The Fat Guy David Crowell :: Losing Weight

Monday: I didn’t ride to work.
Tuesday: I had an appointment with my doctor.  My wife drove me to work, and I rode my bike home.
Wednesday: Again, I drove.
Thursday: I rode today.  It was barely 60 degrees when I left in the morning, and in the mid-70s when I headed home.  A beautiful ride.  I also ran across some wildlife on Waterline Road.

I’ve been keeping a camera handy on my LHT recently.  That made this picture possible.  I came up on a deer, but he spooked to easily to get a picture before he ran off into the woods.

Somewhere along my route today, I passed 3500 miles for the year.  I’m pretty pleased with that.  I’m well on track to hit 5000 miles for the year.

Friday: Who knows.  I plan to ride, but anything can happen.

Last Sunday, Tim and I headed north-east from Charlestown looking for more gravel.  We found gravel and more.

The ride was an advertised RCCS ride, but it was put together last minute, so nobody else was able to show up.  Tim did a better write up, and it can be found here.

I was able to attach a camera bag to my front rack, so I had easier access to my camera.  That did mean I took more pictures.  Most of them weren’t posting.  I’ll put a few in this post.  The full album can be found here.

This was one of the flattest rides I had done in a while.  There was one dive into a creek valley, then a climb back out.  There was also a white-knuckle descent to the river on a gravel road followed by an arduous climb.  The rest of the ride was flat to rolling.

Tim notes in his writeup where I eat, and he does not.  What he doesn’t say, is that I had skipped breakfast that morning.  Had I not eaten when I did, I would have had a much harder time finishing the ride.

I stole this last picture from Tim.  He walked around the mud pit, and called it “the easy way”.  I said “I don’t like the easy way”, and attempted to ride through the mud.  I was no match for the mud, and the bike and I came to an abrupt halt.  I then had to put my feet into the mud to avoid falling into said mud.  I still need to wash my bike.

It was a good adventure.  We racked up nearly 80 miles, then went to Charlestown Pizza for food.  It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

RCCS is hosting another gravel-seeking ride tomorrow.  In honor of that, I’m posting a few pictures of last Sunday’s Gravel ride that Tim and I did.

If you want to attend tomorrow’s ride (I know short notice), you can read more at the RCCS site.  Ride is at 9:00 am at my house.

Kristy and I are in Parkersburg West Virginia.  She has some family matters to attend to.  I spent most of the day on the bike.

I had heard about the rail-trail in the area.  It is scenic, has tunnels, and is quite flat.

The route I took to get to the trail was about 11 miles, and included a mix of city streets, divided highway, and country roads.  There were hills.

I was riding my little 7-speed folding bike, but I didn’t need to walk any of the hills.

My route is here:

Everything I said about the route is true. In additon,

• It’s too flat.
• It’s not paved.  This made it slow going.
• It gets quite remote.  I wasn’t carrying enough water.
• During the day on this Thursday, it was nearly empty.  I saw a couple walking their dogs, and no other cyclists.
• I couldn’t stop for fear of being carried away by insects.
• Cell phone service is very spotty.

I came across a sign for the town of  Walker, and hoped to find food and water.  There were no stores of any kind in town, but there was a post office.  I was able to get water there.

When I came near the town of Cairo, I went off-path, unto a dirt road that became a very pot-holed paved road.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I could have taken the trail and arrived in the same place.  No matter, traffic was light, and the hills were refreshing.

In Cairo, there are a number of small businesses that cater to those traveling along the trail.  I loaded up on food and drinks, and continued on.  I was then only 3 miles from my destination, North Bend State Park.

My wife met me at the park, and we drove back to Parkersburg.

All the pictures (including the not-so-good-ones) are here.

Highlights of the trip:

• Tunnels!  I rode through two tunnels.  The first one was the longest.  You couldn’t see the other side.  I was glad for having a headlight on the bike.  The first tunnel was very cool and damp like a cave.  There was cool air and a fine mist blowing out from the end I entered.
• Interesting weather.  It started warm and humid, but not hot.  Skies were overcast, and winds were calm.  Further into the ride there was thunder in the distance and some rain.  Late in the ride, it warmed up and the sun came out.
• At 40.2 miles, it was the longest ride on the new bike.  That bike is really for shorter trips.  I did have some minor comfort issues, but nothing that interfered with m enjoyment of the ride.
• Riding along the shoulder of Highway 50 was interesting.  That highway is a divided four-lane, much like part of my commute route.  The difference is that Highway 50 is more “freeway-like”.  It has ramps and a 65 mph speed limit.  There were signs for it being a bike route.
• In town, I got yelled at to get on the sidewalk.  It made me feel right at home.  :)
• Being a bit lost.  While off the trail, I was unsure of where I was for a while.  I don’t have a GPS on the bike, and cell coverage was unavailable at the time.  I did have a paper map, but it didn’t really have the level of detail I needed.  It was an adventure.

