Now that fixed gear season is upon us, I've been wondering when others will get their fixies on. For our turkey day ride, I propsed a fixie friendly ride and made sure I explicitly told the other potential fixie riders that I was going fixed so I would have some company and not have to play Russian Roulette and if for no other reason it's a lot less bike to clean, give that it promised to be wet. Well Iain commented:
"That's the thing about russian roulette......it starts by not knowing if you will be the only one!"
How true that is. Turns out he got a flat on the way to the park and ride, so I was the only one... Uh oh, click, nothing, whew. However, it was a nice social ride so, the "Russian Roulette" fixed gear game got shelved and we had a nice sane 40+ miler, setting a very appropriate tone for the day.
Now the eating starts! Happy Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sometimes You Just Have To Get On The Bike
I was really looking forward to a day off today because that meant that I could get in a long mid-week bike ride. A few days ago the forecast went from bad to better when Ida changed tracks a bit. So, I put out the word to ABRT for a fixie friendly longish ride for Wednesday. Either there are not too many Feds in ABRT or everyone else was looking at the weather forecast because I got virtually no response.
Well, sometimes, you just have to get on the bike, weather be damned. Sure it's almost always more fun to have people to ride with, but I just didn't want to miss the opportunity: kids in school, wife traveling... I geared up with my Pactimo "rain cape" and tried a new thing of plastic bags between my shoes and booties in the hope that would keep my feet from getting totally soaked. Uh, right. I was a little worried because I couldn't find my full leg warmers, so just put on the knee warmers and hoped for the best. I rode from home in West Annapolis and made a swing through the park and ride just to take a few pictures.
Hmm, no wonder I couldn't get anyone to join me. The ride out was pretty nice given that it was a tailwind. I looped around Gov. Bridge and St George Barber and after an hour with some headwinds it started to get cold. The last 1/2 hour was pretty chilly since it was a full-on headwind back. But I know it's almost over when I get to my favorite part of riding back to the house: the section on Ridgely Ave from Bestgate Rd. You come down the hill and over the Weems Creek Bridge. Ahh, home sweet home.
So how'd I fare on the cold, rainy ride gear? Defeat long sleeve base layer, check; Pactimo long sleeve jersey, check; Nike full finger dryfit gloves and balaclava, check. Pactimo rain cape, check. Legs/rear, wet and cold. Feet, wet, cold, numb. I think I need some long bibs that have more insulating properties for the 40-60 degree and wet rides. For booties, I am wondering if there is an insulated shoe cover that is 100% waterproof that is essentially a mini "drysuit" with neoprene seals to keep the water from running down your legs and into the shoes. All in all, and hour and a half, 30 miles. Perfect.
Well, sometimes, you just have to get on the bike, weather be damned. Sure it's almost always more fun to have people to ride with, but I just didn't want to miss the opportunity: kids in school, wife traveling... I geared up with my Pactimo "rain cape" and tried a new thing of plastic bags between my shoes and booties in the hope that would keep my feet from getting totally soaked. Uh, right. I was a little worried because I couldn't find my full leg warmers, so just put on the knee warmers and hoped for the best. I rode from home in West Annapolis and made a swing through the park and ride just to take a few pictures.
So how'd I fare on the cold, rainy ride gear? Defeat long sleeve base layer, check; Pactimo long sleeve jersey, check; Nike full finger dryfit gloves and balaclava, check. Pactimo rain cape, check. Legs/rear, wet and cold. Feet, wet, cold, numb. I think I need some long bibs that have more insulating properties for the 40-60 degree and wet rides. For booties, I am wondering if there is an insulated shoe cover that is 100% waterproof that is essentially a mini "drysuit" with neoprene seals to keep the water from running down your legs and into the shoes. All in all, and hour and a half, 30 miles. Perfect.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
One Ride Too Many?It Seemed a Good Idea at the Time
Turns out the 7:00AM Rock Creek ride, which is supposedly 7:00AM year round, started at 7:30 this past Saturday; just as well, it was QUITE dark at 7:00, but I had lights. There were three minor crashes early as the road surfaces were a bit slick, probably because the very light drizzle was not enough to wash the oil off the surface. This might have slowed the overall pace slightly. I was more comfortable than the last time I did this ride, so pick one: I am a bit stronger, pace was lower, or knowing the route a bit better helps a lot.
