- NAME Michael Andersson
- AGE 41
- LOCATION Seattle, WA, USA
- My Blog mandersson1968.blogspot.com
- YEARS CYCLING Been commuting by bike for the last ~8 years. Put 3500 miles (5600km) on my first bike over seven years. Have put 1500 miles (2400km) on my second bike in the last six months.
What is your current weekly exercise program ?
Commute 5 days per week, 6 miles (10km) each direction, for a total of 60 miles (100km). On Wednesday evenings, I am currently doing an extra 10 miles (16km). On Saturdays or Sundays, I’m doing what I’m calling my Weekend Long Ride, increasing by 5 miles per week. Yesterday was 35 miles (2:50hrs), previous was 30mi, next week will be 40mi. Every fourth week is a ‘rest week’, where I’m *not* increasing the distance. Also on Wednesday evenings, I teach three hours of dance class (Swing and Waltz).
What are your fitness/training goals ? Why are you taking the “100 mile bike challenge” ?
Two months ago, I decided I wanted to do a century before my 42nd birthday (next April).
Which sports person inspires you the most and why?
Don’t really follow sports much, but currently the two would be Fredrik Ljungberg and Fredy Montero, both footie players for the Seattle Sounders FC. Why? F.L. is from Sweden, as is my family, and F.M. is from Colombia, which is where I was raised.
Related posts:
- Lee Sole Starts 100 Mile Bike Challenge and begins Century Training
- Sam Cotton Starts 100 Mile Bike Challenge and begins Century Training
- Rica Mendes Starts 100 Mile Bike Challenge and begins Century Training
- Grant Tod starts training for his century bike ride challenge
- Vernon starts training for 100 Mile Bike Challenge
Hey Michael – Welcome and thanks for taking up the challenge of a 100 mile bike ride. I'm really looking forward to helping you to achieve this goal. I have sent you an email with details of your 1st training ride. I hope it goes well. When you have done it please post the results and the information as detailed in the email here. Then we can work together on a specific training program for you.
Hey Michael – Sounds like you had a fantastic ride. Use the information from that ride and we can go from there. When you write it up please pay particular attention to the moment in time when it stopped being easy. Think through if you had done the ride as I described when would you have stopped. How long in terms of TIME not distance would you have cycled. I call this your current “endurance comfort zone” and is a really useful guide for us to use in developing your endurance and scheduling each training into a time blocks that you can then use in your actual 100 mile ride..
As regards miles or Km I’m happy to work in either so pick whichever is easies. Also if you have heart rate details from your ride then include them too. But no worries if not. It is just as easy going forward to use “perceived effort”.
Riding gets progressively easier the more you do it as I think you are beginning to find. Have fun today –hope you find a cool bike. What are you looking at? I tend to get up late, do some work, then do my own training then work again in the evening so you will usually catch me at my computer during USA office hours !!
As per our DMs, I'm considering the ride I did on Sunday (13th) to be my 1st Training Session. As I said, it was a fantastic ride. The temp was just below freezing, and small snowflakes kept landing on my nose. Also, I accomplished temperature / layers perfection (which I was unable to replicate today, now it's warmer and raining). There was no wind, surface was asphalt (macadam, is that what you call it in the UK?). Almost in its entirety, the route is rails-to-trails. Type of bike: Marin Larkspur, about 4 years old, so a hybrid, I believe. Tyres are 700×35, not knobbly, but not slick, either.
If I had had the option, I would have stopped at 2:18hrs. That's exactly when I stopped caring whether I got back in under three hours. At that point, I had covered 29.6 miles, having taken a 5-minute break at 1:28hrs / 17.6mi. (The total ride ended up being 35.7mi in 2:54hrs, which in addition to the break includes a 4-minute stop at the grocery store for potatoes.)
If I had been going a comfortable speed at an even pace (as I told you, I was pushing myself 10-15% beyond that), I suspect I would have been easily able to keep going over 3hrs.
Details about how I found the ride: As I was approaching the halfway point (before the aforementioned 5-minute break), I was on some sort of an endorphin high, because I was feeling effin' awesome. I was pushing myself to ~19-20mph (vs. my normal 16-17) and enjoying “owning” the trail at that early time of the morning. Compare / Contrast with the same route done last August without any working up to it (just jumped on the bike and went), where my knee was hurting and I was wondering where to catch the bus home (which I did).
Side note: While a heart rate monitor is definitely on my wish list, we've just had to buy a new computer, and if I buy a replacement bicycle, there's just no way I can justify that expense. “Perceived Effort” it is.
The current candidate bicycles are a two-year old Sirrus Sport with about 1500miles on it, that I really can't afford. It's got brifters on drop bars and 105 componentry. Then there's an older Trek 1200 that spoke to me despite only having a double chainring up front, but she's got 700x28s. Last is a Novara Safari with butterfly handlebars, 26″x2″ (no kidding, and they're not knobbies, either!) and twist-grip shifters that I don't really like…
Hey Michael – Bike choice is a persnol thing. You dont need to spend a fortune. Of your choices either the Sirrus or the trek would make great choices. regarding the double chainring on the trek – It depends how hilly the area you ride in is and are you ever going to “tour” on the bike. Also its an aesthetic thing. No die hard roadie will ride a tripple. BUT – I now ride one as I find it gives me more options for endurance riding. If you riding includes long uphill drags and by long I meen a few miles then look at triple otherwise it's not that big a deal. Especially if the double chainring is “compact” by that I meen it will have a smaller (less teeth) than standard chainrings.
You ride sounds fantastic. That feeling of being “really strong” is the best in the world. The bike feels so light and when you push on the pedals you feel like you are flying. I love it.
I have sent you an email with some thoughts on training over the next 3 sessions. Let me know what your thoughts are..
I will respond to your training email shortly, but on choosing a replacement bike, yes I have some hills of more than a few miles. I feel I could *learn* to deal with the long gentle stuff with a double (i.e., get stronger), but for the short, steep stuff I feel like I need something in the the low 2s (meters of development), if not the 1.9m that I have on my current bike. I'm also considering an old Trek 520 that I didn't mention yesterday… I would love to “tour” the bike, but I have to be realistic that long-term (5+ years), the vast majority of my saddle time will be commuting.
Hey Luke:
Thanks for the pointers. I like this idea of dividing up the rides into time span units. I can wrap my numbers-oriented brain around that; it should make a good substitute for thinking about mileage numbers. (Which is how I'm approaching it now.) Below I will say back to you (in my words) what I've taken from your email. Tell me if I've gotten anything wrong, OK?
