Thursday Thoughts ~~ State of the Bicycle in North Georgia

Cycling Friends, I stand before you to inform on the condition of the Bicycle in North Georgia.  By this, I do not mean any particular, physical bicycle, but rather, the very idea of cycling and things related.

We have made great progress in the last quarter century.  There is much yet to be done.

Twenty five years ago, a lone adult, riding a bicycle in Fayette County stood a better than one in four chance of being stopped and questioned by police.  At that time, our local motorists were largely ignorant of us, and frequently hostile to us.  Roads were, to put it mildly, extremely unfriendly. It is likely that the overwhelming majority of our local population had no idea what a triathlon was.  There were bright spots, but they were few and widely separated.

Since then, many things have happened.  Advocacy organizations and efforts have arisen.  The Silver Comet Trail has been built and enjoys wide usage.  There are businesses in our community, whose specific function is to serve cyclists.

Now, even in the Winter, cyclists are a fairly common sight on our roads.  It is even possible to see the occasional utility rider, going to work, or to the shopping centers.

There is a strong triathlon club here, and it promotes two very large, very high quality events each year.

Organized cycling events have come into existence and thrived all over the state.

We have a new and vibrant club to connect us, and to promote our causes.

There is signage around the county, reminding both motorists and cyclists to “Share the Road.”  (We should note, that means “Share the Road.”)  It is even possible to find the occasional bit of bike lane here and there.

These strides and advances have come from the efforts of many people.  Many of you have worked long and hard, gone to meetings, written letters, read masses of reports, and (most importantly) invited others to share our two wheeled passion.

Let’s all keep it up.  Bring a friend out to a ride.  Help someone get started.  Invite folks to join the club.  Wave to a motorist and give them a smile.  Strive to be ambassadors for our sport.

Ride like your life depended on it.

Happy New Year!

Integration and Base:

Those two terms seem to be some of the most widely misunderstood in cycling.  They are companions.  If you regard yourself as one who “trains,” whether for actual formal racing, endurance events, or simply for the joy of maintaining and increasing fitness, then you need to understand both of them.

Integration Rides:  First off we’re making the assumption that you are doing several highly focused, targeted training sessions per week.  These could be gym strength training sessions, Spin Classes, or skill drills.  Each of these activities works on a very specific area of your riding.  The “Integration Rides,” are those long, slow rides that allow the specific training to “blend” and become a smooth part of your overall riding.  This is where you consciously note that your spin work is taking place, and you allow it to do so.  It is on these rides that your skills work begins to connect with the strength training, and with the form work.  It takes time, and it works best at low effort levels.

Base Riding:  This is a long slow ride.  These efforts are where we stimulate the body to burn fat.  These are also the efforts that stimulate the development of deep capillary beds in the working muscle tissue.  We’re building a different kind of muscle on these.  We’re teaching the body to recruit muscle fiber deep within the working muscle groups.

This can only be done by spending time on the bike.  Lots of time.  And the time must be spent at very low aerobic levels.  “Ride so slow it makes the snails yawn.”  Time is of the essence here, but not in a hurried sense.  These efforts should be at, or below 75% of anaerobic threshold.  And they need to be long.  Three hours is about the minimum duration for base riding.

Please note, in any hour of base work, if a rider spends even two minutes at or above 80% of AT, then that hour is completely wasted as base building.

Why bother?  Base is where speed comes from.  If you want to ride fast, then you must spend a lot of time riding slow.

So Base Work and Integration Work go hand in hand.  What’s more, Winter is about the ideal time to do these things.  It’s good, contemplative, zen type work.  Breath.  Pedal.  Meditate.  Enjoy.

Winter Training ~~ Perspective

We humans are designed to function in scarcity.  We are adapted to constantly seek food, to constantly move.  We are beautifully made to do this.  We are constantly hungry, and we have finely honed tastes for sweets, fats, and salts.  For the majority of our species’ existence, these traits have stood us in good stead.  We don’t do so well in plentiful environments.

Our bodies feel the pull of the seasons, on a deep level.  Our bodies know that Summer is plentiful, but that it ends.  There is some kind of tendency to eat heavily, to store fat in the fall, against the coming Winter.  The shorter days tell us to become less active, to conserve energy.  The time of cold and scarcity is at hand.  It is not accidental that we celebrate holidays full of eating in the late fall.  It is no accident that we feel less inclined to become vigorously active, that we want to sleep more.

At the same time, it is possible to use these inherent traits to our advantage.  Now that Winter is upon us, we are tuned to eat less.  Habit argues against this, but this is a time when decreased intake makes sense.  Our bodies are ready to take in less food.  Likewise, the hunter part of our ancestry is waking.  We are ready to start the long chase for food.

If we work with these almost instinctual tendencies, we can make great strides.  In the early winter, the hunt is close to the home.  So, at this time we work in shorter intervals, and with greater bursts of effort.  This begins the process of building endurance.  Endurance needed for the later, longer hunts.  And just so, as Winter lengthens, and the days begin to grow longer, we too must gradually increase the amount of effort, while decreasing the number and duration of those high power bursts.

A subsistence hunter hunts best when a little hungry.  We don’t try to starve ourselves, but we do decrease the amount of food we take in.  We do it carefully.  At this time of the year, strong green vegetables, and fresh fruits make a huge mental difference.  More, they are exactly what we need most.  Use protein carefully.  Don’t overdo it, but do eat some protein soon after workouts.  It’s essential to repair and replenish the muscles.  It’s also essential to replace workout calories quickly.

Moderation is the key here.  Do work with moderate amounts of intensity to build endurance.  Do integration work of moderate duration to build base.  Eat in moderation.  Get outside as often as possible.  Move.

Penance Ride ~ On Friday!!

This one is a challenge.  It’s not necessarily about how fast we do it.  It’s about doing it at all.

This is one of my favorite rides.  It has character.  It’s not difficult to navigate.  It’s good to go visit the “mountain to the south” in the Winter.  We should let each other know that we still care.

To begin with, most of us have not been riding as much as we would ordinarily.  We let the lack of daylight, the cold, the rain, and holiday distractions stop us.  It hardly matters who we are.  It seems that no one escapes the “Bermuda Triangle.”  We are not talking about disappearing ships here, but rather the triangle formed by Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/New Year.  It’s a terrifically hard time to stay focused and motivated.  And often cyclists fall into it and disappear.

