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 32—to work

With another warm day in Dayton—finally Summer may be here, and with the long biking day yesterday, I'm treating today as a recovery day. My aim during the commute in was to keep my HR around 120 bpm, which I suppose is 75% of my maximum. (More on this after the break.) Even with the relaxed pace, my time was only a couple minutes longer than my best time this year.

I heard a bit of Der Hirt auf dem Felsen on WDPR last evening, and as I passed under the Findaly Avenue bridge, the song came to me again, and I whistled parts that I remembered from my favorite performance by Elly Ameling (soprano), Hans Deinzer (clarinet), and Jörg Demus (piano). The quiet, plaintive melody expresses by paradox the exuberant, joyful experience of commuting on such a bright Summer day.

Whenever I stand on the highest rocks, gaze down into the deepest valley, and sing and sing, distantly from the dark vale rebounds back to me the echo, the echo of the cliffs. The further my voice reaches, the clearer it returns to me from below. From below. My love lives so far from me and I thus ache for him, across the distance.

I'm consumed by a deep grief, joy has left me, hope has left the Earth, and I am here lonesome. I am here, so lonesome. So longingly the song rang in the forest, so longingly it rang through the night, it draws the hears to the heavens with wonderful power.

 It is a sublime joy that closes the work, in which the voice, clarinet, and piano interplay motive after motive.

Spring wants to come, my joy the Spring, and now I'm making myself ready for wandering. The further my voice reaches, the clearer it returns to me from below.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 70 to 75°F at 07:05, 83 to 87°F at 09:55
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:47:20 for 11.98 miles
Heart rate: 112 bpm average, 130 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 8 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride.

More discussion about HRmax and HRrecovery...

A day of two bike rides

This was a busy day for cycling, that I had enough time for using the bike for transportation for two purposes. I first got on the road to go to the gym for a quick upper body workout.

Distance: 20.97 mi
Time:  01:28:43
HRave: 127
HRmax: 150

During breakfast, I had cooked pasta, mixed it with fines herbs, pepper, olive oil, and a hard bleu cheese, and then refrigerated the food. During the hour after returning from the gym, I broiled a large cut of salmon in a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. While this was cooking, I cleaned and drained a mix of kales and radicchio, chopped a fennel stalk, and squeezed a fresh lemon onto this as I added it to the cold pasta. When the salmon was done and cooled a bit, I cut it into thin slices, bagged them in their cooking juices, and packed up everything in my backpack.

The north bikeway goes to Taylorsville Reserve, and the Dayton Gay Volleyball Gang have a holiday potluck picnic and volleyball day in one of the Taylorsville shelters. It is nearly adjacent to the bikeway, though you have to trek through a prairie area to get to the shelter. I arrived with about 45 minutes of biking, and assembled the pasta salad before I changed from my skinsuit.

By 4 p.m., I was changed and repacked again, ready for the ride home.

Distance : 26.65 mi
Time: 01:55:01
HRave: 124
HRmax: 153

Gentle fixed-gear ride to DPO

The Dayton Philharmonic performed at the Kettering Heritage Festival, and I took the fixed-gear bike to the event.
Time:  00:59:11
Distance:  12.33 mi
HRave:  112 bpm
HRmax:  135 bpm

Fun fixed-gear ride for day 32

After working 7 hours in the garden, I rewarded myself with a ride to the gym, a short legs workout, and a ride into Beavercreek via the bikeway.

I got an ego boost when a 35-year-old on a nice Trek carbon frame pulled up beside me and said, "Wow, you're killing me. I've been trying to catch you for 3 miles. And you're on a fucking fixed gear too." That was after a stretch up hill where my cadence hadn't reached above 83 for the last couple miles. Just as he caught me, the bikeway had reached its high point west of the I-675 gazebo. The shift to downhill helped me pull the spin up to 105. The catcher kept up, with a gear shift. I said, "Yeah, I've been commuting by bike for a while now, and I'm in pretty good shape. Plus I found the right gearing for me."
 
