Awakenings

-O summer in the city B

Nirvana

In 1996 I bought my first road bicycle.

I had ridden thousands of miles on a Giant Prodigy comfort hybrid during the previous four years; had seen the coast of Oregon and the Canadian Rockies a week at a time from an upright position. As I watched riders on road bicycles fly past me on those tours, I didn’t really understand the wow-you’re-doing-this-on-a-hybrid comments. I simply assumed they had fitness that I didn’t.

It was during a tour across Minnesota that summer that I rode my first century. The day’s route was about 70 miles, with an extra 30-mile option around mile 60. It was a relatively flat course with a couple of rollers, and the decision point was late enough in the ride that my friend and I had plenty of time to think about it.

The day was perfectly blue and perfectly mild. By the cutoff we were still feeling fresh. We had nothing to do all day but ride, so we did.

Over those 30 highchair-positioned miles I pondered road bicycles as small groups of them passed me with riders on the hoods, in the drops, on the tops. Somewhere around mile 75 my lower back started aching, and the extra foam of my lycra-covered saddle that had been so comfortable...well, it wasn’t anymore. The bull-horns on my hybrid didn’t allow the hand positions that would give my back and backside a break.

The light bulb warmed, then illuminated.

A couple weeks later I was off to find a road bike.

It was a LeMond Zurich that convinced me I could give up a granny ring for the double -- one test climb up Williston Road was enough for me to know that a lighter weight bicycle and different position meant I could go places more easily and more comfortably than I’d ever imagined.

It was cycling nirvana.  

I’d never need to, nor why-would-I-ever-want-to, buy another bicycle.

- OB I was pretty naïve in '96

And so I Write about Bicycling

and so I write about bicycling

because if I don’t my mind whirs through the night

over my profession

of learning and joy and creativity

that hasn’t anymore

because test scores dictate

because budgets are part of the chess board

and legislators override professional judgment

and one of us is doing the work of two of us

and because it all matters too much,

and so I write about bicycling

because a matching kit doesn’t really matter

and joy can be found in a paceline

or outside of one

because clearing the log the first time is a celebration

and because great flow is as good as great sex

and because all of it is beauty

and joy and freedom

and

it

saves me


- ob

Demons

Sometimes I outride them Other times I invite them along and we have a firm chat This time they thought it would be a nice social ride but I flatout ignored them

- bag I'm not listening!

Not REAL Women

There's a Wed night ride that meets across the street from an LBS nearby. It's a recreational club ride considered to be at a B pace: short mileage, relaxed pace, social, a warmup to the recreational ride that is scheduled shortly afterward (which is also considered to be a B ride).

This ride meets a couple blocks from home, has a late-afternoon start and end before supper; and it gets me outta the house during the week to socialize at a time of year that I don't much care about being social. It's a nice, easy spin that works out the kinks in the legs and the brain. This past week, we arrived back at the parking lot after the ride with about a half hour until the next ride started up. As we chatted, an LBS shop ride was beginning to gather across the street.

I always feel a few pangs when I see a spirited ride readying--a shop ride used to be an easy one for me. I'm still amazed at the fitness a racer has in comparison to Joe Average Cyclist...even the mediocre racer class that I fell into. I still had the fitness for a few years after I quit racing and, while on shop rides, I enjoyed watching the shop-ride guys expend a ton of energy on a training ride. Knowing when to bank energy, knowing positioning and how to subtly push a shop-ride guy out into the wind were advantages I had, and I enjoyed playing a few games on the unsuspecting. They tended to be a bit amazed that a skinny girl could ride so strongly. It was partly that, of course, but it was also partly riding smart.

I like to think I've still got the smarts, but the riding strongly part? Not so much these days.

One of the women in our group looked over to the readying shop ride: Oh wow, there are a couple women on that ride.

Those aren't REAL women a guy in our group quipped. Normally, I'd have taken offense to the comment and flung some shyte at him: the insinuation that women athletes aren't totally feminine chaps my hide.

Instead, I looked over wistfully.

- The not so in shape Old Bag kinda missing being "not a REAL woman" this season

Nekkid and Flying

You know, one of those dreams
but then I realized
it wasn't a dream...I was on the road bike

- OB :-)

Education and Cycling

Give this read a chance -- the ending applies to all of us who ride. It's a great analogy.


