Hey folks, I decided last month to train up for the Cheese and Wine Century, a local event here in Riverbank, CA. It's a 106 mile ride from the valley up into the foothills of the Sierra. Actually we get one big hill away from being in the mountains. Been riding nearly every day, doing a 20 mile loop, and working on my average mph. I'm trying to get it up above 18mph. Today I worked on distance and endurance. Did the Modesto to Knight's Ferry ride. Total 58.53 miles. Boy are my legs tired! That last 10 was all will, no power. On the plus side, it was mostly due south with a bit of breeze out of the north. How are y'all doin'? Daniel
I'm just mainly trying to keep my belly from getting so big that I need one of those Tone Guard thingies. :-) I've been getting out on a bike maybe twice a week, doing +/-2 hrs solo. I've also been doing a fair bit of outdoor inline speed skating (a nice change of pace, also good aerobic work but weight-bearing and a bit like single-speed riding in that you can't downshift when you get to hills), as well as running a two or three miles here and there, if I'm in the mood before dawn or very late at night when it's cool enough to consider it. I've never ridden a full century (max ride to date is 100 km) and I'd kinda like to check that off the list while I'm still physically capable. A buddy of mine organized a small, low-key 100-miler last November, and I'm thinking that I might try to do that one this fall if things work out.
Well, last Sunday I did the preview ride for the Cheese & Wine Century... Ouch. Seventy-eight miles, 3900 feet of climbing. I got the 3900 feet of climbing done, but I *bonked* at mile 48. Went pale, lost strength, had impaired judgment, etc. Got two miles farther before climbing into the SAG wagon. I'm pretty sure the difficulty was nutrition rather than strength. I'm trying to figure out how much of what I didn't get. Had lots of water... Must have been food, but it could have been salt. Still hoping to be ready in October for the 106mi version of the same ride. Daniel
The first century you get under your belt is usually a flat one. I will tell you this, after you complete one no ride will ever seem like it's long again. After my first (many years ago) I was in bed for two days. I'm back riding a month or so now and leaning towards trying one in the spring. It won't be uphill, I'm too old for that cr@p.
Mike, You are probably right about flat centuries. You'd think there'd be one around here, but being in a flat part of the state, we're all trying hard to get elevation in our rides! My problem isn't leg strength, it's most likely a combination of stamina and nutrition. I find it very difficult to eat on the road, and the energy supplements like Gu and Gatorade only go so far. Daniel
When I raced (in the early 70's) we ate normal food and drank water. I never realized we were missing anything. You have to learn to drink before your thirsty and eat before you're hungry, it's actually pretty hard to do.
Thanks Mike. No one has ever told me drinking before you're thirsty and eating before you're hungry is not easy, believe it or not. I was starting think I was some kind of cycling oddity. I just gotta eat before the thought of food becomes unpalatable. Daniel
Pretty much, that's it. You get too far down the road and the last thing you want to do is eat or drink and then you're toast.
Using carbohydrate drinks helps quite a bit. Mix them fairly dilute rather than making them up too gooey, or you won't feel like sipping them. Drinking shouldn't be big swigs but loads of sipping all the while. When you're starting out this isn't easy as there's the co-ordination issue to deal with until it becomes a habit. Avoiding sugary 'sports' drinks helps to stop you hitting sugar highs and subsequent crashes. Far better to use foods like bananas and rasins which have a slower longer release of energy. I don't know what they sell where you are, but 'Fig Rolls' are a great compact food for the bike (if you keep them dry). If you notice you're flagging at all, slow up and gear up for a while. Backing off the pace lets you recover quite a bit and can stop the sugar crash happening in the first place. Backing up the pressure by turning a different (ususally bigger & slower) gear can settle you down a bit too. The important thing is to catch it early if you do get into that situation, fighting it only speeds up the decline. Often you can ride through the knock if you don't burn it up. It's not a nice situation to end up with, but with experience you'll learn to avoid it easily. There was an old guy in the Bray Wheelers near Dublin who used to describe it as going out chewing mars bars and coming back chewing handlebars.
I am currently training for a century next month. I have switched energy drink preference to Accelerade a bit diluted. I have also been eating either a banana or a Lara Bar (and all fruit and nut bar) Both seem to work equally well. The Lara Bar is certainly more user friendly. Serotta's Rule!
