Frozen

I haven't seen the latest Disney blockbuster (due to my kids not being kids any more) but the chilly conditions for yesterday's ride certainly justified the theft of its title.

The Three Amigos (aka Whitey, White boy and the Grey Dwarf) had planned to get some bonus rides in over the Xmas/New Year break as we were all off work. Sadly it was not to be, mainly due to crappy weather last weekend, but we managed to get together on Monday morning for a blast around Zube. Kevin had to make an early morning airport run so we arranged to meet at the park at around 7.
When Lee picked me up it was pretty cold and foggy, and it only got worse on the way out west. There was also more traffic on the highways than we normally see, a reminder that not everyone was on holiday that morning. It was still dark when we arrived and the car park was completely empty, so we wisely decided to stay in the warm for a bit longer. Lee spotted Kevin's car going past the park and I wondered if he'd missed the turn in the dark and fog. It turned out that he'd popped into the bodega up the road to get water.

So there we were, freezing our butts off in a cold, damp car park - ah the romance of the road. There wasn't much discussion about how much gear to wear - basically if you had brought it, you wore it, including full finger gloves and over shoes. Lee had at least five layers on when we eventually got going.

One supposed advantage of riding in fog is that there can't be much wind or the fog would blow off. Apparently this natural law was in suspension in north west Harris county that morning as we seemed to have head winds in every direction. We took the Hegar road route that gets us 40+ miles but avoids the rumble strips, also likely to be the section with the most traffic that morning. About five miles in we cross a busy road, where unfortunately a big-rig driver had misjudged the turn and got the rear wheels of his trailer in the ditch. Ideally I would have hung around as it looked like the recovery would probably need a crane as well as my favourite road vehicle, the heavy wrecker, but it was cold and we were supposed to be riding.

We made pretty good time to the gas station, spurred on perhaps by a sudden drop in temperature over the last few miles! Lee was definitely feeling chilled and looking for cocoa or hot chocolate but sadly none was to be had. I took the opportunity to strip off my head warmer, now thoroughly soaked with sweat and dew, and after a bit of internal debate traded the full finger gloves for shortys. This was probably a good call, my fingers were bloody freezing for a while but eventually felt ok.

Back at it and the run to Prairie View where Kevin roared up the hills as usual. Lee's fig newtons had the desired effect, making him a lot stronger on the way home that he'd been on the way out. I started to flag and they had to rein it in for me several times. We managed a pretty strong pace down the home stretch, powered on by Kevin of course.

Kevin had to leave straight away (vet appointment for his diabetic puppy) but Lee and I had time to stop for coffee and hot chocolate on the way home. A good morning's work for your heroes!

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Three united and it feels so gooooood

Kevin survived his boat trip (as well as a day excursion to Louisiana) and was back in the saddle with Lee and me yesterday. We met at my place as always, and as usual were in two (or even three) minds about our ride route. We're all a bit bored with Zube so it came down to a toss-up between Sealy (vicious climbs, shorter ride, tail wind at the end) or Pattison (some tough rollers, longer run, tail wind at the end). I expressed a strong preference for Pattison, and pointed out that after the rain on Friday, the creek crossing on the Sealy run that's normally dry would be a raging torrent (ok, a little exaggeration here but I really didn't fancy Alpe de Sealy so early in the training season). In the end Lee cast the deciding vote for Pattison and that's where we went.

 

We geared up under cloudy skies with the temperature in the high 40's and a forecast that it wouldn't warm up much by noon. Everyone had their own idea of what to wear and we ended up looking pretty rag-tag. I had leg warmers but bare arms, Kevin had arm warmers but bare legs, and Lee had several layers on top but nothing below (save for cycling shorts of course).

 

The first 10 miles are more or less due north, which meant into a tough head wind. As ever Kevin lead the charge and I did my best to hang on. We turned west, joining the MS 150 route, and with the wind now on our quarter we made much better speed. Once across the Brazos we're in Sheriff Buford T.Justice's Austin county and he was good enough to throw in some stiff rollers to see what we were made of.

