Road Cycling - Rural Road Trip

Well, for todays little adventure, I decided to take a little tour around half the county. (I couldn't do the whole county due to road construction.) It was a beautiful day, except for a 10 to 15 mph wind out of the southeast. First I went 7 miles east on my normal route that I take to work, then I turned south to travel new roads for me on the bike. There are lots of hills, and that pesky wind, but it actually went very well. There were a couple of hills that had me wishing for a third chainring! After 15 miles, I turned west, and the wind was at my back! I worked a few more hills, then had relatively flat terrain. I even had a chance to ride in a rural paceline! For about 2 miles, I "pulled" a big John Deere tractor! I finally thought that there might be a better way to do this! I moved as far right as I could, and let the tractor pass me. He was towing a small land scraper, and I sped back up and got right behind it. By moving around a little, I found that I could stay right off the right rear tire of the implement, and almost coast along at 21 mph! This was a blast! I stayed in the paceline for about 5 miles, when the tractor finally pulled off the road. A couple more miles, and I turned north. More hills, but this time with a tailwind! The only other event on this ride was a close encounter with a deer and her fawn. I was impressed with this doe, as she walked to the edge of the road, and she stopped to see if she could cross. She made is half way across the road, followed by her fawn, when she stopped to see if she was still safe. By this time, she saw me approaching, and quickly reversed directions and ran safely off the road, followed by her offspring. I love seeing the wildlife on my rides!

When I got home, I had logged another 55 miles on my Paramount. It was really an enjoyable way to spend a little time. Maybe when the construction is finished, I can make it all the way around the county!

nebill

What r the roads like that u ride on up there in Nebraska?
anything other than the state highways here are rock and oil. They are always working on em during the summer. they'll grade em and let em sit for a month before they add the oil with the gravel. when they grade em it sometimes leaves a washboard effect on the road. then if it doesnt get packed smooth by cars or rain when they eventually come back to oil and rock it , it stays like a washboard. When they do rock it then there is loose gravel everywhere till the cars pack that down or push it to the side of the road.

In my county, you have three choices: State 2-lane paved highways or gravel or dirt. A road bike is not happy negotiating the latter surfaces, so I stick to the highways! The main east-west highway has nice, broad paved shoulders, but the rest of the paved roads do not. Fortunatly, traffic around here off the main highway is pretty light, so that doesn't present too much of a problem.

I have seen oiled roads as you describe, but they sure don't do any of that around here! Some of the roads are lucky to get any gravel on them, however, they do take pretty good care of the ones we have. Of course, if a gravel road were to get packed hard enough to ride a bike on, and the loose gravel was moved off to the side, then it would time for the maintainer to come along and pile the gravel up in the middle of the road!!

Man, you wanna come out here. We've got some beautiful back roads in the hills and rainforest. Some paved and some not. Abundant choice! :D

Chris

Sounds cool, Chris! So far, all my riding has been on the road...but Patty at my LBS has threatened to get me on a mountain bike this fall for a little fun off the pavement! Now I'll probably have to put some fat tires on my old Sagres! If you ever get tired of riding around the rainforest, come on out to the great American Desert, and I'll show you around!