Took another 40+ mile ride on New Years day with some of my TnT friends. We started out at UCSD and rode up the coast to Carlsbad to the famous Starbucks turnaround point. Not much to report but the weather was much nicer than yesterday. Riding was Bruce, Rick, Christine, Dave and myself.
Totals were
41 Miles
1780 feet of climbing
Average Pace of 14.2 MPH
all good for 3003 calories burned.
Showing posts with label Torrey Pines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torrey Pines. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Holiday Ride
Been away from the blog (and bike) for a while. Work has been very busy but now that the holidays are winding down I managed to get back on the bike for a ride today. I had no real goal in mind beyond doing some medium level mileage. Gotta keep the base conditioning up. I'm between seasons and have been nursing a knee injury so I thought I'd make a run up and down the coast and take it easy.
It was pretty chilly today and there weren't too many people on the road. I rarely ride solo but today it felt like a good choice since I didn't really know how the knee was going to feel and knew it would be slow going.
I started at DeAnza Cove in Mission Bay and made my way up through the Rose Creek Bike Path across Interstate 5 onto the Rose Canyon Bike path. Regents road and then Nobel road then climb the big hill on Via La Jolla Village Drive to the UCSD campus. I cruise around there exploring for a bit and meandered back towards the coast at Torrey Pines. Took the screaming downhill. The bike lanes have been repaired and all the of the bad cracks, tree roots and other obstacles I've memorized over the last two years are gone. Smooth sailing! Hit a top speed of 36.3 MPH. Felt good. Got to the bottom of the hill and was enveloped in fog.
Decision time. Straight is up the coast, mostly flat, more traffic and lots of stop and go. Right along Carmel Valley Road is inland, more hills, less traffic and hopefully less cold. Do a quick check, I'm at 20 miles and the knee feels fine so I head inland with no destination in mind, cross the Interstate again then the 805 to the Highway 56 bike path. This is a great little path that runs east-west towards Poway. Very little traffic today so I turned it up a notch and raced through it at a nice clip. Got about 5 miles in when I had to stop and turn around. The bike path was flooded from the recent rains and looked a couple of feet deep. Made the U-turn climbed up to the surface streets made my way across and picked up the bike path again and headed on. Rode it for another 5 miles to a Mobile station with a convenience store and stop for a quick lunch. Packaged turkey sandwich, banana, smoked almonds and a bottle of water. Sit on the side of the road, smear mustard on the sandwich and take a short rest. Times a wastin' so back on the bike turn around and head home. I was slightly worried about the climb up Torrey as it would be a pretty good test for the knee. I decide to take it very slow and ride up carefully. Nothing to worry about. Backtrack through the Rose Canyon bike path and zoom by Captain Jack going the other direction. A quick salute and wave and I'm flying solo again. There's a headwind and it's chilly so I decide to turn it up a notch and fly back the rest of the way to my car. Great to be back on the bike again.
Totals for the day were
43 miles
2500 feet of climbing
Average pace of 12.0 (so slow!)
3190 calories burned
Knee held up great so it's looking like I will be doing the local Stagecoach Century in a couple of weeks. Training for Tahoe starts the first week of February.
Map of ride
It was pretty chilly today and there weren't too many people on the road. I rarely ride solo but today it felt like a good choice since I didn't really know how the knee was going to feel and knew it would be slow going.
I started at DeAnza Cove in Mission Bay and made my way up through the Rose Creek Bike Path across Interstate 5 onto the Rose Canyon Bike path. Regents road and then Nobel road then climb the big hill on Via La Jolla Village Drive to the UCSD campus. I cruise around there exploring for a bit and meandered back towards the coast at Torrey Pines. Took the screaming downhill. The bike lanes have been repaired and all the of the bad cracks, tree roots and other obstacles I've memorized over the last two years are gone. Smooth sailing! Hit a top speed of 36.3 MPH. Felt good. Got to the bottom of the hill and was enveloped in fog.
Decision time. Straight is up the coast, mostly flat, more traffic and lots of stop and go. Right along Carmel Valley Road is inland, more hills, less traffic and hopefully less cold. Do a quick check, I'm at 20 miles and the knee feels fine so I head inland with no destination in mind, cross the Interstate again then the 805 to the Highway 56 bike path. This is a great little path that runs east-west towards Poway. Very little traffic today so I turned it up a notch and raced through it at a nice clip. Got about 5 miles in when I had to stop and turn around. The bike path was flooded from the recent rains and looked a couple of feet deep. Made the U-turn climbed up to the surface streets made my way across and picked up the bike path again and headed on. Rode it for another 5 miles to a Mobile station with a convenience store and stop for a quick lunch. Packaged turkey sandwich, banana, smoked almonds and a bottle of water. Sit on the side of the road, smear mustard on the sandwich and take a short rest. Times a wastin' so back on the bike turn around and head home. I was slightly worried about the climb up Torrey as it would be a pretty good test for the knee. I decide to take it very slow and ride up carefully. Nothing to worry about. Backtrack through the Rose Canyon bike path and zoom by Captain Jack going the other direction. A quick salute and wave and I'm flying solo again. There's a headwind and it's chilly so I decide to turn it up a notch and fly back the rest of the way to my car. Great to be back on the bike again.
Totals for the day were
43 miles
2500 feet of climbing
Average pace of 12.0 (so slow!)
3190 calories burned
Knee held up great so it's looking like I will be doing the local Stagecoach Century in a couple of weeks. Training for Tahoe starts the first week of February.
Map of ride
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Big Miles
Today was the last big training session of the season. 91 miles of fun. The plan for today was to work on speed. The pre-ride stuff was kept very short so we could get on the road earlier. 7am start time!
There are "two" fast groups on the Team and Coach David pulls us aside from the rest of the riders for a quick pep talk. The difference between the two groups is that mine is has a Tucson goal finish time of under 6 hours and the second group has a goal of 6.5 hours. Our group will make minimal stops, and those we make will be limited to 2 minutes stops. The other group will have luxurious 10 minutes stops. David says we are all capable riders, and having ridden with each of us is confident that we will meet our goals provide we ride "smart". We need to not only ride as a team with good pace line, but we need to take advantage of other non Team in Training participants who are willing to do all the work fighting the wind. He described several scenarios, one of which the lead person in our pace line sees a large group of other riders up ahead. If that situation arises, the lead person needs to speed up to reach the next group and latch on to them. Do 5 minutes of hard work to reach them and then let those riders cut a huge swath through the wind to make the rest of our ride easier. There is a very noticeable and dramatic effect of riding in a large group. It is much, much easier not to mention faster.
