Backtracking (Get it? Back?)

I feel like the season has started all over again. This week was the first real week back on the road and my conditioning feels like I've been away for months. Between the resting and the Ibuprophen (which I usually don't take) my body has really taken a huge step backward. So now it's all about backtracking and regaining the fitness I've lost since being hit by a car three weeks ago.

Last Sunday, I rode in the rain with Lauren. It was a fun, short and very freakin' wet ride. Word of warning: saddle bags and handlebar bags aren't waterproof. Both of our cellphones were wet by the time we arrived back at the house.

Last Sunday was also the first time I've been back to the scene of the accident while on my bike. Psychologically, I'm not as healed as my body. I'm finding that I'm really paranoid about drivers -- involuntarily assuming that none of them are paying attention. So I've started to gesture/signal at cars through intersections -- my left hand out, fanning the air as if to say, "I'm riding through this intersection so slow the hell down!"

On Thursday I rode 24 miles out to Womelsdorf and back. Of course the whole way out was haunted by a serious headwind. I mean, probably the worst headwind I've experienced. The kind that pummels the eardrums. So I figure this is what they mean when they say that it's not all about distance. 12 miles into a strong headwind can be more challenging than 25 with a tailwind.

In addition, I tried the Wooltown side of Sportsman Rd (Sportsman Rd "North" I guess). I thought it cut straight through to Wooltown Rd, but nope. After a sharp left turn, it climbed straight up -- 15% for a quarter mile -- before dropping down to Wooltown. Suffice to say, I couldn't hack it. Not in my present shape. So I had to stop for a second, which was terribly disappointing. In my defense, I was cranking hard enough that my front wheel was pulling up and off the road slightly.

And so, thankfully, the ride back was awesome. With the tailwind, I was able to cruise 52-12 (I think) and averaged around 22 mph for the ride back.

Yesterday, Sunday, I hit the hills again. Made it up Martins again, then took the back roads off Fritztown Road which eventually connect over to Wernersville and 422. Then I hit the usual Sportsman Rd climb and was suprised to make it to the top without stopping. I honestly didn't think I was ready. But I think my head has started to come around.

But then... On the way down Texter Mountain Rd, I got spooked at around 35mph and leaned on the brakes too much. Suddenly, PFFFFFFFFFFFT! I'm certain that it was a heat puncture since there were about 20 pinholes in the tube -- each one leaking green slime (which was supposed to fill the holes). Fortunately, I had a spare tube with me. My luck improved when a guy from a nearby house -- also a rider -- let me borrow his floor pump. AND, the guy's family are Obama supporters. Good deal. I didn't have any cash with me, so I promised to do a favor for the next cyclist in peril. Pay it forward, if you will.

It turns out there have been two major crashes in the Texter Mountain area this season. Each one has been during a descent. One of them, on Huntzinger, involved a cyclist whose brakes failed. The dude apparently hit the guardrail and had to be hauled out via medical helicopter with a broken collar bone.

I repeat... All told, I've been very, very lucky. Now that my body is recovering, it's time to get my head back on track.

And finally, I'm honored to have been added to the Belgium Knee Warmers "Most Admired" list. It's my favorite cycling blog, and I'm planning to order two BKW "PRO" water bottles. Seriously, this is very cool. I hope I can rise to the BKW standards of cycling pro-ish-ness.

Two Weeks Since The Crash

It's been just over two weeks since the accident and I've been under the care of my chiropractor, Dr. Dean Wolf, who has adjusted me three times a week for the last two weeks. My back isn't 100 percent, but it's definitely better. The muscles that run along my spine tense up and spasm every morning at around 4AM. Imagine waking up from a sound sleep to the sensation of someone sitting on your back. That about describes it.

But tomorrow, if the weather holds, I'm riding. Nothing insane. Just maybe out to Stouchsburg and back. Which leads me to my bike...

Other than a few battle scars -- scratched paint and the like -- the Kona Jake is in good condition. It might be because my body broke the fall, but the front end totally collided with that car. I expected the front wheel to at least be really tangled, but nope... totally true.

