Long day outside today. First up was a 50 miler, solo. I took the Saluki, so I wouldn't feel all racy. I wanted to just enjoy the ride. I'll spill the beans and say that despite killer headwinds coming back in for 20 miles or so, the ride was 7 1/2% faster than the last time I was up that way, back in March, and that was on a racier bike, iirc. I planned to skedaddle by 7:30 Am, to be back by 11:30 and clean up for the afternoon of business golf that was on the agenda. A little late getting out, I was still on 15 mins behind coming back, including rest stop times.
The brick on our house came from this now shut-down plant. Until residential construction picks back up, it's just not needed.
You can see unsold stacks of bricks to the right of the fuel oil tanks. The fuel fires the kilns they use to bake the bricks.
The ride was through a nice assortment of terrain and generally pretty views. I really like this house which features extensive lawn plantings on a very large front yard.
The mid point of the ride is Lake Jordan which had plenty of activity today. Lots of people fishing.
About the time I took this picture, the winds picked up. When I wasn't trying to hold my pace against them, it was very refreshing. A humid day with temps of 91F, every little bit helped, comfort wise. Here is my last break, at a corner. I was getting somewhat tired and a granola bar and a saddle break both sounded great. Between the lake and this rest, is a 13% grade section that had me sweating profusely from the head. The salt I've been adding to my Propel seems to really be helping as once again, zero cramps. I had 4 bottles of fluid over the whole 49.7 miles. I could have had a 5th bottle and not minded it, but I was too lazy to stop and buy one. (The 1st stop had a 2/$2 sale, so I used 1 and put the 2d in the front (L'il Loafer) bag for later. It stayed cold! Oh, I had an Ibex short sleeve jersey and Kucharik wool shorts today. A cotton Rivendell cap in Saluki green, and wool socks in Nike (Rack Room) sandals that I confiscated from son Alex due to non use.
With about 15 miles to go after the stop, I was beginning to think I might be so late due to wind that I would miss the golfing. The local town syndics must have thought overwise, becuase after turning the corner, here's what I saw:
I made it back in time to jump in the shower, change, load the golf gear, make a ham & cheese to go and arrive at Quail Hollow Course with 14 minutes to spare! Ofc ourse, they did NOT have me registered for the event! (I returned my invite the first day) Gracious as ever, they quickly found 3 nice guys for me to "play" with. That is, I occupied cart space and occasionally provided a useable shot, but more often comic relief. None of us were great, but all had the odd good shot. As a team we scored -1 for 18 holes, and I was glad we did not need to hang around for awards presentations.
So, 9 hours in the Sun today. Most with SPF 30. Some in the shade. I have a red area on a wrist that I must have missed with the applicator. Nothing else is KILLING me right now. Except my ankle, which I twisted on the second hole when the soles of those Nike sandals (Hey, who else has shoes that work for BOTH bikes and golf?) detached and caught the turf, causing my incident. I'm banking on the powers of a good night's sleep to help it feel better in the morning.
The Prattville rides last week were both good workouts. We lost Ron on Thursday when his chain broke. He had a spare and tools as well as a cell phone to call for an extraction if needed. Michael broke a spoke on Weds and missed the Thursday ride. I think the Tuesday group made it intact. Our pace is picking up from 13.5 avg when we began in late April to about 15.5 now. Nice to see. These rides are all challenging with the hills.
Sunday school lesson is done, time for bed.
Tailwinds!
The brick on our house came from this now shut-down plant. Until residential construction picks back up, it's just not needed.
You can see unsold stacks of bricks to the right of the fuel oil tanks. The fuel fires the kilns they use to bake the bricks.
The ride was through a nice assortment of terrain and generally pretty views. I really like this house which features extensive lawn plantings on a very large front yard.
The mid point of the ride is Lake Jordan which had plenty of activity today. Lots of people fishing.
About the time I took this picture, the winds picked up. When I wasn't trying to hold my pace against them, it was very refreshing. A humid day with temps of 91F, every little bit helped, comfort wise. Here is my last break, at a corner. I was getting somewhat tired and a granola bar and a saddle break both sounded great. Between the lake and this rest, is a 13% grade section that had me sweating profusely from the head. The salt I've been adding to my Propel seems to really be helping as once again, zero cramps. I had 4 bottles of fluid over the whole 49.7 miles. I could have had a 5th bottle and not minded it, but I was too lazy to stop and buy one. (The 1st stop had a 2/$2 sale, so I used 1 and put the 2d in the front (L'il Loafer) bag for later. It stayed cold! Oh, I had an Ibex short sleeve jersey and Kucharik wool shorts today. A cotton Rivendell cap in Saluki green, and wool socks in Nike (Rack Room) sandals that I confiscated from son Alex due to non use.
With about 15 miles to go after the stop, I was beginning to think I might be so late due to wind that I would miss the golfing. The local town syndics must have thought overwise, becuase after turning the corner, here's what I saw:
I made it back in time to jump in the shower, change, load the golf gear, make a ham & cheese to go and arrive at Quail Hollow Course with 14 minutes to spare! Ofc ourse, they did NOT have me registered for the event! (I returned my invite the first day) Gracious as ever, they quickly found 3 nice guys for me to "play" with. That is, I occupied cart space and occasionally provided a useable shot, but more often comic relief. None of us were great, but all had the odd good shot. As a team we scored -1 for 18 holes, and I was glad we did not need to hang around for awards presentations.
So, 9 hours in the Sun today. Most with SPF 30. Some in the shade. I have a red area on a wrist that I must have missed with the applicator. Nothing else is KILLING me right now. Except my ankle, which I twisted on the second hole when the soles of those Nike sandals (Hey, who else has shoes that work for BOTH bikes and golf?) detached and caught the turf, causing my incident. I'm banking on the powers of a good night's sleep to help it feel better in the morning.
The Prattville rides last week were both good workouts. We lost Ron on Thursday when his chain broke. He had a spare and tools as well as a cell phone to call for an extraction if needed. Michael broke a spoke on Weds and missed the Thursday ride. I think the Tuesday group made it intact. Our pace is picking up from 13.5 avg when we began in late April to about 15.5 now. Nice to see. These rides are all challenging with the hills.
Sunday school lesson is done, time for bed.
Tailwinds!
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