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Just snakin' around the Ozarks October 11, 2008Leave a comment ;)
Not sure I would want to find this critter on a mountain trail. When I was talking to Ronnie and Christie (the two bikers) at the Rich Mountain Country store, there were three guys walking off into the woods with snake tongs, boots up to their knees and duffel bags. I asked the store's owner if there were a lot of rattlers in the woods and this was the skin he brought out from a paper sack. Apparently the snake bit the guy trying to capture it and spent three days in the hospital (the guy, not the snake). I think the guy deserves the skin! I had fun wandering through the Ozarks. Beautiful tree lined roads with wide clean shoulders. Lots of little walking sticks ambling across the road. They must have been migrating or something. I've never seen so many. I thought it would be fun to put Windy next to a couple of them. She is not the only one hitchhiking. I saw numerous walking sticks crossing the road in pairs. Pretty neat. Next came the garter snake with the huge curiosity. I pulled alongside and he came right up to my shoe. Next he started to sniff my tire and before I knew it, he was entangling himself between my spokes. He slithered off the side of the road, perfectly content with his new discovery. Hwy 270 followed the valley floor between the hills. Lots of curves with numerous climbs and descents. I have forgotten how beautiful Arkansas can be with it's combination of tall oak and pine. I had read that many cyclists fear Arkansas for it's rude drivers and narrow roads. I'm not sure where those folks pedaled, but it clearly wasn't along this route. Everyone has been super courteous and the roads have been great. Nice place to tour! The road into Mt Ida crossed over a few hills and was much more undulating than the previous 70 miles. When I arrived in Mena, I realized I still had another 45 miles to go, and only about 4 hours to make the trip. I left Mena knowing that only one hotel had a room for me in Mt Ida and I hustled to make it before dark. I ran my average speed up from 9.0 to almost 11 mph. I made it with about 30 minutes to spare! Against a 10 knot headwind, no less! Windy and I need to have a talk... No winds Windy!! No winds... Let's talk power! Not the emperor rules the kingdom type of power, but work (W) over a period of time (dt). P=W/dt. Work is defined as a force applied over a distance. How can we relate this to a bicycle? There are a few ways to measure Power required to move a bicycle forward and I have none of those gadgets on my bike. So let's pretend for a moment that I do. Just looking through some sources on the internet, I have found that the average Power that is generated by a professional cyclist can be between 300 and 500 Watts per hour. Assuming I am producing something close, say 400 Watts/hr and I pedaled for the amount of time I did today, how many Watts of power did I generate? Using that answer, determine what type of things I could have powered. An average size house for how long? Hmmm, makes one wonder... More Images: ;)
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7 Comments
Oct 23, 2008 11:01 am - linda lambert wrote : I saw your picutre of Lum & Abner My twin and myself took that trip last fall very pretty foilage- tuff riding up/down the mountain- we went on up to Queen Wellimina lodge and had lunch. I enjoy reading you bolgs and the pic.s ride on......
Oct 13, 2008 6:53 pm - Jennifer Seevers wrote : John! It is great to have the oppurtunity to follow you throughout your bike experiences! Welcome to Arkansas! It was great to get a chence to see you, your mom and dad, Jim and of course as always, Jenn, Mark and the kids. It was a wonderful time! Take care and enjoy the rest of your travels!! Best wishes to you John! What a sucess you are!!
Oct 12, 2008 7:25 pm - Steve O. wrote : Hot Springs is a very nice place to visit. Check out the meteor in the park downtown by the hot springs. There is also a nice little pizza place on Central Ave. Good luck on your journey. It is an amazing feat.
Oct 12, 2008 6:06 pm - John Z wrote : John - great trip! was wondering how to track you down...
Oct 12, 2008 1:58 pm - Patty W. wrote : Be sure not to mention the snake to Mom! She really doesn't like them and that picture will probably send her over the edge! LOL Continued safe travels!
Oct 12, 2008 12:56 am - Dee wrote : Wow!!!! another milestone, 3000+ miles. Congratulations! Windy is so cute. Add a comment: |
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Bone, You must have been very tired that day. ;- As you know, power P is a "rate" quantity, akin to speed. It describes the amount of work W being done per time unit t . As such, instantaneous power is defined as dW/dt average power over a given interval is defined as Total Work Done / Total Time Elapsed . If you multiply your average power output by the time you were expending that output, you get the total work done during that time interval. You have asked how many watts you produced during the 7+ hours you rode that day. That is like asking how many "miles per hour" you covered that day. The proper questions to ask, of course, were "How much work did I do that day? Or, similarly, "How much energy did I expend that day?" Then, you could ask "How long could you power the average house with that amount of energy?" BTW, you get bonus points if you can figure out who this is! You get one clue: Free Spirit! Cheers!