Hey guys do we have a thread for Aug yet??
If not lets hear your Aug goals.
Im going to try and get back on my bike a bit more and with the kids starting school in a couple of weeks that should help.
Im setting my goal at 22000.:)
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Hey guys do we have a thread for Aug yet??
If not lets hear your Aug goals.
Im going to try and get back on my bike a bit more and with the kids starting school in a couple of weeks that should help.
Im setting my goal at 22000.:)
Well, I am writing this from Shasta, where I hope to get in 10,500 feet on Sunday! :eek:
That will be 2500 more than I have ever done in one day, and at higher elevations overall. Frankly, I'm feeling nervous, but I'm not sure about what? :rolleyes: What am I afraid of? Not finishing? Not completing my goal? Being too slow and getting swept up off the course? Just suffering? I don't know.
That is probably the entirety of my climbing goal for the month, because when I get back, I start some new responsibilities and will probably just be trying to ride for fun.
(Although, I have to admit, I would like to use the endurance boost I will have gained for some fun, easy-ish century or something later in August...)
Sheesh, my entire month's goal for August is 12,000 ft. Heck, when my average weekday ride has only 80-some feet at best, you do what you can.
MP got me looking at climbing in a new way though - feet per mile. I was just boggled by some of the numbers some folks were reporting but once I started looking at this a per ride basis for when I could get to the hills, I started feeling like I was accomplished something.
Annually, I'm averaging 41 ft/mile which is pretty consistent with some of the folks reporting high climbing totals - they're riding more miles than I am but at the same ft/mile ratio.
Our Telluride to Moab tour was 106 ft/mile over 6 days.
The mtb ride we use for hill training is 180 ft/mile.
June's monthly average was 66 ft/mile.
July's monthly average was 51.6 ft/mile.
Somehow this has given me a psychological boost and helps me get through the flat miles during the week.
Wow. For 6 days...that strikes me as a LOT.Quote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
I hope to hit 200,000 ft by the end of the month, which would mean 40,000 ft of climbing this month. Probably a big stretch, but we'll see what happens.
Feet per mile involves too much higher math for me :p
Ooooh, where are you staying in Shasta? Is it nice up there?Quote:
Originally Posted by Starfish
Well, Jo you'll be about 1/4 of the way there after Tam.
I have no goal. Get through Tam with my friend and then maybe take some time off, or at least with fewer miles.
Hey Starfish - good luck!! More importantly - have fun!!!
My August goal is 25,000'. Of course, this is somewhat dependent on the weather, because if it gets really hot, then all bets are off! This upcoming Saturday, I plan to ride 50 miles here locally with about 4,000' of climbing. That may not sound like much to some, but it's a bit daunting for me!
10,403 so far this month, with no goal at all for the rest of the month!
That's a pretty healthy proportion of climbing. How did it go?Quote:
Originally Posted by sara
jobob, reading between the lines, realizes ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Starfish
You did it !!!
Congratulations !!! http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/yay.gif http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/clap.gifhttp://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/yay.gif http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/clap.gif http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/yay.gif
But you're going to have to give us more than that. Throw us a bone here wouldja! :cool: :D
Jeez it sounds like a lot when the numbers are in feet. Well, I suppose it still is a lot of climbing in a month, but I really did think Trekhawk was saying she was going to climb twenty-two thousand metres in August for a second there. :eek: :rolleyes: :o
I'm just going to sit here and gape in admiration. :eek: :D
Checkout the new thread...Shasta Ride Report... :pQuote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Jo, thank you SO much for your exuberance (sp?)! It is so fun to have people to celebrate with...people who actually ride, themselves, so they KNOW what I mean! Yippee! Thank you!
Yee - ha!!!
Way to go Starfish! (And Jo who did a heckuvajob on a tough ride on Saturday!)
I'm at about 8000 for August and resting for a bit. Have to exorcise the @ss thetans. (See the Marin Century thread in "California" if you really want to know.) Plus, I popped my ankle out last night (duh - klutz in clogs). So I am definitely off the bike for at least a week.
wow, I DID just read that thread...I'm going to have to keep track of the California forum...amazingQuote:
Originally Posted by maillotpois
LOL - now that would be a lot of climbing for this sloth. Its funny you should mention the metres/feet thing. For ages I didn't realize my computer was reading my climbing in metres (I have it set for metric so I should have known:o ). Lets just say I was pretty depressed with my climbing numbers. I felt much happier when I realized it was in metres. After converting the numbers to feet it sounded a little better.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by DirtDiva
Ok..I have a new pet hill to climb on my long ride :) No idea of the elevation but it's a hill a skateboarder would love to zoom down :eek: ...I managed to get all the way up today!
I shall take a pic when i can..
C
I'm not sure what to use as my goal for August. I've just recommitted to a 'challenge century' at the end of September, so I'm gonna have to climb a lot in August (for me, anyway). My next real mountain climbing ride isn't until Labor Day weekend though, which is September...hmmmm.
Ok, I'm setting my goal at 20,000 ft.
Hmmmm, my computer is already in feet...what can I convert to? LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Trekhawk
Yes, pictures!Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycanuck
Tell us more!Quote:
Originally Posted by 1968
This is the description on the website:
The Six Gap Century
This ultra challenging route takes you up and down six of the steepest climbs in the North Georgia Mountains. Test your stamina with more than 10,700 feet of vertical climbing over the 100 mile course. Elevations for the six gaps in this ride range from 2,949 feet to 3,490 feet. The toughest climb, Hogpen Gap, will test even the strongest riders, averaging a 7% grade for seven miles, with sections as steep as 15%.
