In spite of the threat of cold and rainy weather today, my neighbor and I woke up early and rode in a fundraiser bike ride called The Great Escape Bicycle Ride in Manvel, TX. This event is a fundraiser for the Brazoria County Sheriffs Office Reserves. As is typical for these kind of rides, there were several different ride distances to choose from: 14, 40, 52, 70 and 86 miles. Up until this point, my longest ride so far had been 62 miles, which occurred last weekend in Baytown. I figured another 24 miles wouldn't be too bad, so we took off on the 86 mile route.
The morning started out a bit chilly, but it wasn't long before we both realized that this was nearly a perfect day for riding. It wasn't too cold, very little wind, the rain stayed away and we had overcast clouds to keep the temperature from climbing too much...ahhh...PERFECT!
About five and a half hours after we hopped on our bikes, we found ourselves back at the car. A few miles from the finish line I heard a sudden popping noise from my rear tire. It sounded as though a wheel spoke had broken. However, after it happened, I didn't hear anything rattling around or grinding in the chain so I kept on cruising toward the finish line. Once I stopped, I looked back at the rim and noticed that it was severely out of round. Sure enough, a spoke had broken just a few miles from the finish line and the resulting unbalanced tension from the remaining spokes warped the rim! I bet the wheel would not have made it through the entire ride if the spoke would have instead, broken a few miles from the start. Lucky me!
The rain that had threatened to get us wet all morning started about 20 minutes after we finished the ride....Lucky me again!
Todays miles: 86, Total miles: 507.8
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
A One-Way Trip To Outer Space
Q: "Outer Space" is generally defined to start at what altitude?
This weekend I participated in the Gator Ride in Baytown, TX, a ride of about 1200 bikers, which is a fundraiser for the YMCA. The ride had two noteworthy features: First, within a mile or two of the starting line, we started the climb over the huge and beautiful Fred Hartman Bridge that crosses over the Houston Ship Channel (click the picture below for a very cool picture). Second, about 10 miles later, we hopped off of our bikes and took a short ferry ride on the Lynchberg Ferry.
Other than the cool bridge and ferry crossings (oh and let's not forget that we rode past the San Jacinto Monument), the first half of the ride was rather easy and very fast. The group that I was riding with averaged about 20-21 mph for most of the first 30 or so miles of the route. By the time that we had reached rest stop #3, we had approached the outskirts of the cool town of Crosby, TX.
At this point, the ride was going great, but then we turned back south/southeast to head to the finish line. By this time the wind had started to pick up (blowing at 20+ mph) and we were riding directly into it. Most of the last 20 miles of the ride were difficult not only because of the wind but also because I was peddling like crazy to keep up with a very good group of riders from our Johnson Space Center riding team, TMC (Team Mission Control). All of these riders are very good and fast riders, so I considered it quite an accomplisment that I was able to keep pace with them through the first 54 miles of the ride. I took a few more minutes than TMC did at the final rest stop, so I cruised the last 8 miles on in to the finish line by myself. Distance today: 62 miles, Total miles: 421.8 miles
A: It is generally accepted that Outer Space starts at an altitude of 62 miles (the same distance I rode today), and that altitude is called the Karman Line.
This weekend I participated in the Gator Ride in Baytown, TX, a ride of about 1200 bikers, which is a fundraiser for the YMCA. The ride had two noteworthy features: First, within a mile or two of the starting line, we started the climb over the huge and beautiful Fred Hartman Bridge that crosses over the Houston Ship Channel (click the picture below for a very cool picture). Second, about 10 miles later, we hopped off of our bikes and took a short ferry ride on the Lynchberg Ferry.
Other than the cool bridge and ferry crossings (oh and let's not forget that we rode past the San Jacinto Monument), the first half of the ride was rather easy and very fast. The group that I was riding with averaged about 20-21 mph for most of the first 30 or so miles of the route. By the time that we had reached rest stop #3, we had approached the outskirts of the cool town of Crosby, TX.
