Southeast - Did You Ride Today?

droobieinop, sorry to hear about the pet cat. Do you have any recourse against the owners of the dogs?

Well I wrote a long reply to your question and it didn't take.

However, the short story is, not much. If we could positively identify the dogs to find the owner.
At this point my biggest agrevation is with animal control's inability to respond to an obvious animal cruelty case. Two days later U talked to the woman in charge who snai mailed me animal complant forms to fill out and mail back. This is the second time I've done so, possibly on one or both of the suspected dogs. I was also told that they would be out monday am and told tuesdan am that they would be coming out to make sure the kids at the bus stop will be safe. No signs of dogs or animal control.

Thanks for asking.

Plan to get back on the bike in the morning.

Linda, yikes! Here's to hoping for a swift recovery for him.

It's another installment of operation burn up vacation time. Today, I headed back to Stone Mountain, but this time I went all the way into the park, and then did the big loop inside. So my ride ended up being 42.8 miles. Holy crap! After I came out of the park I took a good 20 minute rest break, rehydrated, and ate the Luna bar I remembered to bring this time. My shoulders were sore a lot of the ride home. My knees were a little cranky. That loop in the park is no joke. Some pretty good hills. Got home and ate leftover Mexican quinoa, took an ibuprofen, then a 2 hour nap. :-)

The colors are a little better now. It's still not going to be a dazzling season, sadly.

More on the ground than on the tree.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1117/5124600066_cb77aa92af.jpg

Another pretty tree.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/5124600860_19df813184.jpg

It's really just a big rock.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/5124601184_051e56afee.jpg

My favorite.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1250/5124601936_6791123b3b.jpg

Lake, big rock.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1087/5123995559_39e4c7f1d4.jpg

Luna bar break.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/5123995951_6a0b427e1a.jpg

abracapocus, great pixs as always, good distance as well

10/30/2010
21.8 miles today
180 ride days LY vs. 184 ride days TY
1833 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 75.5% of my goal. 82.7% of the year has passed, this is not looking good
94 miles ahead of last year at this date
25.7 miles average ride this month
30.85 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 10.5 on a scale of 1-10

Fantastic weather today temp in the low 80s and low humidity. Would have road longer but had to take care of some banking business. Perhaps I will get out later this evening.

Yep.... Got out for a short ride on the mountain bike. Started out with a ride to the post office because I was too dirty to take the van (working outside all day). Rode about 11 miles... 4 miles back into a wicked headwind. Felt worse than it was im sure because I was on the heavy mountain bike as apposed to my road bike.... Anyway a short ride is better than no ride :)

... So my ride ended up being 42.8 miles. Holy crap! After I came out of the park I took a good 20 minute rest break, rehydrated, and ate the Luna bar I remembered to bring this time. My shoulders were sore a lot of the ride home. My knees were a little cranky. That loop in the park is no joke. Some pretty good hills.
Great set of pics. I used to love just going out for a ride and rambling on, beig amazed later at ho far I'd gone. Good work.
I'd think that your soreness is from all that up and down. Have you been properly fit to your bike? How was your pacing on the hills? Did you sit while spining a low gear?


Yep.... into a wicked headwind. .... Anyway a short ride is better than no ride :)

Much the same here, felt better than I thought but needed to save some energy for work. All the same 15 mph avg felt SSSOOooooooooo SSLLOooww.

Distance: 22.22 mi
Time: 01:28:15 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 15.1 mph
Avg HR: 107 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 70 rpm
Avg Power: 108
Elevation Gain: 292 ft
Calories: 420 C
Max Speed: 28.6 mph
Max HR: 149 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 192 rpm
Avg Temp: 65.8

Nice pics abracapocus I see most of those places each time I ride out to SM. Somehow the sights never looked that nice. Maybe its the lighting or lack of. Not sure I recognize this spot. Where is this? I recognize the green rail fence. Its around the park.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1250/5124601936_6791123b3b.jpg


Did 3 laps around the lake in Avondale and headed out to Stn Mtn today. Only did 30 miles. I'll have to remember to take my camera next time. Some of the trees in Avondale have nice color in spite of the drought.

