Originally Posted by
DaveLeeNC
I'll assume that question was aimed at me. I rode the Six Gap Century last year and survived it, but felt more like it conquered me than the other way around. I had hoped to do that 'better' this year. But I don't see how an event like this
is going to happen in 5 months.
As several have pointed out what I am now doing 'is working'. OTOH, I would benefit (on a daily basis just in doing life tasks) from some general strength work. Just have to make a decision.
Ogsarg's 'view from the doctor's perspective' was interesting. My doctor has been seeing me for 20 years now. When we started I was still working and my conditioning was kind of 'typical guy in the street' level. Then when I retired I did just enough running to keep an Irish Water Spaniel (with no ready water access) content (back when my knees were younger I was running 2500 miles/year). Then all activity resembling exercise stopped for 6-7 years and I ended up weighing 50'ish pounds more than I do now. Got back on the bike in 2014 and been riding at my current level (not instantly, of course) since then. The only other biking that I had ever done was a couple years in the mid 90's out in the Bay Area of California (OK, calling Livermore 'the Bay Area' is a stretch).
So my doctor has seen me in all 3 of those different 'conditions'. And that probably does influence his answer to my question.
dave
Right now I'm at the state of being 50-ish pounds above where I should be. I almost have the bike I want to train on assembled, I"ve had all the cardiac and arterial imaging and testing done and been cleared, and I did my first ride last Monday, which told me I need some tweaking and lower gears for the time being. But, I ride about 8 miles, went up a bunch of small steep Ann Arbor hills, and discovered the Rivet saddle is almost suitable for training in Rivendell MUSA pants without padded shorts.
My doc tells me she wants to see me doing whatever exercise that I am willing to keep doing. She did suggest adding some weights in there, too along with the yoga and cycling.
I also like to walk, I do about 5 miles with my wife up to three times a week. I have to start a little slower than her to let the little cramps work themselves out, but I can easily get 10,000 steps, again up and down the hills.
I'd like to do a few metric centuries by Labor Day. While big organized events are motivational, they are are also aggravating in terms of bike management and dealing with what the other 20 people around me are going to do. Mrs. Road Fan and I have done metrics on our own in the past - no reason to depend on big organized rides.