kenkayak last post 02-20-10 06:22 PM

Not much today, just a 15 mile jaunt to and back from the LBS. Needed to buy more "LIGHT" as hoping (IF the rain ever stops), to make the monthly Club meeting tomorrow night. Got second headlight, my single isn't really enough to make me feel safe riding at night. (FYI, we don't have a car.)

Good for you kr32. I also aspire to keep up with this interval/self-torture thing, but I can see that I'm going to have trouble working it in to my schedule. Ideally, I want the intervals to be on a day before a rest day and definitely not the day before a demanding ride. Between the club rides each week (2-4) and the various other demands on my schedule, I'm not sure I'll have the discipline to keep up the intervals. For example, if it's between doing intervals and doing the regular hill-climbing club ride on Tuesdays, I'll do the hill-climbing ride.

Oh, and no ride today. It was a rest day after the 75 mile ride yesterday. That one was fun! 66 mile club ride + 9 miles RT to the ride starting point. The 66 miles were on a very flat route (even for Minnesota) and I rode with about a dozen congenial and strong riders. There were several who were eager to pull almost the entire way (I pulled for a while, but others did much more). The result was a 19 MPH average and still it seemed pretty easy.

Minn Man,

Would the day after a long ride, say anywhere from 50 to 100 miles be a good day to do intervals?
The reason I ask is because I normally do my long rides on Sunday and have been doing the intervals on Monday. This past Sunday though I didn't ride. Or would a day in between be better, like do them Tuesday instead?

KR

Just my 2 cents even though the question wasn't directed to me.;) The intervals are supposed to be hard which will take some recovery while the muscles rebuild. The long rides you do probably don't take your muscles in the hurt that intervals do. I would do intervals after the long ride and not before as the fatigue may take its toll during the long ride. Keep in mind that results take a little time and doing the intervals will have a negative effect on short term performance over the next day or so. If you are not racing or testing yourself, it's OK to ride with some fatigue. Don't overcook yourself by not allowing rest or easy noodle rides for recovery. If you have a group or club ride (show off time) coming up then by all means do not do the intervals the day before.

kr32: what AJ said. He knows much more, but my idea is only that I have a rest day or easy day *after* the intervals. Otherwise it seems to me that I won't gain as much from them.

Nice tempo 32 mile ride with the Medina Bike Club this evening only averaged 19.8 mph. No hard efforts other than a couple 30 second pickups in preparation for tomorrow's race in KY. The ride was spot on to what my coach wanted me to do.

Thanks Jet. In a weird sort of way I was hoping you would chime in, no disrespect to MinnMan.
What you said I think I pretty much knew but it is always nice to have it explained. I didn't ride yesterday, the day after the intervals due to rain, and think I will keep the intervals the day after the long rides and then a nice recovery ride the day after, just cruising around with high cadence.
After doing them I know I would never do them before a long ride, those suckers put a hurtin on me. In a weird way though it feels good.

30.4 miles yesterday. Took a late start so it was twilight when I rode. Didn't get to use the lights though despite being ready to ride after dusk. I prefer the morning ride over twilight ride, I get more miles per ride during daylight hours.

Wednesday 8/04 30.2 miles today.
101.7 miles this month
4219miles this year
130 ride days LY vs. 134 ride days TY
3310 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 55% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
446 miles ahead of last year at this date

Got out about 7:30 am today and the temp was already 77* with 93% humidity. When I got back the heat index was 95 with 60% humidity. I rode my usual Seminole Wekiva Trail ride again this morning. I think the heat is keeping all of the wildlife bedded down. The only thing that I saw out and about was this armodilla.
Not much of a contribution to the photos but it was the best that I had today.

I decided it was time to get the mountain bike adjusted for the C&O Trail ride next month. We went to John Bryan State Park and rode the trails and fire roads. I need to adjust the seat and loosen the right pedal but everything else appears to be ready for the trip.

We only rode a little over an hour.....it's hot and humid. The heat index is going to be 100+ today:eek:

Got a Droid
 

So I thought I'd ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon to try the GPS and camera.

