This Saturday’s ride will be a 30-35 miler.
We leave at 8:30 AM sharp at the Onyx Ice Arena parking lot on Dequindre near 24 Mile road, ride up Dequindre to Stony Creek, ride the lake loop and the run to the nature center, come back out of the park and take 26 mile to Mound, pick up the Macomb Orchard Trail there and ride it till the pavement runs out north of the M-53 bridge. Then back to the Onyx.
Please comment below so we know you are coming.
We had a great turnout of our regular riders for the annual Ride of Silence in downtown Detroit on June 20.
Pat, Chris, Cliff, Ray and Mike all made it, joining about 200 others for an event held simultanelously across the country and in several other nations to honor those killed or injured in traffic while riding their bikes.
We met on Belle Isle in Detroit, headed up Jefferson to Woodward, up Woodward to the Comerica ball park and then back to the island. Somewhere near the ballpark a group of Detroit cyclists on shiny crusisers joined up with us.
The ride was a lot of fun, despite lots of glass on Belle Isle and a deeply runnted and potholed Jefferson Avenue.
Here’s a video:
After being rained out from our group ride at 8:30 AM this Saturday, I saw a break in the storms around 10 am and headed out to Stony Creek. The rain was gone – at first – but was replaced by a very stiff wind that the radio said was gusting to over 40 miles an hour.
About 18 miles in, the sun disappeared and the clouds moved in again.
The last two miles was a different story. It was in a driving wind AND rain that fell so hard it stung. The temp dropped 10 degrees. Really, it was a lot of fun. Ended up with a tad over 20 miles. What’s that saying, “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger?”
Also came across into a group of Macomb County Sheriffs deputies training for a bicycle detail There were 50 of them in one of the parking lots, most on Trek Mountain Bikes, learning how to maneuver in tight corners marked off by cones. Here’s some pictures. Click on any picture to see full size.
The Road Machine fluid trainer
Okay, it’s been a week now since I bought my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine indoor trainer and, as promised, here’s my review.
I’ve done six workouts on it now, using my Trek Madonne 5.5 road bike. Hooking it up took all of about five minutes. I removed the rear wheel skewer and inserted a special skewer that fits into the adjustable upper arm holders that mounts the bike.
The 6.25 pound flywheel has spins a sealed fluid chamber that makes the trainer no more noisier than a treadmill or elliptical trainer. You adjust the 2 1/8 inch roller until it touches the rear wheel, give the resistance know about two full turns and, according to the instructions, you’ve got a friction that approximates the road.
My setup
I have the bike and trainer set up in front of my lower level big screen TV.
Up until last week, I’ve never done a spinning class though I was so tempted I almost joined a health club this fall. I’m glad I didn’t because the DVD that comes with the trainer features three spinning workouts of a around a half hour. They’re called Spinervals and they’re very professionally shot, featuring nternationally known coach Troy Jacobson.
I’ve done all of them twice now and am really hooked. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so fast and so much in a half hour. The workouts have you alternate between chainrings and intensity and when I finished this morning, I was hitting a heart rate of 165 on the sprints, about two beats per minute over my max.
The workouts on the DVD also provide some valuable coaching on technique, one-leg exercises and are aimed to boost power and speed. My cadence is peaking at 125 to 130 on the sprints and after just six workouts, I’m more aware of form and gearing.
One thing I had to buy after just the second workout was a big exercise mat. The sweat pours off in buckets and, although we’ve had sub zero weather outside lately and my basement is usually quite cool, I also need a big fan and a sweat towell draped over the handlebars.
I’ve been using my Garmin Edge 705 to track the workputs. The HR monitor and the cadence counter and timer worked fine but indoors, even with GPS turned off, the spoke magnet just wouldn’t register my speed and distance. The unit worked fine outside but, despite lots of back and forth on Bike Forums, I couldn’t get it to do speed or distance on the trainer. Then, on a whim, I took another magnet off my other bike and… just like that… it worked. Now it’s just like being outside.
Well, not just like. Today it was minus nine below during my workout. But I am so excited with this setup.
This is what a "virtual ride" looks like on the TV
I’m so hooked on the DVD workouts I’ve ordered four more of them, including one just for Clydesdales. These run longer, up to an hour. I’ve also ordered a Virtual Ride, am “on-the-road” virtual reality video that runs 2:50 recording a 56 mile ride through the Adirondack region of upstate New York around Lake Placid. That will be my “long” Saturday workout, getting ready for when we can all start riding again outside.
I should be in the best shape yet for the start of a season.
Even indoors, it’s good to be back in the saddle again.
