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03-04-09, 07:04 PM
Gosh dang it, I must be getting fit at last :D
Like my attempt to speak American?
So, to paraphrase it into something I can understand: Flamin' heck, I must be getting fit at last :thumb:
The last two days, I've been tired. I mean, really really tired. I staggered out of bed this morning and debated falling right back into it ... only I was collapsed on the floor at the time and that would have meant standing up so I could do the 'falling into' bit, so I decided bed was too much like hard work.
Took the lad to school.
Made a few phone calls.
Ignored the dishes.
Still dead tired.
Finally the guilts got to me so I decided to go for a ride and hauled the Europa off the wall.
I've got a test route - it's only 12 kms long but it's a ride that gives you nowhere to hide because there are a few long, steady climbs, not steep but steady.
I rolled off ... and decided to experiment with forgetting that the Europa is fixed gear and you can't coast :rolleyes:
I was wearing my HRM for the first time in months, and was a tad interested in how long it took my heart rate to lift. Got to the first uphill bit and yep, that got the old heart working.
The halfway point is at the top of the steepest and longest climb, about 2km worth but we're talking 'uphill slope', not 'hill', enough to have me out of the saddle but not so steep that I can't sit for a few strokes for a rest. By now, the HRM was either having hysterics or cheering me on, it gets a bit hard to tell with all that frantic beeping.
Headed up to the big roundabout to turn for home, spotted a large four wheel drive using up all the road and tried to throw myself under his wheels but he was too slow to react and missed me. He was kind enough to wave though, even if he was too lazy to use any more than one finger while doing so.
By now, I was on a down hill run that regularly sees me topping 50km/hr on the geared bike. Her top gear is 50x11 so that's relatively easy, it's a tad more frantic on the Europa, fixed at 42x16 :rolleyes: so I held the speed back and topped out at 42 km/hr which is a cadence of 128.
Negotiated a couple more roundabouts. Had the obligatory near miss as I crossed the mouth of a slip lane for a side road. Then began the final climb home - another long, steady uphill stretch of about 2km. That's when I worked out why my HR was so lazy at the start of the ride - downhill run with a stiff tail wind, all made rather obvious because I was now riding uphill against a stiff head wind :( The HRM started having hysterics again.
I made it. Tired and sweaty but feeling good as you'd imagine. Thing is, I was feeling lazy so apart for working to get up the hills, I took the ride quietly - it's actually easier to 'loaf' on a fixed gear bike than a geared bike. This was a 'heart starter', not a training ride. As I mentioned earlier, this is my 'test loop' and as well as entering the ride into my main log, I also entered the ride into my test loop data, only to discover that this was my highest average speed for the loop (26.1km/hr) :D
Gosh dang it, I must be getting fit at last :D
Richard
(I apologise for speaking lousy American - blame television)
Like my attempt to speak American?
So, to paraphrase it into something I can understand: Flamin' heck, I must be getting fit at last :thumb:
The last two days, I've been tired. I mean, really really tired. I staggered out of bed this morning and debated falling right back into it ... only I was collapsed on the floor at the time and that would have meant standing up so I could do the 'falling into' bit, so I decided bed was too much like hard work.
Took the lad to school.
Made a few phone calls.
Ignored the dishes.
Still dead tired.
Finally the guilts got to me so I decided to go for a ride and hauled the Europa off the wall.
I've got a test route - it's only 12 kms long but it's a ride that gives you nowhere to hide because there are a few long, steady climbs, not steep but steady.
I rolled off ... and decided to experiment with forgetting that the Europa is fixed gear and you can't coast :rolleyes:
I was wearing my HRM for the first time in months, and was a tad interested in how long it took my heart rate to lift. Got to the first uphill bit and yep, that got the old heart working.
The halfway point is at the top of the steepest and longest climb, about 2km worth but we're talking 'uphill slope', not 'hill', enough to have me out of the saddle but not so steep that I can't sit for a few strokes for a rest. By now, the HRM was either having hysterics or cheering me on, it gets a bit hard to tell with all that frantic beeping.
Headed up to the big roundabout to turn for home, spotted a large four wheel drive using up all the road and tried to throw myself under his wheels but he was too slow to react and missed me. He was kind enough to wave though, even if he was too lazy to use any more than one finger while doing so.
By now, I was on a down hill run that regularly sees me topping 50km/hr on the geared bike. Her top gear is 50x11 so that's relatively easy, it's a tad more frantic on the Europa, fixed at 42x16 :rolleyes: so I held the speed back and topped out at 42 km/hr which is a cadence of 128.
Negotiated a couple more roundabouts. Had the obligatory near miss as I crossed the mouth of a slip lane for a side road. Then began the final climb home - another long, steady uphill stretch of about 2km. That's when I worked out why my HR was so lazy at the start of the ride - downhill run with a stiff tail wind, all made rather obvious because I was now riding uphill against a stiff head wind :( The HRM started having hysterics again.
I made it. Tired and sweaty but feeling good as you'd imagine. Thing is, I was feeling lazy so apart for working to get up the hills, I took the ride quietly - it's actually easier to 'loaf' on a fixed gear bike than a geared bike. This was a 'heart starter', not a training ride. As I mentioned earlier, this is my 'test loop' and as well as entering the ride into my main log, I also entered the ride into my test loop data, only to discover that this was my highest average speed for the loop (26.1km/hr) :D
Gosh dang it, I must be getting fit at last :D
Richard
(I apologise for speaking lousy American - blame television)