The ride today was a "simple" out and back ride up the coast to San Clemente. One other highlight is that we get to ride through the Camp Pendleton Marine base and avoid riding along Interstate 5. Cyclists are free to ride through the base provide they wear a helmet and have photo ID. This ride is one of the annual rituals for the cycle team and the midpoint rest stop is a Carl's Jr where salty fries are available in abundance.
Running out of water during the ride has been an issue for me the last couple of rides so I brought along an extra bottle and kept it in one of the back pockets of my cycling jersey. It felt really strange to have a 2 lb bottle of water tugging my jersey back. One unexpected complication from this was that I actually got some chaffing during the long ride.
Mentor Chad indicates that besides the regular stop at Carl's, every other stop is limited to 2 minutes. On ride day, Chad has a plan where someone will meet us at mile 55 of the 109-mile ride with pre-filled water bottles and our stop will be limited to quickly swapping out our empties with these replacement bottles and eating a quick bite before heading out. The two minute stops were a killer. There was barely enough time to fill water bottles and eat anything. One other key to successful riding is being able to eat and drink while riding. This is no small feat when you are moving at a constant clip of 20+ mph.
The ride went pretty well and I felt strong for most of it. We were keeping a very quick pace thoughout the session. I didn't eat much at Carl's which was a mistake. Halfway back to our start line about 70 miles into the ride I was fading fast, lacking energy. Chad had a plan to skip the last support stop and ride through to the end. A couple of us protest and we make another 2 minute stop where I cram a PB&J down my gullet, fill all three water bottles, eat a handful of trail mix and back on the road. Feeling much better. Along the way, several of us were suffering at different times. The disruption to the normal eating pattern on the ride is taking it's toll. Then all of a sudden when the energy hits, everything is back to normal. It is pretty strange to be able to feel the effect of food you just ate boost your energy levels. Mile 8o or so I start struggling again and am getting some cramping in both my thighs and my butt is killing me from so much time in the saddle. I eat my last energy bar and just soldier along. I start taking shorter shifts at the front of the line which makes me feel guilty but it's for the good of the overall team. The bar kicks in and I'm almost back to normal.
The ride ends with another climb up Torrey Pines. I take it a slower than usual pace as my legs are protesting and start to cramp every time I make a big exertion. Instead of 7mph up the hill, I'm at 5.5 mph. I grunt it out and make it to the top. Well since we are going for time, we forgo the normal stop at the top and complete the last two miles back to the start point. Not a lot of climbing on this ride which I think actually makes it harder. There is little opportunity to get out of the saddle and there is no coasting downhill so you are constantly pedaling.
Totals were 91 miles in 5:34 hours of ride time with an average pace of 16.8 mph. Very fast. The goal for Tucson is 109-miles in 6 hours which is an average pace of 18.1 mph. It will be...challenging.
Here is a map of the ride courtesy of Google Earth.
There are "two" fast groups on the Team and Coach David pulls us aside from the rest of the riders for a quick pep talk. The difference between the two groups is that mine is has a Tucson goal finish time of under 6 hours and the second group has a goal of 6.5 hours. Our group will make minimal stops, and those we make will be limited to 2 minutes stops. The other group will have luxurious 10 minutes stops. David says we are all capable riders, and having ridden with each of us is confident that we will meet our goals provide we ride "smart". We need to not only ride as a team with good pace line, but we need to take advantage of other non Team in Training participants who are willing to do all the work fighting the wind. He described several scenarios, one of which the lead person in our pace line sees a large group of other riders up ahead. If that situation arises, the lead person needs to speed up to reach the next group and latch on to them. Do 5 minutes of hard work to reach them and then let those riders cut a huge swath through the wind to make the rest of our ride easier. There is a very noticeable and dramatic effect of riding in a large group. It is much, much easier not to mention faster.
The ride today was a "simple" out and back ride up the coast to San Clemente. One other highlight is that we get to ride through the Camp Pendleton Marine base and avoid riding along Interstate 5. Cyclists are free to ride through the base provide they wear a helmet and have photo ID. This ride is one of the annual rituals for the cycle team and the midpoint rest stop is a Carl's Jr where salty fries are available in abundance.
Running out of water during the ride has been an issue for me the last couple of rides so I brought along an extra bottle and kept it in one of the back pockets of my cycling jersey. It felt really strange to have a 2 lb bottle of water tugging my jersey back. One unexpected complication from this was that I actually got some chaffing during the long ride.
Mentor Chad indicates that besides the regular stop at Carl's, every other stop is limited to 2 minutes. On ride day, Chad has a plan where someone will meet us at mile 55 of the 109-mile ride with pre-filled water bottles and our stop will be limited to quickly swapping out our empties with these replacement bottles and eating a quick bite before heading out. The two minute stops were a killer. There was barely enough time to fill water bottles and eat anything. One other key to successful riding is being able to eat and drink while riding. This is no small feat when you are moving at a constant clip of 20+ mph.
The ride went pretty well and I felt strong for most of it. We were keeping a very quick pace thoughout the session. I didn't eat much at Carl's which was a mistake. Halfway back to our start line about 70 miles into the ride I was fading fast, lacking energy. Chad had a plan to skip the last support stop and ride through to the end. A couple of us protest and we make another 2 minute stop where I cram a PB&J down my gullet, fill all three water bottles, eat a handful of trail mix and back on the road. Feeling much better. Along the way, several of us were suffering at different times. The disruption to the normal eating pattern on the ride is taking it's toll. Then all of a sudden when the energy hits, everything is back to normal. It is pretty strange to be able to feel the effect of food you just ate boost your energy levels. Mile 8o or so I start struggling again and am getting some cramping in both my thighs and my butt is killing me from so much time in the saddle. I eat my last energy bar and just soldier along. I start taking shorter shifts at the front of the line which makes me feel guilty but it's for the good of the overall team. The bar kicks in and I'm almost back to normal.
The ride ends with another climb up Torrey Pines. I take it a slower than usual pace as my legs are protesting and start to cramp every time I make a big exertion. Instead of 7mph up the hill, I'm at 5.5 mph. I grunt it out and make it to the top. Well since we are going for time, we forgo the normal stop at the top and complete the last two miles back to the start point. Not a lot of climbing on this ride which I think actually makes it harder. There is little opportunity to get out of the saddle and there is no coasting downhill so you are constantly pedaling.
Totals were 91 miles in 5:34 hours of ride time with an average pace of 16.8 mph. Very fast. The goal for Tucson is 109-miles in 6 hours which is an average pace of 18.1 mph. It will be...challenging.
Here is a map of the ride courtesy of Google Earth.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
So Tired - October 4 Ride
Today's planned ride was a 65-mile look up the coast with an inland leg into Rancho Santa Fe.
Map of our route
It was a very rough ride for me today. I have been feeling a little run down after the Lighthouse Century last weekend and the subsequent spin class on Tuesday. I also have been fighting off a cold.
