Spring break is over, and I am back in the grind. School is annoying and seriously cramping my cycling style. I haven't been able to ride, but I have been getting some exercised though.
With my normal schedule right now, life is nearly miserable. I coach soccer at my high school. We have games on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but don't forget the practices on Tuesday and Thursday. Of course, I also teach full time during the day, and I teach night classes at a junior college at night. For this scheduling I have been trying to get my exercise at soccer practice and run with the kids. Of course I am a rather competitive and intense sports fanatic. All of my non-starting players seem to enjoy watching my antics and pacing. I am the kind of coach who comes home from every game hoarse, sore, and exhausted. I usually feel like I've been running.
Of course, I also walk to school a couple of days a week.
Although this schedule is killing me now, I think that it'll all come together in a few weeks. There are only 2 more weeks out at the JuCo in this semester. Ironically, there are only only 2 more weeks of 3-games a week. Then I will be able to get into some real riding again. Until then... I'll squeeze in a few miles here and there as I can.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
One lucky bird...
It has been a couple of days and they have been adventurous!
This past Thursday I had a new 20 mile trip planned, but I had to call it after only 6 miles. Can you believe that!?! 6 miles!!
Okay, that was when I decided to turn around. I picked a new route that would take me over hills and through the woods (but not to grandmother's house). The first problem was that I didn't realize that this route has more uphills than down. Disappointing though that may be, it is a fact of life. I'm fine with that, in theory.
However, the hills were not the problem. I know I sound like a broken record, but this was one of the worst headwinds that I have ever felt on a consistent basis. Just to put it in perspective, I was still actively working to pedal downhill (on the few that I got). In fact I had to make three rest stops before I even go to the 6-mile mark!
You see, I had crested a hill, and I saw this nice, long, flat, beautiful straightaway. I was so excited, to be honest, but the problem was that I was pedaling as hard as I could wand was only keeping about 13.5 mph. I knew something was wrong, and about half way along this straightaway, I decided to give up and head home. This was my third stop and I cheked my bike's computer. I had barely managed 12 mph.
6 miles in 30 minutes!! Simply put: that's pathetic.
After I turned around, I had the wind behind me, and it was a dream come true. I was dang near flying home. As I was going I decided to test the wind. Since it was coming straight from behind on the flat, I rode until I could no longer feel the wind. Although I could see the grass in the fields blowing, I felt nothing! No wind against against my face, nor on my back. If my theory is correct, that means I was traveling as fast as the wind, which means I had been riding against a 15mph headwind. No wonder it was hard.
So I cruised home, fairly quickly. Actually, I rode the 6 miles home 10 minutes faster than it took to get there (avg. 18mph). That was quite impressive, but it averaged the day out to a nice 15mph trip.
That was Thursday. Unfortunately I didn't get to ride yesterday or today because my wife is feeling sick and I was taking care of the boys as needed. I let her rest as much as possible since I return to work next week after spring break. And then it's going to be soccer games and practice that will kill my cycling. Oh how I cannot wait for summer.
Still wondering about the title of this post? Well I hit a bird tonight. (I snuck out at dusk after the boys went down for a quick 5 miler.) As I was riding I saw this cat pounce ten feet. A bird flew away just as the cat got to him, and the bird was actually hit in the air. This threw him off just enough that it hit my leg as I coming by. In spite of this, the bird still managed to fly away and it seemed to be okay. All I can say is that with two close calls, that truly is one luck bird!
This past Thursday I had a new 20 mile trip planned, but I had to call it after only 6 miles. Can you believe that!?! 6 miles!!
Okay, that was when I decided to turn around. I picked a new route that would take me over hills and through the woods (but not to grandmother's house). The first problem was that I didn't realize that this route has more uphills than down. Disappointing though that may be, it is a fact of life. I'm fine with that, in theory.
However, the hills were not the problem. I know I sound like a broken record, but this was one of the worst headwinds that I have ever felt on a consistent basis. Just to put it in perspective, I was still actively working to pedal downhill (on the few that I got). In fact I had to make three rest stops before I even go to the 6-mile mark!
