Julian and I rode along beautiful bike paths and through charming little German villages for most of the way. Here are some of the highlights of our tour:

• Rode though and near the Naturpark Schönbuch and several other Nature Parks.
• Stopped in the village of Mauren to view an old monastery, and also to decide if we wanted to return home or continue for another ten miles, adding a loop to bring our total mileage from 30 to 50. We decided to continue, of course.
• Stopped in the picturesque old walled village of Weil der Stadt for some good German pastries and coffee.
• Rode through the American Army base on the outskirts of Stuttgart. Not exactly the scenic highlight of the tour, but somewhat interesting for me, since I know a few people who have worked there.

At the end of the ride, we returned to Julian’s flat, and his charming partner Julie, who is a nurse, took care of the bad cut on my leg, which I received in a fall about half-way through the ride. I certainly appreciated her professional cleaning and bandaging job, which was far better than I could have received anywhere else. Thank you, Julie!

For more pictures of the ride, find the link on the garminconnect web site under export and select Google Earth. When Google Earth opens, zoom in on our Garmin-marked path and look at the pictures along it. I especially like the pictures from Weil der Stadt.

Today’s race started at seven AM with a short speech from the race director. Then we were off. First we did two loops of the running trail in the park. The trail consisted of concrete, dirt, board walk, and rock.

I started out at a fast pace: about a 9 and a half minute mile. After about a half mile I started thinking that I had better slow down, since I had a long way to go before the race was over. So I slowed down to about an eleven minute pace.

The next part of the race was the bicycle ride. It took about a mile to get my legs working. They don’t like going from running to biking. Especially my hamstrings; all I could do was press down on the pedals. If I had ridden the first lap as fast as I rode the second lap I would have averaged close to twenty MPH. (But of course I didn’t, unfortunately.) It was a nice course.

I made a major mistake at the start of the bike ride. I was planning to grab a couple of Cliff Bars from my equipment stash at the change point, and eat them while I rode. I had them ready at the transition to put in my back pocket; I just forgot to do it.

The second three mile run started out well, but about two miles into the run I was regretting not having taken my Cliff Bars. I ended up walking about half the last mile.

I am still trying to get my Garmin to give good results for a multi-sport. I set it up for simple distance and time run. I recorded the entire race, which is better than what I had last time, but it doesn’t show what I am doing at each stage of the race. Another thing to work on…

In the end, I won third in my age group.

Here is the Garmin account of the race.

So I had ridden about one lap when I noticed that a rider whom I had passed earlier had started wheel-sucking behind me. Then, when we started up a hill, he fell behind. So I slowed down to to let him catch up, and we started talking. He turned out to be Lyman Grant, Dean for Arts and Humanities at ACC, a good friend of Light and Bob German.

Lyman started biking about two months ago and is planning to ride in the Hotter’n Hell Hundred towards the end of August. He has been training on the new tollway out east of Austin. It sounds like an ideal road for riding. He says the traffic is light, shoulder smooth, and the hills are not too bad. His longest ride so far is a little over fifty miles. Way to go in just two months of riding!

When we parted I told him that my group would normally ride on Wednesday nights about 6 PM and he was welcome to join us. I also told him that over the next month we might not be meeting too regularly, what with vacations, travel, and other summer things. Hope we meet up again; Lyman’s abilities seemed about the same as mine–a good riding buddy.

Here is my Garmin charts:

I have not been very good at posting my exercise for the last week. Larissa has been visiting and I have changed my schedule so that I am running in the morning. I do a lot better when it is cool, I am rested, and I have eaten breakfast. Here are the morning runs I’ve done:

We decided to turn around several miles after we crossed Highway 29. The land had become very flat. It was farmland, with corn growing off to the sides. We went for about a mile in this terrain. Then suddenly we reached a large valley and the road dropped away for what appeared to be several miles. Since we had only planned on going 15 miles each way and we were approaching that mark, we decided to turn around a mile early, giving us a 28 mile total instead of 30.