So I've decided to leave the paint damage alone. Scars can make for excellent reminders. In this case: cyclists are invisible to drivers.

I Got Hit By A Car

Note to drivers. If you see a cyclist riding on the road in front of you, don't make a right turn in front of the cyclist, thereby cutting him off and forcing him to slam into the side of your car.


Image from BicycleSafe.com

No serious injuries other than strained muscles in the middle of my back. But I got to ride in an awesome ambulance and they gave me some lovely drugs at the hospital. And -- bonus! -- I got to parade around the ER wearing my garish cycling clothes.

Three Rides

Monday, April 22
For the first time ever, I made it to the top of Martin's Road (25% at the peak) without cracking, but I suffered for the rest of the ride and couldn't quite recover from the early climbing. Nevertheless, I tried to take some new and different roads -- winding my way around the mental hospital area.

Thursday, April 24
Too much climbing. I rode up Sportsman and nearly had to stop during the insanely graded top section. It was one of those moments when I was literally a fraction of an inch away from yanking my foot out of the clip but, at the last second, changed my mind and kept on cranking up toward the top. The descent was incredible though and worth every painful minute of the climb. I was fortunately able to recover on the way down Texter, so I decided to climb Furnace Rd up to the celebrity rehab facility on North Galen.

Sunday, April 27
My first distance-ish ride (35 miles round trip) to Myerstown and back. The Sunday special at Risser's Family Restaurant: Snitz und Knepp. And the business that cracks me up every time I pass it? The Focht Agency. Anyway, just like last year, it takes me until the Conrad Weiser Homestead to warm up. Around eight miles. I really felt strong during the long false-flat after Womelsdorf. By the time I reached the Kumm Esse Diner in Myerstown, my left sit-bone was killing me. Hopefully that will go away after a few more break-in rides. Also, my left knee is holding up. No tendonitis yet.

Nobody Welcome

Two Sundays in a row... climbing. Last Sunday, January 27, I cycled up two different routes: first, I climbed up Sportsman then down the insanely steep Texter Mountain Rd. The switchbacks at the bottom are around 25% and too fast for my comfort level. Then I looped around Hospital Rd and up Furnace Rd then descended down N. Galen Hall past the celebrity rehab facility.

This past Sunday, I tried Furnace Rd again, but this time, I continued UP N. Galen Hall to Mountain Top Rd, then to the dreaded Huntzinger at the top of the mountain. But I only stayed on Huntzinger long enough to catch the amazing view. I decided instead to descend on Point Rd.

At one point, there was a "Visitor Info" sign with a handpainted "Nobody Welcome" sign underneath. I stopped to snap a photo despite the warning until I heard from *somewhere* an ominous shout, "Get him!" Fortunately, Point is steeper than the bottom of Texter Mountain Rd and I took advantage of the speed to escape whatever the hell that was.

Anyway, I look like a 6'4" ninja on a bike with all of my cold weather gear. I don't blame anyone for feeling a little threatened.

Texter Mountain

Here's a pile of reasons to climb Texter Mountain in the Fall.


Sportsman Rd near the bottom of the climb. Average 5% grade.


The top of Sportsman Rd. Yeah, that's another rider up there. The grade here ranges between 12% and 20%. It's a challenging end to a 4-mile climb. Then again, Texter Mountain Rd has one last steep surprise...


This is the intersection of Sportsman Rd and Texter Mountain Rd looking up towards the summit of Texter Mountain.


This is the same view as the camera-phone shot here.


This is the view from Texter Mountain Rd down into the Cocalico valley and Rt. 897.


Here's one of the awesomely steep descents down Texter Mountain Rd leading into the valley.


The valley.






This last photo is at the 422 side of Texter Mountain Rd. The buildings in the foreground belong to the Wernersville State Hospital.

I won't be doing any climbing tomorrow. My rear brakes are caput.

