Did You Ride Today?

[wolfpack]

yea, road bike here.

i used to just ride to ride, but mostly solo and i would really be bored during these rides. after i got the powertap, i have a very good friend who has been "coaching" me with the use of the powertap and i have made some significant progress since last August. each week, since december, i've had different "workouts" to do and this has really made my riding more fun. there's now a reason (other than just riding) to ride. it's the structure that does it for me. i like knowing that i'm going to go out and do 4x8's or 3x5's (as hard as you can freaking go) or maybe it's supposed to be a recovery day. i don't think i ever took an actual recovery day before the PT....ride hard every day was my motto back then. but now, that's not possible.

today, will be a 2hr ride, zone2 recovery and i might see if i feel like throwing in some 4x2 high cadence (avg>120 rpm) intervals. you shouldn't do hard intervals like i did yesterday back to back, or so i've been told...

[Gavush]

yeah, did my usual evening out & back on the natchez trace after work...28 miles. I had a record avg of what I believe was 18.6 or 18.7 which is up 1mph from my best avg on that ride

I forgot my computer wasn't on autostart / stop and I had unclipped it from the bike and put it in my pocket to do 2 cool down laps around the parking lot and stretched a little and it read 1.34.38 when I was unloading my pockets and found the timer still counting (to my horror) so I estimate it counted about 5 or 6 minutes extra.

also found a pair of gloves by the parking lot... stopped by the bike shop a couple of miles away and tucked a "found" note in their door jam for them to post. (they had already closed)

[ken cummings]

Up at sunrise and 8 miles to the monthly breakfast meeting of the county IPM (Integrated Pest Management) group. Then 8 miles home. Later 5 miles to a job finding office followed by 10 miles with a good tailwind to meet up with the wife for ice cream.

[mollusk]

I rode today. Three times, actually.

I bike commuted to work (ride 1), then I bike commuted home (ride 2). Once home I ate a little bit and took off on one of my my road bikes for a 35 mile ride (ride 3). I got totally soaked in a thunderstorm.

All told a very nice day!

[cruzinator]

Did the metric century on the 4th. :) I did OK, but I got hit with the dreaded leg cramps with 14 miles to go. I thought I had that under control---wrong. :( Was pretty washed out when it was over mainly due to the sun, but otherwise I did pretty decent at 17.6 which is about last year's pace. It looks like next year a little more prep is in order.

[Gavush]

I had a hard time getting out the door this morning... skipped breakfast to save some time and didn't want anything we had at the house anyway... locked myself out without my helmet... had to wake up the mrs to let me back in. (oi) left at 6:20am. pushed my regular 47 mile loop out to a 58 mile loop by continuing from one highway to another highway to get back into town rather than cutting across the two on a back road. Stopped around mile 22 at the base of the natchez trace to get a power bar at a gas station, sat there and ate it.. refilled one of my water bottles. Continued on... stopped at mile 42 to use the rest room, bought an air-head and ate that... added up my spare electrolyte mix to my remaining water bottle & continued on. Around hour 2 my knees started to get sore (need to check my knee to pedal relationship...) and hour 3 my butt started to get sore. Got back home after 3.27.29 riding time... which puts the average at 16.8 - I felt "off" / slow the whole time... especially the first half. This is the longest ride I've done so far...

On a side note, I've registered for a MS ride, "jack and back" which is a 2 day, 150 mile ride on Oct. 4th and 5th. If anyone would like to help sponsor me send me a PM or drive up / over / down here and join in the fun!

[Gavush]

Was contemplating the 47 mile route this morning but right away I could tell my rt knee was still sore from yesterday so I went in the other direction and did a more casual 28 miles w/ a 15.4 avg. Looks like I'm going to take the week off to try and sort my knee out... I had already slated to go shoe shopping all day saturday so hopefully I'll be able to find some shoes that fit and get some help aligning the cleats and my seat & finally ditch the tennis shoes.... hoping that's the source of my irritated knees.

[wolfpack]

25mi. computerless. :)

[knatchwa]

only pondered the possibility recovering from a whole lot of sun on Friday.

[Alasdair]

No. I suck.

