Team McAlister » bike

I did it!

Colin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:19:11 +0000

I rode to work. I RODE my BIKE to WORK . For some reason, after I used 70% of my iPhone battery to track the ride, Fitnio decided not to record it. But it was right around 45 miles, and took just over three hours. Pretty slow, but I’m happy with it since I haven’t done a real ride (or even been on a bike, really) since the summer. For anyone interested, here’s the link to the route. It says 42.5 miles, but instead of the Foster City route we took a bike path that added about two miles. Aside from being freezing cold until the sun came up, and completely worn out at the end, it was extremely pleasant.

I plan on doing this once a week for a month or two, and then moving up to at least twice weekly.

I am completely exhausted, so that’s all I’m writing.

Velo Rouge

Colin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 01:27:20 +0000

Hey, remember when I said I was going to run 9 miles today? I lied. The opportunity arose to go for a bike ride with some friends, so I postponed the run until tomorrow. It’s probably a good thing, I feel like my knees needed the reprieve.

We went to a neat little cafe called the Velo Rouge for lunch. As you might imagine, it’s very bike-centric. Funky bike racks and a pump outside, SFBC stickers all over, and lots of old pictures of Tours de France. My favorite was of a rider lighting a cigarette for the rider next to him, that’s what I mean by “old pictures.” The coffee and the food were both outstanding, I might have to stop eating out altogether so I can make Sunday brunch there a regular thing. They have a t-shirt with a picture of a bike on it that says “53 miles per burrito.” I really need that shirt. I wear a large, by the way

Tomorrow I will be trying for 9 miles, for real.

My butt hurts.

Colin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:24:14 +0000

I did spin class for an hour today (at 6 AM, suckers!) and warmed down with a mile on the treadmill. I’m told it’s important to practice that transition if one wants to do a triathlon. It actually wasn’t too trying, but MAN I am not used to the saddle on a spin bike. Next time I may wear bike shorts, but I’m not sure about running with a chamois.

I can already tell a major improvement in my general fitness. A mile on the treadmill used to be a challenge, and now I do it to loosen up after spinning for an hour? At this rate I’ll be a pro triathlete, like, next year.

Tomorrow’s a “long” run. I’m shooting for 4 miles at a continuous jog, hopefully about 5.5 mph. After that, interval training! We’ll see how that goes.

Baby steps

Colin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:38:27 +0000

Today I started with a bike ride to the Mission. Just a short one, but I did climb the hill next to Dolores Park. According to the SFBC bike map, it’s a 10-18% grade for about six blocks. It varies quite a bit, so it’s closer to 10% at the start and maybe 15% or so at the end. I’m just getting over a cold so my lung capacity is not 100%, but I did it!

Today was also my first workout at 24-Hour Fitness. I did the elliptical machine for 30 minutes (144 strides per minute, 157 heart rate, 442 calories) and finished up with a weight circuit. I’ll start running on the treadmill when I’m in better aerobic shape and this cold is totally gone—I’m shooting for the end of next week.

Oh, and those of you who are concerned that I don’t wear a helmet when I’m riding—I won’t mention any names here—those days are over. I got a brand-spankin’-new Bell Volt off eBay, and it arrived today. Only two words to describe this helmet: Friggin’ sweet. I want to go for a ride right now just so I’ll have an excuse to wear it. Or I guess I could just wear it around the apartment…

My Training Begins

Schuyler — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:57:03 +0000

Today I had my first bike ride to start off my training for the triathlon. Colin and I rode for about two hours, going from our apartment to the beach and back (a total of about 12 miles). It wasn’t as difficult as I had expected, especially considering I did an hour of TRX last night. The worst part was definitely the beginning, when we climbed a hill for about three or four blocks. I’m not entirely sure the route we took, but I mapped out this approximation on Google Maps:
View Larger Map

All in all, it was a good training day, and I don’t think it will be long before my rides lengthen considerably.

Today’s Ride

Colin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:37:40 +0000

Perfect day to get out! Today was Schuyler’s first time climbing some real hills, and he was a champ about it. We went through the park as planned, and made plenty of stops to take in the scenery. It ended up being closer to 13 miles, expect a Google map of the ride from Schuy soon. Not what I’d call a training ride, but hey, my legs are still tired! A few pics after the jump.

Training begins!

Colin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:58:47 +0000

Today’s the day! Ok, not really, but Schuyler and I are at least gonna get out for a bike ride. The weather here in San Francisco is perfect (suck it, Chicago!) so we’d be crazy not to enjoy it. We’re planning to ride through Golden Gate Park, hopefully to the beach and back for about a 10-mile round trip. Not much, but the journey of a thousand miles and all that…

I got a membership at 24-Hour Fitness, so treadmill and weight training begins tomorrow (maybe even tonight—we’ll see).