Thursday August 25 2011

Bike

Yesterday I went for a leisurely early evening bike ride with Stacy and my biking buddy around our neighborhood.  Sticking mostly to the back roads to avoid the rush hour traffic we meandered around and were able to clock 11 miles in under an hour.  Like I said it was more of a "cruising" ride than actively biking.  I wasn't going to complain though because prior to our ride I had been finishing reading my Microbiology homework and re-writing notes from class earlier that day.  After 4 hours hunched over my kitchen table exercising my mind I was ready to stretch my legs and exercise my body!

This morning I was resolute in waking up and hitting the road on my bike at 5.  I wanted to see how well my new lights worked on my bike.  Good thing I woke up and tossed my butt outside because it was beautiful this morning.  Dark, quite, the sky full of stars, crisp air, and no vehicles were even on the road.  It. Was. Awesome.  I have never seen the stars as bright as they were this morning since moving to Missouri.  Back home I saw it all the time because the light pollution was practically zero; I grew up in a small town.  There wasn't a cloud or even a haze in the air this morning everything was in High Definition!

Gear (quick light review)

I jumped on my bike and took off going what felt like a million miles an hour.  It's awesome how much faster it feels you're going at night and you can't reference objects.  I had to make a small adjustment to my front light and point it down a little farther, but because the straps are only velcro it was easy to do on the fly.  I didn't think I would like the velcro straps, but they've proved to be handy already.  The white front light is blindingly bright and the rear red light is better than nothing.  I'm a little disappointed in its brightness, but with the flashing setting used I think it does the job.  It's better than nothing and if I was going to be on back roads with absolutely zero ambient light I would upgrade to brighter and larger lights.  You cannot ride (without difficulty) with only these lights.  They don't illuminate the path ahead of you far enough in my opinion making avoiding potential hazards difficult and last minute.  

Bike

My ride was nothing special, clocking just a hair over 9 miles, but it was a good time and great stress reliever.  Anytime on my bike in my mind is awesome no matter how quick it is.  There is nothing like starting your day on the right foot and biking or running is my "right" foot in the morning.  It puts me in the correct frame of mind to tackle my day and it's safe to say I'm addicted.  I've never been a morning person and still to this day if I wake up early and do nothing I'm miserable.  Throw in a light workout during the morning and I'm feeling great; it's crazy.

Have a great day everyone!

Wednesday August 17 2011

This morning I set out on a thirty mile ride a little later than normal and I paid for it.  Starting out the traffic was horrible as people were heading to work and I also fought the late morning wind.  Looking back I suppose I shouldn't complain to much about the wind because there was a chance for rain also and I made it home dry.  I was a little worried about going out by myself, but it seems if I want to get any distance rides under my belt I'm going to do it alone.  There are some groups in m area that ride, but I'm not sure if I'm up for riding with those guys.  The last thing I want to be a drag on a group and get left in their dust.  

Anyway the first ten miles went great.  Before I knew it I had reached my twenty mile loop turn around point in thirty minutes.  I was fifteen minutes faster than my previous ride to the same point.  I had never ridden past this point in the road and assumed that the shoulder would continue along the highway.  I was wrong.  I went from having a nice five foot shoulder to three feet and then maybe two feet of shoulder.  I swear the strip I was riding on wasn't much wider than the handlebars on my bike.  Fortunately it was nice new asphalt and the ride was smooth for a quarter of a mile and then it was like riding on the moon.  To say the least the four miles before and after my fifteen mile turn around point were a little stressful.  Riding back home I was headlong into wind and it drained me.  I was on the busier side of the road, riding into the wind, gassed, and wishing I had worn glasses.  The dust and dirt that you catch is amazing.  I now understand why you always see rider wearing glasses.  They are a must when riding on open roads.  My eyes were tearing up and streaming water to my ears.  At mile twenty four the numbness set in.  I was feeling it in the back of my thighs and pinkies.  Obviously I need more time in the saddle to condition myself to the rides.

