Dave's Good Stuff

Saturday was my bud’s first ride in… I’m not entirely sure, but I want to say 10 months. Last summer didn’t work out for him for a variety of reasons, and he wasn’t able to get on the bike as much as he’d have liked. So Saturday was a “Welcome Back” ride… and what a ride it was. Fantastic temperatures and ferocious winds characterized the day.

Saturday was also the first time Randy and I were able to meet. We tried once in January on one of the nicer weekend days, but I wasn’t able to make it. I enjoyed meeting him, and like to think the feeling was mutual.

The route and stats are available on motionbased.com here.

We kicked off, Randy, Chris and I, right after 11:00 on Saturday, heading north on Renner from 119th to Prairie Star Pkwy. The stiff southerly wind helped get us started very nicely, making 20-30mph an effortless affair. Randy lagged behind a bit on the hills here, but only b/c he was on his recumbent. We stopped at Renner and Prairie Star Pkwy to flip Chris’ front tire so he could get proper readouts on his computer (the front wheel was on backwards), and turned towards the west. That’s when we really got a taste of what the wind had in store for us. It was stiff, and had us leaning as we fought to stay upright.

A right on Woodland, and we easily hit nearly 50mph down the hill. A left on 91st and the first major test of the day with a 15% climb into the subdivision. Randy took off some layers here due to the relative heat combined with the effort of the climb, and Chris took some time to recover. I haven’t ridden nearly as much as I’d like to lately, so I welcomed the rest myself. We made our way leisurely through the neighborhood back to Woodland, and then to 83rd, where we once again turned into the wind, and uphill.

The stretch of 83rd St was probably the most taxing of the day. Here the wind picked up a lot of sand and dirt, stinging our arms and face. At one point, I had to hold a hand up to shield my face from the debris. 25-35mph steady, gusting to 45mph makes for some painful airborne sand. We stopped again at the convenience store at 83rd and Monticello Terrace for a breather. Between the hills and fighting the wind, this ride was turning out to be a lot more taxing than I imagined it would be. 10 minutes there and we were back on 83rd heading west to Mize.

On Mize, with the wind at our back, we decided to ride easy and save our energy for what we all knew was coming. We shared some stories and chatted, enjoying the wind at our back, and the easy road beneath our tires. With the south westerly wind, we didn’t have any taxing riding until the Johnson Drive hills just to the east of the Mid America Sports Complex. Those hills were brutal, but they weren’t as brutal as I expected them to be. My biggest problem was overestimating my strength. I tried to hammer up the second hill in too high a gear, and ended up down shifting under pressure. It sounded horrible, but I was able to get down in time to keep moving… it was a close one. Damn my pitiful constitution!

Another break at Johnson Drive and Renner to let us recover from the hills, and prepare for the winds. Randy found some decent change on the side of the road here. A few quarters and a silver dollar. It certainly paid for the granola fuel he brought with him. :) It’s a good thing he brought that fuel too, b/c from here back to the cars, it was going to be uphill and against the wind the whole way.

We fought our way up the Renner overpass at I35, taking yet another break to recover and regroup. Chris will apparently spend several additional weeks in Hell due to his language while he fought gravity and Kansas winds up that overpass, but he made it w/o stopping.

Head down and legs pumping, we fought the wind and rolling hills until 87th and Renner, where another break to recover and regroup was called for. At this point, I had planned on heading back west to tackle the hills on Woodland, but the wind was taxing us all far more than we’d planned. Instead, we went south straight back to the cars.

We weren’t able to stay together much on the more heinous sections of the ride. The differences in our fitness levels and riding styles just didn’t allow for it, but it was a pleasure meeting Randy, and it was one hell of a welcome back ride for Chris. Having been sick for most of February, and thus off the saddle, it was quite the welcome back for myself, as well.

• Average RPM: 67.7
• Average HR: 169
• Average Speed: 13.8
• Max HR: 230
• Max Speed: 47.4
• Mileage: 28.07
• Reported Calories: 1762
• Total Time: 02:02:19
• Weight: 186
• Wind: Southwesterly 25-35mph, gusting to 45mph.
• Temperature: 59°F to 73°F