You see, I had crested a hill, and I saw this nice, long, flat, beautiful straightaway. I was so excited, to be honest, but the problem was that I was pedaling as hard as I could wand was only keeping about 13.5 mph. I knew something was wrong, and about half way along this straightaway, I decided to give up and head home. This was my third stop and I cheked my bike's computer. I had barely managed 12 mph.
6 miles in 30 minutes!! Simply put: that's pathetic.
After I turned around, I had the wind behind me, and it was a dream come true. I was dang near flying home. As I was going I decided to test the wind. Since it was coming straight from behind on the flat, I rode until I could no longer feel the wind. Although I could see the grass in the fields blowing, I felt nothing! No wind against against my face, nor on my back. If my theory is correct, that means I was traveling as fast as the wind, which means I had been riding against a 15mph headwind. No wonder it was hard.
So I cruised home, fairly quickly. Actually, I rode the 6 miles home 10 minutes faster than it took to get there (avg. 18mph). That was quite impressive, but it averaged the day out to a nice 15mph trip.
That was Thursday. Unfortunately I didn't get to ride yesterday or today because my wife is feeling sick and I was taking care of the boys as needed. I let her rest as much as possible since I return to work next week after spring break. And then it's going to be soccer games and practice that will kill my cycling. Oh how I cannot wait for summer.
Still wondering about the title of this post? Well I hit a bird tonight. (I snuck out at dusk after the boys went down for a quick 5 miler.) As I was riding I saw this cat pounce ten feet. A bird flew away just as the cat got to him, and the bird was actually hit in the air. This threw him off just enough that it hit my leg as I coming by. In spite of this, the bird still managed to fly away and it seemed to be okay. All I can say is that with two close calls, that truly is one luck bird!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Repairing the damage...
It's a good thing I am on spring break, as this gave me the chance to take care of repairing these spokes immediately. Now, I have about 525 miles on my Trek, and I am a hefty rider. As an FYI, this is not a good combo. Reading in various cycling forums for us "clydesdales" (male cyclists over 250 lbs.) it seems that a lot of the stock rims have issues after 500 miles or so.
This was a good realization to have, especially since I have already replaced one broken spoke. So now, I had two more spokes to replace, which would be 3 out of 36. At the local bike shop (LBS), we put a little stress on the remaining ones and two more broke. Now, I'm looking at this from the perspective of 5/36 are broken, which is essentially one-sixth. I figure that if this much is going, how long before the rest of them? So, in the long run, it would be cheaper to replace the whole rim and get another 500 miles rather than replacing a few spokes here and there. The major drawback is that I will have to get it trued in about another month or so. Again, this is still cheaper in the longrun, in my opinion.
I also took the liberty of picking up some new brake cables and cable housings for my Puch. As I was working on it the other night, I realized that all of this needs to be replaced. After I get that done, I will see about replacing the gear cables. Until that time, I just need to make sure that the bike is good and rideable. I will try and get all of this done today/tonight, but I still have to get a bike ride.
In other news, on a personal note, my wife and I went looking at houses yesterday. We didn't find "the one," but we have identified at least 3 houses that we both like. We are keeping our options open, but are really hoping to help out the economy by purchasing a house before the summer is out. Is it sad that I'm keeping ease and accessibility of cycling as a major factor in my half of the decision making process?
This was a good realization to have, especially since I have already replaced one broken spoke. So now, I had two more spokes to replace, which would be 3 out of 36. At the local bike shop (LBS), we put a little stress on the remaining ones and two more broke. Now, I'm looking at this from the perspective of 5/36 are broken, which is essentially one-sixth. I figure that if this much is going, how long before the rest of them? So, in the long run, it would be cheaper to replace the whole rim and get another 500 miles rather than replacing a few spokes here and there. The major drawback is that I will have to get it trued in about another month or so. Again, this is still cheaper in the longrun, in my opinion.
I also took the liberty of picking up some new brake cables and cable housings for my Puch. As I was working on it the other night, I realized that all of this needs to be replaced. After I get that done, I will see about replacing the gear cables. Until that time, I just need to make sure that the bike is good and rideable. I will try and get all of this done today/tonight, but I still have to get a bike ride.
