Week 8

Date
February 20th, 2012

Distance
100 miles

Time
6:24:19
Route Map/Profile

This route is an out-and-back from the Cold Springs area to SR 70 in California. 70 is mostly flat, but the scenery is good.

Weather

Warmer than yesterday, but there was more wind.

Picture

A nice Forest Service road off of 70.

Ride Report
I celebrated Presidents day with a nice ride. Who would have been a better cyclist, George Washington or Abe Lincoln? I get the feeling that Washington would have been more of a sprinter and Lincoln more of a climber.

This was my second century in a row, but I didn't feel too much pain from the day before. My time would suggest otherwise, but I think that had more to do with the wind than anything. I had a nice surprise towards the end of the ride when my rear derailleur stopped working. Luckily for me I was in a good gear where I could use the big ring on the flats and just shift down to the small ring for the last few remaining hills. I was afraid that my shift lever was broken (my cable hadn't snapped and it was still in place), but when I got home I just unscrewed the cable, screwed it back in, and it began working again. I'm not sure what caused the problem and I hope it doesn't happen again. I can't afford many more broken parts. Recently I've had to deal with a cracked fork, a cracked stem, and a broken rear brake caliper.

Week 7

Date
January 19th, 2012

Distance
100 miles

Time
6:01:59

Route Map/Profile

This is the same Pyramid Lake route I've used before.

Weather

Not very warm, but there wasn't much wind. I'll take it that tradeoff.

Picture

From 446

Ride Report
This is the 4th time I've done the Pyramid Lake route and I have to admit that I'm getting a little tired of it. I know I live in a beautiful area with good weather and it's ridiculous to feel that way, but that's just human nature, I suppose. Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll be adding more climbing to my rides.

Week 6

Date
February 11th, 2012

Distance
100 miles

Time
6:12:15

Route Map/Profile

The Red Rock route with a short climb up Doyle Grade Road in the middle.

Weather

It was a bit of a cloudy and gloomy looking day out there. We haven't had too many days like that this winter, so I can't complain.

Picture

Doyle Grade Rd in Doyle, CA

Ride Report
This was an uneventful ride, but after last week I was happy to get in a normal ride without any surprises.

Week 5

Date
February 5th, 2012

Distance
100 miles

Time
6:24:39

Route Map/Profile

Two out-and-back sections: one to Pyramid Lake and the other towards Verdi.

Weather

I started around 3 and the weather was nice. After dark the temperature dropped rapidly. It was in the mid 30s, but it felt a lot colder than that.

Picture

Sunset on Pyramid Highway

Ride Report
The whole weekend was a comedy of errors for me. I had a nice ride planned in Tuscon, but I forgot to pack something important with my bike- my crank. I was having trouble getting on a flight from TUS to PHX, so I decided to rent a car and drive instead. The drive was supposed to take 2 hours, which was cutting things very, very close. I sped my way to Phoenix and made up quite a bit of time. I got lucky and made it on the bus from the rental car center to the terminal right before it was leaving. I was in the (long) security line 45 minutes prior to my flight, so I was feeling good. Problem is, I was in the wrong security line.

I ran as fast as I could from the security line to the gate. It was sort of like riding an unknown climb. Around every corner I would look up at the gates wondering, "Is this the end?" When it wasn't, I wondered how long I could keep up the pace. It turns out that the gate was at the end of the hall, as far away from the wrong security line I went through as possible. My running pace was way too high for the distance I had to cover and if this were a climb I would have blown up and been dropped. I made it to the gate right as they were getting ready to scratch my name from the list. After I sat down my lungs were burning big time. It's early in the cycling season and I haven't been doing a ton of intervals yet, which was painfully obvious in that moment.

I made it back to Reno with enough time to get in a couple of hours in the daylight. The rest was in the dark, which wasn't too bad. The moon was almost full, so I could still see the snow on the mountains in the distance.

Week 4

Date
January 29th, 2012

Distance
100 miles

Time
6:09:23

Route Map/Profile

This is the route I usually use to get to Kingsbury Grade (207) south of Carson City. From the Mt. Rose Junction in Reno it follows 395 South to Eastlake Blvd around Washoe Lake. From there it follows Combs Canyon Rd to College Pkwy in Carson City. I usually use Roop St as my North-South route through the City and make my way back to 395 near the US 50 junction. Just past 50 is Jacks Valley Rd, a popular route for cyclists in the area.

Weather

This was one of those perfect winter days. The temperature made its way up to 50 in the valleys, but there was some nice, fresh snow up in the mountains to look at along the way. It really is the best of both worlds when it's like this- you can play in the snow if you want to, but it's nice riding weather in the valleys.

Picture

Fire and Ice: Part of the Washoe Drive fire with Mt. Rose in the background

Ride Report
There was a recent fire south of Reno known as the Washoe Drive fire. It was a particularly nasty fire that spread rapidly on a very windy day and destroyed more than 25 homes. I decided to ride through the area to see some of the damage for myself. As usual, riding a bike gave a better perspective on the extent of the damage than walking or driving could. The smell of the recently burned plants was still in the air and I got a good feel for just how large of an area the fire actually burned. I may not feel like the luckiest guy in the world on a day-to-day basis, but an event like this really puts things into perspective. I am fortunate to have a roof over my head, a bike between my legs, and the good health to enjoy them both.