Bike-commute day 69—to home

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

I had hoped to go to the gym on my way home tonight, but I left work too late (leaving my desk at 17:30 and the locker room around 17:45). Perhaps just as well, since Chuck wants me to help him prepare for his trip to the GNI gathering, for which he's leaving tomorrow morning. And to give me time to prepare a nice going-away meal for us. I think there are skinned chicken breasts thawed in the refrigerator and a package of pad thai noodles and sauce in the pantry. I'll garnish it with Italian flat-leaf parsley instead of cilantro, roasted whole peanuts, and the half-lemon still in the fridge.

I took the route that last year was my usual commute, which takes a different route from the river bikeway to my home. At my last checkpoint, I headed up the zig-zag and to the Riverside Drive bridge, then around the Veterans' Memorial Park and down to the bikeway on the right bank of the Great Miami River. I followed the river to cross Wolf Creek and then took the bikeway west from there to the gravel-grass ramp to Broadway Avenue. I took an alley and a block of ---- to reach Broadway and then crossed the Broadway Avenue bridge. I turned left on Riverview, and then right on --- to Superior Avenue. From that point, I joined what has been my typical route this past year up Bryn Mawr and to my home.

The bikeway on the right bank still suffers from inattention. A few patches of sand and gravel, a couple instances of glass debris, and the still-lousy shape of the grass-gravel ramp up to Broadway make this a problematic route for my Lotus and its skinny tires. It will be better to take this route on my Trek hybrid bike, since its tires are more impervious to the stones and litter.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 84 to 91°F at 17:05
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the south, variable
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:44:37 for 12.90 miles
Heart rate: 128 bpm HRave, 145 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 16 cyclists, 12 pedestrians, 4 dogs
Playback of the ride

Bike-commute day 62—to home

Monday, 01 August 2011

A direct ride home so Chuck and I can continue work in the front yard. 


Ride conditions
Temperature: 91 to 100°F at 11.93
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 mph from the south
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:42:07 for 15.85 miles
Heart rate: 126 bpm HRave, 140 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 17 cyclists, 8 pedestrians
Playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 60—to home

Wednesday, 27 July 2011.

Wooze was what I felt as I started out tonight. And then a few blocks from home, a bit of broken glass made my day.  But I was lucky that the leak was a slow one, and I made it home before the tire was too flat to ride.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 89 to 95°F at 19:12
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:59:27 for 15.85 miles
Heart rate: 128 bpm HRave, 146 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 31 cyclists, 19 pedestrians
Playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 59—to gym and home

Tuesday, 26 July 2011.

Creekside Trail from Park Row (top) to
Burkhardt (bottom), Airway at midpoint.

I was zooming down the bikeway after a short legs workout at Cardinal Fitness, paying more attention to the bottom kick-back of the pedal strokes and getting more efficiency through that focus. I had already taken my second lap check north of Linden Avenue, crossed Burkhardt and Airway, rounded the meadow near the Multi-Service plant, and entered the canopy heading toward Park Row, still focused on cadence.

Suddenly two individual cyclists turned into the stretch of canopy and approached me. The first cylist was bare chested, lean, handsome. My pace faltered, but he had passed before I could whistle at him. The second cyclist on a red-white Cannondale passed and called out, "Tom Kohn!"

I recognized the voice of Matt Kemna, a colleague from Kodak. I slowed enough to make a U-turn at the double corner, and headed to catch him.

Creekside Trail from Double-Corner (top) to
Airway Canopy (bottom), Multi-Service Meadow at middle right.

When I returned to the meadow, I saw both cyclists yet to enter the canopy that leads to Airway. I whistled my most shrill signal, three bursts. Neither turned at the sound.

I increased my pace as Matt passed into the canopy. I rounded the meadow, and then I, too, entered the canopy. The bare-chested guy was making the rise near the renegade BMX course beside the Wright View neighborhood. I took a close look at him—just had to, don't ya think? Not only was his chest bare, but it was also smoothly shaved, and he had an exquisitely gentle face too, framed by white earbuds and their cord. No wonder he didn't turn at my whistle. But I also saw Matt at the end of the canopy, paused just before he could cause cross Airway. I whistled again, once clear of the bare-chested beauty.

Matt looked back after he navigated the crossing. He recognized me and slowly pedalling to keep a forward momentum but also to hold up his pace. When I reached him, my cadence was still fast, and I said, "Don't ride too slowly!" as I applied backward force to the cranks' revolutions.

We traversed the half mile south to Burkhardt, just chatting about our recent rides and naming co-workers we should encourage to ride with us sometime. We stopped short of the intersection, said goodby with a handshake, and I turned around to resume my ride home. Lucky me: I got another glance at the bare-chested cyclist as I rode toward Airway.

I was happy with my pace today, though I didn't approach a training heart rate for any length of time. The variable winds were with me, except for a short, hard blast from the west at the concrete "ship" below the YMCA.  