Forgot to say COOOL pictures by everybody... I took my camera today but didn't really see anything worth taking a picture of. Went to the G.ville Hawthorne trail rode the whole trail starting in Hawthorne. LOTS of people out enjoying the trail today. I know little kids on bike can be kind of scary on the trail, but I still love seeing them riding... I met one family on the hills near the G.vill end, a real little guy on a bike (no training wheels) he could not make it up the hill so the dad was riding along side kind of pulling him up the hill. I yelled good luck.... On the way back met them almost in the same place again..... again with the dad pulling the lil guy up the hill....

Ended up riding 30.64 miles... at a good pace for me.... A bit faster on the back trip to the car.... Slight tail wind on the way back i guess :D

droobieinop, When I went to look at my road bike, I took an old friend that worked in & ran bike shops for many years. He checked it out for me and seemed to think the fit was good except that it might be close to being too small. None of the aches were lasting. All were gone the next day. It's probably partly fit and partly my body complaining that it's not happily sitting on the couch doing nothing. :-) Usually I sit & spin up hills. Occasionally I'll start off one standing, especially from a light. Usually I try and keep as little pressure on my knees as possible. Got caught off guard a few times on these hills since I hadn't ridden this route before.

RonH, Looking at some other pics I took, it looks like that one was between the golf club and the family camp ground on the big loop, Stonewall Jackson I guess it's called.

Sounds like you're doing fine then.

I put Mr. Tuffys on my commuter bike tires Friday, and wound up doing 30 miles on them Saturday morning. The group I rode with was pretty diverse, from a retired guy with knee replacement, to a cancer patient, to a guy fresh out of the Coast Guard... needless to say, I wasn't flying (I was the only one not on a road bike) but I did several long pulls in front of the slower guys, as it was pretty windy. It was a nice day, and was great for developing friendships.

I seriously need a road bike...

Saturday 10/30/2010, no ride, no excuse.

Sunday 10/31/2010 Inter Coastal Waterway Century

SolSpoke Tina and I got up at 5:00 am. After a quick breakfast we loaded the bikes on to her car and did the 1 hour and 30 minute drive to Cocoa Beach for The Space Coast Freewheelers 22nd annual Inter Costal Waterway Century. We arrived their about 7 and did a couple of trips around the area to find a parking space. We managed to get a spot right in front of the Civic Center where the registration and breakfast was taking place and was also the start finish line for the ride. We picked up our packets and had a second breakfast then headed out to unload the bikes and wait for the start. Shortly before the gun went off for the start Tina looked back and saw about 500 cyclists that were chomping at the bit to get started. I think this was a bit of a surprise for her as she decided to move over to the side of the road and let the race horses go first. It was a mass start and very congested for about 3 to 4 blocks before things started to sort themselves out. We fell in towards the end of the mass and it still took some time to get up to speed. We road north along the Inter Coastal Waterway for about 14 miles before turning east across the causeway. We got caught with the draw bridge up allowing a sail boat to pass which was a welcome rest for me as we were averaging speeds that I haven’t done in 30 years. We could see the NASA VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) off in the distance from the bridge. I had hopes of getting close enough to the launch pad where Discovery SST 133 is ready to launch on Wednesday but the 64 mile route didn’t go that far out.

The first SAG stop was at the Astronauts and Police Officers Hall Of Fame at about the 17.5 mile mark. Our plan was to spend as little time at the SAGs as possible in order to keep up with the group. I tried to get some photos of the space shuttle and some of the rockets that were on static display but the camera malfunctioned for some reason. I did run into the lobby of the Police hall of Fame and take a few quick photos of some displays in the lobby. We were back on the bikes pretty quick and there were still riders arriving at the SAG. I informed my daughter that if she expected me to finish the ride I needed to slow the pace a little bit. Well we did slow down a little (about 1 mile per hr.). Now I don’t normally ride this fast going downhill.

The second SAG was about a mile south of the 520 bridge at mile marker 39.5. At about mile 35 I started to get a cluster headache which I am prone to get quite frequently. Cluster headaches are like migraine headaches for men. Often times I can take 2-3 Goody’s Powders and things clear up in a few minutes. Some time I can take 6 Goody’s and nothing helps, this was one of those times. We sat there at the SAG stop for about 20 minutes and the pain was so intense that I decided to pull the plug on the ride. It was about a 2 mile ride across the 520 bridge and back to where the car was parked. I really felt bad that I could not finish the ride and especially since Tina was on her way to set a great average speed, but I was at a point where it was not enjoyable for me..

