The weather has been great in Iowa and Minnesota! I got home on Thursday afternoon and Kathy and I took the tandem out for a spin with the Owatonna "B" group riders. The "A's" joined up with us about five miles into the ride so I guess we were the AB group. It was a great night for a ride, we did 30 miles and got back into town just before dark.
Thursday's route and data.
On Friday I worked on my Stand Up Board a bit, did some yard work, and then had a nice fall while coming down the attic stairs in the garage. I was one of those slow motion---THIS IS REALLY GOING TO HURT kind of falls, about 4 steps up right on my back on top of the CV joint and drive shaft I had taken off of the Camry a couple of weeks ago. It could have been a lot worse! but it was bad enough that Kathy and I decided it might be best if I were not steering the tandem on Saturday morning (I also hurt my thumb and my wrist). I must not have did too much damage though, because I was able to work in the yard on Saturday, and I felt good enough to plan a paddle for Sunday.
I got back down to Iowa on Saturday night. I met up with Reece and Steve on Sunday afternoon for a paddle from the downtown bridge in Cedar Falls, to the rowing club in Waterloo. If we were not the first SUP's on this river I would be surprised! We know for certain that this is the first time Steve has been on his board apart for a little time in the pool. Steve's Board is an inflatable, and I think it is harder to stand on than mine. It flexes front to back in addition to the obvious side-to-side rocking that standing up on a fairly narrow board would create. Stand Up Paddleboarding is really a balance sport!
I was able to stand up through the rapids in the play hole and through the rapids at the cutoff leading the the west channel near Waterloo. I am working on a two handled paddle that will hopefully make it easier to paddle while kneeling-- that seems to be something that will be need around here-- SUP's are really bad in a head wind. The second is a self folding fin the will fold up when it hit something in the water (like a rock or a log). I am enjoying this figuring SUP for Midwest rivers thing.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
A Great Day For a Ride!
Today was a great day (at least this morning was-- it looks like rain at the moment). I rode with John, Kat, and Keith today. The plan was to do a 2 hour+ ride in zone 2. What that means is that John tried to stay in zone 2 and the I tried to draft enough to remain in zone 2. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't It felt like I was drifting high whenever we went up high or when I had to sprint to get back on the draft. When I checked the data, I spent most of the time at the top of zone 1 and about 55 minutes actually in zone 2., and maybe 15 minutes or so above zone 2. I thought I was riding a little too hard, but as it turned out I was not riding hard enough :-)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
A Mighty Wind and a Not So Windy Saturday
Mike Johnson was planning a 5 hour 15-20 mph non-stop gravel right for Good Friday morning. I was pretty sure I would not be able to hang with him at that pace for long, and I was right, but it was nice as always to reconnect with Mike! Wow he is in fine form this spring. A strong south wind and soft gravel, he just walked away from John, Kat, and me. Before long we decided that the surface was just too soft and unpredictable to ride as close as we wanted in the wind so we switched to pavement and did a loop out to Parkersburg south and back into Cedar Falls. I had some time constraints so left John and Kat and took the diagonal back into town so that I could make it out to the Good Friday Service at Hudson in time. The ride was a good effort, 42 miles for me and good company too!
Saturday Kathy and I took another try on Tom and Pat's Tandem. There was a bit of a wind out of the west, but nothing like yesterday. We are liking the tandem thing so I guess that is on my list of future wheeled vehicles.
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