I avoided chasing breaks on Clara Barton and tried to stay fresh for the McArthur Road climb, but the pace on Clara Barton was still high enough to hurt. I started the McArthur climb closer to the front than last time, and instead of gaps opening in front of me, I stood and tried to stay with the leaders as long as I could. This worked for a short time, but probably not even 1/3 of the climb. I kind of lost interest; I am not sure if this is me hitting my physical limit, or lack of mental toughness. Looking at the Powertap data I hit a max HR of 172 on this climb, and my normal max is 173, so that probably was as hard as I could go.
The way this ride works is that the lead group does the climb, turns off McArthur into a park, descends for a few minutes, turns around and climbs out, goes back down McArthur and does one more climb/wall. Everyone else skips the back down McArthur and one more climb/wall, but some also skip going down and up in the park. The dropped riders wait at an intersection for the leaders to go by, and rejoin.
After sitting up and recovering, I got it going for the rest of the climb, passed a couple of dropped riders, kept going into the park (some others stopped there), did a very slight shortcut at the bottom to catch on with a chase of five, and experimented with sitting and standing, seeing how I did with them. While standing gets me my best High Rock times, seated was working better here. After struggling a little to stay with them early on the climb out of the park, I got a gap and led them back to McArthur, though they did catch me at McArthur.
Everyone who was not with the leaders regrouped part way up McArthur and waited for the leaders to show up. There are no long hard climbs for the rest of the ride. I rode near the front, and chased to stay with break attempts. Eventually Chuck Hutcheson and another guy got off the front; there are some sprint points, but I don't know exactly where they are. When people started winding it up I thought it was attempts at breaks, so I just chased to stay on. Chuck H. and the other guy sat up after one of these sprint points, and I had some momentum and rolled by and kept going, but not hard. I looked back after a couple of minutes and had a huge gap. I guess everyone sits up there and regroups. The next time I looked back, I could not see the peleton. I got so far ahead I thought they had turned off the road behind me. This was on Democracy, and they only caught me as I was soft pedaling in Rock Creek Park. I went all the way back to the gate where the 10:00AM ride starts, with a small group.
I decided I was still feeling reasonable, so slowly rode back to the car at East West Highway, ate a bit, got rid of extra clothing (it hard warmed up slightly) and figured I would jump on the 10:00AM for a little while, and then turn around.
Chuck Hutcheson. and a couple of other guys also did both rides.
The 10:00 ride also starts easy and it is some distance/time before it gets hard. I was actually feeling better than I did at the start of the 7:00AM. Recently I have been more willing to stand on short climbs and this does seem to work at times. I was trying to stay near the front but not actually take any pulls; I think I pulled through once. Sure, I know this is lame, but having been dropped a couple of times on this ride, I am trying to conserve energy and hang. Lance Lacy was there along with some of his new Haymarket team mates. Lance was active on the front for awhile, but dropped back after taking a pull and I did not see him again.
There were multiple attacks and desperate chases, but I managed to hang on to the rapidly shrinking lead group. Then it happened: Chuck and two other guys got off the front, I was near them when they went and went hard to try to get to them. I chased and closed, and almost go there, but ran out of gas on a climb, and was caught AND PASSED, AND DROPPED, by everyone left in the chase. I again had that feeling I could not go any harder. I slowed and recovered at the top of the climb and tried to chase briefly, but I couldn't close. I sat up and then waited for a single rider behind me. I think over half the group had been dropped by this time. I was stronger than the other rider, so I had to wait for him for time to time (and I also tired a bit as we got closer to the end of the ride), so I it was relatively easy ride from that point on. I still tried to go decently hard on the climbs, but had to wait at the top for my riding companion on most of them.
The two of us somehow caught three of the guys (two of them were Haymarket) in front as we got close to the end in Rock Creek Park; they must have sat up. They had no idea where Lance was.
