Okay, the first thing of note was the weather! I’m here to tell you that 48 degrees and gusty windy, under cloudy skies is actually about 30 degrees! Yipe!
It did clear up, and warm (slightly) but not until quite late in the ride.
The second noteworthy item was that I changed the beginning of the route a bit. This was to avoid a traffic hassle on the Peachtree Parkway. I did not advertise this, or publish anything about it. As a result I almost missed one rider. If you plan to do something creative, like a remote start and catch the group… Let me know! (Sorry Kelvin.)
The good news here was that the Redoubtable Kelvin, figured it out and managed to join us anyway. Now that’s resourcefulness and determination.
Did I already mention that it was windy? It was incredibly windy. Windy enough that it was necessary to make power to descend a lot of the hills. More, it was gusty. That meant that, no matter what compass direction we were travelling in, the wind was against us. I have a personal quirk. I enjoy gusty windy days. I find them invigorating. Not everyone shares this opinion.
It’s worth noting that, in spite of the cool temps and the wind, the whole crew seemed to be enjoying themselves. I heard plenty of comments about the weather, but I didn’t see any long faces. Good for all of you!
Present were, Cindy, Kelvin, Bob, Chris, Scott, Teresa, Tracy, David, and your humble correspondent. My hat is off to all of you who came out. It was a good ride, in challenging conditions. Bravo!
We’ll do it again this coming Sunday. That’s 5 April 2009, at 1:00 PM, from Bicycles Unlimited.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK
It's all about the weather right now. Current conditions are challenging. More, it looks like a lot of rain, cool weather, more rain, and the occasional violent thunderstorm for comic relief.
The Good News is that things settle down by Sunday morning. Looks like a cool day with a moderate amount of sunshine for our 45 mile Tune Up ride. This is great news!
Do plan to dress for the weather. Highs in the low 60s and likely windy. That means a bit chillier than you expect. More, we will be out there for over four hours. Plan for that, and the day will be a good one.
Can't wait to see a bunch of you out there!
The Good News is that things settle down by Sunday morning. Looks like a cool day with a moderate amount of sunshine for our 45 mile Tune Up ride. This is great news!
Do plan to dress for the weather. Highs in the low 60s and likely windy. That means a bit chillier than you expect. More, we will be out there for over four hours. Plan for that, and the day will be a good one.
Can't wait to see a bunch of you out there!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!
It’s Audax Blog time again. Why? Because we’re gearing up for the Spring Audax Ride.
Are you new to this? Or possibly this is your second attempt at this particular ride. If so, please feel free to go into the archives and start reading up. I’d particularly like to recommend the following posts as a starting point:
- July 23, 2008
- July 25, 2008
- August 4, 2008
- August 6, 2008 (both posts)
- August 8, 2008 (second post)
Those should get you started, and answer most immediate questions. Of course you are invited to peruse all of the posts from last Fall’s adventure. And more importantly, come join us for this Sunday’s 45 Mile Audax Tune Up.
Details:
- Ride Start/Finish: In front of Bicycles Unlimited, Peachtree City, GA
- Ride Time: 1:00 PM EDT (promptly)
- Distance: Approximately 45 miles
- Ride Conditions: We go in any weather.
- Pace: Group stays together. We’ll attempt to maintain a 13 mph rolling average
- Requirements: HELMETS! You. Your bike. A happy and positive attitude.
- Additional: There will be at least one quick stop along the route to attend to “necessaries.” A second stop is possible, but we would like to avoid it if we can.
Monday, October 6, 2008
RIDE REPORT AND WRAP UP
To begin with let me say two things. One, I’m delighted. Two, Oops.
I’m delighted with how the day turned out. It was a truly grand ride.
The oops takes a bit more explaining. I didn’t anticipate a significant detail. In our part of the world, the little town of Gay, GA absolutely explodes on the first weekend of May and October. It’s the “Cotton Pickin’ Fair”! This event draws folks from miles around. And our route was one of the two most travelled directions to Gay. That meant we had to contend with a lot of traffic during the early part of our ride. But the Fair factored in later in the day too. Our lunch stop is south of Gay, but also a popular destination, and right on the other most travelled approach to the Fair. This meant that the Bulloch House was positively overwhelmed. So we had to endure a considerable wait before we were seated.
Let me offer my profound apologies to the other riders. I missed the significance of the date when I scheduled this ride. All turned out well, and it won’t happen again. In extenuation I would like to plead youth and inexperience coupled with long and faithful service. That’s my story and I’m sticken to it.
