4/24/06 Today's Ride
Route: 60.86 miles, London to Pittsburg to East Bernstadt to McWhorter to Fogertown to Burning Springs and back.
Weather: mostly cloudy, 75 degrees, 4 mph wind.
Performance: average speed 15 mph, time 4:00:37. Average HR 130 bpm.
Motionbased.com link: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=659697
Comment: This one turned out much longer than I had planned. I started out with a bit of a westerly tilt to try to avoid the big hills at the beginning of the direct route across 80 and out 638. I ended up way out in Pittsburg somewhere. Mostly flat land, so not bad though. After trying to cross 30 a couple of times, I finally made my way through East Bernstadt and into familiar territory. I was soon in McWhorter and decided to take a southerly road with the intentions of looping to the north and back. But it was not to be. I was in boondock, Clay County. Miles from nowhere. With my odometer pushing 40, here I was with no food or water and starting to bonk severely. I looked in vain for a store with some kind, any kind, of cold liquid refreshment. I came closer than I ever have to stopping at a random house and prostrating myself before its owner, moaning, "I beseech thee, kind sir, please allow me but a swig of cool water, as balm for my burning tongue. Your kindness shall never be forgotten." But somehow I found another gear and crawled back to my car.
On the canine tip, I did have to turn around and use one of the same roads on my return, resulting in the distinct pleasure of getting chased by a very large doberman not once but twice. I saw him coming and turned on the afterburner. No dog can take me on level ground. It's those hills where I find trouble.
Update on my upcoming demise from rabies: I checked out my ankle on Saturday and was sad to see that what were previously simply red inflammed teeth marks were now slightly scabbed scratches. So I drove out to the scene of the crime during my lunch break. At first it looked like nobody was at home again but I stopped anyway. A woman was sunning herself in the back. I started by asking her if she had any dogs. The look on her face was one of ill-hidden guilt as she told me that they had one, a red one. When I told her why I was there and described to her my assailants, she was quick to say that the black dog belonged to nobody in particular and must have been "dropped off by somebody." "It's a pit bull, I think," she told me. I left her my name and phone number and asked her to please call if she noticed anything unusual. Other than a little 8-year old girl popping open the storm door and informing me to "get off my property" before quickly slamming it again, nothing else happened. The woman told me she had seen the dogs chasing somebody (me) and that the black one wasn't hers. End of story.
I called my doctor this morning asking if I should do anything about it. His assistant wrote down what had happened and said she would call me back after she talked to him. I told her that my main concern was rabies, and since I ride my bike so much this will probably happen again...a rabies vaccine as nothing but prophylaxis wouldn't be a bad idea. She called me back and told me he said to wash the area well, use Neosporin, and contact them if anything happened. I sort of chuckled when I heard that last part. Yeah, when I start foaming at the mouth, please knock me out so I don't feel a thing. And I'll remember the Humane Society in my will.
Weather: mostly cloudy, 75 degrees, 4 mph wind.
Performance: average speed 15 mph, time 4:00:37. Average HR 130 bpm.
Motionbased.com link: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=659697
Comment: This one turned out much longer than I had planned. I started out with a bit of a westerly tilt to try to avoid the big hills at the beginning of the direct route across 80 and out 638. I ended up way out in Pittsburg somewhere. Mostly flat land, so not bad though. After trying to cross 30 a couple of times, I finally made my way through East Bernstadt and into familiar territory. I was soon in McWhorter and decided to take a southerly road with the intentions of looping to the north and back. But it was not to be. I was in boondock, Clay County. Miles from nowhere. With my odometer pushing 40, here I was with no food or water and starting to bonk severely. I looked in vain for a store with some kind, any kind, of cold liquid refreshment. I came closer than I ever have to stopping at a random house and prostrating myself before its owner, moaning, "I beseech thee, kind sir, please allow me but a swig of cool water, as balm for my burning tongue. Your kindness shall never be forgotten." But somehow I found another gear and crawled back to my car.
On the canine tip, I did have to turn around and use one of the same roads on my return, resulting in the distinct pleasure of getting chased by a very large doberman not once but twice. I saw him coming and turned on the afterburner. No dog can take me on level ground. It's those hills where I find trouble.
Update on my upcoming demise from rabies: I checked out my ankle on Saturday and was sad to see that what were previously simply red inflammed teeth marks were now slightly scabbed scratches. So I drove out to the scene of the crime during my lunch break. At first it looked like nobody was at home again but I stopped anyway. A woman was sunning herself in the back. I started by asking her if she had any dogs. The look on her face was one of ill-hidden guilt as she told me that they had one, a red one. When I told her why I was there and described to her my assailants, she was quick to say that the black dog belonged to nobody in particular and must have been "dropped off by somebody." "It's a pit bull, I think," she told me. I left her my name and phone number and asked her to please call if she noticed anything unusual. Other than a little 8-year old girl popping open the storm door and informing me to "get off my property" before quickly slamming it again, nothing else happened. The woman told me she had seen the dogs chasing somebody (me) and that the black one wasn't hers. End of story.
I called my doctor this morning asking if I should do anything about it. His assistant wrote down what had happened and said she would call me back after she talked to him. I told her that my main concern was rabies, and since I ride my bike so much this will probably happen again...a rabies vaccine as nothing but prophylaxis wouldn't be a bad idea. She called me back and told me he said to wash the area well, use Neosporin, and contact them if anything happened. I sort of chuckled when I heard that last part. Yeah, when I start foaming at the mouth, please knock me out so I don't feel a thing. And I'll remember the Humane Society in my will.
Labels: cycling, today's ride
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