So, this weekend I had planned on doing a 40-mile ride (building on last week), but what you would like me to do is make sure that 2:30hrs is indeed my comfort unit. Yes? So, Saturday or Sunday I go (easily, evenly) half a unit out (75 minutes), rest, snack, then go home.
I could use with a bit of definition on “break”. Does stopping to take off my balaclava and switching to thinner gloves count as a break? Does stopping for a long traffic light count? Or is it more of find a safe place, stop, lean the bike up against something, sit down, take the helmet off, stretch, eat a cookie or six (they're small), drink, make sure I don't get back on the saddle for at least five full minutes? And how often should these breaks be taken? Every base unit? Every half unit?
Out&Back rides: phew! At this point, that's what I want to do. Question: Once I get up over 60 miles… excuse me, two Comfort Units, there's a nice loop route that would be much more psychologically rewarding (around a lake, http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=35926 ) than the out&back (industrial back lots, http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=39473 ). Will that be OK then? Because I live ~5 miles from that loop route, there would still be a definite, “I'm homeward bound” aspect to the latter half. (By the way, that latter route [#39473] is one that I input to veloroutes.
)
You would like me to extend four of my ten commutes; that can be arranged.
Are you thinking in terms of half units? If I double my commute distance (sigh), that will be (roughly) half a Comfort Unit, and I can think of a relatively easy/safe route that would accomplish that. 16 miles instead of 6. Sorry! It's hard to do time-based calculations when there's a specific destination in mind!
My extended Wednesday evening commute is already approximately half a unit long. It's been taking me 65 minutes… well, OK, it started at 75 minutes five weeks ago, but I can now do it in 65.
It should be easy enough to throw in an extra loop or leg to make it 75 minutes.
Weekly Long Ride: Head to wind at the start. That's how we start sailboat races! Sailing OPBs is one of my other hobbies! (Other People's Boats)
Rest stopping is important. Don't skip! Which would be my natural inclination, but I see what you're saying about the psychological importance of building mental endurance. I've already gotten to where I don't really think much of a 60-75-minute ride. I also get somewhat of a kick out of telling people, “It's not really that far.”
As far as making a plan, boy, this is a really tough time of year for doing stuff! The schedule seems full! Also, next week there's that pesky holiday toward the end of the week that means I won't be commuting. Furthermore, I have a confession to make: I drove today.
First time in over two months! Excuse: the dance instructor had knee surgery today, which means two things: I'm substituting for her and I therefore need to be less sweaty than normal, plus she had been driving me home at 11pm. Advantage to bicycling that late is fewer cars, but by that point (after three hours of dancing) I'm usually just dead.
Anyway: Plan for the next week or so. One full Comfort Unit on Saturday or Sunday (19th or 20th). One Comfort Unit (two separate rides) on Tuesday 22nd, then we got that pesky holiday messin' things up, then a pre-planned ride with a friend on Boxing Day. He and I had planned in terms of mileage (35-40), but should be easy to talk him into one Comfort Unit. Maybe one-and-a-quarter or one-and-a-half.
Hey Michael – You have definetly got your head around it. Some thoughts on your message
1. Your ride on sunday. If you had planned on doing 40 miles and feel that you would like to do more than just the (Comfort unit) 2 hour 30 mins ride then how about doing a 3 hour 45 minute ride. So for example you ride 1 hour 15 mins. stop & rest. Then another 1 hour 15 mins stop rest. then final 1 hour 15 min.
2. Stopping at traffic lights, adjusting gloves etc etc IS NOT A BREAK. Take a full 5-10 minutes off the bike. Eat a poper amount of food remember you are using about 500 calories per hour so each one of these mini sessions is using about 625 calories. you have about 2500 calories worth of energy stored to access for exercise. Run out if this and you BONK !! As you rightluy identified these breaks are psychologically important. They allow you to regroup. get psyched and ready to ride again. I used this exact system to ride the entire Tour de France route when I was not much fitter than you!! I even went as far as resetting my bike computer after each 2 hour 30 minute section of riding – so that psychollogically I could trick my mind that I was only doing a short ride !! So sit down, rest stretch – make sure you have an extra layer or certainly get out of the wind as it's important NOT to get cold during this stop.
3. Dont get over hung up about out and back route. Its another string in your bow. Something to think about and use if it helps and is appropriate for your rides.
4. Your commute. yes as you describe 4 longer rides !!!!!
5. this time of year is tough trying to fit everything in. Dont worry if you miss a session here and theer dont try and make them up. Just miss and go onto your next one. The only exception to this is your weekly long ride which IS IMPORTANT and must be done. If for any reason you cant do you defietly should try and make this ride up. Bear in mind it is the total time on the bike in a day that is importanmt so you could make up by doing 2 extra lomng commute rides for example. It doesnt matter that you split it and rest during the day.
Hope this helps and I really look forward to hearing how you progess with it
Don't want to experience a bonk!
I think that if I'm just taking things comfortably and easily, yeah, I can do 1½ Comfort Units. I'll report back after that ride!
Thanks for email – Some follow up points for you to consider:
1. If you have any tracking data then definetly include links to it when you post coomets about your rides. The more information I have the better I can help you.
2. It is tempting for you to think alot about your final goals of riding a century and a double century. I would like to make two observations. I have NO DOUBT that you will ride a century in the coming months and IF you are prepared to endure some “pain” and you carry on with a commited attitude to your training then you will be ABLE to ride a double in July. Bear in mind though that a double would require a significant volume of training. You could certainly do it but you would probably be training 15-20 hours per week. So only make that commitment to yourself if it is realistic for you to train that much !!
3. Your cadence figures are bang on the money. keep them there.
4. Keep practicing, every time you ride, the “art” of standing up in pedals and NOT spiking your heart rate. Takes a while but once you have it then it will really pay dividends in long rides. One tip is to change up a couple of gears immedietly before you stand and obviosly cycle with a much lower cadence.
5. Being aware of varying motivation levels is the first step in deaaling positivly with them. Accepting that they will happen allows you to not beat yourself up about them and question the whole project. Stick with it. Do everything you can to make life easy. Wrap up walm and keep your thoughts IN THE MOMENT.
Cool pictures on flikr – love the shot of your eye framed looking into your mirror.
It's Christmas, stay relaxed and do the training that you feel you can. remember spirits and energy will naturaly rise 10 fold with the start of the new year and new year resolutions and all that!!
Hmmm… strange… can't log in from this computer…
Anyway, Training Hours: 15-20 hrs per week seems like a lot. I'd like to try to have a life, too! The only *firm* goal I have is the century by my birthday, which I know is an achievable goal. The double century in July would be what I believe they call a “Stretch Goal”. We'll see how I feel in the next few months. I had been assuming on the order of 10 hours per week of 'training', on top of the commuting… The 100mile goal will already require me to not do the sailboat racing that I normally do in Jan/Feb/Mar.
