I like to ride, and ride I will.

Goofy

2011-09-09T17:39:00.001-04:00

Goofy commute today. As posted on google+, I wanted to take the TrekSS out, but the front tire was flat. I knew in the back of the petrified noggin that it had been flat before, but I pumped it up anyway to see what would happen. I made it, pretty spiritedly in fact. The afternoon brought complication. The plan was to jet home and drive the car back to school to pick up teenager from soccer. During the day at some point I felt the tire and, yep, pretty flat. I tried pumping it up with my old small pump and it wasn't doing jack, so I grabbed a ride with a colleague and still returned to school for teenager *and* bicycle pick-up. 7.3 total miles for the day. Not the way to train for a 100K gravel grinder. Oh well. Fun while it lasted.

Slow Commute

2011-09-08T19:20:00.001-04:00

I commuted slowly yesterday (15m).

Pondero commented on that fact, but I deleted that post while using the new blogger interface. I regret having stolen Pondero's voice. I appreciate his comment, and appreciate the cooler temps too.

Short Commute

2011-09-08T19:15:00.001-04:00

(Using blogger's new interface and lost a post. This one will be shorter.)

Yesterday was slow, today short. I stopped by the stadium on the way home to watch us lose 0-1 in a JV game. Z played his first game at right back and played well enough, getting some crosses into the box but losing position on the goal; the center and left backs also missed their assignments, so not too much blame.

Sure is nice to have the SON going in drizzle and leaden skies.

FCCHundy pics

2011-09-06T22:06:00.000-04:00

Rehl Rd. in the morning. For those of you not from Louisville, this is about 2m tops from "the 'burbs'. Quaint, isn't it?

Cockpit. I'll move the Garmin mount to the stem next time I'm in this configuration. Also, I won't use the mtfeedbag. It knocked against my knee a bit much on this ride.

"Canoe Park", or something to that extent. It's part of the developing Floyds Fork Park project.

Canoe launch. I discreetly used the bushes, if you understand me.

Old Taylorsville Rd.

Taylorsville. Looks pretty peaked in this pic, much like the rest of rural America.

Tobacco staking, for those who don't know what that is. I've never done it, but I've always heard it's back-breaking work.

This is an interesting stretch of KY458. It's a long, mild false flat. On my last FCHundy it rained on me here. This time, I think the heat was mounting. I took a quick breather at the top. And it smelled like cow shit. I don't mind cow shit, but not in the heat.

This is a painted message on 1754/Chaplin Rd., with me climbing and this on the opposite side. This stretch is apparently used for C.KY rides like the MS150 and maybe the OKHT.

lunch stop in Willisburg

Fresh asphalt along 433/Willisburg-Mackville Rd.

My rest spot. I lay down in the grass just off the front wheel. I rested. I needed to.

Backroads leading into Perryville.

Steep crap along Oscar Bradley Rd. on the west side of Perryville Battlefield. I walked here, in socks.

Questionable activities along same stretch of OscarBradley

Pinto nuzzle along Oscar Bradley. My inability to ride and need to stay in the shade allowed me multiple pic opportunities.

Butterflies cavorting, just barely.

Approaching Perryville. Looks flat. It isn't.

Perryville and Chaplin River

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Shade, with a bit of sunny inspiration.

Last obstacle, Mt.Salem Rd. just south of Hustonville at mile 94. What is less evident here is that I was trying to capture the darkening clouds. It began to drip on me within seconds after this, and by mid-climb it was raining. By the "summit" at 1m it was absolutely pouring. No more pics for me.

FCHnHHundy Recap

2011-09-05T14:23:00.001-04:00

I completed my second Family Camp Century, this one under some questionable conditions with temps around 100F mid-day. I sit here two days later and I'm not sure I had much fun. I accomplished something, and I'm sure it helped my long-term cycling acumen, but it just wasn't an intense gravel ride with a group or a miracle day with magic legs. It was a long damn ride in really hot conditions.

The first 55 miles were uneventful in a good way. I rode through very sunny conditions in the morning as the temps slowly climbed. During this stretched I just rode along, sometimes pushing the pace, other times backing off, and always drinking lots of water. The stop at Chaplin at 45m was particularly nice. The store didn't have dispenser ice, so I bought a bag to fill my bottles up and had a nice, cold Coke. I felt good and refreshed after that and made good time into Willisburg, my lunch stop. It's known for cheeseburgers, so like last year I bought one and ate it under the church picnic structure. Some AC would have been nice, but the restaurant had smokers. And the wait was a bit long. The burger and peanut M&Ms hit the spot, though.

