Did You Ride Today?

[CAMPYBOB]

Well, there's still hope for an old **** like me!

75 degrees and sunny today with the wind at 7 to 9 MPH.

After mowing for hours and using bleach to clean the vinyl siding on the barn I finally set off to get a hard workout in.

6 miles into a 30-mile loop I heard a female voice shout, "On your left!"

It was an old friend and very fast triathlete and district time trial champion, H.! I hit the gas and got on the wheel of her Madone and we shouted quick Hello's and How are ya's. Then it was on like Donkey Kong!

The biggest, steepest climb of my ride was 1/2-mile ahead as we started the fast, sweeping descent onto the 12% to 14% hill.

She immediately pushed harder and gapped me by 30' or so. Damn! I was getting chicked! LOL!

I shifted down and didn't even look back to see what gear I was in, I just stepped on the gas and hoped I could hold it together for 3/4-mile as I closed on her. Caught her as I her her heavy breathing matching my wheezing. I kept the tempo high and when I looked back I had 50 yards or more between us! Yay! Over the top solo and well clear! I sat up on the flat and H. said she had to flipped a U-turn for home as I pushed on to the next small village on my course.

H. is maybe 115-120 pounds and a damned good climber so I felt good just being in the same zip code as her, let alone leading her over this ***** of a wall.

To make matters better, I set a new 40 Km record on this session, breaking one that had stood since July of 2015 when me and two other guys were trading pulls and trying in vain to pull back The Boy Wonder...who was on a solo break and only interested in snagging a few STRAVA KOM's. Again, this solo effort was something to feel good about.

At my age, the records are few and far between!

1400' of climbing on the course and I rode right below Kaboom threshold. A fun workout and a good time. Nice to see H. out and riding well.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

79 degrees and sunny today with the wind a mild 8 MPH. Perfect! Let's ride!

23 miles of flat work taken at alternating short interval work and short time trial efforts and backing off before the heart rate went too high. A few shallow climbs, but nothing that would cause any pain. Easy peasy this afternoon. Only 600' of light climbing.

No traffic on the roads. Had them all pretty much to myself. The warm air and sun felt good and it was hard to hold back the tempo most of the time. I guess the legs recovered well from yesterday.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

75 degrees with morning light rain and more light rain in the afternoon. The wind was going 7 to 13 MPH with gusts to 24 MPH.

I hit the trainer for 2 hours and did the Zwift thing. A fast, hard session on Watopia doing the Road To Ruins, a Volcano Circuit, the KOM Hilly Route and a lap of the Volcano Flat Route. 38 Zwift miles and 35 Garmin miles with 1475' of fake climbing.

Ran into various groups of fast cats, but nothing seemed to stick together for very long. Only 1350 or so riders in the game and everyone seemed to be spread out or constantly turning on or off the route I happened to be doing.

A fun session despite it being no where near Winter weather just yet! Once again I saw my wife's cousin on Zwift. He is in Korea working for the USAF and it must have been a morning workout session for him.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

80 degrees and overcast with the wind at 8 to 12 MPH. Roads were mostly dry or drying. Perfect! Let's ride!

23 miles with 1250' of climbing that took me up some steep stuff. Hit a short 20% ramp on one climb and a couple that were 12% to 16%.

The legs definitely knew they did a hard session yesterday. I hit the bottom of every hill just doing tempo and only hit the gas over the last third of the climb. Even then it wasn't anything more zone 4 for a few seconds. No 600 Watts today!

Despite the grey, sunless sky it was still a nice workout.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

75 degrees with morning rain and more rain in the afternoon. Wind a steady 14 to 18 MPH with gusts to 25 MPH. The roads were awash and the temperature was rapidly dropping (57 degrees just before sun dow) so I hit the trainer.

1 Hr. 35 minutes in London. It was fast. I was wrecked when I climbed off the bike. Legs shaking, left calf ready to cramp, soaked with sweat.

I made the mistake of loading the headphones up with Classic Power Trance that was 3 to 5 beats per minute faster than my usual playlist.

I paid the price.

Flew off with no warm up to speak of and immediately was engaging enemy targets. Despite the fast tempo I was setting I was either getting my ass run over or sweeping right by most folks. Did the first 16 miles mostly solo with only 1250 riders in the game.

Finally started getting in some fast groups on the second lap. Just as I was finally getting some good tows my legs slowly started to go away. Figures! Left calf was getting really tight so I got up and kept doing out of the saddle accelerations to keep the RPM's and speed up. Got a bit of a second wind after backing it down just a little and finished up...toast.

A way better workout than I would have done on the road, but not nearly as much fun.

The Japanese are everywhere on Zwift and fast as ****. Heard an Aussie say it's getting warmer and Spring is approaching for them. Maybe a great place to spend the Ohio Winter Months!

 

[jhuskey]

Still hot here but not bad since the Sun is lower in the sky around 5 pm the shadows are longer and makes for a cooler ride. Nice and dry this week so I have been on the road a lot. The long shadows will soon turn to darkness but I expect to have at least a couple more days a week for recreation by late November.

 

[Ncyclopedia]

Its a Weekend! We go Group bicycle riding on weekends. Today we had 200 Km Ride in the woods. It was Fun and enthralling Experience.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Friday Was nothing but rain. 1 hour 55 minutes of killing it in London.

Up over Fox Hill I went. Full gas around the flat bits and no slacking anywhere. A killer workout. Was constantly fighting to stay in groups and dropping other riders when I could.

Lots of fun and one Hellova lot of pain and suffering. Sweating was the order of the day as it was 71 degrees in the basement. Even with the humidity low in the pain cave I was toweling off constantly.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Saturday, 10/06/2018: 76 degrees and the wind up at 3 to 12 MPH. VERY humid with somewhere between an inch and two inches of heavy morning rain followed by on and off light rain until about 1 PM.

The roads were awash and with the humidity so high it just wasn't drying off very fast even when the sun came out.

I hit the trainer for a semi-tough workout session of 1 hour and 51 minutes. Took a long, steady warmup of Watopia's Road To Ruins. Picked up the tempo coming up the two hills out of the Jungle and then relaxed again thru the short lap of the Volcano Circuit. Started to boogie it with a lap and a half of the Volcano Flat Route.

That last part was fun. Finally decided to give it Hell and tried to keep everyone behind me that I could. Mostly a failure, but a big effort in trying! LOL! Go hard or go home!

Hopefully the rain goes away for at least part of tomorrow. Afternoon thunderstorms are in the forecast.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Still hot here but not bad since the Sun is lower in the sky around 5 pm the shadows are longer and makes for a cooler ride. Nice and dry this week so I have been on the road a lot. The long shadows will soon turn to darkness but I expect to have at least a couple more days a week for recreation by late November.

Semi-retirement approaching? Nice!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Three days on Zwift and I decide to go long! Brilliant!

84 degrees and sunny today with the humidity way up after more over night heavy rain and the wind going a steady 3 to 10 MPH. Actually, a beautiful day!

I waited until 11 AM to shove off and the roads had still not completely dried. Any areas in the shade of the forest canopy was still anywhere from soaking wet and running with 1/2" of water still draining to just damp even at 2 to 3 PM! Humidity had something to do with that also.

My legs were trashed. I destroyed myself with the last three days on Zwift and set out on a 40-miler that became a 50 mile ride and then a 60 mile ride before I ended with 64 miles and 2,400' of mostly easy climbing.

The humidity, wind and sun combined to make it a good workout and I had to fight to keep the output anywhere near normal levels. Just completely, utterly shot legs. Dead. Oddly, I was climbing OK, but had nothing for the headwind legs and easy upgrade drags. Powerless.

A nice sheen of sweat on the arms told me I was working at it, but the tempo wasn't where I like to see it. I kept settling in and trying to break out of the box, but it happened only in short bursts when the wind and slope cooperated.

It was a fun Sunday ride! I'm glad I kept pushing on. Sitting here now, I don't think any miracles would have happened if I had hung out for another hour...just going by how I'm recovering.

More warmth and sunshine tomorrow and Tuesday! Yay!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Just 18 miles in 85 degree warmth and sunshine! That felt great!

Only 550' of climbing on a basically flat course. The legs responded better than I felt! My ass was dragging, but once I got in the zone it was easy to ride and recover at almost any speed in almost every gear. Weird.

Got back to the farm feeling...refreshed.

A fun little ride and the wind going 10 to 12 MPH wasn't even much to deal with this afternoon. Thought it would make things tough, but I must have not been too affected by it or something. Again, weird. Wind usually crushes me no matter what.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

23 miles on another 85 degree day!

Sunshine and moderate wind at 10 to 14 MPH. The humidity was barely noticeable and traffic was really light.

1225' of climbing with a decent power output on a steep'ish out & back course. A fun ride!

Mr. Beanz, where are you?

 

[zipp2001]

Dusted off the road bike for a nice light roller ride after work today. I have been on the trails bike a ton this year, but it is good to throw my leg over my first love.

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZsDOygujxI

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Afternoon rain and 80 degrees. Wind at 12 to 13 MPH.

I hit the trainer for an hour and a half. Very high speed run on the Road To Ruins of Watopia. Had to concentrate hard on staying with groups of rides as everyone was Hell bent on killin' it & drillin' it for some reason.

Only 1100-1200 riders in the game, but it was bonkers for speed and top end drills. The heart rate was through the roof too many times. I made a little power here and there and climbed off feeling pretty good about the workout.

Overall, another fun session.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Zipp, loved your, "****ing MORON!". You stole my line!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Thursday, 10/11/2018

56 degrees and overcast sky with the wind going 10 to 13 MPH.

Just a fast little 16-mile sprint. Still in shorts and a short sleeve jersey, but that will change soon.

Only 600' of climbing on a lightly rolling course that takes me through Amish farm land.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

51 degrees and overcast with the wind at 7 to 8 MPH.

22 miles with a light 825' of climbing fun.

A fun little ride and the first in tights and a base layer. Fall is here!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

43 degrees and a quick 10-mile road ride with the sky dark and a second rain front getting set to roll in. Only 350' of climbing and a light mist falling on the still damp roads as I got back to the truck. The wind was picking up a little and was a steady 7 to 13 MPH.

Then it was time for a more serious effort. I hit the trainer for an hour and forty-five minutes of Zwift and London's Greatest London Flat Route and a run over Box Hill. Almost 2000 riders in the game and it was a fast, hard session. Came off the bike with the legs hammered. Great workout.

 

[cyclintom]

Box Hill huh. That's interesting. Do you drive on the left hand side of the road?