Fifty Plus (50+) - Ride Report – No smoked seafood tonight

The Tuesday evening ride with my new graduate student/ex-racer is now complete and I am happy to report that I am not dead by the side of the road.

We had arranged to meet on the south edge of town at 4:00 and I did not get off to an auspicious start. I must have been a sight when he arrived as I had blood streaming down my leg. I am embarrassed to report that today I am no longer a clipless virgin and have joined the ranks of the fallen. The incident was classic. I had unclipped to stop and as I was putting my foot down I heard the sound of my foot clipping back in and down I went. I wish that I had it on tape because I was able to keep my bike from ever touching the ground. I was surprised at how easy it is to unclip as I lay on my back with the bike in the air. My knee took the brunt of it, but I don’t think it will be too bad. I shave so the bandaging/scabbing won’t be too awful with dealing with hair.

So I ask my new student if he would rather do hills or flat and he wanted hills. Now we don’t have hills like some folks have, but there are a few places with short hills that rise about 150 feet in 1/3 to ½ of a mile so we went off in search of them south of town.

The first part of the ride is not very nice as we rode on the shoulder of a four lane highway (US 441) down to Micanopy (a very quaint town. It was used in the movies “Cross Creek” and “Doc Hollywood”) and about a mile south of there we turned off onto a county road and then another through the very small town of Evinston that still has a Post Office/General Store. The ride through here is fantastic in the winter because you can see thousands of sandhill cranes and in the spring the wildflowers are everywhere. In the summer it is just nice with light traffic and occasional views of Orange Lake. A little further along we get back on US 441 for a few miles through MacIntosh and then up a small hill and down into the town of Orange Lake. All the way to MacIntosh my new student is hanging in there and occasionally dropping behind for a bit of drafting, but once we hit the hills he started to suffer. Perhaps this wasn’t a good choice of routes for a first training ride in three years.

At Orange Lake we make a right hand turn and start riding on Dungarvin Road. (MacIntosh? Dungarvin? Sounds like Scotland!) Dungarvin Road is about the closest thing we have to hills around here and of course it starts to rain with lighning and thunder. I have to give it up to my new student because he really gutted it out on Dungarvin Road, but I think that he might have burned up too many of his matches on those hills. He was suffering a lot on the ride back into town and we took the slightly longer “scenic route” around the east side of Paynes Prairie and back into Gainesville with the last six miles of the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail.

The ride was about 50 miles with some wind and rain and hills, but I think that a good time was had by all. At least I hope so.

Hold on a second.......do you mean those anxieties were all for nothing. No drama, no humiliation, no Robbie McEwen, no nothing but self-induced damage?

"We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us." ??

Glad it all worked out well for you. I did the "re-clip" thing in my driveway last month, fell over sideways and hit my own car. Only ego was damaged.

Welcome to the club!! It will not be your last either.

Very good ride report. Look for your student to turn things around in a 6 mos or so......

Welcome to the club!! It will not be your last either.

Very good ride report. Look for your student to turn things around in a 6 mos or so......

That was one club that I never wanted to join! I had ridden with toe clips until this past December and had never fallen. Now at 52 years old I have finally done it. Oh, the shame!

I think it will be sooner than 6 months before my student turns the tables. I'm guessing 6 weeks. I think that endurance was his problem today as he hadn't ridden a ride anywhere near this length in over 3 years. He was doing fine for the first 20 miles or so. With a few longish rides it will all come back to him.

That was one club that I never wanted to join! I had ridden with toe clips until this past December and had never fallen. Now at 52 years old I have finally done it. Oh, the shame!

I think it will be sooner than 6 months before my student turns the tables. I'm guessing 6 weeks. I think that endurance was his problem today as he hadn't ridden a ride anywhere near this length in over 3 years. He was doing fine for the first 20 miles or so. With a few longish rides it will all come back to him.

Don't care how old you are- You can always fall off but ashamed to hear you are a shaver-- This is a TDF Truth- From Sean Yates- The reason the hairs get shaved is so that they have an easier time under the masseur. May still be Factoid but that was what he said .

Letting his tyres down- Tightening the brakes- Adjusting his saddle just a bit or you may even know some other good tricks- will keep the graduate down to a sensible pace when he gets fitter.

I recall my graduate adviser. I smacked my lips over his wife's horrid guacamole, agreed with everything he said, and tried to anticipate unique, potent ways to kiss his....ego. If your student doesn't sense the proprieties and protocols that, by tradition and common sense, prevail here.........then flunk his ignorant butt. ;) :eek: ;)

Actually, he sounds like a nice guy and, Mollusk, you probably have the dignity to deal with his inevitable improvements with grace and stoicism. (Doubt I would!)

