St. Paul - Donald Personal Century

It is nice to have a long weekend.

I did not ride on Thursday - Thanksgiving Day.

On Friday, it was raining, but Joanne and I did 40 miles. We did a route to Silverton via Lardon Rd to Cascade Hwy. The traffic was light, perhaps because everyone was shopping. The light rain did not bother us, but the strong south wind did.

We stopped at a coffee shop for espresso, and then rode on back home. The pace was easy and it was a good day to ride.

On Saturday, I did a personal century. I woke up early and joined the folks at Scott's Cycles for there 7:30 am ride. We headed south into the grey of the morning. It was just 37 degrees F, but I was warmly dressed. Since they have to be back at the shop to open at 9:00 am, I broke off and headed up to the east Salem hills where I saw Christmas Tree harvesting (via helicopter). Once I reached Cascade HWY, I headed back via State St and joined the Salem Bicycle Club for their 10:00 am ride to Mission State Park.

Again, the pace was easy and all was well, until we came to the railroad crossing just north of Brooks. This is on the Monster Cookie Metric Century route and we cover the tracks, which are at a very bad angle, with plywood and carpet. I could have used this bridge as I fell at the tracks. My front wheel caught the second rail and I went down on my left side. I suffered no real injuries, only a dime sized scrap on my left knee and a sore right thigh (from hitting the top tube). Luckily, no one ran over me. I picked myself up and continued on.

Once we reach the park, I continued north to St. Paul and then went east to Donald where I was planning to eating at the Donald Cafe. But it was closed! So, I enjoyed a quickie market turkey sandwich and an orange juice on the sidewalk.

The 25 miles back to Salem was a challenge as there was a stiff south wind all of the way. In such a wind, all you can do is put your head down and pedal.

I finished the day with 96 miles and a 14.7 mph average.

Today, I did the Salem Bicycle Club afternoon ride and rode it at a recovery ride pace. But the weather was good and the roads were dry so I rode the LeMond (instead of the Cannondale). Oh, how I love the LeMond! Light, fast and fun! It was 23 miles of pure cycling enjoyment.

Posted 9:47 PM by John Henry

Knox Butte Personal Century

In my first long ride after the Death Valley Double and my week long illness, I chose a flat route to the south of Salem.

The forecast was for 70% chance of rain, but the sky, while cloudy, did not look threatening as I head out at 8:15 am. However, I was dressed for rain. I was wearing my Burley Rain Jacket and my Pearl Izumi AmFIB Tights along with booties and a warm hat beneath my helmet. Let it rain!

But the story of the ride was how weak I felt. I guess that my illness took more out of me than I thought it would. I was slow, climbing was difficult and I suffered. The last few miles of the ride were truly difficult and I was really glad to get home. My legs felt like I had ridden 200 miles, not half that. They ached throughout the night and the back of my tights are sore today.

In addition, just as we sat down at a Mexican restaurant for dinner last night, a migraine headache struck. But, it is not a bad one and today I hardly feel any after effects.

None the less, I did have a good ride. The route took me pass Saitiam Bluff and then into the Dever/Conner area. While in Dever/Conner, I had just taken a swallow from my water bottle, and as I was returning it to the downtube cage, a rat ran out in front of me. Yes, a rat. I think I missed it as I did not feel the wheels hitting it, but none the less, both the rat I and must have felt a rush of adrenalin! I wonder if the snake I almost hit in Death Valley also felt a rush?

Here are the stats for yesterday's ride:

DST: 92.65 miles
AVG: 14.8 mph
ATM: 6 hours 15 minutes

But, my heart rate stats are really telling. As you can see, the vast majority of the time my heart rate was above 85% of my maximum beats per minutes.

Above (150): 36:40 9%
In (135 - 150): 5:07:23 79%
Below (135): 50:36 12%
Average: 141

Posted 11:32 AM by John Henry

Joanne in the local newspaper

Yes, once again, my lovely wife has been interviewed by the Statesman Journal, our local newspaper. This time, the focus of Roy Gault's piece was riding during the winter. While I was not mentioned by name in the article, there are two references to me. The first concerns my fall and injury to my thumb and the other is about the Saturday Centuries.

That brings up the next item. I will be leading beginning in January. Why? Well, lets just say that I need to train for next year. More on this once my plans firm up.

Lastly, I am coming off of an illness. It started with a sore throat last Wednesday. I went to work on Thursday and Friday, but did not feel well. I took it easy last weekend hoping that by resting the illness would pass. I was wrong. I woke up Monday morning feeling so bad I did not go to work. Today I took off also, but I'm feeling better as of this afternoon. As such, I set up DNS and DHCP on my home network. I did this to facilitate using iFolder on my laptop.

Posted 5:29 PM by John Henry

Death Valley Double Ride Report

Joanne and I had successful rides at the Death Valley Century and Double Century. Joanne opted for the century while I finished the double century.

We drove down from Salem beginning on Thursday morning. We took I-5 south to California 89 to US 395. We drove through Reno, NV and spent the night in Gardnerville NV. The next morning, we took a side trip to Bodie State Park. (Some very nice photographs can be viewed here.) Leaving Bodie, we pulled into Furnace Creek just in time for dinner at the 49er Cafe.

The next morning was the ride. I left at 7:10 am on the double route and Joanne left 30 minutes later on the century route. I rode hard for the first 24 miles. I formed up with the lead paceline to Stovepipe Wells but I dropped off on the hill up to Beatty Junction. I did not want to expend the energy in order to stay with the group. I more or less rode by myself for the rest of the ride.

I saw (briefly) Joanne at the Beatty Junction rest stop before I left toward Scotty's Castle. This section of the route climbs 3000 feet in 35 miles or so. There is only a few, short, steep sections; the vast majority is a gentle climb. It it is long. I did a short stop at a water stop 15 miles short of Scotty's Castle. When Joanne arrived, I had already left, but I later learned that she fell there when she was mounting her Colnago to leave. The paramedics took care of her and determined that she would be able to continue.

I reached Scotty's Castle in pretty good shape, but I was only 95 miles into the double. This is the turn around point for the century riders, be the double route continues to climb out of Death Valley into Nevada and Scotty's Junction. This year, the wind was kind to me. I was afraid that I would face the same fierce head winds that tortured me the last time I did this route. Returning toward Scotty's Castle, I began to feel a wind coming up out of the valley as I approached the rim. I must have either bonked or worked way too hard as by the time I reached Scotty's Castle, I was in some serious pain. In addition to my lower back and arms, my left arch was really giving me tough. I could barely walk! I spent nearly 30 minutes resting and massaging my arch before I headed off toward Ubehebe Crater. The rest did me good as I climbed up to it easily. Now, I turned back toward Beatty Junction. The sun set during this section but I had my NiteRider Flamethrower to light the way. I pulled into the rest stop with a young lady who was felling a bit "bonky" as she had run out of water. I offered her my Gateraid/Sustained Energy mixture buy she politely declined my offer.

Again, I took a long rest before starting the hardest portion of the route, the climbed up to Hell's Gate. The first three miles were not that bad, but the last 4 miles were hard. I was in my lowest gear (30x27) and I could barely turn the peddles over. I wanted to stop, but I refused. I obtained the top where I turned back toward the valley and descended into the night. The last ten miles were flat and fast. I was feeling much better and even sprinted for the finishing line!

Stats:

Miles: 196.9 miles
Average: 14.8 miles per hour
Time of the bike: 13 hours 12 minutes
Total time: 14 hours 50 minutes

Photographs...

John at the start
Joanne at the start
John on the road
Joanne on the road
John at the finish
Joanne at the finish

Posted 6:51 PM by John Henry