Middle-Aged-Man » Cycling http://www.middle-aged-man.com Cycling, Fitness and Other Things Mon, 18 Jul 2011 01:37:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Ride4Romina, Stage 1, Prelim http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/07/17/ride4romina-stage-1-prelim/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/07/17/ride4romina-stage-1-prelim/#comments Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:24:10 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=3930 Ride4Romina and "L and 20th" group

Ride4Romina and "L and 20th" group

Today’s ride was a 100 mile prelim for the Ride4Romina, check it out at www.rominaavery.com and consider donating to our ride for a needed cause.Next Friday, we start the 300 miles in 3 days. Stage 1 (is what we did today) is a ride in the Antelope Valley. We started at 6:50am and returned at 2:30pm.

The ride started cool and we ran in three riders from the “L and 20th” ride. These riders are more of the faster riders in town. A few more joined, including Kevin Walsh. I do not know the name of the other riders. Total for the Ride4Romina riders was five. Chris Brady, Cliff Silverman, Shawn Downs, and Kostane (Kos) Rex, and there were five ”L and 20th” riders.

The ride started out fast, (I did not want to do that), 17.5-19.5 MPH. I knew we were riding 100 miles and that speed was too fast. However, guys will be guys. Out and over Muntz Road the up Elizabeth Lake Road, stopping at Pappa Market (fluids), then out to Three Points, dropped in at Grace Chapel Neenach where Cliff’s wife Laura had a vehicle full of food. PB&J, Fig Newtons, water, Gatorade, nuts, oranges. I have to say that was a blessing. She and Cliff did a great job supplying use with food/fluid. I do not know if she knew that we picked up five additional riders, but she had it covered. It was a blessing that Pastor Mike Rice, from Grace Chapel Neenach came out and met us. He was so gracious. He told us about a water hose where in the future, we can fill up our bottles; which is cool, because there is not much out there to get help.

Continuing our ride down Lancaster Blvd, then up 170th to Rosamond Blvd. We stopped at Chico’s, my favorite little market, (because they have a restroom). We purchased more cold water and separated from the “L and 20th” riders. They headed back, and we five went up Willow’s Springs road to Baukus Road and over to Mojave Tropico. Rode back down to Rosamond Blvd. Next time, we need to find a spot around there for more fluids; we make want to ride down Rosamond to refill then loop back or go to 20th W and get back on course. This time, we rode back up to 60th and down to Avenue A, over to 30th and finally back to Ave L. Once we stopped, Koz had cool water, wow that was needed. Total miles, 100. Here is some data:

 

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/07/17/ride4romina-stage-1-prelim/feed/ 0 Cycling Fact #5, Licensing (Lancaster) http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/07/11/cycling-fact-5-licensing-lancaster/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/07/11/cycling-fact-5-licensing-lancaster/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:00:05 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=3925 I was looking around on the internet reading about bicycling law and managed to find the Lancaster Municipal Code for my city. They had only one reference to bicycling, under title 10-Vehicles and traffic. I opened the chapter 10.24 on bicycling.

To my surprise is that the city of Lancaster requires bicycles to be licensed. See Chapter 10.24

10.24.010 – License required.

A person, firm or corporation shall not operate or permit to be operated on any highway in the city any bicycle propelled wholly or in part by muscular power, the owner of which bicycle is a resident of the city unless and until such bicycle is registered with the sheriff and licensed, and the license is attached to the bicycle as provided in this chapter.

(Prior code § 3-11.1)

The price to license a bicycle is only $0.75, yes seventy-five cents.

10.24.020 – Application for license.

The applicant for the registration and licensing of a bicycle shall make application therefor, accompanied by a fee of seventy-five cents ($0.75), upon forms provided for by that officer. Such form shall show:

A. The name and address of the applicant;
B. A description of the bicycle to be registered and licensed including the serial number of the bicycle, if any, make of the bicycle, type of bicycle, model of bicycle and the color thereof;
C. Such other information or description as the sheriff may require.

