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| 1 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: May 4th, 2024, 6:31pm |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by jayg | |
| Saturday 5/4/24 WRL Ride: Rain was in the forecast as I left for the lake this morning. I thought I might run across Bob M at the lake, since the Plano East Side Ride had been cancelled due to the rain threat. I spotted Kenny J riding his Dumont trike on the south end of the lake as I was driving east on Garland Road. I didn't expect to see any other members of the Clown group, other than Bob, so was surprised to see Butch Y and Lynn M drive into the Sunset Bay parking lot while I was preparing to unload my trike from my van. I led Butch and Lynn out of Sunset Bay and we headed for the north end of the SoPac Trail. Seven and a half miles later at the north end we did a 180 and headed back down the trail. After we had ridden about a mile and a half, we ran across Bob M riding in the opposite direction. After some discussion, we decided to turn around, catch up with Bob, and ride with him. We caught up with him at the north end of the trail. Since we were riding several mph faster than our normal Clown Ride pace, Bob suggested that we continue on at our pace without him. We then rode south to the Ridgewood Trail exit and did a round trip to Glencoe Park, south of Mockingbird Station. Back on the SoPac, we rode to the lake and on to the Trinity Forest Spine Trail. After riding both branches of that trail, we rode counterclockwise back to Sunset Bay. After a break, we did a clockwise lake lap. Kenny was in the parking lot when we arrived back at Sunset Bay. Kenny and Lynn loaded up their trikes in their vehicles and Butch and I rode counterclockwise to the Green Spot where we met Kenny for lunch and conversation. Following lunch, Butch and I completed an elevated pace counterclockwise lake lap back to Sunset Bay. Got in 50.6 miles at an 18.2 mph average and 97 bpm average heart rate. Max speed was 26.9 mph and max heart rate was 124 bpm. The trails were not as crowded as on a typical nice-weather Saturday but were crowded enough to impede our progress and pose safety problems at times. There were several groups of roadies riding aggressively on trails crowded with pedestrians. We had three recreational riders all of a sudden ride out onto the Santa Fe Trail in front of us from the entrance to the Arboretum Village shopping center without looking. We were riding at 19 mph and had to take evasive action. Good day for me. This was the strongest I've felt since getting back to riding on a regular basis. Didn't feel wiped out after 50.6 miles, like I've been feeling after previous slower rides. |
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| 2 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: May 2nd, 2024, 6:37pm |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by jayg | |
| Thursday 5/2/24 WRL Clown Ride: Participants: Larry K, E Bob, Kenny J, Butch Y, Daniel S, Bob M, Lynn M, and me. Larry and Kenny arrived early and rode solo. E Bob, Butch, and Daniel arrived late and rode solo. Bob M led Lynn and me on two lake laps and SoPac Trail up-and-backs. Bob M and Lynn packed it in after we had ridden 41+ miles. Kenny and I rode to the Green Spot where we met Lynn and Keith D, an old riding buddy, for lunch and conversation. After lunch, Kenny took the short route back to Sunset Bay, while I completed a low energy, slow (13 mph), counterclockwise lake lap. I got in 52+ miles. I got a late start because I forgot my battery, so I had to drive back home to retrieve it. When I got back to the lake, found out I had forgotten my headlight, taillight, and Garmin computer. Doh! Bob M and Lynn were already riding on the trail by the time I returned to the lake, so I put the pedal to the metal and finally caught up with them at the north end of the SoPac Trail. One close call when I was trying to catch up with Bab and Lynn on the SoPac: I was rolling north about 24 mph when I spotted a roadie riding south in my lane. I thought he saw me and would pull over into his lane. Instead, he steered into me. At the last instant he saw me and steered back into his lane, avoiding a head on collision. |
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| 3 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: May 1st, 2024, 9:23am |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by jayg | |
| Tuesday 4/30/24 WRL Clown Ride: Participants: Larry K, E Bob, Kenny J, Bob M, Lynn M, Butch Y, Don C, and me. Larry, E Bob, and Kenny rode solo. Bob M led Lynn, Butch, and me on two lake laps and SoPac Trail up-and-backs. Bob M and Lynn packed it in after we had ridden 41+ miles. Don arrived late and rode solo, until he joined Kenny, Butch, and me for lunch at the Green Spot. After lunch, Kenny took the short route back to Sunset Bay, while Butch, Don and I completed a fast counterclockwise lake lap. I got in 52.1 miles at a 16.3 mph average. Uneventful ride, until Butch, Don, and I were about to cross Buckner Blvd. on our way to the Green Spot. We had a green light, and a car blew through a red light at about 50 mph in front of us. This is the second time this has happened. We have to be very careful crossing Buckner. I was feeling wiped out after 41+ miles. Felt somewhat revived after lunch. Felt wiped out again after completing the fast counterclockwise lake lap. Still haven't recovered from not riding much for about a month. Yesterday, I completed the 750w Tongsheng e-drive installation on Terry C's Catrike 700. He met me at the Mosquito Works after I arrived home from WRL this afternoon. I fitted him to the trike, he test rode it, and took it home. |
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| 4 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 27th, 2024, 4:53pm |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by rmillay | |
| Ferd canceled, so I went to the lake this morning to fight the wind and the crowds. I added a run on the Santa Fe trail to past the high school and park, then back to an up and back on the SPT, then a lake lap. Then I tacked on another jaunt on the Santa Fe and and overshot up to the turn off to the boathouses, and back to the car to get 32 miles. The wind was bad on E. Lawther, which made it easier to quit then, as we have my daughter and son-in-law visiting. Saw two other trikes, and Darth, but none of me mates. | |
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| 5 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 25th, 2024, 6:57pm |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by jayg | |
