Posts Tagged "White Rock Lake"

Tough 20 miles yesterday

Posted by Bryan on May 1, 2009 in Blog, My Rides | 13 comments

When I was thinking about what to title this post I had a hard time. I usually try to think of something catchy or use something that occurred during the ride for the title. Yesterday’s ride was pretty run of the mill except for the fact that it seemed overly tough. So why not just say it was a tough 20 miles? At first I didn’t like it because, for a cyclist (whom I consider myself to be), 20 miles shouldn’t be tough should it? I should be able to ride 20 easy miles right? There’s only one hard hill on the route so it shouldn’t be bad. For some reason though it was a hard ride for me.

Sure, I haven’t been on the bike for two days but that means I should be well-rested right? I almost wonder if those two days off were bad for me. The two days were unplanned. I intentionally didn’t ride on Tuesday in prep for a hard hill repeat day on Wednesday. When Wednesday came it looked like rain but I headed to the place where I ride the hill anyway. I got there and discovered my front tire flat. As I changed out the tube a torrential downpour started. So much for riding. That’s why I had two days off.

I felt a little uncomfortable in the saddle yesterday too. Like I hadn’t ridden in a long time and had forgotten how to spin properly. It felt like my feet were in the wrong position the entire time. Granted, I don’t have the best form on a bike but I have a little. I wouldn’t think those kinds of effects would occur after only two days off. And when your uncomfortable it makes the ride feel bad. At least for me it does.

I’ve been on a pretty strict diet lately really watching what I’m eating. The two days I had off I ate OK at breakfast and lunch but ate poorly at dinner. I had some trail mix in the afternoons too which was out of the norm for me. I also wonder if I didn’t drink enough water on those two days off. I always have problems with not drinking enough water. I’m sure the lapse in diet and low water intake could have something to do with making the 20 miles tough.

I’m sure part of the toughness was psychological as well. For those that read my blog and know about White Rock Lake you know that you get every kind of cyclist out there. From big, overweight folks like myself to the uber-athletes riding unbelievable machines. I’m a big guy but I have an attitude that I should be able to do anything and do it as good as someone else my age. Unfortunately that isn’t happening right now (because of my poor fitness) and I think I’m letting the other riders at the lake bother me. I know I can’t hammer it right now with the speed demons but it bothers me that I’m constantly getting passed by them. Granted, I shouldn’t be able to keep up with them right now and may never be able to but it still bothers me. Yesterday was particularly tough because I was passed by a couple of riders that should have never been able to pass me. That stung a little bit.

I will say that there was one particular cyclist that I was just blown away by. I’ve seen this guy before and he epitomizes the look and ability of a pro cyclist. Trim, fit, long legs, unbelievable looking bicycle. He’s hammering it every time I see him. I don’t think it’s a time trial bike but he has the time trial base handlebars with the clip-on aerobars (it seems I’ve seen a lot of those out at the lake lately). The first time I saw him he was doing interval work. He passed me at a pretty good clip and then slowed down (still pulling away from me) and then he sped up again a little while later. Yesterday he was just flying. He must have passed me going close to 30 mph or more. No stopping this time. He just kept going. Amazing really. I think what makes it even cooler is the sound. I know when he’s coming because I can here this deep rhythmic sound as he pedals. It’s got to be a combination of his chain moving over the large chain ring coupled with his tires on the pavement. Maybe you understand what I’m talking about. It just resonates with me when I hear it.

This post actually turned out to be a lot longer than I planned. Am I whining? That’s not my intent. I know you guys/gals don’t want to hear me whine. Just telling you how the ride went and why I think it felt tough.

I passed a Ferrari on my bike today

Posted by Bryan on Apr 26, 2009 in Blog, My Rides | 2 comments

It’s supposed to rain pretty bad this afternoon so I headed on out to White Rock Lake to get in a couple of loops before the bad weather. It was already overcast but the sun did peek out now and then. I think the clouds and threat of rain kept most people in this morning because there wasn’t as many folks out as usual.

