Sunday 8/30/09 rides

[Miranda]

:)Beautiful sunny day here in the midwest. A bit windy. Cooler--w/a nip of Fall in the air. My favorite season:D. Hence... I really wanted to ride longer:(, but resisted. Suppose to be tapering for my century now. 15mi easy spinning of recovery for me today after yesterday's harder training. Just lovely though to not be pea soup thick w/humidity:cool:.

[redrhodie]

60º this morning when I left! Rain, too. I wore long sleeves and a bolero for the first time in months. Did my favorite 20 mile loop. My legs felt like lead for some reason, maybe because I just lowered my saddle, maybe I was a little dehydrated. The cool air felt great, as did the light rain.

[Crankin]

After the tropical depression all day yesterday, it is actually nice out now. Red, you must have gone out early; wait I saw it was still raining down on the coast...
Just did a nice 19 mile ride, cool breeze, sun, humidity going down. Nothing special, but good. Leaving to go help son move, so no long ride today.

[Pan Dulce]

I did the Tour de Coeur charity ride for cancer today. Not a big turn out - I'd guess maybe 30 to 40 people came. It was a little over 30 miles. The most I had ridden before today was 18 miles!

It was a beautiful ride along lake Coeur d'Alene. I loved it. I wished there had been more people, because the pack got really stretched out and most of the ride I didn't see anyone else. I was kinda proud because my average speed went up from my previous rides, even though I almost doubled my mileage! Only 12.6 MPH, which is still kind of pathetic I guess..

[Kano]

Not at all pathetic! 12mph is a lovely average! Mine was a whopping 10.6 today, for our ride into town for Sunday morning coffee. Round trip was about 17 miles -- half downhill and half up!

I had more miles in me even though today is a "cranky knee day," but DH was having a "dragging butt day" -- he's had way too many of those lately! -- and HE wouldn't go any farther.

It's a bit chilly here too, considering -- friday was 102, and this morning, upper 50's, a wee bit of rain, like ten drops, not even worth taking cover from! I think I'd better get that bolero I've had cut out for months now stitched together! Gonna need the sleeves soon!

Karen in Boise

[bmccasland]

I did another MS training ride today - 50 miles, flat to gentle rolling hills, back to flat, average speed was 15.7 mph. About 200 riders total out for the ride.

Unfortunately about 8 miles into the ride, a rider in the paceline in front of me taped wheels with the rider in front of her, and she went down. No one else crashed. Somehow a chunk was taken out of her helmet just above her eye. We got back on the road after she was loaded into the ambulance. I haven't heard yet how she's doing. Pretty much pain on every bumpy part on her right side (head, shoulder, elbow, hip, knee).

So a group of us that should have been riding the middle of the pack, were in the back. When I rolled into Rest Stop 1, I was the last rider in. As it was very humid, and folks were burning yard debris, my lungs weren't too happy. I had trouble keeping up.

(Bonnie Cat, is trying desparately to get my attention, and is currently lying on top of my left hand)

I took one short cut, shaving 5 miles off the full route as I spent most of the time riding by myself. Riding 50 miles solo is completely different than being in a paceline. I prefer a paceline:)

[alpinerabbit]

Yesterday we climbed Passo dello Stelvio, see my other posts.

Today I seized the spotless blue sky (autumn temperatures and smells already in the air.... sadness....) and rode a flat 50K ... I faded fast after 25.

some ar$e shouted at me out of his window.
I tried to report him to the police, no luck.
I got his number. I am pondering calling him up as I now know who he is. From a payphone of course.

[nolemom]

Rode 63.2 miles before calling it quits today. I had a difficult ride yesterday due to the heat and humidity, but thought I had recovered sufficiently for today's assault on our "hills". I was only 10 miles from home, but I felt horrible and actually had goosebumps despite the temps being in the mid-90s.
I decided it wasn't worth it to keep my pride so I let my DH ride on and bring the car back for me. Luckily, one of our bike club members was kind enough to recently move to a home along our route. I waited in his shaded yard, took advantage of his waterhose and had pretty much recovered by the time my DH was back.

[KathiCville]

Rode just over 33 miles today on hilly roads, so got a good workout. A local club ride passed me doing the same loop in the opposite direction so I had plenty of opportunities to nod, wave or say hello.....I was wearing my TE "She Loves Hills" jersey, which seemed appropriate for the terrain/route...:D Boy, was I tired when I got home---the ragweed is in bloom and seems drag my energy level down by about half this time of year!