Somewhere after Willisburg, though, the wheels started to loosen. The section from Willisburg to Mackville is basically a 3.5m mild acclivity, and it was during this that I got hot, very hot. I have a feeling, too, that I stopped drinking, I'm not sure. But I got hot and I stopped riding for a bit. I found a shady spot on the side of the road and I stopped and lay down, the first time I can remember doing that at a random spot on the road. After a bit I got up and "hit" the road again, but my spirited pace from the morning-15avg at Willisburg- was long gone and I was descending into a miserable patch. What worried me was that I knew the Mackville to Perryville section was one with lots of steep rollers, a section I suffered last time. This time was probably worse. I took the route behind Perryville Park via Oscar Bradley and Hays Mayes and encountered a couple short, steep uphills I just didn't clear. I walked, in my socks with my fancy road shoes hanging from my brake hoods. Low point. We've all been there.

In Perryville I sent several whiny texts to my cycling brothers and the fam. That helped, I think, a means to clear the mind of negativity. What helped, too, was the Gatorade and ice cream sandwich. After a relatively long stop in Perryville (also working out finding a missing teenager who went to soccer instead of coming home), I ventured into the Perryville/Junction City stretch that hurt so much last year. I took the alternate route via Harberson Rd. down to Parkersville and 300. What looks like a 8.5m uphill stretch became much friendlier due to two factors, CLOUDCOVER from the heat and a TAILWIND, my first of the day. My spirits, or legs at least, lifted a bit and I made JxCity pretty easily, the only real problem being my hands (more later). A chocolate milk and AC rest in Hardees gave me strength for the final push along my parallel 127 stretch. I wasn't powering away here, but I made progress. I bypassed the ice cream again outside of Hustonville for some reason and turned onto Mt. Salem, my last obstacle of the day. Even more strangely, after a day of intense heat and sun I saw darkness growing from the east. It began to sprinkle and then rain. After a triple lightening strike not far ahead of me I knew it was on. Two hours earlier I suffered to survive triple digits and now I was chilly while being buffeted with a hard rain all along the high point of the day at mile 95. From there it was a divebomb into the wet cold until things evened out for my last 10 miles, before arriving at camp around the 10hr mark. A long day in the heat it was.

Thoughts:

I used Chamois Butter liberally and had no chafing at all. The Brooks Swift was quite comfy. BUT the on-going ride gave me a painful spot in the leftish portion of my groin around my pubic bone. I've never had a pain there and never want to again. I'll have to make saddle adjustments or go to a new saddle, bc I'm not risking anything there.
My hands gave me real problems as the day went. I'm theorizing that the oldish PearlIzumi gloves I used had a seam that ran along the base of my hand and created a pressure point. The alternative is that the Brooks tape and smallish Campy brake hoods created the pressure. I might have been better off glove-less except for the terry portions to wipe sweat. I'm hoping a future long ride sorts this issue out again, b/c it could mean a fit issue that I hadn't encountered on shorter rides.
My feet legitimately cramped several times in the Specialized road shoes. I longed for my Keen sandals on occasion. That said, here now I would wear them again, I think. Road shoes don't do well when you have to walk steep hills when your legs are fried.
My rough patch was from 60-72 this time, which is odd b/c that 70-mile segment is one I've ridden plenty of times. Still, I had the requisite rough patch and marshaled through it. I think long rides are fascinating in that respect, the ebbs and flows. I'm thinking that a 200k with a like-minded group would be a fun physiological and psychological adventure, but doable.

Eating:

PB sand for breakfast
32m Slim Jim in Taylorsville
32m-36m Combos
45m Coke in Chaplin
started Nuun bottles in Chaplin and had one Nuun and one standard bottle from there on out
55m cheeseburger and peanut M&Ms in Willisburg
73m Gatorade and large ice cream sandwich in Perryville
85m chocolate milk in JxCity
85m-95m Cliffshots

I'm not really sure I ate enough. I wonder too, if around mile 60 when I had troubles if I should've eaten and had drunk more. I'm sure it would've been smart to do.

Pics to come later when loaded.

