Wind Chill Riding

With the fall season getting ready to become winter, my rides are getting colder and also tougher to figure out what to wear on my early morning rides. The summer was easy. Just put something on that was light and breaths well and store up on water bottles. It's a lot harder now during these colder temperatures trying to wear something that both keeps you warm in the beginning of the ride but not over cook you as you get well into your course. Another factor that you have to take into account is not only the outside temperature but also your riding speed which can add some serious wind chill. Here is a simple chart that one can use while doing a pace of 20 mph.

Riding Speed = 20 miles per hour

Outside Temperature Wind Chill

40 Degrees F = 30 Degrees F

35 Degrees F = 24 Degrees F

30 Degrees F = 17 Degrees F

25 Degrees F = 11 Degrees F

Now if you're some kind of road speed demon and cruise the streets in the high 20's mph. Be prepared to turn heads and race cars and also freeze your damn toes off!

Keep riding and stay warm!

Virtual Riding Game Across the U.S.

As we come into the holiday season I can't help but reflect on this year and how many great miles I rode. I kept a daily log of all my rides showing how far I rode each day. What was the weather like? How I felt during each ride and what was my time and distance. Based on what I have already done for 2009, I should finish the year with a little over 4,100 miles logged. So as a fun little "Virtual Riding Game", I can map out a course across the U.S. to put things into perspective.

My 4,100 miles is like riding from Charleston, SC to Atlanta, Ga. From Atlanta I continue to ride northwest to Memphis, TN. After checking out Graceland I head to Little Rock, AR. Next stop, Oklahoma City, OK. Then on to Amarillo, TX where I can store up on some good solid protein (Steak!). After some good cowboy meals I ride to Albuquerque, NM for some local Margaretta's. Then I ride by the south rim of the Grand Canyon being careful not to get a flat tire. Then it's a straight shot to Los Angeles,CA where I check out the Pacific Ocean and say hello to Hollywood. Sign a few autographs and I head Northeast to Las Vegas, NV. After I lose most of my money I keep heading east to the Rocky Mountains and Grand Junction, CO. Get a small breather and then take off over the mountains to Ogallala, NE. My last leg is to Pierre, SD. This awesome trek is just about 4,100 miles.

Now I'm sure that no one on Lances' Team Radio Shack has to look over their shoulder worrying about losing their spot to me, but it sure has been a fun year. For 2010, my goal is to do 5,000 miles. With that, I will be able to hit Seattle, WA and check out the Great Lakes on my return trip home!

Lets have the Legislators Ride

What a great day to ride in the Lowcountry, just plain awesome! The temperature was in the mid 70's, low humidity, and hardly any ocean breeze to hit you in your face on your return trip back home. Today was a day that allowed you to get into some kind of serious rhythm to hold your speed. A perfect day to set best times for your marked course. Its days like today that make cycling one of the coolest activities that anyone who loves the outdoors can do. Kind of makes you wish that the state had a day set aside just for riding your bike around the countryside.

I figure we have about another month left before these kinds of days are behind us. Then we will have to wait till spring. I should feel fortunate because my fellow riders north of the Mason Dixon line are just about already done for the season. They can go ride, of course, but they have to start loading up on cold weather apparel because with the speed it makes it tough to enjoy the wind you generate, it gets a little chilly. So lets all think about asking our state legislators to set up a law to have one weekend day a month for just riding. It just might clear their heads!

Mother Nature Doesn't Forget

What a weekend for riding, the weather was picture perfect! Blue sky, middle 70's, little breeze, low humidity, even the dogs didn't bark as you rode by they just wagged their tails. The Lowcountry this time of year is the best place to be in the Nation, no question about! But come this Tuesday, we get reminded again of what can happen living here on the Carolina Coast. A little disturbance by the name of "Ida" is going to pay a little visit to our area. The good thing is that Ida won't be a Hurricane when it gets here, just a Tropical Storm. But get ready for some serious rain, and I mean rain. One of the amazing features of these systems is the amount of rain they produce. Unlike big fronts and storms that produce large amounts of rain that will eventually drain their system of water, Hurricanes and Tropical storms are like engines that keep generating and producing rain. The only way that the rain stops is when the storm moves out of the area!

