Seldomseen Smith: July 2016

Friday, July 22, 2016

Indiana Randonneurs 400k 2016

251 miles 11,000' of climbing.

Bike:

Gear:

Bread bags for feet --- wet ride

Frame pump

2x tubes

watch

cycle gloves

wool long finger gloves

Black latex gloves over my wool gloves (great water protection)

Helmet light

GPS

tums

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Cliff bars

Recoverers

Spare shift cable

Tool seat bag with general tools.

Butt butter

Ziploc bag for Brevet card, phone, and wallet.

Pen

reflective gear

Solar battery

phone cable

GPS cable

xtra AAA

Helmet

Spare light

Gen light

2x Rear lights

Bike shorts

swim trunks

frogg togg jacket

cycle SS jersey

cycle LS wool jersey

5.10 shoes

sunglasses

night glasses

water bottles

4x Sandwiches

4x hard boiled eggs

Morgan Monroe Forest

Our 400k winds through a beautiful section of Morgan Monroe forest. I really enjoy this area. Nice quiet roads, low traffic, and very steep climbs are available if looking.

Puncture on the route before the hills. Team efforts.

As expected in southern Indiana a lot of short steep climbs. After Bedford the climbs start. County Farm road and Pearless road are the two that stand out. Quick downs and abrupt steep climbs, almost not giving you time to shift. Glorious route. While headed to the Bedford control we came across our only rain. We were on a flat farmland meadow and you could see the rain sheet coming it. It was rather amazing. It was warm enough not to bother us so no need to put on the rain gear.

Another highlight was the ride into Seymour, the last control before finish. This is a relatively flat segment, which is a nice relief, and a farming area. This segment is in the very dark on back country roads. It is a peaceful ride. On this particular day the fireflies were giving us a wonderful display. There were no clouds in the sky, no city lights, so the stars were showing all their wonder. The stars meshing softly with the fireflies was an amazing show given by nature. Well except when riding by a country barn party at 1am with a big drunk guy yelling asking if I wanted a beer...

Knee held up well, ankle is getting better. I'm more confident in my knee now, but concerned about my ankle, hoping it heals soon. I can still feel my lack of training. These rides are more difficult than last year. Because of the recent ankle injury my only "training" has been commuting. I need some long non-brevet rides soon if I want to finish the upcoming 600k and beyond.

Indiana Randonneurs 300k 2016

187 miles with 6100' of climbing.

Bike:

Arkel handlebar bag

Testing my knew Arkel tail bag for rack.

Gear:

Bread bags for feet --- wet ride

Frame pump

2x tubes

watch (I only wear a watch on rando rides)

cycle gloves

wool long finger gloves

Black latex gloves over my wool gloves (great water protection)

Helmet light

GPS

tums

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Cliff bars

Recoverers

Spare shift cable

Tool seat bag with general tools.

Butt butter

Ziploc bag for Brevet card, phone, and wallet.

Pen

reflective gear

Solar battery

phone cable

GPS cable

xtra AAA

Helmet

Spare light

Gen light

2x Rear lights

Bike shorts

swim trunks

frogg togg jacket

cycle SS jersey

cycle LS wool jersey

5.10 shoes

sunglasses

night glasses

water bottles

2x Sandwiches

Still "Testing" the knee, as I am not fully confident in it. My knee does get sore, a sharp type feeling later in rides. We'll see how it works with some climbing.

We were in for a very chilly, windy ride with a wet start. Thankfully the rain stopped at the start because it was a cold ride.

I had my 1st real mechanical issue on a brevet on this ride. About 10miles into the ride, when I pedaled the cassette would stop? I didn't take long to discover that my cassette lock nut came loose and the cassette was against the dropout. I thought my day was done, I had no tool to tighten the lock-nut.

Loose cassette lock nut.

Eventually I was able to use my multi-tool flat screwdriver bit and tap the lock-nut tight/ish again. I didn't think it would hold so once the bike was operational I turned around and headed for home. If I continued with the ride I didn't want to get to a point a 100miles away and not be able to repair the cassette if it happened to fail again. After about a mile riding back to the car everything seemed well, so I turned back around to press my luck at see if I can finish. I'm glad I changed my mind because the bike handled flawlessly the remainder of the ride.

My knee was a little sore, but I am still satisfied on how well it is healing. My ankle was sore and it definitely hurt worse than my knee. I'll buy a brace for my ankle to hopefully help promote healing.

Because of my knee injury last August I can definitely feel that my lack of training is making these rides very difficult. The 200k wasn't bad, the fleche wasn't bad either, though more miles than the 300k but no climbing. The 300k really wore me down. I was tired, sore, and slow when I finished. I'm hoping this improves.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Ohio fleche.

Team Name: Sagamores of the Wabash.

Fleche information: Rusa.org/flecherules

Riding as a team is something I haven't been apart of in Randonneuring. Yes I sometimes ride with others, we'll chat, and maybe ride together through a couple controls. A fleche is a full team ride which I really enjoyed the concept. Our Indiana team worked well together and finished within the time limits, which is really all that you can ask.

Before the ride the weather was not promising. Rain. And did it rain. I would say we were rained on for at least 19 hours. Thankfully it was relatively warm so we didn't get too cold, but the constant rain did start to drain me.

Within our team we had a few mechanicals. One guy broke a chain, which was easily repaired with spare links, and another guy broke a spoke and was able to tie the broken spoke off and continue riding.

Most frightening part of the ride is when we were crossing wet rail tracks and a couple guys took a spill. Very scary. I'm glad that no one was hurt, or at least they said they weren't hurt, and we were able to continue on.

One of the most memorable parts of the ride is when we were riding along one of Ohio's many rail to trail paths and we were sprayed by a skunk. Well two guys up front got the brunt of the good stuff, us in back just got a bad taste in our mouth. The remainder of the ride was fine as long as were didn't ride next to the two guys that got most of the spray. Thankfully those two rode home together so they didn't have to punish anyone else.

The ride was challenging probably because I haven't rode that distance since last August. The constant rain also played a role in making the ride more difficult. 5 teams attempted the ride, but 2 dropped out because of weather.

All teams met up at a restaurant which is another great concept of the fleche. After riding for some 24hrs straight you meet up with other warriors of the wheel and tell stories. Our skunk story was very popular, but sitting by us wasn't.

Best part of the ride is the fact that my knee held up well, however I did seem to tweak my right ankle. I was very happy about this. Next test for the knee is the Indiana Randonneurs 300k with over 6k feet of climbing.