Pages

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Weekend riding pleasures

At about mile 30 of my scheduled Gravel Metric yesterday, I felt something wet misting on my legs, I thought one of my 32 oz water bottles was leaking. Realizing I drank both bottles empty and was on my way to a bottle refill I looked down at my bike frame and saw "green slime" flying around, I said the "F" word. "FLAT"  tire.  The spray of green slime...
I was a mile away from my turn around point and a small town park with a picnic table and water bubbler so I leaned over my handle bars putting all my weight on the front tire, and drifted to the picnic table and with a spare tube, tire levers, and air pump. I was ready to go in short order.
Well that left me with not another spare tube and DUH!!! no tube patches. So for some reason I felt if I ride  as fast I can and  if I get a flat I won't have to walk as far because I will be closer to home, not much cell phone coverage out here in the woods either. The next 30 miles I kept pushing myself, and made it home.


Today was road riding day. Had fun riding through parks, along the Mississippi River front and camp grounds. It was a great ride except the part where the fat guy, smoking a cigarette showed his displeasure of me by passing me close, slowing down along side of me and honking his horn. :sigh: if I could only be a manly man like you sir. Freak'n moron!!!!




I received my RAGBRAI registration in the mail, I tried to hide it from Creepy Baby, she found it.  I don't want to take her along, however, she has other plans in mind.















Well thanks for visiting, Monday through Friday, here we come.
Dave

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The pleasure of nothingness.

Today's forecast: Rain
Today's situation: Scheduled vacation day
Today's plan: Ride a bicycle
Today's expectation: Lots of miles and anticipate getting WET!!!!











For me, rain  isn't a reason to cancel a ride. I try to avoid thunderstorms, high winds, and hail, but sometimes I get stuck in them. If I know they are coming my way, I try to wait them out. But just rain, makes a peaceful country ride.
Starting out today the air was thick with moisture. That soon turned into a mist, and then light rains, and  then thunderstorms. With the rains came solitude out on the trails. The longer I rode the less everything else became. If was I worried about anything, I had forgotten what it was. I was pulled into my own little world of endorphins as I was viewing the trail in front of me and rotating the pedals. Flying down a dirt trail. I love the simplisticness of that.











Riding was now lost in my daydreams, no cell phone calls, no time restraints, no reason to care what time it was. Feelings like these, is why a lot of bicyclers bicycle. Health gains are only a side benefit of something done for the sheer joy it.


Perhaps it is something like a former major league pitcher, one Tug McGraw said:
“I think the reason I like baseball so much is because when I come into a game in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, none out and a one run lead, it takes my mind off all us screwed-up people.”
 
 
Thanks for visiting, and have fun out there.
Dave

Monday, June 20, 2011

Things I gotta do

COMING OUT OF A TUNNEL


Mr. Bill my bik'n friend from down Linden Texas way, asked in my last post how my shoulders and other body parts were holding up. Awhile back I went through a serious bout of rotator cuff injuries, along with carpel tunnel flair ups, and general all around soreness and stiffness. I think it all started with several  fly off the bikes banging down hard on ice and snow.  So after a run with a chiropractor, a neurologist, who confirmed the  nerve impingement in both wrists and a ortho doctor who confirmed the rotator cuff injuries I was given two heavy doses of shots of cortisone in each shoulder. In a few days that really got everything to flair down. So now I have become a believer in stretching and strength building exercises I try to do at least 5 times a week to help prevent these conditions. It doesn't take long about a half hour each of stretching and strength work. I found with 1000s of hours bicycling and not doing any counter stretching or exercising wasn't going to work on an old carcass my age. Particularly stretching the hams, and shoulders, and building some upper body strength. It's a pain in the butt for me, I can ride and enjoy 1000s hours of pedaling easily but strain at doing any stretching or stregth work. But I am trying to make this part of my routine, I need too. I need to keep pedaling and now some auxiliary body maintenance is needed.

Perhaps a bit about nothing for some here, but if your getting up age like me, Mr. Bill, Trevor, even that young looking DanO, and  Tom the rocket guy up north and a bunch more I didn't mention give this stretching some consideration. Like I said, I'm feeling the best I have in a long time, and looking forward to building a real solid bicycling base.

If your young, old, or in the middle and you stop and visit here please leave a comment if you are doing any counter exercises or stretching to enhance your bicycling I'd like to get an idea on what is working for you, or if you don't need to do anything but ride and lift a pint or two afterwards. Thank you.

Peace.
Dave

Saturday, June 18, 2011

A BOTTLE IN FRONT OF ME IS BETTER THEN A TOTAL FRONTAL LOBOTOMY



.....drank a few beers too many last night, was at "All that Jazz" first one of the year, downtown, outside. So upon awakening this morning, I told all complaining body parts we were going to hit it hard today. Air was warm, heavy and humid. Rode a Metric in the Gravel, thought about a few thousand things, things to do, things I've done, and days gone by, and days ahead.  Rode until I had no more legs left, felt good, feel zapped.
I wrote Nick and Cup-O-Dirt and told him that was #11 for the year. The crew at Cup-O-Dirt have elevated me to a deity status, somehow I blew right past sainthood, and into deity, good grief!!!