Riding with the "C" (aka advanced) group is no joke but I was feeling well enough to go for it. We get on the road right around 8am and start heading inland. I immediately notice that my legs, particularly my quads are feeling very tired. The start of the ride is mostly flat. Mentor Chad asks that we maintain an modest pace to warm up but no one seems to get the message. The minimum speed in the pace line is 18mph, which is fast. On the flats, we are routinely maintaining 22-24 mph. On the uphill we're doing 17-18 mph. Incredible. I'm hoping that I warm up quickly and things improve. We are also not rotating enough. Hmmm.
About 15 miles into the ride, we get to a great downhill stretch. We usually descend at our our pace and meet at the bottom. I take off, reveling in the downward rush...and blow right past our turn. I'm oblivious to it and start tackling the slight uphill figuring that I will use my momentum to help with the climb. A few minutes later, no sign of the Team and then Chad comes barreling down, obviously a little miffed. I can't say I blame him as he had to chase me down as I had gone nearly a mile off course. I apologize profusely, we make a U-turn and then have to head up a very large hill which is no fun. We get back on course and the rest of my group is a tiny speck up ahead. We get into formation and make our way back to the pace line. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have slowed down too much so we have to exert a lot of effort to join back up with them. Not too good.
Well after that, the day didn't get too much better. My legs are very tired and I'm struggling to hang on. 40 miles into the ride, I'm starting to question whether I'm going to be able to complete the day. I also consider going the rest of the day with the intermediate group but decide to try and tough it out. More hills, more pain. We're riding sloppy, with a couple of the group feeling strong and me and one other guy limping along. We are rotating a little more frequently and when I get in front, I slow the pace down to a more reasonable speed. I'm tired, so for the good of the group, I rotate off quickly to save my strength for the rest of the ride. Staying in front would have just tired me out even more quickly which would slow the entire group down. It is a treatise on poor pace-lining where the line is getting drawn out and there is a lot of yo-yo action. I'm getting a frustrated as I can't "grab a wheel" to draft with all the slinky action going on. Not good. If I can't draft, I can't rest.
At mile 62, we hit Torrey Pines hill again. I've described too many times to elaborate but it is a hill that I've successfully climbed dozens of times. We were instructed to take it at 2/3 effort and then kill the last 1/3 of it. There is no way. We start up and the rest of the group quickly pulls away. I'm completely out of gas and just hobble up the hill, trying to maintain a straight line. I get passed by two of the stronger intermediate group riders who started up the hill significantly after our group. I'm now feeling embarrassed and give it more effort up the last mile up the hill. I get into a standing climb position and my legs immediately protest. I get some major cramping on my thighs, calves and in my back. Not good. Well, there is no sense in killing myself as it isn't event day. I just suck it up and limp in. My groups is waiting up at the top of the hill and it seems that no one wants to comment. One rider comments on my having ridden a century the weekend before. No sense in making excuses, I just take a quick swig of water, a few breaths of air and motion for the group to head out as we are less than a mile away from the finish.
Back in the parking lot and all is good. We gather around Jeff's car and crack open a few frosty ones and chat. Good times.
I'm not sure exactly I can pinpoint what happened to me today but it wasn't good. I've been riding strongly lately so I'm not going to worry too much about it and I'm going to blame it on having ridden the 100 miles the week before. I've also decided that I'm going to try and take a little bit more of a leadership role and see if I can help get our group to improve our pace-lining skills.
Map of our route
It was a very rough ride for me today. I have been feeling a little run down after the Lighthouse Century last weekend and the subsequent spin class on Tuesday. I also have been fighting off a cold.
Riding with the "C" (aka advanced) group is no joke but I was feeling well enough to go for it. We get on the road right around 8am and start heading inland. I immediately notice that my legs, particularly my quads are feeling very tired. The start of the ride is mostly flat. Mentor Chad asks that we maintain an modest pace to warm up but no one seems to get the message. The minimum speed in the pace line is 18mph, which is fast. On the flats, we are routinely maintaining 22-24 mph. On the uphill we're doing 17-18 mph. Incredible. I'm hoping that I warm up quickly and things improve. We are also not rotating enough. Hmmm.
About 15 miles into the ride, we get to a great downhill stretch. We usually descend at our our pace and meet at the bottom. I take off, reveling in the downward rush...and blow right past our turn. I'm oblivious to it and start tackling the slight uphill figuring that I will use my momentum to help with the climb. A few minutes later, no sign of the Team and then Chad comes barreling down, obviously a little miffed. I can't say I blame him as he had to chase me down as I had gone nearly a mile off course. I apologize profusely, we make a U-turn and then have to head up a very large hill which is no fun. We get back on course and the rest of my group is a tiny speck up ahead. We get into formation and make our way back to the pace line. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have slowed down too much so we have to exert a lot of effort to join back up with them. Not too good.
Well after that, the day didn't get too much better. My legs are very tired and I'm struggling to hang on. 40 miles into the ride, I'm starting to question whether I'm going to be able to complete the day. I also consider going the rest of the day with the intermediate group but decide to try and tough it out. More hills, more pain. We're riding sloppy, with a couple of the group feeling strong and me and one other guy limping along. We are rotating a little more frequently and when I get in front, I slow the pace down to a more reasonable speed. I'm tired, so for the good of the group, I rotate off quickly to save my strength for the rest of the ride. Staying in front would have just tired me out even more quickly which would slow the entire group down. It is a treatise on poor pace-lining where the line is getting drawn out and there is a lot of yo-yo action. I'm getting a frustrated as I can't "grab a wheel" to draft with all the slinky action going on. Not good. If I can't draft, I can't rest.
At mile 62, we hit Torrey Pines hill again. I've described too many times to elaborate but it is a hill that I've successfully climbed dozens of times. We were instructed to take it at 2/3 effort and then kill the last 1/3 of it. There is no way. We start up and the rest of the group quickly pulls away. I'm completely out of gas and just hobble up the hill, trying to maintain a straight line. I get passed by two of the stronger intermediate group riders who started up the hill significantly after our group. I'm now feeling embarrassed and give it more effort up the last mile up the hill. I get into a standing climb position and my legs immediately protest. I get some major cramping on my thighs, calves and in my back. Not good. Well, there is no sense in killing myself as it isn't event day. I just suck it up and limp in. My groups is waiting up at the top of the hill and it seems that no one wants to comment. One rider comments on my having ridden a century the weekend before. No sense in making excuses, I just take a quick swig of water, a few breaths of air and motion for the group to head out as we are less than a mile away from the finish.
Back in the parking lot and all is good. We gather around Jeff's car and crack open a few frosty ones and chat. Good times.
