Bikes and Pace
Saturday was an annoying bike day, as I was planning on hitting some trails. Instead I had to replace yet another chain and cassette. Oh, and I wore out another middle ring, in this case on a Deore crank on the Rawland. Blah. The shop sourced one for me pretty easily, so I'll be back in the middle ring by Wednesday afternoon. Tail between legs. Defeat. Returning home I then did some front tube maintenance on the Jones to get it rolling again, but by that time it was mid-afternoon and I had started on the cheap beer. Later I added a few commuter miles to meet a friend at Great Flood, but ended the day with my beer quotient being much more influential that my mileage one.
Sunday Timothy and I were planning to do a long Corydon ride but I bailed due to having some family requirements. I received an invitation late for an early Sunday ride, one where I could get back home at a reasonable time. The original ride was 2 people (including me), then three, one guy 'B' I had never ridden with and the other WrenchJimmy with whom I've had several foolish adventures. All Jimmy's fault, of course.
Pretty much right after meeting at 7.30 the plan then changed to meet up with the "Sunday service" ride, a spirited road ride with some local guys who race 'cross, gravel, and generally are way stronger than I. Yikes. We eventually found each other in the Beechmont area at S.Pkwy and headed out to JMF. I tucked in and rode some wheels and even took a few strokes up some of the puncher hills in Iroquois and Manslick. I was feeling good. I was a little disheartened when they turned towards Jefferson Hill as I knew it was "off the back time", but a mile or two after the climb there they were, waiting to dish out some more misery. It was very strange to ride where the pace vacillates between 15 and 23mph instead of my usual laggard 13.5. Another more reasonable climb up Martin eventually led to a 20mph+ swoosh along Mt.Elmira and down Holsclaw. Jimmy was feeling some pain for various reasons so when the group went left we went straight to save a few miles, but I ended up right at 50 miles with a nice, spirit 16.5mph pace. I stopped at Breadworks only to be informed that "Sunday brunch" had started with a bucket of suds at Shenanigans, which is B and ShopDrew's M.O. And so I packed up my coffee and bagel and did the post-ride as well. I really, really enjoyed myself, to ride a hard pace and feel like a cyclist and not just a fat guy. I held my own on the flats and short, puncher climbs and have to give my appreciation for waiting on the bike stuff. Racers get alot of grief for their bike attitudes, but this crew proved to be a cool. And sorry to Timothy for the bail.
Rawland in commuter form. I rode it all 5 days last week. Friday's commute was among the slowest ever. And that's alright.
Well-used Deore crank with very unhappy middle ring.
$6 pint last week at a local restaurant. $5.99 six-pack of PBR at local gas station.
Sunday Timothy and I were planning to do a long Corydon ride but I bailed due to having some family requirements. I received an invitation late for an early Sunday ride, one where I could get back home at a reasonable time. The original ride was 2 people (including me), then three, one guy 'B' I had never ridden with and the other WrenchJimmy with whom I've had several foolish adventures. All Jimmy's fault, of course.
Pretty much right after meeting at 7.30 the plan then changed to meet up with the "Sunday service" ride, a spirited road ride with some local guys who race 'cross, gravel, and generally are way stronger than I. Yikes. We eventually found each other in the Beechmont area at S.Pkwy and headed out to JMF. I tucked in and rode some wheels and even took a few strokes up some of the puncher hills in Iroquois and Manslick. I was feeling good. I was a little disheartened when they turned towards Jefferson Hill as I knew it was "off the back time", but a mile or two after the climb there they were, waiting to dish out some more misery. It was very strange to ride where the pace vacillates between 15 and 23mph instead of my usual laggard 13.5. Another more reasonable climb up Martin eventually led to a 20mph+ swoosh along Mt.Elmira and down Holsclaw. Jimmy was feeling some pain for various reasons so when the group went left we went straight to save a few miles, but I ended up right at 50 miles with a nice, spirit 16.5mph pace. I stopped at Breadworks only to be informed that "Sunday brunch" had started with a bucket of suds at Shenanigans, which is B and ShopDrew's M.O. And so I packed up my coffee and bagel and did the post-ride as well. I really, really enjoyed myself, to ride a hard pace and feel like a cyclist and not just a fat guy. I held my own on the flats and short, puncher climbs and have to give my appreciation for waiting on the bike stuff. Racers get alot of grief for their bike attitudes, but this crew proved to be a cool. And sorry to Timothy for the bail.
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