Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Category: Biking

  • Spring notes

    Spring notes

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    We are now about halfway through May, and after a warm April, the temperatures have been below average for the past several weeks. It looks like we will be getting back into the 90s next week, so this may be spring’s last gasp. Earlier this spring, we had our old, ailing central A/C replaced with a high efficiency heat pump, and we’ve been trying out the heat during some of the colder mornings. I think the heat pump will save us a lot of money on heating oil during the winter, but how well it performs during really cold weather remains to be seen.

    I have been out paddling for the past 3 consecutive Monday mornings, and each time, I have worn my wet suit and spray skirt (the latter most recently because it was raining, and earlier because of gusty wind/choppy water). I don’t recall using the wet suit this late in May before, but the water temperature (per NOAA’s Baltimore inner harbor buoy) has been hovering in the low to mid 60s, and my cutoff for wearing the suit is upper 60s to around 70. That’s also the temperature at which I’ll consider using the SUP instead of the kayak. Based on the forecast, I suspect I’ll be out on the SUP within the next week or two.

    We will likely be opening our pool in the next couple of weeks. After sealing up around the underwater light niche conduits a month or so ago, the pool seems to be holding water, but that doesn’t tell me much, as it typically only loses water when it’s at or below freezing. So, the real test will be to see if it leaks this coming winter. I also plan to inspect the main drain this spring once the pool is open, to make sure the hydrostatic relief valve port fitting (another potential winter leak source) is still sealed up properly. I started the pump up a couple of weeks ago, which went off without a hitch. I still have a slight leak on the pressure side around the pipe threads. Last year, it eventually stopped leaking on its own, so I’m tempted to wait it out again this year rather than taking everything apart to re-seal (which is admittedly easier now since I put unions in). I’m always paranoid about creating larger issues while trying to fix small issues. 😀 I also have a small leak around the handle shaft of the filter multi-port valve, which already seems to be stopping (there’s water at the base of the handle, but nothing dripping on the ground). I’ve been considering replacing that valve, but that can likely wait until fall. In preparation for opening, I’ve added 360 pounds of salt so far, and will likely need another 80lb or so, plus 10-15lb of stabilizer, before we take the cover off.

    It has been a rather light spring for biking, and when I have gotten on a bike, it’s been one of my mountain bikes. While droughts are mostly bad, they do make for good trail conditions (as long as we get some occasional rain to keep things from getting too dusty). This is “bike to work week”, so today, I did my duty as a long time bike commuter and rode to the office, although I was mostly on single track trails. The older I get, the less appetite I have for riding in traffic, so I tend to gravitate towards mountain biking whenever conditions allow. This weekend, though, I’m hoping to get back into my summertime tradition of taking long road rides to find geocaches. Bikeable caches have been popping up left and right over the past several days, so I’ll have plenty to keep me busy.

  • Farewell SnowCrete

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    We have had quite the run of unusual winter weather here for the past couple of weeks. It started out on January 25 with several inches of snow, followed by a full day of sleet, resulting in densely-packed snow that the locals have affectionately dubbed “SnowCrete”. After that, we went into an extended deep freeze where temperatures barely made it into the 20s. As a result, the “SnowCrete” has stuck around for quite a while. Now, 16 days later, the cold snap has finally broken, and the stuff is starting to melt down.

    While the SnowCrete was more of an annoyance than anything else, there are a couple of things I’ll miss about it. It was packed down so hard that you could (mostly) walk right over it without sinking down. It was great for snowshoeing, and I managed to get out twice, hiking 3 miles the first time and 4 miles the second. It also worked really well with studded bike tires. In Patapsco Valley State Park, I could ride right over the unplowed pavement, on top of the snow. Contrast that to most snows we get, where the unplowed sections quickly turn into icy, rutty messes of footprints and bike tire tracks. After two weeks of SnowCrete, however, today was the day it ended. I rode my bike to work, and this morning, I was able to ride over the snow for one last time. This afternoon, I had to push the bike through the same section, with my feet and tires sinking down with every step. It was fun while it lasted, and we probably won’t see another snow like this for a long time. All the same, it will be nice to get back to some of my usual outdoor activities like mountain biking and geocaching.

