Yesterday, instead of going to the group handling training I normally do, I opted for a longer ride because I need the mileage. In hindsight I probably should have just did the handling training because my ride sucked.

I started off OK and wanted to ride something a little bit faster than my planned century pace of 15 mph. I targeted an average of 16 mph for the ride. Once I got down off the trail and on the loop around White Rock Lake the wind was blowing pretty good with gusts to 20 mph. I was still able to maintain a good speed but was frequently below 15 mph.

About half-way through this first loop I really started to labor. I want to think it was the heat but it could be several issues.

1. I wonder if I wasn’t hydrated enough. I’m bad about not drinking enough water throughout the day and I think this, combined with the heat yesterday, caused part of the problem. I carried a bottle of water and a bottle of gatorade with me but it didn’t seem to help.
2. I may not have gotten enough food. I had a small romaine salad with a can of tuna and a few mushrooms for lunch. That was it. No dressing or anything. I also had some wheat pretzels in the afternoon but I basically didn’t have anything to eat several hours before my ride. That, combined with the heat, was probably a recipe for disaster.
3. Carrying eight 10 pound bags of potatos while riding isn’t helping. Think about that statement. The next time you’re in the grocery store find a 10 pound bag of potatos and feel how heavy it is. I’m carrying eight of those in extra body weight/fat around while I’m riding. That hasn’t got to help me at all except on the downhill sections where I can really build up some momentum. I’m very surprised that I don’t have knee problems due to me carrying all that extra weight around for years.

With less than four hours of sleep on Sunday night I opted to not ride on Monday despite Mike’s encouragement to consider the lack of sleep as practice for a 24 hr ride or RAAM. Because of that, I really needed to ride yesterday.

It was going to be hot and windy. I can handle the hot but the wind here in Texas is blowing my mind. It’s blowing every stinking day and we’re not just talking about nice lazy breezes. It’s constantly between 10-20 mph with gusts up to, or over, 25 mph depending on the day. Yesterday was no different. Ridiculous in fact.

I started the ride and I could tell before I had ridden a mile that it just didn’t feel right. I still felt really tired even though I had gotten a good 8 hours the night before. I didn’t feel comfortable in the saddle and felt like I was fighting the bike. I was really hoping it would settle out after a couple of miles. It didn’t. After I made it down the trail to White Rock Lake the wind hit me full force. I was riding in the big ring but having a very hard time maintaining even 14 mph. I eventually had to shift to the small ring and just try to settle into a rhythm. So much for a good hard workout. The wind was a little better on the other side of the lake because it was on my quarter but I was still really struggling. It was at this point I decided I would only do 15 miles instead of 25. I just didn’t think I could do the extra ten.

With about three miles left in the loop around the lake, before I take the trail back to my car, a guy pulls up next to me and says, “What’s up with the #$!*ing wind?” First off, I was very surprised somebody pulled up next to me and started talking. That’s only happened one other time. Second, I couldn’t have agreed more.

After a brief two sentence conversation with the other rider I found out his true intentions. He was really just slowing down so that he could slide into a spot next to the girl who had just passed me about a minute before. I can’t say that I blame him (she was drop-dead gorgeous) (my wife would agree with me).

That brings up the whole question about guys and ladies cycling and whether or not you can actually be successful in picking up a person of the opposite sex while out cycling. I think though, that it would be most likely guys trying to pick up girls and not the other way around. I’ve been wrong before though. I’m married, and don’t have to worry about any of this, but that whole scenario is interesting. Would a girl out cycling be even remotely interested in a guy rolling up next to her and trying to strike up a conversation? I’m thinking that if she’s out there riding, especially if it’s on a decked out TT bike I see some of the girls on, then the answer would be no. She’s more interested in her workout. On the other hand, maybe some of the girls out riding would welcome the the advances of a guy that’s in shape and sports quads the size of Godzilla and calves the size of Cycling Tips’.

