Mongoose = Evil!

Took the Schwinn into the shop Monday. Needed tires and such. So I rode the Mongoose today. Only 10 miles on the levee. Ouch! My thighs hurt. When I get the Schwinn back on Thurday, I'll officially have spent more on it than on buying the Mongoose in the first place. Isn't that special?

Now to find me a road bike. Been looking around. What is about cyclists and gaudy? Or worse? This one isn't so bad, though. This scares me. I could be a decent used car for that.

Any brands to look for? Any brands to avoid? I'd really like to keep it under $1,000, and I don't mind used.

Working on Strength

Not going for distance much lately. Friday I rode from work again. I've got to where I can keep up nearly 10mph over the hills at Noah Reid. I don't have to drop out of the big ring anymore, either. Took a left at Bonny Oaks again and rode all the way to Lee Highway at the interstate, then back to Shallowford. About 9.5 miles. I am still looking for a good 10 mile loop with moderate hills and low traffic that I can get to and ride before dark, but haven't found the spot yet. Maybe I need a headlight. :-)

Short and Sweet (or is that Sweat?)

Rained Monday, had some computer work to do Tuesday, and had to help a friend move some stuff right after work, but had to ride somewhere. So I rode from my house down to Red Bank, then down Signal Mtn. Blvd. for a bit. Turned at the Moccasin Bend trail. That hill is more than I could ride, I got about 1/4 of the way up, then walked the rest. Followed the bike path around to come back to Cherokee, then went to the Lion. Had a beer, hung out and chatted with friends, but had to leave before it got too dark. Came back up Tremont, and made it all the way up the hill to my house, and faster than last time with Cat. No, still not fast (maybe 6mph), but faster (last time I think it was closer to 4.5mph). So even though it was only 11 miles, it was a good ride, in my opinion. Don't know what I'll do Friday. I don't know any really good places to go that aren't way out of the way, and it is getting dark earlier now, so I need to ride as soon after work as I can. I'll figure something out.

A Two-fer!

First of all, sorry for not posting about my ride on Wednesday. I know everyone was just dying to hear about it! Can you forgive me?

Anyway, Wednesday's ride was a bit of a combination. I started out like I have been lately going up Shallowford to Noah Reid. But when I came back to Shallowford from Cromwell, instead of heading back, I turned right and went to the levee, and rode that and one loop of Camp Jordan, then came back and finished up with Shepherd. So I started a little hilly, then a lot of flat, then a few more small hills. A bit over 22 miles.

This morning, I got up at the ungodly hour of 6:15 am. Got dressed, checked my tires, loaded up my gear and headed out to meet some of the Martians On Wheels and friends to go to Cohutta Ga. for the ride there. This ride is a cancer benefit that they've been holding for some time. The organizers were super nice, and the fire department and others in the community did a great job keeping everything running smoothly.

There were three classes, a 5 mile fun run, a 50km (31 miles) ride and a 100km (62 miles) ride. Considering that Wednesday's 22 was about the most I'd ridden, I chose the 50km route. If my Cateye is anything close to accurate, it was more like 35 miles, and the difference was telling. Not because of the distance, but because of what those last 3 or 4 miles contained (as well as a couple before them). The ride was advertised as being through the "rolling hills" of north Georgia and southern Tennessee. And for the first 30 or so, it pretty much was. There were a few hills, a couple a little tough for me, but nothing too bad. There were SAG stops at about 11 miles and about 23 miles, and that offered a chance to reload on water or gatoraid, narf a banana (not me, they upset my stomach, even though I love them), and rest a bit.

That last 5 or 6 miles though, things weren't quite so "rolling" any more. The hills turned into long slopes of between 1/4 and 3/4 mile, followed by a downhill section that, due to being taken so much faster, seemed like no more than a few inches (well, to me anyway). There were about 6 of these. One must have been the high point of the area, as there was a large water tank there, and those are usually placed as high up as possible. It seemed every time I'd top one, I'd start down the other side only to come around a turn and see another rising up into the distance. I cussed a lot. A lot. I had to stop on the longest one about 2/3rds of the way up (it was I think the third one). I rested for about 4 minutes, then climbed back on and got over it. Another one that length and I probably would have had to stop again, and who know if I'd have started back. As it was, I was climbing them at about 4.5 mph in a very low gear. I wasn't the only one. While I was passed by many, I did pass two people, one lady who seemed to be doing fine but was taking it nice and slow even on the rare flat areas, and an older gentleman who was also on a mountain bike and doing the same speed as me on the climbs (I followed him up three of them). I rode along side him for a few minutes at the top of one hill and we chatted some, but left him behind in another relatively flat area. At that point, I was thinking we were near the end, and wanted to get it over with quickly. Of course, it wasn't even close.

