Beautiful day for a ride!

70 miles to Salado and back with Brian Buckmaster on his ICE Vortex. Stopped in Salado at the Stagecoach cafe for breakfast.

A little windy on the way back - winds 18 mph gusting to 25 mph.

Nice video of following Brian downhill @ 33 mph.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/500669483

What a beautiful day for a ride! Clear skies, moderate temperatures most of the morning and a great finish at the Shiner Brewery.

This was my fourth GASP ride (and my third finish). Four years ago I had only been riding my Musashi a couple of months and I tried my first GASP ride but pooped out at 88 miles with cramps.

• 2014 : Bacchetta TiAero 7:14 elasped time (10 mph headwind whole way)
• 2013 : Musashi 6:22 elasped time (10 mph tailwind)
• 2012 : Optima Baron 7:41 minutes (really wiped out at end)
• 2011 : Musashi DNF after 88 miles

I really like this ride. It has a lot of fast riders, but also a good mixture of other speed riders so that you are always riding with or near someone.

I was really wanting to ride the Lightning F-40 this year but my wife had other commitments and I would have had to ferry the bike back in an 18 wheeler tractor trailer with all the other bikes and I was very concerned about the fairing getting crushed in the melee. So instead this year I rode the Bacchetta TiAero.

I now have five rides on the TiAero for about 230 total miles.

Since I had the new Garmin VIRB video camera I decided to start out in the middle of the packet and film the mass start and how a recumbent does vs uprights on a fast smooth downhill out of town ride. I knew that the first 4 or 5 miles where going to be very recumbent friendly and thought that I could catch the leaders by the time the first significant uphill comes along.

Here is a video clip showing the mass start. It is a little long at 12 minutes but I’ll be passing about 1,000 riders in the first four minutes and almost pass the lead pack before they kicked it up a notch when I saw me catching them.

Of course I started way too fast and later in the ride I paid the price.

Here you can see my average speed and heart rate for the 101.5 miles.

I expended quite a bit of energy catching the lead pack and averaged over 20 mile per hour for the first hour. On the TiAero no less. Once I backed off the effort the next 55 miles were a pretty nice easy pace enjoying the beautiful day and gorgeous countryside. You can see on the chart that around mile 80 the dehydration got to me because my speed went way down and my heart rate went up and stayed up even though I was easy peddling.

GASP is always a very well supported ride and this year was no exception.

My first stop was at mile marker 30 rest stop #2. Water out, water in, and back on the road again.

Next stop was the 50 mile half way point, rest stop #3, and the start of the 1/2 GASP Whizzerville Hall. They serve pizza here for lunch so the place was packet. I topped off my water again and then quickly headed back out on the road.

I skipped rest stop #4 but had to stop at #5 mile 73 Elm Grove Church. Rested some, filled up with water and headed out again. I must have stayed to long because shortly after leaving the rest stop I started to cramp up. By not the temperature had been in the mid-80s for quite awhile and I probably had not been drinking enough. While climbing a moderately long hill I could feel my left leg start to cramp at the inner quad. I managed to unclip and get off the bike before a hard cramp hit my left leg quad. My massage therapist had showed me a technique for grabbing the knotted muscle and squeezing just enough while gently pushing and pulling the muscle towards the attaching tendons to get it to release. This worked like a champ. I quickly released the muscle, took a couple of endurolytes, and walked another 200 yards to the top of the hill. For the next twenty five miles it was easy peddle time.

I stopped at both the next rest stops #6 and #7. Number 7 has ice! So I filled my camelbak up with ice and water and tried to make it the last 8 miles into Shiner. I ended up walking another hill even though it wasn’t very long or steep - I was just too wore out. I probably ended up walking a total of 500 yards which isn’t too much compared to riding 101.5 miles.

Here is the last two minutes of riding, finally arriving at the Shiner Brewery. By now everybody is just glad to be finishing.

Hmmm, this was a hard fought medal.

The headwinds this year were 10 mph and constant. The whole ride was almost entirely directly into the wind. I had signed up for the 3:30 bus back to Austin so I ended up being on a very tight schedule to make it to Shiner before the bus left. I got into Shiner around 2:14 pm, so a little over an hour before the bus was due to leave. By the time I got my backpack and the TiAero packed up and on the tractor trailer back to Austin I only had around 40 minutes left.

The line for the showers was really long so I had to make a choice: 1) relax, have a beer and some brats, or 2) spend the whole time waiting in the hot sun so that I can quickly take a shower before getting on the bus. Well, it was beer and brats time. I did sneak behind the shower trailers and took a ‘wet towel sponge bath’ and put on a clean shirt before getting on the bus.

