Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Category: FOG

  • What a difference a week makes

    The thought originally for this post was about my weekly FOG ride and the bulk of it will be, but a lot has happened in the last week and things are working out better that anticipated.

    Anyway, last weeks FOG ride. As you may or may not know the “F” on FOG stands for Fast and the “O” stands for Old and both are subject to interpretation. “O” can be anywhere from 23 to 60+ and “F” has a significant range as well. The fast speed is still refered to as fast, and trust me it is very fast. The slower speed was once referred to as “Endurance”, as nobody really likes to be in a slow group but there seems to be 2 “slower” speed groups emerging. I like the new name for the 35-38 kph group which is now being referred to as the “Classic” speed, which when I joined a couple of years ago was the only other that fast speed. Anyway, I’ve ridden with the fast group off and on and usually get dropped in the process, but hey, it’s a great challenge and fun to really go hard.

    The last two weeks I’ve ridden with the fast group. Two weeks ago it was a lovely sunny and warm day. We did just over 100km at an average speed of 36.4km and there were some very quick sections of the ride to get that average speed. Yes, I got dropped a couple of times but was able to rejoin and hang with the group most of the way.

    This week it was cloudy, raining on and off and cooler. At the starting point folks were hanging around looking at the sky, not getting the bikes out of the cars and hesitating on getting ready to ride. Finally, at 9:10 we get under way with 18 riders. 9:13 we’re stopped at the side of the road with the 1st flat of the day. The city really needs to sweep off the shoulder on the Perimeter bridge over Henderson as this is a frequent cause of flats. After we’re underway again you start to get used to the wheel spray from the rider in front. At times it’s hard to tell if it’s raining our just spray, and then it rains harder and you get your answer. Shortly, my shoes are soaked and initialy this is quite uncomfortable but after you get used to that, being wet no longer matters.

    After Lockport the group splits up into “fast” and “others”. I’m torn. There are only 4 guys going in the fast group, and I know it will be wicked fast. But, being a sucker for punishment I hook on to a wheel and we’re off. Well, that doesn’t last too long and I’m trailing off the back quite a bit. Then, I’m joined by another rider who’s trying to rejoin the fast group. We work together at about 40 kph and are keeping pace this the fast group ahead, but can’t close the gap. Eventually, we rejoin the fast group as they slow down at the corner of Hwy 44 & 206 but then the speed is on again. Once in Birds Hill Park our mileage is only about 36km as we’ve taken a non-standard route, so we’re doing laps of the park to make up the distance. I’m taking short pulls at the front and doing my best to hang on to the group. At one point I stay a few seconds too long at the front and almost can’t get on the wheel of the last rider as I drift to the back of the paceline. I’m looking at 3-4 feet and giving it everything to close up. Note to self, shorter times at the front. On another occation I’m think it’s really hard to get back on and I look down at the cycling computer and I’m doing 50 kph to get on the train!

    This keeps up for an 88 km ride at an average of 34.6 kph and just two minutes before we’re back at the cars it really pours just to make sure we’re really soaked. All in all a great ride.

  • Crash Blackout

    After getting home from the ride this morning, I noticed something unusual on my jersey. If you look carefully at the lower right, those of you who are cyclists will most likely recognize the imprint of a chain ring. Now, it’s not totally unheard of to get a “chain ring tattoo” on you calf with a little careless bike handling, but up on the torso area. Clearly, this is a sign of a crash.

    The ride today was the full route at 96.74km, but a little quicker that last weeks ride at an average speed of 32.55 km/hr thanks to some favorable winds and some guys really pulling the group along hard for big stretches of the ride.

    Anyway, about the crash, no I didn’t crash and blackout forgetting how that ring imprint got there. But, while I was lifting the bike to put it on the rack in the garage, it must have got a little too close the the bike.

  • Second Centrury

    Two years ago I rode my 1st Century, and last year I missed this event but last Sunday I took part in the 16th Annual Muddy Waters 100.

    This year the Muddy Waters ride hooked up with Habitat for Humanity and has over 500 cyclists take part in the event riding 25,  60 or 100 km, or the big one, 100 miles. In cycling speak a “Century” is a 100 mile ride and most serious road cyclists eventually get around to adding it to their list of accomplishments.

    The ride was quite a bit different this year with a start from the Forks and a police escort all the way to the Perimeter Highway with rolling street closures all the way. So, for about 1/2 hour we had all of the north bound lanes of Main Street tied up. This made for a very leisurely start at about 10-15km/h, actually painfully slow and them up to about 30km, and then full speed ahead after the cruiser car pulled off at the Perimeter.