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed-gear
Riding time: 02:11:53
Distance: 34.14 miles
HRave: 127
HRmax: 151

Bike-commute day 31—to gym and home

I needed to make the ride and gym work quick today, so I would have time to feed Howard-the-dog, shower, and make it to the 8 p.m. screening of In a Better World.

It seemed fine by the online radar and by feel on the road to Cardinal Fitness. But it had started to sprinkle after my 20-minute power shoulders workout. By the time I approached Linden, it had turned to real rain, though a light rain. It continued so for about a mile before tapering off. The roads were still wet, though, and I cautiously navigated corners and stops.

The ick factor was how much road splash my ankle-high cycling shoes caught and retained. The shoes were soaked through by the time the rain stopped. —The shoes and socks were still wet the next morning.

At the concrete bank of the Mad River, which is my gauge of whether the river is flooded as it joins the Great Miami, the water churned and roiled from the recent increase of flow.

• The Mad River's normal depth allows all of the concrete and its bottom horizontal edge to show, and a ribbon of mud embankment below the concrete is visible. 
• As the Mad River rises, the water covers the western end of the horizontal edge first. 
• Usually when half the length of the horizontal edge is covered, at least the depression in the bikeway west of the Webster Avenue bridge will be flooded. 
• If all the horizontal edge is covered, then at least another depression east of Webster Avenue is also flooded. 

This evening, the full horizontal edge was covered, and it looked to be at least two feet deep at the eastern end. So clearly only Monument Avenue was the viable way toward downtown. At the traffic signal on Findlay Street, I saw Tom Helbig stopped from the opposite direction. He was headed home, on the bike that he used to visit the Research Park bike to work event this morning.

You and Ohio law
I found an excellent summary of Ohio traffic laws that relate to cycling.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 65 to 68°F at 17:10
Precipitation: none, then a lot
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 01:03:04 for 14.90+ miles
Heart rate: 125 bpm average, 138 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 7 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride. 15th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 31—to work

Today is bike to work day for Research Park, so I'd not taken more than coffee for breakfast at home. Despite the lack of carbs, I had more than enough energy for the ride—maybe I should resume carrying a bagel for a breakfast at work instead of taking time to eat before the commute.

The storms from last evening continued intermittently through the night, with one lightning and wind event around 02:30 that woke me up from dreams about a whole-world epidemic of the Spanish flu. However, the skies had light clouds in the morning, the radar showed no approaching rain storms, and the street was dry down the block. So I set off to work.

As I crossed the Monument Avenue bridge, I could see the river was up, but not close to the bikeway. So I dropped down to the bikeway at the Monument Ramp and headed north and east. Within 50 feet of the ramp up to the YMCA, water covered the bikeway. I slowed, and entered the water to test its depth. It was clearly more than hub deep, so I turned around and ascended the Monument Ramp to take the crushed-gravel path that parallels the river to Main Street.

Across Main Street and into Riverscape, I could see the bikeway under the gazebo was flooded to about a foot, though the way was clear a bit upstream at the zig-zag ramp below the Green Bridge. So I took it down.

Before the Webster Street bridge, the path was flooded except for a two-foot portion, but beyond the bridge, the path was fully flooded to bottom bracket depth. I slowed to avoid much splash, and did a few flutter pedals to impel my "craft" and avoid getting my feet wet. The rest of the bikeway route was mostly dry, with a few areas under the tree canopy still damp or wet.

I saw Tom Helbig, the outdoor recreation and special events coordinator of Five Rivers MetroParks, and Dan Sahli, the new FRMP cycling coordinator, waiting for traffic to pull out as I turned to the Research Park training center. It was an opportunity for a quick introduction of Dan and some jabber about the weather and the development of the ZooBomb event and Sprockettes troop. Tom laughed when I suggested that he, Andy W, Kevin T, and I would make a great gender-fuck version of the Sprockettes. When I suggested it could be a mixed-sex group, he said there were some women who likely could be interested in it. ...All we need are the kids' bikes and costumes.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 61 to 64°F at 06:50
Precipitation: none, after very heavy rains overnnight
Winds: calm to 10 mph from the south
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:49:52 for 12.45 miles
Heart rate: 131 bpm average, 149 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 6 cyclists, 4 pedestrians, 0 dogs, 0 goslings
Here is a playback of the ride. 15th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 30—to home with a thunderstorm

This was a time trial day, made necessary by an impending thunderstorm. Even as I started out, I knew it would be a high intensity ride to beat the storm home, if possible.