This is a great ride and I would recommend it to everyone. It was well marked and laid out very well to minimize traffic. At each SAG stop the volunteers were dressed in Halloween costumes and would ring cowbells and blow horns and cheer the arrival of each group of riders. This is a very flat ride and the only climbs are the bridge approaches. The wind was not a factor like I had thought it would be. We will do this ride again next year but first I will need to work on building up my speed before that happens. There were a lot of century riders that were back between the 4 and 5 hour mark, so they had to be averaging 20 to 25 mph. Even as fast as I/we were traveling I was still pretty slow.

Photo 1 & 2 Slospoke Tina looking dazed and bewildered at the start line
Photo 3 Draw bridge in the up position. The VAB is in the distance but not visible in photo
Phot 4, 5, and 8 my photos from inside the Police Haal Of Fame
Photo 6 & 7 From the NASA web site to give you some flavor. The picturess I took were messed up

11/02/2010

Tina and I road to my voting location so I could cast my ballot, then we stopped by the LBS and I got anothe spoke replaced. #3 for me... New wheel is on order...

We managed to get in 24 miles before the rain caught us.

Also rode to the polls today. Felt compelled to document the commute with some new helmet decor. http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kxxy0kAj7Ls/TNCEaCbLGFI/AAAAAAAAAS0/UURenxcfMik/s576/voter2.JPG
Aaaaand I hurriedly snapped this as well. In hindsight, probably should have spun the bike around. Oh well
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kxxy0kAj7Ls/TNCEZjOt3aI/AAAAAAAAASU/XRMTaJ5DEdo/s640/voter.JPG

Distance: 22.53 mi
Time: 01:40:16 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 13.5 mph
Avg HR: 115 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 65
Avg Power: 98
Elevation Gain: 456 ft
Calories: 645 C
Max Speed: 27.2 mph
Max HR: 169 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: --


Second day on the repurposed hybrid single speed cyclocross bike (pictures to come later).
Rode to vote today. Then again, I ride most places, everyday. But anyway.
Numbers are low becuase the boss and I went riding through all the little off road spots we could find. It's surprising what you can find when you look hard enough. Tomorrow is going to be a long one, early morning long ride, then training CX races after work.

The current weds am long ride. In to work, then down to Green Cove for a coffee stop and back again. I don't buy the avg cadence though, Garmin Connect shows 40 while Training Center has 88.

Oh, then we did a 40 minute CX training race this evening. We had around 20 or more racers all at once. The boss did 12 laps and won. I did 10 laps and finished like 10th. Yes, I was laped twice by the lead 2 or so riders and I even got chicked by a champion level endurance mtb racer.

Distance: 37.50 mi
Time: 02:15:07 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 16.6 mph
Avg HR: 119 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 40 rpm
Avg Power: 134
Elevation Gain: 358 ft
Calories: 1,181 C
Max Speed: 27.6 mph
Max HR: 164 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 129 rpm

Is there anybody out there?

Distance: 26.77 mi
Time: 01:37:23 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 16.5 mph
Avg HR: --
Avg Bike Cadence: 79 rpm
Avg Power: --
Elevation Gain: 377 ft
Calories: 1,632 C
Max Speed: 30.6 mph
Max HR: --
Max Bike Cadence: 120 rpm

Is there anybody out there?


I'm here....... but a bum..... last ride was Sunday....... I really really honestly was going to ride yesterday, but that bit of rain when it was falling was really cold...... The other days.... I was/am a bum <sigh>

Distance: 26.83 mi
Time: 01:34:53 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 17.0 mph
Avg HR: 126 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 84 rpm
Avg Power: 149
Elevation Gain: 268 ft
Calories: 909 C
Max Speed: 29.9 mph
Max HR: 170 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 122 rpm
Avg Temp: 52.2

Because of several thing, I hadn't ridden since last Saturday.. but today I rode to work and back, was 16.5 miles total with loaded bags and a killer headwind.

