Team McAlister

…with the idea of riding hill repeats by shifting UP a gear on each successive trip up the climb.  If I ever meet him, I may have some comments for him.  If this is a good idea, I certainly hope it reveals itself to me soon.  Today’s ride was only 1 hour and only about 12 miles.  But, it was 4 climbs in gears from 34 x 23 to 34 x 21 to 34 x 19, and finally 34 x 17.  The first climb is always pretty easy.  I even passed a much younger and much smaller rider on it.  I was skeptical about hitting a larger gear for the second ride, but it worked out pretty well.  In fact, it was actually fairly easy also.

The third climb though in the next higher gear was another story.  That guy was hard!  About half way up, I decided that if I hadn’t already gone to the trouble of being half way, I’d just call the day a success and head home.  By the time I made it to the top I was pretty pleased with myself.  And, I wasn’t even that tired.

That made me think that making my pre-ride goal of 4 trips in successively higher gears might be possible.  I enjoyed that third descent, made the turnaround, and went in for the fourth attack – this time in 34 x 17, a first attempt.  That halfway thing got me again.  You know, by the time you’ve invested in 50% of a climb, the thing to do is just go ahead and finish it.

The good news is that around here, the climbs are almost all short, power-type climbs.  Maybe this will make me a better climber.

http://j.mp/dmnS84

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, power training

Should’ve posted this yesterday, but I got to watching a documentary about the The Funk Brothers (the legendary studio musicians in Detroit that played all those superfine grooves on the big hits for Motown) and well, you know how it goes.

Anyway, Tuesday’s ride was a killer.  I needed a day of healing and meditation.  I put together a little playlist of “gospel” songs, which probably aren’t all technically “gospel songs”… but more of a mix of country, bluegrass, folk, and gospel… and hit the road for a short, flat, spin at a very easy pace.  Unfortunately, the head wind made keeping it chill difficult… and the inevitable tailwind made holding back a little tricky, but the resulting ride did the trick of recovering some toasted legs.  I followed it with a VibraFlex session and all is once again right with the world.  Taking the day off today… but planning something good for tomorrow maybe (if my rear end is recovered).

Tags: cycling, Vibraflex 550

I had some extra time today.  The longest ride this year so far, has been a bit over 2 hours – not the stuff of epic rides.  Oh, I’ve had climbing days and interval days; group rides and solo rides at brisk paces.  But, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and start getting that saddle time in.  I was feeling pretty stout and studly after Sunday’s performance, so a steady 3 hours didn’t sound all that difficult.

Armed with a brand-new playlist crafted especially for this ride (see below), the iSport ready to go, Cyclemeter all warmed up and awaiting its instructions, I hit the road about 12:15.  The set up for the ride was perfect.  Great breakfast; plenty of hydration in advance of riding; snacks for the ride; beautiful weather; a route that is safe for a solo rider and has some teeth.

Predictably, I started getting hungry at the 1.5 hour mark, in spite of Jelly Belly Sport Beans (Lemon Lime, of course) every 20 minutes.  A small break for part of a nutrition bar and some water and back in the saddle.  Happily, at the 2 hour mark I was still feeling pretty strong.  That was just about the time, though, that the last climb hits.  No problem.  Climb. Ride around.  Descend.  Simplicity itself.

But the deal is that at the bottom of that climb, I had to turn back into what had been a strong and nasty headwind.  Granted it was only for 4 miles, but suddenly everything hurt – feet, neck, shoulders, butt.  Another short break at the turn point allowed for some adjustments in equipment as well as some stretching.

Then it was just a matter of letting that nice friendly tailwind shoot me back those last 10 miles to the finish.  Ah, yes….

Suffice to say, that back at the office it took a while to recover and now my office stinks, but I liked getting this one under my belt.

http://j.mp/b9Ptx0

Big Chief – Professor Longhair

Curly Haired Baby – Professor Longhair

She Ain’t Got No Hair – Professor Longhair

I Gotta Have It – Jace Everett

Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand – Professor Longhair

Looka, No Hair – Professor Longhair

From Four Until Late – Eric Clapton

Mardi Gras In New Orleans – Professor Longhair

Marie – Randy Newman

Longhair’s Blues Rhumba – Professor Longhair

East St. Louis Baby – Professor Longhair

Bad Things (Club Mix) – Jace Everett

Her Mind Is Gone – Professor Longhair

Rednecks – Randy Newman

Bye Bye Baby – Professor Longhair

Cadillac Style – Sammy Kershaw

Hadacol Bounce – Professor Longhair

Longhair Stomp – Professor Longhair

Louisiana Hot Sauce – Sammy Kershaw

Been Foolin’ Around – Professor Longhair

Back on My Feet Again – Randy Newman

Misery – Professor Longhair

Birmingham – Randy Newman

Little Queen Of Spades – Eric Clapton

If You’re Gonna Walk, I’m Gonna Crawl – Sammy Kershaw

She Walks Right In – Professor Longhair

Boogie Woogie – Professor Longhair

Accentuate the Positive – Dr. John

Willie Mae – Professor Longhair

Oh Well – Professor Longhair

Between The Night And Day – Professor Longhair

Right Place, Wrong Time – Dr. John

Tipitina – Professor Longhair

Hey Little Girl – Professor Longhair

Kind Hearted Woman Blues – Eric Clapton

Rockin’ With Fess – Professor Longhair

Let the Good Times Roll – Dr. John

Professor Longhair Blues – Professor Longhair

No Buts – No Maybes – Professor Longhair

Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Dr. John

In The Night – Professor Longhair

Walk Your Blues Away – Professor Longhair

I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Ball The Wall – Professor Longhair

Bald Head – Professor Longhair

Getting Mighty Crowded – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Boyd’s Bounce – Professor Longhair

Cry Pretty Baby – Professor Longhair

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace,

Love and Understanding? – Elvis Costello & the Attractions

Who’s Been Foolin’ You? – Professor Longhair

K.C. Blues – Professor Longhair

Guilty – Randy Newman

Traveling Riverside Blues – Eric Clapton

Byrd’s Blues – Professor Longhair

Hey Now Baby – Professor Longhair

Gone So Long – Professor Longhair

Me And The Devil Blues – Eric Clapton

Look What You’re Doing To Me – Professor Longhair

Mr. President

(Have Pity on the Working Man) – Randy Newman

Louisiana 1927 – Randy Newman

Hallelujah – Ray Charles

Nothing But The Blood – Randy Travis

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, iSport, Jelly Belly, playlists, Training

You may remember I started using Cyclemeter (Abvio, $4.99) about a month ago. I’d used a few other tracking apps in the past, and when I decided that Fitnio had failed me for the last time, I plunked down the $4.99 for what looked like the best cycling app out there. Continue Reading »

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, equipment, iphone

Sunday morning was an opportunity to hit a tried and true, well-worn route with my original riding group.  Seems we don’t this sort of thing very often anymore, but the weather was very fine and the planets aligned for a group of about 15 or so to show up.  The route is a simple 13 miles out and back, with a few rollers, a bit of an elevation gain east to west, and wind usually in your face going out.  Of course, that makes the return fun with a generally downward slope (still plenty of rollers) and some tail wind.  This was a staple of my early cycling.  I learned a lot about cycling on this specific route.

It’s really nice to ride a known route with familiar faces (especially after a long-ish break from doing so) because it helps you determine how much progress you’ve made.  It’s been well over a year since I rode this route with or without this bunch of folks.  We start nicely (we always do)…a little warming up in the 14/15mph range for a mile or so…sort of keeping the group together.  But, then, things begin to happen….we stretch out in single file because of traffic….we pick up the pace….and the next thing you know a small race has begun.  One guy (who used to drop me like a bad habit) and I got out front by mile 3 and it was game on from there on out.  We hit the 13 mile turn around point a good 5 minutes ahead of the next small group of guys after averaging about 20 mph.  After a short break, I started up again to see what was going on with the slower riders that were still coming in.

I met them about a mile down the road and opted to just keep going, instead of turning back to the rally point.  I really was just cruising along, waiting for the other guys to catch up with me, but after 3 or 4 miles of that decided to just crank it up.  Those first few return miles were at about a 16 mph average.  The last  or 9 were at a 23 mph average.  The whole ride finished up at about 19 mph.  By far, the best ever for me on that route.

