Hunt Highway / AZ87 Loop

Ride Stats

Courtesy of Cyclemeter 5.0 for IPhone4:

Ride Time: 1:50:18

Distance: 16.47 miles

Average: 8.01 miles/h  [Due to injury]

Fastest Speed: 16.73 miles/h

Ascent: 2194 feet

Descent: 1899 feet

     Today I decided to head south towards the edge of Chandler which meets the edge of the desert for the southeast Valley more or less. Chandler City ends at the Hunt highway for the most part, and originally I had intended to venture across the Hunt Highway headed east to see if there was anything good out that way (Little did I know fate had different plans for me.) I left the house about 7:30 with a perfect temperature of 82 degrees and fairly low humidity. It was an awesome morning for riding, and I was really excited about pushing across the 20 mile mark (which I’ve yet to achieve.)

     I started off from the house headed down the Paseo Trailwhich is my usual canal ride, and headed off south. I passed Paseo Vista Recreational Area which until the past few years was working landfill. The City of Chandler decided to invest in a completely new purpose and covered in in 30 feet of rocks, crushed granites and boulders and turned it into a recreational area, interesting idea though I thought it a bit silly at first. Paseo Vista offers a decent range of amenities (Disc Golf, Playground, "Bark Park" and an Archery range.) All in all it’s a pretty nice setup and worked out nicely, though it does look a tad funny rising 30 feet above a fairly level Chandler. 

     Approximately 5-6 miles later, and as I neared my turn around location I passed up an older gentleman (Yes I have a thing with old people passing me) who was out for a ride. We exchanged pleasantries and he mentioned he was from Florida and was out on his daughter's bike for a ride and enjoyed the "dry heat," never mind that it was still about 25% humidity (not exactly dry for us.) He asked how far this part of the canal went, and I told him we were about to reach the end. I mentioned to him that it went about 12 miles in the opposite direction so he could turn around and enjoy some of the trail heading north. As I wished him farewell and good luck and started to turn my bike I caught some loose gravel and with my new Power Grip Pedals,that had my feet secured  nicely into place fell flat on my side and skidded to a halt. OUCH!! The gentleman, probably less than 10 feet away at that point,  turned around and asked if I was ok and then asked if this was my first time out. Talk about humiliating. I've been riding roughly 3 days a week since February and never took a spill of any kind until today. So today I add my first "badge of road rash" to my list of cycling accomplishments. At least it was nothing more, for that I am thankful.

OUCH!

     My first thought was anger towards the pedals, then of course felt pretty dumb, because I really had no  one to blame but myself, take it easy on new equipment!! I have to admit the Power Grip Pedals are a  bit hard to get in and out of, and are not really made for wider feet. [Just assuming here since my "wide" feet don't fit in as well as I thought they should.] They do seem to be of a pretty strong construction and for 40 bucks made much more sense than diving into a new pair of shoes, clips and pedals prior to knowing if I like my feet secured to my bike. I did notice a huge difference in the amount of power being delivered at the crank since I could know apply power in the down stroke and the upstroke and my numbers even show that I hit 16.72mph on today’s ride which is considerably faster and not bad for my mountain bike with the knobby tires. [For reference my previous average was about 12-13.5.] 

     Anyway, shaking off my recent spill, brushing off the gravel, dusting off my clothes and my pride, I drank some water, took a couple deep breaths, remounted my bike and started my journey home to clean up. I'll have to save the Hunt Highway excursion for another day....

Heading back, there was quite alot of airport traffic this morning and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some pictures of some aircraft landing at Chandler Airpark. As I raced towards the edge of the airpark there were several Bi-Planes which appear to "dive bomb" in their landing approach. That was pretty spectacular to watch; unfortunately I was not able to get any video. As quickly as I reached a good spot for photographs the air traffic ceased. How unfortunate! So... I have no cool pictures of planes landing to share.