  • Icy Bike Commute

    Icy Bike Commute

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    I took my first bike ride after the big snow-and-ice storm and ensuing deep freeze last week. It was actually fairly warm out this morning (for this winter), with temperatures hovering just a few degrees below freezing. I trotted out my old Specialized Rockhopper for the occasion, which I hadn’t ridden since last winter. The chain had a little bit of surface rust, and could use a good cleaning, but I just shot some lube on it for today. The bike rode fine. I used to ride it year-round, but lately, it has been a winter-only bike. I have two wheelsets for it, one with studded tires, and one with regular tires, and I haven’t used the latter in 2 or 3 years. Since that one is a newer wheelset, I might end up moving the studs over to it, as the 1995-vintage freehub on the old wheelset tends to occasionally “miss” in colder weather. But, I’m going off on a tangent…

    I had scoped this morning’s ride out by car on Monday, and determined that it was doable. Back in the day, it wouldn’t even have been a question, but at my current age, I’m more invested in staying upright, and thus a little less adventurous about road riding in adverse conditions. As usual, the best part of the ride was the segment through Patapsco Valley State Park. Most of the roads running through the park, as well as the Grist Mill Trail, were plowed down to bare pavement and in great shape. The exceptions were River Road between the Avalon day-use area and Orange Grove, which had in inch or two of crusty, compacted snow, and the River Road entrance on the Howard County side, which never gets plowed. Typically, after a snowfall, the latter turns into a big mess of icy footprints and bike tire tracks. This snow, though, was so hard and crusty that very little had broken through it in over a week. That will change as it starts to thaw, but with another cold snap coming, we may have several more days of these conditions. The entrance road is mostly downhill, and it’s hard to regulate the speed of the bike in icy conditions, so I put my Yaktrax on and walked it out of an abundance of caution. Once inside the park, River Road was rideable with care. I did stop to walk one or two downhill segments, but by the time I got out near the swinging bridge, I was riding more confidently. It’s been a really long time since we’ve had hard-packed snow like this, and I don’t think it has ever stuck around for as long as it has this winter. It is almost tailor-made for studded tires. Yaktrax and snowshoes work great on it too, and I saw a number of tracks (actually more like indentations) from both.

    The river was almost completely frozen over today, with the exception of a narrow area of flowing water around the swinging bridge. Parts of the surface looked like glass, and parts had ice shards that looked kind of like diamonds. It was quite beautiful. I took my time getting to work, and stopped for a few photos along the way. I’m looking forward to the ride back home in a couple of hours.

  • My week so far

    My week so far

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    For the past few years, I have been climbing Monday nights, which made it really difficult to bike commute Mondays due to the tight timing. I would get home around 5:30, and have to wolf dinner down and go right back out the door to get to the climbing gym by 6:45. That was not much fun, so I typically ended up telecommuting Mondays. This year, we’ve switched climbing to Tuesdays, which opens Mondays back up for bike commuting. That’s what I did this past Monday, and it was something of an adventure. An accident had shut down I-95, pushing tons of traffic onto the back roads and creating gridlock everywhere. Had I known it was going to be so bad, I would have taken one of my mountain bikes and ridden trails. But, once I got past one particularly bad stretch of road (and rerouted to avoid another) I was able to get to work fairly painlessly and without mishap.

    I ran Tuesday morning, climbed Tuesday night, and then ran again this afternoon (Wednesday). I typically don’t run in the afternoons, but today, it worked out well. The weather was overcast and mild (around 50℉), and with rain forecast for tonight followed by a cold snap, I wasn’t sure what the conditions would be like on Thursday. Today, I was able to run in shorts. I’m always trying to work on my running form, and today, I decided to make an effort to lower my hips, lift my legs, and bend my knees more. I tend to overstride a bit with my left leg, which causes my left hamstring to get tight and sore, and probably also contributes to foot issues like extensor tendonitis. Bending the knees more prevents the overstriding, and my hamstring seemed a lot happier today. It also seemed to make me a little faster. Maybe I’m onto something, or maybe not, but I’ll try it again with my next run and see how it goes. As for the timing, I left the house at 3:50, and it worked out fine. There was somewhat more traffic on the roads than at 8:30am when I usually run, but it wasn’t too bad. I may switch to afternoons for a little while during the cold snap, to try to get out during the warmest part of the day.

