This is coasting down the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway between Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. Top speed was only about 22 mph, since I couldn't shift because I was holding the camcorder.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Bike Trip Update - Day 4 - Kingsville to Port Aransas, TX
Stiff headwinds, tar and gravel pavement, flat featureless landscape. It's Texas!
It was another grueling day today, with a bad headwind most of the day, and very rough pavement. It wasn't as bad as yesterday, since about half the route was across the wind. We did 71 miles, and got in right at sunset.
We started the day with breakfast at a Mexican place in Bishop. There's not much in Bishop, except a big factory that looked like a refinery. Except the railroad cars out front were half tankers and half covered hoppers. Maybe it was making ethanol?
The Mexican place had a long table full of bikers (Harley style). Bikers means good food.
This is what the scenery looked like most of the day.
You might ask "What could possibly improve on such a scene of unchanging beauty?". I would answer "A stiff headwind and pavement consisting of gravel the size of marbles."
We skirted the south edge of Corpus Christi, where the pavement improved somewhat. We ate lunch at a strip mall diner with an adjoining butcher shop that also sold seafood. It was not Mexican food!!! I was so overwhelmed that there was a restaurant that was not Mexican that I forgot to take a picture. I had a tasty fried seafood platter with corn and okra on the side.
The last part of the ride was up the barrier island to Port Aransas. Here's the scene approaching the bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway.
And here is looking back. That is the biggest hill of the trip so far, by a long shot.
I shot some video going down the hill, which I will post when I have a good enough Internet connection to get it on YouTube.
The first half of Mustang Island is a park, and the last half is creeping condo development and RV parks until you get to the town of Port Aransas. The pavement is very rough, but we had a tailwind. Here is your basic condo.
Here is looking the other way from the condo, which is still undeveloped.
We got to Port Aransas and checked in to the Travelodge ($70) right at sunset.
Here's the scene from the campsite.
We went out for dinner at this high-class seafood and barbeque establishment. It's called the Island Grill or some such. Jim liked it, I thought they needed a real non-smoking area.
After dinner, we went next door to a bar. It had very high quality crapola, but it was a very smoky geezer fest. I was 15 years younger than anyone else in the bar. There were old folks playing cards, old folks playing shuffleboard...
... and old folks watching other old folks play music, typically romantical Derek and the Dominos songs. The guitar player with the long long beard had the hairiest ears I've ever seen on a human being. They were furry, I swear.
One interesting observation today. We were mostly riding through agricultural fields, which were fallow this time of year. There was very little wildlife. Very few birds. The contrast with the King Ranch yesterday was dramatic. The King Ranch is in a natural state, and there are birds everywhere and a hawk on every other phone pole.
Here's the map for today. The wind was 10 mph, from the ESE.
Here's the MotionBased link.
It was another grueling day today, with a bad headwind most of the day, and very rough pavement. It wasn't as bad as yesterday, since about half the route was across the wind. We did 71 miles, and got in right at sunset.
We started the day with breakfast at a Mexican place in Bishop. There's not much in Bishop, except a big factory that looked like a refinery. Except the railroad cars out front were half tankers and half covered hoppers. Maybe it was making ethanol?
The Mexican place had a long table full of bikers (Harley style). Bikers means good food.
This is what the scenery looked like most of the day.
You might ask "What could possibly improve on such a scene of unchanging beauty?". I would answer "A stiff headwind and pavement consisting of gravel the size of marbles."
We skirted the south edge of Corpus Christi, where the pavement improved somewhat. We ate lunch at a strip mall diner with an adjoining butcher shop that also sold seafood. It was not Mexican food!!! I was so overwhelmed that there was a restaurant that was not Mexican that I forgot to take a picture. I had a tasty fried seafood platter with corn and okra on the side.
The last part of the ride was up the barrier island to Port Aransas. Here's the scene approaching the bridge over the Intercoastal Waterway.
And here is looking back. That is the biggest hill of the trip so far, by a long shot.
I shot some video going down the hill, which I will post when I have a good enough Internet connection to get it on YouTube.
The first half of Mustang Island is a park, and the last half is creeping condo development and RV parks until you get to the town of Port Aransas. The pavement is very rough, but we had a tailwind. Here is your basic condo.
Here is looking the other way from the condo, which is still undeveloped.
We got to Port Aransas and checked in to the Travelodge ($70) right at sunset.
Here's the scene from the campsite.
We went out for dinner at this high-class seafood and barbeque establishment. It's called the Island Grill or some such. Jim liked it, I thought they needed a real non-smoking area.
After dinner, we went next door to a bar. It had very high quality crapola, but it was a very smoky geezer fest. I was 15 years younger than anyone else in the bar. There were old folks playing cards, old folks playing shuffleboard...