[Gavush]

yeah no kidding, me too. I did 25 miles on tuesday and my knee started to get little twinges in it at around mile 20. I'm still tennis-shoe equipped.. nothing worked out last weekend. looks like I'm going to try & mail order some Lakes. On a positive note, last week I picked up a fizik alianti sport take-off saddle for $20 at the bike shop, seems like once I adjust my sit bones to it, it'll be great. (way less pressure in the perennial area, my original specialized seat was rather dome shaped on top) I'm going to try some longer rides on my mtb this weekend (longer than an hour on the trails) on my to see if it's a geometry problem w/ my road bike, or maybe a slightly bent BB or something.

[jaxgtr]

Did 35 on my hybrid today. Hot and humid are the adjectives of the day, but all in all a pretty good ride.

[bassic wilson]

93 miles on my '89 cannondale road bike with rear rack and alot of extra water (total about 6 extra lbs, I'd say). It was around 95 degrees F and quite humid. First time on that heavier bike in a while. Longest ride in a while. I think I'll rest tomorrow!

[Gavush]

did around 15 or 16 miles on my mtb on the road... w/ a 10 minute jaunt on some of the trails over at the state park. took about an hour and 10 minutes.

[Gavush]

yes - I had an excellent ride up on the natchez trace after work. It was hot out but not as bad up on the 'trace and when you were moving it wasn't bad at all. as I pulled in I met two people who were getting ready to head out... I left about 3 or 4 minutes later and wound up catching up with them after 8 minutes of riding, I decided to tag along and it was really nice to have some other folks to ride with and chat a bit. I don't usually get to do that.... one rider was on a tt bike and the other a road bike.. forget the brands but they were pretty spiffy. The woman on the tt bike was struggling a bit because she isn't from and here and the high heat and high humidity was doing a number on her (I'd guess 88 degrees & 80%? - I think it was in the low 90s in the city) So, I rode with them for almost 40 minutes when they decided to turn around... as we were departing I suggested they check out bikeforum.

I continued riding to my turned around point and head back to the car... the rest of the ride was uneventful. However, I felt great. It smelled great outside, my bike felt awesome under me and I was keeping good rhythm. I got back to my car after an hour and 45 minutes, having ridden 28 miles. The BEST thing about the whole ride was that I didn't get a single peep out of my knees... my legs burned, my knees didn't. I'd guess the reason to be the second best thing about the ride - I did it on my mtb - knobby tires & all.

So, I'd say one more ride to confirm, but it looks like I need to take a hard look at my road bike geometry and especially the cranks & bottom bracket, which have a very slight wobble.

[Fairmont]

I only rode about three miles today.

1.5 to the bike shop and 1.5 home after the bike shop.

I was too excited about getting a new bike, so I went right home to jump online.

[knatchwa]

Even riding a bit is a good thing, I try and ride a bit every day. Working on making it a point to do at least 2 hours a day in the coming month. Will see where it goes from there.

[Gavush]

Nope.. didn't ride today, I was going to but the Mrs had to work and I had daddy duty. However, I thought I would share that I'm pretty sure I've figured out what's wrong with my knees. After tuesday's excellent ride, I was uncomfortable both yesterday and a little today. I'm no doctor, but I'd bet money on it: - plica syndrome of the medial plica (http://www.orthogate.org/patient-education/knee/plica-syndrome.html). I've always thought it was a tendon or ligament I could see and feel popping back and forth over the end of my femur... now I have to figure out what to do about it.

[wolfpack]

had 165 miles for last week. mon/tue off, rain wednesday, 32mi tonight. roan moan century on saturday.

[Velo Vol]

roan moan century on saturday.I'll be looking for a post-ride report.

[wolfpack]

101 miles today. a lot of that in rain. hard, downpour too. very tired now. report will come later V V.

