Ride Report: Many of you had 4 days off...

[Kevan]

There's no competing with JeffG's remarkable experience, so for those of us riding our regular (mundane?) routes, how did you do?

I think this is the first time I've ridden five days consecutively. Friday, 45 miles commuting to and from work. Saturday, 100 miles ridden in order to fulfill the July century quota, accompanied with biking pal Mikemets. Sunday, just a leg stretch, 20 miles out and back. Monday, gosh… people were actually dressed up walking towards the train station, aiming to go to work. I headed over to a small group ride and knocked off a sweet 50 miles. But the crowning glory was today’s ride.

Today’s ride, I took out the Serotta, donned on my vibrant green and purple stripped jersey that screams, “Beetlejuice!” My family wasn’t awake enough to stop me, so out into public I clattered. I saw my neighbors pull down their window shades as I rolled my pink bike down my front walk to the curb. What a pleasure…

I was on my own and as I rolled past people I’d take in their reaction with a sideways glance. Funny, women would usually smile, enjoying the attack of color, but men basically looked dumb-struck. Only their telepathy told me what they were thinking. The old guy sitting on the park bench trying to enjoy his paper and coffee looked past his cup and called me an idiot. The construction guy in the van, waiting at the red light, watched me cross his bow and said, “***?!” On the bike path, the guy racing towards me on his Pina stared hard at my head badge, in complete disbelief that Serotta could have come to such a color combination. I even saw our pal Marc Leibovic, but I think he was in a hurry to get home. I felt like a teenager wearing a Mohawk. I laughed a hearty laugh for all 30 miles.

245 miles total.

[Elefantino]

Three out of four days. Would have done the fourth but no kids home and lounged with the missus.

Sat: 32 easy
Sun: 48 medium
Today: 53 really, really hard

Only 133 miles total

[Tom]

Sat: 42 miles, felt awful. Just awful. Hard to explain it. I actually did everything right for a few days so maybe enough sleep and very little alcohol is bad for me?
Sun: 32 miles, sane pace. A little too close to a thunderstorm but I'm a baby about (1) lightning, (2) ice on the road and (3) needles.
Mon: 32 before work, fast fast. Good day.
Tues: 57 up to Lake Desolation and back. Can I sing a song of praise for the 53-39/11-23 combo? It is the perfect setup. I replaced a 12-25 with the new cluster and I am absolutely loving it. In my opinion, Desolation is also the best hill around here. Maybe because I don't ride it that often but I always have a great time going up it and even more fun coming down. Finished up in a rain shower, I kind of felt bad because I came by Alplaus just as they were kicking off their parade and it was coming down pretty good.
Wed: 32 before work. Should have cleaned the bike. I hate a noisy drivetrain, it's embarrassing.

[spiderlake]

Friday - rode new MTB trail at a local ski hill. It killed me but has great promise. I didn't warm up before hitting the trail and it starts with a sustained climb and then a bunch of quick climbs before hitting the downhill sections. My legs were in knots within the first five minutes of climbing and I never recovered.

Saturday- no riding - ate too much Indian food.

Sunday - rode Edwards Creek, an awesome technical trail with lots of obstacles, off-camber turns and steep, quick ascents. Did two loops and it was quite a workout.

Monday - rode Cannonsburg State Game Area (MTB) at a slower than usual pace. A guy *running* the trail passed me on a long climb. That was kind of humiliating but he was nice about it and it was worth a laugh.

Tuesday - finally back on the road bike. Did a 20 mile loop that leaves from my house and has about 1500 feet of climbing. It felt great and I logged my best time ever for that route without feeling like it was an effort. I would have opted for a longer route but I was running out of daylight.

[67-59]

Sat: 61 fairly hard in muggy weather. Dodged a few showers.
Sun: 31 easy.
Mon: 24 (and I was one of the poor souls heading to work afterwards).
Tues: 32 moderate.

Total 148.

[martianbait]

We had company over the past week and I had to keep the Mrs. happy...so I rode, but not as much as I would have liked. Took off Sunday completely.

Sat., 34
Mon., 52
Tues, 43

total for the weekend, 129.

[davids]

...OK, make that Massachusetts.

My wife and daughter are working at a Family Camp this summer (small plug here - The camp will definitely be featured on The Today Show this Friday - a camera crew spent two days there last week - and may also show up on Good Morning, America tomorrow!)

