My 24-Speed Became a 3-Speed

The Sunday "show-n-go" 40 mile ride south to Belleair Beach then across the new Belleair Causeway was pretty uneventful until the last 3 miles. I noticed that my rear cassette shifting had become more difficult as we neared the last downhill (for Florida) piece of the ride. It seemed that the bike wouldn't hold whatever gear I tried to shift to. Then a big pop and all of a sudden the front cable connected to my Shimano rear cassette shifter disconnected from the shifter and was waving around like a loose piece of overcooked spaghetti. I have 8 gears in the back and 3 up front. So normally, I have 24 gears to choose from. Now the chain was stuck on the next to smallest gear in the back. My 24 speeds were down to 3 speeds. With the gears I had left I could choose to ride at 15, 21 or 35 miles per hour at a cadence of 70-80 RPM on the peddles. So much for my tune-up on Thursday. I'm not sure whether this cable has been replaced yet or not over the 17,500 miles that my bike has on it. Since it's Sunday I'll have to wait till Monday morning to take it in. I am glad, however, that this happened now and not on the RedSpoke ride where riding with only 3 gears would be much more difficult. In case you were wondering, my right shin is still swollen and red due to the mad bee or wasp that stung me yesterday. The Australian Bum cream has helped to control the itching but not the swelling.

Beach Ride, Tune-up and Stung By a Bee

On Thursday I took a "Beach" ride of about 42 miles across the bridges and down to Walsingham and back. On the return I chased after a cyclist about 1/2 mile ahead and finally caught and went ahead of him just before the Sand Key bridge. Of course by then my legs were spent and I'm not that fast up the bridges either, so he went by me as we went up the bridge. Unfortunately for him he caught the light as we descended into Clearwater Beach. At the light I asked him where he was headed and he said he was on the way home to Island Estates not too far down the road. He said he rides regularly South to Treasure Island and back about 40 miles. As we headed toward the Clearwater Pass bridge he took a left into Island Estates and I continued the regular route home. Friday turned into a "rain day". I had the day off and took my bike in to get it tuned up and cleaned. They do a real nice job at Chainwheel Drive in Palm Harbor. Cost for a tune-up and new chain was $107. 63. I try to take it in at least every 1500 to 2000 miles. They lube everything that needs it, check and replace cables and brakes if needed, adjust the derallieur for shifting and dip the bike in a solvent that takes all the grim and grease off. The bike looks like new when you pick it up. It's important to replace the chain at least every 2000 miles to prevent it from wearing down your front chainring or rear cassette. The cost of a new chain is $15 for me but can be up to $40 for some chains. It's still less expensive than a new chainring or cassette which run about $50 each. On Saturday, my daughter Michelle and I got up and out of the house at 7:30 a.m. and headed for the Suncoast Saturday ride. Michelle rented a bike from Chainwheel for a few days. We made it to the Chainwheel parking lot where the ride begins before a downpour hit. Due to the rain, they cancelled the Suncoast ride, but Michelle and I waited a bit (about 30 minutes) and the rain subsided. We did the Belleair Beach ride (about 42 miles) out through downtown Clearwater and over the two bridges to the Belleair Causeway where we turned around and headed home. As we started back, a very angry bee hit my right shin and planted his stinger about an inch into my leg. Ouch! When we got back the shin was still sore and swollen. I'm going to try the Australian Bum cream on it and report back on the results.

The Australian Bum Cream Has Arrived

Yeah!! The Australian Bum Cream has arrived. It came in a nice little package from New Zealand about 4 inches square with a customs declaration pasted on one side. It cost $38.75 for 200 grams. This is about 6 times the cost of Bag Balm so it better be good. Unfortunately, the saddle sore I had is gone so I'll have to wait to try it out. The official name of the product is Lucas' Papaw Ointment. It's made from Papaya but the label says it also has a little potassium sorbate added as a preservative. It has a nice smell and given the ingredients I thought it might be edible. I put a little on my finger to taste but it didn't pass the test. I wouldn't recommend it for eating. The label says it's good for burns, boils, chaffings, cracked skin, gravel rash, splinters, open wounds, insect bites and nappy rash. I'm not sure what some of these things are but I hope to add saddle sores at some point. I rode today but it was not a usual ride. I averaged 7.2 miles per hour and covered 5.72 miles in 45 minutes. I was with a very young group of riders; my daughter Michelle, her 20 month old twins (Drew and Abby) and her 5 and 7 year old daughters (Hailey and Hannah). The twins rode along in a bike trailer that Michelle pulled and the girls each peddled their own small bikes. From a technical point of view the pace line was not too well organized and I found it difficult to draft behind the girls at 7 mph. I did enjoy the steady pace though and found the ride not too strenuous after a couple of days off. We started at the Publix at Curlew and Alternate 19 and peddled our way along the Pinellas Trail across at least two bridges to Dunedin. We had a short rest and smoothies at the Time Out Cafe before heading back. It was a good ride and I think we all had fun.