We eat too much.  We skip workouts.  Next thing we know, we’re overweight and feeling tired all the time.

Still, we aren’t “Pros.”  We are avid enthusiasts.  We ride for many reasons.  Some of us take it seriously enough to call it “training.”  But we ride and we work out.  So we will accept the challenge of a long Winter Ride.  It’s a sort of declaration.  We ride and say, to ourselves and the world,  “I am here!  I am still here.  I will always be here!”

The Penance 100+ starts at 08:00.  We will have a guarantee of usable daylight until at least 17:00.  Sunset will be at 17:42, and civil twilight will end at 18:09.  But remember, if it’s cloudy, we could lose our light earlier.  (I’d bring some kind of light, just in case…)  So plan on a day ending at 17:00.  That means we will have, at least, nine hours in which to get this done. 

The full length of the long loop is 108 miles. So an overall average of 12 mph gets it done in nine hours.  If we assume an hour and a half of stopping time, then a rolling average of 14.4 mph is necessary for the 5:00 PM finish.

Set your conditions:  Decide what you will ride in, in advance.  Set clothing and equipment aside.  Get up on the day, and make the final decision then.  Vow to yourself that you will go, if the weather is inside your pre-set conditions.  Then come out and do it!

Best Advice for the day:  While we care about you, the nature of this ride is pretty individual. 

• If you want company, be prepared to compromise on riding style a bit.
• Stay inside yourself.  This is not a day to establish a “PR.”  Take it easier and enjoy the ride.  By the time you reach Greenville (approx 33 miles in) you will know whether the full 108 miles is in the cards for you.  If not, there is no disgrace in making the turn and doing a bit over a “metric century.”
• Have a bail out plan.  Let someone know where you will be going, and about when to expect you back.  Pre-arrange for an emergency pickup.
• Ride to have fun.

Current Weather Outlook:  Temp around 35 at ride time, with a high near 45.  Cloudy, with only a 20% rainchance.

Want a cue sheet in advance?  I will be doing a cue sheet email on Wednesday.  If you want to receive the cuesheet by email, contact me at the.road.dragon@gmail.com and let me know.  I’ll put you on the distribution list.

Friday Follies ~ The Bike & the Sled

In a lot of ways the mountainous part of Virginia was a great place to grow up. It was incredibly beautiful, wonderfully hilly, and we had winter.

We had the kind of Winters that kids dream of. It snowed often, and a lot at a time. Often, on the back side of those snowstorms, we would have a terrific arctic high front come through. The air would get crystal clear, and the temp would drop through the floor. All this made for some terrific sledding and snow play.

We were inventive. We had sleds, and a few kids had honest to goodness toboggans. But there were some amazing improvised snow things too. Two of the most popular items belonged to two different guys. One had this huge truck inner tube. Inflated the thing was about eight feet in diameter. A mob of kids could get on it and push it over the side of our favorite sledding hills. There was no steering it. It would rotate as it went down. It also went fast.

Another improvised item was an old steel advertising sign. It had been an advert for a bottled soft drink. The thing was dished. Imagine a kid’s snow saucer, but imagine it being ten feet across.

It’s a wonder any of us survived.

However, it didn’t always snow enough to satisfy us. Sometimes it would just get cold and stay that way, but with no snow on the ground. About then, fertile minds would get active. Remember that. We’ll come back to it.

On our property, near the house, was a pond of about three acres. It would freeze hard. We would go out there and skate. Somewhere along the line, I got the idea to try riding my bike on the pond. The initial results were pretty much predictable. But with practice, I actually got fairly good at it. I could get going, and then start to steer. The bike would skid. I’d drop a foot and slide with it. It was fun.

Not far from where I lived, was a neighborhood shaped like a circle. It was possible to access every house from either end of the circle. The residents decided to do something fun for the kids. They ran a hose outside and allowed it to soak the hill in the middle of the circle. Soon the entire street was a long, steep sheet of ice.

We could take our sleds and go ripping down that ice hill. It wasn’t particularly dangerous, as the hill tipped back up, and it wasn’t curved. We’d hit the bottom at great speed, but then we’d be going uphill again, and slow to a safe speed for dismount.

Actually, a sled wasn’t even necessary. It was possible to run at the ice from the top and flop down on your belly and slide. Much crazy fun!

You can probably see it coming. I don’t remember just whose idea it was, but someone suggested that I try my ice-bike trick on the hill. I went home, got the bike, and returned.

The first time I tried to go down the hill, I just slid out, and fell over. The bike and I slid harmlessly down together, side by side. I walked back up the side of the road (where the ice wasn’t) and tried it again. Similar results. I don’t know why, but it occurred to me that I needed some speed before I hit the ice. I started on the back side of the hill, got going, and went onto the slick.

The bike wobbled under me, but I corrected. Another partial skid, and another correction. So far so good. Time for the slide. I hit the coaster brake and dropped a foot as the bike slid. That worked, but then the bike found traction on a thinner part of the icy street. It stopped! I went over the top, and found myself sliding down the hill, head first, on my back, the wind knocked out of me. I cam to rest in some shrubbery near the bottom of the hill. The bike slid slowly down after me.

A horrified parent had witnessed the attempt. The hill was salted, and that was the end of the ice sledding. Probably a good thing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

Thursday Thoughts ~~ Christmas Bikes:

I never received a bike for Christmas.

That’s probably just as well. As a kid I lived w here we had Winter. I mean honest to goodness, freezing yer britches off, snow and sleet, howling winter. It would have been torture to have a new shiny bike, and not be able to ride it. (In those days I had no idea how to ride in the Winter.)

Over the years, I have given several Christmas Bikes. Each and every one of them brought me tremendous joy. I got to see the delighted smiles, and the hyperventilation that went along with receiving those bikes. I watched them being used, both on that day, and after. It’s been gratifying.

I’ve also given several Christmas Bikes to folks who never saw me, or knew me. Those were special too. I never knew what became of them. I picture them in my mind’s eye. Did that kid shout with glee? Where his parents made happy by that gift? I hope so.