Anyways... On Friday afternoon, I drove up to Maine with the Seven in the backseat. There's 200 miles right there!

I'd spent a little time with Google Maps, and came up with a couple of routes from the camp - one about 25 miles, and one about 50. Saturday, while the family's laundry was drying, I set off on the shorter route. 33 miles later, I'd learned some lessons:

Maine isn't Massachusetts. These are very different hills. The topography is constantly rolling, either up or down, and both can be very steep. Nothing too long, but I could quickly go from a 35mph downhill to a 6mph climb. And trying to power your way up each of these hills is a good way to exhaust yourself.
Google doesn't tell you if the roads are paved. I'd guess that about 1/3 of the ride was on hard-packed dirt/stone roads. Roubaix in central Maine! Good thing I've got some nice tough Michelins on the bike, instead of the fancy-pants superlight Veloflexs I have on the Nove - I'd have flatted in the first mile. The dirt is really fun in short doses. The problem was, I had no idea how long each stretch would be!
Google is also, um, optimistic about certain roads' existence. I went out with a single sheet of directions crammed in my jersey pocket. When Mountain Road dead-ended, I had to choose between turning back and re-tracing about 18 miles, or attempting to get back to the camp using my own finely tuned sense of direction. I chose the latter, and was very relieved to find myself back on a familiar road within about 8 miles.
Saturday's ride was longer, harder, and more stressful than I'd planned. But I'm a quick learner.

After locating a road atlas with more accurate road information, I scrapped my planned 50-miler, and scaled back to a 40-mile ride for Monday. I stayed on a state highway, and rode 20 miles towards Augusta, and then turned around and rode back. With 5 miles to go, I was averaging 17mph. By the time I struggled up the last hill to the camp, my average was down to 16.5. I should have carried some food (there was one store on the entire route) - I probably would have finished stronger. But I had a really nice ride - The road was in good shape, and I learned to slow down and not fight the hills. I hit 42mph going down one hill (and later rode up it at 8mph...), the fastest I've gone in a long time.

I pulled on my red, white & blue Serotta jersey yesterday, and rode a variation of my Saturday ride, sticking more to the highways, and incorporating about 5 1/2 miles of dirt road toward the end of the route. I rode counter-clockwise to take advantage of the prevailing wind, and was averaging around 18mph before the 'pave'. It was a lovely ride, through beautiful scenery and tree-lined country roads. It ended up as a 30 mile loop that I will definitely be doing again!

This morning I got up at 5:00, so I could be at my desk in Boston by 9. The bike is resting...

So, just over 100 miles for the weekend. :) Plus, of course 400 miles of commuting! :crap:

Happy fifth!

[fiamme red]

There's no competing with JeffG's remarkable experience, so for those of us riding our regular (mundane?) routes, how did you do?Obviously you didn't see this:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=227557&postcount=1.

[Kevan]

"There's no competing with JeffG's remarkable experience, so for those of us riding our regular (mundane?) routes, how did you do?"


and Goonster's too.... damn!

Thanks fiamme.

[jeffg]

Obviously you didn't see this:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=227557&postcount=1.

The most epic riders in terms of a challenge to myself have been long, long rides in the USA. Riding up Mt. Ventoux (assuming no mistral) is much less taxing than 600km brevet with climbs and heat!

L'Ariegeoise and the GF Giro d'Italia were both very tough (the former due to the heat), but easier than the Devil Mountain Double or Terrible Two for sure, and those are only around 320km.

So, what are the stats on that 600km ride in terms of climbing?

[SpaceOdyssey]

Saturday - Ottrott - 50 miles

Sunday - Concours - 38 miles

Monday - Concours - 20 miles

Tuesday - Concours - 38 miles

Total: 146 miles

[Chad Engle]

Saturday - 0
Sunday - 2/10/2 duathlon, very hilly, really painful
Monday - 0
Tuesday - 50 miler in the early am, beautiful.

[Fixed]

thurs 3 hours ..merckx corsa

fri 3 " merckx corsa
sat 4.5 " canondale cadd 7
sun 6 " merckx corsa
mon 2 " m.c.
tues 3.5 m.c.
wed 5 " cadd7 am. meile sl pm
got no computer just a watch
cheers bro

[KevinK]

Saturday: Oregon Road Championship, Masters 50-59. 4 laps around a 12.5 mile course with two hard climbs per lap. I was in a chase group of 6 riders going up the second climb of the third lap when I cramped up in my quads. I had to let my group go, caught on with another small group, finished 21st of 29.

