Cycle Ti Thunder

Today it was about 5 degrees celsius and I was sucking in lots of cold air with just a hin of pole cat road kill.  I say this fact with a bit of sarcasm but I sometimes like this smell.   the fact that when I ride my sense of smell gets an extra treat of being in use and a primary sensory experience on my bike is fascinating. In a car you do not experience the sense of smelling your environment as you pass through it.  On a bike you smell everything from distant BBQ smoking in a backyard grill to pies baking or beacon frying in a farm house kitchen on a cold morning.  Today even the road kill was refreshing.

I am using Runtastic to track my riding routes and training.   My ride today  is a personal best for my commute to work.  My finishing pace was above 29 KMPH which for me is amazing.  At one point on MLK I sustained a speed of 33 KMPH in my 3-8 gear.  This ride comes the day after I haul my training Burley to work on my short route of 20 KM one way.  The weight training that I do with the Burly always pays off with a faster ride the next day. My long bike commute which is about 40 KM one way is what I call my spring commute.  When I ride this I try to ride as fast as I can especially on Eight mile Road which has some hills (for down here).   My short commute home is where I just ride relaxed.  Usually when I sprint to work on a Monday or Tuesday by the time Friday rolls around I just have a normal ride to work because I am basically tired of riding as fast as I can so I just ride. It is this training routine that gets me...

I decided to weigh my gear after my ride tonight. As luck would have it a co-worker gave me some pecans from his trees so I had some additional weight. Pecans 14 pounds Clothes 6 pounds Back pack 6 pounds Bike 35 pounds Burly 26 pounds Tonight I rode home with 46 pounds of extra weight than I normally do. I also realize that my bike is pretty heavy with the rack and rear bag. Riding my bike and pulling the Burley loaded with stuff is like riding uphill. This is the trainer that I use to help me strengthen my legs. This is also a way for cyclist to ride with their friends who are not as strong on a bike as they are. By offering to haul the picnic lunch or other stuff a Burley can offer an experienced rider the workout they need at a slower speed with friends.

My total distance for this week is 219 KM. I rode to work four days because Monday was a holiday. My ODO is 930 KM.

Yesterday my time when I got to the intersection of MLK and Oakridge was 31 KMPH.  This intersection is my first third stoplight on my bike commute.  I consider this the official end of my bike commute that is unobstructed by stopping for cross traffic.  Today I approached the intersection with an average speed of 27.2 KMPH, but today i was riding into a NE head wind of 8 MPH according to TWC.  This is what I consider a training ride as I rode it in my 3-7 gear all the way.  The difference a headwind maks, when it is flat I use headwinds as my hill climbing simulator.

This is my Green Star Twin Gear Juicer. The green juice in my insulated water bottle. This juice was collard greens, carrots and apples. Whey Powder from Whole Foods with no junk. Bewer's yeast, but not the kind with the nice flakes This year I purchased a Green Star  juice extractor.  there are a lot of juicers on the market in every price bracket, quality and efficiency.  I searched the Internet and read lots of reviews and watched a lot of videos on juicers for about a year before selecting this juicer.  I use to work the juice bar in a organic health food store in Hermosa Beach California in the mid 1970s.  I even bough a used champion juicer just like the one I used at work for home use.  the Champion was huge, but it really juiced veggies, leafy greens and wheat grass.  I loved it. So when I was looking for my second juicer I knew that I wanted a juicer that could juice green leafy veggies as well ...

Here are some of the foods that I eat just after I ride to work.

Today I rode my bike 225 KM and I averaged 26.6 KM per hour.  I started my ride at 9 AM and I finished at 7:50 PM.  I finished with more energy than previous 80-100 KM rides.  This is the longest ride that I have ever done on a bike all by myself.  I have never ridden over 167 KM without being in an organized event with rest stops. I have to give a lot of credit for my transformation into a long distance cyclist to my 'endurance" coach Robert Heynen . Robert is a good coach and teacher.  In my opinion a good coach or teacher does not teach or train you to do one thing, that train you to think and apply the knowledge to many different things.  what Robert was specifically training me for was to run 100 KM on treacherous rock trails in Bandera State Park in Texas.  I did this in about 16 hours and got a nice belt buckle to remind me that any thing is possible. What I real...

Today it was really cold. This morning when I started to ride to work it was 4 degrees C. In the afternoon it was 13 degrees C. Yesterday evening when I rode home it was 18 degrees C. This wacky range of temperature makes it difficult to figure out what to wear when bike commuting to work So this morning I decided to wear two of my tube bandanas, one on my ears as usualy and one on the bottom of my face. Having the secon layer on my face helped keep the wind chill from completely numbing my cheeks. With an air temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius and a bike speed of 28 KM per hour the wind chill adjusted temperature was -.55 degrees Celsius No this is not really cold for all of the folks that live north of the 45th parallel. I use to live in Oregon and I use to ride in rainy cold weather like this. It was refreshing to be able to have some cold weather down here in Albany, GA. I typically ride in summer biking clothes and layer my core with my Burley rain jacket and long ...

Today is my first ride on my new pedals and cleats

Today I rode my wife's bike to work.  I took my Serotta Rapid Tour to the bike shop this weekend for a tuneup.  I was going to drive to work today, but  Chris Davies  gave me the inspiration to get the backup bike and ride anyway. It was quite an experience riding upright without the benefit of having my feet locked to my pedals.  I decided to just take my short route and enjoy the view.  riding the Trek that was clearly not my size drives home the need for a bike fit.  I also realized that seat position is critical for long rides.  Anyone considering riding more than 20 KM on a comfort bike is really brave. Anyway I got my bike commute on today.