Big bike climbs, mini vacation on the boat

Went out Sunday afternoon to the TN River gorge, the weather was perfect for a bike climb.  Mid 60s and sunny.  It was peak color weekend in the gorge and the colors at sunrise and sunset were awesome.  It was also very quiet.   Bill M. and I met up and did the climb Sunday afternoon, and full circuit around the lake at the top, 13 miles.  

We chatted a lot, probably slowing us down, but it went well, fairly painless.  The time below is the climb to East Overlook, about 1250' over about 4 miles.  We did the full climb to the visitors center, another 350+' and some rest intervals for photos.  The HR data and distance is for the entire trip  

In extensively cleaning my house for a dinner party on Sat, I misplaced my bicep HR monitor so all this data is from the watch.

Raccoon Mtn Bike climb  - 41:00 (East Overlook)

13 miles 

Avg HR - 139

Max HR - 176

HR over 170 - 5:25

HR 156 - 30:02

Monday, I went into Chattanooga on my bike, had a sandwich at Panera.  I also had an episode of bad eating.  Over the course of the next day, I ate several home made fruit and nut bars, but most damaging, an entire small loaf of focaccia bread with honey walnut cream cheese and 2 small cherry pastries.  That is about as bad as it gets for me.  Delicious with tea and coffee.  

I decided to stay and do a solo climb on Tues, but just to the overlook.  This was much harder and faster than the one on Sunday.  The weather was perfect, sunny with a high of 75º.   I actually jumped in the river, still at 67º.  

Raccoon Mtn Bike climb  - 36:36 (East Overlook)

8 miles 

Avg HR - 160

Max HR - 183

          HR over 180 - 1:01 

HR over 170 - 9:51

HR 156 - 28:30

Not a bad effort.  

Had a minor disaster happen on the way back.  I had new trailer guides on my boat trailer which led me to backing it in the water too far, which caused my boat to move further toward the truck.  I went too far and and smashed my tailgate window.  Never happened before in 35 yrs of owning this boat. I got insurance to fix it this afternoon, less than 24 hrs after the accident, comprehensive insurance, no deductible. Just cost $60 for the plastic trim piece I'll need to replace.  

The real problem was the glass I left on the launch ramp in the water, hopefully the river will carry that away.  And, my the back of my truck was filled with shattered glass, mostly on top of the canvas cover.  I did NOT want to empty that glass in my driveway so I stopped at highway rest stop.  Fortunately, not busy.  I opened the tail gate and shattered glass came raining out.  Fortunately I had gloves to pick up chunks.  I used a towel to sweep as much as I could to the curb.  Amazed I didn't get a flat.  I stopped again before I got home to pull the canvas out and shake it.   The only remaining issue is that the tailgate is full of glass.  It'll need to be shop vacced out once the guy opens it up.  

While on the boat, I did manage to do a daily set of 30 pushups, but little else.  I'm hoping to get out on Nov 22 with Bill then going to FL for Thnxgiving and maybe another trip afterward.  Today, starting back on a good normal diet, drinking water, daily pullups, abs, walking, etc...  Not much damage, 145 lbs today.

First freeze this weekend.  Frost forecast for Thurs and Fri night, hard freeze on Sat.  Will need to heat the boat.  Peak color here this weekend.  

Here's some photos.

 

Diet alternative

An alternative for one of my comfort foods:  buttered toast and tea or coffee.  

We have a truly great artisan baker here on the mountain, The Bread Peddler, but as delicious as the bread is, it is really high in carbs and calories.  Tests prove butter and eggs make my LDL skyrocket, bread and carbs do the same with my triglycerides.  

Alternatives are never as good as the real deal, but for me, a person with a family history of heart disease and a polygenic predisposition to high ApoB, I always seek alternatives and happily adapt.  Self indulgent entitlement mentality doesn't make for a great diet.  As my friend Gary, a heart surgeon told me, "It's ok to cheat a little once a month, not once or twice a week."  