Monday: Weekly criterium with the cat. 4/5s. 23 laps on a flat, wide 1K course. I rode a smart race for 22 of the laps and entered the final lap in forth position. But I didn’t go when I should have and got boxed before the last corner. I ended up about 12th out of 31.

Tuesday: Drove up to Portland to race the Masters Omnium at Alpenrose Velodrome. This was my first time on the track in 25+ years. I forgot how steep and intimidating Alpenrose is. Our races consisted of an Unknown Distance, a 15 lap points race and an 18 lap scratch race. Because of the light turnout, I was grouped with the 30+ and 40+ masters, several who were hard core trackies. They set a blistering pace from the beginning and I was way overmatched. I had a hard time holding a wheel through the turns and kept having to work hard to get back on. I had a good time racing with them, and they were very pleasant while they were kicking my butt. I ended up dead last.

All in all, a fun weekend of racing, even though the results don't show it.

Kevin

[dirtdigger88]

I played so d@mn hard this weekend- Im acutally sore-

H*ll- I needed to go back to work just to get some rest-

I rode my bike some too- ;)

I hope everybody had as much fun as I did -

Jason

[CNY rider]

Saturday: First full day home after vacation in Toronto and Adirondack high peaks. We had hiked on Thursday and Friday, so the legs were a little limp. Ended up riding 36 miles from home, around the lake, and back. Marvelled at how much damage the flood waters had done while we were away. Big sections of road undermined by flood water and washed over with mud and rocks. Found out that the road I took home had been closed for 3 days before.

Sunday: Easier 22 miles. More flood damage.

Monday: Hot muggy 42 miles, lots of climbing. Felt good. Legs back in shape after the hiking.

Tuesday: Finished building the Parlee Z1X I traded my Ottrott for. Damn POS seat clamp wouldn't hold the seat tight, so home after only 9 miles.

Today: Back to work. Hello reality :bike:

[Jack Brunk]

I'll let the other guys give their ride report but so far Keith has ridden with us just at 108 miles over two days and over 9000 ft of climbing. On Saturday the temps were as high as 107F and we climbed over 5500 feet. Keith secertly is loving the 7-8 mile 6-8% grades that I have right out my door More ride reports to follow.


Jack

[chakatrain]

Saturday: With two friends, rode a solid 75 miler from San Francisco to Nicasio Resevoir and back...got out of the sopping fog and burst into glorious Marin County sunshine.
Sunday-Monday: social stuff with friends and family...softball and hot dogs, disc golf and beer, etc. Was a great time off but the legs and belly suffer :/
Today, back to work and the reality of it all. 4 day weekends forever!

[obtuse]

i have nerve damage in both hands and can hardly move my tingling pinky and ring fingers so....yeah. never ever happened before....it's been since monday so i've got an appointment to see a sports doc on friday. sucks to be off the bike for two days;but if you can't mover your ergo paddles you probably shouldn't be riding.

obtuse

[Jack Brunk]

Hey Obtuse,

Thanks for the frame.


Jack

[Fat Robert]

new frontiers in mp

breaking my ribs last year meant no weights in the winter

no weights in the winter meant i didn't get my quads balanced out to prevent kneecap tracking problems (i had 5 knee operations on my right knee before i started racing a bike at 16...high school basketball injuries that involved cutting my vm and vl in surgery, twice...and then two operations on my left knee post college to correct kneecap tracking).

no balance in my quads meant knee problems this spring

knee problems this spring meant knee problems when i was cranking out 1200mi in june

so

fat boy is only riding about 2hrs/day, and had to start doing some light weight work in the gym to get my knees sorted out. its working. but it means i dont race saturday.

[Fixed]

that sucks bro I hope you cats get better soon.
cheers

[Fat Robert]

three weight workouts and they feel better

its not so much an actual strength difference (three workouts does nothing there) as it is getting my vastus medialis oblique to fire in a different way than it does on the bike, and to "wake it up" to keeping my patella in line. whatever the mechanism, the result is that when I do light weights one or two times a week, I don't get the chondomalacia to the extent that I do it if I just ride a bike.

I'm going to race tomorrow...with no speed work since the first week of April...I'm going to get a good start, stay up near the front, and suck suck suck suck wheel.

[Tailwinds]

The best holiday EVER -- good rides on the Kirk, great times (especially the fireworks) and great company.