| (Long Distance) Ramblings |
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I like to ride my bicycle - for long distances. I have earned the California Triple Crown and finished the Furnace Creek 508. My goals include qualifying for RAAM and ...(read the blog to find out). "The bicycle has a soul. If you are able to love it as it deserves, it will give you emotions you will never forget." "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride."
"The important decisions in my life I make while out riding my bike."
"Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.” Lance Armstrong
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Thursday, March 23, 2006
Mid-Week UpdateSo far, I have had a good week. On Tuesday, I rode with the folks at Scott's Cycling. We did the Salem East Route. This means we slowly roll out of town on State St. until we reach Cordon Rd. Once past Cordon, the pace picks up as we head toward 62nd. But then, the group slows down as we are preparing for MacLeay Rd., a one mile hill at 5%. The group breaks up once we begin the hill. I stayed with the lead group for most of the hill, but I was not riding well. My legs felt like lead and my lungs could not get enough air as I climbed. About two thirds of the way up the hill, I had to drop off and let the lead group ride away from me. My goal now was not to let myself get caught by the first chase group. I slowed down and began to recover. Looking up the hill, I saw that others were dropping off. I slowly reeled them in and hoped to get back on the lead group, but I ran out of hill. Next, we regroup as we head toward Jordan Rd. Now, we head back down the hill on Culver/Gannon and the racing begins again. This time we race down the hill at 40 miles per hour n negotiating 30 mph turns in the road. I have descended this hill many times and each time I am more comfortable. I was third down the hill. Lastly, there is a flat sprint on 62nd with the "Stop Ahead" sign the fininhing line. I worked hard and lost second place to Kenny who edge me by half a wheel. The balance of the ride is slow as we head back to the shop. On Wednesday, Joanne and I rode the tandem north of Salem. It was a warm March night and we had fun rolling along at an easy pace. Speaking of the tandem, Joanne and I have decided to buy a "rain tandem". This bike would include fenders (that never come off)and disk brakes. So far, a Cannondale seems to meet our needs. Tonight, I will work out with Martin, and then do an hour of intervals on the rollers at home. I should sleep well tonight. Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Training UpdateMartin has been under the weather for the last few days and as such, he took yesterday off. So, instead of working out at the gym by myself, I also took the night off. Instead, I repaired one of my servers at home. Two months ago, the power supply on my dns/dhcp server died. As a temporary solution, I moved the services to my dsl modem. So, I found a working power supply in an old box and installed it inplace of the dead power supply. I also spent some time researching what it would take to export video from my DirectTV DVR to a DVD burner. Looks like the simplest solution would be to buy a DVD burner with an S-Video input. Tonight I will either do intervals on the rollers or join the folks at Scott's Cycling, depending upon the weather. Sunday, March 19, 2006
Sunday HillsIn preparation for the Central Coast Double Century, I am going to be riding hills on Sundays from now on. Today, since the Salem Bicycle Club ride was the "Lucky Irish Hills" route, I joined them. I got in 35 miles and over 3300 feet of elevation gain. My legs were tired after yesterday's century, but I still had enough strength to ride with the lead group on the first three climbs. After that, I had to head home as Joanne and I were driving up to Portland to see Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France. So, my next goal is the Central Coast Double. This ride is 210 miles long and has 13,500 feet of elevation gain. I attempted it last year, but pulled out at 167 miles due to fatigue. This year, I intend to finish. In order to finish, I need to ride hills, as many as I can find. Here is my intended weekly training schedule: Monday: Lift with Martin at the gym. Tuesday: Intervals on the rollers. Wednesday: Recovery ride with Salem Bicycle Club Thursday: Lift with Martin at the gym and then intervals afterward. Friday: Rest Day. Saturday: Long ride, with hills as the month progresses. Sunday: Pure hills, hoping to get add distance as the month progresses. Today's ride As to the link above, I use a Garmin Forerunner 201 when I ride. After the ride, I upload the GPS data to Garmin's MapSource. Then, I export the data to a file in Garmin's gdb format. I then use GBSBabel to convert to gpx format. Once in gpx format, I upload the file to http://www.neocoach.com/mapper/upload.aspx and finally link to the resulting html file. Yes, it is a lot of work, but the result is nice. Some HousecleaningMy photo from the Death Valley double, as I obtain Jubilee Pass. Our photo from the Jack Frost Time Trial. Saturday, March 18, 2006