 

Marshmallow in my case as it turned out. Lee struggled a bit too but Kevin was away. 10 miles of punishment finally got us into Bellville and we took a much-needed (for me anyway) break at a Valero station. A cheerful local got out of his truck and asked us how far we'd been already. I told him we'd come from Pattison but would be glad to throw our bikes into the back of his truck if he was heading that way. Sadly he wasn't.

 

So off we go again, looking at 15 miles of rollers before making the turn south and getting a tail-wind assist home. This time I struggled on the climbs and the other two had to wait for me at the top of just about every hill. Lee was much stronger on the run back than he had been on the way out, which he attributed to his consumption of fig newtons at the Valero. He speculated that if Lance had gone for those funny little cookies instead of EPO he might still be racing, but we'll never know.

 

Once on the run south our speed picked up dramatically, at least for a few miles before we hit the last few rollers. But I managed a good spurt up the last climb, finishing strongly (and thankfully not making the other two wait for me!)

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Lee on the lee

King of the Mountains!

Kevin was busy messing about in boats on Saturday (Armand Bayou Nature Center) but Lee was up for a ride, so we decided to be big brave bikers and go out on our own. Lee had some operations stuff to deal with so wanted to start at 7am, no problem at all for me. He also offered to drive - gotta love these riding buddies of mine who are happy to provide transportation to the start!

Lacking imagination and ambition we settled for a Zube ride. I suggested a slight variation on the standard route that avoids the rumble strip section but still gives us 43 miles and that's what we did. Lots of Mules in attendance when we arrived but we let them do their own high-speed thing.

Nice enough morning for a ride, a bit overcast but the sun peeked out now and then. There was a fresh breeze out of the east whch helped the outward leg quite a bit. We saw more traffic than usual, perhaps due to the slightly later start, but it thinned out once we got a bit further north.

The run home was more challenging, and we tried to share the pulling duties 1/2 mile at a time. Sadly this meant that Lee had to pull up to the two biggest rollers (and I had to pull on the way down!) but he's looking very strong and kept us going well. When he dropped behind at one point he called himself "Lee on the lee" but he probably spent more time on the windward side.

Back at the car we both felt pretty good and immediately began planning the next outing. Hopefully super-domestique Kevin will show up too!

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Bo-Rap? No-Rap!

wait for me, Santa

Lee joined Kevin and I for Saturday's ride and it was great to have him back. He's riding the MS next year so hopefully we'll see more of him. He showed up at my place resplendent in his Aston Villa football shirt (you can take the boy out of Birmingham but you can't take Birmingham out of the boy) and we headed out for Zube on a grey, muggy morning.
We knew there was a lacrosse tournament at the park that morning but when we arrived the car park was still pretty quiet. We geared up and headed for the toilet block for the obligatory pre-ride ablutions, only to be stopped by a cop who (somewhat apologetically) told us that the whole area was reserved and we had to move the car. Could have told us sooner, chief -
A tactical error immediately ensued - rather than load the bikes back onto Kevin's truck, we decided that Lee and I would ride to Hockley and meet Kevin there. Giving Kevin a three-mile advantage is not a good idea.
We regrouped and got going, with a strong wind out of the north to make it fun. Not surprisingly the runs north were very tough, and even less surprisingly Kevin took point and dragged us both into the wind. One section is on a fairly busy road where we usually ride in the shoulder, between the rumble strip and the dirt. There's not much room and usually loads of trash but it's safer. Kevin lead out but we got crossed up and I ended up in front, with no room to pass, so I bore down and tried to set a good pace for the others.
My focus must have been pretty good because at the end of the section I looked back and realised I was on my own, the others weren't even in sight. I waited a second and then turned back, hoping that it was a simple mechanical rather than anything more serious.
And indeed it was! Lee was running new tires and tubes but had still managed to get a staple through his rear wheel. Kevin had stopped to help and presumably called out to me but I heard nothing (strong head wind!). By the time I reached them they were already inflating the new tube, practically ready to roll again.
A bit more north with some rollers too before we made the turn and were able to relax. This bit has a slight descent and trees lining the road, so we could coast for a while and get our breath back. As usual I gained slowly on the others while coasting. In self defense I reminded Lee that Galileo had hypothesized that all objects fall at the same speed regardless of their weight, so my downhill prowess had to be put down to a better bike rather than a lardier butt. I didn't help my case by suggesting that as geologists, Kevin and Lee probably thought that Galileo was a name made up by Queen for "Bohemian Rhapsody". To lighten the suddenly grim mood I launched into the song, hoping to get a rousing chorus going, but it was not to be. Whoops.
The tail wind kicked in and we cruised to the Exxon in fine style. Lee proposed returning via Prairie View A&M, a slightly shorter route with a few punchy hills. Predictably enough Kevin let it all hang out on the climbs and just as predictably in the process dropped us like a bad habit. As always I was very glad to see the flag on top of the soap box derby track, particularly today as it marked the end of the ride. We wound up with 38 miles in the bag, a good morning's work for sure.

