In January I had 21 work days, meaning 42 trips.  Only 28 of those trips were by bicycle.  There were three car-pool trips, four where I got a ride from someone else besides a co-worker, three trips on the bus, two in a cab, and two walking trips.

February is off to a better start.  I’ve ridden my single-speed to work and back every day.  My neck has improved enough that this isn’t too painful.

I only rode my bike 160.6 miles.  My neck and shoulder have conspired to keep me off the bike much of the time.  I made good use of carpooling, the bus, and the occasional cab ride to get to work.  I’ve even walked the 3.5 miles home from downtown once.

I quit weighing myself recently, but I’ll be doing that again now.  I had quit posting my weight a while before that, but I’ll get that caught up soon.

Now that I have an iPhone I downloaded the  MyFitnessPal app to track what I eat.  I’ve also downloaded the EEBA app to help me budget my money using virtual envelopes.  We’ll see how that works out.

The last two days have been much less painful than before.  I feel like I can function normally.  I didn’t ride my bike yesterday, because I had to return the rental car and walk to work from there.  I took the bus home.  Today, I rode the single-speed and it felt wonderful.  I’ll be on it again tomorrow.

I still have an appointment with a neurosurgeon on Monday.  I’d like to avoid surgery, so I’ll get a second opinion if he immediately suggests it.  If two doctors suggest it, I’ll go through with it.

Things are going well between Robin and I.  I like the fact that we’re both comfortable living where we do… two blocks apart.  Seriously, I just know I need to avoid pushing things faster (or further) than they need to go.  We are seeing each other exclusively, but I really don’t feel comfortable discussing much more here.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is also the Car-Free Happy Hour.  This is technically January’s event as it was delayed a week.  Will you join us at 5:30pm at Four Pegs at 1053 Goss Ave 40217.  I may ride my bike there, or just walk.  It’s very close to my house.

Weight?  Weight!  Wait?  No, don’t wait.  I still need to lose about 55lbs to make it to my goal weight.  A reasonable goal is one pound per week, giving me about a year to do this.  So 175lbs by 2013.  Could the iPhone be the tool I need to do this?

With my new phone comes a new phone number.  I used to publish my old one pretty openly, but I’m not doing that any more.  That’s why I didn’t port the number to the new phone.  If you need my number, send me an email, and I’ll get back to you.

I rented a car, which by the way, if you don’t have a credit card, it’s a little more hassle.  I don’t have car insurance anymore, so I also paid extra for the insurance from the rental place.

I drove down after work yesterday.  Driving (mostly) the speed limit, I got here in about two hours.

I know I said I was “off the bike”, but that’s only partially true.  I’ve ridden to work once this past week.  The only bike riding I’m doing is transportation related.

I’ve ridden the bus some, and I don’t like it.  My bus route is rather crowded.  I’ve car-pooled with a co-worker, and Robin has taken me to work a couple of times when she was home during the week.  I’ve even considered walking to work.  I have walked home from downtown, but it wasn’t a work day, and I wasn’t carrying a laptop.

I’m still waiting to know the long-term plan for my neck issue.  I may end up riding the bikes as they are, stick to recumbents only, or go with higher handlebars on my existing bikes.  It’s too early to know right now.

My eating habits are only slightly better than before.  I have purchased a new hot-air popcorn popper.  I used it tonight.  Plain popcorn used to be a comfort food for me, but I had thrown away the old popper.  Now I can go back to this filling, low-calorie, snack that I used to enjoy.

In spite of the challenges, I’m in a good mood.  I’m not trying too hard to lose weight, just trying to prevent myself from gaining for a while.  Things are working well with Robin.  We’re now going out and doing something besides eating.  We saw a concert on Friday and a movie on Sunday.  We met with my daughter and her boyfriend on Saturday, but we did go out to eat then.

I feel more motivated to take care of housework and other related duties than I have in a while.

I probably won’t see Robin next weekend, but that will give me time to thoroughly clean house and catch up on other duties that need to be done.

I’ll take the bus to work most days now that I’m not riding my bike.  I’m considering walking a couple of days a week though, including tomorrow.  At least it’s still exercise and it doesn’t seem to hurt.

I didn’t ride the recumbent today (yesterday?).  This became important later.

I rode the Big Dummy.  I had my doctor appointment with my new family doctor.  I like my new doctor.  He’s nice, competent, and is honest.  He pointed out that my overeating and drinking are not only working against my weight loss effort (what weight loss effort?), but are adding to my depression.

So anyway, I met up with Tim again after work for our hour-long spin that we often do on Mondays.  As we rode more, my neck hurt worse.  It probably wouldn’t have been an issue on the ‘bent.  When we were nearing the end, I headed back on Payne St rather than following him back to his car on Mellwood Ave.  I wanted to cut the ride short.

I could have/should have went home.  Instead I stopped for food and beer.  I had my laptop with me so I made use of the free wi-fi and posted about my gastronomical disaster on BikeForums.

I went to bed after getting home.  I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at my post on BikeForums.  Apparently many people are supporting me and want me to continue the weight loss.  There’s a bit of “tough love” including from some strangers.  :)

The BikeForums post, the discussion with Tim while riding, and my doctor’s advice are all ganging up on me.  It is time to make a change.  Sure I lost 100lbs in 2007-2008.  Since then I’ve either held steady or gained.  I’m up 30lbs from my lowest weight.  I don’t want to be The Fat Guy anymore.

The neck pain has mostly ended long rides, but I can change that by riding the recumbent.  I just have to push myself out there and I will ride.  I miss disappearing for a day with the bike and a camera.  I can still do it.

I’m not spending any large amounts of money on bike stuff for a bit.  Long-term, I don’t know what bike(s) I’ll be riding.  I have one bike that I can ride a lot now, even with my neck issue.  It really doesn’t need anything other than maybe better lights, but I’ll use what I have for now.  The last time I spent money on that bike (upgraded brakes) I barely rode it for months because my neck improved.  Not that I’m complaining…

I need to make some major dietary changes, but I’m not writing out new rules here right now.  I’ve done that a few times recently and failed each time.  I’m going to make some changes now, but the changes are more minor and less strict.  I’ll figure out more later.  I will start riding more immediately also.

There’s also the issue of Robin.  We tend to go out to eat every day.  She wants to make changes too, so maybe it’s time.  Overall, I think she eats better than I do.  We’ll need to figure out social activities that don’t involve copious consumption of calories.

I don’t mean to sound too negative.  A lot of good stuff is going on.  I bought a new laptop on Friday to replace the one that died a few months ago.  I’ve been spending my weekends with Robin.  I have a doctor appointment tomorrow and will figure out what to do next for treatment of my neck.

Robin bought me a heating pad, mostly because I’m too stubborn to buy one myself.  I’ve been enjoying good company, good food, and good beer.

I bought some new clothing and a stand for my new laptop, so I can sit in a more comfortable chair and still use it.

I’ll be riding the recumbent to the doctor then to work tomorrow.  There’s a good chance of rain, so I’ll be carrying dry clothes with me.  At least the rain will finish melting the little bit of snow off the ground.

Tim and I had done some “training” rides on Monday nights last year.  No training today.  We’re both out of shape, and I’m slower on the recumbent due to not riding much in the last 18 months.

We meandered around town for an hour, then I headed toward home.  I stopped at Four Pegs to talk to the owner about Car-Free Happy Hour, and I had to have a couple of beers while I was there.  Their kitchen isn’t open on Monday’s, and I hadn’t eaten since lunch.  The last time I did this on a Monday, I went to Hammerheads and didn’t remember the rest of the night.  So, today, I went home.

I called Danny Mac’s Pizza for delivery, but they recently cut the days they are delivering.  Bummer.  I ordered anyway, and rode the ‘bent up to pick it up.

I ate well and rode a total of about 28 miles for the day.  That’s the best mileage day for the year.  It certainly was too many calories, but maybe I’ll get that under control tomorrow.

I’m riding the recumbent to work tomorrow.  It’s set up and ready to go.  It would be more work to NOT ride it.

On Friday, I took Robin down to Za’s Pizza on the Big Dummy.  It was a blast, but she wants a cushion to sit on next time.  I rode the recumbent to her house today, and she rode it through the alley.  She’s interested in trying out a tandem recumbent now… so I’ve got to find one available for a test ride.

My eating habits have been bad.  I’m drinking too much.  My bike riding is way down due to the neck issue.  I guess the recumbent becomes my go-to bike so I can get more miles in.  I’ll ride the LHT in winter weather, as it’s better equipped.  I’ll ride the Big Dummy for hauling loads or people, as it does it well.  The ‘bent is for everything else.

I’ve driven too much this year (Robin’s car).  It all involved us going out for something, but I didn’t think the first calendar year of being car-free would involve so much driving.  I’ve driven almost as many miles as I’ve ridden a bike.  Granted, I’m low on bike miles due to my neck issue, but it’s still frustrating.

I have tentative plans to meet up with Tim after work tomorrow for a one-hour ride.  We’ll see.

For the rest of the week I need to eat healthier and ride more.

I just got back from Four Pegs, where I had food and too much beer.  I walked, so no drunk cycling involved.

I called a cab to get to work this morning.  My neck pain made riding a bike pretty much impossible.  A co-worker gave me a ride home.

Patrick noted in a text message to me that I’m probably going to have a weekend without much cycling.  He was referring to “Robin the Redhead”.  :)  Although it’s probably true, it’s more to do with my neck pain.

I intend to ride the recumbent tomorrow.  We’ll see how that goes.  The pain was bad enough today that even that wouldn’t have worked well.  Even driving would have been problematic.

Unless my neck settles down, 2012 will be the year of neck surgery.  I’m not looking forward to such things, but if this is the alternative, I’ll take the surgery.

It’s strange, I’ve been slightly depressed all day, yet really looking forward to when Robin gets back in town tomorrow.  That won’t fix my neck issue, but will make me feel better anyway.

The holidays are over.  The new year is here.  Most of us are back at work.  Even with the cold weather we’ve had this week (until this afternoon) I’ve seen quite a few bicycle commuters.  I’ve also had interactions with rude and clueless drivers.

I’ve had at least one near-miss every day this week.  It normally takes months to get that many.  I’m wearing a lime-green reflective vest, I’m well lit, and I take the lane.  What gives?

This afternoon two cars cut me off within five minutes of each other.  Both times I was downtown on one-way streets with multiple lanes.  The second time, the car braked directly in front of me because another car was stopped at a red light.  I had to brake hard to avoid running into him.  I rolled along side of his car and rapped on his window.  I didn’t expect him to roll it down, but he did.

He was a clean-cut middle-aged man with a foreign accent (Indian?).  He was actually quite apologetic.  He actually SAW ME, he had changed lanes and went around me long enough to swerve back in front of me while braking.  After our (polite) words were exchanged, I rolled in front of him and waited for the light.  I think he got the message.

I rode my LHT in it’s “winter trim” yesterday and today.  We didn’t have any snow or ice, but I knew there was the possibility yesterday.  Pondero wanted some pictures, so I took the camera to work with me and grabbed a few pictures in front of the building.

Long Haul Trucker - Winter trim

The new front wheel has a dynohub, but haven’t bought a light for it yet.  I will soon.

Shimano Alfine Dynohub

The new Tektro CR720 wide-profile cantilever brakes feel better and are quieter, but they don’t seem much stronger.  Maybe some adjustments can fix that.

The Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires I bought almost two years ago will keep me upright on icy roads.

Tires and Brakes

I’ve run the shift cables along the bars, allowing me to install the BarMitts.  I’ll eventually buy some more bar tape and re-wrap the bars.

Bars and Mitts

I haven’t ridden the recumbent this week, but I probably should.  My neck hurts, my shoulder hurts, my upper back hurts, and my right hand is tingly.

It is nice to have all the bikes functional again.  No more worries about bad weather without the appropriate bike.

My Surly Long Haul Trucker is my winter bike because I have studded tires to fit it.  First it had a front derailleur issue, then it needed new cables run.  I didn’t like the brakes and it needed new wheels.

So, I replaced the brakes, recabled brakes and shifters – moving the shifters to the downtube bosses, and swapped the new wheels into place.  I hated the shifters.  With my neck flare up I couldn’t actually ride the bike.

Last night’s weather forecast was ugly.  We were under a winter weather advisory, so I figured I’d better get the studded tires out.

I moved the shifters back to the bar-ends, re-cabled them (again!) and routed the cable up the bars so my BarMitts would fit.  I swapped out tires for the studded Marathon Winter tires.  I ended up staying up late to get this done.

So, this morning the roads were completely clear.  What little snow we had gotten had disappeared (did it sublimate?).  It was cold, so the BarMitts were great.  I enjoyed the “electronic bacon” sound of the studded tires, even if they did slow me down a bit.

My cabling job works.  Everything works.  The new brakes are silent even if not as powerful as I’d like.  I never did use a fork-crown mount cable hanger, but that may not be needed.  That’s good as it’ll leave a better mounting spot for a dyno-powered headlight once I get around to buying it.

I didn’t re-wrap the bars.  I need more bar-tape, and I want to make sure my cabling job is good before covering it.

All four of the bikes in the house (#5 – the folding bike is still with my daughter) are ready for commute duty should they be needed.

Bike Miles

I rode 5502.9 miles in 2011.  That’s more than 400 miles over 2010′s 5087.2.  By comparison, 2009 was only 3860 miles.  November 2011 was a new personal record month.  I had 697.7 miles.  December is my best December yet, but nothing exceptional at 444.9 miles.

I hope to surpass 6000 miles in 2012, and have a one-month best of 750 miles.

Car-Free

I sold my truck and became car-free on November 4th.  I’m still adjusting to living without a car, but it’s not a difficult adjustment after living most of the year as if I were already car-free.

Bikes

I bought the Big Dummy as my car truck replacement once I knew I actually would sell the truck.  I still have some fit issues to get dialed in, but the bike has been great at hauling things (and people!).

I’ve spent a lot of money on bikes this year.  In addition to buying the Big Dummy, I bought a SON dynohub and lighting system for the LHT in April.  I later moved the wheel and lights to the single-speed.

In March, I bought a used kid-trailer as an affordable cargo hauler.  I haven’t used it since buying the Big Dummy, but it could be useful to tow it with the Big Dummy if I really need to haul a lot.

In December I bought new wheels (including Shimano dynohub) for the LHT.  I also bought new brakes.  Now, January 1st, the bike is still partially assembled in my kitchen.

Health

2011 has been a challenging year due to health issues.

In June I had a horrible neck pain problem.  It kept me off the bike briefly.  It made me miss some longer pleasure rides that I wanted to do.  With some treatment and strength training it was resolved to the point that I can function normally, but it never went away.

In September I was hospitalized due to a bowel obstruction.  Luckily it resolved without surgery, but it was scary.  I only missed one important ride, and had no lasting effects.

On the day after Christmas my neck issue returned.  I’m still struggling with it, and I see myself riding the recumbent more often now.  I wasn’t car-free last time, so my options are a bit more limited now.

The various doctor visits may have actually added to my overall mileage for the year.  I had doctor visits in New Albany and east of Lyndon that took me a bit farther for transportation cycling than I normally go.

Weight

Ah, the elephant in the room.  First let’s look at my monthly average weight since I started tracking it in 10/2007.  Up until July 2009, things look great, then a bit of a bump, lost again, then steady increase since March 2010.

Now let’s look at the same values beginning January 2009.  You’ll notice that most of it is between 200 and 220lbs.  That changes when it goes above 230 in July 2011.  It stays above 230 until the last two month of the year.

It’s a little bit depressing, but not all that surprising.  I’ve been treating myself to good food and beer as if I don’t have a weight problem.  I not going to give these things up, but I need to make better decisions on how much and how often to consume these things.

2011 was not a good year for weight loss.  I ended the year 13lbs heavier than I started it.  Ugh.  As Tim would say, I have an “intake valve problem”.

Exercise

Other than cycling I’ve done little exercising.  I had my push-up plan back in 2008 that I abandoned after suffer shoulder pain.  I’m supposed to be using some dumbbells to strengthen my upper body to help with the neck and shoulder issues, but I’ve not been using them as much as I should.

I was training for a triathlon early in the year, but ditched that after suffering problems in the swim portion of the training.  I did not enjoy the running, but I was capable of performing what was needed.

I did race my first bicycle race in November, the Gravel Grovel.  I met my goal of less that 6.5 hrs (just over 6 hours).

My biggest problem right now, is that my most common exercise other than cycling is the 12 ounce lift (lifting the beer to my lips).

Relationships

Okay, where to begin?

When I started this blog in November of 2007, my 13-year marriage was ending.  I didn’t talk about it publicly for months, but it was happening.

I married Kristy in 2009.  It was a much different marriage than the first, but didn’t work out for much different reasons.  We are now officially divorced.

Interesting tidbit.  I met an interesting woman, Robin, a few days ago.  My desires in a relationship are a bit different now.  I’m not ready to rush in to living together or marriage (eek!  I said the M word!), but she lives nearby (walking distance, no bike even needed!) and we have some common interests.  We rang in the new year together.  I’m not going to talk much more about her for the time being.

2012

Most goals stay the same.  Goal weight of 175lbs.  Stay sane.  Be happy.

Some goals have changed.  Ride 6000 miles for the year.  Ride 750 miles or more in at least one month.  Save more money.

All of this is for nothing if the Mayans were right.

Happy New Year everyone!

Dummy on the road

Friday
On Friday I rode the Big Dummy over 50 miles.  I rode out to Prospect to look at a used laptop.  I didn’t buy it.  I then headed out to Bluegrass Bicycle in Crestwood to pick up my new wheels for the LHT.  I took some really hilly roads on the way there and back.  I made a day out of it and stopped for food in Crestwood and coffee in Prospect.

Both Sleepy Hollow Rd and Covered Bridge Rd were very nice.  US42 wasn’t.

Saturday

Saturday was Christmas Eve.  I met up with others (I think it was Tim, Patrick, and Asher, but my memory is shot) early in the morning.  After riding around town for a while, I went to OYLC and hung out until noon, then went home.

Christmas
I didn’t leave home on Christmas.  I had a splitting headache most of the day.  I hoped my daughter would drop by but she never did.  I talked to friends and family on the phone.  I worked on my LHT, installing the new wheels and brakes.  I moved the bar-end shifters to the downtube, and re-cabled everything.

Monday
I still wasn’t feeling well, but I rode the updated LHT for a quick coffee ride with Tim.  I immediately hated the downtube shifting.  I’ll be switching back to bar-ends soon.  Sooner is better than later, as that’s the only bike the studded tires will fit, and I don’t think I’ll get much more good weather.

My neck and shoulder issue also flared up on Monday as has been getting worse ever since.

Since then…
I was back at work yesterday.  I rode the Big Dummy so I could haul dog food after work.  I rode the single-speed today and my neck was at it’s worst this morning.  It hurt bad enough that I got off the bike and walked about a mile.  This afternoon was better.  I’m hoping it’s easing up again.  I’ll know more in the morning.

Today was also the Car-Free Happy Hour.  We had a good turnout at Irish Rover on Frankfort Ave.  I think the 25 or so of us that showed up overwhelmed them a bit.  Although it obviously stressed out the server, she handled it well.

Holiday Season?
This is  generally a stressful time of year for everyone.  I was lonely on Christmas.  It was probably best that I was alone with the horrid headache I had.  Thanksgiving was better.  Patrick had invited me over, and I got to know his family.  I’m now invited to Andy’s house for New Year’s Day brunch.  I’m glad I have a few friends in the area.

On Friday, some co-workers were getting together to go out for food and beer.  I was invited, and social occasions are allowed per my self-imposed rules.  The fact I had an overly-large lunch earlier wasn’t good, but whatever.

I had a beer called “Morning Wood”, and I even shared my “Morning Wood”.  I made a (probably annoying) comment about the bike rack being free when others were complaining about parking meters.

I slept in Saturday.  I went out for a ride with Tim.  I got about 23 miles in.  I ate leftover split-pea soup.  I hadn’t gone grocery shopping.  I really wanted to go out for food and beer.  I successfully suppressed those urges.

I got up early today, Sunday, to meet Tim, Patrick, and Asher for a ride today.  I left before sunrise in the cold air.  It was a good ride, mostly urban.  Nothing epic, just four guys riding around.  I did have some snacks at coffee shops, but nothing extreme.  I ended the day with over 46 miles.

Again, later in the day I was really wanting to go out for food and beer.  I still haven’t gone grocery shopping.  I’m cooking a simple peas and rice dish that I actually have the stuff to make.  I’m not going back out, because if I do, I’ll find myself gorged on food and sloshing full of beer.

I’m slightly depressed because I know I shouldn’t go out to eat and drink.  Adding to that is the fact that I don’t like the way I feel about it.  I didn’t have this much trouble controlling my eating and drinking three and four years ago.  Why now?

I am killing time and forgetting about food for a while by burying myself in reading.  I’m currently reading Spin, which I highly recommend, at least if you’re into science fiction.

I’m making some changes to the Long Haul Trucker:

• Replacing crappy stock brakes with Tektro CR720 wide-profile cantis.
• Using a fork-crown-mounted brake cable hanger to eliminate “brake shudder”.
• Re-cabling the whole bike including housing.  I’ll re-route the shifter cables under the bar tape to allow me to use the bar-mitts.
• The front derailleur was already replaced by a Ultegra model.  It works well.
• Replacing front wheel: Shimano Alfine dynohub and Velocity Dyad rim
• Replacing rear wheel: Shimano XT hub and Velocity Dyad rim

I’m doing most of this work myself.  Tom is building the wheels for me.

I had considered changing shifters or even going to down-tube shifters.  I’m not going to do that.  Shifters are stupidly expensive for what they are.  Little metal levers to pull a cable cost $100 a set for good ones.  Blah.  My current bar-ends work fine in friction mode.

I still want to buy new front and rear racks, but that’ll have to wait.  I won’t need them until my next tour anyway, whenever that may be.  I’ll also want front panniers and a handlebar bag with map holder.

Although I’m springing for the new dynohub now, I’m waiting on an actual headlight for it.  It’s mostly a matter of having the money for everything and figuring out how to mount it.  The fork crown on my LHT will be a busy place with fender and cable hanger hardware mounted there.  I found the image below of someone else’s bike.  They apparently drilled out the top of the cable hanger, and bolted an aluminum strip there to mount the light to.  The light I’ll buy won’t quite work like this, but it may be a starting point.

Headlight mount

I still have plans for other bicycles, but they are on hold for a bit.  The LHT really needs work, and I use that bike for many different kinds of rides.  We’ll see what 2012 has in store.

As we left the metro area the temperature dropped from about 22F to 17F.  Brrrr.  It had warmed to about 19F by the time we arrived in Holland.

