I just finished my first brevet and I had a great time. My wife dropped me off in Edwardsville at 5:30am. I registered and talked to some of the other riders. It was about 50 degrees at this point and I thought about taking off my jacket and putting it in may trunk bag but I decided to keep it on.
At 7:00, John gave us our final instructions/pep talk and we were off. There were several turns in the first few blocks, but I just stayed with the group. Then there were a few miles on a shady bike path. It was several degrees cooler here and I was glad I kept my jacket on. The group was still warming up and riding at about 15mph. I would have preferred to go a little faster here to keep warm.
Then we came out into the open and started riding on farm roads. These are great for cycling because they are flat and have very little traffic. We had a headwind/crosswind but even this wasn't too bad because we could look forward to a tail wind on the return leg.
The speeds slowly crept up as we reached Pocahontas and turned more directly into the wind. There were some pretty strong riders in this group and I was having trouble keeping up even though I wasn't pulling. Even though the pace was too fast for me I wanted to stay with the lead group so that I could hide from the headwind. The disadvantage is that, at least for me, it is harder to eat and drink enough while riding with a fast group.
Finally, at about mile 38, I dropped off the back of the group. I managed to keep them in sight until almost the first checkpoint at mile 41. They were still there when I got there but I decided not to join back up with them. I figured that I would just get dropped again. As I was getting ready to leave, two more riders showed up. They had been delayed by a flat tire. I decided to wait for them so that we could ride together. I also let one of them use some of my sunblock.
After we left the checkpoint, I could tell that they were stronger riders than me. I let them pull and I did most of the navigating. After about 8 miles I said goodbye and dropped off the back again.
At 63 miles, I felt that unmistakable squishy feeling that meant that meant that my rear tire was flat. Being alone means that I had nobody to help me fix it, but it also meant that I didn't feel like I was slowing someone down if I changed it too slowly. I was very methodical so that I was sure to find the cause. That last thing I wanted was to flat again after a few miles. I found and removed the sharp rock in the tire that had caused the flat. I was a little surprised that no other riders passed me during the 20 minutes or so that I was fixing the flat. One car did stop and ask if I needed help.
It was only about 5 more miles to the second checkpoint. The fastest riders were long gone but there were still a few people still there. As I got something to eat and refilled more water bottles, more riders started trickling in. Had I been trying for a fast time on this ride, I blew it by spending too much time at this checkpoint. I was just enjoying hearing people talk about their experiences as they came in.
Shortly after I left the checkpoint, I passed two women riders. This would not be the last time I saw them. I stopped for more water at mile 90 and they came into the convenience store while I was there. I was feeling a little tired after that so I also stopped at mile 106 for some chocolate milk. I think that I was feeling the effects of the sun at that point. Fortunately I had the benefit of the expected tail wind.
Later I saw a pair of riders in the distance ahead of me. It seemed to be the two women I had passed earlier. I spent the next 40 minutes trying to catch them. I kept wishing that they would speed up so I wouldn't see them or slow down so I could catch them. I finally caught up with them about 5 miles from the finish and we rode the rest of the way together. My time was 9:23 on the clock, 7:02 rolling time.
On this ride I learned that I need to eat and drink on the early part of the ride. In the first 2 hours I did not even drink one full water bottle. The question is how to carry enough water conveniently? I have two water bottle cages, but this won't last that long on hot days. I don't really want to use a camel back. I could carry more water in my trunk bag but I'd have to stop to get it out. Maybe a water bottle cage behind the seat?
I also ended up with a little bit of sunburn on my face and my upper arms. I think that my sleeves rubbed away the sunblock on my arms. I need to remember to reapply.
I spent over two hours off the bike on this ride. On the longer rides, I will need to be quicker when I stop. I will need to build up a buffer for rest/sleep stops.
Overall I am very pleased with my first brevet. I finished and felt good.
124.81 miles
7:02:03 rolling time
9:23 clock time
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
March Century
One of these months I'm going to do a century in the first half of the month. It just seems like weather and scheduling make me put off the century until almost the last weekend.
