21.9mi

This morning, I started early — real early — with a killer headache. That’s a horrible way to start the day, and mine started around 3am. Ugh. When I got up at 5am, I felt like I was gonna hork in the shower. Not a good start to the day…

I slept. And slept. And slept. And I finally rose from the dead around lunchtime. After a little bite to eat, I started trying to get my head cleared up. I had my telltale signs of the worst being over, and it was just a matter of time until my head cleared. By 2pm, I was free and clear of the gnarly grip of the gremlins in my head.

So why not a ride?

I gathered up my gear, and pointed the truck at the trail. I had no idea if I had 5mi or 20mi in me, but I was there, and wasn’t gonna let the remnants of a killer headache wipe me. I hit the trail, and just let the trail conditions and my legs drive my speed. No race, no overdoing it like Tuesday, and I just took it easy. As it ends up, I was able easily to carry myself from Weldon to Augusta, and back.

It was steamy after the rain last night, and then about eight miles down the trail, it began to rain on me. Just a gentle quiet rain. It was stellar. I’d ride everyday in a quiet rain like that. It was just that good.

So, headache gone, ride behind me, and so far, I’m feeling just dandy. That’s a good thing!

I finally put my order in with VistaPrint for my business cards. They should be here in a couple of weeks.

I think I did a good job getting this ready, and I can’t wait to see what they look like!

I’ve still got to put together announcement post cards, get those printed, and mailed out or hand delivered. Oh yeah, and then there’s all the printing and framing.

18.1mi

I thought I would cross 300 miles tomorrow, but I decided to take a ride today. Monday is usually one of my longer ride-days, and with the weather interruption yesterday, I ended up just a bit shy of 300 miles, and with too short a ride for my tastes.

So today, I decided to do the Weldon to Augusta route. This would be the first time I’d taken the new bike down there, and usually that’s a quiet ride without too many human obstacles along the way. And, it’s a little more than 20 miles, so that’s a good thing too.

I took off, riding casually, listening to my tunes, and made Defiance and Matson in pretty typical time. I stopped for a few minutes at Matson, looked at the sky that was getting big white clouds in it, and decided to plow on toward Augusta. Little did I know that the big white clouds were fortelling bad weather. About a mile shy of the Augusta trailhead, I hit a clearing and saw the ginormous black clouds that were building quickly to the west. They were mean looking, so I high-tailed it back toward Weldon.

The clouds overtook me, but there was no rain or wind in them. They did block out the sun, which made for a cooler ride coming back. However, with me trying to race the wind, I really exhausted myself. Badly. I got home and was just flat dead. We’ll see if I recover enough to ride tomorrow.

Next time, I’ll just ride at my normal pace (12-15mph), and let the terrain dictate my pace, rather than trying to race home as though my life depended on it. After all, I won’t melt in the rain!

12.4mi

Tonight was to be the night I would cross 300 miles on my journey to completing the Katy Trail Challenge. However, Mother Nature had other plans!

This morning, it was 59 degrees. In late June. In St. Louis. Unbelieveable! I so wanted to be cycling this morning, but duty called, and I answered by going in to the office. However, I gathered all my stuff up so I could take a nice ride this afternoon.

But, in Weldon Spring, all was not sunny, and the rains came late in the afternoon. They cleared, just in time for me to hit the trail, but the whole ride, I felt chased by the ugly, ominous clouds, so I kept things short, just running between Weldon Spring and Matson, with a little side trip on a new (to me) trail — the Hamburg Trail.

The Hamburg goes toward the Weldon Spring Interpretive Center which details how the land these trails pass through was used for chemical and radioactive waste disposal. The site finished its cleanup in 2003 (I think), and has been turned back into a nice, useful area, providing trails for cycling and walking.

I suppose I’m a little bit disappointed that I couldn’t cross 300 otnight, but I’ll have my chance yet this week. I expect the 300th mile of my cycling journey will have to wait for Wednesday night’s ride.

I didn’t realize it, but Moose Peterson has been writing a blog since the beginning of the year. He sent out an e-mail mentioning it. Sure ’nuff — here it is. It’s a fun read, and really seems to reflect his personality as I remember it from November’s DLWS.

Way to go Moose — enjoy the blogosphere!

This afternoon, I got back to some of my roots — long distance TV viewing.

