A real half-century today

I was able to get out and ride today (Sunday). Since we had a number of family things planned for later in the day I had agreed to ride early. This meant being on the rode by 7:20am. What I wasn’t counting on what how cold it was going to be at that time. The thermometer read 37 (f) as I left. Fortunately I broke along my leg-warmers and jacket. This helped dull the bite of the cold wind but my face was near frozen after just the first couple of miles.

Being that cold also had the side effect of nasal drip. Which is not necessarily a good thing when cruising along at 15mph on a bike. I must’ve sounded like a cocaine junky to those who I passed as I was constantly sniffing to keep from having it run down my face and jacket.

My plan today was simple…..do 50 miles. I felt like I cheated some from last week in not actually getting 50 miles in, but still saying I had done a half-century. I left the house and headed down the Sammamish Trail. At 25 miles out I’d turn around and head back.

This last week I got a handlebar mount for my Garmin Etrex Legend and tried it out. For the most part in the ‘trip computer’ mode it acts just like the bicycle computer I’ve been using up till now. The bonus is that it also shows elevation. This is handy as I now know the 1 mile long hill I did at the end was 305 feet in elevation change. I haven’t figured out what that equates to as far as % grade goes, but I do know it is a killer to do at 48 miles into a ride.

A couple of additional thoughts on this ride:

Riding on the trail this early in the morning is great because there is practically no other traffic.

Last week I had a good bunch of carbs a few hours before my ride. Today it was just a few minutes before hand. The extra time to digest the food makes a big difference. I struggled to keep going for the first 45 mins or so before the food kicked in.

Head winds suck! From UW Village till Bothell there was a persistent headwind. Man it just sucks the energy. And it’s a mental drain too. When I get into the 160’s on my heart-rate monitor I can cruise at about 16.5mph (on flat roads). Into the head wind that same heart-rate is only giving me about 13mph. Of course I was hoping from Bothell down to Marymoore Park the wind would be behind me, but it never seemed like it was.

I didn’t break any spokes today. I was surprised to find two broken spokes on the rear (left-side) last week. I had put the bike on the rack, spun the rear wheel and found it rubbing REALLY hard against the brake pad. I went to check the spokes where it was rubbing and surprise….there were two broken. I did manage to replace them on my own (which I’m a bit proud of) after consulting my “Road Bike Maintenance” book by Lennard Zinn.

Ride Stats:

Miles: 50.7
Aveage: 14.5
Time: 3:40
Calories: 3372