I do cheat sometimes when I'm out for dinner, but that is rare.  Usually about once a month on average.  After not eating butter or margarine for almost a year, I started an alternative:  

Royo bread - high fiber, low carb, 30 cal a slice

Homemade 'butter' - curdled skim milk blended with olive oil.  Ingredients: skim milk, olive oil, few drops of lemon juice, salt.   

It's good.

Lately, social media has been flooded with ridiculous fad diet stuff, anti-science influencers, etc... promoting all meat high fat diets.   When you look at the followers, it's the usual people... anti-science conservatives, vaccine deniers, MAGAs, and MAHAs.  This political correlation is now being documented: 

 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02474-9

Best to test, know your vulnerabilities, push the heart occasionally, and for me, a varied low fat, low carb, low - moderate sugar Mediterranean diet is my chosen regime.  

My latest lipid panel was decent, improved.  Total cholesterol 166, LDL 112, triglycerides 119.  Not yet on any medication.   

bike climb

Tuesday, badly in need of exercise I went to Roarks Cove Rd for a hard climb.   It was good weather, fair, mid 60ºs.   I pushed pretty hard, almost broke 23:00, but no cigar.   I didn't get the avg speed due to an equipment problem, but got HR data:

Roark's Cove bike climb

Total time - 23:06

Max HR - 183

HR over 156 - 17:09

HR over 170 - 5:02

HR over 180 - 0:23 

Avg HR - 158

Pretty good workout.  

I need to be more regular with these workouts and now is the 'climbing season' on the bike.  Bill M. and I may do Raccoon Mtn on Sunday.  Also, my boating season.  I expect to spend some time on the river in the weeks ahead.  

After a busy last 2 days, yesterday which involved driving to Nashville - 98 miles in torrential rain to meet students at a high school, my yearly wellness visit, the next 10 days look glorious for the fall color peak.  No rain, temperatures in the 60ºs and sunny.  More seasonable with the possibility of light frost in the next week.  

This morning:

Lab results, home tasks, food

Nothing too extreme in my lab results.  CA19-9 unchanged at 72.  All previous results have been around this number.   Cystatin-C at 1.04, high normal, eGFR calculated to 72.  Not alarming.

Yesterday, made a great paella with tuna filets and shrimp.

Today, did my morning workout with 20 pullups, 30 pushups, and 25 ab wheels.

Decided to replace the seals on my log splitter shaft.  Was a bitch.  Used the motor and hydraulic pressure to remove the shaft.  It blew out explosively, a 40lb metal shaft like coming out of a cannon.  If I had been in front of it, it would have been bad.  Bu, got er done.  $20 seal kit.  Back to working.   

With all the physical tasks, haven't been focused on biking or trying to run again.  Actually feel like I'm still recovering from the big hike.

Roya and I did a hike yesterday in the rain.  Was miserable weather, rain all day, 50º.   Beautiful today though, in the 70ºs.

initial lab results

Initial lab results coming in.  Had a urine analysis, CMP, CBC, lipids, PSA, cystatin-c, and CA19-9.  So far, everything but the cystatin-c and CA19-9 is in.

The only issue so far is the urine Albumin/ Creatinine ratio was a little high, 40 ug/mg.  High end of normal is 30.  However, blood creatinine was where it always is 1.2 mg/dL, providing a calculated GFR of 66.57.  

The lipid panel.  

I had this big dissertation on making the case for a CCTA scan, and making a decision on taking statins or Repatha... and after living on Kind Bars on my boat for 4 days, I was thinking this lipid panel would be bad.  It wasn't.  I didn't prepare for this test with an excessive fast or a change in diet.  

Fasting glucose - 85 mg/dL

Total Cholesterol - 166

LDL - 112

Trig - 119

HDL - 40

ratio - 4.19

Any cardiologist would look at these numbers, a zero CAC 2 yrs ago, and probably not recommend a CCTA, or even statins.  This was a better than usual lipid panel for me.  

The only other thing was my liver enzymes, ALT/AST.  Usually in the high teens low 20s, this time 32 and 31, higher but still normal.

