All pictures of ROAM, or at least the ones I think are worth showing.
Sunday October 16,2011
Time trial Lelystad-Enkhuizen-Lelystad (51 km)
Thinking it would be fun and maybe I could also be relatively fast I entered the time trial race Lelystad-Enkhuizen-Lelystad. On the other hand, I hadn't been in the mood for serious training and worse, the week before I had a serious cold. Excuses, excuses. Maybe small comfort, but I hear from other ROAM riders Frans and Machiel that they also have trouble to motivate themselves. I don't think that ROAM has been too much of a good thing, it's more that after ROAM the rides back home seem less appealing. The strange thing is that when I'm on the road, it feels real good.
Anyway, I left home Sunday morning for Lelystad with nice and sunny weather, although a bit cold. A little bit of wind in the back resulted in a speed of about 35 km/h which felt really easy. After a few kilometers, I realised that I had forgotten my helmet which is obligatory for races organised by the Dutch HPV club - I guess my mind was somewhere else. To my luck, I could borrow one. At the start I also forgot to put on the foam cover, because of the somewhat chaotic situation, but also because my mind wasn't really set to racing.It's been said that the foam cover makes you about 2 km/h faster.
The time trial started with a backwind and my speed was about 50 km/h - quite good. After a few kilometers the dike turns to the Northwest and the wind a bit more from the side - speed about 47 km/h, still not bad at all and I could keep it up to Enkhuizen, the turning point. On the return, the wind became more of a headwind and speed went down to about 40 km/h, at first. If I could have maintained that speed it would have been fine, but in the last quarter of the trial I didn't have any power left and speed dropped till about 35 km/h - that felt really bad. At the end, my average was 41,9 km/h which isn't fast compared to the other participants.
After the ride home, which went pretty well, I had 223 km on the counter.
Ride on Garmin
ROAM pictures: people/faces
Wednesday October 5, 2011
ROAM figures
These are the data from my Garmin Oregon. A few highlights:
- average moving speed has been just under 30 km/h.
- fastest ride was on 19/8 with 35,5 km/h over 248 km.
- average distance was 198.46 km per day or 211.07 when you leave out the semi restdays.
- average riding time was 6:41:33 per day or 7:03:10 when you leave out the semi restdays.
- longest day in duration was 16/8 with 8:47:24.
- surprisingly the most climbing was not in the Rockies but in the Appalachians on 23/8, 1878 m.
- max. speed has been 121 km/h on 14/8.
click on a link in the table to see the track and data in Garmin.
| Distance (km) | Duration | Average speed (km/h) | Max. speed (km/h) | Climb (m) | Descend (m) | Total distance (km) | ||
| 26-07-11 | Portland | 16,31 | 0:45:55 | 32,5 | 54,0 | 16,3 | ||
| 28-07-11 | Portland - Cascade Locks | 107,10 | 4:03:00 | 26,4 | 71,0 | 788 | 748 | 123,4 |
| 29-07-11 | Cascade Locks - Hat Rock | 247,60 | 7:57:06 | 31,1 | 81,3 | 912 | 840 | 371,0 |
| 30-07-11 | Hat Rock - Lewiston | 241,44 | 8:38:32 | 27,9 | 96,1 | 1611 | 1496 | 612,5 |
| 31-07-11 | Lewiston - Three Rivers | 168,33 | 5:34:09 | 30,2 | 70,2 | 564 | 347 | 780,8 |
| 01-08-11 | Three Rivers - Missoula | 200,85 | 7:56:38 | 25,3 | 92,6 | 1521 | 1001 | 981,6 |
