Mostly recaps of two wheeled rambles through the countryside, but sometimes thoughts on other things.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

May Metric

No big time miles leader here, but I did want to average a metric or longer ride a month, as a minimum this year. Today I got # 5 in and it was a very enjoyable spin through south Montgomery County. Joe and Roxy came along, and Patty was with us for the 1st half or a bit more. Patty was taking a day off from her training. Having qualified for the Sr. Olympics again, (she triple gold medaled in cycling a few years ago) she'll be doing a lot of riding that is faster and harder than my legs and lungs are up for. For a little town, Montgomery seems to have more than its fair share of very fine and accomplished riders.

I pulled off Maxy Fasty tires from the Rivendell Road, and replaced them with the just received Pascenti Pari-Motos. The tires install easily with bare hands, and it was not too difficult to assure a good bead seat during inflation. These tires are 38mm in size but only 300g in weight. For comparison, a skinny Continental GP4000 23 mm clincher weighs (per Competitive Cyclist) about 230 g and is about 1/5 the volume. The supple casing allows the tire to move smoothly over rough roads. It also climbs like a demon. GREAT traction when you stomp the pedals down and it corners like a sure footed cat. To me though, the BEST thing is how they look. My Rivendell "road" bike is now my "Roadster" bike.


I know that saddle looks like a dangerous weapon, all nosed up, but think in terms of a horse's saddle. I sit on the flat area in the back and the front is like the pommel on the equestrian saddle. Anyway, back to Elrond's new shoes (He IS a Rivendellian, after all). The bike started life as a 700 size wheel machine, but when the frame set came my way, I built it up as a 650B bike. There is plenty of clearance in the fork and seat stay areas:



BUT, there is just barely enough at the chain stays:


 
The tires ride great!  Fast as anything else, and great in corners. The roads today were pretty coarse:

 

 but I was comfortable the entire way. Our average speed was in the middle 15s, which is quick for me, considering that we were under a broiling Sun, had lots of humidity, and 2,810' of climb all told, according to the Garmin 705.  We stopped at the quarter points to rest and refuel. Our 1st stop was Mt Carmel church. The only water is from a garden hose and it sure tastes like it too. The other stops were stores and I got a 32 oz bottle of low or no carb sports drink at each place. I also used the rests to munch on a cereal or granola bar. That, plus adding salt to my drinks seems to have helped significantly with cramps. I had none today and am thankful about that. Sweating was heavy, and I drank 166 oz total on a 65 mile ride, or about double (or more) than what I would drink under more favorable weather circumstances.

We rode through green, green rural countryside. Some typical shots:

Joe spinning up an incline on his custom Seven:



and Roxy coming up behind me on his Trek:



Roxy and I were happy to be back at the cars following the ride.:



Good ride. 65.4 mi, 140 avg HR (Zone 2) and almost 3,200 cals expended. Not that the scale would move any. It didn't. You can't tell from the picture, but I am in wool. Socks, shorts and jersey are all merino and all were comfortable all day. It was 73F and very humid at the start and 92F with a bit drier air by the end. Patty saw a turkey, although she followed that by saying it could have been a vulture. No other interesting wildlife came our way and only a couple of dogs today. None that really made us nervous.



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