[Biciclista]

40 miles, no photos today; too bad.
We left right after lunch, rode over to Alki, which overlooks puget sound. the weather was incredible, about 70 degrees with a slight breeze. We could see fog on the water.
Next we headed south, overlooking Puget Sound, riding on nice roads and then a park -- like path to the Vashon Ferry Terminal near Lincoln park.
Next we headed a little further south, where Raleighdon was captivated by a table at a garage sale; fortunately (?) he had no money, so we couldn't buy it.A block later we came upon a bakery with a bathroom. Snack time he says; after this we have some climbing to do. So I take him very seriously and pick out a cookie. the man behind the counter said "I baked everything here this morning" I felt this incredible nostalgia; why is this so rare? The last hand baked cookie I had was done in someone's home, this guy was selling them; so we ordered a dozen chocolate chip cookies. he says "Let's make that a baker's dozen" I almost cried. :p
Then we started climbing. ooof up, up, up, and then down and then up and then down - who knows how many times; but you can't NOT find hills if you go east or west in the Seattle area.
We had a splendid ride, no traffic woes, no nasty drivers, lots of trails, dead ends and under driven roads.
We hoped to stop and pick blackberries, but alas, the crop is now too far gone.

[owlice]

I had a bifurcated ride. :) I started out on a trail I usually like, but today I was not feelin' the love, so stopped riding after 20 miles, got gas, got something to eat, stopped by my house for a few minutes, and then rode my usual trail for a little over 9 miles, so 29 miles for me today, making 50 for the weekend.

I didn't hit the second trail until almost sunset, and wow, was the sunset gorgeous!! The trees in the swamp were nicely silhouetted against the pink and blue of the sky, and a frog chorus was just getting underway. I just got lights, so tried them out tonight and was happy.

I saw a doe and her fawn at the park where I left my car; they were grazing in the open field there. While riding the first trail, I saw a Great Blue Heron in the creek; I cannot recall EVER seeing a Great Blue in that particular creek, and that creek and I go back decades! (I remember fish spawning in that creek when I was five years old; by the time I was ten, no more spawning fish. :( )

And I saw a Green Heron bebopping along the creek by the other trail. I see them in the swamp, but not usually along the creek.

Oh, and on average speed, I'd be THRILLED if mine were 12.anything! Today's average was 9.1 MPH. The first trail had a few little hills; I was going up one of them, and passed a mom pushing her daughter's little bike up the hill. As I passed the mom, I said, "I'm not having nearly the fun I thought I'd be having!" She felt the same! The 2 or 3 MPH I was doing up some of the hills ... yeah. At least I didn't start sliding backwards!! :eek:

[channlluv]

Owlice, where are you again? South Florida, yes? I just left my mom's house a couple of weeks ago. She's in Palm Coast, just north of Daytona. I rode through the swamp there, too, but never saw anything more interesting than an egret.

My ride report. First, it's Fire Season here, so all of you reporting a little Fall nip in the air, I'm jealous. It's hot and dry and a tad smoky at times because of fires up in the LA area.

I rode 30 miles today, my longest ride ever! Unfortunately it was in the middle of the day and even though the weather only predicted low 90s, I think it got a bit higher. I drank three bottles of water, one of those had 8oz of Concord grade juice added, and ate a chocolate chip Cliff Bar, but I really had to push to finish the last three miles. I was getting loopy.

By the time I reached my car, I had just enough in me to get the back door open (it's a Rav4), lean my bike against it, and collapse into the spot where I usually park the bike. Everything went yellow. I lay there for several minutes then sat up and drank the little bit of water I had left, but I have a gallon of water I keep in the back of the car for radiator emergencies, and I doused my legs, arms and head with it. It cooled me off quite a bit, but I still couldn't stand. My bike fell over and I just let it lay there for a minute before I got up and stood it back up, then fell back into the car because everything went yellow again. "Is this bonking?" I wondered.

After a few minutes, I tried to sit up and the motion knocked the bike over again. I tried to catch it and got hit in the face with the handlebars. I thought I'd broken my nose for a second. I leaned it up again, poured more water over my head, getting my torso wet, too, and lay back down. Thank God there was an occasional cool breeze.

Several minutes later I gathered the strength to take my front tire off and get the bike in the car. I practically fell into the driver's seat, though, so I sat there for a few more minutes with the air on high, listening to NPR.

I waited for my head to clear and then I drove home, stopping off at the Goodwill depository on the way to donate some bags of clothes. While I was waiting there in line (they've got guys who pick your stuff up out of the car for you), I called D*H and asked him to fix me some of his electrolyte drink. My words were a little slurry. I told him I'd ridden 30 miles in 3 hours and burned 152 calories. "I mean, 1152 cal..calries." Something like that. I sounded drunk.

