Sunday, January 23, 2005

Makes Me Stranger

Yesterday I experienced a brief shock. I arrived late for the 0715 Saturday ride. No big deal since my late arrival routine includes parking somewhere along the course and riding backwards until I run into the group. I parked the car near the eastern foot of the Lesner Bridge and rode backwards, knowing that I would catch the group at any moment. Well, I never saw anyone—Shore, Independence, Thalia. Had I slept clean through till Sunday morning? It was unsettling to think no one would show up for the ride. This is the madness that happened no matter what. Two Decembers ago when the whole month had Saturdays in the low 20’s—at least a dozen still attended each week. I measure my own mental toughness and overall strangeness by the crazies who will show up for that ride. Could it be that I was the strangest of all? It was a balmy 30 degrees—it wasn’t yet snowing, raining, sleeting or anything. Had everyone softened? Did I need to measure me by me and isn’t that a bit scary?

By the time I made it to the start point, I was too late to catch the second ride which begins at 0830. I could have ventured back to my car at that point (especially since there was some precipitation starting) but I simply had to know if anyone had even showed up for the second ride. I rode down Laskin then started into Bay Colony. On the backside of the neighborhood I caught sight of Wild Bill, Tim, Bob and some guy who only comes out when it’s cold. We all agreed to do the third loop together even though we knew our time was limited before sleet. I heard from them that Pete, Sally and Tim had been there for the first ride but done a modified loop (different route) into Fort Story since so few showed. I wanted to lecture Tim about doing “modified loops” since there are always those who depend on the consistency so as to pick up the ride where it is convenient, but I was just glad to been drafting a wheel so I kept my mouth shut. I was sorry to have missed Sally who ran a 5k at Mt. Trashmore after the modified loop.

Sure enough, the sleet pounded us as we rotated down Shore Dr. It pelted my face and even found its way behind my big glasses so my eye lashes worked overtime to swat the ice. This is why I ride.

Spin Pulpits

Cold temperatures and rain means spinning indoors. I own a mag trainer but it mostly collects dust since I prefer to do spin classes at the gym. These are fun since there is someone shouting orders, music blaring and others around to keep me from slacking. It’s amusing that the spin instructors often have pulpit personalities—not in a bad way, just they are not forced to count steps as in aerobics classes, so there are gaps of time to fill during the workout and most choose to talk about a variety of stuff. I would do the same if a bunch of people were looking at me.

This is very different from road riding and mountain biking where everyone views the rear end of everyone else and faces are never seen. The leaders in cycling—those up front—communicate by shifting, standing, cadence, hand gestures and the occasional words that are very often drowned out by wind rushing in everyone’s ears. Not so with spin classes. The exposed instructors face the class and need a theme almost—music trivia, cycling stories, fitness tips, jokes—to fill the void between the instructions. My preference is those who say very little during the void, but I do enjoy the filler people. I also find it curious that some instructors refer to those who “ride outside” when in fact, there does not seem to be any other kind of “riding” than what is done outside. What we are doing indoors is not “riding inside” as that would mean we are going somewhere, and that can really only happen in an indoor velodrome. We are exercising on a piece of equipment that is designed like a bike. Great exercise in fact and awesome way to get time in the saddle, especially in winter.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Snowy Scene and About Us

Our ride group in Williamsburg today included those who completely ignored snow forecasts and packed up the gear. Janice, BJ, Lance, Mark, Nick, Frank, and Laura drove from Virginia Beach; Sally, Pam and I from Norfolk; and Carol and Mandy from Hampton. The snow flurries at the beginning of the ride fell with hardly a comment, and it was then I realized that very few of us knew how truly miserable this 55-mile loop could be. Pam, Carol, Mandy and I are the only ones who had ever done the loop, and only Carol and I remember the time a group of us got caught on the loop in bitter cold as it started to rain.

Anyway, we left from Bike Beat after making some adjustments on Mark’s bike (I must apologize to those who seemed to think I implied women are not mechanical, don’t have tools, etc. As Mandy said, “Just because you are not mechanical does not mean the rest of us aren’t”). Ok, whatever, one thing is for sure, the women on this team (along with Pam of JRVS of course) are the most awesome group of people to ride with ever.

We managed through the first 25 miles of the course backwards without incident. We did some rotating pace line on the wide-open spaces, but mostly stuck to single line format. The snow continued to fall, but the temp stayed in mid-to upper- 30’s, so there was no accumulation and no one really got too cold. Carol and Mandy usually go out backwards for 90 minutes and then return for 90 minutes, so when we got to the point in the loop that Carol is not familiar with, she called out to me, “OK, you’re on your own with the turns.”