Of course, you probably think this sounds like so much whining, and you would be right. It is whining, but thats not gonna stop me. I was glad to just be able to finish, true enough. And I don't guess you can always expect things to be easy. Just my nature, I always have to gripe about something! ;)

Hills, Mark III

Mom and Dad are building a new house. The road the house is being built on is part of a loop, so I decided after work today to go see the new construction, and ride the loop. It isn't long, but has some hills that would challenge me (and did).

I've avoided the Chattanooga Bike Club, mostly because a club is a commitment, and I'm all about avoiding commitment. But apparently this particular loop is one the club rides fairly frequently. Confirming the fact I am fairly contrary, it appears I went around the loop in the opposite direction as they do. I met about five others going the other way, and was overtaken by two who turned the opposite way at the next intersection. I think one was one of the guys at Owen, who I'd seen on the Ft. O. ride, but I wouldn't swear to it. From speaking to family (more on this later) it seems that they ride this route quite a bit.

Anyway, I started at my aunt's house, next door to where my parents are building their new house. This is on Levi Rd. near the Levi cemetery, where my grandparents are buried (along with several other relatives). It seemed a good place to start, as in this loop, it is in the middle of the hills, so I would start with hills, and end with hills, but have lots of flat in the middle. I went towards Browntown Rd. (opposite of the other cyclists I saw) because the worst of the hills were in that direction, and being basically lazy, I wanted to hit those fresh. So from Levi to Browntown, I went on to Old Dayton Pike, and followed that until it came back to Hwy 27, then went along it for a short while to Robert's Mill Rd. That leads back to Levi, and from there I went to just past where Pitt's Rd. intersects, where my uncle lives. I visited him for a few minutes, then went past my cousin's house (where my grandparents used to live before they passed on) and back into the hilly section and back to my aunt's house. The whole loop was only about 6.75 miles, but I still think it was a good ride. It certainly hurt enough.

I'm wondering though, if perhaps I cheated. There were three hills that were, to me, rather steep. I stood up for those, which I haven't been doing so far with hills. The thing is, I'm still better for a short burst of power and then rest on the downside than I am with slowing down and taking longer to climb. But I get frustrated coming to an almost stop, and today decided to say to hell with it, I'm climbing this hill and being done with it. Maybe a road bike wouldn't need that, but I'm not on a road bike. Or maybe I'm being a puss and should suck it up and go slow. I don't really know. At the very least, if I ride with someone else and a hill comes up, I don't plan on making them wait too long. That is demoralizing, to me. My pride is a weak thing.

If I feel froggy, I'll extend that loop a bit, and follow Hwy 27 a bit longer (perhaps a mile, maybe two) even though it's a fairly heavily trafficked road, and go on to Jackson Rd., where I used to live (and another cousin lives now) or the next road up, Johnson Rd. (such original names in Falling Water, aren't they?). Both of these roads are hilly as well, and they both come to Robert's Mill Rd., on either side of Falling Water Elementary, which puts me back on this loop.

I gather the bike club starts way back off of Dayton Pike at the Bi-Lo and travel up Browntown Rd. for quite a ways. That road is probably more hilly than I can take just yet, and somewhat curvy and narrow and with moderate traffic, which would worry me. Browntown also intersects with Mountain Creek Rd., which past Morrison Springs Rd. isn't so heavily traveled, but has it's own share of hills. I think a good ride would be from Red Bank High down Morrison Springs to Mountain Creek, on to Browntown, then to Levi and then to Pitts, to Old Dayton Pike, back to Browntown and back along Mountain Creek to Morrison Springs. I'd guess this to be about 18 miles round trip, although it could be more or it could be less. If I keep going, I hope to be able to try this by October. What I still need to do is combine distance with hills. I've avoided the levee because it is flat and quite frankly boring now (and imagine, not more than a dozen posts back I avoided it for completely different reasons), but I think the 20 miles I've done on that route I could top easily. But on hilly rides, I haven't done much more than 10 miles, and usually less. So the next milestone is to try to combine the two, and do hills and distance. For this, I may need a partner, as I am not sure I can motivate myself to do both on my own. So far, I've only ridden with others twice (thanks, Cat and Rich!) and one of those was very short, but it did motivate me (read, shame) to do better. I don't yet have the confidence that I can finish what I started yet, though, and I have avoided discouragement so far. I'm the tortoise, not the hare. So I'll work up to it somehow, some way. Just writing this should help a bit.

