Fall and the end of the Summer Days

A blog is not so important during the warm outdoor days of Summer. Not so much time to write. It's, get out time. Do the things there is only a few days to do. Sunny days are few on the Island here. Very few. Add this to La Nina, the extra cold water. The normal Summer has been short. La Nina will fade about December of this year. Then with luck next year will have a longer sunny season. It will be a shorter winter season to. So for now it's out doors. The road, the beach, the little sailboat. These are the events of my Summer. Blogs play a short role. Though the blog needs it's time. Needs the up date. Miles of road time. Hours of everything else. Blogs for me are shorter sun days. There will be a lot of those coming soon. So for now, I have put hour of road time in. Hours of everything else to. Just a few lines in the blog. Life is good today.

The Days Of the Past

In the lack of writing comes the price of memory. Less detail to the truth. More addition and subtraction.
The Sailboat (Little Siren) a nice 17' pocket cruiser. There has been several adventures. Life by the tides in Useless Bay. Some few, very few rides with guests. It would be more fun with a friend or 2 to share the ride. The little boat though is a friend in itself. A nice and kind sailing boat. Friendly in it ways. It loves to dance the dance of the wind and small waves. I'll put a photo of one of my adventures.
The bike has got no less attention. Every other day has been the way. The heat of Summer baking me well from the refrigerator of Spring and Winter. Long miles and the short days to. Short days of 40 miles and one long day of 94 miles. Every other day except when more recovery is needed. The #1 bike working well. The roads less filled with cars. Gas prices are a blessing in some way. David at Half Link, our local bike shop, selling more bikes than ever. He can not keep up with folks getting tune ups on their older bikes. More people riding to the store. It's great to see. Even if it's just for the good weather. Every bike on the road is one less car for the moment. There are a lot more people walking to. Not all the roads, but Bayview that leads to 2 food marts has walkers and bags all the time. We live on Bayview. I need to get in the habit to. I just do not like leaving a $3500. bike in front of the market. I think I will ugly down my single speed for trips to the market with my back pack. Some kind of lock as the wheels are worth $500. with out tires and tubes. That's another $180. So the plan is made. A little spray paint, matt black, my old saddle, and a lock of some sort. Milk, 1/2 & 1/2, a few simple things, no gas. $1.50 saved every trip. It's only a few trips a week. I want to be one of the one's showing the way in this area. Seattle is bike city. More commuters on bike than I have ever seen. Keep the faith. The road is long for a reason.

Roads and Water

A great combination. Not at the same time. Keeping an open mind might be the best thought for now. There could be a moment.
The road was glorious. Full of Sun. Warm for shorts and a light short sleeve jersey. It would be the white jersey day. Still bright for the traffic to see. The #1 bike working again after a difficult rear gear problem. The gears all work fine except the 13 tooth. It's shot. Needs to be replaced. No hurry, I'll just use the 12 and 14 tooth gears. I do have a new campy 10 speed rear gear set to replace it with. So off the ride went. #1 bike, #1 set of wheels and me. Down the roads I have come to know very well. Out to Bayview corners and beyond to Andreson and Lone Lake. The road that leads to Saratoga and Langley that goes to Landley road and then to Maxwellton. Then off to French road, Bailey, Cultus road and the climb up Jewet road to Glendale and the turn up Holst road and over to Heggenes hill. All these roads except Bayview are climbs and descents. Hard work all the time. A measured ride. The ride is not done till I get back to the house. There are hills to climb at a pace, not at the red zone. Build my strength not brake it down. The ride I take all the time. The ride that helps keep me alive. The ride that keeps the pain a little more manageable. It turned out to be a 50 miler. I was fast. I was not trying to be fast. It was just the power of not going into the red zone. Not over extending my effort. The result is the body gets stronger. You go faster and burn more calories not working at it so hard. Thought some parts of the ride a little push is good. Just to test the high end out. See if the go go still works for a while. The result is making the turn home and knowing there was another 25 miles in the legs. Maybe more to. These are the good days of summer. The warm days. The days where the temperature is not an issue at all. There are a lot more riders out to. The ones that are never out in winter. We are still all true believers in the road. The prayer of the long road. The riders on their own. Riding the circuit to live another day. Keeping the Reaper a little further back. Make him work for pay check. Make him work hard.
The water. The summer can bring water time. The little sailboat. "Little Siren" needs some time out. Out to make adventures again after who knows how many years on the trailer. She is in a good spot on the bay. There is a good mooring. Sound to the winds that come from the South and the North and from any direction. 50 feet of chain and 2 anchors holds her well with a gentle touch. It was a day to become friends. The day for the first sail. A test sail to check out the systems. To test the captain maybe more than the boat. The winds were a bit brisk by high tide. Just the hint of a white cap. The breeze coming from the North Bayview Corners. I had to drag the dingy a bit farther for the tide was still out a bit. Enough water to get off the huge sand bar of the tidal flats. The row to the boat was good the transfer to the sailboat from the dingy very good. The getting ready a bit nervous. The plan a bit conservative. Head sail only to get the feel of the "Little Siren". Motor out to Double Bluff Point. About 8 miles by water I think. Then turn South, pop the head sail from the roller furling. Sail a running reach to Maxwellton across the bay. It all went so smooth. The boat was so kind. There was so tall chop in the bay. Not waves as much as chop about 8 to 10 feet apart. Well it seemed like that. I was a long way out from the house. Several miles out into the bay. On the edge of Puget Sound. Doing a good pace. Going faster than I thought I would. Though as it was a running direction it felt slow. I did surf a few of the taller bits of chop. That was fun and the little boat just was smooth and happy as could be. So was I. At this point I knew I was out far. Then it happened. Ten feet on my left, off the middle of the boat. I heard the sound I have heard a few times before. Dall's Porpoise, taking a breath. The dark wonders that I knew lived out here in a family group of 9 to 15. I have watched these wonderful friends from the house using binoculars. Now here they ere. Right next to me. It was a thrill. Then this one Porpoise turned into 4. As quick as that they were gone. I'm sure I got in their way. These are a serious type of water mammal. They work hard for their living. Not a lot of time to play. I was jut taken by the whole event. Then I realized how far out I was. The little boat was to comfortable and gentle. Kind and sea friendly for her size. I had the swing keel in the full down position. I think that makes a big difference to her feel. So after the excitement I turned towards shore on a long easy angle. No hurry to get close to the land. After losing time and my relationship to where I was. Mary Anne called. Cel phones are great when they work. I was almost to Maxwellton! Time to turn around and head home. I rolled the head sail up and re-started the outboard motor. It was going to be a long drive back. All was perfect. I saw a half sunk dinky and headed over to it. I was going to pick it up and tow it back to my mooring ball. It would be a really heavy tow half sunk. It did have a bow line on it for towing. I just was not up to it today on the first adventure with "Little Siren". So I kept going home. Then the motor slowed to a stop. Not good! It sounded like it ran out of gas. I had 3.5 gallons in the tank. That's hour and hours of motor time. I opened the rear hatch and looked at the now sunken in tank. I had not opened the vent. The vent lets the gas move out of the tank easy. You close it to move the tank or the gas will spill ot this vent. I opened the vent squeezed the pressure ball and pulled the cord on the outboard and it started right up. All was well again. I could see the other boats in our 4 boat Yacht Club a few miles away. When I got closer the weeds got thicker and thicker. I was a little worried about the motor sucking some up in the impeller and making the motor over heat. Never happened. Though I kept a close eye on the water coming out of the cooling system of the motor. If that stops you have a problem. All was well. As I got near the mooring ball I get a little nervous. I'm used to docks. Mooring balls is new to me and the wind was blowing a bit. Making the whole operation a little harder. It took 3 tries to get the line of the dingy. I got the line on that third try and was not about to let it go. So I pulled us into the mooring ball. Holding the line walked forward over the cabin were the lines that go onto the ball and hold the boat were. It all went perfect. I was hooked on and going no where. Just like I wanted to. I put every thing back where in it's place locked the boat got on the dinky and got to shore. It was a great first sail on the "Little Siren".

Days of Summer have come at last

Writing has always been hard for me. To put the lines down. To make some sense of it all. All, being the last hour or so. No world shaking changes here. For me just the events of a few days and I have not been writing for many days. To many to go back and make up. There have been days off, rides, walks down to the beach. There have been lots of important and forgotten days. I'm only sorry to have not made a record of the little bits and pieces.
I got my little sailboat off the trailer and into the water for the first time. I found the little boat in Alburn New Hampshire under eve of a metal roof of an auction yard over 2 years ago. It was pouring rain and all the roof water was pouring into the boats cockpit and into the cabin. The boat was flooded. The outboard motor was in the cockpit totally under water. The motor started first pull after I dried it out. The boat must have weight thousands of pounds with all the water on the day I bought her. The dry weight of this little boat is 750lbs. I could not resist the beautiful little sailboat. It is a Siren. Built in Ontario Canada. I won't hold that against the "Little Siren". Yup, that's it's Name, "Little Siren'. Now in the waters of Puget Sound. Moored below the house on the tide flats with 2 other boats. No rent, just set your own anchors and chain and there you are. Better have a dingy to get out and back. That came last winter in a huge storm. The sea gave that day! So the boat is in the water after 3500 mile on the trailer. From New Hampshire to Salem Oregon to here on Whidbey Island. I was so excited to be on the water. I have owned and sailed lots of boats. Big and small. This boat just talked to me and asked me to save it. I paid the auction $450. It had a rusted out trailer under her. I was lucky to get it home. After draining and cleaning I found a nice new trailer. I paid more for the trailer than the boat. So it's in the water. I can look at it everday when ever I want. First sail will be in the next few days. The tides will be just right. I like looking at that boat everyday.

