Nice Ride

I took a short ride tonight.  I have some stuff to do around the house plus I didn't realize that I would be racing daylight.  For the first time, I mixed up some homemade power gel.  I'm not a super-mega-racer.  I don't even know what GU is.  I just know that if I bike more than an hour, I need to eat, and I've tried Clif Shots and they worked for me.  Fast Guy said that he had a recipe for some homemade stuff.  He wasn't around when I wanted to make it so I looked on the internet, and found something that looked like it might work.  I wanted something liquid.  It's just easier to deal with.  I tried it for the first time tonight and it worked well.  Intsy asked, "How was it," and she said I made a face when I answered.  I really didn't think it tasted that bad.  It's palatable.  The consistency and color are better than a chocolate Clif Shot.

 

I decided to try to stay in one gear tonight.  Partly to see what it would be like to ride a singlespeed and partly because my derailleur needs to be adjusted.  That was a mistake.  I remembered why I don't do that. It wrenches my back.  Part of it was cool, though. It made me go faster some areas.  It wasn't more dangerous.  It was just singletrack where I usually lose speed and don't push hard enough to go faster.

 

On Friday I was fast but today I only had glimpses of the speed.  It was all in the way I handled the bike.  I was off the seat and sometimes my weight was forward or back.  I leaned the bike instead of leaning with the bike.  I'll have to work on that some more!  It was a blast!  I think a handled the bike better than usual on Friday because I was not fatigued.  I actually had some energy.

Sweet Ride

I did get to ride with my sister in law and her man.  I took the Schwinn.  She wasn't too happy about it.  In the past couple of years, she has returned to the world of the bicycle.  It was great to see.  She was worried about being able to bike, but the adage holds true. You never forget.  Her man bought her a Trek hybrid, and it's a nice bike.  Her only complaint is that she doesn't coast as far as his.  I really don't know why.  He has a rigid, steel mtb.  The tires are fatter.  They must have more rolling resistance.  I'm assume the tires are inflated to similar pressures.  Her wheels have a larger diameter than his, so I would guess that there would be less resistance from the bearings.  The wheels would turn slower and the bearings would turn slower.  I would think the resistance from the bearings would be negligible.  I'm just trying to find a reason for less coasting.  Maybe the larger diameter wheels actually have more rolling resistance because there is a larger contact area with the road.  I also think aerodynamics are comparable.  He is probably less aerodynamic due to his height.  Who knows?  For the first time, I just thought that maybe the bearing cones are too tight.  That might be it.  I suppose the design and quality of the freewheel plays a large part in how efficiently the bike coasts.

 

Friday was my first ride with the guys in quite awhile.  All four of us rode at Crystal Ridge after work.  I was thrilled with the ride!  I'm usually number 3 or 4 and sloppy from fatigue and causing myself Frank-ccidents, but I fueled myself before the ride, and I rode strong.  I thought my legs were going to ball up into a knot, but they survived!  Fast Guy added a little altitude to the ride, but I made it!  We did three laps, and I enjoyed it thoroughly!  I had excellent speed on the straightaways.  I did ok on the climbs.  I'd like to climb better, but I know that will be a long process so I am satisfied with my current progress.  My singletrack skills performance was good based on my standards.  Fast Guy complemented me.  He said that I was pretty quiet (no Frank-ccidents).  Tight singletrack gives me fits.  I'm 6'8" and 220 pounds, and taking hairpin turns drives me crazy.  I'm learning where to put my weight to get around the corners faster.  I lean my chest over the inside handlebar and the bike turns a lot quicker.  I also had more energy, and I was able to stand up more often.  I like to stand up, but I usually don't have the energy to recover from it.  I know it's less efficient to stand, but when I lose momentum in the singletrack, I like to stand up to generate some power.  It was a phenomenal ride.  I can't wait to get out to do it some more!  

How? Anyway I Can Get It!

After working a stint of overtime, I am back to the carpool, but the return time was extended by about 45 minutes.  Good thing there is a gym at work.  Tuesday and Wednesday I had a couple short sessions on the trainer.  After a quick shower, I was ready for the ride home.  Saturday I'm going down to Kenosha to ride with my sister in law and her man.  I haven't fixed my wheel yet.  If I don't get it fixed, I'll have to ride the Schwinn.  That is, if it doesn't rain.

Ah, Damn It!

We went on another family ride this weekend with the little ones, and I did something I've never done before.  I swept the bikes off the roof on a low bridge.  It was at low speed and the car and the bike rack took the brunt of it.  The driver feels bad about it, but I was right there, too and I flaked it, too.  In the morning, I decided that it was not a bad thing to happen because neither of us will EVER do that again.  I'm not sure how his bike is.  He told his wife that the handlebars are messed up.  I'd have to take a closer look because something looked bent but I couldn't figure out what.  I got a couple scraps on the top of my handle bars and it split the material on the front of my seat, but it was on the bottom edge.  Not a big deal at all.  The seat was loose and we just tightened it up and it was fine.  It also busted my computer which is fine with me.  It was a $7 Bell from Wal-mart.  It was possibly the cheapest thing on the bike.  It also broke a spoke on the back wheel.  I pulled a spoke off another wheel I had.  I haven't had time to straighten the wheel but I think it's fixable.  I feel bad for their car, though.  It's a Honda Odyssey and it bent the metal above the driver door where the bike rack pulled loose and it dug a furrow about 15 inches long on the back of the roof.  Not a mortal wound, but there was no body damage before so it really hurts. He hit it with some primer today to fight corrosion and the driver door area doesn't look too bad.  I still think we should pull down the roof liner and pound out the long dent.  Just get it back to somewhat normal and hit it with some touch up paint and it will be unnoticeable.