Last Pre-Trip Ride

The best laid plans... It seems like I start every other post with that phrase--or at least I could.

The Plan: Install the 29er wheels on the fat bike and do longer rides on sunny Sunday and Monday.

The Reality: I got set up with all the parts outside (and, yes, my trusty "helper").

I cleaned the bike well, installed the disc brakes and quick release levers on the 29er wheels, and put the wheels on the bike. Here's the bike--transformed from a fat-tire bike...

...to a 29er-wheel bike.

Things were ticking along fine...until I hit one small problem: The rear tire would not hold any air pressure. I could hear the telltale hissing of leaking air. Clearly there was a hole in the tube. I didn't have any spare 29er tubes, so I had to wait for a bike shop to open on Monday.

In the meantime, check out George--sound asleep, draped over this lumber pile.

Even when he woke up, he just couldn't convince himself to move. He just kept dozing off.

I spent a good part of Monday getting the 29er tire functional, then adjusting the disc brakes. Finally, I was ready to ride. Just before I did, I noticed these ducks in the river. Big slabs of ice forced the ducks to move south quickly to avoid being overrun.

Rather than ride back and forth on my road, as I had with the fat tires, I took off towards Gardiner, following the river along the way.

The bike handled well--sort of between riding on the fat tires and riding my road bike. I told myself to just have fun, not push it too hard, and to stop often to take pictures. It was warm (low 50s). This is the only ride I've done so far without warm gloves over my cycling gloves. Bare fingers! If anything, I was slightly overdressed on this ride. It's about time I could say that!

I rode through the Gardiner waterfront. This year's BikeMaine riders will spend the night of September 9 in this park. I've been asked to work on the Gardiner committee making plans for this stopover and, since I have decided not to do the ride myself, I agreed.

In downtown Gardiner, I got on the Kennebec Rail Trail. I was glad I'd decided to use the fenders on my bike because the trail had a lot of wet spots and even a few icy spots. I nearly wiped out on that slab of ice pictured ahead in the following photo; on my way back, I got off and walked through it. Can't injure myself this close to leaving on my trip!

The two ends of the trail--in Gardiner and Augusta--can be especially crowded with walkers, strollers, and dogs, but there are nice long in-between stretches that are quiet and pretty.

It wasn't the marathon ride I had originally planned, but the round trip ended up being 25 miles. I felt strong and, even without road gears and while fighting headwinds the whole way back, it didn't feel too taxing. I felt like I could just keep going and going. The ride boosted my spirits a lot, as I was having a minor-freak-out kind of day prior to the ride. (You know...What am I thinking?! I must be nuts to be heading out to do this! blah, blah, blah) My hands felt slightly better than they have recently when riding--probably because 1) the 29er wheels send a little less vibration to my hands than the fat tires do, and 2) I cut some pieces of memory foam and added them to the insides of my cycling gloves--but my hands still hurt more than they should. I'm worried about them holding up for the trip--so I don't think I will do any more cycling on the road before I leave for the trip. I will still work out at the gym, but I hope to spare my hands any more abuse and let them rest up.

Spring Riding

Up until the end of last week, I was riding my fat bike five days a week (in addition to working out at the gym six days a week). Unfortunately, my longest ride was an hour and a half; it stayed consistently cold, and my frozen feet just couldn't tolerate riding longer than that. I didn't ride last weekend due to pouring rain and muddy roads. Finally, this week we have warmer (great road biking) weather! I have shipped my road bike to Mobile, though, so I'm still riding my fat bike. Today I rode 22 miles before I had to stop. What made me stop--my cold feet, my aching butt, my creaking knees? No, no, no. It was my sore, nerve-racked hands. If the snow/sleet/rain tonight and tomorrow keeps me from riding tomorrow, I think I will see if I can install the 29er wheels (narrower than the fat tires, more like mountain-bike tires) on the fat bike, which I hope will allow me to do longer rides next week.

Here are views from my ride today:

This next one is for you, Janet. I think of you and your dad every time I see a contrail.

Tent Practice

I have been telling myself for weeks to practice setting up the tent I will use on the bike trip. Today turned out to be the day. In the photo below is the tent (on the left--it is very small and lightweight, even though it's a two-person tent) and the ground cloth (made out of Typar--a custom-made gift from my son).

See my helper? Even though I thought I was being vigilant in keeping Bear away from the tent, he still managed to put a small hole in the tent screen before I was done. Aargh!

3 Especially "Helpful Hints for Tent Set Up"--from the tent's set up instructions:

• Our tents are easy to set up but we suggest you practice once at home before using them for the first time to avoid late night bickering with tent mates while fumbling around in the dark.
• Big Agnes tents are all freestanding, but we recommend staking them out to increase space and keep your tent from becoming a tumbleweed.
• Hang onto your stuff sacks or they'll blow away and create backcountry litter.

I didn't actually stake out the tent, but I set it up enough to determine that: 1) it is easy to set up compared to other tents I have owned, and 2) it came short one stake, even though it is brand new. This is good to know, but not a problem, since I was planning all along to add some great titanium stakes I own to the tent bag anyway.