GPX Data: I don't know of a server where I could put GPX data, so wouldn't be able to set a link to them, unless you know of options you can point me to.
Standing Up: Now that I know about not spiking my effort when standing, I can work on learning that. I'll have to find some killer hills and work on 'em. There are several… One almost got me (a few months back), but I kept pedaling!
Varying Motivational Levels: When I originally set up a plan (before I found you), I tried to make sure there was space for illness and slower-than-desired improvement (i.e., low motivation).
Thanks for the encouragement, Luke! I'm sure my wife will also appreciate that I'm not *always* talking bicycling to her anymore.
New Years Resolutions: What's that? Never make 'em. For me, the 'new beginning' comes next week, at solstice, when the days start getting longer again. Then again in March, where we move into more daylight than dark! Simultaneously, the lowest point for me is typically mid-February. “When will this *&(^^% rain stop?!??” [What's your policy on swearing in the forums, Luke?]
I dont knoww about GPX data im afraid.
Im with you 100% on looking forward to the weather improving. I going to spend spring from about end Feb through to June rock climbing in Fontainebleau, France. So I cant wait for weather to get better so I can go !!!
Those hills look fun!!!!
I can see the data so by all means give it to me but I'm not sure how useful it will be ?? Maybe do one for Sunday and I will look. Dont want to waste your time inputing stuff if its not really teaching us something.
Good plan for Sundays ride. Hope it goes well.
I'm flying to France to see my parents Sunday morning for Christams. They live in middle of nowhere with terrible slow dial up interent connection. Will do my best to respond to your comments as soon as I can get access. Will probably have to visit Mcdonalds which is 45 minute drive !!!
Apparently, my home computer won't log in, so I've had to remotely log in to my work computer to load Firefox, so I can log into the web site… Just love the internet.
Don't know where in remote, disconnected France you're going to be, but four years ago, my wife and I spent several days in Les Deux Jumeax, and disconnecting from the wired world was wonderful. (http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=fir…).
Do not worry, on my account, about connecting back next week. Enjoy your Christmas break. I'll do the rides that have been planned, and we can connect after you return. Then, some day when we meet, I can kick your butt for gallivanting off in France for months on end.
By the way, the hills that you call fun, I call painful. I know, I know… with practice, I can get better, but that one with 500ft of elevation gain in half a mile just … scares me! The other one (on my “long” route home), I can deal with, it's just tiring.
More serious question about speed and cadence: Today I left work at lunch time to meet a friend. Because I was truly taking it easy, my speed/cadence (around a small lake, therefore flat) was 12-13mph @ 80-85rpms. That isn't what you mean by taking it comfortably and evenly, is it? It literally was a pace I could do all day long, or at least until my butt gave out. My “normal commute” pace runs around 14-15mph @ 90-100rmps, maybe slightly faster. I can definitely do that for a Comfort Unit period of time. When I'm tired, that's the speed I find myself doing. My “fast commute” and “weekend ride” pace tends to start out at 16-17mph (along the same flat stretch), and then peters out to the 14-15mph range as I tire.
Cheers.
Judging by speed is very misleading. 12 mph up hill or into a headwind is very different to 12mph downhill or with a tailwind.
You are much better off thinking about “perceived effort” for long distance riding you need to find a level of “perceived effort” that you can maintain for a “full comfort period” so 2.5 hours without feeling like you are slowing at the end.
Aim to ride on any particular session with a continuous and constant “perceived effort” (Unless you are doing interval training – but more on this in a month or so). But at the moment vary that “perceived effort” dependoing upon the distance of the ride and on how good you feel. So on shorter sessions when you are dong a 75 minute stint ride a bit harder.
But always aim for constant effort rather than constant speed. I think you are much to focussed on speed. You should try covering over your bike computer and then riding purely on perceived effort.
This is really benefitial it forces you to really listen to your body and you will ride better as a result. You will tend to ride much more consistently because you will listen to your body and not be influenced by the speed measurement. On a side note it is also much easier to “ride in the moment” and enjoy the journey.
Coveing bike computer also stops you self limiting your improvements as well. For example on a really good day you may ride really hard, feel really strong and do a fantastic ride . If you had seeen the speed during the ride, you may well have held back and ridden slower as your body is conditioned to say “I ride at xyz speed”. The lesson is trust your body and ride as hard or as easy as your body dictates on any given day.
[Feigned Innocence] What? Me? {points to self} Overly concerned with speed? {huff} I don't know *what* you're talking about. [End Feigned Innocence]
Yes, it's true. I'm a numbers person, and the numbers I've been concentrating on are distance/time (cumulative on a weekly basis) and speed. As you suggested, I went ahead and covered up all the speed indicators. I may end up covering the various (trip, total) odometers, too; I'm pretty good at recreational math and can figure out my speed by looking at distance covered and time of day!
Yesterday was lightly rainy, 10°C, with light winds from the North. I started the day riding South (with the wind) to meet a friend. That took 18 minutes, and I'm not really counting that as part of my Weekend Training Ride.
Since Friday, I've been developing a cold, and had expressed to my wife that I was worried about how I would do while riding. She suggested I sleep in (make sure I got enough sleep) and then ride during the day. Good idea, except she asked me to run some errands. So, I was never able to get a full 75-minute ride in at any point. Anyway, details:
Rode: 18 minutes, took a 28-minute break / visit with a friend. (Not counting this as part of the training ride.)
Rode: 23 minutes, 7-minute break (errand). During this errand, I noticed that I was sweating much more than I normally do after such a short ride. Reminded myself to drink more than usual to compensate. Since this errand was inside a natural foods / supplements store, I bought a vitamin C / electrolyte tablet and added that to my water bottle. That was gone before the end of the next section.
Rode 42 minutes, 15-minute break (errand + full 500-calorie snack). (23+42 = 65 minutes, shy of the half-Unit mark). Felt good, sinuses got cleared out, still sweating a lot. Got my water bottle filled, downed half of it, got it topped it off again. Felt strong enough that I was strongly considering doing the full 1½ units that we had discussed, but decided that I should be *smart* and realize that I'm sick, and *not* do that much. (Hindsight: right decision.)
Rode: 25 minutes, 10-minute break (half-snack) (65+25 = 90 minutes, 1/2 + 1/8 Unit). This is (in hindsight) where I overdid it for my current health level. I was feeling pretty good, the light was great, so I took some pictures of the bike and of myself.
