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When Biking Isn’t Fun

12.05.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

I was looking forward to this morning’s club ride, even though the temperature was on the chilly side — 42ºF (5ºC) — with a bit of a wind.  But the ride organizer had picked a route that I probably would have taken anyway, even if I hadn’t been riding with the club.  So I checked my cool weather clothing guide, geared up accordingly, and headed for the local Starbucks.

We had a pretty good turnout for an overcast, blowy morning.  Abut 13 riders showed up, and we headed out in good spirits.

It wasn’t long before I had assumed my customary place in the pack: off the back. No matter, because there were plenty of stoplights on this part of the route, and I could always catch up to the others.  The northwest wind was stronger out on the road than it was in my protected neighborhood enclave, but since we were headed southeast, it was at our backs.  It pushed us along nicely.  I felt good about my clothing selection, although it occurred to me that even with two pairs of socks (one wool) and toe covers, my feet were frozen.

We crossed over the Interstate highway and rode the shoulder of a major farm-to-market road.  The wind was hitting us from the left, with enough force to knock the bike around a bit if you weren’t careful.  I was well behind the group when we reached the crossroads town of Creedmoor, and was glad to see everyone stopped in the lot at the little country store.

Turns out they were just waiting for a few of us laggards. As soon as we caught up to them, they were off.  These folks don’t stop much during rides — they just keep going.

The route turned west, and now we could feel the full force of the wind, because for the first time on the ride, we were into it.  We had probably done about 22 miles by now (I had forgotten to zero my computer), and my constant efforts to keep the pack in sight were starting to tell on me.

The ride organizer and his wife are both coming back from injury, so they were off the back, too.  But when they passed a turnoff to a road I knew would take us back toward home, I decided I had had enough.  I told them so, and went back to the turnoff.

Now I knew I’d be fighting the wind the rest of the way home, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.  My speed was down to 10-11 mph, and I was spinning in a low gear.  And the cold was getting to me.  What warmed me comfortably going out wasn’t enough on the return leg.  I realized there was no way I would make it home (well, I could have — I just didn’t have the spirit to do it). I pulled over to the side of the road, called home, and asked my wife for a ride.  We agreed to meet at a gas station a few miles from where I was.  My dependable sag driver arrived at the spot about three minutes after I did.

Yes, I know — the cardinal rule of ride planning is to go into the wind on the way out, so it’s at your back on the way home.  The ride organizer is pretty good about this, but today wanted to do this particular ride.  It turned out he and his wife were pretty done in by the ride, too.

It was a hard slog out there today.  Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the good weather we’ve had through the summer, and the lack of strong wind.  But I think I’ll be reverting to Zone 2 rides, probably on my own, while the winter cold settles over Texas.  I want to keep biking fun.  Rides like today’s aren’t.

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Categories // Cold weather, Rides Tags // cold

The Ideal Distance

11.11.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

I like riding long enough to feel as though I’ve done some riding.  That means being in the saddle for at least two hours.  I enjoy easy rides with my wife, but 15 miles is about as much as she cares to ride.  When we finish, I often head out and tack on another 10 miles or so.

Twenty-five miles is a good distance, and it’s what I normally do for my Saturday morning ride.  That doesn’t meet my two-hour requirement, however.  I just like it because the route I usually ride provides a nice mix of some moderate hills, good fast downhills, bikes lanes or shoulders, and the Veloway.

Sunday morning is when I go for my long ride of the week.  It’s at least 30 miles, and often quite a bit more.  I recently enjoyed a 58-mile ride, even though I had to sit out a cloudburst for 30 minutes in a convenience store.  A couple of weeks later, I rode 67 miles, and was pretty knackered when I finished.

That got me thinking: Just how long is a good distance?  The 58-miler was relatively flat.  The 67-miler had some challenging hills built in.  In both cases, I was on the road for quite a while — maybe longer than I wanted to be.

Perhaps what I’m looking for is something just a little shorter.  My on-bike time for the 58 miler was about three hours, 45 minutes.  That’s plenty.  I’m thinking my ideal ride would cover about 50 miles.  That’s long enough for a decent workout, and to cover a substantial amount of ground.

I’ve been compiling a list of rides from my house that fall into the 50-miles (plus or minus) category.  It’ll be fun to ride them all in the coming weeks, and see if my guess at an “ideal” distance is borne out by the results.

What about you? Is there a distance that feels “just right” for you?  What is it, and what do you like about it?

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Categories // Rides Tags // distance

Finding Your Biking “Style”

10.21.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

I’ve now been biking “seriously” since the summer of ’07, and recently, I got to thinking about what types of riding I enjoy most.

I do a lot of different kinds of rides, but all my riding is on the road.  Although I own a mountain bike, it is strictly an errand bike, and I do not take it out on recreational rides.  On the road bike though, I do the occasional short time trial, trying to hold my top speed for eight miles; I go to the local Veloway and do anywhere from six to 18 miles, sometimes lazily, sometimes with intervals or fartlek, often in just the small chainring to work on cadence; I ride with my club on Sunday mornings, sometimes struggling to keep up with the peloton, sometimes leading a slower B group ride; I ride a collection of routes from the house of varying length, sometimes sticking to my suburban-style neighborhood, sometimes venturing out into the country.

I imagine it’s much the same for most of you.

But if you had your choice, what kind of riding would you prefer over the others?

I have come to the conclusion that my cycling style is easy long distance.  I like to ride country roads with light traffic.  I like to ride without feeling any external or self-imposed pressure to finish by a certain time.  I like to be able to stop, and perhaps take pictures every so often.

My idea of bicycling heaven.

Living where I do, that kind of riding is fairly close by.  I have a couple of routes that will put me on roads like those within six to 10 miles.  Or, I can toss the bike in the car and drive a little farther to get to even less traveled roads.

Now, that’s not to say that I have now begun to ignore other types of riding.  For one thing, I know I have to do some speed work just to be able to enjoy the riding I prefer.  It’s no fun to be 35 miles into a ride and feel tuckered out.  I do the occasional hill work, so I can handle the hills I run into out in the country.

But I’m not at all crazy about the kind of riding a lot of my acquaintances take for granted: long jaunts on the shoulder of a high-speed highway.  The popular “Dam Loop” west of Austin is a magnet for many area riders.  I find it to be most unpleasant, and having ridden it a few times now, I will avoid it from here on out.  (That’s not to say I won’t do it again sometime — I just don’t like it all that much.)

I would guess that the riding I prefer actually accounts for less mileage than the other riding I do.  But that’s okay — it becomes something to look forward to.  I’ll toil on the hills and during intervals, I’ll put in the miles on suburban residential streets, and I’ll ride the shoulders of fast roads — as long as I can get that 35-60 mile weekend ride in, away from heavy traffic, enjoying the scenery, the animals, and the company of like-minded bikers.

I’ll bet some of you have your own idea of the perfect ride.  Come on, weigh in.

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