Helluva ride!
WRCS#31 goes down as my best ride of the month. Good timing too, cuz it was also the last ride of the month.
Something's sure coming together, cuz I felt great all night. This was my inaugural ride from work to the meeting place at 13 and Crooks. And even though the ride brought me right by work where I could have easily peeled off and headed back to the car, I stuck with the ride, as the ultimate goal was to up my ride time. And it worked. 3.5 hours and about 45 miles.
And Robert made me work for it tonight. The route took us through a couple parks winding along "paths" worn in the snow. And while these weren't particularly long sections, in 42x16 (64.24 Gear Inches) with a semi slick tire in the back I had to work for every foot! As long as the group kept peddling I was more or less ok, but if I ran into a bottle neck, it was all over.
Managing my body temperature was a bit of a challenge. I wore a wind jacket as it was a bit colder tonight. But that kept my breathable clothes from breathing, and I started soaking my cloths pretty quick. Luckily I recognized that early and took the jacket off. But after stopping to meet up with the group, I started to get a chill, so the jacket had to go back on. I was pretty stable for the rest of the night as the pace was not too harsh except for the sections mentioned above.
But best of all was the fact that I never once felt bonkish! I had my usual cereal breakfast, a mid morning banana, a roast beef sandwich for lunch, and then a turkey sandwich about an hour before the ride. I also had about 1 tbsp. of Hammer Gel about an hour before as well. I had another tbsp. after an hour and again after 2 hours. I'm pretty sure it was the 500 calories in the sandwich that set me up for the good ride. While that might not fly in a race (solid food so close to start time) it seems just right for long base mile rides!
So I hit my goal of 200 miles for the month of January. Not very impressive I know, but that's 150 more miles than I did last January. It's also about 12 more hours on the bike than I did last January. So I'm happy.
Check out this pic of my beard after the ride....
Something's sure coming together, cuz I felt great all night. This was my inaugural ride from work to the meeting place at 13 and Crooks. And even though the ride brought me right by work where I could have easily peeled off and headed back to the car, I stuck with the ride, as the ultimate goal was to up my ride time. And it worked. 3.5 hours and about 45 miles.
And Robert made me work for it tonight. The route took us through a couple parks winding along "paths" worn in the snow. And while these weren't particularly long sections, in 42x16 (64.24 Gear Inches) with a semi slick tire in the back I had to work for every foot! As long as the group kept peddling I was more or less ok, but if I ran into a bottle neck, it was all over.
Managing my body temperature was a bit of a challenge. I wore a wind jacket as it was a bit colder tonight. But that kept my breathable clothes from breathing, and I started soaking my cloths pretty quick. Luckily I recognized that early and took the jacket off. But after stopping to meet up with the group, I started to get a chill, so the jacket had to go back on. I was pretty stable for the rest of the night as the pace was not too harsh except for the sections mentioned above.
But best of all was the fact that I never once felt bonkish! I had my usual cereal breakfast, a mid morning banana, a roast beef sandwich for lunch, and then a turkey sandwich about an hour before the ride. I also had about 1 tbsp. of Hammer Gel about an hour before as well. I had another tbsp. after an hour and again after 2 hours. I'm pretty sure it was the 500 calories in the sandwich that set me up for the good ride. While that might not fly in a race (solid food so close to start time) it seems just right for long base mile rides!
So I hit my goal of 200 miles for the month of January. Not very impressive I know, but that's 150 more miles than I did last January. It's also about 12 more hours on the bike than I did last January. So I'm happy.
Check out this pic of my beard after the ride....
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