DnvrFox

It is 6:09 am, temp is 62F, wind from the NNW at 4mph with gusts to 6 - 30% chance of thunderstorms today and a predicted high of 76F. I think I will go ride.

DnvrFox

10:43 - Went out at 6:15 this am, did a few miles, got a call from my wife who said she would like to ride a bit - came home, had some bkfst, went out with wife to McD's, where I indulged in a hot fudge sundae (remember - it is LOW FAT ice cream ), wife pedaled home while I did some more miles, and now am home and the temp has soared to 69.8F!

Now I have a list of honey dews to work on.

kjc9640

jarhead#42

I did a test ride after experiencing severe pain in my back that forced me to give cycling a rest.I did a 16 mile loop including a 5 mile 13 percent grade climb.So far,no increase in pain.I have a very bad back.Three surgeries.This has been my best post surgery year for on riding.Time to back off on the hard rides and enjoy the rest of the riding year.I do think I am OCD when it comes to riding.I have to hide the fact that I am riding because people think I should give my back a rest,No way.Riding makes my back feel so much better but backing off on the intensity of the type of rides is in order.Great year

DnvrFox

Hey jarhead#42

I hate to tell you this, but a 5 mile 13% grade is NOT "Backing off on the intensity" of the rides.

kr32

99° and 46% humidity when I left after golf and 38 miles later it was 102° but the humidity went down to 40% still it was a hot one too. I stopped to get more fluids and just took it easy the whole ride.
Still was nice to get in the miles though. Cold shower sure felt good when I got home too.

LAriverRat

57 miles today, 67 degrees when i left, 82 on the return, sunny, mild breezes with some gusts. Lots of people,dogs,kids,cyclists of all ages, from tots with training wheels to people in their eighties.

MinnMan

57 miles with the local club, 2400 feet of climbing. I tried to hang with the fast group, but they dropped me after about 10 miles (sigh). After riding alone to the first rest stop, I rode happily with the second group for the rest of the ride. Overall, it was a very enjoyable ride, but also it again showed me how much improvement I need to achieve my aspirations. Even though I know all to well that that fast group was way above my level, I hate the feeling of being dropped. I remind myself that no matter how good I get, there will always be a faster group that can drop me and that it's nothing to be ashamed of.....

DnvrFox

And i remind myself that there is a slowest group that would likely drop me . . .

Allegheny Jet

+1, At the Tuesday night training race I rode in the A race with the studs. Usually I can hang with the main pack. I was running late, didn't get a proper warmup in, there was a prime on the 2nd lap and I couldn't hold 30 mph while the break was forming at mile 6 of a 44 mile race. The result was I went off the back then rejoined the field when they came around. Regulated riders have to stay in the back of the peleton and not participate in any primes or help in anyway (the ride of shame). I wasn't alone as about 1/3 of the riders were in the same position as me. I was pissed off at myself for two days because once I went off the back the riders who missed the break sat up to recover, however they were 150 meters up the road and beyond any bridge I could do.

Today's ride, 42 miles with 6 one mile intervals within the ride. Average speed was 16.8 mph.

kr32

Jet, could you tell me how long were the rests in-between the intervals and how much did you slow down during that time? So I am guessing you went to a higher level of output for a mile, rested, another mile of high level output and so on.

I think I may want to start some sort of intervals but not sure exactly how. I do know that you can do different types of intervals for whatever you want to improve. I think anyway.

Allegheny Jet

Here is what today's workout was:

Saturday, 7-24: Bike – 1-mile intervals at an intensity like a very hard break. WU 20 min in the big ring with Z2 to Z3 starting with your 21 working down to a 17 or 19 with a cadence at 100-120rpm Z2. Then hold that Z3 CT (cruise tempo) HR and pace for 10 min. Back off for 5 min Z2 recovery. Then WU further with 2-3 jumps out of the saddle for 3-7 sec and then back in the saddle for 1 min of high Z4. Then spin easy for another 5 min. Main set is this: 2 sets of 3x (get up to a solid race speed of 25-27mph, then drop 2-3 gears, jump out of the saddle with max power several seconds and then blast it down on the drops for a mile. Take 10 min very easy recovery between reps and 15 min between the sets.


I did the intervals on a very flat road about 7 miles from my house and use the same start/finish points. During the recovery time I would drop into the little ring and just soft pedal back past the start point at a very easy pace, maybe 10 mph. The 1 mile intervals were all between 2:08 and 2:11 in length. Using one of the online calculators the average speed for the intervals was right around 28 mph.

Intervals can be done to work on improving different aspects of cycling. The intervals I did today were to improve the body's ability to work at near maximum intensity and deal with lactate acid in the system.

Sometimes the intervals are very short and very intense to build sprint speed. That workout might be "sprint burst" where I do 10 reps of building up speed in the 53/15 for 15 seconds, drop 2 gears jump out of the saddle and sprint for 15 seconds, pull two gears and soft pedal in the saddle for 15 seconds, then repeat 9 more times for a 7 1/2 minute interval. I then do a second set after 10 minutes but will stop if I can't get back up to speed prior to the "out of saddle" sprint. Some riders will do a similar workout by riding hard for 20 seconds then easy for 20 seconds and repeat for up to 20 minutes.

