Rides report, and.. y'all ever have yer bubble popped?

[Tom]

- First, the first two ride impressions on the new Legend. Sacre bleu, is that thing fast. I'm certainly not in midseason form, but I'm riding like I am. How much is mental cause I'm riding a new bike? Some, I'm sure. (OK, probably more than some.) But it's unmistakeable when I'm going up a hill and every time it flattens even a little I click up, up, up through the gears. I'm staying in big ring in places I never do, and holding speed into a headwind without really trying is not at all like me. The cool thing is my head's swiveling all around, checking out the lilacs and the apple trees, looking off into the woods, the only time my eyes are glued to the road is when I'm coming off something like Lake Deso at 45 miles an hour. I'm not about to try it, but I bet I could ride off that hill no hands. The bike's that stable. Paradoxically, it turns like I'm on slalom skis. It rails.

The fitting Jeff at Blue Sky did is absolutely dead on. I am so in the pocket you have no idea. I am without a doubt adding 2cm to the stem on the CSi.

So, the bubble popping. I'm coming home from riding up to Lake Desolation and back. I'm coming down 146 toward Rexford cruising nicely at about 25 mph or so. Some guy pops up on my left shoulder and says 'How's it going?' I mean, pops up out of nowhere. We exchange pleasantries, he asks how far I'm headed. 'Just on the way in, up the hill and home.' I say. 'Me, too. How far out are you?' he says. 'Oh, about 50 or so. How about you?' He says, 'Um, this'll be a 128 mile day. 400 mile weekend.' 'Wow' was about all I could think of. 'A three day weekend,' he was quick to add, 'rode up to Lake Placid Friday, rode around there Saturday and rode home today. I owe my wife big now, but it's nice to get in a little endurance in the early season.'

By now we're crossing the bridge, he steps out ahead and by the time we'd gone another mile up the hill he had at least a quarter mile on me. He simply accelerated away and I hung on for half the Aqueduct hill until he accelerated again. My excuse is that it's hard to climb and ride fast when you burst out laughing!

I know the guy's for real because though I'd never met him before I know his next door neighbor and they'd mentioned that their neighbor's a stay at home dad who trains all day when the kids are in school.

I'm feeling good about a couple of quick fifty milers and then I get a little perspective. I needed it. That was a good thing. Of course, I ought to be riding this morning but I'm about to get spiffed and go to work. Ah, well.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . is indeed beautiful. A vision in silver and, uh, silver. He has a right to be proud.

Anyone, though, who rides 400 miles in three day weekend, either also has a new bike--a real NICE new bike--or has some other, more serious personality issues.

BBDave

[Too Tall]

As the legitimate G-dfather of "Ride Reports" THANK YOU for posting this :)

M-F An otherwise normal training week. 5x3's with 2X15's Woops, not much
endurance. Ouch.
Sat. Pre-race tune up. Sunday's gonna hurt
Sunday - .7 mile crit with a hair raising downhill 120 degree hard right into a narrow uphill with a penalty driveway at the outside apex. AND it was raining so at least the avg. was 30mph :rolleyes: Holy chit, small field composed of all the 123's in contention for 35+ and 40+ points. It was an all out sprint for every corner. I lasted 10 laps and called it a day and watched from the sidelines as the best riders I know are getting shelled every lap. The guy who causes this mayhem won the amateur RR in Athens. Out team has one guy who can deal with him and he was a pro. Is the level of competition here fairly high? Uh, just a little. Doof, TT misses the racing in Rock Hill.

**FLASH** This just in. Pic. of my pals Nino and Marie (Paralympic riders) on their new triple torturing Mich. riders.
www.ahealinghand.com/images/general/ninomarie-triple.bmp

[Dr. Doofus]

m -- 1.5 hrs recovery sinsues getting bad
tues -- 2 hrs. hr wouldn't crack 120
wed -- can't breathe, whole body hurts. 2 hrs on trainer. hr wouldn't crack 110
thurs -- allergist. cortisone shot. antibiotics for sinus infection. rest
fri -- :30 on trainer before calling it quits
sat -- bed. got cramps from just cutting the grass
sun -- guilted back on bike by jerk who was guilted by the fast kid who would guilt doof anyway eventually. 5.5 hrs. 3 hrs torture. then like an old car getting some highway miles the gunk got cleaned out of the engine and whooosh everything feels fine.

mon -- still trying to swear off complete sentences

[Dr. Doofus]

TT

masters races just as bad here

top 10 are ex-pros or national champs

doof spat like cheap gum

[scrooge]

Started out the week with great ambitions.
Mon: 24 mile recovery ride, went to Mongolian Barbeque with wife for supper.