Officially wrong side of bed

2011-09-05T13:23:00.000-04:00

Don't know why I'm cranky, but I'm cranky. Got out for a pleasant spin with Dave this morning but that didn't make me uncranky. Had Quill's as I craved but they have changed from their own yummy prosciutto and cheese scones to standard blah Heitzmans fare. Blah. Cranky. Just got back hitting some tennis with L and I'm still cranky. Timothy and his horrible, no good, very bad day. Australia?

Hotter-n-Hell Hundy

2011-09-01T09:02:00.000-04:00

I've already taken off work and tomorrow I am to recreate my Family Camp Century from last year, one which was my first century and my first solo century. I had a nice time last year- except for the typical 75-85m split- and I feel like I have both more experience with long distances and more general long rides in the legs than last year. Below is my route-ish. It's a quickie although the "master file" is the .gpx I'll use from MapSource. Please move below.

Here is the other new feature for tomorrow. Mind you, I've already put in for the off-day, so something has to go forward. Weather.com has us at 99F instead of just 97F. I have real concerns about a solo century with those kinds of temps. I harken back to early June when a 40-miler gravel grinder in IN just about did me in. Sitting here at this point I think I'll go forward, but with some trepidation. I have stops quite regularly, so refueling/rewatering are not problems, but dang, that's hot!

Friday, 2

97 | 74 °F

Clear

http://www.wunderground.com/

Not-Training Ride

2011-08-31T06:28:00.001-04:00

Grand plans to get up at 4.15 and get a training ride in before work since the afternoon/evening schedule looks dim. Didn't do it. Terrible night's sleep. I admire and envy all those freaks with the passion and stubbornness to regularly do so through adversity.

And I'm back to monitoring intake via Livestrong/MyPlate. I used it successfully for 6 months before a crazy tennis schedule did me in, so I can use it successfully again. The other recourse is to go Taubes and kill every living animal in sight.

But they're still freaks.

McCafe

2011-08-28T09:30:00.000-04:00

Last night involved a late-ish night and good wine at a good friends' house in Lexington. In turn, the plan to get up at 5, leave at 5.30 and meet Patricio at 6.00 for a Sunday-in-the-dark ride was daunting one. But we did it, we had a great ride, and that's what counts. We decided that we needed a "tempo" ride, a hard ride with some hills thrown in and do so on our road bikes- no racks and fat rubber- with him on his A.Homer.Hilsen and me on the IF (with white "pro" shoes, mind you).

A few observations:

Patricio is a strong dude on the flats. He would regularly wind it up in the 20mph+ range, which is a decidedly fresh tempo compared to our usual meanderings. The 24mph flourish on the Lexington Rd. return almost popped me, but I hung in there.
I went way too macho on an early climb up Indian Hills and blew like tea kettle.
On subsequent climbs I went hard too early and couldn't sustain the tempo. I separated from Pat b/c I had a smaller, spinnier gear, but invariably he caught back up when the grade flattened out.
We visited the start of the swim of the Louisville Ironman. Lots of thin, muscular people in small suits.
I had plans to ride all the way out to Pat's and looping back via River Rd. to give me 40m+ on the day, but the lack of sleep and non-lack of tempo meant I was done for the day at the finish at Heine's.
That said, my 2 best splits of the day were the last two first leaving the "finish" and looping back via Rudy Ln and then into the parks over to Norris. Tailwinds are awesome, aren't, they?
The IF is one sick climbing machine. I'd hate to see a real rider on it, or love it. One or the other.
'Z' the crosscountry/soccer player and I rode over to my mom's on Friday, I on the (slow) Ute and he on the SS Monocog. When we got to the short, steep Lakeside hill he literally danced away from me, like a rocket. I'd be interested to see him on the IF doing a real hill. It would be a thing of beauty, a skinny fit dude dancing on the pedals. But he doesn't like to ride much.
It's too bad Patricio lives in "McCafe World". Some people make such poor decisions.

A few more from east of Orleans

2011-08-25T06:26:00.001-04:00

Apertome appreciated my blurry-but-evocative pics, so I have a few more here.

Michael, Timothy and Dave carving. Should have waited another second, should I?

Crew going up the road on River Rd. Little did we know that this would be one of the longest gravel sections of any of our normal rides, Big South Fork notwithstanding.

l'espirit

2011-08-25T06:17:00.000-04:00

I see the pro boys are getting into the mixed-terrain spirit. Good to see. This is from the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado, in case you didn't know. And thanks to Jonathon Devich for letting me borrow it until he finds out and hits some kind of magic "picture forbidden" button.