I am so lucky that my driveway is 1/2 mile from the bottom of the canyon. But look, my finger is in the picture!
http://www.xmission.com/~kdiehl/images/BC/sign.jpg

Just past the Storm Mt picnic area:
http://www.xmission.com/~kdiehl/images/BC/storm-mt.jpg

The S-Curve, like all switchbacks - steep.
http://www.xmission.com/~kdiehl/images/BC/s-curve.jpg

The only flat stretch on the ride:
http://www.xmission.com/~kdiehl/images/BC/flat.jpg

I made it, the town and ski area of Brighton.
http://www.xmission.com/~kdiehl/images/BC/brighton.jpg

Droid says some totally wrong information about distance and elevation gain, it's about 3900 feet up in 15 miles. A great ride and it starts from my driveway!

It was 95° with 69% humidity when I got home from work so I headed out with two bottles, should have put a third in my back pocket, for a 36 mile ride.

It was windy but it was a hot wind so no help with any cooling effect with that.

Not today but Monday I saw some wild turkeys with their young, pretty nice. I need to get a new camera so I post some of this.

8/4/10

Went out early at 5:30 AM 98% Humidity
Saw 4 riders with no lights Yikes

32 miles

It was ninety-something and humid when I got home at 5:30 this afternoon, but it wasn't rainy and stormy for a change, so I rode. Only 10 miles, but since I have been a bit under the weather and had not ridden in over a week, I made myself take it easy. It was hard to stop because I felt good and my speed was faster than I expected. Now to get back to riding more regularly.

Rode to and from work yesterday when the temp in the PM was low 90's/'feels like low 100's'. Drove to work today - PM temp mid-90's/'feels like 105'. Went out for a 12 mile ride at 7pm. Not so oppressive. Amazing how much better the shifting is after cleaning and lubing the recumbent/tandem-length chain (takes more that a couple of minutes) and then taking the slack out of the rear shift cable. And then fine-tuning.

38 miles yesterday, late ride, 34 today, mid afternoon beach route from a park 6 miles from the beach. 80 degrees, sunny and breezy. Lots of wild life at the Huntington Beach Pier with Surf contest all week.

21 leisurely miles on a standard route. Rode my old c-dale just to make sure that it was dialed in somewhat as I've the Dairyland Dare upcoming and will need the triple. Even though I'm doing only the 50k there will be 3100 feet of climbing, mostly shorter, steeper hills.

I took off today at 6:30 pm and it was 100 degrees with the humidity more like 110 but I managed to get 24 miles in at a good pace. Reminds me of Oklahoma hot and dry.

Pictures! How big were the waves?

The heck with the waves-I want to see the "wild life"!

Got out for a 45 min ride at lunch today. Only about 8 miles total with 800' of climbing. 4 miles up, 4 miles down. Mostly just an easy spin but with a couple openers thrown in for good measure.

Thursday 8/05

35.5 miles today.
137.2 miles this month
4255 miles this year
131 ride days LY vs. 135 ride days TY
3244 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 56.7% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
452 miles ahead of last year at this date

Today was a great ride day except for the 3Hs (heat, humidity and head wind) I rode the SWT (Seminole Wekiva Trail) north for about 10 miles to my favorite Panera Bread where I stopped for some breakfast, fresh fruit ,yogurt and granola all mixed together. With some fuel in the tank I then rode about 6 miles north on International Parkway then turned west on Wayfield Road. This took me over to Sylvan Lake Road which is used by many of the local bike clubs. Sylvan Lake Park is located at the intersection of Markum Lake Road and Sylvan Lake Road. This Park has a huge sports complex and today about a dozen girls Lacrosse Teams were playing and practicing.

After a ride through the park I started south on Lake Markum Rd. About a half a mile down the road I spotted some cloths hanging on a fence gate so I did a U turn and went back to take a picture of them. I guess the dry cleaner delivery man didn’t want to drive up to the house so he just left them on the gate. They looked like expensive cloths and were freshly pressed and in plastic bags. I hope the owner gets them.

The ride home was a little rough as it was into a 13 mph head wind all the way, but I will take it.

Photos 1-3 views around Lake Sylvan
Photo 4 some nice freshly dry cleaned cloths

Going out early to beat the heat.
53 miles, part of a group of 6 riders.

34 nice smooth recovery miles today. Mostly Z2 except for the hills, ave 16.9 mph