Carbonfiberboy 

I didn't realize the double entrendre in what you quoted, but I sure see it now! Still valid though.

Wanderer

"When I clip-in?....things can get hairy quick!"

Jinks, I just may steal this for a signature line!

Thanks, Buddy!

big john

Yeah, we covered that earlier. A few more years and I will have outlasted my father. Already older than my grandfather, uncle, and brother made it.

big john

My goal is to not get dropped by the group or at least not feel awful when they stop to wait for me. I'd like to be able to do 60=80 mile rides at a fast enough pace to stay reasonably close without feeling like crap later. I was actually getting there before the shutdown of all group rides happened. I did 100 group rides for years and even more after I retired. Been solo for weeks now.

Digger6255 

When I read the OP's first post I thought this is me. My first ride was 2.6 miles, then 8 and a couple after that was around 12. My last ride was 15.2 but I really want to get back to where I was 3 years ago. My normal weekday rides were 25-27 with 40-60 mile weekend ride. The weather is really putting a damper on my training since I don't want to take my bike out in the rain. I've been searching for a older CAAD on craiglist to use as a rain bike but haven't found the right deal yet.

Papa Tom

My first few rides every year are consistently discouraging and embarrassing. On Day One, I can barely get out of the driveway without huffing and puffing. On Day Two, I can almost make it around the block. Day Three, visions of a heart attack start to wane, and by Day Four, I am ready to roll through my Spring/Summer/Fall season of daily commuting, multiple interstate rides, and countless recreational spins without ever breaking a sweat.

I'm not sure what to call this phenomenon, but it scares the heck out of me every year then goes away after that first week of seriously questioning whether bicycling is over for me.

Lemond1985

I always get encouragement (and a sense of validation) when I'm climbing a grade like that, and I see a spot in the road where some car burned up trying to climb the exact same hill.

big john

That would be tough for me, to restart every year. My fitness seems to go away so fast if I take any time off the bike. You don't use a trainer during the winter?

Lemond1985

Same here, and I get to rediscover just how intolerably bad it feels to be a normal, average non-exercising person. I don't know how anyone can stand living that way! And they're just begging for some chronic illness to strike them down, it's practically guaranteed.

tlema

Hit the gym...its a gradual process,you will scale through.

MadKaw

I understand totally, but a wise man said this to me: "Whenever you think 'I have to do this', replace those words with 'I want to do this' and whenever you think 'I want to do this' replace those words with 'it would be nice if...'"
So I just avoid the mind set of having goals as things I need to do and just go with the flow surrounded by things that would be nice if they happen. That does NOT mean that it is not worth investing the time and effort to improve the probability of those things happening, just realizing that you can't MAKE them happen.

Carbonfiberboy 

That's been my goal ever since I discovered the group with whom I've been riding since '97. Some racers say the only reason they race is so they'll have to train. Just the same. Competitive group rides aren't races but they are competitive. I never minded about feeling like crap later. That's the whole idea. Gotta empty out to make a larger place to refill. I always say, "If you can walk at the end, you could have gone harder." My group doesn't stop and wait. You keep up or see you at the coffee stop or finish. I've led rides with 20 people and had 3 still with me at the finish.

Eventually I had trouble staying with the fast group no matter how I trained, so I decided to get out of that game. We bought a tandem and I started riding with my wife - same group, same courses, but we mostly came in last. Then we started being able to stay with the slower riders. That's where we are now. Because of the better training provided by the tandem, I can keep up with the fast group on my single again, but I seldom bother. We like tandeming a lot.

During this shutdown, the group is still riding, just separately and posting ride reports. That's fun. It's good to know what's open, what's closed, where the "Covid Alleys" are. We still ride our tandem as hard as we ever did. We have been slower this year though. Hard to know if it's just another year weaker or lack of motivation. Coming along though. We're doing 60 miles, 2000'+, but we won't be strong enough to do the 70 mile, 5000' ride that we used to do on Memorial Day. I could do it on my single, but that's not the point now. It's become a team effort.

Edit: It occurred to me that what's happened is that the group has gotten wussy with age. We used to go out every Sunday no matter the weather as long as it wasn't icy. This past winter and spring we didn't ride in the rain. I think that made a big difference. I have a photo of the wife and I going out in graupel. We did a 70 mile ride when it absolutely poured the entire ride and held a steady 36°. We decided we wouldn't do that again. No more rain rides under 40°!

I once took a winter off. Had some mental malaise or something, I don't remember. I do remember trying to pick it back up in the spring. Took me until August to ride strong again, and I took an Never Again vow.

big john

Maybe the word "goal" was the wrong choice here. I don't often use that word with regard to anything, I'm a natural born slacker. School, work, riding, I normally do enough to get by and leave it at that.
The problem with riding is when I want to ride with friends who are faster, younger, lighter, and train and watch their diet, getting by becomes more of a challenge.

When I was younger as long as I could get 10+ hours per week, I could do any ride my club was doing. I may have suffered sometimes but I ALWAYS finished.
Now I can't make the claim of being ready for anything and that is what I would like to be able to do.

MadKaw

So go hang out at physical therapy and make friends with people with bad knees!

big john

I started with my road club in 1989. A lot of people have come and gone during those 31 years and the personality of the "A" group changes too. Different Alpha types have come along and I usually befriend all of the regulars eventually. The last couple years have seen more super competitive riders coming out and trying to drop everyone on every ride. When the ride blows up like that it's no longer a group ride and it's no longer fun for the dropees. I have considered quitting the club several times but several people have asked the speedsters to cool it a bit, at least have regroups.

As far as feeling like crap later, I wasn't referring to being tired or even exhausted. It got to the point where I had a-fib symptoms and sometimes felt really bad, like I was sick or hurting myself. Haven't had that issue in a couple years.

big john

Funny thing, I wanted to switch to the "B" group but they stopped coming out, for the most part.

I did find another club in the area several months ago and their rides are focused on fun. Sure, some of them are fast but they always regroup. The woman who started that club said if anyone tries to blow up the rides she asks them not to come back. Still have friends in the other club, though.

Wanderer

Did twenty miles today, at 11.5 MPH. Felt really good, after a two day layoff. Felt so good, that I should have gone farther. My buddy, Jim, said the same........ we will have to see what tomorrow and Thursday bring, with temps in the upper 60s, and 70s.

We may get there yet - I gotta find a flag for Memorial Day......

JustinOldPhart

I started riding real bikes as a pre-teen and was always fairly serious rider.

I commuted to work for 25 years, retiring in 2011. After retiring I would take the road bike out three times a week for a fairly flat metric.

In '86 I tore my meniscus (not by cycling) and had arthroscopic surgery. Commuting helped with the post-surgical meniscus issue for a long time, but it caught up with me. I hung up the bike three years ago and started step aerobics. Mid-2019 I had to start wearing a heavy brace to do even that. Finally, in late December, I had the knee replaced. I was in PT for two months prior to the surgery and have been in PT ever since. I'm now stronger than I have been in a very long time.

I'm back on the bike and taking daily 25km rides. I will get back up to a couple of metrics a week. Damn it, I will! Today I did my first really substantial grade. The last time I did it, three years ago, I had to walk it. Well, hobble it.

I have even reworked my mountain bike and hope to get out on some trails.

The message is this: If you have something that is mechanically screwed up, it is not going to get better. Fix the damn thing. Don't put it off; you're wasting life. PT is hard, do it. It's going to knock a big hole in your life for six months or more, but the rewards are there.

My right knee issue was due to mechanical damage that resulted in an arthritic condition. It turns out that I also have RA and am taking methotrexate for it. My left knee makes noise when I walk, but it is still good. The day will come, though, and I won't hesitate to replace it and go through all this **** again.

Newton was right, a body in motion tends to stay in motion.

big john

Another comeback! Good job JustinOldPhart.

Papa Tom

No. My job is very physical year-round, but I definitely don't use the same muscles as I use for cycling.

Wanderer

Got twenty miles in again today. A nice day, but that last ten miles into that wind was, interesting.... Jim and I both agreed that we should get credit for an additional five, after that.

The river looked like it was flowing the wrong direction, with the waves heading north. And, the whitecaps were beautiful. Damn it was windy! Only averaged about 10 MPH thanks to the wind.

Lots of people out on the trails today, walking and on bikes. Lots of E bikes, and I gotta wonder why?

big john

Nothing.

BillyD

Once again gentlemen, if you want to discuss Covid19 topics we have an entire sub-forum devoted to same, in which you can discuss from all angles til the cows come home. Please.

Thanky.

Wanderer

I gotta admit, I am glad it was rainy all day yesterday - but going out in about an hour today......

Wanderer

We did 20 miles yesterday, and not a bad day, though a little cool.

Beautiful day today! We got about 25 miles, in just short of 2.5 hours. Nice ride!

The MUPs were really crowded today -lots and lots of people out.

Supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so it shall be a day of rest.