A Good Idea? Not So Much.

Last night I was really hoping that the snow would melt and the roads would be clear today for the Ellicott City ride. Given that desire, I was predisposed to optimism this morning when I saw the temperature hit 32 degrees and the roads in West Annapolis clear of any snow, ice or moisture. I saw Mike Wagner's Facebook post "Michael Wagner is braving the cold and icy weather" so I knew I wouldn't be alone. And of course Steve Owens is always there if it is not raining. So it was the three of us that set off at 10:15. The roads looked good and the BWI path (at least the parts I saw on the drive in) were clear. So far so good. A little ways down the path, there were a few slippery spots and I'm thinking, hmm, maybe this isn't such a good idea, but we press on. Lawyers hill was wet but not slippery, certainly not anywhere near what High Rock was like last spring. All was good into Ellicott City, although we were taking the descents very carefully. All was good going up Oella, until about half way up we came around one of the left hairpins and like three dominoes down we went, floop, floop, floop. Luckily it was a pretty slow speed fall, so pretty much no harm, no foul. I'm sure there will be a few sore hips tomorrow though. There were a couple more icy spots on the way up and we went REALLY slow down Westchester back to the coffee stop.

We decided to go down River Road and see how that was (quite dry) and thought we'd go up Thistle road for the hill and then come back down it because we knew S. Hilltop would be treacherous. Thistle looked good at the bottom, but just after the first turn and out of the sun, not so good, so we skipped it and continued up Illchester and back to BWI. In retrospect, probably not the smartest thing in the world, but we did get in a nice 2:15 ride (only 4 miles shorter by cutting off Thistle/Hilltop). And at least it was a little more sane than Ali who, according to a text he sent me, was sitting at the Davidsonville Road park and ride yesterday, wondering why no one was there...

April 21st Training Ride

The weather forecast claimed a 50% chance of rain, but checking the weatherunderground website in the Park & Ride it sure looked like a storm was heading our way.... The wheelsucker had done his assigned recovery ride in the AM, so took pictures (and did not ride) until the camera battery died. The wheelsucker left for bike-related projects while the group rolled out. A short while later it was pouring.

Here are photos of the group in happier times.

The NOT Bill Neumann Ride ;-)

After Bill posted an e-mail saying that while others might do the ride this week, he would not be leading it, I showed up anyway.

So I get up at 5:20am, drive 2.5 hours ... I was in NJ .... and at 9:00am I am sitting in my car in a snow and ice covered parking lot, watching the snow-driven wind....and no one else is there. Hmm. Plan B is a fixie ride at noon with Alex Pline.

Alex and I rode most of the Pete Penzell Saturday ride route, on our fixed gears, starting from Alex's home at around noon. The temperature was above freezing -- barely -- and it was windy. We made up for this by cutting the ride slightly short, and heading to downtown Annapolis and hot chocolate at The Hard Bean.

For those keeping score, both Alex and I are currently running close to 74 gear inches.

Saturday on Sunday: A Wheelsucker Report

As per Steve Owens' Saturday ride report, the only people to show up for the usual Saturday ride were Doug Milliken and Steve. Ryan, his friend David, Alex and Ali did the Pete Penzell ride instead, but without Pete.

Perhaps ABRTers were feeling a little contrite about missing the Saturday rides; the proposal to do the Saturday ride again on Sunday met with wide support,and a significant number of riders started from the Davidsonville Park & Ride at 10:00AM Sunday, including John K, Lance, Kyle, Aaron, Bob, Steve, Mike Wagner, Ali, and Greg Smith.

Different riders have different training objectives at this time of year, and the group quickly split into Steve Owens and Mike Wagner doing the 2TT off the front, the wheelsucker by himself behind them trying to hold steady power numbers, and the first chase not far behind him, followed by a second chase.

Mike, Steve, the wheelsucker and the first chase all recombined shortly before crossing route 2 before the rest stop, but the wheelsucker was leading into the traffic circle, got a gap in traffic, and got away. By upping his target power band for a short while the wheelsucker was able to stay away to the rest stop.

When Mike, Steve and the chase one group rolled in, the wheelsucker announced he would continue without stopping and left, assuming the rest of the group would follow, and would probably catch him as there was a strong headwind to be dealt with on the way back. But the wheelsucker had a long and tiring ride by himself.

