spokesNspin

Saturday I took a ride with a different bike club.  It has been some time since I have really pushed myself  with a fast group of riders.  By some time I mean a few years.  I have been anxious to do it.

On Saturday, I decided to leave with the fastest group and then drop back if I couldn’t keep up. This group included a woman who was lithe, lean and had skin like leather from  too much time in the sun training for  triathlons.  Hard to guess a woman’s age when she looks like that but I would have put her and much older than me.

After about five miles of warming up she announced she was going to pick up the pace for a bit.  Four or five of us took off with her. She led out over the next 15 or so plus miles at a pretty good pace.  She never let anyone else lead the pace line.

When we stopped she said we had average over 20 MPH for that interval. Whew! It has been sometime since I have ridden like that.  I’ve still got some of what I had a few years ago.  I am still one of the strongest on the hills.

The ride was 46 miles.  I ended with another older gentleman who was also very strong and put the lead  group to the test more than once.  I found out that he had his birthday just a few days before.   He turned 62 and the woman who was leading that crazy interval is also 62.

They are my idols.

We rode a total of 46 miles.  The pace was moving right along most of the time.  For the last  few miles I just had to tell myself I knew I could last until the end.

When it was done my average speed was 18.4 MPH.   That is the best I have done in a few years.  Now for the downside.  I can remember about 6 years and 20 pounds ago when I could easily have ridden a hundred miles with an average speed of 19 MPH.

When I got back home I saw the couple who live in the unit below me moving out.  What to do?  My legs are shot but I really should offer to help.

A half dozen oreo cookies and a cold glass of milk later I was ready to offer.  I helped them load the last half of the truck.  I then left with them in the truck to their new home.  We pulled up to one of those older homes that is on a hill.  We had several steps from the street to the front door.

I wonder why they didn’t mention that before?

The thing that really surprised me was after that was all done I really didn’t feel all that bad.  On Sunday I couldn’t feel any effects from the ride or the move.

Maybe I really do deserve this:

This was  gift from a work friend who recently took a trip to Austin, TX.

One of the advantages to using a bicycle to get around is parking. It  is generally easy to find a place to park. Many places have bike racks. But sometimes bike racks aren’t all that great.

Check this bike parking out:

The very nice thing is that it is roomy and in a covered garage.  Now for  the bad news.  Notice how people have parked with the bikes running parallel to the racks instead of using the racks the way they were intended. 

One bike takes the space of four bikes.  But in this good designed but poorly placed rack there isn’t much choice.  The rack is set so close to the wall that you can’t park your bike the way it is intended to be parked.

What is even more interesting is that on the day I took this picture I ran into this same situation at two different places on the same day.

The other annoyance is people parking scooters at these bike racks.  I had a scooter and never used bicycle racks.  Again they take up the same space as about three bicycles.

When there is no official bicycle parking it is generally pretty easy to find a place to lock your bike for short errands.  Like next to a sign post. 

I did this a few weeks ago and came back to find a letter on my bike telling me it wasn’t allowed.  If they didn’t allow bikes to park there why don’t they put a sign up?  Of course they had tons of car parking.

What I really find ironic is when I go to a bicycle shop and they don’t have a bicycle rack.

Bicycle club rides are  a  good way to improve your riding skills and  socialize with people who have a common interest. 

Rides are classified by difficulty.  “D” rides are the slowest and shortest.  These are very very slow and are mostly about the social aspect.  “C”  rides are a decent pace and have a social aspect.  You have “B” rides and “A”  There are also double letter rides within each category, ”BB” rides or “AA”  for example which are just a little more difficult than the single letter ride.

On most rides of “B” or less it is generally assumed that the group will wait now and then for slower riders.  They might also have a sweeper who stays at the end to ensure everyone is there.  “A” rides are for die hards and have a take no prisoners approach.  You keep up or get dropped.

I generally go on rides anywhere from “C” to “BB”.  It just depends on what I am in the mood for.

A few weeks ago I decided to go on a “C” ride.  It was in D.C. and was with a different group than I normally ride with.  I thought it would interesting to see some new areas.

It was a strange club ride.  The leader will never win Miss Congeniality that is for sure.  She pretty much handed out a cue sheet and left people to themselves.  Cue sheets help but can also be very difficult to follow.  We were in D.C. following roads and bike paths so there were lots of turns.  It was hard to follow.

There were also many difficult hills that were never mentioned in the ride notice.

We were losing people right and left.  Riders would tell the leader that we had lost people and she would just kind of shrug it off.

There was a husband/wife couple riding who bickered for much of the ride. Very unpleasant.  He was basically a jerk and criticized everything about how his wife was riding.

We stopped for lunch at a food co-op.   I went in to fill my water bottle and when I came out the leader had taken the group and left.  Amazing!

I was darn lucky I was able to catch them.  I asked my riding partner why she didn’t say something.  She said she knew that if she got dropped she would never catch up and figured I had a better chance than she did.  Can’t blame her for that.

I did see some new sites which is what I wanted.  Along the way we stopped at Fort Stevens.  They were having a reenactment of a civil war battle that took place there in July 1864.  President Lincoln came out during the battle to observe and came under fire.  It  was supposedly only one of two times that a sitting president has come under direct enemy fire.

Here are some pics from the event.

The military band was using period instruments.

I have recently gone through a major life event.  In such situations middle aged men do some crazy things.  I did just that a few weeks ago.  No I didn’t buy an expensive sports car and marry a super young blonde bimbo.  I can’t afford a sports car and don’t care for them anyway.   Since I can’t afford a sports car young women won’t  give me a second look and I wouldn’t care for a young bimbo either.