I prepared for this ride by going to a friend's house and drinking beer and eating pizza until after midnight. That's carbo-loading, right? I got up the next morning before 6 and was on the road by 6:30.
My original plan was to take the long way out to Sunset Cyclery in Chesterfield, do their ride, and then add on as many miles as needed to make a century. Unfortunately, Sunset's website was not up to date and the ride that I thought started at 9:00 actually started at 8:00. Oh well, another solo century.
Since I was near Creve Coeur park, I decide to join up with my St. Charles-Afton loop. Since I already had extra miles, I figured I could cut out the bonus miles at the end and come out not too much over a hundred miles.
I was using my brand new handlebar bag. I was hoping that this would reduce the number of stops that I would need to make. It seemed to be working out fine. The first 80 or so miles passed relatively uneventfully. I realized that my route would be longer than 100 miles and estimated that I would end up at about 110.
After crossing into Illinois and turning south, I encountered a moderate headwind. Nothing too bad, but it seemed to be slowing me down more than I would have expected. When I reached the old Chain of Rocks bridge, I was feeling a little bit nauseous and wasn't drinking enough. I stopped on the bridge for about 20 minutes. I continually took small drinks of water to try and settle my stomach. After resting I decided that I felt as good as I was going to feel. I was a little worried about my prospects for the 200K next month because I had only gone 90 miles and was feeling whipped.
I found salvation a few miles later at North Riverfront Park. As I was riding through, a ice cream truck appeared. I bought a Klondike bar that was quite possibly the best ice cream that I ever had. This energized my enough for the rest of the ride. While riding through downtown St Louis. I noticed that I felt much better in the shade than I did in the sun.
I decided to stop for a recovery meal at Del Taco. This is only about a mile from my house, and it's on the way home. I had a bacon cheeseburger, french fries, and about a gallon of soda. Please keep in mind that this was for medicinal purposes. By this point I had figured out why I felt so bad. I had been riding all day without sunblock. I hadn't needed it yet this season and, since it was dark when I left my house, I hadn't even thought about it. I end up with a pretty bad case on my arms, and a milder case on my face and legs.
The first 80 miles were at over 18mph. I end up with 112 miles at 16.5mph which, considering the sunburn, is not too bad. I learned something that should help on the brevets, and that is one of the reasons that I am doing these rides. So I guess this was a successful ride.
I prepared for this ride by going to a friend's house and drinking beer and eating pizza until after midnight. That's carbo-loading, right? I got up the next morning before 6 and was on the road by 6:30.
My original plan was to take the long way out to Sunset Cyclery in Chesterfield, do their ride, and then add on as many miles as needed to make a century. Unfortunately, Sunset's website was not up to date and the ride that I thought started at 9:00 actually started at 8:00. Oh well, another solo century.
Since I was near Creve Coeur park, I decide to join up with my St. Charles-Afton loop. Since I already had extra miles, I figured I could cut out the bonus miles at the end and come out not too much over a hundred miles.
I was using my brand new handlebar bag. I was hoping that this would reduce the number of stops that I would need to make. It seemed to be working out fine. The first 80 or so miles passed relatively uneventfully. I realized that my route would be longer than 100 miles and estimated that I would end up at about 110.
After crossing into Illinois and turning south, I encountered a moderate headwind. Nothing too bad, but it seemed to be slowing me down more than I would have expected. When I reached the old Chain of Rocks bridge, I was feeling a little bit nauseous and wasn't drinking enough. I stopped on the bridge for about 20 minutes. I continually took small drinks of water to try and settle my stomach. After resting I decided that I felt as good as I was going to feel. I was a little worried about my prospects for the 200K next month because I had only gone 90 miles and was feeling whipped.
I found salvation a few miles later at North Riverfront Park. As I was riding through, a ice cream truck appeared. I bought a Klondike bar that was quite possibly the best ice cream that I ever had. This energized my enough for the rest of the ride. While riding through downtown St Louis. I noticed that I felt much better in the shade than I did in the sun.
