Sunday Stroll

Doing the Huck Finn

Ever have one of those days when the victory is just getting out the door? A little tired still from Thursday's redlining with the SBHs, I just wanted to get loose and get some miles in tonight. Not quite sure how, but I ended up with an 18.6 average, which means the bike trail part of the ride must have averaged around 19.5, so I guess I put in a pretty good effort. In spite of modest expectations, it turned out to be a very nice ride.

As promised, I stopped and took some pictures of William Pond. This is the namesake of William Pond Park. I thought it might be spring fed, but I was told it is fed by feeder pipes bringing water over from the American River. I got there 1:45 minutes too early for really great pics, but will have another go at it soon.

While I was taking the picture I met a pensioner on an old steel bike that needed some TLC. He told me his name was Tom. We talked for 20 minutes, and he was happy for the company. He has an odd ailment - he retains potassium - so I'm going to try to help him with his diet. He promised to give me a shout out if he sees me on the trail, and I will do the same. His wife is reportedly a great cook, so maybe I'll trade dinner for tuning up his bike. For all of his physical limitations, he seemed quite confident in his 30+ mile ride. What a great attitude!

Speaking of the SBH, I asked, and as I suspected, they don't want people riding with aerobars in peletons, unless they are out front pulling. I use my handlebars, especially the drops, so infrequently that I have pretty much ignored their positioning. Riding fast on the hoods and drops with SBH was a lot harder though as the bar was positioned so poorly.

I repositioned the bar downward at the brake blocks, which put the tips up a bit, and importantly, the flat handgrip now fits reasonably well. The hoods are down too far, but I'll wait on that until I retape the bars.

Meanwhile the aerobar position is unchanged and I can now effectively use the drops. I made it a point to ride in them as much as possible, trying to ignore hands that wanted to go numb to develop more power in that position. We'll see how it goes on Thursday.

First Outing with the Sacramento Bike Hikers

I did a fast 20-something mile ride with the SBH, which worked out to be 32 miles as I rode to the start. I guess I hung with the fast group for about 10 minutes, but was red-lining big-time at 24-26 mph. The 46 tooth "big" ring on my crank was a little inadequate at that speed. Other issues with that ring as well, so time to get a new 52t big ring.

I dropped back to a sustainable recovery pace, and waited for the slower group to catch up, which happened about 20 minutes later, led by a gorgeous tandem and a lot of half-bikes sucking on their wheel. I did the honorable thing, I got on the back of the train and sucked too! lol

You could tell this was the first opportunity for comfortable riding in 3-4 days, as the peletons were out in force tonight. In one 90 second interval we met three 15-25 man peletons. They were flying too - 20-25mph at least. You hang on tight to the handlebars when they pass, as a head-on collision between two such peletons would be pretty horrific. Only 4ft separated by a painted line, so not much margin for error.

I was coughing a LOT at William Pond Pk, and I am beginning to suspect it is a side-effect of the antibiotics I'm taking, but the ride back was strong, so no complaints.

Nice ride, and I did see some familiar faces. Fun group to ride with!

I got home and noticed a weird, fuzzy feeling green mold(?) growing on the back of my HR monitor strap. I think when I ride I sweat out enough antibiotic that it starts growing on the back of the strap? I wash it in antibacterial soap within minutes of arriving home, but have switched to Ivory bar soap and an old toothbrush now. Weird.

Also mounted new tires before heading out the door tonight. Another pair of Michelin Pro3 Race, but blue this time. I like the color of the gray better, but I saved $20 on these, and they look pretty good with the blue-ish Ultegra hubs and blue bike, but think I will need to pull the new colors together with new handlebar tape. Even guys have to color-coordinate sometimes!

Energy or Health: A False Choice

This is a very enlightening NYT piece on the "locally grown" food craze. Growing up on a farm, and being so close to it here in "Sac-A-tomatoes", I have to say, this rings true to me.

Eating locally grown produce is a fine thing in many ways. But it is not an end in itself, nor is it a virtue in itself. The relative pittance of our energy budget that we spend on modern farming is one of the wisest energy investments we can make, when we honestly look at what it returns to our land, our economy, our environment and our well-being. 

I 2nd the underlying theme here. Eat for health, and forget about the energy impact of growing food where it grows best and shipping it where it's needed. Good health is the #1 factor in the enjoyment of life in poll after poll. Be smart. Take good care of you. 

On a related side-note, I have been in dental health hell the last few months, and things are getting worse at the moment. I had to reschedule an extraction and double implant post placement because a molar I thought I had fixed last winter has devolved into raging infections I can only control with antibiotics so  powerful they are giving me colitis.

Being unemployed and looking at $10k+ in dental bills is more than a little stressful too, which isn't helpful. It has definitely hampered my ability to ride, especially on anything like a schedule. I am hoping in 4-6 weeks this will be fixed, but for now its hard to eat, sleep or even function. Mostly it just saps my strength, endurance, and hurts like hell. I will be soooo happy when this is handled. As much as I hate to whine, I thought you might like to know what the back-story is around here.

Getting Spanked

A couple of exceptionally productive days here getting all manner of things sorted out, so I rewarded myself with a nice ride up to Beals. The route is nothing special, as you all know by now, I do this one all the time, but the pace certainly was special tonight.

Just past Sunrise I got passed and jumped on his wheel, hoping I could hang with him. Well, I know how Lance Armstrong felt on the TDF this year. Not enough gas in the tank, and too many fast riders. I hung with him until the "Hitching Post". He dropped me on the little climb after that sharp right crossing a parking lot entrance. I knew he would attack on the hills, and most likely that one, but I was at LT hanging on his wheel barreling through the twisties on that side of Lake Natoma, so nothing left for the climb.

I recovered after about 5 minutes crawling along in Zone 4, but still making a good average up to Karen's Bakery. I had a nice conversation with a couple of riders at the hydration stop just down from the Folsom St Bridge. One of them had a Roubaix almost identical to mine. We congratulated each other on what great taste in bikes we had. I shoved off, and got passed by another strong rider going through the bottom section of the Beal's climb. Part of the problem was lack of fuel for me, but mostly he was just a better climber because of a better BMI.

I caught him in the flatish middle section and he did the smart thing, biding his time until the final climb. I got within 10 ft of him at the top, redlining before collapsing into the Beal's parking lot. Looking at my Garmin trace, standing to try to catch him was a mistake. My usual 11-12 mph redline sprint was replaced by an 8mph one. I could have caught him if I'd played a better tactical game, but on any long climb, he'd have beaten me.

For whatever reason I was coughing a lot at Beals, so took on some water, ate a PowerBar and caught my breath. Nothing much happened on the way home until I got passed again by a real skinny kite on a TT bike. I bridged up, caught his wheel, and eventually passed him in traffic. Nice guy. We had a nice side-by-side chat the last mile before the Sunrise "Y". I peeled off for Bannister Park and he went on to William Pond.

The sun is setting earlier these days - just before 8:00 now, about 50 minutes earlier than early June. An old Italian gardener told me it works out to about 2 min a day of less daylight, and that's pretty close. The water level in the lake is getting a bit low again, but the river was still beautiful near sunset coming home.

Another fun, challenging ride on the world's best playground - the American River Parkway Trail.