Posts by lou:
Arkansas’ Alps
July 28th, 2010About half of Arkansas is hilly, if not downright mountainous. Now we’re not talking the Alps, Pyrenees, or Rockies, but if you have a 10 mile climb of 2400 ft and gradients of 8-11% or 1300 ft climbs with 15-18% in places, then the climbs are pretty real. Maybe two of the best known around here are Mt. Magazine (2753 ft) and Mt. Nebo (1370 ft.). The general elevation at the beginning of each climb is about 400 ft.
I had never attempted either of these before today, but wanted to see if I could do both of them back-to-back. The beginnings of the climbs are about 25 miles apart. So I drove to Havana (that’s pronounced “Hey! Vanna”) to begin the Mt. Magazine climb. The first 4 miles took 25 minutes. Not bad considering that the next 6 miles took 59 minutes.
The most fun part was seeing the little old ladies at the visitor center who Would remark about the heat of the day and then ask where I had been riding. When I told them that I had ridden up, they pretty much always exclaimed “Up!?!?” Yes ma’am….up. It only took 24 minutes to descend.
So then I hopped over to Dardenelle to get a roll on the other climb – Mt. Nebo. This little guy is shorter and lower. It’s about a 7 mile ride and only about a 1000 ft. climb. But, the differences are pretty severe. Mt. Magazine is mostly in the 7-8% grade range with some nice stretches of less and not many of much more. It also let’s you work gradually into the serious fun. Mt. Nebo has about 3 miles of rollers on a narrow, rough road with fast busy traffic. This forces you onto an even more narrow and rougher shoulder that is studded with huge mail boxes. Today’s treat was a pack of 6 fast, aggressive, persistent, large dogs that forced a 100 yard sprint that had me on the red line right up to the climb’s first pitch. That first pitch hits you at 6% and is at 9% before you know it.
Well, I was cooked! I had wanted to sort of meander into Mt. Nebo – not sprint my butt off into it. I was really glad that I was using the incline indication on the computer. I was really struggling when all of a sudden it jumped to 10% and proceeded to increase steadily to numbers I’m not used to seeing. Long story, short the whole thing got ridiculous fast hitting 15.5% and topping out at 17.8%.
The reward? On the way down, the pack of dogs was leashed….until just at the top of one momentum-sucking roller, another fast, aggressive hound bolted into the road. WTF?
All-in-all the Magazine ride was a joy and deserves a repeat. But Nebo is No-mo for me. And before you ask, no Cyclemeter on this ride. I removed the app because I’ve been really unhappy with the inconsistency of my results. I know, bummer. But I found that interrupting rides to stand in the road and curse at my iPhone made me look a bit eccentric, even by cycling standards.
VibraFlex Rocks!
July 1st, 2010Tuesday’s massive, debilitating cramp is history thanks to some VibraFlex sessions. Those things are amazing! I got on it Wednesday morning for just 3 minutes and was immediately better. I decided that an afternoon session would be good, so I stopped in and did two 3 minute reps. In the afternoon visit I tried different stances, experimenting with the effects. That session produced even more improvement that the morning’s.
I went in again this morning tor two x 3 minutes and improved even more. I plan to stop tomorrow morning for another visit and then hit the road for a run and some cycling. Naturally, I hope to be beyond the cramping, but even if the workout is successful, I plan to get on the VibraFlex after it’s over as a recovery step.
Oh Cramp!
June 29th, 2010Six minutes into today’s run a H-U-G-E cramp hit my right calf. I couldn’t run. I could barely walk. So, I limped back to the car and got my bike out.
This thing is so bad that I only did about 50 minutes of easy spinning on the flats. Any sort of pumping, digging, accelerating were completely out of the question.
This is frustrating. The last time this happened (same leg), it took several weeks to get over it. I’m going to be much more aggressive this time around in getting massage, Vibraflex, rest, and low-stress activity to knock this out.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Things are heating up
June 28th, 2010The heat index every single day for the couple of weeks has been way up there – 108, 110, 112, etc. That happens when the actual temp is 100 or better, though. But what are you gonna do? Work out indoors? I don’t think so!