The worst part of being sick may have been staying off the bike.  Now that I’m better, I’ve been riding.

The weather has been very warm recently.  We’ve had two heat waves with highs in the 90s pretty much every day.  There was a break between the heat waves, but that’s when I was sick and not riding.

Saturday

On Saturday I met up with Tim for a mostly urban ride around Louisville.  We did spend some time on the Levee Trail, including a portion that appears to be new, and not yet open.  We ended up with 57.1 miles.

Sunday

On Sunday, Tim came to my place for a hillier ride.  We planned 35 miles, but he had mechanical issues that caused us to abort the ride at 13.9 miles.  That was a bummer.

I spent a few hours being slightly depressed and even took a nap.  I could have been productive and mowed the lawn, but I didn’t.

Once evening came, I knew I needed to ride.  I hopped on the LHT and headed toward Louisville without really having a plan.  Sunday was the 4th, so the sound of fireworks was never far away.

Once I got to Louisville I basically rode toward the airport.  I’m not sure why.  I eventually stopped and sent a text to Tim.  He was at the waterfront with his family enjoying a concert and waiting for the fireworks.

I headed to the riverfront and used the free valet bike parking provided by Bicycling For Louisville.  I crashed Tim’s party (sorry Tim!) and hung out with he and his family for the last of the concert and the fireworks.

I rode home in the dark (with my great lights!) stopping at Waffle House for “bike fuel”.  My total mileage for that ride was 43.8.

Monday

I had Monday off of work for the holiday.  I again rode with Tim where he hoped to stop at a number of nature preserves.  We did indeed do that, but anyone who rides with Tim knows that he often makes the route up along the way.  We rode off-road some on our LHTs.

At 38.3 miles, this wasn’t a really long ride, but with the heat and the off-road stretches it was tiring.  It was a good ride and well worth it.

Commuting

I intend to ride to work tomorrow, however I need to be there at 5:00 am, so I plan to leave by 3:00 am.  Ugh.  I really want to set a new mileage record for the month, so on the bike I go.

I made a last-minute decision yesterday to ride my bike, fully loaded with camping gear, to Clifty Falls State Park and stay overnight.  I plotted a route of roughly 35 miles.

Let me back up a minute.  The last few days did not go as planned.  Saturday, my daughter graduated from high-school, and a few family members (including my ex-wife) drove down from Michigan to attend.  The graduation was fine.  It was neat to watch, and several people cried.

My daughter decided some time ago to move back to Michigan after graduation.  My ex-wife and I both were going to haul her stuff back to Michigan.  I was also going to take a bike with me and visit an old friend, and ride with someone who I’ve talked to online.  I had requested Monday and Tuesday off of work to have time to do this.

For reasons I won’t go into here, I did not drive to Michigan on Sunday.  So I found myself with a couple of “free days”.  What do I do with “free days”?  I ride my bike of course!

So, I figured my first bike-camping trip, and about 70 miles of riding would be a nice way to spend two days off.  It turned out much better than that.

There were some concerns about possible severe weather, but I decided I’d risk it.  The ride was hot, but pleasant.  I took a nice slow pace and made it there in about 3 1/2 hours.  The odometer read 36.8 miles for the day.  I found a two-mile stretch of a pleasant gravel road along the way.  It wasn’t “seriously epic” like some of the roads Tim and I have found, but it was quite pleasant.

After getting my tent set-up, I talked to a bike tourist who was also camped there.  I was sure to tell him that I was simply doing an overnight trip.

This bike tourist was John.  He’s riding from Buffalo to Atlanta.  He was on day 11 of his journey.  He was following the an ACA route that would take him through my town of residence of Charlestown Indiana.  We agreed to ride together the next day, at least as far as Charlestown.