Naturally, that is where the trouble started. We almost missed a critical turn onto Rt. 600 at about the half way point, and it was then as I consulted the map that I realized I would be one of the few in the group who could even read the map. Every time I asked someone to look with me, she would say, “Oh, I can’t see that, I don’t have on my glasses.” As one who does not (yet) wear glasses, I never considered that any spec wearer who rides would leave the frames and contacts at home while riding. Gosh, doesn’t everyone need to be able to see in front of her while in a tight pace line? What else can’t these people see, I wondered.

14-year-old Nick did have on his glasses, but I did not get him involved in our navigation issues. Nick did a great job despite having just recovered from the October accident that left him with a broken tibia, fibula and collarbone. I heard Janice talking with 13-year-old Mark about how someday when he wins the Tour de France, he will tell the world that he started out riding with a bunch of old women. Mark is quite talented and very hard working, so this scenario seemed quite believable. This was Janice’s last ride with us for a while since she will return to England for the next 6 weeks to visit her daughter’s family. Janice’s background includes back-country mountain biking where she and her husband have done land-navigation courses. She did her first competitive race this year at the Virginia State Time Trail.

Three of the newest members of TriPower, BJ, Laura, and Sally, have all been riding with the group for about a year now. Laura ran cross country in college, started swimming way back when, and has been cycling for several years. She had a stellar 4th place in VA Duathlon (W30-34) this year. Sally comes from a cycling family (also British). Her father Pete is one of the strongest 60+ cyclists in the area, and her brother Nick has long ties with our team (did 24 Hours of Canaan with the old guard led by Pat Quinn) and is now living in England. Sally spent a couple of years in the Peace Corps where she had the only mountain bike in the village.

BJ was a local standout runner turned cyclist who is one of the strongest cyclists I know. She started out just a year ago when she showed up for the Saturday ride on a recumbent. Apparently, Ruberio realized immediately how ill-suited the recumbent was for this very competitive woman, so he hooked her up with a road bike and the rest of us have been chasing her ever since. She CLAIMS she was first intimidated by the Saturday rides, but none of us have any memory of her being intimidated about anything. Her husband Bob and oldest son Justin ride also. The latest addition to her bike collection is a cycling tattoo on her—well, ask her about it and she’ll show you.

Pam, Carol and I have been doing this stuff forever. I heard Pam telling someone today that she started exercising in the late 70’s when she weighed nearly 200 pounds. She said she stopped smoking on the same day she started running. Mandy and I agreed that we did both in unison for a while way back just so that we were not rushing into things. Carol of course started cycling on the mad streets of Brazil in the early 90’s and was the U. S. Navy’s first female rescue swimmer in the mid-90’s.

Between Pam, Carol and me pointing out turns, things went pretty smoothly after the Rt. 600 missed turn. We did the section of road affectionately named the “Paris-Roubaiux” since it is narrow and bumpy, saw the place where legendary cyclist Camilla Buchanan went off the road, and sited the “old tree” that has reportedly been on the roadside since colonial times. After that point, things fell apart a bit. The bathroom breaks started to split the group and as it turned out several missed a turn near Waller Mill. I was glad to be in company with Mark, BJ, Janice, Sally, Nick and of course the only map as well as the only set of eyes who could read it. We somehow all ended up back together in Williamsburg, about 3 miles from the starting point but utterly lost.

Williamsburg is clearly not laid out on a grid, and the map showed a different street pattern than the current pattern. Since we were doing the course backwards, I was very turned around, and every person we asked was a visitor in town (clearly, tourism is doing just fine in W-burg). The most helpful person was an Aussie (I thought Brit but Sally said firmly he was Australian) who pointed us back to Monticello Ave. For the last several miles both Pam and Nick had slow leaks and we were working very hard to avoid tire changes so close to the finish. Big recognition goes to Lance (who incidentally drives the ultimate cyclist vehicle, the VW van) who again put up with all of us for yet another long ride.

Afterward, Frank and Nick returned home as the rest of us convened in Starbucks across the street. Mark heard a few things he probably shouldn’t have, Carol showed us her new Vision tri-bars, BJ shared her homemade sports bars, and we lamented not purchasing stock in Starbucks, at which point we were reminded that it was time to get back to the other lives we lead.