Coffee Run

Cat said "I need caffeine".

She rides here, we ride to Stone Cup, we drink coffee. We ride back here, she rides home. In other words, I shared about 1/20th of the trip.

It's amazing how you can love somebody dearly (platonicly, don't go inferring things) and hate their guts at the same time. ;)

Anyway, trip out, easy. Trip back, hard. But it was the first time I've gone from river level to my house without stopping to rest. Wasn't going fast, but hey, it is a start. Figured I'd better post it, as it was a milestone of sorts.

And yes, it has been over a week since I rode. Sue me, other hobbies had me in their grip for a while.

Hills, Mark II

Repeat of Monday, with a loop around the shopping center at Shepherd and Shallowford thrown in. Noah Reid (I looked at the sign today) was a bit easier, as was the hill at Shepherd school. I'm getting used to it a little bit, so maybe the hell hill helped a little, even if I couldn't make it to the top. I'm learning a little more about shifting, too, getting the timing better so I don't start bogging down then shift and have a sudden change. I'm learning to shift a little earlier as the hill takes hold so that my effort is more even, which I think is helping as well. Of course, that doesn't work very well going from the third ring to the second, but I can drop the front and raise the rear in only a couple of revolutions, so that isn't too bad. I do need to get the derailluers adjusted again, or try to figure it out for myself. Tomorrow might be a good day for that.

Let Me Tell You About Standifer Gap Road...

Fuck Standifer Gap Road.

There, I feel better now. Started to repeat Monday's ride, but decided to hang a right at Bonny Oaks instead of a left. I slogged over the hill, coasted like a bat out of hell down the other side (30+ on knobbies leaves a little something to be desired), then hung another right on Hickory Valley. That was ok, hard, but ok. So I get to Standifer Gap Road and contemplate turning there, or going on to Shallowford and coming back that way. I figured Shallowford would be too much traffic. Passing Shallowford by would take me to Lee Highway, even more traffic. So I turn onto Standifer Gap. Thing is, there is this hill there I'd forgotten about. Bigger than the one I live on. Narrow road. Halfway up, or thereabouts, it's all over. Even coming out of the saddle, it is more than I can take. So I walk the rest of the way up.

Under seven mile trip, and I'm shot. Noah Reed (or Reade, or however it is spelled) is quite enough for right now. I don't need to break myself in two just yet. I'll let others, like the guy at work riding 100 miles with 11,000 ft of elevation soon, handle that kind of climb for now. I'm just not ready yet.

Hills

I went on a drive around work at lunch today, looking for a route that had some hills, but wasn't too long. I didn't have much time, so what I came up with was ok, but left a little to be desired. But I rode it anyway. It started out ok, as I left Chapman onto Shallowford and hit Noah Reade (spelling?) road over to Bonny Oaks. That's a two mile ride that is full of ups and downs. Also, since it was the hilliest part of the route, something I wanted to do first to get it over with. Then, down Bonny Oaks to Jersey Pike. Bonny Oaks there is a 50 MPH road, but has a fairly wide shoulder. From Bonny Oaks, I took Jersey Pike across 153 to Cromwell Road by the railroad museum. This lead back to Shallowford, and the worst part of this particular route. Cromwell comes out in front of the Vulcan gravel quarry. That stretch led back towards work, but I took the Quintus loop, and then turned onto Polymer drive. I rode past Mayfield, BASF (which stinks like burning plastic), and the Comcast office to end up on Shepherd Road. I followed that over 153 again, sticking to the right side by Shepherd school (up and down the hill) and that brought me back to Shallowford, and then back to work and my truck. Total trip, just a tad over 10 miles. Considering that it wasn't flat, I didn't feel bad about being short. I may try to do that loop twice, but I really need to find a route that doesn't have as much traffic and doesn't go by stinky chemical plants.