  • Road Bike Commute

    Road Bike Commute

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    I took my first road bike commute in over a month this morning. It has been a very slow month for biking in general, and when I’ve gotten out, it’s been on one of my mountain bikes. With the dry weather we’ve been having, the trails have been in good shape, and with all things being equal, during rush hour, I’ll always choose riding in the woods over riding on roads. It has also been a good while since I’ve taken a weekend caching ride — I’ve either had a scheduling conflict (e.g. Ravens game), or the weather has been bad, or I’ve chosen to do something else (e.g. paddling) instead. My hope is to get out for some bike caching this coming Sunday morning. We are getting to the time of year where I start taking hikes on Sundays instead of riding my bike, so I’d like to get out for one more Sunday ride to kind of mark the end of the season. The same goes for paddling this time of year, at least until I get around to buying a drysuit to extend the season.

    Today’s commute felt almost nostalgic. I went through the park, as I’ve done thousands of times before, and up through Relay/Halethorpe to UMBC. As I was riding, I was thinking about my heyday of bike commuting, which ran from 2008 through most of the 2010s. Life has changed a lot since then. This weekend, we will set the clocks back, meaning early mornings will be lighter and evenings will be darker. For the past several years, I’ve shifted my work schedule in November/December so that I leave the office at around 4:00 to 4:15, which gets me home before it is completely dark. My ability to work remotely helps with this, as I can finish up any remaining hours of work at home, vs. trying to leave the house super early in the morning (which never seems to happen). In spite of that, there have been one or two days each of the past few years where I’ve ended up riding home in darkness. It always seems like a novelty the first couple of times, but I don’t miss doing it regularly.

  • Mid September Musings

    Mid September Musings

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    We could definitely use a bit more rain, but the dry weather has made for good mountain biking conditions in early September. Unfortunately, the summer growth is still pretty thick, particularly on the Baltimore County side of PVSP, and I’ve picked some poison ivy up the past couple of times I’ve ridden on that side of the river. After sparing the eastern part of PVSP for several years, wavyleaf basketgrass is now flanking the trails almost everywhere, so I have to be mindful not to bring the seeds home with me, lest the crap end up in my yard (I’ve already got some coming up near the pool equipment, which I pull up diligently every summer, and [knock on wood] have managed to keep from spreading so far). The trail that runs east from Belmont Woods Rd down to Rockburn Branch is in extremely poor shape nowadays, having suffered from severe erosion for years, and it’s becoming difficult to ride cleanly. But other than all that, everything is great. 😊 Today, instead of my usual commute to work, I took a 14-mile round trip through the Howard County side of Avalon, including the Bloede Dam Trail and Bloede Extension, which runs from Garrett’s Pass down to the river west of the former Bloede Dam site, and then out to Ilchester Road. This was only my second time riding this trail. It’s definitely one of the more technically difficult trails on this side of the park, featuring a lot of rock gardens and rocky descents. I did fairly well on it today, staying on the bike more than I did my first time out (a couple of winters ago). I think it will be good practice to try riding it a little more often. I also rode Ridge Trail eastbound from River Road, which is another butt-kicker. It’s nice to be getting back out on my mountain bikes more regularly.

    We’re also getting into peak paddling season, and I’m trying to get out on the water every week or so, although I haven’t been all that successful recently. This past Tuesday, I went back to Marley Creek with the paddleboard and went 4 or 5 miles, which is my longest outing on the SUP thus far. On the return leg, the headwind was kicking up to 20-25 mph (about 10-15 mph more than forecast) and I was really struggling against the wind. The board handled the choppy water fairly well, but I had to kneel down for the last 1.5 mile or so, which was a bit hard on my knees. Had I known it was going to be that windy, I probably would have gone another day instead. Next week, I may try to take my annual paddle on the tidal Patapsco. The tides look most favorable later in the week, so we’ll see how that works out with my schedule.

