Cycle Ti Thunder

On my ride home last night I saw a dead Gator. At first I thought it was a tire but when I got closer I saw it was a gator. I could not tell if it was alive so I swerved to the middle of the room to make sure. When I was sure it was dead I decided to take a picture. I see Gators often on my rides in southwest Georgia. Usually when I get my camera out they're gone.

Today's ride home is dedicated to my friend Trey Griffin .  Trey is on the PCP Race Team .  Last week during the Thursday evening club ride I found myself riding 20-24 MPH right on the back tire of Mr. Griffin as he rode south on 8 Mile Road.  At the time I was still running the cyclocross tires which held up pretty fine. So on my way home I found myself riding really strong with the Gator Skins so I decided to really push myself to ride fast for about one hour.  Riding with the PCP race team taught me a few things about how to ride full out.  I like to maximize my 25 mile commute by mixing in some training techniques.  Some of these training methods do not make sense to most cyclist, but they work for me. One of the things that I use to do before riding with the race team is I would slow up on the "hills".  What I learned is that on these little hills is where I struggled to keep up and I would get dropped.  So what do I do to train to get stronger?  Well on my bike

Placed an order for these parts. Time to give my head light a proper mounting.

I wanted to check out the latest progress on the Flint River Bridge. The Flint River is running high because of all of the recent rain.

I was thinking about a newspaper article telling the story of police getting tickets to black cycles in Tampa Florida.  This is a picture of my bike at the civil rights near downtown Albany Georgia. Earlier on my bike commute this morning I will pass by a black man on a bike on his way to work. I was stopped with other cars at a busy intersection facing a red light. The black man rode through the red light. we exchanged pleasantries and wished each other a good morning. I wondered if there was a police present  would either of us have been asked to prove that we owned our bikes. I thought the civil rights struggle was over apparently its still going on for cyclist.

This is near the parking lot where the cycle world Club ride starts

I did not hear my alarm this morning, so I am taking a early evening ride.  I took the "weight training" gear off of my bike for this ride.  I wanted to see what the road conditions were on Walker Decker Station Road after a few days with no rain.  After riding the 2.56 miles of dirt I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the road had dried out.  I was also impressed with how fast I could ride on the dry hard packed clay.  I had to really watch for large dips in the road and get up off of my seat quickly to avoid getting bumped around, but I ahd a blast. Walker Decker Station Road I suspect that the name sake of this road is an old railroad station.  All that is left of it are these brick ruins.  I hope that someone from the area can verify this claim by making a comment to this post. Possible ruins of Walker Decker Railroad Station? Possible ruins of Walker Decker Railroad Station? Possible ruins of Walker Decker Railroad Station?

Tonight I took the short route home so that I could ride the Cycle World Group Ride . The group meets in the parking lot of the Doublegate country club near my house.  The rides are bi-weekly on tuesday and Thursday. All cyclist are welcome to ride with the group. Tonight I took a video of all of the riders as they headed out for the ride. I got this inspiration from my friend   +Alex Turner .  Alex took some pictures of riders as they took off ontheir brevet.  His pictures really showed me a lot about the cycling culture in england.  I could tell what the weatehr was like just by looking at what folks were wearing. I have learned a lot from the pictures that I see taken on the road by cyclist on Google+ Here is what the typical cyclists in Albany, Ga are wearing and riding.

Tonight I wanted to ride down a dirt road that I have been curios about for three years. So I headed down my usual route down Leary Road and then Mud Creek Road.  On the way to the dirt road I saw two wild turkeys in a large field.  I have seen turkeys in ths area before, but not in bright sunlight.  another reason to have a helmet camera. I did stop to take a picture of the Ducker Plantation Pecan Orchard. Once again the golden light of the late afternoon sun has cast a magical light on the newly sprouted pecan leaves.  I like the way the green plays off of the dark tree branches. Walker Decker Station Road I think there is an old brick building that use to be a railroad station at the intersection of Mud Creek and Walter Decker Station. Below are images of the dirt road ride.  The $26 bike cycle cross tires did a fine job on the road.  there were some fresh truck tire marks on the road.  The driver made a mess of the road in some of the wettest spots by spinning the t

Sometimes it is nice living in a small town where everybody knows everybody.  I was surprised today by seeing an article about me on the front page of the local newspaper, the Albany Herald.  My neighbor and close friend Rachelle Bitterman who works for the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce mentioned to Carlton Fletcher, the metro editor of the Albany Herald, about my 200 mile bike ride.  I knew that the interview that I had with Mr. Fletcher was going to be in today's Sunday paper, but I had no idea that I would have my photograph on the front page. I hope my message about driving while distracted reaches more people. Cyclist and pedestrians need access to roads without fear of being hit by a motor vehicle. Lonnie Wormley - photo taken by Carlton Fletcher, Albany Herald

Seven Cycles 622 SLX Disc with WHITE WALL Cyclecross tires. I am going to ride the Dirt(y) Pecan 150 tomorrow. One of the major equipment changes that I had to do before the ride was to change my tires. The ride tomorrow is going to be mostly on dirt roads. One of the main design decisions that I made in selecting this bike was that I could ride dirt roads or do cycle cross trails.  I have not put tires on a bike with white walls in a long time. I purchased some tires from Cycle World and I tested them this morning on Doublegate Country Club, the private golf course near my house. I have run and taken my mountian bike on the course by poaching it during the early morning or late at night under the cover of darkness many times.  This morning was the first time I rode the 622 SLX with the cycle cross tires. What a difference riding a bike off road without any shocks.  My Canondale Jekyel is full suspension so I am use to hitting any bump, rock or tree root and not feeling a thin

I got some birthday presents today. my sister sent me a bike kit. I also treated myself to  a pair of Wind Block.

My bike in it's parking lot, a network closet where I work. Tonight I had near perfect weather on my ride home this evening.  I was happy to discover that there was no rain predicted in the forecast so I decided to take Mud Creek ride home.  I love overcast skis because there are no hard shadows in the landscape so photographs have amazing color saturation. The air temperature was between 72 and 66 degrees with a slight cross wind that took some of the humidity away from my skin. I started my evening ride by practicing my cycle photography skills. The only thing wrong with this shot is that I do not have the rear derailleur in the small cog. Crank arm is aligned with the seat tube.  Valve stems are behind the frame. Bare Legs in the Spring I bought some light weight shoe covers last December.  I wanted the covers to keep the dirt off my shoes when riding in the rain.  I had struggled putting them on and thought I had made a bad purchase.  I was putting the covers on wit

What a beautiful morning. The air is fresh there is no wind the rain last night really cleared out all of the pollen.

I love seeing tractors and other agricultural equipment on my cycling adventures. While I was stopped on the side of Leary road I also was admiring the field of winter wheat on what usually grows cotton later in the year. There are usually deer in thsi field, but I never get photos of them because they run off into the trees before I can get to my camera.  Another reason for getting a Garmin Virb On Eight Mile road the oak tree reflecting pond shows it's true use as a cattle swimming pool.