Saturday

The day I rode. Picked out by the day of my riding needs. I ride to my own schedule. The calendar I keep. A sunny day at last. There has been one other. Maybe 2. It was to be a easy 40 miler. As the last was a 70 miler. Got to think these miles through. The body is old and needs it's rest. The ride was on the same courses I ride thousands of miles. Only a few times have I ridden with anyone. I like the road to myself. The thinking time. Time to just not think at all. I have been pasted twice since September 07. Those times I could not keep up. All the other times I caught right back up and chatted. Well not to all. There are some who just won't look. Some I just pass and never look back as I power away from their cold.
This Saturday ride was the same as always. More traffic than normal. It's the high season here on the Island. All the summer folks are here. All the prices for everything went up June first. Traffic went up with them. The roads I ride for the most part are still quiet. Just 2 are a lot busier. Both have wide shoulders to support the riding public. So it's not to bad. This ride was like most. Easy gears, but on the #1 bike for the first time in weeks. Using the 53X39 chain rings. Stiffer high end, a bit faster. The low end a little stiffer to. Not so kind on the steep climbs. Hard work is good. All the friendly and not so friendly roads. Only hard roads. Those are the less friendly roads on some days. Saturday's ride was just about what I expected. A few more riders going the other way. Mostly tourist riders. A lot of folks ride through this Island on their way to the San Juan Islands. All had gone well. I was drinking my drinks on time. I had a fair amount of food in me. The ride was good. So after 8 tough hills I was looking forward to the last real hill on Bayview road coming out of Langley. It's a hill not a mountain. Though it still must be climbed within a riders pace. I was going up at a nice pace. Not so fast as steady. 39X15 if that means anything. 12 miles an hour. I've gone faster and slower. So I was just climbing this last hill in the middle of my effort. It was a good steady climb after 8 hard climbs. Almost at the top a rider passes me. The "how ya doing" kind of guy as he motors past you. He was in the big chain ring and had been working his ass off to catch me. I was in the small chain ring. It was a bit rude on the other riders part. No chat, just trying to leave me behind. I'm old and a lot slower than I once was, but that was it. I added 2 gears to my pace as we were near the top of the hill. Just a little bit before the down hill started. Steep down hill!! This guy was a stick. No meat on his bones at all. Must have been a vegetarian. As we neared the top we were together. He was working so hard he was going all over the road. I was just keeping my line waiting for gravity. The top came. The interluder was out in the middle of the road, on a road with 5' bike shoulders. He was riding like a fool. I had enough of him. Gravity is my friend at 215 pounds. I was now in 53X12, all the go fast gear I had. With almost no effort I put gravity to work for me and dropped this fool like he was going the other way. Got in a nice aerodynamic tuck and the speed got to 50 MPH. At the bottom there is a long shallow down hill. Just enough to keep some real speed on. By this time the skinny guy was still on the hill some where. I started the push into Bayview Corners. A push at 30 MPH for the first mile then down to 25MPH for the last 3 miles to the stop sign at Bayview Corners. I looked back. No one in sight. I eased off as that effort was taking a bit of a toll on me. It was 2 miles to home. I was on my cool down. Crossed SR525 still on Bayview. Going up a little hill just past SR525 a rider passes me! I thought it was the veggie. It was a new rider. So I just suffered to the top. He was in easy reach. I motored up to him. No, "how ya doing" from me. I just eased up side by side and started a conversation. Etiquette on the road has a few rules. After all we are not racing for real. Just out training. Well, winning "The Tour" to. So both of us started talking. His name was David as mine is. He was new to the area. He did not work. He was a bike bum just like me in many ways. Now how would I have known that with out talking to the guy? There are a few small risers on the road home. I just stay in a big gear and over come them. I do it every time. As I went up one David feel a little behind, then caught back up. The next was the same only he fell a little further back. Hey, I was pushing it a bit to measure this new rider. So we had a nice short ride till I had to turn for home. The veggie was crushed and I met a nice rider in David. Road etiquette is important to keep the peace of the training road.

George Carlin

Is that his real name or just a stage image. To a broken heart we lose a great thinker. A man who told the truth in a way we laughed till we cried it was so painful to hear. To hear about our self. Our country. Any area Mr. Carlin wished to talk about. To put a show together with. Yes a show. Shows for most of his life. Small clubs to large clubs. Success and failure all at the same time. Abuses to his body, mind and soul. There might be 12 steps in there to.
I will miss George Carlin. I miss him already. The bit. The tears. The thoughtfulness of the material. I will be looking for his material today. One more show. Not the last. A life can go on for a long time in the new age of digital reproduction. Sound and sight all at the same time on the computer screen any time I want. George's words and motions will live on long past my death. George Carlin made a difference. He made us think. There is a record of most of it. Some lost in the daily drone of small clubs. Lost to the lack of scribes. Lost to our memory. Today is a good day to hear his bit again. A broken heart at age 71. I should be so lucky.

110 mile

No not all at once. 2 rides is what it took. One 70 miler and one 40 miler. Both in 3days. For me that's a good number. The longer of the 2 was on some new roads to. Had to go further North to make the course work out. There was lots of new hills. Lots of old friend hills to. It was a great ride. I felt wonderful when I got home. A little hungry. Still not hammered as often happens. It was the food choices. Pizza for late dinner last night. 3 big waffles with real maple syrup this morning before the ride. Also lots of gels for the ride and 2 before the ride. In all no flat zones during the ride. No areas that I was drained of energy. I did not run out of drinks on the ride to. Though a third bottle would have been nice. I could have stopped to get more drinks. I should have. The ride turned out to be well planned The result was worth the effort.
The other ride of 40 miles was also a good ride. It was on a normal course I have ridden many times. I did not plan that ride so well. I was on the tired side when I was through and home. I did not have enough energy in the body for the ride. Food has become a big problem. I just need to be far more careful about what I eat before I ride. How I fill the body. The carbs that I need. Carbs are both friend and foe for a diabetic. To many carbs at the wrong time and that's bad. To few carbs when you need them and that's bad to. It's a big balance game and it changes all the time to. The diabetes is not such a good room mate. It's a room mate you have to keep though. So you have to learn how to get along. Along for the rest of your life.
Well the other news is Mary Anne's new web site is up and running! Look it up and see what's going on. There are still a few little things the web folks need to get done. Though it is a fun site to look into anyway. Blog's, email, classes, inspiration, books Mary Anne has written and is writing, group stuff and stuff I don't even understand. So look at the new kid on the web block today.
maryanneradmacher.net I think that will get you there. If not google it and remember the new site is .net the .com is the commercial site

3 Flats and the light went on!

The mileage just keeps building on the road. The bikes seem to get you there without to much need. Mostly cleaning and re-oiling. I fell into a bit of sleep. Get on the bike and get the road miles. All the stones, glass, wood, bits of this and that on the road to attack the tires. Flats were rare on the winter mile. I was lucky to have just 2 or 3 in 6 months. That's just not so many at all. In that past 2 rides there have been 3 in under 30 miles. One without a working head of a CO2 tire pump system. The pin on the inside of the head that pierced the CO2 bottle was broken off. I do not carry a regular pump. It was a phone call for help to Mary Anne on the cel phone. No signal! Dam cel phone. So I started to walk carrying the bike. There was an open space ahead about a 1/2 mile. Also a un-maned fire station in about a mile. Might be a signal there. At about the 1/2 mile mark I got a poor signal to Mary Anne and we figured out a plan to pick me up. As I started to walk to the fire station when we hung up. A true believer in a car with a almost new roof rack stops and offers a ride. To late, but it was another sign on how friendly this Island is. In a few mins I was at the fire station waiting for Mary Anne. It did not take to long as I was only 4 or 5 miles from home. I did have 20 miles on already. Got home cleaned up changed the tube in the tire and all was good in the road world again. I checked the tire for glass or any other foul junk that could flat the tube again. All was good. I thought. Next ride came and before I got going I pumped the tires up to pressure, 115 PSI. Took off to get 40 mile on as I was coming back from some time off the bike. I wanted to do 50 or more. Well on mile 9 there it was. The hissing sound all road riders hate to hear. I was climbing a steep hill. Had to stop. I had all my pump gear working 100% after the last ride. Changed and checked everything in just mins. Back on the road. Got less than 3 miles and the dreaded "Hiss" of the flat. This time I stopped and looked for the spot on the tire to figure out what was happening. There it was. A split in the cords of the tire. So small that when there was less pressure in the tube. You could hardly see it. The tube had blown a bubble out this gap and worn out quick against the pavement. I had just enough air in the tube to get to Langley if I rode slow with soft peddling. At Langley there was grass to sit on and figure out what to do. The tire and tube came off. With care to remember where the problem area was in the tire. So after a few mins I remember there is a patch kit in the bag that carries the extra tubes and CO2. I put 2 patches on the areas most worn out. Worn out! The dam tire was totally worn out. It had over 1200 miles on it. About 200 miles more than possible with the Island conditions. 2 good patches later on the inside of the tire, a second new tube and I was off to 1/2 link the local bike shop. It was on the way home to. David the owner at 1/2 Link gave me a place to put a new tire on. I use Michelin's. An excellent tire for my needs (French). Not cheap,$47.50 each! David inspected the old tire and gave me that, "what were you thinking riding that tire look". I just said I was not paying attention. A lesson to keep an eye out for my tires again. Not the first time I have gone through this in 40 years. You just think it will last one more ride. Till the tire just gives out and you are on the road some where with no hope of repair. I will be checking all my tires on both bikes after this post. I'm so far behind on miles I will be going out today. My normal routine is every other day. I have my fingers crossed. I will have both new tires on the bike I go out in. New tubes to. Lessons sometimes come at a price. This one was easy. The flat could have happened going down a steep hill at 40 MPH. That is a bit scary. So I am happy with how this little adventure turned out. Glad to remember to be more careful with the tires.