| 03-08-11 | Missoula - Helena | 220,00 | 8:02:00 | 27,4 | 105,4 | 1639 | 1447 | 1201,6 |
| 04-08-11 | Helena - Harlowton | 210,00 | 7:35:39 | 27,7 | 104,3 | 1394 | 1270 | 1411,6 |
| 05-08-11 | Harlowton - Billings | 153,00 | 4:30:33 | 33,9 | 81,6 | 400 | 738 | 1564,6 |
| 06-08-11 | Billings - Miles City | 249,04 | 7:47:31 | 32,0 | 83,2 | 783 | 1008 | 1813,7 |
| 08-08-11 | Miles City - Bowman | 207,11 | 6:17:37 | 32,9 | 84,7 | 599 | 508 | 2020,8 |
| 09-08-11 | Bowman - Mobridge | 268,39 | 7:50:00 | 34,3 | 80,4 | 599 | 508 | 2289,2 |
| 10-08-11 | Mobridge - Aberdeen | 198,79 | 5:47:30 | 34,3 | 68,0 | 1036 | 1536 | 2488,0 |
| 11-08-11 | Aberdeen - Benson | 247,18 | 7:10:16 | 34,5 | 83,0 | 414 | 506 | 2735,1 |
| 12-08-11 | Benson - Plymouth | 183,85 | 5:20:25 | 34,4 | 83,0 | 306 | 320 | 2919,0 |
| 13-08-11 | Plymouth - St.Croix Bluffs | 94,76 | 3:45:05 | 25,3 | 63,2 | 352 | 395 | 3013,8 |
| 14-08-11 | St.Croix Bluffs - Onalaska | 228,89 | 7:17:03 | 31,4 | 121,0 | 839 | 890 | 3242,6 |
| 15-08-11 | Onalaska - Madison | 221,28 | 7:50:01 | 28,3 | 95,4 | 1067 | 1006 | 3463,9 |
| 16-08-11 | Madison - Evanston | 240,35 | 8:47:24 | 27,4 | 64,3 | 652 | 735 | 3704,3 |
| 17-08-11 | Evanston - Indiana Dunes | 103,42 | 3:59:32 | 25,9 | 50,5 | 59 | 60 | 3807,7 |
| 18-08-11 | Indiana Dunes - Fort Wayne | 212,50 | 6:17:26 | 33,8 | 66,1 | 363 | 316 | 4020,2 |
| 19-08-11 | Fort Wayne - Shelby | 248,20 | 7:00:04 | 35,5 | 53,8 | 231 | 158 | 4268,4 |
| 20-08-11 | Shelby - Streetsboro | 174,34 | 5:47:35 | 30,1 | 85,6 | 860 | 855 | 4442,7 |
| 21-08-11 | Streetsboro - Knox | 202,05 | 7:42:00 | 26,2 | 84,2 | 1869 | 1793 | 4644,8 |
| 22-08-11 | Knox - Prince Gallitzin | 151,34 | 5:47:00 | 26,2 | 95,3 | 1869 | 1793 | 4796,1 |
| 23-08-11 | Prince Gallitzin - Hancock | 186,77 | 6:59:46 | 26,7 | 128,3 | 1878 | 2156 | 4982,9 |
| 24-08-11 | Hancock - Washington | 193,33 | 8:16:37 | 23,4 | 92,2 | 1271 | 1405 | 5176,2 |
| 25-08-11 | Washington | 16,00 | 1:12:45 | 13,2 | 44,8 | 109 | 106 | 5192,2 |
| 26-08-11 | Shipping | 38,42 | 2:08:43 | 17,9 | 54,0 | 403 | 405 | 5230,6 |
Sunday October 2, 2011
Autumn Meeting of Dutch recumbents
Just to let you know that I am (or better, my blogging is) still alive, a post about the Autumn Meeting in Huizen. It's a social meeting - on Saturday we rode some 50 km with an average speed of 18 km/h. ROAM riders Wilfred, Rob (with Marjolein) and Harry were also there. Sunday, on the way home while stopping for a traffic light, a lady on a dutch bike exclaimed "you were there too!". She happened to be Bram's sister in law and she recognised the ROAM decal.
At the moment I'm working on the ROAM tracks, that I want to show here. Also more pictures during ROAM are in the pipeline.
Over the month September, I didn't ride so much - just under a thousand km. Went to Velomobiel.nl in Dronten on Friday September 16 to get my 'old' glass fiber Strada ready for it's new owner, a German living in the Northwest of Germany. Adjusted the frontwheel allignment and put back the original cassette. On Friday 23, I rode it to Groningen with a short visit again to Velomobiel.nl. Left 5:00 and arrived 8:05 at Velomobiel (103 km), then left there at 8:45 to arrive 12:45 at the Ligfietsgarage in Groningen (121 km) - total 224km with average speed over 33 km/h. In Groningen we adjusted the seat and the distance to the pedals for Ulf, who had 150 km to ride home. I hope he will enjoy the Strada just as much as I did!
