Wednesday, 10 August 2011
In memory I was replaying the C Minor prelude from Bach's WTC volume 1 and using that insistence of sixteenth notes to keep my cadence and heartbeat high. Then, after I left Eastwood Park and cornered to parallel Springfield Street, I saw the Northbound Trainers coming my way, though they were on the pavement of Springfield Street. Ah-hah! A chance to find out the habits behind their weekly ride, if they have the time to stop! As I slowed. I called out, "Would one of you stop?"
They all slowed, or perhaps had slowed already to navigate the turn into Eastwood Park. A couple looked my way as I planted a foot on the bikeway, and one or two actually hesitated, considering what I was up to. But the leader kept going, and they all decided to follow him.
I completed a u-turn before the last one turned onto the park's roadway, and I caught the tail-end of the group under the trestle just inside the park gates. I asked the caboose, "Do you have an email address, so I can ask you about the group?" He replied negatively, and I accelerated to the next group of three. The one man I asked directly was evasive, referred me to the Dayton Cycling Club website for more information and maybe a contact person. Even after a rather quick explanation of my hope to interview him for this blog, he gave only an address for the club rides. I sped to the lead rider, who was more forthcoming. We went back and forth on the details of his email address, and I committed as much as needed to memory.
By this point, we had reached the concrete embankment over the Mad River, and I turned quickly to resume my commute. As I passed my second checkpoint a third time, I heard the Garmin automatically register yet another lap based on my GPS coordinates.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 62 to 66°F at 02:25
Precipitation: none presently, heavy rain early last night
Winds: calm to 5 mph
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:44:44 for 13.31 miles
Heart rate: 134 bpm HRave, 154 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 11 cyclists, 6 pedestrians, 1 dog
Playback of the ride
Showing posts with label northbound-trainers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label northbound-trainers. Show all posts
10 August 2011
01 August 2011
Bike-commute day 62—to work
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
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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