We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

After not riding much this month, here we are on Christmas vacation in Florida. I wanted to come down to see family and friends and we have been able to do that. A highlight was to be a ride on the Withlachoochee Trail with Ruth and Stan, but the weather would not cooperate. Stan and I spent some time in his garage after our lunch, looking at and talking about bikes, but not riding them. He wants to upgrade from his entry level TREK 7100, and we kicked ideas around. Not surprisingly, steel was mentioned here and there. :)

I did get to take a few solo rides from our hotel on Sunday and Monday. First across Brandon and then looping down to Riverview and back following a local's MapMyRide route. Then, a ride up through Port Tampa and through Ybor City that I put together from memory. Both were good outings. On Thursday, I did a longer ride, up to Zephyrhills and then down Morris Bridge Road to Tampa, and back around to Brandon. 58 flat miles featuring a 26 mile pull dead into the wind. Mostly at my back on the return though. Plenty of birds to see on these outings. Storks, cranes, herons, egrets, ospreys, coots, ducks and vultures, all sizable and easily recognized not to mention all the smaller songbirds as well as more unusual sightings of shrike, kingfisher and woodpecker. This shot has an ibis, a roseate spoonbill and a wood stork for example. I paused climbing an overpass on Causeway Blvd to snap this picture.




I spent time with people really from Sharon's past this week, but who I now can call my friends too. That was really nice. We actually made preliminary plans to travel next summer with Ruth and Stan to Niagara and Toronto. It's not a "bike" trip, but I bet I can rent one up there..

Yesterday was the only day I rode with company this week. Collin (who grew up on Sharon's street years ago) and I have been Facebook pals but never met before. He rides all the time, and so we did about 30 miles of the Pinellas Trail together. We crossing a mangrove estuary here.



Someone fishing in a boat down below us caught me with a line cast. I felt it on my pants but broke the line easily. When I got back to the hotel, I saw about 10' of line wrapped around the left pedal and left side of the bottom bracket. Glad he didn't "hook" me!

Christmas was good. We went out Christmas Eve with Alisha, Alex and Kael and drove though a city light display in a park. One of those deals where they charge you by the carload. Then on Christmas day, we gathered at my in-law's and relaxed, opened packages and visited. Dinner was an early affair and very delicious. Everyone seemed pleased with Santa's work, which was also good. Sharon gave me a couple of merino jerseys and a Park MT-1 tool for the saddle bag. Wonder how she knew I'd like that stuff? :)

After yesterday's trail ride, Sharon and Kael (who were at Great-Great Aunt Betty's while Collin & I pedaled) picked me up and we stopped at Lake Seminole Park. It was overcast and cooling, but still not bad. Kael wanted to rent a pedal boat for "an adventure" but the rental booth was closed. It was also $30 to rent! He enjoyed the playground anyway and Sharon read/did Sudoku on a bench by the water. Here Kael shows a good upright riding position.



Today is our final day in FL. Alex and I are due to take kael to MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) and then Sharon & I are meeting other friends in Lakeland for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we head back to Prattville.  I end the year with just shy of 3600 miles, about average, and with an avg pace of 13.9. I know, sounds slow. It's within 1 mph of my riding for several years so I'm not getting hung up on it. Just going to keep riding as far and at the speed that my body is comfortable going. I have enough bikes/tires/saddles/spare parts to get to the finish line I am certain. Enjoying the journey, keeping it new and fun and fresh in attitude is what my plan for 2013 and forward is. Passing this little guy at 14 mph was probably more enjoyable than it would have been at 20.  I got a better look anyway.



Tentative plans for a New Year's Day ride are already afoot.  I hope everyone enjoyed a Merry Christmas, and those who want to get back to riding (and Dove, I am especially thinking of you here) get to do so in 2013. Even if you have to start slow like me. There's room for some company here in the back!  Happy New Year to all, and as Dickens has Tiny Tim say in "Scrooge,"  "God bless us, everyone!"

A Long, Long Time Ago, I Can Still Remember...

It's official today. I'll be 60 next year.  I suppose it's always been true that I'll be 60 in 2013 but today I turn 59 so that makes it "official" for me. The time has surely melted by in so many ways. On the one hand, it truly seems like another lifetime when I would deliberately get "lost" with friends in the woods outside of Smithtown, NY just to see if we could find our way out again. On the other hand, just last week, our son was propelling his Fred Flintstone toy car down our driveway while wearing only pullups, right? Now he has a 6 year old of his own who is as charming and cute as all get out.