10 Days

The time has just slugged along. It has taken much longer to wait out this tired feeling. The fatigue that has my body in it's grips. Giving up the road time to heal what's not working in the body so well. The tired body seems to be climbing out of the funk. 2 1/2 years with out a break. Working the roads. Probably to hard most of the time. The heart rate monitor is shot. I'm going to have to get back on that type of training again. Working the 65% heart rate. Building strength and endurance. I have missed 10 days in a row. Plus a few before this ten days. In all the last 30 days has been a poor bit of training. The weather has sucked to. Very cold and wet. Nice was just a treat once or twice. So back to cleaning the chain everyday. Riding the winter bike till the sun comes out. Just slogging through the wet and cold. Praying for the start of some sunny "DAYS". Day after day of 75 to 80 degrees. Two new short sleeve jersey's are waiting. For the first time in years the order size was large. Not X large or XX large as when I first started the come back. Large is a real treat. A prize for the hard effort. A surprise LARGE, would ever fit again. So the ride is on for tomorrow. Looks like some blue sky. Still a little cool though with a high of 57 degrees. It's time to start over. Build up again after doing the tear down. Work smart not fearful. Fearful of being passed. Just except that time will have it's way. Still, I will be out on the roads. Out on the long roads. Doing the prayer of the long road again. Only a true believer would understand. Another road rider. Another pusher. Another rider with the reaper to the rear. Pushing forward to get it right. Get it right and leave the dark rider in the dust. At least for now.

The trail of time

Could have said it's been to long or I've been to busy. Truth, there just was no writing. The rides have happened. Lots of good rides. Adventures on the road. Animal life, car life, road life, and all that a ride has to give. Everything about the void in the blog is just an excuse. I did not write. It is a hard habit to let go of. A hard discipline to keep going, and I'm a poor writer. So to the truth of it. The truth of the blog. I will start again.
There has been more cold weather than warm. The end of May was filled with clouds and cool days. The end of May had a few warm days of shorts and short sleeve jersey'to. Weather still a dominate force. May and it still felt like late winter. La' Nana is still got it's grip on the NorthWest. A weather pattern that brings cold in all ways, both land and water. There's a lot of sea water up here. The sea that drives most of the weather. The result of La' Nana is cold. I have been through 2 or 3 of these weather events in 38 years. One La' Nana year there was only one month of warm weather and that was July. Eleven of the other months were dark, wet, and cool. That's what I think we face this year in the NorthWest. It's hard for me to keep the faith. I have missed 3 rides in the last 10 days. On top of not feeling great. Cool wet weather, for the most part, makes the road so hard to face. The one place, effort that this body and soul needs. The effort that keep me strait and healthy. Strait in my mind. Healthy in my body. This effort is hard to face right now. Hard to put the uniform on. Hard to mount the bike. A sigh as I look down the road on a cool and wet day. I hunger for the sun. The warmth of the true summer sun. It will come soon enough. Brilliant and warm. I have no way to know this, but the sun will only be here for a short season. Than it is wet winter riding again. The balance between warm and cool will be off, way off. The mind is weak right now. The only way to make my mind strong again is to ride the road and say the prayers. The prayers of the long road.
The road I have seen has been very different. Quiet from the noise of cars, trucks and motorcycles. A quiet in the smaller back roads I ride 1000s of miles on. Less traffic on these back roads in a noticeable way. The small selfish gift of high gas and fuel prices. High prices with no end in the upward spiral. Food or gas? Gas or rent? Still, at $4.33 the cost of gas here is half that of most of the world. We are spoiled to cheap gas as experts have said. Not for long! Gas prices will reach heights we can only tremble over. Small cars will help in the short term to this long term question. Where is the electric car? No burning fuel will be the long term answer. No primitive fire will solve the problem. It will be "Tesla" to the rescue. Ideas from a man now dead over 50 years. The father of usable electricity. It will be Tesla's ideas of 100 years ago. These electric ideas will save the world from it's fire pit caveman days. Fire has had it's day in the car. Batteries will be the next gas tank. The next J.D. Rockefeller the inventor of the new battery or high out put electric energy storage device. All this recharged for the time being by fuel burning electric generating plants, connected to the "grid". Far more efficient use of oil, coal, and nuclear till wind, solar hydro power take over. It's going to happen and it will happen much faster than we all think. I guess I'm optimistic. It is the empty back roads that I see the near future. Fuel that will reach $8.00. The same price Europe pays! I want my electric car.
So the road goes on. The efforts comes and goes. Some days easy and some days a struggle. Weather a compaion, welcome, or just put up with. Ideas of an old hero. I see his vision. I'm a little slow about Tesla. Then he was dead about the time I was 3? Any way Tesla was not a school course in my school days. He should have been. His truth is coming fast. Faster than anyone can see. The batteries, energy saving devices, or very near. Just wait and see, "the future is now".

It's another cold wet day

The sun of the warm Sunday is gone. Tuesday was a cold, wet, windy day. One of the days I just stall till I have to go out. Leave the warmth of the house. Face the day on the road. I dragged the #2 bike out. Fender on the rear wheel. Smaller gears with the compact cranks, 50X34. I was one Co2 bottle short on my tire kit. So I stopped in a Half Link to fill the need. David the owner was busy so I found the stash and waited to pay. When David had a chance he looked outside and looked at me. I told him it was a ride day. He said he had been offered a ride into work and took it. Another customer came in and I was out the door. Off on the routes I know so well. Doing the hills, rollers and the few flats. The #2 bike is a good bike. The #2 bike rides OK. It just does not have the snap the #1 bike has. It climbs more labored compared to the #1 bike. Still it is a good choice for nasty rainy, windy days. So we did the miles. They went well. Just good training miles. No worries about other riders out today. I had the roads to my self. Traffic was light to. Folks are just not driving as much. Cost of gas made sure of that. Food or gas? I look at the cars and trucks as dinosaur's. They just don't know there dead yet. There is a day coming that will change everything. We better get going on the electric car and electric everything else to. So I had the roads to myself for the most part. All the hills, all the flats, all the rollers. It was a nice controlled ride. Medium gears to build the strength on. No problems, none at all. Well, one problem, Mary Anne is in Florida. I miss her. It's still raining today, it's still cold. Come home soon Mary Anne.

Sunday Sunny Day

The past just needs to be the past. It's does no good to be there. The day we get, is the day we have. That's it! The post is about the past. It is a journal after all. Just to have a record of the training. See where the training was good and not so good. A record to understand where we were to where we are now. So with all that said. This post is about Sunday. The next ride after the worst ride ever.
Sunny and in the mid to high 60s. Great temperature to ride in. No leg warmers. There was a long sleeve jersey. Bib tights and no under garment. 3 things to wear not counting shoes and gloves. I was almost naked after 6 months in the Arctic gear. My first ride since the disaster of Friday. The #1 bike was ready. Stiffer gears for harder faster climbs. Stiffer gears for fast flats and shallow rollers. The same bike as last Friday in the dismal effort. Sunday was a new day and new progress could be found. Even before it was time to go I made sure there was lots of fuel to ride on. This it seems was the problem of Friday. No fuel. Pancakes, peanut butter, grape jelly and lots of sweet light coffee. Fuel for the ride. Then before it was time mount the bike 3 gels were added to the mix of the fuel. It was off time. Lots of ZipFizz and gels on board and I was going to use them. The roll of the first few miles seemed good. Down past Bayview Corners. On to Andreason were the first climb starts. Then the nice easy climb of Lone Lake. It went very well. Fast in nice big climbing gears. Then I saw the first sign of HiVis Green ahead. There was a rider ahead. I told myself to just keep my pace. Not go to fast to catch this rider. At the top of this climb the rider was no where to be seen. Down hill in the big gears was fast. No rider in sight. On to Saratoga 2 very hard short hills that lead to Langley. I did see the rider that turns out to be 2 riders on the first hard climb. They were at the top and I was at the bottom. The next climb was the same. I was not going to win the town sign today. I had made some ground but not much. These guys were fast. Well I was going fast today also. As I came into Langley I caught up to the 2 riders. Triathletes all decked out with the latest Tri gear. Thin folks, water bottles on the back of their saddles. Special Triathlete bike frames to. Not to mention really expensive carbon wheel sets. They looked good. Compared to these guys I was just a road bum. So I hung with them on the back wheel. Did not want to pass them till they were ready. As the 3 of us were leaving town the the tri folks were getting all nervous about me on their rear. I knew that was the signal to pass. So I went by easy and slow. Not to piss anyone off like my normal pattern is. Not the slightest word or nod or any thing from these 2. Just snobs! I have been around this type my whole riding life. Elitist that think there shit does not smell. At that point I did what they do. Put the bike in the biggest gear I had and just motored away. Faster than I had ever gone on that section. Plus the lungs were feeling great. Then it was time to go up Maxwellton. I was still feeling a little pissy after the snob thing. I climbed that hill faster than I have ever gone. 18 MPH up hill. The best I had ever done before was 14 MPH. I mean it was all good. No one was going to catch me. Not those 2 for sure. I eased to the top and just motored the flatish few miles at about 24 MPH. I was doing very well. Got to the cross over of HWY 525 and the light turned green for me. I was still on Maxwellton leading to Swede Hill Road. I was pushing a nice controlled bit of gear on the road. Swede Hill is an awful hill. Very steep at the start. Very steep at the finish. At's a hard hill. Last time I did not even bother going up the hill. This time it was still hard. But the middle section went smooth and fast. Than there was the finish. Hard as it always is. All the hills on this day went great. Fast and smooth. Much bigger gears than normal. Who knew, pancakes, peanut butter and grape jelly. It was the lack of carbs that made the last ride so bad. I will work hard to not let that happen again. The ride was great right to the garage doors. 42 miles and I was ready for more. Just did not want to over do it after the desaster of Friday. Well that was then and this is now. The past is the past. Today is the only time we have. So eat Pancakes, Jelly, and peanut butter.

