Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

Riding without goals

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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.

Smoked by a smart gal

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I took advantage of the first day of Spring Break and the first really nice weather day in Austin in some time, to get in some real bike mileage this morning.  I went out to Mopac, planning to do a few loops.  Since I have the week off, I plan to be riding every day (well, almost — golf tomorrow) and beef up my mileage and endurance.

On my second loop of the eight-mile route, I saw a biker pull out onto the road about a half-mile ahead of me.  Aha, I thought — here’s a chance to see if I have what it takes to catch him.  I picked up the pace a little.

It was going to reach a high in the mid-80s(F) today, but at the time of the ride, it was still in the 50s.  I was nicely warmed up, but didn’t plan to push too hard to catch the rabbit — just a bit more than my usual pace.  When I rounded the turn at Route 1826 for the return leg, the other biker was out of sight.  But I soon saw him emerge from a swale in the road.  It looked like my chances of catching him were pretty good.

Several hills mark this stretch of the route.  Not big hills, but enough to make you work.  The other biker was not pumping very hard, but keeping a steady, even pace.  I was closing the gap.

Toward the end of the eastbound leg, there’s a nice downhill that lets me exceed speeds of 30 mph.  Not so today, with a southeast wind blowing in my face.  I got up only to 30, but was still gaining.  I expected to catch him on the level ground at the bottom of the hill.

It was then that I realized — the other biker was female!  (That’s fine — one of the strongest riders in my bike club, who regularly leaves most of the guys behind, is a female.)  And since she was obviously younger than me, she was probably stronger than me, if she’d had any kind of experience on a bike.  Heck, I was pleased to be able to catch anybody.

“On your left,” I called, as I closed on her.  She barely gave her bike a flick over to let me by.  I passed, still gaining speed, and gradually eased over into the center of the paved shoulder.  The road was approaching a sweeping left that would turn us north, and up another series of moderate hills.  I kept up the same pace I’d been riding, and attacked the first hill.

My legs must be getting stronger.  I actually gained speed going uphill, at least for a bit.  I felt good — what a great day to be out on a bike ride!  Then I heard a telltale click.

It was a bike changing gears, and it wasn’t mine.  I looked back, and there she was — inches behind my rear wheel!  She’d grabbed a draft right after I passed her.  That gave her a chance to recharge her batteries.

I saw her wheel pull up on my left side.  We crested a hill, and started down.  She pulled in behind me again.  At the base of the hill, I downshifted and applied more power.  Again the click just off my ear.  And then, that nice silver Merlin with the rider in the purple and white jersey slid by me.

I figured I’d use her tactic, and grab her wheel.  But I was losing ground climbing the hill, and she was pulling away.  By the time we reached the top, she was out of reach.

I’ve been smoked by old guys, smoked by young gals, smoked by mountain bikes, and now I was smoked by someone who really knew what she was doing.  Good for her, and good for me — I learned something today.  I learned that I’m not as young as I feel, and I learned that I still have a way to go conditioning-wise (as if I didn’t know that already).

I finished another loop of the Mopac route, then headed home.  Good average speed today — almost 16 mph.  It’s going to be nice for the rest of the week.  I hope I have several repeats of today’s ride.  But this time, I’ll grab the other rider’s wheel and save my strength for when it counts.

Gettin’ tough

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Weather has been weird around Central Texas lately. While much of the rest of the country is dealing with late winter snow, it’s been extremely dry around here, and extremely windy. I got out for a ride yesterday after work, and it was 88F! The heat gave me a headache before the 15 mile ride was over.

Quite a change from last weekend, when I went out for a group ride with some folks who are training for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS. It was cool, but not bad, and the forecast called for a cold front later in the day. Plenty of time to get in a ride before the bad weather hit. I got to the bike shop starting point in plenty of time, but it seemed that the weather was worsening by the minute. Near the appointed start time, the cold front hit — hours earlier than forecast — and brought rain.

bss

Dismal prospects.

I was about ready to call it quits before the ride started. But the rain eased up, and the wind picked up. We decided to go ahead.

The group got less than two miles from the bike shop. The north wind was howling. The leaders stopped under a bridge for a confab.

groupThe leaders confer. Would we bail on the ride, or toughen up and go on?

We decided to go on. The wind was tough. But once we put a couple of miles behind us, we were warmed up, and suddenly, the weather wasn’t an issue anymore. It was a good ride through the city, with some decent hills to climb.

So I was looking forward to this morning’s ride. It would be with a different group — a Bike MS training ride — and would start just a mile from my house. But after the high temps of Friday — actually setting a record of 91F (32.7C) — the forecast resembled last week’s. But colder. And windier. But it was a route I wanted to ride, and I figured it would be a good opportunity for me to learn more about our upcoming Houston-to-Austin extravaganza.

This time, the forecast was right. Again, it was very tempting to forget the whole thing when I saw the conditions. But I rode over to the starting point, and riders starting dribbling in, many sharing tales of fighting the wind during their rides to the start.

However, the ride leader told us all we would abandon the planned route. The strong wind would simply make it too dangerous, because of the exposed roads we’d be riding. Instead, we would ride through the neighborhood, which iteself offers some decent hills.

The route, though on familiar streets, was one I hadn’t ridden before. Amazing how streets that seem flat in a car become a challenge on the bike. Once again, after a couple of miles, we were warmed up. The route turned onto my old standby, Mopac. On the eastbound leg, I hit a wind-assisted 35.2 mph, without much effort on my part. But turning north, the wind hit us in the face again.

Several times, I nearly lost control fighting the strong gusts (Oh, by the way, your helpful tips from a couple of weeks ago really came in handy today). I was in the small chainring, on a large cog, much of the way. Going downhill at 8, 7, even 6 mph and fighting to stay upright isn’t a lot of fun.

But we got through it without a mishap. I rode a shorter route today than I’d planned, but it felt like double the distance. If nothing else, I’ve learned over the past two weekends that skipping rides because of perceived tough conditions isn’t necessary. We’ve already got our ride planned for tomorrow. The forecast? Cold and windy. Again.

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