I decided to stop for a recovery meal at Del Taco. This is only about a mile from my house, and it's on the way home. I had a bacon cheeseburger, french fries, and about a gallon of soda. Please keep in mind that this was for medicinal purposes. By this point I had figured out why I felt so bad. I had been riding all day without sunblock. I hadn't needed it yet this season and, since it was dark when I left my house, I hadn't even thought about it. I end up with a pretty bad case on my arms, and a milder case on my face and legs.
The first 80 miles were at over 18mph. I end up with 112 miles at 16.5mph which, considering the sunburn, is not too bad. I learned something that should help on the brevets, and that is one of the reasons that I am doing these rides. So I guess this was a successful ride.
Monday, February 19, 2007
February Century
I decided that President's Day was going to be my best chance to get a century in this month. I had the day off work and the weather was predicted to be warmer and dry. The only problem with the forecast was that it was supposed to be windy. I used a similar route to the one I used last month. I'm not planning on riding this route every month but I want to get the route perfected.
I wanted to start around 7, but I had trouble getting moving in the morning. I did not start until 10. The ride started of great, there was a lot of wind but it was a crosswind for the first part of the ride. When I got to Creve Couer park, I left road to get on the multi-use paths. I had to walk my bike across several icy patches where the snow hadn't melted yet. The real problem was the Page Avenue bridge. There is a bike lane that is separated from traffic by a concrete wall and chain link fence. Unfortunately, when they plowed the bridge, a lot of snow ended up on the bike lane. Even with the warmer temperatures, the snow had not had a chance to melt. I ended up walking most of the way across the bridge.
After the crossing the Missouri, the wind was in my favor. I hit 30 mph on flat ground without even trying very hard. At one point I was cruising at 26 and I wasn't even in the drops. Of course I knew that I would have to ride into this wind later.
After crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, I was headed into the wind. It was rough. There is a mile long gravel section on the Confluence trail. I don't like it under the best of conditions, but with a 25mph head wind it was brutal. I averaged about 7mph through that section. For the 30 miles that I was dealing with the headwind I had about a 14mph rolling average.
As it got later the wind started to die down. Of course this didn't seem to happen until I turned so that I wasn't head directly into the wind. The was a new section of the route that I hadn't ridden before. It was hillier than I expected so I'll have to decide if that section makes it into the final route.
I had one slight negative on the home stretch. When I was just I had some idiot yell at me to "get on the sidewalk". The ironic thing was that this on a road that has "Share the Road" signs every 1/4 mile. I was headed downhill when this happened so I started chasing the car. There's never a stoplight around when you need one so I didn't catch them. I don't know what I would have done if I had caught up to them. By this point I was too tired to get angry so I probably would have just pointed out the signs.
One thing that I learned on this ride is that I need to find a more efficient way to eat while I am riding. I feel like I am stopping too often to eat. I am looking at getting a handlebar bag to make it easier to eat without stopping.
101 miles, 7:52 clock time, 6:38 rolling time.
I wanted to start around 7, but I had trouble getting moving in the morning. I did not start until 10. The ride started of great, there was a lot of wind but it was a crosswind for the first part of the ride. When I got to Creve Couer park, I left road to get on the multi-use paths. I had to walk my bike across several icy patches where the snow hadn't melted yet. The real problem was the Page Avenue bridge. There is a bike lane that is separated from traffic by a concrete wall and chain link fence. Unfortunately, when they plowed the bridge, a lot of snow ended up on the bike lane. Even with the warmer temperatures, the snow had not had a chance to melt. I ended up walking most of the way across the bridge.
After the crossing the Missouri, the wind was in my favor. I hit 30 mph on flat ground without even trying very hard. At one point I was cruising at 26 and I wasn't even in the drops. Of course I knew that I would have to ride into this wind later.
After crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, I was headed into the wind. It was rough. There is a mile long gravel section on the Confluence trail. I don't like it under the best of conditions, but with a 25mph head wind it was brutal. I averaged about 7mph through that section. For the 30 miles that I was dealing with the headwind I had about a 14mph rolling average.
As it got later the wind started to die down. Of course this didn't seem to happen until I turned so that I wasn't head directly into the wind. The was a new section of the route that I hadn't ridden before. It was hillier than I expected so I'll have to decide if that section makes it into the final route.