I have some history with riding in the winter out of Holland.  Last time, we had a planned store stop in Winslow, just as we did this time.  Last time, we cut that part of the ride out and I stopped and refused to ride farther because the snow was too much for me to ride in.  I ended up sitting on a bench in the town of Stendal waiting for a ride back home.

Today was cold, but there was no snow.  About 7 miles in, we come across our first problem.  The route was taking us on a private road with big KEEP OUT signs.  We routed around and kept going.

I had switched back to clipless pedals recently, and had tried my best to keep my feet warm in the vented shoes.  I wore two pair of wool socks with plastic bags between them to block wind and keep warmth in.  It really wasn’t working.  My feet were getting painfully cold.  The rest of me was comfortable.

Although he wasn’t complaining about it at the time, Patrick was suffering cold feet also.  He was running his normal clipless pedals and shoes with toe covers.  Tim was the smart one.  He swapped out his pedals for some platforms and wore warm shoes.

I had made comments before the ride that “at least were routing around Stendal” – the town I sat on a bench in the cold back in January.  Our detour to avoid the private roads took us through Stendal.  The bench is still there in front of the defunct Stendal Store.

At about mile 17 Tim decided he needed to head back.  He was feeling weak and ill.  He tried to convince us to continue the ride, since I had my GPS.  Patrick and I both had painfully cold feet and we just figured that left us more time to eat.

We headed back a mostly direct route to Holland, passing through Stendal once again.  Nearly back to Holland we turned south on S 825 W.  This road surface was incredibly bad.  Luckily it was frozen enough that we didn’t bog down in mud.

S 825 W

We rolled back to Tim’s car.  Tim was glad to be off the bike, and could barely walk.  Patrick and I were griping about our frozen toes.  We loaded the bikes and stopped at Waffle House for a completely unhealthy, yet totally satisfying meal.

The planned 55-mile ride turned out to be only 27.5 miles.  It was still a much more enjoyable day than hanging around the house, or even riding around town.

Click for route

I have three bikes I’d like to add to my stable.  A road/brevet bike.  A dedicated gravel bike, and a mountain bike.

In addition to that, I have a wishlist of stuff for my existing bikes.  My LHT needs some work.  I want to swap out most of the drivetrain.  I want different brakes.  I want different front and rear racks, new wheels, lighting.  Ugh.  This gets expensive very quickly.

I’m trying to prioritize what to do first.  I already have a new front derailleur on order for the LHT, but that’s a repair.  I could have new wheels built for that bike, using the existing hubs, and that would be a repair also, as the brake tracks are very worn on the rims.  I don’t want to use the existing front hub though.  I want a dyno-hub for powering a new lighting system.  Although I already had a dyno-wheel built for that bike, I ended up using it on the single-speed.

My next big purchase was going to be a frameset for the road/brevet bike, but now I’m reconsidering that.  I’m thinking I need to put the money into the LHT to get it ready to be a do-almost-anything bike.  Some of what I’d do is repairs.  Some of it is upgrades.

I spent several hours looking at bike stuff online today.  I could have done something useful in that time, but I didn’t.

I’m going to go do some housework now.  Something useful.

I’m having a rough week.  I met with a lawyer on Tuesday to get the divorce started.  Papers were completed today and I stopped in to sign them.  I know I don’t like the way this whole ordeal has made me feel.  From what little Kristy has said, she’s feeling much the same way.

I wasn’t in the mood to cook after I got home today, but I wasn’t going to go out either.  I decided to read another book.  I burned through an entire novel, albeit an easy-reading one, in about three hours.  Once done, I revisited the dinner situation.

I had leftover spaghetti that I cooked yesterday.  I’ve been out of beer, and I’m not going out for more.  That’s probably a good thing.

I have several ride options for tomorrow, but I’m not sure I want to ride tomorrow.  I have a gravel ride with Patrick and Tim on Sunday.  I could stand to do some housework and yardwork tomorrow.  On the other hand, Timothy is putting on another LBC populaire tomorrow.

Maybe I’ll get up at 6:00am, eat a good breakfast, and decide what to do from there.

I’m going to go escape reality in my favorite fashion.  I’m going to sleep.

Old Camaro

My poor LHT sat in the kitchen with the wheels off for a couple of weeks, like a Camaro next to a double-wide.

As I mentioned yesterday, I worked on it last night, and it’s rideable again.  I’m having issues with the transmission.  On a car that spells an expensive fix.  Technically, you can get a very expensive bicycle transmission, but I’ll leave that to others.

My transmission issues center around my front derailleur.  Normally it’s a simple thing to shift to one of the three front chain rings.  Lately, I haven’t been able to get it to shift into the smallest, leaving me without my “steep hill climbing gears”.  Even racing Gravel Grovel, I had some issues, but was usually able to get the shift to happen after several attempts.

Usually this issue can be fixed with some simple adjustments.  That wasn’t the case this time.  The derailleur wouldn’t move far enough inward, even when disconnecting the cable and the limit screw made no difference.  Pushing the derailleur inward with my finger will make it go far enough.

Problematic derailleur and worn chain rings

I assumed this was just mud, muck, and other crud mucking up the works.  I cleaned everything the best I could and re-lubed.  It made no difference.  I stopped at OYLC on the way home from work today confident that they could fix it.  Even after soaking the derailleur in a cleaner it didn’t function properly.  Okay, the new one is on order and I’ll have it next week.

I have a gravel ride coming up on Sunday.  I guess if I really need the “climbing gears” I’ll be stopping and pushing the derailleur with my finger again.  It’s either that or scavenging parts off of one of my other bikes.

I went grocery shopping on Saturday.  I bought quite a bit of stuff (including beer!).  I hauled it all on the Big Dummy from several miles away.  I often go to Kroger which is less than a mile away, but I prefer the ValuMarket at Mid-City Mall.  I escaped the madness just as a beer festival that I didn’t know about was beginning.  I bought more than I intended and load it all so that nothing fell off was a challenge, but I like challenges.

Candy is checking out my groceries

I made it home without losing the load.  In addition to the six-pack strapped to the deck, there’s another (Schlafly Coffee Stout) in the bag.

I could have hauled more if I had used the wideloaders, but that’s all I needed this time around.

Tuesday
I had an appointment with a lawyer before work.  I rode the Big Dummy to work, then walked to the appointment.  I’m glad I did.  Traffic was a mess in the area due to an underground electrical box fire.  Even riding a bike through the area would have been problematic.

I had ridden the Big Dummy to pick up pet supplies at Feeder’s Supply after work.  I normally go to the Downtown location, but I wanted to check out a new route to St Matthews, so I rode my new route through the Richlawn and Beechwood Village neighborhoods to get to another location.

I then hauled 70lbs of pet supplies toward home, stopping at Four Pegs for beer and food.  I may have eaten what I shouldn’t have, but I did get over 20 miles in for the day, nearly half of that while hauling pet supplies.

Wednesday
Today I had a doctor appointment in New Albany before work.  My LHT was still in pieces, so I rode the single-speed.  By the time I got home, I had 26 miles.

Several of us are getting together this weekend for a gravel ride.  My LHT is the bike of choice here, so it was time to put it back together.

I cleaned the bike the best I could and reinstalled the fenders and wheels.  I cleaned and lubed the drivetrain.  I noticed a few issues.

• Rear hub is “sloppy”
• Front derailleur won’t shift to small ring, unless you push it with your finger
• Rims are badly worn
• Cables are worn
• Brake pads are worn
• Pedals were “crunchy” – one of them was also bent
• Chainrings are worn

I don’t have the money to fix all of this right away.  I did have some different pedals in the closet that I put on it.  I’ll be stopping by the bike shop for help with the rear hub and front derailleur.  The hub because I don’t own any cone wrenches.  The derailleur, because I don’t know what’s wrong with it.  It could just need replacing.

The bike has seen nearly 6600 very hard miles.  This is the go-to bike for gravel, rain, winter, mud, and heavy loads (before the Big Dummy).  It looks like I’ll be spending a fair amount over the next few months fixing it up.

Food
I’ve quit tracking my food intake again.  I’m going to start again tomorrow.  I’ve been busy and it takes time.  Yesterday’s fun at Four Pegs is what happens when I don’t hold myself accountable.

Weight
I’m still slowly losing.  Go figure.  I guess it’s a combination of better eating (even with mishaps) and more miles on the bike.

I don’t regret being car-free.  It’s just weird seeing a vehicle I’ve owned selling for five figures.  Every previous vehicle I owned was junk by the time I got rid of it.

While grocery shopping yesterday I bought some cornmeal.  It has been years since I’d had cornmeal mush for breakfast.  Well, that’s what I did today.  I probably added a bit too much sugar, but it was good.

I also rode the Big Dummy out to Lyndon to pick up the rear wheel for the recumbent.  Tom had fixed a broken spoke for me.  I also needed to return the tires that I had borrowed from Patrick.  He lives even further out in the Goose Creek area.

If I would have gotten up early, I could have done all of this before it rained.  I slept in and had a relaxing late morning with my cornmeal mush, so it began raining as I headed out.

I had no issues, even on the busy roads, getting to Tom’s place.  We chatted briefly, and I left with my wheel.  The ride to Patrick’s place was a bit worse.  The bike lane on Westport Rd ends after a while, so I took the right lane.  That seemed to anger three different fellow road-users.

I ended up spending a bit longer at Patrick’s place.  It was nice to warm up and talk bikes for a while.

It was getting dark when I left and headed for home.  Strangely, I had no issues with drivers on the return trip.  Maybe they felt sorry for the cold, wet, crazy guy on the bike.

Once I arrived home I began cooking dinner: Split-pea soup!  I hadn’t made it in years, and I always stuck with a really basic recipe.  With some guidance online, I added ham, onions, carrots, potatoes, fresh marjoram, and even spinach.

Soup is an excellent food to warm up with after 27 cold, wet miles on the bike.  The two bottles of beer I had with dinner were nice too.

I have enough leftover soup for several more meals.  Tomorrow’s lunch is ready!

Since I have my recumbent’s rear wheel fixed, I reinstalled the tire and have the bike ready to go.  I’m planning on commuting on it for most of the coming week.  I’m riding it again because it’s a neat bike and I haven’t ridden it in a while, and my neck is flaring up again.

Today was Car-Free Happy Hour at Clifton Pizza.  I was unsure I even wanted to go, but I did go.

I’m glad I did.  Tom was there with his wife.  They had ridden a tandem recumbent.  I ate two pieces of pizza and had some beer.

I followed Tom to his house in Lyndon, then headed home.  I wasn’t sure exactly how many miles I needed to get 700 for the month.  I came up short.  I got a total of 697.7 miles for November.  It’ll do.  It’s still a new personal record.  I’m going to ease up a bit in December.  I need a break.

I only needed 53 miles to do it, and I had the day off work today, so I planned a 55-mile ride for today.  I hadn’t ridden the recumbent in a while, so that was to be my bike of choice.

The recumbent had a flat tire that I didn’t get around to fixing last night.  I pulled the wheel off this morning and found the valve stem was damaged.  I grabbed the spare tube and found that it had gotten punctured in storage.  I patched the spare and got the tire mounted and aired up.  With the wheel back on the bike, I gave it a spin.  The wheel was quite out of true.

I assumed I just needed to tighten a spoke or two.  This was frustrating, but within my ability.  After closer inspection I found a broken spoke.  Okay, not riding the recumbent today.

I decided the single-speed would be a better choice anyway with the generator lighting.  It’s dreary and rainy outside.  It took very little to get the bike ready to go.

The hard part about dressing for the weather is that it’s in the 40s and raining.  The easy part is that the temperature isn’t supposed to change much all day.  A mixture of wool and synthetics was called for.  I dressed a little light so that I wouldn’t overheat.  I wore my rain cape to prevent my upper body from getting soaked.

I was out the door and heading west down Hill St.  I made my way to the west end and turned north toward Shawnee Park.  That’s when I noticed the wind was from the north.  The rain cape became a sail.

After riding through Shawnee Park and Portland I was eastbound toward downtown.  I felt better here until I got in between tall buildings that were funneling the wind in odd directions.  Again, the rain cape was a liability, but with heavy rain, wind, and no jacket I wasn’t going to take it off.

I stopped at my workplace to say hello, use the restroom, and warm up.  I then went across the street for coffee.

I continued east on River Rd.  I knew at this point I wasn’t going to finish the planned ride.  I was too cold.

I turned on Frankfort Ave and came across some flooding.  I carefully rode through watching the depth.  I didn’t want to get my feet wet or submerge my dynohub.  I succeeded in not submerging the hub.  My feet got soaked.  Even with wool socks my feet got very cold.

I continued out Frankfort Ave to Bike Couriers Bike Shop.  I stopped in and look around.  They had a Radish in stock.  Neat!  I also noticed they had a decent selection of useful fenders and other utility cycling stuff in stock.

After that I headed nearly directly home.  I was cold and wet.  I also needed to use a restroom again.

My mileage for the month is 667.3.  That’s less than four miles short of a new personal best and not far from 700.  I still have two more days to hit the 700.  I should be able to do that by taking the long way to work or back.

Yesterday was the Gravel Grovel, a 60-mile bicycle race over all kinds of terrain.

Tim picked me up early and we stopped at Sunergos for coffee.  Patrick was supposed to ride with us, but had come down with something the night before, and had to cancel.  That was a pity, he had just set up a new Salsa Fargo for this kind of riding.

Timothy drove separately and met us there.  Michael was supposed to drive over from Bloomington, the shortest drive of all of us, but had mechanical issues with his bike and cancelled also.

Beautiful sky on the morning drive

We stopped again in Seymour IN for a bathroom break, again I enjoyed the morning sky.

Departing clouds?

It was also fun to compare the very different bikes Tim and I were riding.

My Surly LHT and Tim's Cannondale 29er

We arrived at Maumee Boy Scout camp plenty early and found a parking spot.  We took the time to sign-in, prepare the bikes and our clothes.  Timothy met us.

Timothy and Tim

The race began at 10:00am.  I did not bring the camera on the race as I knew it would slow me down.  This was a race, not a tour.  Tim, did take his camera and managed some good pictures, and still finished 10 minutes ahead of me.  His thoughts and pictures can be found here.

As the pack of several hundred bicyclists rolled out of the camp behind the SRAM lead car we turned on a paved road.  I noticed one of the orange turn markers pointing down a gravel road, but the lead car, and several hundred cyclists went straight, so I assumed they knew the route.

After a climb and descent, I noticed the lead car and several hundred cyclists turned around and facing back toward us.  Everyone had missed the turn.

After climbing and descending that hill again, we turned on the gravel road.  Looking at the GPS track, it seems that mistake added 5.6 miles or so.

Using a GPS for navigation is not allowed on this race.  You can use it for tracking your route as I did.  We were provided with a cue sheet and a map.  I’m not great with cue sheets, and the map was hard to read.  Luckily, there were also orange signs placed around the course for turns.  This worked well.  There were no further routing mishaps.

I knew I had to keep moving.  That’s why I left my camera in the car.  I also know I tend to not eat often enough unless I stop.  I did my best to eat while riding, often times choking on food due to breathing too hard.

There were a couple of stops to refill water bottles and have a snack.  I took advantage of these, but didn’t dawdle.  One of the stops had cans of beer.  If I had been touring, I would have enjoyed one.  I declined the beer this time.

The route was mostly as I expected.  There was a lot of gravel.  There was a closed bridge with a barrier you had to lift your bike over.  You traveled many of the roads twice, going the other direction the second time around.  Good signage made this easy to do without getting lost.

One part of the route did surprise me.  Combs Rd was mostly what I call a “not road”.  It was in no way passable by an automobile.  It was singletrack for about two miles (I’m guessing).  It was fairly technical with logs, mud pits, bricks(!?), stream crossings, etc.  It also had a large climb.  The beauty of it?  We got to do it again in the other direction.

My LHT did perfectly fine on the ride, other than Combs Rd.  I didn’t have much traction on mud.  I managed to fall once.  I walked up the steepest bit of it, and around the fallen trees and logs.

I wasn’t the only one with problems on it.  I watched one guy go over the bars.  I stopped and talked to him.  He was unhurt, just embarrassed and tired.  Another guy managed to snap his derailleur completely off.  He was working to convert his bike to a single-speed to continue the ride.  I saw him later, he had managed to do so.

We had originally planned this as five of us riding together as a group.  With two cancels, it would have been three of us, but we were unable to stay together.  Tim later described it as riding “in his own personal pain bubble”.  I think that’s accurate.  We did ride together a bit.  We regrouped at stops, but when it came down to it, each of us had to climb the next hill at our own pace.

My goal was to finish in less than 6h:30m.  I succeeded there.  Although Tim and Timothy both finished before me (by ten minutes or so), I finished in 6h:13m.  The official results haven’t been posted, but I’m sure it’ll only be a minute or two different from that.  I met my goal.

In the aftermath of it, I’m left with an extremely stiff neck, a skinned up knee, and a very dirty bike.  I did have fun and I’m tentatively planning on racing it again next year with a goal of less than six hours.

Tim managed to get a picture of me zooming past the finish line.  That brown spot on my trunk bag is mud from where I fell on Combs Rd.

Finished!

Here’s my GPS track for the race.

Click for full route

For a feeling of what the roads and terrain were like, look at this video from last year’s event.  Although they took a different course, it was mostly the same roads, including Combs Rd.

After the race, we gathered in the hall for food (rice, meats, sauces, pie) and giving away trophies to the winners of each category (big hunks of engraved rock).  There were raffle prizes, mostly little things, but there was an expensive wheelset given away.  I won a SRAM hat, which I gave to Tim as I don’t care for hats.

Even after the meal I was hungry, and I intended to cook when I got home.  I was too tired.  I took a hot bath and massaged the kinks out of my legs.  Then I laid down and read a book.  After that I slept.  I didn’t bother to set an alarm.  Yep, a good time.

Edit:
The official results were posted.  I tied Timothy for 126th place (overall) at a time of 6h:05m.  Even better than I expected.  Maybe I’ll shoot for sub-5h:30m next year.

I’m thankful I have friends to join for Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m thankful I have friends that like to ride bikes in all kinds of crazy adventures.

I’m thankful for my job where I earn a decent living.

I’m thankful for my dynohub and headlight lighting my on the fast descent down Wolf Pen Branch Rd on the way home from Patrick’s house tonight.  :)

I met up with Tim and Timothy this morning for a pre-Thanksgiving ride.  It was a slow pace, and we cut the ride a bit short.  Tim and I stopped at three different coffee shops though.  That ride was 27.7 miles.

I rode out to Patrick’s house for Thanksgiving dinner.  I appreciate having company and it was a pleasure meeting Patrick’s family.  The “bit o’ bourbon” was nice too.  I took the long way home in the dark.  Round-trip mileage was 28.5 miles.

Total mileage for the day was 56.2.  I’m sure I ate more calories than I burned, but I don’t feel like a total glutton.

My top ten months are below.

There are seven more days to ride.  One of those days is Gravel Grovel, which will get me about 60 miles.  That means I can average less than 23 miles per day for the other six days and hit my target.

Why yes, I do have a Thanksgiving Day ride planned.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My weight goals:

• Get back down under 200lbs by March 2012
• Get to my goal weight of 175lbs by September 2012
• Maintain my weight between 175 and 180 indefinitely

How will I achieve these goals?  I will:

• Get back to tracking everything I consume
• Drink beer only for special, social occasions
• Quit going out to eat alone
• Quit eating at my desk at home or at work – especially snacks
• Severely limit carbohydrate consumption, especially sugars and grains, except on days with big bike rides
• Visit coffee shops less often, I drink my coffee black, but coffee shops have very little I can eat
• Look into a support group, such as Overeaters Anonymous – I’ll ditch it if I see little value

I have some physical goals also:

• Gain some upper-body strength
• Through diet or supplements, reduce inflammation – this should help my neck and other areas

Somebody asked if I was starting this at the first of the year.  No, it started TODAY.  I’m not waiting.  Here’s my food list for the day (don’t worry, I won’t be posting this all the time):

You’ll notice I’m not counting calories.  I think what I eat, and the amount of it is more important than an inaccurate calorie count.  I’m also not measuring stuff closely, but relying on common sense.  Portion sizes will be a challenge.

I also have some bicycle goals:

• Complete a ten-day tour next year
• Participate in at least one race next year (I’ll be racing Gravel Grovel this Saturday, but I mean another race)
• Get faster so I can keep up and have company during a Populaire/Brevet
• Buy a lighter road bike set up “Brevet” style
• Buy a mountain bike and try to avoid breaking any bones
• Ride one century per month next year

I’m 40 years old.  I’m in better shape now that when I was 35, but things have been heading downhill again.  I think that losing weight, eating better, and getting stronger will help my mental and physical well-being.  I may even see improvement in my neck, which is important as I can feel the inflammation returning.  I’m terrified of going back in for another epidural.

So, this “project”, over four years in, is being reset.

The weather started out in the mid-50s, a tad warmer than expected with heavy overcast skies.  It had rained overnight and the roads were wet.

Patrick was riding his new Salsa Fargo, Timothy his new Origin8 29er, Tim was riding his Cross Check, and I was riding my LHT.  So, two disc-brake mountain bikes, and two “road” bikes with cantilever brakes.

We headed northwest out of New Washington on lightly traveled roads.  It was quite nice.  We did stop to adjust clothing early in the ride as we had overdressed.

On Concord Rd was this interesting concrete railroad bridge.  There are no longer tracks on it.  It was built as part of the Marble Hill Nuclear Plant project to bring construction material in by rail.

Shortly after the bridge, we turned on Arbuckle Rd, a nice stretch of gravel.  I wasn’t feeling strong and my speed dropped in the gravel.

After a while, Timothy and I were riding together while Patrick and Tim were further ahead.  As we neared a left turn on the route, Tim and Patrick continued straight.  We yelled for them, but they couldn’t hear us.  We waited a bit but they disappeared from sight.  The “left turn” took us through a gate on to two-track and I thought this was the “mud pit” road I had ridden with Tim in August of last year.

Timothy and I rode down the two-track, figuring we’d meet up with the other two later.  We passed a parked Jeep and continued.  The two-track opened up into a cornfield.  The corn had been harvested leaving 3-inch stalk sticking out of the ground.  We made our way in the general direction of the “road” according to the GPS, but it was veering out of the field into thick underbrush.  We eventually decided that this was not the “mud pit” road and turned around and went back.

While exiting back on to the road, a hunter with a large rifle approached us and asked what we were doing.  He was worried we were messing with his Jeep.  He was actually friendly once he figured out we were not messing with anything.

I talked to Patrick on the phone, and he said they’d meet us at Hutch Rd.  We detoured around the “not road” marked by Google and my GPS as S 900 W.