At times I'll also do over gear intervals going up a long hill that take up to 10 minutes. During that type of interval the goal is to utilize power to become more efficient throughout the pedal stroke. That workout might be 4 or 5 long hills in the big ring, mid Z4 HR with a cadence of <75 with 8 minute recovery between reps. You will need to adjust the gear to keep the cadence and HR in the preferred range.

Another interval workout I have done is while riding over a .86 mile course in a local cemetery. I'll invite several riding buddies to come out for "Graveyard Crit Practice". We practice the skills needed for racing crits which are riding in tight groups, turning, and accelerating. Sometimes we will do 2 or 3 intervals of 20 to 30 minutes at upper Z3 with 12 minutes rest between intervals.

The whole premise of doing intervals is to stress the body beyond what it normally can produce on longer reps. The body will respond by improving the systems needed to deliver the speed, power, duration or lactate buffering.

When I decided to start racing three years ago I tried to coach myself since I ran track in college and coached high school track for 8 years when by boy's were in HS. I failed myself by over-training and didn't have a good plan so I hired a coach two years ago who makes up my punishments on a weekly basis. There are several good books about training available. Friel's cycling bible for the over 50 cyclist is pretty comprehensive. I like Dr Michael Ross's Maximum Performance for Cyclist as it is a very easy read and includes a lot of good information.

kr32

Jet, thanks for the reply. Very informative. I may start trying to do some and see what happens. Can't hurt I guess.
The only thing for me is I have no discipline to be honest. I may start and say it is too hard and stop but if I really want to gain I know I need to do something. I sure would like to average a 20mph on one of my rides( being over 25 miles). I came close with a 18.4 and a 18.6 but getting that last little bit is hard. ( I also know that 18.x is really far away from 20. Being over a whole mph away and getting that is work)
Thanks again.

big john

Saturday I did a century with some BF members, about 30 riders at the start. It was flat, one of the flattest centuries I've ever done, and it was cool because we stayed near the coast.
I wanted to ride with a different group than I usually do to avoid the hammering and getting dropped but the fast young guys on this ride eventually did the deed. Fun day!

Phil85207

Cooler day today and very overcast. Got rained on early for about 8 miles then just humid and cloudy, about 85 early and at the end of the ride, close to 100 degrees. Wind not to much of a factor till the last 10 miles or so.
Got some pictures of the sunrise behind Four Peeks Mountain from Rt. 87 at Fountain Hills. (about 30 some miles from home)

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/41531106

rumrunn6

no dammit

kr32

Started out at 6:30am with the temp at 84° and 47% humidity. I was not sure where I was going to go and around the 15 mile mark I decided to head to Cobb Island. That is about 35 mile ride from my house but can be a little longer if I take a turn here and a turn there and that is what I did. All told I did 77.8 with a 17.5 mph avg. Temps rose to 93° by the time I got back. One stop for a coke and and Gatorade. Felt good, a very nice morning.

kjc9640

Sunday 7/25
35.0 miles today.

569.3 miles this month
4049 miles this year
124 ride days LY vs. 129 ride days TY
3450 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 54% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
452 miles ahead of last year at this date

No pictures today, I had the camera with me but never took it out of my jersey pocket. The heat and humidity was terrible today so I just concentrated on mileage. lots of people out today again. Didn't see as many club rides as I did yesterday.

BikeWNC

I rode 35 miles this morning up on the BRP in very nice breezy cool conditions. I think the breeze made all the difference. Temps ranged from the upper 60s to upper 70s. Ride time was 2:30 with 3500' of climbing.

wrafl

56.4 miles and that put me over 3100+ miles to date. It was a nice and sunny day with very pleasant temperature in the 70's.

wrafl

56.4 miles, very nice day with very pleasant temps in the 70's. Today's ride put me over 3100+ miles for the year.

rdtompki

In Iowa on business I borrowed a friends bike and showed up at a club ride in Iowa City. Of course with 150 club members on RAGBRAI only one guy showed up and he was riding with this club for the first time. We had a very nice 45 mile ride together in moderate temps. Absolutely no traffic, green rolling hills and company - can't beat that.

Allegheny Jet

For the first time in two weeks it wasn't in the 90's. 103 wet hilly miles today.

JanMM

Last three days:
Friday - 18.5 mile work commute. Pretty durned hot in the pm.
Saturday - 15 mile ride on the LWB 'bent in the early evening. Pretty durned hotter.
Today - 37 mile club ride on the tandem. Mostly flat. Saw lots of cornfields and had a SAG in Carthage IN, the largest IN town without a state or US highway and reputed to be a stop on the underground railroad.
22 year old son rode with us again and again this was his longest ride ever. Afterwards, he said the last couple of miles were really rough, altho he looked not to be suffering at all. Youth!

MinnMan

45 miles today with the local club. Saturday and Sunday together makes 102 miles and 4600 feet of climbing. It's not easy finding that much climbing in Minnesota! I was pretty wasted for the last 10 miles of today's ride - my stamina and legs still aren't up to that kind of distance on successive days. Definitely Monday will be a day off.