How did our guy above make out? Not too good I think. I saw her heading around for another loop of the lake (which goes to tell you what kind of shape she was in by riding another loop in the wind and heat, or, more likely, it just tells you what kind of pathetic shape I’m in) as I headed for the trail back to my car and she was riding alone. I guess she told him to shove off or maybe she gave him the old pump into the spokes treatment like in Breaking Away.

Sorry, way off track there.

Seriously, the wind here has got me perplexed and worried. I grew up only 2 hours from here and don’t, ever, remember consistent wind like this. Maybe a 100 miles can make that big a difference. I don’t know. I’m worried about the century I’m riding in late September. If the wind is going to be like this I think I’m going to have a hard time. I’m guessing the only thing I can do is to continue riding in it, and up the hills, to get accustomed to it.

There were plenty of other cyclists out yesterday and none of them really seemed to be struggly with the wind like I was. I was consistently getting passed by folks (guys and chicks) just churning out the cadence like there was no wind at all. Maybe I should strap a wind turbine to my back. I was very surprised to see that I averaged 14.6 mph for the 15 miles. I expected something in the 13 mph range.

I went up to Oklahoma this weekend and took my bike because the weather was supposed to be great. Hot but good. I wasn’t sure how far I wanted to ride so I decided to just ride the loop that includes Marilyn and then see how it sent from there.

I left the house at about 7:15 AM so I could get my ride in before it started to get hot. When I took off it was a very nice 65F but when I returned three hours later it was already 87F and topped off at about 93F for the day.

The first section of my rides is what I call Marilyn because it has curves like Marilyn Monroe. Up and down hills of varying grades and lengths for about 8 miles. I’m very glad to say that I road it’s length in the big chain ring and had a much easier time than the last time I road this section about a month ago. I did run into the same two dogs as last time though but had no problems just dialing up the speed and leaving them behind.

After finishing this first tough 8 miles I decided I was thirsty and reached down to grab a water bottle. My hand grasped nothing but air. I looked down and my water bottles weren’t there. I left them sitting on the back bumper of my mom’s car. The picture to the right shows them after I got back. Right where I left them. I didn’t let it bother me too much because I knew at about the 12 mile mark there was a store I could stop at to get water which is what I did. I downed a bottle of gatorade and refilled it from another water bottle I had bought. Unfortunately they didn’t have any squirt tops so I had to mess with a screw-on top for the ride. No biggie. At least I had water.

Upon leaving the store my computer showed 12.5 miles. If I headed for home I would only get about 15 miles in. I could do the loop again but really didn’t feel like it. I decided to head due east from the store on Hwy 70 for 10 miles and then turn around to head back.

Hwy 70 is a four-lane road divided highway for about 8 miles from the store where I got water. The shoulder is easily 6 feet wide and the surface was in great shape. There was very little traffic which made the riding great. It actually had quite a few hills with a couple that were kinda tough. Most of the hills were anywhere from .25 to .75 miles long with a pretty constant grade which means I could just settle into a good rhythm and pound it out.

As I said earlier I headed due west for 10 miles. I checked my computer and I had ridden 22.5 miles at a 15.2 mph pace. If I turned around then it would put me at 32.5 back at the store and then about 2 miles back home. What I wanted to do was not let my pace suffer.

Heading back was tougher than I thought. It could be that it was getting hotter but for some reason I don’t remember going downhill all that much on the outbound trip so I was wondering where all the hills came from on the way back. Funny how our mind plays tricks on us like that. A couple of the hills gave me some trouble but I just grinded it out all the way home.

When I got off I checked the computer and it showed 34.5 miles with a 2 hour 20 minute ride time and a average speed of 15.1 mph. I was ecstatic. That was the longest I’d ridden in 15 years and I only lost .1 mph on the 12 mile return trip. It was a great ride and I feel pretty confident I could have easily done another 10 or 15 miles. Maybe more.

I’ve been absent here for a week or so while I launch an affiliate website but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped riding. On the contrary, I rode pretty hard last week and had a good ride last night.