Just as I had finished putting the bike in the car and changing, the second group with all the dropped riders, rolled by, going easy. Lance waved from within the group.
Wheelsucker data:
92.16 miles
5:01:50 ride time
3025 calories
I avoided chasing breaks on Clara Barton and tried to stay fresh for the McArthur Road climb, but the pace on Clara Barton was still high enough to hurt. I started the McArthur climb closer to the front than last time, and instead of gaps opening in front of me, I stood and tried to stay with the leaders as long as I could. This worked for a short time, but probably not even 1/3 of the climb. I kind of lost interest; I am not sure if this is me hitting my physical limit, or lack of mental toughness. Looking at the Powertap data I hit a max HR of 172 on this climb, and my normal max is 173, so that probably was as hard as I could go.
The way this ride works is that the lead group does the climb, turns off McArthur into a park, descends for a few minutes, turns around and climbs out, goes back down McArthur and does one more climb/wall. Everyone else skips the back down McArthur and one more climb/wall, but some also skip going down and up in the park. The dropped riders wait at an intersection for the leaders to go by, and rejoin.
After sitting up and recovering, I got it going for the rest of the climb, passed a couple of dropped riders, kept going into the park (some others stopped there), did a very slight shortcut at the bottom to catch on with a chase of five, and experimented with sitting and standing, seeing how I did with them. While standing gets me my best High Rock times, seated was working better here. After struggling a little to stay with them early on the climb out of the park, I got a gap and led them back to McArthur, though they did catch me at McArthur.
Everyone who was not with the leaders regrouped part way up McArthur and waited for the leaders to show up. There are no long hard climbs for the rest of the ride. I rode near the front, and chased to stay with break attempts. Eventually Chuck Hutcheson and another guy got off the front; there are some sprint points, but I don't know exactly where they are. When people started winding it up I thought it was attempts at breaks, so I just chased to stay on. Chuck H. and the other guy sat up after one of these sprint points, and I had some momentum and rolled by and kept going, but not hard. I looked back after a couple of minutes and had a huge gap. I guess everyone sits up there and regroups. The next time I looked back, I could not see the peleton. I got so far ahead I thought they had turned off the road behind me. This was on Democracy, and they only caught me as I was soft pedaling in Rock Creek Park. I went all the way back to the gate where the 10:00AM ride starts, with a small group.
I decided I was still feeling reasonable, so slowly rode back to the car at East West Highway, ate a bit, got rid of extra clothing (it hard warmed up slightly) and figured I would jump on the 10:00AM for a little while, and then turn around.
Chuck Hutcheson. and a couple of other guys also did both rides.
The 10:00 ride also starts easy and it is some distance/time before it gets hard. I was actually feeling better than I did at the start of the 7:00AM. Recently I have been more willing to stand on short climbs and this does seem to work at times. I was trying to stay near the front but not actually take any pulls; I think I pulled through once. Sure, I know this is lame, but having been dropped a couple of times on this ride, I am trying to conserve energy and hang. Lance Lacy was there along with some of his new Haymarket team mates. Lance was active on the front for awhile, but dropped back after taking a pull and I did not see him again.
There were multiple attacks and desperate chases, but I managed to hang on to the rapidly shrinking lead group. Then it happened: Chuck and two other guys got off the front, I was near them when they went and went hard to try to get to them. I chased and closed, and almost go there, but ran out of gas on a climb, and was caught AND PASSED, AND DROPPED, by everyone left in the chase. I again had that feeling I could not go any harder. I slowed and recovered at the top of the climb and tried to chase briefly, but I couldn't close. I sat up and then waited for a single rider behind me. I think over half the group had been dropped by this time. I was stronger than the other rider, so I had to wait for him for time to time (and I also tired a bit as we got closer to the end of the ride), so I it was relatively easy ride from that point on. I still tried to go decently hard on the climbs, but had to wait at the top for my riding companion on most of them.
The two of us somehow caught three of the guys (two of them were Haymarket) in front as we got close to the end in Rock Creek Park; they must have sat up. They had no idea where Lance was.