One of the absolute best goes back to a time when I was a lot younger. My friends and I were going through some pretty tough times, and money was scarce. We knew of a family in town who needed a lot more than we did.

We pooled resources. Then we organized. We hit a couple of stores up for donations. We did a lot of very careful shopping. A couple of our ladies got busy in the kitchens, baking and cooking. Breads, meat loaf, a huge bucket of spaghetti, pies, almost a month’s food of one type or another emerged.

We found the bike. It wasn’t much. I took it apart and started the cleaning process. One of the group sanded the frame and painted it. Several of us worked at replacing parts and getting it all working well.

Christmas Eve came. We gathered food and packages. We waited until around ten o’clock at night. We drove to within a block of the house and stopped. We went the rest of the way on cat feet. We put the bike, adorned with a big red bow, the other presents, and the food packages, on the porch. We rang the bell and ran.

I hope that those people had half as much joy from that as we did.

About Hills in the Cold:

It’s interesting. Cold weather changes our attitude toward hills. Suddenly it’s good to climb. Really good. It means we’re moving slower, but making more heat. We warm up on climbs.

Conversely, descents start to become a thing to be dreaded. We aren’t making any power, so we start to cool down. Add in wind chill and it gets wicked. The best strategy for cold weather descending? Intuitively, we reach for the brakes to reduce speed and decrease the chill. Wrong! Tuck into a tight aero position and go for it! This gets the descent over with faster, and even though the speed is greater, the time of chilling is reduced. You lose less heat by descending more quickly.

This is a time to devote more effort to hill work. It’s doubly rewarding. The hill repeats make us stronger, and the hills warm us. Nice.

I might at, this is a great time to ride a fixed gear bike. Fixie riders have to work going down hill, often harder than on the climb.

Remember, open vents before climbing. Don’t let the increase in body temp make you sweat. Then close them before you crest the hill, so that you retain heat on the descent.

It’s an odd thing. On the flats, we could just pick the pace up and get warmer, but not as much as climbing. The conclusion is inescapable, Winter riding will make you a better climber.

Ride Report ~ Christmas Lights Road Ride

Samhain is ended. Solstice bells ring. Winter has begun. Lights and wreaths mark the entrance to the season. Christmas is close at hand. A crystal sky, with a slowly lowering waxing moon, crisp cold air, stars sharp and clear, this was the night we had for the Christmas Lights Road ride.

What a near perfect ride! Present were (in no particular order) Jim, Dan, Chris, Lisa, Kelvin, Bob, Doug, and your humble correspondent. High spirits and good cheer abounded. We laughed, joked, pedaled, and rode into the night. The lights were glorious. The company was great. The temp was cold, but not too cold. We kept the pace brisk enough to stay warm, and low enough to keep the group together.

I have to remark, that for all the high spirits and high jinks, the group behaved well, and kept good discipline and good safety practices. Bravo!

We dealt with traffic challenges, more than a few hills (some terrifically steep), and managed to enjoy sights. No one crashed, although one of our group did manage to make an off course excursion into a bush. The most prevalent sound I heard along the way was laughter.

Lads and ladies, I would gladly ride with any of you again, at any time!

Specifics? We rode out of Peachtree City along Spear Rd, out Ebinezer Church, and then via Lester and Old Norton. We made the perilous trek up Sandy Creek Rd, and toured the two spectacular drive through displays out there. I might add, this close to Christmas, there were a lot of motoring sight seers out. We got almost as much attention as did the displays. Folks just do not know what to make of a group of happy, fit cyclists, out at night. We snuck back into town the back way, via the half mile of dirt road on Crabapple, and then did a tour of the lights on the north end of town.

In all, we were out for a bit more than two hours, and it was simply great! Without a doubt, this was the best of these I have ever done. If you weren’t along, you missed a truly great ride. Those of you who where there, thank you for helping to make great memories.

Greet Winter ~ It’s a great time to ride!

It’s officially Winter! I just about haven’t seen cyclists since Thanksgiving. Why?

Before I go further, a personal disclosure is in order. I don’t like Winter. I love warm weather. I love sunshine. I actually enjoy riding in the rain… If it’s warm rain! I resent having to suit up like a Navy hard-hat diver to go for a bike ride. (For a hint about that reference see the movie Men of Honor.) I like the carefree, let’s just go and ride type of weather.

• You know..? I wrote the above before I went out riding on Sunday. It’s interesting. I saw a fair number of folks on bikes. There was the crowd of about 30 race-kit wearing roadies, who blew the stop sign on Lees Mill road and then packed up and blocked a lane and a half of the road. (Shame on all of you!) There were a fair number of singletons and a few triathletes south of PTC in the afternoon Sunshine. But the one who most impressed me was the man I met over at the Pavilion shopping center. He wasn’t in bike clothes, and the bike wasn’t much to look at, but he had ridden there to do the incidental grocery shopping. Bravo!

Having said all that, let’s make a bit of a case for riding in Winter. First off, the air carries a lot less junk than in the warmer months. (This goes a long way to make up for the constant runny nose that attends cold weather riding.) Winter days have their charm about them. Once the holidays are past us, there is a lot less traffic on the roads. There is a great sense of accomplishment to be had from going out and riding when others won’t.

Besides, we don’t have it all that bad here. Yes it gets cool, and yes we are having one mean and nasty wet Winter. It’s still ridable. We are not faced with the challenges that northern tier riders contend with. I honestly do not have a clue how to survive a Chicago Winter on a bike, but I know it is done.

The basic secret is layering and the judicious use of chemical hand and foot warmers. Add to that a little old fashioned gumption, and you are ready to go.

Do consider this, it’s easier to do a short ride than a longer one. For the first couple of hours the cold doesn’t really get to you, and you are making a significant amount of heat. It takes a while before the chilly fingers start to nibble at your toes and fingers.

Try it. For that matter, try it tonight... On the Christmas Lights Road Ride.

You might make a happy discovery.

Friday Follies ~~ Lost

I am not someone who gets lost. Not usually.

As a little kid it just never happened. I roamed the countryside around our home, across farms and through the woods. I always knew where home was.

It took two things to introduce me to “getting lost.” First, we moved to the city. Then I was given my first “real” bicycle.

