staehpj1

Agreed. Consistency is what it is all about. Your method is probably more common and more consistent than mine.

I probably cheated myself out of some nice rides this Fall because of the way I counted my climbs. I assumed some rides were harder than they probably were. When evaluating a potential ride I guess, if in doubt, the best thing is to ask how they arrived at the numbers.

derath

Which rides? In general I have found most organized rides to be a bit more difficult than I expected. But then again I am still not in the shape I would like to be.

-D

staehpj1

I forget the exact rides. I think one was in central Virginia and one in the Philly area (Schuykill? sp?). Both were after the Seagull.

The Human Car

During my Cumberland ride I got a chance to watch the altimeter and the total climbing on my GPS quite a bit. On the level fluctuations of 2-3 ft did not register but once the hill got underway the total climbing just clicked away. So I have I lot of confidence in the GPS unit. I will also note that the accuracy is in the number of data points. I noticed that my track logs average about 0.2 of a mile apart with some points in the 0.5-0.9 range. When this is plotted on some mapping site the odds that a point will fall exactly in a trough or on a peek are fairly slim so you’ll get some rounding off of the extremes so I suspect that the mapping sites will under report the total climbing.

On a side note I was reviewing the elevation plot on one of my rides and noticed that it had my starting elevation at 200 ft when it should have been 450 ft. I suspect that it takes awhile for the GPS to calibrate the altimeter so if you turn off the unit when the air pressure is low and then back on when the air pressure is high you could get a few hundred feet of climbing in with no work at all. I have not verified if the altimeter recalibration affects the total climbing but this could explain why doing the same route twice does not yield the same amount of climbing.

NoRacer

The baro in the iBike does that, too, but it doesn't seem to count it as climbing. It seems to just count it as baseline.

Both GMAP and RouteSlip get their data from the USGS. The climbing numbers they present are highly dependent on the number of data points you place in the map.

==========
Well, I attempted the ride from Essex to Glen Rock, but I ran out of time on the road. I was afraid that I'd get caught out with no headlights, so I stopped at the big 'Welcome to New Freedom' sign on the outskirts of New Freedon, PA. [mile 54.5 according to my CatEye Double Wireless--battery died in the iBike...grrrr!]

It was pretty slow going on the trail. Maybe I wasn't recovered from the 70+ miler two days ago, but I found that the rolling resistance of the trail surface started getting on my nerves. I was thankful to be off of it once I got back to Paper Mill Rd.

On the way home, the climb starting at Warren Rd up Bosley Avenue looked ominous, but I was over it in better shape than the last time I rode over it. It was a slow grind (I was in a carb-depleted cloud, but I think my speed was 4-6 MPH). I'm sure that repacking the bottom bracket bearings and replacing my wheel bearings with ceramics contributed to the feeling of less effort for this climb and all of the climbs I've been doing since making those changes.

Average speed was pretty slow, but considering that I was dressed for mid-40s F weather and that a good deal of the riding was on a crushed gravel trail, I think I did ok.

Final tallies--2 x 8 oz cups of coffee, 1 bowl of oatmeal, 2 x 20 oz bottles of Gatorade, 1.5 CliffBars, and 1 x 20 oz bottle of water yielded 106 miles in 6:54 @ 15.3 MPH avg speed with 3,594 feet of climbing.

I have 16 more miles to do to reach 10,000 for the year.

EDIT - To add:

Here's the route that I took for this ride. I'm adding it after the fact because it takes Bikely about 24 hours to complete the elevation profile:

https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...rsday-20061228

RouteSlip choked on the GPX file that I imported, so I imported it to Bikely instead.

staehpj1

What tires are you using? I find that with my skinny road tires it is very slow, but better on my touring bike with 27X1-1/4.

The time you did was very good considering the route, time of year, etc.

I plan to do a similar ride, but starting in Parkville and going to York. I would be delighted if my time is anywhere near yours, but doubt it will be.

galen_52657

That's a long day. The NCR can get on your nerves real fast. With me, its the monotony of the grade and the fact that you are stuck in a valley. The view barely changes. Once you have cycled that trail it's a bore. Plus, all that seated pedaling gets to my bum after a while. I much prefer climbing in and out of the Gunpowder valley or riding the roads on along the parallel ridges (Old York/Troyer and even the shoulder of Rt 23 east of the river are nice).

Me and my buds have a route through southern PA that is 85 miles and takes us 4.5 hours with water stops. With four good riders it's a ball and relatively flat. The only real bad climb is Coon Club just southwest of Hampstead. We take the standard way out of Towson - up Park Heights, over to Dover and north into the outskirts of Hampstead, then we continue on 'till we pop out on Rt 27 and take the shoulder east to Manchester. We stop at the Sheetz store, then go north for a bit and then east on Lineborough which just cuts into PA. Lineborough Rd. is a hoot because there is almost always a tail wind and it's flatish. From there we head south west on 851 through New Freedom and pick up Old York for a hammer session all the way in to Rt. 23. By then somebody is blown and we will have to slow. From there it's south through Loch Raven and home on Providence Rd.

derath

So Coon club is considered a decent climb? That makes me feel better.

-D

staehpj1

I'm confused. I didn't think Park Heights went any where near Towson.

angelo

I think galen means that you can get to Park Heights (its northern-most part) by taking Joppa all the way west to Falls rd then its pretty much a straight shot west using either Greenspring or Hillside rd (one of my faves).

Here, I mapped roughly what Galen was talking about.

Yeah, its going to be a long day at work.

staehpj1

Thanks for the clarification. Now that I read his original post again it makes sense. I had no idea what "the standard way out of Towson" was since I never start in Towson, hence the confusion.

NoRacer

I'm riding Tufo tires that are suppose to be 21s, but they fit more like 23s. I can't get much fatter than 23s with the TCR.

