In Rhythm (Accotink/CCT)

Anyone who has competed in sports, played an instrument, gave a presentation, or most other acts of concentration have felt what the phrase "being in rhythm" means.  It's when the subconscious drives the outcome and the conscious takes a back seat.  In biking, for me that means forgetting your cadence and speed, forgetting how far I need to go, forgetting about the bike and imagining you are flying through the woods, and being eerily aware of everything around you.

I reached this state during the second lap of my ride this evening.around Accotink.  I was aware of the deer, the trail bends, the leaves falling, and the rider coming at me from around a tight turn.  Unfortunately, he wasn't in the same state ... BONK!  OOOF!  Fortunately, the BONK was his bike hitting the tree to avoid me, and the OOOF was him one-upping the bike's impact on the tree.  Yea buddy, how about taking the turn a little wider next time?

It was a good ride, 2 hrs 16 min's for 34.8 miles.  The first loop was 1hr 7min's, second was 1hr 9min's.  It's getting dark pretty early nowadays, so thankfully I brought the light.  If I had not had the light, that would have been a very interesting ride through the path out to Pickett Road.  It was dead dark back there.

This was a good training run for jumping forward to Nov 20 or 27. Those are the weekends I'm thinking about  riding the 184 mile C&O Canal (now in 2 days).  4.5 hours for 70 miles, plus another 1hr 15 min's totaling about 6+ hours of riding time each day.

Life is more interesting with goals and challenges.

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Blue Ridge Mountain Road - Sept 7, 2010

On Saturday I set off with a work buddy to tackle the Blue Ridge Mountain Road out near Middleburg.  I rode this ride ~17 years ago and loved it.  However, back then I did strain a knee tendon that put me off biking for almost 1 year.  Needless to say, I've been tentative about tackling this ride again.

Conquering my fears, but not my anxieties I set off again Saturday.  I didn't sleep well the night before knowing this challenge was ahead.  I picked up my buddy around 9:30am and off to Middleburg we went.

The ride hasn't changed much from what I can tell.  I came close to following the same roads as last time.  Winding, hilly country roads with very little traffic.  It's beautiful scenery if you aren't struggling too much to appreciate it.

The introductory incline begins on Snickersville Road as a lead-in to the Blue Ridge Mountain Road.  Great Country Roads Farm is here which is a great place to bring the kids.  My first pain point of the ride occurred on this intro-hill but surprisingly it was the right knee.  It's always the left knee, why the right?

My buddy was commenting on just how tough that hill was, and I indicated that wasn't even the big hill.  A quick jog on Rt 17 and Blue Ridge Mountain Road was on the left side.  All my anticipation was that I was going to get a kink in my neck looking up to the top of the road, but it wasn't quite as steep as I remember.  Nonetheless, it's a formidable climb.  Bring on 1st gear and let the legs start churning!

It's probably around a 30 minute climb from Snickersville up to the first apex of BRM Road.  I don't know how those Tour de France guys can do 116 miles through the Pyrennes.

The top is more rolling hills which at this point in the ride I'm really tired of seeing.  It was somewhat disheartening everytime you turn the corner and see another decent climb in front of you.

On the way down, we reached 45 mph on a thin winding country road.  Now that almost got my shorts dirty.  That's pretty damn fast for me and especially to turn the bike with a crosswind.  You feel like any little bump will send you flying through the air.  Near the bottom the descent, I see a 15mph sign for a turn.  I look down and I'm doing 42mph ... I'm thinking to myself, "This is not my comfort zone."

The rest of the ride was beautiful country gazing while fighting a head wind along Atoka Road.  Overall, a great ride that I'll consider doing a 3rd time.

Miles to you,

K-Lance

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CAAD10 Maiden Voyage - Oct 4, 2010

The maiden voyage of the 2011 Cannondale CAAD10 resulted in the easiest 52 miles that I have ever traveled.  Dan Wolfe and I set out on the W&OD trail Saturday morning and rode from Gallows Road out to Leesburg and back.  I simply couldn't believe how effortless the ride was.  Less than 2 1/2 hours duration with a few short stops.

I feel very confident of making the Seagull Century which is this coming Saturday.  Weather is predicted to be 71 degrees, sunny, with winds from the NE at 8mph.  

On a sad note, I listed my 1996 Cannondale m700 on Craigslist.  That bike has taken me thousands of miles, but now I suspect it will get little travel as all my path riding will be on the Cannondale Super V-500.

Many miles ahead,

K-Lance

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Seagull Century October 2010

Dan Wolfe and I set out Friday after another slow day at work for Salisbury MD. Traffic was horrible but we started getting excited seeing bikes on other cars starting around the Bay Bridge. In fact, I told Dan to stop next to one guy in the stop/go traffic and ask if he was going to Seagull. He was, and then he asked us if we had $2.50 for the toll. He had no cash. Being fellow bike riders, we coughed up the $2.50 and told him we would be looking for him during the ride. Note: We are still out our $2.50.