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 1h:46m

Distance - 30.14 miles

Average speed -17.0  mi/hr

Total climb - 160 yards

Thursday August 11 2011

What a difference a couple days...err a week makes.  It was a late bike ride today but the weather was beautiful this evening.  So nice in fact that I saw a couple of hot air balloons floating around and some wicked looking helicopters.  They looked like commercial aircraft, but like nothing I've seen before.  Anyway back to the ride.  I really didn't have any direction except forward.  Total distance was just shy of ten miles and it was a meandering ten miles at that.  I was really powering up the hills tonight and wasn't feeling as winded as I usually do.  I noticed that I wasn't shifting to easier gears nearly as much as I used to do also.  So I guess that translates into progression?  I am worried that I will have a flat tire tomorrow though.  I was powering up my last hill and a car was following closely behind me so I was holding a straight line and before I knew it I slammed into a giant pot hole.  Of course once I hit hole the car decided to pass me.  Naturally!  I was able to stay up right and not flip over my handle bars by hopping my front tire up, but until I figure out how to "bunny hop" my road bike my rear tire is going to take the brunt of the pot hole encounters.  What would you have done?  Take your chances swerving to miss the pot hole and cut the car off or hit the pot hole and try not to fly over the handle bars?  I'll leave it there and I look forward to seeing if anyone weights in.

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 38m:26s

Distance - 9.8 miles

Average speed -15.3 mi/hr

Total climb - 166 yards

Spok Light Set

New gear!  So with darkness beginning to set in earlier and sticking around longer, I picked up a Spok LED light set for my bike from the REI in Boise, ID.  

I had a couple hours to kill before my flight and rather than sitting in the airport I decided to look for things I can't get at home.  Anyway I've attached the lights to my bike and I'm satisfied with the mounting.

It's definitely not the best mounting system - I use the word "system" loosely - but it will suffice.  The lights mount to your bike via a long tooth velcro strap.  This allows for great flexibility for differing handle bar thickness but might be viewed as lackluster to some.  For $20 bucks though I'm not going to complain to much...yet.  OK maybe just one quick "observation" on the rear mount.  The light mounts to the bar that your seat is on which forces it to be sideways.  Time will tell if this will work or if I will have to rig my own mounting to move the light somewhere else.

I won't regurgitate the specs, you can find them here.  I will say however that the lights are very bright and will work well for drawing motorist attention.  If you're looking for an actual light to brighten your path when riding then these aren't for you.  I'm taking them out tomorrow morning for their first ride and will have a review on them afterwards.

I Think I Over Did It

Ugh!  I'm hurting today.  I am still feeling the effects of yesterdays workout and it sucks!  When the alarm went off this morning at five I was totally lost.  Have you ever had that happen?  Then you lay there wondering "is it the fire alarm, am I dreaming, is my phone ringing, what sick person would set an alarm for five in the morning?" only to figure out you're the idiot and it's time to go pedal a bike in the dark!!  I'll tell you though, the longer I stick to this routine the more I learn about what it takes to fit and the more I question why so many fit people are such happy people.  Today I was not happy.

Today was a test - pure and simple - from my body and mind to see if I truly am going to continue this life style change.  I told myself it wouldn't be change if was easy and if it was easy everyone would be doing it.  Fortunately, that was enough for my stubborn side to win and carrying what felt like twenty pound weights on my arms and legs I pulled myself out of bed and onto my bike for a quick ride.  I had to warm up a little to get the muscles awake and primed for movement so that I wasn't trying to pedal with 2x4's for legs.  Down the road I found that somehow the hills that I ride grew in the last couple days and with my body in protest I was huffing and puffing more than normal.  Three loops later it was over and it couldn't have ended too soon. 

I'm going to call my ride today completed, but not enjoyed.  Which is OK because I realize that there will be days I'm not going to enjoy every mile and it's going to be tough to grind through the workouts.  So I think tomorrow will be a day off for "extended recovery" from Wednesday's workout because I'm really dragging today and I think my body is telling me something.

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 42m:30s

Distance -8.92 miles

Average speed - 12.6 mi/hr

Total climb - 134 yards

Lessons Learned: 

Don't think...just get it done.

Double the Fun

Good morning!

This morning was a beautiful stuffy morning and I was instantly sweating!  I was very excited to get on the bike and get moving so there was some sort of breeze even if it was a warm wet one.  Today was an odd day because I actually went for two bike rides!  One with my riding partner and another afterwards with my wife.

