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".