Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Are you a DIESEL?

Wondering if there are any "diesels" out there like me that are slow starters but last forever (well, almost :) ).

If so, what is your routine like for warm-up and cool-down?

Do you do anything different than a rider that runs on gasoline?

Let's discuss. :thumb:

:) Wow, that fits me to a T. Except there's the matter of which of the many diesels we are. I think I'm an early 80s VW Rabbit with 52 hp. I'm small, rather slow, and have to give my glow plugs a long warmup before my legs will start early in the morning. Literally... I have arthritis in one knee and to ride early, I have to apply hot pads to it or it will be stiff and sore throughout the ride. In the middle of the day I can just hop on the bike and go forever, but not quickly- just like the Rabbit diesel (I had one in a Vanagon).

So I am not alone?!
I quit chain-smoking 3 years ago but gave myself COPD as a result so my lungs and blood chemistry work a little different then everyone else I ride with. Even with my limitations I race (well actually I call it "participating") mountain bikes and my whole thing is just what you are expressing. I totally suck at time trials because I am just warming up and soldiering along when the racers are drinking their first cold one!:)
I can pedal all day long at 13 to 15 mph enjoying the occasional 17 or 18 mph (my average is 14.4 mph pretty much across the board) based on climate and geographical conditions but that is just me. Slow and steady. Smiling like a school boy with a playboy magazine.
Headwind? Maybe I am queer but there is something about plodding along in a headwind that is just satisfying. It's like having free resistance training from mother nature. I love your descriptive. I am definitely a diesel. Perhaps an old John Deere "Johnny Popper" single cylinder or a Volvo pentah from my sailing days... Definitely a thumper diesel.

I am a definite diesel. In my case a diesel locomotive, circa 1950 Streamliner. I pull out of the station slow, building up speed gradually, but once the big train is rolling it goes and goes.

I also have a bad knee, but both legs are pretty much the same in one regard. It takes about 20 miles for a true warm up. Then my legs feel warm and loose so I feel like I can go all day.

I don't have much of a warm-up or cool-down routine, but I'm definitely not a high performance engine by any stretch of the imagination. I'm the tug-boat of cyclists: I'm heavy, slow, over-powered and geared low. I'm not getting anywhere very fast, but if needed, I'll drag everything and the kitchen sink along with me for the trip. I start and finish at roughly the same speed, and I've got 2 overall paces; slow and stop.

That would be me! At 220 lbs, I do solo flat centuries at 17.3 average (5:45). Several oragnaized rides like Palmsprings and Solvang centuries, I ride solo and complete in less than 6 hours. Only time you'll see me in a paceline is when others jump my wheel. A 10,000 ft century will be 7:10 ride time and 7:40 total.

I carry a good pace after I warm up but not a sprinter!....and all my friends want to draft me!:p



http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/070508F.jpg

That would be me! At 220 lbs, I do solo flat centuries at 17.3 average (5:45). Several oragnaized rides like Palmsprings and Solvang centuries, I ride solo and complete in less than 6 hours. Only time you'll see me in a paceline is when others jump my wheel. A 10,000 ft century will be 7:10 ride time and 7:40 total.

I carry a good pace after I warm up but not a sprinter!....and all my friends want to draft me!:p



http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/070508F.jpg

Young whippersnapper!:lol:

Young whippersnapper!:lol:

Hey! 45 aint no spring chicken!:twitchy:

Hey! 45 aint no spring chicken!:twitchy:

:lol:

i envy you guys. i can ride distance, but i can't keep a steady pace to save my life. i typically always edge up in speed, then have to back off to recover, then repeat. having an HRM helps, but i usually change pace anyway.