After we finished the ride, we retraced our path in the pickup. Since this is all new road and it is not on Google maps yet, we wanted to see what the hill we avoided was like, and what was at the end of the road.

The road continues for seven more miles and ends at RR 2338, about four miles from Andice and about seven miles as the crow flies from Florence. Ten years ago, who would have thought that I would be riding my bike to Florence! That was the last major town before Killeen, which is the home of Fort Hood. My perception of distance has changed significantly since I first began riding my bicycle.

On a future ride, we will have to extend our route into Florence. Maybe we will even make it to Killeen someday.

The ride north:

Exploring in the pickup:

Here is the Motionbased report:

My very first Du and to be able to pull this off. Yippee! Guess all my running and biking has trained me better than I thought.

Now I need to start planning and training for bigger and better duathlons. This one was a small one, with two 2 mile runs, plus 10 miles on the bike. The next one in this series is two 3.1 miles and an 18 mile bike ride.

I had gotten Yankz! to put on my running shoes in preparation for the event. These are stretchable shoe laces that allow you to slip your running shoes on and off during the race. I also got a big orange Homer bucket from Home Depot to hold my shoes and helmet at the transition area. Plus it was really handy for transporting things!

Some of the things I need to think about getting in the future:

• A lighter weight jersey, perhaps even a sleeveless one. (The one I used was hot and it covered the numbers they had marked on my arm.)
• Nipple guards to make things more comfortable during and post-race.

Some of the things I need to do to make the race better:

• Go out and drive or preferably ride or run the course.
• Practice my transitions.
• Do some brick work outs.
• Go someplace where we can practice with long stretches of road way.

It all started off on a sour note. On Saturday I rode my Cannondale bike down to Jack and Adams to get my package of race day things. My numbers, tee shirt, and instructions on how to get to the event. Of course I wore my Garmin – I wear it for any exercise – and it worked flawlessly. When I got home, it had been about a twenty mile trip. I connected it to the computer to download the route. Motionbased kept telling me that it could not connect to my Garmin. I tried several times testing to make sure the Garmin was in the cradle, changed where the USB connector was plugged, finally rebooting the computer. All to no avail.

About this time I noticed that the text that is normally displayed was not on the screen. So I tried to power up the unit and it would not power up. At this point I was pretty bummed! I was counting on using it during the DU, to pace myself and record all the details of my first duathalon.

I talked to Marilyn and she reminded me that I had got the Garmin at REI just over a month ago. So we took the Garmin back downtown to the REI store. They exchanged it with no problems, since we had bought it with our membership card. To say that I was very relieved was an understatement.

This morning started on a much better note. I set my alarm for 4:30, and then I woke up several times in the night just to make sure that 4:30 had not already passed. When at 4:30 the alarm went off, I quickly started getting ready. The first order of business, of course, was coffee followed by my oatmeal mix.

I planned to leave at 5:30 to arrive at 6 AM. However, I was about 15 minutes late in getting off.

When I got there I was very happy to see Andrea, Daniel’s wife, there. It’s good to have someone who knows the ropes in helping you get set up and ready. She is in serious training for the Sacramento Marathon so she was not going to do this race. She was there simply as our cheering section, picture taker, and support crew. I am not sure how many triathlons she has done, but she is quite experienced. She has been training with some of the best athletic training programs in the city. It was really nice of her to come out and lend support to us newbies. Thank you, Andrea!

At 7:15 we had the pre-race talk, where the officials explained the route, the rules and introduce various people. At 7:30 they start the people who were doing the Double Du, and five minutes later the people who were doing the Du.

Daniel and I ran together for the first two mile run. Then at the first transition he got ahead of me and slowly pulled away on the bike. I probably should have reeled him in on the first hill, but there was several people I was jockeying with and I lost track of him.

When I got back in from the bike ride I was feeling pretty good. I probably should have pushed harder. But this is where having ridden the course ahead of time would have helped. I never really knew what was ahead or how much more to expect.

The second two mile run was a different story from the first. I don’t think I had run over a quarter of a mile when my legs became dead weights. My feet did not want to turn over but I plodded on. The only time I stopped to walk was at the turn-around and at the water stations.

