Dobovedo's Journal of Journeys

Today was a day for just haning on at the back. I started out at the rear of the pack on Studebaker, but Craig looked at me right before we turned onto Rudy and said "you comin'?". I think I replied something like, "Crap… yes". I was more in the mood for starting out the holiday weekend by slacking off, but that rarely happens on Fridays. So we took off. We accelerated downhill and I traded pulls with Craig a couple times while everyone who was going to come with got themselves organized. By the time we got across 571 we had a sizeable group and I moved to the back. The pace lifted and I saved my energy to get up Jay's Climb, a consistent weak spot of mine, especially on the days with no warm up. I stayed with the pack, and again on Heart Attack. It seemed as if the pace was going to be brisk, but consistent and therefore not overly difficult.

Read more on Suckin’ wheel…

June 30, the halfway point of the year.

Current YTD Mileage: 4894
Year end assumption of 2x: 9788

I didn't make 5000 by the end of June. I probably could have pushed over the last 2 weeks to make it, but that was never a goal and it seemed like just too much.

Read more on June notes…

Today was one of those days that took a whole lot of work to get not very far. Rode in to work this morning at an easy enough pace but with an annoying crosswind.

Read more on Hardest easy spin ever…

This is what's fun about cycling. Riding with friends – enjoying the road, the scenery, the day, the moments. No jobs, no pressures, no worries, no BS. No pace, no time crunch, no goals, no pressure. No rain! Not much wind except in our favor. No cars (well, few). Sprint if you want, slack if you don't. Turn here, turn there, "go north for a while, then a little bit east (or west)." Sunny skies. Corn and wheat and soybeans, and farms and small towns and not much else.

Read more on TOH: Day #3 Sweet…

There are certain to be contrary opinions on this claim, but as far as I am concerned I won the only sign of the TOH that mattered. Of course, any of you who know me are well aware that I am not above making my own rules.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

[Bellefontaine pic]

The alternate plan after missing Day 1 was for Cindy to take me over to Bellefontaine to meet up with Craig and Brian. So that’s what we did. My wrists were feeling better following my 9 mile test ride. Not great, as they needed time to heal (and still do), but I was confident that I would at least do no further harm. So Sunday night the two regaled me with stories of the day’s adventures, climbs, sprints, and silliness. PK rode with them that day and the three had a good ride, leisurely and relaxed except for the hard efforts. PK was only riding for that day and Jerry came to pick her up before I arrived. Sorry I missed ya partner! But on to day 2…

Read more on TOH: Day #2 VICTORY!…

The Tour of Ohio got off to a rocky start, a non-start actually. Seems my hurting wrists during and after Friday's ride were more serious than I thought. The pain that night and Sat. morning was more than I could stand. Really bad stuff. I moved the new saddle back to the same position the old one was in, and had planned on riding today, but when I woke up this morning there was still numbness and tingling. I probably could have done the ride, but 80 miles just seemed to much. Better to get one more day of rest and take a short test ride to see how things felt.

I went out for a quick 9 mile spin around the bike path. That was pretty much enough to tell me what I need to know. Being back in a less agressive position took a lot of weight off my arms & hands. There was still some pain in my wrists, but I'm pretty sure it's just lingering from the previous rides, rather than anything that will get worse. Let's hope. The fastest way to heal would be days off, but I don't want to miss out on the rest of the trip, so I'll suffer a little bit in exchange. If needed I will take off (or at least drastically reduce mileage) for a couple days later in the week.

Read more on TOH: Day #1 Missed…

So today was the final ride before I miss one and the streak will be broken on Monday. An even 50 consecutive M/W/F rides since March 01, the sole exception being the day we were in Helen, GA. But storms back at home kept everyone home, so the ride didn't go off. Even though I will be riding on Monday it won't be at PECO and I can't count it. Unless the same thing happens and nobody rides for some freak reason.

Since we'll be in my hometown Monday, I had the crazy notion that I could borrow a car from my buddy, drive down to Process, do the ride, and drive back. I may just be insane enough to do that. But the thought of missing out on a trip to BW3 for wings, trivia and tall draft Blue Moons makes it worth it. And 50 is a nice round number. It should just end that way.

Read more on The streak ends at 50…

The original plan was to follow up the century with a fairly light miles day, just do the white route and either head home or out for the evening. Then get a rest day Sat. and be ready to ride Sun/Mon/Tue.

Read more on 60 Recovery? Day…

So when I did the GOBA century loop today I had no idea that the 100 would be the temperature, not the mileage.

Not to be confused with the real Hotter 'N Hell 100 in Witchita Falls, TX - and it wasn't actaully 100… the HRM said 94. Nonetheless, the temp. comin' off the pavement was way hot and I was burning up. :angryfire:

Read more on Hotter ‘n Hell 100…

Wow, what a mistake that was. I got out to PECO at about 5:55, figuring I'd miss the Ramble and ride the Red. When I got there I heard a whole lot of whining from a whole lot of Cows about feeling tired, worn out, dehydrated, "I'm going to suck", I'm going to suck wheel", I'm getting dropped". How 'bout a round of pacefiers for everyone!

Read more on How to cut the course 4 times and still finish last….

OK, so it's a goofy title, but I love a good pun, and the new Terry saddle is called a 'Falcon'.

Anyway, I went out for a quick spin on the Flyte to test out the new saddle and it feels great. Padding in all the right places, and nothing in the way more important places. Unlike the previous version of the Dragonfly, the shell is all one piece, so no seams which I think may be a source of occasional irritation. I only rode 12 miles so far, but it felt great right from the start.

Read more on Saddle Soars…

Well the weather did and did not cooperate…

It did cooperate in that it didn't rain much at all, at least not where I would have needed to be when I needed to be there. However, The forecast at noon was dire enough to scare me into driving to the office and PECO. So I only got in the green route. I figure the week will be 300 miles minimum, so no big loss.

Read more on Slow Monday…