John was riding a beautiful lugged-steel touring bike that he bought used and had repainted and built up to match his desires.  The bike had toured Europe and Asia with it’s previous owner.  He told me the manufacturer of the frame, but I can’t remember now.

I had trouble sleeping.  The ground was hard.  The tent was not well-ventilated and it was hot and humid.  I eventually fell asleep only to woken by a windstorm.  There was no rain, the tent didn’t fall over, so I guess it was a success.  The wind also solved the heat and humidity issue.

Clifty Falls has a new shower facility, so I was able to take a shower when arriving, and another after getting up at 6:00 a.m.  I kept this trip simple and did not plan on cooking.  I ate fig bars for breakfast , broke camp, packed the bike, then rode over to see if John was up.

Before long, John was ready to roll.  His ACA map had him going on Highway 62, which I had seen was under construction, and not safe for riding.  We followed my previous day’s route, in reverse to get back to Charlestown, stopping at a small diner in New Washington for breakfast (okay, I had a burger for breakfast)

There were some strange, fast-moving clouds that passed overhead, and the associated wind gust gave us a strong but brief tailwind.  The weather cleared up later.

After arriving in Charlestown we stopped by my house to unload my extra gear.  We stopped for a snack and more coffee around town.  John grabbed some supplies from the grocery store.

I made the decision to ride along with John for a while longer.  I didn’t have a firm plan, but wasn’t ready to end the adventure.

After looking at the ACA maps, I planned a much better route that avoided much traffic and took us down the recently re-opened Waterline Rd through the old ammunition plant.

We meandered through Utica and Jeffersonville.  The riding got much more urban.  We rode through Clarksville, saw the Louisville skyline, and made our way to New Albany where we stopped for water and snacks.  Did I mention it was hot?

John was now following the ACA maps again, as my knowledge of this area wasn’t as good.  We eventually ended up on Corydon Pike, and we climbed up to Edwardsville.  At this stage it was time to say goodbye.  We had ridden together for about 70 miles.  John had to be in Corydon in time to set up camp for the night.  I needed to get home in time to get ready for bed, as I do work tomorrow.

I took a very urban, traffic-heavy route home.  I pushed a lot harder and faster, as I wanted to stop for pizza and beer at my favorite watering hole before going home.  I enjoyed a single beer and some lasagna in lieu of pizza and headed home.

The last portion of the ride made my legs more sore than the previous miles combined.  I should have learned my lesson from John about pacing.  He rarely exceeds 11mph.

I arrived home with 93 miles for the day.  That’s in addition to the nearly 37 miles yesterday.  June 2010 is now a record mileage month for me.  The month isn’t over, so it’ll be interesting to see the final total on July 1st.

I rode the ‘bent for comfort today.  I’ve been neglecting that poor bike, so Oria will be my commuter of choice for the week.

I was caught in a sudden but brief downpour.  This picture was taken after the rain subsided.  It’s 94 degrees and sunny as I write this.  There is the possibility of severe weather.  Hopefully I’ll make it home first.

I can now say I’ve ridden a century (100 miles).  Michael and I rode the Siberian Summer Bicycle Tour yesterday.  They had several route options of different lengths, but we opted for the longest one.  The ride took us along some very scenic areas on mostly low-traffic roads through Perry County Indiana.

This ride did not have a mass start, but instead, registration began at 7:00, and you could leave when you were ready.  Michael and I left around 7:30.  There were some others that got an early start at about 6:30.  I was told only eight riders opted for the 100-mile route.

This was only Michael’s second century, but this one was hilly.  His first was flat, so the ride was a challenge for both of us.

Michael and I are not fast riders.  There were probably plenty of other slow riders, but they didn’t choose the 100-mile route.  Luckily, the rest areas remained open until we passed through them.  It was a hot day, and we needed to refill our water bottles often.

We rode past Saddle Lake in Hoosier National Forest.  I was tempted at that point to jump in for a quick swim.

There was definitely some climbing involved but it usually led to a nice view.

Typical rural Indiana scenery

I could have used a Double Cola about then.

You have to love a place called Possum Junction.  Too bad they were closed.

Siberia, Cold in name, warm in heart

We saw several of these mini oil rigs

This reminded me of the Windows XP “Bliss” wallpaper

This was in St. Meinrad.

This is the covered bridge on Huffman Hill Road.  It’s no longer open, but is the site of a small park.