Everything still not optimal, but not particularly dangerous.  My biggest risk remains the organ cysts.  My PSA was ok 1.2, hoping for a good CA19-9 and cystatin-c.

Did hard work today removing a fallen tree, cutting, stacking, and splitting wood.  Real hard on the hands.  I got attacked by yellow jackets, stung 3 times.  My truck must have run over the nest.  After a while, I went back and started my truck, it was unreal.  They attacked one side of the truck, sounded like it was raining, must be a huge nest.  I was trapped inside for more than 10 min.  Got to find that nest.  

Holding steady at ~143 lbs.  Fat scale says 12.2% body fat.  

Amazing weather, was 83º today, flowers still flourishing.  No frost in the forecast.  

Hiking vacation in GSMNP - Photos

One week ago I tested my body with some short sprints on turf, just 7 sprints ranging from 30m to 60m, 80-90% effort.  And it reaffirmed the fact - there is NO parallel exercise.  There is nothing that uses the hams and hip flexors quite the same way.  Despite the small workout, my hams were sore for 5+ days, and I could still feel the soreness at the start of the hiking trip.  

We left Friday evening for Fontana Lake, 180 mile trip, put the boat in after midnight on a sketchy earth and gravel ramp at Almond, NC.  Fortunately, it was dry, would have been dangerous if wet.  The lake is low, down 40' from full.  With the heavy load, I had to use low range 4x4 with hubs locked and back down super slow.  We didn't get to bed til after 2am, as I boated several miles to the center of the lake where cell service was the best and I could get reliable internet.  It was cold, clear, in the 40ºs.   

In this complex lake, knowing the shear depth of the lake and trusting my instruments, once I get into the open water, I can cruise at night virtually blind, fogged windows etc...  But we had a full moon and that helps a lot.  

Day 1, we did a mostly flat 6 mile hike at Forney Creek, actually saw a few other people, which is rare in this extremely remote part of the park, only easily accessible by boat, but it was Sat.  

Day 2, took it easy and walked a few miles to the ghost town of Proctor at the end of Hazel Creek, no one there.  We also walked around the dam and went in the visitors center on the last day it was open. 

Day 3, the big hike.  In years past, this was the 'short hike' but now, it was a maximum hike. The hike up the Appalachian Trail from the lake at Fontana Dam to the Shuckstack tower is about 8.5 miles round trip, it has a vertical climb of 2400'.  I remember running up this trail 20 yrs ago with Scott S. and summiting in about 75min.  Today, with numerous short rest breaks and the need to patch a heel blister, it took 2x as long, about 2.5 hrs.  The weather was perfect, sunny mid 70ºs at the lake, low-mid 60ºs at the tower.  The climb was tough in places, about 28% grade.  My HR during the steeper climbs stayed in the 130-150 rang while Roya's was 110ish.   The fall colors were awesome, approaching peak above 3500', about 10 days away from peak at lake level. 

 

To get from the lake up from the boat took a serious steep climb up a driftwood strewn bank to the paved road coming across the dam.   I've always done this to save the extra mile of walking across the dam and back, and provided a hidden place to leave the boat for 5 hrs.  Roya did not like the climb. 

We got to the tower and had it to ourselves for 45 min until another couple arrived just as we were leaving.  It was spectacular as usual.  I was hungry, ate 4 Kind bars with hot tea at the top of the tower. 

Going down took almost as long even without breaks.  It was harder on the knees.  I definitely had some knee pain and weakness on both by the time it was over.  

Roya didn't want to climb down the steep back to the boat so she elected to walk the half mile across the dam and meet me at a 'beach' below a tourist overlook picnic area.  That set up an unfortunate circumstance.