    The sunny weather has also been good for swimming. September can be a fickle swimming month, as all it takes is 2 days or so of overcast, dreary weather to kill the season. My front-crawl kicking seems to be improving, which I say because my calves don’t seem to be getting as tight any more. Next up is to try to improve backstroke kicking, but that’s a project for next year.

    Lastly, most of the issues that dogged my running over the summer (as chronicled in earlier posts) have cleared up, so I’m back to running 20-25 miles a week, and slowly upping my mileage for my weekend long runs. My goal this season is to try to run an 18-19 miler by early spring. We’ll see if it happens.

  • Another weather and biking post

    Another weather and biking post

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    We have gone from a hot, humid, summery weather pattern to cool, humid, drizzly weather in the space of a single day. The current weather is similar to stretches we typically get in September that I call “pool season killers”. You never know quite when it will happen, but once you get 3 or 4 consecutive days of low clouds, mist, and high temperatures in the 60s-70s, it’s time to put the goggles and the swimsuit away for the season. I don’t recall getting weather like this in August before, but I suspect that it’s partially due to the hurricane churning its way up the Atlantic a few hundred miles off the coast. Unlike in mid September, though, there’s at least hope that summer will eventually return and give us a couple more weeks of good swimming weather.

    I’ve been very regular with my Sunday morning bike geocaching this summer. I’ve gone out the past 7 consecutive Sundays and counting, which I’m pretty sure is a record. I hope to keep it going for a while longer, and for once, my schedule looks like it might cooperate, so it’s all up to the weather. I’ve been commuting by bike about once a week, and last week, I had the fun of racing to get home ahead of a storm. It felt like old times: dark clouds, peels of thunder, gusty breezes, and lots of angst about getting my recently tuned-up bike all wet and muddy. Ultimately, I made it home, and the storm ended up just barely grazing us. Mountain biking has been predictably slow this summer, though I’ve been out once or twice in the past couple of months. I’m hoping that the MTB commuting will pick up in the fall.

  • Quick notes

    Quick notes

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    We have two nice-for-July days this week (yesterday and today), and I’m trying to make the most of them before the heat returns for the end of the week. Yesterday, we got out on the water for a brief paddle from Solley Cove Park to Tanyard Cove and back. That has been a popular destination for me this year, as I work to get proficient on the stand-up paddleboard. I had to “MacGyver” the paddle a bit, as the cheap metal ferrule that connects the halves together broke as I was taking the paddle apart to put it in the car. As with everything else these days, you get what you pay for, and I guess I can’t expect a top-quality paddle in a starter SUP kit. To get us out on the water, I used a clip from a swimming pool brush, but it is not a perfect fit, as the ferrule is smaller than the hole in the paddle shaft. I wrapped a rubber band around the shaft to keep it from sliding back and forth, and it worked fine, but it looks like my first off-season upgrade is going to be a better-quality paddle. I’ll have to keep an eye out and see if REI has any end-of-season closeout discounts on SUP paddles, as they seem to run more expensive than kayak paddles. I’m also going to see if I can find a replacement ferrule to repair my existing paddle.

    Today, I rode my mountain bike to the office for the first time since probably late spring. As I wrote the other day, I don’t ride off-road much in the summer, because it’s usually either too hot, too humid, or too wet. Even when conditions are ideal, there’s a ton of poison ivy and other overgrowth along the trails this time of year. Today was great — the trails had a lot of muddy spots, but were mostly good. I spent more time on the bike than off. Time will tell if I end up with any spots of poison ivy. The only negative is that my seat post dropper cable seems to be stuck or seized up. I don’t use the dropper much, so it’s not going to keep me from riding the bike, but I guess I am going to need to take it in to the shop at some point.

    I have been pretty good with swimming regularly this summer. Swimming and road biking are the two outdoor activities that I tolerate the best, and look forward to doing the most, during the hottest months of the summer. Very recently (within the past week or so) I’ve started doing the breast stroke portion of my swimming workouts without a tether. I’ve found that it takes me about 20 strokes to cover a length of the pool, so I can complete a 60-stroke set with only two turn-arounds. Next, I may see how it works out with backstroke. If it’s practical, I think a really good way to divide up the workout would be: start out untethered and swim 60 breast, 60 back, 60 breast, 60 back, 60 breast, and 60 back. Then, put the tether on and swim 60 front crawl, 60 butterfly, 60 crawl, 60 butterfly, 60 crawl, and 60 butterfly.