... and old folks watching other old folks play music, typically romantical Derek and the Dominos songs. The guitar player with the long long beard had the hairiest ears I've ever seen on a human being. They were furry, I swear.
One interesting observation today. We were mostly riding through agricultural fields, which were fallow this time of year. There was very little wildlife. Very few birds. The contrast with the King Ranch yesterday was dramatic. The King Ranch is in a natural state, and there are birds everywhere and a hawk on every other phone pole.
Here's the map for today. The wind was 10 mph, from the ESE.
Here's the MotionBased link.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Bike Trip Update - Day 3 - Raymondville to Kingsville, TX
This was one tough, tough day of bike touring. We went 74 miles, straight north, into a howling headwind. It was so bad at times I was only making 8.5 mph, and Jim was making 6. (He has a lot more wind resistance on his upright bike.) We didn't get in until well after dark as a result, and we spent nearly 8 hours pedaling.
We rode all day on US 77, which you can see on the right side of this picture from last night's Best Western.
We got some Mexican food for breakfast in Raymondville before setting out.
The highway parallels the railroad line to Brownsville. This is one of two identical strange structures along the tracks in Raymondville.
This route goes through the King Ranch. The Wikipedia page says it's larger than Rhode Island, and covers most of Kenedy County, which is what we rode through. There is nothing in Kenedy County.
The road is a divided highway, with a good smooth shoulder. It's as nice a divided highway as you could want. Except there are no trees to break the howling headwind.
Here's the start of Kenedy county. It looks just like this for the next 60 miles. There is a rest area (the nicest rest area in Kenedy county) in 42 miles.
As we headed out, a whole bunch of police and fire trucks flew by at high speeds. You might wonder what could possibly be going on in the vast expanse of undeveloped ranch land which is Kenedy county. A couple miles later we learned - a train wreck!
Derailed hopper cars shredded up like tin cans. Mountains of grain spilling out from the wreckage. I only got a couple pictures before the police shooed me away. I think this is some kind of Texas metaphor.
It seems I was outsmarted by the camcorder, and I lost the rest of the pictures I took, and I had some really cool ones. We stopped for lunch in Armstrong, TX. Armstrong has a house, a trailer, a boarded-up house, and a post office! We ate lunch in front of the post office, which consisted of snacks we brought ourselves. The post office is an unpainted plywood shack about 8 feet square. It has an ancient, rusted mailbox in front. The sign says open 8-10 am, Monday through Saturday. I lost the pictures of the post office.
I can't believe somebody drives out to the middle of nowhere Armstrong Texas to sit in that little shack for two hours every day.
I can't believe the postal service pays for this.
Kenedy County is mostly undeveloped. Some of it has horses and cattle grazing, and a little is planted, but most of it is in it's natural state. There is lots of wildlife. We saw a roadkill ocelot, which I photographed. How often do you see a roadkill ocelot? I lost the photo though.
There were also lots of cool birds and lots and lots of hawks. Here are some of the unusual Texas birds I've seen so far this trip:
Green Jay
Vermillion Flycatcher
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Greater Roadrunner (It was running across the road...)
Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Caracara
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (dark morph)
We got in to Kingsville at 7:30, and checked into the Super 8 with free wi-fi. The guy at the desk wanted $74 dollars, but I demanded a discount because they had framed portraits of President Bush, Laura Bush, and Vice-President Cheney in the lobby. He knocked of $10.
After we got cleaned up, we went and got some Mexican food for dinner.
Here's the route for today. Armstrong is too small to be on the map. It's about 20 miles south of Sarita.
Here's the MotionBased page.
We rode all day on US 77, which you can see on the right side of this picture from last night's Best Western.
We got some Mexican food for breakfast in Raymondville before setting out.
The highway parallels the railroad line to Brownsville. This is one of two identical strange structures along the tracks in Raymondville.
This route goes through the King Ranch. The Wikipedia page says it's larger than Rhode Island, and covers most of Kenedy County, which is what we rode through. There is nothing in Kenedy County.
The road is a divided highway, with a good smooth shoulder. It's as nice a divided highway as you could want. Except there are no trees to break the howling headwind.
Here's the start of Kenedy county. It looks just like this for the next 60 miles. There is a rest area (the nicest rest area in Kenedy county) in 42 miles.
As we headed out, a whole bunch of police and fire trucks flew by at high speeds. You might wonder what could possibly be going on in the vast expanse of undeveloped ranch land which is Kenedy county. A couple miles later we learned - a train wreck!
Derailed hopper cars shredded up like tin cans. Mountains of grain spilling out from the wreckage. I only got a couple pictures before the police shooed me away. I think this is some kind of Texas metaphor.
