Muddy (but Good) Ride

This weekend is Conquer the Coast, so the regular Saturday ride crowd was significantly thinned. The five of us that showed up left Burger King and 7am, and rode to Progreso via this route. This route starts in the city, and quickly turns rural.

It had rained a little before we started the ride, and the streets were wet. As we progressed from city streets to farm-to-market roads lined with freshly plowed fields, the road got muddy. When the farmers work the fields, they use the roads to move their tractors from field to field. Of course, this brings a ton of dirt onto the road. Add light rain that doesn't wash the dirt from the asphalt, and you've got a really muddy, nasty ride. Here are some shots of my legs and bike after the ride.

My Lovely Legs Covered with Grime (Hook 'Em!)

Filthy Wheel, Frame, Chainring

From the Other Side...Dirty Too!

I'm not complaining about the rain or the mud. It's a normal condition, but this is about as bad as I've seen it. The pros have the same conditions sometime; it's just one of those things that makes cycling fun.

And lastly -- I felt great on this ride. The trainer rides are paying off. There were only 5 of us, so the rotations were short, yet we averaged 19 MPH over the 56 mile ride. I could have pushed harder and faster, but the group was in a good groove. Considering the mud, rain, and the size of the group, I'm pleased! Thanks to Raul, Rolando, John, and Jorge for a great ride. Sorry if I butchered any of your names.

Trainerrrrrrrrrr....

It's difficult for me to find time for cycling. The team rides on T-Th, as close to 5pm as possible. For me to make it in time for some decent miles, I have to hit the trifecta: find time to make sure my bike and gear are COMPLETELY ready before I leave for work in the morning, finish my work day early, and cross the bridge quickly. Even then, I have to sacrifice family time from 5p-7p. I need these training rides so that I can perform better on the longer, faster weekend rides, but the trade-off is tough.

So, I set up the CycleOps Magneto trainer a little early this year. I'm getting up early, and putting in 45 minutes while watching episodes of Rescue Me on DVD. Excellent show, and it passes the time on the trainer. I'll probably start alternating Chris Carmichael's Time Trial video next week, even though the intensity of the power intervals makes me nauseous. Literally. We'll see if this is a good substitute for the T-TH rides...

Weekend in Austin

What a weekend. Drove up to Austin on Thursday for a Friday morning meeting and the UT-Rice game on Saturday. At lunch on Friday, went for the "Staktek Lunch Ride" with a couple of coworkers. It had just enough hills that I was huffing and puffing. At one time I was used to Austin's rolling hills and mostly moderate climbs, but I'm a converted flatlander. It was a good ride, but at 90F or so it was a little warm.

On Saturday, I woke up early and went for another ride. I drove from my brother's house in Oak Hill to Barton Creek Mall, then rode 360 almost to the Arboretum. It was a crisp 70F, 20% humidity at the start. Just a beautiful day for riding. The ride map is shown below. This route has some rolling hills, with some relatively long climbs. Nothing major that requires out of the saddle riding, but it's a good workout.


There's a scenic overlook along the route, and I pulled over to take a photo of the Austin skyline. But the sun was low in the sky, and my camera doesn't have a great zoom, so the photo was crap. Instead, I took a shot of my bike and a "Don't Mess with Texas" trash can.






The longest descent (and climb on the way back) is the descent to the Colorado River, which is actually Lake Austin where you cross on 360. The bridge is Pennybacker Bridge, as shown in the below photo. It's easy to hit 45 MPH+ on this hill with almost zero effort, but there's lots of traffic on 360 so I kept it a little slower. My photo is pretty bad, so here's a link to a very good photo, but taken from the opposite end of the bridge. This was taken by a friend of mine, who is an engineer / professional photographer, and you can see his entire site at Craig Allen Photography.



Austin's a very active town, and the Cornerstone 5K happened to coincide with my ride. Here's a shot of a few runners with the skyline in the background, and another shot the larger group. Sun was still low, so it was hard to get good lighting on these. Oh well.






Two great rides, the Longhorns stomped the Owls, and got to spend time with family, friends, and coworkers that I haven't seen in awhile...you can't beat it. I'll be back one day, but in the meantime, I MISS AUSTIN.

Lull

I'm at an inflection point of my cycling output. Between the accident and the needed repairs, traveling to Austin multiple weekends for UT games, my daughter starting kindergarten, and critical effort at work, I haven't put in a single mile over the last 3 weeks. Absolutely terrible.

But the good news is that the repairs are complete, I prepped my CycleOps trainer and surrounding area (it's next to my daugther's play area, so entropy had set in), and I have confirmed free time for a ride Tuesday afternoon. Should be getting in some miles and literally getting "back in the saddle" this week.

Also, this weekend I need to be in Austin for work as well as the UT-Rice game. I'm taking my bike, so I'll try to get in a ride on Friday, as well as one on Saturday. I can't wait to see some hills again.