I'm not sure exactly I can pinpoint what happened to me today but it wasn't good. I've been riding strongly lately so I'm not going to worry too much about it and I'm going to blame it on having ridden the 100 miles the week before. I've also decided that I'm going to try and take a little bit more of a leadership role and see if I can help get our group to improve our pace-lining skills.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Epic Ride - Saturday
I'm a few days late in reporting but I had one hell of a ride on Saturday.
The first leg of the ride started with the weekly Team in Training Saturday session. Saturday is long mileage day and we are working our way up to the 109-mile ride in Tucson in November. This week's planned mileage was 45 or so but the goal was to really increase the hill work.
We started out at the UCSD campus and an immediately dropped down Torrey Pines road. We had essentially zero warm up as the downhill is no more than a mile away from our start point. The downhill is a little over 1.5 miles. I decided to have a little fun on the down hill and really wailed down the hill reaching a top speed of 42.9 mph by the time I reached the bottom. We regrouped and then made a U-turn. What goes down must go up, so we started the 1.5 mile climb back up the the very steep hill. One thing became immediately obvious, I am very out of practice when it comes to hill work. At the end of the Tahoe season, I used to just fly up the hills. I've lost a lot in the time between the Tahoe ride (June 1st) and now. I used to regularly be the first up the hill, but only managed to make it in 5th or so position. It was very painful.
We reach the top and then back down. This time I take it a much easier. We continue up the coast and do a partial repeat of last week's ride of the Faraday street loop. I'm feeling pretty sluggish, particulary in my legs. I just can't seem to get warmed up and the legs are SORE. I'm also having trouble getting into a good rhythmn but just keep chuggin' along. I think the problem is that I have been missing my "noodle" rides. A noodle ride is an easy ride you take the day after a big ride to remove all the lactic acid buildup from your legs to help with recovery. I've been riding very hard on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Saturday on a regular basis. Up until recently, I have been riding to work a couple of times a week. The occassional ride to work that was acting as my "noodle" ride. I've been so busy lately, with lots of meetings that I have needed to drive in so I haven't been getting the short easier rides to work in.
I start to feel better 25 miles into the ride and settle in to enjoy the scenary. The conditions are perfect for bike riding with it being cool and slightly overcast. The stretch along Faraday canyon is really nice and there are no cars to be found. After the loop we head back to the coast along La Costa Avenue. La Costa is a straight shot west back towards the coast and the wind is always very heavy. We get into a pace line of 6 riders and plow through the strong headwind. We each take 1 minute turns at the front before rotating to the back. I'm lucky to have another rider in my group that is big enough that I can draft behind. Last season, the times I was able to effectively draft behind someone were few and far between. I stay behind Jeff for a while and let him do all the heavy lifting. It's all going great until its my time to be up front. Jeff rotates off the front of the line and the wind hits me square in the face and I immediately slow down by 2 mph. I lower my head, get into my handlebar drops and grind it out to get back up to the 18 mph he had been maintaining. We finally make it to the coast and then head back south to finish up the team ride. Unfortunately, this means that we have to climb Torrey again. Still tough going but I make it and we head back to the parking lot with a respectable 47 miles under our belts.
Road coach Jack and I decide to go for a little extra credit. I've got the Lighthouse Century in a couple of weeks and I really need to get my mileage up. Last week's planned ride was cut short due to very hot weather so I need to get at least 80 in today. Reviewing our work so far, we decide that we don't need to chase any more climbing because we have already logged over 2500 feet of climbing. We decide to simply head 20 miles up the coast and then turn around and come back to grab a total of 40 miles. We are both pretty tired at this point having ridden nearly 50 miles and keeping a pace over 16 mph for the duration. We settle into a line of two and start banging it out, rotating every 5 minutes or so. Not a whole lot of conversation goes on except to moan a bit at each of the stop lights.
We stop at a liquor store in Del Mar and fill up on water and continue on. I'm starting to tire quite a bit after 10 miles, which is a bad sign when you have 30 more to go. Hmm, the coast is supposed to be flat right? Well every little hill is magnified and the legs are starting to really ache. On the flats we're hitting nearly 20 mph but I slow down to 14 mph on the hills. I'm getting murdered on the inclines. 10 more miles and we head back. We crest another couple of hills and go 5 more miles and I beg for a break. We pull over beneath a shady tree. I pull off the helmet and gloves to cool off. Back on the road a few minutes later. We go another couple of miles and then I get a huge thigh cramp and nearly fall off the bike. I'm starting to feel like a big wuss, here. I dismount and walk it off. Another 3 miles and I'm out of water ?!? Another stop to fill up and I'm feeling like I'm letting Jack down. I mumble an apology to Jack and he tells me that he's actually thankful for the break as I have been apparently "killing" him with the pace on the flats.
Back on the road to knock it out but there is one more Torrey Pines climb to contend with to make it back to my car. I tell Jack that I'm going to take it very slow as I'm wiped out at this point. He goes on ahead and I tackle the hill for the 3rd time today. My pace is a ridiculously slow 5 mph and I crawl up the hill. I make it to the top in surprisenly good shape. I took it so easy that I'm hardly out of breath. We regroup at the top and head back in. We stop at Jack's car and he reads his bike computer to give us the totals. 86 Miles at an average pace of 15 mph with 3998 feet of climbing. Two lousy feet short of 4K. The heck with that. The parking lot is slightly inclined and we both hop on our bikes and get our extra 2 feet in!
86 Miles with 4,000 feet of climbing at that pace is one hell of a bike riding day. We're finally done for the day after 7 hours of being on the bike. We had some rest stops in there but it was still one long day.
I think I'm almost ready for the Lighthouse Century coming up in two weeks. I wish I had one more week to get long mileage in but this ride really helped. Next week, is taper week so I'm going to limit my ride to the Team ride which should be around 50 miles.
The first leg of the ride started with the weekly Team in Training Saturday session. Saturday is long mileage day and we are working our way up to the 109-mile ride in Tucson in November. This week's planned mileage was 45 or so but the goal was to really increase the hill work.
We started out at the UCSD campus and an immediately dropped down Torrey Pines road. We had essentially zero warm up as the downhill is no more than a mile away from our start point. The downhill is a little over 1.5 miles. I decided to have a little fun on the down hill and really wailed down the hill reaching a top speed of 42.9 mph by the time I reached the bottom. We regrouped and then made a U-turn. What goes down must go up, so we started the 1.5 mile climb back up the the very steep hill. One thing became immediately obvious, I am very out of practice when it comes to hill work. At the end of the Tahoe season, I used to just fly up the hills. I've lost a lot in the time between the Tahoe ride (June 1st) and now. I used to regularly be the first up the hill, but only managed to make it in 5th or so position. It was very painful.