Progress over the years.  That ride used to be a definite 2 hour trip…complete with bonking, soreness, blah blah blah.  Now I can ride to the ride, ride the ride, and ride back from the ride.  Or just do the ride, reasonably fast, and get breakfast at the little cafe next door.  Much better!

Short post to say I’ve been off the bike for a few days to avoid packing massive amounts of pine and oak pollen into my lungs.  A couple of rousing thunderstorms, though have made it possible to don some sort of breathing mask and get in some miles.  Not gonna make a snide remark about air pollution in other parts of the world, but I try to avoid riding if I can see the air.  Today and tomorrow look good though.  Will post more in due course.

I wish I’d had my camera with me today. I rode SF2G’s Skyline route and it’s my new favorite ride. It was pretty brutal for a first-timer though, by the end of mile nine all I could think was “What have I gotten myself into?” Oh, and before I go on, I’d like to note that the link I posted is 100% accurate as far as I know. Cyclemeter performed admirably today.

Usually when I plan to ride I bring a change of clothes to work the day before, and leave my laptop there overnight. But I just decided yesterday afternoon to do this ride, so I had to bring everything with me on the bike today. It was a bad day to travel with an extra ten pounds. Very little of the route is flat, and I am not in climbing shape. At all.

The good thing about climbs is, they always pay off. I absolutely love a good descent. Nothing like grabbing the drops and getting some face time with the handlebars. Sawyer Camp Trail (approx. miles 15.6-21.8) is the perfect combination of twisty descents, awesomely fun sharp turns, and gorgeous scenery. It is COLD though. The kind of cold that numbs your face until you can’t make consonants. The kind of cold that forces you to ball up your fists to save your fingers. The kind of cold that turns your nose into a total snotfaucet. Worth it though. Imagine if the forest portion of the Arkansas River Trail were five miles long, mostly downhill, and next to much prettier water.

And now on to the griping portion of this post. I am having a knee problem. It feels like my right patella is seriously bruised. It’s not, obviously, or I would know why it hurts. It was fine for almost the whole ride, but about three miles from Google it started bothering me, and it’s gotten worse throughout the day to the point that when I got up for water a minute ago it was hard to straighten my leg. I can walk just fine, in fact I don’t even limp… but it feels like I kneed The Thing in the crotch.

I also need a new saddle. I thought I just needed to get used to the one I have, but it seems like it’s taking fewer and fewer miles each ride to develop some serious ABS (that’s Angry Balls Syndrome). I picked up a used Fizik Alliante for my CX bike (just completed, pics forthcoming!) so we’ll see how that works out. If it’s good I’ll have to find a white and black one to match my Orbea.

Tags: abs, cyclemeter, cycling, equipment, iphone, knee pain, sf2g, skyline

Colin told me once that I have to work at being fat.  Well, I don’t have to work at it as hard as I used to.  Maybe sitting around at night chomping the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate chips is a contributing factor?

Anyhow, I went out today to get in a little ride in the beautiful weather.  I was side-tracked by a short trip to Chainwheel for a tire review by Master Mechanic Bill and a small repair.  Launched from LRAC and headed straight to the office because of time – which gave me 8 miles in about 36 minutes, including stop lights, stop signs, railroad tracks, etc. (but it is mostly downhill).  Then, put in a couple of hours at the office and headed back up hill to the club, the car, and the shower.

Today was one of those days with no legs, no lungs, no nothing except a head wind and some crazy traffic – no one dangerous, just lots of it. But I have to say that Cyclemeter was flawless today.  I mean, really.  I’m convinced that iPhone has location issues…but if the iPhone’s GPS is hitting, then Cyclemeter delivers the goods pretty well.  Does this mean that I have to move to Nexus?

Wait!  I can blame it on AT&T!  Why not?  I wish I could blame my dead, aching legs today on them.  Okay, I woke up at 4 AM and didn’t go back to sleep, and now I’m passing out.  Ciao.

Tags: Chainwheel, chocolate chips, cyclemeter, Ghirardelli