My times were very good for the first and second checkpoints. Then I felt the first drops of rain just past the Findlay Street bridge, which continued very lightly through the next half mile. I stopped momentarily under the Keowee Street bridge to guage the intensity and decide what to do to pass the storm. I decided to push quickly to Brixx, where I could eat something while the storm rolled through. The storm unloosed exactly as I reached the restau and lasted while I had a grilled chicken balsamic salad.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 83 to 85°F at 18:20
Precipitation: none, then a cloudburst
Winds: 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:46:08 for 12.38 miles
Heart rate: 133 bpm average, 151 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 9 cyclists, 7 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride. 14th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 30—to work

Today was to be a sprint day, but my body wasn't into the ride at all as I pedalled along the lower river bikeways. It wasn't a time to push myself because of basic tiredness. Maybe a contributing factor is lower than optimal hydration. I remember thinking as I climbed into bed I should grab another glass of water; no, I want the juice-water mix, and it's too much trouble... and I was asleep.

So this morning I bought an 8-oz "juice beverage" to mix with a full styroglass of ice and LaCroix water for an all-day sippie. Perhaps I'll feel up to sprints this afternoon, though the bikeway may be too congested to do them. Maybe the best plan is one sprint on the curve from Woodman to Woodbine, another sprint up the hill near the frisbee golf course, and a third near the Kettering apartment village—all before I get to the gym and on less-used bikeways.

Three notable things happened this morning: several geese were conducting an école maternelle for about 35 goslings at the Green Bridge, I saw Millie and Gladys out on their walk for the first time this year, and I assisted a young woman who had taken a wrong turn and didn't know where she was.

Millie and Gladys are in their 70s, both with husbands at home who are affected by long-term health issues. I've known Gladys for perhaps three years, and Millie for at least two. Gladys lives in the area bounded by the bikeway and Woodman Avenue, somewhere a little south of Woodbine. Millie lives just west of the bikeway and about a block north of Woodbine. They walk together along the bikeway, and I usually see them in the stretch from Woodbine to Linden. Gladys is by far the more devoted to her morning exercise, and she is always the more forthcoming in what is happening in her life and the more inquisitive in how I'm doing. Millie has had periods off from walking, to allow recuperation from torn ligaments in her knees and the apparently poor surgical repairs to them. I described and performed several knee exercises for her this morning, which I prefaced with an explanation that they help strengthen the tendons that hold the patella in place and relieve achiness at the top and inside of the front of the knee.

While we three jabbered on the bikeway, a woman in her 20s passed us, going south. I had never seen her before in the morning, and her passing made me aware of the need to eventually get to work, so I said goodby to Millie and Gladys soon after. As I approached Woodman, there was the woman looking first at the bikeway signage, then up and down Woodman. As I passed I asked, "Are you lost? There aren't many ways to go here." She laughed and said, "Well, I think I really am lost. I rode from the Beavercreek hub this morning and went into Dayton. But I must have taken a wrong turn when I came back—I don't know how, though. And I really don't know where I am now." So I turned around, and told her that she mised a turn at the trestle, which she recognized as a landmark. Then I told here the simplest way back to the correct way home would be to turn back, cross two streets, and turn right at the T intersection beyond the trestle. She remembered the graffiti wall, and I used that as a landmark to place Linden Avenue for her, and to relate the trestle as being a block's distance north of Linden.

