Thread: Did you ride today?

Was hoping to get out with the fast boys on Saturday, but woke up with the beginnings of a cold so decided the all out effort was a bad idea. Sunday though I went out with my sweet wife, and she recognized her personal training hasn't provided much in the cardio endurance category, so she struggled as we knocked out 35 miles on a very flat course. Usually on the flats she can hang pretty well, but I was forced to back it off so we'd be together. She wants to schedule a bike tour now, which'll force her to spinning and more rides with me. Weather continues to be excellent here for this time of year, 55 today and mid-upper 50's this week, low 60's this coming weekend and continued sunny.

My thanks to you all on the east coast and mid-west, for taking all the crap weather this winter.

A couple rides on my schedule this year, the ride up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. I missed last year, and want to finally get in under 2 hours. (4500' vertical over 18 miles). And I'll probably do a time trial in August just to check my fitness on the year. I don't have a TT bike, or train specifically for TT, but its a great test. Been doing a lot of work in the gym to generate more power, and I'm climbing better already.

Dan, one thing is certain in the Pacific NW, the weather window can slam shut at any time, and not open again until after the 4th of July. Then we get 90 days of almost no rain. Considering our normal high price for those dry summer months, this year is a welcome reprive though the snow pac is almost nil and the ski hills are suffering.

Hopefully today I'll get out for my beastly training ride, it'll be my first attempt of the monster hill on the compact double of my carbon frame. Previously only done on my steel bike with the granny. Having started this years riding on that hill, I'm better for it.

The steep part of the hill is about 11%, but one turn is steeper, probably ~15%. Fortunately the steep turn is not too far from the bottom, so your not totally gassed going into it. But after getting round that turn one is likely to be at threshold, or already anarobic, so pacing yourself on that hill is key. Once you make to the top of the steep part, there are a few more miles of 5-7% work. That stretch is long enough to put you deep in the pain cave. After the steep, the rest doesn't visually seem too bad, but your still climbing with these little pitches just long enough to kill any momentum you build. I find myself at 92-94%HR wishing it were over already. Very rural route, only a few cars. Many spots with great views of Mt. Hood. I expect I'll ride the loop once a week at speed, its a great training course.

Sadly, didn't make it out today, but all set for tomorrow. Damn customers!

Managed to sneek in time for the loop yesterday. I hate when my anticipation of a strong ride is not met by strong legs. Just didn't have any snap yesterday, legs felt leaden.

The carbon bike is much more efficient then my old steel touring frame, but while extremely comfortable for a more race oriented geometry (thanks CYFAC!) the chip seal was felt more than on my old MERZ. That old steel frame and setup is very comfy. And the original Campy Super Record crankset is as smooth as the spanky ceramic bearings in the Cyfac. And quiet too, my one complaint about Shimano's hollow chainrings is they are just a tad noisy. I wonder is Campy's latest cranks are as smooth and quiet as the classic stuff? I have to keep the drivetrain vey clean and well lubed with the Shimano or I hear more noise, and I am pretty anal about my bike being as silent as possible.

Thanks Dan, not creaking noise, though I get some from my cleats when I stand. (Note to self - tighten cleat screws!) And not noisy to most folks, I am just aware of more drivetrain noise overall—I think the chain engaging the hollow chainring just creates the smallest ringing noise. Most folks would never think twice, but as I said I'm anal about bike noises. I hate riding in a group with someone who doesn't maintain their bike or know how to center a derailleur. kck,kck,kck or grind,grind,grind, ka-chuck,ka-chunk. Don't these guys (girls) know a clean bike is a fast bike? Simplest machine in the world and they can't dial it in. Errrrr!

How 'bout the freewheel sound of Chris King hubs. Buzzsaw! There's some noisy ones out there. My DT Swiss could use a little lube on the pawls. I re-lubed my wife's and quieted it down substantially.

Just ordered one of these Cardo BK-1 Bluetooth Cycling Communication System - Modern Bike

Riding with my wife, who loves to suck my --- wheel (get yur mind outta the gutter), and who loves to fall off slowly until she's out of my mirror, I was thinking a nifty walkie talkie would be great. Did some searching recently and found this setup. Not cheap, but if it saves one or two shouting episodes with the wife then in the interest of marital harmony it'll be a bargain. Should be nice too on group rides when she's back in the pack a little bit I can check on her when taking a pull at the front.