In other news, on a personal note, my wife and I went looking at houses yesterday. We didn't find "the one," but we have identified at least 3 houses that we both like. We are keeping our options open, but are really hoping to help out the economy by purchasing a house before the summer is out. Is it sad that I'm keeping ease and accessibility of cycling as a major factor in my half of the decision making process?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Damn the luck!
This was one heck of a day. It started out wonderfully well. I had a good rockin' pace going early on in my ride. There was some shade, a cool yet light breeze, and then it all went downhill.
I know I sound like a broken record, but the headwind make such a difference. I lost my 15+mph pace very quickly when I started heading south on my route today. I thought that it was the hill (about 1 mile at a 25-30 degree incline) which has always given me trouble. However, I was still struggling to keep 13mph even on the back side of the hill. I thought that it was just severe fatigue until the road made a right hand turn and I went behind a clump of trees. Almost immediately I shot up to over 16mph! That is until I passed the trees. (and now to sound like a salesman...)
But wait, there's more!
The same thing held true when a delivery truck passed me and stayed in front of me for a little while. Riding in his wake, I was able to draft my way up an additional 3.5mph. Headwind really does make a phenomenal difference!
I did, however, stop at a truck stop about 10 miles into my ride. I got some more water and I bought a banana. That break was great, but I was also at the point I turned north. At that point I was riding uphill at over 15mph. It felt AWESOME!! I was cruising along and on the back stretch of the ride, which I always enjoy, until WHAM!!
I was heading downhill at about 25 mph when I hit an oversized bee squarely with chest. It hit so hard that it literally knocked my breath away. I think it was as much shock as anything else, but that did a number on me.
And then, when I was almost home (about 2 miles away) I heard two gunshots and my bike fishtailed a little. I took one look down, saw the wobble, and knew immediately what happened. I stopped to confirm: two broken spokes!! That sucks, because now I have to get someone to fix that for me; I can't do it myself.
Now, I know that I need to replace the brake cables and brake housing on my Puch anyway, so I think I need to make a trip to a bike shop ASAP. I need to make sure that I get these 100 miles in this week. With my three rides so far I only have 39.6 done. Only 60.4 more to go, and no bike that I feel comfortable riding that far.
Oh what fun...
I know I sound like a broken record, but the headwind make such a difference. I lost my 15+mph pace very quickly when I started heading south on my route today. I thought that it was the hill (about 1 mile at a 25-30 degree incline) which has always given me trouble. However, I was still struggling to keep 13mph even on the back side of the hill. I thought that it was just severe fatigue until the road made a right hand turn and I went behind a clump of trees. Almost immediately I shot up to over 16mph! That is until I passed the trees. (and now to sound like a salesman...)
But wait, there's more!
The same thing held true when a delivery truck passed me and stayed in front of me for a little while. Riding in his wake, I was able to draft my way up an additional 3.5mph. Headwind really does make a phenomenal difference!
I did, however, stop at a truck stop about 10 miles into my ride. I got some more water and I bought a banana. That break was great, but I was also at the point I turned north. At that point I was riding uphill at over 15mph. It felt AWESOME!! I was cruising along and on the back stretch of the ride, which I always enjoy, until WHAM!!
I was heading downhill at about 25 mph when I hit an oversized bee squarely with chest. It hit so hard that it literally knocked my breath away. I think it was as much shock as anything else, but that did a number on me.
And then, when I was almost home (about 2 miles away) I heard two gunshots and my bike fishtailed a little. I took one look down, saw the wobble, and knew immediately what happened. I stopped to confirm: two broken spokes!! That sucks, because now I have to get someone to fix that for me; I can't do it myself.
Now, I know that I need to replace the brake cables and brake housing on my Puch anyway, so I think I need to make a trip to a bike shop ASAP. I need to make sure that I get these 100 miles in this week. With my three rides so far I only have 39.6 done. Only 60.4 more to go, and no bike that I feel comfortable riding that far.
Oh what fun...
You know what they say about excuses...
I didn't get to ride yesterday, so I absolutely MUST ride today. My wife had to spend quite a bit of time at the doctor's office and that cost me some of my prime riding time. Unfortunately I have some obligations this afternoon, which means that I have to ride this AM, but wifey is sleeping in. Part of her recovery process.
Anyway, I spent some time last night with my Puch, and I have updated that page here on this blog. I hope to have some pics added in the very near future. Stay tuned!
