The Fat Guy David Crowell :: Losing Weight

Tim and I planned an RCCS ride for this morning, but didn’t give a lot of advance notice.  That’s probably why only Tim and I arrived at the ride.

We both rode our LHTs, and it was good fun and good coffee.

I left a little earlier than normal. I took my time, and stopped for pictures. I also stopped for a donut, diet be damned.

I have a lot of housework to do this weekend, and was considering not going for much of a ride. Having a new bike really makes me want to ride, but I figured I should do something more productive.

I got a text message from Tim asking if I’d like to squeeze in a ride this weekend. I call him, and we planned for this morning.

The temperature started out at about 40F. I tend to overdress, so I opted to go without a jacket. I wore a new jersey that my wife got me with a compression shirt under it. I wore cycling tights, wool socks, and my cycling shoes. I finished it off with a hat under my helmet and leather gloves.

I was worried I get cold, or that it would start raining, so I used bungie straps to tie my jacket and reflective vest to the front rack. I never needed those.

Tim came to my house with his Rivendell Bleriot. It’s a beautiful bike, but too small for me.

Our route took us out Tunnel Mill Road through rolling hills until the steep descent into the Fourteen Mile Creek bed. Then the steep climb out made me thankful for the low gears available on my new LHT.

We then turned on Marion Martin Rd. I used to live out on that road, and I knew there would be a beautiful view of Fourteen Mile Creek and a small waterfall. We stopped for a few pictures before continuing up through New Market then to New Washington for a store stop.

The ride from New Washington to Marysville was remarkably flat. We had kept up a good pace for most of the ride so far, but we were running out of steam.

Our flat riding continued to Otisco where we had another store stop, and I ate some chicken strips.

We took Leon Prall Road out of Otisco and into hillier terrain. We were in very familiar terrain now. Tim and I had ridden these roads quite a few times, though usually in the opposite direction. It was along here somewhere that our climbing ability faltered, and we would crawl up the hills at 4-5 mph.

It was a pretty straightforward ride back home with only one big climb along the way. We finished up at around 38 miles, but that number is just an estimate. Tim and I both need to do a roll-out calibration on our computers.

I rode my Surly Long Haul Trucker to work today.  The bike now has fenders, front and rear rack, and a computer installed.

I picked up the bike last night and was itching to ride it today.  My panniers wouldn’t easily mount on the rear rack, so I put them on the front rack.  My trunk bag would block my tail light, so I also put that on the front rack.  The bike did handle differently with the weight on the front, but it was still very stable.

I stayed up entirely too late last night, but was excited enough to get up and ride to work today.  Now I’m looking forward to the ride home this afternoon.

I’m still trying to come up with a name for the new bike.

I figured a 35-mile ride with the SIW would be a good way to spend some time on a Saturday.  The ride started in Sellersburg, so I figured I’d ad another 15 miles by riding to and from the ride.

I rode to Sellersburg, and met up with the other riders.  I had only ever met one of them before.  For the first few miles I kept up with the fast group.  I started losing ground on them, then rode alone.  I was going to finish the ride, but I was hungry, so I turned for home.  I got in a total of 30 miles, and I really feel like I put the new bike through it’s paces.

The ride seemed to turn out similar to my first group ride, which was with the SIW also.

Ignore the ugly, horribly mounted rack in the picture.  I borrowed that one (spray painted!) from my daughter’s bike until I get my new rack.

I had a lot of fun on last Sunday’s RCCS ride.  I didn’t have time to write about it until today.

Four of us were there for the ride.  I don’t consider that to be too bad considering the late notice.  It was cold, but we were dressed for it and enjoyed hot coffee from Heine Brothers and Sunergos.

Ben, Dominic, Tim, and I followed the route westward to Shawnee Park and back.  It was never meant to be a long ride, just an enjoyable one.  The planned route was about 20 miles, but Tim and I put in about 26 or so for the day.

We are planning another ride for this coming Sunday.  Check the RCCS site for more information.

Tim and I met up on the first of January (yesterday) for a hilly 40-mile route through Hoosier National Forest.  The ride started with temperatures in the teens, which later climbed into the low 20s.

This was probably the most difficult 40-mile ride I’ve ever done.  The hills were unrelenting.  Even with chemical warmers in my gloves and boots, I had issues staying warm enough.

Tim wrote about it here.  I’m just including some pictures.