Finally, about a quarter mile from the end I heard them announce that Daniel had crossed the finish line. A few minutes later I crossed the finish line.

We hung around and ate breakfast and a short time later they posted the results of the race. Andrea noticed that I had finished first in my age group and Daniel was fourth in his age group. So I hung around for the awards ceremony. I don’t get many awards.

Yippee!

Here is what my Garmin recorded. Unfortunately I did not get the last running leg and I did not change to biking mode until I had gone for about half a mile on the bike.

Run

Bike

Time: 01:27:09
Chip Time: 01:27:09
Bib: 144
Place: 49
Name: Gary Pickens
Gender: M
Age: 61
City: Austin
Class: M 60-64
Event: Dad’s Sprint Du
Class Pos: 1
Gender Pos: 33
Run 2 Mile Rank: 48
Run 2 Mile Time: 21:42
Run 2 Mile Pace: 10:52/M
T1 Time: 01:58
Bike 10 Mile Rank: 45
Bike 10 Mile Time: 40:14
Bike 10 Mile Pace: 14.9mph
T2 Time: 01:28
Run 2 Mile Pace: 10:51/M

Earlier in the week Daniel and I decided to go to the Dad’s Day Du in Leander, TX. This will be our first duathelon so we wanted to practice a little. We decided to run one mile, ride about ten miles (3 laps), then finish with a one mile run. Everything went pretty much as planned.

The first mile was brutal with the temperature about ninety-eight in the shade, and we were not in the shade for most of the run. Things got better on the bike, perhaps it had cooled down a bit or more likely we had faster air flowing around us. My average speed for the three laps was sixteen miles per hour, unfortunately I slowed down a lot toward the end. I suspect that the run before the ride had taken its toll or perhaps the temperature. In previous rides I have been able to spin up the final hill and lose very little speed. This evening I just could not make it happen.

On the final run I wimped out, we did half a mile and when we ran past the pickup I decided I that I had enough. It felt like I was hardly moving but as it turned out my pace was similar to the pace I did on the first mile.

In summary, I think we are in pretty good shape for the race. Hopefully the weather will be a lot better. The thing I will have to watch out for is not to burn out on the first two races. Save some energy for the last race and pour everything into it.

I need to get my Garmin to do Multi-sport mode. I have read how to set it up and how it should behave. This evening I need to practice with it.

Here is the results of my workout:

It was a hot day for running (97 when we started out, down from 101 earlier in the day). I will have to consider getting a second hand water bottle. We both just about went through our bottles of water.

We started out following the creek north and east until we reached Spicewood Springs road. At that point there was a trail that headed uphill, so we followed it. Rather than following the canyon valley, it climbed up and along the cliffs that line the south side of the canyon. For the most part the trail was in trees and shaded; occasionally there would be an opening where you could look out across the canyon and see large parts of the Texas hill country. It was beautiful!

There was one small canyon along the way that was particularly secluded. I bet the temperature dropped 20 degrees in the canyon. It sure felt good.

Now we were pretty much lost and running low on water; we came to a fork in the trail and were unsure which trail to follow, but we met a walker with his dog. We stopped and asked him directions. He told us that the trail we were taking would take us back to highway 360. The other forks would take us further southwest and there would be several more forks along the way that we would have to figure out. So we opted for the 360 route, and had to run on the shoulder for about a mile to get back where we parked.

Daniel and I talked about doing the Dad’s Day Du this weekend, its part of the Texas Du Series. It is in Leander, about 20 miles north of here. It looks like a small duathlon, perhaps a good one to get started doing triathlons.

1) I want to be able to get down to the river to run early in the morning. I really don’t want to drive a vehicle down to the river when gas is four dollars a gallon or more.

2) I want to figure out a way to Mozart’s coffee shop that allows me to ride my bike there. Mozart’s is used as the starting base for numerous bike ride these days, including a ride to the farmers market and several rides out of town, to Lytton Springs and Creedmoor, for example.