I'm debating on whether I want to get up early to ride tomorrow... I think I might, but it won't be before dawn.

I'm glad to see it wasn't just me that just couldn't get riding this past week. Finally got out yesterday. It's my telework day, but I rode over somewhere else two work. About 10 miles round trip. A garbage truck pulled a bonehead maneuver on the way over. Pulled over into the other lane to pass me. So he saw me. Then saw some cans and fully cut me off to get next to them. The passenger was a little surprised to see me right below the door. My stink eye probably froze a portion of his brain.

The ride home was in the dark, after it had been raining and sleeting, and it was about 40 degrees. Is it weird that I loved it? Now I have this mighty need to roll over empty city streets in the wee hours of the night all bundled up against the cold. If only the streets around here were in better condition. I'm also loving my new headlight, a cygolite expilion 250. It's awesome for lighting up those space between the street lights.

Guess tomorrow I'm going to ride 47 miles. Wee!

No ride this morning - too chilly. Spent the morning up a ladder cleaning muddy gunk out of the gutters. Then it was time to watch the Gators take on (and, as it turned out, take apart) Vanderbilt with the usual crowd from church. Once the game ended it was time to layer up and head out. Got in 32.5 at 16.2 with a constantly-decreasing temperature and lots of wind. I can't feel my feet at present. :) Need to get some booties and a wind shell before I head to Bartow next Saturday or I'll flippin' freeze to death. :)

It was 30F this morning so I waited until 11:15 to go riding. The temp was a balmy 43F. :) Did my usual ride but a little slower. My average speed was ~0.6 mph less than usual. I guess the cold temps affect my riding. :o It sure affect my hands (cold). Ended up doing 31 miles.

11/07/2010
24.2 miles today
185 ride days LY vs. 187 ride days TY
1743 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 77% of my goal. 85.2% of the year has passed, this is not looking good
22 miles ahead of last year at this date
24.1 miles average ride this month
30.80 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 7.0 on a scale of 1-10

It was cold and windy, hope tomorrow is warmer...

great ride today on the Sun Coast trail 80.13 miles 4:22:40 rolling time 18.3 mph rolling avg. 34.5 mph max 5685 calories burned 146 bpm avg. HR 188 bpm max 1600 ft ascent

This morning it was 31 F when I left the house for the OTP/ITP Ramble (http://www.atlantabike.org/node/1698). My feet were a little cold, but otherwise I dressed just right. Shorts under thick tights, knee high sock liners and socks, long sleeve base layer, short sleeve jersey, jacket, scarf, polar fleece hat and winter gloves.

I lucked out and found myself on the starting line next to a pair of guys together and another guy all doing the 47. They'd also all done lots of rides like this before so they knew what they were doing, unlike me. Bonus: one had a garmin with the route on it just in case we missed markers. So we all stuck together the entire ride. The 2nd half of the ride I was getting really slow on the hills, and then would catch up on the flats and down hills and thanks to some lights. The cars were really respectful and gave us lots of room except one, a cop. Really?

Last night I installed a little bike computer so I can share how slow I am. ;-) I was sad the average turned out so low when I saw those 21 mph speeds on the flats. I also saw the 8-9 mph on the hills so it makes sense.

miles: 47.66
ave mph: 12.6
max mph: 32.1

Sorry, only a couple of pics. Too busy keeping up with those guys. Also, not very picturesque. You don't really need to see pictures of pawn shops on Jonesboro Road, do you? There were some pretty trail shots I missed though.

A little Fall color at the main rest stop at Welcome All Park.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1182/5156826870_c32cb319f7.jpg

Waiting for the train to pass with 2 of the 3 dudes. My view for most of the ride: their backsides.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/5156216789_9108fa8289.jpg

good stuff and if the 12.6 is an avg including stops that's not bad at all

Avanti73, I got the Cateye Strada Cadence so I think it pauses at stops. The 14 miles of city streets slowed us down a bit. The pine straw covered trail was also slow going. Most of my rides are going to involve city streets, but I do have some loops that don't involve all those lights we hit downtown. I'll see what the stats look like on one of those.

abracapocus, Your average speed is just fine the important thing is that you did it and had a good time. The average speed for my daughter and I at the Space Coast ride last weekend was only 16mph and that was all flat land riding. Your next step will be a metric century, right?