Days of quiet Victory

Mary Anne left for a 10 day book/teaching/business trip to the Tampa Florida area. She will be staying with great friends at a terrific place North of St Pete. Right on the water! I'll be here, right on the water waiting. And waiting and waiting.
So the ride last Friday is the bike subject. There is a lot to tell. Almost non of it very good. The one true gift of this dismal ride was I got the town sign in a sprint I did not know I was sprinting for. The town sign coming into Langley. A town I go through every ride is on a shallow down hill. Being paranoid someone will pass me I always ride the big gears up coming into town. I do this just in case anyone has been following me. This day and age I almost never look back. Eyes front and ride the bike. This time there was someone back there trying to catch me. As I came to the town sign I have a habit. As I pass the sign I put a V sign out with with 2 fingers with both hands, while my hands are still on the bars. As normal I did this and I hear a loud, "DAM" come from behind me. In an instant a tall fit older guy riding a all carbon Cannodale passes me. Just half a wheel back from the fantasy win. He was not happy and started trying to drop me at once. Now with as bad as I was riding on this day dropping me would be easy. So with all I could I got back up to this very fit guy and rode along side. I looked to this now smoking from the ears tough guy with the though we could have a laugh over the whole thing. So I looked at him and smiled and said, "now I did win the town sign didn't I?". Just thought we could laugh about it. I was ready to tell him how strong he was riding and that there was no way I could keep up. Let him know I was OK and not a threat or anything. It didn't work so well. He shifted and just went faster. Now this was through town. I was going to keep up with him for the less than a mile or so. Or die trying! He was really fast. I was having an epic slow and difficult day. So I stayed with him. I think he started smoking from his ears, mouth and ass all at once. Than he made a left hand turn where I go strait. Thank goodness for small miracles.
Now that that was over I could get back to suffering through this ride. Every hill, flat section (the few there are), roller and decent was just painful and hard. It was awful. The whole ride was just awful. There were times I just wanted to stop, get off the bike and sit. I felt I could not go on. It was a few feet at a time. Just keep going a few feet at a time. I knew if I just kept going it would end in about 3 hours plus or minus. Nothing was working right. As I faced the last fast down hill I was thinking to use the brakes to slow it down. Then reason came into view. If I go fast it will all be over sooner. Just hang on 5 miles to go. Just keep going 2 miles to go. It will all be over soon. Then the blessed driveway shows it's wonderful way to the garage. It was over. I was done with that hell of a ride.
All I could think of after that was sugar. Maple bars, pizza, anything with sugar and carbs. It seems I did not do such a good job of fueling up before the ride. I paid a price for that lesson. Bless maple bars.

Spring Days

It seems to be starting to break into Spring. The Temperatures are up. The need to be in Arctic gear is reducing. Still the humidity is 80+%. That makes for a cool ride in 50 degrees, but now it's warmer in the AM. The days are much longer. The Sun is doing it's job. Slowly pushing back the season and cooking the landscape with it's warmth. The road is changing with tree flowers and cut grass scattered all over it. The perfumes of flowers and fresh growth changing the air as I go down the long road.
This Wednesday was my first ride since Saturday. Not my choice. Just the way things had to be. It was a good time for my sometimes tired legs to get a rest. At my age the body just can not be put under the pressure of constant training anymore. I need the days off once and a while. It bothers me. It's just the way it is. The rides after the rest are always better. My legs fresher and stronger. I need to keep my training going. I need to keep it going at the right pace. Often I ride to hard. Push to go fast. Worry about someone catching up to me. My real need in the ride is to ride that 65% range. It builds the body up. Not tear it down. Oh, I need to go fast to. Just less often than I do. Not worry so much about getting caught from behind. There are some real fast riders around here. They would catch me anyway. I just have a hard time with that. I'm so dam competitive.
So this ride went very well. Rested and ready to rock. The weather was on the warm side,50+ degrees. Thought it had been and was raining off and on. An extra jersey and leg and arm warmers. Good choice as it turned out. Just in case I took a thin rain jacket. Never took it out of my back pockets. It was a 40+ mile day. I need to back off the 60 milers. They will have to wait for the warmer weather. So off I went on the #2 bike, fender on the rear tire. Lights too. One on the kit bag on the saddle, one on the rear of my helmet. On foggy or very overcast days there both on. Plus I wear a Hi/Vis green long sleeve jersey. Around here you got to be safe more than stylish. The trucks and some of the many retired folks need a heads up to move over a little. The retired people are the most dangerous. It's the normal, "those bikes don't belong on the roads". It's the same everywhere. Though the retired ones are so stiff in there thinking. I won't even go in to all that! Well, now back to the ride. Most of the ride were well tested roads. Roads I know every bump. Every spot where glass is scattered on thee road side. That is till the new glass shows up. I know all the hills. I know all the flats. Both ways. It's a small Island on the south side. So after I got warmed up the legs started to move well. In about 2 gears bigger. That's from the rest. I did a new way of the same roads. Still I will always do some the same way. Heggenes Hill, Holst Hill, Jewett Hill and Bailey road. If it had been dry I would have done Swede Hill. That's so steep at the start and finish I spin my wheel. Making the already hard climb very hard. I wait for that hill to be dry. So it was 41 miles on the nose. 2 hours 50 mins. Just training at an easy pace in hill country. I felt great at the finish. Not even that tired.
Now at home there are the bird adventures. The gray Harrier Hawk took a Moring Dove right in front of Mary Anne's eyes. What drama! Also there was a baby Humming bird on the deck. We tried to nurse it. It was 3/4 grown. Had feathers with some down left. It did drink from a device I made out of a Qtip. I cut the end off the plastic hollow shaft. We could get sugar water in it. Off and on the little Hummer drank. These things almost never work out with the bird living. Well it did not work out this time to. Then this AM the Coopers Hawk came by looking for breakfast. This place always has something going on.
Well till next time.

It's a Bird Day

After a short 42 mile ride. Just staying with the road. Working for the better life. Life that the road work gives back. The day this blog entry began.
At dinner with Mary Anne, we watched the Humming birds feed at one of our 2 feeders. The Anna's humming birds, and the Rufous Humming birds. Late in the day the Rufous Hummers go crazy. Fighting making their tail displays. Look at me dude, I'm bigger and badder than you. It goes on for hours. Some kind of dominance game. Then as I watched these little wonders the next wave came by. A Norther Harrier Hawk in full gray came by swooping and making his lighter than air moves looking for dinner. He came by our sun flower feeders and in a second turn 180 degrees and dropped to the ground. I knew dinner had been found. This was the first time the Harrier had been around. Just such a light bird in flight. More like a leaf blowing in the wind. Beautiful gray body and wings with black tips. He was on the ground holding tight to some food. I then saw the great bird do a bit of a jump up to get flying again. Then there it was, dinner. A small bunny. Just the Harrier's size. He started up and right over the cliff to eat this dinner prize on the beach. Not to be. The local Eagles would have nothing to do with this Harrier feeding in their area. An attack was on. The giant Bald Eagles, clearly 5 time larger or maybe more than the Harrier attacked. Next thing I saw was the Harrier with no bunny. Resting on the field next to us. Just sitting, re-grouping. No bunny in his talons. Wonder who had that dinner? So the poor harrier flew down the bluff looking and diving for it's next dinner chance. After that the local Bald Eagles were in close by tree being attacked by a Golden Eagle. It looked very serious! The Bald Eagle was hunkered down in a tree and the Golden was diving and almost hitting the Bald Eagle. Full talons showing. This was a serious fight. It went on for about 20 mins. I got lots of photos. It was a drama better than any movie. I hope the photo's show the drama. It was an active evening at the Bay. All this well with in bare eye sight. No binocularss needed.
The photos show one of the dives into the tree of the Golden Eagles. Also I have a shot of 3 eagles in the top of the fir tree right next to us during the fight. More photos to. Some hummers at the feeder. It was a lot of fun and drama.

Monday Ride on Tuesday

It seemed to be the first ride of the week. It was way cool, in the 40s. Though 50s were on the chart for the day. Humidity was 89%. Just this side of wet enough for misty rain or fog. The winter coat was coming along. With wind chill it would never get warm. There was no sun out to. I still took the #1 bike after a little work on the chain and some clean up. The rear wheel was a bit dirty after some chain and gear cleaning. All was ready for a nice mid to low range 60 mile effort. The change from the 40ish milers to 55 or 60 was now in full force. I was ready as the conditioning of winter had me in very good shape. Still it takes a few rides to bring the legs and body to the new longer effort. This ride was one of the harder days. Climbing was labored. I took some of the roads that had the steepest climbs. East Bay Road has a wicked hard climb. Not so long, but brutal. Effort after effort. Long rollers and steep short climbs in the first 15 miles. Just taking them easy. Still the heat rate got in the red zone on a few of the really steep ones. 39X25 is a bit tough for these old legs. Maybe a 36 tooth chain ring needs to be on the bike. On it went through Langley as always. Then more shallow climbs up Maxwellton past the High School. Over HWY 525 then down on to some flattish areas. The effort was good but a little labored. Next was Bailey road shallow up hill till a neutral area then turn on Cultus Bay Road for a bit. Make the turn on Jewett Road. It would be climbs for the next 10+ miles. There are some fast areas to. More or less climbs though. Then after all that back to Cultus Bay Road. All the effort was a bit off. Some steady and some very labored. It was not on the training format to be a hard day. It was turning out to be hard enough. By the time the loop took me back on Maxwellton and all it has. The climb up French Road Hill was going to be hard. The legs were in flat gear mode. French Hill is long climbing mode. The first bit of the hill was going to hurt. Then as it always does the legs get into long steady climb. Not mountains, just long hill. By the top, the body was happy. I like the long pace climbs. The climbs that can go on for hours. French Hill was just a few mins. Like 10at the most. Still the climbing muscles got into it. By the turn back on to Cultus Bay Road I was feeling good. Left turn to Langley. Some long shallow hills. Everything was going good. Mid range with a little speed. Then down to the traffic light to cross HWY 525 that goes to Langley. The light went green way far out from where I was. If I sprinted I could make it. So up I went, the MPHs went to full and I crossed as the yellow started. It was a long sprint. Flats on Langley Road for a bit to recover. I was breathing on the hard side for a short time. The lactic acid had come home to share the ride. It felt better in a short time. There was a School bus in front of me as I came into town. Stop and go and lots of cars an trucks to. Finally the road was clear to move through town and find Bayview Road Hill and home. The legs were not so much tired as just not working as well as I had hoped. The push home was OK. Just a little tender and used up. The hot bath with salts and lavender would help. Food and a little easy time to. Last thing, it ever got warm. Not once. I was glad for my winter riding jacket.