Today I wore my new florescent-green jersey, the one Marilyn says makes me visible blocks away. I normally dress in quiet colors, but not on a bike!

As a side note; Daniel and I are planning to ride the ACA Ride Saturday morning along Parmer Lane, the ride’s called There and Back hosted by Somer. Hopefully, the wind will not be like today. It would make the first half the ride nice, the ride north. However, when we turn and head south again it would be another story.

Here is the Motionbased report (Motionbased seems much better today; it has been really sick for the past several days):

Then on Saturday I rode the Cannondale bike down to the ARC meeting in the city hall complex (we actually met at the Fit City space in the complex). They elected new officers and gave out the awards for the Spring Sprint Series. I came in fourth in my age group so I did not win one of the ribbons, however, I did get a new technical tee shirt and a cloth bag for storing things in. Which will come in handy for carrying things on the bike. I used a plastic bag for the trip down town. (1899 calories on the trip!)

I left my bike at Mellow Johnny’s bike shop today while I was at the meeting. It worked out very well; they charged one dollar for the bike “parking” and they also provided a changing room and a place to leave my belongings. So I rode down in bicycling clothes and changed into something more appropriate for the meeting. (The meeting was for runners, not bicyclers!)

Mellow Johnny’s was a busy place. I’m not sure what was making it so popular, perhaps it’s the location adjacent to the farmers market, and just a few blocks from the meeting I was attending. They did say that there were about half a dozen other people who dropped off their bikes were headed to the same meeting I went to.

The next day, Sunday, I attended the Pfinally Pflugerville Hosted Bike ride sponsored by the Austin Cycling Association(ACA). The group leader was Eileen Schaubert and helped by Monte Morast.

We rode twenty-four mile route, with the last half into a strong head wind. I guess the wind was probably doing about fifteen MPH. Unfortunately, Motionbased has been down all day, so I have not been able to upload my ride.

I think there were about ten to fifteen people signed up for the hosted ride. About halfway though, some of the people went off the front, and so at the end there was only about four or five of us. All in all, it was a good ride. (1536 calories)

On Sunday afternoon I walked to the drugstore, and that burned another 231 calories.

So for the weekend I burned a total of six thousand calories!

Yesterday spoiled me with the cool temperatures, this evening was hot, temperatures in the low nineties. However, there was no wind, thank goodness! We rode for about two hours with a moving speed of about fifteen MPH.

Here is the Garmin results:

I only saw one mishap; a rider was coming down Congress fast on a well-equipped triathlon bike. The slower riders ahead of him started moving to the left. This forced the faster rider into the barricades. After a brief pause, the rider recovered his bearings and continued on.

There were more bike types than I knew existed: New ones, old ones, numerous mountain bikes, comfort bikes, road bikes, and special triathlon bikes. The triathlon bikes came in all sorts of configurations, including some with disc back wheels that rumbled as the rode past, and several bikes that did not have a seat tube.

I watched for about an hour, but did not see anyone that I knew, so I found a coffee shop to refuel for the trip back home.

Here is the Garmin view of the trip:

The route started at 8 AM from Braker Lane and Jollyville road, crossed over to Parmer Lane, then went north to the intersection of Highway 180 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard (just a mile north of 1431). In total it was about 28 miles, at a moderate pace. It’s a perfect ride for anyone new to cycling or anyone who wants a leisurely ride through far north Austin.

The ride leader was Somer, with Billy, Garth, and myself as riders. Both Billy and Garth were from Britain and it was interesting to hear about their home countries. Garth was from Bath, in England’s West Country, and moved to Austin with Dell. Billy is Scottish, originally from a town out side of Glasgow.

Somer said she doesn’t ride a lot, but she has some very interesting rides planned in the near future: tomorrow she will be riding in the Capital of Texas Triathlon, then a few weeks later she will be taking part in the Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). She’s obviously more dedicated than I am!

About halfway through the ride, we took a break, for a cup of coffee, etc.

