Hilly Cow

My cycling companion and I rode 86 hilly miles in Chatham and Alamance counties today. We started south of Chapel Hill (15-501 at Lystra Rd) and rode generally west to Snow Hill, turned south to Siler City, then reversed the route to return.

It started out at 20 degrees F. The temperature may have risen to 50 after lunch, but quickly started dropping as we returned. Chemical toe warmer pads are just wonderful.

The western half of this route was new to us, but there were so few turns, it was easy to memorize it. It was nice to not worry about the route, and we only turned on the GPS twice to be sure.

Traffic was light, although there was an abundance of trucks pulling wide trailers today. Everyone was hauling 'stuff', such as furniture, machinery, ATVs, bags of garbage, even an open trailer with a horse. Late afternoon, we were passed by a pickup straining to pull a huge wide trailer piled high with bales of hay. I saw the monster slowly approaching in my mirror and we pulled over to let it pass. The driver waved to thank us. 'Share the road' works both ways.

We saw six deer prance across the road, safely far in advance of us. The first one stopped at the roadside, seemed to look both ways, and then crossed. The other five followed one-by-one without looking. The leader will survive.

We only had one dog come to greet us as we climbed a hill in front of his farmhouse. It was a senior citizen dog, barely able to keep up with our slow pace. I respected his effort and smiled at him as he barked at me briefly. Namaste.

We also passed a farm with a delightful rendition of a cow in the front yard, as shown in this photo. It was made from an old fuel tank and other scrap metal parts. Very clever.

This was the longest and hilliest ride we have done since beginning this absurd hobby back in December. The hills took a toll on our pace, but not by much. I will wait a few days to assess their toll on my body. Some of my joints are already speaking to me...

Interactive ride map: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2578084
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/sagittandy/BikeRideChathamAlamanceCounties

The Bunn Wash

We bicycled 83 miles today, starting in North Raleigh, and heading mostly east, doing an out-and-back route. There were moderate rolling hills the first few miles (and last), but the eastern part was delightfully flat. Temps started cool, but got unusually warm mid-afternoon.

We had lunch at a convenience store in the town of Bunn, NC. The name of the car wash business in the photo caught my eye.

Mechanically, the tire on one of our rear wheels was found rubbing on the frame chainstay. I must not have tightened the rear wheel sufficiently the last time it was off. Oh, and the next morning, my rear tire was almost flat. I must have picked up a slow leaker.

GPS stats: 83.4 miles. Moving average 12.6mph. Overall average 9.8mph. Moving time 6:37. Stopped 1:53.
GPS map: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/nc/raleigh/317197954272
A few social photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/sagittandy/BikeRideEasternNC20090207?feat=directlink

The Sunny South

It was cold the last two mornings for my 6am commute to work.

I have started wearing a little scarf from the dollar store to cover my nose, mouth and cheeks. It is a loose weave which I can breathe through, and it prevents blisters on lips and tongue. Very nice. Plus, it is a camouflage print which clashes with my appearance. I tie it in the back, and little flaps flutter in the wind. Just perfect!

A cute story: Yesterday morning, three co-workers came to my cube separately and accused me of pretending to bike to work. They accused me of driving my car to work with the bike on back, and then rolling the bike to the bike rack. Ha!

No ice scraping

One nice benefit of bicycle commuting on cold winter mornings is not having to scrape ice from the car's windows.

Perhaps I am 'scraping' too deep to find anything good about bicycle commuting well below freezing, hehe. Nonetheless, here is my trusy Honda Civic in the driveway at about 6am this morning in the glow of my bike headlight, as I rode past it on the way to work.

56 Percent

Some randonneur website had a hilarious de-motivational poster with a photo like this, making fun of the absurd behaviors exhibited by randonneurs. This staged photo, taken today outside a convenience store, is my homage to the hobby.

Today was cloudy all day, with no sunshine at all, and temps hung in the 30s. My cycling companion surprised me with long-lasting single-use chemical toe warmer pads. Wow, what a treat. Popular with ice fisherman and hunters, they worked great in my boots. A few of these pads will soon go into my already overloaded bag of tricks.

As we were riding, a chain came loose at an intersection where we were supposed to turn. In the distraction of re-railing the chain, we forgot to look at the street sign. Focused on moving again, we continued straight, thus missing the turn. I was watching my GPS, but thought I had programmed it wrong. By the time we realized our error and doubled back, the missed turn gave us three extra miles. This brought our total today to 70 miles (112km). Oh well, lesson learned.

We ate a little better en route today, and drank more too. Our overall speed is on target. But our 70 miles today is only 56 percent of a 125 mi (200km) brevet, and my butt was (and is) quite sore. My respect for randonneurs increases with every ride.

Today's GPS minutia: Distance 70.36 mi. Moving time 5:54 hrs:mins. Stopped 1:45. Moving average speed 11.9mph. Overall 9.2mph.

Interactive route map: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2509179

More biking in Chatham County - Hilly Sleety

Today we bicycled in rural Chatham County NC, 53 miles in just under six hours. Temps were mild for a January, starting out just below freezing, and staying close throughout the day. Nothing very remarkable, just a very enjoyable day.

We encountered sleet and/or hail three different times. It pinged off our helmets, glasses, and arms, and crunched noisily under our tires. Luckily, it didn't stick to the roads, and luckily, it wasn't liquid rain.

We rode past the Carnivore Preservation Trust, a non-profit wildlife refuge I've heard about for years, but never seen myself (http://www.cptigers.org/).

We experimented with inexpensive rechargable chemical hand-warmer packs from the dollar store. They give about 30 minutes of warmth. They worked, but not great. We need to think about how best to use them.

Interactive route map: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2500142
Misc photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/sagittandy/BikeRideChathamCounty20090118?feat=directlink

A New PR

I biked to work this morning in a temperature of 15 deg F(-9C). I call it a Personal Record. Friends and family yelling at me call it Purely Ridiculous. My previous record was 22F(-5C), set last winter.

I was wearing the 'right' number of layers. I was comfortable when pedaling, but got cold when I stopped at traffic lights. To reduce wind, I didn't race down hills. By the time I got to work, about 10 miles, hands and feet were doing okay, but my exposed mouth was really cold. I will work on that.

To ride in any colder temps, I would probably need to buy some expensive high-tech bikewear, instead of wearing common street clothes. Given my reluctance to part with cash, I will probably drop out of tomorrow's planned 55 mile (88km) ride, forecast to be 9F(-12C) at 7am. Such a wuss...