M
Mikefule
Guest
Another bad day at work, and stress levels are high. The weather is
mediocre, and it's tempting to spend the evening indoors... but it's a
week or two since I've ridden...
So half an hour later, I'm leaping onto the Coker at the usual place,
and riding past the kids who try a variation on an earlier theme by
shouting "Yoooooneeeeeeeeeeebiiiiiiiiiiike!" as I disappear into the
distance.
I have a vague plan to do a long ride without dismounting.. My previous
best is 20.05 miles...
And of course I'm well prepared: I have half a Camelbak of water, with a
faulty mouthpiece, I have no chocolate or other calories, I had a couple
of light sandwiches at 12:00 and it's now gone 6:00, and I'm wearing
jogging bottoms over my cycle shorts, instead of my padded cycling
longs.
I soon reach the Water Sports Centre and set off around the lake. It's
not a fantastic ride, but it's reliable, with a lap of around 5km on
decent tarmac. There's a stiff breeze blowing up the lake, so one half
of the lap is a bit of a slog, and the other is easier, but too warm.
Two laps in, I start to notice that everyone else is lapping in the
opposite direction. There is the "proper" bicyclist, with is head down,
lapping about 2.5 - 3 times as fast as I am; there are the attractive
lady joggers lapping rather slower than I am; there are the three portly
girls, ambling round in jogging bottoms and trainers to work up an
appetite for their pizza, chips, cream cake and Diet Coke later... I'm
lapping about 4 times as fast as them.
Around this time, I start to feel a bit of cramp in my right calf.
Three laps in and I notice the fit young bloke on roller blades. He's
deadly serious, acknowledging me with only the slightest of nods as he
glides past. We're lapping at about the same speed.
Sometimes the road is partly blocked by huge numbers of Canada geese,
with their fluffy goslings being cutely obstructive. On the hillside, I
think I can see the yellow flash of cowslips, but I don't stop, because
I'm on a mission.
Four laps in and I calculate I've done about 13 miles, give or take, and
now I'm in pain. Try as I might, I can't get my intratrouserial
adjustments right. Everything feels out of place and trapped. I resort
to shifting back in the saddle and resting the heel of my hand on the
front with my arm straight. After a while, that hurts my hand, so I
alternate between the positions. The bloke on roller blades is lapping
about 1.5 times as fast as me now. I don't think he's accelerated
though!
My feet are also starting to feel it. I've been riding fairly steadily
for well over an hour, and I can feel my feet slipping forwards in my
trainers - the trainers are held firmly in place by the pins on the
pedals. My toes start to go numb.
About 15 miles in (I can't read the computer when I'm riding) and my
calves haven't cramped up, but my right knee is starting to twinge.
That's bad news, because my right knee has to work hard when I'm
fencing. I back off a bit.
Now comes the tricky bit: I calculate I've done over 19 miles, but can't
be sure if it's over 20. A UPD now is a risky proposition... all this
pain and a failure to hit a new record would be unacceptable. So, do I
do yet another technically easy lap of the lake? I've noticed I'm now
the only person lapping the lake. The joggers, bicyclists, roller
bladers and portly pedestrians have all gone. The rowing boats have all
been put away. It's starting to get dark,and I have no lights.
I take the risk. I turn away from the main lake and take the slightly
tricky route across the loose ballast path down to the canoe slalom
course, cut back through the carpark, nearly being knocked off by a car,
and then do one more section of loose ballast before reaching the
road.
From here it's familiar and fairly easy riding, as long as I don't meet
anyone on the narrow bits. I'm in considerable intratrouserial pain (US
= "intrapantsal") and I'm starting to feel like I've had enough. I'm
pretty sure I've done over the 20 miles, but I doubt I'm within reach of
25.
Enough is enough and I take the easiest route back to the car, and
arrive to the gentle strains of Fucek, sung in chorus by an informal
choir of urchins.
And the numbers?
Coker, absolutely standard with the cheap wheel, except for:
Slightly lighter 150mm cranks,
Pinned platform pedals.
Total distance ridden: 22.36 miles without a single dismount or UPD.
(35.97 km.)
Total time: 2:19:27.
Average speed: 9.61 mph (15.47 kmh)
Max recorded speed: 12 mph (19.3 kmh)
And when I got home... as I complete the other two stages of the
triathlon: ride, climb stairs, have bath, I discover that in my haste to
get changed for the ride, I'd put my cycle shorts on over my normal
underwear. No wonder everything hung wrong! Ouch.