It seems I was outsmarted by the camcorder, and I lost the rest of the pictures I took, and I had some really cool ones. We stopped for lunch in Armstrong, TX. Armstrong has a house, a trailer, a boarded-up house, and a post office! We ate lunch in front of the post office, which consisted of snacks we brought ourselves. The post office is an unpainted plywood shack about 8 feet square. It has an ancient, rusted mailbox in front. The sign says open 8-10 am, Monday through Saturday. I lost the pictures of the post office.
I can't believe somebody drives out to the middle of nowhere Armstrong Texas to sit in that little shack for two hours every day.
I can't believe the postal service pays for this.
Kenedy County is mostly undeveloped. Some of it has horses and cattle grazing, and a little is planted, but most of it is in it's natural state. There is lots of wildlife. We saw a roadkill ocelot, which I photographed. How often do you see a roadkill ocelot? I lost the photo though.
There were also lots of cool birds and lots and lots of hawks. Here are some of the unusual Texas birds I've seen so far this trip:
Green Jay
Vermillion Flycatcher
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Greater Roadrunner (It was running across the road...)
Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Caracara
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (dark morph)
We got in to Kingsville at 7:30, and checked into the Super 8 with free wi-fi. The guy at the desk wanted $74 dollars, but I demanded a discount because they had framed portraits of President Bush, Laura Bush, and Vice-President Cheney in the lobby. He knocked of $10.
After we got cleaned up, we went and got some Mexican food for dinner.
Here's the route for today. Armstrong is too small to be on the map. It's about 20 miles south of Sarita.
Here's the MotionBased page.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Bike Trip Update - Day 2 - Port Isabel to Raymondville, TX
We only had 60 miles to do today, so we slept in a little to let it warm up. It got down to 30 last night, but it was nearly 50 when we hit the road.
For some reason there are a bunch of airboats parked behind our motel. Go figure.
The girl at the desk when we checked out recommended Isabel's Cafe for breakfast.
We both had huevos rancheros, which were firey and excellent. We got on the road around 11:00.
The morning was a ride through undeveloped land along the bay, with scattered housing developments. We went north as far as we could go, and then turned west on "General Grant Boulevard". They don't like General Grant here in Texas. The road they named for his is only intermittently paved.
Eventually you get to Rio Hondo, where we stopped for lunch. We had Mexican food. This is because all the food is Mexican food here. I don't understand how Mexicans don't get sick of it after awhile.
It was really tasty, though.
From Rio Hondo to Raymondville is almost all agricultural. Most of the fields are fallow, but there was one that had sugar cane.
Raymondville is the first town after the 58 mile stretch of no services through Kenedy County. It's in a dry county. I gather most people decide to drive on a little more before stopping for the night as a result.
The Googlymap shows several motels in Raymondville. We went in search of the one in the middle of town, figuring we would be more likely to get dinner that wasn't fast food, instead of if we stayed off the highway exit. We couldn't find it. We asked a couple Mexican guys selling onions out the back of a pickup truck in a parking lot where the motels were, and they said it was closed. They said the only option was the Best Western next to the exit ramp.
Here's the Best Western room:
No we can't have bikes in our room. They made us put them in the laundry room. $77. Free wireless Internet. Iron. Guest laundry. Who needs this stuff? (other than the Internet.)
After we got cleaned up, we went out for Mexican food.
Here's the map for today. It's utterly flat. There was a light wind from the southeast, and it was sunny with temperatures in the mid-50s.
Here's the MotionBased link, which will get you to a Googlymap with
For some reason there are a bunch of airboats parked behind our motel. Go figure.
The girl at the desk when we checked out recommended Isabel's Cafe for breakfast.
We both had huevos rancheros, which were firey and excellent. We got on the road around 11:00.
The morning was a ride through undeveloped land along the bay, with scattered housing developments. We went north as far as we could go, and then turned west on "General Grant Boulevard". They don't like General Grant here in Texas. The road they named for his is only intermittently paved.
Eventually you get to Rio Hondo, where we stopped for lunch. We had Mexican food. This is because all the food is Mexican food here. I don't understand how Mexicans don't get sick of it after awhile.
It was really tasty, though.
From Rio Hondo to Raymondville is almost all agricultural. Most of the fields are fallow, but there was one that had sugar cane.
Raymondville is the first town after the 58 mile stretch of no services through Kenedy County. It's in a dry county. I gather most people decide to drive on a little more before stopping for the night as a result.
The Googlymap shows several motels in Raymondville. We went in search of the one in the middle of town, figuring we would be more likely to get dinner that wasn't fast food, instead of if we stayed off the highway exit. We couldn't find it. We asked a couple Mexican guys selling onions out the back of a pickup truck in a parking lot where the motels were, and they said it was closed. They said the only option was the Best Western next to the exit ramp.