We reach the top and then back down. This time I take it a much easier. We continue up the coast and do a partial repeat of last week's ride of the Faraday street loop. I'm feeling pretty sluggish, particulary in my legs. I just can't seem to get warmed up and the legs are SORE. I'm also having trouble getting into a good rhythmn but just keep chuggin' along. I think the problem is that I have been missing my "noodle" rides. A noodle ride is an easy ride you take the day after a big ride to remove all the lactic acid buildup from your legs to help with recovery. I've been riding very hard on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Saturday on a regular basis. Up until recently, I have been riding to work a couple of times a week. The occassional ride to work that was acting as my "noodle" ride. I've been so busy lately, with lots of meetings that I have needed to drive in so I haven't been getting the short easier rides to work in.
I start to feel better 25 miles into the ride and settle in to enjoy the scenary. The conditions are perfect for bike riding with it being cool and slightly overcast. The stretch along Faraday canyon is really nice and there are no cars to be found. After the loop we head back to the coast along La Costa Avenue. La Costa is a straight shot west back towards the coast and the wind is always very heavy. We get into a pace line of 6 riders and plow through the strong headwind. We each take 1 minute turns at the front before rotating to the back. I'm lucky to have another rider in my group that is big enough that I can draft behind. Last season, the times I was able to effectively draft behind someone were few and far between. I stay behind Jeff for a while and let him do all the heavy lifting. It's all going great until its my time to be up front. Jeff rotates off the front of the line and the wind hits me square in the face and I immediately slow down by 2 mph. I lower my head, get into my handlebar drops and grind it out to get back up to the 18 mph he had been maintaining. We finally make it to the coast and then head back south to finish up the team ride. Unfortunately, this means that we have to climb Torrey again. Still tough going but I make it and we head back to the parking lot with a respectable 47 miles under our belts.
Road coach Jack and I decide to go for a little extra credit. I've got the Lighthouse Century in a couple of weeks and I really need to get my mileage up. Last week's planned ride was cut short due to very hot weather so I need to get at least 80 in today. Reviewing our work so far, we decide that we don't need to chase any more climbing because we have already logged over 2500 feet of climbing. We decide to simply head 20 miles up the coast and then turn around and come back to grab a total of 40 miles. We are both pretty tired at this point having ridden nearly 50 miles and keeping a pace over 16 mph for the duration. We settle into a line of two and start banging it out, rotating every 5 minutes or so. Not a whole lot of conversation goes on except to moan a bit at each of the stop lights.
We stop at a liquor store in Del Mar and fill up on water and continue on. I'm starting to tire quite a bit after 10 miles, which is a bad sign when you have 30 more to go. Hmm, the coast is supposed to be flat right? Well every little hill is magnified and the legs are starting to really ache. On the flats we're hitting nearly 20 mph but I slow down to 14 mph on the hills. I'm getting murdered on the inclines. 10 more miles and we head back. We crest another couple of hills and go 5 more miles and I beg for a break. We pull over beneath a shady tree. I pull off the helmet and gloves to cool off. Back on the road a few minutes later. We go another couple of miles and then I get a huge thigh cramp and nearly fall off the bike. I'm starting to feel like a big wuss, here. I dismount and walk it off. Another 3 miles and I'm out of water ?!? Another stop to fill up and I'm feeling like I'm letting Jack down. I mumble an apology to Jack and he tells me that he's actually thankful for the break as I have been apparently "killing" him with the pace on the flats.
Back on the road to knock it out but there is one more Torrey Pines climb to contend with to make it back to my car. I tell Jack that I'm going to take it very slow as I'm wiped out at this point. He goes on ahead and I tackle the hill for the 3rd time today. My pace is a ridiculously slow 5 mph and I crawl up the hill. I make it to the top in surprisenly good shape. I took it so easy that I'm hardly out of breath. We regroup at the top and head back in. We stop at Jack's car and he reads his bike computer to give us the totals. 86 Miles at an average pace of 15 mph with 3998 feet of climbing. Two lousy feet short of 4K. The heck with that. The parking lot is slightly inclined and we both hop on our bikes and get our extra 2 feet in!
86 Miles with 4,000 feet of climbing at that pace is one hell of a bike riding day. We're finally done for the day after 7 hours of being on the bike. We had some rest stops in there but it was still one long day.
I think I'm almost ready for the Lighthouse Century coming up in two weeks. I wish I had one more week to get long mileage in but this ride really helped. Next week, is taper week so I'm going to limit my ride to the Team ride which should be around 50 miles.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Saturday Ride - New Milestones
Today's long mileage day starting with some exciting fund raising news. Our team has passed the $100,000 mark in fundraising!
The mission moment was delivered by a Leukemia survivor who started his cycling career after being diagnosed and going into remission. He described how the LL&S had personally helped him in his battle with Leukemia. As a rider, he said he knows exactly what we are putting our bodies through and the level of dedication and time that we commit to raise money and thanked us. He was very inspirational and even more inspiring is that he also rode with the ACE team today. Awesome.
We started in Poway and had perfect weather for the entire day. It was quite a contrast from the week before where I nearly got heat stroke. The planned ride for the day was a about 80 miles with an estimated 3,500 feet of climbing. Here's a map of the ride.
We made a couple of navigational errors while traversing Rancho Santa Fe that resulted in adding a few more miles to the overall totals. This was particularly funny since we were riding with Coach Rick, the guy who planned the route This irony prompted one of my teammates, Mark to post the following map which was his recollection of the route.
Too funny.
I made a couple of adjustments this week to try and deal with my nagging foot strain. I rode with a shoe insert that provided arch support. The experiment was a great success as I felt no strain the entire day. This is a big contrast from the week before where my foot was throbbing at the end of the ride.
One complication that I found is that my padded biking gloves appear to be at the end of their life span. The padding is gel and it has flattened out or something to the point where I'm not getting much benefit from them. Consequently, I nearly got a blister in the crook of both my hands between my thumb and index finger where I grip the "hoods". Time for new gloves.
Following is a photo taken of my climbing the inside trail of Torrey Pines State park at around mile 60.
I was still feeling pretty good at this point. We had a planned SAG (support and gear) stop at mile 70. I suggested that we just bypass it and get the ride over with as we had already been on the road nearly 6 hours and I just wanted to be done. After the climb we start heading back inland. About 5 miles later, I start bonking out. I get really really tired and really hungry. The SAG stop couldn't come soon enough. I got there nearly on my last legs and proceeded to chow down on a thick PB&J sandwich and drank lots of ic cold water. I felt better within a matter of minutes. We get rolling after a pretty long stop, nearly 20 minutes of rest. Around mile 78 we get to the last big hill of the day, which was Scripps-Poway road. It is a long constant grind of a hill which I couldn't believe we had to climb at that point of the ride. It seemed pretty sadistic. After a bit of grumbling we get it over with.