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Ride between the raindrops

I'm a big fan of what I'll call Classic Steely Dan, by which I mean the albums up to and including "Gaucho". When I was a field engineer working onshore in Italy in the early 80's I spent a fair amount of time driving to and from wellsites, and playing their 1978 compilation "Greatest Hits" kept me going. My car had a cassette player with automatic reverse, pretty fancy at that time (you could also pull it out of the dash to avoid theft!), so I had the Dan on a continuous loop. I can remember blowing down the autostrada on a beautiful morning with the boys at full volume, feeling pretty good about life in general. They had a long break in the 90's before reforming, but the subsequent albums never caught the feeling of the earlier work. Susan and I saw them live in Houston a few years back and the show was fantastic, but they only played the Classic stuff, so maybe we're not alone in our preference.

I also really like Donald Fagen's first solo album "The Nightfly". It came out in 1982, right after he and Walter Becker split, but it still has an unmistakeable Dan feel. As far as I know Fagen and Becker share songwriting credit for all the Dan albums, but it's easy to identify whch tracks were more Donald than Walter when you've heard Nightfly. Also you've got to love an album that has a track about the International Geophysical Year (which incidentally was a hit single!).

All this waffling is a lead-in to the title of this post, a riff on "Walk between the raindrops", the final track on side 2 of Nightfly. It's a fun little ditty with a simple idea - when you're happy you don't notice the rain. On the last stretch of Saturday's Zube ride I wasn't feeling very happy, but we rode between the rainshowers so I'm going with it. A stretch I know but it's not easy making up these titles.

The forecast showed heavy rain and thunderstorms for the Hockley area on Saturday afternoon, but zero precipitation in the morning, so Kevin and I took our chances and headed out for a much-needed ride. With a stong wind out of the east driving us on we averaged 17.8 mph to the Exxon, but struggled mightily on the way back. Kevin was a trooper as always, taking the lead all the way and trying to keep us at 15mph but I couldn't hold on, even on the flats sometimes, and he had to drop back for me several times. Sorry to be even more of an anchor than usual, Bassman.

I'm off to the Frozen North for Thanksgiving, so Happy Turkey day everyone -

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Cafe Cruising

No Kevin or Bruce to play with this weekend, but my new singe-speed commuter from Nashbar arrived, so I put it together and MC and I headed out for a cruise down Terry Hershey to the coffee shop on Eldridge.
The new bike is very different to the old commuter, for one thing it's a lot lighter, and has a smaller chain ring so spinning is a necessity. It also has cyclo-cross style brakes mounted on the flat part of the handlebars, very convenient when you're used to them. When you're not, it gets a little exciting when you have to stop in a hurry and reach for non-existent brake levers.

MC hasn't been on her bike for a while but she got back into it pretty quick and we cruised along in fine style, until it started raining that is. Fortunately it was just a brief shower and the sky cleared up pretty quickly, giving us a beautiful afternoon for a ride.

We used to do this ride when she was in high school, many many years ago. Back then you had to off-road a bit to get from the trail to the coffee shop, which was interesting when it was muddy, as MC reminded me. Now they've put in a separate bridge across the Bayou and a sidewalk all the way.