So come Tuesday, better get back inside on your trainer because unless you like riding in nonstop hard rain, it's going to be a mess outside. We just about made it this year. The Hurricane season last from June to November and we had clear sailing (or ridding) this whole season. I guess this is Mother natures way of saying, "And you thought I forgot about you?"

Become a Speed Demon Next Spring

If there is a bright side of coming off of Daylight Saving time (getting dark at 6pm) it is that your training gets into another "mode of workouts". This is the time for some serious inside training on your bike trainer. Forget about jumping on your bike after work to ride a good 20 miler. That won't happen for another 5 or 6 months. You need light from the sun, not car headlights. So, as I mentioned, the bright side of this change with inside training is that you can really build up a spinning base for next season. The trick is to plan out a training schedule based on time spinning to give you long solid days of fast cardio and leg conditioning. One hour a day on your trainer for just 4 or 5 days can really prepare yourself for some serious results in the spring.

Weather permitting, you can still set aside a good ride outside for Saturday or Sunday. But on the weekdays, try to keep a log of your time (instead of miles) that you train. You can log about 120 hours for these off season months putting down some fast pedaling speed. You do this and come next spring you will be the road riding bullet of your town.

Great Weekend Riding

It's hard to beat an early Saturday morning ride. I rode into Charleston down along the Battery and it could not have been more glorious. The water was glass smooth, the water birds were flying low over the water in their V formations, and the sun was just coming up giving the surroundings a cool golden glow. Looking out at Fort Sumter made me think that I was looking at a post card. Very little traffic and the weather was perfect, the temp was in the high 60's, and very low humidity. There were a good number of people either walking, running, or riding which is always fun to see. I stayed on East Bay all the up to the Ravenel Bridge and rode it over to Mt. Pleasant. Once I got over into the village of Mt. Pleasant, I was able to look across the Cooper River at the city of Charleston. The morning sun really made the rooftops glistened. What a marvelous city and what a way to start your day.

Today after church, I rode my regular 20 mile course here in West Ashley which I never seem to get tired of. Neat neighborhoods and an awesome stretch along Wappoo Rd next to the Stono River. There was a family crabbing as I rode by and the dad had pulled up a net with a couple of blue tip crabs showing his two little boys. It brought back memories of crabbing we used to do with our three sons. I did my course in 1 hour 7 minutes and 57 which for me is pretty darn fast. All and all, this has been a great weekend for riding and taking in the awesome scenery of the Lowcountry.

A Nice 120 mph Tail Wind

Today could not have been any prettier for riding my bike. Blue sky, nice ocean breeze coming off the Stono River, big full puffy clouds out over the Atlantic, and a nice easy little tail wind. Just a bit different than the tail wind we had here 20 years ago today, like about 120 mph difference. September 21, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the direct hit from Hurricane Hugo. And boy did that bad boy do some kind of hammer down damage in this part of the State. Hugo actually kicked everybody's ass and I promise he didn't take any names. The eye of the storm passed right over Charleston. Not only did the wind cause awesome damage, but the worst destruction was from the storm surge that came ashore. The photo of me riding down Wappoo Rd was about six feet underwater. About 30 miles up the coast (north of the city)is where the north quadrant of the eye hit and it brought a storm surge of 18 feet. It carried shrimp boats more than a mile in from the coast.

Hurricane Hugo was bad enough, but the real pain and I mean pain, were the weeks that followed. The whole county was devastated. No cell phones, no local radio stations, no TV's, no water, no food, NO POWER! The only thing that worked were the underground land line telephones. The only way anyone could get information was from a radio station in Jacksonville, FL which was 200 miles away. Someone would call the station and tell their location and then a neighbor or someone else close by could come to their rescue. It took 2 1/2 weeks before we had electricity and we were lucky. Riding today and reflecting back on this date of 20-years ago, I couldn't help but feel pretty fortunate especially with that nice easy tail wind that helped push me down the road today.