We stayed at the Salvation Army. Dan slept in his van (why? ask him.) and I stayed inside the gymnasium. It was comfortable, but as usual there were 2 guys having a wood sawing competition. For all you snorers out there, stay the hell out of public sleeping arrangements. We got up around 7am and rode over to the starting line. A quick breakfast and we were on our way. This was a rolling start event, so whenever you showed up you could start.

There were over 8000 riders this years. Bikes were everywhere. It was pretty neat. This is my first experience with a biking event and I found it very fun to be riding through country roads with all those people. This was only my 2nd ride on my Cannondale CAAD10 so I'm still feeling out the bike. For some reason, I thought that a 20mph average was a good way to start a 100 mile race.

It wasn't long before I jumped in the draft lines of the faster riders. Through 50 miles, I think my average speed was close to 25mph. This sounds harder than it really is, unless you're the poor guy at the front. I avoided the front of the draft lines most of the day, but did take a few turns up there. It's not something I will continue to aspire to do.

I blew through the first rest stop at 20 miles, and only stopped briefly for gatorade at 40 and 60. 60 was the Assateague Island stop. I thought it was going to be a bit more scenic, take a walk on the sand, watch the surf. But no, back on the bike after eating a banana. I did see 2 horses.

At mile 66 I had my first thoughts of wanting to take a nap. This already exceeded my previous max distance of 63 miles. I still felt pretty good, keeping in draft lines, focusing on not crashing. Speaking of crashes, one girl got a free ride in an ambulance as she was pretty torn up on a crash. There were a handful of other wipe outs. There's an issue when you put rookie riders on small roads with 8000 people and fast draft lines. I feel fortunate not to have gone down or had any mechanical failures.

Then the ride started getting a little interesting. Miles 70-80 were getting hard. Mile 80 rest stop has apple pie and ice cream. I kept focusing on that thought while churning away. Staying with the faster draft lines (there weren't that many at this point) was mostly out of the equation. You started to see a lot more people sitting on the side of the road taking rests, and little voice in your head saying "join them".

I got to the rest stop and ate the apple pie and ice cream. This was a long stop, probably close to 25 minutes. Dan ended up getting to the rest stop and we hung out a short bit. People of all shapes, sizes and ages come rolling in. It's surprising to see so many different people capable of riding 80 miles. Good for them.

Getting back on the bike was difficult. For the next 5-6 miles I rode solo in a nasty headwind. In fact, the entire last 20 miles seemed to be nothing but upwind. It was a huge struggle to keep 15/16 mph on my own. I totally wanted to breakdown and stroll for 10mph. But the thought of taking 2 more hours for the last 20 miles wasn't appealing. Finishing this race was getting to be a very difficult physical and mental challenge.

I decided the only possible way of actually getting to the end was to get in a draft line. It was hard. A tandem bike came rolling past me and the thought occurred to me to ask the lady in back if she wanted my bike and I could jump on the back with her husband .. ha ha. I sucked it up and didn't leave their back wheel for several miles. We had to stop at a stop light and rolled up next to them. I said, "I hope you don't mind, but I need you to get me to the finish line otherwise I'm not making it." The lady said, "Sure, c'mon .. we'll finish together. We're almost there."

Sure enough, time seemed to stop while continuing to ride by more people sitting at the side of the road we did eventually get to the finish line. I thanked them wholeheartedly. I was so excited crossing the finish line with people cheering on. 100 miles is a really long ways.

Despite this being the toughest physical and mental challenge that I can recall, I expect to be back next year and try it again. I'll be encouraging Michelle to join me, along with the rest of you bikers (Eric, Hamp, Mike, Danny) to join in the "fun".

My next challenge is the 184 mile C&O Canal ride from Cumberland to DC (over 3 days w/camping). Anyone interested?

Many more miles ahead,

K-Lance

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"I got Winded" 10/21/2010

In preparation for the C&O canal ride, I set off for another regular loop around Accotink and Wakefield Park last night. Perhaps the overly aggressive approach towards this ride stemmed from my lovely day at the office. Last night I felt pretty good mentally when done, but physically I was kinda hurting.

The ride was 17.55 miles in 1hr 6mins and was pretty much a complete sprint. These things always seem like a good idea at the time, with penalties coming later. Fortunately nothing hurt, but dang I was tired and winded. It was a chore to put a beat down on Michelle at the ping pong table last night after the ride.

I hope everyone is training for the ride. Maybe a longer ride this weekend is in order???

Many miles ahead,

K-Lance

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