Training Log Archive: cedarcreek

"Group Ride" where everyone bailed because of rain. I arrived late, and there were three riders plus me. Katy asked, "Do you have an extra helmet?", and I literally had just taken my old helmet out of my car. (I'm leaving it out---I will never again be asked for one, ever.) No helmet so one of the three bailed. So three riders, *including* me. Actually she texted that to me, because it was raining. I looked at the radar, and I was really hopeful. I have actual texts with timestamps that show I estimated we had 90 minutes of no rain, assuming no pop up showers. I felt it was a good bet because once a cell moves through, it seems like it's calm for a bit before the cells pop up. I'm sure I'm wrong, but I'm going by my observation of radar.

So, we started in Covington, rode across to Newport, across the Purple People Bridge and then east on 52 (!) to Lunken Field. There are bike paths there, quite nice and pretty long. We did a loop in Armleder where we saw an Indigo Bunting (OMG!, so cool).

The weather was not looking good as we headed back. It was still a while until sunset, but I sure wish I had a red light on my bike. I was wearing a fluorescent yellow-green high-vis shirt, so that was good. (The other two riders had red lights.)

My stupid GPS stopped recording mid-ride. I'm sure it's my fault. I guess I'm gonna have to download and read the manual. And maybe check for updates. I've had a couple non-responsive crashes where I had to remove the batteries to reset.

So. No rain, but two big flashes of lighting well off in front of us. Still a mile or two to the PP bridge. I was drafting, and that let us hammer (otherwise, I would have slowed us all down). We went up and over the bridge, onto the streets of Newport, and---I could hear it coming---ominous---rain. A really nice downpour. Up and over the Licking River Bridge, right turn---Katy has to navigate. Oh---and my brake pads SUCK when they're wet. I was scared I was going to blast a stop sign and get hit. I took it easy to minimize the risk.

Almost hit my car (no brakes, remember), and everyone just threw their bike in the car and left. Absolutely soaking wet. I drove home with my look cleats on (I could clutch okay, believe it or not, or I would have stopped to change). I'm gonna have a wet butt driving to work tomorrow.

Oh. We were out, I think, 2 hr 6 min. We had rain the last 5 or 8 minutes. So---Ugh. It didn't feel like that long, or I would have said something.

Also. Parts of the GPS track I drew with Topofusion. Not sure if it will display correctly. {Edit: It did some sort of time creation when I inserted points. Ignore the speed in the section with the linear heart rate increase (over a long time).

C • Enjoyed your biking logs 4

Forgot heart rate strap. Forgot to put it on---it was in the car. Ugh.

From the Monroe Outlet Malls to Franklin, Ohio along Union Rd. This is part of one of my "ride to work" routes. With this out-and-back, I think I did in about 21 miles all the climb for the entire 48 mile route. So---I still need to do a good, long ride of about 50 miles. I would probably risk it at this point. The remaining "on road" part of the route I want to do with as little traffic as possible. If I stop once or twice for a quick bite, I really think I can endure the 50 miles. Need gloves, though. I've been going without, and I get some numbness.

Again, I did okay with the climbs. Before the last part of the last big one, I stopped for a few minutes to eat a few Gu Chomps and drink about half a liter of water. The rest helped for sure. Again, as last week, my legs never shut down, so---good. I even added a little hill at the end along the "restaurant row" south of 63. I was good and tired, though.

It was a bit more trafficky than I like, but it wasn't bad.

Also went south at the start to the bridge construction on Butler-Warren Rd. It is passable if it hasn't rained much, but I will have to divert---too much hassle to cross with a bike. Almost certainly a muddy, wet-foot crossing.

This is the exact parking space I used. (New GPS glitches---let's hope the ride track survived.)