Quick notes on purchases and plans

Despite the perfect weather (cooler and less humid) I haven’t been able to ride since Sunday.  Four day work weeks often mean cramming 5 days of work into 4.  Plus I have to do the funeral home thing tonight as a 2nd (?) cousin has passed.

In the meantime, I’ve ordered new tires for the Giant, pretty orange Maxxis Courchevels.  They are what I have on now.  I’ve not found a tire that holds up really well for me having been through Michelins, Contis and Maxxis.  So I figured I would stick with what is on there and just swap out the back for now.  I always end up with cuts or gouges on the rear tire.  I suspect that it is more a reflection of some of the roads I ride than the durability of the tires.

Since I’m too thrifty to spring for faster shipping, I won’t have the new ones until next week unless UPS surprises me.  Any suggestions on something to fill in that gouge in the meantime?  I’m thinking put some glue in there and let it dry. 

We have a fun ride planned for the Friday holiday.  “The Train Ride”.  We’ll catch the train into Nashville at dawn and ride back to Lebanon.  We did this a couple of years ago.  But there is much more bike path available to use this time.  And the new section is spectacularly pretty, running along the Cumberland and Stones Rivers.  It’s just a nifty ride to do on a holiday.  I’ll take my camera and hopefully have some shots.

Hot Again! Good though

 

 

I had an excellent weekend, rode hard and worked hard.  As a result I have tired legs and a pretty yard.

Saturday morning I got up at 4:30 so I could have my coffee and still head out before it got too hot.  But I was a bit of a sloth and didn’t hit the pavement until almost 7.

I stopped to snap the balloon picture early on in my ride.  I think it had already flown and was waiting for the deflate portion of the day to set in.

I really want to do a hot air balloon ride someday.

I headed straight up the highway to Watertown, a route I often take.  Although it’s a busy highway, it has good, wide, rideable shoulders for the most part.

I rode by Watertown on the highway, then turned off and came back through town on the cutoff.  Then I turned left and rode by the drive-in.  Heading this way takes me by some really pretty farms and up and down some rollers.  There is one excellent descent.  It’s long for this area, widing around and gives your legs a rest.  The big surprise was there was an unexpected patch of gravel at the end.  I was braking and shifting trying to get back under control.  Nearly dropped the chain.

I continued to wind through the countryside until I got to my nemesis hill.  The one where I became a Weeble (I wobbled, but I didn’t fall down).  I had done some adjusting on the bike and had given some thought about how to take the hill.  But when it came down to it, I freaked, chickened, and feathered the brakes in the 35 mph range.

The rest of the ride was hot and humid, but otherwise pleasant and uneventful.  I got in a little over 35 miles and was very glad to hit the air conditioning when I got home.

I spent the rest of the day on yard work.

Sunday, Megan and I had planned another early morning ride and she actually got to my house by 5:35 a.m.  We headed through town, then out Cainsville Road to the industrial subdivision.  Then turned left onto Tater Peeler Road.  Yes, that really is the name.  This section involved several steep, short hills.  My poor legs were getting some work this weekend. 

After that section, I was noticing some bumping in the rear wheel and asked Megan to take a look.  She thought it might look low, so we stopped to take a closer inspection.  It wasn’t low, it was still quite firm.  But it has a cut and a gouge of some size.  The gouge is what is causing the bumpy feel.  So I guess I’ll be ordering some new tires today.  And I have such expensive taste in tires.

The rest of the ride was hot, pleasant and uneventful.  We were back home before 9 and got in over 20 miles. 

Then we lounged a bit over coffee on the deck.

I finished the yardwork that afternoon and was so tired I wanted to go to bed at 7! 

Today is a rest day so naturally the temps are 10 degrees cooler and the humidity is gone.

Tuesday’s sweaty commute

I rode the Giant in to the office today.  Funnest bike to ride.  (I really know that’s not a word.) The carbon baby is not set up for racks or anything like that.  But I have this nifty purse/bar bag which is easy on and off.  Plus I used a small backpack.

It didn’t seem quite as hot this morning when I set out a little after 7.  But I still managed to get a bit sweaty.  I have to remember to keep it in a lower gear and spin, trying not to hammer.

At lunch I rode over to the park with a sandwich, yogurt and a book.  That’s one of my favorite things to do.  It was hot, but there was a breeze and I sat in a swing in the shade eating and reading.  I have to confess; I didn’t wear my helmet at lunch.  It really is pleasant to feel the wind through your hair sometimes.

Finally for the ride home, I had some old shorts at the office so I changed so I could ride a little harder and longer on the way home.

I need to go futz with the saddle for a bit.  The bolt that tightens on the rails loosened on my Sunday ride.  It will take me a ride or two to get it back in the right spot.

In the meantime, I watching the Yankees at the Braves.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Temps have settled permanently in the 90s, with lots of humidity to go with it.  On that note yesterday’s ride was less than optimal.

I got a bit heat sick.  It wasn’t as bad as the time I got heat sick last year, but it still wasn’t fun.

Until I acclimate a bit more, all rides will have to go to early morning or late evening.  Since I will be building miles to century length, that will put me later in the day with each Saturday ride giving me time to build tolerance.

It was not the best way to spend the first day of summer.

Happy Summer!