I had one slight negative on the home stretch. When I was just I had some idiot yell at me to "get on the sidewalk". The ironic thing was that this on a road that has "Share the Road" signs every 1/4 mile. I was headed downhill when this happened so I started chasing the car. There's never a stoplight around when you need one so I didn't catch them. I don't know what I would have done if I had caught up to them. By this point I was too tired to get angry so I probably would have just pointed out the signs.
One thing that I learned on this ride is that I need to find a more efficient way to eat while I am riding. I feel like I am stopping too often to eat. I am looking at getting a handlebar bag to make it easier to eat without stopping.
101 miles, 7:52 clock time, 6:38 rolling time.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
January Century
I had challenged myself to do a century a month, but I resisted signing up for the Bike Journal contest until I had at least done the first one. I was rapidly running out of weekends in January, so I decided that the last Saturday would be my last chance. The weather Friday would have been perfect, but unfortunately I had to work. The weather lived up to the forecast–upper 30’s with 15mph winds.
My route would start at my house in Saint Louis and head northwest to cross the Missouri River into St Charles. From there I would head east through St Charles County and cross the Mississippi River into Illinois. I would then head south, cross the Mississippi again and go though downtown Saint Louis. Finally, I would head west towards home. I mapped out the route on Bikely.com www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/14622 and it said it was 85 miles. I figured that would give me some buffer for wrong turns. If I came up short, it would be easy enough to add on miles at the end.
Because of the temperature and the wind, I was concerned about getting cold. My commutes can be much cold than this, but they only last about 40 minutes. Being out for 8 hours is quite different. I’ve noticed that I am more cold tolerant that most people, but I wanted to have options. Here is what I decided to wear. Torso: Craft long sleeve base layer, Short sleeve jersey, and Illuminite jacket. Legs: cycling shorts, Amfib tights. Feet: thick wool socks, Sidi winter cycling shoes. Hands: Specialized winter cycling gloves with liners. Head: helmet. In my trunk bag I brought a balaclava and a long sleeve jersey.
I left my house a little after 7:00. The good news was that since it was Saturday morning, there was very little traffic. The bad news was that the first part of my ride was directly into the wind. After only a couple of miles, I saw the bicycle archaeologists from last week headed in the opposite direction. I waved, but this week I was on a mission and did not have time to see what they were up to.
After about 15 miles, I reached Creve Coeur Park. Here I left the road and got on a multi-use path that circles Creve Coeur Lake. I am not that crazy about riding on multi-use paths so I went fairly slowly. There were a fair number of joggers and dog walkers. The park wasn’t crowded, but I wasn’t expecting to see anyone in this weather. In one of the more isolated areas of the park I saw a buck and a doe crossing the path in front of me. The reason I come through Creve Coeur Park is that there is a trail that crosses the Missouri River alongside Page Avenue. This is a new bridge and it was designed with bicycles in mind. The bicycle lane one the bridge is totally separated from car traffic by a concrete wall. After crossing the river, I was at a parking lot for the Katy trail. I would not be riding the Katy today, but I did stop briefly to have a snack. At this point I had ridden 21.6 miles at 15mph rolling speed.
From there, I went through St. Charles and into St. Charles County. Since I had turn to the east, I no longer had a headwind. This part of the ride is also very flat so my speed increased. This is the part of the ride that I had never been on before so I was a little concerned about getting lost. There weren’t really a lot of roads that I could make a wrong turn onto, but I would have rather had some signs that told me that I was still on the road that I though I was on.
After about an hour, my speed suddenly dropped to zero. I was still moving, but my bike computer said I wasn’t. Since this was how I was planning to measure my century, this would be a problem. I stopped to see if I could figure out what the problem was. The problem was easy to find; the spoke with the magnet was on was broken. The wheel still seemed be true, so I moved the sensor to a different spoke and continued on. At this point I had traveled 44.6 miles. Since my last stop I was averaging 18.7 mph.