[Gavush]

did the 47 mile loop from my house over to the natchez trace on my mtb, took 3 hrs, 10 minutes. Highlight of the day was a few minutes after the crest of the 3 mile long climb from hwy 100 up onto the trace a guy came huffing and puffing up next to me on a road bike and said "Man, I've been trying to catch up to you forever!" - "since when?" I asked "hwy 100- you're flying on that thing, what is it, a hybrid?" "nah... just a mountain bike" - which was great, until I learned that it was his second day out riding. Noticing his calves that looked like my thighs, I asked if he was a runner, which he was. He said it got boring and he wanted to try something new... as we parted @ his 10 mile mark I suggested he go easy in the beginning, just like he probably knew from running, and he agreed

[Velo Vol]

(Saturday) 40 miles, no rain, but I was sweating so much (high humidity) that it might as well have been. I was happy to discover that the of the rougher roads on a route has been repaved. Now, if only all the dog owners would provide proper restraint. . . .

[knatchwa]

Over the weekend probably about 70 or so miles road and track. Should of been much more planning on a 13 day ride this coming weekend depending on what things look like thursday we shall see where it goes from here.

[wolfpack]

52mi on sunday with bwnc in the sylva area. a "recovery ride". :)

yea, V V i'll be getting to that RM report tonight...

[biketherapy]

57 miles last night. BIG for a week night. Rode from my workplace to the ride start (about 15 miles), then 25 miles with a very fast group. There were lots of attacks on the hills- it was freakin' hard! Got dropped about 20 miles in. My legs were screaming on the 17 miles to the house!

Regrets last longer than pain!

[Gavush]

25 miles today, back on my road bike... sporting a new stem, 90mm with about 10 degree rise. much better than the 60mm, 15 degree drop I was using. 17 avg- felt slow... nice ride though.

[jaxgtr]

Decided to ride this route from the house versus driving to the bike shop and leaving from there. I also figured since it looked like the bottom was about to drop out, I would ride the hybrid. Leaving from the house added about 10 miles to the total distance. Weather was very cloudy and had an occasion drip of rain, but nothing appreciable or cooling. The sun came out for a short time and it was super humid which really added to the pain of the ride.

Wind was out of the west about 10 which gave a rather solid headwind down Bowden and Baymeadows. Luckliy the route was more north and south and I did not suffer from the wind too much. It actually shifted a little to the southwest once I started back which really helped on my return trip. I started to cramp ever so slight once I got on Bishop Estate Rd and it just intensified as I went along. Once I hit Baymeadows, I was in really bad shape and had to stop to work them out more than once. When I hit the incline to the bridge I was in so much pain, I thought about calling for help as my thighs were completely locked. I was able to shake them loose and I was able to walk it out up the bridge. I've never been in that much pain before, not even after the knee surgery. Once I got back rolling, I tried to keep my cadence as high as I could sustain and made it home.

I figured on the hybrid, I could make the 47 miles in 3 hrs 25 mins total ride time. Even with stopping for 5 mins to shake out the cramps, walking up the bridge, and obviously slowing for a little bit right after, I still came in pretty close to my goal time. The mile when I cramped real bad took me 10 mins to complete so I feel pretty good about the ride time.

I really need to figure out why I have been cramping so badly on my recent rides. I have never done this before and it is really concerning. I am wondering if I am drinking too much during the week and urinating out all my electrolytes. I am taking electrolyte pills before and during my rides, so it might just not be enough. I bought a book today on Long Distance Riding so hopefully I will glean some info.

[kman38]

Me and about 15 other riders rode 35 miles this morning,finished up at about 8:30,in church by 11:00. I missed the annual ride Sat.because of work so we had a short one this morning.

[Gavush]