(Prior code § 3-11.2)

I did not know that, I am not sure, if I would need to go the Sheriff’s station or locate an officer. I guess I will find out soon. The penalty for not having a license is $50, wow!

There were other stuff bicycles about transferring, selling and other administrative items.

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/07/11/cycling-fact-5-licensing-lancaster/feed/ 4 First Century of 2011 http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/06/first-century-of-2011/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/06/first-century-of-2011/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:53:38 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=3870 I have been trying to put in miles each month to prepare for my first century ride of the year. A century is 100 miles of cycling. On Sunday June 5th, Chris Brady, Shawn Downs and myself headed down to Griffith Park. We parked about 1-3/4 miles away from the starting line. We came to ride in the 11th annual Los Angeles River Ride located at the Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way in Griffith Park. Shawn was on the front line and got to listen to the Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talking about the festivities, as well as actor Austin Nichols from TV’s “One Tree Hill,” (never seen it) who served as the master of ceremonies.

  • 100 Mile L.A. River Century Ride The ride starts at 7 a.m.
  • 70 Mile Expert Ride The ride starts at 7:45 a.m.
  • 50 Mile Half Century Ride The ride starts at 8 a.m.
  • 36 Mile Training Ride The ride starts at 8:30 a.m.
  • 15 Mile Family Ride The ride starts at 11 a.m.

We all started the 100 mile ride at 7:15. Chris and I were about 300 feet from the front, but since it was a ride and not a race, we were fine starting in the back. I was told the ride was ugly, but found that there were some ugly spots, like downtown, off the river (about 10 miles of road work). But, once on the river, I found it very nice. The Long Beach – Seal Beach areas were so beautiful and weather was great. The winds worked with us. Slight head wind going down and nice tail wind going back.

Both Chris and I experienced flats. Chris had a flat on the front tire and I about 8 miles later on the rear tire. With a delay of 15 minutes each, back on the rode. My flat damaged the tire, and I made it back to the finish at 100 miles and my tire was flat again. That was close. Overall, I very good century ride. We averaged 17.34 mph, which is fast for me, but the ride was flat. Here is the data from the ride.

Finished Cycle: Jun 5, 2011 2:32:47 PM
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/aa03/ec9c/4ca5/bb18/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110605-0719.kml
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/aa03/ec9c/4ca5/bb18/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110605-0719.kml
Ride Time: 5:46:18
Stopped Time: 1:27:03
Distance: 100.09 miles
Average: 17.34 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 30.30 miles/h
Ascent: 1242 feet
Calories: 6084

Textured Photo

 

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/06/first-century-of-2011/feed/ 3 Cycling to Work http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/02/cycling-to-work-2/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/02/cycling-to-work-2/#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:57:27 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/02/cycling-to-work-2/ I been trying to cycle to work from home and back. I work a couple of days a week from home, but when I work in the office, I cycle. Well, I cycle when it is warm and not raining. What a weird summer, It is June 2, and we have not had a single hot day. I do not think we broke the 90′s yet. However, the wind is working.

This morning, I changed my cyclemeter stopwatch (main page) to have time from best ride. Knowing that information, I was able to push harder and got to work with my fastest time of 40:39, with the normal distance of 11.28 miles with an average speed of 16.65 mph. Mornings are generally slow for me, because I am not really awake. I jump out of bed and get on the bike pretty quickly.