It's Time to Start Packing My Bike

I'm taking today off. My legs and body need a little rest. But I will use today to unpack my Aircaddy shipping container and see what is required to get it ready to ship my bike to Seattle, Washington for the RedSpoke Ride. This is the annual Redmond, Wa. to Spokane, Wa. ride across the state of Washington, a little over 300 miles. I could perhaps rent a bike in Seattle but think I should take my old comfortable and broken in cycle. It's been modified substantially to fit my unique body (XXL) and weight (heavy). The shifters, handlebars, saddle, front chainring, rear cassette and wheels are all upgrades to the original Specialized Sequoia road bike. I'm pretty sure I won't find an off-the-rack rental to fit me like my trusted Sequoia. So a few weeks ago I ordered an Aircaddy box to ship my bike to Seattle. You can find their web sit at www.shipbikes.com. The system consists of a double corrugated cardboard box that is triangular in shape and designed to be safe, simple and less costly than other methods. The box costs $99.95 and basically you just have to take the front wheel off, the saddle off and turn the handlebars down in order to get your bike ready to ship. They have an arrangement with Federal Express to ship your bike in the Aircaddy for as little as $58.00 with delivery in 1 to 5 business days. Seattle from Clearwater, however, will cost me about $100 each way door to door (from my door to Kim's door). I'm impressed by the box. Its triangular design is supposed to withstand a force of up to 3500 pounds and it's fairly simple to set up. The box is designed to be used 5 to 6 times, then you can order a replacement box for $39.95. If you want to ship via the airlines they have a set of wheels available for an additional $59.95. The cost via Delta would be $150 each way (ouch!). So I think I am ready to ship and the day off felt good.

A Sunday Show-n-go Ride

Today is Sunday, Father's Day and the day for the usual show-n-go ride that starts at the Publix parking lot at Curlew and Alternate 19 in Clearwater. It's not an official Suncoast Club ride but many of the same people participate in the ride. Ages are normally from 25-65 with both men and women showing up and usually a few couples who may ride their own bikes or share a tandem. There is no set pace for this ride and generally it's a little less structured and more of a casual ride than Club sponsored events. Where we cycle to is usually decided by those in the parking lot the day of the ride. We had about 20 people today and divided into two groups. One a little slower than the others. The slower group took off first and and with a short cut of maybe two miles it gave them enough of a head start that the faster group would probably catch them near the rest stop about 25 miles down the road. I road with the faster group but the pace was more relaxed and comfortable as many were still recovering from yesterday's very hot ride. As it turned out, we never caught slower group. They were at the rest stop 5-10 minutes before us. The ride was a modified "Beaches" ride 42 miles south across the Clearwater Pass and Sand Key bridges then west across the new Bellaire Causeway bridge before turning north and heading home. Today I made sure to carry a full 100 ounces of fluid with me and even added some chipped ice to my water bottles and camelback at the Publix rest stop. I joined the slower group on the way back but I must admit they weren't that much slower than the other group. It was a hot ride but a nice breeze out of the northwest provided some relief to the heat. My legs were thanking me for taking it a little bit easy on them today as I pulled into our driveway to finish the ride.