Here is the Garmin version of the ride today:

Here is the Motionbased record:

The 30 mile ride started at the Regions Bank/Whataburger Parking Lot at the corner of MoPac and William Cannon and went north to the Upper Crust Bakery on Burnet Road, and back again. However, I rode from my house, about 5 miles north of Upper Crust Bakery, down to the start, and then back north with the group, so I did only half the ride with the group.

It was a great ride. We picked our way along the back streets of south Austin and on up to the bakery in North central Austin. The weather was perfect, in the low sixties at the start of the ride, it started misting just as we left, but it soon stopped. Along the way, we added Eileen S. to the group, as we went across the foot bridge which goes over the Colorado River and under the Mopac Expressway.

Eileen is an instructor for the bike safety classes and she was very knowledgeable about riding bikes in auto traffic. I am sure I could learn a lot riding with her; I hope she attends many more of these rides. Also, I think she is one of the instigators of the new ACA hosted ride series — and in a couple of weeks she is going to be working at the new Lance Armstrong store!

It was an interesting trip to see how people traverse from south Austin to north Austin. It was the farthest south I have been on my bike; I have been to St Edward’s University by bicycle, but this was considerably further. It was almost down to the Veloway and Southwest Park Way – near where I work. I have been considering riding my bicycle to work, so I was real excited to see this ride — although it didn’t cover the dangerous last half-mile or so to my job.

My only regret is that I did not ride back to South Austin with the group. It would have been very interesting to see the path that they took. During rush hour, I’m not sure that I would want to take the path to the start that I took today.

Here are two motionbased reports. The first is the ride down to the start, and the second is the ride back home. Interesting, for a first-time journey.

It was great to have a nice long ride near home, so that I didn’t need to drive the pickup miles out into the country. At $60.00 for a tank of gas, plus the carbon emissions from the internal combustion engine, taking a vehicle to a bike ride is getting less “green” every day, so I salute the ACA efforts to start a new sort of biking activity.

Here is the Garmin Data.

The route started at Samsung’s new FAB in northeast Austin and headed out eas,t past such such notable cities as Cele, Norman Crossing, Rices Crossing and Manda. (All with populations of less than 100.) In Cele, I rode along with a lady who was wearing a Fat Cycliest jersey. So we chatted about the blog for several miles. She said she is a regular reader. She was going a bit slower than I wanted, so after a mile or two I said good-bye and rode on. Then after that, at each rest stop I would pass her again. I guess I spend too much time eating, drinking and chatting. But that’s part of the fun.

Shortly after Norman Crossing, I started noticing that someone was drafting me, After several miles I slowed down for some riders in front, and a woman went around me. After I got around the next batch of riders, I caught up with her and started drafting her. After a little way, I decided I had better go up and introduce myself. Her name is Susan and she has a son who goes to Rosedale School. So we rode through Rices Crossing and I finally lost her at the Manda rest stop. She was very interesting to chat with, as she has done many of the big rides in the US and Europe. She also suggested that I read a book called Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy—Until You’re 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and M.D., Henry S. Lodge. When I got home I showed my wife the books on Amazon, she was so interested that she ordered them–the one for men and the one for women.

The wind was out of the north, probably about 5 – 10 MPH, so the ride back into Austin was really nice. Especially on the four miles leading into Manda, the road was as smooth as glass, no automobiles in sight (and if there were you could have seen them for miles) and no trees or big structures to block the wind.

I averaged 20 MPH on that stretch of the road with no effort. When I turned into the wind, I noticed considerable reduction in speed.

Here is the official record from Garmin:

The weather was perfect for riding, the temperature was right at seventy degrees and the wind was below ten MPH. The first quarter mile I felt chilled but once I got my internal furnace going I never noticed the temperature again.

I guess there was one other time when I noticed the weather. On the back section, where Daniel and I were going 25 MPH, we had a head wind so it was not as easy to get up to the speed that Daniel and I were getting.

Here is Motionbased version of the ride:

I need to ride in the big chainring and force my legs to work harder. I have always tried to find the sweet spot where my spin is fast and the legs are not working too much. For the next few times I am going to try a lap in high. Hopefully, this should help develop the strength in my lower body.

