January 29th rides

[Crankin]

This was my first ride of the year and my first ride on my Jamis Coda. I didn't have a lot of time, and I had to negotiate the ice and snow still on my driveway by walking down the hill in my Merrills, and changing into my bike shoes and booties outside.
It was great to be outside on a bike, but I did not feel like I was riding a "flat bar road bike," as others have said. In fact, it felt just like the old mountain bike I had been using as a commuter, except that it fits me! My speed seemed pitiful, but when I told my husband, he told me that he had forgot to reset the computer for the new wheel size and that would make a 10% difference. Still, I think that when I ride this to work, I will have allow for an extra 15 minutes commuting time. But, it will be nice to have a pannier, instead of a backpack.
The bike is so small it only fits one bottle cage and it's so tight, I can't get the bottle out! I think I may have to use a little one. And I think the seat hight needs tweaking.
At least I dressed correctly, maybe a bit warm, but it was 37 out and I have not ridden below 40, except in the woods. Saturday is supposed to be 45, so I will go for a longer ride after all the tweaking is done,

[SouthernBelle]

Robyn,

You might take a look at those cages that fit on the back of your saddle.

[Brandy]

Today was hill repeats. Not "hill play" as I've been doing to stave off the boredom. Honest to goodness repeats on Newport Coast. Hill repeats with a purpose and my eyes glued to the power meter. I got six of them in. Not bad. 22.4 miles and 3100 ft. of climbing.



This came after a talking to from the coach about how the steep hills that I've been climbing are not going to help me and that I need sustained climbing. When that is not available...hill repeats with a purpose. So that's what I did today.

[Starfish]

Wow, Brandy, very nice! My coach has added, for this next month, something called GWHR (Gut Wrenching Hill Repeats) afraid, very afraid.

Brandy, how long would you say the hills are, and how steep, that you're doing?

Today, no ride outdoors. An hour of body conditioning/resistance class, followed by an hour of spin class. Spin class takes on a whole new meaning after an hour of total body conditioning, including squats and lunges.

(This is new to me...I actually went home in the morning right after class and took a 30 minute nap. ) But, I know I will build up to this and just have to push through the initial surprise to my body!

[Brandy]

Thanks Starfish-Here's the info and charts for Newport Coast. It's the top entry...

http://epictrain.com/My_Favorite_Climbs.html

1.6 miles with 462 Elevation Gain 5.83% Grade

[Ticia]

Brandy, That is a LOT of climbing! Wow. I have a question. How do you figure the Grade of a hill if you have the elevation and the mileage? I know there must be some equation. I'm not understanding. There is this huge hill I see ppl training on that is right down the road from me and it is 717ft of elev. gain in .86 miles The one I finally did last year that I was so proud of was 306 ft in 1.06 miles. So how do I know the grade?

[RoadRaven]

This was my first ride of the year and my first ride on my Jamis Coda.

Yay! Hard to have a bike saying "ride me!" and the weather saying "nah, not today..."
Glad you finally got out and trust you have a great day on Saturday's ride. (Fingers crossed for good weather)

And SouthernBelle... too funny! A flat on your trainer...

On the 29th I took an hour on false flats to ride 22kms... I "big-chain-ringed" the whole ride and did a couple of intervals. Legs were a bit tired...