Fulshear Saturday

We had a large group this Saturday: Jim, Robert, Robert's friend, Ben, Danny, John, Henry, David, Ken and Pat. This was a beautiful ride, as always, but my speed and endurance were disappointing to say the least. Once again I managed to keep the group in sight most of the time, but I suspect some of my fellow riders were being charitable. I'm really not sure if it's my leg or my new bike. I'm going to try some faster tires for my next ride and see if it makes a difference. Right now I'm on 26 x 1.5's, not exactly greyhound tires.

Fulshear and the surrounding area are growing rapidly. There are new subdivisions sprouting west and east of town and now to the south. I wonder how long it will be before we have to find a new quiet place to ride. We are encountering more and more traffic these days.

John and Jim weren't speaking for some reason.

We had an extended break in Fulshear after riding 20 miles on Bois D'Arc. Pat had some chain problems at our first break point and somehow we all pulled out without noticing he wasn't with us. He made it back to Fulshear where we were waiting and then we all (sans Ben and Henry) shoved off for the Polo Fields.

Ben dropped me easily on his Actionbent trike.

A Visit to the Doctor

I had my 3.5 month post surgery check up today at the medical center. All is well and my leg is healing as expected. I don't have to return until mid December when the doctor thinks I should decide whether to have the hardware in my leg removed. I'll make the decision then, but I'm certainly reluctant to have another surgery, particularly an elective one like this.

Meanwhile I am enjoying cycling again. I finished therapy at 4 pm and couldn't resist heading out to Memorial Park for an afternoon ride. I'm getting accustomed to my new bike and loving being outdoors on the bike after a three month hiatus.

Miles Today: 20.2
Miles This Year: 246.6

A Beautiful Saturday

Each weekend while I was housebound with my leg, I imagined riding strong in Fulshear with my friends in cool, crystal clear spring weather. Today the dream came true. Okay, maybe I wasn't "riding strong", but I did finish with everyone else and the weather was as good as it's ever been. Ken, David, Debbie, Pat and Ben joined me at the City Hall parking lot at 8:30. It was a little brisk so we all had jackets or windbreakers. This is the weekend for the MS 150 so the gas station parking lot across the street, usually packed with wedgie riders, was deserted. Typically, we'll see 300-400 wedgies on a Saturday morning ride. Today we saw just 3.

The spring scenery was breathtaking. Brilliant greens and wild flowers were in evidence all around.

Here is the group just 5 miles out of Fulshear. We don't usually stop here, but my out of shape legs and butt needed a short break, probably more so since this was my first outing on the V2 Formula.

This was my first attempt at a regular Fulshear ride. My rides out here last weekend were only abbreviated runs. My bike performed well and I had no problems with it. My bad leg is sufficiently strong now that I can lift it to the pedals to get started. That's something I couldn't do just a month ago. I noticed today while riding that I can actually see the difference in my legs. My right thigh is still atrophied and slightly less developed than my left one. While I had the stamina to finish the ride, I was the slowest rider of the group. That's a place I hate to be. My lack of conditioning was particularly evident on the last leg of the ride from Wallis to Fulshear. I could keep everyone in sight, but only just. Ben hung in there with me for a few miles and Ken and David circled back for me in the home stretch. By the time I reached the parking lot, I felt I had just finished the Hotter N' Hell Hundred. More miles will fix that.

This is why it's called P Wall. Nice shot Debbie.

Miles Ridden Today: 34.5

Miles Ridden This Year: 211.1

My New Ride

My goal since my injury in January has been to get back to tandem biking. I've logged a hundred miles or so on my venerable Tour Easy, mainly because of the comfort afforded by the low bottom bracket. Now that I have gained some strength and flexibility, it's time to move up to a higher bottom bracket. That step is essential to getting back on the Seavo. I found this new Rans Formula 26 on the Bentrider message board from a dealer at a fantastic price so I jumped on it.

The first test ride was this evening. All went well and I felt very comfortable on the bike. I'll go ahead and add a computer and tail light. Saturday I'll try to put some miles on it and get it dialed in.

Back in Fulshear

Almost three months to the day after my injury I was finally able to ride in Fulshear again. I'm still on the Tour Easy for the time being, but my V2 Formula should be ready for next weekend. Debbie, Pat, Ben and I rode 22 miles this morning. That's not much for them, but it was just right for me. I felt I could have gone a little farther, but I'm taking things slow and will try to extend the distance next Saturday.

There were lots of bikes on the road today. The MS150 is next weekend.

Ben has to think about how to get out of his new trike.

We saw a Bilenky tandem at the store on our break.