  • Brain Dump

    Brain Dump

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    Just a bunch of random musings for today.

    • Today was the first run I’ve taken in a long time where I had to stop over a mile short of my intended distance. I totally pooped out just shy of mile 6. I can’t blame the weather, as we are finally getting a brief reprieve from the relentless humidity of the past several weeks. It was still muggy, but the dew point was below 70, and for the first time in ages, my shirt wasn’t completely soaked when I got home. The culprit may have been the 3 vials of blood I had drawn for lab work earlier in the morning. I didn’t think that would be enough to cause issues, but perhaps I was wrong. I guess I should schedule my blood work appointments for days when I am not planning to run. Live and learn.
    • I’ve been battling mild pain on the outer edge of my right heel for most of the summer. It is not enough to keep me from running, but I am noticing that it starts to get worse toward the end of long runs as I get tired. I am also noticing occasional stiffness in my right calf, and I’m not sure if that’s a cause or an effect. I noted almost identical issues in summer 2023, and a similar issue on the left side in late 2023/early 2024. I hypothesized that the summer issue might be swimming related, and it’s plausible, if for no other reason than it started to crop up at around the same time I started swimming almost every day. That said, it’s hard to believe that swimming could be at fault for calf/heel issues. It probably has more to do with swimming working muscles that I don’t use at other times of the year, and imbalances manifesting as muscle/fascia tissue tightness somewhere in my leg that is telegraphing to the heel. I’m trying to work on it by doing toe-squat stretches, foam rolling, and heel walking, all of which help to a degree, but the problem is still there.
    • I made cold brew coffee in the French press this week with some Lidl store-brand pre-ground dark roast coffee, and it was a messy undertaking. The coffee is ground a little too fine for the French press, and quickly plugged up the plunger. I gave it a stir, but then a ton of sludge got past the plunger and into the brew. I filtered it out by pouring it through a funnel lined with a paper V60 filter, which took forever. It turned out OK, but if I’m going to use pre-ground coffee, I think I’m going to need to use something other than the French press to make the cold brew.
    • I have really missed mountain biking this summer. Whenever I want to go, it always seems to be either too hot/humid or too wet. Wednesday is looking like it might work out, and it’s my usual day to go to work, so I’m going to cross my fingers and hope I can finally get out on the trail again. Same deal with paddling — I haven’t been out since Delaware in late June. Hoping to do something about that tomorrow morning.

  • Weekend Report

    Weekend Report

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    We have had a stretch of very typical July weather this past week. It’s been hot, but temperatures have maxed out in the low 90s. There have been storms most days. And, of course, the one great constant: it’s been humid, especially this weekend. It may sound like I’m complaining, but I’ll take this weather over the alternative: a scorching heat wave with temperatures pushing 100 and no rain. In July, where the weather is concerned, you always take the lesser of the evils. If we survive this, how far behind can cool, crisp autumn days be?

    I often get lazy and lethargic in the summer heat, so I was proud of myself for keeping up with my routine this weekend. I ran 10K on Saturday and biked 25 miles today (Sunday). The run was longer than I had planned, and the bike ride was shorter. For the run, I figured I’d go about 4 miles and then finish up with some deep-water running in the pool, but I paced myself pretty well and managed to finish 6.5 miles on land. I stuck to a route that had a lot of shade, and also benefited from some low clouds for the first half of the run. Today, I had planned a 30+ mile ride, but just wasn’t feeling it. In the heat, I usually tolerate biking a little bit better than running, because biking generates a 10-15mph cooling breeze. This morning, though, it was so humid that the air movement wasn’t cooling effectively, and 45 minutes in, my shirt was completely soaked with sweat. I felt fine otherwise, but figured that lacking a source of electrolyte replenishment, it would be best to cut the ride short. Come September and October, there will be plenty of pleasant mornings for 30-40 mile rides, so there’s no sense in overdoing things.