Michael and I were just about done with the ride at this point.  We were happy, but glad to be near the end. It’s a good thing it’s not a race.  We were the last two to finish the ride.

I think I recreated the route here. I may have taken a couple of wrong turns though.

I’ve only included a sampling of pictures here.  If you want to see all of the pictures, or download the full size versions, see the Web Album.

Nermal, my Giant Cypress hybrid bike is no more.  This is the bike that got me riding as an adult.  This is the $225 bike that I spent well over $1000 on in upgrades, accessories, and mistakes along the way.

I recently replaced the cassette and chain only to discover that the chainrings were worn bad enough to cause skipping.  I was going to replace those, but then the bottom bracket (which I’d had problems with before) started coming loose.  A close inspection revealed the bottom bracket shell (part of the frame) was cracked.

Sure, enough money could have fixed it.  However, Nemal had served his purpose.  I had moved on to better bikes and didn’t need to fix Nermal.

Luckily Nermal was a “parts donor”.  When I bought Nermal, I also bought his twin for my daughter.  My daughter named that bike Neeko.  I’ve moved the wheels that Tom built for Nermal over to Neeko.  I moved the chain and upgraded derailleur purchased from Bluegrass Bicycle.

Neeko now looks much like Nermal did in an earlier iteration.  Before I bought a Brooks saddle or switched to flat bars.  So the spirit lives on.  :)

My daughter and I took a short ride this morning to have a “picnic breakfast”.  The food consisted of peanut butter sandwiches and bananas.  I drank coffee, she had tea.

At eight miles and a leisurely pace, we didn’t burn many calories, but it was fun, and a nice way to spend time together.

The destination was Charlestown State Park.  Skies were clear and the air was cold when we arrived at 8:30.

There was something very peaceful about breakfast at 8:30 at a picnic table.

We rode around the park for a bit before heading home.

I’m on vacation in the mountains of North Carolina.  My wife and I are staying at a wonderful little cabin in the woods.  I’ve taken a short ride so far on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Mountains are fun!  I’ve also been enjoying canoeing and other touristy things.  Tomorrow will bring colder temperatures, and a longer ride.

I’ll post a lot more pictures once I’m settled at home and have better internet service.

Oh, I don’t recommend balancing a bike like this, but it was fun.

This post is directed at Tim, who told me I need to get a cargo bike.  I needed gas for my mower and trimmer today, so I rode to the gas station to get it.  $10 worth of gas, no problem.  It wasn’t a long ride, but I did get a few weird looks.

The picture below was taken after work yesterday.  I needed to ride from work in Downtown Louisville to Feeder’s Supply in Clarksville.  I let Google Maps give me bicycling directions, and I discovered the pedestrian/bike bridge over Browns Station Way.

The path is a bit overgrown, and the bridge a bit worn looking, but it worked well.

Also on the topic of cargo bikes, back in December 2008 I hauled home a fair amount of groceries on Nermal.  I’ve also used the front rack on my LHT to haul a propane tank, but I don’t have pictures of that.

I bought a few new parts for the LHT, and installed them early Tuesday morning before riding to work.  I took the pictures below on my morning commute.

I still haven’t named this bike.  It’s beginning to bother me.  :)

Changes are:

• New stem with different angle to get the handlebars a bit higher – this makes the bike much more comfortable for me
• Schwalbe Marathon tires in 700×40 (42-622) – The old front tire is a foldable Continental Contact, and is now folded up and stored in the bottom of a pannier as a spare.
• Chainstay mounted kickstand
• MKS touring pedals

Everything above came from Bluegrass Bicycle except the pedals, which I ordered from Velo-Orange.

I immensely enjoyed Tuesday’s commute, but unfortunately overslept today and drove to work.

The RCCS ride this morning turned out to be a solo ride.  The usual characters that like to ride in any weather were unavailable.  The weather chased off the rest.

I set out just after 9:00 am with light rain.  The predicted thunderstorm never materialized, but it was windy and rainy.  The rain would sometimes stop, and there was even some occasional sun.

I felt weak and slow during the ride.  I averaged just under 10 mph.  That’s slow even for me.

The original route was going to be 57 miles.  I made several wrong turns, as I often do, but still enjoyed the ride.  At 36 miles into the ride I was done.  I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel like riding any further.  I called for a ride home.

Despite the abrupt ending, I was glad I got out and rode the bike.