5/21 rides

[Duck on Wheels]

Last training ride for the ALC Thought it would be just my usual commute, but I'd forgotten that today is a public holiday. So I finished packing in the morning, everything but bike and bike shoes, that is. Then DH and I did a round past the campus, behind the woods, past the city reservoar, etc. and home. Just over 20 miles, I think. Last summer when UK tried to talk me into doing the ALC she and I did a ride to Hell and DH and I did this round past the reservoar. The ride to Hell took me so long that we took the train back so UK could make it to IKEA before they closed. The reservoar round took me 2.5 hours and I had to walk several of the longer hills. Since then I've done Hell-and-back at a halfway decent pace and today I did the reservoar route in 1 hr 45 minutes. Not great time, I know. DH does it in an hour and his bike weighs twice what mine does. But it's a major improvement on my own time. I now ride all the hills, and although I still have to cut the longest one into 2 segments, there are others I can stay in a middle gear all the way up. I think maybe I'll actually manage to do the whole ALC. Well, I'm sure I'll have to divvy up some of the hills, and I may wind up walking the worst ones. But I think I can actually make it on my own steam, barring injuries or bonks.

I wasn't this optimistic last week. Last 2 weeks, doing this route from campus after work was still taking me 2 hours and had my back really aching. Hmmm. Could it be that backpack full of books and papers I haul home from work every day? If so, I guess I should be grateful to the books and papers for the extra workout they gave me.

Well, gotta drive up to campus now, print out some more of those papers -- MA and PhD drafts I'll need to read on the flight tomorrow and send comments back to students impatient to finish. Those will be part of the last-minute packing job, on-board luggage contents. Tomorrow UK and I fly to California.

[Crankin]

I decided to get out and do a short, 15 mile, ride early, to beat the heat.
Bad idea. I wanted to ride from 6-7, but I just couldn't get out of bed. I left around 7 and decided to do one of my short loops in the reverse direction, to avoid traffic back ups on one road. This is the route that She Fly does on her weekly time trials...
I realized right away that after 25 years of exercising early in the morning, I am no longer used to it after not doing it for a year. Also, my quads were significantly hurting from my ride yesterday; a depressing thought, since this was a flat to rolling ride that was only 31 miles. I guess I need more recovery? It was beautiful out, so I decided the only way I would make it back was to slow down. I really slowed down, in fact, I didn't even look at my average. Well, I'm glad I went, but a little dismayed at how badly I felt.

[NoNo]

Don't feel discouraged! You went out and rode, and that's what counts. Sometimes I go out with the intention of it being a long or harder ride, but my body just doesn't have it. All you can do is change up the gameplan and decide that's a day to enjoy the scenery. I bet you would have felt worse if you'd done nothing at all.

Like you, I got up early, but decided to bike to work. I'm terrible at morning rides, and my HR showed it! Maxed out up the two big hills, but my legs never stopped moving. Average speed was down, too, even though I felt like I was moving well on the flats. Temperature was perfect, I hope it's not sweltering this afternoon. 9.5 in, about 10mi back to home.

[nolemom]

Crankin, Thanks for posting today. I had the same type of ride. Went out with DH for a normal ride, and struggled from the start. It was by far my worst ride in months. DH is such an optimist - he kept reminding me that this ride was still far better than when I first started last September and we did get in 24 miles. I'm taking tomorrow off and hoping for a better ride with the group on Saturday.

[Chile Pepper]

So happy to be back out today. I've been off with a foot injury, so I haven't been out in about six weeks. It felt great to get moving again. Nothing spectacular, just a little loop I do, with a nice climb in middle.

[Red Rock]

Well..I pulled out the Look road bike and took it for a spin. Something I have not done in a long while. I had H take me out of town so I could avoid traffic. I ended up doing a 25 mile loop. It had rolling hills, as well as, some more serious ones. My speed was around 10-15 mph, which I thought was pretty good since I had not been on this bike in a while.

I get really nervous around traffic so I try to avoid as much as possible. If I am going to do anything like staying in shape over the summer, I am going to have to get up early and ride. This means somehow dealing with my traffic fears. I have read The Art of Urban Riding, wear hi-vis or light colors with hi-vis vests, obey traffic laws. So maybe this is all in my head with no foundation? I am not quite sure. However, getting out and riding at least calmed me some because it all went "ok".

Riding on my 20lb commuter HT has at least kept me in some sort of shape. So this is a good thing. I guess I have to do more of it.

One other thing, My DH told me to tell all of you on TE "hello". He knows I here all the time, so you are like family.

Red Rock