I’ve been using a little app on my phone called Couch to 5K to help with the run training. The idea is that it runs you through a 9 week program using 3 runs per week to slowly condition you to the 5K distance in a 30-minute run. I’ve just finished Week 3 and so far so good! Still using the barefoot running style and wearing my Vibram Five Fingers for all running. I hate running, but I’m loving how this is working so far.
And to top it off, I usually cycle for at least 1 hour after the run. The heat is so intense that I’m not riding nearly as much as I should, but this regimen seems to be a good one for me. There are still days when I only run (like yesterday) or only ride (like 2 hours on Friday afternoon). But I’m liking the reward of a ride after the run and cycling seems to help me recover from the run. When I get better at running and start doing bricks for real I’ll reverse the order.
In a sudden flash of sanity, I think we’ve agreed that a 70.3 or Half Ironman is probably more of a realistic goal for us.
I’m also thinking that I should create a new category of athlete. The are normal triathletes. There are triathletes that are Clydesdales – those guys over 200 lbs. I’m thinking maybe a new category the trifathlete – well over 200 lbs and a BMI that’s crazy by real triathlete standards.
An update, finally
May 31st, 2010This is late because I’ve been trying to write this from my iPad, which as it turns out isn’t that easy to do. Since iPad uses the same OS as the iPhone, Colin had to allow mobile updates on here. Still, it doesn’t work very well on WordPress and we’re experimenting with fixes.
Briefly, cycling along some, but not enough. The big event was last weekend in San Francisco where I decide to swim in the Bay with Schuyler. OMG! DON’T EVER DO THAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO!
The water was 55 degrees; the wind was blowing in shore; the tide was making. I thought I was prepared to swim in there… but not true! It took probably 10 minutes to get acclimated to the water. Then I started swimming, made it maybe 50 yards, realized that I was completely out of my league and wasn’t going to finish the distance. I turned to head back in to the beach which was only maybe another 50 yards and discovered that I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t raise my arms out of the water to stroke.
I was trying everything I knew to do – side stroke, getting on my back to relax and kick, turning on to my stomach to doggy paddle, anything. I pulled up once to catch my breath and that didn’t work either. So… I started calling for help. Really calling for help. For what seemed like a long time, but was probably a few seconds, I wasn’t sure anyone heard me or was responding. Finally, Kathy did hear me and she got Colin moving. Schuyler even heard me and turned around to swim back to help.
As it turns out, Colin got to me pretty quickly, we hooked up and he pulled me in a few yards until we could stand up. Fortunately, I never went under or swalllowed any water or panicked.
Someone called 911 and the response team got there in time to have recovered the body, but not in time to prevent there being a body. In fact, we were all sitting on benches, dried off, and having a laugh when they showed up. I think they were disappointed by the whole thing.
There is much work to be done.
Pass/Fail
May 4th, 2010The day began with a little 500 yard swim. Schuyler is ahead of me in the water and I need to catch up – especially since he and I are going to swim in SF Bay in a couple of weeks. Yes, it was in a pool so I had lots of turns, but I don’t push off of the wall and get that good coasting/streamlining effect. Not that it really matters since I coast like a barge going upriver. I try to simulate never getting a rest or break on the turns. That was a great beginning to the day and I was still feeling strong when I hit the bike trail later in the afternoon.
I set out on the route below fully expecting to ride a new personal best. Not only did a personal best not occur, I didn’t even finish the route. Ouch! Was it the wind? Was it the nearly crushed testicle about half way up the penultimate (as it turns out the actual ultimate) climb? Was it the powdered sugar doughnuts instead of a banana for my mid-morning snack? Was it the fact that I ate only peanut butter and vanilla wafers for lunch? Or, drank only coffee all morning and not really any water? Excuses abound. The fact remains clear, though. I came up short and was totally wasted at the end.