--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling
So many pedestrians tell me I've lost a wheel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mikefule's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/879
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32111
mediocre, and it's tempting to spend the evening indoors... but it's a
week or two since I've ridden...
So half an hour later, I'm leaping onto the Coker at the usual place,
and riding past the kids who try a variation on an earlier theme by
shouting "Yoooooneeeeeeeeeeebiiiiiiiiiiike!" as I disappear into the
distance.
I have a vague plan to do a long ride without dismounting.. My previous
best is 20.05 miles...
And of course I'm well prepared: I have half a Camelbak of water, with a
faulty mouthpiece, I have no chocolate or other calories, I had a couple
of light sandwiches at 12:00 and it's now gone 6:00, and I'm wearing
jogging bottoms over my cycle shorts, instead of my padded cycling
longs.
I soon reach the Water Sports Centre and set off around the lake. It's
not a fantastic ride, but it's reliable, with a lap of around 5km on
decent tarmac. There's a stiff breeze blowing up the lake, so one half
of the lap is a bit of a slog, and the other is easier, but too warm.
Two laps in, I start to notice that everyone else is lapping in the
opposite direction. There is the "proper" bicyclist, with is head down,
lapping about 2.5 - 3 times as fast as I am; there are the attractive
lady joggers lapping rather slower than I am; there are the three portly
girls, ambling round in jogging bottoms and trainers to work up an
appetite for their pizza, chips, cream cake and Diet Coke later... I'm
lapping about 4 times as fast as them.
Around this time, I start to feel a bit of cramp in my right calf.
Three laps in and I notice the fit young bloke on roller blades. He's
deadly serious, acknowledging me with only the slightest of nods as he
glides past. We're lapping at about the same speed.
Sometimes the road is partly blocked by huge numbers of Canada geese,
with their fluffy goslings being cutely obstructive. On the hillside, I
think I can see the yellow flash of cowslips, but I don't stop, because
I'm on a mission.
Four laps in and I calculate I've done about 13 miles, give or take, and
now I'm in pain. Try as I might, I can't get my intratrouserial
adjustments right. Everything feels out of place and trapped. I resort
to shifting back in the saddle and resting the heel of my hand on the
front with my arm straight. After a while, that hurts my hand, so I
alternate between the positions. The bloke on roller blades is lapping
about 1.5 times as fast as me now. I don't think he's accelerated
though!
My feet are also starting to feel it. I've been riding fairly steadily
for well over an hour, and I can feel my feet slipping forwards in my
trainers - the trainers are held firmly in place by the pins on the
pedals. My toes start to go numb.
About 15 miles in (I can't read the computer when I'm riding) and my
calves haven't cramped up, but my right knee is starting to twinge.
That's bad news, because my right knee has to work hard when I'm
fencing. I back off a bit.
Now comes the tricky bit: I calculate I've done over 19 miles, but can't
be sure if it's over 20. A UPD now is a risky proposition... all this
pain and a failure to hit a new record would be unacceptable. So, do I
do yet another technically easy lap of the lake? I've noticed I'm now
the only person lapping the lake. The joggers, bicyclists, roller
bladers and portly pedestrians have all gone. The rowing boats have all
been put away. It's starting to get dark,and I have no lights.
I take the risk. I turn away from the main lake and take the slightly
tricky route across the loose ballast path down to the canoe slalom
course, cut back through the carpark, nearly being knocked off by a car,
and then do one more section of loose ballast before reaching the
road.
From here it's familiar and fairly easy riding, as long as I don't meet
anyone on the narrow bits. I'm in considerable intratrouserial pain (US
= "intrapantsal") and I'm starting to feel like I've had enough. I'm
pretty sure I've done over the 20 miles, but I doubt I'm within reach of
25.
Enough is enough and I take the easiest route back to the car, and
arrive to the gentle strains of Fucek, sung in chorus by an informal
choir of urchins.
And the numbers?
Coker, absolutely standard with the cheap wheel, except for:
Slightly lighter 150mm cranks,
Pinned platform pedals.
Total distance ridden: 22.36 miles without a single dismount or UPD.
(35.97 km.)
Total time: 2:19:27.
Average speed: 9.61 mph (15.47 kmh)
Max recorded speed: 12 mph (19.3 kmh)
And when I got home... as I complete the other two stages of the
triathlon: ride, climb stairs, have bath, I discover that in my haste to
get changed for the ride, I'd put my cycle shorts on over my normal
underwear. No wonder everything hung wrong! Ouch.
--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling
So many pedestrians tell me I've lost a wheel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mikefule's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/879
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32111