At this point I was all set to ride 75 minutes nonstop, all the way home, but ended up having to call emergency services to report “Suspicious Activity” on the bike trail. <sigh> Looked like a drug deal gone bad or just some guys roughing up a younger fellow. The joys of living in a large metropolitan area.
Anyway, Rode: 25 minutes, 5 minutes on the phone
Rode: 45 minutes to home. (25+45 = 70 minutes. WTF? I guess I pushed harder going home… Ah! Downwind… Total saddle time = 160 minutes or 2:40hrs, plus that initial 18 minutes at the start of the day.)
This really wasn't quite what I'd had in mind, and am feeling disappointed / unhappy about not getting in a full 75-minute stretch anywhere.
On the other hand, I *am* glad that I did go out onto the bike. I didn't want to lose the leg strength that I do have! How do I feel now? Like I overdid it… While I was riding, I didn't feel “sick”, but I really am! I have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow (Tuesday). The mental weariness really kicked in about 20 minutes from home. Roughly the same place as on the “1st Training Ride” on the 13th. It might be that since we live at one of the higher elevations within town, the final stretch to home is *always* going to be uphill, no matter where I'm coming from.
Hopefully next week's ride (Boxing Day) should be much better: I'll have somebody to ride with, and I should be feeling healthier.
In my DM to you, I had said that I was planning on doing the “long commute” on Tuesday, but as of right now (mid-day Monday), I am *not*. Too ill. Will be driving to various appointments, including the doctor.
= = = =
OK, that's the report. Reading through what you said (above), yes I really do need to learn to listen to my body better than I do. It's not something I do easily, and it is something I have struggled with/worked on for years. In general, I just want to power through and do whatever has been planned. I want to increase my speed, distance, time. Maybe I should removed the computer completely, and put the GPS receiver in the pannier. That way I won't have any “objective” input while I'm riding, but will still have a record of the time/distance for post-analysis. Would *force* me to ride in the moment…
Boxing Day Pre-ride Report: It's 7:30am, temp outside is ~1°C, and am leaving the warm comfort of our house in ~1hr. Am working on my breakfast: coffee, banana, probably some toast or muesli or something high in carbohydrates. I can see through the window that it's frosty out, so I'm semi-worried about slipping, but it's going to be a beautiful sunny clear-blue-sky day, so that's good!
Will be taking the 'new' bike (a 2002 Rodriguez Touring), but since I haven't yet had access to any pedal wrenches, won't be cleated in. Also, no computers have been moved over, so I'll be cycling 'blind', as it were. Completely in the moment! (I will throw the GPS into the pannier, so at least I'll know afterwards how long I rode for!)
Boxing Day Ride Report: Damn, what a nice day, and what a great ride! Started out just above freezing, by the time I got home it was 10°C, and sunny the whole time.
Ride: 30 minutes / Rest(wait) 18 minutes.
Ride: 60 minutes / Rest 9 minutes. (Not counting two toilet stops and one jackets-and-hats-off stop.) Took a picture near one of the facilities: http://twitpic.com/vby36 Chat, chat, chat!
Ride: 80 minutes / Rest 43 minutes. (Approximately the same distance was covered in these 80 as in the first 60.) (This rest included meeting my ride-buddy's life partner and the friends that they were staying with, having a cuppa, being social.)
Ride 40 minutes / home. This section included this hill: http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=44560 When I started up this, I felt amazing, and I was bound and determined that I was going to ride up, coast down, then ride up it again before heading home. Unfortunately, the road is in a shaded valley, so there was still a lot of frost in all the best curves… so I only rode up it the one time. Worked on my standing technique once. I kept an even “perceived leg effort” during the entire 2.3 mile climb, but the the breathing rate (and presumably the heart rate) went *way* up. I wasn't _panting_ by the time I crested, but I was definitely breathing hard. Would have gone again if it weren't for the frost. I found it interesting that even though the 'new' bike's lowest gear is quite higher than the old bike's lowest gear (2.8 vs 1.9 meters of development), I was still able to cruise right on up.
Felt good enough to *push* on the final three miles <cough> I mean 15 minutes.
Post-ride feelings: Very glad I did this. The sun has done wonders for my outlook. I had not really ridden since last weekend's ride, so felt really good to get out there, to feel healthy again. Had enough energy to go walking with my wife for an hour or so this afternoon.
Total saddle time: 210 minutes, or 3:30hrs. Hey, whaddya know!
Hey Man – happy Christmas. Hope you had a good one. I'm back in London now with normal internet connection. It felt like “having my legs cut off” being without internet at my parents in rural France!
Thats a fantastic ride on boxing day. You should feel really proud of your efforts. You are listening and learning from what your body is telling you. It the key to riding well.
3 hours 30 mins WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really, really impressive effort.
Dont be too hard on yourself about missed sessions or about cutting them short sometimes. The main thing is to concentrate and remain commited to the overall goal of riding a century and to training in general.
Ride careful in the icy conditions. Falling is an ever present danger and it would be a real nightmare to get injured.
The way you are incorporating your training into your everyday life is fantastic. It is THE BEST WAY to maintain it. Don't worry if each “leg” doesnt fit exactly into an exact “comfort zone time split” it's not that big a deal. The main thing is the overall ethos of the training with you getting used to riding, resting, eating, riding again and so on.
Keep working and thinking about “perceived effort” both riding on the flat and when climbing both in and out of the saddle. Your objective is an EVEN & CONSTANT effort on any given session of a ride. (Not same on every ride / or even same on different sessions on same day) Listen to your body and ride acordingly.
When thinking about perceived effort – you are looking for “clues” in terms of breathing rate / cadence and feeling in leg muscles.
Bear in mind that there is alot of psychology in this. It takes mental strength, dicipline and effort to maintain an even effort. To resist riding to hard at the start and to “push on” and keep maintaining the effort at the end. You must concentrate on it and stay in the moment.
Hey, Luke! Welcome back! Hope you had a great break.
Questions/comments about perceived effort: As I mentioned about that hill, my “leg feeling” felt even and constant, but my breathing became heavier and heavier until it reached a high plateau. This morning (2 days later), my legs feel just a little sore, but my plan is to do one of the “long commutes” (~75 minutes) on my way to work, so I'm mentally feeling fine. Even looking forward to riding *down* that hill! (It's rainy and wet, so still no completely letting go!)
Anyway, hill climbing is more effort than riding along flat; besides the leg feeling of even effort, what else should I be watching? I think that if I slowed down very much, the cadence would be so low that my leg effort would actually go up!
I don't think I'm explaining very well: Should I *not* allow my breathing rate to go up?
Cheers,
Hi – As you are finding perceived effort is difficult to gauge BUT simply by trying to guage it you are learning to “feel” your body and this will bring benefits.
It is possible to manipulate your breathing so it is not always the best indicator of “perceived effort” BUT in your case at the moment then if your breathing rate is increasing then you are DEFINETLY working harder than you were before your breathing rate increased. So if you find your breathing rate rising then ease back on the effort.
Bear in mind that to maintain even effort you should (where it is safe to do so) be pedalling on all downhill sections at the same effort level !!!
It is not unusual for your legs to ache and more often than not this will hit you 2 days after training. you will find this particularlyu true when you start doing more intensive “interval training”. Doing low intensity (endurance riding) as you are at the moment is no problem when you are slightly stiff and sore. If anything it is a GOOD thing as will help you to work out the stiffness. Where you have to be careful is NOT to do INTENSIVE TRAINING when you feel like that.
Long Commute Report: Now *THAT'S* what I'm talkin' about! And, may I just add, “Wheeeeee!”
Rode: 69 minutes. One brief stop to re-fill my water bottle, and one more to remove my jacket. I lucked out on the rain, but the roadway was still wet. Meaning that I couldn't _completely_ let go of my brakes going down that hill, but I certainly exceeded the speed limit!
Did not do very well on the “Even & Constant” front. With ~20 minutes left, I was definitely slowing down, but then a fellow cyclist pulled onto the trail in front of me, so I had to keep up, didn't I? Ended up passing him ~5 minutes from the office.
Today's “Short Commute”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandersson1968/set…
Have finished uploading my rides back to 12-Oct, which is as far back as I'm going to go: http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968
It is up-to-date, including this morning's commute.
Plan for the New Year's weekend is to do 1½ time units, or 3:45hrs. Hopefully I'll feel strong, and be able to do more, but I'm planning on listening to my body. I'll be cycling alone this weekend.
Hey Man – Really cool set of photo's, what a beautiful days riding. That information in “myclyclinglog” is great. It provides a clear picture of how your progress. Particularly impressive is the increase in hours in the saddle over the last 3 months.
Have a good ride this weekend. Staying WARM is the key to staying happy and motivated on the bike at this time of year !! Maybe do one of your “rests” inside coffee shop or similar so you can approach each “session” seperatly from a psychological point.
Have a good new year
Hey, Luke!
Saw your post about having difficulties getting back into it, and I can completely relate. It’s a little easier for me since my bike is my means of transportation, so I’m nearly always “used to” just getting on it and going.
= = = =
Today’s ride report: http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968 (Side question: Have you had any luck with the connect.garmin.com site? I have a profile there (mandersson), but I'm not sure how you would access that data.)
My intended route was this: http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=44815 Note that I did not intend to ride all the way around that loop, but only to go as far as (roughly) milepost 25, then turn around.
Let me also say, “Ouch.” I’ll explain as I go. Also, I’ve taken your advice to take at least one of my breaks in a coffee shop or something fully to heart, as I’m sure you saw by my tweets.
Weather: temp was ~5°C at the start, and heated up to around 10°C by the time I finished. Morning was cold and foggy, midday was sunny, and by the time I finished it had clouded over again.
First section: Rode 83 minutes, rested 23. As soon as I felt somewhat warmed up, I started pushing too hard, probably an 8 on a scale of 10. On that downhill section we’ve talked about ( http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=44560 ), I probably pushed it up to a 9 and was breathing pretty heavy by the time I reached the bottom. The GPS says I hit 40mph along there, which if true would be a new personal speed record! Certainly I was averaging more than 30mph , and it is a 25mph zone!
Mental state: Not great, but the ultimate goal (Riding a Century) becons.
I took my break inside a coffee shop, where I enjoyed one of those sweet coffee thingies and some sort of a pastry.
Second section: Rode 62 minutes, rested 40. Shortly after starting this section, I came across the local velodrome. I sat there for a moment, then lifted my bike over the gate, and took two laps, just to see what that’s all about. In conclusion, I need to be riding substantially faster in order for those banked turns to not seem quite so scary as they did!
About 20 minutes into this section, my left knee piped up, “Ohai!” I told it to shut up and mind its own damn business, but did drop my effort down to a 6 or 7. Over the next 40 minutes, the knee continued with its incessant, “Hey, what’re you doing?” and “Hi! How can I help?” With about 20 minutes left in this section, I was contemplating my exit strategies: ride home, take a bus (or five), call my father-in-law…
Mental state: Am really enjoying the weather, haven’t seen Lake Sammamish during daylight in many years, but am definitely worried about my ability to finish this ride.
With much relief, I pulled into a pub, and spent the next 40 minutes enjoying a pint of ale, a schooner of tripel, and a huge hamburger with bacon and blue cheese. I don’t think I’m loosing any weight this way! After that, with the knee rested and lubricated, I set on my way for the push home. Ethanol is a lubricant, right?
Third section: Rode 79 minutes to home.
Once the initial euphoria of lunch wore off, the effort dropped down to a 5, and eventually to 4. I started favouring the left knee, and about 30 minutes into this section was having a debate with myself as to whether I should go *up* that hill, or go around. Finally decided to go up it, ‘cause going around would add about an hour, and probably end up hurting more.
During the hill climb and last 20 minutes, I was favouring the left leg roughly in a 70/30 ratio. On flat sections, for minutes at a time, I would pull me left foot out of the cleat and just rest it against the bicycle frame while I kept plugging along with the right.
Mental state: I can get home, shit this hurts, I can get home, shit this hurts, I can get home…
Total Saddle time: 3:54hrs, or 234 minutes.
= = = = =
So, overall, not a very good job of listening to my body. No permanent damage, just walking wounded for a week or two. Just *really* wanted to accomplish 1½ units, as we’d talked about. In hindsight, I should have bailed when I started thinking about it, come back next week stronger and more able to deal with. (So, now I’m beating myself up for *not* bailing. When I was thinking about it, I was worried that I’d beat myself up *for* bailing! I can’t win!)
= = = = =
Lastly, as a side note, I don’t think I ever properly introduced you to my new bicycle. It is a 2002 Rodriguez Touring ( http://rodbikes.com/ ), and this particular bicycle comes with an established touring history: http://www.knoxgardner.com/?cat=149 . The steel frame is 56cm, and I’m running 700x28C gatorskins. Skinniest tires *I’ve* ever ridden!
Cheers,
hey man – I dont think you should be beating yourself up. That is a fantastic ride. Yes you had to bully yourself and dig deep to finish. BUT that is what you need to do sometime.
It is aVERY VALUABLE lesson and one that you will take with you next time. I believe you did the right thing in pushing on. YES it hurts and maybe you have done some damage to your knee BUT the real point is you kept riding even when you wanted to stop and rode longer than EVER BEFORE. That is a fantastic achievement and something you should be really proud of.
