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02-27-08, 10:54 PM
I'm turning 50 this August and already stated that I intend to ride my first century. I've been using my commute time to do sprints and riding it hard.
Today I had the day off and I really didn't want to ride. Knee bugging me, hips sore, it was chilly out, just about any excuse I could think of. Instead I started messing around with Bikely and plotting routes. Well I found a pretty good route (all bike route just about) to Terry Hershey Park which has a M.U.P. which goes from Beltway 8 to Highway 6 which is an excellent start for my Century ride (it's going to be rondo style with no sag).
Anyway I look at this route and I see it's only a little over 6 miles to the park at Beltway 8 and decided maybe a slow, easy ride over would make my legs feel better. Get the circulation going. It did! I felt better by the time I got to the park and decided to take a spin up the M.U.P. a little bit before heading back. I ride the little loop around to go under the overpass and I see a fence across the path. It's closed by construction for the Beltway. I head up and see a guy in a blue jersey riding an mtb up the feeder and I follow him thinking he knows the way around the construction. I loose him when he blows through an intersection and I stop.
I can't find the way in and end up going down to Memorial and head west until I see a likely street and turn south towards the general direction of the M.U.P. (I know these suburbanites have trails from their dead end street into the park or there wouldn't be so many dog walking pedestrians). Finally find a likely dead end street and ask a kid on a skate board and get directions. Just one street over. What the kid doesn't say is this is a mtb track with steep climbs with tree roots sticking out, but I make it on my 7 speed urban street bike with slicks on it and I see the M.U.P. just 50' across the field. I'm felling good. I've conquered my problems and made my goal and even surpassed my original goal.
So I'm off down the path and traffic both foot and bike is light. I'm trying to hold myself back a little. Not push too hard. This has become a Long Slow Ride. I hit the first steep drop in the path and I'm having fun now. then I hit the first steep rise and it isn't so much fun any more. As I start to stall out 3 feet from the top of the rise I begin to remember why I really didn't want to ride today.
I do manage to get to Highway 6 though and took the path along Barker Dam towards Briar Forest because I'm a bit tired now and don't want to ride the M.U.P. back. Briar Forest is a long bike route. While on Briar Forest I notice 3 things. The first is the woman that tries to make a left turn at an intersection in her SUV right into the path of a taxi. I'm sitting at the intersection and watch the whole think. I feel like sticking around for the cops all the while reminding the woman that it was one of the stupidest stunts I've seen in a while and ask her what was she thinking, and "Is potentially killing someone worth the couple of minutes it would have taken to wait for the light to change?" type of questions. Instead I go on because this is getting to be an effort now and it's getting late. Second thing is there is new blacktop on Briar Forest after Dairy Ashford and they haven't finished yet. the inside lane is 2 - 3 inches higher the the outside lane (where I'm riding). Lots of folks are driving up that tiny step to go around me. Third thing is just before Kirkwood the pavement has been roughly grooved to prep for blacktopping. That's a bit too rough for me and people are starting to drive really crazy. I start thinking that back street are in order.
I make it home about 3 hours after the start of my adventure, my 12 mile ride becomes a 26 mile ride. I eat and soak in the tub a bit take some Excedrine and put some Icy Hot on the knees and think; I'm glad I rode my bike today.
Today I had the day off and I really didn't want to ride. Knee bugging me, hips sore, it was chilly out, just about any excuse I could think of. Instead I started messing around with Bikely and plotting routes. Well I found a pretty good route (all bike route just about) to Terry Hershey Park which has a M.U.P. which goes from Beltway 8 to Highway 6 which is an excellent start for my Century ride (it's going to be rondo style with no sag).
Anyway I look at this route and I see it's only a little over 6 miles to the park at Beltway 8 and decided maybe a slow, easy ride over would make my legs feel better. Get the circulation going. It did! I felt better by the time I got to the park and decided to take a spin up the M.U.P. a little bit before heading back. I ride the little loop around to go under the overpass and I see a fence across the path. It's closed by construction for the Beltway. I head up and see a guy in a blue jersey riding an mtb up the feeder and I follow him thinking he knows the way around the construction. I loose him when he blows through an intersection and I stop.
I can't find the way in and end up going down to Memorial and head west until I see a likely street and turn south towards the general direction of the M.U.P. (I know these suburbanites have trails from their dead end street into the park or there wouldn't be so many dog walking pedestrians). Finally find a likely dead end street and ask a kid on a skate board and get directions. Just one street over. What the kid doesn't say is this is a mtb track with steep climbs with tree roots sticking out, but I make it on my 7 speed urban street bike with slicks on it and I see the M.U.P. just 50' across the field. I'm felling good. I've conquered my problems and made my goal and even surpassed my original goal.
So I'm off down the path and traffic both foot and bike is light. I'm trying to hold myself back a little. Not push too hard. This has become a Long Slow Ride. I hit the first steep drop in the path and I'm having fun now. then I hit the first steep rise and it isn't so much fun any more. As I start to stall out 3 feet from the top of the rise I begin to remember why I really didn't want to ride today.
I do manage to get to Highway 6 though and took the path along Barker Dam towards Briar Forest because I'm a bit tired now and don't want to ride the M.U.P. back. Briar Forest is a long bike route. While on Briar Forest I notice 3 things. The first is the woman that tries to make a left turn at an intersection in her SUV right into the path of a taxi. I'm sitting at the intersection and watch the whole think. I feel like sticking around for the cops all the while reminding the woman that it was one of the stupidest stunts I've seen in a while and ask her what was she thinking, and "Is potentially killing someone worth the couple of minutes it would have taken to wait for the light to change?" type of questions. Instead I go on because this is getting to be an effort now and it's getting late. Second thing is there is new blacktop on Briar Forest after Dairy Ashford and they haven't finished yet. the inside lane is 2 - 3 inches higher the the outside lane (where I'm riding). Lots of folks are driving up that tiny step to go around me. Third thing is just before Kirkwood the pavement has been roughly grooved to prep for blacktopping. That's a bit too rough for me and people are starting to drive really crazy. I start thinking that back street are in order.
I make it home about 3 hours after the start of my adventure, my 12 mile ride becomes a 26 mile ride. I eat and soak in the tub a bit take some Excedrine and put some Icy Hot on the knees and think; I'm glad I rode my bike today.