We made our way to W 500 S and the GPS track for Hutch Rd had us turning left… into a driveway.  Tim and Patrick were not there.  I checked my phone, and there was a text saying they would meet us at the north end of Hutch Rd.  Timothy did not seem eager to ride on private property after the encounter with the hunter.  We detoured around Hutch Rd, but did not see Tim or Patrick where Hutch Rd intersected with S 850 W either.

We continued on for several miles.  Eventually I noticed Tim and Patrick behind us.  They apparently had been chasing us for some distance after seeing my tail light from a distance.  I also found out from Tim that Hutch Rd was the “mud pit” road from last year.  We missed out on that.

We meandered north toward roads Timothy had found while planning the route for the Charlestown Populaire.  Once getting north of Deputy Pike, these were some of the best gravel roads of the day.

I was forcing myself to eat and drink at this point.  I wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but I knew I’d bonk if I didn’t get things down.  I still felt okay though.

It was shortly after this picture was taken, at about mile 28 or 29 that the rain started.  It was a light misting rain.  It persisted for the rest of the ride and made balancing temperature more difficult.

This area was near a small branch of the Muscatatuck River.  We’ve ridden near/over this river many times, just not near here.

We meanders southeast for a while, eventually coming to the town of Hanover, our lunch stop.  We hadn’t researched where to eat, but Hanover has a few places.  Between the GPS devices and smartphones we had, we quickly found Jendy’s Pizza that was only a quarter mile away from where we pulled over to discuss options.  We continued to Jendy’s and walked in quite soggy.

I had a small pizza, a 12″, I think.  Comments were made about my ability to eat large amounts on a ride.  Yes, I’m a pro, don’t try this at home.

The bad part about a lunch break on a cold, wet ride is that you get colder.  Getting back on the bike was hard.  I really wanted someplace warm to curl up and sleep.

We left Hanover descending a steep downhill toward the river.  It was raining a bit harder now.  Tim and I, with out cantilever breaks, were riding the brakes down the hill to keep them dry enough to function.  Timothy and Patrick were enjoying their disc brakes.  All of us were freezing.  A fast downhill without a chance to warm up first made things quite uncomfortable.

We were heading for River Bottom Rd.  The northern part of the road near Hanover is gravel, yet I’ve never ridden that section.  Eventually a sign marked “Road Closed – Travel at your own risk” and the pavement ended.  That was different!

This gravel was large chunky stuff.  It was tough going.  Hit a rock wrong and the bars would try to twist out of your grip.  There were also large black rocks stacked off the side of the road that looked like coal.  I didn’t stop to inspect it, I wanted to keep moving to stay warm.

As we were now down in the river valley, the river was to our left, and hills to our right.  Low clouds were rolling in just over our heads, obscuring some of the hills.  It was surreal, like something out of a movie.

This picture doesn’t do it justice.

Eventually the pavement began again and before long we were on a steep climb on a smoothly paved road – W Prospect Rd.  I was glad for my low gears as I slowly spun up the climb.

We were all very tired by this point.  There was still much gravel.  I can’t remember which roads were gravel, and which weren’t but we still had plenty of gravel.

There was one small loop off of paved road that I had originally planned to ride, as it was extra gravel on those three roads.  We all decided to skip it and moved on.  There was still more gravel.

Somewhere around Taflinger Rd the gravel ended and we were on the home stretch.  We rolled New Washington – Bethlehem Rd into town and back to the cars.

Tim drove me home, but we stopped for coffee on the way.  Once I was home I hopped in the bathtub full of hot water.  I was chilled to the bone, and that seemed the best remedy.  I stayed in the tub for a while reading, until the water started to cool.

Next Saturday is the Gravel Grovel, and I’m about as ready as I’m going to be for it.  I’m fairly certain, barring calamity, that we can make the eight-hour cutoff.  I’m optimistic that we can finish in six and half hours, allowing us to see the awards ceremony.

I’m also fairly certain that my mileage for the month will be quite nice!

I saw on various websites that Google has pushed this out for the public.

My commute - by bus

This is much easier to use than there previous trip planner they had online.

I didn’t ride my bike to work today.  I was too sore from yesterday’s century.  I considered taking the bus, but the rainy weather this morning would have meant a crowded bus, and I wasn’t in the mood for that.  I called a cab.  It’s only the second time I’ve been in a cab, and the first time taking one to work.  I got a ride home from a co-worker who pretty much insisted that he take me home.  I was planning on taking the bus.

So, I congratulate Google, TARC, and the guy who’s name I can’t remember.  This will be handy getting to other destinations on days I just don’t feel like riding my bike.

Today was Tim’s birthday.  He broke from tradition and decided he wanted to do a century, and no, he is not 100 years old.  He mentioned something about it to me on Sunday evening, so I took the day off work.

This meant scrambling last night to get the fenders installed on the LHT, as the weather forecast was calling for rain ALL…. DAY…. LONG….

This morning the weather was as predicted.  I rode in the rain to Breadworks for coffee and snacks before heading out.  Temperatures held steady in the low to mid 50s all day, which made clothing decisions a little easier.

"Castle" on Fisherville Rd

"Castle" gate - Oz Manor

Wet bikes in Shelbyville

Brunch of Champions!

We headed north out of Shelbyville, then turned north west toward Crestwood.  Mt Zion Rd seemed much longer than it should have.  The rollers were never-ending.  We were wet.  Did I mention it was raining?

Rainy November on Orphan Lane - It just sounds sad

I'm wet and hungry

Tim was feeling sassy

I had one beer, a glass of water, fried ravioli, and a burger.  I didn’t pay attention to Tim’s food, other than the fact he didn’t eat it all.  Unlike him, I can put down a large amount of food and keep on riding.

I am not a nutritional role model

The rest of the ride was a bit of a slog.  I felt good about my time to the lunch stop, but it went downhill from there.  I was quite cold when leaving Crestwood.  I did warm up after a climb, but I didn’t have the same energy level.  I’ve done a lot of 50-70 mile rides this year, but few centuries.

I was also starting to have saddle issues by mile 80 or so.  I think it was poor position on the bike due to fatigue, but I’m not certain.

There were two stretches of US-42 to travel, which was less than pleasant.  Once we got to River Rd in Louisville, it was rush hour, and we were just in heads-down-get-through-this mode.

We turned into Indian Hills which relieved the traffic situation, but there were well, uh, hills.  They aren’t big hills, but we were tired.

We rolled back in front of Breadworks after nine and a half hours on the bike which is slow, but a good time for me on a century.  Tim rode home to celebrate with his family.  After I rode home, I had about 108 miles.

Issues:  GPS craziness, rain, cold, everything getting wet, sore bits toward the end of the ride

Good things: Felt great when I got home, 100K time was good, food was good, stayed hydrated

It rained about 80% of the ride.  The “miserable” part near the end is where we actually didn’t have rain for a while.  The temperatures started around 50, climbed to about 55, and dropped back to the low-50s by the end of the ride.  I never had to add or shed layers.  That was convenient.

I don’t want to wait until a birthday to do the next century.  I’d like to get one in per month!

Click for full route

* “I am not a nutritional role mode” quote shamelessly stolen from Kent Peterson.

Tomorrow is going to be awesome.

Overlook and LHT

Yesterday’s populaire left me exhausted.  I went to bed early and had plans of getting up early to ride around town with Tim.

I slept through the alarm.  Once I did wake up I noticed a text message from Tim.  He had gone on without me.  Good, I’m glad he didn’t wait.  He watched Dale race at the cyclocross event.

I eventually got enough coffee into me to ride down to Sunergos to drink more coffee and meet up with Tim.  After finish my “breakfast of champions” (scone and brownie), we headed out through UofL and south down through Beechmont and South Third St.

We were fighting quite the headwind in this direction.  The wind was stronger today than what I suffered through yesterday.

We turned on Kenwood Dr to go to Iroquois Park, but Tim decided to check out Kenwood Hill Rd.  We quickly turned around and started our climb.  It seems an interesting part of town, and home of the Little Loomhouse.

Kenwood Hill Rd loops around and dumps you back on Kenwood Dr.  Then we headed to Iroquois Park again.  The day was warming up and there were quite a few walkers and joggers.  The leaves were crunching underneath the tires.  It was quite a peaceful ride, climbing the hill at a relaxed pace.

I stopped at a scenic overlook for pictures.  We continued to the top and rode through a walking path cut through the tall grass.

We left Iroquois Park and headed northeast on Southern Parkway.  Tailwind!  We cruised along at 17-21 mph with very little effort.  It was nice.  This lasted (only slowing or stopping for lights) all the way through UofL and eventually turned southeast on Bradley Ave.

Our route took us through Joe Creason Park and eventually Dundee Rd.  We split up there.  Tim headed for home, I turned north and went to breadworks for more carbs and coffee.

I took the direct route home giving me 27.5 miles for the day (27.9 according to the GPS).

I think Tim had about 10 miles more than me, due to his riding while I slept.

Click for full route

I rode another one in September.  My neck was healed about as much as it ever will.  Timothy advertised it as fixie-friendly, perhaps for a stronger rider, and I rode my single-speed.  I walked a few hills, but I enjoyed the ride.  I also rode alone most of the time.

Yesterday was the November populaire.  It was billed as a “distillery tour”.  It left from Buffalo Trace in Frankfort.  Strangely that was the one distillery that I didn’t get to visit.

I managed to get a ride from Timothy to the ride start.  I was well stocked on food as I had no intention of stopping to eat during the ride.  I was riding the LHT with trunk bag for clothing and handlebar bag for everything else.

Buffalo Trace from the parking lot

There were a total of five of us gathered for the ride.  The other four were much stronger riders than I.

We headed out on Wilkinson Blvd and made our way to Bridge St, where an metal-grate bridge goes over the Kentucky River.  My fat tires on the LHT mean that  I couldn’t really even feel a difference in the road surface, but the fact I could look down and see the water below was a bit weird.

At this point, Timothy and David King had pulled out into the lead.  I was in the middle and the two other riders back behind a bit.  I had hoped to stay near other riders as I’m not good at reading cue sheets and GPS data was not provided for the ride.  I did have my GPS tracking my route though.

Eventually we turned left on Devil’s Hollow, our first real climb.  It’s a little over a mile long and varies between 6% and 10%.  It was a workout, but I never felt the need to drop into the granny gear.  I am slow on climbs though, and it was in this stretch that the other two riders passed me.  I was now riding alone, less than four miles into the ride, and would remain riding alone for the remainder.

I was looking for my left turn at Pebblebrook Way followed by another on Pea Ridge.  I was riding along and noticed that I sailed right past Pea Ridge.  I turned around and went down Pea Ridge, assuming that Devil’s Hollow had turned into Pebblebrook Way.  It wasn’t until reviewing my GPS track and maps today that I realized I missed the turn.  My error didn’t save any mileage, so hopefully RUSA won’t care.  :)  Actually, they probably would care if I were trying to get Brevets in to qualify for PBP, but I’m not.

Anyway, at this point I was unsure I was going the right way.  I’m lousy with cuesheets and I was beginning to wonder if this whole thing was a bad idea.  Maybe I should have stayed in bed.  Adding to the morose attitude were these remains on the side of Pea Ridge Rd.

It used to be a deer

I was frustrated with riding alone on a group ride.  I was frustrated about not knowing where I was at.  The cue sheet seemed a thin thread to keep me going.  I was frustrated with the headwind I’d been fighting my whole time on Pea Ridge Rd.  I came to KY-1665 and headed south.  This gave me confidence that I was indeed headed the right direction.  It also took me directly into the wind.  It was at this point I remembered I had to eat on the bike.  I grabbed a pop-tart out of the handlebar bag and started chewing it while sucking wind.  Not a good combination.  I almost choked.  A few swigs of water later I was better.

I followed KY-1665 along until S Benson veered away, then I followed that.  This brought me to KY-151.  I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I’ve driven KY-151 many times.  It was part of the route I would drive to Harrodsburg when Kristy lived there.

If the route would have taken KY-151 all the way to the 127 bypass, I would have realized where I was, but the route made a quick jog west on KY-512 then south on Puckett Rd.

Puckett Rd was narrow and scenic, but the first half mile had a number of houses and a bit of traffic.  Once I got beyond that area, traffic thinned out.  I stopped to eat and drink (about three minutes) so I didn’t choke on my food, and continued on.  This eventually led to Hammonds Creek Rd, which is busier than the maps would lead you to believe.  I was passed by several large diesels blowing fumes at me.

My mood at this point in the ride was dark, but I was still determined to follow the cue sheet and had no further issues with it since the Pebblebrook Way thing at mile 3.8.  I also knew that I’d eventually be going the other direction and this damn headwind would be a tailwind.

A short jog on KY-44 and turn south on Powell Taylor Rd.  The terrain around Powell Taylor was wide open.  There was no shelter from the wind.  There were often short stone walls that were falling apart.  That’s part of Kentucky I enjoy, but something a little taller to block the wind would have been nice.  The first half of Powell Taylor Rd was a slight climb, followed by a gentle descent.  A group of cows in a field scattered as I rode by.  I nearly choked on my snack again as I tried eating and riding.  At least getting a drink of water was easier.

There was a quick jog on US-62 before I turned southeast on Mill Creek Pike, or KY-513.  It looked much like Powell Taylor Rd, but had a yellow line down the middle.  It was fairly low-traffic.

Rock wall along Mill Creek Pike

Four Roses warehouse for aging the bourbon

Four Roses distillery

There are rosebushes decorating the grounds around the building.  Quite fitting for “Four Roses”.  I was surprised to see some semblance of roses on them in November.

More than four roses...

KY-513 continued eastward to US-127 (or is it the bypass, I don’t know).  I had to make a left here, and did so without incident.  I saw the “By-Pass Motors” sign that I’ve seen dozens of times on trips to Harrodsburg.  I knew I was south of Lawrenceburg (Larryville?)  What I didn’t realize is that the route was taking me in a big loop around Lawrenceburg without ever going into town.

I also didn’t realize that my right turn at Harrodsburg Rd was the old 127, so I went past it briefly before figuring it out, and doing a U-turn on the bypass.

I headed north on Harrodsburg Rd.  There was surprisingly little traffic considering it’s the former US-127.  I guess the bypass is really working.  I was approaching the town of Lawrenecburg, but I would turn east on Wildcat Rd before reaching town.

Wildcat was pleasant.  It was slightly rolling, but eventually began diving into the creek valley.  At this point the pavement ended and the route followed the one section of gravel.

Wildcat Road

Once reach the lowest elevation it’s going to, Wildcat bends sharply left, the pavement begins again, and a rather eye-catching house greets your entrance to Tyrone KY.  Tyrone is a (former) town along the Kentucky River.  I’m guessing it floods often enough to be unsustainable.  There are more former houses there than occupied ones.

Welcome to Tyrone

Then there was a nice climb up to the Wild Turkey Distillery.  I was hoping to run in, get my card stamped, and leave quickly. Unfortunately, there was a good crowd in there and a long line at the counter.

Wild Turkey

I was able to by-pass the line for a quick stamping of the card, then I was on my way.

Visible from here was the US-62 bridge over the Kentucky River.  It’s quite a distance over the water due to the terrain on the other side.   Also visible is a railroad bridge that’s even taller and substantially older.  I don’t know if it’s still used, as it looks pretty worn out.  I’ve been told it’s called high-bridge.  I did not get a picture.

I continued on Tyrone Rd and turned right on US-62.  From where I turned to the bridge was downhill.  I managed to hit a good speed and took the lane.  There was one car behind me, but he didn’t seem impatient.  After the bridge is a sharp right then the road slopes upward.  I was heading southeast again and had some wind in my face, so my speed suffered.

Visibility on this stretch of road was bad.  Even though I was now hanging to the right it wasn’t safe for cars to pass, and they weren’t passing.  Once a good line of them had built up, I pulled off the road too let them pass.  I took the few moments to eat and drink some more also.

The route eventually turned off of US-62 to Milner Rd, then to Steel Rd, which I followed for quite a few miles.

Steel Rd started out in typical “rough-rural” form.  A few farms, some ramshackle homes.  Eventually it looked more like what rural Kentucky is known for, horse farms and well-manicured estates.  I think I prefer the ramshackle look.

Also I was now heading north.  I had a tailwind!  My mood had improved dramatically.  I hadn’t been lost in many miles and I knew I’d easily make the cutoff time.

The cue sheet had an upcoming left turn for New Cut/McCracken.  There was a right turn for KY-1659/McCracken Pike shortly after that.  I came to a stop sign and the cross road was McCracken Pike.  It was still to early to the first turn.  I zoomed out on the GPS and saw that New Cut would loop around and meet up with McCracken Pike.  Timothy had added this little bit to get the mileage right.  So, I continued straight and later turned left on New Cut.  New Cut was typical horse farm country.

Horse farms on New Cut Rd

I met back up with McCracken Pike and it was a short ride to the Woodford Reserve distillery.

Woodford Reserve

I will say this.  Their setup for giftshop and tours is better than the others.  It’s larger, well-staffed, and I was greeted and had freebies pushed at me as soon as I walked in the door.  I really just wanted my card stamped.

They stamped my card and ate a free bourbon ball and was given a shot glass.  I may have to buy a bottle of Woodford just for the service I got as a non-customer.

I continued north on McCracken Pike.  It runs parallel to Glenns Creek for a while.  I went through the tiny town of Millville, which has no other streets.  It’s just McCracken Pike with the creek on one side, and a clump of houses on the other.

I eventually pass the now-defunct “The Old Taylor Distillery Company”.  It looked vaguely familiar.

The Old Taylor Distillery Company

Possibly related building across the street

As the route enters the Franfort area again, I turn left on Coffee Tree Rd. I saw no coffee.  I could have used a cup.  I did see the State Police Training Academy.

Kentucky State Police Training Academy

State Capitol

One more climb then a left turn at US-60/Main St with a nice downhill run into town.

From there it was a stroll down Wilkinson Blvd and back to Buffalo Trace.  Buffalo Trace was now closed, but Timothy was waiting at the end to mark my card.  I finished the ride in 5:55, my best 100K ride yet.

What is the indecision?  I’m not sure if I want to do more populaires, or worse yet a brevet.  My riding style is more relaxed, slower, and with stops for food and pictures.  On the other hand an occasional populaire/brevet is good for making me faster without resorting to dedicated training.

I also like group rides to, you know, ride as a group.  I spent nearly all of the ride alone.  I don’t mind solo rides, but those start solo, and won’t have anyone waiting for me at the end.

I don’t know.  I’m still undecided about the future of doing these rides.

The early part of the ride I really wanted to give up the populaire and head for Louisville.  I would have sent Timothy a text message to let him know I wasn’t going to need a ride home.  I then could have ridden any pace I wanted, guilt-free.

Later in the ride I was completely enjoying myself.  I didn’t take as many pictures as I normally do during a ride, but that means few to post here (which is a bit of a pain).

So, I remain undecided, yet overall pleased with the ride yesterday.

Click for full route

What a strange trip it’s been.

• Diet, exercise, bought a scale and an elliptical
• Got divorced
• Bought a bike
• Got rid of the elliptical
• Became a bicycle commuter
• Appeared on TV
• Made new friends
• Lost nearly 100 lbs
• Met another woman
• Got married
• Moved into Louisville
• Gained 30 lbs
• Split up again – heading for divorce
• Continued a destructive lifestyle
• Went car-free

It’s time for me to reflect where I’ve been and where I need to go.  I’ve gotten too used to “instant gratification” in everything.  I feel I “deserve” things that in the long-term are bad for me.  So I’ve gained weight.

This is more than eat less/ride more.  This is my relationship with food.

Looking back on old posts to write this has been illuminating and given me new incentive to work at this again.  The wedding pictures especially.  I was about 20lbs lighter then than I am now, and I looked quite a bit better.

So, I’m going to work harder and see where I am in another year.  I hope some of you hang out and enjoy the ride with me.

Work was busy, a bit hectic maybe, but went by quickly.  I felt much better as the day went by.

I met up with Tim after work for a training ride.  It was dark but we were both well-lit and reflective.  The weather was comfortable.  I felt strong and had a spirited ride.  I won’t lie, Tim was ahead most of the ride and probably riding stronger, at least until the last two miles.  I pulled ahead and left him quite a way back.  He worked hard to pass me again and I was too tired to chase.

I then took a long-ish route home meeting Bethany, another bicycle commuter on Third St.  We chatted briefly before going our separate ways.

After arriving home, I was tempted to go out for dinner, not because I’m hungry, just having a craving.  The spirited ride actually suppressed my appetite, so I’m skipping dinner and staying home.  I’ll eat a hearty breakfast in the morning.  It also feels good to make the right dietary decision.  I need to do that more often.

Edit:

I couldn’t sleep due to phlegm.  I got hungry so I cooked some white rice.  Still being good, and going to try to sleep again.

It was a pleasant if wasteful day.

It wasn’t completely wasteful.  I did some housework.  I played with the dogs.  I’m resting and will hopefully be ready to get busy at work tomorrow.  I also intend to ride after work with Tim for some more training.  Gravel Grovel is less than two weeks away.

Often on sick days, I’ll spend a lot of time reading.  I didn’t today.  I’ve been reading so much on my Kindle that I just needed a break.  I’ve averaged more than seven books per month in a year.  Yep, taking a break is a good thing.

I’ve lost a lot of fitness.  I really struggled to keep up.

I had an “auspicious” start by oversleeping.  I got a text message from Patrick as I was heading out the door asking if I was gonna be there or not.  Oops.

I was riding the LHT in “gravel grinder” mode.  It’s stripped down with fat tires (700×47), but I did put the rear rack back on.  I need the trunk bag for clothing storage in changing temperatures.

Once I arrived at Breadworks, I had to have coffee.  Without coffee, I don’t exist.  That took some more time.  It’s hard to guzzle hot coffee.

I seemed to (mostly) keep up with them on the flats, but as soon as there was climbing, I fell behind.  I actually lost track of them at one point in the Mockingbird Valley area.  They had made a right turn, I went straight.

We eventually met back up and headed up River Rd to Prospect.  Shortly after, Patrick headed for home.  Tim and I went for more coffee, then back into town for a bike shop stop.  I bought a couple of spare tubes.

I followed Tim home and picked up a saddle for the Big Dummy.  I stopped for a beer on the way home.

I had a bunch of housework to do, so that’s what I spent the next few hours doing.

I later had to run an errand out off of Frankfort Ave.  I took a long-ish scenic route out.  On the way back, I was sure to ride the Beargrass Creek Trail, something I rarely do on solo rides.  I was on the Big Dummy with the newly installed saddle.  I think the stem I put on it a week or so ago is too short now.  I should have adjusted the (old) saddle before buying a new stem.  Oh well, live and learn.