Thankfully the last few miles were all downhill which was a great way to finish up the ride.
Totals for the day 83.66 Miles 5,300 feet of climbing. The 5300 feet of climbing was just a wee bit more than the 3,500 feet we were told to expect. Hmm. Somebody needs to get their elevation estimator calibrated.
Got back to the parking lot, very pooped, nearly whipped but extremely proud to have survived. As an added bonus I reached a new mileage and climbing milestone on this ride.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Blow me down...
This week's big ride was another run up and down the coast. We did a total of 62 miles today under very blustery conditions. There were a total of 7 riders in my group. We were back to the majority of our core riders this week and not surprisenly, the pace line was much smoother than last week when we had 4 new riders.
It was a very cold and windy day. The forecast was for rain but we luckily didn't get any on the ride. The wind was very challanging over the long mileage and made good drafting essential.
Overall it was a very good ride for me. The week before the ride had really tired me out and I was a little worried about this week as I knew we were going to increase the mileage. Christine made some delicious pasta the night before. I had also made sure to watch my hydration the last few days including adding electrolytes to my normal water drinking. These small changes made all the difference in the world. I felt strong the entire ride.
My only complaint about the ride was that I was very cold for almost all of it. After working up an initial sweat, I took off my windbreaker and did about 1/2 the ride without it. We don't stop very often so I didn't really have a chance to put it back on for a long while. On the way back our last stop was right before the last big climb of the day. I was torn between putting it on and possibly being uncomfortable during the climb or leaving it off and being cold the rest of trip back to base. I decided to put it on and was happy I did. The wind was biting even on the climb.
One interesting thing about this week as that we had Coach DJ along with us. He gave me some very helpful tips about bike management on the road. He also tested me on the climbs. As I mentioned from last weeks ride, I have a tendency to take off at the first sign of elevation. We hit a moderately steep but very long incline at Faraday avenue in Carlsbad near Palomar Airport and I pulled ahead of the group. We are instructed to climb at our own pace as everyone has different speeds uphill. I was by myself for a while and DJ pulls up next to me. I initially thought he was going to rein me in and asked if I should wait for the others. He told me that we could do whatever I wanted as we had a planned stop at the top of the hill. Music to my ears. The slope was moderate enough that I could really maintain a good cadence. I concentrated on making "circles" with my pedaling by pulling up as well as pushing down with each stroke and just hammered away. It was a very good workout. Towards that end he reminded me that we still had about 20 miles to do so I should kick it down a notch. Really fun.
At Torrey, DJ was there again when I pulled away. He let me get ahead and then caught up to me and then tantalized me by staying just ahead of me. We call it "rabbiting". I tried my best to get him but I'm just not at that level yet. He pulled away and beat me to the top by a good minute or so. There's always room to improve, right?
Today was the longest mileage for me ever at 62 miles which was good for 4144 calories burned!
Next week, we finally get away from the coast and move inland. Can't wait.
It was a very cold and windy day. The forecast was for rain but we luckily didn't get any on the ride. The wind was very challanging over the long mileage and made good drafting essential.
Overall it was a very good ride for me. The week before the ride had really tired me out and I was a little worried about this week as I knew we were going to increase the mileage. Christine made some delicious pasta the night before. I had also made sure to watch my hydration the last few days including adding electrolytes to my normal water drinking. These small changes made all the difference in the world. I felt strong the entire ride.
My only complaint about the ride was that I was very cold for almost all of it. After working up an initial sweat, I took off my windbreaker and did about 1/2 the ride without it. We don't stop very often so I didn't really have a chance to put it back on for a long while. On the way back our last stop was right before the last big climb of the day. I was torn between putting it on and possibly being uncomfortable during the climb or leaving it off and being cold the rest of trip back to base. I decided to put it on and was happy I did. The wind was biting even on the climb.
One interesting thing about this week as that we had Coach DJ along with us. He gave me some very helpful tips about bike management on the road. He also tested me on the climbs. As I mentioned from last weeks ride, I have a tendency to take off at the first sign of elevation. We hit a moderately steep but very long incline at Faraday avenue in Carlsbad near Palomar Airport and I pulled ahead of the group. We are instructed to climb at our own pace as everyone has different speeds uphill. I was by myself for a while and DJ pulls up next to me. I initially thought he was going to rein me in and asked if I should wait for the others. He told me that we could do whatever I wanted as we had a planned stop at the top of the hill. Music to my ears. The slope was moderate enough that I could really maintain a good cadence. I concentrated on making "circles" with my pedaling by pulling up as well as pushing down with each stroke and just hammered away. It was a very good workout. Towards that end he reminded me that we still had about 20 miles to do so I should kick it down a notch. Really fun.
At Torrey, DJ was there again when I pulled away. He let me get ahead and then caught up to me and then tantalized me by staying just ahead of me. We call it "rabbiting". I tried my best to get him but I'm just not at that level yet. He pulled away and beat me to the top by a good minute or so. There's always room to improve, right?
Today was the longest mileage for me ever at 62 miles which was good for 4144 calories burned!
Next week, we finally get away from the coast and move inland. Can't wait.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Uncharted Territory
Saturday's long mileage was another jaunt up the coastline. It's beautiful but I hope we start doing some East County rides soon. Between the cycle and walk teams, I've been up and down this Coast more times than I can count.
It's the 4th Saturday session and the B3's rode 57 miles today into uncharted territory for me. This is the longest I've ever ridden a bicycle in one sitting. This time we started at Mission Bay and rode to Carlsbad and back. Here is the map.
The weather was gorgeous and everything was so green after the recent rains. You couldn't ask for better conditions. Our group mentor, Jay was off this week doing the Solvang Century ride with some of his old college buddies. Mentor Jack and two former mentors filled in and it was nice to have some more experienced riders to give pointers along the way. A few of the regulars weren't there and we had a new addition to the group. Having 4 new people and 3 missing regulars really threw off the pace lines. My personal pace line skills were pretty poor this week. I didn't have a lot of confidence in sticking close to the person in front of me with all the expanding and contracting we were doing. Consequently, I did very little drafting throughout the day. It's no surprise that with the longer mileage and not taking advantage of drafting that I was physically exhausted by the end of the ride. I was seriously close to bonking out when we finished. It didn't help that we did the toughest part of the course, the Torrey climb, after already being on the road for over 45 miles.
Check out the graph below of my heart rate in relation to the elevation. It's no surprise that my highest heart rate, 185 beats/minute, occurs at the steepest part of the elevation graph. Yup, right smack in the middle of the climb.
I took the lead at Torrey again and raced up to the top. I took a very aggressive pace and was mostly happy with my climb. At the top, I was pretty winded and looking back on it, I may have taken it too aggressively because I was pretty whipped at that point with another 12 miles to go.
