Gusts in the mid-teens kept almost every cyclist home today but I ventured out for a short 32 miles in over 2 hours. I hit 19 mph but only with tailwinds. Achieving 15 mph consistently was beyond my abilities.

Over 1000 feet of climbing on a flat route still surprises me (my watch gave me 558 feet) but the 5 G here over ATT has been spotty lately.

The indoor plateauing helps immensely outside, it turns out.

Oddly enough, initially setting-out on my Fixie I had trouble un-Halfbike-riding but when I took up Rocky (née Arachne but I like the nickname) I had much less trouble un-Fixie-riding.

Due to construction today at the far end of Village Court I could not ride the straight-away to the end & then ride back, so I was forced to climb my first hill. The sway-back motion of the Halfbike (it’s like a Shark whereas bikes are like Dolphin) is at first terrifying & this torquing motion intensifies under the pressure of uphill pedaling or (I assume) of acceleration. I didn’t freak-out but I was initially quite frightened. First gear tho indeed is low enough for this hill.

I got the Halfbike out on our nearest flat road here for 1.22 error-free miles. Mostly straight-line with 2 gentle big turns. No uphill yet but I did shift into 3rd gear.

I’ll be memorizing this road for the next 5 days at least.

I stayed inside with Aurora; 8.8 miles in 25 minutes. Then outside on a flat road with Arachne; 0.62 miles — surprisingly my watch discovered mostly what I was doing — mostly straight and then a few gentle turns.

Just the single peak today. Weary legs.

I had a good 10 miles in 31 minutes on Aurora and a bit later rode Arachne a tad better than yesterday.

Better plateaus and two good straight-lines on Arachne.

25 miles in I lost a tube my thumbs no longer let me break-down tires so I walked to my ride & got a new tube. A good 25 though.

Lovely weather & relentless wind.

And then about 25 minutes learning Halfbike Physics.

A Steep Learning-Curve but already worth it.

I had spent months staring at Halfbikes, fascinated yet wondering about their Seriousness. So naturally when Mr Tib went into the shop I pulled the trigger. She arrived (almost fully assembled) today.

One side is Blue & the other Red — which they call the Superman Model but I call the Spider-Man Model; I call her Rocky — short for Arachne. She comes with a delightfully steep learning-curve.

Today was Heavy Leg Day so I put Rocky together, failed to balance on her on my street, & descended to Aurora for 6.4 miles in 20 minutes.

Plateauing much more easily now; once the Ego has been vanquished the rides are about specific visible patterns.

Too hot out there for old men

Very decent plateaus

Legs don’t return to form as quickly as they used to. Just under 8 miles, but good plateaus.

Trying to figure out how to time tomorrow.

You actually gotta be there but near the Well Of Lycopolis entrance to Shelby Bottoms there are 4 streets which lead to the same cul-de-sac uphill endpoint [the Cherry On Top]. I have been riding those streets at 25 mile-mark of Monday rides for a few months, but never until today had I achieved 4 Cherries. The Cherry route is particularly steep on weary legs.

Overall the ride was good with good wind h even a small threat of rain.

I was elated by nearly 1600 feet of Up (even tho I was aiming for 1800) in the app but because I was tracking my progress on my Watch I knew the actual number was higher: 1921 feet.

2000 feet of Up over 31 miles has long been a goal.

A good day out there today.

It completely locked-up on me at nearly my turn-toward-home point & I ended up walking a bit like a Cyclocross Rider [fixies can’t coast] until a fellow-cyclist who’s name I never caught gave me a lift in his truck.

Just a disaster.

Watch gives great data now on the fly & tells a better story

1421 feet of Up and my exit plan would have captured 500 more feet.

Mr Tib is in the shop getting a new SRAM