Saturday Cycling
-Route: Horse Farm + Castlegate
-Location: Wellborn & College Station
-Distance: 17.2 miles
-Average speed: 15.9 mph
-Average heart rate: 161 bpm
-Weather: 83, humid, windy
-On my iPod: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
-Number of other cyclists: 0
Today’s ride was great. Matt’s out of town, but I have company at my house for my brother-in-law’s med school graduation. My house is full and loud and chaotic and today’s ride was such a nice respite. There’s barely a soul in town (regular graduation was last weekend, so the general population here decreased by 50,000 last week). Not even a single cyclist was out riding.
It was also actually drippy-sweat warm today as well for the first time since the fall. It’s probably strange that I enjoy that, but being Texas born-and-raised, hot and sweaty exercise is a happiness trigger for me. It’s just regular and good and connected to good memories. I’m now damp, cold, salty, and hungry. Time for a warm shower and some lunch before graduation.
A serious question for you serious cyclists: what do you do when your sweat dissolves the foam in your helmet padding?
Last summer this happened to the forehead padding and I sewed a replacement (it’s black). I just lost another red bit. Is this when you replace your helmet? Can you order replacement padding if your helmet is discontinued? Am I the only one whose sweat dissolves the foam?
Saturday Cycling
-Route: Grocery Store
-Location: College Station
-Distance: 9.1 miles
-Average speed: 12.2 mph
-Average heart rate: 161 bpm
-Weather: sunny, humid, 79 degrees
Today was a day of two firsts: pulling a trailer on my bike and doing a solo grocery run by bike. Matt has search & rescue practice almost all day. The weather was slated to be rainy, but it’s surprisingly sunny, so he took the car. I have been doing some spring cleaning today, which involves laying two of my old computers to rest and I needed a USB drive. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and bike to the grocery store to get something for dinner and the USB drive. It was pretty enjoyable and wasn’t too tough to pull the trailer, although I will likely be sore in my quads tomorrow.
P.S. Yes, that’s a child trailer. We used to use it all the time to cart our dogs around back when there were only two. It was marvelously fun for them! Two bad 3 cannot fit.
Monday Cycling
-Route: Horse farm loop
-Location: College Station & Wellborn, TX
-Distance: 15.3 miles
-Average speed: 15.5 mph
-Average heart rate: 164 bpm
-Weather: 81 with SE wind
-Number of horse farms: 1
-Number of goat farms: 1
-Number of goat yelling like humans: 0
What great weather for riding! It was into the wind the first half, but I’m getting stronger from commuting with a load on my bike so the wind feels like nothing on my road bike.
The horses at the horse farm are a bit shy this year. All of them seemed timid and wouldn’t pose for pictures.
Also, Matt needs a new tire. It’s separating from the walls of the tire and makes a weird noise. (He’s pointing to the flappy part in one of the pictures.) We’ve had great luck with Specialized Armadillo tires, so when one wears out it’s because it’s been through a lot.
Now it’s time to go find some tacos and a beer.
Saturday Cycling
-Route: Horse farm loop
-Location: south College Station
-Distance: 14.5 miles
-Average speed: 16.0 mph
-Average heart rate: 169 bpm
-Weather: 77 sunny, SE wind
-Number of other cyclists: 1
-Number of horses at the horse farm: 41
-Number of cows at the horse farm: 1
-On my iPod: Gulp by Mary Roach
It’s a beautiful day to ride. It’s also Parents’ Weekend so I made sure to steer clear of campus and the main roads. Parents’ Weekend is a townie’s least favorite of the year. (Don’t even think about going out to eat.)
I tried out a new strategy for refueling on the ride: homemade energy “gel.” I typically have a gel every 30 minutes in warm weather (I have rapid blood sugar crashes if I don’t). But we are out of Gu and rather than ordering more, I thought I’d give creating something homemade a go. I like Gu a lot (vanilla bean is my favorite), but there is little by way of electrolytes for my needs. With cystic fibrosis, I sweat an insane amount and lose a lot of salt, which results in muscle cramps and dehydration pretty rapidly (within an hour with no salt supplementation). I got my first reminder of that on a ride Matt and I did last week after work on a warm day. So today I experimented with a homemade gel of applesauce (simple sugars), molasses (magnesium, calcium, & potassium), agave nectar (complex sugars), some salt, and a little vanilla for taste. It didn’t look very appealing and the taste was on the salty side, but it worked very well. I’m looking forward to trying it out on a hotter day and a longer ride.
