South Downs Way ride
06-13-05, 02:25 AM
#1
Time for a change.
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: 6 miles inland from the coast of Sussex, in the South East of England
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South Downs Way ride
This is a continuation of "Gutted" as I did the ride last Saturday, but I am shatterred. To recap- We were doing the 100miler, Co-rider went sick 3 days before the ride so found a new partner to do it on the Tandem with me. He has ridden tandem with me before and is a relatively fit 30 year old. We were only going to do the last 35 miles, so not too hard a ride in comparison to the "Epic" 100 miler that took us 12 hours last year, and took most of our body resources to finish.
First shock came as we were waiting for the start at midday, when the first of the 100milers came through at 11:30., quickly followed by the second one.65 miles in 5 1/2 hours offroad is some going. Well we started and once again were the only Tandem. Downhill for 1 mile left us with cold legs for the firstuphill, and I realised that this was not going to be easy- To cut a long story short, my co-rider was in trouble by the 10 mile mark. Still it was not a long ride so we knew we could keep going. I have to admire him. He was in trouble by 10 miles and kept going, takes a lot of doing that. I had to put in a lot more effort, and raised my heart rate by around 10 for all the route, My age related max HR was kept up all of the hills, and with my "New" HRM, I was able to check things afterwards, and I averaged 147 for the whole of the ride, never done that before, and My max went to 179 at some point- 14 above my age HR.
I realise now that riding a Tandem is definitely Team work. To have one of the riders working out of synch with the other makes it hard. I put him on as pilot, as that is where he rides with me normally, but gear changes were not right for me, he was not using the terrain to an advantage, and cadence although not a problem, was just a bit slower or faster, never correct, to what I am used to. Braking was also a problem, as I was continually being thrown forward when the brakes were applied full on every time they were needed.
Still I have to admire the guy. His legs died, his shoulders fell off, he felt that his backside was amputated without an anaesthetic after 15 miles, he couldn't feel it but it hurt tremendously, and the brain was just beginning to go by the end, along with the rest of the body. Still give him a couple of weeks to get over it, and he will be back on the Tandem to prove that that beast is not going to defeat him again.
The worrying part was that I rode the Tandem solo for the 10 miles back home, and it felt decidely easier. Perhaps that is why I felt worse after the 35 miler, than I have for the last two years doing the 100.
First shock came as we were waiting for the start at midday, when the first of the 100milers came through at 11:30., quickly followed by the second one.65 miles in 5 1/2 hours offroad is some going. Well we started and once again were the only Tandem. Downhill for 1 mile left us with cold legs for the firstuphill, and I realised that this was not going to be easy- To cut a long story short, my co-rider was in trouble by the 10 mile mark. Still it was not a long ride so we knew we could keep going. I have to admire him. He was in trouble by 10 miles and kept going, takes a lot of doing that. I had to put in a lot more effort, and raised my heart rate by around 10 for all the route, My age related max HR was kept up all of the hills, and with my "New" HRM, I was able to check things afterwards, and I averaged 147 for the whole of the ride, never done that before, and My max went to 179 at some point- 14 above my age HR.
I realise now that riding a Tandem is definitely Team work. To have one of the riders working out of synch with the other makes it hard. I put him on as pilot, as that is where he rides with me normally, but gear changes were not right for me, he was not using the terrain to an advantage, and cadence although not a problem, was just a bit slower or faster, never correct, to what I am used to. Braking was also a problem, as I was continually being thrown forward when the brakes were applied full on every time they were needed.
Still I have to admire the guy. His legs died, his shoulders fell off, he felt that his backside was amputated without an anaesthetic after 15 miles, he couldn't feel it but it hurt tremendously, and the brain was just beginning to go by the end, along with the rest of the body. Still give him a couple of weeks to get over it, and he will be back on the Tandem to prove that that beast is not going to defeat him again.
The worrying part was that I rode the Tandem solo for the 10 miles back home, and it felt decidely easier. Perhaps that is why I felt worse after the 35 miler, than I have for the last two years doing the 100.