Dad-Daughter Selfie!

The coffee shop has changed too. It now features a surprisingly good selection of local craft beer, including Rodeo Clown! It also appears to have become a little outpost of hipster-dom in the middle of suburbia. Where do these people come from.

Back at it for a very pleasant run home. Overall I like the new bike, it's certainly very sleek-looking, but the new riding position may take a bit of acclimatization, and the saddle doesn't appear to like me. Susan suggested getting a pro bike fit, which makes sense, except that the bike shop would charge $250, barely less than the bike cost. The commute ride isn't exactly a physical challenge so I think it will work out fine as it is.

A very pleasant interlude in my otherwise gruelling training regime, thanks for coming with MC!

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Friends don't let friends -

Whitey McWhite-Biker

what?  Drive drunk?  Vote Republican?  Ride into a screaming wind without doing all the pulling?  Actually, all of the above, but also - clap on 1 or 3.  This bit of advice was the latest offering in an infrequent series of classes on musical theory, offered by Prof.K.Crotty while flying down the freeway on the way to a bike ride.  Apparently in 4/4 time, the beat is on 2 and 4, so if you clap on 1 or 3 you will feel somewhat foolish.  To be honest the musicians I listen to mostly tend to avoid 4/4 time, or any very obvious time signature at all, but good information nonetheless.

So it was off to Wallis, Tx for the Independence Ride, a charity event supporting Disabled Vets, some of whom rode sections of the route on various modified bikes.  Paddy was there, driving SAG in his Mules-themed pickup, and we saw some other Mules too (all of the speedy variety!).

The ride started and finished at the Wallis Knights of Columbus hall, an impressive building given the size of the city (population 1,250 on the 2010 census).  For once there was no line for the indoor flush toilets, that tells you something.

Another beautiful morning in southeast Texas, although we natives were shivering a bit (mid 40's when we started!), so we were glad to get going.  We'd arrived a bit late, which meant we started with the Fanny Pack set (as opposed to the Shaved Leg set, not that we're natural members of that group either), and spent a lot of time passing people on mountain bikes wearing sneakers and anoraks.  There was a pretty sharp head wind for the first several miles, which sorted the men from the boys a bit too.

The first 15 miles or so was on roads that we had seen before, but once past Brookshire and into Pattison it was terra incognita for both of us.  We turned due west on FM1458 and immediately had a screaming tail wind.  Together with a warming, sunny morning and mostly smooth roads, this was cycling paradise and we scorched along at over 20 mph for a good 8 miles.

We crossed the Brazos near Stephen F. Austin state park (a good place to go camping!) and rode through San Felipe, the capital of the original Austin colony and a very historic site for Texans.  There was a rest stop right by the freeway and it was a good time for a break.  I took the opportunity to peel off all my cool weather gear and eat some trail mix before we headed out for the last leg, a 13 mile pull due south.

This section was pretty tough for me.  The road surface was poor and that tends to wear you down, and I was tired from the heroics earlier in the ride.  A cross-wind is almost worse than a head-wind, because it's hard to draft.  There were a few rollers to negotiate too!  So I was very glad to see the final turn coming up, not so happy though to see ambulances and fire engines, with what appeared to be a Life Flight helicopter landing.  Apparently a rider had gone down pretty hard, but we didn't find out what had happened.

Across the finish line to rapturous applause from a couple of young volunteers and then back to the car to change out of our shoes and sweaty gear, before heading back to the hall for some food.  Sadly the fare wasn't quite as good as last week's - seriously overcooked chicken, baked beans and potato salad, dirty white bread and only nasty mass-market beer.  A few minutes into lunch, a heavy metal band started up, which was the end of conversation, so we left, turning down the opportunity to buy raffle tickets (first prize - a glock, second - $300) as we did.

After a nap and an early beer we decided to check out the Unitunes offering that evening, and were very glad we did!  Unitunes is a series of concerts in Emerson Unitarian church, run by Kevin and a few of his friends.  The show was excellent (Bob Livingston and Bradley Kopp) and I managed to (mostly) hit the 2 and 4, so that lesson was learned.