I got home okay, although in retrospect I probably shouldn't have been driving myself. I could barely catch my breath, my skin was red and hot to the touch, and when I drank the electrolyte stuff, it made my stomach cramp.

I got a cool shower and lay down for a while, then took my blood pressure. My doctor has me monitoring it because I'm on medication for high blood pressure, so I have one of those digital cuffs to use at home. My left arm was 77/38, with a 98 heart rate. My right arm was 69/29, with a 100 heart rate. This was at 3:20 this afternoon, about 20 minutes after I'd gotten home.

I called my mom, a retired RN, and she fussed at me (as D*H had done) about going that far in the heat and why didn't I take some electrolyte drink with me and what was I thinking, that I could have killed myself all for a bit of exercise, it's just not worth it even though she knows I feel like I have a lot to prove here...it went on for several minutes. She finally told me to go eat something salty or get myself to the hospital for an IV drip, so D*H offered to take me to Red Lobster, since it is also air conditioned. (Our house isn't, and lying half-naked in front of a fan wasn't doing much to cool me off.)

So we went to Red Lobster and I got all-you-can-eat teriyaki shrimp with wild rice and those Cheddar Bay biscuits that I normally never eat because they're so darn salty. D*H said I probably negated any weight loss that might have resulted from the bike ride, but that my salt levels had to have been replenished. I sure felt better after the meal and my blood pressure is up to 98/56 now, with a 91 heart rate.

So, lesson learned. Get some electrolyte powder of my own and use it for all long rides, heat or not. I told him I'd never had anything like this happen to me before, and that I didn't think I needed that electrolyte powder because it's for real athletes. He said I needed it anytime I'm going to be sweating a lot. Okay, now I know.

But still, I went 30 miles today, and I'm pretty proud of that. My knees don't even hurt much.

Roxy

[HoosierGiant]

Rode the century portion of the Wabash River Ride near Lafayette, Indiana -- 106 miles. Windy, hilly, overcast, windy, hilly, grey skies, windy, hilly, and BRRR chilly cold!! High temp was 68 degrees, but I'm one of those crazy individuals who's not warm until it's at least 85 degrees. Crossed the Wabash numerous times; otherwise, never saw it. We did, however follow a gazillion railroad lines -- not quite as scenic. :(

[bmccasland]

Got an update this morning on the rider that crashed in front of me yesterday, and she's hurt pretty bad:
"Babs, the bicyclist in the rear, went down and as I understand had multiple fractures of the pelvis, two broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion."

She went down when her front tire hit the back tire of the rider in front of her in a pace line. Babs and the other rider are both experience riders too.

[bmccasland]

Roxy,
Good for you for doing 30 miles. Last time I got that squirrely on my electrolytes, I wound up in the ER - So Don't do it again!.

The ambulance crew that picked up Babs yesterday asked if we were the same bunch they ran on the last two sundays? Guilty as charged. One of their runs was for someone who was suffering from dehydration, as they were only drinking water. You need to drink some kind of electrolyte replacement as well. Please find something you like, and drink it as you ride. My current favorite is the Crystal Lite "hydration" - but there are plenty on the market.

I can get heat exhaustion pretty easily, and it's much better to drink the fluids and prevent it, than try to fix after a full blown melt-down. Trips to the ER get expensive too.

And don't save the electrolyte solution for "long rides" only. One water bottle of water, one of your sports drink, on any ride you'd be packing water bottles.

[Bike Goddess]

Roxy and anyone else who just drinks "water",

It is vitally important that those of us who ride take sports drinks with us. Not only do they provide electrolytes but also energy that you need.

Not to promote this or that brand, I use Cytomax on all of my rides as it works for me. I have one bottle filled with water and Cytomax and another bottle with extra in it in a plastic bag. This way, when I get more water I add more stuff. I can also fill my 2nd bottle with water and sports drink if I don't have a place along the way where I can get water easily thereby having two bottles available. Since the Cytomax is in a plastic bag it is easy to transport via pocket or fanny pack (I use that a lot too).

If you drink your sports drink about every 15-20 minutes you should stay well hydrated. I don't drink alot, but I do follow this regimen pretty strictly especially when it is warm or when I'm doing a lot of hills. FOOD is essential as well. I take Lunabars and other stuff as needed depending on the length of my ride and available stores along the way.

There are also electrolyte tablets that you can buy-Endurolytes. They work well and are easy to carry with you.

