canklecat

My Christmas Day observance included a mini-Ironman triathlon.

• 5 mile run. Well, jogging 3 out of 5 miles. Slowly. The rest was walking. Even slower.
• 8 mile ride to get a last look at the neighborhood Christmas light displays.
• 1 hour soak in a hot bath with Epsom salts.

Okay, it was more of a mini-Rustman. But I won.

texaspandj

texaspandj

Saturday is suppose to be my run (outside) day. But I rode with my biking Buddy and of course he wanted to ride mtb. So funny that I kept telling him for a couple of months, mtb is so much fun. And he was like whatever, but now he's all about it. Meanwhile I'm ready to move on to "serious" bike training.
The thing is mtb is very much like doing intervals... well at least the way I do it, or is it my lack of conditioning to blame?
Of course we're on vintage mtbs, so No wide bars, No shocks, No disc brakes, No sloped frames (well his has one), No 29 inch wheels. But the thrill and bike handling learning curve is there.
He's always leading and is much more familiar with the different trails. Also a little bit more of a risk taker compared to me. Plus he's 25 years younger and currently in better shape. So I chase him, follow him, and help him up when he crashes. Oh one more thing, he has 3 chain rings, and real mtb tires. Meanwhile I have 1 chain ring (the middle), and street tires. When I have to walk a incline that he rides up, I remind him of those things. His reply is exactly what I would say, " well get you some mtb tires and put your rings back on". My reply is exactly what he would say, " But then I wouldn't have an excuse for walking".
Here's a pic of our bikes and snapshot of our ride that he sent me. How crazy is 2 hours and only 9 miles?


Just thought I'd share.

seypat

Cross training is always good.

seypat

The wife got a 19er vaccine on Tuesday. That means I can probably start using the gym's facilities again. I will ramp up the swimming. Swimming may be "blah," but it really helps with overall fitness Still going to keep doing stuff outside unless the weather gets too bad. I've got the beater IM on a trainer in my warehouse. It's set up on some pallets so I can wheel it to the bay door. Instead of fans, I just open up the bay door to get the cold air flow as needed. The warehouse is not heated anyway, so getting too hot is not a problem.

seypat

Look at your data there. From time to time you hear Robbie, Doc and I talking about Storming Of Thunder Ridge. It has a climb in the middle that is 12-13 miles with an average grade in the 5-6% range. There is a SAG at the halfway point of the climb. I climb it in the 5-8mph range with a combo like a 28/30. I also usually cramp and have to walk on each of the 6ish mile segments. For a mountain goat it's fun, but for me it turns into misery. Look at your data again and think about the ride. Your whole ride today is basically what it takes for me to get up the mountain. That's how bad of a climber I am. Sad.

texaspandj

People say I wish I had done that or why didn't I do that? Well, why not do it? As my instructor used to say and I now repeat to my students and to you, "Everybody talks about doing it, but you're out here doing it". So you were out there doing it on SOTR.

canklecat

Yeah, mountain biking looks brutally hard when done "right." Very much like interval training.

Ever since missing out on a Kona Lava Dome Race Light a couple of years ago I've had my eyes open for a basic mountain bike to try on the local trails, just for a change of scenery. There's a decent Trek 6000 at the nearby pawn shop but I don't really want an aluminum frame MTB. And it's no lighter than the Kona Race Light and similar steel frame MTBs.

RobbieTunes

7-8%. 12.75 miles.

RobbieTunes

Speaking of hard work, my girl did an indoor century today.
I did not. 43 miles.

seypat

That makes me feel a tiny bit better.

seypat

If she's a lot stronger than you my knees and back are going to be hurting when I meet her. All that getting on my knees and bowing in reverence like Wayne and Garth.

"We're not worthy!"

RobbieTunes

"Rise and go forth, wayward child of Texas. There are Centurions remaining, and the Empire has work to do."

RobbieTunes

At least 1/7th better.
And I'm sure we'll see that brunette triathlete again someday, because you and Doc and I were "so cute" on our Ironman bikes.

rccardr 

According to Ride with GPS (not sure if that's considered super duper accurate), to the top of the second and final peak it's12.4 miles, average 5.8% incline.
However you cut it, it's a solid two hour-ish climb.