Here's the Best Western room:
No we can't have bikes in our room. They made us put them in the laundry room. $77. Free wireless Internet. Iron. Guest laundry. Who needs this stuff? (other than the Internet.)
After we got cleaned up, we went out for Mexican food.
Here's the map for today. It's utterly flat. There was a light wind from the southeast, and it was sunny with temperatures in the mid-50s.
Here's the MotionBased link, which will get you to a Googlymap with
Bike Trip Update - Day 1 - Harlingen to Port Isabel, TX
The Winter 2007 Bike Tour is underway!
Here is the plan.
We flew into Harlingen, TX, and we're going to ride to Austin, with visits to S. Padre Island, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and the fourth least populous county in the United States! (That would be Kenedy County.)
I'm riding this with my friend Jim, who's never been to Texas. I drove through here about 10 years ago to look at birds.
To fly to Harlingen, you have to stop in Houston to change flights. Look what they have in the airport to entice travellers about how wonderful Houston is.
I bet this has inspired a number of displaced Katrina victims to go to Houston.
Harlingen has a very small airport. They don't mind a bit if you put your bikes together in the baggage claim.
It took me a very long time to assemble the trike. Three hours. We weren't on the road until 4:30, and we had over 40 miles to go to get to S. Padre Island. This means riding at night.
Here's a picture of the fully loaded and equipped trike on the road.
You can see these pictures the interesting terrain down here. It's dead flat, and sort of tropical desert. It looks very windblown, like its been hit by lots of hurricanes.
This picture shows Port Harlingen in the background, as Jim tries to figure out why his front wheel isn't round.
The security lady at the airport was chatting with us as we put the bikes together. She gave us a great route on obscure back roads. We messed up a bit trying to get on this route, but once we found it, it was terrific. We learned what south Texas is really like. First, people live in small farms surrounded by fences. They have lots of goats. They have horses, which are typically tied to the outside of the fence between the fence and the road. They have lots of dogs, which like to run out through the open gates in the fence to chase bikes. We were chased by 17 dogs.
I didn't take any pictures of this because it was getting dark, and we wanted to get lots of miles in before we had to ride at night.
It got completely dark with about 15 miles to go, where we were riding along the bay that separates South Padre Island from the mainland. It was in the 40s and windy. The sky was clear, with no moon, and there were wide shoulders and no traffic. It was pretty peaceful riding.
We eventually got to Port Isabel and the main highway that goes over the causeway to Padre. I headed up the causeway, amused at the warning sign for Pelicans that has flashing lights when they are present. This caused me to miss the "No Bicycles" sign. The shoulder went away when the bridge started, and I thought to myself "this is going to really suck..." Then I heard Jim hollering about the no bikes sign. I walked the trike backwards down the shoulder, to see this sign, and to see if maybe there was another sign about how to get to the bike path to the island. Then the nice police officer showed up with his lights on.
The policeman wasn't concerned about our abortive attempt to cross the bridge. He said there was no way to get to the island on a bike, except for the bus which has bike racks (lot of good that does me on a trike) and the bus had stopped running for the day. Bummer. Our excursion to South Padre Island was a bust.
The police did clue us in to a total score of a motel.
$55 for a two-room suite with kitchen. They cater to sport fisherman. Here's our campsite. Jim's in his whole other room.
After we got cleaned up, we walked down the road for dinner and electrolyte replenishment therapy (margaritas) at Chili's.
The water felt sorry for me because I have a cold, and gave me a shot of Theraflu. I feel much better.
Here's the MotionBased link, which has links to Google Earth and Google Maps with the track from the day's ride.
Here is the plan.
We flew into Harlingen, TX, and we're going to ride to Austin, with visits to S. Padre Island, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and the fourth least populous county in the United States! (That would be Kenedy County.)
I'm riding this with my friend Jim, who's never been to Texas. I drove through here about 10 years ago to look at birds.
To fly to Harlingen, you have to stop in Houston to change flights. Look what they have in the airport to entice travellers about how wonderful Houston is.
I bet this has inspired a number of displaced Katrina victims to go to Houston.
Harlingen has a very small airport. They don't mind a bit if you put your bikes together in the baggage claim.
It took me a very long time to assemble the trike. Three hours. We weren't on the road until 4:30, and we had over 40 miles to go to get to S. Padre Island. This means riding at night.
Here's a picture of the fully loaded and equipped trike on the road.
You can see these pictures the interesting terrain down here. It's dead flat, and sort of tropical desert. It looks very windblown, like its been hit by lots of hurricanes.
This picture shows Port Harlingen in the background, as Jim tries to figure out why his front wheel isn't round.
