Saturday morning saw me complete my longest ride yet, I believe it was about 36 miles (58 km for my family Down Under), at least according to riding partner Guy Clumpner’s bike computer! We started out at Leon Springs Elementary (8:00 am). We were originally supposed to leave from Starbucks across IH-10 from the school. A late night phone call corrected that…but I forgot to pass that on to my buddy Lisa Danembaum Shaw. She called me half-way through the ride: “Where are you?” And “Where were you?” Reminding me of our plans to hook up at Starbucks. She forgave me, but I felt bad. Sorry Lisa!
The route ended up in and around the back roads of Boerne. We backtracked for the route back to the start, hitting Scenic Loop and Boerne Stage Road. I’m renaming the city BURN-EE; my thighs were on fire on some of the hills…long, gradual hills. I seem to recall one of my riding partners letting out a statement, “Now you know what YOUR ride will feel like.” Reality check, I need more hills.
I appreciated the care given to me by all the HOLT CAT folks on the ride, but especially want to thank Neal Carmichael for hanging with me for much of the ride. A seasoned cyclist originally from Indianapolis, Neal helped me through some of the up-hill grind and the efficiencies of shifting quickly and correctly!
We arrived back at the start around 11:30 am. Like my ride on Wednesday, the heat was a challenge for me. I went through a bottle of POWERade, a bottle of water (each 22 ounces), and filled up at a Valero gas station with another 22 ounces of water. I had no liquids left on my bike at the finish, which I guess was a good thing, right?
One of the riders in the group suffered through 3 flats, while yet another had a flat at our turnaround point…this one saw Guy help change the flat, but as he ran his fingers around the inside of the tire, he sliced his finger open on the offending metal shaving that caused the flat. Nobody had a band aid, so he was leaking the red stuff for a while. It was a solid opportunity for me to learn the finer arts of changing flats…not sure I have that skill yet, though I could likely fumble through without an audience and I do have the supplies when it does occur for me! (Oh, no I don’t we used them to fix today's flats).
A Boerne Police Department cruiser stopped our group to educate us on the need to ride single file on city streets. I’m not sure that we hadn’t been doing that, but I guess someone had called in a complaint! Apparently, this isn’t an infrequent occurrence. The cop was nice enough about it. We made sure we complied for the rest of the trip, which was a good thing since he followed us for some distance…those darn criminals on bikes.
The roads for today’s rider were probably the busiest I’ve experienced so far on my bike. It’s an interesting perspective to see both driver impatience and also driver courtesy. A couple of intersections (controlled by stop signs) required a good deal of attention with increasing vehicle activity as the morning dragged on.
On the drive home I was feeling good, though a little back ache had me promising myself a hot bath at home. I took my bath. Ate lunch (boiled chicken and salad). And took an hour nap. (Hey I’m old as well as tired from the ride…) Anyway, I noticed that my pecs and triceps ached a good deal more than when I worked them out on Thursday. Curiously, my leg muscles haven’t complained once after the rides are over! The route today was quite bumpy, and longer than I’ve ridden before, so I’m guessing my muscles were just complaining about the excessive workout they received. Curiously, my leg muscles haven’t complained once after the rides are over!
When all’s said and done, I continue to feel good about my performance. Am I ready for the Valero Bike to the Beach? “No.” I am, however, looking forward to another 30-mile ride opportunity on Sunday to continue my preparation. This ride will start around 7 am, an hour earlier than today, so I’m hoping the heat will be less as a result (it's forecast tomorrow to be at 100 degrees F., or 38C for the folks in Oz). But I hear you all saying, “Tony, this is Texas…welcome to the summer!” Yeah, well I will remind you about a song by Alice Cooper, “Welcome to my nightmare…”
The route ended up in and around the back roads of Boerne. We backtracked for the route back to the start, hitting Scenic Loop and Boerne Stage Road. I’m renaming the city BURN-EE; my thighs were on fire on some of the hills…long, gradual hills. I seem to recall one of my riding partners letting out a statement, “Now you know what YOUR ride will feel like.” Reality check, I need more hills.
I appreciated the care given to me by all the HOLT CAT folks on the ride, but especially want to thank Neal Carmichael for hanging with me for much of the ride. A seasoned cyclist originally from Indianapolis, Neal helped me through some of the up-hill grind and the efficiencies of shifting quickly and correctly!
We arrived back at the start around 11:30 am. Like my ride on Wednesday, the heat was a challenge for me. I went through a bottle of POWERade, a bottle of water (each 22 ounces), and filled up at a Valero gas station with another 22 ounces of water. I had no liquids left on my bike at the finish, which I guess was a good thing, right?
One of the riders in the group suffered through 3 flats, while yet another had a flat at our turnaround point…this one saw Guy help change the flat, but as he ran his fingers around the inside of the tire, he sliced his finger open on the offending metal shaving that caused the flat. Nobody had a band aid, so he was leaking the red stuff for a while. It was a solid opportunity for me to learn the finer arts of changing flats…not sure I have that skill yet, though I could likely fumble through without an audience and I do have the supplies when it does occur for me! (Oh, no I don’t we used them to fix today's flats).
A Boerne Police Department cruiser stopped our group to educate us on the need to ride single file on city streets. I’m not sure that we hadn’t been doing that, but I guess someone had called in a complaint! Apparently, this isn’t an infrequent occurrence. The cop was nice enough about it. We made sure we complied for the rest of the trip, which was a good thing since he followed us for some distance…those darn criminals on bikes.
The roads for today’s rider were probably the busiest I’ve experienced so far on my bike. It’s an interesting perspective to see both driver impatience and also driver courtesy. A couple of intersections (controlled by stop signs) required a good deal of attention with increasing vehicle activity as the morning dragged on.
On the drive home I was feeling good, though a little back ache had me promising myself a hot bath at home. I took my bath. Ate lunch (boiled chicken and salad). And took an hour nap. (Hey I’m old as well as tired from the ride…) Anyway, I noticed that my pecs and triceps ached a good deal more than when I worked them out on Thursday. Curiously, my leg muscles haven’t complained once after the rides are over! The route today was quite bumpy, and longer than I’ve ridden before, so I’m guessing my muscles were just complaining about the excessive workout they received. Curiously, my leg muscles haven’t complained once after the rides are over!
When all’s said and done, I continue to feel good about my performance. Am I ready for the Valero Bike to the Beach? “No.” I am, however, looking forward to another 30-mile ride opportunity on Sunday to continue my preparation. This ride will start around 7 am, an hour earlier than today, so I’m hoping the heat will be less as a result (it's forecast tomorrow to be at 100 degrees F., or 38C for the folks in Oz). But I hear you all saying, “Tony, this is Texas…welcome to the summer!” Yeah, well I will remind you about a song by Alice Cooper, “Welcome to my nightmare…”
By my reckoning my bike and I have accumulated 127.35 miles together...still not yet the 160 miles of the the Bike to the Beach, but we're getting there, one mile at a time.
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