At the next convenience store, I made a brief stop for some chocolate milk and a candy bar. Next I crossed the Mississippi River on the Clark Bridge into Illinois. The Clark Bridge is also fairly new (1993) and has bicycle lanes that are separated from traffic by a 5-foot wide buffer zone. Even though the speed limit is 55, I feel very safe on this bridge. On either side of the bridge I noticed a lot of people watching the eagles. This time of year you can see bald eagles in this area. I saw some in the trees but I was too far away to get a good look at them.
After crossing the bridge, I headed south on the Madison County Transit Confluence Trail. I am a big fan of the Madison County trails. The only complaint I have about this trail is that there is a section about a mile long mile long that is gravel. I saw someone on a bicycle that was looking for deer antlers. After that I saw 6 wild turkeys next to the trail. Later a pair of cyclists who were headed the same way passed me. I sped up to talk them for a little while, but I wasn’t going to be able to maintain that pace so I said goodbye and dropped back. While riding on the trail I noticed that my glove liners were getting sweaty. I took off the shells and just used the liners.
Just before the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, I decided to stop for lunch at Hardees. At this point I had covered 65.5 miles. I had average 16.6 mph since my last stop. Once inside I took off my jacket and noticed how sweaty my jersey was. I had been so worried about being too cold, I did not notice that I was getting too warm. Since I wasn’t moving anymore and my clothes were damp, I became quite cold even though I was inside. I was shivering and put my jacket back on. I think that I learned an important lesson about long cold weather rides.
After lunch, I crossed the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge back into Missouri. This bridge was built in the 1920’s is now only open to bicycles and pedestrians. From there I headed south on the Riverfront trail. This took me almost to the Arch. My original plan had been to head west towards home but I needed to extend my ride to make it a full century. I decided that to continue south and follow the route that Maplewood Bicycle uses for their Tuesday night rides. I also decided that I would stop at Maplewood Bicycle to get my spoke fixed. Getting the spoke fixed took about 40 minutes. I still did not quite have 100 miles so I added an extra bit on my ride home from there.
Final stats
Distance 100.04 miles
Rolling time: 6:02
Clock time: 8:19
My route would start at my house in Saint Louis and head northwest to cross the Missouri River into St Charles. From there I would head east through St Charles County and cross the Mississippi River into Illinois. I would then head south, cross the Mississippi again and go though downtown Saint Louis. Finally, I would head west towards home. I mapped out the route on Bikely.com www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/14622 and it said it was 85 miles. I figured that would give me some buffer for wrong turns. If I came up short, it would be easy enough to add on miles at the end.
Because of the temperature and the wind, I was concerned about getting cold. My commutes can be much cold than this, but they only last about 40 minutes. Being out for 8 hours is quite different. I’ve noticed that I am more cold tolerant that most people, but I wanted to have options. Here is what I decided to wear. Torso: Craft long sleeve base layer, Short sleeve jersey, and Illuminite jacket. Legs: cycling shorts, Amfib tights. Feet: thick wool socks, Sidi winter cycling shoes. Hands: Specialized winter cycling gloves with liners. Head: helmet. In my trunk bag I brought a balaclava and a long sleeve jersey.
I left my house a little after 7:00. The good news was that since it was Saturday morning, there was very little traffic. The bad news was that the first part of my ride was directly into the wind. After only a couple of miles, I saw the bicycle archaeologists from last week headed in the opposite direction. I waved, but this week I was on a mission and did not have time to see what they were up to.
After about 15 miles, I reached Creve Coeur Park. Here I left the road and got on a multi-use path that circles Creve Coeur Lake. I am not that crazy about riding on multi-use paths so I went fairly slowly. There were a fair number of joggers and dog walkers. The park wasn’t crowded, but I wasn’t expecting to see anyone in this weather. In one of the more isolated areas of the park I saw a buck and a doe crossing the path in front of me. The reason I come through Creve Coeur Park is that there is a trail that crosses the Missouri River alongside Page Avenue. This is a new bridge and it was designed with bicycles in mind. The bicycle lane one the bridge is totally separated from car traffic by a concrete wall. After crossing the river, I was at a parking lot for the Katy trail. I would not be riding the Katy today, but I did stop briefly to have a snack. At this point I had ridden 21.6 miles at 15mph rolling speed.