- OB down south for some R & R

The Jubilation of the Descent

the jubilation of the descent
isn't measured on the speedometer
but is measured
by the scenery
and the fresh air
and the company
and the rush
the completeness of the tuck
and the watering eyes
and the drool spreading from the corners of one's mouth toward one's ears

~

-OB it wasn't pretty but it was beautiful!

Participating in the Giro

...er, the Gyros....




- The Baggie we won!

Weekend Stats

...so far...

Miles Ridden: 120-ish
Number of Intervals in Zone 4: um...zone 4...I used to know my zone 4
Heartbeats per Minute: wait a minute -- like, wear a monitor?
Weight: +-5 lbs from where I was last week, last month, last summer
Length of Time Sitting at Coffee Shops During Rides: 2.15 hours
Coffee Consumed: 2 depth charges
US Issues Solved while Sitting at Coffee Shops During Rides: bailouts, domestic car makers, bankruptcy
Guys Pretending to Read Newspaper but really Listening-in on our Conversation at Coffee Shop: one
Guys Now Enlightened due to Listening-in on our Conversation at Coffee Shop: one
Guys Wearing Gym Shorts while on Tri-Bicycle: one
Friend's Shifting Issue Solved: one
Number of my Arms Developing a Well-Defined Farmer Tan: two :-(
Sun on My Nose: lots
Muscles Tired: all of 'em

-The now I'm Old off to Bag take a nap

Spiders

I don't

often

head out with Betty

into

a 23 mph wind

but today

I went

grudgingly

and

the two of them cleared

some of

the cobwebs

- OB sometimes all I need is a ride

What of It?

.

Been gone that's all.

With nobody. Nobody you know. Friends. Just people.

Nuthin'.

We, like, just rode.

Rode a bunch of stuff...knockin' around.

Yeah, bruised elbows...couple on the knees and hip.

So what of it? There aren't scratches on the bike. It's fine. It's not like the derailleur hanger is bent or anything.

You're always all "where you been?" " who you been with?"

Just been gone that's all!


- OB "feelin' like a teenager again" doesn't seem to mean what it used to mean!

Change of Season

we rode north trying to outrun autumn
with the warm wind behind us
up Wirth Parkway through the slanted September sun
hoping this time southern breezes would follow us
north
through the park
north
past the trails that hold fall mountain biking
and the smell of autumn colors
north
around the hill that's exhilarating on skis
north up Victory Parkway
coasting, spinning, until we reached the memorial
where we rested
and listened to the breeze
to the flags rippling
to the realization that breezes shift
and
we
turned
and started for home


- The Old fall isn't so bad Bag

Triathletes on a Training Ride

I hear them
whirring in the distance behind
suddenly overtaking
swarming ‘round
I raise my arm over my face
jump to the side of the trail
they swerve every which way over the trail
and pass
like barn swallows

- TOB no offense intended to my tri friends...it’s just that...well, you know.

Whoa Betty

This past winter reminded me just how much I enjoy being out playing in the snow the snowy part, not the hang-on-until-friggin’-May part. It was the first winter in ages that we had enough snow in our metro area that we could ski close to home after the workday. And it meant that on weekends we had more time at home because we weren’t packing up the car for a day’s trip to find good skiing...with a mere 10-20 minute drive, we could ski and be home in time for lunch.

For the first winter in years I hung up the bicycle and didn’t look back. Sunny, blue days on the ski trails were a treat. I hated to see it end.

In Minnesota, if a person is a bicycle-head and a ski-head, it means s/he fits into one of two categories. One is either:

• a bicycle rider who skis in the off-season

OR

• a skier who rides bicycles in the off season.

I’d always thought of myself as the former, a died in the wool cyclist who skis because it’s something different to do in the winter, but this past season I started to wonder if I’m really a skier at heart who puts up with riding during my off-season. I love the skinny skis.

Could it be? I did ride the bicycle a few times this past winter, but could never find the endorphins I found while skiing. The studded tires coming off the ‘cross bike earlier in the month gave me a bit of a lift, but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

After work Thurs, we met up with a couple friends near Uptown for a quick spin around the trail network. Not quite feeling up to par, I figured I’d be dragging after everyone else, so at the last minute decided to give myself whatever advantage I could.

Betty came out instead of the ‘cross bike -- she’s light, she’s quick, she’s fun, and she fits right. It was a wow moment...

...I ski in the off-season.

- TOB

All in a Day's Work?