I over slept this morning... I turned in later than usual last night w/ a sad belly and then our little one (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v480/vw_nick/lizzie/) must have had a nightmare or something because she woke us up at 2am and was very upset. So.. I made an epic breakfast (pancakes, eggs, scrambled eggs) and we ate that, went to church, and I got home, changed up, got my biking stuff together, got all slathered up with sweat proof sun block, then had to stop and help the wife's friend with her car... unclogged the a/c drain, re-setup the dvd player in our bedroom, checked mapmyride.com to plan a route, and finally got to hit the road. Parked at a gas station on hwy 100 and headed out, 1:44pm... slight headwind.... lovely. Traffic on hwy 100 was pretty heavy, I was surprised.. but then I'm usually on it at 8am and not 2pm. Had one passenger of a small pickup shout something as they passed. Passed another cyclist headed in the opposite direction, apparently I wasn't the only one crazy enough to bike in the heat. At mile 20 as I was gobbling some sports beans (first time I've had them) I stopped to talk with a fellow on a schwinn super sport who was going in the opposite direction and was wondering if there were any other exits around. Headed on my way after a nice chat and got to around mile 30 and stopped to refill my water bottles at a rest area... met a fellow on a Yamaha dual sport motorcycle with a disproportionately small & fat rear tire. Continued on my way.... about 5 miles later my belly started to feel very sad. I almost headed for the woods, feeling good about the 2 tissues I tossed in my jersey pocket, but managed to trudge on hoping for another rest stop. Got passed by one motorcycle, and beeped at by the one following him. They weren't close, so I'm not sure if it was a good beep or a bad beep. Later had someone else shout something from a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.... Around mile 42 I got to the exit that would head me back in the right direction, no civilization there, and I was feeling better anyway... ate half my power bar & soldiered on. The shoulder on rt 7 was huge... I saw at least one bike lane sign. It was wide enough to have been an additional car lane, and there wasn't too much debris at all. Refilled one of my water bottles with the "reserve" spring water bottle I had in my back pocket. From 7 back onto 100 for the last leg... headwind was still there. Traffic was worse than before, and about 8" of shoulder in some places, lots of debris. Had one car beep 3 light beeps as it came past me up a hill. Again, unsure if it was a good beep or a bad beep. Used the last of my water on a pair of dogs that wouldn't let up for about 5 minutes, while traffic passing wasn't sympathetic at all and didn't give me much room as I tried to avoid the mutts. Got back to my car, 59.91 miles, 16.0 avg. Decided not to bother with the other 9 tenths. Stopped across the street for a rt44 poweraid slush and drove home... drank about half of it on the way home. Got my bike unloaded, went to unload the other stuff and had to head inside, very sad belly. Since I was ill last night I'm not sure if it was the sports beans that got to me today or not. I used the same power aid electrolyte mix I usually use... - However, despite all that it was actually a pretty good ride, and on a couple of the straights into a really good groove and it's the furthest I've ridden so far, and also the furthest I've ridden down the trace. (it gets very flat! I was shocked) Oh, I had also shifted my saddle back 1cm after feeling like I was too far forward and despite a little discomfort from mile 50-on, both the saddle and fit felt great.. getting closer to perfection.

map: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/tn/fairview/1065169052

(edit) oh wow, I had no idea this thing was so long... sorry. I hope you enjoy the read.

[wolfpack]

summarized for 8/1-8/3: 166mi ~9500-10000' climbing in san diego & orange county with some really great socal peeps!

8/1=45mi
8/2=58mi
8/3=63mi

[perico]

I did 20 miles setting out at about 5:30 in the late day heat. I've pushed my average up to 16.78 mph on a pretty hilly ride. Im a newbie and have just started getting serious this summer so that was my highest average for that distance, I was hammering it out today, take that Georgia heat.

[Gavush]

did about 2 miles today... had rotated my rear to the front on my road bike earlier in the day to try to get some more mileage out of the tires as the rear was getting thin... and as I got settled in riding I was looking at my front tire which had hop to it.. pulled over, bead wasn't seated properly, long story short the tire didn't survive remounting (without tools... that wasn't the issue) they were some old stock my dad had picked up a while ago and he sent them to me to get me on the road... they were pretty dry when I mounted them this spirng, but still useable. Anyway, the glue for the bead had come loose and the bead wasn't staying with the rest of the sidewall as the tire pumped up. I meant to order some from performance last week but forgot... on the plus side, some 26x1.25s will be here for my mtb tomorrow so I can ride that until I get some replacements.

[perico]

16 miles today, 17 mph average, average hilly route.