I keep a lot of records. Old report cards from grade school, Bar Mitzvah certificate, Baptismal record, Military Records jacket. It was 30 years ago this month that I left the Army reserve in fact. I also record all my cycling outings. I started to ride in 2001, following a scouting hike in the Green Mountains of VT that demonstrated to me how soft and flubbery I had become. While the records from the first few years were lost in a computer changeover somewhere along the way, I do have rides from 2004 to now in a spreadsheet. Starting at 1,500 mi per year, it's worked up to 3,000, - 4,000 miles as time and circumstances allow. The total for 2012 is currently 3,300 and if December is average, the final tally will be about 3,500. There are 5 bikes of mine in our garage. FIVE.  One new year resolution is to sell the mountain bike at least. (Every time I take it to the Swayback Trail, I end up on my back looking at the sky with the bike on top of me. And blood is usually involved.) I really enjoy the 4 road bikes. Only one came to me new. A Rivendell Rambouillet in 2007. This is a Brevet, or road sport bike. I've decked it out in a couple of styles and currently it has strong wheels and fat tires and is sort of an all arounder bike. It rides on old fashioned 26" wheels. After it came and I was so pleased with it, I picked up a used Rivendell Saluki touring bike. It runs on 650B wheels, which are smaller than most adult bike wheels and allow for larger tires. They're technically still in the 26" family of wheels. Next (in 2008) was a late 70s or early 80s (The serial # is a 79xxx series) Nashbar "Universal Japanese Bicycle" or UJB. Before becoming part of a larger conglomerate, Nashbar was a small outfit operated by Arnie Nashbar and he imported some very nice brazed frames from Japan back when the dollar bought a lot of yen. My bike was made by Maruishi and is butted chome moly and fully lugged with Shimano dropouts. Originally a criterium racer, a prior owner set it up for 650B and put mustache handlebars on it. I changed the crankset to a compact double and put on a Brooks leather saddle and even fatter tires. It's the bike I use for hill training drills on Tues/Thurs nights. It handles great and is fast. Finally, the last bike to arrive (in 2009) was a 1995 Rivendell prototype for their "Road" model, which preceded the more famous "Road Standard."  It came as a frame and fork only and I built it up from scratch, again using 650B size wheels. This bike got new paint a year ago and is my favorite, getting most of the annual miles. Before settling on the current stable of bikes, I've had and passed along: Trek Navigator, Fuji Touring, Univega Viva, Trek 560, Waterford 1100. KHS Flite 800. All were either too big, or just the wrong set up for me.

Regardless of which bike I'm on, I'm slowing down some. Where my average pace for the year was 15.2 back in 2006, it's 13.9 this year. I remember when I first came to Prattville and lived in an apartment, I'd go out and ride over 16 avg many times. My legs are still strong, it's my engine (cardio) that's slowing a little. I suppose I shouldn't whine for the lack of 1.3 mph in pace, right? It does mean that I often ride by myself though, even on a group ride. Most of the people who ride at my pace are not interested in going as far as I like to ride. Most of the people who like the distances I do ride them faster.  The good news is that I like to ride, whether by myself or with company! It's all good. Yesterday's ride was a great example. We did a 52 mile loop and the outbound section was mostly uphill and into a very stiff wind. I can settle in at 10-11 mph and crank away steadily. The other guys can do 13 - 14 with no problem. That leads to this:

 

The guys are playing the "Where is Bruce?" game, waiting for me to arrive. They sailed past the turn on CR 49 which was on the route map and went up 2 or 3 miles to CR 20.  I had made the turn as mapped and actually got ahead of them. We coordinated by cell phones and met up at a store further ahead. And yes, that is a Mountain Bike in the lead group. Neil is as quick on it as most riders are on a road bike. He hopes Santa brings him a Specialized Roubaix. Hoo boy. Can I say I knew him "when?"

We did rally up at most of the turns and of course the stores.  Here we are at one:


Sharon says that Joe, Neil and I appear to be standing in a ditch, compared to Frank, Robert and Steve. It was the 1st tryout btw for the new-to-me Ibex Breakaway jacket. Got it from another rider who bought it but didn't like it. Worked well for me, over a long sleeve merino base layer. It was 1/3 of the price of a new one and it was near new condition. Score! When we left it was 39F and I went all wool. No issues, even as it warmed to 50 by the end of the ride.