     16.5 miles later I return home, a few new scars, a few new memories, a couple pictures to share, a decent story to tell and another ride under my belt. What did I learn today? Take it easy on new equipment; you never know how it will affect your ride.

After Thought:

     I've decided, after doing a lot of reading, I will be reposting some interested cycling articles that I have found useful and would like to share. I've noticed some improvement in my riding (and a decrease in pain) since I've read some of these articles and since no one really ever taught me to ride a bike, someone else may find this information useful. As always thanks for reading and stay tuned.

7.5 miles on broken Pedals!!

7.5 miles on broken pedals isn't too bad. I went on an afternoon ride after work today, took the short route since the day seems so short when having to work. I really needed to push thru a few miles and clear my head, it was a tough day. I recently started a new job as a Tool Install Designer for a contractor down at Intel Ocotillo. Not really my line of work and requires a lot of thought, concentration and coordination (not a relaxing job by any means), so the riding helps clear my head after work.

It appears that I’ve cracked my first set of pedals this past weekend, my bike is only about 550 miles “old,” but these pedals are toast! The other day, I’d heard a loud pop, over the sounds of my playlist which is cranked nicely in my ears, but I assumed this was just a chain slip. This made for a difficult ride today since I’d completely forgotten about that, about I mile into the ride I realized a flexing feeling on the down stroke of each pedal. The outer back side edge of both pedals is completely separated. Boooo.

It’s a good thing I recently picked up a set of Power Grips Sports Pedals at REI. The idea behind the purchase was to not go the route of buying new clips and shoes but still allow me the additional power on the upstroke of pedaling (and to save a few bucks). I can’t wait to get these installed and get back out there. I’ll let you know how they work out. Stay Tuned.

McQueen Park to Kiwanis Park Loop

Today I decided on a trek across the Western Canal which is an ongoing city project that runs E/W thru Gilbert, Chandler and Tempe. Taking this route, I’d start out in Gilbert at McQueen Park and loop out and around Kiwanis Park in Tempe (approximately 9 miles away).

I ventured out about 8:00 this morning, as quietly as a bull in a china shop, though I don’t think I woke anyone. Got a little smarter this time… picking up some power bars and a Gatorade PRIOR to the point where I thought I was going to pass out and die (Yes that was last weekend.) Got my new Hydration pack loaded up (always nice to have pockets) and was off on my adventure! (Review on that in the near future.)

 Leaving from McQueen Park and heading towards South Mountain

The trail starts off in the dirt as this section of this $18 million project has not yet been started. Its quickly noticeable that there is quite of bit of work left to do on this trail since there are still several “major” roads that need crossing along the trail that still have no crossing lights or even crosswalks. “Insert archaic Frogger comment here.” Navigating across these roads proved fairly simple with Saturday morning traffic being at a minimum on most of the roads. Slackers… where is everyone?

Drought? Really?

Loop 101.. that doesn't really Loop

"Informative Sign" [Hard to Read]

Interestingly enough, I "closed" a loop in a riding adventure I went on many, many years ago, and when I pulled into the area I had an instant feeling that I'd been there before. That point, where the canal ends and the trail starts to head north, had been the end of a riding loop from when I had lived in Tempe in the late 90's. I had turned around at this point to head home some 10+ years ago. (Yes, apparently I've been here, for the most part, for 18 years later this year.) Anyway, I thought that was pretty cool.

No ducking for rogue golf balls!

End of my Loop for today on the Western Canal

Entrance to Kiwanis

           I've reached Kiwanis!! I've always loved this park. I wish Chandler had some lakes like this. Unfortunately, it seems, they only build lakes in Chandler for rich people and their houses AND then they gate their communities so we don't get to see them at all. Thanks Google Earth for letting me see what only the rich can afford. Pffftt...

They were following me!!

Breakfast Break

           The shot above is where I chose to take my breakfast break and chow down on a PowerBar and Gatorade before heading the 9 miles back home. This is a very peaceful spot, was very quiet and serene... BUT if I stayed too long I would be headed right into Snoozefest 2011. The ducks don't deserve to hear me snoring! Time to get moving and head home.

