December Ride

I didn't think I would get another ride in before Christmas, but with some sun out and 40 degrees on Monday morning I couldn't resist. Why should I?

So I pumped up the tires on my backup Klein bike in the basement and located some winter gear to wear.

I managed to get in the old Loomis 26-mile route today despite a few patches of ice that I had to walk over along some path portions.

It sure felt good to be back on a bike, even it if was for only 26 miles today. Any time that I can get a ride in on Christmas week that's a little plus for me before the real snow hits.
Season Miles: 2,300

Check back please

Howdy...
Off-season is here....been working with another account due to my new job on the radio.


Setting up a new location for a riding blog in conjunction with my other pages at WHBY radio. Once that is set up I will post the new link here.

It's all about the weather

Season Miles: 2,273

30 miles
Sunny, windy and warm...pushin' 80!

Today was not about heart rates.
Today was not about cadence.
Today was not about speed.
Today was not about gears.


Today was about just enjoying some spectacular weather while taking an easy ride just taking in all the colors and the warmth of the sun.


I've been dying to get out, which has been tough with my schedule.


In case you are not aware, in my non-cycling life a big change was announced yesterday. I'm heading back onto the airwaves with a new job in radio.



My PhilCast podcast show changes into an afternoon-drive radio show on NewsTalk 1150 WHBY as of Tuesday the 11th, where I'll now have to be known as "The Biggest Name in Fox Cities Radio".

Starting a new job is demanding enough, but starting it in a city that's a 100 miles away from where you live makes things even more tricky. 
And eventually we'll be moving there to fully-appreciate everyday life in the city.


Needless to say, cycling may almost be done for this season. Just to complicate the schedule even more there's the PhilCast Tour of Ireland listener trip to take yet later this month.


Yup, cycling will soon fall by the wayside for 2011, which is what makes these final rides in this great weather all the more special.


I hope to get out again on Friday....maybe a little longer...but then again...

My Specialized gets some special attention

Season Miles: 2,243

Loomis, 26 miles
16.1 ave. speed
85 ave. cadence
Sunny and mild, 70 with wind 5-10

Despite being swamped with other duties keeping me away from the bike way too much, I was able to take advantage of the nice sunshine today and get back on my Roubaix, albeit for an all-too-brief 26-mile jaunt. But sometimes you take what your schedule will give you.

It felt great to be on the road again, but I was feeling very rusty and sore after taking in a pier, boat and boat lift from the water over the weekend. Not to mention all the grass cutting, yard work and try sweeping out a full basement that is only four feet high. Yeah, I was sore in odd places today after a weekend of work.

While riding back a guy on a Schwinn pointed at me as he stood stopped at an intersection. As I rode up to him he asked me what kind of bike I was on.

"Does that say Roo-BIX?" he asked. 

I had to laugh to myself as I explained the bike was called the ROO-BAY, like Paris-Roubaix you see.

Nice guy. He fell in love with my new blue and white beauty. He asked me a ton of questions about it and kept telling me how beautiful it looked.

He asked me if I raced, which I'm always flattered to hear because it tells me at least I look like I know what I am doing!

I told him I gave that up a few years ago. He then asked how old I was and when I told him 53 he barked out, "Hell I'm 64...come on!" Good guy.

So there...my Roubaix from Specialized got some special attention today. And in fact he is now thinking of buying Specialized.

I hope to get out there at least once or twice more this week, but things aside from cycling are hectic on my calendar.

Trainer? Whaaa?

Yes, it's true.
In what was perhaps the earliest venture onto the trainer in my cycling career this fall, I set up an old bike in the basement and worked up a sweat in a 30-minute spin.

This weather has been brutal. I have no desire to go out under the ugly sky and get caught in blowing, cold rain. No sir, not me.

Finally today I couldn't take the inactivity any longer. I needed to do something so against my better judgment I set up the trainer.

It didn't seem so bad actually, but that is understandable because it's new and I know it is temporary. Next week the weather is supposed to be much improved, so maybe a ride or two next week.

Meantime, a reminder it's cyclocross time. The WCA starts a series Oct. 1 at the Domes. Check it out.

My friends at Crankdaddy's tell me that Specialized will be there in force.
For more info see the WCA site. wicycling.org

The magic bench

Season Miles: 2,217

Whitnall Crit, 10 laps+Up 'Barn Hill', 37 miles
Sun to partly cloudy, 63 degrees, WINDY, gusting to 25

This morning I was on the road early for me, at about 10:30 and already heading south once again. I didn't know for sure where I was headed but I knew one thing for sure. It was windy.

