Well if all the accident reports were not enough, and we have had a few locally with the Texas Flyers too, my HR is all screwy so I guess I'm done for near to distant future.
 
Last night I had to bail on a social ride! They do hit some hills and I used to be able to go up them pretty well but last night I was feeling good and going up and catching some faster folks and I look down 180bpm ack! So I drop down to my lowest gear and slowly go up the hill and get down to 150 *sigh*. And yes for the record it is embarrassing to fly half way up a hill and suddenly stop to a crawl and get passed by people who were half a mile behind you and are much slower riders. Certainly not a good way to show bents can climb.
 
I rode a few more miles with the group and even mild inclines were causing me to drop waaay off the back. Ray dropped back and chatted with me a bit but when we hit the next regroup I called it quits. I called Christine and talked to her for a few minutes and said yup ok I'm heading home then said my goodbye and headed home while the rest of the group went deep into the hills.  
 
I am trying to keep my HR in the 130s (medical reasons not training) and now that I'm on some blood pressure medication apparantly it is alot harder to do that and to make it worse I can't sense what my HR is without and have to look at my heart rate monitor. So I'm out of that group for now until things settle down or at least till after HHH. Right now it is sort of a social group training for HHH rather then a social ride.
 
Two days of commuting seem to be going well. Yesterday I had an average heart rate of 104 with a 134 max on the way in and did 22 miles in about 1:30 with a couple stops for lights and signs here and there. The hills right out the door when I leave work are a little too much but there isn't any traffic going my direction at that point so I can crawl along them at my liesure.

I had a friend who heart rate was too high so he quit wearing his monitor.  The Quadruple bypass he had later that year may have solved his heart rate problem.

Mark - if you want to go for an easy ride, just let me know.   I'd love to ride with you.  It's the first time you've ever bailed on one of our rides, and I certainly understand why.  That is why I kept nagging you to provide full disclosure. You're a dear friend, and we can always ride a slower pace and still have a very enjoyable ride.  Most of my 2009 has been relegated to slower average speeds.