I still knew where home was. The problem was, I could get to places where the roads didn’t go where I wanted them to. At the same time, I would wander off and explore, not paying much attention to how I had gotten to where I was. Suddenly I would realize that, while I still knew where home was, I didn’t know how to get there. There would be obstacles between me and the direct route home. Usually, this wasn’t that big a problem. With time, I’d work it out.

There was a strict rule in my mother’s house. We simply had to be home in time for dinner. The consequences of being late for dinner were not to be considered. It happened several times, and I got in increasingly more trouble each time. My father was a real pragmatist. He gave me a wristwatch. “You know how to read this thing,” Dad said. “I suggest that, after four o’clock,” you start heading for home.” That worked for a while.

Then there was the Saturday afternoon when I managed to get really well and truly lost. I’d been out on the bike, wandering around, exploring and having a great time. I became aware that it was getting on in the afternoon. I should be getting back toward home. Of course I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to how I’d gotten to where I was.

I made a discovery. No matter where I went, the roads didn’t work to get me home. There was a railroad and a river in the way. I’d get so far toward where I wanted to go, and the roads would stop going in the right direction. It was frustrating, and starting to verge on scary.

I suppose I could have asked directions, but I’d been indoctrinated with a strict, “don’t ever talk to strangers” rule.

It was getting late, and dark. I was going to be in trouble. Then I saw a policeman, walking a beat. (That used to happen in those days.) I had conflicting emotions. I’d had a lot of teaching that said, “policemen are our friends.” This had come from my mother, and in school. But I’d also had some conflicting information.

I’d been around my grandfather a lot. He was an interesting character, a completely un-reconstructed individualist. He didn’t like police. That was putting it mildly. Then too, if police were such nice guys, how come my parents reacted the way they did? They would be driving, and there would be the, “Lookout! There’s a cop!” moment. I didn’t realize that both of them were habitual speed offenders.

So seeing a policeman gave me a conflicting set of emotions. But I needed help. The fear of being late for dinner was bigger than the vague unease I had around policemen. I stopped and addressed the cop. “Sir, could you tell me how to get home?”

He seemed like a very stern individual. There was some conversation about where I lived. Then he asked me a question I would hear a lot in the years to come. “How did you get here? Do you know how far away you are?”

I explained that I’d been riding my bike. He looked at me oddly. (That would happen a lot in the years ahead too.) Then he said, “It’s okay, son. We’ll get you taken care of.” We walked down the block to a call box. He unlocked the box, and there was a phone in it. He called his station. Then we waited. Turned out that I was over ten miles away from home.

After a while a large police car appeared. My bike and I were loaded into the car and driven home. This was noticed when I arrived. Then too, the police talked with my parents.

I caught holy hell. I’d been late for dinner. That was compounded by being driven home by the cops.

Much later, after the dust settled, Dad came to me and said, “Steve. Get a map. They are cheap. Carry it with you. It will keep you out of trouble.” Wow! New concept.

I could carry a map with me!

It wasn’t the last time I was late for dinner, or the last time I got lost. But the map, along with the bike, opened up a lot more of the world to me. Call it a learning experience.

Thursday Thoughts ~~ One Week until Christmas!

Procrastinators of the world rejoice! You have another five days to put it off!

I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas. I have to say, even with the exceedingly wet year we are having, I much prefer it to snow. Thankfully, we have about a 2% chance of having snow on the ground on Christmas day. From my viewpoint, the whole white Christmas thing is grossly over-rated.

I was born in an area where snow is common all Winter long. I’ve had more than my share of it. I’ve lived and worked in the north-eastern part of this wonderful country. Trust me on this one. Here is better.

Somehow the romance of the white stuff wears off when you have to shovel yourself out to get to work. And often, you just complete the task when the plows come along and throw a huge ice dam across your driveway. I don’t miss that

Ice in the driveline. Not just ice, but slushy mush, mixed with caustic and corrosive chemicals, re-freezing in the chain and cogs, making shifting difficult, and damaging components. The task of cleaning that toxic, frigid, spooge out of the driveline, and off of the bike. Freewheels that are literally frozen and locked. Deciding that, “I’d really rather not ride this morning in this miserable crud,” only to discover that the car simply will not start. Here is better.

I don’t miss a climate where winter riding is an insanely risky challenge, and rollers or trainers are about the only way to keep in shape.

Winter Training ~~ Temptations

There is a tendency to do too much intensity to “make up for” less volume. There is volume, and there is intensity. These things are not equal, and cannot be exchanged, one for the other. It’s hard to do volume in this season. Volume is a “time variable.” That means that you do more volume by spending more time on the bike. It’s not possible to spend more time on the bike, by spending less time on the bike working harder. It just doesn’t work. All that does is make you tired, and more prone to injury. There is also evidence that repeated, high intensity workouts, with insufficient rest and recovery intervals, can weaken the body’s immune systems. This is a time to do some very specific, targeted intensity work. But don’t over do it.

Just a few thoughts to keep in mind.

Fixed Gear Project ~~ A progress report

“How is all that fixed gear stuff going?”

I get that question a fair amount. One way to answer would be to say that my “stable” now includes two single speed bikes, and three fixed gear ones. I ride the singlespeeds regularly on weekly path rides.

I’ve found that regular riding on the fixies and SSs has improved my power development, increased my cadence, and taught me the meaning of humility.

Intangibles: That surge of immediate smooth acceleration. The kick of controlling a descent or deceleration or a descent with the legs. The silence. The simplicity.

I’ve done my commutes on a fixie. One of the benefits of that is the trip up “The Beast” on Flat Creek Trail. It’s humbling. But then too, when I can climb that thing, with my full commuting load, I know I’m getting into shape!

In short, my fixies and singlespeeds challenge me. They make me work harder. They give me joy. It’s working!

How to ride the Penance 100+

There are two basic ways to do this. Be honest with yourself and pick the one that works best for you.

Plan 1 ~ Go for it: If you have the fitness and the ability to ride a 5+ hour hilly century, this is for you. Your equipment. Dress lighter, you will make more heat from faster riding. But do pay attention to wind blocking layers.

Your strategy: Negative split.