9000 feet

It a tribute to Noah Singer and the race he just finished. In one race of a Huge Stage Race. Noah and the racer's climbed 9000' in 3 climbs in one afternoon. Go Noah!
After that I put my own efforts to stay fit and alive in place. Efforts that take me to new places and new races every time I go out for a ride. I dream of the days I was a competitor. Being with the group. Staying in contact to the effort. Making my break on the hill climbs. Putting the hurt on everyone when I put the motor in high gear and grind the speed out. Live the races in my head all over again. Live the races in France on a hot July day I had only seen on the TV or a DVD. Noah's effort brings it home once again through his blog. Keep writing Noah. An "old guy" reads and dreams.
For my rides there has been 2. Friday and Sunday.
Friday's ride was hard. There was something not working in the system. Some nasty little thing running around in my blood. The legs were like lead. There was no effort in them. If I pushed even a little the lactic acid just forced the legs to shut down from the pain. What the hell was going on? Mary Anne, Sandra Ann, Cathy, John and I had gone out for dinner at a great Mexican Restaurant. The food was wonderful. I had just finished a 55 mile easy pace ride. 4 hours. Drove to meet everyone at the restaurant. It was a fun time till we got home. Mary Anne who is deathly allergic to any seafood or her food having any contact to seafood. Was turning RED and swelling out. Her eyes were half open. Her brain was half working to. It was time for Benadryl. The stuff that brings her back from near death. Now Sandra Ann our house guest did not look so good to. She said she was poisoned to. Food Poisoning!!!! Oh no. So having a cast iron stomic I was very worried for the girls. Mary Anne went right to bed and I kept a very close eye on her. Sandra Ann did a bit better, but, went to bed very early and was not doing that well. I did not even think about how this would effect my ride. Then I'm on the ride, and truth came out in the legs as it always will. The ride always tells the story. The legs would not work because of the food poisoning running through the blood. The liver had not had the time to clean it all out. Every crank of the peddles was a huge effort. Even at a very low range of effort. I wanted to turn back or shorten the ride at every corner. I managed to get the full 41 mile ride in. Every inch was an effort. Age never felt so close. The ride was done and I took a 2 hour bath in Epsom salt and lavender with some bubbles thrown in. Hot water and sweat. I had the finger crossed. I was feeling better by that evening. Looking very close at the food I was eating. I'm not even going to talk about the time I spent in the bathroom not taking a bath! After all this I was a little worried about the next ride on Sunday.
Sundays ride was to be a long middle to hard effort. 60 miles at a push. It was perfect weather, few clouds, the sun was out. It was still to cool to ride without leg and arm warmer. I also rode with a long sleeve jersey over the arm warmers. I wanted to keep warm. In all it was a good choice. Just a bit warm, but the body was happy to feel the blood at the right temperature. I was on the #1 bike with the 53X39gears. Better high end speed. Everything was going well. The climbs were a bit tough with the stiffer gear. The speeds on the climbs about the same as the lower geared winter bike. All was well. Every other part of the ride was fast. 2 to 3 MPH faster that the winter bike. the #1 bike in much lighter to. 17.5 pounds. I carry all the extra stuff in my jersey. Nothing strapped to the bike. The down hill sections were blazing fast. The flattish areas were 22 MPH to 28 MPH. It looked to be a very fast ride. I was feeling great. All was well again. At the finish my time for 60 miles was 3 hours and 50 mins. That's a new record for me on this "very hilly Island". The poison had passed in so many ways.

Just a note before I go out again

Riding always has it's good and less good days. My last ride on Wednesday seemed like a easy day. Small gears, small miles (41). A recovery type ride. Just ease through the ride never get near the "RED ZONE". Even in the climbs just easy does it. The weather seemed nice. Sun and it felt warmish. Light gear with arm and leg warmers. No finger gloves to. By the time I hit Bayview Corners (1.5 miles) I was cold enough to stop in at HalfLink. I needed long finger gloves. As it would turn out I needed more than that. My core was getting colder and colder. Even with hill climbs. I was losing heat through the whole ride. It was a good ride, but a cold ride. I don't do so well when I'm cold. When I got home 3 hours later. I was cold to the bone. Then I was going out to dinner with Mary Anne, family, and a friend from North Carolina. So it was shove some protein down me and get going. I was meeting everyone on my own. I had on 3 light coats. Zipped up as high as I could. When I got there I was still very cold. Mind you I had drank a hot cup of coffee at home before getting in the car. It was going to be a long fun dinner. I never warmed up. Not once for the few hours we were there. Even when we got home I was still cold. My core had been abused a little to much. It was 2 hours after we got home that the heat in my body was restored. I thought that was that and all was fine.
Next day I was paying the price for my abuse. The body just would not get going. I was hammered. I slept a good part of the day. I also think I got a little food poisoning from the Mexican restaurant. It was a bad day. I really felt old. Oh well. So now I'm getting ready to go out again. It's the Friday ride. It should be a 60 mile ride. Hummm, maybe not. I'll just have to go out and see what I can do after a long slow warm up. These are the day's of spring on the Island. 40 something degrees and 80% humidity. Mix that with the bike speed and it's still cold. I'm going out warmer today.

The miles of spring

It is not the spring so much as the moments of warm weather. After the long season of winter riding every warm moment is a prize. Riding my #1 bike, over the winter bike. Seems like a small thing. Not so much for me. Riding a bike, the #1 bike, is such a joy. A bike that just has something special. It feels so light and delivers power so directly. I push it goes! Climbing feels much better. Not so much faster. Just better, as if there is magic in the frame. Got to like that. The #1 frame is not even that high end of the Cannondale line. Still a VERY good frame. I have climbed 3 and 4 hour climbs in the Cascade Mountains with this bike and always finished first in my group. By alot! 30 mins and longer once! That should never happen as I am a BIG rider at 215 pounds and 6'5". Now I am just bringing this up to show how good this #1 frame is. So when I took it out for it's first ride since winter 5 months ago. The feel was so exciting. As posted, 60.4 miles in 4 hours. That's just training to. Then my next ride, the ride this blog is about, was on the winter bike. 55 miles in 4 hours. It's just like that, the #1 bike has something special in it. So here's for the good weather. Here's to Cannondale. Speed is body and bike working together. Well, and 4200 mile since January first. That helps.

The last 100 mile

No, it's not the last 100 miles to be ridden. Well I hope not! It is the post of the last 2 rides to get current.
Thursday was a 40 miler. It turned out to be 41 in 2 hours 50 mins. Not to bad. I was happy with the effort. I was happy with the day and weather. 56 degrees and sunny. Just a little over dressed, but not much. Still having worries about getting cold. There have been some rough rides in the last few weeks. So, I carried a thin jacket and extra pair of long finger gloves in the rear pockets. It all just turned out to be extra weight. The wool vest was a little warm and was wet by the time I got home. The wet wool vest also made the last few miles a little cold from the evaporation. The best way to dress is in a jersey and vest, if needed, that are dry when you get home. The new fabrics do that well. So on this ride there was a little sweating that would not evaporate fast enough. It was a good course. Some of the few flats around here to run the big gears in. Good hard climbs to push hard on. About 50/50. The body was working well. The bike was working well. The weather was working well. Not a bad time to. Not many other riders out. Enough to give the wave to. I got home feeling good. Ate the food. Enjoyed being close to Mary Anne. The best part of any day.
Saturday:
Full blown sunny day with temps that would hit 62 for a few moments. It was like a new time had hit the Island. Every bike was out. It was a parade. All kinds of bikes. All kinds of color. More bare legs and arms than you could count. Still, mostly the bikes were out in the AM, before the temps were warm enough for me. I was waiting for the warmest part of the day. I have been on the roads all winter and I'm tired of the cold. So I was waiting. Also it was still to cold to ride with bare legs and arms for this old horse. Although the outfit was light, there were still arm and leg warmers on. I was glad of it to. The shadows and down hill descents were still cold for my bare skin. I am a "serious training" old guy. There are rules for the body to keep it working at top speeds. Warm knees and blood are key to good performance. I saw 2 other serious riders on my ride and they both had arm and leg warmers on to. All the other folks were first ride of the season riders. More interested in there tan's. The tan will come soon enough. Oh, this was the first day of the Bayview Corners Farmers Market. It's a big deal and lots of fun. It will go on every Saturday till September some time. Mary Anne and I go all the time. The food is wonderful. A lot of the produce is wonderful to. there is one lady, "Back Door Bakery", that bakes the #1 pie. Her apple crumble is just one of my favorites. You have to get there early as she sells out by noon or earlier. All her stuff is first rate. So the day was a parade of sorts. My ride goes right past the Market. The smells and sounds were so cool. Music, people doing entertainment, color, smells and way to to many cars. Though there is a very good bike lane going through this area. No problems. From there it was of to my roads. All the roads I have ridden all winter. Plus a few more. I did some of the climbs twice! Oh,it was great. I was dressed perfect. I had gels and ZipFizz. All my flat tire gear was in my jersey pocket not on the bike. I had my favorite jersey and bib tights on from "Competitive Cyclist". I looked simple Continental. Ready to join the squad down the road for our "day at the office". It was glory. I was riding the #1 bike. New chain and New Campy rear derailleur with a mid size hanger. Everything was perfect. The effort was good but, not over the top. Once I was warmed up I just worked big gears all the ride. The hills were a little hard as I was riding the 39 tooth crank that was also the 53 tooth crank. I had been riding the 50X34 all winter on the #2 bike. It's close to the same for the mid range. It's the high and low range on the #1 bike that make the effort different. It's just 2" different for the climbing gear, but on the really hard and steep climbs that makes a difference in how fast the legs can turn over. I went up all the steepest climbs. I did some twice as I said. Man the other stuff was fast. That big old 53X12 is a great gear to go fast in. I was just hammering. 22 MPH all the time. The speeds were so much fast on this bike. Well, 4 hours later to the min. I was home. Still feeling. Not beat into the road. I check the mileage. 60.4 miles in 4 hours. Not bad for a training ride with 2 stops for fuel and my meds with a little tighten of my saddle to. Bring on the warm weather. I am ready.