RobbieTunes

I think Army Corps of Engineers put it at 7-8%, but I’m only going by what folks told me in Lynchburg. There was supposed to be a limit on the Blue Ridge. I’m just glad we don’t have to climb Hwy 43, as if we were doing it in reverse. Gail will want to do the 100. The last 12-14 miles of the 100 are pretty nice; I rode them on the Saturday ride last time.

Classtime 

My son is finally getting his '89 modernized with STI. But in preparation, one attempt at touchup before a PC.


Before.

Before wax.

seypat

Looks great!

johnlink

Please explain how you did that great touchup.

Classtime 

I used a decent brush to lay down a couple coats of blue--wrapping a little further than necessary in a haphazard fashion. Then with a crappy brush that was likely not cleaned properly, I put very little paint on it and with glancing strokes perpendicular to the tube, wrap some streaks. The white looks alright for not being pearlescent. I got the paint at my local hobby shop.

texaspandj

Happy New Year Ironkids!
What are your plans for 2021?
Mine are to continue with same workout routine as last month, but be more consistent. These last two weeks have been difficult to maintain a good schedule.
So, M-Th run 30 min and ride 30 min all indoors. Friday off, Sat run outside, Sun ride outside.
I've got to lose 30 more pounds before Aug and hopefully get to see y'all at the Hotter than He🏒🏒 ride.

canklecat

2021 plans, same as 2020 plans, but more, different, maybe better.

I do plan to figure out an appropriate training plan but most pre-cooked plans are geared for younger guys who are racing. Training plans for crits for guys in their late teens-early 30s are irrelevant to me. So I'll look for training plans better suited to a 60something, for time trial type efforts. I'll never race crits again, but would like to try time trials again. Bones break too easily at this age, so if I crash and break something I want it to be my fault, not someone else's sketchy bike handling on a fast curve or sprint.

I mostly rode the Ironman throughout 2020. I still haven't finished putting together the Trekenstein after installing an Origin8 headset temporarily while getting the original Chris King headset overhauled (I still haven't shipped it to them). I finally did put together a nice Diamondback Podium lightweight carbon fiber frame, with odds and ends to make a 7-speed. I still don't have brifters to finish the 10-speed build, and affordable brifters of any kind were in short supply during the pandemic.

The lighter Diamondback is nice but TBH no faster than the Ironman. I could find only one day, back in October, when I was significantly faster than usual, finishing my familiar 20 mile route averaging 18 mph. That's very unusual for me. Dunno what happened that day because I rarely average better than 16 mph on that roller coaster route with about 1,000 ft/elevation gain. I'd like to credit the new tires and latex tubes, but I couldn't repeat that performance the rest of the year with the same bike and setup. Whatever happened that day, I want it back. The rest of the year I just got slower and slower, more and more sluggish, sore and tired after every ride instead of invigorated.

I think the 1993 Trek 5900 fits me better. And with the old square taper White BB it's easy to stick on any 170 or 172.5 crankset I have in the bin.

Not sure what it is about the Diamondback. Technically it's my size, but it feels "off." I should swap out the 175 cranks but the frame came with a really nice, and expensive, Ultegra BB30 and crankset, and it'll cost a pretty penny to replace with 170 or 172.5 cranks. I might see about trading the 175 set since it's in good shape, didn't appear to have been ridden much before I got it. I used to get along with 175 cranks but now they feel awkward and my cadence is too herky jerky and labored. As soon as I'm on the Ironman with 172.5 cranks everything feels okey dokey again.

To ease some nagging pain -- neck, shoulders, lower back and hips -- in October 2020 I switched to walking and jogging, from riding about 600+ miles a month to around half that mileage. Same number of hours and perceived effort.

I started slowly with longer walks. For awhile my hips and lower back felt like they were on fire after about 3 miles. Gradually I worked up to 5, then 8 miles, with little or no hip/lower back pain. My full body skeletal scans showed no joint problems with the hips, knees, etc., just busted up stuff and old fractures from the mid-back to neck, shoulder and ribs. So I figured the hip and lower back pain was just muscles trying to get accustomed to any exercise other than cycling.

