Author: Matthew Steinhoff

We’re visiting our recently-married friends Erynn and Ryan in the Southpoint area of Durham, NC. It’s cold. How cold? Check the thermometer. I’m going to call it less than 11 degrees cold. I did only 5.76 miles today.

American Tobacco Trail

The American Tobacco Trail passes right behind their house. It’s a 22-mile rails-to-trails project. In the winter, it’s cold. In the summer, it would be wonderful. The two or three miles I rode were well-shaded. You have to cross a fair number of roads but I never saw any traffic. There weren’t any cyclists out this morning but lots of walkers with their dogs.

Next time we’ll have to visit in warmer weather. I’d love to put some more miles onto this well-paved and groomed trail.

Bean Traders Coffee

Yum!

I don’t think of North Carolina as a bastion of good coffee but we have had two great days of coffee. This morning, I biked to Bean Traders Coffee They have three locations in the Durham, NC area.

Their coffee used to be roasted in the store (and you can still see the roaster) but they now do so much volume they can’t keep up so their beans are roasted off-site. Still, the coffee is fresh.

The folks working the counter know coffee. They pulled a perfect double espresso. Having just finished reading Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture, I have a renewed appreciation of good coffee.

In addition to brewing good bean, the place is very friendly to cyclists. No one blinked when I road up in a very bright outfit and undressed at a table. I sat near the counter and heard the baristas greet just about everyone who came in by name. Wonderful! Kid friendly, too. In addition to the main coffee slurping area, they have a second bay in the strip center with more tables and a small play area.

Bean Traders is just two and a half miles from their house by trail. It was a nice ride. I had good bean and read the newspaper then rode back. I would do that every morning if I lived here. But, maybe not at 11 degress.

—Matt

This morning, I woke up in Monroe, North Carolina. Having hauled my bike 700 miles, I felt obligated to ride even though the temperature was below 30 degrees. I had, somewhat, planned in advance. I borrowed Dad’s leg warmers and tossed my arm warmers in the bag. I even brought my cycling wind breaker though I never wear it more than about a mile because it makes me sweat.

Cycling Gloves? Ha! Ski Gloves!

I didn’t make it to the end of Grandmother’s drive way before I knew I needed something better than cycling gloves. I was going to lose a finger or two if I didn’t get something warmer on my hands

I ran back into the house and grabbed my ski gloves. I looked silly but my hands stood a better chance of staying warm. The gloves worked wonders.

Five Miles of Headwind

The wind was wicked. The wind was more of a problem than the cold. After two miles, I was sweating like a pig and had to take off the wind breaker. My legs had warmed up and I was flying up the hills. It was the flat sections into the wind where I had a real problem.

After five miles, I turned around. It wasn’t the cold that beat me down, it was the wind.

On the way out, I was cranking like crazy and going 14 miles an hour. On the way back, I was seeing 27 miles an hour and flying up the hills.

Nine Degrees? Really?

Tomorrow it is supposed to be nine degrees. I might give it a try just to say I’ve done it. That way, I never have to do it again.

—Matt

Last Sunday was the 24th Annual South Broward Wheelers Century Ride. I rode this year for the first and last time.

My Best Performance Ride Ever

At the end of the day, I had gone 105 miles at roughly 17 miles an hour.

That is one mile an hour faster than I did the shorter (75 miles) Memphis MS-150 in September. Even my previous metrics were done slower. My first century was done in December 2007 at a rate of 13.5 miles an hour. So, no matter how you slice it, I totally killed this ride.

Great Weather

The weather for Sunday’s ride was awesome. When I rolled into Brian Piccolo Park, it was 64 degrees. I put my leg warmers on and didn’t take them off until I was done. By the time I finished the century and drove off, it had only gotten to 80 degrees. Except for a nasty headwind for the last 25 or so miles, the weather was perfect. It was overcast all day so we never got too hot or sunburnt.

Even at the end of the ride, after a bit less than six hours in the saddle, I was ready to go for more miles. I assure you, that wasn’t my conditioning so much as the weather.

Good People

Mike the mechanic saved my ride.

About ten minutes before the start, I clipped in to my Crank Brothers Eggbeater Pedals and started riding around the parking lot to warm up. I heard the announcement to head to the start. I got to the start and tried to unclip. I couldn’t. With three minutes until launch, I couldn’t get my shoe off the pedal.

The shoe was spinning on the cleat and would not release. I had to take my foot out of the shoe in order to get off the bike. Fortunately, it was my second to release shoe that was busticated. Had it been my left shoe, I’m sure I would have made a (bigger) fool of myself in front of an estimated 400 riders.

Mike said I was missing a screw and, though he didn’t have an exact fit, was able to find something close enough so that I could ride. Thanks, Mike!

Also, thanks to rider 181 and his group. For the last eight miles into the wind, I tucked in with them. Very nice people who were willing to pick up a stray.

Food & Drink: About Every 20 Miles

For serious cyclists, 20 miles is about right for rest stops. For folks with a little less experience, 10 or 15 miles would be better.

(That’s a good point to note: This ride leans toward serious cyclists. This is not an MS-150 style charity ride. I never saw a sag wagon on the course though I did see them in the parking lot before the start. There were far more $7,000 bikes than $300 bikes. Nothing wrong with this, of course, just set your expectations accordingly.)

The food options were solid but lacked variety. Bananas, oranges and chocolate chip and Oreo Cookies were plentiful as were water and sports drinks. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were available. The only rest stop that really stood out was the one at Welleby Park. It had Oreo cookies with peanut butter and a banana slice on top. There might even have been M&Ms on some. It was unique and yummy.

How to Prevent Flat Tires

I saw a guy on the side of the road early in the day and asked if he needed help. He needed a tube. He flatted and then managed to pinch his spare tube. I gave him my only spare tube and he got that one on and inflated.

My thinking was that I haven’t changed a flat in at least ten years and if that guy — obviously more experience than I am — couldn’t do it, I probably couldn’t do it either. So, I’d rather have the good Karma and no tube than a tube I’d never be able to get up and running.

My gamble paid off. No flats for me Sunday!

Ugly: Lots and Lots of Ugly

It wasn’t a pretty ride. The route was so bad, I wouldn’t do this ride again.

Given the growth of Broward County, I’m sure the the South Broward Wheelers did the best they could do given their options. Still, it was ugly.

I don’t think a single segment of the ride was longer than five miles. Further, there were a lot more ‘turn right in one-tenth of a mile’ lines on the cue sheet than ‘ride through beautiful countryside for the next 45 minutes’. There were plenty of stop lights and stop signs.

Traffic volume was low as it was early Sunday. Still, for too much of the ride, we were on divided highways with cars zipping by in excess of 45 miles an hour.

Since the individual segments were so short, it was really hard to get up a rhythm. There were lots of starts and stops. Right about the time a group had settled into a pace, it was time to stop. Constantly regrouping caused for some uneven riding. It wasn’t comfortable.

South Broward Wheelers

I’m glad I did the 2008 Century Ride but won’t do it again. There are too many good roads in South Florida to spend half a day on this route.

That said, based on the people I met and the organizational quality of the ride, the SBW seems like a good bike club. Proceeds of this ride support local charities with a strong focus on children. In fact, since 2002, they have donated over 1,000 new bikes with helmets. Anything that gets more people to ride is okay in my book.

If you’re in the Broward area, please check out the South Broward Wheelers.

—Matt