Andrea, Daniel’s wife, was supposed to join us but she had to work late.

This was Daniel’s third time to ride his new bike, and he did really well. He had the standard beginner’s problems, like not being able to get air in his tire and not knowing what gear to ride in. But all in all he did really well. He had no spills and he even went an extra lap with me, for a total of 15.22 miles.

I think when he gets a little more experience and a more familiar with his new bike he will do really well.

On the back stretch I asked him to try the big chainring, so he bumped it up, and we were flying at 25 MPH. I was struggling to keep up; I bet it won’t be long until he is riding like that all the time.

Here’s the Garmin version of the ride:

Last week I had the bike into the shop for the annual checkup. One of the things the shop adjusted was the front derailer(dérailleur).

This morning, when I went around a corner, I shifted into the small chainring, and the chain jumped off. So I stopped and put the chain back on, and continued. I shifted into the middle chainring and cruised around the block. However, now I was not able to get the front derailer to shift into the small chainring. After trying for several minutes I was finally able to get it to work, but there were still problems. I rode for about 5 miles and continued to have problems shifting, but the chain did not come off.

“Hmm…” I thought, “If I am having this much trouble, today would not be a good day to go over to North West Austin and do hill repeats. That requires a lot of shifting into the small chainring!”

It is also good that Daniel called me yesterday and said his group would not be able to make today’s Walburg Waltz ride, so I stayed home from that. I could probably have done it, as there are no hills and very few places where I would need a low gear. Buts it is just as well I that I was able to test out the newly adjusted bike in my neighborhood.

I was looking at the Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair, especially the section on “Front Derailleur Adjustment,” and the adjustment seems fairly easy. So the question is, should I take to bike back to the shop, or should I try to do it myself?

I don’t have any rides planed this week. So there should not be any problems getting it back into the shop. They should warranty their work, so if I can find the papers, it should be free. I guess I will take it back in.

After the workout on the hill, my plan was to ride down to Zilker Park and watch the kite festival, but I didn’t make it that far. I got down to the Colorado River, but traffic was heavier than I like to bike through, so I turned back home. It was nice to have the wind at my back.

They were predicting winds gusting to 25 MPH on the weather report when I left home. Luckily, I was heading into the wind as I left home (when I was fresh) and returning with the wind to my back (when I was tired).

Of course, there were large sections that I missed: I did not go south of the river, and I went on the west side of Camp Mabry (this was a very hilly option with a lot of cars going this way to avoid the runners), and I didn’t go north to Anderson Lane either. I cut across town on North Loop and caught the race on the way back down towards town. From there the riding was easy, downhill and the wind to my back. Another nice thing was that the police had the roads blocked off, so there was no stopping for stop lights. Also by this time the runners had thinned out so there was no problem sharing the road with them.

On the stretch just east of the Capitol I was following another cyclist, about 100 yards behind, and suddenly he jumped of his bike and went over to a runner who had collapsed on the road. A band that was playing along the side of the road started calling for EMS to come and help, and several people from along the sidelines came out to help the runner.

He was attempting to get back up then he would run a little ways and fall. The people helping him would catch him so he wouldn’t fall hard. I was trying to decide what to do… I decided to continue and see if I could find some emergency medical people, since I didn’t see any coming and there were plenty of people helping already.

At the top of the next hill there was a medical tent and I went in and told the staff about the collapsed runner and they started racing in his direction. I asked some of the remaining people if I should go back with them, and they said no.

From that point it was just an easy downhill to the finish. Some time later I saw the guy that had collapsed. The bicyclist was still running with him. I’m not sure if the medical crew revived him or if he managed to get up and continued running before they got there.

I never did see Daniel or Andrea, the people I have been running with on Sunday. I did see Mike Muench, an Overwatch manager, at about mile six.