Doug, lots of fixies here in Portland, but for the city folks on the flats. If someone could do the big hill on a fixie I'd call 'em Sir.

You could be right -- if it becomes an oppotunity for her to nag me, I'll just have get out of range. Fortunately if she gets back to strength she's a good rider, better than she knows. But she can get knocked back, occasionally, on the slightest incline.

My frustration is when I slow to let her catch up, she thinks its time to rest rather than actually catch up. I end having to come to a full stop. This way I can at least find out how she's doing without the stopping, which when chilly out really makes my knees ache.

Dan, I've told her I should get some street tires for my fat bike, and ride it, but she looks at me with disdain. You might be right, I've got a jump on her fitness-wise this year, so I need to be gentle. The idea is I will go out with the fast boys in the morning, then have an easy afternoon ride with wifey. She'll be back, she really does love to ride the bike, but she's not one to go out alone. Confidence and competence do not always track together.


Prague to Vienna 2013


France, Loire Valley, 2011

What a freek'n great weekend. The weather here is just unbelievable this winter (it is still winter, right)... Saturday, clear, about 68 F, and I moved up to the 18-20mph group. There were four groups that left at that pace, each with about a dozen riders. We did 42 miles with a section of about 10 miles with some good rollers, so 1300' verticle. Our group pulled through the two ahead of us, and we finished with an 18 mph average.

Sunday I went out with wifey, at start time it was 74F, clear, with no wind. We did 30 mostly flat miles with a 16mph average. My wife says she's getting her confidence back -- last year, what with the move and her new job, she only did three rides all year. She's done more already this year.

Spring is just beginning here, a lot of the early plants (forcithia, flowering plum) are blooming, and weeping willows and a few others are just beginning their lime-green leaf-out. With Mt. Hood visible from everywhere around here its just beautiful.



Just a little more my east coast brothers, and you'll rolling into spring!

A 'normal' Pacific NW weekend this weekend, the sun could not have been expected to last. Mid 50s temp, almost 2 inches of rain over the last 18 hours. But I did sneak out Friday late afternoon with enough time for my 25mile loop, thanks to the long hours of daylight. (Watch your state representatives, there is a growing trend of some sphincters who think getting rid of daylight savings is a good idea.) Anyway, 25 miles, 2000' of verticle, finished right at 16mph avg. Short enough of a route to do late in the day, tough enough to make a serious workout. And right from home makes it really nice. I hope to boost that average a couple mph this summer, maybe getting to 19-20. Ugh!

Yup....almost 30 for me. Didn't feel like donning my "real bike outfit" so just went out in a T and shorts and used my Trek 7700. Gorgeous day...84, and severe clear.

Had a little downtime of about a week. I think I've been going at it a little too hard - knees aching, loss of interest. It felt good to take a week off, and the weather turned a little cooler. This weekend did a couple easy rides with my wife, 25 Saturday evening, 35 today. Her first back/back days and she suffered the last 10 miles today. Encouraged her to talk herself into finishing vs talking herself out of it. We had about 3 to go she was ready to stop and have me ride to the truck and come get her. She finished and of course was much happier for it.

Now I've to get back on-track, if I want to move up a group on the Saturday ride, I've got work to do. Averaging 20 over 40 miles a lot different than 18mph. Currently the 18 is not a huge strain, but I know working the paceline for 40 miles is serious work. And that means a few more months of serious training. The rides with wifey are a nice recovery.

Looking forward to hearing from y'all as you knock off winters' rust.

Originally Posted by socfan12

Selle Italia SMP. Was the one I was looking for but could not find one online. Talked to my bike fitter and that's the first one he handed to me to demo. Went for a short 20mile ride this weekend, so we'll see how longer rides feel. I'm hopeful...

That saddle is available in a couple widths isn't it Allen? I know one guy who said he ended up more sore after riding that saddle for a long day, but I think he might have gotten one too wide so the cutout was too big and his sit-bones were at the edges of the cutout. I ride a WTB mountain saddle (their lightest) and while I often look to save some weight I'm chicken to try something new as the WTB works well for me.