Some information:
Miles for 2011 so far, 1098
Miles for May 2011, 316.33

Goals:
Miles for 2011 – 3,000
Miles for June 2011, 450
Miles for July 2011, 600

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/06/02/cycling-to-work-2/feed/ 0 Antelope Valley Ride http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/05/09/antelope-valley-ride/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/05/09/antelope-valley-ride/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 16:36:40 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/05/09/antelope-valley-ride/ On Saturday, I rode with Chris Brady on the Antelope Valley Ride. The ride is about 60 miles, (we rode 57.8). It started out from George Lane Park to 60 West and up to the aqueduct (all gates were opened). Over to Johnson Road which was a good hard climb over to Lake Elizabeth Road. Up to 3-points and out to Neenach and back on Lancaster Road. The wind was in good form, making all west and south parts so much harder. My right leg was problematic, the right hip and calf hurt prior to starting. It is a old problem, but this year has not been an issue. As I rode back, I started to feel odd, like I was going to hurl. I did not, but riding up 110th west my right quad started to cramp. I have never got a cramp before. The only thing I eat that day was some oatmeal prior to starting and on the ride about five bananas and a couple of oranges. I did not eat any of the cookies or crackers. Finish at four hours and four minutes. Not a good time, but the wind was strong. Had lunch with Chris. It was pulled pork, some apple slices and more water. When I got home, I weigh myself and I was at 204.8, started the morning at 201. I figured that long ride would allow me to rid a lot of water, but I guess not.

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2011/05/09/antelope-valley-ride/feed/ 1 Cycling, thought I would put it down for Winter http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/12/11/cycling-thought-i-would-put-it-down-for-winter/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/12/11/cycling-thought-i-would-put-it-down-for-winter/#comments Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:02:46 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=3758 After the Solvang Prelude last November, I thought I would retire from cycling until Spring. Wrong, I rode again. This time 32 miles or so. It was get on the bike, because Sunday, Chris Brady and myself will drive down to Santa Claria to ride in a Holiday Benefit Ride, sponsed by Bicycle Johns in San Clarita.

I use Cyclemeter to track my rides these days. I have other GPS devices, but I find I do not have to carry them, since I do have cyclemeter on my phone. Finished in a time 2:32:19, 31.08 miles at an average of 12.25 PMH, The wind was up and Chris and I talked, this was not a training ride, more a social ride. See http://j.mp/gUm9x8,.

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/12/11/cycling-thought-i-would-put-it-down-for-winter/feed/ 0 Two Hundred Miles in Two Days http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/06/26/two-hundred-miles-in-two-days/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/06/26/two-hundred-miles-in-two-days/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:47:49 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=1101 There was some conversation over the last year about cycling to Kickback. Kickback is our annual High School church group (Highlife) escape from Lancaster to Reedley. As a group we talked about this 200 mile ride for some time. We would do two 100 mile days. The longest I have ever rode up to this point was 108 miles in one day, so I know this would be hard. Two days of back to back riding would be much harder. As the date got closer it was down to two riders, a young man, Brendan Patz and me. He is 17 and very strong and for me, will as you know I am the middle-aged-man.

We did two training rides prior, the first being a 44 miler, and second of a 66 miler. The day arrived to leave, so on Sunday June 20th at 6:15 am we left Brendan house and started leg 1, which would end in Tehachapi. The ride started across the Antelope Valley up to Backus road was nice and cool. After a rest at Backus Road (20 miles), we headed up to Tehachapi. This started the climb segment. We were well into the slow moving part, when one of my work friends Dan Dunn and his wife drove next to us and we stopped to chat. I showed my maps and he made some changes. He drove off to go home and change to ride with us. We then did the death march over the top (elevation of 4,802 ft.). Overall the elevation gain was 3,045 feet. Dan caught up with us riding into town on Dennison Road. The three of us cycled in to beautiful downtown Tehachapi for some lunch. We eat sandwiches and many glasses of ice tea.  Leg 1 was finished with a moving time of 3:50, and an average moving speed 9.8 MPH.

Leg two was from Tehachapi to Bakersfield. Leaving the lunch restaurant Brendan, broke a spoke on his bike, we rode to Dan’s house where he had a spare bike. He sized the bike to Brendan. Let me say, Bredan’s old bike was 25 years old, Dan offered him a pretty new Klein, just been tuned up (Dan’s daughter rides it, but she was out of state). I think it was valued at $3,500, my guess. The three of us rode down Woodford-Tehachapi road to Keene, where we rode Highway 58. Dan rode with us for a few miles and looped back home. We continued up on the Hwy 58 for 10 miles, and exited from the fast lane ( a little scary), on E Bear Mountain road, and started riding on Bena Road. This was the best part of this leg. It was downhill (after a moderate climb). It was winding and flowing. I would love to ride this in the spring time, when everything is blooming. We ended on the flats and rode where Bena become the Edison Highway. We rode to our hotel, showered and eat. We were a sleep by 7:00pm. Distance for this leg was 43.86 miles, with an average moving speed of 14.8 MPH.