From there, I went through St. Charles and into St. Charles County. Since I had turn to the east, I no longer had a headwind. This part of the ride is also very flat so my speed increased. This is the part of the ride that I had never been on before so I was a little concerned about getting lost. There weren’t really a lot of roads that I could make a wrong turn onto, but I would have rather had some signs that told me that I was still on the road that I though I was on.
After about an hour, my speed suddenly dropped to zero. I was still moving, but my bike computer said I wasn’t. Since this was how I was planning to measure my century, this would be a problem. I stopped to see if I could figure out what the problem was. The problem was easy to find; the spoke with the magnet was on was broken. The wheel still seemed be true, so I moved the sensor to a different spoke and continued on. At this point I had traveled 44.6 miles. Since my last stop I was averaging 18.7 mph.
At the next convenience store, I made a brief stop for some chocolate milk and a candy bar. Next I crossed the Mississippi River on the Clark Bridge into Illinois. The Clark Bridge is also fairly new (1993) and has bicycle lanes that are separated from traffic by a 5-foot wide buffer zone. Even though the speed limit is 55, I feel very safe on this bridge. On either side of the bridge I noticed a lot of people watching the eagles. This time of year you can see bald eagles in this area. I saw some in the trees but I was too far away to get a good look at them.
After crossing the bridge, I headed south on the Madison County Transit Confluence Trail. I am a big fan of the Madison County trails. The only complaint I have about this trail is that there is a section about a mile long mile long that is gravel. I saw someone on a bicycle that was looking for deer antlers. After that I saw 6 wild turkeys next to the trail. Later a pair of cyclists who were headed the same way passed me. I sped up to talk them for a little while, but I wasn’t going to be able to maintain that pace so I said goodbye and dropped back. While riding on the trail I noticed that my glove liners were getting sweaty. I took off the shells and just used the liners.
Just before the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, I decided to stop for lunch at Hardees. At this point I had covered 65.5 miles. I had average 16.6 mph since my last stop. Once inside I took off my jacket and noticed how sweaty my jersey was. I had been so worried about being too cold, I did not notice that I was getting too warm. Since I wasn’t moving anymore and my clothes were damp, I became quite cold even though I was inside. I was shivering and put my jacket back on. I think that I learned an important lesson about long cold weather rides.
After lunch, I crossed the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge back into Missouri. This bridge was built in the 1920’s is now only open to bicycles and pedestrians. From there I headed south on the Riverfront trail. This took me almost to the Arch. My original plan had been to head west towards home but I needed to extend my ride to make it a full century. I decided that to continue south and follow the route that Maplewood Bicycle uses for their Tuesday night rides. I also decided that I would stop at Maplewood Bicycle to get my spoke fixed. Getting the spoke fixed took about 40 minutes. I still did not quite have 100 miles so I added an extra bit on my ride home from there.
Final stats
Distance 100.04 miles
Rolling time: 6:02
Clock time: 8:19
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Adventure with the Bicycle Archaeologists
I was headed to Maplewood Bicycle's Saturday morning ride. I got there a couple of minutes late and there was nobody there. Either the ride started exactly on time or the weather (upper 20's) scared everyone off.
On my way to the bike shop, I had seen a couple of riders headed perpendicular to my path. I turned around to see if I could catch them and join up with whatever they were up to. Fortunately, they hadn't made any turns so I was able to catch them in a mile or so.
When I reached them, I saw that they were both on nondescript mountain bikes with flat pedals. They both seemed to be older than me (I'm 40). I asked them what they were up to and if I could join them. They introduced themselves as Dave and Rand and described themselves as bicycle archaeologists. They were on their way to do a bicycle tour of Sunset Hills. They had a book about Historic sites in Sunset Hills and an itinerary that was actually designed as a driving tour. They graciously allowed me to join up with them but warned me that they would be going slow. I didn't mind that, I thought that it would be more fun to do a slow ride with other people than a fast ride by myself.