Your Tactics: Use the first ten miles (from the start to crossing GA-16 in Senoia) as a warm up. For the next approximately five mile stretch, begin to raise your power output. Then, at the turn onto GA-85, it’s time to go to work. Fast and steady, but keep in mind it’s a long ride, stay comfortably below your “summer high cruise” rate. Take advantage of the long flats on GA-85 and then on GA-18. You should be able to make Pine mountain in two and a half to three hours.

Stop at the store in Pine Mountain. Catch your breath, eat, top up your bottles.

Re-warm as you do the approach climb up to GA-190 (on the spine of Pine Mountain), then go back to work. You get a terrific descent down the mountain into Warm Springs. An optional “nature break” in Warm Springs is a good consideration. Keep some power on as you complete the descent out of Wamr Springs, and then go to work on the rollers on GA-85.

It is coming up GA-85 where you can make some serious time, if you still have some “gas in the tank.”

Don’t even consider a stop in Gay. Keep going to Senoia. If you are low on water, or need food and warmth, a short stop in Senoia is possible. You are only about ten miles from the end.

Plan 2 ~ Get it Done: This is the more relaxed approach. You know you can do the century, but you also know you have nine good hours of daylight to do it in. A seven to eight hour pace is just about right for this. Remember, we all have to go to work on Monday.

Your Strategy: Energy conservation and efficiency.

Your tactics: A pleasant warm up pace for the first ten miles to Senoia. A possible “nature break” and clothing adjustment in Senoia. (Don’t stop for more than 10 minutes!)

It’s 39 miles from Senoia to Pine Mountain. Do this in one stretch. Plan to raise the output on Ga-85 to a faster cruise, but be prepared for the rollers on GA-362. You can increase speed again on GA-19. (After the turn at Harris City)

Full stop in Pine Mountain. Refill. Eat. Warm. Adjust clothing. The mountain awaits.

From the store in Pine Mountain, ride gently up the approach to GA-190 and then ride the spine of Pine Mountain at a conservative, fully aerobic pace. (There is a lot of climbing and descending on the top of the mountain.) Enjoy the descent into Warm Springs.

Consider well making a stop for a “nature break” in Warm Springs. The store in Gay has been problematic in the past. The next reliable (with indoor plumbing) stop is in Senoia, about 33 miles ahead.

Ride the rollers up GA-85 Alt and GA-85 in a conservative manner. Keep an eye on your time. Remember, it starts getting dark around 5:00 PM. Do make a stop in Senoia, if necessary. It’s only about another 10 miles from there back to the shop.

Notes on the Upcoming Penance 100+

It may be sick, but I really look forward to the annual Penance 100+. There’s something about getting up early on New Year’s Day, suiting up, and committing to doing a long, and somewhat challenging ride. Everyone is smiling. It’s like we all are sharing a secret. The secret isn’t all that deep. We’re going for a long bike ride. We’re capable of doing it. In the Winter. After the Holidays.

This ride goes rain or shine. There is no rain date. Do consider, there is no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing choices.

There is a shorter “bail out” option of about 65 miles. One could turn back even sooner. There have been years when we all turned and rode back about midway to Pine Mountain. It’s pretty flexible.

What you won’t find on this ride: Lots of organization. Staffed SAG stops. Road paint. Lots of traffic.

So plan to self-support and be flexible. Dress for the weather. Bring food with you. Load at least two water bottles. Bring some cash, but expect open stores to be few and far between. Usually there is a good store in the town of Pine Mountain, and another in Warm Springs. Store accommodations in Greenville and Gay have been pretty sketchy in the past.

Why do it? Bragging rights. Prove to yourself that you are still “here.” Sick Twisted fun.

Who will be there? Who knows? But we always have a fair number of die-hard folks out to do this one.

I don’t want to be left alone out there. Talk to somebody. Arrange to ride together. Be honest about your intentions and capabilities, and you will find someone to ride with. Remember, this is a ride where a bit slower often makes a lot of sense.

Looking farther ahead and farther away. Here’s one running in central Virginia in May. The area is nice cycling country, and the climate in Virginia is delightful in mid-spring. For information go to Http://www.cvbikefestival.com/

Tomorrow: A plan for riding the Penance 100+

Friday Follies ~~ Inventions and Intentions

The Louisiana delta country is about as flat as a floor. Sometimes that’s okay. If you hate hills, it’s like arriving in the Promised Land. If the date is 1962, and you’ve just found out about “sidewalk surfboards,” it can be deadly.

It was in the early sixties. Annette and Frankie were making beach movies. Those movies showed a lot of the California scene. One of the things featured in one of them was a new craze, an invention that would later come to be called “skateboards.”

Neal and Stan were kids in their very early teens. They saw the sidewalk surfers and were fascinated. A little invention and they had one. Simple. Take an old clamp on type shoe roller skate. Take the front and back apart. Hammer the edges flat. Nail the two resulting wheel trucks to the bottom of a chunk of scrap lumber. Presto!

The fist time Stan stepped on the thing it shot out from under him. Result? Simultaneous sprained wrists.

Experimentation and practice followed. Soon both boys could scoot around okay on the thing, but it got tame pretty quick. What to do? In Baton Rouge, LA there were only two locations with anything like pavement and hills. One was the state capitol grounds, the other was the sidewalk on the Mississippi river bridge.

The bridge, fortunately, was out of the question. There was no way a couple of 12 year olds could access the thing without the cooperation of an adult driver. But the capitol grounds worked pretty well… For a little while. Then the local police kicked them out.

Undaunted, the two boys looked for another way to satisfy their need for speed. They had both been water skiing. The idea occurred to them, why not tie a two rope to the back of a bicycle?

What followed was a series of physics lessons. Stan’s big old cruiser was drafted as the towing vehicle. (You knew there would be a bicycle in here somewhere. Right?)

At first things went well. The boys took turns pulling each other down the gently curving residential street. Faster and faster they went. Then, they took a turn. Stan was on the bike, Neal on the board. Stan turned left onto an intersecting street. Newton’s First Law took effect and Neal went a lot wider, at the end of the rope. The lateral force of the rope tugging against the bike’s seatpost caught Stan by surprise. The bike almost went out from under him. Stan turned toward Neal. The rope slacked. Neal went down. Hard.