The spinning class was a small group this evening, perhaps 10 people. (Unlike some nights where all the spinning bikes have people on them, and some of the other bikes in the gym have people riding to the beat of the spinning class.) Since this was my first time, the instructor helped me set up my bike. Unfortunately, I did not get her name. By the schedule it should have been Sarah but there were a couple of things that she said that made me think she was not the regular instructor. I hung around after the class to introduce myself but she was talking to someone else and eventually I left. I was bushed!

We did two sets of the following:

• Hill climb at about fifty percent resistance. This lasted for about two minutes.
• A set of four intervals with varying resistance and time.
• A long intense sprint at about 70 percent resistance.

I did pretty good at first but toward the end my cadence had dropped to about half what it was the first go round.

Several of the differences between here and my former gym was that my former gym has a separate spinning room that aways felt cold – which is good for cycling – and they have a lot of fans that the instructor turns on about ten minutes into the class.

I was late getting to the class, so I didn’t get my heart rate monitor on, so I have no graph this evening. It was raining on the ride to the gym, which had the traffic going slower than normal and I forgot my cell phone when I left the building so I had to go back in and get it.

Daniel and Andrea have been training for the Austin Marathon in two weeks. They have started their taper and according to them, during this period all your aches and pains start showing up. Also, the last several weeks have been particularly intense and Andrea has been suffering from a bug. So they were not interested in running hard this morning. Actually, they even walked part of the way.

Andrea’s mom did not come today. Last weekend she ran the 3M half-marathon so I guess she is taking some time off.

While I was at the gym I ran into Joe, a co-worker I used to work with nearly 20 years ago. We probably talked for 10 minutes before I went for my planned exam then after the exam didn’t happen, we talked again for about an half an hour. Just catching up on old times — hearing tales about mutual friends, on what we are doing, and what has happened to our families.

After that I got on a treadmill and ran for half an hour. I set the speed at 5.5 MPH and the grade was varying from 0% to 8%. Several times thoughout the run I bumped the speed up to 6.5 MPH. But when I the slope increased I lowered the speed back down.

On a different note, I received e-mail today that Tom, the pastor from our church, and George will be riding in the Hill Country Ride for AIDS. It’s very tempting to sign up, but you have to raise $500. Which seems like a lot. Especially, if a group of us from work do the Tour De Cure at about the same time. I will have to talk to Tom and see if a slow rider (13 – 15 MPH) would fit into their team. It’s really pretty country that they ride through and I don’t think there are many hills.

So this morning, bright and early, when the thermometer at the house showed a brisk 38 degree temperature, I rode my Trek over to watch the 3M Half-Marathon in the vicinity of Shoal Creek and Anderson Boulevard. I watched from several locations in that general area for about a half-hour.

Then I decided to ride up Mount Bonnell, one of the highest points in central Austin. I have been thinking for some time that it would be good training for my legs, not to mention my heart. (Last summer Daniel and I ran to the base of Mount Bonnell.)

Several years ago, I rode the last 20 miles of the Spokes and Spires bike ride with a biking buddy. He said that he and several of his friends had trained by riding up Mount Bonnell every Sunday morning. He asked me to come with them, but I never managed it.

Well, this was my morning to test my legs! I approached the target from the northeast side, and before I knew it, I was on top of the mountain.

I descended Mount Bonnell via the street on the south side. It was lot steeper than the way that I had taken up the mountain!

I need to train a little more on the easy route that I took today, then start training on the ascent from the south side, along that steep road.

After conquering Mount Bonnell, I rode the Scenic Drive to Lake Austin Boulevard, and then to Mopac. From there I followed fifth street to the Pure Athletic Club, where I stopped for a quick “nature break” (and to see if I could get in, since I have not been able to since I signed up).

The previous time I tried to enter (last Tuesday) they would not let me in because they had not received the release from my doctor. Today I had no problems, so now I can start spin classes and indoor training when the weather is bad.

I also met the weekend manager today and I got a demo of one of their newest treadmills.

From there I rode to the Capitol, where the marathon was ending, and watched people crossing the finish line. I never did see Andrea or her mother. After watching for a quarter of an hour, I made my way home.

