I haven’t made as many entries in my blog as usual this year. With my cratered left shoulder, I just haven’t done anywhere near as many long distance rides. Riding recumbent bikes as I do, I was able to keep riding with my shoulder, but even with comfortable bikes that put no pressure on it, the road vibration, and keeping my arm in one position for so long, made the long distance rides really tough. I was in a world of hurt at the end of each one this year.

I stayed busier than usual on weekends, so there weren’t a lot of club rides, either. Most of my miles so far this year have come on weekday rides. Many have just been little rides from home (Rose and I have already put 1,500 miles on the RANS Screamer tandem I bought in March). But I’ve also done a lot of Tuesday and Thursday FWBA (Fort Worth Bicycling Association) club rides that I haven’t bothered to post about.

Since April, more Tuesdays than not, I’ve ridden the FWBA Rusty Chain Gang Ramble. This ride starts at the City of Fort Worth building on Columbus Trail in south Fort Worth. This is only six and a half miles from home, so I’ve always just ridden to the start. I usually end up with forty something miles.

On Thursdays, I’ve been doing the FWBA Burleson & Beyond club ride. This ride starts in old downtown Burleson, again about six and a half miles from home, so I’ve just ridden to the start of this ride, too. I end up with between 50 and 66 miles on this ride.

The Rusty Chain Gang is a group of older riders within FWBA, but their Tuesday ride attracts riders of all ages. There are fast riders on both of these rides, but there are more who ride an easier pace, especially on the Tuesday rides, so I have no trouble keeping up on either ride. It is a core of really nice people who do these rides, and I have to say that I have really enjoyed being around them these past months.

More often than not, I’m ahead of the main group on each ride, chasing the fast riders (but usually not catching and keeping up with them), but I also do an easier pace some days, and just enjoy the company. Even on days when I’m not in the middle of the group a lot, these rides make lots of stops, so there is plenty of time for chatting and visiting during stops.

I’ve always ridden the Corsa on these rides, but today, for the first time, I rode the Xstream. It was a chilly morning, so the Xstream’s fairing looked appealing, so I just took off on it. I’ve known for a long time that I’m slower on the Xstream than Corsa, but there are plenty of easy pace riders on these Tuesday rides, so I figured I’d still be able to keep up with most. I enjoyed today’s ride a lot, and surprisingly, got a better comparison of the Corsa and Xstream speed than I ever have.

I hadn’t thought about it, but when you spend months and months doing the same rides with the same riders, you learn your capabilities, as compared to them, very well. I know which riders I can keep up with on a hill, and which ones will drop me. I know which ones pedal on downhills, which lets me coast along without passing them, and which ones sit up and thus make me get around them. I know when I’m having a strong day, and when I’m struggling.

So, today’s ride became the best comparison I’ve ever had between the Corsa and Xstream. First, I was a bit surprised to learn that the Xstream seems to be really close to the same speed as the Corsa on downhills and flats. I didn’t think it was that fast. That fairing does make a difference. The big difference in the bikes though, came on the climbs. The Xstream, rigged for commuting with its fairing, rear rack and Aero Trunk, and heavy wheels, is a much heavier bike than the Corsa, and was understandably much slower on the hills. I wasn’t able to keep up with nearly as many climbers as usual. But, once on the flats or downhills, I seemed to catch up just as quickly as on the Corsa.

Since I haven’t commuted since February, this has me thinking about making the Xstream as light as I can (except for the fairing, which I love in the winter), and seeing what it will do. I start a new job next week, so my days of doing these Tuesday and Thursday club rides is at an end, and I probably won’t get to compare the lighter Xstream on either of the club rides I know best, but it still sounds like a fun undertaking. The new job is field service work, so there will be no commuting to work on the bike.

Below are maps of the usual routes of the Tuesday and Thursday rides. They do vary a bit from week to week. For example, Last Thursday’s ride was a bit shorter than usual, due to an approaching cold front. Also below is a comparison from my Garmin of today’s ride on the Xstream, and last Tuesday’s ride on the Corsa. My average speed was almost the same, but last Tuesday was a much tougher day, with the wind really howling, and my average heart rate was still a bit higher on the Xstream today. There was a mile difference in the distance, but most stats were pretty close.