Tactics and Biscuits

The three women’s training rides we have had so far have been great. We worked on pacelining and cornering in all three rides and on the last 2 rides, worked on tactics. The next one scheduled in Williamsburg, we will focus on just climbing small hills and getting in base miles since the loop is nearly 60 miles. Even though it has been wonderfully warm the past 3 weeks, it appears by the time we do Sunday’s ride, temperatures will be back in the 40’s.

The TriPower women’s road team is shaping into Carol, BJ, Mandy, Sally and Janice. Susan will be in there with them assuming her knee injury continues to heal. Looks as if Laura, Kim and Cara are in for trying road racing also, though their concentration is on multisport events (tri’s and du’s) and time trials. I will do some road racing, but I will mix it up with cross bike, mountain bike, time trailing and cool tours. Julie, Robin, Katrina, Lisa and Courtney will be riding and maybe some competing.

Past couple of Mondays have been warm enough to drag out the mountain bikes for the urban assault rides from East Coast Bikes. Jennifer, Susan, Janice, Mandy, Kate, Bill, Josh and I took to the streets in 2 separate groups. We met back at Susan’s Ghent condo for hot chocolate (British visitor Janice had never tried marshmallows in hot chocolate) and cookies (or “biscuits” for Janice) and of course a visit with Susan’s great dane, Emory.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

A Few to Remember

There have been some great cycling events the past few months. In early October, the Seagull Century brought 15 of us together with one goal: 100 miles in under 4 hours. This meant of course AVERAGING 25 miles per hour. This was the brainchild of Robert, Harlan and Tim who did the ride last year in 4 hours 15ish minutes without the benefit of having several people to take turns pulling. Bringing down those 15 minutes would mean gathering a formidable group of people to share the pulls, and if necessary some would be dropped. I knew going in that I was the weakest link in the chain. There were 2 other women, Jen and Annette, but they are 2 known for their endurance (it should be noted that I would like to think that I am “known” for something but cannot think of what that would be) so I found myself among 12 guys and 2 of the strongest women in the state.

I have never been to an event without leaving with a great story about the travel. This year, I expected an uneventful travel since I was driving up VA and MD’s Eastern Shore, one of the dullest places I have ever been (except for the water of course). I dread going there for anything, especially now that the bridge-tunnel toll has gone up. Anyway, when I suggested to Annette that she join the U4 club, she looked at her schedule and said that the only way she could make it the night before the event was to fly in from Florida. I agreed to pick her up from the airport and a week before the event, we started a serious game of phone tag and leaving messages about where to meet and when. I kept asking for “flight information” and she kept coming back with “sometime between 6 and 9.” Finally, I figured out the chick was flying in a private jet. Well, she told the pilot to take her to the Ocean City airport and he insisted that’s where he was as he dropped her off at the Salisbury airport which is a 45 minute car drive away. Obviously dinner was delayed until I could get to the correct airport.

I knew that averaging 25 mph for 100 miles would mean lots of 28 mph stretches. I guess I just had not mentally prepared to ride 28 mph after the first mile. I knew the first few miles that I was in over my head. We started later (7:45) than we expected (7:15) so there was quite a bit of cyclist traffic we had to pass from the start. I think everyone knew we had to get past everyone quickly if we wanted to have any chance of reaching the U4 goal. I heard Hosang call out about a warm up but I knew his request would be ignored. We hit 28 within 5 minutes, and Paul, Danny, Robert and Tim were handily yanking the group around. Harlan, Bill, Tom, Hosang, Art and Josh had no problems, while Jen, Annette and I took the back three slots without pulling through. I think both of them would have been ok rotating, but it sure worked out for me not to rotate through. Of course the downside is having to deal with yo-yo gaps that open up in the back, yet Jen and Annette seemed fine with that. After about 15 miles I took the very last position, and Annette tried to help me stay on. She even drifted back a bit, but I was clearly going to drop so I gave her the universal thank-you-but-go wave.

I tacked on with 2 guys and let it be known early that I was not messing around—keep up the pace and get me to the causeway so that I could catch the group as they leave the one and only rest stop they were taking. See, there is a 5 mile stretch going into Assategue where the oncoming riders can see the outgoing riders, and I knew if I kept some kind of pace that I could grab back on to the group at about mile 60. The 2 guys reluctantly but willingly powered through short, fast pulls. We finally joined up with a double pace line of about 25 people and that turned out to be the key to getting me to the causeway in time. Just as planned, I caught sight of the 14 as they left the rest stop just as I arrived, so I grabbed back on, happy to know that I would not be cutting the 100 miles short. Of course this meant that I was back in with the group, still as the weakest link and now as the only one who did not get a 5 minute rest and food break. I had anticipate this happening, so I did stop briefly at mile 30 for a gatoraide fill.