Just as I had finished putting the bike in the car and changing, the second group with all the dropped riders, rolled by, going easy. Lance waved from within the group.
Wheelsucker data:
92.16 miles
5:01:50 ride time
3025 calories
Saturday Rock Creek Rides
For those looking for an alternative to the Saturday Davidsonville Park & Ride rides, the two Rock Creek rides are worth considering.
7:00AM
The 7:00AM ride starts at Beach Drive and East West Highway. There is a brief description on the DC Velo website at: http://www.dcvelo.com/rides.php. There is parking on the shoulder for the soccer field.
The route description does not actually mention Clara Barton Parkway (shh, apparently bikes are not allowed on the Parkway, but the peleton apparently takes the safety in numbers view), I am so busy holding a wheel and making sure gaps don’t open in front of me I am not certain it is Clara Barton we ride on (plausible deniability? ) The ride starts easy, then there are some decent climbs, and then the ride gets fast on what I think is Clara Barton, and then comes the McArthur climb. This splits the group. The strong/fast guys do an extra climb and the ride regroups at Brickyard Road and Falls Road. There is at least one more sprint point, but things slow down on Democracy and for the ride back to East West Highway. The ride continues past East West highway and goes south on Beach Drive with some sprinting for the gaps in the road closure barriers. This is apparently a year-round ride.
10:00AM
The 10:00AM ride starts at the gate on Beach Drive and Broad Branch Road (just north of Peirce Mill on Beach Drive). There is a brief description on the DC Velo website at: http://www.dcvelo.com/rides.php A number of riders join at East West highway and Beach Drive (where the 7:00AM starts). This ride goes easy for awhile, and then as it turns of Tuckerman the cat 1-2 and 35+ guys decide it is time to have some fun with everyone else and drive the pace on the rollers and climbs. The peleton shatters over this, and there is no official regroup point, though frequently dropped riders reform into a second groupetto. Ace, Nat and I did one of these a few weeks ago; I was dropped on the rollers while Ace and Nat beat up on the surviving cat 1-2s.
Both rides are harder – at least for me – than the Saturday Davidsonville ride, as there is more climbing and more strong riders to drive the pace.
7:00AM
The 7:00AM ride starts at Beach Drive and East West Highway. There is a brief description on the DC Velo website at: http://www.dcvelo.com/rides.php. There is parking on the shoulder for the soccer field.
The route description does not actually mention Clara Barton Parkway (shh, apparently bikes are not allowed on the Parkway, but the peleton apparently takes the safety in numbers view), I am so busy holding a wheel and making sure gaps don’t open in front of me I am not certain it is Clara Barton we ride on (plausible deniability? ) The ride starts easy, then there are some decent climbs, and then the ride gets fast on what I think is Clara Barton, and then comes the McArthur climb. This splits the group. The strong/fast guys do an extra climb and the ride regroups at Brickyard Road and Falls Road. There is at least one more sprint point, but things slow down on Democracy and for the ride back to East West Highway. The ride continues past East West highway and goes south on Beach Drive with some sprinting for the gaps in the road closure barriers. This is apparently a year-round ride.
10:00AM
The 10:00AM ride starts at the gate on Beach Drive and Broad Branch Road (just north of Peirce Mill on Beach Drive). There is a brief description on the DC Velo website at: http://www.dcvelo.com/rides.php A number of riders join at East West highway and Beach Drive (where the 7:00AM starts). This ride goes easy for awhile, and then as it turns of Tuckerman the cat 1-2 and 35+ guys decide it is time to have some fun with everyone else and drive the pace on the rollers and climbs. The peleton shatters over this, and there is no official regroup point, though frequently dropped riders reform into a second groupetto. Ace, Nat and I did one of these a few weeks ago; I was dropped on the rollers while Ace and Nat beat up on the surviving cat 1-2s.
Both rides are harder – at least for me – than the Saturday Davidsonville ride, as there is more climbing and more strong riders to drive the pace.
Yet another wet saturday ride!
Ace and Amanda said it all at the Dash-In. Hmm, maybe cross is the thing - just a slight shift in perspective makes all the difference. At least we're all getting good practice cleaning our bikes!
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