This morning was perfect for a bike commute—clear skies, 70 degrees, and birds chirping. The feel of the morning made me nostalgic for elementary school field trips to the zoo.
Friday Cycling
-Route: short Man Loop
-Location: Wellborn & College Station
-Distance: 12 miles
-Average speed: 15 mph
-Average heart rate: 160 bpm
-Weather: sunny and 69 deg
-Number of cotton tail rabbits: 1
-Favorite wildflower: bluebonnets
-Post-ride refreshment: Chimay Grand Reserve
Matt and I just got back from a lovely after work ride. I’m wearing my new California jersey that Matt’s parents got me from a recent trip. Here’s a shout out to my west coast friends.
I haven’t been on my road bike in awhile since I’ve been commuting on my other bike loaded with panniers. I am becoming extremely used to the weight distribution of a back-heavy bike and it’s wreaking havoc on my handling skills. I wobble like crazy when standing up on my road bike. I’m not sure if it’s because the handling is tight and the carbon frame makes it super-twitchy, or I’ve lost the balance/stability control in my arms. I need to ride it more often because I am very displeased with my wobbliness.
Sunday Cycling
-Route: short Man Loop
-Location: south College Station & Wellborn
-Distance: 12.25 miles
-Average speed: 14.6 mph
-Average heart rate: 166 bpm
-Weather: 64, sunny, NW wind at 16 mph
-Number of other cyclists: 5
-Number of buzzards on the road: 3
-Number of dead skunks: 1
-Number of bluebonnets: dozens
Matt and I went for a ride today instead of playing disc golf since it rained last night (I wasn’t excited about playing in the mud). It was a nice ride, though windy. We haven’t been out on a real ride in awhile—partly due to having busy weekends, but also Matt’s bike has been making a weird click for months and it hasn’t been enjoyable to ride it that way. It’s been doing that since his frame came back from Litespeed from repairs back in Sept. He’s literally replaced everything on the bike except the bottom bracket in an effort to fix the click. My mission this week is to use my feminine wiles with the mechanics at our three local bike shops to troubleshoot the clicking sound (without letting them touch the bike of course, unless they prove to skills worthy of a high-end bike). They always treat Matt like an incompetent idiot, so maybe my ladylike charms will be better received.
Yes, there are already bluebonnets blooming in Texas. It’s technically not yet spring. I cringe to think what the warmer months have in store for us.
Golly-gee, this morning was the slowest I’ve ever done this route. And most likely the stiffest wind I’ve ever had to ride into for the entire duration of the ride (20 mph gusting at 26). It took me an extra 10 minutes to do my 4.25 mile route. This morning was one of those days where I was just going so slow and my heart rate was so high that I questioned whether the ride was worth it.
Then a guinea fowl hen chased after me and I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess I was too close to her nesting area? She is part of a flock that lives/roams around the neighborhood right next to campus. Always makes me smile to see them.
At least the wind will be at my back on the way home.
Sunday Cycling
-Route: IGN Road out & back
-Location: College Station, TX
-Distance: 12.2 miles
-Average speed: 15.1 mph
-Average heart rate: 169 bpm
-Weather: 73 deg, 16 mph SE wind
-On my iPod: Lucifer’s Hammer (audiobook)
-Number of other cyclists: 9
-Number of horses: 13
-Herds of cattle: 3
-Cats crossing my path: 1
-Number of hawks: 1
Today’s ride was windy. I did an out and back loop where it was into the wind for the first half and it was worth it to have the wind at my back the whole way home. This picture is at the turn around point. Kind of boring landscape today, but it was nice to get on my bike again. Haven’t ridden in over a week, mostly due to rain. Hopefully the next week will have good riding weather.