I noticed that the local channel 2 was being clobbered by something — I never did figure out what. With us having a channel 2, 4 and 5, that leaves only channel 3 to play with for any Es openings. I quickly tuned to channel 3, and started seeing an informercial for some housing communities that had all kinds of southwestern names. I spun the antenna around, and watched most of the infomercial.

And, as the program ended, and the station slide was expected….. it was gone. Twenty minutes of great viewing, and then it was toast. That’s the nature of Es though. I started doing some research, and found the program listed on the schedule for KTVK, channel 3 from Phoenix, AZ. I believe that’s what I was seeing, but without an ID slide, it’s just a guess. However, Phoenix is at double hop range from here, and that’s the first time I’ve caught some of that kind of action.

Unfortunately, in a couple of years, analog TV will disappear, and everything will be digital. Most of those transmitters are currently up in the UHF band, which means Es will be a thing of the past. Tropo will become king, and the lower channels will be the homes of a very few stations broadcasting VHF digital signals. I suppose that will be interesting, but somehow, some of the magic will be gone. There’ll be no CCI, no pictures fading in and out of the snow, and little to go on to figure out where the openings are coming from. When that chapter of American broadcasting closes, so will a chapter in my life, as I’ve been doing this since I was a kid!

21.7mi

Last night, the weather guys were talking about what a wonderful morning this one was to be. The temps overnight were to drop to about 63, and the warmup today would be slow and only into the 80s. Of course, my brain turned to an early ride.

After going to bed late last night, I really didn’t have quite the desire to get out of bed (as compared to the thought of getting out of bed), but I slowly turned myself around, punched the alarm clock, and pondered sleeping in. Reason got the better of me, and knowing that a rare crisp morning awaited me, I got up, got my stuff together, and hit the road in search of a trailhead.

I turned a corner along the way, and found an incredible view of the morning fog being backlit by a low sun, casting some orange and red throgh the fog. I stopped the truck, snapped a few photos, and turned around to drive this stretch of road again to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Beautiful, and a great way to start the morning.

Just shy of the Page Extension Bridge, there is a bench sitting in the shade with a dedication plaque on it. Someone had left flowers this morning, presumably in remembrance of the dedication honoree. I’ve never seen this on the trail before, although I’m sure it probably happens more than I realize. It was a quiet tribute to an unknown life, played out in a shaded thicket on a cool Saturday morning.

Greens Bottom was waiting for me, and it looked like once again, I would be one of the few on the trail this morning. I mounted my trusty Raleigh, and headed north, toward St. Charles. My goal this morning was to ride to St. Charles, which is the end of the Kety Trail. Man, riding was easy this morning, and I cruised through the first few miles, arriving at the Page Extension very quickly. I wanted to see what my legs were made of this morning, so I hopped on the switchbacks, and started climibing. While it wasn’t easy, it was much, much easier than riding up Wednesday night. Dunno if it was the freshness of the morning, the cooler temperatures (at least 25 degrees cooler), or just a better frame of mind — no matter, it was a nice sprint up the hill, and I kicked back for a couple of minutes, and enjoyed the view. Back down the switchbacks, and I was on my way to St. Charles, three miles up the road.

The closer I got to St. Charles, the more folks I encountered on the trail, both cyclists and foot-bound pedestrians. In fact, it was downright crowded in places! I bet that section of the trail is always like that — with easy access and a big population base, there’s bound to be a crowd all over the trail up there.

I passed into Frontier Park, and looked around a bit. In commemoration of the Lewis and Clark expedition, there is a giant statue of the explorers, along with their Newfoundland hound. I’ve seen this statue before, but somehow this morning’s view was much more rewarding. Maybe it’s just the sense of accomplishment by cycling to see something, rather than driving. Dunno….

I kept riding through Frontier Park, and eventually exited it…. only to find that the trail continued on! However, the farther up the trail I went, the more scruffy it was. Around MM 37, the trail abruptly ended. No signs, no nothing, just a lack of trail and an overabundance of overgrowth. For once, I knew where to turn around!

I rode back toward Greens Bottom, passing yet even more folks walking, running and cycling on the trail as I passed through St. Charles. I did make a brief stop in St. Charles at a roadside farmer’s market. Had I wanted plants or potatoes, I would’ve been in luck. As it ends up, I was looking for an apple or orange to put in my for the ride back. Oh well!