Commute

2011-08-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

I commuted today on the LHT. I had plans in the afternoon of doing 24 total to go out to Westport Rd. to the bank where I left my debit card. Doh! I was 4m in to the afternoon commute when I decided happily to go home and pick the car up instead. It was about 95F with a nasty headwind coming from somewhere. I'm glad I commuted, and equally glad I didn't do the trek. I had to get back to go to a soccer game and it would've been a nerve-wracking, miserable couple hours. But I did get my 15.3m in.

Orleans70

2011-08-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

I'll first point you to Apertome's write-up, because it does a nice job covering the bases and his pics are much clearer. Apertome and I had discussed doing a "road tempo ride" for some time, given that so many of our rides end up finding the rough stuff. I based the route mid-way between Louisville and Bloomington to make travel easier. Near time fears of storms and further route inspection mutated the ride from the original intent into what it became, yet another great day of mixed terrain on the rough stuff bikes. David posted it on the RCCS site and we were joined by Patrick and Barturtle, both from the 'Ville. A merry band were we.

The first portions were classic mid-IN rolling terrain, ripe with green corn, fences laden with flowers and weeds

Boys busting down the road early

Morning Glory, purple/magenta form

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We stopped a couple times for me to play with my front fenders, which was rubbing on the tire. By Campbellsburg I was disgusted, pulled the fender off and slung it in the grass by an old, decrepit warehouse. It didn't match anyway! Soon we turned north onto NW Washington School Rd. where we found the terrain a bit lumpier, in a good way. Eventually we encountered our first climb of the day on N.Rush Creek Rd. where I had to stop and pick my glasses off after they had fallen. Dumb. Maybe I needed a breather.

Cloud. I took 3 or 4 of this for some reason.

Things got particularly interesting when we turned onto N. Reynolds Rd. to find what we always seem to find, Gravel. A short portion there lead us to a divebomb of a descent. Excluding Patrick, who took off like he was on a dual-suspension bike, the remainders of us took it cautiously. Fun was had.

Patrick entering sector #1

Michael and Timothy before the descent

Patrick before the disappearance down the flume.

Dave either happy at not falling, having a bright red jersey on, or thinking about beer post-ride.

After gravel portion our ride normalized for a while through a nice valley along, get this, W Buffalo Bottoms Rd and later a right turn onto, get this, Goat Hollow Rd. These were fine rural routes. Just fine!

The ride improved even more after the short, intense climb up to 135. After a quick rest in the shade we turned onto old 135 and began one of the finest descents I've done, really, I've ever done. It had this just right combination of flow, curves to carve, switchbacks to weight, speed but not flying speed, no traffic, shade, everything! We stopped twice for views and pics but at this point my camera lens wasn't opening fully, so I had to toss some pics. The remainders for a while are foggy with fingerprints. I don't need mementos, though. It was an awesome experience and I would go back just for that section of road.

Michael, Timothy and part of Dave through a lower curve.

Patrick carving the turn. Terrible picture, but fun carving the turn.

Tres Amigos at the bottom of the descent. Dave had stopped to look at cats. I don't like cats.

Shortly thereafter we were to cross the Muscutatuck (said Michael. I thought it was a branch of the White). We found the bridge "closed", but who cares? We were on bikes. After a hop, lift and jump, we admired the river briefly and kept going.

BR in fine, roadie/gravel style. The new fork and wheels have made this a new bike. Couldn't be more pleased, and I don't have to beat the IF to death either.

This next portion wasn't that long, but I sure did become enamoured of the fields and farm homes along this section. Not far down the road we hit our 2nd section of gravel. I hit the gas and felt good. That was fun!