After some of my recent problems riding down at White Rock Lake (rude cyclists and races) I’ve done some riding around the loop we use for our Monday evening training rides. It is kinda boring but there’s no traffic and the only real hazard is gettingtaken out by an airplane. The picture below is of some of the flowers on the loop. It’s actually quite pretty and is like that for the entire .8 mile loop.

I decided last week that I needed to step up my efforts in my rides because I felt like I was becoming accustomed to what I was doing. The first big change I made was to start riding on the big ring. I’m not exactly sure why I haven’t done this before now. I think I was holding back because of the hills (that I’m not used to). After the Monday evening training ride last week where we actually did some big ring work I felt more comfortable turning it.

Wednesday last week instead of doing my normal hill repeat day I decided to head to the loop and see how hard I could push myself. I did a warm-up of five miles that was probably in the 14 mph range followed by a hard 15 miles where at times I was averaging well over 20 mph a lap. In the end I rode the 20 miles at a 16.2 mph average which is huge for me.

Because the holiday weekend was over I decided to head down to White Rock Lake to get a ride in. I, again, wanted to push myself hard to see what I could do around the lake since I was riding a bigger gear now. The wind was supposed to be around 10 mph out of the SSE with gusts to 15 mph but an approaching thunderstorm had the gusts probably close to 20 mph and a steady wind of 15 mph. That’s all headwind on one side of the lake depending on the direction you ride. I rode into the headwind for the first half and pushed myself pretty hard all the way around staying in my 52T ring the whole way. All told I rode about 15 miles with a 15.2 mph average. I believe my previous best average around the lake is in the neighborhood of 14.5. I wanted to do another loop but the approaching thunderstorm didn’t look pretty.

I have to say the biggest change I’ve seen is my riding on the hills. I am now able to ride up them easier and more aggressive (I actually try to think of attacking them before I get to them). In fact, I rode all the hills last night in the big gear which really surprised me. I think I can contribute this to a couple of factors:

1. I’m getting used to the hills.
2. My fitness may be starting to improve.

I expected #1 to eventually happen but I think my biggest surprise is #2. Looking at the speed I was able to carry on the two rides I talked about above, along with the improved hill riding, I think my fitness maybe starting to turn around and be on an upward trend.

One of the biggest changes I’ve seen though is actually on my belt. I have been doing more riding the past 1.5 months (probably averaging about 70 miles a week) and have really tried to control my diet. There are days that my diet lapses but for the most part I’ve been very strict with it. I just need to tighten the belt (pardon the pun) and stick with the diet better.

Like I said, the biggest change I’ve seen is on my belt. I’ve already had to tighten it two holes and only have one left to go on this belt. When I moved out here from Florida I intentionally brought two smaller belts I’ve had for a while with every intention of being able to use them. I might be able to reach that goal in the next couple of months.

With yesterday being Monday it was time for group/individual skills training with Team Bikin’. The weather was perfect and with 16 of us showing up it had the makings for a great evening of cycling.

After a four mile warm up we all gathered together in one of the large parking lots adjacent to the loop. For our first five laps the leader had us leave the parking lot and take the next half-lap easy (recovery) and for the half-lap back to the parking lot we were to sprint. Once at the parking lot we were to do six figure-eight drills for handling and then a quick-stop drill. After that we head back out onto the loop and repeat for four more laps.

We do have one stop sign on the loop that we do stop at. At the stop sign the group leader has got us practicing track stands in order to keep us from having to unclip at a stop sign. It was hard at first but I’m starting to get the hang of it. I can’t maintain it for long but I’m sure that’ll come with practice.

Once everyone was done with those five laps we re-grouped again in the parking lot to discuss the next five laps where he would have us work on pedaling out of the saddle.

For each of the next five laps he would have us do the following – one the uphill section leading up to the stop sign shift into the big chain ring and smallest cog for max resistance. Once shifted stand up out of the saddle and practice ‘walking’ up the hill. This is a deliberately slow pace to practice form out of the saddle including balance and spin. It actually takes an effort to not go fast despite the resistance from the gearing. Once at the stop sign we shift into a comfortable gear and for the next 3/4 lap sit 10 seconds in the saddle followed by 10 seconds out of the saddle. This helps get those riders not comfortable with this technique to practice being out of the saddle for a short period of time since this is the technique used to cross railroad tracks and cattle guards. The key was to mantain your weight back over the pedals so the front wheel remains responsive.