She seemed confident in the correct way home, so I took off for the remaining 2 miles of my commute.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 62°F at 06:55, 66°F at 07:55, 68 to 70°F at 10:20
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:45:33 for 11.89 miles
Heart rate: 132 bpm average, 147 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 12 cyclists, 5 pedestrians, about 35 goslings
Here is a playback of the ride. 14th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 29—to gym and home

Hawthorn Hill to Runnymeade

Last Thursday evening, as a prelude to the Miami Valley Cycling Summit, I saw a screening of the documentary Veer at the Neon Movies.The movie takes us through cycling activities in three seasons in Portland, Oregon. Not only events like the ZooBomb [video parts 1, 2, 3] and performance groups like the Sprockettes, but also advocacy for safer cycling laws, managing a reclaimed bicycle exchange, and cycling education programs for kids in the 3rd through 6th grades.

Stoney Hollow

The Dayton area could use similar programs, which can raise awareness of cycling as a means of socializing, of entertainment, and of enhanced safety and access to alternative transportation.

In fact, we already have the beginnings of a reclaimed bicycle exchange at the Life Enrichment Center. This organization refurbishes bikes, paints them bright yellow, and places them for free use in the downtown area. As each yellow bike becomes disabled, a sticker on the bike has contact information for performing any needed repairs.

Walnut Hill to Wyoming

The Complete Streets Initiative is also being developed to reach the public schools with cycling information, as part of the Safe Routes to School program. As of 2009, the Dayton has used 20% of a $583,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation to focus on five schools (Cleveland, Edison, Kiser, Ruskin, and Fairview). The funds built infrastructure for improved safety around the schools: lighting, high-visibility crosswalk striping and signage, bicycle racks, and sidewalk and curb repair. Some of the funds provide safety education and police overtime costs during back-to-school and high-traffic periods.

So, two of the directions have answers or plans in the works. I've been scouring Google Maps in the last few evenings, looking for the areas in the city that have a high point near a low point. The three map segments here are the first results. The red dot indicates the "mountain" and the blue dot the "depression." Over many years of cycling in the Dayton area, I've ridden the Stoney Hollow and Walnut Hill paths.

• The Stoney Hollow route drops 188 feet over 2.1 miles. I remember it as a shaded, cool area that has extremely limited auto use.
• The Walnut Hill route drops 177 feet over 1.0 miles. It would require road closure and police presence to allow any group ride.
• The Hawthorn Hill route drops 136 feet over 0.64 miles. It would also require police presence and street closures.

A performance group similar to the Sprockettes is a long way off. I've imagined that the Dayton version could be a mixed group of men and women, perhaps in gender-fuck costume on minibikes. But the biggest drawback is finding cyclists with a let's-have-fun-with-it mindset and bikes ready for rough use. Perhaps a choreographer would help the group with imaginative incorporation of the bikes with the dance moves. This direction seems pretty far removed from my abilities and interests. —Sorry to bow out at the very beginning.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 76 to 79°F at 17:20
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 01:02:56 for 15.51 miles
Heart rate: 125 bpm average, 140 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 16 cyclists, 16 pedestrians, 4 dogs
Here is a playback of the ride. 13th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 29—to work

Even the bit of the Great Miami River bikeway was clear today! As I dropped from the Monument Avenue Bridge to the bikeway, I thought I should try the old way again, to use the Wolf Creek bikeway to Broadway. Gotta remember to try it tonight.

My time for each leg were pretty good today, even without much of a press for speed. It was just that I focussed, from time to time, on the bottom part of the revolutions, kinda kicking back through the stroke. It's always pleasing, almost amazing, how subtle attention to form pays off in efficiency.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 63 to 64°F at 07:10 and 65 to 68°F at 09:30
Precipitation: moderate overnight, but bikeway was dry with a few wet areas under tree cover
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south and southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time:  00:45:07 for 11.87 miles
Heart rate: 129 bpm average, 148 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 7 pedestrians, 1 dog, 7 goslings
Here is a playback of the ride. 13th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 28—to Bike to Work pancake breakfast and Cycling Summit

Today was a gloriously sunny and warm day. Perfect for the 400+ hungry cyclists to have pancakes before heading to work.

