Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Phat Tuesday Ride

Beer Shirt

Tonight I wore my limited edition Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen shirt. I love that it is yellow with a tall glass of beer on both the front and the back. I always get a comment from somebody whenever I wear it.

Not Dropped!

For the second time this year I hung with a group all the way to the half way point. It is just a matter of connecting with the right group. Someday I'll hang onto the 20 mph group...

Passed by a Mountain Bike

On Burt Swamp/Fales Rd I heard what I thought was a motorcycle coming up behind us. "Car Back!" I yelled. Soon after that, a guy on a mountain bike passed us by. He had a gas tank and a motor on it that sounded like an underpowered weed wacker. I think he was doing somewhere around 30 mph.

Big Ring!

As our group pulled onto 120, I figured I should shift into the big ring up front and get ready for the descent. Much to my surprise, I was already in the big ring. Nice...

18.6 at the Halfway Point
18.6 at the Halfway Point, originally uploaded by Martinator.

18.6 at the Halfway Point. Not bad for this early in the season.

Mount St.

Here is where I wish I had a lower gear. I grind my way to the top as most others pass me by. I did pass one person, but he blew by me after we got to the top.

Descent Catch

The group I got dropped by on Mount St was within my sites. I knew I could make up ground on the descent down Upper Union St. I usually like, no, love to early apex the turn onto Otis St. and try to carry as much speed and momentum as possible. I think I took the 90° turn at 22 mph :-). the trick is to shave off speed on entry then accelerate once past the Apex. I learned that from AutoCrossing.

I eventually caught the group before we got back to "the neighborhood". If you don't catch a group by then, you won't.

Feeling Good

I finished the ride with a 17.6 mph average. It felt good.


1 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice job, Martin. You're getting stronger this year.