I then headed to Cumberland Brews for dinner and beer.  Another 14 miles for the day.

It was a pretty good day overall.

Goodbye truck

I sold my truck today.  I was expecting to be extremely happy, as I’ve been working toward this for a while.  In reality, I was a bit sad to see it go, and I’m a little worried about the future.

I first got a car when I was 16.  It was a $250 beater – a 1974 AMC Hornet.  I went through a lot of cars.  Cheap cars and hard use meant I was always buying another car.  I’ve (mostly) owned a car for a quarter century.  How much did that cost?

In the late 1990s I went without a car for a few weeks.  I walked about a mile to get to work.  I was offered a job 25 miles away, and bought another cheap car.

In April 2009 I went without a car for a couple of weeks when my old Kia finally died.  That’s when I bought the truck.  Living in Charlestown wasn’t really conducive to living without a car.  Now that I live in town and rarely drive, it was time.

My “trial” started right after leaving Carmax, where I sold the truck.  I had to ride on Hurstbourne Parkway for a short distance before heading west (north?) on Taylorsville Rd.  These are busy roads and it was dark.  I was riding the single-speed and have dyno-lights, plus a blinky.  I was also wearing a reflective vest.  I had surprisingly few issues.

I stopped at Za’s Pizza on the way home to celebrate.  Pizza is a much tastier fuel than gasoline.

I intend to be car-free for the rest of my life.  That may change, but it’s unlikely.  I’m not anti-car.  I’ll still rent one on occasion, once or twice a year, to travel to Michigan and visit family.

Monday morning was bad.  I almost drove to work, but remembering that I’ll be without a motor vehicle very soon, took an alternate choice.  I rode the bus.

I don’t ride the bus often.  The 43 comes near my house and to downtown.  It’s usually quite crowded.  Monday was no exception.  I had to stand early in the ride because there were no seats available.  After a few stops, a seat opened, and I took it.

Many that I work with won’t take a bus ever, due to the other people on the bus.  I’ve never felt uncomfortable on the bus.  If something were to happen, I imagine the good people outnumber that bad by a large margin.

I planned on taking the bus home again, but Kristy came by my work place to talk about divorce things.  She paid for my dinner and drove me home.  Nice!

Tuesday, I was back on the bike.  I was still hurting, but the upright riding position of the Big Dummy was better than one of the drop-bar bikes.  I called my chiropractor to see about getting another appointment in.  She was able to see me that day after work.

I rode home after work and walked to the chiropractor’s office.  She did the adjustment, but said it was mostly muscular and that seeing my massage therapist would probably do more good.  I don’t have a massage appointment until next week.

Today, Wednesday, I woke up feeling much better.  I’m almost feeling like I was pre-crash.  I guess the adjustment did more good that she thought it would.

My overall mileage year-to-date is a bit lower than last year, but that’s due to my horrible June because of my neck.

I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve driven the truck to a ride for the last time.  It’s true.  It’ll be sold by Saturday.  I will be officially car-free.

I was car-free briefly in April 2009, but then I bought the truck.  I lived in Charlestown and the time, and the time and energy spent commuting that distance was more than I could handle.

Now, I live in town, and this car-free episode isn’t being forced on me.  The Kia needed a new engine, spurring that car-free stint.

My LHT ready for gravel

Tim cooked up an awesome route to train for the upcoming Gravel Grovel without having to drive too far.  We discussed with Timothy and Patrick.  Both were interested, but Patrick couldn’t dedicate that much time.  It’s a good thing he didn’t try to “squeeze it in”, we were out for many hours.

The Morning

I got up early and cooked eggs.  I wanted a substantial breakfast before a ride like this.  I should have had more carbs.  This became important later.  I had also planned to grab some snack food at the local gas station to carry with me, but the station was closed.

I drove Tim and I out to pick up Timothy, or so we thought.  We met Timothy as Heine Brothers Coffee where we each had a cup and a scone.  I grabbed another scone for during the ride.  We thought Timothy needed a ride, but instead he followed us.  This is the last drive in my truck.  I’ll have more about that in another post.

Okay, so the Timothy transportation snafu was just a communication error.  That’s what happens when all of our planning is done via email.

Timothy pumping up the tires on "Beast"

The ride started in New Castle KY in Henry County, northeast of Louisville.  It’s just far enough away to be quite rural.

Tim is getting ready to ride

The Ride

We were on the road before 9:00am.  It was cold, probably just a bit above freezing.  We headed north east.  Tim let me know that his GPS was not working as expected, so he told me to navigate.  I had loaded the route on my GPS as a track the night before.

I wasn’t feeling strong.  I was cold.  I fell behind.  Tim and Timothy were riding ahead of me, far enough that they couldn’t hear me yell at them when they missed a turn.  We were less than a mile into the ride.  Not a great start.  I have chase  and eventually got their attention.  We all turned around and went back to our turn on Flat Rock Rd, our first gravel of the day.

Tim enjoying Flat Rock Rd

Frozen foam?

Blocked?

Flat Rock Rd was a pleasant downhill run into a creek valley, but at 5.5 miles into the ride we came a a creek crossing with two problems.  1) The creek was deep enough that riding through or walking was not possible without getting wet.  2)  We couldn’t see where it crossed to.  We figured that once across somehow, that we’d pick up the road somewhere.

Morning sun over creek

We walked up and down the bank looking for a good location for crossing.  It didn’t exist.  Tim and Timothy began throwing stones in a shallow but fast-moving section to try to build a bridge.  It would have taken a lot of stones and time to make it where we could simply walk across and stay dry.

Timothy looking for a creek crossing

It quickly became apparent we’d just need to walk through the water.  With the cold temperatures, it was best to do this barefoot.  Timothy went first.

Cold feet

Timothy left his bike behind, know we could pass it to him.  I wanted mine with me to hold on to if I started to slip.  I didn’t slip, but I did submerge by bike deeper than planned.  It’ll need a new bottom bracket and the hubs re-packed soon.

Yes, the water was cold, and my right pant leg slipped down

Okay, Now Where?

Once we again had our footwear on, we started looking around for the “road”.  This “road” is marked as such by the county maps that Tim uses for these excursions, and normal web-based maps aren’t accurate enough.

Where's that confounded road?

There's the "road"

Funny, he doesn't look happy

Before long we were on paved roads again.  I was trying to keep up, but I had no energy and kept falling behind.  I was really beginning to hate the ride.  I was questioning my ability to ride it, and the Gravel Grovel.  I was in a foul mood, and I really wanted to just take the most direct route back to my truck.

This turned into self-loathing because I know that part of the problem is my recent weight gain.  Part of it is that I don’t do long rides as often as I used to.  Most of my mileage is around town these days.

The third cause was the real one.  I hadn’t eaten enough.  On was on the verge of “bonking”.  I stopped to eat my extra scone and drank some water.  I still needed more.

We turned on Joe’s Branch Rd, a rather pleasant downhill gravel stretch.  My speed was limited due to sketchy roads conditions but it was fun.  Tim struggled more here with his narrower tires.  There were several mostly dry creek crossings, but they paved those short stretches.

Tim and the paved, dry, creek crossing

Lockport

Sixmile Creek Rd goes into Lockport, a tiny little town on the Kentucky River.

It's peaceful in Lockport

Dueling churches

The next town would be Gratz.  I had hopes for food here, as I had done a little research ahead of time.

Heading out of Lockport on 389

Tim putting his camera away

The stopping for pictures helped me feel better, but I was still dragging.

Kentucky River

As we approached Gratz, we realized that Hwy 22 has been re-routed to a new bridge over the Kentucky River into town.  The store stop I researched (but never called) doesn’t seem to exist anymore.  There was a restaurant, but they’re closed on Sundays and Wednesdays.  No food in Gratz.

Monterey

Monterey is the farthest point of the ride.  Surely there is food there!

The trip to Monterey was on Hwy 355 for much of the way.  I fell behind (again) and came to a turn we supposed to make at Severn Creek Rd, a nice gravel road.  I was pretty sure that Tim and Timothy had not gone that way, but I wasn’t positive.  I stopped and waited a few.  I tried calling Tim.  I sent him a text message.  Nothing.

I continued on Hwy 355, ignoring the turn.  That was the right choice, they were both heading back toward me on 355, wondering where I had went.

I mentioned the turn, and it turns out that they had discovered last night that that road does not go through, and modified the route to stay on 355.  Unfortunately, that was after I loaded the route into my GPS.

We continued to Monterey, and there was nothing in town.  We stopped and asked a guy who was outside, and he gave a directions to “the store”.    It was south-east of town on Hwy 127.  Nice wide shoulders made this busy road easy to ride on.  There was indeed a gas station/convenience store that sold burgers, hot dogs, and pizza, along with the usual fair.

We took our time.  I had Gatorade, a burger, chips, and bought several oatmeal creme pies for later.

We went back into Monterey, and started looking for Old Landing Rd, that promised to be gravel.

Old Landing Rd

We found some two-track off of High St that looked like it was going the right direction.  It was rutted dirt, mud, and sometimes grass.  We kept following it even as we could see on the GPS that we were deviating from our desired direction.  Eventually our “path” came to a dead-end at the Kentucky River.

We turned around, I was at the tail-end of the group.  I saw the soupy mud up ahead, and I decided to charge through it rather than risk bogging down.  Instead I fell.  I banged my shoulder and tweaked my neck, but luckily mud is soft.  I did get rather dirty.

While making our way back, Tim noticed and old roadbed and the remnants of an old bridge over another creek.  Was this our road?

Rock wall next to roadbed

More rock wall

Woods and brush on the other side of the creek

Tim thinking on which way to go

Tim walking back to his bike

This is the muddy area where I fell

Our dead-end jaunt while looking for the road was actually very close to it.  We didn’t see it because it was up higher than we were.

Old Landing Rd was a gravel road that runs along farmland and the Kentucky River.  It was a really nice ride.

Luggage

Along this point I started feeling much better.  The food was doing it’s magic.  The temperature was warming substantially too and I needed to lose a couple of layers.

Old Landing Rd

I’m used to riding a bike with a rear rack and usually have at least a trunk bag, and sometimes a pannier or two.  I didn’t really have a place to put clothes that I removed since I was only carrying the handlebar bag.

Timothy found a bungie cord along the side of the road.  I put my jacket and sweater on top the handlebar bag and used the bungie to hold everything in place.  It worked well enough.

Mechanical Issues

Now that my food issue was solved, Timothy started having bike issues.  His bike wasn’t shifting properly, and he had to replace a bent link in the chain.  He had a low rear tire, gave it a quick pump, and as we rolled into Lockport on the return trip, he stopped to replace the tube.

This worked well, as the store that had been closed was now open.  I went in for more Gatorade and oatmeal creme pies (yeah, I know, bad food).

It was an interesting store.  There were at least three friendly dogs in the store.  They seemed well behaved.

Return

After leaving Lockport, we got to ride the wonderful stretch of Sixmile Creek Rd again.  Very nice.  We also took another section of it south that was also quite nice to get down to Hwy 573 then directly back to New Castle.  No more hiking through the woods for the day.

Timothy on the home stretch

Tim was in the lead, until almost at the ride finish, when Timothy poured on the speed.  I didn’t try to catch up.  Tim managed to pull ahead again, leaving Timothy behind.  Timothy and I arrived in New Castle together with Tim waiting for us.

What I Learned

This is training for a race.  Today’s time would have been a disqualification.  Then again, the race is not likely going to require me to take off my shoes or hike through woods without as much as a trail.

According to our bike computers and GPSs, we spent almost three hours STOPPED.  Keeping moving is important.

I need another bag on the bike.  I’ll probably just throw the rear rack back on and use the truck bag.  I don’t want to spend the money for a large saddlebag.

I’m not convinced I’ll do anything like this next year.  I like stopping for pictures, food, or just to take a break.  I don’t know that the GO GO GO type riding is really my style.  I’ll do it for this training, and the race itself, but after that, I’ll have to put some real thought into it.

The Route

Click for full view

I have stripped my LHT down.  I removed the fenders, racks, lights and most other accessories.  I put my Acorn handlebar bag on to hold the essentials and installed the wider tires (700×47 Marathons) that Patrick loaned me.  It’s still not a light bike, but it’s a bit better equipped for racing on gravel.

I met up with Tim this morning for a 25-mile training ride in town.  No gravel was involved, but just trying to get our fitness levels up.  I was slow and felt thrashed.  I haven’t adjusted to the colder weather yet.

We’re heading out a again tomorrow for a real gravel ride of about 57 miles.  Wish me luck.

The Big Dummy is the only bike I own without fenders, so it was time to fix that.  We’ve had rain recently.  I rode in light rain today for the commute.  The rain wasn’t bad, but the wet roads made for a sloppy mess on the bike and on my lower legs and feet.

I was also stretched out a bit too much, so the shorter stem will hopefully fix that.

After getting home, I pulled up a chair to the Big Dummy and got busy.  removing the old stem and replacing it with the new one was easy.  A torque wrench is recommended, but I don’t own one yet, and I can get it good enough by feel.  I did notice that the steer tube was cut poorly.  I may have to do something about that someday.

Headless Dummy

After getting the rest of the required tools, including the required bike-themed beer I attempted to install the Surly front rack that used to be on my LHT.  I couldn’t figure out how to mount it without interfering with the brake caliper, so I decided to hold off on the rack.

Boulder Beer - Singletrack Copper Ale

I did find that the KickBack kickstand would keep the front forks off the floor with the front wheel removed, if I used the front wheel as extra weight in the rear.

KickBack

I installed the front fender (mudguard), but I think I cut the stays a little short.  It has a rather lousy fender line.

Front Fender

I had planned on putting the rear fender on tonight also.  I also planned to strip my LHT for gravel training.  However, I’m tired and grumpy and not happy with how this came out.  I’ll save the rest for tomorrow.

I can’t say I enjoy working on bikes.  I do enjoy the end result, even if it takes me several attempts.  I’ll probably buy a replacement hardware set for the fenders and re-do the stays on the front.

What’s next for the Dummy?  I need a new saddle.  I want a sprung Brooks saddle.  This bike is supposed to have a rather upright riding position.  I haven’t ridden it since installing the new stem, but I assume I’ll be nice and upright.

The LHT?  I’m removing the fenders and rear rack.  I’m installing some wider tires that probably won’t fit with the fenders.  I’ll also move the small saddle bag and handlebar bag over from the single-speed for tools and snacks.  This is in preparation for the Gravel Grovel, which I still intend to ride.

People go car-free for a variety of reasons: environmental, financial, health issues, loss of license, never got a license, etc.

I don’t have a clearly defined reason.  I guess it started when I first started riding a bike in 2008.  At first I was scared of traffic.  I adjusted, but I also felt like I could kill someone anytime I got behind the wheel.  Even that feeling faded with time.  I’m confident in mixed traffic whether I’m riding a bike or driving a car.  The seed had been planted at that point, that living without a car could be done.

When I still lived 16 miles from work I wanted to ride my bike to work every day, but time constraints and exhaustion from a 33 to 40 miles round-trip, depending on route, every day was a bit much.  It was then I started thinking about moving into town.

I moved into town in September of 2010.  Since then, I have lived the car-free lifestyle, but had a car here at all times, two when Kristy was still here.

I enjoy the car-free lifestyle, but I always had a car quickly available.  I rarely had to put gas in the truck because I was rarely driving it, but I did drive it occasionally.

I can afford the keep the truck.  Hell, I could afford to start driving to work everyday and pay to park, but why would I?

I’m choosing to live car-free as a simple lifestyle choice.  Active transportation beats passive transportation.  My commute makes me feel better rather than worse.  I want to simplify my life and this is one step in that direction.  Even the weight loss has taken a back seat to the lifestyle choice.  That may be why I’m not losing weight right now.

What am I giving up?  Very little.  If I need a car to, say, drive to Michigan for example, I’ll rent one.  It’ll require a little more planning, but not much.  If I want to go to a group ride that is some distance away, I’ll have to either get a ride from someone else, or ride to the ride.  I’ve done both of those things in the last year.

I guess the biggest issue I’m going to face is the social aspects.  Those who don’t know me may think I got a DUI.  Dating will be problematic unless I find an understanding woman (which makes other things easier anyway).  I don’t want to be “that guy” who asks for a ride on every trip, so either I pay gas, or rent a car, and others chip in.

I’ve already learned how to handle traffic, weather, trip-planning, and a bit of bike maintenance.  Now I just need to sell the truck.

I also almost hot hit by a car on Sunday night.  It was dark, but I was well lit and wearing a reflective vest.  The car coming up fast behind me left some tire on the road to keep from hitting me.  It was certainly a bit of an adrenaline boost.  The guy/gal driving was speeding and overtaking a car on the right when it happened.  This was on Eastern Parkway.  I had no time to react.  I brushed it off at the time, but it’s been bothering me all day today.

I don’t need money to have fun.  I met up with Tim for some more ‘cross after work today.  I hadn’t bothered to bring cycling clothes to work with me, so I was riding a touring bike (with fenders!) on a ‘cross course while wearing business casual (I lean more to the casual side).

Normally, nobody would notice, but there was a sizable group of cyclists practicing.  This group was nearly 50% women.  Young, attractive, fit women.  Yikes.  I had to get out of there.

Nothing unusual about that, except we were both riding cargo bikes.  I was on my Big Dummy, and Tim on his Kona Ute.  Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a camera, but Tim grabbed a picture of me with his phone.

Cargo 'Cross

Sometime in the next few months I’m going to create a camping pack that will contain everything I need for an impromptu camping trip.  Next time an opportunity pops up, whether a car-camping trip like this one, or a last-minute S24O, I’ll be prepared.

I had a light breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk.  That’s mostly because I overslept and didn’t have time to cook bacon and eggs.

Work

I had a productive day at work.  Although my official duties are database related, I get pulled into various IT projects.  Today, I finished up a small Windows application to make deployment easier for one of our line-of-business applications.  Just a little thing, but it was nice to write software again, even on a small scale.

New Bike

I heard from Ian today.  We agreed upon a price and payment plan.  The Big Dummy is mine.  I’m getting the KickBack kickstand and wide loaders in the deal.  Now I truly have a pedal-powered pickup truck!

Cyclocross

After work I rode out to the park to meet with Tim.  We did a couple of easy laps around the course, then he started a faster lap.  I fell back, stopped and took a breather.  I really wasn’t feeling strong.  We then did a lap with me in the lead – running at my pace. It wasn’t much faster than an easy lap.

I’ve made up my mind that cyclocross is not for me.  I’ll continue to do these practices for fitness and fun, but I don’t want to race.

Tim gave me a ride part of the way back home.  I rode home from the Highlands.  I still rode 12.5 miles of commuting/errands and 12 miles of ‘cross practice.

Dinner

I go out to eat entirely too much.  I still haven’t been grocery shopping, but I had enough stuff to cook spaghetti, so that’s what I did.  I have no beer, but I need to avoid it for a while.  I had a filling meal, and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Late Errand

My daughter works at a local drug store.  She called me to ask me to bring her something.  I hopped on the single-speed, went to the ATM, then the drug store, dropped off something for her, and bought some stuff for me.  The round-trip was only 2.5 miles.

What did I learn on my errand?  I learned my Acorn handlebar bag will fit two large bottles of supplements (glucosamine) and a 14oz tub of Haagen-Dazs ice cream.  So, dessert too!

More Saturday

I got an email from Michael, who I rode with on Saturday.  He passed along a couple of pictures of me.

The first is just me riding through the woods on my single-speed road bike.  Not the ideal bike for the terrain.

Action shot

The second picture is hilarious.  We were at the nearly impassable stretch of the Riverwalk behind the golf course.  I had no idea he was taking pictures, but I needed to lift my bike to get through.

Upward and onward?

Exercise & Stretching

I’m doing my dumbbell exercises.  Even the 5lb stuff hurts after enough repetitions.  I have no upper body strength.

I’ve also noticed over the last few months that I hurt more.  My legs were so tight last night that any movement was painful.  I realized that somewhere over the last six or so months I quit stretching.

So, I spent about 30 minutes stretching my legs, back, and torso yesterday.  I’ll do it again tonight.  Hopefully I’ll notice a difference soon.

The Truck

The gasoline-powered cargo hauler (as opposed to the pedal-powered cargo hauler) is going up for sale this week.  I’m done using it now, I just need to find a buyer.  Then I’ll be officially car-free.

This Weekend

Tim, Michael, and I are heading to Red River Gorge (in Tim’s SUV) for two days of riding, and one night of camping.  It’ll be cool during the day, and cold at night.  I’ll be wearing as much wool as possible at night.  I hope there aren’t any burn-bans in effect this weekend.  We’ll really need a fire.

Either way, it’ll be a blast.  Much like the Big South Fork trip was last year.

We really had no goal.  I wasn’t feeling strong (hell, my legs still hurt) so we didn’t ride fast.  I brought my camera along for the ride, but never even got it out.

After he went home, I sat at Cumberland having food and beer.  I ended the day at about 43 miles.

Once home, I did yard work and housework.  I really need to go grocery shopping again, but I hate grocery shopping and I’m constantly putting it off to the last minute.  I’ll do it another day.

I realized today how lazy I’ve become recently.  I’m having trouble doing the things that need to be done.  My house is a mess.  I’m letting things fall behind.  I’m not even eating properly, and I’m gaining weight again.

I’m not drinking enough water.  I did drink out of my water bottle during the ride, but then I was drinking beer before heading home.  We’ve all made jokes about hydrating with beer, but beer is lousy for hydration.  I spent a good part of the day after getting home being dehydrated and feeling sick.  I drank a huge glass of water which helped.  I’m now drinking a huge mug of herbal tea.

Yep, I’m in a mental funk.  Even when I’m not, I’m lazy and eat poorly.  I’m not sure how I got this way over the last few years.  I’ve made drastic lifestyle changes before.  I think it’s time to do it again.

Fountain at Waterfront Park

He suggested in an email that we meet for a Riverwalk/Louisville Loop this morning.  He lives in my part of town, so he suggested meeting at Sunergos at 9:00am.

I left home a little early to run by the ATM, then arrived at Sunergos to get a cup of coffee (and a bacon donut from Nords).  I was riding the single-speed and not carrying panniers.

Michael arrived as I was drinking my coffee.  He was riding a nice looking Jamis Aurora.  After finishing we headed north to downtown and on to the Riverwalk.

Once we neared Shawnee Golf course, but were still on the open portion of the Riverwalk, we detoured off of the path and followed a overgrown trail into the woods.  The woods we were in is listed as Portland Wharf Park.

This route quickly became mountain-bike-like with fallen trees, leaves, mud, and rough spots.  Riding road bikes made this interesting, but the view was quite nice.