It was one of those rides that makes you fell like you’re gonna puke at the end. And, puke you would, except for pride. It’s been a long time since I was so toasted after a ride that it took several hours to recover, but this was one of those times. I was too tired last night to even attempt posting this. Today, is better than I thought it might be and I’ll go out again today, only for something a little shorter and easier.
I know this is late.
May 3rd, 2010I’ve been trying to work out how to post this from my new iPad – Macs – since last week when it actually occurred. No luck yet, but maybe next time.
http://j.mp/cGDXiH This was my birthday ride. I was going to jump on here and post it from Macs, but I’ve given up on that for the moment just to get it on here. It was a beautiful day, although a little breezier than ideal. It was such a beautiful day that I didn’t even put on a playlist to push me along. And, I got a tweet from Colin via Cyclemeter during the ride. Very cool! I got tired at the end and shortened up, skipping the last climb in the interest of getting home and having some birthday dinner. All-in-all this went pretty well and the best thing is that the 2 “big” climbs were easier than usual. Payoff for extra training?
I feel like I’m falling behind. Jett’s ahead on the running of course—and maybe the swimming. Colin’s ahead on the running and probably the cycling… and he’ll always be ahead on the swimming. Schuyler is ahead on the running and, now that he swims IN THE BAY—YIKES!—he’s ahead on that too.
So, today I went for a 500 yd swim and will cycle for about 2 hours this afternoon. I’m looking forward to being in SF in 3 weeks. Schuyler is taking me to swim in the Bay! We’ll see how that goes—at least I’ll be in some sort of swimming shape by then. And, we’re going in trunks only – no wet suits. There’ll also be a good bike ride in there somewhere. I can’t wait.
I don’t know who came up….
April 26th, 2010…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.
Recovery is a beautiful thing.
April 15th, 2010Should’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).
See, I thought it was a really nice day and…..
April 13th, 2010I 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.
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
It’s Good to Go Over Old Routes
April 12th, 2010Sunday 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!
Is Yellow Lung a disease?
April 8th, 2010Short 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.
Maybe it’s the chocolate chips.
April 1st, 2010Colin 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.
Sticking with the stuff that works!
March 31st, 2010In spite of yesterday’s small Cyclemeter meltdown, the ride itself was fine and fun. The icing on the cake though was hitting the Vibraflex, post-ride. You have to find a club or gym that has one of these things! The benefits are exactly (at least for me) as touted on their web site. The Physical Therapist at our club oversees its use and gives tips about how to maximize its use. As good as it is, apparently, you can get too much of a good thing with it. Like any other piece of equipment, it can be misused to your detriment.
Here it is Wednesday and, as bummed out as I was on Monday about MCL pain, today I feel like I can run forever. Not gonna actually try that, understand. Just sayin’…
I have a late meeting today, so a ride is out. I’m gonna try jumping rope today and see how the MCL holds up. No running today, but look out for the weekend! :-)
And, lest anyone, including the fine folks at Cyclemeter, think I’m just ranting about the app, my guess is that the app works as well as it can, but the iPhone’s GPS is the limiting factor. Of course, I’m no engineer – software, hardware, or civil – but based on the way some other location-based apps seem to work, my guess is that iPhone’s GPS model is less robust than is needed.
Cyclemeter was a fail today.
March 30th, 2010I want to believe. I really do. Today, I was pressed for time, so I went for a little 1 hour ride, a bit over 16 miles, with 2 nice mile-long climbs. Cyclemeter has handled this route, or a reasonable facsimile, before. Supposedly good GPS signal. But the result we got was a stinker. No reason to post it.
So Cyclemeter remains at best a B student. You really need a good bike computer if you never want a disappointment. http://j.mp/cVz1Fk This is not real. :-(
If Lance and Dara….