The security lady at the airport was chatting with us as we put the bikes together. She gave us a great route on obscure back roads. We messed up a bit trying to get on this route, but once we found it, it was terrific. We learned what south Texas is really like. First, people live in small farms surrounded by fences. They have lots of goats. They have horses, which are typically tied to the outside of the fence between the fence and the road. They have lots of dogs, which like to run out through the open gates in the fence to chase bikes. We were chased by 17 dogs.
I didn't take any pictures of this because it was getting dark, and we wanted to get lots of miles in before we had to ride at night.
It got completely dark with about 15 miles to go, where we were riding along the bay that separates South Padre Island from the mainland. It was in the 40s and windy. The sky was clear, with no moon, and there were wide shoulders and no traffic. It was pretty peaceful riding.
We eventually got to Port Isabel and the main highway that goes over the causeway to Padre. I headed up the causeway, amused at the warning sign for Pelicans that has flashing lights when they are present. This caused me to miss the "No Bicycles" sign. The shoulder went away when the bridge started, and I thought to myself "this is going to really suck..." Then I heard Jim hollering about the no bikes sign. I walked the trike backwards down the shoulder, to see this sign, and to see if maybe there was another sign about how to get to the bike path to the island. Then the nice police officer showed up with his lights on.
The policeman wasn't concerned about our abortive attempt to cross the bridge. He said there was no way to get to the island on a bike, except for the bus which has bike racks (lot of good that does me on a trike) and the bus had stopped running for the day. Bummer. Our excursion to South Padre Island was a bust.
The police did clue us in to a total score of a motel.
$55 for a two-room suite with kitchen. They cater to sport fisherman. Here's our campsite. Jim's in his whole other room.
After we got cleaned up, we walked down the road for dinner and electrolyte replenishment therapy (margaritas) at Chili's.
The water felt sorry for me because I have a cold, and gave me a shot of Theraflu. I feel much better.
Here's the MotionBased link, which has links to Google Earth and Google Maps with the track from the day's ride.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Max and I discuss football
Max and I had some nice male bonding while watching the Ravens-Colts playoff game. In this clip, we share our feelings about Peyton Manning.
The Cutie Pie Guy gets an Amazing Contraption
Debra got Max an amazing contraption. His cousin Elle has one, and Elle loves hers. Max is utterly fascinated by this. It commands his complete attention.
After only three sessions he figured out how turn the seat around and to have it make many of the noises it can make.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Bike Ride Report - DC Randonneurs Annual Meeting in Glen Echo
Yesterday I decided to go to the annual meeting of the DC Randonneurs, of which I am a member. The meeting was at the Glen Echo Town Hall. Doors open at 2, with a potluck dinner, and the actual meeting at 6.
I decided to ride my bike.
First I had to figure out how to get there. I know many good ways to get to College Park, but from there to Glen Echo was a mystery. I could go all the way down to the Mall, and then up the Capital Crescent Trail, but that seemed out of the way.
So I e-mailed the dcrand list. I got two good responses, one from Crista, and one from Bob Sheldon. Crista's looked scenic and traffic-free, but Bob's was direct, and he said he rides it often, so I decided to be efficient and try Bob's.
The route looked to be just under 40 miles one-way, and I could stop for lunch at the Hard Times Cafe on Cherry Hill Road and have some tasty Cincinnati 5-way for lunch. (Yes, Amy, I have found out where to get Cincinnati chili in Maryland.)
I decided to set out around 11, get to the meeting around 3 and head home around 4, which would hopefully get me home at 8, and the riding at night in the dark would all be on familiar roads.
Since we're only talking 80 miles, I decided to ride the trike. I also like the trike when it is below freezing and when it is dark out, because you can't fall over.
You will note the shed is a bit of a disaster area. That's because a couple days ago it was really cold out and I was in a big hurry putting the bike away so I could get in the nice warm house and I accidentally shut Monkey in the shed and didn't notice.
I didn't realize it until the next morning, when he started barking when he heard me getting into my car. It got down to 20 degrees that night. This is very bad because Monkey has no real fur because he's a whippet, and he hates being separated away alone by himself.
He destroyed many, many things in the shed.
Anyway, it was about 30 degrees out when I left, with a strong 15-20 mph wind from the WNW. Not to worry. I had my tasty chili, and got to Glen Echo just after 3.
Here is the rockin' randonneurs' party:
The route from Bob turned out to be very nice. I did have many cars backed up behind the trike on Bradley Boulevard, but this was in Chevy Chase, and folks there are very genteel and polite. Not a problem. I did have to do a couple miles of Piney Branch Rd. in north Takoma Park, to which was not so nice, but all in all the route was fine. Coming back, I was on Metzerott Rd. by nightfall, and from there I know the roads well and am comfortable in the dark.
