Much better ride last night
After the horrible ride I had on Monday evening I decided to make some changes to what I was doing and with the help and ideas of some of the commenters on that post I made several changes and had a great ride. Here’s what I did:
- I drank more during the day. I said that I have a bad habit of not drinking enough during the day so I took that to heart and ramped it up. I still don’t think I drank enough but what I did drink helped.
- I ate a cliff bar as I left work to get some food in my stomach and give it time to digest before getting in the saddle. This means I ate it about an hour and twenty minutes before riding.
- I delayed my ride a half hour. I did this to try and eliminate some of the heat problem and it seemed to help. A lot. Sure, it was hot for the first 45 minutes or so but it started to get much better as the sun started dropping. I think that was a huge improvement.
- I didn’t wear a cap under my helmet. I sweat really bad and have big problems with it getting in my eyes. I’ve been wearing a cycling cap under my helmet to solve this problem and that solution works great. With the heat though I don’t think that’s a viable option anymore. I noticed a big difference in air flow in my helmet (I need a new one with more vents) but I did deal with sweat in my eyes. I need to pick up one of those head bands that solves that issue.
- I did an actual warm up. I road the first six miles at a sloth like 12.3 mph avg because, like Doug said, I believe I was starting out too fast. I believe this helped.
Those are the changes I made for last nights ride and I had a great 23 mile ride. Was the greatness of the ride a result of all of the above? I don’t know. I think they at least contributed to a better ride. Like I said I road the first six miles in warm up at a 12.3 mph avg speed. My overall avg speed for the 23 miles was 14.5 mph. That means I road the final 18 miles at a 16.7 mph avg speed. All in the small ring. I felt it last night and a little this morning. This is the first time in a while that I can actually feel like I had put in a hard workout on the bike and felt it after. Awesome.
Thanks to everyone who provided support and ideas from yesterday’s post. I sincerely appreciate it.
Read MoreObliterated after 15 miles
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Awesome training session last night
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.
Read MoreOne leg drills
Last night I had group ride training again and I did something new. One-leg drills. These were pretty tough and I could really feel it in my legs. Here’s how it went down.
After my five lap warm up on the 0.8 mile loop the group leader has us do a single lap riding with both feet clipped in. About halfway through that lap there’s a parking lot where he had us pull off and do five figure eights for cornering drills. Then we finish that first lap with both feet clipped in. For the second lap we unclip one foot and ride one-legged for a full lap. The third lap we repeat the first lap. On the fourth lap we ride one-legged for the other foot unclipped and for lap five we repeat the first lap again.
I’ve never done anything like that and it was pretty though on my quads and hams. After those five laps we had a discussion about our spins during the one-leg portions and what we experienced. A few of us (me included) were experiencing surging and slack at the top of the upstroke. He attributed that to us not properly using our leg on the upstroke and told us to be more conscious of using the entire pedal revolution. Makes sense to me.
Next he had us do 3 laps individually – the first slow, the second hard and the third recovery – while maintaining as good a line as possible. The loop we ride has two very good seams in the concrete that lets us basically ride the line to help us. I seem to be able to do this very well because in our paceline sessions I always get complimented on how well I can ride a steady line. Maybe they’re just being nice…lol!
For the last five laps he had us get in groups of five and start a paceline with each rider taking a one lap pull and then falling to the back of the line. Our group worked pretty well together although I admittedly need more work on cornering in a paceline.
Overall I thought it was great training and got in 15 miles in the process. My legs were feeling it this morning due to those one-leg drills.
Read MoreNew Cleats And Cement Legs
Well, yesterday was my first chance after getting back from Jacksonville to get back on the bike. I had to go by the Performance Bike store first to pick up some new cleats. I’m too embarrassed to say how long its been since I bought new cleats. Let’s just say I was long overdue.
Because of the trip to the bike store, and traffic getting home, I didn’t have much time for a ride. In fact, I only got one loop in around White Rock Lake for a total of 9.2 miles. I intentionally tried to take it at an easy pace because its been a week since I’ve ridden. There was a little wind out of the South as well which made a couple spots difficult. I managed the loop in 39 minutes which is an average of 14.1 mph.
For me that’s pretty good. Especially since my legs felt like cement blocks all the way around. On Monday I spent about 10 hours in my yard in Jacksonville taking care of spring lawn care that had gone neglected since I’m not there. Stuff like trimming the hedges, banana trees, and palm trees, pulling weeds (seven trash bags full), mowing and edging. It was a long day. The next day I could hardly move my legs because my hamstrings were so tight. I think I was still feeling some of those effects on my ride last night.
Having the new cleats felt weird. It’s been so long since I had changed them that I think I became accustomed to them being worn down. I use the Look Arc Delta cleats (red) and picked up the ones with the teflon coated surfaces for easy in and out. They feel a lot different than what I was used to but did the job. I just need to put in the miles and I’ll get accustomed to them.
After work today I’m driving up to my Mom’s in OK and it looks like the weather is going to be nice this weekend so I can take my bike. There’s some good roads accessible right from her house that I can ride on and I’d like to get 30-40 miles in on Saturday morning. Monday evening I’m meeting the Team Bikin’ group at their Monday evening circuit training session where they work on conditioning and individual/group handling skills on a .8 mile circuit. Reminds me of a criterium circuit. I’m really looking forward to the group training session so I can ride with a group. I know I won’t have the skills or fitness to hang with them for the entire session but it’ll be good for me.
Finally, to all those who sent the nice emails/tweets during my wife’s surgery I appreciate it. She’s at home recovering now. She’s still in a lot of pain from the surgery but we hope that will start to subside soon. Total recovery time is about 6 months.
Read MoreCONNECT WITH BTL
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