I had a lunch date today with a young man related by marriage. We had agreed to meet at Katrinah's East Mountain Grille in Edgewood. I debated whether to drive or ride the bike and, after looking out the window for signs of high winds, decided to take my chances and ride the distance.
I'm very glad I did. Not only has it been too long since I've made much over 10 miles on a ride, it was a great day for cycling. The winds were not totally absent but they were mild enough to avoid spoiling the ride. PLUS, in spite of not riding such distances in a too-long time, I was able to do it in reasonable time without killing myself, and an hour after I got home I can still navigate and walk around ..... which is a wonderful thing at any age, but especially mine.
I continue to be impressed how much cycling burns off the carbs and calories. I ate beans and enchiladas for lunch, which are fairly high in carbs. About 4 miles into my return ride home, I stopped for a water break and checked my blood glucose and it was 116 and dropping. I normally try to keep it hovering around 180-200 for exercise and cycling, so I ate my stash of 3 peanut-butter chocolate-chip cookies.
Just now my BG is 228, so I obviously should have pumped a bit more insulin back then.
I again have to whine a bit about some less-than-thoughtful motorists.
Most drivers will give me several feet of clearance when passing, UNLESS there is no shoulder and ONCOMING traffic is present.
It is a rare driver indeed who will slow down, follow behind the cyclist until the oncoming traffic has passed, and then pass the cyclist with the recommended 3 or 5 feet of clearance, or better yet, take the OTHER lane and let the cyclist struggle along safely in his own lane.
Most cars will instead pass the cyclist, crowding him uncomfortably, and often forcing oncoming traffic to slow down or go to the shoulder. After all, we are all in such a hurry, and a few or a few dozen seconds are just too much to ask of us.
Even Humble Me, who is a like minded friend of all cyclists, gets irritated when having to slow down for a cyclist. BUT, being a regular cycle-maniac, I know what it's like to have close encounters with 3000+ pound behemoths, so I DO wait when necessary behind a cyclist or group of cyclists and pass ONLY when I have an oncoming lane clear of traffic so I can give the cyclists a clear lane.
Okay, Okay. Rant OFF
Out here in the East Mountains we regularly have stiff eastbound winds that get even worse in the afternoon, but for some reason they weren't too bad today. I have - in the past - had to call Jacque to come rescue me with a bike rack, but no danger of that today.
For most of the trip my GPS showed a max speed of 27 MPH, and I dearly wanted to get it to show at least 30 MPH, but the downhills were just too gradual for me to attain such heady speeds, and I was fighting the mildest of headwinds both directions. So, though I windmilled my legs going down hills till I thought they would fall off, all I could attain was the 29-MPH mark.
Trip Started: 10:17 AM Trip Ended: 2:47 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0 Ending Voltage: 12.9 (Battery put on charger after this ride)
Lowest Temp 36 F Highest Temp: 55 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 23.84
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
7.7 MPH 9.0 MPH 29.3 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
3 hours 4 mins 2 hours 38 mins 1 hour 26 mins
No comments:
Post a Comment