Road Cycling - The Ride

I had one of those rides on Sunday. The club I belong to rides one of the mountain roads (paved) every couple of months. I do it to gauge my fitness. It gives me some credibility to go on to the next level of riding. The ride is only 40 miles, but the first 24 are hills, big hills. There are several 2 mile stints that are 7 to 12% grades.
Last May I did the ride with my double (39X27) and did pretty good. I stopped a couple of times to get the heart rate down, but pretty much plugged away to the top and reaped the downhill rewards afterwards.
Sunday was a different story. I had an off day. My butt dragged up the hill. I tried to stay in my new triple (30X23) when I would get fatigued . I thought that would help me recover. I don't think anything would have helped. I made it to the top along side the 2 club slowpokes. Their nice guys, always finnish, supportive, but I was distraught.
When I got back to the car my depression took over and I decided that I was through. I packed away my bike, thinking that I was not worthy. I took off my jersey and shoes and put them neatly beside the bicycle that I knew I would never ride again. The drive home was quiet, subdued and contemplative. I had thoughts of my next endeavor, racquetball, tennis, fishing. All good sports, but they don't excite me. I was not looking forward to the dark, post cycling days that loomed ahead.
I had a fitful sleep that night and the next morning Bill called and wanted to know if I would ride the Los Alamos ride with him. We rode. We had coffee. I love my bicycle. It was just an off day.

Originally posted by Tarantula
I had one of those rides on Sunday. The club I belong to rides one of the mountain roads (paved) every couple of months. I do it to gauge my fitness. It gives me some credibility to go on to the next level of riding. The ride is only 40 miles, but the first 24 are hills, big hills. There are several 2 mile stints that are 7 to 12% grades.
Last May I did the ride with my double (39X27) and did pretty good. I stopped a couple of times to get the heart rate down, but pretty much plugged away to the top and reaped the downhill rewards afterwards.
Sunday was a different story. I had an off day. My butt dragged up the hill. I tried to stay in my new triple (30X23) when I would get fatigued . I thought that would help me recover. I don't think anything would have helped. I made it to the top along side the 2 club slowpokes. Their nice guys, always finnish, supportive, but I was distraught.
When I got back to the car my depression took over and I decided that I was through. I packed away my bike, thinking that I was not worthy. I took off my jersey and shoes and put them neatly beside the bicycle that I knew I would never ride again. The drive home was quiet, subdued and contemplative. I had thoughts of my next endeavor, racquetball, tennis, fishing. All good sports, but they don't excite me. I was not looking forward to the dark, post cycling days that loomed ahead.
I had a fitful sleep that night and the next morning Bill called and wanted to know if I would ride the Los Alamos ride with him. We rode. We had coffee. I love my bicycle. It was just an off day.
Are you always that hard on yourself? You should ride because you love it, not where you finish compared to others.

The ride I did on Sunday had about a dozen monster hills over a 60 mile course. All tarmac road, but quiet, back roads.

One hill was signposted 21%

21%!!! Bloody hell. I didn't dare stop coz If I did, how would I ever get back on the saddle to turn the first crank? Luckily, because I had heard of the ride's reputation I had replaced my 11-23 cassette with a 13-28. I already had a triple chain ring.

There were plenty of folk on lovely Pinarellos and Bianchis with double chain rings and low ratio cassettes who had no option but to walk the big hills. Not a lot wrong with their fitness, stength or bikes, just merciless gearing for the inclines.

Stew

Originally posted by H20.1

Are you always that hard on yourself? You should ride because you love it, not where you finish compared to others.

I often have that problem. I put goals for myself, and I'll be pissed if I'm off. A couple days ago was only my third ride (3 days in a row) after a 2 week break from surgury recovery. I had a somewhat newer bike than before...and on this 8-10 mile stretch I remember the last time I did it before the surgury I averaged 17-18mph. On that ride a couple days ago I found I averaged 16mph. 16mph on a newer bike, not a good one, but better than what I had (I bought it for 50 bucks). When I was riding, it felt like I was in just as good shape as I was 2 weeks ago. So I was in a bad mood, I didn't even ride the next day because of it. I felt just like Turantula did. Maybe I woulda rode yesturday, but my neck felt a bit sore (surgury recovery).

"Are you always that hard on yourself? You should ride because you love it, not where you finish compared to others."

I am not always that hard on myself. I am with you that I should ride for the love of cycling. There are, however, periods that I try and improve my fitness so that I may love the next level. I like to climb. Mountain roads always offer a "magic" ride for me. I recently rode from Redding, CA to the entrance to Mt Lassen Park. The road and scenery were terrific. The traffic was friendly and the downhill back was exhilirating (45.5 mph in places).
I am trying to get to the next level so that I can do several of the Sierra passes before snow sets in. I need more work.
Thank you for pointing out the real reason I ride.

Hey Tarantula,

Don't worry about your periodic "poor" performance....try to be thankful that you are able to ride ....an activity that you love.

I've been competitive at tennis for the past 15 years and it used to be a true passion until I tore both menisci in my knees....now I can never play tennis again...I can't even twist.

The good news is that I've turned my attention to the gym and cycling which include some of the best activities for my body and their enjoyable.

My point is just pace yourself, don't be so hard on yourself and definately ENJOY THE JOURNEY and you'll be much happier.

Later.

Tenacious1

i too have had the 'too hard on yourself blues' --> getting dropped repeatedly does little for your morale. there are just some people that are naturally fit - you know...the guy that rides a few times a month and can keep up with you well.

people assume that because i ride so often that i must really be fast. fast for the normal population, but in the biking subculture.

lesson learned: i would go out with these guys on sunday mornings, and i'd get dropped anywhere from 1/2 way to 3/4 the way.....it was my first experience riding in a pack.....after getting dropped the whole summer (thank you...may i have another @ss whooping) i found out that these guys are Cat 2-5 and race velodrome during the week ---

i still dream of keeping up with them.

but on any given day i don't know how strong i will be until i am 15-20 minutes into a ride (or longer) so it is hard to build up to one day without knowing how your body is going to respond.

Originally posted by RiPHRaPH

but on any given day i don't know how strong i will be until i am 15-20 minutes into a ride (or longer) so it is hard to build up to one day without knowing how your body is going to respond.

I never know how my day is going to be until 15-20 minutes of riding. I call that warm-up.

If I started out mashing right away, I think everyday would be a disappointment. More often than not I tell my wife I am going to take an easy, liesurely ride. After 15 minutes or so, I feel like pushing it harder and usually do.

There are hundreds of training methods in books and in this forum. Generally, they all claim a need for rest periods and/or hard and easy days of riding. I've never seen a valid training program though that didn't start with a warm-up, end with a cool down and include some stretching.

Be happy! You really aren't supposed to know how your day is going until 15 minutes into the ride:)