Insane Week

My week has been so busy that I haven't been able to write about Sunday's incredible ride. It was probably the most beautiful and satisfying ride of the season through the mountains and Fall colors and crisp air. Yeah, that sounds sappy, but I don't give a shit. It's true.

I climbed Texter Mountain again via Sportsman Rd just like the previous Sunday, only this time, I descended Texter Mountain Rd into the valley to Rt 897. The views were amazing and I curse myself for not bringing a camera. It was definitely the longest and fastest descent I've ever tried. And the road itself was narrow -- a glorified one-laner.

897 was cool too, since I haven't hit that road since the beginning of August (my Google Maps aren't working right now for some reason). From there, it was Galen Hall Rd and back into the mountains. Then it was Preston to Hill Rd and back to Wernersville.

By the way, at the intersection of Sportsman and Texter Mountain, I swear I saw Karl Rove pass me in a white Acura. I think I need a vacation.

The Last 2007 Weekday Ride

So that's it for my weekday rides until 2008. The days are becoming too damn short, and eventually I'd have to skip work entirely in order to get a decent ride in. Tonight we turn the clocks back an hour and POOF! it's perpetually dark until next Spring.

Sundays will remain intact and outdoors until the snow, but the weekday rides will move into my basement once again, with the exception of perhaps some brief cross practicing over at the school (which also means perpetually changing over to my Maxxis cross tires). I don't really know if I'll be cut out for cyclocross, but it *looks* awesome.

Anyway, this winter I won't be destroying my knees on a stationary bike. I'm buying an indoor trainer today for my Kona, so I'll be doing my weekday evening workouts indoors while watching a 2-3 hour movie. I wonder how long that'll last before I rip my bike off that wretched apparatus and scramble for the door -- our cats tangled in my drivetrain, one of my daughter's drums inexplicably attached to the bars.

I hit the road Friday (yesterday) instead of the usual Thursday for various reasons. And in honor of it being the last weekday ride, I did both a time trial and some climbing.

First, the usual 10-mile time trial. This didn't go so well. I think I hit every red light through Wernersville on the way out, which sucked because I was in a real groove up to then.

I was really moving at around 24mph and my adrenaline was pumping because if I kept it up, I would shatter my previous record. Nah. I usually hit two red lights during each time trial (I know how stupid this sounds -- a post for another time) so my rule of thumb is that I drop 15 seconds off my final time for each stop in order to compensate for the deceleration and acceleration before and after the light. This time, I hit all of the damn red lights. And with on-coming traffic, I had no choice but to stop at each one (when there are no cars around, I cruise on through the red lights because I live on the edge, woo). I lost track of how many 15-second time subtractions I needed for this, but my head started to break anyway and I was losing my will for the time trial.

I turned around at the usual halfway mark and pumped up the hill near L&B Dodge and eventually back through Wernersville where a Trailways bus gave me black lung disease. I mean this son of bitch spewed the thickest blackest exhaust ever in America... into my mouth, throat and lungs... three times through the stop-and-go intersections of Wernersville.

I tried to get around this red and silver Smogzilla in order to salvage the effort, but the bus was too close to the curb. So I had to ride a couple of car lengths behind it. Slowly. With my lungs filling with hydrocarbons. Each acceleration of the bus dropped a big stinking black turd across the road. I mean, it felt like this bus was literally shitting in my mouth.

The bus eventually moved out of the way and I cranked with extreme prejudice and finished the time trial. And you know, all things considered, it wasn't horrible (for me). 31:52. But I dry heave when I think about what might've been. My average speed, due in part to all the stopping/starting/smogging, was a crappy 18mph. I need to find a more remote place to time trial. This is really stupid.

I finished the ride with a bit of recovery spinning, then I decided to climb up Furnace Rd and North Galen Hall. That was fun considering I was hacking and coughing Trailways ass cheese the whole way up. This is when I mention that the temperature was around 45 degrees. By the end of the 2 mile, 40mph descent down North Galen Hall, I looked like this:

Climbing The Actual Texter Mountain

The mountain I climbed yesterday was definitely Texter Mountain. I don't know what that other one is called. But this one was definitely Texter Mountain, which I confirmed from various signs, as well as from another rider who stopped to chat while I was taking this photo:



The above camera-phone shot was taken at the top of Texter Mountain looking west/southwest.

