Monday, December 2, 2019

Time trial bike at the Polo Field

-a very short clip of Eric whizzing down the track.



Yesterday, I drove to the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park to pick up my husband after his time trial bike* practice ride. He rode for nearly five hours and did 100 miles around the track. He's training for the Festive 500. The Festive 500 is a bike challenge that sees participants cycling 500 kilometers (310 miles) between Christmas and New Year's. My husband will then post his ride on Strava, an app. that runners and cyclers use to track their progress. Rapha, a fancy bike gear and apparel shop, sponsors the Festive 500, so, I believe, Eric will then receive a spiffy Rapha jersey commemorating the ride. Not bad!

My husband, Eric, has completed the Festive 500 in previous years. That usually entailed a few plus rides to work and back and he'd have his 500 km. This year he'll attempt cycling the entire 500 kilometers in one day at the Polo Field. That would mean about 15 hrs. of cycling on a short winter's day. 

I didn't initially see the appeal of track cycling, but he won't have to deal with either stop signs or lights or cars. Plus, there's a public toilet nearby the track and he can stop and drink water/have a quick snack when he needs to. His average speed yesterday was 22-23 mph. He couldn't achieve and maintain such a speed on the open road.


Before the rain came.


Just as I arrived to pick him up, the rain started to come down quite steadily. That was good timing on my part!

*a time trial bike is a bike specifically designed for racing 

10 comments:

  1. There's no accounting for eversomany things! Yay for the track version that keeps him off the roads. Or, you could be dropping him at the airport with his bike in a bag, ticket to VietNam, intending to ride the HoChiMin Trail (both ways, I think) in sixty days. My grandson just left to do that. He turns 18 on Christmas Eve. What they won't do to stay off the roads.

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    1. Your grandson is going on an epic journey! Good for him. I have told Eric that there are some amazing spots to cycle through around the world--VietNam, parts of So. America, Alsace-Lorraine in France, etc. Someday he might venture forth!

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  2. Track cycling is safer but the view while cycling must get pretty dull after awhile, it seems to me.

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    Replies
    1. I would find the polo field views to get old after about 40 minutes. I don't know what he zoned out on in order to get through the five hours spent!

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  3. My eldest brother was an avid cycler (until a mystery illness sidelined him). He habitually cycled many 100s of kilometres each week and raced most weekends. And twice was hit by motor vehicles, sustaining significant damage each time.
    I am very glad that your husband has found a safer way to indulge his passion.

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    1. Your eldest brother sounds a bit like my husband. His shoulder injury as a result of cycling did not really slow down his passion for bikes and cycling.

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  4. It is good to have something one is passionate about. It doesn't matter what it is. I get on my stationary bike every once in a while. Maybe for five minutes. Doesn't seem to arouse much passion in me. lol
    Maybe I will write a poem about biking. Get the juices flowing.

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    Replies
    1. Eric is nothing, if not passionate about cycling.

      I'm sure whatever you might write about biking would be fun to read!

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