Morning Light

Michael and his Jamis Aurora

The Single-Speed and I

Peeking around the tree

There was enough mud to clog up between tire and fender.  Several times I had to stop and use a stick to clear the mud.  Michael had less of an issue as he didn’t have a front fender.

Fallen civilization?

We eventually made it through the worst of it, and out the other side, back to an open section of Riverwalk, where I cleaned the mud out again.

Dangerous!

I do find it odd that the best separated cycling facilities in town are in the west end.  Too bad they’re all designed for recreation rather than transportation.

Louisville Loop path

We deviated from our course and rode through the now cleaned up site.  It is open to the public and has a trail into the woods.  We rode until we were near the river and the going got a bit tough.  We were able to see the casino in Indiana peeking through the trees.

From a trail near Lee's Lane

Late morning sunlight

Resting bikes & Michael

So, we got back on the Louisville Loop heading south.  This was a nice stretch with guard rails!?

Guard rails seem like overkill

Bridge over Mill Creek

Mill Creek

Turning coal into electricity and pollution

Coal ash hill in front of coal ash mountain

View of the Ohio River from Farnsley-Moremen Landing

The place is a very “country” restaurant as you would expect.  I didn’t expect fake palm trees outside though.

Colorful but tacky

We arrived back in Germantown, and went our separate ways.  I had 52.5 miles.

The idea for this ride was Michael’s.  I wish I could take credit.  It was a great ride.  It had enough bizarre terrain to be challenging.  We seldom had to ride in traffic, and when we did it was pleasant.  We weren’t in a hurry, but still rode over 50 miles.  We took little side-trips down unknown paths.  It was the kind of ride that RCCS was formed for, but yet it wasn’t an RCCS ride.  It was just two guys riding around.

Click for details

1. We’ll get lapped – and a I guess that’s a DNF
2. I suck at cross

I’ll do it anyway if he does (or Patrick for that matter), but I’m a lemming.  I’m not a leader.

We did two easy laps and two “hot” laps.  I just followed Tim on the easy laps.  No problem.  I fell far behind on the “hot” laps.  We did the last one in reverse, and I mistakenly missed a turn and went down stairs.  I kept the bike upright but my feet came off the pedals, and my hands barely held unto the bars.  I was bouncing on the saddle.  Ouch.

In an actual race the course would be better marked, but I still suck.  I also don’t have a ‘cross bike.  That’s right, I used my LHT, a touring bike, for ‘cross training.

In addition to being a bit heavy, the LHT is outfitted with Schwalbe Marathon tire… not idea, but fine for training.  If I race, I’ll switch them out.  It also has a rack and fenders, which would be removed for the race.

What I can’t change is the geometry.  The low bottom-bracket meant I had to be very careful on some of the turns to avoid pedal strike.

Tim has his view of it here.

His take is that I would be better off on my single-speed on that course.  I think he’s right.  I could strip the fenders, lights, and rack from it and put on some better tires and be good to go.  The pink bar-tape is just an extra point.  :)

I rode the Big Dummy and met Tim at Highland Coffee.  We enjoyed snacks and coffee before heading downtown then out River Rd.

We turned off and unto the Butchertown Greenway.  This was a peaceful stretch until on a blind curve the path was covered with walnuts.  There was also a cyclist standing astride his bike talking on the phone.  We made it through with no issue and continued on.

After a few more city streets we were on the Beargrass Creek Trail.  I really like this trail, and the Big Dummy makes quite the racket rolling over the bridges there.

After getting through the Lexington Rd/Grinstead Dr intersection we went through Cherokee Park, then into some neighborhood streets.

Eventually Tim went home, and I still needed more coffee and a proper breakfast.  I went to Twig and Leaf for an omelette and coffee.  The Big Dummy got quite a bit of attention from a group of cyclists who were finishing up their breakfast.  I then headed for home.

The Big Dummy is not a fast bike, but I was lightly loaded for today’s trip.  I rode 18.9 miles in an urban area with some small hills.  There were many stops.  My average rolling speed was 11.8mph.  I’m sure with a light load and flat straight roads and no stops, my speed wouldn’t be much less than on the LHT.  I did exceed 32mph on a downhill on Eastern Parkway.

I’m feeling quite lazy today.  I need to do yard work, housework, and go grocery shopping.  I’m not sure how much of that will get done today.

Click for full view

Hauling Pet Supplies

Ian contacted me about his BD.  I went to his house on Friday and picked up the bike.  The idea is a week-long test-ride while he’s on vacation.

After getting the bike back home, I adjusted the saddle and went for a ride.  I went out to Za’s for pizza and parked the bike “motorcycle-style” in the road.

Today, I went out to Feeder’s Supply for dog food and cat litter.  I put 55lbs of pet supplies in the rear bags of the BD and stopped at three different bars on the way home for food and beer.

There is a tiny bit of flex in the frame with that amount of weight.  I’ve already decided I want the bike.  I now just need to come up with the money.

Parked outside of Za's

Almost home - Zeppelin Cafe

]]> http://fatguy.org/2011/10/08/big-dummy/feed/ 6 http://fatguy.org/2011/10/05/medical-miles/ http://fatguy.org/2011/10/05/medical-miles/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:33:40 +0000 David Crowell http://fatguy.org/?p=3513 Continue reading → ]]> Monday was a bad day.  I had to be to work early, and I knew I’d work late.  I woke up late and drove to work… for the first time in months.  I’m glad I did, as I was at work until 8:30pm.  It did feel strange to not ride a bike on a workday.

I had an appointment with my family doctor on Tuesday morning.  It was a follow-up due to my hospital stay recently.  My family doctor is in New Albany.  Yes, I rode the bike.  There was really nothing to find as far as my intestinal problems that sent me to the hospital.  Things happen.  On the other hand, the CT scan I was given in the ER showed “something” on my liver.  The CT scan didn’t get a good enough picture of it to make a determination what “it” is.  My doctor ordered an MRI for a better image.

Anyway, I rode to work from the doctor’s office, then home later.  I had 29 miles on Tuesday, more than making up for my Monday driving.

Today, Wednesday, was my MRI appointment at Floyd Memorial, again in New Albany.  I rode my bike again.  I discovered that Floyd Memorial has a good-sized bike rack at the front entrance.  It’s your typical “wheel bender” type, but I just locked up next to it.  My bike was the only one there.

I wasn’t allowed anything to eat or drink today before the MRI.  Riding there with no food or coffee was not my idea of a good time.  Luckily the MRI was over quickly, and I grabbed a coffee and a snack from the hospital coffee shop before heading out.  The dreaded caffeine headache hadn’t had a chance to take hold yet.

After riding to work and home, I had 26.2 miles for the day.  The hospital is a bit closer than my doctor’s office.

I’m slightly worried about “it” on/in my liver.  It could be nothing.  It probably is nothing, but my liver is necessary for processing copious quantities of beer.  Please let my liver be okay.

I needed to get pet supplies today.  That means towing the trailer to work and stopping by Feeder’s Supply on the way home.  I don’t generally tow the trailer with the single-speed, but the LHT was partially disassembled last night.  I hadn’t planned.

I put the LHT back together last night, and did a rush job of getting the trailer ready this morning.  The morning commute was uneventful.  Parking the bike & trailer at work is a little troublesome.  It still goes in my office, but I have to step over the trailer when getting up or down.  I may disconnect it and put it somewhere else next time.

After work I bought a 38.5lb back of dog food, two 20lb bags of cat litter, and a 10lb bag of cat food.  That totals 88.5lbs of stuff.  With the weight of the trailer, I was towing over 100lbs.  That doesn’t count the commuting load in the pannier and trunk bag.

The ride home was slow and easy on side roads.  Even the slightest hill meant using a low gear and going slow.

Buying this cheap, used trailer has greatly increased my carrying capacity.  I don’t think it’s ideal, as I’d rather use a Big Dummy, but this was much cheaper.

I think getting out of the hospital just made me so happy that I’m still overflowing with happiness… even though my vacation is over and I went back to work today.

I was beginning to get a bit worried about my digestive system again today.  There was pressure building up.  However, I’m happy to report that “everything has come out okay” this evening.  I do have a doctor appointment in a week to hopefully figure out what happened and how to avoid it.

I was sore today.  My legs hurt from the riding I did this weekend.  I didn’t do a lot of riding (80 or 90 miles over two days), but much of it was at a faster tempo than I’m used to and I was riding the single speed.

I had a massage after work, but I still have one muscle in particular that is bugging me.  Oh well.  It’ll loosen up.

I’m riding the LHT tomorrow.  I need to haul the trailer to pick up dog food.  I’ve done that with the single-speed, but it’s generally not a good idea.  There is no totally flat way to get home from Feeder’s Supply.

Living without a car takes more planning.  I’m prone to laziness and procrastination.  I’ll adjust.

I was running low on coffee.  I normally buy my coffee at Vint on Main Street because it’s right across the street from work.  I wasn’t working today, but I still needed coffee for tomorrow morning.

It was pleasant riding my commute route when it wasn’t rush hour.  I bought a pound of coffee and drank a cup while I was there.  I then headed eastward and turned south on Baxter Ave.

The LMPD have been known to be (mostly) bicycle friendly.  Some of them even do bicycle patrols.  The Jefferson County Sheriff Department… not so much.  One local bike advocate was ticketed by the sheriff’s office for not riding in a bike lane.  Kentucky does have an oddly-worded law requiring it “if practical”.  After much public outcry, the ticket was tossed.

Anyway, I was on Baxter Ave, which does not have a bike lane.  It has “flexible lanes”.  There are a total of four lanes.  The outer two lanes are for parking most times, but that changes between 4:00pm and 6:00pm, and no parking is allowed.

So, it was 4:05 and there were no cars in the right lane.  I took the right lane (it is narrow) and was moving along about 17mph.  I sheriff department SUV was behind me.  Rather than pass in the other lane, he honked his “buzz” horn.  I don’t know what they call it, but the sound makes it clear it’s an emergency vehicle.  He did not turn on any lights, so I ignored it.  After three more buzz-honks, I stopped in the middle of the lane and asked him if he was pulling me over.  He made several confusing hand gestures.  I repeated myself.  He made a clear hand gesture to get moving, so I did, still taking the right lane.  A few blocks up, he turned right while I continued straight.

I spent the next several minutes being amused about the sheriff.  He’s probably used to harassing cyclists, and they do what he says, whether they were breaking the law or not.  The incident with the local advocate probably lead to an internal memo being passed around, and my refusal to squeeze to the right in a narrow lane reminded him of it.

I continued on to Bardstown Rd and stopped at Cumberland.  I’m not supposed to drink beer or eat “heavy” food.  So I had only one beer, several glasses of water, and a salad.

Tim and I communicated via text, and I rode to meet him during near River Rd for a quick ride.  I rode a very urban, very heavy traffic route getting there.  It’s not something I do in a group, but there are days, and today was one of them, where I feel strong enough to mostly keep up with traffic.

I met up with Tim and we rode through Indian Hills, St Matthews, Seneca Park, and Cherokee Park.  His original plan was to hit the Beargrass Creek Trail, but last night’s deluge would mean mud, so we buzzed along Lexington Rd instead.  We continued out Mellwood Ave back to the start location.  It was about 13 miles in about an hour.

There were many cyclists out for the evening.  It was a bit cool, but pleasant.  Tim wasn’t feeling well, he wrote more about that here.

We went our separate ways, and I headed back down Mellwood Ave into downtown before heading south on Third St.

I ride Third St as part of my commute home most every day.  I pass Third Avenue Cafe most every day, but I can’t remember ever going there.  So, I stopped and locked my bike up outside.

I had another salad, and another beer.  I also had more water.  Salad doesn’t do much for energy when cycling.

By the time I left it was fully dark.  I’m glad for the SON hub and B&M lights to get me home safely (yes, I was riding the pink-barred single-speed.)

I arrived home with 33.2 miles for the day.  Nothing epic, just a mostly lazy, pleasant day.

Fun Facts

Due to the moisture and proximity to the river the gnats and other small bugs were horrible.  I ate several.  Tim had one in his eye.  I looked like a poppy-seed bagel by the time I stopped at Third Avenue Cafe.

Because I had originally just planned to ride 3.5 miles to buy a bag of coffee then ride home, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt (and a helmet).  Other than wishing for long sleeves as it got cooler, I was perfectly comfortable during the ride.  Another 20 miles and I might have been wishing for a chamois.

I felt bad for Tim.  He was obviously not feeling well, but I was feeling quite strong.  It’s good to get out and ride when you’re having a bad day though.  I think the ride did him some good.

Pink is like red, so that’s what I chose.  It’s a cork-gel tape, not cloth, so no shellac.  It’ll be just pink.  I’m man enough to ride with pink tape, at least until it becomes grungy-pink, then I’ll replace it with something different.

Before putting the new bar tape on, I re-positioned the brake levers and replaced the cables and cable housing.

It’s a far better job than I did last time, but it’s not perfect.  I also like this bar-tape better than what I used before… I don’t actually remember the brand of the last stuff, but this is Planet Bike bar tape.  Not only was it easier to wrap, but it was several dollars cheaper.

I’m eating a lot of soup and getting by.

I intended to get up early this morning to do dishes and cook more food.  I overslept, and only woke up when Tim sent me a text to let me know he was at Sunergos, which is quite near my house.

I quickly dressed and rode the single-speed there.  We enjoyed coffee and scones and headed to Vic’s Classsic Bikes, where the LBC has a Sunday morning ride.

There was a decent size group on the ride (25+?).  I felt strong and Tim and I were running with the faster pack, although this isn’t a fast ride, but it felt good not to drop off the back.

After some flattish miles at 18-19mph up River Rd we turned up Lime Kiln.  I’ve done this mild climb on the single-speed before, usually with a commuting load, so it wasn’t a big deal.  I stood on the pedals and actually started passing people.  That left me quite winded near the top, so I dropped back where Tim was in the pack.

We made our way to Glenview Ave then back to River Rd then turned south into Indian Hills.  I struggled a little on the climbs here, but caught back up with the group.

We continued on through St Matthews, Seneca Park, then Cherokee Park.  I pushed to the front of the pack somewhere along there, and I saw a cyclist ahead who I thought was in our group turn right at what I think was Alta Vista Rd.  I didn’t know the route, so I followed.  Then I saw our group go flying straight through the intersection.

I did a quick U-turn and dropped the front wheel off the pavement into the ditch.  I went over the bars and rolled off my back unto my butt in the grass.  It didn’t hurt other than a slight tweak to my wrist.

I jumped up and began the chase to catch up.  I also managed to tweak my right (rear) brake lever, but it was still functional.

I wasn’t able to catch the group and I wasn’t even sure I was going the right way.  I eventually saw Tim waiting for me.  He did say this was a “dont’ drop Dave day”.  I guess that’s fair, considering I just got out of the hospital.  :)

Tim and I continued on along to Vic’s where the fast group was already loading their bikes up.  Vic, and the rest of them rolled up slightly after us.

Tim and I left and went for coffee and snacks at Breadworks.  While there we exchanged text messages with Patrick who was heading our way for a ride.  Tim needed to head home, so once Patrick arrived, He and I wandered westward, past the zoo, eventually heading north toward downtown.

Patrick and I kept a decent pace heading west from downtown into a headwind and into Shawnee Park.  At that point I was cooked, and we slowed down.

We refilled our water bottles at Shawnee and took the Riverwalk as far east as we could, up to the closed section behind the golf course, then took city streets back to Baxter Ave and to Vic’s as I needed to buy some supplies.

Vic was busy helping to bike tourists traveling for Oregon to Virginia, so Patrick and I went across the street for coffee at Quills… and another snack.

Patrick headed home, and I went back over to Vic’s.  I wanted to buy a T-handle allen wrench to fit my brake levers, but he didn’t have one.  I did buy new brake cables, housing, and doo-dads for the ends of each.  I also bought some new bar tape.  Vic is big into cloth bar tape, but I wanted the cork-like stuff.  I wanted a dull red, but he didn’t have red at all.  Patrick had suggested the blue earlier, but I didn’t like that idea with the red accents on the bike.

So, I’m a man.  I can handle it.  I bought (censored*) bar tape.  I’ll have pictures once I’ve completed the work.

I then rode to Keith’s Hardware, just a few blocks down the road and picked up the allen wrenches, then headed home.  I arrived home with 55 miles for the day.  I’m considering going out again today, but I have much to do including fixing my brakes and re-wrapping the bars with (censored*) tape.

I do have tomorrow off work still, as another vacation day, as I was originally going to Michigan this weekend.  I’ll get more riding in then too.

* You’ll have to wait for the pictures to know what color it is.

I have some gravel rides planned for this year yet, and my LHT will have to be that machine once I remove some unnecessary equipment and put on bigger tires. That’s not idea.  My LHT should remain my touring bike.

So, I need a gravel bike.  I have several others I need too, but today I’m thinking about gravel.

I saw this post and I know what I want my gravel bike to be… a Surly Troll.  Just the picture on that post settled it for me.  :)

I don’t think this will happen in the next 16 months, but it’s on my wish list.

UPDATE:  The nurse came in, and told me I can go home today.  She removed the IV, and is working to discharge me. Yay!

I’m expecting to be discharged sometime tomorrow.  A correction: the obstruction is in my small intestine, not the bowel.  The pain is gone, so I believe the obstruction is clear.  Nothing has passed yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

I’ve been allowed nothing to eat or drink today.  I really miss coffee!  I have an IV stuck in my arm providing me with fluid and nutrition.  I hesitate to call it food.  The IV has also made it quick and easy to administer a painkiller which was necessary earlier.  I’m no longer on a painkiller, but I’m in no pain other than a headache from lack of caffeine.

I think Sunergos will be my first stop after leaving here.

It’s been weird dragging around an IV pole with pump anytime I get out of bed.  It’s not very convenient.

Thanks to those who sent well-wishes in comments on my previous post, and via text message.

I will be on the bike tomorrow, but I won’t be out in time for the Knobby Hills Ice Cream Ride or whatever it’s called.  I’m not sure I should ride it until I had the chance to refuel normally anyway.

Things were better at work today.  My mood took a nosedive once I got home.  I had errands to run (in the truck) and my mood improved.  One of the errands was grocery shopping, and I bought ice cream and beer, so that always brightens my day, even if for the wrong reasons.

I’ve pretty much concluded that my planned century ride in Michigan this Sunday (Apple Cider Century) is not going to happen.  I’m registered and everything, but with money being tight, affording gas for the drive is doubtful, and a hotel room is out of the question.  I considered camping, but the weather will be cool with a chance of rain.  Not ideal for camping.  If I change my mind and go anyway, I’ll tough it out in a tent.

If I don’t go, I have a four-day weekend, so I’ll go on several long rides over my long weekend.

Eh, whatever.  I’m just glad yesterday is over with.

The cantilever brakes on my LHT (cantis for short) aren’t great.  I changed brake pads and adjusted toe-in a few months ago, and I have slightly more stopping power, but the front brakes squeal.  The left brake arm on the front had also not been pulling away from the wheel completely when releasing the brake.

I’ll be riding 100 miles on that bike next Sunday.  I don’t want a dragging brake the whole time.

I pulled the front brakes off the bike and cleaned everything today.  I re-lubed the necessary parts and reinstalled, paying careful attention to what hole the return spring sits into.  The return spring was the issue with the left brake arm.  The brakes work much better.  They’re adjusted better for more stopping power.  The brake arm returns away from the rim when I release the lever.

But,  the damn things still squeal.  Gah!

The Culprit

I was concerned about the weather.  It was quite cool, but not quite cool enough for long-sleeves.  There was a chance of rain, which would make it cooler.  I wore shorts and short sleeves and brought a long-sleeve compression shirt with me.  Although it did start raining, I never felt cold enough to change.

We met near the intersection of Bardstown Rd and Douglass Blvd, known as “The Loop”.  We had planned to meet at 6:00, but were underway by 5:45.

Tim planned an urban route that would still get some climbing in.  We headed west, then south and looped around in Iroquois Park.  We stopped for bathroom/water break before leaving the park.  I ate a peanut butter sandwich while waiting.

We headed back north, through Old Louisville and downtown.  We shared River Rd with runners (there was a race of some sort going on).  We stayed out of the way.

We cut up through the Mockingbird Valley area, then over to Indian Hills where we did some more looping, just to ride the hills more than once.

Then back to River Rd and out to Wolf Pen Branch and Barbour Ln.  We took some neighborhood streets and were near Patrick’s house, so he headed home to take care of family duties.

Tim and I headed west on Westport and into St. Matthews where we stopped at a bakery for some much needed carbs.

We continued through Seneca Park and to The Loop and had breakfast and Twig & Leaf.  There was an LBC group having breakfast there because they cancelled their ride due to rain.  Tim and discussed riding a little extra to get 62 miles (100 kilometers) to have a metric century.

We each headed home from there.  I took a roundabout way to Sunergos Coffee and enjoyed a good cup.  I then took a wandering route home.  My bike computer said 62.3 miles, which is just over 100 km.  It wasn’t even noon yet.  That’s a pretty good start for the day.

Click for full view

Sunday 9/25- I’ll be driving up to Brown Country, finally, for a half-day of trail riding up there with Apertome and Dave G. EVERYBODY talks about how fun the BC trails are. Also, mostly everybody talks about them in terms of good flow instead of gnarly technical challenges. I like that.

Sat/Sun 10/22-3- At least 3 of us will be going to Red River Gorge for a 1-night bikes+camp weekend. We’ll drive down early Sat and take in 100K of E.KY/DanielBooneNF mixed-terrain goodness. After a good camp we’ll do the 28m RRGorge Loop, road in nature this time, before heading home at lunch Sunday.

Lastly the posse is all planning on taking on the Gravel Grovel, Saturday 11/26. That’s another 100k worth of pure gravel, double track and some singletrack. Given it’s status as a “race”, we/I’ll need to be in reasonable shape to not miss any cut-offs.

The first one, 9/25, I won’t be taking part in.  Instead, I’ll be in Three Oaks Michigan for the Apple Cider Century.  Yep, one week from tomorrow I’ll be riding a century.  I used to live in Niles Michigan, about 20 miles away, and it’ll be nice to get up there again.  I’m actually taking a four-day weekend, and hope to get other riding in besides the century.  I also hope to visit some old friends.  Oh, and I’ll be camping due to lack of money for hotel rooms.  Brrr….

I am planning on joining everyone for the other two events listed.  The Red River Gorge camping trip will be similar to last year’s Big South Fork adventure.

The Gravel Grovel, being a race, is something totally new to me.  I’m not sure what to make of it, but it’ll be fun no matter what.

