As the Year Ends...

As the year comes to a close, I have been able to complete one more century, and bring my December total mileage to my second highest month of the year! I traveled to Sebring, Florida – the home of the Highlands Bike Festival two weeks ago – to partake of the quiet, flat roads and the sixty-degree temperatures. On the week after Christmas, I packed in nearly another 200 miles.

So this makes 2011 my best bicycling year in decades – and probably the best of my entire life. It bests all the years since 2002, which is as far back as I’ve kept any records. I’m not sure how much bicycling I did in the decade after I left the Navy or in the 1990s. I think if I had done over a dozen centuries, I might have remembered it! (I remember doing one or two a year in the 1980s, but there may have been lots more long rides.)

A cyclist friend of mine mentioned that resting in winter time is a good way to avoid burnout. It’s always a balancing act, because one does not want to lose all the fitness that was gained in the previous season. As it turns out, our winter here on the East Coast is looking to be quite mild. There will be several weekends in which we can enjoy at least a short ride.

One of the nicest outcomes this season is the acquisition of a new bike. The crack in the frame of my Gary Fisher hybrid led to a replacement hybrid bike: a Trek Dual Sport 8.4. I like the hybrid arrangement because it allows me to ride the roads and the trails. The tires are a bit rougher, and one can’t really generate huge mileage on these bikes, but they take you places that are a lot more interesting.

Cold weather, I’ve discovered, also cuts down on speed and mileage. In the winter, even if you’re all bundled up, when you look down at the GPS you’ve gone slower and shorter than you expected. Add in a little chilling headwind and the pace drops even more.

A Wet Century

Sebring, FL. Over the course of 35 centuries, I have seen my share of heat, hills, headwinds, and, of course, rain. This past weekend I got some minor headwinds (minor for Florida), and a big dose of rain. I was enjoying the company of Florida cyclists at the Highlands Bike Fest, held annually at the venerable Kenilworth Lodge in Sebring. This is the "land that time forgot": the urban landscape, the street network, the architecture, and the whole 'feel' of the place seems like Florida in the 1950s.

This three-day festival takes advantage of a quirk of Florida real estate: the first part of any new housing development is the access boulevard. This means that the city is surrounded by long, lonely, well-paved and lightly traveled roads. The roads pass through what may someday be houses, but is currently scrubby wilderness (or cattle ranches or orange groves). On the map there are dozens of side streets, and it looks like a crowded residential gridwork. On the ground, however, there is nothing but straight, flat, smooth highway.

There's not much to say about the rain. It was not in the forecast. It danced around a bit in the morning, but began in earnest at about mile 60. For the final forty miles, I was soaked. The temperature hovered around 70 degrees, so it was not that uncomfortable. It helped that the road was smooth -- potholes hidden by puddles can be a big problem. On the other hand, I believe rain significantly reduces rolling resistance, and can add a few points to your speed.

I felt pretty strong at the end. In fact, I was able to maintain over 15 mph on the last long stretch. On the final straightaway through Sebring to the hotel I had enough juice to put on the afterburner.

I enjoy this warm weather break at the end of the cycling season. I did Highlands Bike Fest last December (when it didn't rain!). In fact, I came back to Sebring again to escape the ice, snow, and cold of Northern Virginia. You can walk around in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. You put away the chap-stick and get out the sunscreen. It's a great way to keep your bicycling fitness up for the coming season.