The bus ride back turned out to be interesting. Due to a flat tire on the bus the ride back from Shiner to Austin took four hours. Lets see - 7 hours to bike to Shiner - 4 hours to bus back. Sure was glad once we arrived back in Austin.

An finally all the numbers:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/492573272

Next weekend is Run & Ride the Chisholm Trail Parkway http://ctprunride.org

Definitely on the F-40 for this one!

Nice easy shakedown ride on the TiAero in preparation for Saturday’s GASP ride. A little windy - winds 13 mph gusting to 19 mph. Rode 30 miles averaging 15.9 mph at a really easy heart rate.

I loaded the bike with everything as if I was riding the GASP today. The bike was still really light.

I was only going to ride 20 miles but when I got to the intersection of Williams and Ronald Reagan a roadie passed me and I was able to keep up with him even with a really low heart rate - mainly because of the pretty good headwind. So once the road started a slight downhill I nudged the bike slightly and left him in my dust.

The Garmin VIRB camera is pretty nice - looking forward to taking it on the GASP ride this weekend.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/490316889

The frame bag is loaded with everything on the checklist needed for GASP.

• tire irons
• spare tube
• tire pump
• CO2 cartridges w/presta-adaptor
• patch kit
• universal parks tool
• 3 paper towels
• reading glasses

New bike nervousness.

I’m not yet totally comfortable with the high racer format. For the first 20 minutes my heart rate is through the roof until I can settle down and relax and enjoy the ride. Well, at least I now know what my max heart rate is.

Well I finally decided to not ride the F-40 in the GASP ride this year.

The GASP ride (Greater Austin to Shiner Peddle) ride is a one way ride from Austin TX to the Shiner TX brewery. They usually meander the route a little bit for it to end up being a really nice century (100 mile) ride. You can either have someone meet you in Shiner to give you a ride back, or you can pay a little bit extra to take a bus back to the start in Austin and they will also haul your bike back in an 18 wheeler to the start.

For a couple of years my wife Robyn, and her sister Liz, would meet me in Shiner to have a few brews and give me a lift back. Last year they were off glamping in the AirStream so I took the bus back and had the organizers truck the Musashi back in the 18 wheeler. Looks like this year they will be off glamping again in the AirStream and I’ll be taking the bus back. Although, the bike handlers are pretty careful with the bikes, and they separate them with bubble wrap, I was getting a little worried about the front fairing of the F-40 getting crushed while traveling in the 18 wheeler. So Sunday I decided I should ride the Bacchetta TiAero instead.

Although I’ve ridden the TiAero in a couple of rides of about 40 to 50 miles each, I really had not yet set up the bike for an all day 100 mile ride.

This blog entry is about my efforts towards getting the TiAero ready for GASP.

ADEM Headrest

When starting to ride a new recumbent it is easier to balance the more upright the seat is. So, the seat of my TiAero has been at a pretty steep incline. Yesterday I lowered the seat angle a notch and quickly discovered that I now need a head rest. Off to EasyStreet Recumbents to have Mike put on an ADEM head rest. Immediately I liked it and rode about 20 minutes yesterday to make sure it was going to work.

Water bottle w/sports drink

Had to go buy a water bottle holder and mount it to one of the rear stays of the TiAero. I did not think that any of my existing holders would grip the bottle enough keep it in the holder if I encountered any rough roads on the GASP ride. There are always at least a few miles of construction somewhere on these longer rides.

I’m not yet proficient getting the bottle out, and putting the bottle back, while riding full speed so I’ll probably have to slow down to a crawl once an hour when I need to have some of the sports mixture.

Garmin VIRB camera

A few months ago I purchased a Garmin VIRB camera but had not yet mounted it to the F-40. So yesterday I mounted it to the handlebars of the TiAero took it for a very short test ride. This camera is cool because it automatically embeds GPS and Ant+ sensor information on to the video. Here is a short clip so that you can see the how clear the picture is and the lower corners have the sensor information.

Later after seeing this clip I’ve also paired my heart rate monitor and the bike cadence sensor with the VIRB. I’ll try out a new short video tomorrow to see how the movie looks with those sensors activated.

Garmin Edge 800 vs iPhone Strava

I’ve tried swapping over to just using my iPhone with the Strava app. The problem is that the Garmin has really spoiled me by the display being configured for three large pieces of information: heart-rate, speed and cadence. The heart-rate and cadence I monitor for managing my endurance riding efforts. The speed I use for safety reasons when approaching a difficult section of riding.

