Phil85207

Well I did the 104 mile Tour de Safford race and it wasted me. In the excitement I forgot to start the Garmin until I finally saw no miles were on it at about 15 miles into the race. Right from the start the wind was 10 MPH and as the day went on increased to 20 and gusting more. I did finish in but in "last place" #132 place I think, out of 340. I am not sure about the numbers, but I think they are close. The course had long up grades from 3 to 6% that went on for miles. I was told the grade from Duncon to Safford was 17 miles, before descending, and battling 20 MPH winds was more than this old man wanted. At about mile 75 I used a porto potty and a gust of wind nearly blew it over. I yelled and spun around spraying the door, an aid worker yelled back "I got it".
The worst part was at mile 99.5 when I was looking at a 7+% accent for just over 1/4 mile. I had to walk it as I was out of gas.
Thyroid dosage issues has lowered my Max Sustainable HR to 130, if you can believe it. That mean that I was on the verge of being anaerobic for around 95% of the race. I am not going to do the 109 mile Tour de Tucson in two weeks, I need to get my MSHR back up first. Thanks for letting me cry a little.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/54995947

cehowardGS

Great ride, great report!

Crying? Where? Your post was pure MOTIVATION!!!

Krashdragon

I'd put the battery somewhere in back, like hanging off your seat. You can run the wires up your shirt and down your sleeves... they have very small plugs...
On my motorcycle, I have the wires coming out from under the seat, and plug into a front jacket pocket of my heated jacket liner.
The jacket has built in plugs for gloves and pants liner. And yes, I do unplug my jacket when I get on and off the bike. No biggie.
Email John at info@warmnsafe.com <info@warmnsafe.com>
He's got some really good ideas.
Mary

OldLog

Ok folks in Florida for the cold months. Discovered this is not a great place to Cycle on the roads LOL

RonH

What part of FL are you in? Many places (Panama City Beach - Ft Walton Beach area) are great.

OldLog

We are in Rockledge FL Very few roads that are bike friendly in this area. Frustrating when one is looking forward to winter biking away from Indiana

Phil85207

Well it's been 30 days since the Tour de Safford fiasco and I went on a short ride up Usery Pass yesterday. My HR is coming back, thank God. Today I decided to go a little farther and see what happens. I had a great ride and my Max HR is almost normal. From a Max HR of 123 to 160. Hopefully it will keep rising to where it was. Here Is my ride. Heres hopping my thyroid level will be stable now. I sure don't want to go through that again.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/58614152

Doane

Hi, everyone.. I had to think a minute about what age I am, but, ya, March '45, so I guess I'm in.
I got back into bikes about three months ago.. bought a cheap $200 Schwinn 7 speed cruizer on line, rode it back and forth to work for a couple of months and enjoyed it so much, and enjoyed how obviously better feeling it was making me physically and mentally I decided to upgrade. I then sold the Schwinn and bought a commuter bike, a KHS 2010 Urban-X. Fenders, rack, chain guard, 21 speed, como frame, 26" wheels with 1.5" bullet proof tires.. really a nice bike. Have since added a horn, flash light holder, rear blinker, rack bag, WordLock cable, and my newest addition that I just tried out today is a Brooks B17 Flyer saddle. Took a long ride up the coast and the first thing I noticed is that the springs work much better then the stock seat, also it is more comfortable and I haven't even broken it in yet. Still playing around with the for/aft position and tilt, but it's getting better. I even had a couple stop while I was stopped and adjusting the seat, they remarked about the saddle, then pointed to their own Brooks and just smiled.

DnvrFox

Welcome, Doane, to the 65+ thread. Enjoy. It won't be long before you will wanta road bike. Standing by.

Doane

I-do-no.. I'm maybe having too much fun with my commuter and the tires are just fat enough to still allow me to go off road like I did up on some dirt and sand trails off the coastal bike path today. I had lots of fun and I couldn't have done it on a road bike.
Back in the 60's I did own a French racing bike.. I think it was a Peugeot. If I remember right it was a ten speed, the shifter was on the frame and I had to reach down for it. Extremely light frame and wheels, no fenders or anything. I taped the bars up using medical tape! I used to ride it from Los Angeles up to Malibu and back on the weekends. I always had to carry a spare sew-up tire with me as I often would have a flat running over the smallest of sharp pebbles or glass.
Anyway, thanks for the greeting and Merry Christmas to you all.

Burr

Welcome Dude.

Post a lot with your doings.

Doane

I'm pretty sure this was the bike I owned back then, a Peugeot PHX-10. Mine was red and I had bought it used around 1963.. It was a great bike, but the tires were really a hassle.

See this link

DnvrFox

You would be amazed at the differences in today's "racers" and "clincher" tires - not sewups any more.

BUt, time will tell. Just have fun.

Doane

I know.. I'm pretty amazed at the improvements in the new bikes. Thanks for the welcome!

rydabent

I just turned 72 this month. I am one of the very fortunate few that has almost no old age problems. I have very few aches and pains and as of yet I dont even have to get out of bed at nite to tinkle. I retired 2 years ago and upgraded from a Rans Tailwind to a Stratus. In the 2 1/2 years I have had it, it now has a little over 6000 miles on it. I dont think that is too bad since I live in the snow belt and am totally off fthe bike for at least 4 months. I hate riding in the cold. In the last 2 years I have dropped 20 pounds. I usually ride every other day about 30 miles. I ride with the local bike club and a recumbent club in Omaha. My speed is usually around 13 to 15 mph, faster down hill of course. I do down hill with the wind really well!!

