I’ve ridden several times this week but haven’t since, I believe, Thursday and that wasn’t a great ride. It was kind of a downer week at work and just haven’t felt great all week. It rained all day yesterday so if I was going to get a ride in this weekend it had to be today.

I arrived down at White Rock Lake at about 8:30 and it was beautiful. What clouds there were were starting to dissipate and it was a nice 55F. Just cool enough for a long sleeve jersey. That was good because my long sleeve jersey is the only one I have that fits well.

I headed out and within about a half-mile I started to see some orange cones on the trail and lots of people. Looks like there was another race today. Turns out it was the 13th Annual North Trail Half Marathon. It looks like they didn’t mind the cyclists riding on the trail so I kept going. A little while later it got kind of crowded and I almost turned around to head back to the car. Instead I moved over to a service road to get around the crowd and that solved the problem. There were other areas that it got crowded as well so I patiently waited until I had an opportunity to pass.

Now it’s time for a rant. There were several cyclists who were not near as patient as me and used the runners as their personal obstacle course. There was one cyclist in particular who pulled a very, very dangerous move one a narrow downhill section. I knew he was behind me but I guess he got tired of waiting and decided to pass. In this particular section, there were runners and walkers on both sides of the trail. The jerk in question decided to make a high-speed pass around me, go between two pairs of runners and came very close to taking out an elderly gentleman and his wife who were out for a nice morning walk going in the opposite direction. I saw the faces of the elderly couple as he went by and he really scared them. I was so ticked off.

Unfortunately, events like that take place quite a bit out at White Rock Lake. It’s a multi-use trail that’s utilized by runners, walkers, cyclists, and roller bladers. The cyclists are always the fastest people on the trail so you end up passing a lot of people. Very few cyclists though have the common courtesy to let you know they’re passing you. They’ll simply blow by you, sometimes coming very close, and don’t say a word. It’s so easy to say “on your left” to let the person know that you’re passing. No wonder cyclists get a bad reputation sometimes.

Today is Wednesday so I headed down to Flagpole Hill near White Rock Lake to get my hill repeats in. My ride itself was actually pretty boring. I did five repeats up the hill to start with (five miles with the recovery sections), then headed to the lake for one loop (12 miles), and then one more time up the hill (about one mile). All told I was right at 18 miles for the ride. I think my legs were still a little heavy from the one-leg drills on Monday but I needed a good hard ride.

When I road around the lake I was really surprised to see all the trash still there from the weekends heavy rains. They had cleared the debris from the trail but the trash was still there. They have volunteer Saturdays to pick up trash but with it as bad as it is I’m surprised the parks department here in Dallas hasn’t taken care of it. Maybe there’s a reason they haven’t such as money.

I also saw a couple of groups rowing out on the lake. If I counted correctly each of the shells had 8 people in them. Pretty cool.

I’m a little concerned about my bike. My rear rim is working its way out of true and making some noise again, the front brake is giving me problems and my front hub doesn’t feel right. I may forgo rides tomorrow and Friday so I can give it a good once over up at my Mom’s house this weekend where I can use my Dad’s shop. I probably need to take it in for a complete overhaul when I have the cash. I just have a feeling it needs more love than my maintenance skills can give it.

With me having problems with my rear rim again I’m becoming more convinced that I need to invest in a set of wheels that can support me better. Maybe the Velocity Deep V rims that jaxgtr keeps talking about. My rear rim was replaced about 8 months ago when I noticed a problem at the seam. I almost wonder if this new rim isn’t as sturdy as the original was. The bad thing is that the Velocity rims will set me back about $280 and I’m concerned about the rear spacing because of my bike being older. I would have to take it to the bike shop for some advice. The only problem is that I haven’t found a shop I’m comfortable with yet.

Well, I met up with Cliff today (he actually picked me up) and we road the trail around White Rock Lake. All told it totaled 32 miles. Without checking I believe that’s longer than any ride I did in Jacksonville. That’s OK with me as both Cliff and I needed the mileage. Me for the poundage and Cliff for the upcoming Shiner Bash.

We parked at the tennis center that sits on the trail section before the lake. Once ready we rolled out. Cliff did a great job showing me the layout of the lake trail and route. There were tons of people out there this morning. I can honestly say that I haven’t seen that many cyclists in one place unless it’s on TV. There were all kinds. Lazy Sunday morning riders to groups/teams hammering it. There were also huge numbers of walkers and runners.

The route was pretty good but one thing it wasn’t was flat. There weren’t big hills on the route but for a guy who came from Florida where was biggest hill was a speed bump they were the Alps. I had to re-learn shifting because I had gotten used to being able to ride an entire route in one gear down in Florida. I think these hills, though, will be great for me in the long run. Cliff took the time to point out the Loving Hills section down near the South end of the lake where the real hills are. I caught a brief glimpse and they didn’t look pretty. Maybe in a couple of months I can give them a try. He also showed me where Flagpole hill is.

Overall the ride wasn’t bad but I have to admit I couldn’t wait for the last four miles to get over. It was into a strong headwind that at times made it very tough. I’m sure me being way out of shape had something to do with it.

Overall it was a great ride and I appreciate Cliff dragging me out.

Oh yeah, the free advice. There was a guy just off the trail who had a couple of chairs setup and a big sign that said “Free Advice”. He didn’t have any customers when Cliff and I rode by. I said that I guess in this economy he has to give it away since nobody is going to pay for it. Cliff said you get what you pay for. That’s so true.