Saturday Century #8We seem to be fully recovered after our Death Valley Double two weeks ago, and due to the nice weather, we had some friends along to enjoy the ride. Jon, Michelle, Rui, Scott, and Sal joined Joanne and I as we did the Peach of a Century route. The skies were clear as we left for Jefferson, but the clouds soon covered the sky as we rode toward Sico. After Hungry Hill, we rode toward the Larwood Covered Bridge and the the rain started falling down on us. Lyons was our next destination and we left the rain behind as we climbed the hills. We stopped at the Lyons store for an extended brake. Then, with just 30 miles to go, we headed for home. We finished with a average of 16.6 mpg for a distance of 100.69 miles. We climbed 1742 feet according to my HAC4. We worked hard as our average shows, but my heart rate was low for the level of exherstion. Sunday, March 12, 2006
Saturday Century - Not!I have not been on the bike since the Death Valley Double. It took until Tuesday to drive home. We were suppose to ride on Wednesday, but the weather was terrible. So, we were looking for an excuse not to ride on Saturday, but we had some interest from Pat who wanted to join us. So, at 8:00 am, off we went. We decided to ride take Sunnyview Rd up to Cascade Hwy and then return to Salem to join the 10:00 am Salem Bicycle Club ride. It was cold in the morning. Outside thermometer read 28° F. and we saw ice on the cars, so we put on our really cold weather gear and headed out. But, the sun was out and soon warmed us up. The cold weather jacket I was wearing was too much, but I did not have enough on underneath it to take the jacket off. So, just sweat inside the jacket John. Climbing up to Cascade Hwy was pure joy. The fields are bright green and you can really feel spring is near. But, we had some late winter snow last week, and while the snow did not stick on the valley floor, it did in the hills and we saw what was left of it when we achieved Cascade Hwy. The Club ride was mostly flat to the Woodburn Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. The pace was quick and I had no trouble riding with the group. Joanne, however, dropped off the back with some others. But, after 50 miles total for me, my legs grew tired and I had to work to stay with the group. On one longer hill, I dropped off and had to work to bridge back up. I was happy to see the farm come into view. There, we took a break before heading back. As we left the farm, we saw Joanne coming in so I joined her for the rest of the ride. We stopped in Mt. Angle for lunch (three chicken enchiladas) before heading home. We finished with 82 miles. I needed just 8 more to qualify for a UMCA century, but I was tired and sore. I was happy with what I did. Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Monday, March 06, 2006
Death Valley Double ReportI had a good ride. I started at 6:10 am and finished at 8:29 pm, for a total time of 14:19, a new record for me. The prior record for this course (Southern) was 15:19. I planned on taking very short breaks - just 10 minutes or less. I was successful for the first three breaks. After that, they grew longer as the day wore on. I took longer than 10 minutes at Ashford Mill as I was tired after climbing the backside of Salsberry, at Badwater as I had to get my lights set up, at Furnace Creek because I was slow and finally at Stovepipe Wells because I took the time to eat some soup. I did not join a pace line going to Badwater We had very fresh chip seal (some laid down the day before!) so speeds were down and people were skiddish. The chip seal ended at Badwater and I did join a pace line that took me almost of the way to Ashford Mill. I dropped off the back at the foot of the climb. The climb to Salsberry went well. Only the five members of the Santa Cruz Racing Team and one other rider passed me. But then, I only passed 4 other riders. However, the climb up the back side of Salsberry was pure suffering. This section took me an hour longer than my pre-ride plan. I joined another pace line back to Badwater and then rode the balance of the ride (55 miles) by myself. The low point was the back side of Salsberry - I was doubting my choice of recreational activities. The high point was the final few miles - I had good strength left and felt I had many more miles left in me. (But notice that I stopped at the finish line!) Weather: was good, cool temps and little to no wind. Mechanicals: none, the LeMond was great. Pain: some in my left foot, but I had enough leg strength to spin and not mash which allowed me to avoid more foot pain. After the ride I had trouble getting to sleep due to muscle soreness in my upper arms.
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