Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - My Lousy May!

I am just venting.

My spring training was going great. I was getting the miles and rides in that I wanted. Mother nature was even cooperating. Then came May. I logged 106 miles for May and was hoping to get 300+. Life (& the kid's sports) just got in the way. I also bought my wife a new bike for her early May birthday and almost all of my rides were with her. I don't mind riding with her, but consistantly riding at the slower speed, seems to have affected my fitness level. I am down 2 full miles per hour and have not been over 23 miles since April. The cherry on the cake is I have to work late today and am not able to get one last ride in. I have a 50 mile ride on Sunday and just don't feel as confident as I should.

I am sure I will do fine in the ride, but I had a MPH goal and I am sure I will not be hitting it.

All right, my whining is over!! At least I broke 100.

Life is more important than riding, kids move away eventually, the bike will still be there. (I constantly have to remind myself of that)

Vent away.

//humor on//
Otoh, there is a very obvious solution staring you in the face. Sweeney Todd, The Butcher of Fleet Street, would suggest you and the wife grind the kids up and serve them as meat patties to the neighbors at the next holiday grilling session; buy a portable fan and rig it to the rear rack of the wife's bke (so she's always in a tailwind) and tell her to keep up or else; then leave her in the dust. As your speed increases, your physique responds to your superhuman efforts and you gain notice of the local nubile, collegiate female populace, you'll have more "partnership" offers and she'll get the drift - keep up or get replaced!

Oh, and get a job that has no chance of interfering with the cycling, dude! I mean, come on!
//humor off//

Do the 50 and have fun talking to other riders.

Vent away.

//humor on//
Otoh, there is a very obvious solution staring you in the face. Sweeney Todd, The Butcher of Fleet Street, would suggest you and the wife grind the kids up and serve them as meat patties to the neighbors at the next holiday grilling session; buy a portable fan and rig it to the rear rack of the wife's bke (so she's always in a tailwind) and tell her to keep up or else; then leave her in the dust. As your speed increases, your physique responds to your superhuman efforts and you gain notice of the local nubile, collegiate female populace, you'll have more "partnership" offers and she'll get the drift - keep up or get replaced!

Oh, and get a job that has no chance of interfering with the cycling, dude! I mean, come on!
//humor off//


thats darn funny there, I dont care who you are!

I did that last year. I chased my computer and kept trying to push farther and faster. It was fun.

This year I am focusing more on riding a tandem. On half my solo rides I take the bike that doesn't have a computer specifically so I can't chase it. My total mileage sucks and I'm sure I'm slower than I was.

Oddly, I'm having just as much fun.

Next ride, leave the computer at home. Try to remember how much fun it is just to ride.

Bet my May was worse.... ;):cry:;)

But seriously AWESOME on getting the spouse out to ride with you. I wish my husband would want to ride more than just to a local watering hole and back home (about 6 miles round trip). I like he supports my riding but I want to share my joy.

And you will be fine on the 50 as long as you watch your pacing, hydrate, eat, hydrate, eat, hydrate...did I say hydrate? Have fun! I have a metric century coming up on June 23 and I am w/o my road bike currently due to a fall. New frame is in process of being ordered.

I am just venting.

My spring training was going great. I was getting the miles and rides in that I wanted. Mother nature was even cooperating. Then came May. I logged 106 miles for May and was hoping to get 300+. Life (& the kid's sports) just got in the way. I also bought my wife a new bike for her early May birthday and almost all of my rides were with her. I don't mind riding with her, but consistantly riding at the slower speed, seems to have affected my fitness level. I am down 2 full miles per hour and have not been over 23 miles since April. The cherry on the cake is I have to work late today and am not able to get one last ride in. I have a 50 mile ride on Sunday and just don't feel as confident as I should.

I am sure I will do fine in the ride, but I had a MPH goal and I am sure I will not be hitting it.

All right, my whining is over!! At least I broke 100.

I am going through the same thing. Wife is learning to ride so what I am doing is commuting during the week, one long ride with friends on one weekend day and then a ride with the wife the other day. We also try to get a evening ride in once during the weekday too.

Bet my May was worse.... ;):cry:;)

Your right....there are alot of people who had it worse. I lost a close freind this month. I am sure his family wishes that my cycling problems were the worst of their problems. It just a bike and a ride. I'll get through it and move on. I'll make the best of it.

Thanks to all!

Otoh, there is a very obvious solution staring you in the face. Sweeney Todd, The Butcher of Fleet Street, would suggest you and the wife grind the kids up and serve them as meat patties to the neighbors at the next holiday grilling session; buy a portable fan and rig it to the rear rack of the wife's bke (so she's always in a tailwind) and tell her to keep up or else; then leave her in the dust. As your speed increases, your physique responds to your superhuman efforts and you gain notice of the local nubile, collegiate female populace, you'll have more "partnership" offers and she'll get the drift - keep up or get replaced!