The first portion of S.CR600W had a discernible path, but later on, as often is the case, the ground got a bit chunky. I slowed down to admire the view of the river and to wait for the crew. First in sight was Timothy and later Michael. We waited at the stop sign for Dave and Patrick, who wanted to take a breather. We then went to inspect the Medora covered bridge, which seems almost completely rebuilt and not so historic, although it did have a nice path and parking nearby. Shortly after that we hit our half-stop at Medora.

chunky

Timothy with Michael shortly behind and the bridge

Medora proved an amiable stop with the necessary ice, water, sandwiches, seats, and a giant fan which I could barely pull myself away from. We started slowly after that, bellies full, and find a variety of flattish roads following the railroad. What I noticed more than that, though, was heat. Heat, sun and headwinds. The return leg was still fun but becoming a little tougher. We started to stretch out a bit as each of us was running our own pace, and then later we would yo-yo back together for a while. Like our "out" leg, we ran across another closed bridge near Sparksville, with the new one right down the road. No crossing this time. Shortly thereafter we hit more gravel on River Rd., which turned left onto Tunnel Rd, our longest stretch of the day at 8.5m.

Dave on River Rd.

My camera ran out of memory at this point, so no more mediocre pics to capture our day. I might not have taken too many more b/c the sun, length and heat were taking their toll. The Tunnel Rd. section really took it out of us. From there I think we were each doing our own ride, as much together as possible, but more apart than usual. To be honest, I felt as strong on this ride as an distance ride ever, so I sort of set the pace and kept pushing out front so we made reasonable time. I would stop at somewhere key, let the crew catch up and take a breather, and then push again. I did this 3 or 4 times until we got to our final southerly road where Michael, Patrick and I rode roughly together while Timothy and Dave were not too far behind. I think we were all well-spent by the time we returned to Orleans, but what a ride, especially that first half! Yet again I have another spot to visit again down the road, hopefully with such a good group of ride mates.

FURLY

2011-08-23T06:14:00.000-04:00

Lithodale has the drive and insanity to get up, I guess, one day a week at 4.15 to go ride a couple really hard hours before work with a group of like-minded Type Aers. A friend, David (not Dave), does the same, riding 40m in 2 hrs with his slightly older group of Type Aers. Do the math.

This morning I also did the same. I can't ride to work due to parent taxi, so I got up at 4.10 and just got back from a 16m ride. I felt a little tight and a bit crooked in the saddle, so no hammering for me. Instead of groveling in the gutter I enjoyed Orion rising just below a plump crescent moon while the Pleiades hung from on high. I need to move the light angle up just a bit on the BR. The bike is great. I didn't feel great but the ride was awfully nice.

Hope I can stay awake this afternoon.

Orleans 70 tomorrow

2011-08-20T19:59:00.004-04:00

The cloud has been fraught with bike love OCD over tomorrow's Orleans 70, although that was never the intention. The original seed was a good, long, steady road training ride, specifically on *road* bikes and not necessarily one of our sloppy, meandering junkets. I laid the course out based on some interesting looking roads and even borrowed a bit from Puddle's Journey to Orleans, from kybikerides.org. I found our course and that one to be similar upon later inspection. So a road ride we had. The forecast, though, has vexed us a bit. A cold front and rain is coming through tonight and may- or may not- linger tomorrow morning. Several of us have more than one bike and I personally would rather drag the fendered "mud" bike through the junk over the shiny new bike with the really expensive Campy cassette. So now a decision ensues. Further muddying the waters is a hunch and some closer inspection of some of our route. While googlestreetview can't help us, I have the distinct impression that we'll be hitting some gravel along the way. We like out-of-the-way roads, and in rural IN those are often gravel. I guess I wasn't thinking, "more major roads, appropriate for 25s, we're not Rapha Continental with a sag van". A "tizzy" may be a bit strong, but I for one am vexed. Apertome is definitely unsure- pretty, blue fast bike or "dog" LHT (his words). Barturtle is thinking "which tires?" or for that matter, "which sized wheels, 26" or 700c?" and PJ is brooding over 33s, 38s or 42s. FatGuy is best placed, as Dammit, he's riding his Schwalbes whatever they are in whatever conditions there may be.

Ultimately, I'm going to be happy b/c my two 700c distance rigs are rolling really nicely for me and I can't go wrong. I like the compact double gearing and sprightliness of the IF, but the stability, fenders, and luggage of the Blueridge do me well too. Under different circumstances, these seems to be a perfect ride for the 650b Bleriot, but compared to the others, it's not in the same sentence any more (well, except for here in this paragraph). BR it's going to be, but a fall project might have to be some nice fenders for the IF. It's time.

But isn't that what muck bikes are for?

