Biketodetroit

Labels: My new red hat

I returned from the bike trip feeling strong, calm, and happy. After a week's rest I put the bike together and went for a ride on one of my usual courses. It was effortless. I felt so good that I got immersed in ideas for continuing riding and training. I had been thinking about a "fixie" - a bike with only one gear, no shifters, and no freewheel. I tried one out and really enjoyed the challenge; almost everything about it is different from everyday bike riding. It takes concentration and effort, but you are rewarded with direct involvement in what the bike is doing at all times. I bought the pretty red thing pictured here, and have managed to ride it a couple of times without injury to myself or others. It's a lot like spinning as a training device, but on the road instead of going to the gym.

The Recorder is the daily newspaper for San Francisco lawyers. Since lawyers comprise most of the San Francisco population, its a pretty big paper. For some reason, they thought my adventure would interest other lawyers, and they did a nice article which appeared yesterday. They came out to the house - insisted on a picture with bike and gear. Here is one of the pictures they printed. I liked the teaser on page one of the paper. It read:
"Tour de Michigan
No Pyrenees. But litigator Jeffrey Shopoff logged more miles than the pros in France on his ride. To Dearborn."

For the last three days my brother Mark and I rode from Albany to Connecticut, amidst a blaze of color. The autumn foliage was at an absolute peak, and the cold mornings and clear sunny skies were almost ideal.

We arrived at the shore in Guilford, CT on Sunday (10/15). Although the crowd that welcomed us was much smaller than the purported 15,000 in Dearborn I was surprized, and incredibly happy, to find that it included Marga. She was secretly flown in Saturday afternoon. Her trip was a secret from me, everyone else seemed to know what was going on, but there were no leaks. After providing photo ops for the welcoming throng we rode to Mark and Andrea's for a combined end of trip and 60th birthday party.

Profound concluding remarks will be Jeff's responsibility. Its been an amazing journey.

Regards,
David

(Note: A number of new photo albums can now be viewed at snapfish.com by signing in as dsklar46@yahoo.com with password biketodetroit.)

This is David Sklar posting an update on my continuing journey to New Haven, (really Guilford) CT. After one and a half glorious days off in Dearborn I rented a car and drove across Canada from Detroit to Niagra Falls, NY. I spent the next morning planning a route, visiting the falls, and returning the car. That afternoon I rode, mostly along the Erie Canal towpath, about 50 miles to Albion. Continuing along the towpath the next morning I reached Fairport (southeast of Rochester) where I took route 96 to a motel in Victor.

I next rode route 96 to Waterville and then took US route 20 east to Seneca Falls and visited the National Womens Rights Park. Riding along the tops of the Finger Lakes was a pleasant rolling hills ride, but after lunch in Skaneateles ("skinny atlas" to the locals) it turned brutal. The thirty-five miles to Cazenovia consisted of an endless series of very steep, 500 to 1000 foot, climbs. The 85 mile day included the toughest climbing since Monarch Pass. The 50 mile day to Richfield Springs also included alot of climbs, but not as steep or as high as the previous day. The hills continued yesterday (a 65 mile day) until 12 miles west of Albany where highway 20 finally descended to the Hudson river valley.

Today is my fifth day off in fifty days. My brother, Mark, will arrive (sans corporate jet) with his driver (my nephew, Craig) who will take our bags to Great Barrington, MA. Even this limited support is very welcome; I really miss being spoiled by Steve, Tom, Dick, and Peggy. I hope to post a final update by Monday 10/16.

This posting is brought to you courtesy of the SUNY Albany Science Library.

I want to thank Sean Dries and tell you about his role in making this ride a success for me.

At the begining of 2005 I decided to try spinning classes. In spinning, you ride a stationary bike, but the exercise is quite active, with a good deal of pedaling while standing, and a variety of pace and resistance. I had the good luck to have Sean as my instructor. I have been bicycling all my life, but never had any training in technique, nor and guidance on how to train physically to be a stronger rider. The class was billed as an exercise class, but Sean taught me more about riding a bike than I had learned in 55 years of riding.