Anyway, I spent some time last night with my Puch, and I have updated that page here on this blog. I hope to have some pics added in the very near future. Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Major changes to the website!
For those of you who are faithful followers of this site, you will notice some major changes and updates. I am attempting to make this website more informative and interactive.
First of all, there are new pages available with the menu just above the blogs. Here you can find information on my bikes and history of my rather unique moniker. Just below, you will find some tabs that let me know what you think of my posts. Finally, you will notice that you can email direct links to my posts.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions for improvements.
Please understand that I am not going on a ride today. I am going to relax here on Easter Sunday, but rest assured that I will be back in the saddle again tomorrow.
Until then, I hope that your weather is every bit as enjoyable as it is here in southside Virginia, and that you are taking the the time to recognize the Easter holiday!
First of all, there are new pages available with the menu just above the blogs. Here you can find information on my bikes and history of my rather unique moniker. Just below, you will find some tabs that let me know what you think of my posts. Finally, you will notice that you can email direct links to my posts.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions for improvements.
Please understand that I am not going on a ride today. I am going to relax here on Easter Sunday, but rest assured that I will be back in the saddle again tomorrow.
Until then, I hope that your weather is every bit as enjoyable as it is here in southside Virginia, and that you are taking the the time to recognize the Easter holiday!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Headwind: I curse thy vile name!
Today was a good ride I have to say. I went for a jaunt right down the road to a community about 5 miles south of town. I thought it would be quick, but I did not account for the headwind. It was pretty bad at first, but it eased up as I continued. Just to give you an idea of how much of an impact it had on me. From my house to the church parking lot (that I use to stretch, get water, and turn around) took a little over 23 minutes. This was disappointingly slow for me as this was a shorter ride than I took yesterday.
However, once I got back on my bike to head home the wind, which had largely died down, was now at my back rather than my front. I knew that I was making better time, but was surprised to realize that I saved about 5 minutes of time!! I finished my ride in a little over 40 minutes total. This means that I did the second half of my ride in roughly 17 minutes; this is about 5-6 minutes faster than it took to get there.
This was a good ride, and all in all I averaged 15.25 mph, which was much better than the 13+ mph I had yesterday. While I would like to think that I am going to be a little faster, this was both a shorter and slightly flatter ride. It should have been faster. In the near future I will return to yesterday's route and see how much time I can take off of it.
I still seem to hate the first half of the routes I ride, but the second half is SO much better. I think I am going to have to find some new routes to ride so that I don't have them as well memorized.
Note: this picture is not me, my ride, nor owned by me. I found it online, here, and will gladly remove it if requested by the owner.
The 500 Club
Okay, so this isn't that much to many cyclists, but to me this is a big step. I have finally reached 500 miles on my bike! This is a LOT of cycling to me. You see, when I bought this bike 2 years ago, I also got a computer that tracks speed, distance, time, etc. Well, it has a lifetime counter as well. Today, I crossed 500 miles on this bike.
So far my lifetime stats on this 2008 Trek 7100 are:
506 miles
45 Hours, 25 minutes
This comes to an overall speed of 11.14 mph. This is not all that great, but it does include a lot of in town and through neighborhood miles, which are inherently slower. Of course that sounds like an excuse... maybe it is. All I know is that I have finally broken in this bike, and I hope to get another 500 miles in by the end of this year.
We shall see how that works out. I know that I can do it. Now it is a matter of just getting on my bike and riding!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Very full day!!
Working 3 jobs is hard enough, but what really sucks is that I do not have the free time to ride as I want. That's why spring break is so wonderful!! Today was the first day of it and I could only wait until 9:30 before I was on my bike. I started by running a couple of errands in town and then going for a little stroll through the countryside.
It was kind of funny, because as I was coming out of the post office parking lot, there was a group of about 7 cyclists at the traffic light waiting for it to turn green. I have to admit that I thought it was pretty cool that there were more bikes on the road at that time than cars, but that is a side story. We all caught up to each other about two traffic lights away. (We were all turning left, and that light takes forever.)
