Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I'm an excellent average

Last night was my third Tuesday night ride. Legs still felt a little dead (apparently my glycogen stores remain depleted from Saturday despite my best efforts to consume inappropriate amounts carbs). Since I did not expect to be rocking it out with the big boys, I tried to keep things  interesting by trying out the lap feature on my garmin. The route was ~15 miles and each 5 mile lap was faster than the previous. Cool! 22, 20, 18 minutes for each 5 mile segment and the last 5 were on the nasty part where there are 2 short back to back climbs with gradients of ~15 & 12%. On the first of these final two I was working hard at staying solidly in middle place, 5-6 guys of the front and 6-7 behind.  I wanted to really push and try to stay close to the front without having my heart and lungs divorce me and I was quite happy with the whole gearing, cadence, effort thing until..... one guy passed, the O2 debt prevented a memory formation of exactly who. Since I was feeling OK, I decided to kick it up and briefly was able stay on the wheel. Not for very long but it felt good to know I had something left in the legs as I was nearing the top.

I have to admit, those 5 seconds were the highlight of last night's ride. While I did blow up at the top, I did so willingly and with forethought.

One final note. I almost did not go out last night but I was just 12 miles short of my 200 mile monthly goal so that motivated me to get out and ride. This is more distance in March than the previous 2 years combined.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

I know. It's not. I haven't. But still.

Sat, Mar 27, 2010 - 44.43 mi [Cycling]
44.43 mi in 02:47:46 hours at 15.89 mi/h on Orbea Volata. [Cycling] Ok, I know this is not the fastest time I've done @ this distance. I know I've done longer distances. I've probably even climbed more, but...... not this early in the year before. My fastest time @ 40+miles is 17+ but that was in Sept. not March. My speed today was second best, 6 months sooner. I've ridden further, faster, and more often than at anytime in the previous 2 years (god I love data!!). I'm hopeful this bodes well for the rest of year.


I'm also starting (emphasis on starting) to climb better. I'm not blowing up as often or as quickly, I'm taking it slower, turning lower cadence, taking it much steadier. I was able to keep up with my 2 companions until ~9 miles from the end. I could feel a bonk coming on as I came out of Tanglewood but I remembered to suck back hammergel just in time. While I felt on the verge of bonking the last 2 hills, I was able to put some pressure on the pedals. I think i missed the bonk by this much ->||<-

Overall, I felt good about today, I'm a little tired, the legs are quite wobbly but it's a good hurt. Ow.
Posted from My Cycling Log

Thursday, March 25, 2010

My seasonal fitness goals

Being of moderately sound mind and mildly sound body I have determined that this season I shall endeavour to improve my fitness by cycling more, doing more commutes and errands on my 29er and trying to achieve the ultimate cycling physique. Given the unrealistic images of beauty and fitness supplied by magazines and popular culture I searched far and wide for a reasonable role model. This is what I found:


This appears to capture the essential physique on any good cyclist (strong legs and emaciated upper torso and arms) but I worry that this creature is also extinct. Does this have metaphysical implications??

Also, is it just me or is this a great name and logo for a cycling group: The T-Rexxers?





Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 - 15.45 mi [Cycling]

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 - 15.45 mi [Cycling]
15.45 mi in 01:06:00 hours at 14.05 mi/h on Orbea Volata. [Cycling] Second week @ the Mock Tuesday night ride. Decided to ride in a lower cadence tonight. Tried to focus on rhythm and keeping my breathing under control without blowing up. I think I did better than last week. Went up 2nd last hill in too large a gear and almost couldn't push it into a lower gear :).


Posted from My Cycling Log

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sat, Mar 20, 2010 - 36.28 mi [Cycling]

Sat, Mar 20, 2010 - 36.28 mi [Cycling]
36.28 mi in 02:01:51 hours at 17.86 mi/h on Orbea Volata. [Cycling] My First Charity ride. Hope for the Warriors 2010.

Had a great time and got apersonal best speed. Faster than my 30 mile ride and my 40 mile ride. I was with a bunch who all seemed to do their fair share of pulling (except for 1 wheel sucker) and I had 3 pulls. The first was probably a little too intense and over shot the effort (just being in front shot my HR through the roof). Second was the best, I pulled steady and hard. The final was pull was up and over a climb and I over worked it. It's really hard to judge how much effort to put in for myself, let a lone pulling for others. I think I went too fast, I opened a gap on the way down and got shot out the back on the way up the next hill as I tried to ease up. I didn't panic and just settled in to a hard but steady pace. Eventually got back on.



Has an awesome time and look forward to doing more of these this season.
Posted from My Cycling Log

Friday, March 19, 2010

My First Charity Ride

Saturday in the "Hope for the warriors" charity ride. I've wanted to do these things for about 1.5 years but always felt quite inadequate. This year I'm just going to do it. My little HR monitor had given my confidence. Sad, really. My validation comes from an inanimate object.

Monday, March 15, 2010