Did You Ride Today?

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

Just a sweet simple sunset ride last evening , 17 miles of my usual variable milage loop -out and back. Was a little slower than I liked but managed to get into my zone 5 very briefly. Recorded a 168 bpm but that was a momentary peak. Avg was more like 135.

No traffic on the route, and got some decent speed on the descents. Getting faster on the rim brake " trainer" bike . It's just a different animal . where and how to start braking ect. Not extended speed runs , just momentary blasts between punchy rollers.
Some deep fast banked turns even!
Takes a different line on rim bike than my better bike with the disks.

Over along the docks on the lakeshore I was in UCI "banned" rest position rolling about 24MPH, nose down started to look back up there were some hoses strung across the road. Was able to slip forearms off the bar tops and get my middle fingers under the hoods in time to clear em all. weeeeeee.

A little off topic ,a little spooky to be back down to 61kg so suddenly . Oh well 11 days out from race that's less system weight. Which to ask as my body lightens , the bike becomes heavier in relation to body weight correct ? You should be needing more watts to move the bike at lighter body weight right. (?)
is that not like riding a heavier bike , even though the total system weight is lower.

There has to be a leveling point. Terrain variables ect.
The 1996 hill climb race my wife did at 99Lbs body weight and the bike weight 14kg ( a 21 speed MTB with slicks)

Whats a kid doing on the course, Is he lost !
Had not ever seen a uni on South gate road.

 

[cobbwheels]

I did 30 miles over the weekend during a one week vacation in a relative's house 100 miles away from the city. First time I experienced riding meeting only a couple vehicles along the way.

Though it wasn't my bike and had to borrow their hybrid bike to ride the road. Some of the route went through ill-maintained gravel roads beside rivers with large pieces of stone.

Conditions are almost perfect. Very few cars, no smog, no buildings, just fields of rice, trees, and mountain, Asian setup. Although morning humidity reached 95%.

No pictures, sorry. Just my instincts telling me not to take pictures to avoid corrupting the life force, energy, w/e of the place. Just a gut feeling.

What kept me from doing longer rides is the fact I wasn't comfortable riding with the hybrid bike. Never been comfortable on flat bars and didn't bring my padded shorts and the hybrid bike is using a regular road saddle (that would only be comfortable on long rides if wearing padded shorts). I wasn't actually expecting to be doing any riding the whole week but am super happy I was able to ride to avoid losing any training gains. Didn't get the chance to run though but I did get the chance to swim (10 years since the last time I did). Pleasantly surprised, I didn't lose my swim endurance at all, in fact, improved by cycling.....Yet my body's flotation height got less probably from having less fat. I found it harder to keep my face above water when the waves got bigger.

I gained 4 lbs over this week from having lots of (free) food to eat! Instead of 2 meals a day, I was doing 3 meals a day! I'm now within normal (healthy) weight BMI! I'll be losing all those weight gain over the weekend though as I return to my normal diet.

 

[cobbwheels]

A little off topic ,a little spooky to be back down to 61kg so suddenly . Oh well 11 days out from race that's less system weight. Which to ask as my body lightens , the bike becomes heavier in relation to body weight correct ? You should be needing more watts to move the bike at lighter body weight right. (?)
is that not like riding a heavier bike , even though the total system weight is lower.

There has to be a leveling point. Terrain variables ect.
The 1996 hill climb race my wife did at 99Lbs body weight and the bike weight 14kg ( a 21 speed MTB with slicks)

Absolute watts to drive the same weight bike would get less as you lose weight...

BUT....the watts/kg or power-to-weight ratio (by body weight) to drive the same weight bike would increase as you lose body weight.

Being light wasn't the problem but lacking in muscular strength. You can make it up with strength training and some studies show that strength training benefits lightweight riders more than heavyweight riders.

I'm doing perfectly fine at 116 lbs body weight. Strength training really boosted my performance, yet, I did not gain weight at all. I thought it's weird despite my muscles getting bigger, my bones getting stronger from running and strength training and adequate calcium and Vitamin D intake, I did not gain any weight.

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

Did ride yesterday evening on a rout that you might expect some traffic.