Keep riding guys and gals------its really good for you!!!!!

Burr

That is great.
I also like the down hills with wind at back but you sure get in trouble fast if you don't lookout.

Question, why are up-hill so long and the down-hills so short?

Rocky1405

Hi Fellow Peddlers! Greetings from the MN tundra where as I write this it is 9 degrees outside and yesterday I had to spend a couple of hours trying to rake a big snow build-up off my roof. Since it had rained slightly between snowfalls, all I could get off was about 3 inches of the 20 or so that is on the roof before I hit the crust that stopped the snow rake. Soooo, I haven't been doing any riding lately due to weather. Thank goodness for the recumbent exercycle in the basement workout room!! Now then, I ride a hi-bred, Raleigh Passage 4.0 and really like it - I have a spyder-flex seat on it and can ride it long periods of time w/o pain anyplace but that darn foot with its hot spot that causes me to get off and walk around every hour or so. I love this bike but wonder if it is worth the trouble to look into purchasing one of those more refined touring bikes. Last summer I encountered a couple of riders of my age (68) who were bent over the bars and cranking along at about 15 MPH to my 12 and I couldn't keep up to them. My bike is comfortable to me, no aches in my wrists or neck or posterior so I should be happy with it after the 5 years I've owned it and worn out my rear tire but something in my geezer ego keeps urging me to step up to a faster ride. Has anybody else out there with a comfy bike felt the same way and if so, did they give it a try and how did that go? I'd hate to spend a ton of bucks and then be unhappy with my purchase. Or worse yet, be unable to ride it because the posture on it causes pain or discomfort. Especially in the seat!! Owieeee! After all, no matter how much you spend on it, you still have to pedal it! Advice is needed and appreciated. After all, spring will finally come here to the Tundra and the roads will once again be fun to ride on! In only about 90 days! Thanks in advance!
Rocky1405

John C. Ratliff

Well, I guess I just joined the club (Dec 1945 birthday)! I too have very little in the way of health problems--just a bit more weight than I should have. I found an interesting article in a PubMed search today:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21148220

I liked his conclusion (and he got that published in the British Medical Journal), as I have three bikes. Rrydabent, I also have a Rans Stratus, it it has over 10,000 miles on it now. I just replaced the front brakes (back breaks to be replaced later this week) so I can get it going again. I have a Rivendell Rambouillet too, as well as a Trek 1420. I have the Rambouillet equipped with a handlebar bag, and racks for two bags in back. The Stratus has a neat fairing, and can handle both front and back bags. Right now the weather here in Oregon is pretty nasty, so I only get out on holidays and weekends. I still work, but it is a 12-15 mile one-way trip, with a nasty climb over the Portland Hills. If I want to avoid a really twisty road (Germantown Road), I need to go through Forest Park on a fire road. So that will probably wait for a better time of the year.

On my rides, I normally go between 12 and 20 miles, sometimes into the hills (when I can see them--when I cannot, it's too rainy and nasty to be up there). I have several really nice routes just north of Beaverton/Hillsboro, Oregon and end up at the Great Harvest Bakery, where I buy our weekly allotment of breads (Harvest White, Honey Wheat, Dakota, or some specialty breads) to take home along with "samples" (pieces from their bakery that they give away to people who come into the store). It makes for really pleasant biking.

Anyway, I'll be looking in here every once in a while.

John

Burr

Welcome John,

Post often

Have a happy

RonH

Welcome Rocky.

I'm 66 and never cared for hybrids or "comfort" bikes. My road bikes have always seemed comfortable to me. There's a link to my small collection of bikes in my signature. No "comfort" bikes there.

RonH

Welcome John. Sounds like your rides are quite scenic. Post some pics for us big city folk to drool over.

Burr

Nappy New Year Gang

John C. Ratliff

[Okay, here's the photos from one of my last rides up Springville Road. I wanted to do a 20 mile circle, but conditions would not let me.


This is the view from one of my stops about 5 miles out, but 2/3 the way up a 1000 foot climb. The scene looks to the south at Beaverton, Oregon.


The wind was gusting at 40-50 mph. Here my Rans Stratus is facing directly into thewind, and having problems.


I took this photo to show the wind actually blowing my Stratus backwards, and the kickstand leaving a trail in the gravel. This photo was taken just before I grabbed the Stratus to keep it from being blown over.


I rode uphill just a bit further, to find out what was making a mess of the road (I had seen this driving home from work). Well, what I found is most probably an elk trail. There is a herd of elk in the Forest Park area just to the west of this road, and they sometimes go in different areas. The animals were too large to be deer, and cattle don't use that area, nor do cattle come down such a steep slope.


The elk went across the road...


To the other side...


...then down the slope to some fields for grazing.

The wind was high enough I turned around here, and went back down the road (really fun on a recumbant). I have a few routes, but most go by the Great Harvest Bread Store, and this was no exception.

This shows though the advantage of riding verses driving a car; you can stop and investigate interesting findings much easier.

Well, the pictures are okay, but right now, in winter, it is not as picturesque as at other times of the year.

John

10 Wheels

Very nice pics....Thanks

DnvrFox

Thanks for sharing the GREAT pics. Very good!