We revisted "Larry's Ride," named for a buddy who came along with us while attending a class at nearby Maxwell AFB. A good guy and a good rider, he returned home to ME and this was our final route together last summer. Steve (in the red jersey) was our new guy this go round, and you can see from his slim shape that he was already fit when he started, just not a long time cyclist. We hope to fix that. Steve scored a great buy on a TREK 1420 (?) aluminum framed bike from around 1990. Down tube shifters and early Shimano 105 running gear. It sounds really good and doesn't look like the former owner rode it often. Steve is still getting the hang of it though. Coming over the tracks on CR 21, I saw the group stopped by the roadside and asked what was up. Seems Steve was getting a good look at which gear he was in instead of a good look at the road. He ran off on the shoulder and spilled. "You got a First Aid kit in that saddle bag?" they asked me. I have the kitchen sink in that saddle bag so of course I have a first aid kit.



After Dr. Frank got most of the red stuff cleaned up and bandage on, Steve did a little test ride on his bike, and promptly pedaled right off the road and onto the grass again!  Gotta work on his directional control. Also how to feel the gears if you're using a DT shifter.

It was a good ride, albeit a slow one. I'd been having some ankle and knee pains and went back to un clipped riding which cleared the pains up. I also stayed within myself and spent most of the ride looking up at the lovely fall day, instead of down at the road in front of me or worse, at the Garmin. The leaves are past prime, but there was still plenty of color in the brilliant sunshine. This week I also took off some Grand Bois Cypres tires and put Maxy Fastys back on. Liked them much better, especially on rough stuff. 50 - 55lbs of air is all you need in them. Good to see Joe again. He's keeping the weight off and riding very well. Robert and Frank are great riding companions and we all missed Max who was home putting up Christmas decorations.  Would have been nice to have Larry along too, but it was a long trip to get here from Portland! On any ride, I think in terms of "is my pace fast enough not to DQ on a Brevet?" Yes, even with my snail's pace, waiting for the wrong turners at the Old Kingston store (and talking with the owner about his failed run for county office, as well as GA vs GA Tech on TV) and waiting while Frank doctored Steve's bloody fingers, I was under the RUSA time limit for a ride of this length. There may be hope for me yet :)

Tailwinds

November Already?

After whining about not riding last month, I was surprised to tally up the month's saddle time and discover that it was the most miles ridden in any October, ever. Just goes to show I have no sense of how much I'm riding.

Last Saturday, a few of us met in Pintlala, south of Montgomery and did 45 miles. I put cleats on the Shimano MTB shoes and gave them a try. They're a size too large and allow ample space for thick wool socks with plenty of air insulation. To be honest, I like the Keen sandals better. They were okay, but not worth the extra weight. They are also thinner soled than the sandals and I ended up with sore backs of my knees from the saddle being too tall with them. The ride itself was fine. Very pretty and low traffic. We had a new rider, from the Netherlands. Willemin is her name and she is slim and lithe and of course really fast. She is also pleasant company, when I caught up with her at the store stops, but she doesn't like dogs running out to greet us. There were few dogs and those that appeared were defended by the other riders. It was the last weekend for really pretty foliage, and I'm happy to have had the ride.

Today we made a grand tour around Montgomery. Starting from Prattville, we went south to Hope Hull, then east to Taylor Road and north to the EastChase shops where we stopped for lunch at Panera bread. The wind was tough today and I slowed down quite a bit as we headed into it. It moved of course as the Sun shifted in the sky. So, we had tailwinds for almost none of the time and headwinds or sidewinds for almost all of the time.

I saw that the temps were going to range from 40 - 60 during the ride, so I dressed out with Rivendell MUSA riding pants, thick wool socks in Keens down below and a thin merino Tee under a Woolistic merino L/S jersey above. Long finger MTB summer gloves, a wool cap (Synaptic Cycles) and I was good to go. The other guys all had jackets and booties and stuff and had to stop and do equipment removal and rearrangement as the temps warmed. I was fine all day as it was. My motto is "If I can't be fast, at least I can be comfortable." (Think Red Green here, minus the duct tape)

We ended up with 65 miles and my average was just 13 mph. I purposed to stay "within" myself and not get exhausted into the very brisk wind. That was my undoing on the 300K last year. Since the ride was advertised at 13 - 15 avg pace range, I managed it, just barely. I was easily the slowest there, but we all seemed to enjoy the outing equally. We stopped at the MMS store in East Montgomery and said hi to the crew. The shopping center they inhabit would make a suitable start/finish for a Tweed Ride, which could wind through the Sturbridge neighborhood across Vaughn Rd. I'm thinking maybe two Saturday's from now.  Lunch was at Panera Bread and very enjoyable. They had ice coffee which I LOVE.  Max went next store to 5 Guys burgers and came back with a steer on a bun and a bag of french fries so greasy that the bag went "thud" every time we set it down. After swiping his fries of course. Here are Rick and Frank in line for lunch.

It was a fun ride and I'm glad we went.