The route was Sportsman Rd for about 4 miles of climbing. For most of the time, the climb was in the 5% gradient range, but at the top where Sportsman meets Texter Mountain Rd, the grade spikes up into the 18-20% range. I did pretty well and discovered some things about climbing, mainly the rhythm of it. My breathing a pedalling after a mile or so synchronized into an aerobic pattern and when I dropped out of the rhythm, it was difficult to get it back.

I've never endeavored to climb for this distance, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I turned onto Texter Mountain Rd (where I snapped the above photo) then onto South Mountain Rd for some of the most breathtaking riding I've ever experience. It was a super-fast series of descents through the ridgeline of this particular range of hills and mountains. Then more steep climbing over what I think is South Mountain before the long descent into Newmanstown. The below Google Map shows Sportsman in blue and South Mountain in red.



Total miles: 30. Outside temp: 50-degrees. Miles of climbing: approximately 8. Route: 422-Sportsman-Texter Mountain-South Mountain-Rt. 419-Womelsdorf-422. Path profile:

Climbing Texter Mountain

I think it's called Texter Mountain. I'm not sure. Whatever. Yesterday I rode two circuits of climbing near Wernersville. Furnace Rd up to North Galen Hall was probably the steepest longest climb I've ever made -- Gaul Rd seems like an overpass in comparison.

Looking at the Path Profiler in Google Maps, the steepest sections are 10%, 12% and 15% which are definitely the steepest gradients I've been able to manage. In comparison, nearby Huntzinger Rd (slogan: "Insanely steep!") is around 20% and maxing at 25% -- in the bottom-most section. 25% is truly insane. The steepest section of Gaul Rd, meanwhile, is 10% for about a tenth of a mile. And Gaul has a couple of short recovery descents. I'm beginning to feel a little silly for bitching about Gaul so much.

So I rode two circuits of this. 422-Sportsman-Hospital-Furnace-North Galen Hall past the Caron Foundation, then descended North Galen Hall to Hill Rd and back to 422. 20 miles total, which doesn't seem like a lot. But the climbing, of course, made the whole thing seem longer. Here's the Path Profile. I think you can pick out the Texter Mountain section (click to enlarge):

Lebanon Half-Century II

It was a beautiful day for riding yesterday, so I revisited last Sunday's horribly aborted mission and rode out to Lebanon and back. Compared with my previous 2 half-centuries, I could really feel an improvement in my fitness level. This trip was non-stop (minus a few traffic lights) and in the saddle for the entire 3-hour ride. Speaking of which, 3:06.00 was the exact trip time -- a full hour shorter than my previous two half-centuries.

The one aspect of riding which I absolutely have to improve is my average speed. Now granted, it was a windy day, but my average speed was 15.9 mph. That sucks. It sucks by at least 6-8 mph. I think with my time trial workouts on Thursdays, this will improve. Hopefully.

Puncture-Free Thursday

At last, a ride without a flat. Most excellent.

And there's more good news. I topped my previous 10 mile time trial record by a full minute. 31:06 (previously, 32:01). Slowly but surely, I'm nearing a respectable speed and endurance level, but I'm still about 6-8 minutes away from achieving where I'd like to be.

After partaking in the open men's room at Shocktoberfest, I rode back down to Wernersville, then around Elm and Ruth to Wooltown, then up to Hospital Rd for some climbing and descending (no cars!). My front wheel was a little off true, so I made a pitstop at Technocycle for a quick tune-up.

Brad at Technocycle (he referred to this month as 'HOT-tober') mentioned that he thought my saddle was too far forward, forcing me to use more of the back of my legs than the front. Maybe so, but I'm hesitant to monkey with my saddle at this point because my knee-cap/petalla issues are gone. Zilch. No post-ride soreness these days. That makes me smile.