A few Sunday Sprintervals to clear off some cobwebs. I’m still fiddling with the seat-height – the no-longer-new frame now seems smaller than the one it replaced. A work in progress.

I’ve taken to wearing one BeatsPro just to be able to hear the mileage & the split-times. So far it’s not annoying.

The heat is breaking so I predict a good 3 months {ahead. still aiming for 5000 miles.

Until my left arm swelled up a good 8% or so I didn’t know I was allergic to wasp-stings but I clearly am. With Covid-bias dominating all triage I went online to figure out some kind of cure & lit on Benadryl because every store has it in plenty. The swelling stopped or at least slowed, due to the pills or simply to the nature of the venom; I’m just glad I saved the bigger Apple Watch band because even with the extra holes I’m on the 2nd to last one.

Hitting the bag Saturday presented no obvious physical degradation but today my final 15 miles were 2 mph slower than my first 15 miles – over mostly the same Airport terrain & weather conditions* – & my breathing never flowed with my pedaling the way it usually does. An arm full of Immune Response & Venom, à bloodstream full of Benadryl, Summer heat & humidity, &/or I’m nearly 60 – who knows?

I stayed with the 14 teeth in the rear; I’ll probably keep this ratio for the Month. It still feels the most natural configuration I have available. I’m looking forward to this spread on the hills tomorrow.

*granted the humidity fell as the temperature rose & there was a bit more wind at 9 than at 7

Greg’s visit puts the odd punctuation in my rides. I frequently note that nothing prepares one to ride better than riding; basement kettle-belling is wonderful (I’m very behind in that due to early morning starts & fatigue) but it’s completely ancillary to actual cycling.

Added Riverside to the Friday loop & got one good lap on it. The climb from MacGavock on 14 teeth feels exactly challenging enough. I’m no fan tho of the Left-Side Bike-Lane & the barrier protection is a danger both to cars & bikes – a series of fabricated bread-loaf-shaped obstacles seemingly designed to ruin cars’s under-carriages & equally pitch cyclists from their bikes.

At any rate I’ve missed that road

I’ll do this as often as possible

Early rides to beat the heat are a fool’s gambit because the humidity at Dawn is 98% although the temperature is a cool 70° & at 2 the temperature is 98° although the humidity is 56%. My single bidon holder is still an issue but I’m working on a few devious plans.

Yet today I rode again on the sprinting-gear up into some fine hills on a large double Monday route & saw what I’m told is a Rafter of wild turkeys – large & untroubled by a sweating cyclist at fewer than 3 feet of distance. Ben Franklin may have been right about them, but I’m glad we chose our Eagle; Thanksgivings would have been very awkward. 2 Fauns I also saw & they too were untroubled by my passage. Some who live nearer to the park than I have been hand-feeding deer for years now & it often shows.

Hills in the sprinting-gear always remind me (1) that I admire The Jensie for good reasons & (2) that 14 teeth feel more natural to my style of pedaling than any other ring. I took for the first time in the big gear the right up Sevier off of 14th; 2 blocks is as far as I went but I as the route dictated rode it twice. I took the Shelby exit up to 19th also twice & neither time felt Herculean. 46 miles I went but figure a triple is one more extended loop.

I remember the day I watched some cyclist riding laps at the airport in a manner unlike any other cyclist there. The places where he pushed hardest we’re not the places where anyone else did anything special. I – as best as I cd – copied his style & still ride Sprintervals like his today.

Today – after a week off due to the visit of an old friend – was a tough day; AM humidity uncharacteristically uncut during the day sucked much of my energy away in vain cooling efforts. At 31 miles I was maintaining a 16.7 average mph; but I had planned on 48 today & knew i had it in me. The back loop went well but necessarily slowly. Travails can encourage beneficial introspection as well as despair.

I’m still using this year as training for a better more ambitious next year

Took the big red egg (named Gojira) around the block again for another practice Thanksgiving. After 15 years of Propane I’m relearning Coal – very slowly. These things are designed to re-radiate via ceramic plates & inserts & im way too used to direct heat & fast. Took the small chicken about 1 hour 15 minutes. I’ll get better at this.

Our friend visiting from out of town leaves Sunday & I’m trying to get him to visit more regularly. Our talks are wide-ranging & delightful.

The humidity drops in the late afternoons so we ate in the downstairs porch.

I still think early starts work better even though the humidity in July will be 95%; there are fewer cyclists & fewer kids trying out new bikes – there’s generally less traffic & less danger. My single Bidon though is becoming an issue. I sweated off 8 pounds today & that’s never a good thing. I may have to try an uncomfortable-looking Camelbak soon.

I stayed with the sprinting gear even though Saturdays usually mean the heavy bike on 15 (I’ve switched her over to 16) teeth working the legs in hills on the tough gear will get me where I will want to be in September a little faster.

4 trips up Frisbee Hill & no leg issues.

I’m no Jensie but it feels good to climb in the wrong gear. Got two laps in with mostly the usual amount of fatigue

Has a good ride on the sprinting gear but a terrible evening after

I’ll blame low blood sugar

Someone once told me the best thing to do after a long tough ride is another ride – something about lactic acid flushing. Whatever. Seems to me that a Recovery Ride is about letting your legs know you still trust them. I need to make more of an effort to ride nearly daily.

Since I’m having troubles in the new house getting proper resistance when switching out rear wheels, I went with 16 teeth on the heavy bike. My old Uphill Configuration but I planned on a very flat ride just to keep my legs confident. So naturally I ended up taking Frisbee Golf Hill four times in 32 miles – & each climb felt wonderful.