Nov 27/28 - two more rides

Cold on the first; cold and sore on the second; is there no end to my complaints ?

On Friday it was cold in the a.m. so I puttered around and did some bicycle maintenance. Checking over the tires I spotted a slight bulge in the sidewall so it was time to re-tire those rims. These are the Rolf's that have moved back and forth between the Lynsky and the Litespeed. They had many, many miles on them. I also installed the rack, since I expected that it would be cold the next day too and I'd be shedding layers of clothing over the ride.

Sandy and Angelika had gone to Disney World; Abby and I were supposed to go boating. Around noon I called the marina and got no answer. I gave it a few minutes and called again ... no answer. Oops ... perhaps they're closed ? I decided to go for a ride on the Harley and find out. Sure enough, they were closed. Heading north on US 1, I planned on toodling around the Ponce Inlet area. I did that, then headed north on A1A intended to cut over to the mainland at SR 92 (Speedway Blvd) and then home. I kept going ... Ormond Beach ... kept going. My fuel light came on -- trip meter at 120 miles -- I stopped for gas, finally left A1A at Highbridge but turned north again on a road that I've always wondered where it went (Walter Boardman), north to SR 100 and then finally headed south to home.

I got myself thoroughly chilled on the ride home. It was cumulative of course, having finally worked its way through my clothing layers. Also, it was starting to cool down again. It had only gotten barely over 60F and in the late afternoon was heading down into the 50's again. Brrr. Lesson learned: that's too long a ride when it's cool. Now perhaps if I had a warm Harley leather jacket and warmer gloves ...

Sandy and Angelika got home around 7pm from DW having had a great day at Animal Kingdom. That was Sandy's second time, the first one many years ago while I had a meeting at the Swan hotel.

Yesterday, Saturday, was promised to be as cool a start but warmer during the day. It was supposed to get higher into the 60's ...

I left here a little after 6:30 a.m. thoroughly dressed for the weather. I got my Permanent Card stamped and initialed at the 7-11 and was on my way for a 135 mile ride. It was cool, in the low 40's to start, but gradually warmed up to the mid 60's. The sun started warming things up by the time I got to the Ormond memorial in Tomoka Park so I could take off my leg warmers. I put on my shoe covers at that point since my feet were cold, and left them on all day. Later on I shed my light blue jacket and completed the ride with long sleeved jersey over short sleeved jersey.

Generally speaking, I was warm enough, but my legs ached. They ached from the first mile, an ache that only went away when I was standing on the pedals. I think that I must have pulled something riding the Harley because they hadn't bothered me any other rides. 70+ miles one day and 80+ miles the next were taking their toll. I plodded on, never making more than about 18 mph even on the way back with the wind behind me. Even so, I finished at the 7-11 at 4:37 or some such, which was about 9:40 on the day. That time includes stops, of course. I'll have to look back at my time in October to see how long that was.

I just checked my October time -- 8:55, and that for a longer ride. The route that I rode yesterday was shorter by a few miles, so my pace was about an hour off October's. With the short days and my speed in question, I had packed lights in case I needed them. I didn't bring the generator hub, just an LED front light that I could use if it came to that. As it was, I was home around 5pm and sunset as before 5:30. Extra clothing accounts for some of the drop in pace -- three layers + leg warmers -- but the main factor was my poor aching legs.

Just think, I have to do this again in a few days ... I'll wait for warmer weather !

Today, Sunday, I've got Mass shortly and then we're going boating. It's supposed to get up to 75F today. It will be cooler out on the water though, since I'm sure that the water temperature is in the 60's.

That's it ... Onward ...