Group Riding in Hot Weather

I rode today with the Suncoast Cycling Club. This was the Trinity Ride, about 52 miles. The weather was hot and muggy with temperatures was in the 90s with high humidity. The wind was dead still when we started but finished blowing slightly out of the west. I think today was the hottest ride I've ever been on. The last few miles were like being in a moving sauna. Suncoast is one of the largest clubs in Florida and I'm thinking one of the best. I'm not really a joiner type of a person but Margie encouraged me for some time to join a local cycling club, I guess thinking that riding solo all the time wouldn't be much fun for me. She's always looking out for me, you know. For me, I think I was more concerned about being able to keep up with the others and didn't want to be embarrassed. At that point I was riding 20 to 30 miles a ride with an occasional longer ride thrown in. I think at some point I decided to try it and went up to the Chainwheel Drive parking lot on US 19 one Saturday morning to see what group riding was all about. What I found was something I really enjoyed. Club riding is a great way to get in more miles and experience riding in a group which is usually at a faster pace than you could do individually. As it turns out, the rides are subdivided into smaller groups based on expected sustained pace. Each person decides which group they want to ride with. There's a training ride for those who want to do intervals, i.e., riding balls out for 5 minutes then slowing to bring the heart rate down for a while, then doing it this over and over for the length of the ride. This ride is for the young and adventurous, with speeds up to 30 mph. I don't go out with this group. Next is the "A" ride. This ride maintains a pace of 24-26 mph. Next is "B-Plus"; they ride at 22-24 mph. "B-tween" is next , the pace is 20-22 mph. "B" is next at 18-20. "B-hind" follows at 16-18. And finally a recreational "C" ride at 16 and below. With about 100-120 riders each Saturday, you usually end up with 15-20 riders in each group. That's a good size for group riding and keeps it much safer than a bigger group would be. I've riden with all the groups from "A" through "B" and today rode with the "B-tween" riders. When Saturday arrives, you judge how you feel and what pace you want to ride at, look at what some of the other riders you have cycled with are doing then go out and ride. When I rode with the "A" riders, the ride was "very intense". When you go out on a group ride you normally take your turn "pulling", that is leading the group at some point. Depending on wind and hill conditions, you might "pull" for a few seconds to two to five minutes before peeling off to the left while the other riders pass you on the right. When you "pull" you are expending 20%-30% more energy than those drafting behind you. When the last rider in the group passes you, you pull in behind and draft, waiting your turn for your next "pull". With the "A" group, I only pulled once and the rest of time just hung on for dear life. I'm sure I was outside my heart range for the entire ride and when I got home I was exhausted and hit the couch for a long nap in the afternoon. I did it but the ride was not a good ride. Today's ride was good. I took a turn pulling three or four times and I was tired but not exhausted. Better yet my saddle sore seems to have vanished. I want to thank Bag Balm and my 148 cm saddle. Maybe the "sauna" weather is helping too.

How Much Water Should You Drink

Just finished a nice 51 mile beach ride in the heat. Yesterday the temperature in Clearwater set a record 96 degrees with the heat index in the 100s. When it's that hot your body sweats a lot to try to keep itself cool. That sweat depletes your body of water and if you don't replenish it you could be headed toward heat stroke and a bad cycling experience. If you ever find yourself getting the chills when it's a 100 degrees out, it's a good sign you need to hydrate. For cyclists the key is to drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry, and rest before you're exhausted. If you wait too long on any of these you'll probably "bonk" on your ride. Bonking is fatigue, i.e., exhaustion caused by muscle glycogen depletion. So how much fluid do you need per hour? Here's a simple way to figure it out. I'll use my fluid intake today to give you an example. Before I left home I drank two 12 ounce glasses of water. I filled my camelback with 40 ounces of Gatoraid (Go Gators) and 20 ounces of water, total of 60 ounces. The Gatoraid is better than all water since Gatoraid helps to extend internal muscle glycogen stores (to help you not "bonk"). On the way back, I stopped at the 43 mile mark at the Time Out Cafe in Dunedin and treated myself to a 16 ounce berry, banana smoothie (um, good). I finished the camelback a couple miles before home. So, in total I drank 100 ounces on the ride. I weighed myself when I got home and weighed 10 pounds less than when I started. Since 16 ounces water weighs one pound, I lost the equivalent of 160 ounces of water. So the total fluid for the ride was 260 ounces. The ride took about three hours so 260/3 = 86.7 ounces per hour. That's what I should figure consuming on a long hot ride. Since I can carry only 100 ounces on my bike, it looks like I might have to tow a small water truck behind me for longer rides. The bum is feeling better and I'm still waiting for the Australian Bum Cream!