After reading about personal record setting rides over at 331 Miles and Mike’s Bike Blog I had high hopes of a great ride today. Sadly, it didn’t work out that way.

I arrived at the Tennis Center just north of White Rock Lake to park and get ready to ride. I had no plan today but decided on doing some hill repeats for a change. While getting ready I noticed that I had forgotten my computer. A couple of rides ago it was my water bottles and this ride it’s my computer. Not a good way to start.

I roll out and immediately start hearing the weird noise again. When I get back from Jacksonville I’m going to have to take my whole bike in and have the shop listen to it. My rear spokes seem a little loose which makes me think that’s the sound I’m hearing but I just had the rim trued two weeks ago.

As I’m rolling down the trail heading to Flagpole Hill I ride through a large swam of gnats. I had’em in my eyes, nose, mouth, everywhere. That’s when I realized I forgot my sunglasses. I left them in the car. Dang! That’s two things I’ve forgotten and I’m starting to get upset.

I made it to the bottom of flagpole hill where there’s a four-way stop intersection. I wait for a couple of cars to go and a car pulls up behind me. I push down with my left foot (which is clipped in) to take off and instead of rolling forward my bike comes to a complete stop and my weight is totally on my left side. In about two seconds I fall over right in front of the car. Unbelievable. I was so pissed. The guy in the car is looking at me like I’m an idiot (which may be true) and it takes everything to not toss my bike into the ditch. That would have been bad though so I didn’t. It’s the only bike I’ve got.

I re-start and head up Flagpole Hill. I never saw a flagpole so I have no idea why it’s called that. For someone of my pitiful abilities I thought it was a pretty good hill. It left me gasping pretty good by the time I got to the top. I took some side streets back down to the bottom to give myself a chance to recover.

Second time up I’m about half-way to the top and my right foot comes flying out of the clip. It totally kills my momentum and I struggle all the way to the top. I ride around and try it again.

Third time up an idiot in a truck thinks it’s cool to pull up next to me and gun his truck as he flies past me up the hill. I don’t know what the speed limit is but he was way over it.

Fourth time up my right shoe pops out again. That’s it. I’m buying new clips the day I get back from Jacksonville.

Fifth time up and I basically have to crawl to the top. I’m spent.

As you can see, today’s ride pretty much sucked. I’m glad I did it though because I need the time in the saddle and need work on the hills. At some point I’ll actually keep track of the time to get to the top and see if I can start setting some PRs. I’m guessing that for folks that are in shape the climb to the top shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.

I’m really finding it amazing at how much the wind is blowing everyday. Winds today were 20-25 with gusts a little higher. I road around White Rock Lake again and it could have been called White Cap Lake. It was ridiculous. There were a couple spots when I would come upon a point in the lake, riding into the wind, and could barely manage 10 mph. I’d like to think it was the wind but it was probably my pathetic abilities right now. I’m pretty sure it was the wind though.

Even though the wind was bad, I was determined to get two laps around the lake in. Just like Monday’s ride I set myself riding into the wind for the first-half of the loop so I could have it at my back on the return. That worked out good but that second lap was difficult. I found it harder on my rear than anything else. I may have jumped into longer distances too fast and I’m experiencing a little discomfort down there. Ok a lot. I feel like I was sitting on top of a 4×4 post. Oh well, just gotta take it a little easier I guess and let my rear-end catch up.

About a half-mile into the second lap I’m riding into the wind again. It’s coming in off my right shoulder. There’s a guy just ahead of me running. I call out “on your left” as I start to go around him and this guy decides to blow his nose. It wouldn’t have been bad if he would have used a hanky or his shirt but no…this guy covers up his right nostril with a finger and gives it the heave-ho. I’ll give him credit for timing it perfectly for my pass though because with his deft nose-blowing skill, coupled with the perfectly place wind, he was able to launch a nice glob of snot right into my face. Luckily I had sunglasses on. Just my kind of day.

All told I did get 23 miles in despite the wind and flying snot.

I had my rear hub overhauled today and it didn’t solve the creaking noise coming from my bike. I almost wonder if the noise isn’t a weight related issue due to my behemoth size. I’ll probably have the front hub overhauled next. If that doesn’t fix it I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

Today I was determined to get a ride in. I’m very anxious to get back into a routine riding and with me only getting two rides in in the last two weeks I figured I needed to start today. I also had to stop using the wind as an excuse because if I continued to do so I may never get a ride in here in Texas. That said, I got home, changed, make the quick drive to the train station, rode one stop to White Rock Station and rode around the lake.