11/08/2010
23.8 miles today
185 ride days LY vs. 188 ride days TY
1720 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 77% of my goal. 85.5% of the year has passed, this is not looking good
46 miles ahead of last year at this date
24.1 miles average ride this month
30.80 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 8.0 on a scale of 1-10

It was a little cold but not bad and not as windy as yesterday, tomorrow will be warmer...

Week of Nov 1-7
Distance: 165.76 mi
Time: 10:18:29 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 16.1 mph
Avg HR: 118 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 72 rpm
Avg Power: 173 W
Elevation Gain: 2,237 ft
Calories: 5,476 C
Max Speed: 30.6 mph
Max HR: 170 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 129 rpm

2010.11.08: AB am Ride
Distance: 19.61 mi
Time: 01:12:01 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 16.3 mph
Avg HR: 115 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 84 rpm
Avg Power: 133
Elevation Gain: 217 ft
Calories: 583 C
Max Speed: 26.7 mph
Max HR: 180 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 220 rpm
Avg Temp: 55.1 F

abracapocus, congrats on the ride. :thumb:

I too rode Sunday, but I waited until the temp was a little warmer (43F ;)). Did 31 "cool", slow miles.

Today was much better. It was warm enough to leave the arm and knee warmers at home. Did 37 miles. Got slowed on my way home by funeral traffic in Tucker and 2 school buses in Clarkston.

2010.11.09: AB am Ride
Distance: 19.03 mi
Time: 01:21:10 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 14.1 mph
Avg HR: 120 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 79 rpm
Avg Power: 100 w
Elevation Gain: 256 ft
Calories: 559 C
Max Speed: 26.3 mph
Max HR: 173 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 132 rpm
Avg Temp: 60.2 °F

No shame in being slow... getting there is the point! I consider anything over 10MPH fine! ;)

My new co-worker had to go to Davenport, IA for training this week, so I'm back to 10-hour days until he gets back. I will probably ride tomorrow and Friday, but starting next week, I will be able to ride every day! Yippee!!

Really didn't want to but I did. Up at 4am for work, and had to fix dinner for the wife and kids before their 4H meeting, but I managed to stuff in 10 miles before dinner, av 16.8, max 32 (ok, at the bottom of the hill on 23rd but still I managed it! :) ) in. It gets really chilly really quickly when the sun starts going down, let me tell you! :) Just trying to stay loose and used to riding for Saturday.

Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to max out at 50 miles for a while before I tackle a metric century. Got the standard almost 19 miles of commute in yesterday and will again today. The cooler mornings seem to have scared a few folks away, but plenty were out in the afternoon when it was in the low 70s. Riding in again today then have two days off. Hopefully I'll get in at least one decent ride.

11/10/2010
23.4 miles today
187 ride days LY vs. 189 ride days TY
1696 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 77.4% of my goal. 86.03% of the year has passed, this is not looking good
20 miles ahead of last year at this date
24.1 miles average ride this month
30.80 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 8.0 on a scale of 1-10

Two broken spokes today. Need to change sig from SloSpokeJim to BrokenSpokeJim

HOLY crap.... I cant believe all the spokes you have broken SloSpoke... On a similar note I think I'm going to have to take my road bike to the shop to get the wheels trued up. The same spoke keeps coming loose... and I think i need it replaced and then have the wheel trued.

Yep.... I did ride today for the first time in 9 days (not counting the ride to friends house a couple of blocks away)..... I was kind of miserable for about the first 7 miles out... Felt awkward on the bike, NOT comfortable... & SLOW(er than normal)... All that from not riding for only 9 days... A bit before I turned around to head back I started feeling better, not as winded, more comfortable. Perfect weather though, wow it was nice.... I mean if I had to feel bad on the bike I picked a great day for it ... LOL Ended up riding 20.17 miles.