On a recumbent I have not been able to position the iPhone is such a manner that I could conveniently see those three pieces of information. Additionally, the iPhone keeps turning of the screen and I have to touch it every time I want to see my heart-rate.

I’ve now settled on still using my Garmin mounted to the handlebars, and I also start the Strava app on my iPhone and throw it into the rear bag on the bike. I like the Strava capability that when I am finished with a ride it is basically a one button press to post to the internet.

Real bicycle clothes and sunscreen

Being totally enclosed by the F-40 has spoiled me - I’m used to riding with running shorts and a tee-shirt. With the TiAero it is back to recumbent bike shorts (so insects don’t fly up the pant legs) and a bike jersey (to hold the food that I eat when on the long rides). Also, I now have to sunscreen on everywhere - instead of just my face.

Checklists

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven to an event and found that I had forgotten something back at home. I’ve never forgotten the bike, but everything else if fair game: a helmet, camelbak, water bottles, tire pump, drinks, etc, etc. - you name and it and I’ve probably left it behind at least once.

Now in an effort to not forget forget things I usually put together various checklists and my whole riding experience ends up being much more enjoyable.

Things to do the day before the ride

• pick up ride packet from Opel Divines on south Congress
• make a bottle of sports drink and refrigerate overnight.
• make a baggie of sports drink mix to put in an empty bottle at a late rest stop.
• charge Garmin Edge 800
• charge Garmin VIRB
• charge iPhone
• charge yellow Ankr battery
• charge black Ankr battery
• charge red tail light
• charge iPod for music
• pack backpack
• put ride number on backpack, bike, helmet, shirt
• put bike in car
• review checklists

Things to do in the morning before leaving house

• have breakfest w/coffee
• coffee for drive to south Austin start
• review checklists

Things to put in the minivan

• Floor tire pump
• Cooler w/ drinks for ride and afterwards
• backpack
• ride packet
• helmet
• bike shoes
• TiAero
• lawn chair

Things to take while riding the bike

• mount on the bike

  • bottle of sports mix
  • garmin edge 800
  • garmin virb
  • red tail light

• put in rear brain box

  • sunscreen
  • baggie of sports mix
  • iphone
  • black ankr battery w/cable
  • wallet w/credit cards and money
  • 70 oz camel back unbottle
  • 1 lime GU Fizz and 1 orange GU Fizz
  • 2 chews packages
  • 2 cliff bars
  • car keys

• put in frame bag under seat

  • tire irons
  • spare tube
  • tire pump
  • CO2 cartridges w/presta-adaptor
  • patch kit
  • universal parks tool
  • 3 paper towels
  • reading glasses

• wear on my body

  • heart rate monitor
  • 10 endurolyte capsules
  • 2 chews packages
  • iPod w/open ear headphones
  • reading glasses
  • riding gloves
  • road id
  • put sunscreen on before ride starts

Things to put in the backback which the GASP organizers will take to Shiner for me

• tie wraps to anchor bike shoes to TiAero for trucking back

• tie wraps to anchor helmet to TiAero for trucking back

• tie wrap to seal rear brain box

• tie wrap to seal frame bag

• a few extra tie wraps

• snippers to clip tie wraps

• sports towel for showering

• shorts w/built-in mesh, lightweight tee-shirt

• lightweight long sleeve sunscreen shirt

• big brimmed roll-up hat

• minimalist running shoes (Vivobarefoot)

• small bottle liquid soap

• sunscreen

• aloe vera gel (small container)

• cliff bars

• yellow Ankr battery

• iPad mini in water proof case

• reading glasses

What a beautiful ride today at the Tour de Vineyard in Florence Texas!

This ride had the best ratio of recumbents per 100 cyclists of any ride I’ve been to in central Texas. Of course, the majority of the bents were from my house.

Robyn on the green Catrike Expedition, Liz on the red Catrike Expedition and myself on the Bacchetta TiAero where three of the five bents there. Brian Buckmaster on his ICE Vortex trike and the same guy from last year on his Velokraft VK2 from New Mexico rounded out the five bents at the ride.

The turnout was a lot less than last year with maybe 100 riders total.

The day was gorgeous! Started out in the mid-60s and gradually rose to the mid-70s during the ride. Very few clouds to begin with and then slightly cloudy at the end to take the edge off the direct sun.

Here are Robyn, Liz and Brian at the beginning of the ride. For some reason they put the starting mileage signs up backwards. Robyn and Liz doing the 15 mile route very quickly moved to the back of the line before the ride started. Nothing like getting run over at the start of the race by the super fast high mileage riders.

Here is a picture of the start. Several of the people remember me from the prior years - evidently all recumbents look alike and even though my bike was different this year they ‘remembered’ me from last year and the year before.