Immediately upon setting out I wondered if I had made a mistake because the wind was stiff out of the South. I intentionally set myself up to ride into the wind for the first half so I could have it at my back on the second half but I was feeling it. Then I started to feel my legs. They were pretty heavy from the 29 miles yesterday. Oh boy.

It was about this time I realized I didn’t have a water bottle with me. I couldn’t believe it. I left them both in my room. Note to self: keep a bottle in the car.

I just gritted it out to get to the South end of the lake so I could get the wind at my back. It helped when I made the turn but the road makes some turns that put the wind almost off right shoulder which still made it tough. I managed 10 miles in 45 minutes.

There weren’t many people out today but there were a few. I couldn’t help but notice the fact that I was the biggest dude out on a bike. I was getting passed by the 160 pound cyclists with their gears clicking on their Ultegra equipped thoroughbreds. I tried to not even give’em a look but it’s hard not to when they pull out in front of me. I’m determined to not let them bother me because, hey, I gotta start somewhere. Their presence does one thing for me though. It gives me a goal.

I was invited to meet up with Cliff and other members of Team Bikin’ as they did a pre-ride of the route for Tour Dallas next weekend. Tour Dallas is a ride put on here locally in Dallas and attracts as many as 3000-4000 cyclists of all skill levels. It’s not a race but a tour and is meant for every one to come out and have a good time. It’s been very successful in the past and promises to be again this year.

When I arrived at the designated meeting place Cliff was already there. A few minutes later Fred of Nearly Famous Fred showed up and we waited. Turns out we were it. I think the cold may have had something to do with it since it was only about 34F this morning. It was due to warm up later in the afternoon but it was a chilly start. I actually had to go buy a long-sleeve jersey yesterday since I didn’t own one. I just never needed one down in Florida.

This was the first true group ride I’d ever done. I did a bike trip from Connecticut to Ohio back in 1995 but I didn’t do any group training for that. Needless to say I was pretty nervous because I didn’t know what to expect.

We took off from a parking lot on the South side of White Rock Lake and Fred, who’s the route director for Tour Dallas, had us deep in neighborhoods in no time heading to downtown Dallas where Tour Dallas would start. The route wasn’t entirely flat either. I just need to get out more and start pounding these hills so I can get used to them.

The trip downtown had me totally lost but I really enjoyed exploring parts of Dallas I had never seen. There was very little traffic this morning which made it nice. The trip back to White Rock Lake was the same way. A lot of residential areas that had very nice homes and smooth streets. It was really beautiful.

As we re-approached White Rock Lake we started to see other cyclists who were out getting their morning rides in. When we started there were only a few runners and riders at the lake but the parking lots were full now with a lot of cyclists heading out for their rides. It was a great setting.

All told we rode for about 2.5 hours over a distance of 28 miles or so. I thought it was a fantastic ride. My nervousness about riding with someone new was unfounded as both Fred and Cliff made the ride an enjoyable experience. I really appreciate them making sure that I was doing OK because, let’s face it, I’m not exactly a prime specimen of health right now.

Over the last two rides both Cliff and I have started to here a creaking sound coming from my bike. We’ve had a hard time figuring out where it’s coming from so I’m going to have to take it to the shop to have it checked. I hope it’s nothing major but with the age of my bike I’m a little worried. I’ve kept it in pretty good shape and have had it overhauled a few times but over time things tend to wear out. And, unfortunately, with a bike of this age parts are a little hard to find so I’ve got my fingers crossed.

I’ll be unable to ride with the group again for a few weeks due to me heading to Jacksonville to see my family and be with my wife as she has a surgery. I plan on getting some neighborhood riding in on my Schwinn Hybrid that’s still there because I don’t want to stop right now. I think I’ve found a group to ride with and I think it’s going to do me good. I found myself consciously watching what I was eating and drinking on Saturday so I didn’t spoil the ride this morning. I can’t do much about my fitness right now except to keep riding but I can control what goes in my body to make sure I can ride as good as I can. I think the accountability of riding with a group is going to help.

Thanks to Cliff and Fred for the great ride today.

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.