Another pretty darn good weekend

I rode both days and had a good time doing so.

Saturday I headed out by myself with no immediate goal in mind.  At first I had one route, but changed my mind and turned right rather than left. 

At this point I passed a cyclist going in the opposite direction.  I’ve passed this guy several times before.  He is usually wearing a sleeveless red jersy and he has a mustache.  He is probably in my age bracket.  One of these days I’ll find out who is is and if he is interested in riding with a slowpoke like me.

I decided to head over to a parkway through an industrial subdivision.  It has a long shallow climb.  I wanted to work on maintaining my spin uphill.

I did pretty well with that until I was run off of the road.  I was being passed, too closely, by a big, dually truck.  Fortunately, I peeked back to find he was pulling farm machinery on a very wide trailer.  It may have taken me out; I don’t know.  I went into the gravel but didn’t go down.

After a second of shock, the adrenaline surge hit and I tried to catch him.  I was going to give him a piece of my mind.  I kept him in sight all the way to the highway turn-off, but couldn’t make up the gap.  However, my cadence did really well on the rest of that climb.

After the adrenaline rush was over, I decided to head home.

Sunday Megan and I planned to ride.  She came over about 10:30 and we sat and debated about whether it was going to rain.  After not deciding, we elected to take a circular route where we could cut back to my house if necessary.  We had a good fun ride with some decent hills and discussed getting in shape for a century.  We ended by checking out the new section of bike path which opened Friday.  As we headed toward home, I found that I had never hit the start button on my Garmin.  Dummy.

It never rained.

I was gonna commute today

When I went out to the garage to pump up the tires, the rear was flat. 

It’s always the rear tire, isn’t it?

I did try pumping it up, just to see what was what.  But that tell-tale hissing told all.

Since there is no quick release, horizontal drop-outs, and just general things to tick me off; I did not bicycle commute today.

It’s gonna rain anyway.

Back to commuting

I’m back to riding the Fuji to the office, as this week I don’t have any out-of-town stuff going on.  Plus the weather is gorgeous though getting hotter.

Overall, I like the Fuji.  It may actually fit better than the Giant road bike.  It also has me considering a swap to a classic bar from the ergo Salsa Pocos I have on the Giant.  The bars on the Fuji are tiny though.  And remarkably comfy.  But the old-style side pull brakes will not stay in adjustment.  I fiddled with them last night and they are better today.

As to being back in the commuting swing of things, the morning ride is such a nice way to start the day.  The only downside is being all sweaty when I hit the office.

But my favorite part is lunch when I can go to the park with food and a book.  I may try some cell phone pics of it today.

It’s been a nice weekend…

It’s a shame it has to end.

Saturday

I fully intended to ride on Saturday; but I made the mistake of watching a gardening show while I had my morning coffee.  Next thing I know, I’m headed out to buy mulch and a couple of plants.  It needed to be done and the yard looks much nicer.

As for the rest of the day, I helped the across-the-street neighbor close down her yard sale, then a friend stopped by and we had a cocktail on the deck.

Sunday:

I did get in my ride today despite the sore hip flexors and stiff back from yesterday.

Interesting things on today’s ride.

Wild roses road side

On the way back in I checked out the extension being added to the bike path.  In this case, I use bike path loosely as this fits pedestrians.  But I would use it for the occasional short cut.

view from bridge

New bridge

A peak at the path

Finally, on the last leg of the ride, I happened to spot a CD with a big green apple on it laying in the road. As I rode by, I thought, “that doesn’t look like it’s been run over.” So I went back, picked it up and jammed it into my jersey pocket.

When I got home, I checked it out. It’s disc 1 of the Beatles Anthology 2. It plays perfectly. How do those things end up in the road?

REALLY early morning

Something woke me at about 3:00 a.m.  I think it must have been a bad dream.  After laying abed for about a half hour, I finally got up, had breakfast and slowly got dressed for a ride.  Slowly because it was still really dark.

I finally headed out of the garage about 4:30.  I put a blinkie light on my saddlebag as it was still dark.

It’s really nice out.  No cars to speak of, I even ran a few traffic lights.  (I did have clear street views).  The birds were waking up and twittering.  Later in the ride I saw a white-tailed deer.  When I rode by a pasture of goats, they were still snoozing.

The sun was just making it’s appearance as I pulled back into my neighborhood.  I pulled back into the garage at 6:00 straight up.

It’s such a pleasant, though sweaty way to start out a day.

Is summer here?

Yesterday it was in the high 70s, low 80s; today upper 80s.  Tomorrow we break into the 90s for the first time.  I believe we are making our annual leap into summer.

I had a nice ride this morning taking a wide arc around the northwest of  town, then smack down the middle of town before heading home.  Riding on Sunday mornings is so pleasant as there is so little traffic.

An early road in my route was some up-and-down climbing which has left hand turns at the bottom of at least two hills.  That is completely unfair.

I also rode what may be the only flat stretch of road in the area.

I’ve also mowed the yard today!

Meanwhile, Megan has e-mailed me about training for a century later this year.  I think I’ll agree to do it.  I haven’t ridden one in a couple of years. That will help me shed the extra 10 pounds I’ve accumulated this year.

She’s never completed one.

Finally, I promised to post a picture of the cycling caps I made: