STP 2005

Monday, March 21, 2005

Already behind schedule

At the Cascade Bike Club website, they list a suggested training schedule to get ready for STP.  It’s now the week of 3/7 – 3/14 and I’m not getting any mid-week riding in at all.  This weekend plans to be busy with the family as well so I’m not sure if I’ll get in any mileage then either.

 

My fall back right now is to make sure I get in 3 or 4 days of Indoor Cycling done.  This week I managed Mon / Wed and Fri.  I wrote about the Monday session below.  For Wed and Friday I had my favorite instructor, Ganelle, and got some very effective sessions in.

 

On Wed we did what she calls ‘muscle tension’ drills in addition to an all out climbing session.  Aside from the few minutes of warm-up and stretching at the end, we were on a ‘hill’ for the full hour.  It was tough, but the killer was those ‘muscle tension’ drills.  Here’s how they work…..in the saddle cruising along doing a seated climb….probably 65 to 75 RPM….. crank on the resistance to force yourself out of the saddle and maintain that same cadence while standing….. (now here’s the killer)…after two minutes of out of the saddle climbing…..sit down but DON’T touch the resistance……. Continue at that resistance for at least 30 seconds.  This doesn’t sound hard as I write it, but it is a killer on the legs.  We did four cycles of this on the way up the hill then did more on the way down.  

 

I ended the Wed class with a ‘long’ out of seat climb (5 minutes) that kept my heart-rate right at 175bpm.  This is typically well into my ‘oh my god I’m going to collapse’ threshold but for whatever reason on Wednesday I was able to hold onto for that long just fine.

 

Today (Friday) we did ‘tempo riding’.  This is where for the whole class we try to stay right at or just beyond the maximum effort level, as in when doing a time-trial ride.  Started out on the foothills (Ganelle doesn’t believe in flat roads at all) and every 10 or 15 minutes we would add some resistance.  There was never any recovery time.  I kept my heart-rate between 165 and 170 for almost the entire class.  She pushed in the last five minutes and I got well into the 170’s.

 

I really enjoyed the Tempo Riding.  It mirrors a lot of how I’ve been riding outdoors.  When I’ve been cruising along the Sammamish Trail / Burke Gilman Trail I find myself in a rhythm, at around 160~rpm and just go, go, go.  Hopefully these classes will help make up for not getting out on the bike this week.

 

 

Thursday, March 17, 2005

This blog has moved....

I've moved my STP Training Blog to MSN Spaces

http://spaces.msn.com/members/stp05

Sunday, March 13, 2005

A real half-century today

I was able to get out and ride today (Sunday). Since we had a number of family things planned for later in the day I had agreed to ride early. This meant being on the rode by 7:20am. What I wasn’t counting on what how cold it was going to be at that time. The thermometer read 37 (f) as I left. Fortunately I broke along my leg-warmers and jacket. This helped dull the bite of the cold wind but my face was near frozen after just the first couple of miles.

Being that cold also had the side effect of nasal drip. Which is not necessarily a good thing when cruising along at 15mph on a bike. I must’ve sounded like a cocaine junky to those who I passed as I was constantly sniffing to keep from having it run down my face and jacket.

My plan today was simple…..do 50 miles. I felt like I cheated some from last week in not actually getting 50 miles in, but still saying I had done a half-century. I left the house and headed down the Sammamish Trail. At 25 miles out I’d turn around and head back.

This last week I got a handlebar mount for my Garmin Etrex Legend and tried it out. For the most part in the ‘trip computer’ mode it acts just like the bicycle computer I’ve been using up till now. The bonus is that it also shows elevation. This is handy as I now know the 1 mile long hill I did at the end was 305 feet in elevation change. I haven’t figured out what that equates to as far as % grade goes, but I do know it is a killer to do at 48 miles into a ride.

A couple of additional thoughts on this ride:

Riding on the trail this early in the morning is great because there is practically no other traffic.

Last week I had a good bunch of carbs a few hours before my ride. Today it was just a few minutes before hand. The extra time to digest the food makes a big difference. I struggled to keep going for the first 45 mins or so before the food kicked in.

Head winds suck! From UW Village till Bothell there was a persistent headwind. Man it just sucks the energy. And it’s a mental drain too. When I get into the 160’s on my heart-rate monitor I can cruise at about 16.5mph (on flat roads). Into the head wind that same heart-rate is only giving me about 13mph. Of course I was hoping from Bothell down to Marymoore Park the wind would be behind me, but it never seemed like it was.

I didn’t break any spokes today. I was surprised to find two broken spokes on the rear (left-side) last week. I had put the bike on the rack, spun the rear wheel and found it rubbing REALLY hard against the brake pad. I went to check the spokes where it was rubbing and surprise….there were two broken. I did manage to replace them on my own (which I’m a bit proud of) after consulting my “Road Bike Maintenance” book by Lennard Zinn.

Ride Stats:

Miles: 50.7
Aveage: 14.5
Time: 3:40
Calories: 3372

All ready behind schedule

At the Cascade Bike Club website, they list a suggested training schedule to get ready for STP. It’s now the week of 3/7 – 3/14 and I’m not getting any mid-week riding in at all. This weekend plans to be busy with the family as well so I’m not sure if I’ll get in any mileage then either.

My fall back right now is to make sure I get in 3 or 4 days of Indoor Cycling done. This week I managed Mon / Wed and Fri. I wrote about the Monday session below. For Wed and Friday I had my favorite instructor, Ganelle, and got some very effective sessions in.

On Wed we did what she calls ‘muscle tension’ drills in addition to an all out climbing session. Aside from the few minutes of warm-up and stretching at the end, we were on a ‘hill’ for the full hour. It was tough, but the killer was those ‘muscle tension’ drills. Here’s how they work…..in the saddle cruising along doing a seated climb….probably 65 to 75 RPM….. crank on the resistance to force yourself out of the saddle and maintain that same cadence while standing….. (now here’s the killer)…after two minutes of out of the saddle climbing…..sit down but DON’T touch the resistance……. Continue at that resistance for at least 30 seconds. This doesn’t sound hard as I write it, but it is a killer on the legs. We did four cycles of this on the way up the hill then did more on the way down.

I ended the Wed class with a ‘long’ out of seat climb (5 minutes) that kept my heart-rate right at 175bpm. This is typically well into my ‘oh my god I’m going to collapse’ threshold but for whatever reason on Wednesday I was able to hold onto for that long just fine.

Today (Friday) we did ‘tempo riding’. This is where for the whole class we try to stay right at or just beyond the maximum effort level, as in when doing a time-trial ride. Started out on the foothills (Ganelle doesn’t believe in flat roads at all) and every 10 or 15 minutes we would add some resistance. There was never any recovery time. I kept my heart-rate between 165 and 170 for almost the entire class. She pushed in the last five minutes and I got well into the 170’s.

I really enjoyed the Tempo Riding. It mirrors a lot of how I’ve been riding outdoors. When I’ve
been cruising along the Sammamish Trail / Burke Gilman Trail I find myself in a rhythm, at around 160~rpm and just go, go, go. Hopefully these classes will help make up for not getting out on the bike this week.

Monday, March 07, 2005

I did do the 6am class the next day

It was tough to crawl out of bed at 5:20am this morning to go do a Indoor Cycling class after the miles I put on the bike yesterday, but somehow I convinced myself to do it.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Half-Century Today

Well not quite, it was just under 46 miles, but close enough for me to claim it.  3.5 hours (including stops) and I averaged 13.8mph.

 

My friend John asked me to do the Seattle loop with him this weekend.  Having only previously ridden a max of 30 miles at one time I was a bit apprehensive about it, but agreed anyways.