Hi guys, i ride on the other side of the boarder, BC Canada. Oddly enough i don't race and i don't keep track of my speed/distances averages, I bike just for fun, enjoying the sun and the breeze(and some time the hotties running!). Doing loops between 20 and 80km depending on my mood (and what's on TV. xD). Training wise, i find doing intervals a good way to push yourself and it helps you to speed up on a longer term so it's a win win situation. For longer distances eating fruits and nuts is the key for me, keeps you full of energy as long as you take them before the need shows up on your performances. And water, i refuse to take energy drinks, it's terrible for your health and destroy all the good efforts you're putting into sports I did my longest distance last summer, it was 320km in 2 days, i slept in the ditch after the first day of biking and came back the next day. I'm on vancouver island so its either going up or down hill. It means going uphill you're using strenght and downhill you're either using your break at 60-65km/h or S###ting your pants (call me a chicken if you want, when the bike start shaking it's going too fast! ahah) I'm planning on biking the island in the next 5 years and would like to bike from coast to coast in a few years(10 may be). But i need to start the mando first.
Mercier, I know what you mean about descending. I'd be better at it if the roads I descend on were closed to automobile traffic, especially coming the other way. In the last two days I've done 65 miles (a little less than 105km) I'm setting a goal of at least 100 a week until the Oct. 11 century. I don't want to ride the sag wagon. Daniel
Daniel, i would recommend to try 110(or more if your wife let you go that long lol) once or twice before your century, that way the day of your century you won't run out of energy at 96.5 miles and end up in the truck. 100miles is 161km it's quite a ride. If you do not own them already, which would be surprising considering your goal, i would highly recommend bike shorts. It's the best 35-40$ you'll ever spend for long rides and your behind will thank you. Plus, it's a chick magnet. How long are you planning on taking? Good luck
Mercier, I have a couple of pairs of bike shorts, so I'm good there. I wouldn't dream of riding more than a few miles without them! I've tried 78mi (with a 3900 foot elevation gain) and bonked after 50 miles. Fortunately, I had conquered the big hills before climbing into the sag wagon. Longest distance I have successfully covered in a single ride is 65 miles on relatively flat terrain. I'll be happy to cover the distance inside the time alotted for the event. But I think I'll likely take 7 or 8 hours to do it. Daniel
Had a bit of dun on my 38mi ride today. At about 14 miles I got in behind a large harvester tractor and rode in its slipstream for 3 or 4 miles at speeds between 17 and 27 mph. At one point, I was riding parallel to a sedan for a full mile as we both stayed behind the harvester. It was probably extremely dangerous, but I didn't have much of a choice. It was either stay up with the harvester or suffer at the back behind the long line of cars trying to get around it with increasing agitation. Daniel
I used to draft Rose City Transit buses over the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon every morning on my way to work back in the 70's. It works as long as you can stand the fumes.
Daniel, today was just a bad day for biking, i couldn't do anything but falling asleep behind the handle bar... Hopefully tomorrow's ride will be better for both of us I can imagine Mike biking with a gas mask...
I will try biking with a portable air conditioner tomorrow. It's going to be hot. Daniel
Well, that explains a few things Mike.
It certainly does. I've never been the same since. I do however, remember most of the 70's and I can't say that about the 60's.
I commute by bicycle ~15 mi/day, M-F
I envy you. I do a 45 minute commute by car each way M-F. If I could ride I'd be doing it.
I rode 40 miles on Sunday. Will do it again today. Mon & Tues were a bust. Gotta keep the 100 miles a week up! Daniel
Just posted photo of my "deluxe" commuter: vintage Schwinn tandem with fiddle in rear pannier. Ideal for schlepping daughter around town, and evoking smiles from motorists who'd probably rather be riding..
I did 51mi yesterday. Mostly flat with a few rollers out in the middle of the route. LOTS of wind. Tailwind on the way out, headwind on the way back. I topped out (wind aided) at 32mph and averaged 15.7mph. We have some beautiful rolling grassland and bluffs east of Oakdale and south of Knight's Ferry, CA. Once I got out there it was a great ride. But the ride back was nearly all business! The wind was said to be 18mph with 25mph gusts. Felt like gales to me. I nearly got blown off my bike crossing an arroyo on a small bridge. Will be doing 70 to 80 on Saturday, and resting till then! Daniel
Sounds great Daniel. I have a new "goal" that's cycling-related: we have a "Free Cycles" organization in town that provides bikes at little or no cost as well as facilities, resources and instruction for self-repair. I haven't been involved with this stuff since I quit racing/training 15 years ago or more...I used to be a fanatic bicycle charlatan. So I'm going to start volunteering building/truing wheels and teaching repair...looking forward to getting back into it. This will be a great opportunity for me to build a trailer for my kayak / upright bass. They also have an old-time jam on weeknights!
