Saturday, February 17, 2024

The Year of the Hat

Well, you never know what you'll get into on any given day, do you? Take for instance my recent journey. Following the crash in my prior post I began to have sensations of smell and taste that were discovered to be hallucinations from a brain tumor. Wow, nice. Relentlessly chase better health, 365 days of running a 5K every day, 3000 miles of gravel in a year, keep busy doing the most good you can, raise great! kids, get brain cancer. 

IF I am able to resume riding later in the year I will now have to wear my helmet on each ride. Not a problem just a change up front my usual Kavu hat that has 4500+ miles on it. There is a surgical site and scar on the right side of my temple that will be very suseptible to any trauma, so a hard cover has to be over it now. Can do, as long as the miles pile up under it!



Wednesday, December 6, 2023

A first, of Sorts, For Me

 I had my first real crash 2 weeks ago. I say real because it scared the devil out of me. Anyone who has ridden multiple thousands of miles on a bicycle has had their share of whoopsy-doos. Myself included. Slide outs, overcooked corners, off the back while riding a wheelie (and clipped in) etc. Well, this was during my self proclaimed last ride of the season. I was going to ride my usual route backwards for variety, having ridden it forward 34 times this year, so that I could bomb down "Devil's Backbone" and enjoy it. I reached a terminal (nearly) speed of 31.7mph on the hill, brakes were not hooking up, tried to scrub speed with my foot to no avail, and ended up slamming into the back side of a ditch, neck and shoulders first, at 30 plus mph. My watch data shows a period of about 4½ minutes of ZERO movement right at the point where the speed track stops. So, I was unconscious during that time. I have no recollection of coming to, except for the unpleasant realization that I had peed my pants! My left arm was on fire from the impact smashing my nerves and I had to gather my wits and ride 12 miles back home. Here I am sitting on my sofa tonight in a reflective mood of survivor guilt! How did I not die? Or worse, become fully paralyzed but live? Terrible. Still in pain physically and have driven up to the spot three times to confront my fears. Better days ahead, and I will not resign from biking! Never! Just have to go out there again and bite the dog that bit me.

180⁰ turn at the bottom of this, at 31mph, without any real breaking force? Nope.
                               No joke!

Late update, 2-4-24, as a result of many types of scans to help resolve my new cancer diagnosis I have learned that this crash broke my 5th and 6th ribs as well as my T5 and T7! Thrilling eh?!

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Firecracker 48

 I did my annual July 4th ride to Stanhope again. Perfect conditions this year. Dry, warmish but not brutal, and a nice tailwind up, moderate headwind back. Only one vehicle passed me on the gravel, so I didn't even eat much dust. But hey, I would never expect to go "dust starved" on a bike ride that's about 45 miles of the good stuff! 

Not really any good wildlife sightings to mention. Only thing that stands out is a Turkey Vulture that swooped down close to check me out. I must have smelled too clean to be worth eating, despite the standard dust caked sweat that was all over me. Stopped for a stretch at this Marsh Arch Bridge. So cool! One of three in Boone County, and this one is on the border with Hamilton County, so it's half ours anyway.

Lots of riding so far this year but not quite on pace to match my 3000 miles last year. I am getting a lot of projects nailed down around the house though.




    I'd follow that flag anywhere!


One last trip over these two grade crossings! 18 years of riding out over R Avenue and back over Q Avenue. Closed now as part of a deal with the state and Fareway, and the railroad, to close the grade crossings now that the bridge to nowhere is open. What part of ruining my gravel route is "progress" anyways!






Thursday, April 13, 2023

Against The Wind

I have found lately that I don't mind riding  out with the wind at my back and returning against the wind. My oldest riding adage, "Go against the wind on the trip out, let the wind blow you back" seems to have vanished. At least the dust is in great shape this year. Powdery and clingy. It's like you have proof all over your bike that you were out in the gravel. As always, there's time for a ditch beer no matter what the wind is doing!

B Road that I haven't touched any kind of wheel on for 35 years or more.
The fabled Ditch Beer


Wednesday, February 1, 2023

The One

This is the bike that started it all for me. As you can see, it is a girl's frame with a "gas tank" added onto it. My dad must have been pretty happy with himself for getting a tank formed (probably out of scrap metal from who knows where) and the whole bike repainted too! The color was a metallic plum or burgundy. In fact, the stool that was in Dad's "workshop" for 60 years has the color on it from some young Einstein spraying it with the leftover paint. They say you can't keep them all, but man would I love to have this one back!


Friday, January 27, 2023

Stage 1 of 12

 I got in my first ride of 2023 today with an easy 19.8 mile fat bike cruise to Ledges. Mostly paved roads but a few nice miles of gravel too. 

I had my first (of what I'm sure will be many) experience for the year of getting flipped off by a motorist. Some dumb ass in a pickup truck decided that he was so tough that he would flip the bird to a guy on a bike. For no good reason, unprovoked. Sure he was a rough, tough, 1%er, micro-penis, loser! 

Some snow loving soul rolled this huge snowball down Canyon Road.


 


Sunday, December 11, 2022

2022 Riding

 Some stats from the year 2022. Not sure I'll get in a recorded ride for December, but I'll certainly try. I've had at least one for every month so far. 

I feel like I've ridden into some of my best shape since I was 40! Maybe it just feels that way since there's no pressure from racing, but I am not complaining.