Last year I had 32 Gravel Metrics in at this time. I'm glad I am not doing such this year. Gives me more freedom, like tomorrow to ride hilly pavement on my road bike. The feeling of freedom I think is a big part of why many of us are always bicycling as much as we can. We really can't fly on our own power, so flying on two wheels is a close 2nd to those feelings.

Stopped and took a picture of all this beef cooling down in the creek.

 Oh, and Happy Papa's day tomrrow to all the Papas out there. Raising kids has taught me everything I know about life. Raising kids as a single parent showed me more about myself, good and bad, then any other experience could have. Thank you Melissa, Joshua, and Caleb for being who you are.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Riding away....



Stayed up later then I should have last night, not doing anything but Blog surfing, and channel surfing and wasting time. I knew I could sleep in late this morning, because I was taking the day off work, and would have plenty of time to ride a gravel Metric. However, shortly after 5 a.m. this morning I am tossing and turning in bed, knowing, I am free to bicycle today. I roll out of bed, stand there for a minute and say no, this is nutz, I need sleep, I am always running short of Zs. I crawl back in bed, lay awake for 30 minutes, and decide if I can't sleep, I might as well get on a bike.

I see it is going to be 80 degrees and I try to pack enough fluids for 62 miles of gravel. I don't like spending $3.00 on vending machine fluids, but yet I don't bat an eye and paying $300.00 to switch my HardTail over to Shimano STI shifters because I like the feel of them, and that didn't include the cost of handle bars, cables, and mechanical brakes, even though my thumb shifters were in perfect condition. Such is the mind set of a cyclist.

The first 20 miles were rip roaring, I didn't know where all the energy came from but I liked it. Then I think there must have been a hole in my gas tank because all that initial energy seemed to have leaked out and it started to become a grind just to maintain a decent pace. Such would be the rest of the ride. I stopped at mile 40 to eat my half of a PBJ sandwich. I was almost falling asleep sitting here, and thought about finding a place to take a power nap but the bugs were out in the billions, and stopping left me swatting em away the whole time.
Finished my ride, came home and fell asleep on the couch. 

Started thinking, I want to plan a night gravel century, would be fun, and spooky, maybe pack some blackberry brandy along in my flask to make it sporting. :-)

Saw this bad boy on the way back home. Wasn't paying attention and all most ran over him. I served as fast as I could. Don't want to hurt him. He was huge. 

So, one more day of work tomorrow, then the weekend. Looking forward to a day of exploring Saturday, seems it just never gets old, and every ride is always thoroughly enjoyed.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Riding Bikes

Today makes day 4 of riding since coming back from a 11 day hiatus after catching a plague or something. Legs feels whooped but good. Pushed the pace for a lot of that riding. I've been working on something I read in Mr. Bill's blog, he mentioned about following through on a hill. My pavement route is all hills. I now try to carry all the way through and over the crest without breaking pace. It takes dicipline because the quads are lactating out, and begging to catch up on O2 at that point.

Been busy, lifting weights, working on son's car, visiting my papa, yard work, my real job, taking time to stretch seriously now and it's helping, and more stuff. I like busy, is how I thrive the best.
Met another bike rider about my age tonight. I saw him up ahead and began the 'push' We went from 16 mph to 18, to 20, to 22. The wind was against us and I was trying to stay as aerodynamically tucked the best I could. Finally I caught up and we rode onto my neighborhood, introduced and parted. I looked him up on FaceBook and saw we had 7 mutual biker friends. So I sent him a friend request.
Will make myself stay off the bike tomorrow, and take off work Thursday, for a all day gravel ride. YAHOOO!!!! 

Here's a shout out to Tom. Tom took one helluva whoop when a young rider turned in front of him over a week ago. Tom is tough, is hurting like all get out ,and is very slowly getting back on the bike. I admire in Tom's post of the wreck he never said one negative comment about the rider turning in front of  lane. He helped the young'n out got his bike back in order, and went home to the pain cave.

THE TABLE OF STRANGE THINGS ON THE ROAD TO NO WHERE

Rode up to papa's and found him out back watering all of mom's stuff, mama would like that. That big maple on the left my brother planted a long time ago.

Gotta git, get to bed, and start er all over again tomorrow. Thanks for stopping.
Dave

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Has anybody seen Dave?!?!?!?

Oh there he is, down in the dumps, see him there?



After my near heat exhaustion ride last Memorial day, something hit me, started with a nasty sore throat, went into my lungs, sinus, and eyes. I had no wind, went to the docs three times, loaded up on eye drops, antibiotics, and cough meds.
Couldn't ride, lungs were not cooperating, and coughing fits would start. Lifting weights and lotz of stretching kept my mind from crazy with all the bike down time.
Felt good when I woke up this morning, legs felt good.
 So checked out the legs today. Had 25 miles of gravel riding in, and decided to see if I could make it a century. Did. Legs were begging me to stop the last 15 miles, probably bit off more then I should, but that's how it goes.

Don't think I can get the time tomorrow to ride a full Metric C, working on Josh's car, spending some time with pops, and some errands. I try to make some time, cause I'm back in the saddle again.    :-)