My ride itself was pretty uneventful except that I felt like I had a harder workout today than I did yesterday even though my average speed was about a half mile an hour slower at 14.3 mph. It could have been because of the wind which was pretty bad in spots. It could have been me really trying to attack the one or two hills on the loop. Attack, for me, may be the wrong word but I just tried to get up them as quickly as possible. One in particular had me gasping the second time up. I need that kind of stuff though. It also could have been me being tired from yesterday or perhaps a little of all three.

Remember the Free Advice Guy I talked about before? After looking at my blog statistics I noticed that people were searching the Internet for who this guy was. Turns out it’s two guys and they’ve been doing it for eight years. I found out some more information over on the White Rock Lake FAQ page. Check it out.

OK, I know you all are wondering how a guy the size of a dump truck passed a Ferrari. Easy, the Ferrari was sitting still. You didn’t actually think I could pass it while it was moving did you? Seriously, out at the lake today they had a UK and European Car Show going on and they had all kinds of new and old cars and motorcycles. Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, MG’s, Mini’s, and Triumph’s were just what I could identify. There were many more. I had my eye on a yellow Ferrari Testarossa that was sweet.

Great 20 mile ride today

Posted by Bryan on Apr 25, 2009 in Blog, My Rides | 0 comments

This morning I slept in a little and made my way down to White Rock Lake at about 10:30. Because I had ridden barely more than 14 hours earlier I wasn’t sure how far or how good I was going to ride. It actually turned out to be nice.

The weather was overcast with a chance of rain and I did get rained on a couple of times but nothing bad. It was just enough to make the roads slick and dangerous.

About half-way into my first lap I was on a section of the loop where I can pick up my speed to about 20 mph and move along. I realized after several minutes that there was somebody behind me. As I made it to the North end of the lake the rider pulled up next to me and we started talking. His name is Pedro and is a physician here in the Dallas area and is training for the upcoming MS-150 here.

He and I road the next 15 miles together and it was great. It’s so much better riding with somebody else. At least for me it is. It helps keep me honest on the level of effort I’m putting out. Plus being able to talk with someone helps make the time go by.

I will say that the hills here are still killing me. I know it’s going to take time, and a lot of lost weight, to be able to handle them good. I guess I just need to be patient.

Like I said, right at 20 miles at an average speed of 14.7 mph. Decent for me.

Sorry Poor Squirrel

Posted by Bryan on Apr 21, 2009 in Blog, My Rides | 6 comments

Today I went out for a couple laps around White Rock Lake. I just wanted to get in some easy spinning to work on my form some more. I didn’t want to overdo it because tomorrow is hump day. And hump day is hill repeat day up flagpole hill.

The weather was great. Low 80s, almost no wind and sunshine. The nice weather did bring out the extra cyclists, runners, and walkers though. At times the trail got crowded. At one point, while descending through a construction area at the South end of the lake, there was a line of about 15 cyclists. At the bottom I wound up having to unclip as folks made decisions on what they wanted to do at the bottom. Kinda frustrating. Other times you had folks weaving in-and-out of people with little regard to how close they were coming to others. One guy passed me with about five feet left before I went through a car barricade that only has room for one cyclist at a time. Near the end of my ride with only about an 1/8 of a mile to my car I almost had a head-on with a little kid on a BMX bike because he wasn’t watching where he was going.

Like I said earlier I wanted to make this a nice easy day. I may have pushed it a little hard because I road 22.84 miles at an average speed of 14.8. For me that’s high. I felt good the entire time though.

Now, the squirrel. On my first lap I was slowly going an up hill section that’s got woods/vegetation on both sides. A pretty nice area to ride actually. As I’m riding along I see a squirrel up ahead to the left of the path. He’s just standing there minding his own business. I know he’s going to spook when he sees me and he does. Instead of staying over where he’s at he zigs and zags across the path. I brace for him to hit me and slow down in case I need to unclip. He makes a beeline for my front tire and I end up running over him with it. I turn it so I don’t run over him with the back tire. I glance back and see him pop up and run off into the woods. I hope it didn’t hurt him too bad. Sorry dude.

New Cleats And Cement Legs

Posted by Bryan on Apr 17, 2009 in Bike Shops, Blog, My Rides | 4 comments

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.