March 30th, 2010Armstrong and Torres, that is, need extra massage therapy and stretching after intense workouts, then don’t we all? lol Okay, so they’re elite, professional, big-time athletes. They’re also young enough to be my children. And, they always (pretty much) have been in top condition relative to the gen pop. Granted, having cancer and babies plays havoc on your body, but they dedicated themselves to their sports and their livelihoods. Look at Lance in Comeback 2.0 when he’s “fat and out of shape”, getting ready to prep for his return to pro cycling. I’m pretty sure most of us don’t have those muscles.
So what about those of us who are aging weekend warriors, trying to ward off the ravages of time, not to mention dissolute living? An intense workout for us is no less intense because it would be nothing to a younger elite athlete. Intensity, afterall, is relative. Lactic acid, fatigue, weaknesses are all amplified in us precisely because we don’t do as much, don’t have the underlying base conditioning, and are getting older. Follow Lance’s tweets and you’ll get a picture of a guy who realizes he’s not as young as he once was. Still great; still competing at the highest level; still a force in his sport. But, clearly, still on the high side of the age bracket. Dara is the same way.
I follow their training regimens and try to get tips from what they do. The two clearest messages seem to me to be: 1) do something every day toward your goals; and, 2) make sure that stretching and massage are always included in your recovery – every day. The first lesson does not mean that you run every day or cycle every day or swim every day. Cross-training is hugely important. Variety isn’t just the spice of life – it seems to be a sure path to better health (and, if you do have a specific activity that you favor) to better performance. The second lesson has been especially painful to me. The single most important component to my workouts is now both stretching and massage – afterwards.
If you’ve followed the last couple of days or so, you’ve read how I raved about my pain free workout only to be almost immobile the next day. Well, here it is 2 days post pain free workout and I’m pain free again. Why? If you answered “stretching and massage” go to the head of the class! Quick re-cap: Sunday – pain free workout; Monday – can’t walk. Monday afternoon – short, easy 1 hour spin-type ride to loosen things up some. Then to the gym for a session on the Vibraflex. OUCH! and WOW! Then, home for the usual stretching and massage. And, today? Pain free again!
In case you’re wondering, we’re not sponsored by any of the products that we mention on here. We’re not nearly good enough for that! This is stuff that we use to make our training lives easier or better or happier in some way. So when we give props to something, it’s because we’ve tried a bunch of stuff and this is something we think merits a mention. That said, a shout out goes to the Muscle Trigger Points app for iPhone. I love that little app! Because of it, I have been able to discover the source of several aches and pains and take actions to alleviate the same. Beats taking a handful of Alleve every 4 hours (which btw, I’m not necessarily opposed to).
AND I ALMOST FORGOT….eating well is very important for older athletes as well….and I dislike that part about as much as I dislike running in general.
Monday, Monday….can’t trust that day
March 29th, 2010Yesterday’s workout went so well and was so pain free that I was up half the night with an aching knee and could barely walk this morning. Man, this running thing is bad. If God had wanted us to run, He wouldn’t have provided us with bicycles. But as the day wore on, the knee loosened up.
I decided to try a little recovery ride/easy spin just to warm things up and get ready for the Vibraflex. The link gives you the route and the stats are close enough to accurate not to change them. Top speed was actually 22.5 mph and overall average speed was 16 mph. The big thing for today was how beneficial the Vibraflex is.
That machine is something else. I’m thinking that with tonight’s massage and stretching routine, tomorrow will be a better, that is to say, less lame day.
I know it’s not much, but…
March 28th, 2010it’s a start of sorts. Today, I jumped rope 6×100 on 30 seconds splits, then went out for a run/walk. http://j.mp/cNzcCR So, that’s the run-only portion. The walking added about another .75 miles for a total of about 1.6 miles. Here’s the thing though: it was all PAIN FREE! That’s right! For the FIRST time since early September, I’ve had a non-cycling workout without any knee pain.
After the run, the medial collateral ligament began to tighten and ache – as expected. However, I’ve been sitting here with the massage ball working mainly on the vastus medialis muscle in the quadriceps and Mr. MCL is loosening up which makes the pain go away. Further massage of the vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and the sartorius will complete the recovery.