Yesterday was the official grand opening of the newly paved portion of the Palatka Lake Butler trail. Of course if they would have PROMOTED it a bit I would have been there but noooooo ... Only get to see it in the paper after it has already happened.. grrrrrrr. Said in the paper that they have the funding lined up to do another 4 miles in 2011... It will be 4 more miles east from Grandin towards Palatka. That will be 14 miles of the PLB trail & another 6 miles of trail up towards Golds Head state park.

Got to the end of the trail and these 2 guys in ties.... One with a camera. Parked right smack in the middle of the trail. Kind of dangerous because the trail ends right at the road there. I mean they could have pulled to one side or the other.. but NOOOO .... Me and 2 other riders had to go around them. They never glanced at any of us, just sat there like the owned the place, like it was normal and OK to just park right smack in the middle of the trail.....

Forgot batteries for the real camera, took this one with my phone...

11/11/2010
24 miles today wow!!!!
188 ride days LY vs. 190 ride days TY
1672 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 77.7% of my goal. 86.3% of the year has passed, this is not looking good 20 miles ahead of last year at this date
23.8 miles average ride this month
30.70 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 8.0 on a scale of 1-10 can't get the Mo Jo going...

No broken spokes today (but the day isn't over). Need to change sig from SloSpokeJim to BrokenSpokeJim

Two days in a row for me now.... woooo hooooo .... :D Got dropped off in town after shopping. Instead of just riding home mostly with the wind for 12 miles I did a bit more.... Including about 7 miles in to a pretty strong headwind. And then the last 10 with a tail/cross wind to home. Felt much better on the bike today.... Ended up riding 23.27 miles with a 1/2 mile walk home on the sandy road. It was 71deg when I passed the hardware at about 5pm.

yep i rode this morning and practised dressage, went good except my horse won't do a piaffe for more then 4 beats but he's getting there and done everything eles perfect!

Sorry.... Didn't realize it was a troll until after i made this post......

11/12/2010
23.7 miles today wow!!!!
189 ride days LY vs. 191 ride days TY
1648 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 78% of my goal. 86.6% of the year has passed, this is not looking good 25 miles ahead of last year at this date
23.9 miles average ride this month
30.6 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 8.0 on a scale of 1-10 can't get the Mo Jo going...

Perfect riding weather today. I need to step it up several notches.

11/13 - Ride of Your Life, Bartow, FL. Did the 62 mile option, but add in a bit for missing a turn (Thanks to the guy who chased us down and got us back on course!) it turned out to be 65, at an average of 14.8. Rode most of the first half of the ride solo, trying to keep a steady pace so I'd have enough energy left for the hills in the orange groves at the halfway mark. Strategy worked! Joined up after the second rest stop with the same bunch of guys I rode with last year, and we proceded to knock out the rest of the ride in fine form. I felt much better burning up that long stretch of hills than I did a couple months ago with my daughter. :) Pics sometime tomorrow. I'm too tired to post 'em now. *thud*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

11/14/2010
32.1 miles today whoooooooooooppppppeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
191 ride days LY vs. 192 ride days TY
1616 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 78.4% of my goal. 87.1% of the year has passed, this is not looking good , 18 miles behind of last year at this date
25.0 miles average ride this month
30.6 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 10.0 on a scale of 1-10 got the Mo Jo going today...

Perfect riding weather today. cool temps clear skys perfect day I stll need to step it up several notches.

Week of Nov 8-14
Distance: 176.87 mi
Time: 10:39:37 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 16.6 mph
Avg HR: 130 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 76 rpm
Elevation Gain: 2,155 ft
Calories: 6,349 C
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Max HR: 180 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 220 rpm (?)

11/13 - Ride of Your Life, Bartow, FL..... Pics sometime tomorrow. I'm too tired to post 'em now. *thud*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01923.640.jpg
Starting out... hand was a little shaky... there were only about a dozen at the start for the 62 mile option, but more showed up later who got to the start after 8am. It was about 55 with wind out of the N to NE.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01932.640.jpg
Typical view of the scenery on the first half of the ride - lots of mining and heavy industry going on around here. Wish I'd gotten a decent shot of that ENORMOUS dragline ore bucket a few miles further in.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01935.640.jpg
The sun at my back and the wind mostly behind as well made the westbound and southbound stretches fairly nice. Turning east or north was somewhat akin to running into a brick wall.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01936.640.jpg
Obligatory on-the-bike self portrait. I thought not shaving might keep my face warmer. :)

