Did you ride today?

I don't like to run - I get shin splints.

Went for a 'hilly' ride today, well, hilly for my neck of the woods. About 1500 feet elevation gain in about 12 miles. I am such a hill slug!:(

In the famous word of a certain Fabian Cancellara "It ain't pretty but I get up there", I go through a thousand death when I climb. Not much in terms of hills in the city where I live except for a 500 feet vertical. Interesting to note that most of the races I get involved in have a lot of climbs, masochistic you say! :(
 
I spent the better part of the day yesterday helping my wife and a friend with their garage sale. I didn't do a whole lot but I was exhausted at the end. I hope to get out today before the rain comes.
 
Dan,

Those were some KA climbs Epic for sure .
Did a Quebec sanctionned race this weekend in the Charlevoix region (very hilly), 15.8k TT on Saturday morning, 12.7k hill climb on Saturday afternoon (the last 5k was the climb with a max 24% incline), 76k road race on Sunday (very hilly with short steep inclines, many in the 15-20% range). Finished it off! I DFL'd (dead fuc..ng last) although technically I did not considering 6 abandonned out of a peloton of 36 in my age category (50-59):). It was carnage in the younger age group with over 40% who abandonned in some categories. The route was partly to blame but also the weather, 7 degrees celcius with rain :( which started after we had left.

It was epic!:snicker:

Dan
 
Just got back from a nice 18 mi. ride. It was overcast but beautiful out there with hardly a car in sight until the road back into town. I was passed by about 40 old muscle cars and it was like I was back in the city commuting with all of the nasty old exhaust from them. I did see a few deer, a couple doe's with tiny fawns too. One must have only been about a foot tall. I did have a nice chat with a squirrel as it ran along side of me for about 50 feet. I slowed down so it could get across the road in front of me without trying to go through my spokes!

Here's a shot of a gravel road I was riding...

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Here is where I go to pick some of the best Blueberries around...

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and here are some Cherry trees just getting the fruit on them...

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Nice shots, Doug. I was tempted to take a shot of a lone cyclist about 1/4 of a mile away from me going down a clear road with farms on either side of him. It was like one of those shots you see in cycling books.:)

It was a gorgeous day today, started out in the mid-60s, sun through some whispery clouds so it wasn't beating down on me which was nice. Rode 46-47 miles (Garmin on the blink again), my longest ride thus far this season. Many cyclists on the road today here - recreational, enthusiasts, etc. It was great to see!
 
Nice shots, Doug. I was tempted to take a shot of a lone cyclist about 1/4 of a mile away from me going down a clear road with farms on either side of him. It was like one of those shots you see in cycling books.:)

It was a gorgeous day today, started out in the mid-60s, sun through some whispery clouds so it wasn't beating down on me which was nice. Rode 46-47 miles (Garmin on the blink again), my longest ride thus far this season. Many cyclists on the road today here - recreational, enthusiasts, etc. It was great to see!

Nice riding Allen. When your new Garmin arrives you'll have one less thing to worry about. I would love to get into the 40-50 mile range. Right now I try to do between 20-30 and that works pretty good for me. Once you get up around 30 another ten doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a time factor with me. I have it in my mind that if I'm out on my bike for that long enjoying myself that there's other things that I should be doing instead. Oh the guilt factor!
 
I hear ya, Doug, on the time commitment. My family's weekend life revolves around my cycling schedule, and I do feel guilty about that. And it's not just the cycling time, but the inevitable nap afterwards, too!:D Luckily the rest of my family tend to wake up late so I'm usually back when they are just getting up, LOL!

If you an do 20-30, you'll be able to do 40-50. It's more will than anything else.
 
60k group ride over 2 hours with 3 buddies, ended up pulling the whole distance. Interestingly it was sunny today, don't remember how to ride in the dry! One of the guys in the group is in his early 70's, can still hold a wheel up to 40 kph if it's flat and no slinky's. Always tell him I want to ride like him when I hit his age!

Doug, you can do 40-50 miles on a ride when you can do 30. It's just a matter of pacing yourself, hydration and food. Try it on a good day with plenty of water and food, you can do it!
 
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Doug, you can do 40-50 miles on a ride when you can do 30. It's just a matter of pacing yourself, hydration and food. Try it on a good day with plenty of water and food, you can do it!
Great advice, Dan!:coolyeah:
 
60k ride, part of which was done with the kids my buddy is teaching. Did crit interval training, decellerate, turn, stand and accelerate. Fun to see some of the kids go! Two days in a row no rain, will rain tomorrow though so I guess I will go for a run.
 
Now I'm wondering what would be the correct food intake for a 50 mile ride. When I go out on anything from 10-25 miles I usually have two packets of GU and one large water bottle filled with some type of energy drink. For rides over that I use the same gel but add another water bottle. What do you guys do for 40+ mile rides?
 
Now I'm wondering what would be the correct food intake for a 50 mile ride. When I go out on anything from 10-25 miles I usually have two packets of GU and one large water bottle filled with some type of energy drink. For rides over that I use the same gel but add another water bottle. What do you guys do for 40+ mile rides?

It depends Doug on body composition, heat humidity but on an average day (70f) I will drink one bottle of plain water for a 1.5 hour ride then I will supplement with some form of energy drink up to 2.5-3 hours total riding time . Anything over that I like to use energy bars (my wife makes mine). Not a big fan of gels myself as I find the level of sugar too high and I end up needing them every 15 minutes at which point I get nauseous , I do bring them sometimes on longer rides (120k and up) for variety. I also will use Fruit To Go on longer rides for variety. Most important though is hydration and electrolites, make sure you can balance your hydration level. That being said YMMV.
 
Well I had all the best intentions of doing around 40 miles yesterday. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day until about mile 22. The clouds looked like they were going to let loose at any moment so I checked the radar and saw rain coming in. I don't know about you guys but riding in the rain isn't big on my list. I got home and checked my mileage and it was right at 30 miles. This is the longest of the year so far for me and I think I could have easily done the other 10 that I first had hoped for.

As it turns out it never did rain, the clouds left, and it turned back into that beautiful day that was out when I first left. Go figure!
 
Well I had all the best intentions of doing around 40 miles yesterday. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day until about mile 22. The clouds looked like they were going to let loose at any moment so I checked the radar and saw rain coming in. I don't know about you guys but riding in the rain isn't big on my list. I got home and checked my mileage and it was right at 30 miles. This is the longest of the year so far for me and I think I could have easily done the other 10 that I first had hoped for.

As it turns out it never did rain, the clouds left, and it turned back into that beautiful day that was out when I first left. Go figure!
Awesome, Doug! Like Dan said, now you know you can do it!

How the legs feel?

Any of you guys take any recovery nutrition? I use Hammer's Recoverite. Seems to help a lot.
 
Awesome, Doug! Like Dan said, now you know you can do it!

How the legs feel?

Any of you guys take any recovery nutrition? I use Hammer's Recoverite. Seems to help a lot.

The legs are a little heavy today! :)

I use Endurox R4 for a recovery drink. I've tried a few and I like that one the best. I'm not so sore the next day and it seems like my recovery times are faster with it.
 
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