Across Cedar Lake toward Uptown

Wirth Park's Legacy Trails looking more Official

The new Paint Job Unpainted enlarge to see the original mph on a pedestrian-free trail

The Cedar Lake Trail leading to and from Downtown

Cedar Lake

-TOB this, and a bla snore zzzzz class session

Virgin

Betty's first train ride



- OB'd rather be bikin' but when a spoke pings...

Recognition

the nod
from a passing cyclist

dude.
hey.
seen you out here before.
do I maybe know you?

usually
lycra begets lycra
messenger bags peg kits
backpacks hey panniers
early morning riders see other early morning riders

the helmetless
in tennies
look down the trail

~

while
out on an errand run
down the trail on the 'cross ride
library, post office, bank
auto parts store
in plain clothes
tank and baggy capris
backpack-purse

the hairy-faced man
in the jeans on the Schwinn
finally
gave me the nod


- Baggie nodworthy

Millimeters

Most days this summer (which has been all of five days for me) I've been riding with The Sweetie to work in the AMs. He's only got a six-mile commute into downtown so I get a 10-12-miler in before heading home to join my classes online. It's been a nice way to start my "work" day, wakes me up, gets me breathing. Often I do the same at the end of the day, but with this week's 90-degree days, morning has been the time to ride.

The other day on the way home I felt an ache on the back of my left leg behind my knee, a subtle reminder of the slight ache that started last Saturday in the hills of WI did I mention I hit 51 that day? I got off and dug for my multi-tool to make what amounted to be about a three-millimeter adjustment in my seat height.

Relief.

In my early cycling days I had a hybrid that I just couldn't get set up right. I visited the PT, did my exercises, learned a bunch about fit, adjusted what I could. Considering I was just getting back into cycling I had wheeled the bike as-is out of the LBS yep, this feels good! can I have wider bars???, fine tuning came months later and meant the adjustments involved a new seat you mean, I just take off the seat that came with it? do they buy it back? and a longer stem so THIS one just goes into a drawer?? along with different toe cages that allowed my foot a bit more movement. After finding I liked doing some distance, I also found my lower back complaining...so I got aero bars...put 'em on the hybrid yep so I could finally stretch out. I read magazines and learned about the relationship between knees, cranks and bottom brackets. I kept stats: miles and average speeds. They increased by leaps and bounds each season. I read about the slight changes one must make when adjusting anything, especially seat height, but that went by the wayside the day I'd had it and yanked my seat up in frustration and finally felt relief. Fine-tuning wasn't so fine -- changes were in huge increments, inches even.

When I got the first road ride, at 21 lbs., I was riding air and air didn't need as many adjustments. Since I knew more that time around, LBS and I spent more time setting it up. In the weeks after riding away from the shop I got a women's specific road saddle with longer rails and dialed it in. Early on, I changed-out the stem from a 110 to a 100. Fine-tuning this time around was in centimeters.

That same bicycle took me through most of my racing years. I took and then taught a beginning racing skills class. I kept stats on my training: miles, average speeds, routes, numbers, grades, intensity, fatigue, attitude. Without realizing it I was filing away other sorts of stats as well: the dynamics of riding with a tight group, the patterns of body language in teammates and opponents, and the sounds of purpose and fake-out. I used to take hills with a straining grip on the bars until coach said just try it with your hands here instead. I learned the subtleties. I got Betty which was a perfect fit almost from the get-go. With the amount I was training and learning, any adjustment in fit or technique had the potential to send something else out of whack or edge me away from being a strong rider toward being a good rider. Fine tuning was subtle -- changes were in millimeters.

I've been back to recreational riding and grocery getting for awhile now, but it's different than it was in '92 on the hybrid. I don't keep stats. After a couple summers without, I finally replaced the cyclo-computer that I lost, but I didn't zero it out this past January...and I regularly ride a bicycle or two that don't have one at all. If asked how many miles I've racked-up so far this year I couldn't even hazard a guess. What's my resting HR these days? Dunno. My longest ride this season? I'm at a loss. Cadence? Please. Those are practically inches.

Last weekend a cycling friend told me she was working on pedaling more efficiently and asked if I had any suggestions. She's a strong rider, but not a good rider...a little squirrely in a paceline, a bit of side-to-side movement when she pedals.

Well, first you need to know about millimeters, I said.

- The Bag's racing was always measured with a yardstick!

Really Officer, I Didn't Mean To...

...but it was really, really fun!


- OB likin' the thrill