After some impromptu first aid, the project was resumed. The boys learned to slow a bit before taking turns. That way the one on the board didn’t pull the bike over. It was fast and fun. Until…

Stan was on the board behind Neal. The two were cruising along. Neal signaled a right turn. Stan was ready and leaned out at the end of the rope, perforce taking the turn wider than the bike was. It was going well, until… There was an oncoming VW bug on the street they had just turned onto. The driver, seeing the oncoming duo, hit the brakes hard. Neal and the bike went to the right of the car. Stan, still hanging onto the rope, went to the left. The rope hit the windshield of the car. The bike stopped, but Neal didn’t. Stan was jerked right off the board and performed a perfect face-plant on the asphalt.

The two boys went home, battered and bleeding. Neither of them ever tried towing a skateboard behind a bike again.

Schwinn introduced the Stingray bike that summer. Neal got one for his birthday. Stan used the procedes from his paper route to buy a new “English Racer,” drop bar, five speed road bike. The boy’s courses diverged rapidly from that point. Neal went to LSU, graduated neat the bottom of his class and went into state politics. Stan studied engineering and landed a job with a chemical company. No one knows what happened to the driver of the bug.

Thursday Thoughts ~~ Why Join a Bike Club?

Some obvious benefits accrue to those who join up with a cycling organization. I work in a bike shop. There are some very common questions I am asked. Among these are, “Where can you ride around here?” and, “Are there any group rides that go on here?” and, “How do I find others who like to ride the way I do?” In almost every one of those cases, the answer can be, look to the club.

Clubs are interesting creations. It’s kind of like doing the social and party scene. If you want to go to parties, you have to throw one every now and then. Clubs provide a framework for just this sort of thing. Clubs also give a structure to the social aspect of our sport. It doesn’t matter how you like to ride, likely in a larger group of folks, you’ll find others who enjoy a similar riding style.

But there is more to it. There is strength in numbers. It’s time and past time for cyclists in our area to get organized. We have a lot to learn from each other, a lot to teach each other, and a lot to teach our neighbors. If we are to improve our lot, we need to band together and present a recognizable presence. A club is a sound way to do this.

As it happens, we are working hard to build just such an organization. There is much going on. Please go to the blog at

http://ptccyclingclub.blogspot.com/

to learn more, and check out the new club website at http://www.southsidecycling.com/

The website is under construction, but it is up, and more is happening each and every day. Consider it, and please do, consider joining us.

Nights Under Lights ~~ Ride Report

Sometimes being right stinks. I made the right call last night. I cancelled out on the “Nights Under Lights Ride.” It was raining, and it rained harder, and then harder still. It was the right call. It wasn’t the call I wanted to make. I wanted to go out and ride in the dark with some friends.

I will ride at night, and I will do it in the rain. But I’m not going to take unnecessary risks. Combine heavy rain, darkness, and a increased pre-holiday traffic, and you have a recipe for disaster. Sometimes you have to run away and live to fight another day.

We will try this again next month. In the mean time, this Sunday is the Novice Road Ride. It’s a daytime ride. If the temp is above 20 degrees F, I’m going. Rain or shine. I hope to see a lot of you there.

While I’m on the topic of future rides, conditions look good for Jim Grafmiller’s night ride this coming Thursday. You’ll find the details about this one on yesterday’s post. This sounds like a fun one, a great way to swing into the holiday season.

Holiday Stress? The Short Ride Cure

We’re having some weather this year. It’s not news that we’ve had a lot of rain, and it keeps coming in spurts and blasts. Add to this the annual and inevitable holiday stuff, parties, plays, dinners, pageants, recitals, concerts, meetings, shopping trips, etc. It can be stressful.

One really good stress reliever is… You guessed it! A bike ride!

The problem is fitting the ride into all the rest of that. How to do it? There are two secrets to this, change your mind, and prepare.

The mind change first. Many of you are fairly serious about your riding. You think of it as “training.” I urge you to remember what it was that got you into this in the first place. It’s fun! So think of the rides during this time of year as riding for recreation and fun. This simple mind shift allows one to accept shorter rides, and less structured ones. By the way, the word “recreation,” literally means to re-create one’s self.

Now for the preparation part. The thing of it is, we don’t always know just when we will be able to sneak a ride in. But if we are to be able to do it, we must be ready, at a moment’s notice, to seize that opportunity. The way to do this is to follow the Scout Motto. “Be Prepared!”

Start with the bike. If it needs service, get it done. Do it now. Don’t wait until you see that ride coming up. Get it ready and keep it that way.

Now go find your pump and put it right next to the bike. You want to be able to inflate your tires and go!

This season requires special clothing and equipment. Find your lights, charge them, and put them with the bike. The same goes for cold and wet weather riding clothing. Store them, the helmet, shoes, and other gear with the bike. The idea is, if you see an hour or more that is “ride-able” you can be riding in less than ten minutes.

Now go out and do it. Take it easy, or pound it, do what the spirit moves you to do. Do what is satisfying. I think you will find, as I have, that a short ride beats no ride. It’s refreshing. It clears the mind. It’s therapeutic. It’s fun.

Don’t worry about heart rate zones, or average speeds. Not that you need this, but if it helps, I give you my permission to leave your computer and HR monitor at home. But do take your watch. You will want to keep an eye on the time. Wouldn’t do to miss the big dinner at the sister-in-law’s, now would it?

Night Riding & Upcoming Rides

Remember, tomorrow evening is a Nights Under Lights Ride!

Look for a ride report on yesterday’s Dawn Patrol. It will be a feature in tomorrow’s Tome.

Upcoming Fun Stuff:

Nights Under Lights: Expect to be out for about an hour and a half. Terrain is moderate, and the pace will be intermediate. We’ll (mostly) avoid higher traffic areas. This is a good fun ride. Looking for an ulterior motive? Of course I have one. I’d like to convince you that you can ride in darkness. Maybe, just maybe a few more folks will consider commuting by bike.

As of this writing, the forecast for Tuesday night is kind of sketchy, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Christmas Lights Rides: There will be two different editions of these. There is only one date each. No “rain dates.” As long as it’s dry, we ride. If it rains… Well, there’s always next year.

