unixpro
07-13-08, 12:34 AM
Well, actually more like 8 days, but let's not get too technical here.
On the 4th of July I did what I called an Urban Century. This week my wife decided to go visit her mother, so I decided to go for another century. Of course I also did my regular 28 mile-a-day commute, so I guess that in 8 days I've ridden right around 350 miles. Not bad for a fat old guy, eh?
Summary:
Bike: Bacchetta Giro 20 (SWB Recumbent)
Rider: 49 YO Clyde (5'6" but 225 lbs.; regular commuter)
Distance: 106.71 miles
Ride Time: 8 hours, 47 minutes
Time door-to-door: 10 hours, 2 minutes
Course Description: Hills at start, peak, and end. Flats between.
Average Speed: 12.1 MPH
Max Speed: 37.6 MPH :eek:
Max HR: 145 BPM
Avg HR: 120 BPM
Calories (from HRM): 5445
Temperatures: Morning in the mid 50s, afternoon in the mid 80s.
Details:
In keeping with my preference to make a century a new adventure, I combined both routes I had ridden before with ones new to me. In this case, I'd never gone over the I-90 floating bridge across Lake Washington, so I added that.
As with all my long rides, this was unsupported. I took lots of hydration and a lunch, but for some reason, I didn't really feel like eating anything until I hit 96 miles, and then it was just a banana. I did drink a fair amount of water and cranberry juice (no vodka), but I just wasn't hungry. When I got home I had about 40 ounces of protein shake, more cranberry juice (still no vodka), and about 2 quarts of straight water. It's been about 6 hours since I finished the ride and I'm still not hungry. I'm sure I'll make up for it tomorrow.
I started from my home in Burien, WA, at about 6:30 A.M. I rode north up Des Moines Way, down through South Park and Georgetown, and then Airport and over Dearborne to get on the I-90 trail. I got lost for a little while trying to find the trail, but eventually managed to get onto it and over to Bellevue. The route was a bit hillier than I'd expected, but I guess it kind of makes sense when you think about the fact that you're coming from the land down to the water, across the water to an island, across the island to the other side of the lake, then up onto dry land again. I got lost on the other side of the lake as well, but since I'd worked in Bellevue before, that wasn't a major problem. I eventually found the Lake Washington trail and rode on down to Renton.
Once in Renton, I made my way over to the Green River trail and managed to get down to auburn. They're doing work on the trail around the gold course in Kent, so I had to get a little inventive about my route.
Once in Auburn, I got up on the Auburn-Black Diamond road and went on up into Black Diamond. The climb into Black Diamond isn't steep, but it is long. I was able to maintain a pace of 10-13 MPH most of the way, which I thought was reasonably good.
When I arrived in Black Diamond, I checked my mileage and noticed that I was already at 69 miles. I'd planned to return the long way via Flaming Geyser State Park, but I was pretty tired and I knew that I had more than 31 miles to go to get back home, so I decided to just turn around and head back. It was on this part of the trip that I hit the 37.6 MPH. I could have gone faster, but I wasn't comfortable pushing it harder on a road I wasn't all that familiar with.
Got back down into Auburn and hit the Interurban for the ride back up to South Park, then up the Des Moines hill to finish up. Had a great, cool shower.
I don't think I'll be doing another century next weekend, but I might go for a half or so. I'll have to decide later in the week, considering how I feel and when my wife decides to come back.
On the 4th of July I did what I called an Urban Century. This week my wife decided to go visit her mother, so I decided to go for another century. Of course I also did my regular 28 mile-a-day commute, so I guess that in 8 days I've ridden right around 350 miles. Not bad for a fat old guy, eh?
Summary:
Bike: Bacchetta Giro 20 (SWB Recumbent)
Rider: 49 YO Clyde (5'6" but 225 lbs.; regular commuter)
Distance: 106.71 miles
Ride Time: 8 hours, 47 minutes
Time door-to-door: 10 hours, 2 minutes
Course Description: Hills at start, peak, and end. Flats between.
Average Speed: 12.1 MPH
Max Speed: 37.6 MPH :eek:
Max HR: 145 BPM
Avg HR: 120 BPM
Calories (from HRM): 5445
Temperatures: Morning in the mid 50s, afternoon in the mid 80s.
Details:
In keeping with my preference to make a century a new adventure, I combined both routes I had ridden before with ones new to me. In this case, I'd never gone over the I-90 floating bridge across Lake Washington, so I added that.
As with all my long rides, this was unsupported. I took lots of hydration and a lunch, but for some reason, I didn't really feel like eating anything until I hit 96 miles, and then it was just a banana. I did drink a fair amount of water and cranberry juice (no vodka), but I just wasn't hungry. When I got home I had about 40 ounces of protein shake, more cranberry juice (still no vodka), and about 2 quarts of straight water. It's been about 6 hours since I finished the ride and I'm still not hungry. I'm sure I'll make up for it tomorrow.
I started from my home in Burien, WA, at about 6:30 A.M. I rode north up Des Moines Way, down through South Park and Georgetown, and then Airport and over Dearborne to get on the I-90 trail. I got lost for a little while trying to find the trail, but eventually managed to get onto it and over to Bellevue. The route was a bit hillier than I'd expected, but I guess it kind of makes sense when you think about the fact that you're coming from the land down to the water, across the water to an island, across the island to the other side of the lake, then up onto dry land again. I got lost on the other side of the lake as well, but since I'd worked in Bellevue before, that wasn't a major problem. I eventually found the Lake Washington trail and rode on down to Renton.
Once in Renton, I made my way over to the Green River trail and managed to get down to auburn. They're doing work on the trail around the gold course in Kent, so I had to get a little inventive about my route.
Once in Auburn, I got up on the Auburn-Black Diamond road and went on up into Black Diamond. The climb into Black Diamond isn't steep, but it is long. I was able to maintain a pace of 10-13 MPH most of the way, which I thought was reasonably good.
When I arrived in Black Diamond, I checked my mileage and noticed that I was already at 69 miles. I'd planned to return the long way via Flaming Geyser State Park, but I was pretty tired and I knew that I had more than 31 miles to go to get back home, so I decided to just turn around and head back. It was on this part of the trip that I hit the 37.6 MPH. I could have gone faster, but I wasn't comfortable pushing it harder on a road I wasn't all that familiar with.
Got back down into Auburn and hit the Interurban for the ride back up to South Park, then up the Des Moines hill to finish up. Had a great, cool shower.
I don't think I'll be doing another century next weekend, but I might go for a half or so. I'll have to decide later in the week, considering how I feel and when my wife decides to come back.