Ouch!

My friend Carol called this morning and invited me to go for a bike ride. I was going to take the kayak out for a spin, but decided that I really should get back on a bike for a bit.  I finished up some tasks at home then loaded up my fixed gear bike.  I had weighed taking the mtn bike, both have the option of riding in regular shoes, but I thought the lighter fixed gear bike would be a better choice.

We rolled out from the Banks Trailhead.  The folly of taking the fixie was soon apparent. Carol has been riding much more than I have, and my 14-15 on the flat lead in was woefully slow for her. This was one of the last times I saw her today!

It wasn't a race, but I guess the guy taking up the rear always says that!

As the trail tipped up slightly, I slowed down significantly.  My 14-15 mph morphed into a 7-8 mph. It was an out and back route, so I figured I would just keep plugging along and when Carol came back through I'd turn around and follow her back. It was a nice day for a ride. At home it reached 89F, but the shade from the trees, a little elevation, and closer to the coast all helped to keep it quite comfortble.

As I pedaled along, I was thinking, as hard a time as I had keeping up with Carol going up the incline, my fixed gear bike would be much slower than Carol coming back down. I figured the best plan would be to turn around before I saw her.  Now the only problem was deciding where to turn around.  I summited the path at Tophill and continued down toward Vernonia a short distance until I got to the signs warning of 11% grades ahead to bypass the Horseshoe Trestle.  On a good day I can pedal just over 8% on the fixed gear bike. Today wasn't going to be one of those days.  As the paved path dipped down, I followed the old railroad grade instead. It can generously be called a path.  As I neared the trestle, the path had been intentionally blocked with fallen trees. I parked the bike and walked the last 20 yds.

After looking around the old trestle a bit, I turned around and made my way back toward Banks.
The downhill ride went more quickly, but I was glad that I had turned around when I did.  I didn't have gloves on and my hands were getting sore.  The fixed gear bike has very limited hand positions and I couldn't find any way to alleviate the offending pressure.  I haven't ridden in cycling shorts in years.  Today the liner in my shorts were biting me a bit.  Fixies have to be pedaled, there is no coasting, and no giving a rest to the "saddle interface".

By the time I got back to the Banks Trailhead I knew that I had made the right choice to cut the ride shorter.  Carol would get just a little over 40 miles today.  I would get 24.

But we both got snacks and a beer!

900 feet of going up.

.......Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total

Today ......24.................0.................0.....................0............24

Jan.........0.................. 0..................0.....................0..............0

Feb.........0..................0..................0.....................0...............0

March.......0.................0................0.....................0...............0

April.......0.................0..................0......................0...............0

May.........0..................0................80....................0..............80

June........63..................0................59....................0..............122

July........86...................0................78....................0..............206

August......24..................0.................0.....................0..............24

YTD.........199...............0................218.....................0.............417