| Thursday 4/25/24 WRL Clown Ride: Participants: Larry K, E Bob, Kenny J, Bob M, Lynn M, and me. Larry, E Bob, and Kenny each rode solo. Bob M led Lynn and me on two lake laps and SoPac Trail up-and-backs. Bob packed it in after 41+ plus miles. Lynn and Kenny loaded up their trikes and drove to the Green Spot. I rode there on my Aero trike and joined them for lunch and conversation. Following lunch, I put the peddle to the metal and completed a fast counterclockwise lake lap. Got in 52 .1 miles at a 16.2 mph average. Max speed was 32.2 mph when I was following Lynn as she was driving towards the Green Spot on East Lawther. Not a whole lot of cycling activity on the trails. There were several small groups of roadies and a number of individual upright riders. There was one huge group of police bike patrol trainees riding the lake trail. Good day for me. My legs were strong, and my knees didn't bother me the whole day. No incidents or mechanicals. |
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| 6 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 24th, 2024, 8:02am |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by square_corners | |
| 23-Apr-24 TUE POTEET RIDE My friend Ed has been doing the Tuesday ride solo, which is not a comfortable option in various levels of evening rush hour traffic. I decided if I could keep up with him, I'd be able to accomplish 2 things - keep him company giving him a bit more security on the ride and give me an option for an additional ride like I used to do, and if I could keep the assist level low enough, I'd get some additional fitness benefit. That went much better than expected. During the first 10 miles I did use higher assist levels ranging from 2 to 4 as the first part has some steep hills and I was also trying to assess what I really needed in terms of assist. So that was a third of the ride. The rest of the ride, I did 90% on Level 1. I got a workout and learned that higher assist levels could be used sparingly. So, at intersections I'd set the assist to 4 so I could get a jump start crossing the intersection. Then I would quickly lower it to 1 and settle into a steady pace using minimal assist. This all worked great, and Ed was very happy I joined him. I intend to do this every Tuesday evening when weather is good! It was super strong wind as there had been in the morning, gusting as high as 29 mph. It wasn't an issue for me so strong wind is not a deal breaker for me. At the end, my battery had dropped from 57 volts to 55 - still plenty of juice left! 32 miles |
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| 7 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 24th, 2024, 8:01am |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by square_corners | |
| 23-Apr-24 TUE CLOWN RIDE I intended to ride both this ride and the evening ride today. Because I was going to do both on the Catrike, I didn't use the e-assist very much. Instead, I used the shift lever and momentum to get over the few steeper spots on the route. I rode about 60% of the first 20 miles on level zero and about 80% on level zero, on the 2nd 20-mile loop. On the battery, voltage dropped from 58 to 57 during this 40 miles. I had no idea what to expect keeping up with a potentially fast road bike rider on a much hillier course on the evening ride. 40 miles |
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| 8 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 24th, 2024, 8:00am |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by square_corners | |
| 21-Apr-24 SUN ROCKWALL - FORNEY RIDE Well, another one of these rides in the book. It was a pretty chilly morning with a NNE wind pushing us down toward Forney. You'd think I would have felt good in those conditions but I didn't. I felt very sluggish and Eva and Ed started strong while I struggled to keep the pace. With a lot of effort, I struggled to catch up when they caught a light. I wanted to be sure to make all the crossings when they did so I wouldn't fall farther behind than i had to. Finally I shifted down 3 or 4 times and made it so I was spinning a low gear to match their pace. That tailwind didn't help at all. We finally got down to Panera Bread in Forney where we enjoyed sunshine and shelter from the wind on the outdoor patio. After 42 minutes shooting the breeze at Panera, we headed out for the ordeal into the headwind. I couldn't imagine how much worse I'd feel in that wind. But, a funny thing happened. As I got warmed up again, I realized the headwind wasn't all that bad. It felt relatively easy. I don't think Ed had that impression as at times I'd pull around in front of him and let him get on my wheel. For me, it was nowhere near the ordeal I had expected. The ride ended up on that high note - didn't seem to be as much of an effort going into the wind as the earlier tailwind had seemed. I chalk it up to one of the mysteries of life! 43 miles |
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| 9 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 24th, 2024, 7:59am |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by square_corners | |
| 19-Apr-24 FRI VELO VETS + the FERNDALE LOOP I've felt really good this week despite riding 4 days in a row. On the Ferndale Loop, though I held back on fast climbing because I was keeping my heart rate in check. Nonetheless, I still kept up just fine. For once, I was on time at the Big Thicket for the start. The group did a nice pace around the lake before heading up Ferndale. We arrived at the Green Spot just as the rest of the group did. I left later than the Ferndale group from the Green Spot and rode clockwise around the lake to see if I could find them. Just as I turned off the SoPac exit, there they all were. I was very surprised. I u-turned and joined Rocky and Randel right after Cindy and Bill turned off. Randel turned off at his usual exit on the east side of the lake and Rocky and I went on to the north end of the lake before turning back. I dropped off at the Bath House parking having reached my goal of 41 miles and Rocky headed home. Why such an odd number of miles? It gave me 500 miles for the month! 41 miles |
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| 10 | General Category / Ride Reports / Re: Did you ride today? 2024 edition on: Apr 24th, 2024, 7:58am |
| Started by Bud_Bent | Post by square_corners | |
| 18-Apr-24 THU CLOWN RIDE Warm, cloudy, humid, and pleasant temperatures. Rode with Larry again, 2nd day in a row. Gives me an option to skip the evening ride as it is looking iffy - storms possible. Playing it safe. 42 miles |
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