One of my goals in this ride was to test some new cold weather riding clothes I got in a recent binge at Patagonia. I never look at catalogs unless they are bike parts or Patagonia. I read the Patagonia catalog and think how nice and warm I would be riding in those fancy clothes even though I would be working hard they would be very breathable and I would not be shivering freezing cold when I stopped.
The Patagonia stuff did in fact kick butt.
Here is what I wore for a long, strenuous bike ride with two lengthy stops for food and socializing:
DeFeet Wool bike socks
UnderArmor Cold Gear bottoms
Performance fleece pants
Patagonia Wool 4 shirt
Patagonia lightweight R4 fleece jacket
sweat-wicky wool bike skullcap
fleece gloves
When I stopped for lunch, I took off the R4 jacket and put on a down sweater. The sweater weighs nothing and compresses down to nothing, and is very toasty.
When I stopped at Glen Echo, I took off the R4 jacket and the Wool 4 shirt, and put on a light
Capillene base layer and the down sweater.
For the ride home, I kept on the capillene shirt, put the wool shirt over it, and the R4 jacket, and put the down sweater back in the trunk rack. At this point the wool shirt and the R4 jacket were very sweaty and damp, but still warm.
It was a very hard ride home. The temperature dropped below freezing. I was in good shape except for my feet. I couldn't feel the front halves of them, from the balls of my feet forward. They were back to normal in an hour or so.
This turned out to be a much harder ride than I expected, especially on the heavy, slow trike. It turns out I went 76 miles and 5400 feet of climb. That was more climbing than I had anticipated. I spent 7:15 pedaling, for an average speed of just over 10 mph.
I'm not planning on doing any brevets on the trike. I suspect part of the slowness of the trike is the Rohloff hub. The Rohloff is a 14 speed internal hub, and the gears are in an oil bath. I suspect the oil is more viscous in the cold which adds mechanical drag. It also shifts poorly in the cold. I'm going to have to call Rohloff USA and see if they have any winter oil.
Also I felt like I got hit by a truck today. I did a DC Rand training ride of 105 miles and 7400 feet of climb (on the Cobrabike) last week, and did not feel as bad afterwards as I did today. Two weeks ago I did a 130 mile brevet with 8000 feet of climb (also on the Cobrabike) and did not feel as bad as today.
The training software that comes with my GPS tells the story:
Ride Calories
Brevet 7946
Training ride 8871
Glen Echo 10169
There it is. The ride to Glen Echo on the trike was in fact harder.
Here's a map of the route.
The MotionBased page for the ride has the track on a Googlymap, and all the horrible elevation charts.
I decided to ride my bike.
First I had to figure out how to get there. I know many good ways to get to College Park, but from there to Glen Echo was a mystery. I could go all the way down to the Mall, and then up the Capital Crescent Trail, but that seemed out of the way.
So I e-mailed the dcrand list. I got two good responses, one from Crista, and one from Bob Sheldon. Crista's looked scenic and traffic-free, but Bob's was direct, and he said he rides it often, so I decided to be efficient and try Bob's.
The route looked to be just under 40 miles one-way, and I could stop for lunch at the Hard Times Cafe on Cherry Hill Road and have some tasty Cincinnati 5-way for lunch. (Yes, Amy, I have found out where to get Cincinnati chili in Maryland.)
I decided to set out around 11, get to the meeting around 3 and head home around 4, which would hopefully get me home at 8, and the riding at night in the dark would all be on familiar roads.
Since we're only talking 80 miles, I decided to ride the trike. I also like the trike when it is below freezing and when it is dark out, because you can't fall over.
You will note the shed is a bit of a disaster area. That's because a couple days ago it was really cold out and I was in a big hurry putting the bike away so I could get in the nice warm house and I accidentally shut Monkey in the shed and didn't notice.
I didn't realize it until the next morning, when he started barking when he heard me getting into my car. It got down to 20 degrees that night. This is very bad because Monkey has no real fur because he's a whippet, and he hates being separated away alone by himself.
He destroyed many, many things in the shed.
Anyway, it was about 30 degrees out when I left, with a strong 15-20 mph wind from the WNW. Not to worry. I had my tasty chili, and got to Glen Echo just after 3.
Here is the rockin' randonneurs' party:
The route from Bob turned out to be very nice. I did have many cars backed up behind the trike on Bradley Boulevard, but this was in Chevy Chase, and folks there are very genteel and polite. Not a problem. I did have to do a couple miles of Piney Branch Rd. in north Takoma Park, to which was not so nice, but all in all the route was fine. Coming back, I was on Metzerott Rd. by nightfall, and from there I know the roads well and am comfortable in the dark.
