Bicycling

My second lunchtime ride. I was so excited the first one was great.

So as I’m thinking through what needs to happen so I can get the ride in, get a shower, and have a little lunch in two hours. I remembered I forgot my socks, my good shorts, and my lunch.

So I ran home to retrieve those minor details and headed back to the office. All that to say I had to cut the ride short. So instead of going over Larkspur pass I cut off at Fox Run rd. it saves about 12 minutes and only cuts off 2 miles. Ya big climb.

The wind was brutal coming home again. I keep thinking someday it will stop but I’m an eternal optimist. Here are the numbers:
1:08:05, 17.96 miles, 15.8mph avg, 47.1mph max, burned 1184 calories, with an avg hrt of 152bpm.

We’ll see if I dropped any weight today.

I didn’t take the bike to work today so I had to rush home and get ready. By the time I got going the wind had kicked up a bit but not bad at all.

Nothing exciting just a quick out and back.

Here are the numbers:
57:09, 15.41 miles, 16.2mph avg, 40.1mph max, burned 1068 calories, with an avg hrt of 155bpm.

I’m at 164lbs, 20% body fat. not sure how I can lose a pound an a half and have my body fat % go up. Anyway I feel great. Wish I could ride the Burwell ride but it’s the same weekend as my 25 year high school reunion.

Stay tuned I’m riding the Larkspur loop over lunch tomorrow.

We had company this weekend. I did get a good ride in but haven’t had a chance to write about it. So here goes.

Saturday mid morning it looked pretty good not a lot of wind so I quickly jumped on the bike without eating much of anything. I didn’t take any food but had a 16oz bottle with plain water and a 12oz bottle with Electro-Mix which works well for me. It doesn’t taste sweet and doesn’t give me cotton mouth. But I digress.

My goal was to get in 40 miles so off I went without a route in mind just heading up hill and into the wind as much as possible. The first 17 miles was great then I turned around and the crosswind was so bad it nearly knocked me off the bike in unprotected places along the road. I remember three places where a gust hit me so hard I thought it was over. I did however hang on and get back to hwy 83.

It was the longest ride of the year for me and it took all I had. I got home used up but not destroyed. Pressed but not crushed, persecuted not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. Sorry side bar 🙂

Here are the numbers:
2:43:24, 41 miles, 15mph avg, 37.4mph avg, burned 2883 calories and an avg hrt of 157bpm.

Took Sunday off. I’ll give you todays numbers next.

I’m almost out of bike blog titles. Hoping I have an East wind next time.

Today was the first day I got to ride over lunch. I’m hoping that works out more and more. It’s great to get out during the day.

As near as I can tell I had about a 22 mph cross wind. Since the Larkspur loop is more of a teardrop it’s almost like an out and back so I got it the bulk of the ride. I refer you to a previous post here. This one has a false downhill near the end, and I had a pretty good headwind the last 5 miles.

Funny thing, as I turned onto 105 I saw in the ditch a really nice water bottle. So I stopped, looked around for other cyclist, there were none so I picked it up, poured out the water, put it into my jersey pocket, and proceeded to the first climb. As I got about 2/3 of the way up I saw a bike behind me and I immediately thought, “Oh no, I have this guys water bottle” and since I always think everyone is stronger than me I figured when he caught up to me I would give it back. After I refilled it with water from my second bottle which I had not touched yet of course. Then I had thoughts of him coming up next to me really angry, then I started thinking “why did I pick that thing up?” It was full and surely someone noticed they lost it and would be back to get it.

Then I topped the hill and he was gone. So I forgot about it and rode on. When I got on the other side of Larkspur a car came up behind me and didn’t pass. There was no reason not to. He had plenty of room. Then I started thinking “Oh no, it’s the guy and he wants his water bottle back”. So I slowed and turned my head to tell him he could have it back when he passed me. Why so paranoid over a silly water bottle. If you hear of someone who lost it let me know and I will gladly return it. It’s very nice.

Anyway here are the numbers:
1:23:45, 21.5 miles, 15.4 mph avg, 41.9 mph max, burned 1558 calories, and an avg hrt of 162.

Family in town this weekend so I’ll try to get out early in the morning and later on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Tags: Bike, Bicycle, Riding, Cycling, Training

Top three things that make a horrible ride:
3. False downhill
2. greater than 15mph headwind on the homestretch
1. Bonking
again, all subject to change without notice.

I was correct in my prediction regarding weekend rides. I did not get out. Although I felt like I rode on century. Last year I started helping a sweet lady keep her acreage trimmed up. I started that again on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon was spent putting in a patio with 16in square paving stones. I hurt in places I forgot I had.

So tonight I wasn’t going to ride I was just going to rest. When I got home there was no wind and I had to go. I thought, “this will be a great night for a recovery ride”.

So off I went no set route just south and then up Gleneagle drive to Sunhills drive. I found a road I hadn’t been on and ended up on Old Northgate by Flying Horse. Since there was no wind I decided to go down hwy 83 to New Life Church and then back home.

We never have a north wind in the evening. When a bunch of us were riding to work we had a head wind, North, on the way to work and a headwind, South, on the way home every day. Tonight when I hit hwy 83 I didn’t think much about it at the time but a nice north wind was beginning to blow. So my recovery ride fell apart on the way home. However I feel great.

Here are the numbers:
14.86 miles, 14mph avg., 39mph max, 1:03:22, burned 1053 calories with and avg hrt of 141, weighing in at 164 with 19.8% body fat.
B.T.W. my goal is 160 and 15% body fat. I don’t know if those numbers correlate or not but that’s the goal.

Top three things that make a great ride:
3. Newly paved roads.
2. False uphills.
1. Tail wind on the way home.
These are subject to change without notice.

As I walked out of the office at 5:05 to retrieve my biking clothes I realized there was a northwest wind and knowing how quickly the wind can change I dove into my clothes, onto the bike, and onto the Larkspur loop.

Nothing real earth shattering just a nice ride. I went up Larkspur pass, I know it’s just a hill but pass sounds so much more impressive, 2mph faster than two days ago.

The ride home was so much fun. I settled into a nice rhythm and flew home.

Here are the numbers:
21.42 miles, 15.2 mph avg, 38.5 max, 1:24:15 total time, burned 1573 total calories with an avg hrt of 163.

This weekend is packed so I don’t think I’ll get a ride in. We’ll see.

Today I had an employment law update to attend on the south side of town. Yes it was as exciting as it sounds.

Two weeks ago I met someone who rides about 200 miles a week, that should have been my first clue, he said “you ever ride up to Helen Hunt Falls? It’s a great ride.” so today I decided while I was down there I would experience the great ride up. Oh my goodness…..

I got 1 mile into the climb and had to stop my heart rate was maxed out. I hate stopping on climbs. When my heart rate got back to high I decided to press on. .6 mile ahead the road turned from steep to steeper. I stopped again, did I mention I hate stopping on climbs? only this time when I started I had to go horizontally across the road so I could clip in my second shoe. .2 mile up the road I cashed it in feeling totally defeated and disappointed.

I have decided this will be my barometer. Occasionally I will drive down to the canyon and see if I can go further. I will get to the falls before the end of the summer.

Here are the numbers:
6.92 miles, 12.2 avg mph, 36.8 mph max, 34:05 ride time, 44:51 total time, almost 11 minutes gasping for air hoping my head wouldn’t explode. Burned 796 calories, half of what I burned on a 22 mile ride yesterday, and an average hrt of 156, not sure how that works. I’m down to 164 lbs and 19.5% body fat.

I’m doing the Larkspur loop again tomorrow Lord willing and the creek don’t rise. (for all you John Wayne fans)

The weather finally broke, a bit, and I decided it was time to ride the Larkspur loop for the first time this year.

This little loop has become a staple for me because there is not much traffic, a good climb, and plenty of recovery time. I love it.

Tonight after work I jumped on the Felt F75 and headed up through Palmer Lake to Hwy 105 and down hill for about 7 miles with a 22 mph tail wind. So much fun to go fast. This time however I knew the payback would be substantial because that 22 mph wind would be straight into my face on the way home.

Going up Larkspur pass was good I didn’t fall beneath 9mph at all on the ascent and hit the top of the two mile climb listening to SRV playing Scuttle Buttin. I love it when the iPod chooses a good climbing song for me.

Recovered nicely on the downhill and proceeded through Larkspur dreading the next 10 miles. I hit the top of the hill past Larkspur and settled in for a long ride home. It’s a gentle climb for two miles before you hit the first moderate hill. I was in the same gear going the same speed with the same heart rate that I had on the Larkspur pass climb, Wow!

The rest of the ride was good and after the bacon hill portion of the loop I time trialed it home.

Here are the numbers:
21.29 miles, 15.4mph avg, 45.8 max, 1:22:48, burned 1542 calories and 162 avg hrt.

I know the numbers are not very impressive but it was a good ride for me this early in the year and the ride home was not as bad as I expected. Tomorrow I’m at an employment law update on the south side of town so I’ll look for a new route. I let you know how it goes.

BTW. I like this Flock thing.

This is one of my favorite blog sites and today he is talking about the same thing I am thinking about. Nice outside with no chance of getting out for a ride.

Fat Cyclist, Nature Can Be So Cruel