Housekeeping
The glass south of Linden still hasn't been cleared, and tree debris still littered the bikeway under all the canopy.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 88 to 95°F at 17:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph variable, most from the north and west
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 01:06:28 for 18.23 miles
Heart rate: 127 bpm HRave, 151 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 26 cyclists, 21 pedestrians
Playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 58—to gym and home

Monday, 25 July 2011.

Iron Horse Trail, Haverfield Canoy (horizontal, left)
to Spaulding Road (vertical, right).

Unexpected winds pushed back at me as soon as I left the parking lot, and it took unusual effort to get to the bikeway that parallels Haverfield Road (the marked crossing of Spaulding Road between American Sales Inc. and G.W. Smith and Sons). Once I had reached the shelter of the canopy and residences, the wind had less noticeable effect. Nevertheless, my ride to the gym and home was one of much lower intensity.

Housekeeping
Glass over half the bikeway 0.1 mile south of Linden.  The fallen tree from this morning's ride had been cut and cleared away.


Ride conditions
Temperature: 87 to 97°F at 17:05
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 10 mph variable from the north and west
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:59:58 for 15.76 miles
Heart rate: 117 bpm HRave, 138 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 21 cyclists, 14 pedestrians, 2 dogs, 4 unattended bicycles at the creek across from Multi-Service plant
Playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 51—to gym and home

Tuesday, 12 July 2011.

In a late afternoon phone call, Chuck and I negotiated when we would both arrive home. He was out shopping after a lunch with his former colleague Mark, and he wanted to fit in a short workout at the Y. I hoped I could actually stop at my gym for throwing the weights around, too. So we ended up with being home by 7:30.

My weight training was very abbreviated: just two sets of bench press and two sets of cable rows, and then it was already 6:45, just enough time for the ride home. If I ride fast.

So today along the Mad River, I hoped to be passed by the Young Turk again. Perhaps my wishes kept him away.

From that point on, I kept calculating when I would arrive home: maybe 7:40 for the ride from the Findlay Avenue Bridge I thought, then Hm. Maybe 7:35 for the way from here at the last checkpoint, and then If I'm aggressive on the hill at Bryn Mawr, maybe I can make it by 7:30 from the Monument Avenue Bridge. As it turned out, I arrived at about 7:33. Chuck wasn't home yet, and I had time to pull off my shoes and wet skinsuit, find components of our dinner in the freezer and start their thawing, and begin to pull together the ingredients for Tony's Friendship Bread, since this is the tenth day of creating the sourdough starter.

Then at 7:50, Chuck was home, and I was ready to shower. Then dinner: a nice square of Chuck's lasagna fresca surrounded by prawns broiled with pesto.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 89 to 94°F at 17:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  00:59:27 for 15.85 miles
Heart rate: 128 bpm HRave, 146 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 32 cyclists, 8 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 50—to home

Monday, 11 July 2011.

Woah! I finally got a reminder of what real work is on the bike. Just after negotiating the drop, curve, and rise underneath the Findlay Avenue Bridge, a cyclist in a blue kit—and with shaved legs—whirred past me. I said, "Mind if I hop on?" and jumped into his slipstream.

For a few moments.

He continued on, knowing that I had pulled in behind him, and his tempo increased just a bit. For a moment, I was with him: 25 mph and 108 rpm.

Then he feinted to the right as we whipped around a decaying bridge abutment, and I caught the wind. My strenght failed, and I dropped back as he rode on.

I stayed near him, but never caught the slipstream again, and managed a salute to him as he turned and climbed the ramp to the Green Bridge, still ahead of me by 100 yards. I'll keep looking for him again, hoping that the next time I'll be up to riding with the Young Turk for more than just a minute.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 87 to 94°F at 18:35
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  00:42:50 for 12.04 miles
Heart rate: 125 bpm HRave, 153 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 12 cyclists, 10 pedestrians, 2 dogs
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 48—hitching a ride home

Wednesday, 6 July 2011.

Chuck picked me up after work. I hoped to wheedle him into going with me to the gym on the way home, but he wanted to eat as soon as possible. Except he wanted to stop at Linh's Market also to buy their Vietnamese sandwiches for tomorrow's dinner. Food, food, and more food is the driver of our household. His metabolism is so very different from mine. He needs at least a nibble every few hours, but I have coffee before my morning commute, a bagel sometime between 9 and 10, a pasta lunch around 1 p.m., and then dinner around 8. When he's ready for a dessert at the end of the evening, I'm yawning and cranky, nearly asleep on my feet. And sound asleep by 11:30.

So dinner tonight centered on thick veal T-bones grilled with a citrus rub and the sides include some perciatelle with fresh pesto, leftover roasted corn with chipotle, and a salad of iceberg wedges and watermelon slices. After I changed my tire and tube, we finished dinner with cocoanut ice cream and fresh raspberries.