Around 10:30, Tim picked me up and we went to Waverly HIlls Park for some mountain bike riding.  I don’t own a mountain bike, so Tim loaned me one of his, a Redline Monocog.  It’s a single-speed mountain bike.  I’ve ridden it before.  We tooled around on the trails for about an hour.  One hour of mountain biking is a lot more exercise than one hour of road riding.

I had moved the dyno-powered lights from my LHT to the single-speed some time ago.  I had also bought new bar tape for the bike, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.  So, I wrapped the bars.  This is my first time wrapping bars, and it shows.  It’ll work, but I’ll need more practice.

I used red electrical tape at the ends of the bar tape.  I didn’t do a very good job, but it’ll be fine comfort-wise.  It just doesn’t look good.

I did yard work, lubed the chains on the bikes.  I’ve got a little housework to do.  I’m fighting the urge to go out for dinner (which will mean drinking beer).

No matter what I do the rest of the day, I can call today a good day.

Tomorrow will begin with a 6:00am bike ride.  I’d better not stay up late.  :)

I almost drove to work yesterday, but I am short on money and didn’t want to pay for parking.  If I’m going to sell my truck, driving to work can’t be an option.

I feel better today and I’m looking forward to riding into work.  Given the choice, I think I’d rather crawl back into bed.  :)

I’ve been at risk of undoing much of the health improvements I’ve done over the last four years.  My eating habits are not only directly unhealthy, but not great for my mental health with the self-loathing I feel after a whole week of eating bad… week after week.

I’ve let myself get lazy and distracted.  I haven’t been keeping up on household chores.  I’ve basically been a mess.

I’m going to refocus.  I’m weighing myself again.  I haven’t started posting it again because the page is crazy with too much data.  I’ll find a better way to present it soon.  My weight this morning was 236.4lbs.  That’s higher than it’s been since October of 2008.

I need to stop going out to eat so much.  Going out for pizza or a burger and a beer three or four times a week is not only working against my goals, but is costing too much money.

Today, I cooked a pork chop on the grill and had celery sticks.   I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  It was a sensible size portion and I drank water with it.

More Goals

In December 2008 I listed a few secondary goals.  I just revisited that.

• Learn to ride a unicycle (next year)
  I wisely gave up on this.
  
• Be car-free (three years away)
  Strangely enough, I’m on track for this.
  
• Either fix-up my house, or move (three years away)
  I moved more than a year ahead of the goal.
  
• Meet a woman crazy enough to like my lifestyle (never?)
  I got married – we’re split up now – don’t want to say much more than that.
  
• Ride a several hundred mile multi-day tour (next year?)
  Although late, I did this in March of this year.

Message From The Past

In January of 2009, I wrote something that I needed to read now.  Luckily, I do re-read my older blog entries occasionally.

I mention effort to save a life.  I was trying at the time to convince my audience that this is possible and necessary.  It turns out the audience is me in 2011.

Alright Then

If I fix my eating habits and focus more on productive activities, not only will I lose weight, but I should feel better about myself.  It’s not a cure for depression, but it means fewer bad days.

It’s strange that the things I crave when depressed (food & beer) are things that will eventually make me more depressed.  This is common.  What is it with the human psyche?

I’ve been in an emotional slump.  I tend to use food and beer as crutches.  That’s not good.  I’m slowly gaining weight.

I did spend a number of hours moving the dyno-wheel and lighting from the LHT to the single-speed.  It was a pain.  I know how to work on bikes, but I’m lousy at it.  I struggle with simple things.  I get it done, it just takes way too long.

I’m home sick today.  I haven’t left the house, and have no intention of doing so.  I have groceries so I’ll eat, and I’ll actually eat healthy today.  I’ve spent hours laying in bed.  Some of that time I was sleeping, some of it reading.

My kitchen is still a whirlwind of bike parts and tools.  I need to pick up the mess before I can cook.  <sigh>  Maybe I’ll just go lay in bed instead.

My goal is to finish the race.  Finishing last is okay.

I don’t have the budget for a dedicated gravel bike, so I’ll be stripping racks, lights, and fenders off of the LHT and putting some fatter tires on it.  The LHT is a wonderfully versatile bike.

Depending on the weather, clothing may be a bigger challenge.

Wish me luck!

Excuse my crude drawing below.

This is a representation of my Raleigh Record single-speed bike.  I feel that it fits me the best.  I measured three tubes (top tube, seat tube, down tube).  Each measurement is given in centimeters.  That bike was advertised as a 59cm.

My Surly LHT is almost the same size.  I bought the Surly thinking it was a 56cm, but I had test ridden it, and it seemed to fit.  Based upon geometry numbers from Surly’s Site, I’m now convinced it’s a 58cm frame.  It does have a longer top tube, which explains why I have a shorter stem on the bike.

There’s a lot more to bike geometry than these three measurements, but these three (plus standover, which varies on tire size) are the most important for proper fit.

I figure having the information here will be handy later when doing research for another bike… a bike that will be built from the frame up, so I won’t be able to test ride it.

• I did a 130-mile camping trip on the last weekend of the month
• I spent a lot of time running errands out to the east end
• I rode my recumbent for 70 miles by riding to the Crestwood ride 25-miler, then back home
• I rode a 70-mile RCCS ride
• I rode my bike to work every day
• I had several 20-40 mile rides
• I rode a few extra miles on the last day of the month – just to push myself to a new record

On 8/31, I rode to work the normal way, a whole 3.6 miles or so.  I left work early for a doctor’s appointment (which got me okay’d for a third epidural).

I rode the following route from work to the doctor and then home:

Instead of taking the normal way, I took River Rd all the way to Lime Kiln.  This was flat as a pancake and I managed a 15mph average on this stretch… on the single speed.

After turning unto Lime Kiln there’s a small climb, but it’s mostly flat after that.  I stayed on that same road, although it changes names to Herr Ln then to Lyndon Ln, all the way past Shelbyville Rd and nearly to my doctor’s office.

On the way back, I took the more normal New Lagrange, Washburn, Westport route.  After meandering through the parks, I wen’t to Za’s for pizza then headed home.

After getting home, I realized I was still short of a new monthly record, so I headed back out.

I basically just wandered around.  I didn’t have a destination in mind.  I had mentioned to Tim that I might go through Indian Hills, but I never made it out quite that far.  I was still on the single-speed (actually haven’t ridden the LHT since the camping trip).  Here’s my route:

Once I got back home, I had 671 miles, a new personal best month.  I’m going to shoot for 700 in September.

Today’s ride was advertised as flat enough to be fixie-friendly.  So I prepared my single-speed.

The ride started and ended at Charlestown Pizza Company.  I drove to Charlestown and parked at my old house to ease the parking situation.  I then rode my bike to the ride start.

The weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms, but at this point we just had overcast skies.

I think there were nine of us, all LBC members.  Two of the nine had recently returned from Paris-Brest-Paris.  What was I getting myself into?

We headed out of town with probably a 17mph average.  I was spinning like a hamster, but staying near the front.  Many of the other riders weren’t breaking a sweat.

We had been heading north on Hwy 3.  As we turned unto Hwy 203, it got a bit hillier and my speed began to vary with the terrain.  I began to wish for more gears.  I started getting passed by the other riders.

We continue through Lexington IN, unto Hwy 356, and eventually turn north again on CR 900/Pine Hill Rd.  Somewhere near there I got left behind.  I don’t remember where.

I followed the cue sheet (I wasn’t provided a GPS track ahead of time) along Horner Rd, Getty Rd, CR 1233, Polk Rd, CR 1250, Blake Rd, and eventually back to Hwy 3, but still heading north.

I hoped to catch back up to the group on the relatively flat highway, but I didn’t see them.

Eventually there was a turn on CR 850 that took us to our first control – Spring Hill Farm Twigs & Sprigs Tea Room.  It’s actually a farm, and a winery, and a restaurant, and, of course,  a tea room.

The rest of the group was there enjoying lunch.  They had arrived about 30 minutes before I did.  Wow, I’m slow.

I ordered a sandwich (very good) some iced tea (quite good) and had the waitress sign my card and refill my water bottle.  I headed out with the group again.

It had started to rain while we were eating.  It wasn’t a downpour, just rain.  There were no storms either.

Someone complained how cold the rain was.  I just thought about the sweat that had been running into my eyes an hour before.  This was much better.

It turns out this ride was an out-and-back.  It would require me looking at the cue sheet less.

As we turned unto Hwy 3 heading south, and got right up behind someone else’s wheel, and intended to stay there.  I did, until the first hill.  I fell back badly.  My legs were in need of rest, and without a lower gear to shift to, I just couldn’t put any more power into it.

Before long I was riding alone again.  The wet roads and foliage did make for some nice scenery.

I retraced my steps back toward Charlestown.  The rain varied between a light drizzle and a steady rain.  I was happy that I had installed the new fenders on the single-speed, but a bit discouraged for riding alone on a group ride.

Then it hit me.  I wasn’t going to make the time limit anyway, so it didn’t matter.  I took my time.  I walked the hills that I had to.  I enjoyed myself.

I did stick to the course.  As I entered Charlestown, I considered not even going to the ride end, but just to my truck to drive home.  Charlestown Pizza was closed.  I figured it would be best to finish the ride just to say I did.

So I rolled up and Timothy was still there.  Everyone else had gone.  I had made the time limit with 14 minutes to spare!

Timothy informed me that we were meeting up at Patrick O’Sheas for food and drink.  So I rode back to my truck, and drove back to Louisville for food and beer.

While sitting around an outdoor table, I got to listen in on conversation of uphill time trials, Octoberfest, Paris-Brest-Paris, Mad Dog rides, and where the steepest hills are.  I had a good time.

I guess I need to get faster to spend more time with these people.  :)

This is the out-and-back route:

My sleep at the campground wasn’t bad.  I normally sleep poorly in a tent, but I was tired from the ride.  My bladder woke me at about 8:00am.  I was also quite cold, which was quite a change from when I first tried to sleep the night before.

I changed into fresh shorts and jersey and headed for the pit toilet.  I’m not squeamish about gross bathrooms when camping, but the bugs in this one were quite bad.

I went back to my campsite and struggled to get everything packed up.  I’m lousy at getting a tent rolled up to the proper size, which is quite important when bicycle camping.

When I was married to my first wife, she insisted that she would pack the tent so that I wouldn’t make a mess out of it.  :)

Once I had the bike packed, I rolled on out, at about 8:30.  I had an immediate need for coffee and a slightly less pressing need for food.  I’m going to have a fire and be able to cook and make coffee for any future camping trips.

I began the ride by backtracking my way down Hwy 62 and 462.  I deviated from my route by taking Feller Rd to Old Forest Rd.  Feller Rd was very scenic and that’s where I stopped to take my first pictures of the day.

The weather forecast didn’t call for rain, but with the cooler temperatures and darkening skies, I wondered if that was going to change.

Also along Feller Rd was this old, yet well taken care of cemetery.

I was really enjoying Feller Rd.  I think I only saw one car the whole time I was on this road.  I had been doing very well both days on enjoying the trip instead of focusing on making the next destination.

The mounting headache and hunger reminded me not to dawdle.  Beginning right before my turn on to Old Forest Rd, the road pitched upward.  I had quite the climb to handle, with grades exceeding 15% in spots.  This was on a loaded touring bike, before I had my morning coffee.  This was the first time I considered heading home on a more direct course.

After making the climb, things were just rolling hills.  It was an enjoyable ride with a little traffic into Corydon.

I found the local hotspot for breakfast, Frederick’s Cafe.  It was busy, loud, and cheap.  The coffee was harsh, but had caffeine.  I ate a huge pancake and some eggs.  The food was much better than the coffee.  I did have a picture of the pancake, but due to a technical mishap (I’m an idiot) it’s been lost.

The square in downtown Corydon is quite nice.

After heading out of Corydon on Corydon Ridge Rd again, I continued until Pfrimmer Chapel Rd.  I took this north and crossed over I-64.

I continued north until Crandall-Lanesville Rd, where I turned east.  The skies had cleared up by now.  It never did rain.

Eventually I ended up on Angel Run Rd.  More rolling hills, and some really cool red dirt made this a neat area.  Is this what a terra-formed Mars would look like?

While taking pictures of red dirt, I heard a train approaching.  So I backtracked to the railroad tracks to get a picture.

I rode through Georgetown.  I didn’t even see a store worth stopping at.  IN-64 was a mess to ride on, even for a few blocks through town.

I eventually found my way north on Kepley Rd.  Although I saw this sign, I never saw the cattle.

Kepley Rd became Carter Rd.  There were no serious climbs, but just rolling hills in a peaceful area.

Carter Rd ended at a T on John Pectol Rd.  The road was closed to the left, which was my intended route.

I’m not one to let a simple barricade stop me, so I went around the pile-o-rocks and continued.  Apparently the road has been closed for some time.  Nature was attempting to reclaim the land.  It was peaceful in an eerie kind of way.

I eventually came to a bridge over Big Indiana Creek.  The bridge is closed with barriers.  I wasn’t going to lift my loaded bike over the barriers, but I was able to lay it down and slide it under.  I got across to the other side, where I car was parked – someone fishing I assume – and grabbed another picture.  The road becomes Buttontown Rd at this point.  There’s a bit more traffic here also.

There’s a cemetery at the intersection of Buttontown Rd and Old Vincennes Rd.  There was a large shade tree near the road, so I stopped for a rest.  I simply laid down in the grass for about 15 minutes before continuing north to Greenville.

Greenville has a small city park.  They had restrooms with running water.  I was thankful for that, but things were dirty enough that I wasn’t going to fill my water bottles.

I headed north out of Greenville on Pekin Rd.  It’s a small climb out of town.  A kid on a BMX bike told me to be careful going up the hill.  I found that hilarious at the time.

I realized I was running low on water and hadn’t really had a good place to get any.  While riding through a rather suburban part of Pekin Rd, a woman was outside in her driveway washing rocks in a wheelbarrow.  I asked to refill my water bottles, and she cheerfully handed over the hose.  I thanked her and moved on.

I don’t think her neighbor is quite as friendly.

I eventually headed toward Voyles Rd.  I’m entering an area I know, a friend of mine lives nearby outside of Borden.  I think that some of my friend’s wife’s ancestors are buried here.

The town of Borden sits down in a valley, but I was still riding the ridge tops.

Louisville has the big bat.  I found the big paper towel tube.  (Yes, I know it’s a water tower).

I rode past my friend’s house, but he wasn’t home.  I had a nice downhill into the town of Borden.  While there I bought some more snacks at a gas station and refilled my water bottles again.  I took my time and enjoyed the break.  I spoke with several people who were coming and going.

Then came the next big climb.  I was leaving to the north-east on Jackson Rd.  I am familiar with this climb, but had never done it with a touring load.  It shoots up to about a 19% grade before falling back a little to about 13%.  I was prepared and already in my little chain ring.

Here’s a view looking back the way I came.  You can’t really see down in the valley where Borden is, but you can see the hills (knobs as they call them here) on the other side.

Shortly after finishing the climb my chain came apart and spooled unto the ground.  This was the second time I wished I’d headed straight home.

I was carrying a chain tool and spare master link, but they weren’t even necessary, as the chain came apart at the existing master link.  I don’t know why, it’s a new chain.  I spent about ten minutes getting it back together and continued on my way.  Riding along the ridge was rather pleasant.

After a couple of twists and turns, Jackson Rd becomes Bartle Knob Rd.  There was an older house to my left, and the view they must have – that was to my right – from their front door is breathtaking.

Before long, I’ve crossed over “the knobs” and it’s a fast downhill on Bartle Knob Rd.  Toward the end, I slowed enough to get a picture of this neat church.

I continued to Blue Lick Rd which took me past the truck stop, under the freeway, and into Memphis.  There was another old church there.

I was getting close to Charlestown now.  I’m familiar with most of these roads.  I had never seen this end of Fox Rd before.  They apparently are saving sign material for roads with short names.  Waste not, want not.

I rolled into Charlestown.  I stopped at my old house to check on it.  I talked to a former neighbor.  Then I headed toward Charlestown Pizza where I enjoyed a small pizza and some beer.

I headed out of town on High Jackson Rd.  The sun was getting lower in the sky.  I’m glad I had the dyno-powered lights on the bike.

That meant I was casting a long shadow.

I rode to Bethany Rd then crossed Hwy 62 – into the grass as Bethany Rd doesn’t continue.  I rode a few dozen feet to Patrol Rd, then down to Waterline Rd, which is all part of the old ammunition plant, but that section has recently been opened to the public as another way to get to Utica.

There are still many signs of what this land once was.  It may be a lightly-traveled road with forest, but it’s got trains, signs, and fences.

I eventually got to Upper River Rd.  This runs right between the Ohio River and some cliffs that used to be a quarry, and have since been turned into a housing development.

I continued through Utica.  My normal route from here would involve Utica Pike all the way through Jeffersonville, but I turned off through some neighborhoods and made my way to Middle Rd.  This was fortunate as there was a Dairy Queen on Middle Rd.

By the time I left Dairy Queen, it was completely dark.  My last stretch of the ride was flat, urban, and dark.  I got across the river and into Louisville late enough to miss most of the Ironman stuff going on.  I did notice that 3rd street appeared to be blocked from downtown to Old Louisville.  I went down 1st instead.  I arrived home about 10:30pm.

Saturday ended up at 43.9 miles.  I had a much more interesting 87.7 miles on Sunday that brought me up to 131.6 miles for the two-day trip.

I did get tired, but I stopped for rest when that happened.  Some of the steep climbs caused knee pain, even in my lowest gear.  I was able to go as slow as necessary because I had no real deadline.  I never imagined I’d be out until 10:30 on a Sunday night after leaving for the ride on a Saturday morning, but I had allowed the entire day, both days.  That allowed a lot of flexibility.  I hate riding fast to make a deadline.

I packed light for a camping trip, but I have lousy camping equipment.  I’d like to be able to carry cooking supplies and not carry any more weight.  I can probably do that if I replace my tent and sleeping bag.  Those are at least 10 years old.

I’ve learned that putting most of the weight on the rear of the bike, and the big, fluffy, light things on the front works best.  I also need a good way to carry more water.  I wasn’t even in the middle of nowhere like on the Big South Fork trip last year, and I still ran out of water.

I totally enjoyed my weekend.  I wish I could do it every weekend, but weekends are when I usually mow the lawn and take care of other household duties.

This was my route for Sunday:

I didn’t know that it would hit 100 degrees this afternoon.

The ride home was quite warm.  Luckily a short commute and a cool shower helped.

I assumed that 100 on September 1st would be a record.  I assumed wrong.  The record for this date is 103 in 1953.

Last week I took the metal VO fenders off of my single-speed.  They were a tad too wide and interfered with the brakes.  They also rattled and I found it annoying.

I’ve been commuting to work almost exclusively on that bike recently and I’ve been lucky that it hasn’t rained.  I’ve mentioned before that I don’t own a bike without fenders.  Well, that hasn’t been true for the last week or so.

I ordered some SKS Longboard fenders (in sliver) from Rivendell, and they arrived today.  I didn’t get around to putting them on, but I will tomorrow.

I also need to replace the bar tape on that bike, and I even bought some bar tape recently.  I haven’t had time to do so, and I’ve recently realized that I’m out of electrical tape for finishing up the ends.

I’ll be sure to post some pictures once I’ve made the changes.

I talked to my wife and daughter to make sure the dogs would be taken care of, and I headed out about 10:30 Saturday morning.

The weather was gorgeous.  Clear blue skies, mild temperatures, and a light breeze.  I rode through town, over the Second Street Bridge, and said goodbye to Louisville.

The old Colgate clock in Clarksville is neat, even if it’s now abandoned and doesn’t keep proper time.

Some people have compared my Surly LHT to a tank.  I beg to differ.

I headed northwest out of New Albany towards Edwardsville.  I knew the infamous Edwardsville Hill was coming up, but first I waited for a train to pass.  Notice the graffiti.  I’d be gasping later.

Then I began climbing Edwardsville hill in earnest.  It didn’t seem too bad even with my camping load on the bike, but I was still fresh.  I do have to say the the switchbacks are much more fun going downhill though.

The view from the top was definitely worth the climb.

I eventually made my way to Corydon Ridge Rd.  I’d never ridden this road, and I imagined it being very rural and beautiful.  In reality much of it was very suburban.  Some of the road names do evoke the old rural feel it must have had once.

While I took pictures of odd signs, my bike took a nap.

As I continued on Corydon Ridge Rd, it did get more rural.  There were gently rolling hills.

There were neat old barns.

I continued on and eventually made it to Corydon.  I stopped for a late lunch, early dinner at Magdalena’s.  It was good, but with dessert, I spent more than I intended, and they didn’t even have beer.  I did see Butt Drugs nearby though.

There was a guy with a fish net walking through Indian Creek.

I then headed out of town on Old Forest Rd.  The hills to the west became more prominent.

I’m not sure why hay (straw?) needs a “garage”.  You can tell I’m not a farm boy.

After a bunch of climbing, where I was too busy breathing to take pictures, I was running along the top of a ridge.  There were nice views for quite a distance… and yet I had good cell phone reception.

I saw an ass.

While still on Old Forest Rd, I eventually entered Harrison-Crawford State Forest.  It’s fairly obvious when you enter it, as the open fields and farms end, and you truly are in a forest.  It was cooler, shadier, and beautiful.

I stopped to un-hydrate in the woods a bit, and while I was away, my bike fell asleep again.  I can’t say I’m surprised.  It was a peaceful spot.

Old Forest Rd then becomes IN-462 and enters O’Bannon Woods State Park.  The primitive camping isn’t actually in the park, so I turned north on IN-462, and had a wicked-fast downhill to IN-62, where I soon reached the campground.

There was another downhill (on gravel) in the campground taking me down to the Blue River.  I paid just over $8 for a shady, grassy spot and set up the tent.

The ride there was just under 44 miles.  I still had hours until sundown.  I didn’t bring cooking supplies, just snacks that could be eaten as-is.  I brought my Kindle to have something to do.

The campground was far from quiet.  There were rowdy campers not far from me.  Once it got late and they settled down, I could here the distant traffic on I-64.  Overall it was a much better night than doing the same old thing at home.

My route there is shown below.

I had a longer day planned for Sunday.  You’ll have to wait until my next post to see how that went.

I had another doctor appointment after work today, so that got me about 33 miles.  I needed a few more to put me over my old record of 665.6.  I wandered around parts of town that I’m not familiar with.  I eventually ended up in the Mockingbird Valley area, then on River Rd.  Then I went out for a beer.  That made it all worth it.

This new personal best tells me that my neck is “good enough”.  I can ride whatever bike I want for as long as I want without any more discomfort than I get sitting in a chair.

I also had a 130-mile weekend with camping.  I’ll write about it soon.

I’m not bringing cooking supplies, I’ll eat prepared cold food.