One of my goals in this ride was to test some new cold weather riding clothes I got in a recent binge at Patagonia. I never look at catalogs unless they are bike parts or Patagonia. I read the Patagonia catalog and think how nice and warm I would be riding in those fancy clothes even though I would be working hard they would be very breathable and I would not be shivering freezing cold when I stopped.
The Patagonia stuff did in fact kick butt.
Here is what I wore for a long, strenuous bike ride with two lengthy stops for food and socializing:
DeFeet Wool bike socks
UnderArmor Cold Gear bottoms
Performance fleece pants
Patagonia Wool 4 shirt
Patagonia lightweight R4 fleece jacket
sweat-wicky wool bike skullcap
fleece gloves
When I stopped for lunch, I took off the R4 jacket and put on a down sweater. The sweater weighs nothing and compresses down to nothing, and is very toasty.
When I stopped at Glen Echo, I took off the R4 jacket and the Wool 4 shirt, and put on a light
Capillene base layer and the down sweater.
For the ride home, I kept on the capillene shirt, put the wool shirt over it, and the R4 jacket, and put the down sweater back in the trunk rack. At this point the wool shirt and the R4 jacket were very sweaty and damp, but still warm.
It was a very hard ride home. The temperature dropped below freezing. I was in good shape except for my feet. I couldn't feel the front halves of them, from the balls of my feet forward. They were back to normal in an hour or so.
This turned out to be a much harder ride than I expected, especially on the heavy, slow trike. It turns out I went 76 miles and 5400 feet of climb. That was more climbing than I had anticipated. I spent 7:15 pedaling, for an average speed of just over 10 mph.
I'm not planning on doing any brevets on the trike. I suspect part of the slowness of the trike is the Rohloff hub. The Rohloff is a 14 speed internal hub, and the gears are in an oil bath. I suspect the oil is more viscous in the cold which adds mechanical drag. It also shifts poorly in the cold. I'm going to have to call Rohloff USA and see if they have any winter oil.
Also I felt like I got hit by a truck today. I did a DC Rand training ride of 105 miles and 7400 feet of climb (on the Cobrabike) last week, and did not feel as bad afterwards as I did today. Two weeks ago I did a 130 mile brevet with 8000 feet of climb (also on the Cobrabike) and did not feel as bad as today.
The training software that comes with my GPS tells the story:
Ride Calories
Brevet 7946
Training ride 8871
Glen Echo 10169
There it is. The ride to Glen Echo on the trike was in fact harder.
Here's a map of the route.
The MotionBased page for the ride has the track on a Googlymap, and all the horrible elevation charts.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Brevet Video
My friend Lou shot some video on the Woodbine 200k, which you can get to from his blog. There is some footage of me on the Cobrabike in the first four minutes.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Bike Ride Report - Woodbine 200k Brevet
Yesterday I rode the DC Randonneurs' Woodbine 200k brevet.
It was a tough one! Especially since I haven't ridden more then 40 miles since August, due to the arrival of Max the Cutie Pie Guy.
On the upside, it was in the upper 60s most of the day. On the other hand, there was a 20 mph headwind in the afternoon. Which is better than sleet.
Here's the scene at the ride start at 6:30 in the morning. I didn't sleep in the parking lot in Debra's Element, because the start was less than a half hour from home.
The first control was at the 7-11 in Gettysburg, PA. A good photographer would have taken pictures of the scenic battlefields we rode through. Me, I had to get to the bathroom.
Luckily, you don't have to count on me to be the photographer. Bill Beck, who organized the ride, drove out and took many excellent pictures, including this one:
Check out his Flickr page for the ride. His pictures are terrific. I think this is the only picture ever taken of me on a recumbent where I don't look completely goofy.
I also missed the camel by the side of the road. I was riding for awhile alongside Lou Lamoureaux. The camel was on a big downhill. Lou told me about it after we'd blown by it. We had a nice discussion about the advisability of letting farm animals into the kitchen. Lou thinks the line should be drawn at horses and cows.
Here is the only thing I remember from the midpoint control at Dillsburg, PA.
Look how big those slices are! So hot and tasty!
It seems that since I am out of shape and slow, I got to eat pizza. I hear the pizza store opened late, and the speedy riders had to make do with gourmet sandwiches from the foo-foo coffee shop next door.
On the way home in Taneytown, I realized I was right in front of the Antrim Inn, where our friends Randy and Sherri got married.
I don't know how I missed it on the way out. I think I was distracted by the Sheetz across the street.
This ride was more or less and out and back. The return route was different only for the last 15 miles or so. I was feeling good. I had about an hour of daylight left. I had heard there was 6000 feet of climb on this ride, and my trip computer (which runs high) said I was at 6800. So I was thinking maybe Bill had an easier route home than the way out.
Ha ha ha.