Around October I began jogging -- slowly, for maybe 100 yards at a time, then walking, lather, rinse, repeat. Total of around 5 miles, three or four times a week.

Now on good days I'm jogging for 3-4 of my usual 5-6 mile route. Pretty slow pace, around 14 min/mile, barely even speed-walking. Occasionally I can manage 10-12/min for a quarter mile, but it's going to take awhile to actually "run." I haven't jogged in 40 years and those muscles are in poor condition.

First time I tried a full leg extension to "run" last week, my leg collapsed and I flopped into the soft grass. No harm done, just embarrassing. My legs are bike-strong, but nowhere near running-strong, especially for trail running when I need to lift the legs more to avoid dragging my feet. Gonna take awhile to regain that kind of strength and coordination.

But I'm not gonna do any triathlons. I used to enjoy swimming but the thought of schooling in piss-warm Texas lakes with a hundred other slippery dudes just kinda puts me off my feed. I had enough of that stuff in the Navy, and as a kid in public swimming pools. It was like a nightmare version of the Caddyshack scene, with actual poop instead of Baby Ruth.

My triathlon swimming event will be to end a day of riding and running with a soak in the tub with Epsom salts.

RobbieTunes

2021. I don’t plan that far ahead.
Gail does. She needs 11 to get 100 centuries.

SOTR 100
RAIN 165
HHH 100
RAW 225
Hilly Hundred (2x53 back-back)

“St. Louis” rides:
Vino Fondo
MS100x2 back to back
Ride The Rivers
Appleknocker
Giro de Montagna
Cranksgiving

At least 2or 3 unsupported Madison County centuries.

Other possibilities, all centuries.
Six Gap in GA
A century in Arkansas
Tour de Tucson
Lake Tahoe
Cheraholla Challenge
Wabash River Ride

Will be dipping my toes into gravel, but on a mountain bike with a larger crankset.

Oh, and Pat, I’m holding at 170, fairly easily. In January, so the 161 will be back, and maybe less.

seypat

Let me think. I'll break it down by segments.

Fitness wise, mostly working on the core and overall muscle/joint connective tissue maintenance for injury prevention. Started back swimming for overall training as well.
I have 2 half marathons on consecutive weekends in March. I'm in week 5 of training for those. After that, I'll do a few 10Ks and maybe another half before Memorial Day. Fall marathon training will start the week after Memorial Day. 1 more half marathon in August, then 2 full marathons in the fall.
Continued in next post.

seypat

Cycling wise, I will do a century in April prepping for SOTR in May. HNH in August if it happens. I'll do a century in September as well to get mentally prepared for the suffering of the marathons. The best years I've had at SOTR were with limited amount of climbing training beforehand. Actual climbing is the equivalent of heavy weight training for my legs. It just makes them bigger, more explosive and unfortunately, less enduring. I have the best results working on a trainer doing extended intervals holding specific cadences while increasing the resistance.
This year I'm giving clippless shoes/pedals another try. Got the beater IM on a trainer riding and clipping in/out. Results aren't good so far. The problem is it jacks/pumps up the muscles that control ankle movements and causes them to get stiff. When they get stiff, Plantar Fasciitis is not far behind. Swimming helps to stretch them out.
I'm also getting the black Turbo set up with brifters and giving them another try as well. The problem I had with those before is the same as the clipless pedals. After about 2 hours of shifting brifters, my forearms get really tight and I lose the ability to grip and make a fist. Imagine sitting on your couch with small ankle weights and a squeezy stress ball in each hand. Now every 3-5 or 10 seconds move those ankles and give the stress balls a little squeeze. That's what the pedals/brifters feel like to me. Maybe I can get used to it.
The parts are trickling in for the black Turbo. The 6500 RD long cage will go no higher than a 27T so I can't use it. That has caused the build to morph and go in a couple of different directions. It's also caused the name to morph as well. It's no longer the "Tom Cody." It will now be known as the "Max Rocatansky."

That's about it. I can't exactly remember why I don't care for triathlons. I might do 1 or 2 sprint tris to get the memory fresh again.