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Fun Saturday Ride
Posted On Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 By David Veatch
Sometimes people don’t yell at you. That’s nice.
Hills Not So Bad. Also, I Have to Get on the Sidewalk Now
Posted On Friday, September 17th, 2010 By David Veatch
Wherein I recall improvements in last nights ride, and laugh at teenage boys who yell at me to “Get on the f*cking sidewalk, a**hole!” Ah, the wisdom of youth.
Hills, Now with A Heavier Rider!
Posted On Sunday, September 12th, 2010 By David Veatch
Wherein my latest hill “training ride” is discussed, and red-light running drivers are gently sent to time-out. Also, bad pictures of Kansas hills.
Hill Training Begins. Again.
Posted On Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 By David Veatch
Wherein butt kicking hills are discussed.
Triple Bypass 2009 Recap
Posted On Friday, July 31st, 2009 By David Veatch
I’m not going to break down every day like I did last year. Suffice to say the photos are available online here… Enjoy!
Unwelcome Visitors in the Middle of the Night
Posted On Sunday, March 8th, 2009 By David Veatch
I went to bed a few nights ago, as is my habit so that I might wake up the next morning, having slept the night before. This night, last night, was different… You might recall that all of last year, or most of it, I rode my bike whenever possible to and from work, and many other miles besides. Logistically, this hasn’t worked out since about mid October. Furthermore, I’ve avoided pretty much any riding outdoors on account of the cold. I proved I could do it last year, and I realized I didn’t enjoy doing it (having forgotten that I already realized it back in my college years when I didn’t own a car). So this year, I’ve spent nearly all of my riding on the rollers. While they do make for a fantastic work out (once you start pedaling, you don’t stop until you’re done – there is no coasting downhill, there are no stops at intersections… it’s all on or all off), they’re also fairly boring when compared to the glorious outdoors. So, my bikes have been been rather neglected, rejected, and ignored. They made this known to me on this night. I don’t know if it more »
Everything but the Toes…
Posted On Friday, January 2nd, 2009 By David Veatch
… was nice and toasty warm on this, my first ride of 2009. Starting out at around 50°F, and closing out at around 40°F, I was wearing long leggings, a wicking base layer and a windbreaker up top, my Salsa N’Agua gloves, and plastic baggies between my wool socks and shoes. As I said, everything was nice and toasty except my toes. I think it was a combination between poorly set cleats and the cold, but my toes were all numb from the cleat down by the time I hit mile 20. I took the Kona out. It’s very nearly as heavy as my old Fire Mountain, though the 700c wheels and 37mm tires are better suited for roads than the 26″/2.5″ set up was on the old one. Hence, my low average speed (13.8mph) combined with the relatively high top speed (38.1mph). I can tell it’s been a while since I’ve really ridden. My HR was generally high the whole time, topping out at 202bpm, and the hills were especially taxing. Still, though I could feel it fading towards the end, my recovery was still pretty strong after completing a climb. The highlight of the trip was the gorgeous more »
Nice Little Ride and Persistent Flats
Posted On Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 By David Veatch
So, by way of clearing my head and getting some miles, I took off last night on a quickie 33 miler over some of the best hills that Johnson County has to offer. At least, insofar as I know. If you know of others that aren’t on this route, please… do let me know. Due to some aforementioned chaos, I wanted to get out and clear my head some. Unfortunately, before I could clear my head, I first had to fix (yet another damn) flat. They’ve been plaguing me lately. It seems every time I want to get out and ride these days, it’s either one tire or another, on one bike or another. It’s tiresome. Last night, it was last-straw sort of frustrating. I found the hole, didn’t find anything in the tire, replaced the tube and admittedly amidst a small amount of cursing, finally got out the door. It didn’t take long for my mind to turn away from flats to the issues at hand, and turn it did. Over the course of the 33 miles, I did exactly what I set out to do… 1) Get miles in. Not many, but every little bit counts. 2) Confront more »
Triple Bypass Week, Friday – Warm Up Ride, More Fantastic Dinner and Final Preparations
Posted On Monday, July 21st, 2008 By David Veatch
Matthew had scheduled a paintball session for Friday afternoon, but my brother and I were really too concerned with making sure we were prepared for the Big Ride, and requested that it be rescheduled for Sunday (we were banking on not being too tired). He was agreeable, and so my brother and I drove down to Bergen Park (again) and met up with the rest of the “Warm Up” ride participants. While we were waiting, we noticed (how could we not) a silver Porsche Carrera drive up with a bike rack on top carrying a nice Scott. We couldn’t help but make a little fun of it. I mean, seriously… a Carrera, with a bike rack? C’mon. Turns out that it’s the Team Evergreen Club President! I want to be a bike club president if it allows me to afford a Porsche! He gives a bit of a speech to us, talking about the origins of the ride, and how it’s turned into one of, if not The premiere single day event in the country. He wishes us all the best of luck, and we all click in and set out…. …on a hard ride with some seriously confidence busting more »
Triple Bypass Week, Thursday – High Climbing, Wolves and Prime Rib
Posted On Sunday, July 20th, 2008 By David Veatch
After the success of the previous day’s ride, my brother and I wanted to ratchet it up a notch on Thursday. Not a huge notch, mind you, we were still cognizant of working ourselves too hard too early. We didn’t want to come down with altitude sickness, or stress our bodies too much before the Big Ride on Saturday. But we were also very pumped up. That meant more climbing and at a higher altitude. This time, Matthew took us down to Bergen Park again to pick up my bike, and a few other odds and ends, and drove us all the way up to Echo Lake at the foot of Mt. Evans Road. Matthew drove back down to Bergen Park to wait for us. What a star! Echo Lake to 12,000ft and back to Bergen Park The climb up Mt. Evans Road is, all and all, a little steeper than up to Juniper Pass from Bergen Park. Combine the additional grade with the additional altitude, and we were working harder. But the extra effort was well worth it. It’s absolutely gorgeous up there. Made all the more compelling by having gotten there under our own power. All the pictures more »