I did the "re-clip" thing in my driveway last month, fell over sideways and hit my own car. Only ego was damaged.
So you're saying that your car and your ego collided, and the car won out? :eek:

Do you expect us to believe that??? :D

He was suffering a lot on the ride back into town and we took the slightly longer “scenic route” around the east side of Paynes Prairie and back into Gainesville with the last six miles of the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail.

The ride was about 50 miles with some wind and rain and hills, but I think that a good time was had by all. At least I hope so.

I can assure you, that at least in the cycling arena, your student already has a tremendous amount of respect for his bicycling advisor. Starting out on a 50 miler from a 52 year old would impress anyone.

I can assure you, that at least in the cycling arena, your student already has a tremendous amount of respect for his bicycling advisor. Starting out on a 50 miler from a 52 year old would impress anyone.

I forgot to mention that there were no stops.

We have already planned to have a regular Tuesday late afternoon/evening ride. I think we'll ride a flatter courses until he gets his legs back. He's young and has been in great shape before so it should happen quickly.

I recall my graduate adviser. I smacked my lips over his wife's horrid guacamole, agreed with everything he said, and tried to anticipate unique, potent ways to kiss his....ego. If your student doesn't sense the proprieties and protocols that, by tradition and common sense, prevail here.........then flunk his ignorant butt. ;) :eek: ;)

Actually, he sounds like a nice guy and, Mollusk, you probably have the dignity to deal with his inevitable improvements with grace and stoicism. (Doubt I would!)

I'm sorry to hear about how you had to deal with your advisor. My advisor pushed me HARD when I was a student, but he told me later that he did this only because he knew I was tough enough to take it. In the end I earned his respect and we have been very good friends ever since.

I know it is only a matter of time before I will be suffering on my student's wheel. The nice thing is that I have been searching for a focus for my training and now I have it: How long can I hang with him before I finally get toasted?

[QUOTE=mollusk He was suffering a lot... I think that a good time was had by all. [/QUOTE]

I've ridden a bicycle an awful lot in my life. But when I read those two sentences in the same post, I realize there are vast cycling universes about which I know absolutely nothing.

Great ride report, Mollusk. Sounds like the kid has a chance of writing a successful thesis after all. :)

I've ridden a bicycle an awful lot in my life. But when I read those two sentences in the same post, I realize there are vast cycling universes about which I know absolutely nothing.

RE: "Suffering" and "having a good time".............think of giving birth. Painful at the moment, but the pain is often disregarded later and the joy alone recalled. I also think there is a dues paying thing going on......suffer a bit, and join the club. Also, think of grinding up a long hill....and the pure pleasure of getting to the top-- because the pain stops.

We have a few local, hateful climbs. Everybody does. The ones you worry about early in the season-- ands sometimes late in the season. But, on the way up, people somehow joke about needing a third lung even as they're gasping. Dunno-- suffering/happiness. Weird, but sometimes true. I know I hate toothaches, stubbed toes, and being romantically dumped---those pains I can do without.

RE: "Suffering" and "having a good time".............think of giving birth. Painful at the moment, but the pain is often disregarded later and the joy alone recalled. I also think there is a dues paying thing going on......suffer a bit, and join the club. Also, think of grinding up a long hill....and the pure pleasure of getting to the top-- because the pain stops.

We have a few local, hateful climbs. Everybody does. The ones you worry about early in the season-- ands sometimes late in the season. But, on the way up, people somehow joke about needing a third lung even as they're gasping. Dunno-- suffering/happiness. Weird, but sometimes true. I know I hate toothaches, stubbed toes, and being romantically dumped---those pains I can do without.

Thanks for the insights. I appreciate them. I actually enjoy the challenge of mountain passes. But the idea that I could put some hurt into a fellow cyclist would make me feel crummy. I guess I just don't have the competitive spirit. But each to his own.

Thanks for the insights. I appreciate them. I actually enjoy the challenge of mountain passes. But the idea that I could put some hurt into a fellow cyclist would make me feel crummy. I guess I just don't have the competitive spirit. But each to his own.

My misunderstanding, Blackberry. Personally, I'm not so competitive that surging ahead of someone makes me feel good. Generally, I, like most others I ride with, tend to find a pace that is a compromise with everyone. And I appreciate it when others do the same. 10 years ago I had a more robust view of things. If people get ahead of others, generally somebody slows down until all merge again. Biking is, can be, amazingly connected and social even though we're all on our own little machines.

The "pain of terrain" [forgive that one] or personal effort is what I was getting at above.

Good training rides always involve some suffering. You have to go beyond your comfort zone in order to get stronger. Riding for pleasure is something very different.