Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Maybe…just maybe…

09.11.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

We might get the Tour de Florence in this Saturday.

It seems that every time a new storm track is projected for Hurricane Ike, it’s slated to hit the Texas coast farther east than before. The Austin area now seems to be out of the track altogether, altho we still stand to get plenty of rain this weekend.

However, that rain may not be as continuous as first thought. Accuweather has a prognostication for Florence, Texas that gives this pessimist reason for a little optimism:

So the rain will be mainly between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. It’s those strong north winds that will cause more trouble.

The reason for optimism is that an hour-by-hour forecast two full days in advance is nothing more than a guess. With the storm track shifting to the east, maybe the wind and rain will be less on Saturday than these numbers show.

The Tour’s web site has not been updated.  I e-mailed the ride director this afternoon, to see if the ride was still on, and got no response.  Which must mean that it is.

Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides Tags // hurricane, Ike, organized ride, rain

Watching Hurricane Ike

09.09.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Humans plan…God laughs.

This weekend is the Tour de Florence, an organized ride about an hour’s drive north of Austin, which features a 65-mile route. It’s just perfect as I train to ride a century next month. I’ve been registered for the ride for several weeks now, and have been looking forward to an interesting route in a part of the area I enjoy riding.

But Hurricane Ike is probably going to squelch my plans. As I write this, Ike has moved out of Cuba back into the Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to make landfall Friday night or Saturday morning along the Texas coast, likely between Corpus Christi and Brownsville.

That’s pretty far south of Austin, but the rain will make it up into our area. The forecast for Saturday calls for a 90% chance of rain. So even if Ike deviates from the projected path, we’re going to get wet. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but I think I’ll be doing my metric century as an unsupported ride some other day.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Rides, training Tags // hurricane, Ike, organized ride, rain

Sometimes home remedies work — sometimes not

09.07.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

It looks like the cut on the shoe helped the toe numbness — but just a bit. I got the tingling sensation at about mile 24 of today’s ride. I’ve got some additional treatments for the shoe lined up, but whatever I do, it’s going to ruin the shoe in the long run. So I expect that new shoes are in my future at some point. And they’ll have to be wides. By the way, do most bike shoes come in widths? Or do only a few companies make different widths? I really haven’t paid much attention to the different makes and models out there.

Autumn is trying to sneak up on central Texas. The official overnight low was 72°F (22°C), but it felt like the 60s when we started the ride. That made for great riding conditions, and the ride itself was very encouraging. It was the Fitzhugh Road route again — one I enjoy, but one I have had trouble with in the past because of its rolling hills. I had hoped several B riders would join up, so we could ride the rollers without trying to match the pace of the A riders.

But I was the only B to show up today. I told the ride leader I would turn around at Ranch Road 12, where the group takes a break. They continue on for another 10 miles or so.

Son of a gun, when we got out to Fitzhugh Road, I was still in the middle of the pack. The hill routes I have been riding recently must be working. I was mentally patting myself on the back for the next couple miles, when suddenly I looked up — and I was alone.

I don’t know when they kicked it up a notch, but evidently I didn’t get the message. Lucky for me, the ride leader considers it his job to be the “sweep,” and he was off the back of the pack, too. We rode the several miles to Ranch Road 12 together.

The group takes a break at Ranch Road 12. This was where I turned around.

The ride back was routine — heavier traffic on Fitzhugh this morning than usual — and when I got to the corner of U.S. 290 and Fitzhugh I noticed the numb toe thing. A short walk around the convenience store parking lot, a brief break to drain my water bottle, and off for home.

Totals: 33.5 miles, 15.1 mph avg speed. Next week is the metric century warmup for the century ride in October.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Equipment, Rides, training Tags // hills, numb, Rides, shoes, toes, training

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • …
  • 77
  • Next Page »

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d