November 2nd rides

[shootingstar]

I should have done more today, but what the hey...25 kms.

Yesterday I did 43 kms. and for reasons, not totally explainable, I was sore..after all I had not cycled for 3 previous days. usually I don't get that sore.

[Aggie_Ama]

DH and I went out to Rocky Hill Ranch in beautiful Smithville for a pre-ride of the course he will be racing next weekend. This trail is a little more intermediate than my normal trail but I was able to do quite a bit. I surprised myself (and DH!) in some parts. The trail is very nice if not a bit dark because it is tucked in a pine forest. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride but was pooped after one lap. DH went back out to ride a hard lap and I reclined in the bed of the truck for 30 minutes! I was disappointed the "gimpy" cows DH saw last week were not out this week. He called them gimpy because he thinks they are cheap auction cows for an agriculture exemption.

Our lovely fall weather? Sunny and about 83!

[arielmoon]

The knee has been bothering me still since the century... so I rode 13 miles both monday and tuesday without feeling much improvement. Strangely I did think it felt better after I rode. I got rained out yesterday and rode the trainer but I was determined to see how it would be today.

Great weather today but very windy. I set off and immediately felt the knee pain and I almost turned back around but I decided to play around and see what worked.

I discovered that mashing felt better (with almost no pain) than spinning So I ended up doing a strong 24 miles: averaged 19.3 on my scenic route. I was so pumped and wired afterward! I love that feeling. And oddly enough, my knee feels better this evening that it has all week.

[tulip]

I discovered that mashing felt better (with almost no pain) than spinning So I ended up doing a strong 24 miles: averaged 19.3 on my scenic route. I was so pumped and wired afterward! I love that feeling. And oddly enough, my knee feels better this evening that it has all week.

Yep, within reason. I found that as well. My theory (and I have NO basis for it because I'm not a PT or anything remotely like that) is that when you spin constantly very easy you are stressing your tendons and not using your muscles, and so your tendons do all the work, which they are not meant to do. So a bit of mashing (again within reason) uses muscles that work in concert with the tendons and ligaments, and every part does its particular job and there's no pain.

Some PT please explain what really happens.

[Jolt]

I went for about a 45-minute ride late this afternoon; it was in the mid 40's here. I need to figure out how to keep my hands and ears warm on cold rides! Especially with doing more riding right now since I can't run yet (still working on fixing IT band problems which fortunately cycling doesn't bother).

[Tri Girl]

Ummm... Yesterday I rode 5 miles doing errands and today I only did 10 miles running errands (shoe store, grocery store), and my quads are really sore. Hmmm...
Granted, I haven't ridden much at all lately, but still. I'm not in bad shape. I guess my legs just have forgotten what that crazy riding thing is all about (might be the 20 lbs of food I was hauling).

[arielmoon]

Yep, within reason. I found that as well. My theory (and I have NO basis for it because I'm not a PT or anything remotely like that) is that when you spin constantly very easy you are stressing your tendons and not using your muscles, and so your tendons do all the work, which they are not meant to do. So a bit of mashing (again within reason) uses muscles that work in concert with the tendons and ligaments, and every part does its particular job and there's no pain.

Some PT please explain what really happens.

I agree that the muscles work more. The more I could feel my quad working the less I felt in the knee.

In addition, have a theory that may or may not hold water. When I spin I must follow the entire motion of the pedal or else I bounce like mad. When I mash (within reason- like you said) I dont have to because the power of the push carries the pedal around.

I am open to a more educated interpretation if anyone has one!

[tulip]

When you bounce, you are spinning too much. However, you can (and should) do the whole circle thing even on bigger gears. Don't just push down, but pull up on the backside of the stroke, too. Be smooth.

[arielmoon]

When you bounce, you are spinning too much. However, you can (and should) do the whole circle thing even on bigger gears. Don't just push down, but pull up on the backside of the stroke, too. Be smooth.

I try and I am pretty sure that I am fairly smooth. Just trying to theorize why it makes a difference to my knee.

[PinkBike]

we went to tucson for a training ride for el tour de tucson in 3 weeks. there were two options - 56 and 92 miles. we decided on the shorter one because next week we're do the 100-miler. we blast off and at about 10 miles DH lets out an "eek" - his garmin has disappeared from his handlebars. i kidded him about how expensive this riding business is turning out to be, i mean its always something, between flats and stolen seats and all. so we decided to retrace our steps. we found it about 5 miles back, laying in the middle of the bike lane, still running! at least 50 riders had to have passed it by. oh, we also found a watch along the way. and a dime.

so now we've lost our group, so we decide we're just a couple miles from mt lemmon let's go ride it. we get there, start up the mountain, at about 5 miles my bottles are empty and we're 9 miles from the summit. so we turn around and FLY down the mountain.

at the bottom we still have good legs so we decide to ride about another hour or so since we dont have to check out of our hotel til noon. so we start out and just ride and ride and now its close to noon and i realize we really dont know exactly where we are. so we keep going, but stop every couple miles to pull out the garmin (i had just recently loaded the street maps), and finally see a street i recognize so we know where to go but we're still about 6 miles away. we're tired and hungry and thirsty and hot (it's still 86 degrees here) and cranky and get into the hotel (the hilton - $63 - hotwire.com! score!) about 12:30 and they give us the okay to check out at 1 p.m.

all in all just another adventure.

[newfsmith]

In 8 years of commuting, everyday I rode past a house with a beautiful front yard, all in perennials. It flowers from early spring to late fall. Today, I happened to be coming back from my ride around noon (luxery of retirement) and an older women (older than me even) was out cleaning up the spent asters. I stopped to say what a lovely yard she had and how much I had enjoyed it over the years. She was beaming. Her smile helped me spin up the last hill.

[badgercat]

In 8 years of commuting, everyday I rode past a house with a beautiful front yard, all in perennials. It flowers from early spring to late fall. Today, I happened to be coming back from my ride around noon (luxery of retirement) and an older women (older than me even) was out cleaning up the spent asters. I stopped to say what a lovely yard she had and how much I had enjoyed it over the years. She was beaming. Her smile helped me spin up the last hill.

What a lovely story! Thanks for sharing.