A lot of questions about recumbents. People are really interested in the comfort aspect.

The wild flowers were out in force. This particular field stood out due to the vast size and amount of bluebonnets!

Robyn and I wore our Team Vite jerseys we picked up in Florida earlier this year.

The first part of the ride was fast, fast, fast. The first 6 miles I was directly behind the pace police car with my TiAero, the Velokraft VK2 and two other upright bikes. We pretty much left everyone in our dust.

About the 6 mile mark not only was I getting a little winded I was also worried about how I was blowing my pre-ride strategy of taking it easy on my bum right leg - which is still healing from the ride two weeks ago.

Well the leg felt great! But I still backed off the pace some and then stuck to the pre-ride plan of doing the easy 30 mile route.

I ended up with 30.6 miles at 15.9 mph. That TiAero is a really smooth, comfortable ride. A lot of people talking big expectations at the beginning of the ride (me included) - but I finished first on the 30 mile route - mainly because all the really fast riders did the 55 mile route.

After the ride we sat out on the veranda sipping wine, having a light lunch, and just enjoying the day! This is why I really like this ride! After Brian finished the 55 mile route he joined us gabbing for a little while.

Can you spot the lonely recumbent at the start of the Libery Hill Spokes ’n Spurs? The only other recumbent at the ride (Robyn’s trike) is behind the camera.

The Libery Hill Spokes ’n Spurs ride had about 600 riders. Only two recumbents.

Here in the picture I’m talking to a couple on a Co-Motion tandem. They had S & S couplers on the tandem so that it can be taken apart for traveling on airlines. They have been all over the world traveling and riding their tandem. France, Italy, etc. I asked them if they where going to be at the GASP ride beginning of May and they said they were going to be in Little Rock AR for a big tandem rally - somewhere close to 100 tandems.

They said last week they were at the Salado ride (Salado Smoke’n Spokes) and there was a guy, totally wrapped up in a recumbent, to where the only thing you could see was his head sticking out the top. They said he was fast and that they paced him for about 25 miles and then he just took off like the turbo kicked in and they never saw him again.

I said - hey, that was me! I remember riding with you guys for a long ways until we turned into a pretty good headwind and then everyone else slowed down pretty significantly.

Fourteen miles for Robyn on the Expedition and 43.5 miles for me on the Bacchetta Ti-Aero. Here we are at the 8:30am start looking pretty chipper. The post ride picture for me is probably not very consumable.

The ride was gorgeous! The wild flowers were blooming all over. It was a little overcast for most of the morning but never rained. The route wound through the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge.

A lot more climbing than I thought there would be - and definitely a lot more climbing than I’m currently used to.

Bacchetta TiAero

This was only my second ride (ever) on the Bacchetta TiAero. It is a really nice, solid, bike. Light weight and mechanically simple (compared to my other recumbents) I’ll probably use this as my travel bike.

The front of the TiAero has a Schlumpf high-speed-drive on the front. I don’t even use the front derailleur. (I guess one day I should try the front derailleur to make sure it actually works?)

With the Schlumpf high-speed-drive you just tap the center pin with your heal on one side and now you have a whole new higher gear range. Tap the other side with your heel and you are back to the lower range gears.

Ride Strategy

Well I’m definitely having some issues. Because the bike is new to me, I started at the very back of the first pack. It took me about 10 minutes of riding to become accustomed to the feel of the bike and then I was able to ‘put the hammer down’. Unfortunately, because of all the climbing I burned out pretty quickly. I caught the tandem by the second second rest stop, but by the third rest stop (mile marker 22) I was already pretty burned out. I decided to change from the 62.6 mile route to the 44 mile route and after stretching some at the 22 mile rest stop I immediately started heading back on the 44 mile route.

It was tough heading back. Headwind most of the way and my legs semi-cramping for a long ways. I easy peddled as much as possible and walked a couple of step hills. Finally, two miles from the finish my right leg totally cramped up. I did manage to get unclipped just before it happened but could not get off the bike. I must have sat there on the bike with my right leg sticking straight out for about ten minutes before I could message the leg enough to loosen it such that I could get off the bike without falling over. I walked off the cramp in around 300 yards and then got back on the bike and easy peddled the last two miles of the ride.

Bike Fit

I think the cramping issues are caused by being overweight (again) and bike fit. I’m going to have to work on both.

Next Week

I’m probably going to do the Prude Ranch ride on the F-40 in west Texas with Carl Murdock. Should be a blast - A 36 miles one way ride downhill about 2,000 feet. Carl says on the F-40 we should be averaging 30+ mph the whole way.