Today’s Rusty Chain Gang Ramble route.

Last Thursday’s Burleson & Beyond route.

I had a physical therapy appointment for my shoulder rehab this morning, so I didn’t get to join the Rusty Chain Gang Ramble club ride like I’ve been doing on most Tuesdays lately. But, after I got home from PT, I took off on the Corsa and headed for a spot southeast of Joshua where I’d ridden on last Thursday’s Burleson & Beyond club ride. At this particular spot was a big cluster of wild grapes growing on a fence. I decided it was time to pick some wild grapes.

Ever since I added the Fastback Double Century bag setup to the Corsa (to move the Camelbak Unbottle to the right side, where my good shoulder is), I’ve been doing most rides without the Radical seat bag I always used. I just put some essential stuff in the right side Fastback bag, and don’t use the bigger Radical seat bag unless I’m doing a randonneuring ride where I want to carry a spare tire, more tools, etc.

But, today I put the Radical bag on the bike, and tossed in a couple of wally world plastic bags to fill with grapes. I ended up stopping at a spot before the one where I’d seen all the grapes the other day. It seems that the area just east of Joshua is a good one for wild grapes. In less than 10 minutes, I had filled a plastic bag so full of grapes that I had a tough time getting it in the seat bag (remind me to take the Xstream, with its huge Aerotrunk bag, on my next grape picking ride).

I’m a novice at picking wild grapes, and didn’t realize that the prime time for picking them has already passed. Some of the grapes were already starting to wither, but there were still plenty of good ones. I’m just as big a novice at making grape jelly, so we’ll see how that goes. I ended up with 38.9 miles.

The grape vine.

Seat bag full of grapes.

The wild grape ride route.

I joined Paul Brown, Gary Gotlieb, and Sharon Stevens and rode the Venus to Elm Mott 200k yesterday. It was a beautiful morning with winds that never got up too much, but it got a bit hot in the afternoon. Sharon kept the pace pretty easy, as we were trying to mostly stay together. I did take off at a faster pace when we left Elm Mott at the turnaround for the 22 miles back to the Malone control, figuring a longer break there would help my shoulder.

Paul, a fellow recumbent rider, rode strong all day. I felt strong early, but faded as my shoulder hurt more and more. That’s the way most of my longer rides have gone this year. I’m thinking this will likely be my last 200k of the year. Maybe my shoulder will tolerate one better by early next year. I ended up with 128 miles.

Elm Mott Trot route.
” alt=”” />

In spite of the fact that my left shoulder had been sliced and diced on two weeks ago, I headed down to Wichita Falls yesterday, and this morning I rode the 100 mile route of the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred. This trip is always a blast, the ride down with DJ, camping at the church community center, visiting with everyone there, the bike show at the convention center, the ride to the start early in the morning, and all the rest.

I usually enjoy the ride a lot too, but I can’t say that this year’s ride will be remembered as one of my favorites. The highlight of the ride was definitely the ride through Sheppard Air Force Base. The 100 mile route had never gone through it before this year, and I’d never ridden anything except the 100 mile route, so I’d never been through Sheppard on HHH day. It’s pretty special having all those airmen cheering for you as you ride through.

Overall though, I have to give a thumbs down to the new route. The new turn south at mile 15 takes you to some rolling hills on high ground that really catch the wind (and the south wind was howling today). Then, when you finally turn north and get a great tail wind, the road gets so rough that you can’t take advantage of it. The 100k and 100 mile routes splitting so early broke up the paceline I was in, the remaining riders in it on the 100 mile route soon broke up, and I could never find a paceline that I fit well in after that.

By the time I reached Electra and rejoined the old route, I had stayed out in the wind by myself way too much, and would pay the price for it later. I made a 2 minute stop at mile 60. I took a quick nature break, but the stop was really more to give my aching shoulder and toes a quick break. I really hit the wall at mile 70, plus had GI issues that made my stop there even longer, never recovered very much, and was barely moving by the time I finished. That last 18 miles straight into the wind was brutal. But I did finish. I’m going to call that a victory on this day that I felt more like the bug than the windshield.