If you have the time, a tent, a bike, and the ability to ride 80+ miles over two days, let me know and you can tag along.

Strangely, this was initially planned as a “fast” road ride.  I’m the one without a fast bike (or a fast engine for that matter), so I was resigned to falling behind while riding my LHT.

As the event loomed, further research showed that there would probably would be gravel.  Tim opted to ride his gravel-ready Lightspeed Blueridge.  Michael chose his LHT.  Patrick chose his most excellent double-top-tubed Bombadil.  Timothy chose a modified Trek mountain bike with a Surly fork that he calls “Beast”.

I felt much better at the beginning of the ride, when we all had sturdy, hardy bikes.  Maybe I wouldn’t be the slowest after all.  That was wishful thinking.

The ride started out pretty typical – paved country roads.

We didn’t let the gravel and hills get in the way of our fun…

… or camaraderie

We certainly weren’t going to give due to a simple obstacle…

…because we would have missed views like this…

… and this.

Tim got a picture showing some of the “chunkier” gravel…

…and the chunky guy.

Michael got this awesome picture of me being chased by two friendly dogs.

The weather was warmer than expected.  We did have a brief sprinkle, but not enough to cool us down.  It was a great ride.

Michael’s has a good write-up.  Tim has two write-ups.

It’s a Giant Cypress ST. Donkeybox attached to rear rack. equipped with fenders, B&M headlight and Shimano dynohub. Schwalbe tires on Velocity Dyad rims.

I don’t have any good recent pictures of it, but here’s a rear-view. It has a different tail-light now.

I’m a bit behind schedule compared to last year.  At the end of July lat year, I was at 3202 miles and ended up with 5087 miles for the year.

Now that my neck isn’t preventing me from riding and I’m living the car-free lifestyle (even though I haven’t yet sold the truck) I expect to surpass 5000 miles for the year again.

So what should my goal for 2012 be? 6000?  7500?

I rode to work in the rain.  It actually felt nice.  I had an appointment to ride to and had to leave work early.  It was out by Shelbyville & Hurstbourne, not exactly a bike-friendly area.

I managed to stay off of Shelbyville Rd by traveling out Brownsboro, Westport, Lyndon, and an exploratory jaunt on Whipps Mill because I had time to spare.

I rode a similar route back into St Matthews, through the parks, then Eastern Parkway to get home.

Riding a bike around Louisville has taught me much about getting around this city.  I still have more to learn.

I still have neck pain.  Riding a bike doesn’t seem to be an issue at all anymore.  Sitting in a chair sometimes is though.  Sitting in a reclining chair helps, but then I get to look lazy at work.

I did go out for pizza with Kristy after I got home (she made me shower first).  We drove, as that’s the only way for us to travel together.  She is moving out soon, but we still enjoy spending some time together.

I don’t have any pictures from today’s ride.  I’m not posting the GPS track.  I’m mostly just rambling and enjoying riding my bike.

Tim, Patrick, and I had planned a 50-mile road ride in Shelby and Oldham counties for Sunday morning, but we weren’t sure how passable the roads were in rural areas so soon after the storm.

I normally embed a route map form RideWithGPS, but I can’t seem to get my GPS route to upload, but this Google Map shows the basic idea of where we rode.

Tim and I met near Bardstown Rd.  We headed toward St. Matthews to meet Patrick.

Storm damage

Beautiful morning in the parks

Tree down on Rock Creek Rd

Damaged house on Dayton Ave

Once Patrick arrived, we talked bikes for a while before heading out.

Tim and Patrick

Crunch!

We ran a paceline of three down River Rd at 19-21 mph.  That’s fast for me, and it was my first real paceline with rotating leader.  I still wouldn’t want to ride like that on a regular basis.

We wound our way back toward the parks again.

Traffic light outages were quite common during the ride.

No power - no traffic lights

Poor tree

When we rolled back into the park, there were a lot of people there.

Nice day at the park

Hogan's Fountain

Tim shows how much he wanted his picture taken

Another tree

Yet another tree

People enjoying the park

Tree and power lines

It was far short of the 70-mile day I originally imagined.  It was to be a 50-mile road ride, plus 20-miles round-trip to get to the ride and back.  Instead it was an urban ramble of 38 miles.  I can’t say I was disappointed.

Although I can’t complain about the weather compared to what Pondero has gotten in Texas recently, we’ve still had a heatwave.  It seems to have ended this week.  We won’t be seeing 90 again for a while.  It’s been in the high 70s on the ride into work.  I love it!

Kristy signed a lease, and will be moving out soon.  This is both a relief, and scary at the same time.  I thought I spent enough time living alone after my first divorce, but I guess not.  Living alone will be hard, but necessary.

I’ve been riding the recumbent a lot.  It’s my main commuting machine due to my neck issues.  I still ride my other bikes though.  I pulled the single-speed out of the basement today.  It’s got issues with the freewheel, so I flipped it over to fixed gear.  The short ride I took felt very different.  I may commute on it that way a few times.

I’m in a strange spot.  I was ready to look for a new job a few months ago.  Now, I tolerate the job, and need to cope with everything else.  I’ve been more productive at work, and less productive at home.  <sigh>  I wish it were easier.

I do feel like I’m getting closer to being in control.  I also know that something else could come out of the blue….  I guess I cope my riding.  It’s my escape.

Get Away!

Image taken from Google Streetview.  It’s County Rd 2 in Northeastern California.

After riding the recumbent for 70 miles the day before, I decided to ride the LHT.  I’m glad I did, as Tim took us through the somewhat hilly Indian Hills area.  Then we were on a flat stretch of River Rd doing 15mph into a headwind.  Tim was riding strong, but I was beat.  I eventually fell behind, but Tim waited for me.

At that point I was cooked.  When back on Baxter Ave, we parted ways.  Tim to do another loop in the parks.  Me to stop at O’Shea’s for food and drink.

O’Shea’s has a nice shady outdoor dining area.  I was able to bring my bike up near the table.  I hadn’t brought a lock with me, so that worked well.

Saddle eye view - saddles don't have eyes!

I ordered a beer (Southern Tier 2xipa), water, and a chicken wrap.  After finishing the first beer, I ordered an Avery IPA.  Both of these beers were new to me, and quite good.  I like a hoppy beer on a hot day.

Mmm... Beer!

After a while, I took the neighborhood streets home.

Part of the point of my vacation is to get some stuff done around the house.  I mowed the lawn, washed dishes, and started re-organizing my computer/office/bike storage room.

I’ve thought about creating a “beer” category for my blog posts, but then it’ll just point out how often I drink it.

I ended up with over 20 miles for the day, and rather enjoyed it.

I spent Friday running errands and doing housework.  I was determined to get a good ride in on Saturday.

I didn’t get up early on Saturday.  Once I was up, I spent a lot of time nursing a cup of coffee.  I finally decided to ride the LBC ride out of Crestwood at 3:30.  It’s a hilly 25-mile ride.  The challenge?  It’s over 20 miles away, and I didn’t want to drive.  If I’m going to live without a car, I should get used to it now.

There was a chance of rain, and the sky often looked as if it would rain.  The LBC will often cancel for rain.  I decided to ride to Crestwood, and risk having the ride cancelled, as I would still have the round-trip to Crestwood either way.  It never did rain.

I decided to take a rather direct route.  I headed out Brownsboro Rd until I was “outside” the Gene Snyder Freeway (I-265).  I then cut down Chamberlain Ln to Westport Rd.  Next time I’ll take Westport directly.  The 4.5 miles of Brownsboro between the Watterson (I-264) and the Snyder was quite unpleasant.

Closed restaurant along Brownsboro Rd

Westport Rd wasn’t bad.  It eventually took me to Rollington Rd, which is a peaceful low-traffic road.

A break along Rollington Rd

Rollington Rd dumped me back out onto Ballardsville Rd, or Hwy 22.  This was the worst stretch of road I’ve ridden yet.  Many cars passed way too closely.

After a few miles, I came into Crestwood and to Bluegrass Bicycle where the ride starts.  I arrived early, so I spent some time looking around the shop.

Tom was there, but wasn’t riding.  That meant I would be the only recumbent rider.  I met James, who would be the ride captain.  That means James gets to stay back with the slowest rider.  I’m often the slowest rider on this ride, but sometimes a rider will show up who is even slower.  That didn’t happen this time.

The ride starts with a nice downhill, so I had a strong start.  Once I had to fight gravity, I fell toward the back of the pack.  James took my lack of climbing ability with good grace.  He’d pull ahead on the climbs, waiting for me on the long climbs.  I’d race him on the descents, sometimes winning.  Then we’d attack another hill at 30mph, but my speed would drop off much quicker than his once we really started up the hill.

When I first fell back toward the back of the pack, there was a woman keeping about the same pace.  She seemed quite fit, and was a runner.  She was struggling to keep up.  James noticed her tires were low.  We pulled over and inflated them to the proper pressure (with my pump – no need to waste co2).  She left us behind once she wasn’t held back by squishy tires.

I struggled on, and as I neared the end of the ride, I was really going slow uphill.  At the final climb, I finally had to get off and walk.  That was embarrassing.  I’ve ridden that hill before.

We arrived back at Bluegrass Bicycle and I contemplated my options.

• Ride back to Louisville and find food
• Get food in Crestwood
• Call my wife for a ride home

I was quite tempted to call my wife, but I really wanted to continue riding.  I had a different route planned to get home, so at least I wouldn’t have to face the same stretch of Hwy 22 again.

I opted for the Mexican restaurant there in Crestwood.  I had one glass of beer (Dos Equis XX), four or five glasses of water, and a large burrito.  I felt much more prepared for the ride back to Louisville, if a bit sloshy from too much liquid in my stomach.

I headed north on Hwy 146, then north-east on Glenarm Rd.  Glenarm Rd was a quiet rural road.

Glenarm Rd crossing I-71

Then I ran across a rather odd collection of animals.

Young goats

They were guarded by dogs.

Dogs, goats, and a llama?

I took Glenarm Rd to Old Zaring Rd, then to Covered Bridge Rd, which I had ridden on during the 100k populaire.  It seemed to have more traffic this time.

Calm stretch of Covered Bridge Rd

By this time, it was getting to be evening.

Evening clouds

This is the obligitory timed shot with the camera sitting on a fence post.

Ugh - I don't like pictures of myself

Covered Bridge Rd took me to US 42.  It’s 4-lane highway, so I took the right lane.  I didn’t have any close passes, but several drivers let me know of their displeasure that I was on their road.  Luckily, I was on US 42 for less than a mile before turning on River Rd.

Almost sunset

River Rd is another somewhat-busy two-lane road.  I tried to keep to the right.  I didn’t have nearly the problem with drivers as I had earlier in the day on Hwy 22.

Almost home

I continued downtown and had another beer (Bluegrass Brewing Company APA) and several more glasses of water.  Then it was a short ride in the dark (I have lights) home.  I slept well.

What am I waiting for?

I have a lot of changes coming.  My daughter is moving out of the house tomorrow.  My wife moves out in a few weeks.  There are plans in place to get ride of the house in Charlestown.  I’ll be selling my truck before the end of the year.

What’s that got to do with it?

Nothing, but mentally I seem incapable of handling too much at once.  So I’m waiting.  Not a great reason, but it’ll have to do.

What now?

My neck problem improved dramatically for a while, then started to get a little worse.  I’m going to start commuting on the recumbent again for a while, and save riding upright bikes for group rides, or gravel stuff, or whatever.

Miles!

My June mileage was horrible.  Due to my neck issues I rode only 110 miles.  July was better, but still a bit off, at 363 miles.  Back in March I rode 647 miles.

I met up with Tim this morning for a short-ish ride.  I ended up with 35 miles for the day.  I was happy with that.  I brought my camera with me, but never took a picture.

Where am I heading?

I’ll be car-free by the end of the year.  I will hopefully be back on track for weight loss.  I should be weighing myself again soon.

I will hopefully pull myself together enough mentally to be happy with what I have, rather than obsess with what I want.  I’ll still want things, I just don’t want to obsess over them.

I called her, and we agreed to ride my old 11-mile loop in Charlestown.  She is concerned about traffic, and this seemed a great low-traffic route, even more so on a Sunday morning.

I had some time to kill and I hadn’t had my daily caffeine fix, so I rode to Sunergos and had some coffee.  I then rode home, and threw the bike in the back of the truck to meet Traci across the river.

I was riding my LHT, and Traci rode an old Schwinn mountain bike.  Here is the route we took:

Traci did the ride just fine.  She was concerned she’d be too slow (I’m slow), or that her bike wasn’t nice enough (it did the job).  The ride is moderately hilly and she didn’t need to walk any hills.

I don’t think I’ll make a bicycle commuter out of Traci anytime soon, but it would be nice to see her on two wheels now and again.

After we parted ways, I rode to a frozen yogurt shop, then to Java Brewing for more coffee.  This was a perfectly acceptable way to spend a Sunday.

• I ride a bike almost everywhere
• I go out to eat often and overeat when I do
• I drink beer several times a week
• I gain weight
• I suffer from depression

Maybe it’s time to not be normal.  I want to lose more weight and be healthier and happier.

I do have one change coming that I’m not quite sure of my feelings about.  Kristy and I are splitting up.  I’m not going to go into details except to say that we still love each other, but we rushed into marriage.  I’ll miss her, but I’m glad she’ll still be around town.

The question is, will that help me to focus on my goals, or push me toward beer, food, and self-loathing even more?

She won’t be moving out for another six weeks (give or take).  Once she does, I’ll work toward some of my simple living goals, which should help me determine what is important in my life.

Relationships are hard.  This failure has taught me things and will hopefully give me focus for the future.

I left early.  I had an appointment for my second cervical epidural.  The first one really scared me, but things improved after the first one, so I decided to stick with a second one.

Side note:  I’ve been back on my Surly LHT since last Friday.  That means I can ride any of my bikes again.  This is a huge improvement.  I was riding with Tim on Sunday and broke the chain on the LHT.  I have a chain tool and was able to fix it, but I’ve been running a chain that is quite worn and a few links short since then.

I could have driven, but I’m stubborn.  I don’t like to drive.  I planned a route to get out to the doctors office (out past Oxmoor Mall, near Hurstbourne).  We’re in the middle of a heat wave.  I left myself 90 minutes to get there.  It took only 70.  Traffic was heavy but everyone was polite.

I locked up out front and cleaned up in the bathroom before my appointment.

The second epidural went much smoother than the first.  It still wasn’t comfortable but it was less frightening.  I didn’t hear the needle sliding into place.  The doctor said it went easier because I had less inflammation in my spine.  That’s a good sign.

The doctor did seem concerned about me riding a bike home after the procedure.  I knew from the first one that it wouldn’t be a problem.

When I left, the previously hot, humid, sunny weather had become cloudy, humid, not-quite-as-hot weather with distant thunder.  Shortly into the ride a light rain started.  By the time I made to the St Matthews area the rain had become a downpour.

I needed to go to On Your Left Cycles for a new chain.  The route I had programmed into my GPS wasn’t taking me there, but I took Bardstown Rd north to Baxter Ave.  I was turning left at high speed on wet roads right in front of the shop.  I hit a pothole and went down.  It wasn’t the slow motion thing that my other wrecks were.  It was very quick and quite painful.

I laid at the edge of the road for a few minutes before attempting to sit up.  My hands, knee, elbow, and big toe hurt.  I didn’t hit my head (or helmet).  I eventually stood up and picked up the bike.  There was no visible damage.  I walked into the bike shop.  They allowed me to clean up and borrow a first-aid kit.

After a while, I bought my chain, and headed out.  I rode down to Cumberland Brews and met my daughter there.  We had dinner, and I rode home.  She decided to take the bus.

I had a total of 31.8 miles.  Not bad for such a busy day.  I could have done without falling, but that was my fault.

My route is below.  I didn’t have my GPS on for the ride to work, but it was for the rest of the day.

Once I was back home I had to pick gravel out of my skin.  I’m glad I used the peroxide.  I know Baxter Ave is not sterile.  :)

Tomorrow is car-free happy hour.  See you there!

I rode to work Monday (yesterday).  After work I rode to get a haircut.  The weather was brutally hot and humid.  The woman cutting my hair offered to rinse my hair.  The cool water not only rinsed the sweat out, but was very refreshing.

After the haircut, I rode down to Cumberland Brews for a beer and sandwich.  Then I went home.  It was about 10 miles for the day.

Today, work was closed due to a water main break.  I didn’t ride anywhere, but I had no need to leave the house for most of the day.  I decided I wanted dinner and beer, so I walked to Zeppelin Cafe, just a few blocks away.

A thunderstorm rolled in while I was eating.  Before leaving I took off my sandals and walked barefoot.  It was quite pleasant other than the short stretch down the gravel-strewn alley.

I’ll be riding my bike to work again tomorrow, and the day after that….  Yep, things are getting back to normal, or at least as close to normal as my life can be.

The ride started at 9:00 am.  I left home early to get coffee at Quill’s which was just a few blocks from the ride start location.  I intended to meet Tim and Michael there.  Michael had to drive from Bloomington and was running late, so I didn’t see the two of them until the ride.

While drinking my coffee, Ward Wilson arrived.  I had met him on a RCCS ride back in February.  We drank coffee and talked bikes for a while before heading over to the ride start location.

I don’t know how many people were riding.  If I had to guess, I would say 40.  There were two tandem bikes.  I was riding the only recumbent.  I was riding one of two bikes with fenders.  Michael, Tim, Asher, and many others were there.

Our route had us going out River Rd.  Within about five miles, Asher’s left crank arm came off.  Luckily he hadn’t lost the bolt, so we were able to re-attach it.

We continued out to US 42 then Covered Bridge (I never saw a covered bridge on the route), then Old Zaring Rd.  I really liked Old Zaring Rd.  We continued through Buckner and finally to our first control and lunch stop at Red Pepper Deli in LaGrange.

Tim, Michael, Asher, and I were near the end of the pack during this time.  Anne (who I had just met) rode with us part of this time.  Anne sat at the table with us at the lunch stop.  That is the point of a populaire – to be socialable.

We turned around and went back through areas I’m not terribly familiar with.  We came to Norton Commons and the next control stop, Gilberto Gelato.  The heat and hilly ride made my stomach less than receptive to ice cream, so I ate only a small amount.

I started to get some leg cramping at this point.  I had been having trouble drinking enough water.  My stomach was not happy with me, and my current water bottles don’t make it easy to drink without pulling over.  The pace we were riding did not allow me time to stop much for water or for taking pictures.  Also along this stretch, Tim, Michael, and Anne pulled away out of site.  Asher hung back with me.  We also had a couple of tandems that we kept leap-frogging.

After a confusing route just trying to stay on Wolf Pen Branch Rd (I hate cue sheets), we were back on River Road and on the home stretch.  Turning onto Frankfort Ave, Michael, Tim, and Anne were pulled over while Michael changed a flat tire.  From there it was a quick ride to the final stop – Flanagans.

We arrived with a mere six minutes remaining before the cutoff.   I knew I was a slow rider, but I’ve always heard that the time limits for a brevet, randonneur, or populaire were quite forgiving.  If I can barely make the time constraints of a 100K then I have serious doubts about a 200K.

I didn’t have my GPS during the ride, but I did manually re-create the route based on the cue sheet.  See here.

How was my neck?  It was fine 99% of the time during the ride.  If I had been on an upright bike I wouldn’t have been able to finish the ride.  I did have one moment when I dodged right to avoid a large flying insect and I hurt myself.  I not only steered to the right, but I twisted and leaned that direction.  I successfully moved enough for the insect to bounce off the side of my helmet rather than hit me in the face, but it did cause neck pain for a while.

On many LBC rides, I end up riding alone.  There were enough people that I know personally on this ride, that I didn’t have to ride alone.  Although the “club ride” is not my favorite type of ride, I’m going to try to squeeze more of them in.  Although I had trouble with the pace on this one, it’ll get better if I keep pushing myself.

I had a lot of fun, and being back on the bike will keep my sane.  What more could I ask for?

I used some de-greaser on the frame and rims.  The bike was filthy.  I did a half-assed job of cleaning and lubing the drivetrain.  It’s better than it was.

I haven’t been happy with the way the new brakes were adjusted.  The Avid BB7 disc brakes have an inboard and outboard adjustment that are easy to use, but I still couldn’t seem to get them adjusted well.  I finally found some instructions online, loosened the caliper, and reset the front brake completely.  It seems better now.  The rear wasn’t bad, so I left it alone.

I’ve had a full-touring-load of bags on the bike for a while.  I don’t want to haul them around on the ride tomorrow, so I put just the trunk bag on.  I’m also leaving off most of the lights, as this is a daytime ride.

I still don’t have a good way of mounting the GPS to this bike.  My handlebar mount works, but I occasionally hit my knee on the GPS, so I’m just throwing it in the trunk bag for now.  I’ll eventually get some kind of an accessory bar to put the GPS farther forward and upward, clear of my knees.

Hearing the needle slide past the bone was very disturbing.  Feeling the injection fill my spine area was bizarre.  Having what felt like an electric shock applied directly to my spine causing both my right arm and leg to spasm and me to yell scared the crap out of me.  I still don’t know what caused that last issue, but no damage was done.

It’s now been two days since the epidural.  I was sore for hours, but that wore off soon enough.  I would say I’m getting a little relief now.  Most of it has occurred in the last few hours.

Before just a few hours ago, I wasn’t sure I would go through with a second procedure.  Now I know that I will.  It has made an improvement.  I still get some numbness when sitting up straight or standing, but not nearly the amount of pain.

I intend to ride the 100K (62 mile) Populaire tomorrow.  Although I’ll probably take an upright bike around the neighborhood tonight, I’m still limiting myself to the recumbent for the longer rides – for now.

I’m leaving work early tomorrow to get my first epidural.  My wife is meeting me there, as I’m not supposed to drive home.  I was going to drive to work, then out to my appointment, but I’ve decided to ride my bike.  The ride to work is easy, but the ten mile ride from work to the doctor’s office is on some busy roads.  (Shelbyville Rd out to the Oxmoor for you locals).  I’m going to do it out of principle.  My wife will still meet me there for the trip home.

There’s a sub-group of the LBC that approached us at RCCS about a populaire, kind of like a Brevet but shorter, and possibly less organized.  :)  There’s one coming up this Saturday and I’m making tentative (health depending) on attending.  It’s 100K (62 miles).  I’m not too worried about the distance.  I’m more worried about what kind of pace I can manage.

The 'bent with new brakes

I still hurt, but things have improved.  I’m back to riding my bike, even if I have to limit myself to the recumbent.  I had been taking a medication that did little good, but made me zombie-like.  I have discontinued the medication.

Yesterday was one of my most “normal” days since this all started.  ”Normal” is a very relative thing.