We convened (most of us) a little before dawn, and made our pre-ride preparations. Present (in no particular order) were Kelvin Arcelay, John Cloud, Deb Kalish, Cindy Whitley, Lisa Price, H. L. Jackson, Chris Muntzel, Ed Clark, Scott Rutkowski, and your humble servant.
We got under way in the dawn gloom, slightly chilly, but clear overhead, little wisps of fog here and there. South down the Peachtree Parkway. We almost had the Parkway to ourselves at this early hour. A brisk climb up Rockaway Rd, to Senoia helped warm everyone up. For a wonder, no one needed to take a “nature break” in Senoia, so we proceeded on south to GA-85.
Usually the six mile stretch of 85 is almost deserted at this hour of a Saturday. That wasn’t the case on this day. We were absolutely flogged by the traffic speeding toward Gay. It was a real relief to turn off of 85 and head west into the rollers of GA-362. More, the Sun was well up and it began to seem like it just might warm up a bit.
We made good time to the break point in Greenville, and after a brief break, left in good order.
I should mention that I’ve been doing these rides for several years. In that time, no two of them have been even close to each other in character. This edition was marked by a group that started out determined and focused, and pretty much remained that way throughout the day. At the same time, the group seemed to be chafing at the restrained and disciplined pace. This gang wanted to turn the ponies loose!
Ed was a more than welcome addition to the group. He’s done this stuff before, and our riding styles compliment each other well. Coming out of the town of Pine Mountain, I asked Ed to bring up the rear as I led the climb up the flank of the mountain. I would then mark the turn onto GA-190 for the group, let Ed pass me, and I spent the rest of the trip across the top of the mountain riding “chaser” at the back. This works well. It’s almost impossible to hold the climbers in on this part of the ride. For that matter, it’s also impossible to keep the descenders throttled back on the screaming straight line descent into Warm Springs. This works well. There are good rally points at the end of each of these sections.
Lunch, as I’ve mentioned before, was delayed. I can’t blame the staff at the Bulloch House. They were working as fast as they could, and still managing to deliver excellent service and wonderful food. They were just simply overwhelmed by the numbers. It was Fair day in Gay. (I won’t make that mistake again!)
I should mention, Cindy Whitley and John Cloud both set new distance records for themselves. Neither had done more than a 65 mile ride before Saturday. Both did an excellent job of staying with the group, and contributing to the whole ride.
The trip north from Warm Springs was uneventful, and pleasant. The afternoon was warm, but not oppressively so. The general tone of the group was cheerful. We held the pace down for the first hour after lunch, for digestion’s sake, and then picked it up a good bit.
I should mention that there was one outbreak of sprinting insanity. This was on the last leg of the trip, coming down Huckaby Rd. There is an almost irresistible sprint line to the end of this road, and we did get an old-fashioned “stop sign sprint.” Alright, most folks had the good sense to simply sit and wait for sanity to return, but three of us just had to go play. And yes, I admit it. I was one of the group. (Honest, I didn't start it.) Doesn’t happen often, but it was a fun day.
As is the tradition for these rides, we formed up in a column of twos and took the lane coming back into town on the Peachtree Parkway. It’s our way of parading home in triumph, at the end of a long and successful ride.
We had a bit of socializing and a good solid snack at the end of the trip, and then all went our separate ways.
I’d like to thank each and every one of you who came out and rode on this perfect fall day. Congratulations to each of you. Everyone of you met some kind of challenge along the way. Each of you dealt with your personal challenges with gallantry and courage.
Bravo!
Numbers: Time on Bike = 8:40. Stopped time = 2:54. Total time = 11:34. Moving average speed = 14.3.
In parting, I’d like to point out that a Randonneurs USA sanctioned 200K brevet must be completed in 13:30. So each and every one of you could have accomplished that feat, and could in the future, if you so choose. It’s also an axiom among randonneurs, if you can do a 200K, then you can do a 300K. If you can do a 300K, then you can complete a 400K. If you can complete a 400K, then a 600K is within your reach. What comes after that? A grand randonee of 1000K or the grandest of all, Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K. Think about it.
Until we meet again, let me wish you all, Bon chance et bon route!
I’m delighted with how the day turned out. It was a truly grand ride.
