Monday, 1 August 2011
Like most Mondays, the ride was lower intensity while my body accustomed itself to another week of bike commuting. Several times, I turned my attention to the cadence, to the spin, and particularly to the arc from 5 to 8 o'clock. Pull through, get some advantage from the hamstrings flex. And it worked for a bit, until my attention was pulled elsewhere.
On the Mad River plateau, a group of riders approached me from Eastwood Park. They were likely members of a similar group I had seen Friday morning in the clearing by Miami Valley Manufacturing, which then was 6 riders. Today the group had 5 cyclists whose control of the road and apparel implied their presence was a training ride, perhaps an LSD (long, slow distance) ride. I almost u-turned to ask them if they have ridden together over a long time, their typical start time and distance, and other details of their ride. ...But the need to arrive at work had precedence, and the questions were left unanswered. Perhaps over a few similar meetings on the bikeway, I can glean at least how much of our routes covers the same points. Or, on some day that I start out much earlier, I might afford some time to ride with them and ask my questions. For now, I'll name them the Northbound Trainers.
A couple miles on, a half mile north of Burkhardt, I said good morning to a couple of women whom I had greeted and exchanged some information perhaps a week ago. One of them, the older who is about 55 or perhaps as old as 65, is from New Zealand and is the more outgoing of them. The other is no older than 40, more athletic in appearance, more reserved.
As I neared the end of my route, I saw a single rider ahead of me at the turn from the Haverfield canopy onto Spaulding. He was about 25 seconds ahead of my own turn at the same corner, and once on Spaulding, I saw him approach and overtake a pair of other riders around the drive to the water treatment plant. All three were new on this stretch, as far as I knew. And all three had reached the bend toward County Line Road by the time I headed off the bikeway into Research Park.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 68 to 73°F at 07:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:42:05 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 127 bpm HRave, 146 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 12 cyclists, 6 pedestrians, 2 dogs
Playback of the ride
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