Leg three, up at 5:00 am, prepare and eat. We were on the rode at 6:30 and road out of Bakersfield up to Earlimart. This leg as flat with lots of open areas of farmland and this leg was around 49 miles. It was getting warm and windy. No real events to report, except our butts were very sore. It is hard to sit on the saddle for two days. Moving time was 3:28 at an average moving speed of 14 MPH. We eat and got more fluids in a small restaurant in Earlimart.

Leg four the final leg, was flat and windy. I expected the roads to be bad condition and they were for the first 2/3 of the trip. We crisscrossed the back roads, paralleling the 99 freeway, until we got to Visalia. We chatted about stopping in the park. We were on a nice segment of bike path, smooth and winding through the park and golf course, when we hear a metal pop sound. Brendan, thought it was me, I him. When we stopped to rest our butts, he noticed another broken spoke on the loaner bike. He had tape to secure it, and I followed him, to evaluate whether it was going to wobble. It looked good and we continued. We made a rule, if another broke, we would call it off. We were 22 miles from Reedley and we wanted to finish. We rode up a freshly repaved part of Hwy J19 to Dinuba, turned left and rode into Kelly’s Beach in Reedley to finish. This leg was almost 60 miles with an average moving speed of 12.6. We arrived at about 5:00pm.

Sore and tired, we just rode 197 miles in two day with an average moving speed of 12.5 MPH. However, we were not really that tired, as least compared to day one. I managed to do well, I eat, I did the events and went to sleep around midnight. I got sorer after the next couple of days. I had two fingers that were numb for two days. My knees were sore. It was long ride, but I can’t wait to do it again next year.

Me, Dan Dunn, and Brendan Patz

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/06/26/two-hundred-miles-in-two-days/feed/ 1 Ride Home from Work – High Winds http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/05/17/ride-home-from-work-high-winds/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/05/17/ride-home-from-work-high-winds/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 02:54:06 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=1091 Today is May 17th at this time normally we are way into summer. Well, not this year. Riding home from work, I got rained on. But, I enjoy this weather, it will get hot soon.

Activity: Cycle
Google Maps URL:
Shortened Google Maps URL:
Started: May 17, 2010 4:54:02 PM
Ride Time: 47:30
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 10.65 miles
Average: 13.45 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 21.74 miles/hr
Climb: 164 feet
Calories: 744
Official Route: No

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/05/17/ride-home-from-work-high-winds/feed/ 1 First Ride to Work this Year! http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/05/17/first-ride-to-work-this-year/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/05/17/first-ride-to-work-this-year/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 23:20:09 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=1083 Today I rode to work. All is good, but I do still have to ride home.

Google Maps URL
Shortened Google Maps URL
Started: May 17, 2010 5:55:28 AM
Ride Time: 43:27
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 10.60 miles
Average: 14.64 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 20.64 miles/hr
Climb: 230 feet
Calories: 792
Official Route: No

]]> http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/05/17/first-ride-to-work-this-year/feed/ 0 Sunday’s Ride http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/03/15/sundays-ride/ http://www.middle-aged-man.com/2010/03/15/sundays-ride/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:48:31 +0000 douglaspaulwade http://www.middle-aged-man.com/?p=1075 It was a beautiful Sunday for a ride and I talked Chris Twogood, one of the high school guys to go out riding. He had some obligations, but he managed to change them or drop them. We left the house around 1:30pm and rode out to H, G, 30th, and west to 110th west. Up to avenue I and out the Poppy Reserve. We met up with Pat from the High Desert Cyclist group. We also saw many lambs being moved my dogs and a Shepard, while many cars stopped to take photographs of these lambs. Many folks were out hoping for poppies but they were still being shy. The ride was 37 miles and was a great day.

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