1.1 I had a further spat of bike decision angst last night after choosing the BR over the front wheel. I'm rolling a very nice SON front hub. I also have a standard front hub wheel I can use as a back-up in place of the generator hub. Quandry: which to use? It's sort of annoying to take off the generator hub, but not that difficult. BUT the standard wheel has a Kenda small-block 8 on it, which proved for me to be a fast comfy tire, but a delicate one. And there's no need to push small knobbies for 70m for a bit of gravel. And the Pasela 35c may not fit under the front fender. Get my drift? Keep the SON. It's not featherweight carbon.

1.2 It's 6.40 and I should be getting ready. The rain seemed to have gone to the south of Orleans and Louisville both, so I think we'll get dry conditions. Considering the gravel possibilities, I'm still pleased with the BR. Now it's whether the legs do the trick.

Sawyer East

2011-08-20T12:56:00.000-04:00

I'm sort of giddy. Must have created a good endorphin buzz on the ride this morning. Big One had cross country practice at Sawyer, so I planned a ride during practice and invited Dave for some Saturday morning miles. I've only done a few rides in that area so I charted a course that, for me, had several new roads, really mostly new roads. I knew that we would face some suburban traffic, but all-in-all it was a very pleasant route with very few critical traffic issues.

The entirety of the route was bucolic and still riding that "country/'burb" fence, but Johnson Rd./1531 was particularly nice as it skirted the steep hillsides above the creek. We enjoyed a thrilling dive down to the creek before climbing to US60. The short segment of Poplar Ln., with a sign for No Trucks, was also a nice, empty diversion. In the course of our ride we saw cyclists on almost all the roads we encountered, although never en mass. I had an original route going through Middletown, but using the "bike route" button on ridewithgps I found that Avoca Rd. was dashed with green, meaning a bike route, lane or something. The first part of that stretch was lined with quarries and heavy industry, hardly a bike route. Once it crossed Old Henry signs pointed to a local route with no through-traffic. At the train crossing guardrails had been positioned to allow bikes and walkers but no cars. Honestly it was all a bit odd, but for that short mile stretch we found cool shade devoid of cars. Nice.

Once back in Anchorage I mentioned to Dave that I wanted to maintain a total pace above 14, as we had been above 15mph for most of the ride and then slowed. He pushed it a bit and I pushed it some more, finished with 14.8mph for the day. Dave did great too, first riding the 12m there and then the 29m with me. A great day and a great precursor for tomorrow(RCCS message here), our 70m out of Orleans, IN. If you're interested, see you in Orleans at 9.00EST.

Commute

2011-08-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

ol' Apertome just did a nice pictorial review of his commute. My commute is usually quite dark in the a.m., so pics aren't so easy to take. I have no excuse for the afternoon; I'm just tired.

Today I upped the ante on the commute, especially in the afternoon when for the majority of the time I felt pretty frisky. I'm pretty sure I had a tailwind pushing me along, but I took advantage and took a low position on the Loop bar and pushed the big ring. I felt good all the way to the uphill drag on Grinstead where I slowed a bit. I rallied afterwards in Seneca but on the far end of Cherokee I blew on golf course hill and crawled in from there. Of my 1.03 afternoon commute, I pushed a good pace until about minute 37 when I turned the gas down a bit.

I'm promising to do a review of the Jones Loop Bar in the near future. It's a keeper. I'd also like to do something with the Garmin Edge500, understanding that I'm not techno-geek enough to do a full in-depth. Maybe a review from a layman is worth something. Point is, both of these cycling products are fulfilling their purpose and then some these days. The LHT is downright fun right now, almost like riding a new bike.

We have below my morning and then my afternoon commute. One complaint is that the Edge500, after a long rest, wants to "save" a previous trip and start a new one, thereby dividing my commute into 2 distinct rides when I consider it one loop. Perhaps there's a fix to that. I know these little plug-ins aren't of great interest, but I like maps, and these are certainly my maps, made with my own legs.

Sunday Carnage

2011-08-17T06:06:00.000-04:00

This is what we ended up doing Sunday. We had had plans of doing a 50m country ride out in Shelby, but the storm and subsequent power outage left me spooked at disappearing all day. Instead we roamed around, riding a nice tempo down River Rd. Of course, after that I was shelled and felt like crap, for whatever reason. It had to be quite a site, though, 2 LHTs and a gigantic Bombadil rolling down RR at 20mph.

Power

2011-08-15T09:31:00.002-04:00

Big storm Saturday. Power out. Nice to ride with big boys yesterday, but didn't feel too good afterwards. More of the same today.