The last 12 miles were tough. My shoulders and neck were very stiff. My hands were numb. I was out of food and was starting to feel the bonk coming on. I was also having trouble concentrating and found my mind wandering which resulted in me falling back in the pace line. Not good. I was happy to be done when we finished.
My fitness is good right now but I think I've reached the end of my "credit". I'm not going to be able to rely only on physical strength any more. The long and the short of it is that I need to work on riding skills if I'm going to be able to complete this 100-mile ride.
I need to:
1) DRAFT more consistently. You spend 30% less energy when you are drafting behind another rider. I could have used the gas at the end of the ride.
2) ROTATE in the pace line more frequently. This is a team sport. I'm uncomfortable riding behind some riders so I'm spending more time than I should be at the front of the line taking the brunt of the wind.
3) CONSERVE my energy and not attack the hills so aggressively. This is going to be hard because I love the challenge of the climbing. I'm taking the hills too hard and fast and spending (wasting?) a lot of energy doing so. I might be able to save some gas by taking them more slowly and steadily.
DRC...Something to work on this week.
It's the 4th Saturday session and the B3's rode 57 miles today into uncharted territory for me. This is the longest I've ever ridden a bicycle in one sitting. This time we started at Mission Bay and rode to Carlsbad and back. Here is the map.
The weather was gorgeous and everything was so green after the recent rains. You couldn't ask for better conditions. Our group mentor, Jay was off this week doing the Solvang Century ride with some of his old college buddies. Mentor Jack and two former mentors filled in and it was nice to have some more experienced riders to give pointers along the way. A few of the regulars weren't there and we had a new addition to the group. Having 4 new people and 3 missing regulars really threw off the pace lines. My personal pace line skills were pretty poor this week. I didn't have a lot of confidence in sticking close to the person in front of me with all the expanding and contracting we were doing. Consequently, I did very little drafting throughout the day. It's no surprise that with the longer mileage and not taking advantage of drafting that I was physically exhausted by the end of the ride. I was seriously close to bonking out when we finished. It didn't help that we did the toughest part of the course, the Torrey climb, after already being on the road for over 45 miles.
Check out the graph below of my heart rate in relation to the elevation. It's no surprise that my highest heart rate, 185 beats/minute, occurs at the steepest part of the elevation graph. Yup, right smack in the middle of the climb.
I took the lead at Torrey again and raced up to the top. I took a very aggressive pace and was mostly happy with my climb. At the top, I was pretty winded and looking back on it, I may have taken it too aggressively because I was pretty whipped at that point with another 12 miles to go.
The last 12 miles were tough. My shoulders and neck were very stiff. My hands were numb. I was out of food and was starting to feel the bonk coming on. I was also having trouble concentrating and found my mind wandering which resulted in me falling back in the pace line. Not good. I was happy to be done when we finished.
My fitness is good right now but I think I've reached the end of my "credit". I'm not going to be able to rely only on physical strength any more. The long and the short of it is that I need to work on riding skills if I'm going to be able to complete this 100-mile ride.
I need to:
1) DRAFT more consistently. You spend 30% less energy when you are drafting behind another rider. I could have used the gas at the end of the ride.
2) ROTATE in the pace line more frequently. This is a team sport. I'm uncomfortable riding behind some riders so I'm spending more time than I should be at the front of the line taking the brunt of the wind.
3) CONSERVE my energy and not attack the hills so aggressively. This is going to be hard because I love the challenge of the climbing. I'm taking the hills too hard and fast and spending (wasting?) a lot of energy doing so. I might be able to save some gas by taking them more slowly and steadily.
DRC...Something to work on this week.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Walking pays off
Today we took our mileage up to 45 miles which is an all time high for me. We had 8 riders in our group today with a two newish people joining in. Both were absent last week but had ridden with us before. The pace line was a little choppy this week as we all continued to get used to riding with each other. Some of the riders were uncomfortable being so close to the person ahead to be able to draft effectively so we had a problem staying tight in a group. This is pretty bad because we end up with a gap between sets of riders and waste a lot of energy since there are now essentially two pace leaders.
The route was pretty much the same as last week starting in Carlsbad and riding South into San Diego and then turning around and coming back.
Check it out:
We did Torrey Pines one more time today and once again, I was very strong and passed all the other riders in my group to finish first again. Speaking later to Christine, she had a similar experience where as soon as she hit the incline she was able to separate from and pass from the rest of her group. We both have really strong legs and a lot of endurance from our time on the walk team.
We spent the last 10 miles rotating riders in the pace line. The leader would drop back and once they were "on" the back of the line, the new leader would set the pace for about 30 seconds before dropping back. Repeat. It was very good practice.
I'm really looking forward to next week's ride. I hope we do 50-miles.
The route was pretty much the same as last week starting in Carlsbad and riding South into San Diego and then turning around and coming back.
Check it out:
We did Torrey Pines one more time today and once again, I was very strong and passed all the other riders in my group to finish first again. Speaking later to Christine, she had a similar experience where as soon as she hit the incline she was able to separate from and pass from the rest of her group. We both have really strong legs and a lot of endurance from our time on the walk team.
We spent the last 10 miles rotating riders in the pace line. The leader would drop back and once they were "on" the back of the line, the new leader would set the pace for about 30 seconds before dropping back. Repeat. It was very good practice.
I'm really looking forward to next week's ride. I hope we do 50-miles.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
sTorrey Pines Part Deux
Another big ride today. Just a hair under 40 miles. We started out in Carlsbad and rode to Del Mar and back. The B3 group consisted of 6 riders, down from the largish size of 12 from the week before. The groups are starting to even out. I was happy with my decision to stay with this group another week. The members of this group are all pretty strong riders and it seems that we are all getting more confident riding with each other. We had a minimum amount of "inchworm" syndrome this week. Inchworm syndrome is when the length of the pace line contracts and expands as each rider's pace changes. It makes it very hard to stay 12 inches off the back tire of the person you are following in a pace line to be able to draft effectively. Everyone rode a very consistent pace which made it a lot easier. I got some good tips from Coach Jay about how to maintain good drafting distance without braking so much and wasting energy trying to catch up.
We did the Torrey Pine thing again and this time riding through the gnats was terrible. There was no way to get through it without getting some in your mouth or nose. Nasty. Riding up the hill was harder for me this week than it was last week. Probably because I didn't get enough sleep.
I made some nutritional changes this week. One thing I did was use an electrolyte supplement in my water bottles. I drink a lot of water but I seemed to always be dehydrated. I think what was happening is that the electrolytes were being flushed out of my body with all the water I had been drinking and all the sweating. I also remembered some of my marathon training and ate a small salt packet 20 miles into the ride and felt instantly better. I also made sure to bring food this time and experimented with a couple types of energy bars. Overall I felt really good at the end of the day and definitely could have kept going.