I took the ‘bent to Bluegrass Bicycle to upgrade the disc brakes to the much better Avid BB7 set.  First impressions are good but not mind-blowing.  Maybe my mind is gone, therefore cannot be blown.

This neck issue has really been a problem for over a month now.  It has seriously affected my bike riding.  Here’s hoping I’m coming out of that, even if it requires another bike.

Longer-term relief is (hopefully) in the works, then maybe I’ll be able to ride my other bikes.

Basically, I have an issue with a disc in my cervical spine.  I also have a bone spur.  It’s putting pressure on a nerve that runs through my shoulder and arm.  I don’t know much more than that.

My next appointment is with a neurosurgeon.  Yes, that means that surgery is probably coming soon.  What does all of this mean?

Bicycling

I rode my single-speed to work yesterday.  It was painful enough that my wife picked me up from work.  I drove to work today.

I’ll be picking up the ‘bent with new brakes on Saturday, but even riding that is going to be limited.  I’ll ride short rides here and there, but I’m pretty much done with the bike for the year.  :(

Weight

This is a wake-up call.  I’ve been gaining weight for a while, but this new bout of being sedentary could be bad.  I’m getting strict with my eating, now.

What’s Next?

A temporary measure to ease the pain until my appointment with the neurosurgeon involves a needle stuck into my neck.  That hasn’t been scheduled yet, but it could give some temporary relief.  After meeting with the neurosurgeon in about a month, I’ll know what I’m up against.

Goals

I need some goals, just so I can envision and end to this mess.  I’m still going to have to think about it more, but I do need another lifestyle change.  I need to get back to healthier eating.  I need to lose more weight.

Once the pain is better, I need some new mileage goals.  I need to start some strength training.

I’m trying to stay positive.  Nothing feels positive, but I’m working to change that.

I’ve had several appointments with my chiropractor now.  I visited my family doctor this morning.  I’ve been referred to an orthopedic doctor for an appointment tomorrow.  I also get to visit the massage therapist tomorrow.

I’ve been busy fighting this shoulder crap.  I’m mostly off the bike.  I certainly won’t be doing any long rides right now.  (Sorry Tim, no gravel for me right now)

This shoulder issue has me thinking about my weight and general health again.  I’ve been gaining weight slowly for 18 months or so.  I quit weighing myself.  I don’t want to throw away my progress.  I guess I need (another) lifestyle change.

Ohio River

This was not an advertised ride.  We planned it at the last minute via email.  Tim devised a route that meant climbing up Edwardsville Hill, going into Floyd’s Knobs, stopping for coffee, then coasting downhill into New Albany.

It was fun to watch Ian ride his Big Dummy that he normally uses to deliver soup with.  He had no issue keeping up with us, even on the long climb.  I was the one that fell back.

I was sunburned from my Danville trip the day before.  I failed to put on sunblock yet again, so I added to the sunburn.

I didn’t take many pictures.  I didn’t take any of us or our bikes.

Through the Trees

I had intended to leave by 4:00am.  I wanted to leave myself plenty of time to get there.  I’m notoriously bad at getting up in the morning, so I didn’t roll out until 6:30.

I was wearing unpadded baggy cycling shorts and a short sleeve jersey.  It was a bit chilly heading out the door.

When planning a group ride, I avoid busy roads as much as possible.  I enjoy riding along side other riders, and I can’t do that on the shoulder of a busy highway.  This was a solo ride, so although I prefer quiet roads, I chose the busier roads when they saved distance.

Leaving Louisville was pretty tame due to the early hour on a Saturday.  Once out on Rehl Rd, I saw a peacock on top of a house.  I had no idea we had peacocks around this area.

It was a bit hazy in the morning, but it made for enchanting scenery.

I joined back up with Taylorsville Rd near Fisherville, and noticed this amusing sign.

I turned south on State Road 2278, which was a beautiful green tunnel.

It inspired me to attempt some nature shots.

I had to fit the bike into a shot as well.

I continued to Wilsonville where this derelict building caught my eye.

I kept reminding myself not to dawdle.  I wasn’t feeling strong, and wasn’t making good time.  I didn’t want to hurry, I wanted to just enjoy the ride, but I also didn’t want tension with my wife for not being on time.

I was now over three hours into the ride.  I stopped to move a turtle out of the road.  I saw two more turtles later.

Again, I was running behind, but the Kentucky countryside wanted to be photographed.  This was Elk Creek Rd, which just was stunning overall.  I didn’t take as many pictures there as I should have.

I stopped in Taylorsville to refill water and get more snacks.  I quickly left town and was enjoying the countryside again.

When I first spotted this road, I thought I’d need to remember it for a future mixed-terrain ride.  I love the gravelly, hilly, twisty road.  Unfortunately, it’s a dead-end.

This cow was unconcerned with my presence.

There was a store stop in the tiny town of Willisburg.  I guess it’s relatively well known by some cyclists.  I’d never heard of it.  I spotted five bikes parked along the side.

I had never heard of Kirk bicycles, but they appear to be a custom framebuilder.  Check out the curvy seat stays.

This bike was an odd one.  It’s a Rivendell Rambouillet.  The bladed spokes and threaded to threadless stem adapter look very out of place on this bike.

The owners of these bikes were inside eating.  I was in a hurry, and I’m an introvert, so I didn’t try to talk to them.  I’m sure they saw me through the window taking pictures.

I grabbed more liquids and a snack and headed back out.  I was definitely going to be late at this point.

Just outside of Willisburg, I ran into Perry.  He’s touring the Trans-America from Virginia to Oregon.  I didn’t get a picture, and I was quickly on my way again.

One of the better roads on the route was White Hall Rd.  It was a wonderfully rural stretch.

I planned my route ahead of time and put it in the GPS as a series of tracks.  Then it was simple to follow the line on the screen.  I used RideWithGPS to plan the route.  The mapping data comes from Google maps, which like all maps isn’t always correct.

I was approaching a left turn, but there was no road to turn unto.  I was almost to Danville, but not having this turn meant I would be turning away from Danville, and I’d have to backtrack.  It would add several miles to the ride.

At this point I called my wife to let her know I was going to be late.  I was surprised to learn she hadn’t left Louisville yet, so I could still beat here there.

I continued southwest on US68 toward Perryville.  This detour worked well.  There was a corner store/gas station.  I was feeling weak and needed food.  I intended to buy more junk food, but they had real food there, made to order.  It almost like a restaurant.

I took some time to eat and drink before heading east on US150.  The last stretch of road to Danville was not the most pleasant, but at that point I just wanted to arrive.  I was exhausted.

I rode 94 miles for the day.  It was a good day, but I was glad I could drive the truck home later.

The full route I rode is here.

I didn’t bring a camera and I avoided the media crews.  I introduced my daughter to many of the people I know.  It made me realize just how many people I have gotten to know over the last few years because of bicycling.

The group eventually headed toward downtown with the mayor near the front of the pack.  I hung back with my daughter.  We went to Fourth Street Live and regrouped there.  There were quite a few people there, as there were several other meeting spots that all rode to the same downtown location.

I went to work while my daughter ran errands downtown.

We met back up for lunch, and were joined by David Morse.  After lunch there were some give-aways.  My daughter won a Donkey Boxx from On Your Left Cycles.  I installed the Donkey Boxx on her bike before she left.

I’m preparing to ride to Danville Kentucky in the morning.  I’ll be meeting my wife there.  She’s driving there for a family get-together.  I’m keeping this post short.  I need to get the bike ready and get bed.

Three Amigos

Early Morning Meeting

I was up at 3:30am.  I had time to do some bike maintenance, yet I put it off again.  I had an early appointment before work.

I headed out while it was still dark.  I was riding the single-speed.  About half way to work, the chain came off.  Rather than loosen the rear wheel to fix it properly, I managed to get the chain back on.

I got to work, and changed clothes.  I then grabbed the folding bike that I hauled to work yesterday and carried it across the street to Java Brewing Company.  I was meeting Chris aka Pondero and Tim.

Chris lives in Texas, and I’ve only known him via his blog.  He has a couple of really nice bikes, and some wonderful Texas Prairie roads to ride them on.

He is in town for a conference.  We arranged to meet up.  I thought it would be a good idea to let him borrow my folding bike to check out town.  I don’t know if he’ll have much time to ride, but I’d hate for him to have the time and not be able to take advantage of it.

The visit was brief, but it was nice to chat and drink coffee.  Chris pedaled off to get back to work.  Tim and I sat around and talked bikes a bit longer before I went back to work.

The picture above was shamelessly stolen from Chris’s blog.  There are a few more there.

Should Have Fixed it Right

After work, I had an appointment to donate blood.  I headed out and quickly regretted not fixing my bike properly.  I dropped the chain again while riding 20mph in traffic.  I managed to safely move over and fix it.  While pulled over on the sidewalk, Asher rode by, then turned around to check on me.  I talked briefly to him.  One of his co-workers was hit by a car.  I don’t know the guy, but I guess his injuries are minimal.

Oops

After donating blood, I was on a less-familiar road trying to get home.  I ended up hitting a concrete median and going down.  Yes, it was stupid.  I was looking behind me at traffic instead of where I was going.  Nothing was damaged, and I wasn’t hurt.  Mostly I just pulled a muscle while trying to (unsuccessfully) prevent myself from falling.

Food!

Once home, my wife wanted to go out to eat.  Part of me said “Yay! Beer!”.  Another part said “and I was doing so good today”.  We went somewhere without beer.  I had a small salad and a piece of fish.  I still did okay.

Time to Fix The Bike

After dinner, I properly fixed my single-speed.  Drew at On Your Left Cycles had mentioned that the chain probably needed a link removed.  I didn’t want to spend the time or the money, so I passed.  So, I have a chain tool.  I removed the chain and cleaned it thoroughly.  I shortened it, and reinstalled everything, then re-lubed the chain.  It should be good for a while longer now.

I’m having issues with the freewheel on the single-speed.  It works okay, but it’s now noisy and the chain tension varies.  The right answer is a new, better quality freewheel.  Drew has some nice looking ones from White Industries, but I’ll ride this one until it’s non-functional.  If it happens on a ride, well, I’m running a flip-flop hub, so I can flip the wheel over and run fixed until I get a new freewheel.

A Good Day

Even with the minor wreck and mechanical issues, I had a good day.  There was good company in the morning.  I enjoyed spending time with my wife and eating healthy at a restaurant.

I sent a text to Tim, and he rode his Ute up to join me.

We talked bikes.  We watched the people walking up and down Bardstown Rd.  We couldn’t stay long, we both had to work in the morning.  I had a few more beers than he did.

Waking today was rough.  The fact that I showered, rode to work, and made it on time despite the hangover is a testament to it being a great day.

The beautiful Spring weather is here, possibly temporarily.  It was sunny and in the mid-60s when I left this morning.  I was wearing my work clothes and didn’t immediately notice that I forgot my helmet.  I didn’t bother turning around for it when I did realize it.

Human power?

The commute home was pleasant.  It was clear and warm.  People were friendly.  When I was nearly home I saw my daughter riding her bike the other way.  We stopped and talked.  She was riding to the library to check out some books.  She invited me to come along, but I had things to do at home.

There is rain in the forecast, so I wanted to get the lawn mowed.  I needed more gasoline for the lawnmower.  I grabbed the gas can and walked a couple of blocks to the gas station.  At $3.89 per gallon it cost me about $10.50 to fill up the can.

There was a rumor at the gas station that the price would be $4.01 by tomorrow morning.

$10.50?

I’m glad I rarely buy gas.

My daughter called me from the library.  She was approached by David Morse, from CART (and he helps Bicycling For Louisville).  He’s photographing bicyclists in town.  He grabbed a couple of photos for his project.  He did share them with me later.

Dawn - still new at this cycling thing

Later when Dawn got back from the library, the two of us took the dogs for a walk down to Sunergos.  It was really too late (and a bit warm) for me to want coffee, but I did have an iced drink.

My dogs are overweight and out of shape.  The last stretch on the way home really did them in.  They’ll sleep well tonight.

Overall it was a good day.  It was better than many and great for a Monday.

Tomorrow will be a different adventure.  There is a 50% chance of thunderstorms.  I actually enjoy riding in a storm as long there’s no hail and the temperature is warm enough.

Wandering possum in someone's front yard

A local bike shop had the idea to ride to Churchill Down early on Saturday.  Tim let me know, and I joined him.  Apparently one of the bike shop owners had too much to drink on Oaks day and wasn’t prepared to get up for a 6:00am ride.  So the ride was just Tim and I.

The bars were open until 6:00am, so riding down Bardstown Rd at 5:30 was interesting.  I nearly hit a pedestrian who probably had tunnel vision.  The people-watching was fun.

Tim and I headed out to Churchill Downs.  There was quite the crowd trying to get in the gate.  Traffic wasn’t too bad yet, but we knew it would get worse, and didn’t want to hang around.

Sunrise over Churchill Downs

I managed to stick the front of my camera through the fence and get a shot of a horse.  I don’t follow horse racing, and have no idea which horse it was, but he was not happy.

Unhappy horse

We continued on with a thought of climbing the hill at Iroquois Park, but decided against it.  Tim wasn’t feeling well, and I needed coffee.  We eventually ended up at Sunergos for coffee and carbohydrates.

After a little more riding we ended up at Breadworks, which is better know for their baked goods, but have reasonable coffee also.  At this point Tim headed home and I did a little more wandering.

Tim managed to take better pictures.

Today, Sunday, I slept a little later.  I eventually rode to Quill’s Coffee for some excellent coffee and a muffin.  I’ve since found out Quill’s has a few bicycle connections.

Tim met up with me at Quill’s and we headed out for a leisurely ride through Cherokee Park.  He later complained about my route choice.  :)

The weather was beautiful and the park was full of young women jogging.  It doesn’t get much better.

I did end with a flat on my single-speed.  A small, really small, absolutely tiny, piece of glass found it’s way through the tire and punctured the tube.  I’ve been running the Panaracer Pasela tires on this bike.  They’re not flat-resistant like the Schwalbe Marathon tires on my LHT.  The Paselas do ride nicer though.

My Paselas have seen some miles.  The rubber at the tread had gotten rather thin, therefore easy to puncture.  I have had several flats in the last month, so it’s time to do something about it.

After changing the flat, I rode up to Vic’s, because I figured he might have the TourGuard version of the Pasela in stock.  He did, and I rode out with two new tires.

These new tires are cheaper than the Marathon.  They ride nicer than a Marathon.  They still aren’t as tough as a Marathon, but should be an improvement.  I have the old Paselas in my basement now to use if needed.

After leaving Vic’s I wandered home.

Now it’s evening, and I’m planning another in-town ramble.  I’m going solo, but I just feel the need to stretch the legs and let the stress loose.

At some point I’ll add tougher tires and dyno-hub powered lighting.

I did some work on the bike a few days ago.  Yesterday I cleaned the bike again and adjusted everything.  I thought it was a good opportunity for a photo.  I’ll clean the wheels next time.  :)

It was raining on Sunday morning, but we waited until about 10:30 to meet, and the rain had mostly stopped by then.

I don’t know where we went.  I didn’t have my GPS to track the route.  I was riding the single-speed.  We did stop for a sandwich at some place near downtown.  I had to stop multiple times to tighten my left crank arm.  I’ve been having that issue for a few days.

At one point we rode across what appeared to be mud… then we smelled it.  It smelled like sewage.  We turned around.  I was glad to have fenders on the bike.

We ran into Ian (from SoupByCycle) and his wife at a neighborhood event.

I put in just over 20 miles.  When I got home, I hosed the sewage off the bike and carried it inside.  I then noticed a slow leak in the rear tire.

I pulled the left crank and cleaned everything.  I greased the threads on the crank bolt and thoroughly tightened everthing.  I changed the tube in the rear tire.  I replaced the brake pads.  I wiped down the parts of the bike that were still wet.

I rode it to work today and the crank bolt was still tight when I got home.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Heading out through Cherokee Park

Tim on Old Floydsburg Rd

Chapel with well manicured lawn

Blues and greens

Just a little gravel

Brashears Creek Rd was pleasant

Cockpit view

Brashears Creek?

Tim getting passed

Blue, Brown, and Green

Tim shows us how he really feels

Moving self-portrait (don't try this at home)

Traffic on Taylorsville Lake Rd

Once we were near his house, Tim peeled off to go home.  I went out for a beer.  I was tired, sunburned, and covered in salt, but I felt good.

This wasn’t the hardest ride I’ve ever done.  It was interesting to do a century with almost no planning.  I rode 109 miles.  That’s my 2nd highest mileage day yet.

Tim’s write-up
The route
All the pictures

I must have ran over glass yesterday.  I noticed my LHT had a flat tire this morning.  I rode the single-speed instead.  I fixed the flat this evening and found a run-of-the-mill chunk of glass embedded in the tire.  It had barely punctured the tube, so it took all night for the tire to go flat.

I’ve still had much better luck with those tires than any other I’ve tried.  Flats happen.

I had errands to run after work, and my wife had plans for after that.

While at work, 40 balloons were delivered to my office.  Also came a vase of flowers – some of them daisies.  I was told it’s because I’m getting ready to “push up daisies”.  That seemed a bid morbid.  :)

I was expected to bring the balloons home.  I rode my bike to work, so yes, I rode through town with 40 balloons trailing behind me.  I got a lot of strange looks, a couple of honks, and one person yelled “happy birthday”.

I met up with my wife and daughter at Tony BoomBozz for pizza and beer.  I had a good day, but didn’t ride anywhere near 40 miles.

I haven’t been talking much about weight recently.  I don’t have much to write about.  I haven’t been controlling my diet.  I haven’t been weighing regularly.  I haven’t been losing (or gaining) weight.  My weigh has been steady at just above 220 lbs.  That’s quite a bit above my goal weight of 175.

I started this adventure at nearly 300 lbs and very unfit.  I had a sedentary lifestyle.  I was probably on the fast-track to a heart attack.

I was able to bring my weight under 200 lbs for a while.  I also got much more fit.  That took a lot of effort and self-control.  I still intend to work at that, I’m not giving up my goal weight yet.

One thing has changed.  My bicycle-centric lifestyle means I can maintain a weight around 220 lbs without much effort.  I drink beer and eat pizza with few limits.  I don’t eat fast food or drink soda, but that’s because I don’t enjoy those things.  Parting with them wasn’t difficult.

Maybe I’m just making excuses for not putting the effort into losing more weight.  I want to do some more bike touring this year.  I want to have more free time away from work and family obligations, but I’m not sure how to pull that one off.

I took the plunge and ordered a new set of lights from On Your Left Cycles.  What was ordered?

• B&M IQ CYO N Plus headlight
• Toplight Flat S Plus tail light
• SON28 dynohub (36 hole)
• Velocity A23 rim
• 36 spokes

The shop built the new wheel once the parts arrived and called me to let me know it was time to bring my LHT in.  This was on Friday.

I didn’t want to drive my truck to haul the bike.  I also didn’t want to walk the two miles from the bike shop to work.  So I rode the LHT towing the tailer with the folding bike in it.

Once I dropped off the LHT, I rode the folding bike and pulled the trailer to work with me.  After work, I reversed the procedure to get the LHT and go home.

The headlight is mounted to the front rack and has an integrated reflector.  This also freed some space on my handlebars.

Although the polished SON hub looks really nice, it doesn’t match the matte finish of the rear hub.  That’s okay, this bike is about utility, not looking pretty.

The tail light looks almost as if it were meant to be on the rear rack.

I’ve taken the bike out twice after dark now.  Both were short urban rides, but I’m starting to get a feel for what I do and don’t like.

The focused beam on the headlight puts plenty of light where you usually need it.  It doesn’t light up street signs as well my Dinotte, as it throws very little light upward.  I also felt a little blind while descending fast on a curve.  The light is bright enough, but the road goes off a different direction.  Maybe I should fly through Cherokee Park at night.  :)

The standlight lasts plenty long.  I can sit at a long traffic light, and the lights are still lit, although a bit dimmer.

Strangely, the tail light gives up first when the standlight gets close to being discharged.  Also, the tail light isn’t really very bright.  It does spread the light across a wider area than a Dinotte or a SuperFlash, but it’s just not bright.  It does have an integrated reflector like the headlight.

The hub just works.  I can sometimes feel a vibration at 16-17mph, but faster or slower than that and it goes away.  You don’t really notice the hub when riding.

If I were doing it over again, I would research a different tail light.  I may do this anyway, as they are inexpensive.  I would also consider a different rim.  The rim is probably fine, but as this bike is for loaded touring, a Dyad may have been a better choice.

I put the Dinotte lights on the single-speed.  I want another dynohub system for that bike, but I have to wait until I can afford it.  I may also move the new LHT wheel to the single-speed, and have a Dyad-based wheel built for the LHT.

Too many choices, but at least I don’t have to charge batteries.

Before work this morning I went to the post office to pick up a package that they would not leave at my door.  Then I stopped by the bank before continuing on to work.

After work, I had a massage appointment, then picked up dinner before heading home.  Those new panniers came in quite handy for hauling things today.

Salsa Vaya

What was the package I picked up this morning?  It was an Acorn Handlebar Bag.

With this, I’ll have easy access to a few things while riding the bike.  I’ve been envious of others pulling out their cameras on rides.  I had to stop and fumble around in my trunk bag.  That shouldn’t be an issue now.

Acorn Handlebar Bag

I have another bike project in the works for the LHT.  Stay tuned, I’ll be posting about it next week.

Wildlife on the road

Tim billed this as a gravel ride, but it’s hard to determine where the gravel will be before you get there.  After the first 8 miles of mostly smooth pavement, I began to think Tim had planned poorly.  I wasn’t complaining.  Gravel is adventurous, but smooth pavement is pleasant also.

We had a nice tailwind from the southwest when we started.  It wasn’t overly strong, but allowed for a good pace.  We knew we’d have to ride into the wind later.

Our route continued generally northeast.  We came across gravel here and there.  The tailwind made it quite the pleasant ride.  There were some rolling hills, but never any long climbs.

Blueridge and LHT

We eventually made it to some wonderful gravel roads once we were fairly far north-east of North Vernon.  We still had a nice tailwind and the sun was warming us up.

Tim leading the way

Both Tim and I have acquired new GPS devices for our bikes.  I believe this is the first ride where we both used them on unfamiliar roads.  He sent me the route the night before.  Due to technical issues I had to re-draw the route.  I think I made a mistake as our devices did not agree during portions of the ride.  We are both still learning the their idiosyncrasies.

It still worked well.  It was Tim’s ride, so we used his GPS when there was a discrepancy.  We have different models of Garmin devices, but with the same maps.  It was strange how they nearly always beeped at the same moment.  We (mostly) had turn-by-turn directions working.