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Archives for May 2009

An early thousand and a good ride

05.24.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

Funny how what used to be major biking milestones now pass almost unnoticed.  I completely missed it, but back on May 13th, I hit 1,000 miles for the year.  Last year, I didn’t hit that magic mark until June 13th. Now I’m wondering what kind of mileage I’ll wind up with for the year. My total last year was 2,677. I should hit 3,000 with no trouble this year — but I won’t be making a conscious effort to do it. I’ll just enjoy my rides.

Like the ride we did today out in the Hill Country. A friend suggested we ride from Dripping Springs this morning, so he, Mrs. Noob and I, and three other friends drove the 12 miles out there and rendezvoused at 8:15 to hit the road. 

Mrs. Noob — uh, Pat — and her friend Susie decided not to try to keep up with the rest of us, or to go as far. I’ve mentioned Pat’s bike before. Here it is:

PatsBikeShe catches a lot of flak about having a kickstand, but she does ride clipless. The tires are 32mm, and she had the bike shop add a higher stem to give her a quite upright position when riding.

We hit the road with four other women we called “The Green Team,” since they all wore hi-visibility green vests. They stuck with us for the first seven miles, then we split off.

This is one of my favorite rides in the area. The country roads are in pretty good shape — a few rough patches — and on Sunday morning, traffic is light.

SDTHere’s what most of the ride looked like to me: Scott, Dee Dee, and Tom lead the way along lightly-traveled country roads.

Clouds blocked the sun for most of the ride, and the temperatures held in the mid-70sF. Quite humid, though, as the forecast called for a 70 percent chance of rain. We hoped we would wrap things up before it got wet.

CowWhat vehicles there were are used to bikers on these roads over the weekend. We’re careful to move to single file along the edge of the road when we detect a car or truck coming up behind us. The animals are equally blase about bikers. This cow has seen it all before, and we didn’t interest her in the least.

Remark from Scott: “Isn’t it funny how a little bit of skunk odor actually smells good?”

Two minutes later, he amended his thought: “Oh, that’s not a little bit anymore.”

We climbed moderate hills in easy gears, keeping up our momentum most of the time. Tom had some derailleur trouble, which made smooth shifting a challenge. He’s a strong rider, but because he had to concentrate so much on his gearing, he described his ride as “hard work.”

But for every uphill there’s a downhill, and we got down in the drops as the road swept us along. As a result, none of us were at all tired when we got back to our starting point. The stats: 34.3 miles at an average speed of 14.7 mph. Pat and Susie had ridden a little over 19 miles, and were already lunching at a nearby cafe when we pulled in.

A good ride, a meal with friends, and we pulled the car into the garage just as the skies opened up. Can’t get much better than that.

Today’s ride capped off a week where I rode every day but Saturday, for a total of 125 miles. I can’t remember the last time I rode that many miles in a week. With two more weeks to go until summer classes begin, it looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time in the saddle. Can’t wait.

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Categories // Records & stats, Rides Tags // Dripping Springs, hills

The dreaded chainring tattoo

05.21.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 26 Comments

First of all, thank you to all who rightly threw my whining back in my face and told me to get out and ride some different routes to break out of my pity party. Today, I did. Temperature in the high 70sF, no wind to speak of, and bright sunshine — a glorious day for biking. I rode in an area southeast of the city where I’ve ridden on club rides, but this time I did it alone. I took some roads I haven’t been on before. It was a “lollipop” route: 10 miles out, then a 10-mile loop on some decent country roads, then back home on the same 10-mile route I took to get out there. It’s the longest I’ve ridden since the MS ride last month, and when it was over, I felt great.

One of the attractions on this particular route is an exotic game ranch. If you’re lucky, you can see lots of African wildlife from the road. This morning I saw some antelope with the twisty horns, deer that are different from the North American whitetails, and even a zebra. But I had only my cell phone with me, and the pictures are no good. Next time I’ll take a decent camera.

While I was stopped to look at the critters, I straddled my bike. Not the brightest thing to do, because in no time at all, it was there — the dreaded chainring tattoo.

I’ve heard lots of talk about chainring tattoos being the sign of the rookie biker.  What’s a chainring tattoo? It’s that nice greasy mark on your calf from touching the chainring of your bike — usually the large ring, when the chain is on the small one. Sometimes you’ll hear it referred to as the “amateur mark.” I’ve been riding almost two years, and I still get them. So what’s amateur about that?

Tattoo

My own “amateur mark.” A particularly good specimen, I think.

I figure if you’re on the bike, you’re bound to come away with a tattooed calf. Not much you can do about it, and furthermore, it’s not something I’m going to go to great efforts to prevent.

The biggest problem is, it’s tough to completely remove in the shower — even with a slightly abrasive skin cleanser. Oh well, it’ll fade away in a day or three.

Any thoughts about the “amateur mark” slander that accompanies these things?

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Categories // Odds 'n ends, Rides Tags // chainrings, Rides

Riding without goals

05.19.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Got out this evening for a nice hour-plus ride with David. I’m trying to ride every day this week, now that I have some time on my hands, so this was a good one. Temperatures are relatively mild — have to enjoy them while they last — and we’re not supposed to have any rain for a week or so.

The ride was interesting for another reason, too. David is letting me try out one of his spare saddles. He saw that I was questioning whether to keep the saddle I’ve been riding on since I bought my bike, or if the discomfort in my nether region might ease if I planted myself on a different perch. It’s a narrower saddle than the one I’ve been using, and feels pretty good. But I won’t be in a position to report on it until I’ve taken at least one long ride on it. In addition, I just put it on the bike this afternoon and rode. It needs a little fore and aft positioning and more attention to leveling to get it just right.

While enjoyable, this evening’s ride had something in common with the other rides I’ve taken lately. A feeling of no purpose. I mean, I’m always glad to get out there, and I know it does me some good (I’m already coming back from the weekend’s food binge). But I’m not shooting for anything.

This is part of the anticlimax I’m feeling now that the MS 150 (or 77) is over with. During the weeks prior to that ride, I knew that my pedaling was accomplishing something. It was preparing me to handle two days of long riding. But two weekends ago, a conflict forced me to miss the Armadillo Classic which I enjoyed so much last year, and I’m not preparing for any other major rides. There’s the Real Ale ride in two weeks, but I’m not sure I’ll be riding in that one. Then the summer is dry until the Waco Wild West Century in September — and I’m not sure I want to drive 100 miles to ride 100 miles (or even 100 kilometers).

So I’ve just been riding. Ho hum. I hope the summer doldrums I ran into last year aren’t returning early.

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Categories // Rides, training Tags // Rides

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