Tuesday - May 14, 2013
I went out for a solo bike ride today. It was 43 degrees when I left the house, so it felt like 33 when I was moving. But I put on my tights and a jacket and I was fine (plus 2 pair of gloves and 2 pair of socks and ear warmers).
About 2 miles in I felt a “pop” and thought I might have broken another spoke – yep! This is only my 2nd ride since getting my wheel straightened and now it’s bent again! But my gears held up today, or maybe I just learned how NOT to shift. Either way, they worked well. I rode the Queen City Wheels/BAM Racing route from Blue Ash to Madeira to Camp Dennison to Milford to Indian Hill to Madeira and then back to Blue Ash. 23.7 miles total in 1:33:53, with an average speed of 15.2 mph (which is slower than my last ride on this route, but today felt much better/faster. Huh?). I burned 1,097 calories, my max speed was only 32.0 mph at one point today. My Strava data says my Indian Hill climb was 9.6 mph, so I think I was climbing around 8.8 mph today. Last week, it said 9.9 mph and taking out the flats I was around 9.1. So, still a solid ride.
It felt great though. I saw a couple other solo riders out, but no groups. At least it was dry today. If my buddy wants to swim tomorrow, I’ll meet him, otherwise I’m going for a run. The Joe is only 2 weeks away, and the LMT is only 3 weeks away. It's cram time!
I told my wife about the broken spoke and said I needed a new rear wheel (maybe $150?) and she suggested I stop putting money into this bike and save for a new bike. But with two 70.3 races this year and several smaller races (not to mention the hundreds of training miles between now and winter), I can’t ride with a broken spoke. It has a bad bend in the wheel that rubs the brake pad, slowing my down a little with each revolution. This also puts more stress on the remaining spokes, and they’re more likely to break too. If I’m out and 1 or 2 more spokes break, I might have to have her pick me up. I'm thinking new wheel soon and a new bike next year.
Here is my Strava data:
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