2012 Glassner Club Century

The Montgomery Bike Club presents it's annual century ride in the Fall. It's quite an undertaking to orchestrate and the folks who manage it usually do so for several years before being ready to hand it off to someone else. When I first joined the club in 2004, Bilee and Patty were the honchos, then it was Michelle and Gary and then it was no one. Last year no one was willing or able to step up and oversee, so there was no ride. This year, Robert and Bonnie volunteered and did a very commendable job of coordinating all the behind the scenes work as well as moving into new areas of publicity. Robert was on local TV in his club jersey, and interviewed on local radio as well.

The date had to be moved because of calendar conflicts Bonnie had so we fell on the same weekend as both the prestigious 6 Gap Century in Dahlonega GA and the Johnny Ray Century in Opelika Al. Next year, our ride will not conflict with those, or any other local outings that I am aware of. Our traditional date had been Labor Day weekend, but moving it later in the month sure made for nicer (cooler) temps. Almost 200 registered to ride and slightly less came out and did it. I think 188 was the tally. I forget.  Our former event chiefs all pitched in and lent a hand. Both with advice and actual physical labor. Many new volunteers stepped up to help as well. Our Prattville Area Cycling Enthusiasts manned a rest stop 37 miles into the course, just after the stiffest climb on the course. Naturally our theme was a red polka dot "King of The Mountains" motif.

Rae, Max, Robert and Alex helped me set up, serve, and take down. The local CB radio club also was there and pitched in.  Our shift was 9:00 - 1:00 but we got there about 7:00 to grab some breakfast with the riders, get our stuff and head out to the rest stop. By about 12:30, they told us all riders were through so we knocked it down, and went over to see if the last rest stop needed any help. Michelle and Phillip had a drug test theme going and BEER. (For workers, not riders) Maybe next year we'll do croissants... They also had this refugee from some ride in France: (The guy with the red horns)

Good ride, good day and fun to volunteer. Hopefully word will get out and bring more pedalers our way in 2013.

Bike To The Battlefield

A year or two ago, the AL and MS chapters of the National MS Society merged and we Alabamians had the annual Mississippi ride added to our list of options. I've been to both AL venues multiple times so I decided to "go west young man" and drive over to Jackson MS for this one. They call it "Bike To The Battlefield" but the only cannons I saw were gracing the front lawn of the Hampton Inn when we pedaled into Vicksburg on Saturday afternoon.  It's just 32 miles from our start at Baptist Health in Clinton (outside of Jackson) to the Hampton. If you take US 80 straight over. It's a hair shy of 80 miles if you find every washboard, rutted out and pavement gapped back road to either side. Which is what we did. :)

I left work after lunch on Friday and drove (4+ hrs) to Jackson without a problem. Who knew that your phone works like GPS? Not me, until a coworker showed me earlier in the day. Even plugged in to my dash though, it wears down the phone battery quickly. I also could not switch between a playlist, a phone call, and the GPS well. Bear in mind that I am just now getting the hang of a handsfree corded phone set. Forget Bluetooth for at least 5 years. I'd better just get a regular GPS and use it.

I went over to the early check in for the ride and picked up my packet. A little shy of the donation level for a free jersey this year, I'd kicked in the extra myself on Thursday. This would be my 10th year straight and I wanted the memento. The jersey is a nice design, and they gave me a 10th anniversary pin as well. I rode with it attached to the saddlebag over the weekend.  It was good to shake hands with some of the event staff I'd met before, and meet new ones. All of the staffers were great and this is certainly a good event to take part in. There was a Mexican place on the way back to my hotel and I stopped there for dinner. It was outstanding, with several veggie offerings.

It was cold and overcast on Saturday morning, and breezy. When I got up, I checked the local weather on my Kindle and saw 67 degrees. Bzzzzz. When you do not refresh the display.....  SO, it was like 53 and I was under dressed. I pulled a wind jacket on over the 2003 DOW team jersey from year 1 of my rides, and hoped it would get warmer. No worries, the first stiff climb got sweat going.

The ONLY guy I recognized from a prior ride ("Hey, I know you! We rode all day in the rain in Moorseville! he shouted at me) was going to ride "slow" so I offered to tootle along in the back together. That lasted a mile, and he was gone. Cyclists are notorious liars when they talk about how slow they're going to be, or how bad on the hills they are. I don't think it's intentional, but there you go. I was by myself for a while, then started to pass a number of riders on the hills. We'd leapfrog when they came by me on the flats. Maybe 10 or 15 miles out, a nice gal who was doing just that and I decided to sort of stay together. She had a brake problem and I was able to fix it, so we started to talk some. Her name is Jody and she works on an offshore oil rig. "I'm not a girlie girl" she said. I guess not in that line of work. I liked her and we yakked all the way to the end.  Here we are at a rest stop.