Cool Bridge

 

Heading back, it’s always nice to see old people in their sleek gear and expensive bikes fly by…just like they do in their Caddies on the freeway… NOT. Sure makes my “I think I can” engine go into hyper-drive! Of course two minutes later, my burst of energy is spent, I’m breathing like I’d just ran a marathon… and they are way beyond my field of vision and quickly fall off into obscurity… I’m back into my iTunes playlist thinking I’m hauling butt once again. I’m telling you, some of those old people can go! Good for them.. for now… I can only aspire to be that fast. 

Not the angle I wanted but you get the idea...or do you?

Today's ride was about 17.5 miles, and done in about 1:30, not a great pace but lots of new views which is as important to me as the pace. Hope you enjoyed, Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

Tumbleweed Excursion

Curse you Arizona Sun!! You are "scorching" my ability to put in any decent saddle time. At 108 degrees, and a nice scorching wind, I still managed to crank out 9.5 miles. Today I'll try to post a few more pictures of my riding adventure. 

I started out on my usual canal "Paseo Trail" towards Tumbleweed Park. I was deep in the riding zone and I cranked thru the park and totally spaced taking some pictures. Next Time.

Next stop Chandler Airpark. Not many planes flying out this time of day. Oddly enough we still see hot air balloons in the morning on occasion.

Chandler Control Tower

Chandler Air Park and the Runway

Interesting Plane...

At this point in the ride, I was feeling like a single point of "scorched Earth," or maybe ants when you put a magnifying glass on them. Though the temperature hadn't changed much the hot wind does a number on you, feels like a convection oven. 

This picture really shows what it felt like out there with the sun just beaming down on me. "Time to head home and stick my head in the oven....too cool off." (J. Kukowski, 2011)

Sun directly behind me

All in all, it was a great ride, short but well needed. Stay Tuned.

[Product Review] Coleman Revel 8L Hydration Backpack

Along with the launch of my blog, I can also submit my first review. I purchased a Coleman Revel 8L Hydration Backpack to use on my rides. I've been using a military type issued Camelback that has done me great service, however it has no pockets, so it is not working well in that capacity.

My initial bit of confusion lies in the name of the pack being a Coleman Revel "8L", yet only holds 2L of water. My guess is that perhaps it holds up to 8L of water and gear? That aside, the Coleman backpack is nice looking, sturdy, durable and of the quality you should expect for Coleman outdoor gear. It comes in Black as well as several other colors. It has deep pockets, gear separators and a nice phone/mp3 pocket that has a soft liner to keep your phone/player scratch free.

As for the Hydration bladder, this is where I found the quality heading immediate south. As I pulled it out to clean and fill for use this morning, I instantly noticed several warnings in a watermark style on the bladder plastic which I could not fully make out. Using a bright light to view, and to the best of my vision, I could barely make out the warnings which were: a temperature range warning of -20 to 50 degrees, no milk, and no fruit juices. Fair enough.

The hydration bladder is just not made of a quality plastic that I can see as a lasting piece of equipment. I'm not sure how well this will work with using ice, which is pretty important out here (unless you like hot water within 45 minutes of your start.) The hydration bag is very flimsy and "hangs" from the top of the inner pack by little Velcro straps. There is no reinforcement on the bag so my thought is that these will not hold out well in the long run and are probably not a good choice for cycling.

That aside, my biggest complaint and most obvious was that the moment I filled it and placed the bag back in the pack, the nozzle, where it attached to the bag started leaking. Had I not felt the bottom of the bag before venturing out, I'd be very disappointed to find my wallet, phone and other gear soaking wet. Yes, in less than 5 minutes the bottom of the pack had about 1 inch of water in it.

Like I said it’s a nice pack, but the bladder was a flop in my eyes. Needless to say, it is headed back to the store, and perhaps my next review will be on a new Camelback Hydration pack.  Stay Tuned.