Newtown to Morrow

Last Saturday was my second time riding a very long bike ride. My route took me from the very southern tip of the Little Miami Bike trail (Newtown, OH) to Morrow, OH. It was roughly a 53 mile round trip.

I start the ride by getting up early before dawn (5 AM). Purchased a breakfast meal at McDonalds along the way and arrived at the trail before 6 AM. Just at dawn I set out on my long ride. Riding in the morning hours keeps me from the heat and humidity of the day. By the time I get back it's still a couple of hours before noon. Also, there are not allot of cars on the road where the trail intersects, plus it's not congested with other people.

The first time I rode the long route, it took me about 3 hours and 20 minutes riding time and doing 12 to 19 mph. After the ride my body was spent, legs were aching and lungs exhausted. It took me the rest of the day just to recover.

The second time on the trail I faired better. On the way up to Morrow I felt quite sluggish, only doing 15 to 19 mph. I had to make up some time on the way back if I wanted to do better from my last ride. Luckily, there were a couple of cyclists that were going south. Middle age gentlemen, but fit enough to go fast. I drafted behind them as they did an average speed of 21 mph. Surprisingly, riding in a group somehow gives a person a mental boost into going faster. I didn't feel sluggish at all compared to my ride up. It also helps to be drafting behind someone.

We kept up the pace of 21 mph for about 10 miles until Fosters Road. One stopped to rest while the other split to go on the road. I continued my ride south to my truck, doing only about 18 mph. I wished those guys would have gone a bit more further south, but I was glad of the company while it lasted.

Reaching my truck I was about 5 minutes less from my last ride (3 hrs, 15 min). I would have gotten a shorter time had I kept the pace faster on the way up. The good thing was that I didn't feel exhausted. I had enough energy left to cut the lawn for an hour once I got back home.

Weather permitting, I plan on making this a regular regiment on my cycling schedule. Long rides are good for one's body. Maybe not the first one, but the one's after definitely are.

Meeting Cyclists on the Trail

During my time on the trail I've met allot of people that share the same passion of cycling or even more, like me. It's great to chat with someone that has the same interests. The last encounter was a guy on his Foldable Greenspeed Trike. 

Last Wednesday's ride I met Charlie from Indianapolis Indiana. On my way back from Loveland, Charlie caught up with me at Camp Dennison. We were just six miles away from our vehicles. I tailed Charlie for about a mile or so, doing around 20 to 24 mph. Once we passed Milford I asked him if he liked his Trek 1200, which was about 12 years old. I still have my Trek 1000 road bike from the early 90's, the one's with the down tube shifters. He said, "yes" and we struck up a conversation on cycling and the condition of the trail.

Oh, by the way he told me that he bought his Trek from a very wealthy person that was moving to Florida. The price $20! And it had only been ridden a couple of times. Some people have all the luck.

Charlie's job takes him to Cincinnati twice a week and he tries to get on the bike trail around 7:30 PM. He commented that the Little Miami Bike Trail was a very nice one compared to the ones he rides in Indiana. He does some serious milage on his bike, riding from Newtown to Morrow (about a 50 mile round trip and averaging around 20 mph). Charlie looks to be late 40 to 50 years old, but fit as a fiddle. 

He was making me work on my Strada trying to keep up with him. Granted my Strada is fitted for touring and not equipped to keep up with a conditioned guy on a road bike. I often noticed that I had to work a little harder on my Strada than on my lowracer Baron doing the same speed. I guess I'll have to upgrade to some racing wheels in order to get some extra speed on my Strada.

2008 USA Cycling Masters National Championship

Louisville Masters Race '08 from glenn m on Vimeo.

Photos of the event.

Last Thursday, July 3rd, Louisville hosted the 2008 USA Cycling Masters National Championship event. My friend Jack came up all the way from Alabama to race in the event. I decided to meet him there and take a few photos of the event. I brought my son Shawn to watch and meet Jack again. We haven't seen Jack since his wedding a few years ago.

Jack was racing in the tandem event. His partner Randall was his teammate. Randall came with his wife and son Wes, all were very nice people. I met Jack at his hotel and well all drove down together for the race.

The race was held at a park. The terrain was hilly, but all through the day it had rained on and off. At it's worst, the race course was drenched by drizzling rain. The length of the race was expected to be 2 hours long.

Randall's wife video taped the event. I also, took some digital footage with my handheld camera. I also took photos with my high end digital SLR.

The pace of the race was quite fast. They were probably averaging 25 mph, up and down the steep course. Jack and Randall stayed in the back to conserve energy. Jack wore a helmet cam to capture video footage from a racer's point of view.

On the 8th lap, with two laps to go, Jack and Randall turned a sharp corner past the finish line and wiped out. It seemed that a patch on the road became very slick after a constant drenching by the rain. They were the second team to fall at the same spot. I yelled to the organizers that two teams where down and they soon rush to pick them up.

Jack had a bloody arm and leg. His teammate Randall took the brunt of the fall, bloodied arm, hand and leg. The worst part was that one of his finder nail was just hanging by a small section. We drove them to the Emergency Room. Jack had to get his arm stitched up, but Randall had to get his finger nail surgically removed and had to say in the hospital longer while the rest of us went out to eat. 

By this time it was around 9 PM, but we soon found a chili restaurant that Jack loved, since there isn't one down where he lives. We followed a GPS directions that seemed to have taken us all over Louisville, some sections were very shady. At one point the lead vehicle turned into a one way street going the wrong way, but we all survived.