Minke in the Bay

It was the same old morning. Coffee and pills. Ease into the day. Hope the pain was going to keep it's distance. Than I saw what I had always hoped to see in the bay on my morning coffee. 6:22 AM a whale broke the surface of the water and came into my view. I was thrilled! The birds were following it's every move. Looking for a meal I'm sure. I was glued to the binoculars. For 20 mins and 8 time I saw this great animal of the inland waters of Puget Sound. The water here on our big bay are VERY shallow for about half the bay. There must be a lot of food in the bay this morning. The Minke Whale was in the deep part right up to the edge of the shallows where it then drops off and gets very deep. It was thrilling and a little worry some to. Was this a sick animal looking to beach it self and die. It was so close to where it was sand on a extra low tide. As I watched and wondered the Minke came up and dove down showing it's Fluke (tail), and then was gone. I have not seem the whale since. What a morning coffee. Though I am going to keep an eye on the up come extra low tide in a few hours today.

That's More Like It

No ice. No snow. No bone chilling cold. 55 degrees felt like a mid summer day. I was a little over dressed, but, not much. I carried a thin jacket in my jersey pocket if I needed it. Just extra weight is all it turned out to be. Not to mention the extra pair of long finger gloves. Just did not want to be cold if the weather took a turn. Weather was good but, on the edge. The good edge was during the ride. 3 hours and 23 mins., 50 miles. Now my last ride was about the same time and 33 miles. What a difference. Climbing in a stout gear. Taking on Swede hill and feeling fresh. Feeling good for most of the ride. It was good to see that I was coming back to a normal kind of form after the cold weather and intestinal flu. I was just hoping it would all come back together. So hurry for some warm weather.

Swallows and Band-Tailed Pigeons

Yesterday evening, as if on some cue. The Swallows come back to this area to do what they do best. Eat bugs and lots of them. I took this as a sign that the better part of Spring was here. This morning at the bird feeders it was Band-Tailed Pigeons. Both these birds, the Swallows and the Band-Tailed Pigeons go South for the winter. Their return a sure sign the warmer weather must be close. It started snowing at about 10:30 AM this morning. Not a blizzard, but cold mixed rain and snow. Cold was the word for the day. A ride day. I was looking for a way out of this ride. There was no way. Even if I wanted to. I had to do the miles. At 11:30 AM I could not see across Puget Sound for the snow that was coming our way. It was 38 degrees and April 18th. It was going to get colder to. The weather event was coming from the North. I just could not wait any longer. So out into the wet/snow and cold I went. My heaviest gear on. 2 pair of gloves, one neoprene. A very heavy wool vest. I was as ready as I knew how to be for this. Out I went. Another 40 miler. Down the roads to the first climb of Lone Lake Road. It was snowing that wet does not stick snow with a little hail. Hum, back down the hill to Langley. Well that's the short version. Back up out of Langley past all the schools. It was as much rain as snow. More like a glass full of water with ice to cool it down. It was to cold to push to hard. Plus I was still on the mend from the food poisoning. Just working on not working to hard. Building my body back up, not tearing it down. The snow was getting a little heaver. Maybe more snow than rain. My hands were starting to get cold. It was way early for the hands to start freezing up. My feet were starting to get cold to. Even with thick neoprene booties on. My feet were starting to freeze. I was not even to the top part of my ride. The area where it is always cold and tree covered. Holst Road hill. A nice climb to the ridge of one of the taller hills in the area. As I climbed the temperature fell fast. The snow took over. It was so cold and I was now so cold I had to change my plans. I went down Heggenes hill instead of climbing it. In the snow. I was really freezing at this point. I was going to have to make it home fast. Numb hands and feet now. Neoprene was no help at all today. That's never happened to me before. I cut back for home on French Road hill. Still up a little high. Going down French hill I was pelted hard with snow and a lot of hail. I could barely turn a gear over. I think everything was freezing up. A couple of small but hard climbs and I was home. 2 hours 45 mins and 33 miles. Wow, I think the Swallows and the Pigeons had it wrong for today. As I write this there is another snow front coming across the Sound. It's colder now than it was at 10 AM. It was a hard day in the saddle.

Shadows at my Back

My ride on the 16th was again cold. Not so cold though. Mid 40s and air moist as rain but not raining. Even a sun beam was out. Then it were gone. Just another ride to go out and train no matter what. Man, I'm looking for some warm weather to break. It was going to be an easy 50 mile ride. Just turn over the cranks. Do the job and do it right. I'm still repairing from the over training. Also the mental difficulty of going out in this endless wet cold. Keeping the faith to the road. Saying my prayers to the circuit. Keeping the Reaper behind. Keeping a good distance on this ever pursuing competitor.
So what was different. Nothing was working in my legs. The body was just hammered in the first mile. Lactic acid or lack of electrolytes. Maybe my potassium was down. I have naturally low potassium. I'm also taking my high blood pressure medication again after being out for months. The result is a much lower heart rate even under stress. My normal going up hill heart rate is 163. Now with this med it's 134. Less blood and O2 getting to the muscles. It all adds up to poor performance. Even on the flatter roads it was just an effort to roll over the gears. What's an old fart to do. Well not 50 miles today that for sure. It was all I could do to manage 41 and then I was a basket case. Just to tired to stand. I hit the chair and just lowered my head. It was to heavy to hold up. I had noticed this on the last 10 miles of the ride. My head was just to heavy to hold up. I did manage to eat some chicken. Protein in the first 30 mins after the ride is good. It did not help at all. I was still just drained.
As it turned out there was some other factors that were not working in my favor. Before the ride my best friend was the bathroom. It was a fast trip all together. I was hoping that was it. No, just before going out the door I had to talk to my best friend again. Take off half my gear to do it to. I hoped that was it! Out on the road it was OK except I could not ride so well. Then going up Heggene's Hill it was bad. I was looking for any place to stop. After 3 miles there was a construction site with a nice chemical friend. An un-locked chemical friend. Thank the stars and the rules that these chemical friends must be on a building site. As I finished one of the contractor's gave me the it's OK nod, anytime. On home was safe for the need. As it turns out both Mary Anne and I were making friends in the same way. We both think we have food poisoning. I started drinking as much ZipFizz as I could. It is a sports drink with tons of electrolytes. I did start to feel a little better. After all it was Bingo Night at the Senor Center. Can't miss that! So I think we both have food poisoning from some meat we had. Hamburger may be the sinner. Maybe not to. It's a hard one to tell. The timings right for the hamburger.
So today the 17th is repair day for this old body. Be careful what I eat. Be thoughtful what I drink. Think about what the body needs to replace all that is missing. Hope it's the food, not, the drugs I need to take everyday. My blood pressure was very high at the Doctors office, 170 over 78. Man that's bad! That Reaper just never gives up. Well I'm not giving up ether.

Tax Day

So the post is about yesterday. April 14th. A day that took me back. Winter came home again and it's here to stay for a bit. The glories of Saturday just a crack in the door of what's to come later. Winter is now back and in control. 39 degrees, wet, a bit of wind to chill it down and make the ride a little tougher. I so wanted to ride in light gear. Just a jersey, bib tights, arm and leg warmers, regular gloves. That was not for yesterday, no not at all. It was winter gear and the winter bike again all over. Neoprene was a welcome sight. So once again I was ready to battle the weather. To make the miles and do the circuit. Keep the training going no matter what. On the road again in the winter of this little Island.
As I went down the first mile of wet road I knew I had picked the wrong gloves. Still hoping they would do over heavy winter gloves. Bad choice. So I stopped into Half Link the local bike shop to find a pair of new winter gloves. No turning back for me at this point. David and his wife were busy working on bikes brought in on Saturdays glory. Bikes that thought it was summer. Bikes that thought it was time to be dusted off again. Take there owners for the adventures of the road and trail. So both David and his partner looked up and smiled with a slight glance outside at the rain and cold. "Where did it go" David asked. "Not here" was my reply. I was looking for a good pair of warm water proof gloves. David had a pair of thin neoprene gloves in my size. I put them on, on the spot. As I stepped out the door. I looked back to the 2 and said, "you know I'm tough, but I sure would like to see my naked finger again, have some warmer weather". This cold riding is getting hard. Testing my steel and my truth. Truth to the road. Out I went to do the mile, new gloves and all. Down the roads I know so well. Rain, hard cold spring rain. It had hailed a few mins ago. I was facing a white ride. Hard rain is tough to deal with. So up the first of the climbs. Just getting warmed up. Starting to know I would get this ride done. As I have done so many times before in winter weather. Even my face shows the signs of all the weather this winter season. The cutting cold of thousands of miles on the un-covered bare skin exposed to all this weather. Well here some more. Down the first climb at 25 to 30 MPH. Hard rain pounding on everything. It might even snow on Friday. That's the forecast. Friday is a ride day. First I finish this ride. One ride at a time. Down to Saratoga Road, right turn to Langley. Keeping the gears soft. Not putting to much pressure on as today was a recovery ride. I'm still doing some re-build from my over training of the recent past. Letting the muscles repair and build up. It's hard to force these low efforts. I always like to push harder. On easy efforts I'm looking behind me a lot. Looking for the rider coming up on me. The one that wants to pass me. Make me feel slow. It's hard to talk myself down from the push. I have started to use big gears on the flatter areas. Just roll the big gears over and not push them to hard. That way I get the speed up with out to much effort. Staying in the recovery zone but feeling fast. All this thinking and I was through Langley and up Maxwellton and cross SR-525 getting near the fun climbs of Jewett Road, Glendale Road, Holst Road, Deer Lake Road and Heggenes Road. All the best hill climbs in my circuit. The pace kind of climbs. Just ease up and stay out of the "Red Zone". It's good work. The best part of the ride. As I went up all this the tell tale signs of winter showed with white on the side of the road. White of winter. A fair amount of hail had collected at the tops of each climb. The sides of the roads were filled. It was real cold to. Winter at the top again. After all this, it was the turn for home. 15 miles to go on this 41 mile ride. Back to Langley. Up Bayview Hill. Then the FAST decent to Bayview Corners where "Half Link" is and on home 1 1/2 miles away. Just riding easy as I did the whole ride. Feeling good about the ride and the effort. Looking forward to a hot bath. A shower to. I was dirt up to the knees again. That's winter riding on April 14th.