Some thoughts on youir knee – The reason it is hurting could be a number of factors. You need to work through th options – it could be one of them, all of them or none ! I;m afraid it's not an exact science!!
1. You have a new bike with new ride position. So you need to check the saddle height. If the knee pain is at the front then it is likely that your saddle is too LOW. If the ain is in the ligaments at the back of the knee then the saddle could be too HIGH.
2. You are riding in the cold which makes you much more suceptible to knee injuries.
3. You could be pushing TOO BIG A GEAR at too LOW a cadence before you have the fitness and endurance to do so. This is especially damngerous in the extreme ccold or at the beggining of a season or in your case before you have built adequate fitness.
4. You could just have done too big a volume increase in 1 step. befpore body is ready for the increase.
Knee problems are not unusual for cyclists especially at the beginning of the seeason. Though that doesnt make them any less painful or annoying. Some solutions
1. take http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibuprofen it is an antiimflamatory and will reduce the imflmation and the pain and will allow it to heel quicker. Take 400mg 3 times per day for 3-4 days and see how you go. Long term use of Iboprofen is not advuisable as it is hard on the stomach lining. Please not e you cant take if you have problems with ulcers or similar. Also for the next few months take some with you when you ride and if you feel your knee take 400 mg straight away.
2. Ride in small gear and make sure you spin the pedals at a high cadence. Some experienced riders only use the small chain ring in the winter off season to avoid pushing to big a gear in the cold.
3. Check your seat height as discussed above.
4. Use Ice arounfd the knee 3-4 times per day and especially after you finish training to reduce swelling.
Hope this helps. Dont worry too much and bear in mind that you can and should carry on cycling.
Hey, Luke:
Thanks for the encouragement. My main fear is that I did too big an increase in one step, which is exactly what happened last summer, when I did 38 miles in one go, with no prep. That said, I do think there is some of the “new bike, new position” going on. I will drop the saddle just a tiny bit, see if that helps. Hadn't even thought about the cold weather affecting me (because I don't *feel* cold), but, yeah, OK, I can see that that could be yet another factor.
I don't *think* I'm riding in too large a gear, but I'll see if I can't get that computer moved over so I can verify my cadence.
I'm already on the ibuprofen, and will be riding gently over the next few days. The ride to work this morning was less painful than I had anticipated, although it was exactly as wet as I saw it would be. You know that statement about a fish needing a bicycle? Well, this morning I felt exactly like a fish on a bicycle!
Thankfully I have a drying rack and a space heater to dry my stuff out before the evening ride home.
My hope is that I have a bit of a base here (which I did not have in August), so my recovery will be quicker.
Also, interesting perspective. You said that I “had to bully yourself and dig deep to finish”. I didn't particularly feel like I was bullying myself and digging deep, just doing what needed to be done. In fact, I feel like I took the easy way out!
Hopping on public transit was just going to be too complicated (from that side of town), and calling my father-in-law would involve loss of … reputation? status? Admitting defeat? I don't know…
And, yes, I am proud of riding further in one day than I have ever ridden before. Thanks for reminding me of that!
Hey Man -great news that you have entered some events. On current form an April Century will be “no problem” !! I'm sure you could ride one before that if you chose too.
Hope knee is feeling a bit better.
The knee is surprisingly better than I had anticipated. Am toying with the idea of doing one of the “long commutes” on my way home, but suspect that another 24 hours of being gentle is probably the best idea.
I did drop the saddle by ~7mm, and that seems to have helped some.
Read your knee article. Question regarding pedal float: is this something that I can try to adjust myself?
Additional question: We've talked about me taking “long commutes” several times a week. You just want me to build up the saddle time, right? In other words, does it matter if I'm just heading home, or could I join up with some group rides?
Two new blog entries. Both bicycle-related: http://mandersson1968.blogspot.com/
Hey Man -Did you ride in the end last night ? Glad to hear Knee is on the mend. You may well find it is slightly susseptible for the next few months. Make sure you ride with iboprophene in your bag then if it flares up you can immedietly take some.
The ammount of float that a cleat allows (As far as I know) is fixed. So for example I ride with Ke0 pedals and they have 3 different available floats. There are 3 different ones so I choose the ammount I want between 0 degrees and about 15 degrees and then buy the appropraite one. It is not a setting but simply the ammount that that particular cleat allows.
My other pedals are a MTB one and they have a much larger amount of float but again it is NOT adjustable.
Regarding traning. The weather is crappy and so I feel that best thing for you is to just gently keep building your base milage as you have been doing. If you can do these rides with others and make them more fun then so much the better.
My suggestion is that you do maybe 7-10 days more. Then we should introduce 2 sessions per week of intervals. these are intensive sessions that will build your speed.
Last night I did my regular, 30-something-minute commute home (which I see you've read about). I'll upload that data to MyCyclingLog in just a few minutes. Tonight I'll do the much-longer “Long Commute”; my knee is up for it.
The only weather that I really, truly mind is when it's raining buckets. And even then, the worst part is taking that first step out the back door and getting the bike out of the garage. Once I'm going, it's not too bad. Light rain/mist is just the way it is around here!
Intervals! I am *so* looking forward! (Can you sense the sarcasm?) (On the other hand, I do want to build speed…)
Hey, Luke: Just wanted to let you know that I did the “Long Commute” home this evening, and it went … well, awesomely is too mild a word. The knee did fine, I kept up with some racer dude until he dropped the hammer down and even then, I kept him in sight for … well, I don't know how long 'cause I haven't looked at the GPS track yet. Half an hour? The hill went well, until I stood up, and then my mojo left!
Even so, I recovered, and finished strong. Some good burn in the letgs. I won't get the actual data up on MyCyclingLog until ~12 hours from now, but just wanted to give you the good initial report.
I *like* it when my body works the way I want it to! And I like that I feel stronger, and can get up that hill with some good rhythm.
BTW, based on your advice, I've kept it on the small chainring last three rides. Feels good, little strange to have the legs moving so fast, but good. More report Thursday evening (your time).
Cheers,
Hey Mate – Thats fantsatic. Really well done. I know and love that feeling when everything just flows. You fell really strong and smooth and relaxed on the bike. The best feeling in the world. Glad to hear you are “spinning the pedals in the smaller gear. Its very good for your technique at this time of year.
Hey, Luke: OK, I've got yesterday's data uploaded: http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968 and (specifically the long commute) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21873430 .
So, the GPS numbers aren't nearly as impressive as I felt last night (and still feel), so I say, screw the numbers, it *felt* *good*!