I got stronger, especially in being able to stand and climb hills. Momentum is extremely important in cycling; every time you slow down you have to exert more energy to regain speed. If you can maintain speed while going up a hill it makes a huge difference in your overall rate. After a couple of months spinning with Sean I found myself riding my bike in a new way, more focused on my technique and getting much more out of my effort.

Most important were the simplest things. Constantly on this trip I recalled Sean's mantra: "round, smooth, full pedal strokes." Of course I didn't remember it all the time, but each time it came back into mind I concentrated on the basics of pedaling the bike in the most efficient way; my pace picked up, and the work got easier. In class Sean would say, "Relax your shoulders." He said that perhaps every 5 minutes, and every time he said it I realized that I had tensed my shoulders, making the work harder. I recalled that advice during the ride. I had to recall it hundreds of times a day, but that was a lot better than riding all day with tensed muscles.

Sean has started his own fitness practice now: www.jackalopefitness.com. I recommend the site for a good story on how he developed as a fitness instructor. Thanks, Sean.

Here are some numbers on mileage and speed.
We rode a total of 2,970 miles in 41 days. 39 days riding and 2 rest days.
We did not intend it when we set out, but we broke our previous record for consecutive days riding. We did not take a break after Telluride, and rode for 20 consecutive days to Detroit. We didn't have a place we really wanted to stay, and then as we got closer...

Distances. On an average day riding we covered 76.2 miles. Counting the rest days our average was 72.4 miles. The median was 73.

The distribution was fairly tight, with almost half the days (18) between 65 and 79 miles.

There were only 7 days below 65 miles, and the shortest day was 48 miles. All the short days were due to lack of any place to stay further down the road. We did not have any days which were shortened by weather or bike problems.

There were 3 days of 103 miles, and 11 days of 80 to 100 miles. The longest days all had good wind and some downhill.

There was a dramatic difference in the days before Telluride and the days after. In the 19 days before Telluride we averaged 67.6 miles, and had our 4 shortest mileage days. In the 20 days after Telluride we averaged 84.3 miles (that's an increase of 25%), and we had our 11 longest days. The most obvious differences in those two groups are that the earlier days had mountains and desert, and the later days were flatter and had good wind. But the second group includes the Rockies. I think two other factors were at work. One, we got stronger as we went on, and to a lesser extent we benefitted later from our acclimatization to altitude, and that benefit continued as we descended. A final factor is that lack of places to stay in Nevada and Utah somewhat forced shorter days.

Speed. I kept track of "rolling speed", that is average speed while biking, not counting any stops. Our slowest day was 9.0 mph; the fastest was 19.1 mph. The median day was 13.3.

There are a few general observations: almost all the slower days were before Telluride, and the slowest days were all due to long and severe climbs. (The slowest day was climbing Cedar Canyon out of Cedar City; the second slowest was the Hogback in the Escalante region of Utah; the third was climbing out of the Colorado River canyon.)

The fastest days were almost all after Telluride, and all of the fastest days were aided by favorable wind.

We had days of rain, but it didn't feel like the rain held us back that much. Wind was important but not rain. I am working on a method to assign values to wind and rain conditions for each day so that David can do a regression analysis and we will report to you on their exact effect.

For fear you will stop reading, that's all for now. Keep watching for more data. Upcoming articles will cover flat tires, repairs, a critique of America's motels and diners, and a report on our success in adapting to using toilets again.

A throng estimated at 15,000 greets us at the end of our ride. A brass band played as we arrived at Bill's house. My brother Bill is in the foreground next to me. He rode with us the last four days, and led me for much of the time when I was tired.

Nine time Tour de France finisher Frankie Andreu looks on in awe at the Golden Eagle, Bill, and David. Frankie commented, "Nothing in the Tour compares with what you have done. Three awesome dudes."

We have arrived at Bill's home in Dearborm, MI, safe and happy. Thanks to all who made this trip possible.