As the pulled up behind me, they were checking out my ride, as I did to them. These were some serious riders. They all had the jerseys, drop bars, lights galore, and more. It was also very cool to see a married couple sharing a tandem bike. They started the morning out in Petersburg, VA and they were heading to the beach. I should have asked them which one since this town is out of the way for finding the beach. Then again, they said it was a 225 mile trip for them, so obviously they are not worried about the fastest route. We split up after about 3/4 of a mile, and I continued about my journey. It was nice to be back in the saddle, and the first 6 miles of the trip were absolutely wonderful.
However, somewhere in the 7th mile it all started to suck. I was going uphill, my legs were hurting, I swallowed a bug, there were more and more cars... all in all that was just miserable. I was seriously beginning to question if I was really going to finish the ride. Regardless of that, I decided to push through and kept going. Then about the 9th mile the worst was over. I got my second wind and everything was great. I cruised right along at a nice, easy pace and kept going.
I decided to stop somewhere after 11 miles to readjust my saddle and make a couple of other minor tweaks to the bike; it seemed to ride even better after that. All in all, I went little over 14 miles in about 64 minutes. I was sad that it took so long, but this was my first real ride in a while. Although I have tried to shake off my winter legs, it's time to get some real riding in.
In order to keep myself motivated, I promised my soccer team (oh yeah... I'm a soccer coach. Did I not tell you that?) that I would ride at least 100 miles during spring break. If I didn't, I would run 10 laps while they watched. Sheesh... why did I make that promise? At least I got the first 14 miles of it done. Now to pace out the remaining 86. That'll be fun...
At any rate, this is only part of the day, but the rest is rather personal. Let's just say that the prospects of buying a house are very good right now, and I am rather excited. It's our attempt to help the economy. Well... that and to stop paying rent! I am REALLY hoping to find somewhere within a distance that I can ride my bike to school. There are a few options as much as 6 miles away. For now, we will just have to wait and see how they look on the inside.
Until then... lot's of water, rest, and getting ready for another ride tomorrow!
It was kind of funny, because as I was coming out of the post office parking lot, there was a group of about 7 cyclists at the traffic light waiting for it to turn green. I have to admit that I thought it was pretty cool that there were more bikes on the road at that time than cars, but that is a side story. We all caught up to each other about two traffic lights away. (We were all turning left, and that light takes forever.)
As the pulled up behind me, they were checking out my ride, as I did to them. These were some serious riders. They all had the jerseys, drop bars, lights galore, and more. It was also very cool to see a married couple sharing a tandem bike. They started the morning out in Petersburg, VA and they were heading to the beach. I should have asked them which one since this town is out of the way for finding the beach. Then again, they said it was a 225 mile trip for them, so obviously they are not worried about the fastest route. We split up after about 3/4 of a mile, and I continued about my journey. It was nice to be back in the saddle, and the first 6 miles of the trip were absolutely wonderful.
However, somewhere in the 7th mile it all started to suck. I was going uphill, my legs were hurting, I swallowed a bug, there were more and more cars... all in all that was just miserable. I was seriously beginning to question if I was really going to finish the ride. Regardless of that, I decided to push through and kept going. Then about the 9th mile the worst was over. I got my second wind and everything was great. I cruised right along at a nice, easy pace and kept going.
I decided to stop somewhere after 11 miles to readjust my saddle and make a couple of other minor tweaks to the bike; it seemed to ride even better after that. All in all, I went little over 14 miles in about 64 minutes. I was sad that it took so long, but this was my first real ride in a while. Although I have tried to shake off my winter legs, it's time to get some real riding in.
In order to keep myself motivated, I promised my soccer team (oh yeah... I'm a soccer coach. Did I not tell you that?) that I would ride at least 100 miles during spring break. If I didn't, I would run 10 laps while they watched. Sheesh... why did I make that promise? At least I got the first 14 miles of it done. Now to pace out the remaining 86. That'll be fun...
At any rate, this is only part of the day, but the rest is rather personal. Let's just say that the prospects of buying a house are very good right now, and I am rather excited. It's our attempt to help the economy. Well... that and to stop paying rent! I am REALLY hoping to find somewhere within a distance that I can ride my bike to school. There are a few options as much as 6 miles away. For now, we will just have to wait and see how they look on the inside.
Until then... lot's of water, rest, and getting ready for another ride tomorrow!
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