I'm happy for several reasons: like I said, the knee worked well. Second, even though I was waaaay out-classed by that one cyclist, I kept him in sight for half an hour, even caught up with him at one point. Third, that hill, which a month ago was a “nemesis” is now just a hill that I know I can do. Fourth, I can now push myself, and still feel good the next morning. (That was not possible two months ago.) Overall, my effort on the entire 70-minute section was a high 8, even higher at times.
Still need to work on standing up, because that was exactly when I lost my rhythm. (That's at minute 47, if you're looking at the Garmin site. The elevation spike at minute 45 is a GPS error; it doesn't exist.) I was *going* up that hill, and standing up exceeded my ability right then, and I didn't pull it back together until I had a brief (moving) rest, and feel like I started back into it minute 50. The 2-minute traffic light break at minute 52 brought my heart rate back down from “pounding” to “yeah, it's there”, and let me spin up again for the final push to the top.
Tonight it's off for three hours of dancing (2hrs of Swing, 1hr of Waltz), then a 45-minute ride home. Hope my legs hold up! (Dancing uses different muscles than cycling!) Starting next week there will be a total of six weekly dance hours. Three hours each on Wed and Thu!
Hey, Luke:
Today's data is uploaded: <http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968> and <http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21952109>.
I didn't leave work this evening until late, late, late, because it was just absolutely pouring down rain, and I was rather dreading the wet. As expected, I was pretty much soaked within 15 minutes, and by the time I got home, there wasn't a part of me that wasn't wet, and I know you know what I'm talkin' about! The last 20 minutes was particularly miserable because it's mostly downhill and I wasn't able to keep myself warm any longer.
Here's a strange thing: My mental state was nowhere near as good as it was on Wednesday evening, but my elapsed time tonight (as per the GPS) is two minutes *better* than it was on Wednesday! Same route, worse mental state, much worse weather, legs feeling sore, but better time. Go figure!
One possible reason was that I took the hill at a much more measured pace, and when it came time to stand up, I wasn't already at the peak of my ability. Stood up for just the steepest bit, concentrated on not increasing my effort, and it seemed to work reasonably well. Climbing hills in general, even if I stay seated, gets my heart and breathing going!
Plan for the weekend is to go for a brief errand on Saturday (~15 minutes each way), then on Sunday I'm doing a slow social ride with some friends. I'm hoping for about four hours of saddle time, and may (depending on how I feel, and whether it's necessary) pad out the social ride with some alone time afterwards.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention: <http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21939206> Thursday evening's ride home has a nice long 1¼ mile hill. It's not steep, just relentless. Managed to crest it at (essentially) the same level of effort as I started it.
Hey, Luke!
Wow! I'm making progress!
I met with up with a friend and his friend this morning (after having done half a Comfort Unit on my own), and then we picked up my wife's 72-year-old uncle. Now, I have to say that Uncle Paul is a bit of a bicycling inspiration to me: two years ago, he bicycled from Washington State to Montana, then from Chicago to New York City, and from there to Washington, DC <http://bikingtofriends.blogspot.com/>. If a 70-year-old man can cycle across the country, the least *I* can do is cycle across the state!
Anyway, Uncle Paul joined us for 20 minutes. After he bowed out, we put a bit of a hammer down. The three of us formed a widely spaced paceline (no wheel overlap, but less than two feet spacing), which really brought our speed up. In fact, we picked up a solo rider, and formed a four-person paceline for about ten minutes, which was just f*^%$#g awesome. I know you keep telling me not to focus on speed, but it brought our speed up to over 20mph! Just f*^%$#g amazing. Fun, fun, fun. (I did not realize what our speed was until I got home and uploaded the GPS data. Minutes 33–42 at <http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22106837>.)
Anyway, here's what I did:
Ride: 74 minutes / rest 40 minutes (This is when I met up with my friend. Had a coffee beverage and some cake.)
Ride: 87 minutes / rest 14 minutes (This is the section where we did the paceline. Break was water, loo, and dried fruit.)
Ride: 38 minutes / rest 57 minutes (Lunch break included sandwich + chips + 2 pints.)
Ride: 81 minutes / home
Total Saddle Time: 280 minutes, or 4:40 minutes (Total out-and-about time was 6:15hrs. Total distance covered was 59.4 miles.)
I have to say that riding with like-minded people is amazing. If I had known before I got home how far I had ridden, I would have put another three miles (15 minutes) in, and hit a milestone: the Metric Century! Next week, 100km! (You've told me not to focus on distance, so I have *no* idea until I upload the GPS data after I get home.)
The knee feels good, the legs feel good (if a bit sore), it was great being social! I'll probably be riding with them again next weekend.
OK, that was supposed to say 4:40 _hours_, but hopefully that was semi-obvious!
Hey Man – That is fantastic. I'm blown away. What an amazing weekend's ride. are you going to do the same thing next weekend?
But, yeah, I'd like to do that ride again, maybe further. Unless you have a suggestion? Same ride again, only faster?
I'm still excited about how great the pacelining was, even though I'm a newbie at it. I've never had anybody say, “Great pull” to me as I was drifting back to the end of the line!
Hey man – what amazing progress you are making. Your confidence is growing all the time and that is so important. Keep working on your belief in yourself and your cycling ability. Start being prepared to push yourself a little bit harder. Enjoy that feeling of getting stronger, fitter and knowing that YOU ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN.
I suggest this week you do similar sessions to last week. Only difference make the weekend ride a little bit longer. Add on whatever you feel comfortable with. Perhaps by adding an extra session onto your ride with the others if they dont wont to go further.
Next week you should do 2 interval sessions. They need to be spaced apart in the week for example MON & WED/THU (If you long weekend ride is on Saturday) or TUE & THU/FRI (if your long weekend ride is on Sunday)
Let me know when you plan to do them and I will think through a more detailed session plan.
The characteristic that seperates endurance cyclists from others is belief. It is a knowledge born out of time in the saddle that they can keep riding and will always finish. They may not be the quickest
This week, so far, hasn't been good… My legs have been sore every single day, and the persistent rain has been aggravating. I will probably only complete one “Long Commute” for the week, and that was last night.
I'll get that data uploaded to MyCyclingLog (http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968) in a few minutes.
My plan is to do the long ride on Sunday. *Right* *now*, I feel like it'll be shorter than last week's, but it's three days away, so we'll see.
Hey man – sorry its taken we awhile to come back to you. Got really bogged down with the release of my eBook.
It is unusual for your bike to be wobbly. I wouldnt expect tiredness to make it feel like that. It sounds more mechanical. Maybe get someone else to ride it. perhaps from a bike shop staff member and see what they say.