As is frequently the case, the return ride seemed to fly by, and in short order, I was at Greens Bottom. I decided to continue my ride just a bit, and head to Caulks Hill Road. That was one little 3/4mi piece of the trail that I hadn’t travelled yet. After backtracking to ride that little piece, I hit the trailhead at Greens Bottom, loaded up and headed home.

17.3mi

Our little cycling crew decided to take a familiar route tonight. We started at the Greens Bottom trailhead [MM 45.7], electing to travel north toward the Page Extension bridge, and on over into Creve Coeur Park. This would be the first serious test of my new machine, and I was excited all day waiting for it. The downside was the weather. At ride time, the temperature was 95, with a heat index at or just over 100 degrees. I was armed with 70oz of iced water in the CamelBak, and a bike bottle full of tepid water. As it ends up, that was just the right amount.

We headed out from the trailhead, and once again, I found myself zooming on the trail, reaching 17mph in short order. I know I had to have had a tailwind or a slight downward incline, but I didn’t care. It was refreshing to by able to stay close to my fellow cyclists, and it was liberating to do the math in my head and realize I wasn’t so far away from points along our jaunt.

The three miles of the trail passed quickly, and in short order I was staring at the bridge complex above me. As always, my reflex at three miles is to kick it around and go back, and today was no exception. I had decided that I’d climb the switchbacks, and then work my way back. I climbed and climbed, actually keeping a decent speed until the very last when I had to granny-gear it up the last switchback. My group arrived at the top almost at the same time — with the other bike, they’d be there 3-5 minutes ahead of me. I was already seeing the difference the new bike was making.

Of course, reaching the top of the bridge complex is exhiliarating. It’s the reward for a tough climb, and from that height, there’s breeze, plenty of room to stop and get off the saddle for a few minutes. There’s also no shade, so the sun beat down upon us, but that was not a huge deal. Knowing that the slightly downward slope of the bridge was waiting just ahead was a rush. I overcame my “three mile blues” and was ready to continue on toward the park.

In crossing the bridge, there was a little bit of a headwind, so getting to a high speed on the paved path just wasn’t possible. I was only able to get to 25mph, which is about the speed I attained on the old bike with no headwind. I exited the bridge, and down the gentle switchback on the east end of the complex, carrying my speed down the Katy Trail Connector and tackling the gentle rolling hills toward the park. I took it easy, trying to meter my legs to make sure I had enough in me for the whole ride.

Once at the park, we met another one of our gang, and the five of us headed into the park to make a quick three mile loop to the west of the lake. This was a beautiful ride, with some ups and downs, but with a tremendous canopy of trees for the start of the ride. There are bird blinds along the lake, and I could see some of the waterfowl as I rode by. I’ll definitely have to come back to this place and practice some photography!

We climbed the ramp back up to the Connector, and took another well-deserved rest. By this time, we were about six miles out from the trailhead, with the sun still high in the sky. It was here that I realized just how hot it was! I gulped plenty of water, and had no troubles, but…. sheesh!

The ride back to the bridge was a little tough as there was a crosswind that was slowing me down — not to mention that my legs were rubber by this time! I crawled across the bridge, but not nearly as slow as I was last time I crossed it. I could tell a difference in the way this bike moved, and how it was to pedal it when I was tired. The Raleigh behaves so differently — I don’t know that I could’ve made this ride successfully on the old bike in this heat. After crossing the bridge, we relaxed for a few minutes at the parking lot on the west end, knowing that only three miles of trail lay between us and the end of tonight’s ride.

I came down the switchbacks quite a bit faster than last time. This bike is much surer-of-foot on tight turns than was my Huffy, so it was easy to take them with some speed and comfort. Once I hit the trail, the air cooled under the canopy of trees, and I took it easy, only riding at 10-12mph back to the trailhead. It was a nice relaxing last leg of the ride.

I guess the biggest discovery tonight is that the Raleigh is much, much better on the trail than it is on paved surfaces. It’s no slouch on the pavement, but the ride just didn’t seem to come as comfortably on the pavement as compared to the crushed limestone of the trail.