My first ride with my buddy was supposed to be about nine miles.  I use "supposed to be" because it didn't work out that way.  We started off great and our route was set up as a three mile loop.  What we failed to realize - I blame how early it was - is that in order for the loop to be three miles we had to ride back through our neighborhood!  We just kept going in circle not realizing how much we were shorting ourselves like a couple of idiots!  I know what you're thinking; kind of a Homer Simpson moment!  Again I stress it was early and we were not completely mentally awake.  When it was all said and done we had shorted ourselves out of a little more than a mile.  Ugh.  Frustrating.

My second ride with my wife was interesting.  Initially she wanted to ride twenty miles but that changed to ten before too long. Thank goodness too because I was dragging today.  Anyway riding down main street in rush hour is tough and stressful, but even more so when compounded with a lack of experience in that type of riding.  Holding a straight line with the thin tires and working the gears in heavy traffic was tough for my wife.  Like a champ though she pulled through and made me proud keeping right on my back tire the whole time.  It wasn't long and we were at our half way turn around point and made the return trip home safe and sound.  I'm so proud of her for getting out with me and braving the traffic!  It's great when fitness is a team effort.

Route (1) Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 37m:56s

Distance - 7.87 miles

Average speed -12.4 mi/hr

Total climb - 132 yards


Route (2) Stats
Activity - Biking
Time - 42m:03s
Distance - 9.54 miles
Average speed - 13.6 mi/hr
Total climb - 81 yards

Lessons Learned:

Ride your FULL route so you don't short yourself

Be overzealous in your goals you can alter it on the fly if needed

Outta the Teen's and into the "Twenty's"

20+ Whoo Hoo!!!

Today I pushed past the "teen" mile marker and graduated into my twenty's.  Braving the stuffy weather and trying to beat the rain my riding partner and I set out for a long ride.  I have to admit it was much easier than I had originally expected!  Last night I had worked it up in my mind to be this grueling ride that I knew I could do physically, but questioned my ability to do it mentally.  I used to hate looking down the road and seeing more road.

On that topic, I think that's true with any workout though.  Often I'm confidant that what ever I begin I will be able to complete it physically.  Usually what gets me is my mind.  I tend to over think what I'm doing and my mind starts wander.  Instead I should be focusing on the present and the wheels turning under me or putting one foot in front of the other.  

So here I am at the half way point.  I didn't realize my shirt was urban camouflage!

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 1h:29m

Distance - 21.47 miles

Average speed -14.3 mi/hr

Total climb - 126 yards

Lessons Learned:

Don't over think it!!

New Bike Seat!!

All right so I'm not officially signed up yet, but I have my eye on a couple of century bike rides in my area. When I was younger I rode 50 miles on my mountain bike and it sucked!  I'm hoping that 100 miles on a road bike will be better.  Either way it should be a great experience and should be fun.  In preparation for my 100 miles in the saddle I've decided to invest in a softer seat than my original shown below.  This thing is more of a racing seat and even with padded biking shorts longer rides can literally be a pain in the "sitbones"!

Enter my new seat.  A Serfas MH-RX Performance seat with I.C.S. (infinite comfort system) and let me tell you it's awesome.  It's a split seat design so that each side can move independent of the other.  This also makes the seat a anatomical channel to reduce pressure in the special areas.

The comfort is what you would expect from something like this.  I would equate it to a cloud cushioning your backside.  Pair it with padded bike shorts and you have one nice ride!  It's waterproof, breathable and made from anti-microbial microfiber.  I would definitely recommend this seat if anyone is looking to upgrade to a long distance seat.

Thursday July 28 2011

Good morning!

Well it's Thursday and that means the week is almost over (finally) and this morning was a bike day.  I have to say that I've been surprised how dark the last couple of morning have been.  Are the days really getting shorter already!?  When I started out riding early in the mornings it seemed like I was hopping on the bike as the sun rose.  Lately it's like I'm riding at nine o'clock in the evening it's so dark.  I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to become a problem in the near future since my buddy rider is new to riding on roads and the more light we have the better he feels which translates into farther rides for us.  I might have to invest in a bike light and reflective tape or something.