When he finally arrived back at the Park & Ride all the ABRTer's cars were gone. Greg Smith was still there and reported that the entire group had short cut the course or turned around at the rest stop. No WONDER no one caught the wheelsucker...

The "Other" Saturday Ride, a.k.a the Pete Penzell ride

Given the wet roads and chance of rain, and looking at the workouts my coach gave me, I decided to do my Sunday MTB (or fixie) ride on Saturday on the fixie, and ride the Saturday group ride on Sunday. That is why I was not in the Davidsonville Park & Ride at 9:55AM on Saturday. Rather, I was at the small parking area just off 450, close to the naval academy bridge, with Ryan Guttride and his friend David. Alex Pline rolled in a few minutes late after flatting on the way over. Ryan, Alex and Ali were on fixies, Dave was on a nice old road/commuter bike with fenders and GEARS.

As Alex reported on e-mail:

"Ryan, Dave, Ali and I had a nice ride (45 fixie miles) on the "other
ride". Hopefully, we'll see a wheelsucker report!"

It would appear that we are NOT seeing a wheelsucker report.

I was trying to avoid high intensity and was hoping to stay in aerobic zones, so was slower on the short hills. Ryan and Dave apparently do not believe in an off season or pre season where you work on aerobic rather than anaerobic systems. Or perhaps 340 watts is still aerobic for Ryan :-)

Tuesday October 28th Training Ride: The Wheelsucker Report

The cold! The wind! The suffering, the misery!

Four certifiable "hard men" did the training ride. It was so bad, Steve Owens was not there. There was so little daylight they turned right off of route 2 onto Polling House, for the short-short version of the route. Despite the shorter route it was still nearly dark when they returned to the Park & Ride.

Saturday October 25 Training Ride

Under cloudy skies with warm temperatures, a stiff wind out of the South, and no rain (did I mention it wasn't raining?) Steve was the only ABRT rider to show up for the ride. As he put the bike together contemplating a 3 hour tempo ride several Naval Academy team members showed up for the ride. A bit after 9AM it was apparent that no one else was going to show so Steve, and 4 Naval Academy cycling team members set off.

Early in the ride it became apparent that the Navy team had an old school coach as they were just out to do base miles, and Steve's tempo was breaking the group up. There was a bit of dissention in the group about who wanted to go hard, but it was agreed upon that things would start out at a fairly relaxed tempo. After a brief pause for a flat tire early in the ride things continued at an endurance type pace until the first rest stop. As the ride progressed it was obvious that unlike ABRT the Naval Academy team actually waits for their women. A women's collegiate "A" rider from the team was doing a good job hanging in, but the team would slow up for her after some of the short hard efforts on the hills.

At the rest stop knee warmers and arm warmers were disappearing as the weather had warmed a bit. The sun would make an occaisional appearance at various times throughout the ride. As we hit the light at the beach a glance at the flag revealed that we'd have a very nice stiff tailwind for the remainder of the ride. The pace picked up a bit, but things were still fairly relaxed. Coming up the hill out of the beaches Steve was sitting comfortably on the wheel of an Academy rider who was cranking out a fairly steady 350 watts. This was the smoothest trip he could remember up this hill in quite awhile, but alas after less than a minute there was a cry from the back about reducing the pace.

The group continued to do a nice steady pace on the rollers with several riders taking long even pulls. After the light at Central Avenue Steve was informed that only two of the Academy riders would be participating in the sprint, and that he was welcome to move up in the pace-line. He happily sat on wheels until the sprint, but not knowing who the best sprinter was he ended up picking the wrong wheel, and finishing second.

Just as the group finished the sprint the wind picked up, and the rain started. It was light at first, but by the time the group made it back to the park and ride things had picked up considerably. The Academy riders decided to try, and fit all four of their bikes into the one vehicle as 3 of them had ridden to the start, but none wanted to deal with the 20 to 30+ mph crosswinds on the way back to the Academy.

The Academy team will most likely be attending some of our future rides this winter, and a brief discussion on the merits of "old school" training versus "new school" ensued. There was definitely some interest in the "new school" philosophy.

Another interesting thing about riding with the Academy team is that aside from the usual bits of useful insight shared by motorists we actually did get a "Go Navy" a couple of times. Somehow I never remember hearing a "Go ABRT" on any of our rides although I do remember several phrases that started with the word "go".

Those of you who were sitting on the couch (gee I guess that would be all of you) missed a really nice off-season ride.