The oops takes a bit more explaining. I didn’t anticipate a significant detail. In our part of the world, the little town of Gay, GA absolutely explodes on the first weekend of May and October. It’s the “Cotton Pickin’ Fair”! This event draws folks from miles around. And our route was one of the two most travelled directions to Gay. That meant we had to contend with a lot of traffic during the early part of our ride. But the Fair factored in later in the day too. Our lunch stop is south of Gay, but also a popular destination, and right on the other most travelled approach to the Fair. This meant that the Bulloch House was positively overwhelmed. So we had to endure a considerable wait before we were seated.
Let me offer my profound apologies to the other riders. I missed the significance of the date when I scheduled this ride. All turned out well, and it won’t happen again. In extenuation I would like to plead youth and inexperience coupled with long and faithful service. That’s my story and I’m sticken to it.
We convened (most of us) a little before dawn, and made our pre-ride preparations. Present (in no particular order) were Kelvin Arcelay, John Cloud, Deb Kalish, Cindy Whitley, Lisa Price, H. L. Jackson, Chris Muntzel, Ed Clark, Scott Rutkowski, and your humble servant.
We got under way in the dawn gloom, slightly chilly, but clear overhead, little wisps of fog here and there. South down the Peachtree Parkway. We almost had the Parkway to ourselves at this early hour. A brisk climb up Rockaway Rd, to Senoia helped warm everyone up. For a wonder, no one needed to take a “nature break” in Senoia, so we proceeded on south to GA-85.
Usually the six mile stretch of 85 is almost deserted at this hour of a Saturday. That wasn’t the case on this day. We were absolutely flogged by the traffic speeding toward Gay. It was a real relief to turn off of 85 and head west into the rollers of GA-362. More, the Sun was well up and it began to seem like it just might warm up a bit.
We made good time to the break point in Greenville, and after a brief break, left in good order.
I should mention that I’ve been doing these rides for several years. In that time, no two of them have been even close to each other in character. This edition was marked by a group that started out determined and focused, and pretty much remained that way throughout the day. At the same time, the group seemed to be chafing at the restrained and disciplined pace. This gang wanted to turn the ponies loose!
Ed was a more than welcome addition to the group. He’s done this stuff before, and our riding styles compliment each other well. Coming out of the town of Pine Mountain, I asked Ed to bring up the rear as I led the climb up the flank of the mountain. I would then mark the turn onto GA-190 for the group, let Ed pass me, and I spent the rest of the trip across the top of the mountain riding “chaser” at the back. This works well. It’s almost impossible to hold the climbers in on this part of the ride. For that matter, it’s also impossible to keep the descenders throttled back on the screaming straight line descent into Warm Springs. This works well. There are good rally points at the end of each of these sections.
Lunch, as I’ve mentioned before, was delayed. I can’t blame the staff at the Bulloch House. They were working as fast as they could, and still managing to deliver excellent service and wonderful food. They were just simply overwhelmed by the numbers. It was Fair day in Gay. (I won’t make that mistake again!)
I should mention, Cindy Whitley and John Cloud both set new distance records for themselves. Neither had done more than a 65 mile ride before Saturday. Both did an excellent job of staying with the group, and contributing to the whole ride.
The trip north from Warm Springs was uneventful, and pleasant. The afternoon was warm, but not oppressively so. The general tone of the group was cheerful. We held the pace down for the first hour after lunch, for digestion’s sake, and then picked it up a good bit.
I should mention that there was one outbreak of sprinting insanity. This was on the last leg of the trip, coming down Huckaby Rd. There is an almost irresistible sprint line to the end of this road, and we did get an old-fashioned “stop sign sprint.” Alright, most folks had the good sense to simply sit and wait for sanity to return, but three of us just had to go play. And yes, I admit it. I was one of the group. (Honest, I didn't start it.) Doesn’t happen often, but it was a fun day.
As is the tradition for these rides, we formed up in a column of twos and took the lane coming back into town on the Peachtree Parkway. It’s our way of parading home in triumph, at the end of a long and successful ride.
We had a bit of socializing and a good solid snack at the end of the trip, and then all went our separate ways.
I’d like to thank each and every one of you who came out and rode on this perfect fall day. Congratulations to each of you. Everyone of you met some kind of challenge along the way. Each of you dealt with your personal challenges with gallantry and courage.
Bravo!
Numbers: Time on Bike = 8:40. Stopped time = 2:54. Total time = 11:34. Moving average speed = 14.3.
In parting, I’d like to point out that a Randonneurs USA sanctioned 200K brevet must be completed in 13:30. So each and every one of you could have accomplished that feat, and could in the future, if you so choose. It’s also an axiom among randonneurs, if you can do a 200K, then you can do a 300K. If you can do a 300K, then you can complete a 400K. If you can complete a 400K, then a 600K is within your reach. What comes after that? A grand randonee of 1000K or the grandest of all, Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K. Think about it.