This is really fine! :-)
And, I used Cyclemeter on iPhone for the stats today. Seems to have worked fine.
My training dilemma….
March 19th, 2010Tomorrow I should drag my fat, lazy old man butt out of the sack and hit the Carve ride at 7:00 am or maybe 7:30, if I just want the 30 mile option. See, there are 2 starting options and two routes so you can go 30, 40, 50, 0r 60 miles on this fun-filled hammer-fest of a ride. These guys usually don’t race until they’ve been riding for about 2 miles…..and then it’s a balls to the wall, take-no-prisoners sort of deal. I need the ride and the training and the pace. And, if not that ride, then what ride?
There’s a BBQ cook-off in the middle of the River Park ride route. And, I’ve been on that too much lately anyway. There’s the Tour de Rock Training ride which is about 25 – 30 mile no drop deal at paces for every type of rider. But it had 70 folks on it last week and begins to look like the actual TdeR event itself. I want to run, but that can be done on Sunday afternoon when the weather is too nasty to ride.
This is that time of year when real cyclists get out of bed, eat their oatmeal, and get those miles and hours in the saddle working. Why am I reluctant? It isn’t like I have to get home and mow the lawn or anything like that. And the recovery should be do-able because that Vibraflex routine is the best thing ever for getting your muscles back to normal.
Okay, I’m gonna organize my stuff to hit the Carve 7:30 am, 30-miler. Should be done by 9:30-ish which means that I can go vibrate and then hit the Trek/Gary Fisher test ride event being put on by Chainwheel (after some breakfast, of course!).
So, this is pretty cool
March 18th, 2010Today’s plan was for a long-ish ride at a pace that would be on the edge for me. The route is very similar to the last 2 rides – only a little longer. As always I was testing out myself and my gear. Cyclemeter was almost dead on with iSport today….go figure.
Here’s the skinny: iSport shows 35.9 miles, avg speed 16.3 mph, top speed 46.7 mph, 2629 calories. Cyclemeter shows 35.78 miles, avg speed 16.16 mph, top speed 47.45 mph, calories 3727. Close enough for Cyclemeter to get a passing grade today. Even better, Cyclemeter appears to have mapped the route correctly.
Check out the ride: http://j.mp/9eF0uO
By the time, I hit the last climb on River Mountain Rd, my legs were toast. I was hungry. In short, that was perfect for the next part of the day – shaking on the Vibraflex. I went straight to LRAC to jump on it for 2x 2 minutes at 26Hz. Man, that feels good! Vibraflex seems to be a recovery miracle! No knee pain! Better flexibility! No sore muscles! YAY!
Some things Work & Some things Don’t
March 16th, 2010I wanted to test some stuff today – me, Cyclemeter, and the Vibraflex 550. I planned a ride that was pretty much the same route as yesterday, only instead of being flat it has 3 major climbs that are right on the path. The idea being of course that it would test Cyclemeter to see it performed on a similar, but slightly different route while giving me more pop than yesterday’s route. The climbs come in Mile 2, Mile 11 and Mile 21.
Now, I gave Cyclemeter some pretty good props yesterday and Colin is a fanboy. I even hit ‘em on Twitter and they gave me a nice response. I thought today’s route would be simple, but not so. Not sure why, but it had me climb straight up the side of a hill and then sort of scramble around up top. And I really just don’t trust the stats yet. My iSport had me at 1:28 and change. So did Cyclemeter. But that’s just a stopwatch function. Big whoop! Cyclemeter had the ride at 22.77 miles and iSport at 21.8 miles. Cyclemeter shows a top speed of 66mph and iSport has it at 45mph (much more likely). The mph intervals posted on the server map just don’t look right. Some of them look ok, but others don’t and I can’t explain why. That 34.5 mph in Mile 2 isn’t possible for me at that point in that ride.
Map accuracy is maybe 80% (very unscientific estimate) on today’s route. I don’t know enough about any of this to know why it’s inaccurate. Probably something to do with GPS sensitivity and hillsides, and sunspots, and climate change.