I get down to the boat OK, motor over to the pickup spot and Roya is not there.  I assumed maybe she went to the toilet at the visitors center at the dam.   So I get on the toilet in the boat, and from the window, I hear her yelling from the dam, telling me to come up.  I couldn't really understand what she was saying.  That was the last thing I wanted to do at that point but I did, I put my shoes on and ran up the bank, thinking she might have some problem.  When I get there, the problem has abated and she said she was delayed because of a bear on the walk path.  I was pissed.  What was I supposed to do about it?  She along with 2 tourists scared the bear away so that she could pass.  By the time I got there, the issue was over and I painfully ran up there for no real reason.  She was upset that I was upset.  Well, at least I DID respond and go up.  I was more worried that she may have been accosted or approached by a redneck, walking alone across the dam at dusk. Oh well, she got over it.

Day 4, did some light hiking up to the Cable cemetery and went for a wonderful swim in these exceptionally clear and clean waters.   Water temperature was higher than normal for this time of year, 71º.  Cool and brisk for swimming but with full sun and air temps in the mid 70ºs, it felt great.

I am continually astonished by this place.  The only lake where I've ever been on a weekend and seen almost no other boats, maybe 2 over the whole day.  A true wilderness experience and such a pristine environment.  It's quite an ordeal to get here but well worth it and I hope to return every year.  Sometimes I wonder if that would be my last hike to Shuckstack.  I know I've likely taken my last hike to other more distant peaks, High Rocks - 15 mile round trip, and Clingman's Dome from Forney Creek - 25 mile round trip and nearly 5000' climb.  

I'll be back on the bike this week but no more attempts to run for at least a week.  Recovery is everything at this point.  

Still maintaining a decent weight, around 143.  My diet has lapsed a bit and this week's blood work will be revealing.   

short sprints on turf, bike climb, concerts

First exercise in a week.  Today went to the track and first did a full warmup, drills, and some short sprints.  I probably did more than I should for first time out in a long time, but I did most with the brace.  

Hoka trainers on

Stretches, drills, bands

All sprints on turf - 85% effort

50m stride

50m - 3 step rolling - 7.91

60m - 3 step rolling - 8.90

60m - standing start - 9.18

50m - 3 point start - 8.10

2 x 30m accelerations

I did the first 4 sprints with the brace on.  It all felt pretty good.  Need to take it slow and see how the knees respond.  They will either adapt or not.  Not particularly optimistic, but no significant pain although a lot of noise in the joint. 

I then did a relaxed bike climb, trying to keep my HR mostly below 170, unlike last time where I was over 170 for 11:13.

Roark's Cove bike climb

Total time - 25:19

Avg speed - 5.6 mph

Max HR - 174

HR over 156 - 17:38

HR over 170 - 3:25

Avg HR - 157

Plan is to try to run once a week on turf, or short hill.  See how it feels.  Should keep the brace on.  Am pretty light due to all the stress of performing I think.  Now that Roya is here, I'm eating ok, but still eating a lot of Kind bars, fruit, nuts, and a little chocolate.  

Going on a hiking vacation to Fontana in the Smokies Fri- Tues.

141.5 lbs after workout.  Fat scale says my BF% is holding steady at 12.3%

CONCERTS FINISHED - free at last

Concert season concluded last night at MTSU and wow, what a relief.  The "big one" - Sewanee Monday night was a success.  Just under 100 attended, and I got through it pretty well.  The mental gremlins got me briefly in a few minor mistakes, but minimal and finished all pieces strong, most were near flawless.  Successfully walking away from the Rameau at halftime was a major accomplishment.  Kept the mistakes undetectable as I powered my way through the pieces with no stops, refusing to get rattled.  I held it together, received a stand ovation in what may have been the first Faculty Guitar Recital ever held in the historic landmark All Saints Chapel in the 160 yr history of the University.  The pressure was big, 90% of the people there were hearing me for the first time.   If I had blown it, it would have been difficult to ask to play there again.   One woman in her 70s said it was the best solo concert she'd ever seen on campus. 

 Played MTSU last night, was tougher.  Felt a little tightness in my forearms.  Shouldn't have played 2 nights in a row.  But it went well.  

It's really all mental.  I probably over practiced for Sewanee, put in at least 5 hrs on the day of the concert, but I really needed it to go well.  Of course, over training has been my thing, for better or worse.   

Check out the poster below, guess how old that photo is?  False advertising.