As for me, I went to work as a volunteer to register participants in the Cycling Summit.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 66 to 71°F at 07:20
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:38:20 for 9.06 miles
Heart rate: 126 bpm average, 149 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: not recorded

Here is a playback of the ride., which includes the full day, with stops at Riverscape for pancakes, a short hop to the Cycling Summit, a return hop to Brixx for an after-summit social, and a return home. 12th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 27—to home

Quick ride home, with little time to shower, feed Howard-the-Dog, make a snack, and get to the Neon Movies to see Veer, the film prelude to the Cycling Summit.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 62 to 66°F at 17:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 mph from the southwest
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:45:36 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 132 bpm average, 148 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 2 cyclists, 20 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride. 11th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 27—to work

Another gentle ride today. The roads were dry as I started out, but the Mad River had flooded one area of the bikeway to a depth of a couple inches. The bikeway was damp, almost wet, underneath the tree cover near Parklane Road and from Burkhardt south to Founders Drive.

The Garmin device conked out once during the ride, for about two blocks between Broadway and Salem. Otherwise, it performed well.

I spent some time thinking about what I need to bring with for tomorrow's Bike to Work Day and Cycling Summit. Here's my notated list:

• Skinsuit to wear for the ride to Riverscape
• Gym shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops to change into at the pancake breakfast
• A+D cream
• Skinsuit—wear the same one to the Kroc Center
• Sport towel and non-sudsying soap to clean and dry off at the Kroc Center—change into the gym shorts and t-shirt
• Spare sweatshirt—in case it's too air-conditioned
• Skinsuit, a fresh one for the ride home and maybe a 10-30 mile exercise ride
• Basics of course: cash, wallet with driver's license and credit card, RoadID, charged cellphone

Ride conditions
Temperature: 54 to 55°F at 06:21 and 58 to 63°F at 09:30
Precipitation: none, but bikeway was almost wet in some parts
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the north and northeast
Clothing: 2 layers top, skinsuit, ankle socks, full-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:48:32 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 128 bpm average, 151 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 2 cyclist, 3 pedestrians, 0 dogs, 12 goslings
Here is a playback of the ride. 11th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 26—to home

Cold, wet ride. Cautiously performed.

Again, the Garmin device performed inadequately, presumably because of the cloud cover.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 48 to 50°F at 18:00
Precipitation: light
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the southwest
Clothing: 2-layer skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:50:57 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 116 bpm average, 136 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 pedestrians
Here is a playback of the ride. 10th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 26—to work

Heavy cloud cover today. It was unlikely the Garmin device would perform well, and it cut out three times. Perhaps a minute of riding is unaccounted for, and the time for the ride comes from the elapsed time today.

Even with the heavy skies and cooler temperatures, the ride was pleasant, and made so by the fragrance of the just-blooming locust trees. Because I was coming off a three-day rest period, I took it pretty easy, barely breaking a 130 HR until the very last quarter mile.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 43 to 45°F at 06:45 and 45 to 48°F at 09:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the north and northeast
Clothing: 2 layers top and bottom, ankle socks, full-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:51:39 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 122 bpm average, 150 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 1 cyclist, 3 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride. 10th Garmin day.

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.

Bike-commute day 25—to work

Friday: Smell of the Queen Anne's Lace

Ride conditions
Temperature: 63 to 67°F at 07:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south and west
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves. (A bit too warm.)
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:45:35 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 123 bpm average, 142 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride. 9th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 24—to gym and home

Thursday. Short gym for abdominal core. Met cyclist Cliff at the trestle. Rode together to the stadium.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 74 to 77°F at 16:50
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the southwest
Clothing: skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:58:17 for 16.55 miles
Heart rate: 133 bpm average, 148 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: not recorded
Here is a playback of the ride. 8th Garmin day.

Bike-commute day 24—to work

Thursday. Sprints for heart training.
Today was a sprint day, with one sprint in the second leg and two sprints in the third leg. I brought my HR to above 145 for periods of 1:24, 1:39, and 1:33.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 63 to 67°F at 07:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south and west
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves. (A bit too warm.)
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:47:09 for 11.92 miles
Heart rate: 132 bpm average, 156 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride. 8th Garmin day.