My Most Recent Ride 2010 (Part III of the series)

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Last night was the weekly area hammer ride. Most of the guys there at least dabble in bike racing; some are 'new' Cat 5s, some into Cat3 land. Chris, who does most 'big' rides with me, does this ride every week, and it's about the only way I see him between the invitationals. He normally goes off the front and lets the peloton chase him for 20 of the 33 miles, and is usually far enough in front that the sign sprint is for 2nd place. Well, last night he wasn't there, so that meant I was responsible for upholding the "recumbent honor."

They've dropped me both times I've done the ride this year.

Long story short, We dropped one or two at a time until the pack was whittled down from 15 to 5: me and 4 others. I got gapped 5 times during the ride, but always pulled myself back somehow. And and at the end, when the Final Four had increased their pace to 27 mph through the last 2 curves, I pulled out and passed them all, then hung on for the victory! Average speed for the 33 miles was 23.5 mph, and I did 34 in the sprint.

I have a serious case of Dead Legs this morning.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

John, mine would be falling off after that run. I did a bit of it and mine feel like rubber today.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

I really should do a 'rinse ride' today, but it's club meeting night. So I'll have to jmake do without. This weekend is the club's annual ride from Dewitt to Alma (97 miles.)

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

All right!! So there is hope.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Great Ride, did you ever get any grumbling about cheating with that bike?

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Nope, in fact they're pretty sure Chris and I are Supermen. We take the winters off while the fast guys train all winter. Then we show up in the spring, all fat and slow, and within a few weeks we're kicking their tails.

Today was my first century of the year. Dewitt to Alma and back. At the turnaround, one new guy riding with a couple of the faster 'regulars' asked about the 'bents, then raced off after the others. We followed him for about a mile then dropped the hammer. Passed the group at 27 mph and dropped 'em like stones in a pond. All good things must end, though; about halfway back, we'd been cruising at 23-25 for, well, ever since we'd dropped the uprights. Chris bonked and we had to slow WAAAAY down. Finished the 101 (relatively flat) miles with a 19.5 average.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Well, I've been having a LOT of problems with my knees. Barely able to walk the dog kind of problems. Quite frustrating when all I want to do it rack up the miles.

They weren't feeling too bad yesterday, so I plotted a route just north of Stockholm along a few side spurs of the Sverigeleden from church to church and cultural site to cultural site. I'd plotted 22-ish miles, but I firmly decided I was NOT going to obsess about speed OR distance. I was just going to go, coddle Loke AND my knees, enjoy the day and fresh scenery. Except of course, for hoping I could get to at least 15 miles to break my 50 mile week goal. But if I thought a gear felt 'kinda comfortable', I went one lower. It seemed to work. I'm not feeling too bad today.

That's how the day went. The weather was perfect, mostly sunny with a few stray clouds offering shade every now and again and ideal temp with little wind. Quite a few hills, but I just crept up them with no stress. Lots of things to see and it would have been a perfect day except a dog and a very bad road had me trapped at the last church which left me 2.5 miles short of my week goal.

Pictures and full account on my blog.

www.terii.wordpress.com

Terii

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Do you do any cross-training or trainer work during the winter? Our winters are nothing like Michigan but we still have 20-25 days from December through February where it is pretty nasty outside. I personally always have to do at least 4-5 days a week of aerobic activity. Other wise I would feel and look like a couch potato.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

I started doing Yoga this year during the winter along with LOTS of ab work. My climbing has gotten much better because of it.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

I use a trainer while sitting in front of the TV. I get a bunch of DVDs to watch and tell myself I can only do so if my legs are moving. It worked.

I got out for a ride today. A VERY slow ride. About 6 mph average on the moving time. Less than 5.5 mph average if I count stopping to let Loke fertilize road weeds, adjust his shoes, both of us drink water... walking the last .25 mile hunched over like an old crone to walk my trike along with its flat tire...

My back is screaming at me, but my knees feel okay, so I guess the slow pace was just right.

Now, just waiting for my husband to get home so we can go to a cycle shop for me to try on new shoes. Hopefully these will better fit my wide feet.

Terii

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

By the way Terri regarding the knees, one thing which worked for me that I got from this forum is to increase cadence. I have a tendency to mash in harder gears which makes my quads and knees sore. I've got myself trained on climbs but on those I rarely meet other cyclists. On the flats there are many more cyclists which gets me going and before I know it I am down to ~80-85 rpm.

Another treatment which helps me is to do about 15 minutes of massage on each knee with Arnika oil. The stuff I buy from the local pharmacy is specifically for muscles and joints and is made by a German company called Waleda(sp?).

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

If not possible/practical to fix a flat, get a lift home, or leave it and walk, pushing a trike is one of the few remaining options. That said, I can see how pushing such a low-slung machine could be back breaking.

What do you trikers think about carrying a nearly-no-weight line with a padded grip in the middle, attach it to front struts, and pull the rig home while walking upright?

Or do a 180: attach the line to steering bars ends and push the seat's upper back frame (as needed a lightweight rod with padded push end and appropriate other end to engage the seat frame), using the line to steer?

Dave

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

One of the main things I like about delta Trikes over Tadpole is that if you need to push the bike it is much easier to just grab the handle bars and start walking. That is what I do when I am too tired to ride some of the hills.

 

Re: My Most Recent Ride - 2010

Easiest way to push a tadpole is to have a rack out back and just push and steer from the rack.Have done several miles like that.