May/091
Epic Bicycle Trek
I embellish… It wasn’t an epic in the true sense of the word. But, for Pete and me, yesterday’s ride was a small epic.
We decided to ride the Poolesville, Maryland loop based on a local rider’s information:
http://bikewashington.org/routes/westmc/westmc.htm
The ride is ~24 miles long and it incorporates 15 miles of road (some barely paved) and 9+ miles along the C&O canal. I was excited about this trek, because long trips on the C&O are sort of boring to me.
So, Pete and I met at the Monocacy Aqueduct in Dickerson, MD at approximately 8:08 a.m. We decided to ride the loop backward, so that we would end our ride on the C&O and we’d be going uphill (only about 2% grade albeit) on the canal. It turns out that the grade of the roads is considerably more and it wasn’t really important to worry about canal grade.
The weather was calling for severe thunderstorms and we wanted to beat them. We got underway in 69-degree cloudy weather. It was perfect out! W00t!
The first part of our epic started when Pete announced, “I’ve got my GPS, so I know where I’m going.” He then proceeded to pull ahead of me. Just when he got out of ear shot, I watched him pedal right past our first turn off. Shaking my head, I wondered if he would notice that he’d missed our turn, before he got to Rockville.
When I made the turn, I pulled off and dialed Pete on my mobile phone. He told me that he figured out that he had gone by the turn and was coming back… Thus our epic began.
Pete is in better cardio shape than me and he often pulls away. On one of these occasions, he was pumping by me on a slight uphill. It was apparent that we would need to switch to a lower gear. I followed the rules and eased up on my pedal pressure before downshifting. Pete on the otherhand, was pressing with all of his strength as he downshifted and I heard the loud clanking as his old bike struggled to find a lower gear and keep him moving. I thought to myself, I’ve got to explain to him about not shifting under such duress. Just as I thought that, he down shifted again using this same technique.
CRACK
Pete yelled out, “Uh oh.”
I inquired, “What?”
Guess what…? He had broken his chain.
Pete was getting worked up and cursing his bad luck. I explained that shifting like that is what had done this to him. I also calmed Pete by telling him, “Don’t worry… We have all of the right tools and everything’s cool. We’ll be back on the route in no time.” After calming him, I finished with, “There is only ONE thing that you must not do.” Pete looked at me and I said, “When you are pulling the links apart, do not pop the pin all of the way out.”
Pete held his chin high and announced, “Of course not.”
So, we started to work on removing the broken link and fix his chain. Moments into the repair, I reiterated, “Don’t pop the pin out.”
Pete sighed, huffed and puffed and then waved me off while he continued.
Suddenly, I heard a click and Pete said, “Oops.”
I could have smacked him! As you guessed, Pete popped the pin out of the chain, which turns a simple roadside repair into an hour-long adventure! While we fought to get that chain fixed, several big pickups flew by us at twice the posted speed limit. A couple of them tried to get close and frighten us.
Long story short, we struggled and finally got Pete’s chain back together. We were back underway.
On the road, we rode right past our next turn and kept going for several miles. By the time we realized our mistake, we had were pretty far off course. We backtracked and found a road that would connect us to our planned trail.
The rest of the ride was uneventful, and we only ended-up riding about 5 miles further than planned. We also were about 1 hour behind schedule, due to our roadside repair.
All-in-all, a fantastic day and wonderful ride… Not to mention the fact that we got to share in the fun of a roadside repair! Also, the weather held out for us.
Here is our GPS info from the ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/5550311
May/091
My Latest CD4 and HIV-1 RNA levels
I get routinely tested for CD4 and RNA levels. My latest test revealed a CD4 helper level of 614. This is a very high number and puts me in the arena with "normal" healthy adults. In the past, my levels hung between 200 and 300. I've even dipped well beneath 200 back in the old days... I attribute my fantastic results to my healthy living, strict medicine intake and mental attitude. I'm sure that a combination of these things has made me a stronger and healthier person.
Along with my great CD4 level, my HIV-1 RNA level (viral load) remains undetectable and is below 48, which is the cutoff for detectable levels.
W00t!
May/091
Bad Weather Didn’t Hinder
Pete and I rode 40 miles roundtrip today. It was horrendous weather... The rain was coming down pretty hard and the canal towpath was a solid trail of puddles, washouts and mud. 3/4 of the way through my trek and I started getting a chill that burned to the bone. My teeth chattered. What was I thinking??
40 miles was about as tough as I could imagine. Prior to this ride, the longest I'd ever done was 32 miles. My entire body is wrecked and I love it!!!
My wife almost didn't recognize me. I was covered head-to-toe with a layer of mud. I'm glad that we banged this out, but I don't think I will do a muddy rain day again... It's bad enough having my body destroyed, adding the cold and mud to it just made it relentless.
Pete was a trooper and he is in fantastic aerobic shape! I have some work to catch him by the time our real ride rolls around.
To see my GPS tracked ride information check here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/4580912
May/092
Starting Out and Getting In Shape
We will be riding the C&O Canal from Washington D.C. to Cumberland, MD in the Fall of 2009. We'll be doing this over the course of three days on our bicycles.
I've started my training and I realized that even though I'm in excellent health and fit, I am not in bike shape! My aerobic capacity leave much to be desired, and my butt takes a brutal beating from long rides in the saddle!
I've only been riding for a week. One of those days was on the canal. I see a huge difference now between asphalt and canal towpath gravel and dirt... Ouch!!!
Today is going to be about a 40 mile day for me. And, my plan is to ride two short days (on the street, or on a recumbant bike) per week and one long day (on the canal) on the weekends.
The entire 3-day ride will cover about 160 miles, so we plan to do about 50-55 miles per day with two nights on the trail. Don;t get me wrong, we won;t be roughing it out there in the wilderness... The first night will be at my house, because I live in Brunswick, which is ~mile 57 on the canal. The second night will be in a B&B, motel or hotel.
Why am I doing this?, you ask... I like to have at least one fitness goal per year, that keeps me struggling to keep up throughout the year.
I'll try to keep you posted on my progress.
Wish me luck!