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08-09-04, 01:25 PM
and came out ok, I guess. I went for 148 km over the North Chicago River Branch trail (three times). The good news is that I pretty much caught and passed everyone up I saw up on the horizon and was only passed by two riders. The bad news is that my time was over 6.5 hours!! What a totally crappy time (22-24 km/hour). The trails were winding in many places, and I did slow down a tad because of that.
I took a 2 liter camelback, 2 cliff bars, and two bottles full of gatorade; using up all the full allotment. Before I started, I ate two packets of oatmeal, a bannana, and a small bowl of cereal, with water and cofee.
I only stopped for the lights and traffic (i.e., when I had to for safety sake). I was tired afterwards, but generally recuperated fairly well within a couple of hours. I don't feel like bonked, although my "speed", such as it was, was a tad slower on the final 3rd (2-4 km/hr); I also used a slightly smaller gear. I also noticed that towards the end, I was welcoming the stoplights, so I could give a respite to my lower back, which began to hurt (not too bad); in general, though, my legs and lungs were ok; the only discomfort was the lower back after about three-four hours of riding...
I'm new to cycling; my fitness is improving (I used to be able to run 3:40 marathons 5 years ago, but then my weight balooned to 230; it's down to 205 at present and I hope to get it back down to 170-180 with some more sustained training--I"m 6.2, by the way).
In any event, can any body provide me some feedback on my ride, based on what I've said? Is there something I should have done that I didn't do?? Should I be worried about the lower back discomfort?? Is it feesible to imagine doing a century in 5 hours (I would need to improve by over 30%!
Thanks
Nav
I took a 2 liter camelback, 2 cliff bars, and two bottles full of gatorade; using up all the full allotment. Before I started, I ate two packets of oatmeal, a bannana, and a small bowl of cereal, with water and cofee.
I only stopped for the lights and traffic (i.e., when I had to for safety sake). I was tired afterwards, but generally recuperated fairly well within a couple of hours. I don't feel like bonked, although my "speed", such as it was, was a tad slower on the final 3rd (2-4 km/hr); I also used a slightly smaller gear. I also noticed that towards the end, I was welcoming the stoplights, so I could give a respite to my lower back, which began to hurt (not too bad); in general, though, my legs and lungs were ok; the only discomfort was the lower back after about three-four hours of riding...
I'm new to cycling; my fitness is improving (I used to be able to run 3:40 marathons 5 years ago, but then my weight balooned to 230; it's down to 205 at present and I hope to get it back down to 170-180 with some more sustained training--I"m 6.2, by the way).
In any event, can any body provide me some feedback on my ride, based on what I've said? Is there something I should have done that I didn't do?? Should I be worried about the lower back discomfort?? Is it feesible to imagine doing a century in 5 hours (I would need to improve by over 30%!
Thanks
Nav