I finished in 6:14 (my second slowest time ever at HHH). My on the bike time was 5:52, so I stopped for a total of 22 minutes. That’s much more off the bike time than I usually do at HHH, but it was the only way I thought I could finish today. It looked like lots of riders were struggling in the wind at HHH today, though, so I was in good company.

HHH 100 mile route.

I took off at 7:30 this morning to ride the FWBA Alvarado Adventure club ride. I had intentions of doing the 84 mile route, but that didn’t quite work out.

This route starts at the Alvarado High School and goes southwest to Sand Flat at mile 18, then on to Rio Vista at mile 30. The 84 mile route then does an 18 mile loop to the west before returning to the Rio Vista store, then does a more southerly loop through Grandview before returning to Alvarado.

I fell off the back of the A group after a few miles, but at around mile 12, an A group rider struck a dog. The rider was able to continue, the dog hobbled away on three legs, and the delay was enough that the A and B groups reunited, and we all rode together to Rio Vista.

It was a long stop, and figuring that most riders would turn around there and do the 68 mile route, 4 of us took off and continued on to do the 84 mile route. After we arrived back in Rio Vista, a good size group came in shortly behind us, so we waited for them and all took off together toward Grandview. I guess the cloudy day had everyone wanting to do more miles than usual. I’ve never seen this large a group doing an over 80 mile route on an FWBA ride.

A few miles into this leg of the ride, I found myself a little ways in front of the group, kicked up to a little more brisk pace, and never saw the group again. By the time I got to Grandview, there were storms to be seen off to the north and south. I decided to skip the Grandview stop, and take a shorter route back to the start than the club route called for. I managed to finish without getting rained on, and ended up with 75.7 miles.

I felt better than I figured I would, considering it’s only 8 days after my shoulder surgery. This is a fairly flat, low traffic route, and I like these roads. I’ll do this route again when the club rides it.

Modified version of the 84 mile Alvarado Adventure route.

I took off from home this morning on the Corsa, rode to the start, and joined the Rusty Chain Gang Ramble club ride. I rode a fairly easy pace and cut off the route at Sundance Circle. I ended up with 37.2 miles.

Don’t tell my doctor. It’s been four days since he sliced and diced on my left shoulder.

I took off from the Cleburne High School at 7:30 this morning, along with 2,500 or so other riders, and did the Goatneck Bike Ride. This route is just under 70 miles of almost all rolling hills. Since I’m faster than most downhill and slower than most uphill, I never try to ride with anyone else on this ride. I just ride my own pace, passing a lot of bikes on the downhills and getting passed by a lot of bikes on the uphills.

The roads were in fairly good shape this year, except for a stretch of brand new boulder seal at mile 39. Traffic control is always good for this ride. The only problem I always have on these hills is getting slower riders out of the way on the downhills so I can pass. Everyone thinks to move right if they’re climbing slow, but they’ll spread all over the road on the downhills, never checking behind them for anyone trying to pass.

I rode fairly well (for me) today, finishing the ride at 11:34 am. I climbed both County Line Hill and Goatneck Hill in my middle chain ring, and never had to use my granny gear at all. Some years, I don’t manage that on this route. I made one 5 minute stop at mile 47, and ended up with a 17.4 mph on the bike average, which is good for me on a ride with all these hills.

Goatneck 70 mile route.

I rode the West Out & Back 255k route yesterday. It turned into one of those tough rides that serve to remind me that, big surprise, I’m not bulletproof after all.

I joined rando friends Stephen, Sharon, Vickie, and Pam for a 6:30 am start at Lynn Creek Marina at Joe Pool Lake. From there, the route goes south to Italy, then on to West, then back. Pam had knee issues early, and we made a couple of stops and rode a pretty easy pace.

I had no problem with that. I’d already decided that I would need to ride an easy pace in this heat, and brought my lights and reflective gear, even though I figured we’d be done hours before dark. Stephen and Sharon, riding a tandem, felt great all day, but Pam, Vickie, and I all suffered from the heat before the day was over. The temperature reached 100 by shortly after noon, and we hadn’t even reached the turnaround point at West by then. By that afternoon, the temperature was 108, and we were seeing 114 degrees on the road.

