Did You Ride Today?

[CAMPYBOB]

71 degrees and afternoon sun. The morning fog was probably as thick as I've seen it so far this year. The humidity was so high the shaded parts of the roads on some of this afternoon's climbs were still wet from the fog settling in!

The wind was only 3 to 6 MPH and felt like dead air. Nothing was really moving in the very light breeze.

24 miles with 1625' of climbing.

For once I could get into kicking ass on myself and driving every climb right at redline. I felt good and the legs were turning easily. Once I convinced myself that I wasn't going to asphyxiate myself going over the longer hills I just let the heart rate ride on the edge and the power flowed pretty easily for a change.

It's Fall, and finding my mojo late in the season feels great. The conditioning is there...just have to keep digging hard. Motivation: I needed it! LOL!

It was a great workout and I even had time to install the Zwift Mobile App on the iPotato and Bluetooth the desktop. ANT+, ANT+ FE, Bluetooth, WiFi, iOS, routers, switches, network adapters...all this technology and the Rise Of The Smart Trainers is enough to cause my 2 functioning brain cells to burn out!

Use your phone to select a Zwift workout while you're still at work! Pair the Sensors on your bike, Heart Rate Strap and Trainer! Sync your iPhone to your Laptop! Don't forget to pair the Bluetooth Headphones to hear the Zwift Sound Track and Messages! Then do the Manual and Automatic Activity File Uploads to Garmin Connect, STRAVA and whatever other training software packages you use!

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

Remember when life was simple? We used to pump up the sew-ups, dress in our Flandrian Best against the cold and go ride.

We only had 10 total gears on a steel and aluminum bicycle. No electronic anything!

If we made it back home alive we were happy!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I mis-spoke about Kurt Kinetic's trainers. They, of course, offer a magnetic brake. It is just not ANT+ FE-C controlled. There is also no Bluetooth control for them at this point.

I'll try and get a few pics of my trainer setup posted this week. It's a work in progress and I still need to fine tune it.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

The various smart trainers are on sale at Nashbar. You judge the prices. On most you can do better.
http://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/s...e=64&categoryId=7000000000000000503&metaData=

I hear on the Zwift forum that guys complain about killing the lesser TACX models.

Like DC Rainmaker, as much as I like Kinetic's durable build quality and other features (great customer service in my experience), I would advise against buying them due to non-industry standards in wireless communication and control. Go CycleOps. They also build a durable unit and it's compatible with everything else.

I have no real opinion on the lesser Elite units. Their high-end models get great reviews.

Again, see DC Rainmaker's website for the most unbiased reviews and comparisons. He is THE go to guy for this stuff.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Rain this morning into the early afternoon. It got up to 70 degrees and dried off enough to get a ride in. The sun actually came out and the wind was light at 3 to 7 MPH.

Only 18 miles with a tempo the varied from moderate to just semi-fast. No deep efforts today as I stuck close to the car with more rain moving in right after I finished loading up and heading back to the farm.

The wind picked up, the sky turned black, but the rain stayed just North of here.

It was a nice ride. Relaxing and stress free.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

The weather was almost a repeat of yesterday. 69 degrees this afternoon with light rain this morning and more light rain predicted for overnight. The wind was up a little more at 9 to 12 MPH, but once again I had decent sunshine and dry roads.

Perfect! Let's ride!

I laid into it from from the gun and never let up. I whipped it and whipped it good.

It was a climbing ride and I figured I would do climbing intervals and try to recover between the hills. Kept the heart rate through the roof and worked the gears like I had EPS on the Wilier.

I really wish I had a power meter on this bike. The estimated stats from this ride looked pretty damned good...for me.

1225' of climbing and every foot of it got attacked. I pushed the downhill as hard as getting a little recovery for the next climb would allow.

No personal records were set on this training run, but I only missed things by mere seconds and single digits on everything. It feels great to get off the bike, look back at the road and know you were the hammer on this one!

 

[zipp2001]

Haven't been on the bike since Saturday, and when I had been getting out it was the mountain bike more often than the others. So today I just needed to pull out the TT bike which has been silent since my last ride on it on 9/10/14. Man that machine is just 100% a blast to ride. Even with a very chilly 55 degrees and a swirling wind that couldn't decided which way it wanted to push me. I did my light rolling 15 mile out and back route and enjoyed every a bit of a hard effort.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Kurt Kinetic now advertising their smart trainers 'pair' with Bluetooth devices: https://www.kurtkinetic.com/trainer...mart-control?gclid=CIPsocK47dYCFVG5wAodmfcF0Q

Advertised as: Works with Kinetic Fit, Zwift and TrainerRoad on Bluetooth-connected smart phones, tablets and laptops.

Might this be the adoption of communication standards that was to have been released in September?

Next step: User adjustable spring rates for roll (side-to-side sway) similar to an adjustable sway bay on a racing car? That would be awesome. There are 2 'Trainer Tension Bolts' thru the pair of elastomer donuts that separate the upper and lower frames of the Rock & Roll trainer and the elastomer donuts provide and control the sway motion. Limited adjustment range may possibly be achieved through tightening the thru bolts, but no mention of this possibility is made in the owner's manual. I have sources that could provide harder and softer durometer replacement donuts, but I really think Kurt Kinetic should be shipping them with the trainer to accommodate differing rider weights and riding styles.

Hmm...off to see if DC Rainmaker has re-reviewed Kurt Kinetic's offering. The only way I would by one is if they operate and communicate as seamlessly as TACX, Elite, CycleOps, etc. with Zwift, TrainerRoad, and all the other VR platforms.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

73 degrees this afternoon and sunny. No threat of rain for a change! The wind was 9 to 10 MPH.

I just had time for a quick little 18-mile romp around the local Amish country roads. Mostly a moderate tempo with just a couple of mile long efforts to see if the legs would wake up. They felt great even after yesterday's punishment.

Only 500' of climbing and lots of waving at the neighboring farmers was done!

 

[zipp2001]

Half Day Friday ! Very chilly when I got out at 10:30am 57 degrees and an 8 -10 mph wind made for the full fingered gloves to go with the heavier arm and leg warmers. Today I had to cut the ride short because of an upset stomach, so I only got in 32 miles. But it was a hard fought 32 miles with almost 3400' of climbing, as I played on and around the local ski mountain. I fought the main climb the whole way up (3.5 miles) just couldn't find my climbing legs. Oh well the sun will come out tomorrow and we'll hit some heavy rollers.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

But it was a hard fought 32 miles with almost 3400' of climbing

Awesome! Over 100' per mile is straight freakin' up! There's nothing like that near me and the only way I could get climbing like that would be to do hill repeats on the same climb. Nice job, Zipp!

 

[Uawadall]

Between work and a bad cold, I haven't rode much distance in a while. I rode my 50+ mile climbing route and wasn't sure how it would go. I got poison ivy on a job site doing a survey this week and felt extremely itchy the first 10 miles. It eased up and wasn't a problem for much of the ride. The hills were grueling, but fun and I felt comfortable on the downhills. Cloudy sky's and a few drops, but no rain. Was glad as I didn't want to do steep downhills in the rain. Surprisingly, today was the fastest I did this route in the 10+ times I've done it. I got plenty of Pr's on the climbs and downhills.

Finished with 51.7 miles/3800 ft/17.2 mph. 3 hours moving 7 minutes stopping time.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

43 miles at 17.5 average speed. Gina, Aimee, Jose, and a few tag on's.

Nice little warm up, about 4 miles in.

Dude at the very back was a dope! Caught him from a mile behind. When we passed, I announced the group and though traffic in the opposite direction, he would not move over for us to pass. OK cool no problem, be a jerk but when we roll by, don't hop on if you are offended by riders passing. We were at cruising speed, low effort when we caught and passed him.

Maybe he didn't like the idea that we had women with us but he sucks wheel for a mile then sprints around. Cool no problem. Once is OK but when you keep fading and it happens 3 times, face it, you aren't as fast as you thought. But the fool does it again after Alyce moved to the front. Alyce in the pink has dropped 70 pounds. 3 interval sessions during the week and 2 longer rides on weekends.

She's at the front and passed the guy at our cruising speed. Few seconds later, the guy doesn't wait to take a wheel this time, he sprints around Alyce. Dude! Ha ha ha!

Alyce looked back at me and laughed, she said let's go! She dropped the hammer on him! I just smiled at him as we rolled by. Alyce hammered him so that he could not even take a wheel when we rolled by ha ha! At this point, I go into jerk mode myself so yeah,at this point, I am going to monitor the fool. He's trying to catch up but can't. It was hilarious! He fell a mile back!

Dude on the back was caught them hopped on. At least he was not a silly fool!

Rick who later joined is for the 1 mile return. At one point Gina slowed and looked tired so I held back waiting for her. Aimee, Jose, and I slowed a bit for her to catch up but she and Rick went rolling by. Thought we would catch them in a few seconds. Turned out to be minutes. Gina was rolling today!

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Finished with 51.7 miles/3800 ft/17.2 mph. 3 hours moving 7 minutes stopping time.
]

Pretty darn good!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Nice effort, U!

79 degrees and sunny today. I killed the legs by walking around the Mill Festival with the wife all morning after a killer pancake breakfast! Yum!

The afternoon wind was 7 to 9 MPH, but the gusts felt heavier. No biggee. Let's ride!

51.14 miles with only 1500' of climbing over a flat'ish course. 3 Hrs. 13 Min. 02 Sec. with a quick stop to **** and a few minutes waiting for a fast freight to clear the grade crossing.

That train don't stop at Watheys Station no more! They moved the station from Watheys about 15 miles to the Mill Festival grounds.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Morning Mill Festival pics:

 

[CAMPYBOB]

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I got out early this morning as rain is moving in this afternoon. It was 70 degrees and very overcast and very windy when I threw a leg over and shoved of into the 17 to 21 MPH head wind. The wind was gusting to 33 MPH! Yeah, that first 14 miles was a epic effort in the little ring most of the way.

Despite the insane wind, I almost broke my course record. I was only a half minute down at the finish after being three minutes down at the turn out of the wind and headed for the steep climbs on the way back to the truck.

29 miles with 1425' of climbing and all of it was at a high tempo. I didn't have a pedal-stroke's worth of time to lose. I had to pick up She Who Must Be Obeyed from church and when my eyes could focus during the effort they were either on the road ahead or the elapsed time and time of day on the Garmin.

I didn't catch a lot of tail wind in the heavy hills and rollers going back, but when I did it really felt good! The leaves were coming down and blowing every which way and when I was slowed up on the climbs I could here the walnuts coming down in the woods...sounded like it was raining walnuts!

I made it back in time and despite the time constraints on this training ride it was a fun one. Nothing like the threat of rain or a ****** off wife unit to keep the Watts flowing and the recovery time to a minimum!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Entry for Monday, 10/16/2017:

It was a chilly 54 degrees, but at least the sun was out. The wind was a steady 9 MPH.

Only 13 miles and a light 375' of climbing. I knew the course was short and flat so it was full gas from start to finish. Staying low on the drops and honking on it like a wild man, it was a fast and fun sprint.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Today was a little warmer, 64 degrees. It was sunny, but the wind was back up again at 13 to 16 MPH with higher gusts.

23 miles at medium tempo. After the cold tightened up my legs yesterday it was a long warmup this afternoon before I could get them loose and turning over at normal speed.

Once I got warm I kept the tempo sane and only put in a few short efforts. About 775' of vertical over a gently rolling course. Traffic was light and other than the wind the power output was minimal. Another nice afternoon to get out and gt the blood circulating!

 

[glenncz]

I biked my new age +5 today. 64 miles. As of today, 59 is my new number. Took it nice and easy because on Saturday I did what I thought was a fairly easy 32 with the bike shop, but was pushing it at times, and I ended up being awoken from afternoon nap with TERRIBLE leg cramps it felt like someone poked my quad with a cattle prod. Probably because I always think I don't need to drink so much. Today I poured it down and am taking Potassium and Magnesium pills for good measure. Today was only my 2nd >60 mile ride for year.

With the warm weather and mileage goals in sight I've so far crushed my prior October totals with 265 in so far. It was lower 50's all day with a wind, not too bad. I picked up a pair of toe warmers and they are a help. Doubt I have that many rides left for this year.

So far very little signs of aging or slowing down.