Finally....an outdoor ride!

Saturday, March 19,2011

I started the morning with a hike into areas of the Metropark I or anyone seldom goes. There are no trails in the north eastern segment between River Road to the east and Chardon Road to the north and I followed a ridge leading out of a parking lot in that sector, making my way down to what appears to be an overgrown former apple orchard bordering River Road. It is full of briars and low shrubbery and the walking was very difficult, but I could see the deer made regular hikes through the area so I followed their trails and found…nothing. And the bastards took me through some of the worst briar patches I’ve ever tried to make my way through. I could hear them snickering in the distance…probably hiding their horns beneath a pile of old leaves or something.

After 90 minutes of fruitless searching, I drove the Honda to Dan’s place for a brake inspection. He drove it for about 10 minutes and said, “yup…you need brakes,”. I asked him when he could do the job and he told me as soon as I got him the car. He was going to check all the things Willoughby Hills Auto told me was wrong, as well. “I could get it out here later today and then ride my bike home,” I suggested and he agreed.

So…now I was committed to riding…and the temperatures were in the high 30’s. Still, I had to ride home from Dan’s or ride the trainer afterwards, so the cold was looking warmer all the time. I loaded the bike into the Honda, put on a long and a short-sleeved t-shirt, my rain pants over my biking shorts, two pairs of socks and headed back to Dan’s.

The sun had broken out as I unloaded the bike for the ride home and completed my cold weather gear selection. I put on a stocking cap under my helmet, booties over my riding shoes, pulled on my gloves and was ready to go. I was actually kind of warm…a bad sign when not pedaling, and wondered if I should lose the hat. I kept it on and started out…uphill. I was sweating in 5 minutes, but once I hit level ground and started creating a wind chill, I was happy with the outfit. I’d decided to take the long route home, which is 30 miles or so and felt pretty strong for the ride…a real positive sign for my first outdoor ride of the season. I did get a little cold when descending to River Road down Fairmount as I hit speeds a little over 40mph and into the wind.

I finished the ride feeling pretty good, overall. It was my first ride on John’s old bike and it fit me perfectly. The aluminum frame must be a little more forgiving because I didn’t feel as beat up after two hours of riding. Everything about the bike was just a little different than the Univega, so I’ll need a couple of more rides to make all the adjustments…which I’ll be making tomorrow when John and I hook up so he can spank me with his new, carbon-fiber, high tech racing bike.

Bike duration: 1 hour 55 minutes. Hike duration: 80 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 90 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 1750 biking. 350 hiking.