BikeWNC

For the past few years, since stopping training with a coach, I've been able to go to event rides and get through them without much difficulty. I was aware that my finish times were slowly creeping up but I was also in denial as to the trend and where that would leave me. So what if I took 25 minutes longer to ride a particular metric than it did the previous year. So what if my latest climb up Mt Mitchell took 30 min longer than when I last rode the event with 74 miles already in my legs. So what?

Family life and a growing daughter were reason enough to stop working with a coach. If I hired a coach I was damn well going to do what he/she told me to do. After 5 years of ever increasing family conflicts it was time to stop. For a couple years after I would train loosely and get some decent results. But that waned and the last couple of years have been a downward spiral. That takes me to today's ride.

The Devil's Fork Metric out of Mars Hill, NC is one beautiful low traffic ride. It is very well supported and a pleasure to meet the people working each sag stop. Everyone is so accommodating. It's a tough ride though with at least 6600' of climbing in 64 miles, and some of the climbs pretty steep in the 13-15% range. Three years ago I rode it in 3:55 ride time and 4:10 total. That's pretty decent. Today, not so much, with a 5:17 ride time and 6:07 total. What's worse is I had to really suffer to get that. I guess I'm at a crossroads with riding. I need to get out more for sure. One slow 20 mile ride in 2 weeks won't do it. So, I can no longer go to these rides and fake it. I have to put in the work to get the results or suffer the consequences. Suffer is the correct word for sure.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/199200422

Dudelsack 

I dunno.

I might have gone on a long training ride today, but instead went on a short mountain bike ride with my daughter who was thrilled. The choice wasn't that tough.

Barrettscv 

Ummm... that last climb is 1500 ft in 8 miles. Hard to do without some suffering. That hill alone would take most cyclist (including me) more than 75 minutes.

BikeWNC

Oh, I agree. I spend a lot of time with our daughter with no regrets. I just need to better use what free time I have.

Yeah, it's not bad really but I was toast. The grades are pretty mild compared to some of the other climbs. But Elvis had left the building by then!

Terex

It's much easier to fake it on flat rides. That is, unless you're riding at altitude. I can still fake it on flat'ish rides in NJ. Not so in northern NM.

jppe

I can totally relate. At times I still want to do some of those hilly centuries. I get out there remembering different climbs and how they weren't that bad....... then, but now it's way more painful than I'd like. I know what I need to be doing to get back close to that kind of shape but work, golf and other activities seem to be more attractive right now. With both my daughters getting married last summer I can tell you spending time with your family is not all bad.

Phil85207

As we all know life if full of choices.
All choices have consequences.
Wouldn't it be great if we could always make the right choices.
Then the consequences would be easy as pie.

of course I am not speaking of personal experience.-0)

stapfam

You hit it on the head with one slow 20 mile ride in two weeks. You don't need a trainer----unless it is to get you out of bed and out on the bike.

Nightshade

This level of seriousness about cycle training just escapes me.

When people train like this cycling stops being fun and becomes the drudgery of......dare I say it?....WORK!!

BikeWNC

LOL, yeah I hear you. I got out for a 25 mile "recovery" ride this morning. My legs let me know they were tired but it was good to get out again.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/199484074

Hermes

You knew this comment had to come. It is time to HTFU!

BikeWNC

Yes, but it means so much more coming from YOU!

Hermes

When I read the title, I was concerned that it was not about cycling or you were confessing that all your average speed posts were inflated.

Banded Krait

There are some areas in life in which we can fool ourselves, but athletics isn't one of them. You are not going to earn outstanding times in endurance events without putting in the hard training beforehand.

Go easy on yourself. You made the decision several years ago to make your family a priority, so you will have to adjust your cycling goals accordingly. Try to find ways to enjoy the cycling you are able to fit in your life.

big john

Cycling is different things to different people. For some of us, the fun is in doing hard rides and pushing ourselves.
I've never used a coach or any training program, I just ride the rides. The thing I notice these days is inconsistency. There is a ride I did yesterday, 86 miles with over 8600 feet of climbing. Yesterday was a lot harder than the same ride was a month ago and I felt tired and had to use lower gears.
Lucky for me others had issues, too, so I wasn't last all day.

billydonn

BWNC:
There's probably a base fitness level still there that you can get back to fairly easily IF you make it a priority. If not, well you are still a good competent rider and just try to enjoy that.

Rick@OCRR

Well, for one thing big john it was toasty! My Garmin hit 116 Deg.F and even if that was inflated a bit, still well over 100 below Newcomb's.

Plus, you did lots better than me! I started w/V.Bob, Linda, Lou Ann, Andrew. Stefan and Brian at 7:00AM from Encanto and I was suffering before Clear Creek, slight recovery by Red Box but horrible, painful suffering (in my lowest gear 34 x 32) up to Newcomb's.

Fortunately a friend of mine (Kim) called it quits at Newcombs too, so I SAGGED in as Mike and Kim kindly gave me a ride back to Encanto.

That said, I should not have been on the ride at all; just got back from vacation in England and Wales so 2 weeks off the bike did me in. I'd ridden the Grand Tour double the week before I left so I thought I'd be okay. I was NOT okay. Big time suffering. Even though I've done this ride several times before (like BWNC has done his prev.) with no problem.

I learned a valuable lesson, so it was educational for me!

Rick / OCRR

OldsCOOL

No doubt. I DROVE up Mt Mitchell and suffered.


BikeWNC, find a way to rekindle the passion. Desire always finds a way.

Last year I trained for rides above 60mi all summer. This year? Fast 20's and 30's with the weekly Strava hill attacks. The shorter more intense rides just seem to fit this summer. Probably wont do more than a Metric this summer.

Find what fits your cravings and head out the door with vision.

OldsCOOL

NO NO, we cant have that here. That would ruin it for the rest of us.

DnvrFox

[h=2]I Can No Longer Fake It.[/h]

And, I thought this post was from your wife!!

BikeWNC

No, I would have posted that in Foo.

The best thing about the 50+ forum is that we all (or most all) know that there are other things going on in our lives. Sometimes if lucky, we have to choose between a couple very good options. It's hard to complain when spending time with family supercedes riding. Many here can't ride due to no choice of their own because of health or job issues, etc. I appreciate everyone's perspective on this thread. Sometimes the hard part of being a parent is accepting that my time is not always my own. I'm ok with that of course. But I can also make better use of what free time I do have.

big john

I asked people about you at the start and eventually learned you had started at 7:00 from Lou Ann. We caught up to her on the lower part of Angeles Crest and she said she had bike trouble earlier. She ended up turning back at Red Box with pain in her hip and shifter battery going dead.
We had 42 people at the start but it split up once the climb started.
Tough day for a lot of us.

irwin7638

As we discussed before, the time put in as a parent is far more important and rewarding than anything else you can do; but you can't ignore yourself either, if you do that your child never really knows who you are. Mark your time, before long you'll have more time on your hands than you can stand. There has to be a medium in there somewhere, maybe not a happy one, but one that's workable.

Marc

Phil_gretz

I had wanted to ride hard on Saturday morning, but waited out the thunderstorms and rode gently with my college-aged daughter, out to breakfast and errands and back. It was painfully slow, but we had ~3 hours to talk about what was on her mind. All in all, it was time better spend than had I ridden alone hard. PG