I hope it works out for you and you get to spend more time on two wheels.

(And re the mountain pic... I have a tree guy coming to the house next week to discuss cutting some on the property. We'll have a view nearly as spectacular once I clear a channel through the forest behind the house. Then we'll have a two volcano view (Mt. Adams is the second.)

Originally Posted by RedSectorA

18 to 20 mph is fairly easy to keep if you stay off the front. Do small 20 sec pulling and pull off, on average pacelines will not bother you if you tell them you are holding on borderline and you put your nose to the wind, even if it is for a few seconds.

Reduce the pace and distance on your wife on back to back days, happy wife happy life!

18-20 I can do comfortably. The group that rides that pace tends to paceline at 23-24 on the flats so after 40 miles and ~1200' climbing our average is 18+. The next group up though, 20-23, means the speed on the flats will kick up to 25+ in the paceline. I'm not there yet, just couldn't hang in for 40 miles. As I get my legs under me I'll start going out with that group for increasing lengths, dropping back to the slower group to finish. There is an 'open' group for the hard-core racers—oh to be young again!

That said, a well formed paceline is a great ride. I'm a little rusty, and don't know the crew well yet, so there's some unpredictability that makes me extra cautious.

Hey, where's my fellow cycling brothers ride reports? Surely y'all have been getting out for some early season work? I got in 45 on Saturday with the 18-20 group. 2000 verticle, several reasonably steep climbs, and some mild headwinds. We finished at 18.4 avg. Today was a glorious cruize along a local river, about 20 miles up a gentle grade for 2000' verticle again, 20 miles return trip. I was with my sweet wife so took it as a recovery day, we had a great time.

Where are my cycling brothers? Are your tires all flat? Has the inertia of winter still got its teeth into y'all?

I've been getting in some miles—did a hard and fast 46 miles Saturday, and got scolded for being off the front too much. It was my understanding the group speed normally crept up on the flats, so the "18-20" crowd would be 23 or so on the flats. As noted above, we finished a strong day a couple weeks back with 18.4 average. So this Saturday I was pulling the train along a little too quickly—at the end of the ride I was told I should join the next faster group. Well, I took it as a compliment, I think to his dismay. I'll roll out with the 20-23 group next time the ride is a little shorter, with a little less climbing.

Yesterday went with my wife and four others on a trail, one of those converted rail corridors. Two of the others were very strong riders, so my wife and one of the other gals rode the out-back on the trail, the others and myself took another road that added more miles and climbing. My work developing more power is paying dividends and I'm climbing much better this year, though I don't have the same smooth stroke climbing as rolling the flats. Gotta work on that. So yesterday added another 54 challenging miles, for 100 on the weekend. And, thankfully, my knees, while a little tender at the end of yesterday's ride, feel fine today.

Doug, I had read C. Carmichael say weight training for leg strength pretty much useless for improvement on the bike, so go for power. So I have been doing this: take a 15(+) pound sand ball or medicine ball and grasp at chest level, then lower into a deep squat - now fire straight up with legs and arms launching the ball as high as possible. Repeat until you can't. That, along with tabata type (20 second max effort, 10 seconds rest, repeat) intervals on the road, and a couple other power excercises and resistance band work has me in pretty good early season form.

I mentioned before the hares and hounds game we play one night a week. When I was young Tuesday/Thusday were fast nights but the folks I'm with now don't have that in them. So at a few points on a short 20 mile route some riders go off the front, and we hounds then chase trying to catch before the turn/milepost/etc. So after that longish sprint, while the others are catching their breath, I'll do a couple tabatas, turn around, and do a couple more back to the group. It has made a big impact on my climbing. Now with short hills I can just attack and blast over the top. Seems to be one place those less fit fall off the back, and I remember cursing folks who did that to me - roll into a hill and attack. I'm sure when I move up a group I'll be gasping on the hills I hear that group really climbs fast. Ugh! Damn hills really tap the glycogen reserves.

Doug, try "meetup.org", there's bound to be some cyclists nearby you can hook up with. Or post your own meetup. I did that up in Seattle a couple years back, ended up riding with a mathematician visiting from Italy. He was doing a gig at Microsoft, and we were very evenly matched on the road, putting each other in the pain cave regularly. A pleasant and unexpected pairing for the summer. I'm still recruiting someone at/near my level for a weekly assault on my hill loop.