Christmas Lights Road Ride: Mon, 21 Dec

We’ll go out on the road and ride to, and through some of the area’s more extravagant displays. It’s a group, night time, ride. Best if we plan to stay together as a group.

Start/Finish: Bicycles Unlimited

Start time: 7:00 PM (sharp)

Distance: approx 25 miles

Pace: Moderate. Group stays together.

Conditons: Any temp above 20 degrees F. No ride if raining.

Requirements: Helmets (of course), good head and tail lights, reflective gear, dress for weather.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS PATH RIDE: Come and ride around Peachtree City. We’ll get off the paths and into the neighborhoods to view some of the town’s better and more extravagant lighting displays.

Date: Wed, 23 Dec

Start/Finish: Bicycles Unlimited

Start time: 7:00 PM (sharp)

Distance: approx 15 miles

Pace: Easy. No drop policy

Conditions: Any temp above 20 degrees F. No ride if raining.

Requirements: Helmets and lights required. Dress for the weather.

Note: Expect to do some climbing this year.

Jim Grafmiller has a great one planned. Read below for details.

Heritage Christian Church is having a Holiday event called Dickens Village. They have decorated the campus to look like an old English village from Dec 9-13 6-9pm.

There will be a live manger scene, people dressed up in costume for the period, roaming carolers hot chocolate and popcorn, and at 7:30 they have a play in the auditorium that goes less than an hour, and it is all free.

Details:

Date: December 10 (Thursday)

Time: Ride starts at 6 PM on Dec. 10 (Thursday)

Start/Finish: Bicycles Unlimited in Peachtree City.

Route: We’ll do the 23 mile route with a stop at the church. The church is at the corner of Bernard and Redwine, and will stay for the play.

Requirements: Lights and helmets. No ride if raining.

Jim adds: This is a good way to get in the holiday spirit. There will be shops where you can purchase baked goods, candles, things that would be in that time period. I will bring a set of paniers and a backpack and help bring things home that people purchase. Riders may want to bring a bike with this in mind. Anybody interested can show up at Bicycles Unlimited at 6 on the 10th. Any questions email Jim at grafmillerj@bellsouth.net

Friday Follies ~~ How I invented mountain biking.

I’ve made this claim often. I usually follow it with a disclaimer. I think there were probably several million American boys and girls who did exactly the same thing, invented mountain biking, that is. The thing is, unlike those cool dudes on Mt. Tam, we didn’t know we had something with commercial potential.

It would be fair to say that I invented mountain biking almost as soon as I learned to ride.

My first bicycle learning experience was anything but pleasant. My parents decided that, at age six, I should have a bike. I already had a tricycle, and I loved it. I would zoom around on that thing, having a grand old time. So it was decided that, for my birthday, I would have a bike.

My father is, shall we say, frugal. He saw no reason to go out and buy the kid a new bike. He found a used kid’s bike somewhere. It was a tank. Heavy. It had solid rubber tires. Dad painted it, and… presto! …birthday present. Did I mention it didn’t have training wheels? That monster was my first bike. It would pass into family legend. For each of my siblings, that was the first bike. As each child in the family approached their sixth birthday, the old 18-inch clunker got a new coat of paint, and became the next kid’s “first bike.”

Shortly after I received the birthday bike, the family noticed something. I wasn’t riding it. Of course not. I didn’t have a clue how to do that, and the trike worked fine. Something had to be done.

“Do you want to learn to ride your bike?” Mom asked.

“Yes, Mom,” I replied. (No was never an acceptable answer to this kind of question.)

So, with much promotion, the day came when Dad was to teach me to ride the bike. We spent an extremely unpleasant eternity at this task. Dad would push me down the (unpaved!) driveway, shouting, “Pedal! Pedal!” Then he would let go. Then I would crash. On the gravel. Blood. Pain. Crying. Eventually, Mom interceded. She could not stand seeing her number one son being gradually reduced to ground meat.

The next tactic was to take the trike away. I never noticed it. The blue bike languished. Occasionally, I would use it as a toy in some kind of play. This did not involve attempting to ride the thing.

We lived in hilly country, on a farm. That’s important. The farm had a barn. It was an old style fore-bay barn. Stables below, on the ground floor, and an earthen equipment ramp up to the large doors on the second floor.

I don’t know what possessed me. There was a day when no adults were around. I dragged the bike up the equipment ramp. That ramp had a rise of maybe ten feet, over a run of something like 100 feet, for a slope of around 10%. To me it seemed like Everest. I backed the rear wheel of the bike up against the barn doors, climbed astride, and pushed off.

There was a moment when I thought I had made a serious error. For an instant, it was sheer terror. But then… Nothing bad happened. I went down the slope, and coasted to a stop. It was fun! I did it again.

Gradually, I learned to brake, and to steer. My next move was to try something a bit more challenging. I wanted a longer ride. So, instead of traveling straight, along the drive, I turned and exited our property, onto the gravel road that led up to it. That road went down hill too! And there I was, bucketing and bouncing along, traveling down that road. It seemed like breakneck speed, and I love it!

That was how my mother learned that I could ride. She was coming back from market, driving up the road, when we met. She almost hit me. (Mom never drove any slower than she had to.)

It would be a while before I learned to propel the bike with the pedals. Or rather, it would be a while before I felt any desire to do so. Going up hill on that thing was out of the question, and riding it on flat ground, on gravel, was absolutely not fun.

A couple of years passed. We moved to the city. I got another birthday bike. This was what I refer to as “my first real bike.” It was a Schwinn. It was a real cruiser beast. Gas tank. Headlight. Horn. Baskets. Balloon type 26” tires. Fire engine red. I loved it at once. It became my constant companion. I rode it everywhere, and had many adventures on it.

Now fast forward a few more years. The family had moved again. Back to the Shenandoah Valley. There wasn’t a flat in sight. The old Schwinn was relegated to paper route duty, but I didn’t use it that way for very long. I found other ways to acquire capital. The bike was retired to the basement to gather dust.

There was a lazy summer afternoon, with a couple of friends. We were poking around in the basement. We came across the old Schwinn. By this point it had lost the gas tank, fenders, light, and a lot of the luster.