Oh, and get a job that has no chance of interfering with the cycling, dude! I mean, come on!

lol

Bet my May was worse.... ;):cry:;)

Your right....there are alot of people who had it worse. I lost a close freind this month. I am sure his family wishes that my cycling problems were the worst of their problems. It just a bike and a ride. I'll get through it and move on. I'll make the best of it.

Thanks to all!

I was just kidding you. I crashed my bike and have to buy a new one. :cool:

If it helps at all: My February and March completed blew! But, April and May have been great! I'm back on the bike and slowly getting back on track toward my November goal.

We all suffer set backs.

And, with reference to riding with your partner. I consider miles with my wife to be much greater than the distance ridden. My "training" schedule allows for any day that Mrs. Fred wants to ride together to be declared a "recovery" ride. I don't care if I need it or not, or, if I've earned it or not. I'll go hard tomorrow or the next day. If she wants to ride, we ride and I enjoy.

I was just kidding you. I crashed my bike and have to buy a new one. :cool:

:eek: say what?!? Waitaminit...I recall you talking about your first scrape on your new bike. Is this the same bike? Did you have another crash or....?

If she wants to ride, we ride and I enjoy.

This! +1.

Say, I finally figured out that I could take my kids to their practice and ride while they were at practice. Sometimes that gives me up to 2 hours, but even if practice is an hour, that gives me enough time to squeeze in a 45 min. ride. On the weekends, I've gotten up at 5 am so that I can get a long ride in without unduly affecting the family. I seem to usually get 3-4 rides in per week, which is just perfect. I do need a day or two off the machine and any time the wife or kids want to go for a ride on the weekend, I'll go even if I just got back from a century. Not that I have that problem very frequently. ;)

May just got a little better. I looked back on the month and with todays ride, I logged 116 miles. 75 of them in the last two weeks. So it was only the firts 2 1/2 weeks that were lousy. I went for an EZ 10 mile ride and that still leaves me 2 1/2 days of rest before the ride. I should be good on the 50 mile ride.

I've been thinking about the responses and there was a lot of good advice. My wife is also doing the ride. I decided that I 'd change my plans of riding for my goal and help her get hers (which is just to finish). The kids sports also end in a week. I'll have the rest of the summer to log miles and work on my speed. 24 hours and a different perspective can change everything.

Thanks for the responses!

Hey, could always be worse. My May was off to a great start. Then I had not one, but two accidents. My back is finally healing from the second one and I'm hoping the rest of the replacement parts arrive via UPS tomorrow.

Replacement parts for you or your bike?

Yup, could be worse. Gina lost her father March 24th and her step mother one week later both to cancer. With all the scavangers (relatives) trying to rob their house, ransacking the house looking for money and assets, trying to change their will and trustees, April and May have been one big PITA for riding. Gina has been constantly mortuaries, a lawyers office, sheriff's dept, lawyers office, lawyers office, lawyers office so many times it's silly.

I've missed many rides and done zero climbing. She gets back on the bike after a month off, I can't torture her on climbs so it's like starting all over. Plus the few times she did ride she couldn't get into the ride. I was lucky enought o sneak out for a few rides but the last two weeks were much better for her/us on the bike. ;)

Mr. Beanz, I remember Gina losing her father, I must have missed the news of her step mom. I am sorry to hear it. I hope she is doing OK. My thoughts & prayers go out to her.

Mr. Beanz, I remember Gina losing her father, I must have missed the news of her step mom. I am sorry to hear it. I hope she is doing OK. My thoughts & prayers go out to her.

Thanks, I will pass the good words onto Gina. I didn't post the stepmother's story, not sure why. Maybe to keep from posting too many sad stories.

Well my lousy May turned out to be a blessing. I was going to do a Metric in the local Tour De Cure with an MPH goal. My wife was going to ride the 50 and the plan was to meet up on the ride. I decided to ride the 50, with my wife, because of my lack of mileage in the past month. I was cringing at the thought of a "slow" ride. It turns out we had a great time. It was nice to look at something other than my cadence or mph. As a bonus, she was happy to have me. She was concerned if she had a flat or othere problems she wouldn't know what to do. It turns out she did. Her front derailer cable came off on a climb. We were lucky that it happended just before a rest stop that had a bike mechanic there. It was frayed, so he swapped it out for a new cable and off we went.

Today was perfect for riding, the event was great and I felt really strong on the ride! I guess it all worked out in the end!:)