The changes I had made to the fit on my bike were all great. No sign of foot numbness or knee trouble. The new pedals worked like a charm and I got a very satisfying click every time I got on the bike.
In other news, check out my kickin' new Captain America bicycle jersey.
Hell yeah...
We did the Torrey Pine thing again and this time riding through the gnats was terrible. There was no way to get through it without getting some in your mouth or nose. Nasty. Riding up the hill was harder for me this week than it was last week. Probably because I didn't get enough sleep.
I made some nutritional changes this week. One thing I did was use an electrolyte supplement in my water bottles. I drink a lot of water but I seemed to always be dehydrated. I think what was happening is that the electrolytes were being flushed out of my body with all the water I had been drinking and all the sweating. I also remembered some of my marathon training and ate a small salt packet 20 miles into the ride and felt instantly better. I also made sure to bring food this time and experimented with a couple types of energy bars. Overall I felt really good at the end of the day and definitely could have kept going.
The changes I had made to the fit on my bike were all great. No sign of foot numbness or knee trouble. The new pedals worked like a charm and I got a very satisfying click every time I got on the bike.
In other news, check out my kickin' new Captain America bicycle jersey.
Hell yeah...
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Torrey Story
This week's big Saturday ride was supposed to be another session at Fiesta Island to practice pace lines without traffic. Apparently, there was some sort of triathlon time trial thing going on we had a last minute change of plans and had to hit the road after all. I decided to move up a group to the B3's. The group was 12 people with most being pretty experienced riders.
The ride was 2hrs 50 minutes and we rode 28.6 pretty hard miles. The highlight was "Torrey". There is a 1-1/4 mile stretch of road running along side Torrey Pines State Reserve that is a 1900 foot climb and it is all uphill. While not the most feared climb in San Diego, it not a hill to be trifled with and is usually spoken of in hushed tones. Our route first took us down the big hill and then we did a U-Turn to climb back up it. Going down was a blast. No paces line were in affect as everyone just screamed down the hills. I was doing just a hair under 25 mph on the way down. About halfway down the hill, something started hitting my face as I rode by. We were right near the ocean and there was a pretty strong wind blowing in so I assumed it was sand. Get to the bottom, and everyone is talking about it. I look down and see dead bugs splattered on my arms. We rode straight through a swarm of gnats, sand fleas or whatever they were. Good thing I ride with my mouth closed.
The ride back up the hill was adventure on it's own. I started out as pace leader as we headed back. We had actually gained a little elevation after the steep drop so the way back up to the top started with a downhill. I hadn't realized what exactly was going on so I tried to maintain a good pace leader speed. As soon as the downhill hit, people started flying past me. Whoops! I tried desperately to get into a higher gear so I could crank down the hill. To much, too fast as I throw my chain. Went from first to last in about 20 seconds. Frown. Chain is really locked up but I'm able to get back on the road in about 2 minutes with help from Coach Jay. It was a blessing in disguise as I get some nice one on one time with the Coach. As we start up the hill, he gives me some climbing tips. There's the standing climb, the seated rocking climb and one other I can't remember anymore. Next thing you know, I'm caught up the the last rider. I keep cranking. My fitness is pretty good right now with all the marathon training and with my rides up and down Fairmount avenue when I ride to work so I start passing people. I'm so glad I elected to get the triple cog set rather than the double when I bought my bike. Those baby gears really make a huge difference when climbing. All of a sudden, I'm at the top and I've caught all but 2 of the riders. Felt pretty good.
The ride back was pretty uneventful except that I made a huge mistake by not bringing any food with me. I stare jealously at the other riders eating everything from power bars to Oreo cookies. I won't make that mistake again. Energy started to wane pretty quickly but I made it back ok. Spoke to Coach Jay and we agreed for me to stay in this group for at least another week. While I'm a strong rider, my biking skills still need some polishing. The entire ride I tried to hold myself back from going out too fast but I think I was still too eager. At this mileage I've got the stamina to handle it, but I was pretty tired immediately after the session and pretty sore the day after. If I'm going to complete a century ride, I really need to learn to hold myself back.
The ride was 2hrs 50 minutes and we rode 28.6 pretty hard miles. The highlight was "Torrey". There is a 1-1/4 mile stretch of road running along side Torrey Pines State Reserve that is a 1900 foot climb and it is all uphill. While not the most feared climb in San Diego, it not a hill to be trifled with and is usually spoken of in hushed tones. Our route first took us down the big hill and then we did a U-Turn to climb back up it. Going down was a blast. No paces line were in affect as everyone just screamed down the hills. I was doing just a hair under 25 mph on the way down. About halfway down the hill, something started hitting my face as I rode by. We were right near the ocean and there was a pretty strong wind blowing in so I assumed it was sand. Get to the bottom, and everyone is talking about it. I look down and see dead bugs splattered on my arms. We rode straight through a swarm of gnats, sand fleas or whatever they were. Good thing I ride with my mouth closed.
The ride back up the hill was adventure on it's own. I started out as pace leader as we headed back. We had actually gained a little elevation after the steep drop so the way back up to the top started with a downhill. I hadn't realized what exactly was going on so I tried to maintain a good pace leader speed. As soon as the downhill hit, people started flying past me. Whoops! I tried desperately to get into a higher gear so I could crank down the hill. To much, too fast as I throw my chain. Went from first to last in about 20 seconds. Frown. Chain is really locked up but I'm able to get back on the road in about 2 minutes with help from Coach Jay. It was a blessing in disguise as I get some nice one on one time with the Coach. As we start up the hill, he gives me some climbing tips. There's the standing climb, the seated rocking climb and one other I can't remember anymore. Next thing you know, I'm caught up the the last rider. I keep cranking. My fitness is pretty good right now with all the marathon training and with my rides up and down Fairmount avenue when I ride to work so I start passing people. I'm so glad I elected to get the triple cog set rather than the double when I bought my bike. Those baby gears really make a huge difference when climbing. All of a sudden, I'm at the top and I've caught all but 2 of the riders. Felt pretty good.
The ride back was pretty uneventful except that I made a huge mistake by not bringing any food with me. I stare jealously at the other riders eating everything from power bars to Oreo cookies. I won't make that mistake again. Energy started to wane pretty quickly but I made it back ok. Spoke to Coach Jay and we agreed for me to stay in this group for at least another week. While I'm a strong rider, my biking skills still need some polishing. The entire ride I tried to hold myself back from going out too fast but I think I was still too eager. At this mileage I've got the stamina to handle it, but I was pretty tired immediately after the session and pretty sore the day after. If I'm going to complete a century ride, I really need to learn to hold myself back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)