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01938.640.jpg
Lots of some new-fangled flavor of hopper car parked on an unused stretch out in the low-rent district.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01939.640.jpg
A few of the local residents wandered out to take in all the humans in the funny outfits.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01943.640.jpg
More trainspotting :). For a confirmed Alco buff this nicely-maintained RS-1 was a really sweet find.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01944.640.jpg
Looking back down that long rolling uphill stretch through the orange groves at the 30 mile mark. That's the guys I met up with at one of the rest stops - couple of docs from Tampa I rode with last year, and a lawyer-type who specialized in cycling-related accident litigation.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01945.640.jpg
Out ahead of us, another couple of riders are just cresting the big climb. The turn onto the really bad pavement is just on the other side of the hill.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01947.640.jpg
Time to banana up and refill water bottles at the 35 mile mark. The roads on this stretch are really rough, with lots of cracks, potholes and overall wear and tear. Hands and wrists got really sore somewhere in here as a result of leaving my gloves in the car. Ooops.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01949.640.jpg
Another shot of my partners in sweating and straining on the last hill coming back into Bartow, past the concrete-light-pole factory and the county dump (no, all those circling vultures were NOT just waiting for bonking cyclists :) ). Just another 3 or 4 miles and it's done.

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01950.640.jpg
Remarkable Sight the First: I remembered this from the Tour de Tow a couple months ago and just had to get a snap of it - the ENTIRE front yard was AstroTurf. All it needed to complete the picture would have been a couple of pink lawn flamingos. :thumb:

http://www.afn.org/~scotsman/photos/2010/2010.11.13.ride.of.your.life/dsc01951.640.jpg
And finally, Remarkable Sight the Second: Walking through the car show after the ride, I spotted this nicely done engine transplant - a 5.0L Ford V-8 stuffed into a Mazda Miata. I'd read about them but had never actually seen one in the sheetmetal before. VERY cool little car.

I'd love to see more folks come out and do this ride next year; it's a great workout and a pretty nice route - a couple big hills, some long straight stretches for your Inner Time Trialer, some swoopy turns, and some nice rest stops stocked with plenty of munchies and fluids staffed by really friendly folks. Siskel and Ebert give it two Thumbs Up!

11/16/2010
35.0 miles today
192 ride days LY vs. 193 ride days TY
1581 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 78.9% of my goal. 87.1% of the year has passed, this is not looking good , 14 miles behind of last year at this date
26.3 miles average ride this month
30.7 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 10.0 on a scale of 1-10 got the Mo Jo going today...

Perfect riding weather today. cool temps clear sky's the only problem was the 13 mile return trip in to a 16/23 mph head wind. I still need to step it up several notches.
I took my bike over to the powder coating place and discussed the job with them but have not made a decision yet.

2010.11.15: AB am Ride
Distance: 22.49 mi
Time: 01:21:26 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 16.6 mph
Avg HR: 127 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 86 rpm
Avg Power: 137
Elevation Gain: 190 ft
Calories: 753 C
Max Speed: 25.5 mph
Max HR: 176 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 114 rpm

Avg Temp: 63.4 °F

2010.11.16: AB am Ride
Distance: 18.66 mi
Time: 01:18:48 h:m:s
Avg Speed: 14.2 mph
Avg HR: 113 bpm
Avg Bike Cadence: 78 rpm
Avg Power: 101
Elevation Gain: 139 ft
Calories: 526 C
Max Speed: 24.7 mph
Max HR: 165 bpm
Max Bike Cadence: 109 rpm

Avg Temp: 72.2 °F

11/17/2010
30.1 miles today
193 ride days LY vs. 194 ride days TY
1551 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 79.3% of my goal. 87.6% of the year has passed, this is not looking good , 14 miles behind of last year at this date
26.7 miles average ride this month
30.7 miles average ride this yr.

Motivation meter today 10.0 on a scale of 1-10 got the Mo Jo going today...

Perfect day for a ride

11/14 25 miles
11/15 35 miles
11/17 20 miles