[Gavush]

yes! was going out riding anyway and saw that the bike shop at the end of the 'trace was having their thursday evening ride, hill repeats - as practice for the MS ride coming up in october. I thought it sounded like fun so I went along... I took my old front tire and put that on to replace the rotted one. It's a bit old too but not terrible. Initially felt totally faux pas but when I was riding I totally forgot about it, (gumwall & black front, gumwall, red shoulders, & black center rear) and it was actually kind of nice having a normal looking tire in the front. Maybe someday I'll upgrade to all black ones made after 1998. I'd guess about 40 people at the start of it? I'm not sure how many times I went up and down, I lost count... I did 23.2 miles, and the parking lot to the base of the repeat was maybe a mile, and I went a little too far the first trip up, so I think I did 20 miles of repeats, and it was about a 2 mile climb... (the north entrance of the 'trace) it took me about 3 climbs to warm up and find a rhythm.. had lots of fun - chatted briefly with folks from time to time... saw some neat bicycles - only saw one other with down tube shifters, and her's went "click click" all fancy like. I started to track the progress of another guy who I'd call "a fast guy" who looked like he was trying hard, and near the beginning we were passing going in opposite directions at around 3/4 up, and at the end we were passing at around 1/3 up. Granted it wasn't a race, though it looked like he was pushing pretty hard and it feet pretty good that he didn't catch me. Anyway... had a blast.. could have gone longer but ran out of light at 7:50, probably had 3 more climbs left in me. Oh yeah, avg 16.0 - max, 41.3 which I'm pretty sure is a new personal record.

[LAWMAN]

25.3 this morning before work by myself, on what passes for hills in West TN (short but some of them very steep). Had to stop & wait for the following to clear the road (not all at once):

1. a hen turkey
2. 3 fat beautiful whitetail bucks
3. a suicidal squirrel.

it was nice.

John

[wolfpack]

18mi spinning/recovery type ride. first ride after returning from socal. included 12 powerstarts.

[Gavush]

just under 44 miles with the saturday morning 'trace bikes group ride. 14 avg... pretty relaxed ride.

[Derby]

Did 47mi w/ 19mph avg. over moderate hills with group.

[wolfpack]

63.3mi, Falls Lake/Youngsville/Franklinton area.

[Velo Vol]

Yes. It's cooled off some, but still warm to be climbing ridges in the afternoon.

[Gavush]

58 miles, at 48 the avg was 17.4 - a record... then I bonked and the last 10 miles I spent wondering if I was going to make it home... evidentially I can't ride for 3 hours w/ a good pace on a banana. However, it was really really nice out. You can't buy weather like this in august.

oh, also... today I surpassed 1000 miles for the year... a goal I had set this spring and expected to meet it around November.

[Fremdchen]

58 miles, at 48 the avg was 17.4 - a record... then I bonked and the last 10 miles I spent wondering if I was going to make it home... evidentially I can't ride for 3 hours w/ a good pace on a banana. However, it was really really nice out. You can't buy weather like this in august.

oh, also... today I surpassed 1000 miles for the year... a goal I had set this spring and expected to meet it around November.

Congrats to meeting your goal ahead of time! That's a great accomplishment. You speak the truth on the nice weather. The gods are smiling on us this year and giving us a break. I had been dreading this Aug. because last year's was so brutal, but it's shaping up to be a great month.

[wolfpack]

no, i didn't ride today and i'm grumpy because of that. :(

[Ed in GA]

Road 15 mi with my wife today. My personal best. Just a warm up for her.

[knatchwa]

realizing how great it is to have the freedom to do, to ride to get where you need to go via your own human power.

[Velo Vol]

Yes. Logged a good time. Cooler temperatures help, I guess.

[Gavush]

yeah, standard 28 mile after work route that's out and back on the trace. Put in some real effort and pulled off a 19.4 avg, upping my previous best avg by 1.4mph. I was shooting for an even 20.. but a few hills towards the end knocked it down by quite a bit. I'd love to see 22... if I get there it'll be just in time to loose it during the colder months.

[HarryMan]

Yes, a 10 mile loop I ride before I go to work. It is so calm and peaceful when no one else is on the road, the temps are low and all you hear is the whir of your wheels.

[10 Wheels]

Commute to a group bike ride 15 miles r/t.
Temps 80* to 96*.
Finished the day with 100.12 miles.