Jack and I updated each other on current events. Shawn played with Jack or rather Jack played with Shawn. We soon said our goodbyes and I drove home with my son Shawn in the back sleeping away.

Saw allot of recumbents on the trail

29June2008 Cyling from glenn m on Vimeo.

Sunday, June 29th, 2008. On our normal weekend ride Jon and his family joined us. We ate at one of the local restaurants again in Loveland. This time I was disappointed in the food. I ordered a caesar salad with chicken, but the chicken was raw in the middle. That totally ruined my appetite. 

On the trail I saw two recumbents on the way up and three, plus a crank forward bike, on the way down. The recumbents were of the long wheelbase configurations. The line of bikes were made by Easy Racers, Burley (who doesn't make recumbents anymore) and RANS. My wife rode her Catrike Speed and I rode my Bacchetta Strada. Hopefully this is a good sign that recubents are becoming more mainstream.

Chasing some cyclists on the trail

Last Wednesday night Jon and I did a normal night time ride. About a mile from Loveland four cyclist passed us by. They seemed to be a local team, because they all had identical blue and white cycling uniforms. Jon mentioned that once they pass by he's going to hook unto them until Loveland. I decided to draft behind once they passed also.

They were doing about 25 mph once we drafted behind them. I noticed that they looked back and were surprise that a guy on a recumbent and a guy with a CamelBak shoulder bag were keeping up with them. The leader soon said something to the rest of the group and started to pedal way faster. 

Well, Jon and I weren't going to have these roadies smoke us by, so we clicked in some higher gears to keep pace. I glanced down on my computer to see how fast we were going and to my surprise we reached 30 mph and still going faster. My maximum speed was 32.7 mph and I believe I could have gone faster. I was just one click away from my highest gear.

About a quarter of a mile the last cyclist in the group started to fade away, while his buddies kept accelerating. We passed him up and kept pace with the group. After half a mile my heart was going anaerobic. Forcing my lungs to take in air, I slowed down to 19 mph.  The rest of the group saw that their fourth group member was nowhere in sight and soon slowed down to 15 mph. I believe the remaining three had enough energy in them to pedal up to Loveland at around 30 mph. I passed the group and met Jon at Loveland half a minute later.

We sat outside a local bar and ordered something to eat before we headed back to our vehicles. Sitting outside we noticed that the guys we passed were all waiting for their fourth member. About five minutes later he finally showed up. I guess that last sprint was a bit too much for him. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he might have ridden longer miles and hills before his group met up with us.

080625 night riding from glenn m on Vimeo.

On our way back, I tested out my Blackburn X6 lights. Jon was impressed by the lumination they gave off. They sure did give off enough light to light up the trail for both of us. The system contained one spot, one flood and a battery pack that mounted on my frame via velcro.

Strada update

I just got my Strada back from the bike shop yesterday with a few upgrades. First, I had them install a pair of Crank Brothers Candy C clipless pedals. Second, the handlebar stem was shortened down an inch and a half.

At home I installed handlebar tape to the stem and handlebar. The tape thickened the handlebar, to where my computer and mirror fits snugly now.

During the test ride, the clipless pedals help with improving pedaling efficiency and the shortened stem kept the handlebar from obstructing my field of view. The bike still felt sluggish to me, even though I saw a extra 3 mph increase due to the clipless pedals. It seems I had to go anaerobic to get around 20 mph. Unlike on my Baron, reaching 20 mph wasn't a chore. Maybe I need to adjust my seat to get the extra leverage in order to gain that extra power?

The one thing I do know, is that I do not like the current seat the bike has now. It just feels too cushiony. I prefer the hard shell seat that is on my Baron.

Wet bike contest

Sunday, (June 22, 2008) Jon, Shawn and I went on another of our weekend bike rides. This day was forecasted to be scattered thunderstorms, but down where I lived it was all partly sunny skies. In the distance I could see dark clouds and rain. We decided that it was worth the chance to ride, since it was west of the area that we were riding.

The Optima Baron was the weapon I chose for the ride, since my Strada was in the shop getting some new parts added to it. Hopefully the clipless pedals and shortened handlebar stem would improve the performance of the bike.

I had forgotten how fast my Baron was. Of course my Strada didn't have clipless pedals yet for me to decide if that what was needed to make it preform faster. The Baron didn't need allot of energy to get it up to 18 to 20 mph. I felt that the energy it took me to get my Strada up around 15 to 17 mph was the same that it took me to get my Baron to around 19 mph.

Riding up north we didn't encounter rain until halfway, but it was only a sprinkle. Arriving at Loveland it looked as if it has gotten a good shower. We ate at one of the local bars outside on the patio, street side.

This is where we assessed how much mud and dirt our bikes and ourselves received. Jon's shoes and legs where soaked, as well as the back of my pants. Shawn faired a little bit better, since there was a screen on the trailer protecting him from the majority of the debris. My shoes were dry since my toes pointed upwards, due to the configurations of my recumbent bike and the moisture that did hit it only impacted the soles.

Once we left Loveland it started to rain heavily. It poured down like cats and dogs, that we had to take shelter under some trees for two minutes until we could ride again. Off in the distance (around Loveland) we could hear thunder. Halfway back down, the trail was bone dry. The back of my pants had air dried off, but I think Jon's shoes were still soaked.

Next weekend my Strada should be ready for a test ride. I'll see if the new upgrades will make a difference in added performance.