Now back to our scheduled programming.

Point St. George + Fog

2011-08-12T21:46:00.000-04:00

I awoke considerably before my brood while in Crescent City, so I revisited the Point St. George area from the previous night's sunset. It provided a completely different perspective. Not many words, but lots of pics and cool as heck!

Commute

2011-08-11T21:01:00.000-04:00

As the world turns. Monday I was a total grump and today I'm a giddy man-child. The temp this afternoon/evening was about 78F with sun and no humidity, just like the weather we faced in Portland. It was sublime. I had a nice 13.5m commute with 'Alberto' (I think I called him that at another time on this blog). His mother died recently and I encouraged him to get out and stretch the legs as a means of escape and distraction. He did well going into work this morning. This afternoon he suffered a bit more, but he made it home and I enjoyed helping him along. We even stopped by OYLC where I picked up the Mad Alchemy Gentlemen's Embro I ordered and Alberto decided to spring for a new helmet as his was *old* and stretched out.

The afternoon then proceeded to Z's soccer game, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Z played well and played the entire game, one of 4 players to do so. The remaining spots rotated heavily in this first JV scrimmage. Afterwards, the boys and I partook of some Papalino's while the good wife/mom had choir practice. The feta cheese and capicola pizza on my end hit the spot, as did the 2 Brooklyn IPAs. Mighty fine day. Might fine.

Training

2011-08-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

Not really training, unless I'm training for more riding. Sunday is the next LBC Populaire, but I'm undecided. After bypassing opportunities yesterday I promised myself I would hit it this morning before going to Holiday World. Then at 11.30pm last night I told myself that I wouldn't get up. Then the body woke up at 5.45am already in sync with the school year (not the mind nor heart though), so a-training I went, putting in 30 miles in the parks and the IH/MockingbirdValley loop. I felt so-so, but good enough. It was a good morning too, a cool 71F with fog, mist and a general dampness *without* the oppressive humidity that has dogged us. Too bad I can't go to work at 9.30 every day.

Point St. George

2011-08-09T23:01:00.000-04:00

We spent parts of three trips to Point St. George, which is a few miles from Crescent City. I'm sure there are many attractive features along the California coast, but I saw a mention that this area has some of the best to offer.

In the afternoon after our Stout Grove stop we stopped and goofed around. The boys ran in the surf a fair amount and we listened to the occasional bark of something, which we later learned was sea lions just off the coast. This first series is along Pebble Beach, although I didn't see Tiger shaking anything along here.

I learned later that this is Castle Rock Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, created primarily to protect bird nests. When I returned with binoculars I saw hundreds of white birds flying along the cliffs. Furthermore, if one looks at that chain of small islands in front, the one to the left is dotted with lots of little rock things, which binocs reveal to be sea lions, on what is known as "Sea Lion Island".

Z throwing a rock. I like this.

L doing tai chi. I like this.

Later that night we returned, only this time up the coast to Point St. George proper for a sunset, which we had read would provide an excellent vantage. Notwithstanding earlier shots of the boys in shorts and tshirts, the temps in heartily in the 50s with the wind blowing sideways. I think the pics are self-explanatory. I can look at flowing fields of grasses and wildflowers pretty much all day long. Sorry if you get bored, but it's your fault. The scenery is this amazing and it's a real treat to look through it again via the pics.

More waves in this shot.

L and the good wife. Nice colors.

The wind-blown good wife. She's a private person for blog purposes, but I love this pic too much not to post. If she gets mad at me I'll have to remove it.

How do you like this one? I like it a LOT! Also, if you know your art history, it's got a Friedrich "Wanderer over a Sea of Fog" vibe to it. (title may not be precise).

Strange sightings of this entity spurred me to research it later. It's the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse, the most expensive- or one of- lighthouse ever in the U.S. I suggest you read a bit. It's a cool and morbid story.

You can just see the reef lighthouse to the right.

Colorful windblown crew returning to the car.

Jedidiah Smith Redwood S.P.

2011-08-09T22:06:00.002-04:00

**For some reason, some of these pics ended up grainy in their smaller forms. Please "embiggen" for full effect.**

We moved south from our one-day visit to Crater Lake with our entrance into California, the promised land, the land of gold, the Golden State. I was really excited for some reason to visit NorCal; it seems almost like a land apart, and its variety is beyond words.