I don’t remember how the idea was born, but someone said, “We could take our bikes up into the mountains and ride down the fire roads!”

The baskets came off. Tires were pumped. The rusty chain was oiled. The bike was tossed in the back of the pickup. We collected a couple of the other guy’s bikes, and off we went.

Again, there was that moment of sheer terror. I’d pushed off, and rapidly gathered more speed than I’d ever experienced on a bike before. Remember too, this thing had a coaster brake. And that was it! But I did manage to control the beast, and eventually, several miles later, rolled to a stop, unscathed, but greatly excited. My friends had followed. Then we pushed the bikes back up the hill. We managed to make about three runs that afternoon. It was time consuming work going back up, but the ride down was worth it.

Somewhere along there we hit on the idea of bashing our way along trails in the woods. We also grew in number. Before long there were about a dozen of us. Gradually we beat the bikes up so badly that we couldn’t repair them. At the same time, girls and gasoline were calling us. But for a glorious time, during one golden summer, we had been mountain bikers.

Thursday Thoughts ~~ Layering: A Replay

Cold Weather Riding (redux)

I’ve had a lot of discussion of this lately, so I’m reprinting an article I wrote for randonnuers on dressing and preparing for cold weather riding. Hope this is helpful.

So you’re facing the prospect of the coming Winter. It’s going to get cooler. If you don’t want to be confined to indoor work and cabin fever, you are going to have to get outside under chilly conditions. This is actually a good thing. I can almost guarantee that at some point in the coming season, you will deal with the cold. Probably for longer than you would wish to.

Basic Cold Weather Principles:

1. You must fuel to ride in the cold.
2. No one rides as fast in the winter. (And they shouldn’t!)
3. Hydration is just as important in cold weather. (Maybe more so.)
4. If you’re warm when you first get on the bike you are over dressed. (And you will regret it.)
5. Staying warm consists of “The Unholy Trinity.” A) Transport moisture away from the body. B) Trap an insulating layer of air. C) Block air
6. Layering is your friend.
7. More than 75% of your body’s cooling takes place through your head
8. Cold weather clothing should not be too tight! (Restricting circulation to the extremities makes them colder!)

How to layer; the basics:

Look at point 5 above. Those are your basic “layers.” This is what “layering” is all about. First there is the base layer of technical wicking fabric which moves moisture away from your body. Next is the mid layer of micro fleece or fleece, to trap a barrier of warm insulating air between you and the outside. Last is the top layer which is designed to block wind, while “breathing” to allow moisture to leave you. It is possible, and often desirable to double up on the mid layers when conditions are colder. That’s it. “Layering” in a nutshell. Oh, one other thing… Do not use cotton in any part of your cold weather wardrobe. Cotton absorbs moisture, and holds it. You might as well strap ice packs next to your skin.

When to wear what:

First you have to establish your personal “Set Point.” This is the temperature at which you first wish you were wearing more clothing than your summer riding gear. It’s an individual item and varies greatly from one person to the next. But once you’ve established yours, you can then use it to figure how to dress for just about any temp. Below is a good guide to how to “layer up,” based on your individual set point. (All temps are given in degrees Fahrenheit)

• Set Point & higher -> shorts, summer jersey, helmet, socks (optional), fingerless gloves
• Set Point -5⁰ -> add polypro undershirt, arm warmers, knee warmers
• Set Point -10⁰ -> add wind vest, socks
• Set Point -15⁰ -> add wind jacket, do rag or skull cap, full fingered light gloves, remove light jersey and add long sleeve jersey
• Set Point -20⁰ -> Add light tights & windshell
• Set Point -25⁰ -> Sub long sleeve polypro for short sleeve, add second jersey, or light fleece, outer glove, medium weight tights, wool socks, shoe covers
• Set Point -30⁰ -> Add skull cap & helmet cover, use medium and light tights, windvest and windshell, heavy gloves, wool socks, shoe covers
• Set Point -35⁰ -> Consider balaclava to replace skull cap, long sleeve polypro, fleece jersey, fleece vest, Heavy tights and knee warmers, wool socks and liner socks, heavy jacket, heavy gloves. Consider chemical hand and foot warmers, along with balaclava, and helmet cover
• Set Point --40⁰ -> Helmet cover, Balaclava, long polypro, heavy under-jersey, fleece jersey, fleece vest, heavy jacket, heavy gloves with heaters, shorts, light tights, knee warmers, heavy tights, liner socks, wool socks, heaters, shoe covers.

Conditions will constantly change. This means you will need to carry more clothing than you need. It also means you will adjust your clothing (add/remove layers, open/close vents) almost constantly throughout each ride.

And there’s another implication here. You have to carry a way to carry your extra clothing. This could be a rack and bag, a back pack, a trailer, a follow car (although I personally tend to frown on this one), or some other means of hauling cargo.

Cold Weather Technique Considerations: How you dress and what you carry depend on the conditions you expect to face and the time you are starting to ride. Beginning a ride in the evening requires different planning from one begun in the early morning.

Start time counts. Yes, there are days when frontal movement can do tricky things. We’ve all seen them. The “high” for the day occurs at dawn, and noon is considerably colder. Conversely, we’ve seen times when an advancing front causes warming after sunset. The norm, however, is that it warms after dawn, and cools down in the afternoon and evening.

If you start riding before dawn, expect to drop layers after the sun rises. But be prepared! Remember, the coldest hour of the night is the one right after the sun rises.

When planning a ride that will continue into the night hours, always carry extra clothing. I’ve had many occasions when, two hours after sunset, I was getting pretty chilled. Simply pulling on a wind jacket and a pair of glove shells made a world of difference.

Expect the unexpected. Our climate is capable of some pretty wild gyrations. It can get unexpectedly cooler, almost without warning. A sudden warm up is usually not a problem, but a sudden cool down can be serious.

Always let someone know where you are going and when to expect you back.

Have a “Plan B,” an alternate activity if weather is too severe to start, and a series of “bailout options,” in case it turns nasty on you.

Carry extra clothing in the late Fall and Winter.

Pack four of those chemical toe and hand warmers. They aren’t expensive, and they can make a huge difference.

Never underestimate the power and beauty of a spare pair of dry socks. (They can double as emergency mittens too!