Friday evening, Winda arrived by train and we dined at a Thai restaurant in Groningen. Winda also liked to see the ROAMers again and we decided to make it a long weekend in Groningen together. Groningen is a nice old city with lots of restaurants, pubs and shopping. Saturday morning I went to the Ligfietsgarage and Winda went shopping. Unloading the bikes was fun and didn't take long. The Germans had brought very much appreciated beer and the Ligfietsgarage arranged a BBQ. At the start of the BBQ I went back to Groningen to give Winda a ride on the back of a rented dutch bike. When we returned, the BBQ was as good as finished - still a healthy appetite these ROAMers! Some had already put on weight visibly :D
Sunday morning, Winda and I went from our bed&breakfast to the Ligfietsgarage again from where WInda took the bike back to the trainstation and on home. I waited for Machiel to ride home with and Arjen/Harry to open up the Ligfietsgarage. After a little wait we had coffee and we were on our way. In spite of some extra weight (camping gear) loaded in the Carbon Strada, it felt good again and we had a beautiful day to ride the 220+ km home.
Last Wednesday I changed the tires on the frontwheels from 47-406 Marathon Plus to 50-406 F-Lites. This makes the Strada even faster than before - I estimate 3 km/h faster than the Marathon Plus tires. My cruising speed is now 40 km/h on the flat with hardly any wind.
Friday September 16, 2011
Support team pictures
I'm afraid I didn't get a picture of everyone helping us to ride ROAM. I want to emphasize once more how important the support team has been.
Thursday September 1, 2011
We got home yesterday after a long flight, first to Atlanta, then to Amsterdam - went to the airport at 2 pm and arrived home in Alphen at 3 pm (local time, so + six hours). Hanging around in Washington DC after four weeks of cycling wasn't very good for me. My legs feel stiff and my lower back is nagging. I went for a short ride (45 km) this morning and it helped a little, but more will be needed. It must be the bad summer here, but I didn't see many enthousiastic faces while riding, quite a difference with ROAM. Also two cars not paying attention to me on the cyclepath - no problem, my 'sleeper' radar always works.
Sunday August 28, 2011
That leaves us with a rescheduled flight for what? The country of fearless pioneers has become a very frightened and worried nation, where riding a bike in traffic is 'dangerous', where people are so afraid of germs that they need to wash their hands tens of times a day, just some examples.. At the same time they kill them selves through lack of exercise and overeating on bad food. (Disclaimer: of course this generalization doesn't go for all Americans.)
Back to ROAM, I'm still thinking how to get this blog up to date. Making a daily report from memory doesn't make much sense, so the pictures will have to do, together with a (few) general stories. It's noon now, the weather is clearing, Winda and I are going to do some sightseeing, as most museums seem to be closed tomorrow. The blog will have to wait again.
Saturday August 27, 2011
Yesterday, we shipped the velomobiles back home, after another ride through Washington that went quite well.
We have decided to extend our stay at the Georgetown University Hotel. The travel insurance will cover most of the extra costs.
First Winda and I are going to do some shopping before the weather becomes worse. Later there will be time to work on pictures and writing.
Wednesday August 17, 2011
We have left the prairies behind us, passed through Minneapolis and arrived in Chicago yesterday evening. Before leaving the hotel again for a 100 km ride to the next campground I have just little time to write something. Yesterday was a better riding day for me, after a few days of feeling more tired. Everything is still going fine for me, although in the group there are more problems. Yesterday, John Abbey's Quest broke down in the streets of Chicago, which are really bad, with many holes. The group of people riding the whole route on their own power is down to 6 Germans, 7 Dutch, 1 Dane, 1 Austrian and 2 Americans and the support vehicles have a lot to carry.
Friday August 12, 2011
Just a very short update: today we arrived at Half Moon Lake Campground a few miles west of Minneapolis. Not a very good choice, because the only thing in abundance there were mosquito's, no showers within reasonable distance, a primitive toilet, no electricity and one handpump for water. So we decided to go to a hotel once more.