By the time I had the tent all rolled and packed up again, all three cats were in attendance. Yes, three cats. Bear, George, and the mystery cat my brother has dubbed "Clueless." I haven't been friendly with Clueless, even though he has tried hard to snuggle up; I don't want him to think we will adopt him. He doesn't look like he's homeless, but he is hanging out here like he is. Can you find all three cats in the photo below?

And the ducks are returning to the river now that the water is open and flowing!

Apropos of Nothing

This is kinda cool, even though it doesn't have a thing to do with biking or training or the Underground Railroad...

The gym where I've been training is next door to a set of cross-state power lines. A huge project has been underway to upgrade this set of lines. Enormous poles, far larger than the existing ones, have been installed. The other day I was transfixed watching workers in a bucket on the end of a very long boom hang the cross pieces and other line-attachment-thingys at the top of nearby poles. (Note the old, much-shorter poles to the right of this new, tall one.)

Yesterday as I was leaving the gym, I saw an even-more-incredible sight. A lineworker was working on the top of the pole down by the river--while standing outside the cockpit of a helicopter on a landing skid!

Then, the copter took off with the worker still standing on the landing skid, circled around, and hovered next to a nearby pole while the lineworker worked on the top of that pole.

I'm sure this must be fun, exciting work for the lineworkers who do this. My legs would be too wobbly; I definitely could not do this!

Update 4 Apr 2014: When pulling into the gym today, more work was happening on the power lines. Lines have now been run across the new poles. This time, the lineworker standing outside the helicopter is running something along the line as the helicopter very slowly moves along the line. The lineworker must have nerves of steel to do this, and the pilot must be very skilled not to injure the lineworker. Just mesmerizing.

Shake-Down Ride

Busy day. My road bike had been overhauled by a bike shop (new chain, new hard-case tires, re-packed bottom bracket, cleaned, tuned); the raw, pouring-rain weather of the last few days ended, and the sun came out; and I have to ship my bike to Mobile tomorrow--so this was my one day to do a shake-down road ride.

My fantasy that I was going to pull off a 50-mile ride today proved to be...just that, a fantasy.

After my workout at the gym, I took time to document that the river was flowing with open water today--first day! Yes, it was great to see the blue and the movement. What I loved the most, though, was the sound. The sound of lapping water, and the sound of the birds returning. It all made me breathe easier and feel brighter.

Next, I installed the roof rack on my car. Even though I have a rack that hangs on the back of my car to transport my fat bike, the aerodynamics of my car ensures that all kinds of schmutz (especially from my dirt/mud road) gets thrown on the back of my car, including any bike that is hanging back there. I far prefer to carry my bike on the roof, away from all that schmutz.

I had a difficult time getting the bike tires fully inflated. I struggled for quite some time with my brand-new bike pump. It's smaller than the old one and packs more easily, but it takes superhuman strength to use it to get 120 pounds of pressure in a tire. I finally gave up and switched to my old bike pump. Lesson learned: I better take my old bike pump on my trip if I intend to keep my tires inflated--or maybe both pumps, since I've been worried that my ancient bike pump will just die at some point.

Finally, by late afternoon, I started my ride. My fantasy that my bike--all tuned up and looking great--would also ride great proved to be...just that, a fantasy. From the start, I could tell I had major gear/shifting issues. Such an awful grinding noise! Turns out that my front derailleur was not adjusted anywhere near right. Whenever the chain was on the largest chainring in the front, the chain rubbed continuously and loudly on the front derailleur. I had to give up all my best downhill gears and just not use that chainring. I didn't stop to try to make adjustments; I wanted to get the ride in before the day was over, so I adapted. It slowed my pace down considerably that I could not pedal on the downhills, but that was okay.

It was warm (47 degrees F! amazing what difference a few degrees can make). And such a joy to ride on skinny road wheels--with great gliding and coasting! I felt strong and, even though I headed for as many steep hills as I could find within a 15 mile loop, none of it felt overly daunting. My butt and my hands didn't hurt as much as they do when I ride my fat bike, which is the opposite of what I expected. I did decide, though, that my new riding shoes are enough thicker in the soles that I should probably raise the seat a smidgen.

I stopped and took a few photos along my ride. My fantasy that I would figure out how to snap photos while riding (and without crashing, of course) has proven to be... (everyone with me now, you get the drill) ...just that, a fantasy. I thought I was stopping to take a picture of a beaver lodge and was stunned to see a huge beaver out in the open, working on the lodge. Did I get its picture? No! of course not. I didn't move quickly enough.

When I first saw the beaver, it was swimming in the open water to the left of the lodge. Then it climbed up on that side of the lodge to work on it. By the time I had my camera ready to shoot, the beaver had disappeared.

Open, gushing water. Ah, another joy of spring!

Finally, I looped back around to the river again.

I noticed this shadow on my way home:

Below is my first experiment with illustrating my route for the day. I like that color gradients show the change in grade/elevation along the route.

Below is a different view of the elevation (and speed) changes along the route. Where the blue line shows that my speed dropped to 0 mph--that's where I stopped to take photos of the beaver lodge and marsh.

Another busy day tomorrow. I need to make adjustments to my bike and then box it up and ship it off to Mobile!