I haven't been able to find a profile of it...but I've seen it on t-shirts and it's scary. 6 climbs...one after the other...and the one they mention above (Hogpen, nicknamed HogPain) is the 4th climb.
I've heard a ton of mixed reviews about how difficult it is. The only people who's opinion I trust (because they did some climbing rides with me) said that I shouldn't have too much trouble. I don't know though...it still makes me super nervous. I've got a 30-27...so I should be ok. DH has a 28-29...and he gives me a hard time for needing to rest. :mad:
I guess that ultimately, my goal would be to finish the ride and to not hate every minute of it. :rolleyes:
That does sound like a challenging ride! But, trust your friends you have ridden with.Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
One thing that helped me a lot this year was reading something Chris Carmichael wrote about selecting goals. He said that you should set several goals, and put them in an order so that there is a hierarchy.
After reading his goal setting chapter in his book (I'm getting old...can't remember the name...is it The Ultimate Ride?), I very purposely set my goals in this order:
1) Maintain a positive attitude and have fun.
2) Set a PB for elevation gained.
3) Finish the century route.
I wanted my first goal to be something I could control. I couldn't control a lot of things (weather, mechanicals, etc), but I could control my attitude.
The second goal I chose because it would still give me a feeling of accomplishment, but even if I wasn't fast enough to finish the course, I still had a shot at setting this PB.
Finally, I knew that, even though I am a very slow rider, if everything came together for the perfect day, this goal would be in reach.
So, I set goals that covered the spectrum...from one I could keep even if the whole day fell apart, to one I could just barely reach, if everything all came together.
Your ride does sound tough! But, just imagine (and I mean truly visualize and imagine), how you will feel about yourself when you're done!
(One final note...you absolutely have to ride your own ride, especially not your DH's. It was humbling to my ego early in the ride to pace myself, even on the flats, while rider after rider zoomed by me...and also later in the day when I was climbing at 3mph, concentrating on keeping my tires on the white line and just breathing, rather than staggering around. But, slow & steady won the day for me. I met my goals.)
k..I'm in & want to share my hill with you...
Mount Street is on the last half of my ride & will aim to do it twice a week..
Length of Mount St – past bridge to top (cliff st): 280m
Height at bottom: 15m
Height at top: 50m
Difference: 35m
% Gradient = 35/280*100 = 12.5%
I made it up the other day without stopping :)
It's the hilliest thing i can find on my weekday rides..
C
Nothing terribly exciting on the climbing front, but I am pretty proud of myself tonight, so I just have to post this!
I just surpassed 1,500 miles!!! When I started riding in February, I never would've guessed I'd be at 1,500 miles by August. Pat-on-back for self. :D
BIG pat!!! And, we all have been seeing that a lot of those miles have been climbing miles. Nice job, Sara!! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by sara
Today I rode the Tour de Max, almost 7000 ft in 70 miles. Booyah! :cool:
Still not Starfish Level though. ;)
Woohoo!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Well done jobob.:)
Remember two years ago - Tunitas Creek.Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Remember when Nemesis was wicked hard.
Remember when you thought you'd never exceed the speed limit on the trail.
Keep on truckin' Jo. :D
V.
Thanks ! :o
Hee hee, you bet I did! As I was riding up Tunitas Creek Road yesterday, for only the second time ever, I was thinking back to the first time I went up it, two years ago with V and Thom.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
I did much better this time. Only needed to stop for a short breather about 2/3 up. yay. :D
That road still sux though. :p
What kind of computers do you guys use to keep track of your hill climbs? I am the "weirdo" of our group ... you know ... the one who actuallly likes to climb :) and I would love to keep track of things like that. Please share with me what you guys like to use! Thanks!
I use a Polar 720. I think the current model is a 725. It tracks nearly everything.
I also often ride with a GPS - Garmin 60CSx.
V.
Just tell V you are committed to some ride, and then tell her she has permission to get tough. One day I will come down and we will struggle along in her wake together! LOL :pQuote:
Originally Posted by jobob
I have a CicloSport CM436M that I really like (once I was able to comprehend the GEnglish instruction manual) but unfortanately it's been discontinued. Ciclosport currently doesn't seem to have an equivalent model.
One of the things I really like about it is that I can download my ride data onto my desktop computer and save epic rides for posterity :p
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...uff/120807.jpg
Thanks for the tip. I went to the Polar website to check it out and :eek: ... I guess you pay for what you get. I was a little sticker shocked at first. I'm sure once the shock sets in I'll set my heart on getting one. Thanks for the lead. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
Thanks for the graph, jobob. That's fantastic! I would love to track my favorite rides like that.
Wow Jo - great ride!!
On the computers, I used a Ciclosport HAC4 for years and now have a Garmin Edge 305.
The Polars will do graphs like that too. But I like the color of Jo's.
V.
Oh, and on the computer...I don't recall the model name, but my Specialized cyclometer has altitude as a function. Seems to be fairly accurate. No downloading, though.
I just wish it didn't show the world how freakin' slow of a climber I am. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Veronica