Since it's been so dark in the morning the normal 11.5 mile route wasn't an option. Three quarters of it consists of country roads and no street lights.  Also with it's twists and turns and big hills there is a very limited visibility factor to account for.  No sense in getting killed over a bike ride.  I wanted to complete at least ten miles today so off to google maps I went.  On a side note I've come to love google maps for planning out rides and runs; gotta love technology.  Usually I stay north of the city to avoid horrible morning traffic, but today I ventured farther south into the city.  I had planned the route to run through some neighborhoods and avoid "main drags" and the heavier traffic.  Since my route took me through neighborhoods I had written the key turns on a note card to get through the route.  This seemed to work out all right except where do you put it?

The pocket on the back of my riding shirt is too big and retrieving it was cumbersome.  I finally settled on sliding it under the band on the leg of my bike shorts.  This worked but came with problems too.  Sweating and humidity in the air made the crisp note card soft and more difficult to place on my leg as the ride went on.  So while trying to ride with on hand hold the band up on my leg with two fingers place the card with three fingers and not swerve and wreck was pretty tricky.  It was humorous though when making our way

back home because the largest "main drag" road we had to ride was horribly busy.  It was about ten till six in the morning and the rush was on.  So opting for the sidewalk we took off.  I use the word "sidewalk" loosely because it was more of a broken asphalt trail with grass and weeds running all over it.  Not something a road bike is built for.  My buddy who is riding a hybrid bike is doing great, but with every pot hole and one inch crack I was just waiting for them to swallow my tire and throw me over the handle bars. I was ready to get back on the road and take my chances with the cars!  Speaking of cars they were flying buy so fast that even on the sidewalk I felt like a squirrel in the middle of rush hour traffic; LOUD NOISES!! (Thank you Brick Tamland). 

So in what's becoming a regularity during our morning bike rides, this mornings ride was no different.  Which is ok because I'm quickly realizing that in order for a sustainable workout plan it has to be routine without being "routine".  Go ahead and ponder that today and see what you can change in your own routine.

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 50m:29s

Distance - 10.71 miles

Average speed - 12.7 mi/hr

Total climb - 128 yards

Lessons Learned:

If writing your route down to jog your memory have a plan to store it somewhere more easily accessible than wedging it into the legs of your shorts! 

Wednesday July 27 2011

Good morning!

Rough morning this morning.  The 5 a.m. alarm came way to soon.  Being more of a night owl rather than a early bird makes waking up before 8 a.m. equivalent to pulling teeth.  Especially since I didn't have my wife to kick me out of bed and I stayed up to late last night.  This made for a trifecta of reasons to stay in bed and blow off my workout.  

Today was supposed to be a fun run day, but since my riding buddy didn't make his ride yesterday on his own I hopped on the bike and rode with him instead.  We like to change things up so in the spirit of alternating routes he had sent me a map of a nice seven mile jaunt through a couple neighborhoods.  I will admit that it was a very creative - emphasis on creative - route that looked more like some kind of cross between a hidden treasure map, figure eight, and his four year old's line tracing through a maze.  We started out alright in familiar territory, but soon we were lost in suburbia hell.  Winding roads, dead ends, circles, courts, they all blended together.  It wasn't long before east became west and north was south.  You wouldn't believe how much riding it takes to make seven miles in a neighborhood!  Ultimately we made our way back home without adding to much extra riding.

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 36m:46s

Distance - 7.27 miles

Average speed - 11.9 mi/hr

Total climb - 134 yards

Lessons Learned:

Study your route and remember it!

Tuesday July 26 2011

Today is normally one of the days I take a "buddy bike ride" with a friend, but I had to drop my lovely wife off at the airport this morning.  So I was sans an extra rider.  Not one to be dissuaded from completing my ride, solo or not, I pressed on by myself.  At the time this was a great idea I could ride at my speed and no forced conversations through the huffing and puffing.  Well I quickly learned that riding my 11.5 mile route at 6:30 in the morning is much different than riding it at 5:00 a.m.  Between the traffic, stop lights, and a practically flat tire it was a nightmare.  I even had some idiot in a busted up truck come up behind me when I was riding and his passenger leaned halfway out his window, yelled something inaudible, and tried to smack me with his hand!  WTH!?  I'm now getting a feeling of what it's like to ride a bike around this town.  

Route Stats:

Activity - Biking

Time - 43m:32s

Distance - 11.22 miles

Average speed - 15.5 mi/hr

Total Climb - 140 yards

Lessons Learned:

Always check tires before leaving

Ride early before the crazies wake up