I’m very comfortable being out of the saddle for the 10 second obstacle crossing but am very glad we worked on going up hill out of the saddle since that’s a technique I really need to practice.

You’ve heard me talk a lot about how the terrain is different here in Texas than it was in Florida and that the hills have been giving trouble. I’m not talking big hills either. Most are, max, several hundred feet long and the grades aren’t severe except on a couple. I’m not used to them but I think my fitness has started to improve as of late and I’m wanting to ‘attack’ them now and I’ve seen better results. I think the ‘walking’ drill is going to help me take it up a notch in this area.

The last drill of the evening was five laps of two-person pacelines. Everyone was allowed to choose their own partner and it should be a slower rider paired with a faster rider. Since I still don’t really know anybody I just kind of waited for someone to come to me. I ended up paired with a guy named R.J. and we headed out.

Me being the slow rider led the first lap probably averaging about 15 mph. I could have gone faster but it was supposed to be a slow lap. R.J. took over for the second lap and took us around. I’m getting better at holding a wheel but felt we could have gone faster. I’m pretty sure he’s in much better shape than I am and he may have been taking it slow for me. On our fourth lap I was following again and he picked it up a little more. I looked once at the computer and we were going over 20 mph but I felt I had more to give. I’m sure that’s because I was drafting off him though. I felt we took the last turn perfectly with him leading in and me maintaining about 12 inches off his wheel at a fast pace. We came out of the turn and I was still nicely tucked in and on his wheel. That felt great.

We didn’t get the fifth lap in since the group had gathered up near the stop sign to call it a night. I felt it was a very good night of training and am glad I’m doing this. I think it’s helping a lot. I road two more laps by myself to push myself over the 20 mile mark for the night.

Next Monday, due to the holiday, we’re meeting early and planning a 3 hour training session. Can’t wait.

I’ve ridden several times this week but haven’t since, I believe, Thursday and that wasn’t a great ride. It was kind of a downer week at work and just haven’t felt great all week. It rained all day yesterday so if I was going to get a ride in this weekend it had to be today.

I arrived down at White Rock Lake at about 8:30 and it was beautiful. What clouds there were were starting to dissipate and it was a nice 55F. Just cool enough for a long sleeve jersey. That was good because my long sleeve jersey is the only one I have that fits well.

I headed out and within about a half-mile I started to see some orange cones on the trail and lots of people. Looks like there was another race today. Turns out it was the 13th Annual North Trail Half Marathon. It looks like they didn’t mind the cyclists riding on the trail so I kept going. A little while later it got kind of crowded and I almost turned around to head back to the car. Instead I moved over to a service road to get around the crowd and that solved the problem. There were other areas that it got crowded as well so I patiently waited until I had an opportunity to pass.

Now it’s time for a rant. There were several cyclists who were not near as patient as me and used the runners as their personal obstacle course. There was one cyclist in particular who pulled a very, very dangerous move one a narrow downhill section. I knew he was behind me but I guess he got tired of waiting and decided to pass. In this particular section, there were runners and walkers on both sides of the trail. The jerk in question decided to make a high-speed pass around me, go between two pairs of runners and came very close to taking out an elderly gentleman and his wife who were out for a nice morning walk going in the opposite direction. I saw the faces of the elderly couple as he went by and he really scared them. I was so ticked off.

Unfortunately, events like that take place quite a bit out at White Rock Lake. It’s a multi-use trail that’s utilized by runners, walkers, cyclists, and roller bladers. The cyclists are always the fastest people on the trail so you end up passing a lot of people. Very few cyclists though have the common courtesy to let you know they’re passing you. They’ll simply blow by you, sometimes coming very close, and don’t say a word. It’s so easy to say “on your left” to let the person know that you’re passing. No wonder cyclists get a bad reputation sometimes.