Come walk down memory lane with me
 

Christmas time. Stone-cold freezing outside for many of us. Some buried in snow. Leave us a story about a favorite road ride you had from days past when the sun was warm and the riding was good.

Of the many, many rides I took, there are two that stand out for me...

One was a record morning, when my coach came over at about nine on a Saturday to ride my usual route with me for the first time in a while. I wanted to show him the pupil had done well. He's a hammer and into going fast....faster than I would go.

Everything in terms of my training was geared toward this ride because it was for speed and speed only. He said we would go out and set an average speed PR. It was like a race situation that morning. I was nervous and did every little thing with great detail, from what I ate to what I wore. We hammered it in nice weather and sure enough. A new PR at 19.2 mph ave. I never came close the rest of the season.

The second ride that sticks in my mind came late in the season. There had been a crit in my area in July, right along a portion of my daily 26-mile route. The pros did 18 laps with four hills a lap, one of them a short and very nasty-steep bear of a challenge. I watched them in awe and went back to try it a few days later, just to see what it felt like and how many laps I could complete.

It about killed me and it was slow, but I did it. NOW, six weeks later, I loaded my bike in my truck and drove the 12 miles to the course area. I wanted to test how much I had improved over the summer. I rode the race course as hard as I could on a Friday morning before work, and completed the 18 laps in record time for me, with an average of 18 mph and change.

The feeling I had as I popped open the cooler that was stashed in the truck and gulped some Gatorade down afterward....well....my friends....that's what this sport is all about.

I can't wait for spring!

How long ago were those rides? Hip.....you were a racer at one time, huh?

The PR ride was in July.
The crit course was in September.

As for racing, I wish I was. It's my one regret in all this....that I didn't find this sport PRIOR to my hip surgery at 42 years old. If I had, I would have raced my brains out. As it is now I cannot because it is simply too dangerous for me due to the hip.

That's why I'm always cheering on any young guns who love to ride and race. I'm living through you guys in part now....I respect what you do.

Good thread. Mine was an autumn ride out to the coast, around 85 kms and was the longest ride I had done then. It was a still crisp evening, and at one point I had a formation of old military fighter planes (harvards etc) sweep low overhead. The air was the stillest i can recall on any ride, it was just sweet - heaven will be like that. Now it is summer here, the weather is absolute crap.
My goal this summer is to spend as much time as I can on my new ride.

Lots of rides of note but the one that had the biggest impact was a club ride back in June that started with 20 people and quickly pared down to a group of 4 when it started raining. At that point, we lost 2 more and I was paired with a gentlemen of about 70-75. The ride was intended to be hills that day but the rain kept coming and at one point he stated he'd have to pull over to get out of the muck. I remember feeling sorry for him for being miserable and myself for being stuck with him. Fortunately, we had taken a route that led us close by my home - so I invited him over for some coffee and a warm up. We ended up talking for 2 hours and he was the most fascinating person. After that, we set out again to do the hills and it took my biggest effort just to keep up with him. I learned, once again, that you can't pre-judge anybody on a bike.

Happy Holidays.

55/Rad

My most memorable ride was a training ride almost 15 years ago. I was in very good shape and the group I rode with (about 15 people) loved to hammer. On this particular ride I felt stronger than usual. I spent the first 30 miles chomping at the bit ... you know the feeling ... when it takes every fiber in your body not to sprint off the front. At mile 30 I couldn't wait any longer and I jumped. The chase was on full force. I hit the base of Alpe d'Huez with a 20 second gap and held the hard charging group off until we regrouped at the top. I just remember that lovely feeling of climbing effortlessly.

<Ok, so maybe it wasn't Alpe d'Huez, but it was a good mile long 8%'er all the same>

-mark

Memory Lane, hmmmm......

This wasn't sunny and warm, but I'll never forget this day......

I remember once when I was 10yo, back in 1980, when I lived on our farm in Wisconsin. I got my first BMX bike for Christmas. It was a red Murray with Mag wheels, and knobby tires.

I couldn't wait till spring to ride it, so I immediately took it to my Dad's shop, out in the barn, and proceeded to remove the tires. I then took the brand new tires and a box of shiny wood screws, and proceeded to run screws from the inside-out through each knob on the tires, with the head of the screws on the inside, and the sharp end sticking out. I must have used 100 small screws per tire. I then took strips of 4" wide modelling fiberglass and layed it on the inside of the tire to cover the screw heads, and smothered the glass with tons of GOOP shoe glue.

The next day they were dry, and I had two extra tough BMX tires with super sharp screw/studs, sticking 1/4" out of each knob.

Down to the local Lake we road, and proceeded to spend the afternoon racing around on the ice and snow drifts across the frozen lake.

I still remember that day like it was yesturday. My friends and I had so much fun. It was beautiful that day. Not a cloud in the sunny sky, and well below freezing, my lips were chapped, and fingers & toes numb. We had plenty of Christmas cookies and hot chocolate to look forward to when we got home. The frozen red ears were just a nuiscance.

We didn't care. We were free.

My best ride of this summer (fall) was in early November. It wasn't exactly sunny and warm. But it was low 50's, which is great for a nice hard long ride. There was a light southeast wind at about 5-8 mph. I left from downtown milwaukee and rode to my girlfriends house about 10 miles south of sheboygan. It amounts to 45 miles total.

My plan was to try and average as close to 20 mph as possible. By the time I got out of the downtown traffic my average was at 17, just from slowing down at intersections and what not so I pushed it at 22-23 for a while to get the average back up. Well.... I wasn't really feeling that fatigued, so I thought I might as well keep pushing the pace. After about 35 miles my average was up to 21.3. I was tired and starting to hurt, but with only 10 miles left I decided to just give it all I had left. With the light wind behind me I knocked it up a gear, stayed in the drops and climbed every little hill like it was sprint. Finally made it there in just a little over 2 hours, at 21.5 mph average. My girlfriend didn't show up there until about 45 minutes later. She had no idea I would make it there so fast. Luckily, her dad was home so I didn't have to sit out in the cold.

P.S.

Hipcycler, you're gonna have to show me the crit course. Maybe someday we can go ride it once it's a little warmer. I've got a new bike coming shortly. :)

My most momorable ride occured about 6 months ago. We do what they call the barf ride up the hills off of Victoria in Riverside. I usually ride with the slower group which I am always ahead off. That night I felt strong and for the first itme was pulling all the the hills with the group, awsome feeling.

My second will probably be in March when I do my first crit...

P.S.

Hipcycler, you're gonna have to show me the crit course. Maybe someday we can go ride it once it's a little warmer. I've got a new bike coming shortly.

You bet.
Whitnall Park area.
I'll look forward to it.
Heck, maybe we can get several riders from here together to do it. My place afterward for stories about how great we all were in the course!

By the way....great ride story.
They're all interesting to read....keep 'em coming in this thread!

Just in November I participated in a Tourch Relay. It was a company event. The first day we started in Jacksonville, FL. We crusised up A1A from Jacksonville Beach, across the Mayport Ferry, then over to Amiela Island, up US 17 into Georgia, and ending in Brunswick GA. Everything was smooth. Even the repair stop in Fernidena, where another rider had to replace his chain, cassette, and big chainring. Even some rain didn't dampen the ride.

The next day was almost a sprint. We started in Savannah, GA, and ended in Bluffton. There were just three of is that day, two marketing managers and me. I got sick of listening to those desk jockeys talk shop. I rode up between them, simply said, "Bye." and took off. We finished the remaining 20 miles in an hour.