Dr. Skeep from Tucson, AZ on 5/14/2015 12:44:29 PM:
(First installment is Report on the Katy – Introduction, published earlier)
I’m now firmly into my 72nd year on Earth (or, come to think of it, on any other planet), probably close to skinny by today’s standards, fitter than average, but constrained somewhat by a left hip joint constructed of titanium, chrome steel and polypropylene, the consequence of a road bike crash in September of 2001, and by the sequalae of my most serious, multiple-fracture road bike crash in July of last year. Personality-wise, I’m an analytic, and a bold introvert. I dislike, and tend to suck at, repetitive activities – maintenance, filing, that sort of thing.
Road Bike History –
I’ve been riding, on and off, for c. 66 years, pretty regularly for the past few decades, sometimes with commitment.
I’ve completed 13 iterations of El Tour de Tucson, our annual 110-mile, fully-timed circuit of The Baked Apple, my last (and, some say, my best) in 2011. (A serious but fun ride with c. 9000 other cyclistes from all over the US and a few other countries, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Usually perfect riding weather. Try it. You’ll like it.)
My most epic road-bike ride was Labor Day weekend, 2012, the occasion of my 50th high school reunion. I decided to commemorate that event, and a ride 55 years earlier when my parents let me bike from my home to the home of my grandparents on the then-main connecting highway, US 77, on my fixed-gear, heavier-than-Chris-Christie Schwinn, by doubling that ride – Brookings, SD, to Milbank, SD, and back. Olympic-level training for this one – 3 months, 6 days a week, 3-ish hours a day. (And it was just barely enough.)
This was a north-south ride over rolling hills, pretty steady ENE-ESE winds, 142.26 miles, 14 hours on the road, alone. Saw the sun come up on my right and go down on my right. My most challenging day in the saddle, emotionally if not physically. Came in on Cola Buzz gel and wate