I also realize that I need a handlebar bag for the camera. I had the E-10 with me tonight, but with it packed in my CamelBak, it was impossible to shoot while moving, and was an ordeal to get to even when stopped. Getting my camera more accessible will get more photos on the site from our rides. It’d also be nice for that bag to have clips on which to attach my iPod. I carry the iPod in my CamelBak, routing the headphone cable over my back, and if I wanna take off my CamelBak, I have to be careful not to rip the cable out of the headphones. Front mounting the little beastie would also give me access to the controls. I had to endure three tracks of Paul McCartney’s Back in the US that didn’t rip correctly (loads of skips — gotta check my CD for damage) and were almost painful to listen to.

I also need to put a frame-mounted pump on the bike, and get replacement tire tube, just in case, along with a under-seat bag to carry other important items that I carry in my CamelBak (keys, wallet, cellphone).

I guess the good news is that I’m slowly figuring out how to make a safe and fun ride — and I keep coming back for more!

9.8mi

So, what does six minutes buy you? A little earlier arrival at work, maybe a microwave meal. For me, six minutes buys me almost five extra miles traveled in an hour.

Tonight, I took the Raleigh on its maiden voyage on the trail. I couldn’t wait for the workday to end so I could get out on the trail. It was a tangible, tactile desire to me today. I guess that’s the trial before getting to play with the new toy. When the clock read 4pm, I was off to fill up my CamelBak with ice and water, and out to the Weldon Spring trailhead [MM 56] and a date with a bunch of crushed limestone.

It was blistering hot at ride-time — 95 degrees — so I figured I’d keep it in the shade, and head toward the Matson trailhead [MM 60.6]. I pulled my new beauty from the rack, got my gear together, and started up the ramp to the trail.

My gosh, how effortless the ride was! It was truly a night and day difference between the Raleigh and the Huffy. I pedalled, popped the bike into 3-7, and kept on pedalling. And quickly behind me was the Hamburg Trail crossing, and both the Osage bridges. And there was Defiance just ahead. A quick look at the time, and I discovered that it’d only taken 12 minutes to travel the three miles to Defiance. I stopped to make sure the bike still looked ok — no flats, nothing where it shouldn’t be — and then plowed forward to Matson. Twenty-one minutes after I hit the trail, I was under cover at the Matson station.

Fully six minutes faster than I’ve ever ridden that leg of the trail.

I did some quick math, and realized I was averaging just under 15mph. My typical time to Matson has been about 27 minutes, which put me just over 10 mph. Five miles an hour faster? Just from a new bike? Well, apparently so.

After resting for a few minutes at Matson, I turned the Raleigh around, and headed back toward Weldon. As I approached the Hwy 94 crossing, I was at 17 mph. 17 MPH?! That’s the fastest I’ve been able to achieve on the flat grades of the Katy Trail since I started riding it about seven weeks ago. Wow.

I got back to the truck 45 minutes after I left, with 42 minutes and 9.8 minutes of riding under my belt — ordinarily, that’s a 55 minute ride for me. The day was definitely a success, and the bike was wonderful. It was just effortless to ride, and incredibly comfortable.

So what did six minutes buy me? A hint into what me and this new machine of mine might be able to do in the future. And a good future it appears to be!

True to her word, Beck and I jaunted down to West County Cycles this evening to pick up a new bike for me. Woo-hoo!

We talked with Joe for a while, describing what I was trying ride (mostly on the Katy Trail), Joe pulled out a Raleigh and a Giant for me to try in the lot. Both were huge improvements from my Huffy, but the Raleigh rode like a dream, shifted very well, and was amazingly comfortable.

Joe, Beck and I stood outside and talked about kickstands — this bike didn’t have one, although I had them add one — and their service program. For $45 (one-time), they would do annual service (or more frequent, if I wanted) for the life of the bike, and would discount parts if needed. I figure after one year of service, I’d easily have gotten my $45 of value.

So what’d I end up with? It’s a Raleigh Venture 3.0, 21-speed, painted in chocolate/black (I coulda had a bright blue one, but I’m nto that bold!), and a big padded seat. Really, really nice ride! After a stop at the grocery store, I pulled the bike off the back of the truck, and rode it home.

Like I told Beck last night, she just invested in my health. The more enjoyable my rides are, the higher the liklihood is that I’ll keep cycling, and that should translate into some healthy benefits for me. Of course, that means she has to put up with me longer, but that’s ok with me.

Tomorrow will be the maiden voyage of the new toy!