 I also met Al and Regina and one or two other folks. We had trouble staying together though. These folks are like 3-5 mph uphills and 17 on the flats while I am 8-10 uphill and 14 on the flats. Particularly THESE flats. The roads were VERY rough. Had I known this, I would have put 37mm tires on the bike instead of the 28s I came with. The bike was fine though. Everything worked despite being bounced around a lot. A steel frame and leather saddle absorbs much road buzz.

Rest stops were spaced pretty well and lunch came at about noon. The volunteers were super, and SAG was always around for those who needed it. I  saw several bikes drop out from broken spokes and other maladies along the way. It got a little warmer during the day and the jacket finally came off for the last 20 miles or so. I had a wool base tee on and it was enough. The back roads between Jackson and Vicksburg were not too pretty, and there was plenty of climb. The hardest was a mile section at about 10% grade. Over rough roads. Vicksburg was much prettier with large antebellum homes and pretty fields. We ended the day on a looongggg 4% climb and were happy to see the hotel when we pulled in at 3:30. Great room,  HOT SHOWERS!!, nice place and we were fed a filling pasta dinner. OUTSIDE in the cold. Brrrrrrr. Obviously planned before the weather turned, and shortened so we didn't need to stay out overlong.  Going to sleep was not difficult.

I was up early Sunday and enjoyed the usual coffee ritual. CAREFULLY eyeballing the actual weather conditions, I wore a long sleeve wool baselayer and tights along with thick wool socks and full finger wool  gloves. None of it came off while riding. Not a stitch. It was colder and windier on Sunday than the day prior. Good news: delightful roads. Bad news: tougher headwinds most of the day. I looked for Jody at breakfast and didn't see her. Obviously she had enough of dragging along in the back with me. Some tall skinny whippet looking dude shared a toaster with me, and later they told me, "Hey, he's from Montgomery too."  We never did actually meet, but his name is Craig. I sat alone with my bagel and apple butter, when a gal asked if the next seat was taken. Her name is Lenise and she's a full time nursing student from Hattiesburg. She has a lovely Trek Madone, but is a newish rider. The hills on Saturday were tough for her, but she finished. We rode together from the start and I noticed that she never used her small chainring (compact double) so following that suggestion and getting her cadence up from about 46 to 72, she seemed happier on the hills. Lenise was afraid she was slowing me down, but the social part of riding is what I love. Also, since I wasn't having to work hard, I was sitting up IN A HEADWIND and really enjoying looking around at deer, hawks, cows, whatever. Much prettier scenery on day 2 and more than 1/2 the day was spent on the Natchez Trace. I definitely would like to do more of that. Eventually, Lenice was walking up 2% grades and we parted company, as a SAG vehicle stayed with her and followed her all the way in. I would have waited at the end for her, had I not been facing the 4 1/2hr drive home. She was determined to finish and I am sure she did. She has gotten serious about diet and exercise and is enjoying the feeling of being able to do a lot more than before.

At the last rest stop, Robin Rae, (http://2012bikemsbiketothebattlefield.shutterfly.com/506) our fearless leader, mentioned that SAG service was very popular. Many folks had enough of the headwinds on the Trace, or had mechanicals, or just had pedaled as many miles as they cared to. I pulled in to the finish at the same time as the day before, and was fresh and ready for more. No problem!

The MS Society will post pictures eventually and I'll link them here. (Jody & Lenise: http://2012bikemsbiketothebattlefield.shutterfly.com/258)  I didn't ride with a camera this trip.Since Sharon's June surgery (and then August 2d surgery) my riding has been a little less, so I was unsure how back to back long rides would go. They went fine and I'm pumped about doing more. Just at my relaxed pace, that's all. It's hard to believe that 10 years ago a very kind rider in Midland MI invited me on my 1st MS 150. "Ride 150 miles? You're nuts!" was my reply, or close to it. I emailed Ed this week to express my appreciation for that invite and to wish him and his family well. Ed sent back a note that he was excited that I'm still plugging away at it. There are many good causes out there, and none of us can work for all of them. But all of us can do something, and raise our children to understand that doing for others is a GOOD thing that also makes us feel good. Sharon and I have worked on Relay For Life and I do the MSBike. I thought 10 years might be all for me, time to find something new. But, ahhh, maybe not :)

Tailwinds!

 And finally this great shot of Jody expressing our common feeling about finishing the ride and working to finish the fight against MS.

http://2012bikemsbiketothebattlefield.shutterfly.com/6