    I stayed with the main group until after the “Big Bridge” past Selkirk which was great. Coming down from the bridge I thought I was getting a flat and as I slowed to check out what was going on, a gap opened up between me and the lead group. Turns out I’d just hit a tar strip with made the bike feel funny for a few seconds but it didn’t take much and I found my self in the second group. We worked hard for quite a while, almost to Hwy 44 to re-join, but for me, it was not to be. Stayed with the second group well onto Hwy 212, but got dropped again for some solo riding and eventually joining up with four other guys for some on again off again riding into the Birds Hill town site. From here the other four guys took a rest stop and I soloed on to Henderson Hwy. At this point another rider picked me up from behind and we rode a steady 34-36km/h to the finish. All in all a very good day. The weather was great and the ride a lot of fun.

    However, I’m sure there are lots of stories of some pretty interesting events, like the crash at the front of the peloton just entering Selkirk. I was pretty close to this one and just missed going down in the pile up. To me it looked like a rider bumped an on coming car and there were 6-8 riders abreast at the time and that triggered quite the pileup. It looked like nobody was seriously injured and the organizers were right there to respond. Later, I hear a very loud “pop” and the rider next to me pulls off with a flat. I wonder how many flats occured that day. I heard of one rider getting 3! Then there was the rider with shoes off and walking at Garvin and 59. When I asked he said he’d be OK, and just needed to walk it off for a bit. Hope that turned out all right.

    I followed the perscribed course to the letter, but my odometer came up a little short of the 162km required for the Century, but I’m chalking that up to the new bike computer not being set up quite right. Compared to two years ago, I put in a significantly faster ride over all and the “Trip Time” is actually just time on the bike not total elapsed time and I know I took way fewer and shorter rest stops this year. For the record, max speed was 54.77km/h

  • The Ride Report

    My Stats

    Distance 97.05 km
    Average speed 32.06 km/hr
    Max Speed 57.0 km/hr
    Ride Time 3:00:27

    Today’s ride was my best of the season so far! It was a cool start at 6°C but warmed up to 16°C over the course of the ride. I did well in the sprint into Selkirk and over the “Big Bridge”. After re-grouping I rode with 7 other guys in the “fast” group and we worked well together keeping a pace in the 40-45km/h range until we caught up to the main group. It was a slow pace over to Hwy 206 where I found myself at the front and then suddenly alone as the group had dropped back. On 206 I’m usually starting to fade and typically get dropped going up the two small hills.

    But today, today was different. I still felt strong and again found myself at the front as we approached the hills. I kept a steady 35 up both hills and was just waiting for somebody to try and pass as I was ready to really jump on the petals and give them a run for it but nobody came! At the top, I dropped right & back to let somebody else take the lead and then there was a sprint for the Park gate on the flat. I was trapped in the shoulder side with everyone coming by on my left. Once I got a break it was time to hammer down and I caught all but a coupe of guys before the gate.

    After a half lap of the park it was the long downhill to Hwy 59. We’re in the line and my buddy says “let’s go” so we both pull out and are flying down to the overpass. I suspect this is where I hit the 57km/h. The two others eased off, but I kept up a solid 40 up to the top of the overpass before taking a breather. Even going up 59 where I’m usually shot, I was still feeling good and riding well. As we turn back onto Henderson Hwy, one of the guys says “I’m just going to spin back”, I said “Did he say spin back or sprint back” and my riding buddy and I leave the group behind as we sprint back to the parking lot.

    A great day and a good ride.

  • The Ride Report


    FOG Riders
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

    My Stats

    Distance 107.32 km
    Average speed 30.05 km/hr
    Max Speed 49.8 km/hr
    Ride Time 3:20:12

    Today’s ride was a little longer that typical due to taking the Cooks Creek route option. The weather was very fine with temperatures in the mid-20s and a clear sky for the ride as you can see from the picture that I took during the ride. The photo was a little tricky, but now I have my own photo’s of the group.

    It was a very large group today and at times quite unruly with people riding 4 across, some cutting into the line, and a near bump on River Road, but nothing compared to what happened at the end.

    We’re just coming up Henderson Hwy approaching the Legion, just a few minutes from finishing the ride, and two riders go down right in front of me. I manage to brake without getting rear-ended and put off onto the grassy shoulder and avoid getting tangled up in the crash. Wow, do these things happen fast!

    From what the riders involved said, the first rider to go down had his front wheel bumped by the rider in front of him as he moved over a bit. This started a nasty wobble for the first rider to go down that he couldn’t recover from, and the second person was just unable to get out of the way. It may be a little harsh, but this was a self-inflicted crash, as the first rider to go down must have been overlapping wheels with the rider ahead. I’ve been cautioned on this before and now I’m quite careful to avoid overlapping for just this reason. Perhaps in a race, or the Tour de France the pro’s will ride in this position, but on a group ride of amatures, it’s a receipe for trouble. Well, both riders seemed physically OK, but bike damage my be another story. Being that close to a crash gave me a new respect for the issues of riding in a group in a tight formation.