Total distance on today’s Sunday morning ride around Austin was 23 miles. Some of those miles were pretty steep!

Andrea and her mother will be doing the 3M half-marathon next weekend. I will probably be watching from Epoch’s Coffee Shop on North Loop. I need to check the weather for next weekend. Last I heard, next week is supposed to be rainy all week. Perhaps if the weather is nice and there are still openings, I will run it. (12.2 miles is not all that far, is it?)

My heart rate was about 180 for the first six minutes. I hope this is good and it’s a indication that I will be faster next summer. Maybe I can ride with the fast boys.

I need to go out and train some more on that stretch, to get my legs and cardiovascular system in top condition for this summer.

The Garmin results of the ride is here.

While we were riding, the Travis County sheriff came by to ask if it was our pickup back along the road. At the time I answered no, but after he had driven off I got thinking about it and was worried that perhaps he was talking about my pickup in the subdivision near Michael’s house. It was a long way back, but you know idle minds and what they worry about. Well, needless to say, when we were coming back along the same route, I spotted a pickup along the side of Blue Bluff Road and my pickup was where I had left it–with no ticket on the window.

Once we turned on to Bloor Road there were probably 20 black vultures on the road and in the trees. It appeared that some animal had died along the road and they were cleaning up the remains. For all the details see my blog entry on “Two People with Binoculars”

When we were going by the lake, we could hear a lot of ducks, but I was unable to see them. There were hills and trees between us and the lake.

Here’s the two adventurers:

It was a good ride, although I chickened out on several other sections I want to ride some time: ie. 360 from Barton Creek Mall to the Arboretum or a path from home to work. It was just too cold and that would have added too much time to the ride.

The temperate was 45 when I left and I’m sure it didn’t change a whole lot. The sky was heavily overcast and the wind was out of the south probably about 5 MPH. Here is the official record according to Garmin Connect.

I sure need to do some stretching, the cold weather has my muscles real tight.

We headed out at about 8 and rode along the Guadalupe River. It was beautiful, the sun was just coming up giving the sky a rosy color. Thorough the trees we could see fog banks and they caught the color of the rising sun. When we would get close to the river the water was a pretty light green. I wish I could have taken a picture or two but we were moving too fast.

Finally after riding for an hour we arrived in Sattler, where we got some food and took care of other needs, and hit the road again.

From here the road went uphill, with several climbs before we reached the face of Canyon Dam. This marked the furthest extent of the ride, and from here we headed back.

For the most part the road was down hill and we were able to really fly. By this time sun had risen higher and we could enjoy the beautiful canyon. Unfortunately, the traffic was heavier also. There was one period when I was following a pickup truck that could not get around the bicycle riders. A little later I rode beside a motorcycle who was waiting to pass some cyclists. I thought about trying to talk put his bike was noisy and he had on a helmet that would have been difficult to talk through.

Toward the end there were two significant climbs. The first was coming up from the canyon about five miles from the end of the route. The second was at the end itself. The last 100 yards of the ride was a real struggle for me, going from the river up to the Gruene Dance hall. This year I was ready for the climb, and I had the bike in a low gear before we started up the hill. It was hard but I made it. Last year it caught me by surprise. I had been going down the hill in high and was not able to get the bike into low. I made it but I was really worried. I was not sure I could get unclipped and catch myself before I coasted back into the river – not to mention into the riders that were following me.

After changing out of our bicycle clothes and inspecting the bikes at the Old Bike Show we headed into New Braunfels to for some catfish and shrimp.

Thus ended a perfect day of biking.

• I was able to complete the ride feeling stong. I have ridden shorter versions of the same route several times before and I have bonked along the way. However, I didn’t have is problem. I think a large part was we rode much more sinceable then I have in the past. We stopped twice for Gu, and we held the speed down much better. As it was we maintain a moving average of 16.4 MPH.
• The last half of the ride was in pouring rain. Which meant that we were ether racing an approching rain storm or riding through the rain. It didn’t give you lot of time to think about being hot and thirsty.

Here is the ride results from the Garmin: