How did everybody's ride go this weekend?

[Archaea]

Maybe we should have weekly reports.

Mine showed how bad my conditioning is.

For the record, Vegas has a stage race for the end of the month so my fitness is in question.

A description of race.

Friday 27th has 20 K TT, which is flat.

Saturday 28th has a crit, which I probably will just sit on a wheel and survive.

Sunday 29th has a road race with tortuous climbing.

So Saturday I go out with a Cat 2 guy who is very, very fit. He's a great mountain biker and won several races as a 3 last year.

We cruise up the first climb until he decides "to stretch his legs." He's gone.

At the peak, you dive down toward the Colorado river with some rough rode and gravel across the road. It's a fast ride down. Once at the bottom you start your ascent. And torture doesn't begin to describe it.

This guy he's already about a half mile ahead of me, but during the ascent he says he thinks he will get a 27 to spin up for the race. I'm thinking a 27 would be nice, maybe even a 29.

This is the actual first climb I've done since, umm, July. Well needless to say, som of the 13 percent grades cause me to want to dump the bike and to call home for mommy.

Somehow I overcome the doubts when I see him descending for a second time with a new group of Cat 2s. I start thinking, I may be a sucky 5, but my mother didn't raise no dummy. No second time for me on this day, so I descend the easy side and meet him at the top.

That was a morning of pain and torture.

Next day, Sunday, okay, I attend meetings and all, but decide to head out to TT site.

After driving about 40 miles I notice, I didn't bring a bike pump and that my tires had about 60 lbs of pressure. Great. Nonetheless I start what I think is the start line like gangbusters. Until I notice the actual start line after about a mile. Nonetheless, not being a sprinter I don't know pace so my thighs start burning. Push through past the actual turnaround point. So I head back and notice my cadence is descending but hey I'm out for a Sunday ride, right?

Start becoming delirious as I miss the turn around spot for where I parked my car, thinking somebody had stolen it. Then I see it as light of sun descends. Well time kinda sucked but it was fun.

However, this morning on the short climbing loop I notice legs still sore from Saturday.

Wow bad conditioning hurts.

Anybody else with ride reports.

[bluegoose]

I had a great ride - 60 minutes on the trainer in my garage while watching Adam Sandler in "The Longest Yard".

This rain must stop.

We had the phone lines working at 2:00 to set up a mini group ride, only to see the rain pick up at 3:00. We abandoned ship at 3:30, only to see the skies clear at 4:15, too late to do anything on the road before dark.

I'm hoping to get off early some day this week to try to sneak in a road ride, as it has been a couple of weeks since my last ride on the pavement.

Good idea about the weekend ride updates. I've enjoyed hearing about Hippies rides through northern idaho.

[Archaea]

Still no receipt of BYU jerseys.

Nonetheless, prior to snowboarding Friday, I road from Cedar City to Parowan and back, in the cold of morning I might add. Fun, level ride. Below 20 at times and toes and fingers froze despite winter gear.

Saturday was The Ride. At least one I fear. Rode from Parowan to Brian Head Giant Steps. A fifteen ride from hell. It starts gradual enough until at mile 11.5 until 13.0, you have a 13.0% grade where one is almost in tears. If somebody had offered to give me a ride to the top, no second thoughts would have been offered but instant acceptance would have been forthcoming.

At the end you feel Wow, I did something but before and during, unless you're a man like creekster, you fear it. They actually stage a race called Toud de Gap where that climb is involved. Yikes.

Afterwards. My snowboarding amounted to toast.

Today, we rode from Cedar City hotel to St. George with wife, a gentle 54 mostly downhill, but straight into the wind. Except when I left the wife up a hill or two, only to recently mild reprimand, it was enjoyable, also excepting I left my cell phone in bathroom in Cedar.

For us out of shape old guys, working hard to regain fitness sucks. Yet is great to be on a bike.

On a side note, I found a runner friend in my own neigborhood. He runs one ultra a month. His routine is amazing. I go with him on his short 14 to 15 mile runs. He rises every morning at 2:30 a.m. to eat so that his food has three hours to digest before running. He runs 50 and 100 milers as well as 24 hour races. What possesses a peson to be so obsessed I'll never know.

If my routine works I might eventually get fit, but with work and kids I kinda doubt it.

How did you workouts go this weekend?

I can't wait to see on these fit 30 year studs and studdettes on their on the roads.

[DirtyHippieUTE]

I did two hours on the spin bike at the gym. No break in the rain here in N. Idaho. The odometer on the spin bike said I went 23 miles. I felt like crap most of the time. I was feeling really good a week or so ago when I got out on the road, but I feel like I've taken a huge step back somehow.

I've been getting really discouraged. I started last April at 280 lbs and dropped to 250 by fall. I've been stalled out at 250 for a couple of months now. I figure I should be able to get down to 220. Even then I'll still be really heavy for a roadie...

[creekster]

Sat:

Raining. Too cold & wet to ride. Sure, I spent all that money on a set of rain specific techinical gear at the closeout sales last sprign, but I will save them for some time when I need them. Decide to have carb heavy breakfast anyway, just in case it clears up later. Watch some TV. Have large lunch as Breakfast left me ready for more. Still raining. For some reason belt is beginning to bother me and pants have been a little snug after the last few washes. Decide to go to mall to avoid rain and get some new clothes. At mall, CInnabon smells too good to avoid but want to avoid having too much on an empty stomach, so I head to Maccie D's and then to Cinnabon. I am very pleased with my nutritional good sense. Sears has apparently changed it's sizing standards as all of its pants are the wrong size, making me buy next larger size. Oh well, at least Mrs Fields was having a sale on the day olds. Head home at dusk; too dark to ride. Watch "Lost" on DVD and eat some Ice cream. Sabbath tomorrow, but maybe I can sneak in a ride anyway.

Sunday

At 5:50 am I got up and packed my large personal bearings into some wool slacks and a sport coat and headed to a meeting for my new calling (every Sunday at 6am; ouch). It was a beautiful Sunday after a rainy Saturday and I actually thought about bike riding as I cruised to the church. The meeting broke about two and a half hours later and I headed towards my regular block meetings. THought about all the exercise I should be getting, then thought about how tired I would be and the carbs I would need to recover from that exercise. Even though I couldn't ride, decided to pack in the carbs anyway, just to be safe. CLif Bars aren't too bad, expecially when you're driving.

After meetings came home to spend Quality Time with the family. Loaded a few more carbs becasue I know that within no fewer than 148 hours I iwll need them as I am sure I will go for a bike ride by then. Weighed myself. I decide I might have a fine career ahead of me riding with guys like DHU and making them feel like Heras in the Tour of Spain.

Tonight I am depressed about not riding this weekend. Soothe nerves by having a little more ice cream and decide that tomorrow I iwll ride. D'oh! I need to work tomorrow to catch up from the holidays. This makes me feel worse, so I need more ice cream. Then I decide not to make specific plans to ride so I can be sure to avoid even more ice cream. Decide this is just kidding myslef and, really, I am not very good at it. So chase the ice cream with a few Oreos.

IOW, my winter training is at its typical peak right now.

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by creekster

I decide I might have a fine career ahead of me riding with guys like DHU and making them feel like Heras in the Tour of Spain.

That's pretty much my role around here! Great post Creekster. I can certainly sympathize. It has rained here 4 weekends in a row now. If my wife hadn't given me a trainer for Christmas I'd hardly be able to walk up a flight of stairs right now. Also, my 34 waist jeans have all suddenly shrunk in the wash. They fit great last season, but now if I even manage to get them on, anyone within 20 yards can tell that I come from a Judeo/Christian background if you know what I mean.

[creekster]

FInally got out on a bike, but everybody wanted in on the fun so we took the triple. Flat ride, not very far and not very fast. Even so, after a considerable time of inactivity I was dying. Becasue I was in such bad shape, however, as we climbed a hill that we have ridden many times before I was working very hard to try to keep a reasonable pace, as was my wife. My 8 year old, in the third position, was contributing his usual very little and had the actual nerve to WHISTLE while I was working so hard I could barely breathe. Usually when he does this i find it amusing. THe new less fit me found it annoying. So I said, "If you're whistling you aren't pedaling hard enough." To my even greater annoyance, this prompted a barrage of questions from him, such as "what? why not? What does that mean? I am only whistling becasue it is quiet. Can't I whistle?" and so forth. My wife, in the middle position, sensed that I was about to stop the triple and go back there, so she tells me, sotto voce, to calm down and then cheerfully tells my son to "pedal as hard as you can, please" to which he says "WHy? I don't want to go any faster." At this point I decided to worry less about him and more about finishing the hill.

Family togetherness indeed.