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Observation and Perspective
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| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
25.71 miles
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Time: 01:47:28
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Max Speed:
27.00 mph
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Avg Speed:
14.35 mph
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Temp:
Avg: 45
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Category: training: endurance -
solo
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Route:
Peck Rd./Parma Ctr/Parma Cor.
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Weight:
238
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Altitude Gain:
871 ft
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Avg Power: 0 W
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Calories Burned: 0
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Avg HR: 0 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Flat
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Bike: EG Zurich 350 IX Electric
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Club: team bikejournal |
| Weather Conditions: Clear mostly sunny, colder than yesterday, light Southerly wind; |
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So it's come to this: I'm Riding in an effort to accomplish mileage goals for 2015...
This year I've finally passed the 50,000-mile post for lifetime cycling miles. So it's time to start working on the next 50,000. I've had some remarkable years in the recent past where I was racking up 5-6,000 miles in a year. Now with perfectly functioning knees I have more distractions to getting on a bike and making it a day of cycling adventure, -like it used to be!
For the past 10+ years, Cycling was my biggest physical accomplishment day-to-day. Now I need to create special opportunities where I can get in some saddle time. The old BJ forum "consecutive days on bike" was a nifty goal for adding up the miles. That was back in the Raleighdon era... I hope getting older can afford more free time to get in those miles. My best shot at consecutive days and more miles really boils down to doing more work commutes. Anyhow, at least reaching the 3,000-mile goal for this year is almost done!
Today was another great day for a bike ride!
The towns of Parma and Greece are big. It's easy to do a "neighborhood" ride and rack-up some distance. Along the way, I monitored the progress of the ongoing bridge replacement work on C-P.T.L.Rd. and cycled my way past some great neighborhoods of co-workers and friends. My route went past the homes of 8 friends...
While going down one of the lanes in Greece, I passed a recently retired co-worker's home. Continuing down that same lane, I next saw Serena, an ex-student. She just happened to be sitting outside in a vehicle in the driveway of her parents home. Serena is a graduate who rode my bus last year. We hugged, talked briefly about the past and future. Traveling a bit further down that lane, and heading flat-out into a turn onto Hilbridge, I saw Nick, one of the students who rides the bus this year. Passing by, I said "Hi Nick", he said "hi" and waved as I hammered on my way.
Near the last leg of the ride, I stopped on Peck Road to quench and hydrate. A road racer on a training ride slowed as he passed me and asked if everything was O.K. I saluted with the seltzer bottle from which I was drinking and acknowledged all was well. This guy was in full cycling regalia and accelerated flat-out after he passed. I packed away the seltzer and remounted the 57+ pound Zurich. I wondered as I accelerated if it would be possible to catch up with this guy, then about 1/4 mile ahead. Of course, dreaming up a feat that at least in my mind would surprise someone in a fun, innocent way, could be a nice way to meet another local cyclist. The Zurich's 36 volts, 350 watts, front hub can be a real asset for pulling-off a stealth gag.
Managing a 20mph cruising speed for a moderate distance is almost easy, doable at least. A power assist hub makes riding the Zurich a speedy steed -in spite of rider and bike weight. And since I like being a bit of a ball-buster, it would be fun to try and outpace a serious pacer. Would I be able to catch this guy? I thought maybe...
So I pedaled my heart out, hammering on the crank with high cadence, breathing heavily. The effort took about 2-1/2 miles and 7 minutes. I figured he saw me coming up from behind, but I startled him as I passed by ringing my bell on the approach. Woah, he exclaimed! I apologized for surprising him. In our brief conversation, he mentioned that a friend of his has an e-bike that can cruise at 45mph. After briefly sharing the road side by side, he split off making a turn North onto Spencer Road. A nice guy, though not someone I would ever be able to draft for long. Clearly a superior cyclist. On my Bianchi road bike he would drop me in 5 minutes.
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