NoRacer

That sounds like a nice ride. I may have to join you guys one of these days.

NoRacer

Possibly my last ride of 2006 was done today resulting in a total of 10,021 miles for the year.

The ride was a low-traffic/low-stress ride on the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail. I drove to the airport and started on the BWI Trail at the observation parking on Dorsey Rd. I followed the B&A Trail to Annapolis crossing the US Naval Academy Bridge and pulling over at Perry Circle, staying just long enough to gulp a few ounces of water before heading back.

It was a nice day and I'm glad that I reached my goal of 10,000 miles for the year.

Anyone else ride?

derath

Nice ride. I have been on the BWI trail and B&A more than I can count. My parents live near annapolis and I have friends about 2 miles from the BWI trail.

I didn't get to ride. But I did almost finish cutting up the tree. I think I filled up the chain saw with gas 5-6 times. I am extremely sore and tired.

Honestly contrats. I dunno how you do it. I mean 10000 is like 27 miles a day. Between the little children (3 and under 1), my job, the house, wife etc I am happy to get 27 miles a week. I think I did about 1200 miles this year, well since I bought my bike around March.

Maybe once the rugrats get older...

-D

balto charlie

happy New year folks. I got out on Friday for a quick 30 miler to bring my years total to 4722. It's the most I have ever ridden. Seems low when I look at No Racer. 10,000 is very impressive. Today looks like a a no-bike day. I don't know if I can ever reach 5000/year but that is my 007 goal. Hope to ride with some of you this year. Charlie

NoRacer

Happy New Year to all... and, Happy Birthday to me!

I got 15 more miles in yesterday, but I agree, charlie, it's a no-bike day today.

But, I'm already going stir-crazy being pent up inside.

galen_52657

For New Year's weekend my girlfriend and I spent the weekend in Ocean City at the Clarion - a package deal. Saturday we drove down to the boardwalk and rented a side-by-side tandem tricycle and rode it up and down the boardwalk for about 45 minutes, dodging kids on those low-rider tricycle things that turn by leaning. Surprised how crowded OC was! Sunday we went back and rented a Kent 'real' tandem. It was cool out and having no cycling stuff, I stopped at the convenience store and bought some gardening gloves. The front seat on the tandem would not go up anywhere close to high enough, but the back seat fit my girl OK. The gear shifting was really bad - if you wanted 4th gear on the freewheel, you had to shift past 4th in either direction, then shift back the other way. Once I got the hang of it, it was no big deal. The rental place (Wobbly Wheel) was on 7th street I think and we rode up to the end of the boardwalk, then went out on the road and over to the bay side. We rode all over lower OC and finally headed back south on the road to the other end of the boardwalk and back to Wobbly Wheel.

It was lots of fun riding in street cloths, no helmets or any other cycling accountrements, just noodling around fast enough to keep warm but not too warm.

BillK

Nice ride (& Happy Birthday). I try and ride the B&A/BWI Trails almost every weekend during the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons, although I start at the Annapolis end. I have a BikeForums kit on order, hope to see you on the trail soon.

NoRacer

Wobbly Wheel--sounds befitting, eh?

So, you didn't hazard the trip up to Delaware. Someday, I'm going to bike up to the ferry and take it over to New Jersey, bike Jersey for awhile and come back.

NoRacer

Thanks. I didn't do a damned thing except sit around and get bored. No, that's not 100% true. I did see the new Superman movie on Comcast.

Anyway, I made up for yesterday by biking today from Essex to Rock State Park using this route:

https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...-Park-Out-Back

It was slow getting there with a headwind out of the north and west. But, it was pretty cool biking up the closed road that leads to the picnic area on top where the "King and Queens Seat" rock outcrop is located. The climb was an 11-13 percent grade.

On the top, I followed some guy on a mountain bike down to the outcrop. He joined a couple of other guys who were rock climbing the south face with ropes and all.

It was slippery getting back to the parking lot. The 21mm tires were not thick enough to get a good grip on the leaf and gravel cover in a few places and I thought that I may need to walk the bike back up, but I was successful getting back without stepping off of the bike.

I topped off the earlier climb with a quick but cautious decent hitting just over 40 MPH back down. If I would have pressed the speed, I'm sure I could have gotten another 8-10 MPH more out of it, but I wanted to remain cautious...this time.

The ride back to Essex was uneventful but quicker averaging 2 MPH faster than the outbound direction. The one remarkable attribute of the ride back was that I got caught out with no headlight. By the time I got back to Essex, dusk had passed, and the only thing that kept me from getting in trouble with motor vehicle traffic was that I did have a taillight, reflective piping on my wind breaker, and reflective ankle rings.

Tomorrow is my last day away from work. I need a 'recovery' ride so, it's back to the B&A Trail.

EDIT - My CatEye computer says I got 93 miles during the ride. I always use the CatEye for logging my mileage. But, Bikely shows 91 miles.

galen_52657

Dang NoRacer you a tough dude! I ride through Rock State Park all the time but have never ridden up the hill to the King & Queen Seat.

angelo

Cool.

I notice your route goes though a wooded area starting at Martin State Airport that goes from Eastern blvd to rt 40. Is there a trail of some kind in there?

balto charlie

happy b-day, I rock climb there as well. Was the guy riding the bike named Steve?? I've climbed RSP w/ a BF member that also bikes up there. That ride to the PL is a steep one. Did you watch them climb? Climbing and biking are excellent sports to combine. One works the upper muscles the other the lower muscles.
Most of the relatives are gone(2 sons still home for the rest of the week) so back on the bike. Cold but felt good today. Back into the daily commute. As I grow old, routine feels right. Charlie

galen_52657

Looks like NoRacer is riding the shoulder of newly opened MD Rt 43.