At this point, the ride was going great, but then we turned back south/southeast to head to the finish line. By this time the wind had started to pick up (blowing at 20+ mph) and we were riding directly into it. Most of the last 20 miles of the ride were difficult not only because of the wind but also because I was peddling like crazy to keep up with a very good group of riders from our Johnson Space Center riding team, TMC (Team Mission Control). All of these riders are very good and fast riders, so I considered it quite an accomplisment that I was able to keep pace with them through the first 54 miles of the ride. I took a few more minutes than TMC did at the final rest stop, so I cruised the last 8 miles on in to the finish line by myself. Distance today: 62 miles, Total miles: 421.8 miles
A: It is generally accepted that Outer Space starts at an altitude of 62 miles (the same distance I rode today), and that altitude is called the Karman Line.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Biking Uphill....Both Ways!!
Even with some wind, rides of 30-40 miles at an average speed of 15 mph don't seem to present much challenge anymore....good for me! I now need to practice three things: 1) increased distance (rides in the 70-100 mile range), 2) rides on two consecutive days, 3) hills, hills and more hills. The MS150 ride will have plenty of all 3 of these challenges!
This past weekend, I figured I'd work on the last two items on the list. Saturday, I woke up and cruised about 38.5 miles in about 2.5 hours. Then, since the Houston area is as flat as ...well, you can make up your own analogy...I decided that I would bike back and forth over the Kemah bridge (see the picture below) on Sunday morning. The bridge has a cloverleaf-like intersection at each end, so you can start biking at one end of the bridge, and after about 2 miles of pedaling up the bridge, down the otherside and then up it again from the other side, you're back where you started without having to ever stop. A lot of runners and bikers in the area use this bridge as 'hill training'. Although there is lots of car traffic on the 4-lane highway bridge, fortunately, the shoulders are very wide, so it's a great place to ride and run.
Since I've never biked hills much since I've started training, I didn't know how difficult this may be. I had planned on only 3 round trips on the bridge. However, after the 3rd circuit, I felt like doing it again! I wasn't as tired as I thought I would have been, but later in the day, my legs knew that they had been pedaling up hill for the first time! I look forward to riding this bridge each weekend between now the MS150.
Total distance for the weekend: 46.3 miles. Total distance since I started: 359.8 miles
This past weekend, I figured I'd work on the last two items on the list. Saturday, I woke up and cruised about 38.5 miles in about 2.5 hours. Then, since the Houston area is as flat as ...well, you can make up your own analogy...I decided that I would bike back and forth over the Kemah bridge (see the picture below) on Sunday morning. The bridge has a cloverleaf-like intersection at each end, so you can start biking at one end of the bridge, and after about 2 miles of pedaling up the bridge, down the otherside and then up it again from the other side, you're back where you started without having to ever stop. A lot of runners and bikers in the area use this bridge as 'hill training'. Although there is lots of car traffic on the 4-lane highway bridge, fortunately, the shoulders are very wide, so it's a great place to ride and run.
Since I've never biked hills much since I've started training, I didn't know how difficult this may be. I had planned on only 3 round trips on the bridge. However, after the 3rd circuit, I felt like doing it again! I wasn't as tired as I thought I would have been, but later in the day, my legs knew that they had been pedaling up hill for the first time! I look forward to riding this bridge each weekend between now the MS150.
Total distance for the weekend: 46.3 miles. Total distance since I started: 359.8 miles
Sunday, February 1, 2009
One Tenth of the Daytona 500!
Today I participated in my second organized group ride. It was the Ride To The Rescue bike ride starting at Tom Bass Park on the southern edge of Houston. I didn't get the exact count, but there were several hundred riders participating in todays ride. The ride was a fundraiser for area animal rescue groups. There were three routes to choose from: 30 miles, 50.1 miles and 63 miles. My neighbor and I chose the 50 mile route. Until today, my longest ride had been 35 miles, so I was anxious to see how I would handle the increased distance. As it turns out, I did just fine! In fact, my average speed for the 50 mile ride (15.0 mph) was faster than the average speed for the 35 mile ride (12.7 mph) from 2 weeks ago! I completed the 50 miles (one tenth of the distance of the upcoming Daytona 500) with an average speed of approximately one tenth of the average speed of last years Daytona 500 winner (152 mph). Watch out Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon...here I come!