Interval session can be done a part of your commute. They are basically sets of intensive riding. So for example an individual interval is between 1 and 5 minutes and you then take a rest period of easy usually an equal length of time to allow your heeart rate to lower then you do another interval. You repeat this rotation maybe 5 or 10 times.
They hurt like hell!!!
You could do them as part of your commute. But bear in mind that you will be seweating like hell and be at “deaths door !!!” at the end of each individual interval. And at the end of the whole session you will hardly be able to turn the pedals !!!
For you they would probably be best done on a HILL. The session would be something like this you ride gently to the hill taking at least 15-20 minutes to get there to allow you to get warmed up.
Then starting from an agreed start point on the hill you ride at 90 + % of MAX PERCEIVED EFFORT up the hill for 2 minutes. you then turn round and ride very slowely back down. Just gently spinning the pedals. Timing it so that you arrive at the start point after another 2 minutes.
Then you repeat the same again 2 minutes going up the hill at 90+ % effort and 2 minutes coming down.
Over a period of time yoou need to build up to 10 of these intervals. I dont know how many you will do on the first session. See how you get on.
You could do this session on the flat but the problem is that you are riding MUCH faster and you need a long clear route where you will not get interrupoted or have cause to break or you can do on an indoor turbo trainer (which is where I do mine)
Also – dont worry about “not feeling” like it this week. This is pretty normal. You have had 4-6 weeks of training really hard. take it easy. Enjoy the improvements you have made. Take foot of the gas this week and get ready mentally for new training plan next week !!
So, I seem to have run up against the proverbial Four-Week Wall. (Yes, I do read the articles on the rest of this web site. I even watch [most of] the videos.)
I didn't push very hard last week, and my “Weekend Long Ride” wasn't; it only amounted to 3:01 hours in the saddle. On the other hand, it is still in my top five weeks as far as time in the saddle goes, so … not too bad. My internal motivator seems to be on a break, and my legs are sore every day. Whine, whine, whine. My brother-in-law has a saying that I like: “Harden the f*#k up.”
So, after delivering my sister to the airport this morning (she's off to rejoin said brother-in-law), having his saying in mind, I hied myself to the gym this afternoon.
As per your instructions, I found myself a stationary bicycle, and started warming up. Since the bike has heart rate sensors in the handles (how cool is that?), we can finally talk *actual* effort, rather than just perceived effort. Can we use Zones, or do you prefer actual heart rates and %-age of max? For today, I'll use Zones. Given my resting heart rate and my age, Zone1=124-135BPM, Zone2=135-146BPM, Zone3=146-157BPM, Zone4=157-168BPM, and Zone5=168-179BPM.
So, I got on the infernal machine, and started warming myself up, moving my legs at ~100RPMs. I got the resistance set so that my heart rate was just at the very bottom of Zone1. After 20 minutes of that, I upped the resistance, and increased my speed to 110-115RPMs, which brought my heart into the high end of Zone4, right at that 90% mark you wanted me at. Two minutes.
Brought the resistance down and reduced my RPMs back to ~100 for two minutes. By the end of that, my heart into Zone1, I kicked it up again. As you know from our DMs the last few days, I feel that being able to do a second interval is, in and of itself, somewhat of an accomplishment. I managed two minutes of that, spinning at 105-110 RPMs, which was not as fast as the first time, but my heart definitely into the middle of Zone5. Two minutes of that, followed by two minutes spinning at 100RPMs had me back into Zone1, followed by 5 minutes of gradual slowing to cool down.
The place was completely crowded, so I opted for 10 minutes in the sauna, some stretching, and got out of there. If you have any bicycle-specific strength exercises I should do, I'll start going in the mornings, before the rest of the world is awake. Even recommendations for non-bicycle-specific exercises would be welcome!
Tap, tap, tap… This thing on?
I did my intervals this morning, basically the same as Tuesday, only I kept the RPMs constant at 100 (+/- 5), and increased the resistance for the intense sections. Also, I did *three* sets of two minutes, rather than just two. I increased my cooldown period to eight minutes, so I spent a total of 40minutes.
It takes about a minute into the exercise sections for my HR to get up to the target zone, and same thing on the relaxation section; about 60-80 seconds for it to come back down.
I hate to read too much into things too soon, but last night during my long commute, I noticed that the hilly sections are coming easier than they were two months ago. Standing up (for short sections) is working better, and sections that used to just *hurt* are now significantly easier, and I'm not breathing as heavy.
Five days without a response, Luke? Whassup?
Ride Report: Weekend Long Ride
Saturday I rode out to a friend's house: <http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23182699> and my usual <http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968>.
I don't know how much you know about the geography of the Seattle area, but if you click the “Terrain” button at the top of the map at the Garmin site, you'll see that there were some significant hills to overcome; with the first one at about mile 17, and the last one just a mile or two before my destination.
I started this ride from a shop, where I had my headset re-packed; that was the mechanical problem I had noted a week or two ago. This was the same guy who did the work for the fellow who sold me the bike; he did the repair under warranty, so I'm happy about that.
By the time I reached the Issaquah Highlands (mile 18), I was already pretty well knackered. I think the intervals during the week knocked me harder than I thought they had. Crossing the flat farmlands (mile 25), I felt exhausted, and was debating with myself whether to call my wife for extraction (we were headed for the same destination).
Ultimately, I approached the final hill (mile 34) with some trepidation. There was an old bicycle race route marker on the roadway with the lettering, “Steep Hill”. Yeah, thanks a lot for the encouraging word, buddy! Anyway, I started up it, stood for the steepest portion right after the hairpin turn, then settled in for a slow, gear-mashing climb. Made it to their house, and collapsed in the comfy chair. Wife showed up 5 minutes later, got no sympathy from her.
Total saddle time: 217 minutes (3:27 hours). Longest section of 197 minutes (3:17hrs) with only three *very short* breaks (1] apple, 2] loo, 3] snack) totalling ~12 minutes. I know, I know: I need to take more breaks and eat better.
And, so, it all comes screeching to a halt.
I'm on my way to see a doctor this morning, but based on the fever and other familiar symptoms, I'm guessing that it's pneumonia. Again.
I doubt I'll see the topside of a bicycle before next week…
New blog entry: <http://mandersson1968.blogspot.com/2010/01/illn…> Vaguely bicycle-related.
First post-illness ride, indoors. 90 non-stop minutes in Zone 2: <http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968>
Luke – let me know when you get back… I'll keep updating here: <http://www.mycyclinglog.com/profile/MAndersson1968>, with annotations.
Hi Michael,
Sorry for the delay in responding.
No I have not heard from Luke either…he must be away exploring somewhere…lol