Looks like I may not get much bike commuting in this week. Weather report is showing rainy for most of the week. Maybe I need to get a poncho! I rode home in the rain yesterday afternoon. First half of the ride wasn’t bad. Second half of the ride I had squishy shoes. I guess I need to figure out how to cope with the rain.

Technorati Tags: commute, Cycling, weather

I just finished my first ride on my now officially “fixie” singlespeed. The gear came in last week and was installed on Friday. I just got out and rode around the neighborhood for a little over five miles to test things out and to get comfortable before I did the ride to work tomorrow morning.

Everything seemed fine and I didn’t throw myself off the bike yet, but we’ll see what happens when I panic at an intersection or get in a weird situation and forget. I’m sure I’ll get thrown at some point or another.

I haven’t figured out the skid-stop yet, but maybe I haven’t had the balls yet to try it at a fast enough speed. There is definitely some kick in the pedals when you try to stand up and stop turning.

I’ll keep you posted on whether I eat any pavement tomorrow. My plan is to ride to work in the morning.

Technorati Tags: bicycle, Cycling, fixie

I participated in a large group ride this morning as training for the Tour to Tanglewood. I don’t do too many group rides. I did one earlier this year that was listed as a category C, which means it was an easy pace. That had maybe 20-30 riders. And I used to occasionally do the group rides from Naples Cyclery when I lived down in Florida. Those would range from 10-50 riders. So I’m not completely inexperienced with riding in a group. But this was the largest group I’ve ever started with, and probably the most diverse as well. I guess there must have been a couple hundred riders, and they were riding everything from sport road bikes like mine, to mountain bikes and tandems, and there was one crazy group of roller bladers.

We started from Bicycle Toy and Hobby in High Point at about 8:30 AM. This is the first time I’ve ever been on a ride that had the police stopping traffic at the start and for the first several major intersections. Now that is nice.

The group very quickly stretched out and broke into different pockets. I kept fairly close to the front for about the first 20 miles. The weather was nice…cloudy, not too hot, although when we hit some of the more open portions there was a definite head-wind. At about the 20 mile mark I stopped at one of the break points they had established. There were porta-potty’s available, and a spread of snacks and drinks were laid out for all. I paused a moment to have some banana and gatorade.

When I started back I found myself in a large open stretch alone. There was a small group of 6 or 8 riders far up ahead and for a while I used them as a carrot to chase, but they were moving a little bit faster than me for the most part. Eventually the group ahead moved out of sight except for one other solo rider. I gradually pulled closer and closer and just as I was catching him I was caught be a pair on a tandem and one outrider who seemed to be sticking with them. We all rode for a bit together. The team on the tandem was really strong. They definitely couldn’t speed uphill, but on the down or the flat they were very fast. It was good to sit on their wheel for a time and rest a little.

At the end, per my bike computer, the total ride was 38.65 miles. I rode it in two hours and 13 minutes with an average speed of 17.4 mph. I’m pretty sure I was one of the earlier riders to make it back. I wasn’t at the very front, but probably in the first quarter of riders. It was a pleasant ride and I’m glad I got a little experience starting out with such a large mass of people. I understand the Tour to Tanglewood itself is going to be an even larger group, maybe as much as 1500-2000 riders. That should be a new experience.

A definite plus of riding this morning is that at the end of the ride I was able to do my pre check-in for the upcoming tour. So, I’ve already got my rider number and everything. All I have to do now is show up on the 6th and ride. No waiting in lines and collecting packets of documents. If you want to know, I am rider number 1354. Judging by that number it sounds like there will be at least 1300 of us.

If you want to support me at the Tour to Tanglewood and fight Multiple Sclerosis please make a donation by clicking this link and then click the button that says “Donate to Brian.” Any donation will be very much appreciated. So if you can afford $5 or $100, your money will be used by the National MS Society to research and fight MS.

Technorati Tags: Cycling, ride, route, tanglewood

I’ve been promising more information, so here is the route for the Saturday stage of the Tour to Tanglewood on September 6th. Please click here to make a donation to the National MS Society and support my ride.

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I finally managed to complete the route that I tried way back on June 29th when I ran through a patch of glass and blew a tire. This time I avoided the glass and had a very satisfying ride—49 miles with an average speed of 17.2. That’s the longest ride I’ve accomplished in a long time, and for me a very good average speed.

I think this was good training for the upcoming MS: BB&T Tour to Tanglewood Ride 2008. Which, by the way, if you want to make a donation please click here. I would appreciate it very much. The cause is good. In an upcoming entry I’ll post some links that tell more about the ride and also some links to maps of the route.

I also think that just two weeks of three days each of commuting in to work on the single-speed bike have made a big difference already. I felt strong, stronger than usual, for the first 25 miles, and still good for much of the ride after that. I didn’t start to really feel the effects until the final 10 miles, and then the biggest problem I had was my lower back started to ache some. That will only be resolved by spending more time on the bike for longer distances.

All in all I’m very happy with today’s ride.

Technorati Tags: bicycle, bike, Cycling, route, training