Thread: my ride today
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Old November 5th 08, 04:39 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan O
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Default my ride today

On Nov 4, 4:31 pm, Mark Cleary wrote:

snip

I guess my
question relates to what other do. I rode 27 miles today in 1 hour and
35 minutes and I could basically ride much longer no problems with being
tired or wipe out but going faster with the wind was scary. I find at 25
mph and any sudden gust of wind are a bit of a balance problem and I get
thinking this is fast to me. I also found my neck was a bit sore from
looking around and using my review mirror at times. I was only on county
roads but I hate cars an trucks it is best to be in deserted rodes for
speed.

I find at 47 my sense of danger in speed is conservative and my balance
is not what it was 20 years ago.


I ride 25 miles back and forth to work, along the shoulder of country
roads and four-lane highway. It takes around 90 minutes each way -
more like 80 minutes if the wind doesn't hurt me and I've got my mojo
working - I think I made it in about 75 minutes a few times.

I remember one of the first times - at age 46 - I was coming down this
long hill on the highway. The bike is a modest, entry-level steel
road bike, more than 20 years old, purchased in used condition, and
with which I wasn't very familiar with yet. Cars passing there go
60-70+ mph. At speed going down that hill, I distinctly remember
thinking that a guy could really get messed up if he wiped out, and
felt a little fear (which was a remarkably odd feeling considering
that in my younger days I could never seem to go too fast on
anything).

Before long, though, I got over the fear, came to know and love the
bike, trued the wheels a little better and other massaging to better
stabilize the bike, and now that downhill is an opportunity to sit up,
rest a bit and drink some water - weaving no-handed around roadkill
and chunks of debris. (This can still be a bit unnerving when a big
truck blasts by me, though, and sometimes I'll grab the handlebars if
I hear one coming up behind me :-)
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