I was fine when we made an unscheduled cool-off stop at Malone at mile 95, but by the time I reached a small store at Milford, at mile 111, still 7 miles short of our next control stop, I was barely moving, and feeling like I couldn’t go on. Vickie had also stopped at this store, also feeling overheated. I had fallen behind Vickie and Pam when I had a flat at mile 97, but picked a spot right beside Vickie on the store floor to rest, cool off, and recover. I looked so bad that the couple who owned the store did their best to talk my riding companions into not letting me continue. But of course, that didn’t happen.

We continued on, with frequent stops the rest of the way. I did a better job of keeping cold water poured on my arm coolers, and never got that overheated again, though I can’t say I had much speed or strength the rest of the way. Vickie and I finished the ride at 9:16, 14 hours and 46 minutes after we started it, and the rest of the crew was a few minutes behind us. I ended up with 160.1 miles. And thus ended another great rando adventure that brought on the thought: “What was I thinking?”

West Out and Back 255k route.

I took off from the Bicycles Inc store in Arlington at 8:00 this morning to join the FWBA Bicycles Inc club ride. I rode the 61 mile route, which heads south out to Venus and then back. I fell in with a group which seemed to be about the right speed for me and rode with them all the way to Venus without stopping.

Cheri Brown was among the group. The group kept picking up speed along the way, and even though they slowed down twice to let Cheri rejoin after she had gotten dropped, I still arrived in Venus with a 17.7 mph average, a much faster pace than I had intended for the day. After riding 62 miles Thursday and 30 miles yesterday, a bit easier pace was what I had in mind for today.

The other riders in the group were all doing the 80 mile route, so I headed back from Venus alone, and eased the pace quite a bit. But, halfway back, a faster group caught me, and I joined them. I couldn’t resist pedaling past the entire paceline on a long downhill run, and of course that made them hammer the rest of the way, so I paid the price for my fun.

I finished the ride before noon with 61.1 miles and a 17.4 mph average for the ride. That was an early enough finish that I joined Rose for lunch. She works nearby. I believe it’s nap time now.

FWBA Bicycles Inc 61 mile route.

I built new wheels for our Screamer tandem, and we tried them out for the first time this morning. The Screamer came with Rhino Lite wheels that are too wide for any tire much more narrow than the 1.5″ Marathons we’ve been running. I wanted to add a set of go-fast wheels and tires for the bike.

I decided I wanted Velocity Aeroheat rims for the new wheels. These are fairly light but really strong rims. I found a bargain on a 40 spoke 559 (26″) rim for the rear at Jenson and a great price on a 36 spoke 406 (20″) for the front on ebay. The rear rim was black while the front one was purple, but I decided I could live with a little mismatch in color to get a great deal. It ended up being an even better deal than I was expecting.

When the 406 rim arrived, it was a 32 hole rim, not 36 as listed. I emailed the seller and told him the rim was not as advertised. He replied promptly, telling me that, indeed, the rim had been listed wrong, that all the rims he had were 32 hole rims, that he had no 36 hole rims. He refunded my money and told me to just keep the rim.

Meanwhile, I was planning on buying hubs and spokes from Peter White Cycles. Their website points out that Velocity Aeroheat rims are very strong, and 406 rims are very strong, and if you use a 406 Aeroheat rim, it’s so strong that you never need to use more than 32 spokes, no matter what the application. Since I already had a 32 spoke 406 Aeroheat rim that I had obtained free of charge laying around, I decided to put that theory to the test, and ordered a hub and spokes for it. It will be interesting to see how it holds up.

I also had mixed feelings about how wide of tires to run. The Aeroheat rims are wide enough that I could still run something as wide as 40mm (1.5″) if I wanted, but narrow enough to run 25mm tires. I decided to try 28mm tires on both front and rear. I bought a Schwalbe Durano for the front and installed a Gatorskin that I already had on the rear. The bike rode nice with them on today’s maiden voyage. It’s noticeably faster on any downhill now. Only time will tell if these are the tires I want to run long term on the bike, but I think the wheels are winners. They still ran true after today’s 29 mile ride, so I think my build is good.

The new wheels, freshly built.

On the bike.

The rear wheel with Gatorskin installed.

The new Durano on the front.