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.