I changed only the rear tire and tube, just what failed on my commute this morning. I plan to change the front tire, which shows some less amount of wear, over the weekend. I think it's always good to change both tires at the same time, just to keep it simpler with the same mileage for each tire. But the rear tire always will wear faster than the front, since the drive wheel receives more torque and develops more friction than the steering wheel.

The Garmin time and mileage for this replacement is 25:23:02 at 416.38 miles. I'm trying out a new tire to me: the Michelin ERiLiUM/2/ with Kevlar.(The Michelin website indicates this tire is no longer available. I remember buying it as a close-out at a local bike store.)


Changing a tire is only a bit more involved than changing a tube. The package for my Bontrager tube has 14 steps for replacing a tube, and the only missing step is to shake about a teaspoon of talcum powder into the fresh tire and to dust the inside of the tire and rim with the powder before inserting the tube. The powder acts as a dry lubricant between the rim, tube, and tire, which allows you to make the small shifts necessary to position the valve stem vertically through the valve hole and allows the tube to make a small changes in position as it is being pumped to full inflation. The Michelin package suggests an inflation pressure of 7.75 bar (about 112 psi) for my weight.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 89 to 95°F at 17:20
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 mph varied southerly
Clothing: Jeans, polo shirt, bare feet
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear—onto the shoulder and into the hatch of my Mazda MPV
Time:  unrecorded
Heart rate: 78 to 97 bpm HRrest
Bikeway users: not me
There is no playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 47—to Courteous Mass and home

Friday, 1 July 2011.

CM had only 10 participants. We took a course along Wayne Avenue up to Esther Price's store, and then right to Woodland Cemetery. After a short rest outside the gate, we took our own routes and speeds up to one of the highest points in Dayton. One of us (guess who) descended to a mid-point, climbed a second time, and then repeated for a third ascent.

An ossuary was recently constructed at this high point of the cemetery, and all the CM riders enjoyed the overlook of downtown, some two miles to the north. We descended along another set of roads to the main entrance, and turned north on Brown Street to make our return to Fifth-Third Field.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 85 to 94°F at 16:35
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  01:13:48 for 17.67 miles
Heart rate: 128 bpm HRave, 163 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 13 cyclists, 6 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 45—to home

Wednesday, 29 June 2011.

Biking home and thinking of what to prepare for dinner. Known immediately: broiled Salmon with a Worchestershire glaze. Inspired by the business near the bikeway: broiled Goi cuon from Linh's Vietnamese Restaurant. With a short jaunt to their location, I resumed the commute with four rolls packed into the backpack.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 81 to 94°F at 16:55
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from northerly
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  00:43:06 for 12.05 miles
Heart rate: 126 bpm HRave, 140 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 13 cyclists, 20 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 41—to work

Tuesday, 21 June 2011.

Today Chuck had a colonoscopy, so I drove him to the treatment center, had breakfast with him at Hasty-Tasty Pancake House, took him back home, and then biked to work. The ride was good, but taxing at a record temperature for today. I've been a bit lethargic at work. I hope a large drink of water and juice will perk me up, prepare me for the return ride this evening.

Hydration —or rather, the lack of hydration—is a strange phenomenon. Dehydration can sneak up and leave you unaware that it is the cause of a loss of power. But you can force yourself past it, or take a sip that is enough to let you continue the exertion without quite replenishing the body's fluid needs. You can go a long period with just coaxing the body a bit more, and then just a touch more than that, pushing the dehydrated condition further and further beyond the edge. Then finally, suddenly the body responds adamantly that it can perform no more: full exhaustion, clammy flesh, lack of sweat production, and a gradual onset of real sickness that includes restlessness, overheating, vomiting, diarrhea, and headache. This is nothing to toy with. It can result in heat stroke and death. And if you start force-drinking fluids early enough, you can prevent death, though you may feel like dying.

A provider of a regular training email, Chris Carmichael, has this information about hydration.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 86 to 91°F at 13:05, 88 to 94°F at 15:05
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the south-southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  00:41:48 for 11.98 miles
Heart rate: 141 HRave, 154 HRmax
Bikeway users: 11 cyclists, 7 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 35—to gym and home

Thursday, 9 June 2011.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 85 to 91°F at 17:10
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph variable
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 01:00:16 for 15.67 miles
Heart rate: 126 bpm average, 139 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 25 cyclists, 13 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 32—to gym and home

Ride conditions
Temperature: 90 to 95°F at 17:05
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 10 mph, variable with predominance from the west
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 01:01:05 for 15.81 miles
Heart rate: 121 bpm average, 142 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 16 cyclists, 18 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 25—to gym and home

Friday.
Busy.
Gotta get home in time to eat a quick meal, feed Howard, shower, and make it to the performance of Bernstein's Mass that is a joint performance of the Dayton Philharmonic and the WSU Theatre Arts deparment. Then afterward, stop at Press to see Kevin Tunstall's newest pottery.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 83 to 93°F at 16:25
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 from the southwest
Clothing: skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:57:17 for 16.55 miles
Heart rate:124 bpm average, 136 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 3 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride. 9th Garmin day.