Thursday and Saturday

Thursday was a nice ride in small gears, that's about that.
Now Saturday was a ride to write about. Perfect weather. Warmest day of the year so far. It got into the 60s, mid 60s! It started out at about 55 degrees. Still warmer than anything I have ridden in in 7 months. I was going to ride the #1 bike for the first time in forever. I had to re-build the #1 bike from ground up first. New campy brakes, strip and clean everything. It was not that bad and well lubed up. Just had to do the right thing to my favorite frame. Get everything first class for this magnificent weather. Re-do a few settings for my new form. Set the bars a little lower, the saddle a little higher and more forward. It's the little things that make all the difference for comfort and speed. Also a new front tire. The last one had a huge slash in it from a winter ride on the #2 bike. Everything was ready. Now the reduced gear to wear. Just a summer outfit with arm and leg warmers. Still not that warm in the shadows. There are a lot of shadows here on the Island. I was looking good in skin tight. I must have weighed 5 pounds less by not having on all the winter gear. I was pumped. Two bottles of ZipFizz energy drink. A few gels. All the tire gear in one of my 3 pockets of the Competitive Cyclist jersey. My white Sidi carbon fiber shoes. I could see my fingers for the first ride since October of 2007. I was ready to go. Just feeling and looking great. It was going to be a surprising. Oh, also I was running normal gears on my cranks, 53X39. I have been on 50X34 all winter. I checked the gear chart to remind me what gears use. Over all there not that much different. Just more power in the 53X39. I was ready for the power. It was going to be a normal route. Only a little longer. Not much though. I had been working short miles since I over trained. Doing the easy rides to build my system back up. Just 33 and 36 miles. That's a little short for me. So today would be close to 50 miles. I am in great shape and I can do almost any mileage I want. 20 to 100 miles I will be fine. Maybe 120 to 150 and I will have to stop a few times for fuel and a stretch. So 50+- would do for today. So as soon as I get out on the road in just mins I see the first group ride going the other way. A normal group the fast guys leaving the slow guys and the few middle guys wondering what to do. I was not interested in that. I wanted to do my own training. On thru Bayview Corners working my way to Lone Lake Road I came up on a rider. A century type rider. Older bike, but the guy could ride all day. I have seem his type. So I just did the stealth thing on his rear wheel for a bit to see how he rode. The hills slowed him up a bit. It was then that he noticed me on his wheel. In the past I would just dusted a guy like this off and leave him in my rear. These days I was interested to see who he was. Turned out to be an organizer type for long rides with his friends from Seattle. He had just moved to the Island 4 months before. He was very fit. Just not very fast. Fast enough to hang with for a bit. My age to, real old. His name was John and he lived about 10 miles from Mary Anne and I. On the other side of a big hill. There was going to be a big organizational meeting for a South Island Bike group. More political than anything.He pitched it to me and told me where and when. I promptly forgot. We did have a nice chat though. He took a left, I was going strait up Lone Lake Hill. Next time John. I was feeling so sparky. My legs were full of power from the easy rides. I was still holding back. Not trying to over do, but the #1 bike is such a fast and good bike on the hills. It just wants to go. No wasted effort on this bike. I push the peddles it goes strait to the wheels. Best bike I have ever ridden for the hills. I can climb 2 gears bigger than my other bike. 2 to 3 MPH faster to. Going up hill! It's very fast on the flats or rollers to. I got to Saritoga Road with it's steep section. Wondered how it would go. It went great. Still a very hard and steep hill, but not to long. Then it was a fast ride into Langley. Not over the top though. Fast and at a low heart rate. Pushing a big gear easy and shifting smart. Never saw the Red Zone. Did the easy ride through the town and off to Maxwellton Road. A easy climb to some flats on top past the schools and to the other side of SR 525. Everything was going good. I was having a few gear problems though. The gear on the rear wheel are on the old side and are worn. The chain was skipping on the smaller cogs. I was going to have to replace these. I also will replace the derailleur on the rear from a short cage to a mid size cage. Everything else was working perfect. The speed was so good. I guess there was a lot less drag having skin tight gear on. So on I went to all the hills I have learned to love. Yeah, I love hills. Well when I'm on my own. When I don't have some 150 pound person showing me how big I am. At 215 pounds the fight with weight really shows up with gravity. For now I am king of the climbs. I did all the normal climbs and had a great time. Then it was back towards Langley and cross SR 525 at Kens Corners. there is a fast down hill before the the traffic lights. I was going to get the green light if I hurried. I was going faster than the cars as I went through the light. I found out later that Mary Anne saw me as she was at Ken's Corners. I never saw her. I just kept going. Got my speed back down to a good pace and made my way to Langley now on Langley Road. I got to the town and it was about PILL time so I went through downtown Langley looking for a clock of some sort, nothing. Then I looked and saw one of those hills going from down town to out of town. Steep, long enough to hurt an old guy at the last 9 or so miles of a ride. I put my head down. Remained in the saddle and just went up easy as that. I was stunned at how well the bike and I did. At the top I was not even in the Red Zone. I had avoided this hill since we moved to the Island. Not a long climb, just steep. The kind people don't walk up very often. There it was, a fear turned out to nothing more than foolishness. After that it was more hills and good times. I was into the last part of the ride. The last 3 or so miles. I felt fine. I got home. I felt fine. I did not feel drained at all. I could have gone a lot longer. I could feel the winter miles in my legs telling me the effort was worth the time. The prize had been the work.

Tuesday Ride

Well it turned out that yesterday, Tuesday, was my first ride in a week. 7 days without a ride. I could hardly stand it! Still as in my last post, the ride was going to be easy with less miles. I mean I was ready for everyone to pass me that rode a bike on the Island. It was cold and wet and I was one of only a few out training. So the thought of getting passed turned out to be my own BS to myself. The ride did turn out to be 32 miles in a gear I normally climb shallow hills in. I barely broke a sweat. 2 hours 25 mins for 32 miles! Man that's slow. I never felt tired during the ride. I even climbed a nice hill of about a mile, French Road Hill. Felt great once my legs got into it. I kept the climb easy to. Just eased up the hill hardly breathing outside of normal. I got my first ride in in 7 days. Also half way through this ride the sun came out and the rain stopped. It made it all the way to 52 degrees. It felt like summer. I was dressed for wet and cold. A little over dressed. It was better than getting cold.
When I got home, dressed back into jeans and a warm shirt. Put down some food. Chicken soup with a chicken sandwich. During that time. Looking out over the bay and the back yard. Looking at all the local back yard birds we feed I saw one of the 6 eagles that live close by sitting in the fir tree right next to our yard. 30 yards away or closer. Very close. Wow, it was wonderful. Now I see these grand birds everyday close as they fly eye high just over the back yard. This one, the young one. Still in it's dark feathers of it's youth. It was just sitting there. Normally when their this close and they see any movement they fly off. Even not so close they fly away. This young bird was warming himself in the sun. I looked around and saw what I think is his parents doing the same in their perch tree 100+ yards away and at the very top of a tall fir tree. The one close was just right there! So I got the camera out a took a few shots. It's my photo for the post. I even went out to fill our back yard bird feeders where this giant could watch every move I made. He still did not fly off. That's never happened so close to an eagle. It was one of those rare moments with birds.

OTS

Thursday came and went. It's now Saturday. No ride since Tuesday. My body just didn't have it in it to go. I slept almost all of Wednesday. Still very tired on Thursday. Just starting to recover on Friday. Over Training Syndrome (OTS). It's when the body has used it self up and can't recover through rest. I was working hard and not resting well enough. It was not the food. It to some degree was not the rides. It is my age. My body just needs better rest between rides. Rest is where all the benefits of the work out come. Add to this I am diabetic and I do not metabolize food well. The glycogen does not get to my muscles and I have no fuel for rides. I was bonking on the last few rides. Bonk is when you run out of fuel. OTS and diabetes makes for a bad combination. Rest is all I can do, 3 to 5 days is what the information sheet seems to think. I'm on my forth day. I can hardly stand it. I want to ride. Still I have to shorten my rides to 25 or 30 miles. Use an easy gear all the time. Keep the heart rate on the low side. Start to build up to the miles again. I guess it's just a new goal. Over come this problem. Well the work out I can deal with. The diabetes there is a medical protocol that I have to get more meds for. Getting older I have no choice in. I'll go out today in the cold wet wind again. This time I'll go out easy. Work at rebuilding. Funny, I worked so hard this Winter. Then my diabetes kicked me because I did not have the right amount of a drug. My fault for not having a local Dr. to get me the drug I need and the amount I need more than that. I didn't see it coming. Well here it is!
So I am going to go out for a short ride today. 25 to 30 miles in a easy gear. Be careful of the fuel and glyogen.