Rode a few roads I'd not ridden over Cobb mt. The one I chose left downtown Keysleyville and narrowed and gradually worked it was to a T where I continued the climb doe what seems hour 30 or hour 40 minutes. I felt I was in a higher HR zone than indicated especially on part of climb - I started weaving and my tire slipped onto very loose pebbly shoulder about 5mph . . There was the negative camber once in the gravel with my 25's I was just down quick . No damage me or bike. Just unclipped
jumped back on cyclocross style on my side good thing for flyweight body.

The ride was not recorded ( forgot to hit start so about 2850-2900ft go climbing in an embarrassing slow time. Worse yet I later found much of none 3 but next to no zone 4 -5 . Maybe 2 hours 40 minutes on the bike tops.

I busted my ass on that ride. Sprinted over rollers , kept my nose out of the wind kept cadence and inches up . Much intention toward improve avg speed. Pedaled the downhills. The was a horrible rough section , either jump big long potholes or weave around them over the centerline . I chose to hop them. Even ate on the ride plenty of liquid nutrition . Felt like I really rocked but my time and HR zones seems to indicate otherwise. What's up here. Slacking or - not cut out for this?

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

Absolute watts to drive the same weight bike would get less as you lose weight...

BUT....the watts/kg or power-to-weight ratio (by body weight) to drive the same weight bike would increase as you lose body weight.

Being light wasn't the problem but lacking in muscular strength. You can make it up with strength training and some studies show that strength training benefits lightweight riders more than heavyweight riders.

I'm doing perfectly fine at 116 lbs body weight. Strength training really boosted my performance, yet, I did not gain weight at all. I thought it's weird despite my muscles getting bigger, my bones getting stronger from running and strength training and adequate calcium and Vitamin D intake, I did not gain any weight.

I'd say my parallel bar dips sets will speak for my upper body! But even adding creatine didn't add to my weighable muscle mass this month . Dang !

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

Tomorrow Am would be prolly last big ride before next Sunday's race.
I've got vehicle support for tools, hype ,hydration,fuel, radio coms ,optic change or bail out (Heaven forbid) ect.

So setting out 2 hours before sunrise about 05:00 and weekend vacationers. I'll try to get 3 plus hours in the saddle - as after the race come 2 big rides two weekends back to back. So need to feel 3 hours on the bike another 3000 pus feet and start to recover this coming week. No resistance training this week short of a few body weight press ups crunches and mini sets of dips. Lots of stretching ahead.

Having old bike as training bike idea is gr8 until i realize how uncomfortable aluminum frame and wheels is over say over 2 hours. I cant want to do these last 3 epic rides on the CF bike so much more comfortable . Like I might have mentioned the last 2 rides i have planned are no less than 5-6 hours in the saddle . Scared to death of that.

 

[cobbwheels]

I'd say my parallel bar dips sets will speak for my upper body! But even adding creatine didn't add to my weighable muscle mass this month . Dang !

What matters is you're getting stronger.

My leg and arm muscles got bigger from strength training, but I still didn't gain weight. Don't know how that is possible unless my bones became hollow like that of birds.

 

[cobbwheels]

Tomorrow Am would be prolly last big ride before next Sunday's race.
I've got vehicle support for tools, hype ,hydration,fuel, radio coms ,optic change or bail out (Heaven forbid) ect.

So setting out 2 hours before sunrise about 05:00 and weekend vacationers. I'll try to get 3 plus hours in the saddle - as after the race come 2 big rides two weekends back to back. So need to feel 3 hours on the bike another 3000 pus feet and start to recover this coming week. No resistance training this week short of a few body weight press ups crunches and mini sets of dips. Lots of stretching ahead.

Having old bike as training bike idea is gr8 until i realize how uncomfortable aluminum frame and wheels is over say over 2 hours. I cant want to do these last 3 epic rides on the CF bike so much more comfortable . Like I might have mentioned the last 2 rides i have planned are no less than 5-6 hours in the saddle . Scared to death of that.

If you haven't done nonstop 5 to 6 hr rides for a long time and just coming back to it, you'll have to pace it very carefully. Any zone 4+ or out of the saddle efforts even if short early or mid ride could ruin the latter half of your ride in cramping. Don't ask how I know!

Eventually, I was able to add zone 4 and out of the saddle efforts throughout 5 hour rides but only after doing those rides several times and have become quite familiar with how my body responds to very long sustained efforts and have significantly improved endurance.

But even if you paced the ride perfectly, if you haven't done 5+ rides for a long time, your neck and arms may see discomfort or even pain. One way to avoid this is sitting fully upright periodically. Pros do this by riding no-handed from time to time in order to sit fully upright. There's no way they can sit upright in their aggressively setup bikes with the hands on the handlebar. If you're quite adept and comfortable in riding no hands sat fully upright even in the presence of crosswinds, you may do it, IF you can do it safely without endangering anyone else in the road. My bike is only minimally aggressive setup but the reach I deliberately made short and I can sit fully upright on it riding one handed with one hand on the tops.

Else, you got this, own it, nothing to worry about!

Today, I only did 25 miles in the nearby criterium city loop. Just to see if the strength training is paying off and it did paid off!

Before I have weak quads and depended more on my glutes to drive the pedals. But now, I can disengage the glutes and core muscles entirely and pedal with the quads for a while to rest my glutes and core and vice versa, quite useful on a long climb or even just keeping a fast pace on the flats.

My quads used to be weak despite the fact it used to be strong because when I learned to engage the glutes to push the pedals down, I really liked it and forgot to fully engage quads to pedal until it became weak. I have big and strong glutes to begin with so I began to favor its use at the expense of the quads. But now I have both strong quads and glutes from strength trainingand have also learned to engage both equally or turn one OFF and turn the other ON or modulate proportion of engagement between two, things are finally turning around and not just the rear wheel! At the very least, I'm suffering less on long rides.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

40 yesterday heading towards the mountains. 24 today heading towards the coast. This Heart rate monitor has been telling me I'm a slacker so I've been trying to target 140 on my rides. Zone 4. I guess this thing does help once you realize how much of a slacker you are.

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

40 yesterday heading towards the mountains. 24 today heading towards the coast. This Heart rate monitor has been telling me I'm a slacker so I've been trying to target 140 on my rides. Zone 4. I guess this thing does help once you realize how much of a slacker you are. View attachment 6801View attachment 6802View attachment 6803View attachment 6804View attachment 6805View attachment 6806

greaT post and pics . I feel the same with the fitness tracker showing that you've slacked off!

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

Rather than an obscure climb from hell like Friday afternoon , I set out this AM to do a segment of Oct 7th's route.
A CW route around the local lake. So I set out thumping it , and all was well although I now understand I have near not enough headlight lumens. And did on trainer bike , one goal . to beat 3 hours

Rode from my driveway down the interstate then back routes though the man towns in front of the double volcano to library park at the lakeshore. Roughly 45 mile segment of the 64 miles around the lake. I'm fixing to ride it in 4:20:00 on the 7th of Oct.

I'd done the lake both directions and know the climbs rather way. aprox3000 feet of vert however you slice it . 3 hours on bike today will not help Sundays race but at least know what to expect -kind of . the hell ahead. Ride around this lake is going to be just fun group ride , many from sac and davis and ft bragg apparently interested. I do have my own time expected to finish it in.

5 days later is Tahoe and I'd been told to back off to say 60% if I plan to finish either ride.
Whatever pics my support snagged today . Left 5 am .

Did fall on a shoulder when a cars headlights filled in my line and it was off camber , had flattened in front and was trying to save it . Set her down real gentle non drivetrain side.

The wheel just need a 4 minute pit stop , ( alway bring track pump in support vehicle ) Still fast hahaha . A little out of round and true but no tire damage. Bike gave up 46 mph according to GPS descending Soda Bay road. Stopped pedaling at one point and just exploited my tiny lack of mass. Wife said minivan showed 50 plus ,
I let it roll to keep my rims cool .

So I've sore hips a bit and a few aches otherwise ok. I began wearing full fingered gloves so lost no skin. A lovely ride before traffic and achieve set goal . Spend 3 hours on the bike.
Longest ride since the 90's .
The cheap amazon winter bib n jacket is a joke. I'd say no good below 50 degrees even then does not stop wind for jack. Cold the whole ride. Need to invest since I hate wind -cold.

post crash trying to catch up.LOL

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

In spite of a record pit stop tire change on the ride - home and bike up on a stand .
I count 2 broken stripped spokes and or nipples.
Scott by their infinite wisdom made syncros wheels sets of that year -era radial in design.

I see it like your "hanging by a few spokes" rather than walking on the ends of em. Oddly the stripped spokes/nipples are 90 degrees from the snake bite and light rim damage.

So a couple spokes and nipples I think I can get the wheel back true within .5mm and
in -round again. Its not flattened or distorted and no dents .
I admit running a tad lighter pressure than the charts provide by vittoria pirrelle ect . The cost of making a aluminum bike comfortable for 3 hours plus by lowering to 76 lbs was not worth it. on my predictable route i can go a lil easy on TP for as better ride. Here was costly. And I need more lumens . Full recommended TP for that bike nearly bounces the bike out of my hands .

 

[cobbwheels]

5 days later is Tahoe and I'd been told to back off to say 60% if I plan to finish either ride.
Whatever pics my support snagged today . Left 5 am .

Did fall on a shoulder when a cars headlights filled in my line and it was off camber , had flattened in front and was trying to save it . Set her down real gentle non drivetrain side.

Longest ride since the 90's
View attachment 6808

My last year's strategy when trying out long rides 5 to 7 hours was to do it slowly at first. Easy pace, not exceeding Zone 2 (max fat burn zone) avoiding out of the saddle efforts unless absolutely necessary. "Recon Ride" I suppose. It will also help familiarize with the twists and turns and hazards in the road at a slower speed which is safe.

Last year I did a slow 62 mile ride for 5 hrs after almost two years of no long rides. Did it real slow and it worked out. But my neck and shoulders hurt a lot as to be expected doing a long ride after a long time of no long rides.

2nd time on the 62 miles, I tried to impress by doing intervals out of the saddle but would pay for it by getting cramps in the last 20 miles of the ride!

The last time I did my weekly saturday 71 miles with 5,500 ft climbing was few months ago, I did FTP intervals in and out of the saddle without problem. I still do this same route cut short to 40 miles to avoid overtraining with strength training added.

What's my name doing on that map?

Did fall on a shoulder when a cars headlights filled in my line and it was off camber , had flattened in front and was trying to save it . Set her down real gentle non drivetrain side.

Glad to hear you're unhurt! One of the many reasons I hate going out in the dark, but if I have to and I do in the 4th and 1st quarters of the year setting out at 5:30 am, I ride slower until there's enough light in the sky to see the whole road and not miss any hazard on the road surface.

 

[cobbwheels]

In spite of a record pit stop tire change on the ride - home and bike up on a stand .
I count 2 broken stripped spokes and or nipples.
Scott by their infinite wisdom made syncros wheels sets of that year -era radial in design.

I see it like your "hanging by a few spokes" rather than walking on the ends of em. Oddly the stripped spokes/nipples are 90 degrees from the snake bite and light rim damage.

So a couple spokes and nipples I think I can get the wheel back true within .5mm and
in -round again. Its not flattened or distorted and no dents .
I admit running a tad lighter pressure than the charts provide by vittoria pirrelle ect . The cost of making a aluminum bike comfortable for 3 hours plus by lowering to 76 lbs was not worth it. on my predictable route i can go a lil easy on TP for as better ride. Here was costly. And I need more lumens . Full recommended TP for that bike nearly bounces the bike out of my hands .

You're lucky for only having very little damage.

I always inflate my tires a bit higher than is recommended for my weight. If weight inflation chart says 45 psi, I give it 55 to 60 psi for avoiding snakebite punctures, stability, and sharp steering response. It sounds a little low because I have 35mm wide tires according to spec (though actual width is 32 mm) and my little weight. This is actually comfortable enough for my aluminum bike on long rides over bumpy roads. Comfort is probably more from the wide saddle I use that flexes quite a bit on bumps and quadruple wrapped drops on my dropbar.

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

I'll guess that 6pm Pacific through say 9pm is website work.
Is only site of dozens that's not coming back or timing out ect .

Ok it's free?

 

[Fourlegsgood2wheelsbad]

You're lucky for only having very little damage.

I always inflate my tires a bit higher than is recommended for my weight. If weight inflation chart says 45 psi, I give it 55 to 60 psi for avoiding snakebite punctures, stability, and sharp steering response. It sounds a little low because I have 35mm wide tires according to spec (though actual width is 32 mm) and my little weight. This is actually comfortable enough for my aluminum bike on long rides over bumpy roads. Comfort is probably more from the wide saddle I use that flexes quite a bit on bumps and quadruple wrapped drops on my dropbar.

I've got a good friend owns LBS we are going to look over the bike together Wednesday. Rear wheel apparently took a little hit too but didn't pinch flat . Still out of round enough to perhaps look over the bike. The spokes had reasonably even tension ( per side ) on that rear . I hate the aluminum frame period. One day I will just simply ride the other good bike full time . Just keeping it untouched short of pre -race warm up. (6 days out)

Mt Diablo mentioned on PJAMM's ride this week on feedspot. Their vert numbers seems off depends where you start . Before or at the first gate ect..... for most part their elevation profile looks right. The part I'm planning on making up time is the flatter part ( big chainring )after where you pay and through rock city and the campgrounds ect. - and perhaps grabbing a wheel or two.

 

[cobbwheels]

I've got a good friend owns LBS we are going to look over the bike together Wednesday. Rear wheel apparently took a little hit too but didn't pinch flat . Still out of round enough to perhaps look over the bike. The spokes had reasonably even tension ( per side ) on that rear . I hate the aluminum frame period. One day I will just simply ride the other good bike full time . Just keeping it untouched short of pre -race warm up. (6 days out)

Mt Diablo mentioned on PJAMM's ride this week on feedspot. Their vert numbers seems off depends where you start . Before or at the first gate ect..... for most part their elevation profile looks right. The part I'm planning on making up time is the flatter part ( big chainring )after where you pay and through rock city and the campgrounds ect. - and perhaps grabbing a wheel or two.

It seems you may have to check the wheel axles and rear and front dropouts as well if they've been bent by the crash. If any of these got bent, then it must be repaired or replaced. Sadly, you cannot bend aluminum back to shape, a bent part would require replacement of whole part.

 

[Luciana Salid]

Hey all, fortunate are those of you that manage to go riding outside. I have to stay home with my baby boy so the only option for me is to ride on a trainer these days. So today I visited some nice routes in Mallorca, at least virtually via Rouvy

 

[Mr. Beanz]

I've

Speaking of tire stash, with the two recent received from ebay, I have 5 new tires. 2 23s 2 25s and a 28 for the tandem.

Back in 2016, this was my stash. Pic from my blog.

 

[cobbwheels]

Hey all, fortunate are those of you that manage to go riding outside. I have to stay home with my baby boy so the only option for me is to ride on a trainer these days. So today I visited some nice routes in Mallorca, at least virtually via Rouvy

I also do lots of training indoor at home, MORE than my outdoor rides. With a "dumb" stationary bike. None of that virtual environment stuff, not even a console! No music, no movies either. I simply enter my mind into a "stupor" when I'm on the stationary bike. Half asleep while pedaling / training. Birds also do it on long migratory migratory flights.

My outdoor rides aren't any better. Takes me into the really ugly parts of a crumbling poor country. Bad roads everywhere, smog, traffic congestion, household garbage everywhere on the roads, killer SUVs, sewer water /garbage juice overflowing on the road. Dog **** all over the bike lanes, the smells!! We're also have dangerously hot and humid climate most times of the year but the climate is the least of my problems.

My outdoor rides are so bad, I look forward to my weekday indoor training during an outdoor ride! My indoor training is not very pleasant either and I look forward to outdoor riding when I'm indoor training!

That and my really heavy and draggy bike. If anyone saw me, they'd think I'm torturing myself. Ironically, that heavy, squeaky, and draggy bike might be the most fun part of it.