But the ride was fun and felt great, even if it did have 3 relatively nasty climbs in a short time. That was good though because I then stopped at the LRAC to jump on the Vibraflex 550. It’s hyped as a sort of super-dee-dooper exercise machine that’s supposed to boost testosterone and HGH while chewing up Cortisol and flushing lactic acid out of your muscles. I’ve used it a few times in the last couple of weeks and it does help loosen up your muscles.
I wanted to see what it would do for achy, dead, stiff legs after a brisk ride. I’m told that marathoners and triathletes love it. So, I did 2x 2-minute sets at 26 Hz, which is what was recommended for me. I must say that my legs felt super afterwards and I think that thing may become a regular part of my stretching and flexibility routine. Pretty impressive.
Tomorrow is a day off the bike and back to jumping rope, running, and weight stuff.
Birthday Ride, not really a training ride
March 15th, 2010Today is Kathy’s birthday (no, I’m not telling)….this is a simple, fun, flat ride just to enjoy the sunshine and the fact that sometimes you get to play hooky from the office on a nice Monday.
After my last rant about Cyclemeter letting me down on its initial trial ride, I must say that today, it was perfect. The link below is instructive for some of Cyclemeter’s capabilities. Mostly remember that this was on a Monday, people. That’s right! While you were at the office, I was on my bike. hehehehe
The Excitement Builds
March 12th, 2010Getting old sucks! And, having creaky, cranky joints sucks! When you have both, it really sucks! Back in September when I was in San Francisco hanging out with Colin and Schuyler, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in my right knee started bugging me so badly that I could hardly walk. I attributed this new-found pain to the also new running shoes and insoles that had been recently custom-fitted and carefully chosen to prevent injury. Right….
The pain was nearly debilitating at times. This “injury” had all the concomitant features – swelling, stiffness, loss of movement. I could cycle about as much as I wanted without too many ill-effects, but running, swimming, walking were all crossed off my list of activities. By December, when I couldn’t get over it, I plunged into despair and started considering giving up on the triathlon goal to settle for something more in line with what the elderly do, like a Scrabble tournament.
Sometimes though you just stumble into stuff. Actually, if experience is any sort of guide, I usually just stumble into stuff. First, I discovered that unclipping from my bike pedal in a certain way aggravated the problem. Stopped doing that immediately. Big help! Second, I got an app for the iPhone called Muscle Trigger Points. Massage therapists and physical therapists have taught me a thing or two about how body parts are connected and how a tight muscle here causes a pain over there. A daily part of any and all of my not-really-routine exercise is to stretch and try to work on tight muscles. That seems to be ultra-important as I age.
Anyway, about two weeks ago as I was going through my nightly stretching/massage program, I hit a spot in the Vastus Medialis (one of the muscles in the quadraceps group) that literally turned off the pain in the MCL. It was like flipping a switch. No pain. Zero. I almost jumped up and took off running right then and there. Well, not really.
Next day – no pain. So then, added some activities like jumping rope. No pain – at least until I had jumped so much that lots of other stuff was hurting also. Started the massage, hit the spot in Vastus Medialis and Bang! no pain! So that’s been going for several days now.
I’m now ready to begin the running conditioning process again. Yay! We’ll see if this MCL pain is something that can really be conquered.
More in due course….
My First Cyclemeter Ride
March 11th, 2010I bit on the fan-boy hook that Colin dropped in the water as far as the Cyclemeter app for iPhone is concerned. It all started when I saw his Facebook post on Wednesday and followed his ride mile-by-mile while he was on it. Very impressive stuff. Later in the day, we started talking about the app and I dutifully visited the App Store, read the hype, and plunked down my $4.99. I read all about how it works and even touted some of the features to Colin.
