11/28/2014
Breakin' Even;
I think the idea of breaking even on calories the day after Thanksgiving is rather ludicrous, but, I gotta try anyway.
This day started out like so many do this time of year, cool, in the 40's and breezy, sustained winds around 18mph with higher gusts, a good day for a gravel ride. My gravel bike is definitely not a race bike, heavy, and geared more like a mountain bike, it is more of a bike to look for adventures than for racing. I have no quarrel with people who race bikes, they need to train constantly and vigorously to remain in tip top physical shape and competitive. Race training is a focused thing, every pedal stroke, every deviation from your line could mean seconds lost. Training with a rider who is much slower than you destroys your edge. A bike that weighs a few grams too heavy could mean the difference between winning and losing a race. Gotta have all the good stuff to go with it..... cadence counter, heart rate monitor (gotta keep it maxed out), $500 bike fit, all the expensive light weight stuff, and then monitor all the results of this while you are riding, trying to shave a half second here, and a half second there. Racing is a tough business. I'm sorry, but I had to chuckle at one of the Tour de France racers, now retired who stated that it was nice to be able to actually see France, because all the years he raced there, he never had the time to look. Well, that's not how I ride, I ride to explore, to sight see, to stop and talk to people, and to enjoy a little slower paced lifestyle. Many enjoy the ratrace, but I'm content to let the rats do their own thing. Besides, it's hard to be racy when you ride a heavy bike, and my cadence is beat by a different drummer.
Did I mention my bike is heavy? I'll just lean it against this handy stop sign while I take a picture ...... oops .....
Of course, to be fair to the bike ..... the wind was blowing...
Now to get to the ride ..... As I've said, a typical Oklahoma late Fall day, breezy and temperatures in the 40's, I dressed appropriately, but also took along my small handlebar bag to put my clothes in as I peeled them off later (as it turned out, I didn't need to). Any ride starts out on a little bit of pavement from my home, this one was no exception. Out the door, and up the hill.
After a couple miles of pavement, I branched out on a very nicely graded, wide, easy riding gravel road. This, however was going into the above mentioned 18mph breeze, so it's not quite as easy as it looks here.
From wide open roads, to pretty, tree lined lanes.
As always, there are the light weight limit wooden bridges.
There are water crossings
As well as the sometimes unavoidable mudholes.
When the gravel runs out there is always the ubiquitous Oklahoma red clay. Almost impassable when wet, and when dry, it resembles concrete spilled out the back of a mixer truck as it rolled along.
There were endless vistas rewarding you on top of the long climbs.
As well as endless pastoral farm scenes like this one.
Gravel got hills? ..... Actually, most all of our gravel roads do not follow any highway gradient standard, but instead just follow the lay of the land, which can make for some pretty steep climbs at times.
"Hang on the best you can bro' ....... I got your back"......
You never know what you are going to find next, from beautiful nicely graded roads like this one
To this in just a few miles
This is the kind of road a true explorer lives for.
Gooey mud all along, big water and mud holes.
AS well as tree hazards
And, if you are lucky, an occasional treat. This fine rig is owned by another Richard, pulled by a three mule team. The youngster in the middle is being "trained" by the two older team members one on each side. Richard takes this rig on a cross state ride every year similar to our Freewheel bike ride. He uses this road as a training ground for his team ..... as well as the overseer running alongside. He has several matched teams of registered mules and they are hard working animals. I stopped and got well off to the side long before they got close to me as the mules were very wary and a bit spooky of seeing another person out here. I talked to them calmly and reassuringly as they went by. Richard stopped and we chatted for a bit before we went on.
From mud holes and water and fallen trees, to soft sand, this road (figuratively speaking) had it all. Really, a Fatbike would have been better, but I was surprised at how well my 40 size tires handled this stuff. Every bit as good as my mountain bike. It would get a bit squirrely at times, and the effort increased about 500% but I made it through only to find yet another surprise....
This beautiful fallen leaf hill. The leaves were wet and slimy, and traction was poor, but once again, the bike proved up to the task as we (the bike and I) slipped and slid up the hillside. While the bike handled all the adverse road conditions well, this is not a singletrack trail, and I realize that with a rigid bike, it would not handle singletrack as well as a mountain bike with suspension. When I got this bike, however, I hadn't ridden any singletrack for several years, and wasn't really planning on any in the future.
I couldn't continue on without a selfie .... I had a hard time finding an adequate "tripod" but located a convenient fallen log to hold my camera for me.
Everything is thinning out and looking more civilized .... hmmm... I wonder what that sign is up there on the left?
Oh ........ now they tell me ...... This stop proved fortuitous however, as I got to meet another resident of the area. An older retired gentleman who owned a place off to the right side of the road right here. He let me know that while riding a bike was fine for youngsters like me, but he was 70 and was just too old for that sort of exertion anymore ..... nice old guy ..... I liked him a lot .....
My reward for this ride....... all these wonderful pictures, the great memories and the wonderful experience out in the countryside .... and Oh, yeah ...... a couple hundred of ..... these ..... and a bike wash.