Because of the wind I decided to turn into Whitnall Park figuring that doing some laps in there would at least give me a break from the wind because I'd basically be going in circles on that course. It worked. I felt pretty good doing ten laps in the park.

For two of those laps I watched two large deer munching on some low-hanging tree branches. And despite my being only feet away from them neither one bothered to move at all, instead just giving me a glance.

But on the second lap with them there a man in a pickup had spied the deer and pulled over across the road to watch. It was funny to see the deer sort of peek out at the guy from behind the tree to check him out. It was as if they were saying, "Move on buddy...nothing to see here. Can't you see we're trying to eat here?"


As I whirled around the course lap after lap I saw a man fast asleep in his car. Each lap I would ride past him his head was bobbing down in a different position as he snoozed away.


Lap after lap I would shift in the exact same spot at the top of a hill where another guy had his sports car parked as he soaked up some sunshine from his lawn chair.


At the end of 10 laps I decided that on the way out of the park I would take a climb up good old "Barn Hill". With the wind still whipping it up I made my way steadily up the climb and rode over to a couple of benches out in front of the Botanical Gardens gift shop.


Although the stop for a little rest and a granola bar was only about five minutes, it was a magical one.


Legs stretched out in front of me, the warmth of the autumn sun burned onto my cheeks. It felt good. The only sounds were of the crickets and the wild grasses blowing in the wind, their fuzzy tails dancing against the bright green and neatly-kept grass in the background.


The reddish-pink roses partnered with the grasses made for a scene  worthy of Monet himself pulling out his paints and brushes right then and there.


Bright white clouds moved swiftly across the blue sky above as I noticed a jet gaining altitude not far away. I wondered where those people were going and almost felt sorry for them. Certainly they could not be going anywhere more perfect than it is right here on the magical bench.


As I loaded my water bottle back into its waiting cage and rolled away I thought about the magical bench stay, magical because for those five minutes or so my world was perfect. No worries. No deadlines. No nothing except the beauty of the day and the location. I could have died right then and there and I guess that would have been OK with me.


On the way back I thought about how lucky I am to be able not only to do this, but to appreciate the special moments in life.


I thought about a man getting a hip replacement today, and how much I myself had to overcome to get to where I am now ten years after my surgery. This husband of a co-worker of my wife's had called me earlier, worried about his operation and looking for some comfort from someone who has been there. I was glad to give it. 


Over the years I have answered mail from readers from New Mexico to Canada asking for my advice about not only total hip replacement, but the ability to ride afterward. I always take the time to share my story with them.


With about six miles left in the ride those bright white clouds that had me in a trance at the magical bench now had ugly black bottoms, making the wind now seem more like the first coughs from Old Man Winter. What started and felt like a summer day suddenly had a chilly bite to it, looking and feeling more like November. I yearned to feel the warmth of my time at the magic bench again. But that's the thing about those magical moments; you can never go back. So enjoy them when they roll around.

The free $4.00 jersey

Season Miles: 2,181

Three Bridges, 36 miles
15.2 ave. speed
80 ave. cadence
Sun to partly sunny, 78, windy at 10-15 out of the South

The wind direction is part of the story of the ride today because it doesn't happen very often that I get tailwind on the way back home. But heading down to the Milwaukee County Sports Complex I was getting a south wind in the face. This tells me I'll have it easier coming back. However what usually happens is that I pick up a bigger gear on the way home and work hard anyway to keep up a faster pace than I was going on the way out.

I rode with a new free $4.00 jersey today too.
What, you ask?
How can it be free and $4.00 at the same time?

Well, my wife came home from work yesterday with a new jersey in her hand. She said a co-worker had purchased it for her non-riding husband on sale from Land's End for only four bucks.
Turns out he didn't want it. She knew my wife had mentioned me and my cycling so the woman gave the jersey to her to give to me.

So bottom line that's how I got a free $4.00 jersey.

The bonus in all this is that it's the perfect color to go with my new Roubaix too!

 
Nothing unusual happened on this ride. While turning around at the sports complex their electronic sign read, "78 at 12:51" and I wondered to myself if this would be the final time this season I would ride with bare arms and legs basking in warm sunshine.

The clock is of course ticking and rather quickly on days like this around these parts.