Today I rode the Paluxy Pedal Bike Rally in Glen Rose. It was an extremely hilly route with one part called "The Wall" that had a grade of almost 19% at its steepest. Luckily, "The Wall" was only 3/10 of a mile long. But that actually seems like a long distance when you're doing that much climbing.

I broke my own rule and rode 40 miles the day before this ride. I know better than to ride long the day before a rally. However, it was raining during our club's regular Thursday ride, so we postponed it until Friday. I thought if I ate some carbs/protein after Friday's ride that I would be able to recover quickly.

However, I did not have the energy I had during the Mineral Wells ride a few weeks ago. When I'm rested physically, I can perform at a much higher level. I'm not sure why, but with both running long distances and cycling long distances, if I want to perform well (e.g. maintain a good pace the entire time), I have to refrain from cycling/running the day before the event.

My heart rate was in the "correct zone" for this ride. It averaged 135 with my aerobic zone being between 126 and 144. I think the primary constraint was my muscles being sore. I've been riding in a higher gear and using the larger chain ring the last month or so. If I do that, get down on the aerobars, and remember the efficient pedaling technique, I can maintain a good pace for quite a while, even on hills. However, if my muscles are fatigued (like today), I really have to slow down on hills.

There weren't a lot of people from FWBA there. But I did see a few people I knew and rode with them part of the way. That was so nice to have company while cycling. I love to listen to music, but I don't wear my ipod cycling. It's just too dangerous and I need to be able to hear cars, bicycles, and dogs. The route wasn't closed to cars, although they did have local police helping out on the major highway crossings.

They staged the beginning so that the 80 mile cyclists were at the front. Of course that meant I was next to the 30-40 mph cyclists at the start, until they pulled away. I averaged 19.3 mph for the first 5 miles, but I paid for that later by being tired. The mileage splits show how the average speed was affected by the elevation gain/loss during each mile. My average speed overall was 15.4 mph, which is okay for those kind of hills (by my standards). That would be way too slow for the "experienced cyclists".

My average cadence was 70, which is too low. But considering all the hills, it's better than I expected. Ideally, if my leg strength and cardiovascular system were sufficiently developed, I would be able to keep it in the big chain ring and average 80-95 rpm. I've been cycling 16 weeks now and the experts say it can take a couple of years to develop a good base. So I'm hoping to keep improving until I can keep up with the big dogs!

I went back to the orthopedist last Monday. He said he still saw a line on the x-ray where the pelvic stress fracture is. I never dreamed last April that I would have a running injury that would keep me from running for 6 months. But he also said he can't believe it's still not healed after 6 months. So he gave me the go-ahead to start a walk/run program as long as I stopped the minute it hurt. It's like starting all over again as far as running goes. I'm much slower than before (averaging 9:30/mile for a single mile) and am alternating running a mile with walking a mile. After 6 months of non-weight bearing activity, I have to be careful getting my bones used to bearing weight again (or I"ll end up with another stress fracture). Consequently, I'm doing the run/walk program either at the Solana Jogging Trail (which is dirt/pea gravel) or at the CHS Track (which is a soft rubber). I'm not sure the fracture has healed, as there is still pain. And some of the doctors say it takes 6 to 11 months for pelvic stress fractures at the inferior ramus to heal. So I'm being very cautious, not wanting the stress fracture to develop into a fully separated fracture.

The knee pain was actually inflammation of the IT Band caused by my cycling in the highest gear for 77 miles a few weeks ago. My soft tissues and muscles weren't used to that much "mashing". It was the equivalent of doing leg presses in the gym for 4 hours. He gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. I don't like any medications, but I decided to take this one for at least a week to get the inflammation under control.

On a very sad note, one of the cyclists in our club (Todd Martin) died during the group ride out in Peaster (near Weatherford) today. They're still not sure of the cause of death, as it looks like his bike was not hit by a car. This is so awful. He was the nicest guy. When I posted my "newbie" cycling questions to the FWBA Forum, he took the time to answer every question in detail. He didn't even know me, but he just wanted to help a new cyclist. Someone with the FWBA posted a link to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's site so we can keep checking on what they find out regarding his death. His case number if 0911613. It just makes me ill to think about it. I can imagine how tough it is for the people that were close to him and those who found his body. This came on the heels of a local cyclist's death just last week from a car that swerved into him. Someone posted the statistic that one Texas cyclist per week is killed by a car. That is beyond sad!