Until we meet again, let me wish you all, Bon chance et bon route!
RIDE REPORT AND 200K WRAP UP
I'll get a full ride report out tomorrow. I promised I'd have the cue sheet out today, so here it is.
AUDAX 200 k (125 MILE)
GO MILES CUE COMMENTS
0.0 0.0 N/A Start at Bicycles Unlimited
0.1 0.1 R Peachtree Pkwy
3.9 4.0 R Robinson Rd
1.0 5.0 R Holly Grove Church Rd
1.0 6.0 L GA-74 (caution fast traffic)
0.2 6.2 R Rockaway Rd
2.8 9.0 ST Becomes Main St
0.6 9.6 L Travis St
0.0 9.6 R immediate onto Broad St
0.2 9.8 ST X GA-16 onto Luther Bailey
0.4 10.2 L Onto Dolly Nixon Rd
3.5 13.7 R GA-85/74 S caution
6.3 20.0 R GA-362
11.2 31.2 L Roosevelt Hwy
0.3 31.5 R County Farm Rd
1.6 33.1 L around square
0.1 33.2 R out of sqaure onto Roosevelt Hwy S
0.1 33.3 R into store
0.0 33.3 continue out of store
4.1 37.4 R GA-18
0.1 37.5 ST Caution very bad RR tracks
11.9 49.4 L US-27 / Main St
0.3 49.7 R into store
0.0 49.7 continue out of store
1.1 50.8 L GA-354
2.5 53.3 R onto exit ramp to GA-190
0.1 53.4 L onto GA-190
8.4 61.8 L GA-85 alt
3.4 65.2 R at light onto Roosevelt Hwy
0.1 65.3 R to stay on Roosevelt Hwy
0.3 65.6 L Bulloch St
0.1 65.7 L into Bulloch House
0.0 65.7 R Bulloch St
0.1 65.8 R Roosevelt Hwy
0.3 66.1 L to stay on Roosevelt Hwy
0.1 66.2 R at light onto GA-85 alt N
10.2 76.4 L onto GA-85 & 74 N
7.0 83.4 R Into store
0.0 83.4 reverse course out of store and
0.0 83.4 L immediate onto Flat Shoals Rd
7.5 90.9 L GA-18
1.7 92.6 L College St
5.9 98.5 L GA-362
0.1 98.6 R Kings Bridge / Hollenville Rd
6.8 105.4 R into store
0.0 105.4 continue out of store
3.4 108.8 BL onto GA-85conn
0.9 109.7 R Brooks Woolsey Rd
0.5 110.2 L Huckaby Rd
1.5 111.7 R Risging Star Rd
0.5 112.2 L Old Greenville Rd
2.8 115.0 L Goza Rd
1.2 116.2 L Bernhard Rd
1.1 117.3 ST X GA-85 caution fast traffic
6.8 124.1 R into parking lot
0.1 124.2 FINISH!!!
Friday, October 3, 2008
ONE LAST QUESTION ANSWERED
I'm referencing a question posted a day or so ago about last minute bike checks and day-before-the-ride riding.
If you have done what you should, your bike is ready. Don't mess with it.As for a "leg loosener," I'd advise against it. I've seen a lot of good long rides wrecked in just this way. Be patient. We'll do lots of riding on Saturday. (grins)
If you have done what you should, your bike is ready. Don't mess with it.As for a "leg loosener," I'd advise against it. I've seen a lot of good long rides wrecked in just this way. Be patient. We'll do lots of riding on Saturday. (grins)
24 HOURS AND COUNTING
Ride time is 7:30. (Sharp)
Location: Bicycles Unlimited, Peachtree City, GA.
Forecast: Holding and good. Likely mid 50s at ride time, with a high in the upper 70s. Skys will be mostly clear, light winds from the north to north west. Rain chance is very low.
Get a good night's sleep tonight, and a good breakfast in the morning.
Look here on Monday for a post with a final report and a copy of the cue.
Location: Bicycles Unlimited, Peachtree City, GA.
Forecast: Holding and good. Likely mid 50s at ride time, with a high in the upper 70s. Skys will be mostly clear, light winds from the north to north west. Rain chance is very low.
Get a good night's sleep tonight, and a good breakfast in the morning.
Look here on Monday for a post with a final report and a copy of the cue.
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