Monday night: Groaned, tossed and turned, and slept like crap

Tuesday Morning: Puked up last nights Mongolian BBQ, spent the day on couch eating saltines and jello, sipping 7-up and Pepto, and watching PBS crappy daytime TV

Wed: Felt better (More or less) 30 Miles with club, worked my butt off to stick on the back of the pack. Windy and cold.

Thurs: 30 moderate: windy and cold

Fri: 30 Miles: supposed to be moderate, but much to my delight, I put in my second to fastest (solo) ride of the year and didn't feel like I was working any harder than I usualy do (while averaging 1 mph faster--I likes that!)

Sat: Stood in the rain and watched my wife run a 25k road race. Missed long ride again this week :crap:

[scrooge]

Just curious--has this thread just been hi-jacked by the good Dr, TT, and myself? It seems that Tom was looking to post a ride report of his new bike (which sounds very sweet Tom) and get a discussion going about bubble popping. Speaking of which, I usually get my bubble popped whenever I look at the ride reports of others on this board . . .

[coylifut]

mon - 1.25 recovery
tues - 1.5 hours with 5x3s and one long climb
wed - 1.5 easy
thurs - off
fri - 1.5 easy
sat - punked out on the state RR due to no racing in the legs for 2 months and got talked into doing the annual century. Only 5 guys showed, usually a dozen or so. We did it with a 21.3 average. I was stiff all day due to sitting in the bleachers for 2 hours at daughter's school and 2 hours at the Lenny Kravitz concert night before.
sun - off

[Tom]

Nah. Whatever free form conversation gets going is cool.

[Dave]

At age 52, I've found that even with my weight a 134-136, I can't climb with racers half my age. Fact of life. Most can mash about two cogs smaller than I use. I followed a very fit young rider up my favorite mountain route yesterday, but not for long. Got dropped quickly. On the brighter side, I also dropped a 30-something rider before the "real" climbing even started. This guy was built like a track sprinter. Had some of most enormous thighs I've ever seen.

Also had fun on the descent. Got challenged to a high speed dual with another much younger rider (wearing no helmet). I easily followed him through a few corners and new I could do better, so I attacked on a short straight section and left him behind in the next series of corners.

Also, as usual, the last 2 miles of my 50 miler are uphill and against the wind. I was barely turning the pedals over as I neared home. Too much mountain and hill climbing always take their toll.

As for new bikes being fast, it's mostly your imagination. I swap high-end frames every couple of years. I've had some nice bikes, but none of them made me any faster. I have had some that handled better than others. I also found that some geometries that were fine for rolling terrain, didn't work as well for fast mountain descents (Colnago). Once you find a geometry that's to your liking, stick with it.

[davids]

Monday: After being washed out of the weekend, I talked my wife into doing morning school drop-off. 22 solo miles in the mist, through wet, slick streets. Came home happy, but the bike and I were complete messes, covered with wet grit and plant refuse.

Tuesday: Back to "Abs of Steel" and stretching. :crap:

Wednesday: More "Abs of Steel" and stretching. :crap: :crap:

Thursday: Again with the "Abs of Steel" and stretching! :crap: :crap: :crap:

Friday: Group ride rather than a solo. 25 miles through the Blue Hills on a cold morning. Toes are frozen, but everything else is lovely.

Saturday: Chores, obligations, and a nap on the couch.

Sunday: My daughter's trip to 6 Flags New England is cancelled due to a forecast of thunderstorms for Western MA. But I ride for 2-odd hours under high clouds and blue sky. 38 fun miles - Finally, a semi-long ride, and approaching 100 miles for the week.

We need better weather!

[Too Tall]

Sorry 'bout that Tom. In my blurry pre-caffinated state it reads as a Monday Ride report. Ouch...oh the shame.

[hypnospin]

posting pre-caff?, oh the calmness is surpassed only by the cloudiness.


Sorry 'bout that Tom. In my blurry pre-caffinated state it reads as a Monday Ride report. Ouch...oh the shame.

[Dekonick]

ACK!

Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri....
Honey Do List
Visit with Braxton Hicks...
Its getting close!