Did You Ride Today?
- Thread starter Mr. Beanz
- Start date
80 degrees and the humidity and wind were down today! Wind at 5 to 8 MPH. The sun was also out! Perfect! Let's ride!
Another 34 mile blast. Climbing in the big ring up a lot of the shorter walls and rolling it hard up the longer hills as fast as possible. Focusing on recovery over the tops and trying to keep the speed up rolling onto everything.
A fun ride and a great effort. Working on sustained top speed is actually fun when the results start to show improvement. Power figures are improving and I'll have to run up to the local TT course and do another 20-minute FTP test this weekend.
1150' of mostly light climbing and the roads were not quite deserted, but very light traffic for the late afternoon work commute window.
Another 34 mile blast. Climbing in the big ring up a lot of the shorter walls and rolling it hard up the longer hills as fast as possible. Focusing on recovery over the tops and trying to keep the speed up rolling onto everything.
A fun ride and a great effort. Working on sustained top speed is actually fun when the results start to show improvement. Power figures are improving and I'll have to run up to the local TT course and do another 20-minute FTP test this weekend.
1150' of mostly light climbing and the roads were not quite deserted, but very light traffic for the late afternoon work commute window.
60 degrees at 7 AM when I shoved off and 80 degrees when I climbed off. Sunny, with the wind at 5 to 12 MPH. A beautiful day! Let's ride!
66 miles with a light 2350' of climbing.
Stopped to take a **** at the roadside, but other than that I just kept drinking from the bottles and rolling up and down the countryside. Hit one resort lake and a few small towns. Saw two other cyclists and one was on a vintage Schwinn.
A nice start to the holiday weekend.
66 miles with a light 2350' of climbing.
Stopped to take a **** at the roadside, but other than that I just kept drinking from the bottles and rolling up and down the countryside. Hit one resort lake and a few small towns. Saw two other cyclists and one was on a vintage Schwinn.
A nice start to the holiday weekend.
Hot today! 90 degrees when I threw a leg over and it it hit 92 out on the road in a few spots. The humidity was up there and the wind was 8 to 9 MPH. Perfect! Let's ride!
Yeah, today was the day I found some brand new super-black asphalt that soaked up that sun and heat and reflected it back up at me like a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl.
46 miles with 1700' of climbing and sweat dripping out from under my helmet on every climb. Sweat stuck to my hide as it was a battle between the sun to evaporate it and the humidity to stay stuck to me. Both sides won, depending on road speed, shade and effort.
Hellova workout after yesterday and I'm surprised I didn't blow up or cramp up. Just like yesterday, I faced a headwind on the last 15-mile leg of the ride.
It was fun, but it was hot!
Yeah, today was the day I found some brand new super-black asphalt that soaked up that sun and heat and reflected it back up at me like a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl.
46 miles with 1700' of climbing and sweat dripping out from under my helmet on every climb. Sweat stuck to my hide as it was a battle between the sun to evaporate it and the humidity to stay stuck to me. Both sides won, depending on road speed, shade and effort.
Hellova workout after yesterday and I'm surprised I didn't blow up or cramp up. Just like yesterday, I faced a headwind on the last 15-mile leg of the ride.
It was fun, but it was hot!
Another hot one! 93 degrees today and the sun was scorching everything and everyone. The humidity was down a few points and the wind was 6 to 9 MPH.
Perfect! Let's ride!
I got out at 10:30 AM and beat a little of the heat, but still went right through the mid-day sun as the wind picked up.
44 miles with just a little more climbing than yesterday...2200' of vertical. Hit 49 MPH on a nice descent.
I didn't see much of anything except a few farmers out mowing and tedding some hay. It must have been too hot for the usual road traffic as the roads were pretty much deserted.
Once again it was nothing but sweat and sweat some more. Cold water and soap for the helmet. Gloves and HR strap in the washer again today. Even the bar tape got scrubbed down good!
Perfect! Let's ride!
I got out at 10:30 AM and beat a little of the heat, but still went right through the mid-day sun as the wind picked up.
44 miles with just a little more climbing than yesterday...2200' of vertical. Hit 49 MPH on a nice descent.
I didn't see much of anything except a few farmers out mowing and tedding some hay. It must have been too hot for the usual road traffic as the roads were pretty much deserted.
Once again it was nothing but sweat and sweat some more. Cold water and soap for the helmet. Gloves and HR strap in the washer again today. Even the bar tape got scrubbed down good!
94 degrees and high humidity again, but the sun was shining and the wind was a low 8 to 9 MPH. Perfect! Let's ride!
24 miles with 1350' of climbing on a fast course. Sprint-climbed a couple of hills and did RPM work up a couple. A great workout on deserted county back roads. Again, too hot for a lot of folks to go out. The only sounds were those of the tractors and haybines and tedders out in the fields.
The Wilier rolled fast and silently...a perfect effort and a perfect bike to do it on.
24 miles with 1350' of climbing on a fast course. Sprint-climbed a couple of hills and did RPM work up a couple. A great workout on deserted county back roads. Again, too hot for a lot of folks to go out. The only sounds were those of the tractors and haybines and tedders out in the fields.
The Wilier rolled fast and silently...a perfect effort and a perfect bike to do it on.
Another hot one! loving it! 93-94 degrees when I set out this afternoon under a nice, hot sun and high humidity again! Wind at 12 to 15 MPH steady with gusts to 20 MPH.
Perfect! Let's ride!
I only had time to jam in a fast 26 miles and fast it was. No warm up, just jump on, fire it up and drill it for all I was worth.
Only 1100' of climbing on a very fast little course that included a couple of steep walls, but nothing overly long or tough in the way of climbing.
I had to get back to the farm and meet a semi truck delivery. My new, kick-ass snow blower was delivered on a 93-94 degree sunny day! LMAO! A wise man once told me, "Son, buy your bathing suit in January and your downhill skis in July!". He was correct. Much better deals and the shipping, via a 53' box semi, was free.
The Saia driver was from the big city and his nav system had him driving in on everything except a cornfield. Poor guy was freaked out by our narrow dirt roads! I kept trying to tell the dispatcher that they needed to send a smaller straight truck out, but NOOOOO! They sent the freeway flyer! LOL!
Anyway, no snow in today's forecast! Hot and sweaty is the order of the day.
Perfect! Let's ride!
I only had time to jam in a fast 26 miles and fast it was. No warm up, just jump on, fire it up and drill it for all I was worth.
Only 1100' of climbing on a very fast little course that included a couple of steep walls, but nothing overly long or tough in the way of climbing.
I had to get back to the farm and meet a semi truck delivery. My new, kick-ass snow blower was delivered on a 93-94 degree sunny day! LMAO! A wise man once told me, "Son, buy your bathing suit in January and your downhill skis in July!". He was correct. Much better deals and the shipping, via a 53' box semi, was free.
The Saia driver was from the big city and his nav system had him driving in on everything except a cornfield. Poor guy was freaked out by our narrow dirt roads! I kept trying to tell the dispatcher that they needed to send a smaller straight truck out, but NOOOOO! They sent the freeway flyer! LOL!
Anyway, no snow in today's forecast! Hot and sweaty is the order of the day.
80 degrees with some scattered light rain in the morning and a good chance of rain this afternoon. The wind was going a mild 7 to 8 MPH under a dark and cloudy sky.
I did some work around the garage and waited for the worst of the rain clouds to move South of me and lit out for a quick 16 miles with only 400' of climbing.
Kept it fast and beat feet back to the truck. No rain materialized, but it never did look very good.
A nice fast effort and better than riding Zwift in the basement!
I did some work around the garage and waited for the worst of the rain clouds to move South of me and lit out for a quick 16 miles with only 400' of climbing.
Kept it fast and beat feet back to the truck. No rain materialized, but it never did look very good.
A nice fast effort and better than riding Zwift in the basement!
Well duh, kissing a Swedish bathing suit model is better than kissing your sister. Sorry I am in a " captain obvious mode". Get em Bob. You are kicking it better than me but I ain't dead yet.
Wish you could have tagged along on this afternoon's ride, JH!
It was only 80, but dat humidity! With what's left of Gordon moving NE and a cold front bringing rain in from the North...**** is getting real!
Sunny this morning, then really weird, dark clouds all afternoon. The radar looked clear enough and the forecast was steady all day with a 15% chance of afternoon light rain. I decided to chance it, put on my sunglasses and threw a leg over.
Fighting at 12 MPH block headwind out of the North with some really strange calm spots, I tried to keep the power flowing. Spinning and alternating with bigger gear runs when I could seemed to be the way to get to the first turn the easiest.
Detour! Bridge out. Routed me up a dragging climb that gets steeper all the way to the top. Turn...more climbing.
Actually fun going off the usual course, but the detour hill on the way back was even tougher and I had been feeling light drizzle for the last 5 miles or so! Yeah, remember that only 15% chance of light rain? Well, I found it. No biggee. Just kept trying to crush gears all the way back to the car.
I found myself getting pushed along and wondering why I never looked down and saw the chain turning the 11 and 12 over like they were today. I felt like Ben King going across a couple valley floors at near pro speed. Tailwinds...why can't we buy them like a power meter or carbon aero bars?
Only 1400' of climbing in 34 miles, but this one had me feeling like one of Zipp's videos. Woohoo!
I'll probably get a short recovery effort in tomorrow morning, but then the gods of rain, high winds and weather stupidity take the controls. FIVE INCHES of rain are forecast between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening with and one to two inches over Sunday night. Man the lifeboats!
Phone, TV and radio are all blowing up with the usual, "We're all gonna die!" BS, but this one does look like it has the potential to force me into the basement for some Zwift action. I went down today to make sure the laptop was updated and the air temp down there is 75 degrees after this past week of 90-degree plus heat. Great. Just great. Heat stress training...here I come. Anybody got a dry towel and one of those water mister units I can borrow?
It was only 80, but dat humidity! With what's left of Gordon moving NE and a cold front bringing rain in from the North...**** is getting real!
Sunny this morning, then really weird, dark clouds all afternoon. The radar looked clear enough and the forecast was steady all day with a 15% chance of afternoon light rain. I decided to chance it, put on my sunglasses and threw a leg over.
Fighting at 12 MPH block headwind out of the North with some really strange calm spots, I tried to keep the power flowing. Spinning and alternating with bigger gear runs when I could seemed to be the way to get to the first turn the easiest.
Detour! Bridge out. Routed me up a dragging climb that gets steeper all the way to the top. Turn...more climbing.
Actually fun going off the usual course, but the detour hill on the way back was even tougher and I had been feeling light drizzle for the last 5 miles or so! Yeah, remember that only 15% chance of light rain? Well, I found it. No biggee. Just kept trying to crush gears all the way back to the car.
I found myself getting pushed along and wondering why I never looked down and saw the chain turning the 11 and 12 over like they were today. I felt like Ben King going across a couple valley floors at near pro speed. Tailwinds...why can't we buy them like a power meter or carbon aero bars?
Only 1400' of climbing in 34 miles, but this one had me feeling like one of Zipp's videos. Woohoo!
I'll probably get a short recovery effort in tomorrow morning, but then the gods of rain, high winds and weather stupidity take the controls. FIVE INCHES of rain are forecast between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening with and one to two inches over Sunday night. Man the lifeboats!
Phone, TV and radio are all blowing up with the usual, "We're all gonna die!" BS, but this one does look like it has the potential to force me into the basement for some Zwift action. I went down today to make sure the laptop was updated and the air temp down there is 75 degrees after this past week of 90-degree plus heat. Great. Just great. Heat stress training...here I come. Anybody got a dry towel and one of those water mister units I can borrow?
62 degrees and light to moderate rain all day. We've got maybe a quarter inch to 1/2 inch so far, but they're still calling for up to 5" more tomorrow.
Wind is 9 to 10 MPH.
I hit the trainer for an hour and forty-three minutes worth of Zwift.
My legs were flat from yesterday's out-running the rain and dogging the wind, but they came around. The last 12 miles of the session were just plain painful. Did a few intervals and climbed at a steady tempo. Too damned warm in the basement for riding hard and I can tell I'm 'self-limiting' my effort and output in order to keep the core temperature down and the sweat puddles from flooding the basement.
Wind is 9 to 10 MPH.
I hit the trainer for an hour and forty-three minutes worth of Zwift.
My legs were flat from yesterday's out-running the rain and dogging the wind, but they came around. The last 12 miles of the session were just plain painful. Did a few intervals and climbed at a steady tempo. Too damned warm in the basement for riding hard and I can tell I'm 'self-limiting' my effort and output in order to keep the core temperature down and the sweat puddles from flooding the basement.
Another 2" of rain last night and all day, today, so far. Much cooler at 56 degrees and the wind is going 15 to 17 MPH with gusts to 26 MPH.
I hit the trainer for 2 hours and 17 minutes worth of London on Zwift. Being London, it was painfully fast.
Matter of fact I blew up on the first 14.7 mile lap of the Greatest London Flat. Got in a small group only 3 miles out from the start and pegged it to the 10-mile mark. My legs kaboomed. I did a second lap and could barely hang on to any of the groups that I did manage to jump for and catch. I was dropped like a rock several times and settled in just to roll through a little recovery work.
Started to free ride after the 30-mile mark and managed to hang with some fast American gal and a guy from Canada that were on cruise control. Let them go on the Richmond Park 4% grade and just wheeled it on back into the downtown.
One Hellova workout and ended up with legs shaking and weak.
1760 riders in the game (1100 or so yesterday) and at 71 degrees the basement is still too warm for all out sustained efforts. I was toweling off like crazy!
I hit the trainer for 2 hours and 17 minutes worth of London on Zwift. Being London, it was painfully fast.
Matter of fact I blew up on the first 14.7 mile lap of the Greatest London Flat. Got in a small group only 3 miles out from the start and pegged it to the 10-mile mark. My legs kaboomed. I did a second lap and could barely hang on to any of the groups that I did manage to jump for and catch. I was dropped like a rock several times and settled in just to roll through a little recovery work.
Started to free ride after the 30-mile mark and managed to hang with some fast American gal and a guy from Canada that were on cruise control. Let them go on the Richmond Park 4% grade and just wheeled it on back into the downtown.
One Hellova workout and ended up with legs shaking and weak.
1760 riders in the game (1100 or so yesterday) and at 71 degrees the basement is still too warm for all out sustained efforts. I was toweling off like crazy!
Yesterday I went up to do a century with 2000 cops. The traffic on the way up was crazy. There was a lot of roadwork and even the trucks were driving 20 mph over the speed limit. In one spot one of those heavy trucks had missed a zig in the road and smashed into the concrete barriers, The cab area was totaled showing that he had been really moving when he hit. There were four cop SUV's there with lights blinking. The traffic didn't slow up 1 mph. This is California where traffic laws mean nothing whatsoever. Who cares about highway deaths unless it's you?
As it happened I went to the wrong parking area. It was a Kaiser hospital parking lot but there are a dozen Kaiser facilities in the area and I chose the wrong one. Unfortunately the Google Maps wasn't working properly and pointed me in the wrong direction from the start. Since the diagram they had handed out of how to get to the start went north it didn't bother me that Google had me going north. I went a mile or so and Google told me to turn up this road. So I turned up it still cold without sufficient time for a warmup. It turned out to be a 7% and more climb. It also turned out to be a four lane road with heavy construction trucks going up that hill at full throttle. The road was NARROW. So here I am climbing at 5 mph and heavy construction trucks passing at 45 mph so close that their side mirrors are actually passing over my head. And the one's in my lane can't move over because they are being passed by other heavy construction trucks! That hill was a half mile to the top with my heart in my throat the whole way. At the top was a stop light that had no traffic from the sides and so remained green. When I got to it I pulled around the corner and looked at the route on Google Maps. I wasn't going anywhere near the right directions now that I was high enough that reception was improved. I had to go back down the hill and turn left and go back up the street that Google had told me to turn right from!
The light wouldn't trigger for bikes (well now that's a big surprise) so I waited quite a time for an opening and rode across and started down. Because of the grade I was up to 25 mph very shortly. But the heavy trucks were going down this grade without touching their brakes - perhaps 55 mph just on engine braking. Again I had side mirrors passing over the top of my head. This one truck was coming up really fast and there was a wide spot so I pulled over as he roared by. The truck behind him was still a way back so I pulled out into the street and suddenly that front truck went over the top of broken pavement pissing water all over the road. So here I am approaching broken pavement that I couldn't brake for at 25 or so mph and with a truck roaring up behind me. I hit that broken pavement so hard that the drop bar rotated. I have had this happen before and I am always ready for it and I regained my balance without falling. The truck to the left cleared me just in time for me to shoot over into the left lane as two of the trucks ran the yellow light because they couldn't even begin to stop at that speed.
I made the left turn and rode slowly back to the car letting my heart rate return to normal. When I got into the Kaiser parking lot the hospital had a WiFi that connected to my phone and showed that I had to ride the opposite direction for 13 minutes to get to the start for which I was already 45 minutes late. So I had had enough of the traffic and the incorrect directions and bagged it. I drove home in the same sort of traffic and as I got into the bay area at one point there was a sign that said that it would take 28 minutes to go just 2 1/2 miles! Luckily it was wrong and it only took about 5 minutes but that really was the last straw. I sure won't be attending THAT century ever again.
After I got home I did an easy 30 miler with only 1,500 ft of climbing. The winery was even open and I stopped for some tasting. There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home. Something tells me that we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.
As it happened I went to the wrong parking area. It was a Kaiser hospital parking lot but there are a dozen Kaiser facilities in the area and I chose the wrong one. Unfortunately the Google Maps wasn't working properly and pointed me in the wrong direction from the start. Since the diagram they had handed out of how to get to the start went north it didn't bother me that Google had me going north. I went a mile or so and Google told me to turn up this road. So I turned up it still cold without sufficient time for a warmup. It turned out to be a 7% and more climb. It also turned out to be a four lane road with heavy construction trucks going up that hill at full throttle. The road was NARROW. So here I am climbing at 5 mph and heavy construction trucks passing at 45 mph so close that their side mirrors are actually passing over my head. And the one's in my lane can't move over because they are being passed by other heavy construction trucks! That hill was a half mile to the top with my heart in my throat the whole way. At the top was a stop light that had no traffic from the sides and so remained green. When I got to it I pulled around the corner and looked at the route on Google Maps. I wasn't going anywhere near the right directions now that I was high enough that reception was improved. I had to go back down the hill and turn left and go back up the street that Google had told me to turn right from!
The light wouldn't trigger for bikes (well now that's a big surprise) so I waited quite a time for an opening and rode across and started down. Because of the grade I was up to 25 mph very shortly. But the heavy trucks were going down this grade without touching their brakes - perhaps 55 mph just on engine braking. Again I had side mirrors passing over the top of my head. This one truck was coming up really fast and there was a wide spot so I pulled over as he roared by. The truck behind him was still a way back so I pulled out into the street and suddenly that front truck went over the top of broken pavement pissing water all over the road. So here I am approaching broken pavement that I couldn't brake for at 25 or so mph and with a truck roaring up behind me. I hit that broken pavement so hard that the drop bar rotated. I have had this happen before and I am always ready for it and I regained my balance without falling. The truck to the left cleared me just in time for me to shoot over into the left lane as two of the trucks ran the yellow light because they couldn't even begin to stop at that speed.
I made the left turn and rode slowly back to the car letting my heart rate return to normal. When I got into the Kaiser parking lot the hospital had a WiFi that connected to my phone and showed that I had to ride the opposite direction for 13 minutes to get to the start for which I was already 45 minutes late. So I had had enough of the traffic and the incorrect directions and bagged it. I drove home in the same sort of traffic and as I got into the bay area at one point there was a sign that said that it would take 28 minutes to go just 2 1/2 miles! Luckily it was wrong and it only took about 5 minutes but that really was the last straw. I sure won't be attending THAT century ever again.
After I got home I did an easy 30 miler with only 1,500 ft of climbing. The winery was even open and I stopped for some tasting. There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home. Something tells me that we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.
Let's see...can't read a map. Can't follow directions. Don't know how to tighten a bolt. Color me not surprised in the least.
Tommy says:
"I can hold around 600 watts for 20 minutes and I'm almost 74."
No you can't. Liar.
Just under 5" of rain by this morning. Moderate morning rain followed by light rain and mist all day. Lots of area flooding. Wind finally settled down to 7 to 13 MPH.
Hit the trainer for 1 hour and 44 minutes and got in a fun 29 miles. Again in London and again a very hard and fast workout. The flat route out to Box Hill was a *****, trying to keep up with some guys that already had some miles in their legs. I hung tough and while the group split for Leith Hill or the Richmond Park I manage to drop the last guy in the bunch and put 23 seconds into him over Box. Love that climb! If I can make it to the road painting with seven tenths of a mile to the top I can always fake my way from there.
Stomped back into town and did a Greatest London Flat circuit and a little free riding before punching out.
Back on the roads tomorrow, in search of something dry and not blocked by a foot of water!
Tommy says:
"I can hold around 600 watts for 20 minutes and I'm almost 74."
No you can't. Liar.
Just under 5" of rain by this morning. Moderate morning rain followed by light rain and mist all day. Lots of area flooding. Wind finally settled down to 7 to 13 MPH.
Hit the trainer for 1 hour and 44 minutes and got in a fun 29 miles. Again in London and again a very hard and fast workout. The flat route out to Box Hill was a *****, trying to keep up with some guys that already had some miles in their legs. I hung tough and while the group split for Leith Hill or the Richmond Park I manage to drop the last guy in the bunch and put 23 seconds into him over Box. Love that climb! If I can make it to the road painting with seven tenths of a mile to the top I can always fake my way from there.
Stomped back into town and did a Greatest London Flat circuit and a little free riding before punching out.
Back on the roads tomorrow, in search of something dry and not blocked by a foot of water!
Entry for 09/11/2018
Cool at 67 degrees and the wind going 3 to 9 MPH. Very cloudy with light morning rain and mist.
Only had time for a dead leg 22-mile session. 3 rainy days on Zwift killed my quads pretty well. It was 14 miles in when they finally came around a little and I could push the tempo up a bit.
Only 700' of light climbing as I tried to recover. Really dark clouds hanging low made for another dull day, but at least I was outside again. A fun ride!
Cool at 67 degrees and the wind going 3 to 9 MPH. Very cloudy with light morning rain and mist.
Only had time for a dead leg 22-mile session. 3 rainy days on Zwift killed my quads pretty well. It was 14 miles in when they finally came around a little and I could push the tempo up a bit.
Only 700' of light climbing as I tried to recover. Really dark clouds hanging low made for another dull day, but at least I was outside again. A fun ride!
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