Great goal. Good on ya. The ride today was not quite brutal. 80 miles on mostly flat terrain with a 12-15 mph headwind second half of the ride. We had a few rollers and some low hills to cross in that headwind too. I think I'm ready for Oct. 11. Daniel
I'm in fall weekend warrior mode. My buds and I have a circuit of twelve mtn bike rides that we do every year. I've got about three to go, so I guess that's my goal. It's already snowed on one of the trails, so unless a serious Indian Summer happens, I likely won't get to finish the circuit. This doesn't bother me much as the main reason I ride is to prepare for ski season.
Discovered today that I did the 80mi on Saturday with a bad bottom bracket. I was getting a pretty solid BANG after the 10th mile on the bottom of the stroke on the left side. Funny thing was I only felt it on the top of the stroke on the right side. It became BANG BANG after mile 65. Thought it was the pedal the whole time. Had it replaced today. Will try out the new equipment tomorrow. Big day is coming up soon! Daniel
Goooooooooooooooooool! I did it. 106.39 miles. 2000ft elevation gain. 7 hours and 43min of riding. Time for a new goal. ;-)
Congratz
For you new goal, you might want to consider doing it again while playing mandolin.
Thanks Mercier! I'll need a Mix mandolin for that! I'm not carrying a heavy wood mando if I'm riding a light bike! Daniel
I'm a bike as transportation guy, by now, Did a couple Camping long tours in western Europe when I took My Leo , travel Mandolin packed on the rear rack load with the sleep cocoon and tent. If I had the Mix , then , and my other stuff in storage in a shippable form, I might not have returned. My preference is now a substantial bike, so what if it weigh 30 pounds , I got that much added to my 60 year old frame by now.. and my Rohloff equipped '04 Koga Miyata is Made for World touring. Mix + fiberglass Eastman case with backpack straps is an easy hauler , but for a longer trip it would go in a bike trailer , not on my back.
Added a Brompton Folding bike to the stable ,a quite well developed British Machine sold enough around the globe that QE2 gave Andrew Richie the designer and founder an MBE, took a few more years than the Lads from Liverpool to be recognized awarded, but that's show biz. Now with a Swiss Mountain drive Crankset, another clever bit of machine work , the planetary reduction gears in the crank drop the ratio set in the Sturmey Archer AW3[with a 15t] by 150%, so the next lower gear in low range is high gear in the hub in back, ... heel the button in the center of the crank and flick the trigger on the handlebar , then there's down again 2 more . low is almost 1:1 with the 16-1_3/8" wheel.. 54t chainring acts like its a 21.6 tooth then .. no derailling the chain, still folds up to fit in a 4 cubic foot space .. 12x24x24. Accesorized it with Brompton's big front bag (it mounts to the fronnt of the frame , rather than the fork or handlebar and a trailer , made to be a companion it folds flat too , takes a bit longer as it needs bungees and zip ties . [I got out some reusable ones I bought for cable management for the sound gear] .. Now if the Passenger Rail system is ever allowed to come back in the US ...
Last year , a deal I could not pass up was brought to my attention, and its the new one in the stable.. Bike Friday , made in my former town of Eugene, someone else's built to order that the color was not 'Schwartz' enough to accept.. Disc Brakes , front hub dynamo and a Rohloff IGH, Its the all season commuter [short of Black Ice] and the top bar is pretty low so Mount/dismounts for this old guy are easier.. other buy was a Rain cape, Grant &co RBW went to the Grunden's foul-weather gear company. same heavy PVC stuff used Out at sea, by the worlds Fisheries workers. finally Dry hands ! as the cape drapes over them. outstretched arms form an awning so shoes and pants don't get that wet. I'm my own yellow traffic cone..
Allright mandroid. A post like that begs for a photo.
Taking Digital camera donations.. Mine Crapped out .. and the 35mm stuff I invested in is useless in the Digi World.
Older pictures ... Koga http://www.cyclofiend.com/working/20...clark1008.html Brompton Mk2T3http://www.cyclofiend.com/working/20...clark1110.html
Since it doesn't say "bi"-cycling... I've been riding this, which is a killer workout and way too much fun.
It's almost Thanksgiving and the rain has settled in here for the next 6 months. I'm not afraid of riding in rain if I get caught in it, but I will be prepared. Planning to ride in the rain just sucks. My trainer will be moved into the dining room Friday morning as soon as all signs of Thanksgiving dinner are gone. That's what I'll be riding for a while
I find Magura makes the best 'V' brake, they are seen often on unicycles.. locking the wheel up. Added a Bike Friday Tikit to the fleet, , thinking It needs a set of Magura brakes too..