After todays ride, my tally of total miles on two wheels since I started this adventure is: 313.5 miles.
After todays ride, my tally of total miles on two wheels since I started this adventure is: 313.5 miles.
Monday, January 19, 2009
35 Miles - Attempt Number 2
Well, I decided to try the same route that I attempted last weekend. However, my bike is now outfitted with a spare inner tube and an air pump. Fortunately, I didn't need either of those today. In spite of a very strong 20 mph wind from the north, I managed to finish the route after a fun ride of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Click the map below for the route!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
32.3 Miles And A Nice Walk!
Q: Whats the origin of the word "tire"?
I started out this morning with a plan of riding 35 miles, my longest ride so far. This didn't work out quite as planned, but I still did manage to ride longer than my previous best of 20 miles. The weather was a bit chilly with some wind, but all considered, it was a nice, relatively easy ride....But then, less than 3 miles from the finish, I heard a POP and my otherwise smooth-riding bike became noticably not-so-smooth! My first flat tire! That's OK, by this time, the temperature had warmed up a bit....perfect walking weather!
A: The earliest tires were strips of metal placed around wooden, spoked wheels. The metal was heated and wrapped around the wheel and then both ends of the strip were fastened together. As the metal strip cooled, it would shrink and tighten around the wheel, serving the purpose of "tieing" the wooden spokes into the wooden wheel. In spite of metal tires not surviving the ever-changing progress of technology, the original name of tire did surive the test of time.
I started out this morning with a plan of riding 35 miles, my longest ride so far. This didn't work out quite as planned, but I still did manage to ride longer than my previous best of 20 miles. The weather was a bit chilly with some wind, but all considered, it was a nice, relatively easy ride....But then, less than 3 miles from the finish, I heard a POP and my otherwise smooth-riding bike became noticably not-so-smooth! My first flat tire! That's OK, by this time, the temperature had warmed up a bit....perfect walking weather!
A: The earliest tires were strips of metal placed around wooden, spoked wheels. The metal was heated and wrapped around the wheel and then both ends of the strip were fastened together. As the metal strip cooled, it would shrink and tighten around the wheel, serving the purpose of "tieing" the wooden spokes into the wooden wheel. In spite of metal tires not surviving the ever-changing progress of technology, the original name of tire did surive the test of time.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Auld Lang Syne! It's 2009!
Q: January 1st has not always been the date recognized as New Year's Day. What was the original date?
Ok, so I've done my part to begin a trend of staying fit in the new year...but just barely so! I biked just a short 5.4 miles today. I will likely have less time for riding during the next 6 weeks due to my involvement in First Robotics. However, I'll get in as many rides as possible and I'll let all of you know about it right here on this page. So check back here when you can!
A: The old Roman Calendar recognized March 15th to be the beginning of the year. Seems a bit strange until you realize that March 15th signifies the time of year when warmth is returning, trees are starting to turn green again and farmers would soon be planting new crops. So that seems like as good a time as any to recognize the birth of a new year! However, that all changed in the year 153 BC, when New Year's Day was officially moved to January 1st. For more weird calendar trivia, check out the entry for October 6th at one of my other webpages HistoryByTheDay.com.
Ok, so I've done my part to begin a trend of staying fit in the new year...but just barely so! I biked just a short 5.4 miles today. I will likely have less time for riding during the next 6 weeks due to my involvement in First Robotics. However, I'll get in as many rides as possible and I'll let all of you know about it right here on this page. So check back here when you can!
A: The old Roman Calendar recognized March 15th to be the beginning of the year. Seems a bit strange until you realize that March 15th signifies the time of year when warmth is returning, trees are starting to turn green again and farmers would soon be planting new crops. So that seems like as good a time as any to recognize the birth of a new year! However, that all changed in the year 153 BC, when New Year's Day was officially moved to January 1st. For more weird calendar trivia, check out the entry for October 6th at one of my other webpages HistoryByTheDay.com.
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