Out the Door with a Push

There are few days like Tuesday. Few ride days that the power of no, over came the need of yes. It was very cold again. 35 degrees and would reach 40 by Noon. It was so hard to get the gear on and go out. Face another cold ride. The bone chilling wind that the bike would make. The chill I was still over coming from last Friday's "Snow" ride. This is my second ride since Friday and I'm still feeling the cold bite at me. So the power to go, took all the power I could find. 2 hours of just pacing the floor making excuses. Doing what I could to put the ride off for a little bit longer. Put off the chill. It was just after noon. With all the winter gear I could put on. Out I went. Do another 45 miler. Freezing in the shade and tree covered areas. Warming in the sun and on the climbs. Artic chill again on the descents to the start of the next climb. By 3 PM it might reach 44 degrees.
All my friends (roads), Bayview, Andreason, Lone Lake Hill, Saratoga Hills, Langley Town, Maxwellton Hills, French Road, Bailey Rollers, Cultus Bay, Jewelett Hill, Glendale Hill, Hoilst Hill, Deer Lake Rollers, Heggenes Hill, back to Cultus Bay on the way to Langley Road, through Langley Town to Bayview Hill, and home. As it turned out all I could do was 40 miles. I was bonking at about mile 25. My sports replacement drink was holding me up and that was gone by mile 32. Time to stop in Langley to put down the 2 gels I had for emergence's. I still had 7 miles or so to get home. My brain was at about 3/4 speed. Just holding myself together. Home would come soon. I have done Bayview Hill up, fast decent and the rest to home so many times. I was working on memory. Not bad, but still not at 100%. The gels were working and I was feeling a bit better. The sun was out for the last bit of the ride. The warmth against the black winter tights was warming me up. The last bit was more out in the open. Not so many trees. It added a few degrees of warmth to the body. A little less ice to the bone. Well it feels that way. La Nina has her grips on our area. A weather pattern that keeps things in the Pacific NW cooler. This La Nina is the worst, ever. So I got home. Half numb, working at about half speed. Just standing around. Cold and a bit wet from sweat on the inside. I may have over dressed for the up hills. Though not for the down hills. What do you do? Chicken soup and a peanuntbutter sandwich. Eat the rest of the left over pizza to. It was good to be home. A 1 hour hot bath to. Get the bones warm. Get ready for the next ride on Thursday. Hope for a little warmer weather.

Sunday Ride

It's been 2 days since the "Snow" ride. Every other day is the training for now. This is the other day. I had a difficult ride in the cold and snow. I did not realize just how much that "Snow" ride took out of me. No matter, today is a ride day. Today was cold again. 35 degrees and off and on wet. I looked out the windows over Useless Bay, it started to snow. The snow stopped in a few mins. It was hard to look at that wet snow. The "Snow" ride was still in me and I did not want that again. Never mind all that, lay out the riding gear. All the same stuff as last time only a riding jacket instead of a heavy rain jacket. Also took some neoprene gloves as a back up. The bike was clean and ready to go again. I was going to do the same course as last time. Do the 65% to 70% effort ride again to. Hoped for a dryer ride with little or no snow.
I took off from the house. It was not raining or snowing. The roads were still wet. Me and the bike were going to get dirty from all the road dirt and sand. Real dirty! I just rolled into this ride easy. Just like the last ride. No rabbit this time. What fool would be out today. Just me. Not that many cars and trucks on the road to. The price of fuel is having an effect. Even if only on Sunday. So the ride was going to be easy in that way. On up Lone Lake Road and in and out of Langley. Moving to the higher areas of the Island. The weather was much better. It has only snowed for a few mins here and there. Where I was in slush on Friday, it was just wet now. Much easier moving and the gears were happy. I moved to Heggenes Hill. Up this nice climb. Say hello to the field horses. They all looked today. For the first time the black horse on the bottom at the start of the climb looked at me. I have been talking to that horse for 6 months. It was nice to get noticed by him. On up the hill and back in the direction of Langley. It was still miles to go, the snow was gone and a little sun came out. I was starting to bonk a little. I drank the rest of my go juice. Made me feel better. Through Langley and up Bayview Hill and the last 5 miles to home. Today I could go full speed down this hill. Soon I would be 2 miles from home. I looked down at my legs. the legs was covered in dirt and sand. I would have to strip in the garage. Well most of the outer layers. First though the last mile. The sun was full on now. The last mile was glorious. I was tired and cool when I got home. My brain was running a bit slow. Once I cleaned the bike. I stripped myself and found some hot chicken soup. It was still a tough ride. Nothing like Friday's ride thouth. That was epic. Today was just hard.

Spring Ride

It's the end of March. I have had the most wonderful first year of marrage to Mary Anne. We spent 2 nights in downtown Seattle. Right next to "Pike's Market". I pray for many more. More than I can count.
Now this is a training log. One that has been poorly used for the last few days. Rides have gone by. The rides seem to be normal. Every day rides on the same roads I use all the time. 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 miles. All planned out. I know every corner. Every hill and all the spots to keep an extra close eye on. It's not that the rides are boring, there not. Just I want more to write about these last few weeks. More than I did this good or need to improve here or there. More than I ran down this guy on a hill and passed him by. Or hung out with him or her for awhile. More than, this hill was so hard that people stopped there cars and looked as I went up hill there cars could barly go up. I have not stopped training. Only if Mary Anne and I travel, and then I often take the bike and ride then to. I ride when I'm not feeling good. I ride when I'm feeling great and all feelings in between. I keep to the training. I stay with the program. My program to live a stronger life. A healther life. I ride!
The post today is an epic ride. Epic can be many definitions. Today post is about weather.
I started out by finding all the right gear for the ride. Warm gear! It was 36 degrees and the weather report was saying SNOW. it's the end of March, spring is here. Bad weather comes in spring, but, rarely snow. Once again I was the Stay Puff Marshmallow rider. Heavy long sleave base jersy. Heavy thermal tights. Very heavy wool vest, custom made. Arm warmers, with a long sleave jersy over all that. Then a heavy rain jackey over all that. I had to finish dressing in the garage so I would not break out in a sweat. Regular riding gloves with extra heavy long finger gloves over that. Full baclava over my head ears and neck, with a exrta regular head cover over all that. It was a wonder I could get on the bike. I was ready to go. It was raining and 36 degrees. It felt colder. I started on the ride. I was going to do 40+ miles as this was my second ride in a week. My last ride was good till later that night. A fever of 100. The bathroom was my best friend that night. I guess I could eat again in 10 hours or so. I wanted to just have an easy ride. Roll back into the gears. Not pust to hard. Do the right thing. Have a nice 65% to 70% effort ride. Work the program and get stronger little bits at a time. It was wet and cold. As I moved down the road past the first traffic lights I saw the rabbit. A rabbit is a rider out front. Someone to chase down, to "beat", go faster than. Play the game of king of the mountian. Who's faster, you or me with. The rabbit looked back and it was on. I still was un-willing to use my big gears. I could see I would catch the rabbit, but it was going to take sometime. As the road began it's normal up hill section to Lone Lake I had halfed the distance to the rider in front. He was looking back all the time. He was riding like a good rider. Someone that trained and was fit. I just kept rolling at my pace. Picking up one foot at a time. By the top of the first climb at Lone Lake I could see his face. I knew if I wanted on the decent I would catch him. I stayed in the small gears so it would take a little longer. At the bottom if this hill there was a stop and right hand turn. My brakes were wet and had a little fresh oil on them. I got the bike to stop before going into the cross road. The distance was so close if I stood up and put a little effort in I would be by this guy. On this part of the road you have to take care of you effort as there was a monster hill coming at you. Push to hard early and you die on the steep hill coming up. I was going to catch up at the bottom of this very hard hill and I was fresh to climb hard. I made the gap and we rode the hill together. Nick was his name. He is a nice guy. I was close to 30 years older than Nick. I no longer was running him down and we talked for a bit till I had to go out front becouse of traffic. It was all Nick could do to hold on. He had told me he had seen me alot on the roads from his car. That made me feel good. He asked how many miles I do. I said 3000+- to that time this year. He went silent. Nick just looked at me when we were side by side. The town sign for Langley was coming soon and it would be a down hill run to the town. The only time of the ride I used the big gears. No way Nick was getting the town sign from me, NO WAY. I rolled into Langley doing 30 something MPH. Not even working so hard. Nick got by my side well past the sign at the first stop sign. His eye brows went up. We both smiled and went on. Nick lives in Langley and was following and that was the last I saw of him. It started to snow. It was all wet every where so the snow never had a chance once it hit the ground. As I left Langley, a small town right on the water, I moved past the County Fair Grounds. There small to. Then it was a right turn to up hill to the High School. Every foot up hill the snow got heaver. At the top of this little climb it was really feeling and looking like a snow storm. Roads were still clear. Every mile now was snow. My glasses had to be cleared often to see. Just use my fingers like a wiper. The bigger of the climbs would be coming soon. The ones that go to the highest part of the South Island. I knew the snow would get heavy. The road sides would start building up snow. Left turn to the start of miles of climbing. Maybe in total 5 mile of some easy, some very hard hill climbing. The snow was starting to collect on the road as slush. I just kept it at a little easier pace than normal. I didn't want to sweat to much. There was enough water outside. It was 33 degrees and snowing. I had to watch were the tires went at this point. My front tire was getting bigger as the slush built up on it. I went to change gears at the top of one climb before another climb. My faster gears were frozen solid. All the chain did was skip over the top. So I just shifted till I found a gear that worked and stayed there. There was still climbing to do. All the way up Heggenes Hill. One of my favorites. It's just a senic climb with switch backs. To the top is about a mile+-. It was snowing and sticking everywhere. The horses and pastures were just wonderful to look at. I was really going easy. It was 17 miles to home. My hands were wet. Snow and ice were all over my bike and jacket. My neoprene booties had 1 inch of snow and ice. My feet were warm. My face was warm. I'm sure my helmet had a lot of snow on it. My hands were wet and cold and not working so well. I was on Langley Road my gears were froze. I had 2 gears that worked. I was riding through slush and snow all the time. It was a shallow down hill to Langley and the snow was easing off and the slush was starting to go away. I got to Langley, I still only had 2 gears, but, there was hope for more. I had another steepish climb on the last road to home. By the top all my gears worked and it was 36 degrees again. The steep desent was slow. My hands had lost all feeling miles ago. Home was 2 miles at the bottom. It was much warmer but my hands wanted to be home. Finally one turn and there I was. Still covered with wet snow and some ice. I just parked the hammered bike in the garage to clean later. Took off all the outer layers, everything needed to be washed. Got my hands warm. It stopped raining. It stopped snowing. 43 miles, 3 hours, it was an epic ride. One for the books.