But when the end of June rolled around I did manage to do two things that rational people might attribute to a mid-life crisis.  The first I will not mention.  The second was that I bought a new bike.

“Wait”,you say,  “What’s the big deal about a new bike”?  You folks already know I have a lot of bikes.  But the new love of my life is special.  In fact, Tina has been mostly ignored for the last two weeks as Cassie has become the object of my affection.

Take  a look:

No look closer:

Notice anything special about Cassie other than an amazing paint job?

Cassie is a single speed fixed gear bike.  Yes I got a fixie.  The wheels of choice for bike couriers and twenty something  counter  culture men who ride without helmets and sport tattoos and body piercings. 

For my family and friends who read this blog and are not familiar with a fixed gear bike let me explain.   A fixed gear bike is a single speed bike.  That is no big deal.  The “fixed” aspect is what makes the bike a kick to ride.  A fixed gear bike has no free wheel.  You can not coast.  If the wheels are turning the pedals are turning.

I wasn’t sure an old guy like me could learn to ride a fixed gear without breaking any important parts.  Personal parts I mean not bicycle parts.

You’d be surprised at how often one coasts  or even back pedals on a bike without even thinking about it.   There is more to a fixie than just the fact you are always pedaling.   I had to learn new ways of stopping and turning. 

Imagine the feeling of flying down the road on your bike and leaning into  curve.  You put the weight on your outside pedal and the push the top of the bike down.  No can do on a fixed gear.  At least it’s not quite so simple.  Remember the pedals are always turning.  If things aren’t lined up just right when you take a curve the inside pedal may be on the bottom and hit the ground.  Ouch!

I was also surprised at how routine stopping and starting on a normal bike had become and how different it is on a fixed gear.   With a normal bike one develops habits of positioning the pedals just so for stopping and starting.   If you try that on a fixie you might just find your self coming to a stop in the middle of the intersection instead of at the cross walk.

I didn’t ride it to work for the first week. I would come home from work and then go out for an hour on the fixie.   I wasn’t sure at first  I would make it.  There was one thing that kept me going. I thought of all the people I had gotten into cycling and after about two or three rides I convinced them to get clipless pedals.  I kept telling myself the same thing I told them.  Once you get used to it you will love it.  I needed to practice what I had been preaching.

I told myself I would give it until the end of July and if I wasn’t comfortable at that point I would switch it back to the free wheel. 

I have had some scary moments.   Visualize this if you will.  I am going down a hill at a pretty good speed.  My foot slips off the pedal.  Remember if the wheels are turning the pedals are turning.  So I am flying down a hill and my feet slip off the pedal. Try putting your feet on the pedals while they are spinning around like a couple of egg beaters.  Only option is to hold the feet away from the pedals and try to slow down.  But slowing down is no piece of cake.  

Yes I have brakes but there are some things you don’t even think about until they are gone.  I had never considered when stopping a bike how force was taken up by my legs and core against the pedals.  Now all I have are my arms holding me from sliding off of my slick leather saddle and flying over the handle bars of my now braking bike.  I am sure I looked really stupid. I certainly felt like klutz.

I decided from the beginning I would start with flat pedals.  It took two rides to decide that wouldn’t work.  I went and got pedals that are clipless on one side and flat on the other. That is what I have been using on most of my bikes.

I just about went off the Mt Vernon bike trail one day while trying to pass a slow rider and negotiate a tight turn at the same time.  Whew! That one was a heart stopper.

I know at this point you are concerned for my well being.  Let me tell you the only thing injured in the first few days was my pride.  And now as the end of July approaches I am loving the fixed gear bike.  It’s hard to explain but there is a simple pleasure in riding a fixie.   For one thing it is so quiet.  As one person said it is sort of a Zen thing.  It has become my main commuter and around town bike.

I still have a few things to learn.  How does one bunny hop a bump or pot hole?  What is a post over? If any of you readers happen to be fixed gear riders please let me know.

In the meantime, I will practice and try to learn a track stand and this really nifty off of the back of the saddle stopping maneuver that can only be done on a fixed gear. 

Failing to master those two skills I will continue on the fixie but settle for a couple of tattoos.

I took this pic while on a bike ride earlier this year. Not every day you see a tractor pulled up to a fuel stop like this. This was more than just an interesting pic for me. It was a warm and fuzzy nostalgic moment.

The tractor was running. I don’t know a lot about engines and how things work but the exhaust from these old tractors has a distinct odor. The odor was one of the first things I noticed. Mmmmmm it took me back more than 30 years to my home and farm in Idaho. Who’d a thunk it that smelling exhaust would be so nice.

Take note that the exhaust comes out of a muffler rising straight up and out of the engine. Back in that day we would often put a tin can over the exhaust when the tractor was off to keep stuff from getting in it. There were also permanent flappers attached that would cover the outlet. When the tractor was off the flapper would fall over the opening. When the engine is running the pressure of the exhaust pushes the flapper open.

This tractor had such a flapper. You might think this is insignificant but it also added to the nostalgia. When the engine is idling there is enough pressure to open the valve but not hold it. The result is that the flapper is constantly opening and closing. Every time the flapper closes there is a little clink as metal strikes metal.

When I arrived at the station the tractor was there idling  and I immediately noticed the two things I have just described.  The smell and then the clink, clink, clink , clink, clink clink over the top of the idling engine.

It was like a hug from an old friend.

I think my fondness for tractors must have been with me from birth.

Happy Friday Foto Fiesta.  I hope to be back at my blog now.