Anyway, there was little difference in the pace this time. Robert had calculated the projected times of mile markers, and he had the handy numbers taped to his handlebars. I heard him tell Dan that we (I guess they at this point) were 2 minutes behind schedule. “Oh great” I thought as I tried to think of ways to destroy Robert’s notes. Dan was taking the longest, most consistent pulls. I heard reports afterward of his 5+mile punishing pulls that pushed everyone to the maximum. I dropped off for the second time only about 6 miles into my second chance as Dan pulled. A short while later, I passed Hosang who was only operating on one leg. The other was so cramped, he had a hard time even moving it in the rotation. I would have stopped to pull him, but I stayed true to the mantra of the day which was “we will wait for no one.” Plus, I really liked the idea of being 14th in and not 15th in. I dove into the 75 mile rest stop only to find 6 other refugees who had given up the U4 goal and decided to eat the pie and ice cream at the stop. Well, that was my cue to stop with them. When Hosang joined us, Jen fed him electrolyte tablets, and when we all started back up, he was a new man. We still kept a powerful pace to the finish.

As it turned out, Dan and Robert finished as a the only remaining 2 at 4 hours and 2 minutes. My total ride time was between 4:15-4:20. Everyone else then would fall under that, several under 4:10.


Another great time was the 75 miler Bill, Janice, Sally, Tim and I did in November. This was the adjusted Bridge to Bridge ride that I have done the last 5 years in September. Since there were hurricane storms on the scheduled weekend, it was rescheduled for cold November. It really could have been worse than the 28 degrees that it was at the start line. Also, it was probably in the low 40’s at the top of Grandfather mountain and it sure could have been worse than that at the elevation of over 5200 feet.

Anyway, Bill and I were a bit lost without Jim and John who know Hickory/ Lenoir/ Blowing Rock/ Grandfather mountain area much better than we do. We had to pull a couple of U turns, especially once it got dark. As we drove to stage cars at the Meadows, we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset behind the Smokey Mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We pushed off from the Lenior Mall promptly at 8 am, and I expected to not be with the lead group after only a few miles. Since the ride had been cut short, the rollers at the beginning is what was eliminated from the ride. I am more likely to stay with the group on rollers then on the climbs that started within 5 miles of the start. However, 25 miles into the ride, I found myself still with the lead group, hanging onto the tail end. I really wanted to be away from them, but with each climb, I found enough gearing to spin up with the group. I used a 32 cog in the rear for the first time—usually in mountains I use a 27. This made a big difference I think, and it will help with other mountain rides and of course with the Wintergreen Time Trial in June.

Tim took the group honors with the fastest time of ~4:30. Bill and I finished within 2 minutes of each of at the 5:15 mark. We did a lot of back-and-forth throughout the ride which can be motivating and demoralizing all at the same time (“Oh, I am passing Bill and feeling strong” at mile 50 and then “Where did he come from” at mile 60). Sally and Janice stayed together and finished within 2 minutes of each other at the ~6:30 mark.

Would Christmas be complete without at ride? Bill Gilmer, Robert Sawyer, Tim Starkley and I did a couple of laps at New Quarter Park in Williamsburg. I hesitate to go anywhere when both Bill and Robert are in the same place (I prefer them separately). Bill and I had gone to midnight mass at Sacred Heart in Ghent the night before and I could not turn down the invitation to join them the next day though I knew there would be trouble. Sure enough, as we were doing our last lap, I watched Tim go down (Rob and Bill were ahead and could not see) and as I approached Tim, he reported that his chain had broken.

I rode ahead to flag down Bill and Rob who backtracked only to banter Tim and not produce chain tools or keys for him to get into the car or anything else helpful except to suggest to him that he may want to walk fast so they would not get to the car first and leave him. As the 3 of us finished the loop without Tim, Rob went on and on about Tim’s choice in heavy equipment and how he should have consulted them before purchasing a bike, how the chain should not have broken—on and on I listened to him whine about Tim not treating him like the god of mountain biking. I said ONE thing in response: “Tim’s stubborn” and all of the sudden Rob and Bill started hounding me: “Oh, so he’s stubborn—what exactly do you mean?”

I sensed I was in trouble so I corrected, “Oh, you know stubborn in a good way.” That of course did not go over and the second we returned to the car, Rob rode up to Tim and reported, “Liz says you are stubborn.” I wiggled to get out of it, but Tim kept looking at me, so I finally left it with, “I adore Robert and he is the most stubborn person I know.”