Today’s beautiful clear skies, 70 degree temps, and mostly calm winds were a siren song for cyclists and I peeled out of the office about 3:30 to try out my new wonder app. I like to test stuff out in controlled situations so that I have some basis for comparison purposes. Like Colin, I’ve tried several iPhone cycling apps and have found them mostly unsatisfactory for one reason or another. So far, I’ve ditched Fitnio, Bikenik, MotionX GPS, and iMapMyRide. None of those impressed me as much as my basic Garmin Edge. I know, a Garmin is really not a basic product and the apps are a fraction of the Garmin’s price. The Garmin died on me after a couple of years though and I wasn’t ready to ante up another big batch of dollars for another one.
So the search for a good cycling app and a mounting bracket has been on for some time now. In the meantime, I discovered the virtues of power training and after careful research purchased an iSport power meter. As power meters go, it is value priced at $199 or so. Other models top out somewhere around $800 or so, but even then they compare favorably to other power meters that can easily run between $1200 and $2000! I’m not going to attempt to defend the accuracy of the iSport as that isn’t really the subject of this post. The iSport is fine for me because it is CONSISTENT, which is the most important quality for me.
I took off on a base ride of 15 miles that is essentially 3x on a 5-mile loop. I ride this loop so often that I can almost do it in my sleep. I’ve literally ridden it dozens of times, often for the purpose of testing a piece of equipment.
Here’s the skinny on the Cyclemeter: Top Speed= 63 mph; Distance=7.5 miles; Average Speed=7.5 mph; Elapsed Time=47.52 minutes. The iSport produced: Top Speed=36 mph; Distance=15 miles; Average Speed= 18 mph; Elapsed Time=49.12 minutes.
Guess which one I believe? I rode this same exact ride 2 days ago in 52 minutes at an average speed of 17.3 mph (in a mad wind). Both rides track with what I expect on this particular ride.
The Cyclemeter only picked up half the ride on the GPS. Now, when I started I had poor GPS signal, but I hoped it would pick up and correct early in the ride. I also had the “Remote Control” feature turned on and although it appears to work well, I’m not sure I used it properly at the outset. The Cyclemeter kicked in some music that I really didn’t want, so I need to figure that out. I also had turned off the Wi-Fi on the iPhone, so only 3G was working. I did that in an attempt to conserve battery, but it may have had adversely affected Cyclemeter.
The result is that my initial ride was less than I had hoped for after seeing what Colin did. However, it was only one experimental ride. I’ll continue to use it and compare it to my iSport especially with different settings. It’s too early to consider Cyclemeter a fail by a long shot, but it isn’t an automatic pass either.
Fun-Hour Playlist
December 3rd, 2009If you like guitar music, this is a fun, fast-paced 1 hour playlist. I usually listen to this while on my rollers riding at a cadence of 85-105 and gearing of 50/15-14-13-12. It affords plenty of opportunities for sprinting as well as lighter, more relaxed spinning.
Deed I Do Chet Atkins & Les Paul Chester & Lester
I’ll See You In My Dreams Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]
Vivaldi: Concerto In G For 2 Mandolins, RV 532 – 1. Allegro Various Artists Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos
Limehouse Blues / Mystery Pacific Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata In C, RV 82 – 3. Allegro Various Artists Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos
Vivaldi: Mandolin Concerto In C, RV 425 – 1. Allegro Various Artists Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos
Sheik Of Araby Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis Great Guitars At The Winery
Vivaldi: L’Estro Armonico, Op. 3 – Concerto #10 In B Minor, RV 580 – 3. Larghetto Various Artists Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos
Vivaldi: Lute Concerto In D, RV 93 – 1. Allegro Various Artists Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos
The Talk Of The Town Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis Great Guitars At The Winery
There’ll Be Some Changes Made Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]
Sweet Georgia Brown Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]
Air Mail Special Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis Great Guitars At The Winery
Caravan Chet Atkins & Les Paul Chester & Lester
Caravan (Alternate Version) Chet Atkins & Les Paul Chester & Lester
Avalon Chet Atkins & Les Paul Chester & Lester
Lover Come Back to Me Chet Atkins & Les Paul Chester & Lester
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise Chet Atkins & Les Paul Chester & Lester
I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]