 

Couple of things I did differently this time….1) I got a Camelbak Rogue hydration system.  This made a huge difference on the ride.  Having a sip available without having to reach down for the bottle is key to drinking more.  Even though I had been taking two water bottles on my previous rides, I just wasn’t reaching down and drinking it as often as I should’ve.  With the Camelbak it was super easy to sip and keep pace.

 

I also added Gatorade for the ride. 32oz Gatorade and 38oz of water.  The last couple of rides I could taste the salt caked on my face and I’m afraid I’m losing too much during the ride to stay productive. 

 

The last big change for this ride was to add a big brunch 3 hours before the ride and some snacks (pretzels with peanut butter) 30 mins before we left.  Between the carbs from brunch and the constant snacking during the ride (I downed ¼ of a Clif Bar every 30 mins) I never felt any real drop in energy.  I actually had to slow down for the last half of the ride as John was having a hard time keeping up.  I felt like I could’ve gone another 45 miles pretty easily, but that may be wishful thinking right now.

 

One more ringing endorsement for the One Seat saddle. As advertised my butt was not sore.  This is an amazing product.  I think I have John convinced at its usefulness as he wants to get one.

 

Tomorrow is Monday.  I’m debating whether to do the 6am Indoor Cycling class or not.  Part of me is saying “Yes”, but I’m afraid the 5am wake-up version of me is going to say “Hell-No.”

Monday, February 28, 2005

This weekend's ride down the trail

My last couple of rides have been around Lake Sammamish.  Those have been around 21 miles and have given me a good feel for the bike.  Except for the start of the ride and the end, the route is mostly flat.  

 

This weekend I decided to push myself a little more and do a 30 mile ride along the Sammamish River Trail.  My plan was simple, leave my house, when the odometer hit 15 miles, turn around and head back.

 

The trail was pretty neat.  There were a lot of families and others on it on everything from rollerblades to recumbent bikes.  I kept a good pace on the trail (about 16mph) and was only passed by one person.  

 

Couple of things I’ve learned in the last week.  The Seat by Ergo ROCKS!!!!!  The first time out my butt was super sore by 15 miles into the ride.  Also my ‘male parts’ were sore as well.  After getting The Seat at the bike show, I’ve discovered butt-bliss.  Not once in the 50+ miles I’ve ridden on it have I had any soreness or numb-butt.  Their advertising slogan is “no numb-butts” and I can testify that its true.  The one side affect of not having the nose to the saddle is that more of the body weight ends up on the arms.  This hasn’t been a problem so far but just something I noticed.  I highly recommend this to anyone who rides longer distances.

 

Two hours of bicycling at the pace I was going burns a lot of calories.  The Bike Journal where I keep my logs has a nifty calorie computer.  My ride on Sunday burned >2100 calories.  I only ate 1801 calories all day on Sunday, so it was no surprise when I weighed in a few pounds lighter the next day.

 

Eating while your heart-rate is at the top of its training zone is tough.  I brought along a Clif Bar to munch during my ride.  I stopped to eat the first half of it.  I tried to eat the 3rd quarter and 4th quarter of it while on the go.  It’s tough to reach around fish out the bar and eat while staying focused on the trail and all the traffic, secondly it’s even more tough to chew and swallow.  I could barely force myself to swallow and I was doing some serious mouth breathing because of my heart-rate.  For future rides I’m going to pre-portion the bar so I don’t have to worry about the wrapper, and consciously try to slow down a bit to get my breathing under control.  Also I found I need to be eating the food earlier in the ride as I felt really drained 3/4th through the ride, but felt good after I got home.  I think starting to eat 45 mins sooner would have helped a lot.

 

I brought along some music for this ride.  It made the ride much more pleasant.  I’m not sure about riding with headphones in traffic, but on the trail I think it’s fine.  I’ve seen some research to suggest it’s not as bad as you’d think.  

 

Monday, February 21, 2005

Ride Journal for February Posted by Hello