Since my office is in Sunset Hills, the first part of the ride followed my daily commute. I was able to show them a couple of tricks that I use to avoid some of the busier streets. I was also able to help them find the starting point of the tour. They had turning directions, but no map. I was glad that I could help out since I was a stowaway on the ride.
The tour was pretty interesting. At one point we stopped to look at a house that was built around a log cabin. There wasn't really anything to see from the outside. As we were looking, the owner came out. One of the people I was with asked him if there really was a log cabin inside. He told us that there was but there were only a couple of places that you could tell. He then invited us in to show them to us. I was really amazed at how friendly he was to us, three total strangers. I can’t help but think that if we had arrived by car he might have been a little more defensive.
We saw some other interesting sights on the tour. Apparently they do these tours every weekend. We ended up cutting the tour short because we all had commitments for later that day. Before we parted ways, Dave mentioned that he was a major investor in a Saint Louis tourist attraction (I’m not mentioning which one so that I don’t reveal Dave’s identity). He gave me a free pass for my family and me.
When I got home and told the story of my adventure to my wife she asked, “Can you just go up to any group of people and join them while they are riding?” I thought about it for a while and said, “You can always ask, and I imagine most people are going to say yes.” I think that’s one of the neat things about bicycling. You can easily meet other people and talk to them. You can’t just casually start talking to people in cars. My day certainly did not turn out like I planned, but what happened was a lot more interesting.
On my way to the bike shop, I had seen a couple of riders headed perpendicular to my path. I turned around to see if I could catch them and join up with whatever they were up to. Fortunately, they hadn't made any turns so I was able to catch them in a mile or so.
When I reached them, I saw that they were both on nondescript mountain bikes with flat pedals. They both seemed to be older than me (I'm 40). I asked them what they were up to and if I could join them. They introduced themselves as Dave and Rand and described themselves as bicycle archaeologists. They were on their way to do a bicycle tour of Sunset Hills. They had a book about Historic sites in Sunset Hills and an itinerary that was actually designed as a driving tour. They graciously allowed me to join up with them but warned me that they would be going slow. I didn't mind that, I thought that it would be more fun to do a slow ride with other people than a fast ride by myself.
Since my office is in Sunset Hills, the first part of the ride followed my daily commute. I was able to show them a couple of tricks that I use to avoid some of the busier streets. I was also able to help them find the starting point of the tour. They had turning directions, but no map. I was glad that I could help out since I was a stowaway on the ride.
The tour was pretty interesting. At one point we stopped to look at a house that was built around a log cabin. There wasn't really anything to see from the outside. As we were looking, the owner came out. One of the people I was with asked him if there really was a log cabin inside. He told us that there was but there were only a couple of places that you could tell. He then invited us in to show them to us. I was really amazed at how friendly he was to us, three total strangers. I can’t help but think that if we had arrived by car he might have been a little more defensive.
We saw some other interesting sights on the tour. Apparently they do these tours every weekend. We ended up cutting the tour short because we all had commitments for later that day. Before we parted ways, Dave mentioned that he was a major investor in a Saint Louis tourist attraction (I’m not mentioning which one so that I don’t reveal Dave’s identity). He gave me a free pass for my family and me.
When I got home and told the story of my adventure to my wife she asked, “Can you just go up to any group of people and join them while they are riding?” I thought about it for a while and said, “You can always ask, and I imagine most people are going to say yes.” I think that’s one of the neat things about bicycling. You can easily meet other people and talk to them. You can’t just casually start talking to people in cars. My day certainly did not turn out like I planned, but what happened was a lot more interesting.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Goals for 2007
A century a month.
Finish a 200K Brevet
Finish a 300K Brevet
At least start a 400K Brevet
If I finish the 400K, attempt a 600K Brevet.
Finish a 200K Brevet
Finish a 300K Brevet
At least start a 400K Brevet
If I finish the 400K, attempt a 600K Brevet.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
MS-150
I rode the MS-150 this past weekend a had a great time. The volunteers really go all out to make sure that the riders have a good time. I did the century route on both days. My wheel sensor was not working so I don't know the rolling time, but the clock time for the centuries was 6:00 the first day and 7:35 the second day.
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