There are several groups in Portland area, with many rides to choose from. I have the Saturday morning hammerfest with Portland Velo, most of my other rides are with NW Ridabouts - with a focus on rural low traffic routes around Oregon/Washington. You do have to be cautious until you learn the groups abilities.

Holy crap Dan. Glad to hear you're doing well. Puts a little anxiety into my rides... But one thing for sure, going into any health crisis in good condition generally improves the prognosis and recovery time. I think of my sweet wife's father getting heart surgery at 81 in already poor health - how the hell does one recover from that assault. (He didn't.) So being fit does not make us immune, but improves the odds considerably. Nice to hear you're back on the bike. Certainly competition is but one of the pleasures of riding, there are dozens more.

Ride on indeed. Be well.

I've been busy with business and taking some classes at the university, so I haven't done much training this year. Been off the bike way too long. A few weeks back a friend calls and says lets do a brief credit-card bike tour in Montana. So with a few weeks to go, and finals, I squeezed in on 5 training rides, the longest at 39 miles on the flats, and couple of spinning classes. Hardly enough to consider myself fit and ready.

So last Tuesday I drove from Portland to Spokane and on Wednesday we drove to Jackson, Montana (in the Big Hole Valley). We rode a short 18 miles and spent the night in Wisdom. Next day was mild 37 miles to Wise River, mostly downhill with a tail wind. Perfect! We then had a 53 mile day to Dillon, again mostly downhill with a few little 1 mile climbs at 6-8%, but the final 12 miles was into a stiff quartering headwind of about 18mph.

I had mapped the route with my GPS, and we knew the last day of 48 miles was going to be the toughest with two passes to climb, the first with a steady ramp up at about 3-4% for about 13 miles, and a final pitch of about 6% for another five miles. The second was the highest at 7400ft, and it too had a tough climb at 6-8% for about 4 miles. The strong wind out of the southwest had not died down overnight, so 44 of the 48 miles was going to be dead into this headwind. It was one of the toughest days I ever had on the bike, mostly because I'd spent all the glycogen in my legs the day before (and because typically on a tour day 3 or 4 is the hardest as your body gets accustomed to the effort.) I wanted to quit before the climbing even started, just from the effort into the headwinds. But... I finished. I was completely spent.

Here's a few pics... the southwest portion of Montana is extremely sparsely populated, and in the Big Hole valley there are very, very few structures of any kind. Just miles and miles of wide open spaces, with a snow capped mountain range in the distance whichever way you look. And we caught the timing right as this is one of the greenest years many locals could remember. Rather than the hill sides being dried out and brown, the grasses still had some green in them. It was spectacular!

While sitting having supper (and breakfast the next day) in Wise River, several of the Great Divide racers stopped in for food/fuel. One fellow said the day before he'd covered 160 miles and 13,000 ft of verticle. Keep in mind this is almost all offroad trail riding along the Great Divide route (Adventure Cycling Assocation.)

http://tourdivide.org/the_race.

A challenge/adventure for the ultra-fit, hard-core, crazy person who loves to suffer. We spoke with a Irishman, an Italian, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, a German, and an American chap. They were a couple days behind the leaders and had been out about a week. We were told a bridge washout in in spot added about 40 miles to the route including a scramble up a scree field that was all hike-a-bike. They all complained how much strain it put on their achillies tendons.

Allen, I appreciate the mb, but you'd love riding where we were. Ranches are separated by miles, and traffic is exceedingly light, sometimes a few cars/hour. We had to stop at one point while some cowboys drove a heard of black angus cattle across the road headed to high pasture. Right out of the old west!

Added a new ride to my collection — a go anywhere, tour, bikepack, mountain, singletrack, pavement, gravel bike. 29+, long wheelbase, current shoes Schwalbe G1 speed 29 x 2.35”, can take up to 29 x 4”, on 56mm wide carbon rims.

It is not as fast as my Cyfac for sure, but man-oh-man the comfort and stability. This will be a bike to grow old with as the more upright position makes riding more fun. I will still ride with the fast boys on my Cyfac, but for everything else...