[owlice]

Roxy, I'm in Maryland, near DC. We have swamps here, too, and I don't mean just Congress! :D

bmccasland, so sorry to hear the cyclist who crashed has extensive injuries; I hope she's getting great care and heals quickly.

bmccasland and Bike Goddess, I've never drunk anything other than water on my rides! (Longest ride to date was ~ 57 miles in 90-degree heat.) I always have something to eat with me (usually PowerBars and/or trail mix); even so, sometimes I'll stop for something along the way if I want something else to eat. Since many foods have salt in them (as anyone who looks at sodium content knows), I have never feared depleting my salt stores, and I sweat like the proverbial pig!

Calories of any kind will provide energy, with simple sugars being more readily available than proteins or fats.

A lot of people like sports drinks and swear by them; some people don't drink enough water to rehydrate themselves because they find water bland, and find sports drinks more palatable, so they will drink more of them, which definitely helps them!

Personally, I hate the taste of every sports drink/"enhanced" water I've tried, and I do like the taste of just plain water, so drink that.

Or bourbon, but that'd be after an aggravating day at work, not after a ride! :)

[channlluv]

Roxy,
Good for you for doing 30 miles. Last time I got that squirrely on my electrolytes, I wound up in the ER - So Don't do it again!.



Yeah, it was a lesson learned the hard way, that's for sure. I honestly never would have thought I'd need that sort of thing going as slow as I go. Seriously, 10mph average here. I'm feeling a lot better today, but now I'm squeamish about going back out for a ride until the heat lets up.

Thank you, Bike Goddess, for the tip on Cytomax and Endurolytes. I'm trying to watch my calories here as a matter of course (100 lbs overweight), so I'm conscious of what these things are made of. I don't suppose there's an organic electrolyte replacement option out there, is there?

Somebody mentioned berries and melon - lots of times when I've gone on longer rides (20miles), I'll take a fruit smoothie with me made of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries, and spinach. Very yummy and slushy and all that good stuff when it's warm out.

I just hope our weather turns soon. Fire season is such a drag.

Roxy

[tctrek]

We did a ride south of Atlanta called the Wilson 100. We did the 54 mile route. The first 20 miles are pretty hilly, then it flattens out some with lots of rollers and just a few booger hills (1 with a 16% grade :eek:). I was doing great averaging about 15 mph. 5 miles from the car and feeling sore from 3.5 hours in the saddle, the sky open wide and torrential downpour on us.

Have you ever been riding in your car and get into a really bad rain where your wipers can't work fast enough to allow you to see? That's how it rained :mad::mad::mad: We opt'd to continue through it rather than try to take shelter. Got to the car and we were totally drenched. I never de-biked so fast in my life!!

This was my longest road ride ever (I've gone a little further on flat trails). I kept my heart rate at an average of 145 bpm, which is really good for me. Drank 3 bottles with electrolytes and carbs, ate 2 packs of Clif Shot Blocks, 1 package of peanut butter crackers and 1/2 a PBJ sandwich at the SAG. All the fluids and nutrition + managing my heart rate allowed me to finish in great shape.

[anabanana]

Also did the Wilson 100. My husband and I did 100 miles. It was my first century. The longest I had gone so far was 75 miles. I averaged about 15.5 mph and rode for 6.5 hours. Wow... I can't believe I did it! The rain came down as we reached 80 miles. I was scared at first because it was pouring, thundering and lightening. But it actually cooled me down. I was starting to get real tired at that point and was slowing down quite a bit. It was a great ride. The SAG stops were good as well. I need to figure out how to do better at climbing hills. Besides getting leaner, do y'all have any thoughts on what I can do?

[tctrek]

Great job on your first century!! I'm not going to attempt one this year, but am training for more endurance.

The only way I know to get stronger is to do intervals. I do intervals where I put on as much gear as I can and still maintain a cadence of 75-85 and keep my heart rate below lactate threshold. I work in this tempo state for 10 minutes, recover for 10 minutes... I do 3 or 4 of these a few times a week. I also do an interval at a little bit higher heart rate, but for shorter duration -- 6-8 minutes each. Always recover in between.

I would love to do squats with weights to build strength, but my lower back is pretty fragile and although I might wreck it on the bike, I'm doing something I love. I would be really p-o'd if I wrecked my back doing squats and couldn't ride.

[anabanana]

Thanks for your response! I'll try that. I'm also going to start weight training at the gym. I figure if I get stronger I should be able to climb better. I'm really frustrated though. Do you know if there's a group of women that get together in the Atlanta area to ride? I live in Roswell and usually ride with my husband. But it would be nice to ride every once in a while with other folks.

[bmccasland]

She's still in the hospital, the rib fractures are causing some breathing problems / oxygen exchange issues. They were threatening a chest tube, which I'm really hoping won't be required.