We drove from Medford, OR to Crescent City, CA, first stopping at a local redwoods visitor center and then on a brief, leg-stretching hike on the Hiouchi Trail. The redwoods on that end of the trails aren't much, but it did provide us access to the very green Smith River, where the boys played a bit.

We then drove into Crescent City to the Lighthouse Inn in CC. After checking in and planning a bit, we left for our first stop of the day, Jedidiah Smith Redwoods SP. The website Redwood Hikes spoke of JSRSP in almost rapturous tones, making our opening day an exciting one. Howland Hill Rd lead out of Crescent City almost directly behind the hotel and climbed up into the forest. Those who know me well also must realized that HHRd is unpaved, mixed-terrain if you understand me. We spent maybe 30min total slowly climbing the hill and stopping at a couple key points. The pictures here cannot capture what a thrill it was for me, imaging entering such a "cathedral" on two wheels among the giants. It became more special when we passed a mtbiker rolling along at the far end of HHRd.

Cars giving a bit of perspective.

What's missing? A bicycle, of course.

At the northern end we parked and did a lollipop hike of Stout Grove (with a side branch making for a slightly longer hike), listed by the website and by a book we had on hand as the best hike in the entire redwoods, perhaps not the best-known, but the best. Again, my pics won't do it justice. If you love the outdoors, you have to go one time in your life. It's not just a question of, "boy, those trees are tall!". It's not that but so much more. I don't concern myself much with the role of the creator these days, but be it Yaweh, the big elephant on the turtle, science, or the flying spaghetti monster, the creator did things right in Stout Grove.

Trolls under the bridge on the entry trail.

L looking up.

L the Ewok running down a fallen log.

Z, mid-jump.

Banana slug

A little bit of camera fun.

We left Stout Grove amazed beyond words. Stunning. We returned to Crescent City and made a pass by the coast where we stopped and roamed the beach a bit. A story for the next post.

Commute

2011-08-09T06:55:00.000-04:00

Nothing like solving the riding blues with more riding. Sunday afternoon with Dave helped get out the door, and yesterday I did a full-on commute, with a long West End loop in the afternoon to give me 27m on the day. The afternoon even provided a little drama in the form of thunderstorms and rain coming from the west. I put my head down and rode directly into a headwind along Algonquin, but the direction change in Portland was nice. And the rain was never too bad. What a way to christen a new chain and cassette!

Today due to stomach issues I'm staying off the commuter bike, but this afternoon may provide more opportunity. Fight lethargy with energy, right?!

Lethargy

2011-08-07T21:10:00.000-04:00

Bicycle lethargy is pulling at me a bit. After while dazzled and inspired on our West Coast junket, I find myself back in Louisville in a "between time". I'm transitioning the Summer Cycling Season, which really only lasted June and the first week of July culminating in the first Populaire. After that vacation plans took over and now I'm looking to the start of the school commuting (and Fall school sports) season and my interest has been mired a bit.

Today I did an easy 5m visiting Quills on the LHT to have coffee with Lithodale and his brood. Later I dragged myself- and Dave- out for some JRA. We did the IH/RR loop (that's my new symbolgy for Indian Hills/River Road) before Dave peeled off. I entered the park and did a couple hills before rolling home.

Tomorrow I commute on the LHT. SCS is finished and the new year commences.

Crater Lake

2011-08-06T23:46:00.000-04:00

Crater Lake is sort of interesting in that there isn't that much to do and it's in the middle of nowhere, but it's such a spectacle that it's worth the 1hr drive up and down, even for short visit. The pics came back even more spectacular than I remember, and that has nothing to do with the photographer. It's truly one of a kind. And it really is that blue. Incredible.

Diamond Peak from the roadside

waves of pine tree pollen

yellow, tan, green, orange, blue

bluer than blue

falls on the lake road. also a very effective mosquito nursery

I know it's not overly apparent, but there is a bald eagle in this pic. Seek and find.

The same bald eagle can be found in this pic. Seek and find.

The drive coming off the mountain from Crater Lake was a real treat. The entire time I thought of how cool it would be on a bike due to its flow and blend of turns and grade while *not* being too gnarly. Towards the bottom we happened upon this portion of the Upper Rogue River Gorge, which was serviced by a small viewing park. It made for a nice and scenic 20min break (even though the elder slept through it; he refused to wake up)