I think the first point where the return route diverged from the outbound route was at Buffalo Road.
Here are some cute, friendly goats at the farm at the start of Buffalo Road.
When I think of buffalos, I think of vast expanses of prairie. Nice flat prairie. Well, that has nothing to do with Buffalo Road.
It's just brutal. It's really steep, and it goes to the top of this ridge, and then down to the bottom and then back to the top again. With 15% grades. Yeah buddy. 115 miles into the ride. It was all right.
It was about a half hour after dark when I got in. I recorded 8000 feet of climb. But I felt like I earned the brevet for sure.
Here's the happy scene at the final control at the Pizza Hut in Woodbine.
At the my MotionBased page for the ride, there are lots of statistics, and links to a big Googlymap with the GPS trace and you can download it to Googlyearth too. Note that the battery died on the GPS (Garmin Edge 305) died a mile and a half from the end.
It was a tough one! Especially since I haven't ridden more then 40 miles since August, due to the arrival of Max the Cutie Pie Guy.
On the upside, it was in the upper 60s most of the day. On the other hand, there was a 20 mph headwind in the afternoon. Which is better than sleet.
Here's the scene at the ride start at 6:30 in the morning. I didn't sleep in the parking lot in Debra's Element, because the start was less than a half hour from home.
The first control was at the 7-11 in Gettysburg, PA. A good photographer would have taken pictures of the scenic battlefields we rode through. Me, I had to get to the bathroom.
Luckily, you don't have to count on me to be the photographer. Bill Beck, who organized the ride, drove out and took many excellent pictures, including this one:
Check out his Flickr page for the ride. His pictures are terrific. I think this is the only picture ever taken of me on a recumbent where I don't look completely goofy.
I also missed the camel by the side of the road. I was riding for awhile alongside Lou Lamoureaux. The camel was on a big downhill. Lou told me about it after we'd blown by it. We had a nice discussion about the advisability of letting farm animals into the kitchen. Lou thinks the line should be drawn at horses and cows.
Here is the only thing I remember from the midpoint control at Dillsburg, PA.
Look how big those slices are! So hot and tasty!
It seems that since I am out of shape and slow, I got to eat pizza. I hear the pizza store opened late, and the speedy riders had to make do with gourmet sandwiches from the foo-foo coffee shop next door.
On the way home in Taneytown, I realized I was right in front of the Antrim Inn, where our friends Randy and Sherri got married.
I don't know how I missed it on the way out. I think I was distracted by the Sheetz across the street.
This ride was more or less and out and back. The return route was different only for the last 15 miles or so. I was feeling good. I had about an hour of daylight left. I had heard there was 6000 feet of climb on this ride, and my trip computer (which runs high) said I was at 6800. So I was thinking maybe Bill had an easier route home than the way out.
Ha ha ha.
I think the first point where the return route diverged from the outbound route was at Buffalo Road.
Here are some cute, friendly goats at the farm at the start of Buffalo Road.
When I think of buffalos, I think of vast expanses of prairie. Nice flat prairie. Well, that has nothing to do with Buffalo Road.
It's just brutal. It's really steep, and it goes to the top of this ridge, and then down to the bottom and then back to the top again. With 15% grades. Yeah buddy. 115 miles into the ride. It was all right.
It was about a half hour after dark when I got in. I recorded 8000 feet of climb. But I felt like I earned the brevet for sure.
Here's the happy scene at the final control at the Pizza Hut in Woodbine.
At the my MotionBased page for the ride, there are lots of statistics, and links to a big Googlymap with the GPS trace and you can download it to Googlyearth too. Note that the battery died on the GPS (Garmin Edge 305) died a mile and a half from the end.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Getting the garden ready - with MANURE!
The garden is laid out, the beds are tilled, and now it's time to add the manure!
Debra wouldn't let me put manure in the back of her Element. I promised to put down a blue tarp, but she didn't care. So I had to get a hitch and a U-Haul trailer.
It took me awhile to figure out where to get the manure. I was using the Google and the technology, and having no luck. Then when I was riding a lap on the BWI trail last weekend, there it was. Right under my nose the whole time. It's at the county park with the horses by Linwhatever Middle School. They were glad to get rid of the manure, and loaded it up for me with a front loader. Awesome.
Debra wouldn't let me put manure in the back of her Element. I promised to put down a blue tarp, but she didn't care. So I had to get a hitch and a U-Haul trailer.
It took me awhile to figure out where to get the manure. I was using the Google and the technology, and having no luck. Then when I was riding a lap on the BWI trail last weekend, there it was. Right under my nose the whole time. It's at the county park with the horses by Linwhatever Middle School. They were glad to get rid of the manure, and loaded it up for me with a front loader. Awesome.
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