As I wrote in the last post, I corrected the allignment of my front wheels and the pressure in my rear tyre. This was a big improvement. My heartrate went down about ten beats compared to Machiel's and I dont have much trouble anymore keeping up with the Quests at higher speeds. For the rest I can only say that we are still enjoying everything a lot, the riding, the landscape and the towns we pass and the fun we have with the other riders.
Sunday August 7, 2011
Today is our second restday, time to make up the balance.
I haven't been as active blogging as others, probably a matter of priority - I prefer relaxing and helping Winda prepare dinner, make my own preparations for the next day and get in early. I'll try to make up today with writing and pictures. The only problem is that I have to dig in my memory a bit, because after a few days of riding it becomes something of a blur.
Personally, riding goes as I expected. I ride together with Machiel as we ride the same pace. We ride steady and keep our heartrates low. Normally between 110 and 120, around 130 on uphills and up to 150 on the steep climbs. We don't stop too much, only for a good coffee and lunch break for which we take our time. The result is that we can easily finish the day in the same pace as we started and that we are among the first to arrive at the destination. Only Frans van der Merwe in his self-built Pterovelo is generally faster.
An American 'rider' in a Rotovelo, who has been with us for just a few days - I have seen him on the road only once, the Rotovelo was riding on his truck most of the times - seems to have written that the Europeans didn't understand that here in America it could be many miles before finding service and were not carrying enough water and also that the bikes couldn't handle rumble strips, causing one Mango even to roll over and the rider getting injured (scratches). For as far as I know this accident wasn't caused by rumble strips and the rider was American. Regarding the water, the man probably has missed that most people are carrying water bags with several liters in them, beside bottles filled with other stuff like juice or gatorade. The rumble strips are things to reckon with, but I have found that you can cross them easily at around 20 mi/h (32 km/h) when you cross them at a good angle.
The first week in the mountains have been difficult for many riders and the SAG (support and gear) team has had a tough job making over hours. Some American riders seem to have misunderstood the role of the SAG team, using them as a taxi in stead of a emergency service. For me climbing was fun, thanks to the Carbon Strada and my own relatively low weight. I also liked the descends, doing up to 106 km/h, without taking too much risk. The roads are quite easy in general and others like Marcel and Rob have been a lot faster (115 km/h). In the slower descends I really notice the difference with Machiel's Quest: between 45 and 65 km/h he is a lot faster, even when he is coasting and I am pedalling. This could have another cause though. Today I checked my front tyres and found them much more worn than I had expected. Checking the alignment I found a considerable toe out. I also found that the top bolts of the suspension had come so loose that you could turn them by hand - not a good thing for a new Strada. Also found that my rear tyre had only 2 Bar in stead of 4.5 - tomorrow the riding must be a lot easier and/or faster.
Pictures
Tuesday August 2, 2011
First news from America
Today is our first restday and I have to see what I can get online. Before I had no time and energy for it, not that I have been terribly tired, but the first days at Days Inn were busy and still suffering jetlag and on the riding days all time is needed for riding, camping, showering and eating.
The weather has been sunny and quite warm 35-40 degrees C.
The first day (Thursday July 28) we started at 10:30 to have a meeting in downtown Portland with the mayor, press and people interested in ROAM. Among them were Andrew Heckman and his wife with whom I had a long and very interesting talk. Although we don't know of any family ties, it seems we have a lot in comon. At 12:30 all riders left for the first campground at Cascade Locks. Most riders took the Interstate 84, except Thomas Traber and me. We went for the 'Historic Highway' and Crown Point where you have a fantastic view over the Columbia River. It meant a little extra distance and 250 m of climbing, but it was certainly worth it. After our little detour we joined the rest on the I84, where we grouped to ride through a tunnel without shoulders. We had support from the highway patrol that closed one lane for us, so that we could safely pess.
Friday was a long day riding along the I84 on the shoulder with lots of rubbish, which gave me my first and sofar only flat tyre. We rode with a somewhat bigger group which is good for the company, but makes it more difficult to keep your own pace and takes more time at rest stops. When I try to count how much I have drunk, I get to 7,5 litre, but this is probably underestimated.
More to come, also pictures..
