Pedaling out of the Funk

I’ve been in a funk for a few days. It started Saturday when I rode in all the fog and drizzle. It’s spring for God’s sake; bring on the sun!

It was time to get back out on the bike tonight. Luckily my friend Meg was up to joining me. She has a “program” and today’s ride was supposed to be temp at level 2 (Zone 2 heart rate). I didn’t have a plan and just wanted to be on the bike. Given the fact that I haven’t been on it since Saturday, level 2 sounded good to me.

I thought it was just going to be Meg and me, but Stephanie also showed up. That was a good thing.

Stephanie, being a Cat 2 racer, is much stronger than Meg and me. I swear at times she was trying to kill us, or at least me, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight. (To make matters worse, she was doing it on her cross bike!)

We rode a fast tempo with a rolling paceline for about 50% of the ride. It was challenging but oh so fun to be cruising along together. There were also a few climbs, small hills actually, which I was swiftly dropped on. God I suck at climbing.

I learned a lot tonight. I always do when riding with Steph. I need to work on hills more (no brainer on that one). We discussed that the first one I was significantly dropped on was the perfect one to work hill repeats on. She also gave me a couple tips on holding the wheel in front of me, especially when climbing. It mostly requires suffering and digging even deeper. But I’m willing to work on it.

For dinner I had fruit and yogurt. It’s an attempt to lose some weight so I can climb a little bit easier. It’s a power to weight ratio thing – get the weight down if I can’t get the power up. However, the goal is to work on both.

Even with my failures on the hills I’m feeling terrific after having pedaled out of my funk and I am enjoying the peaceful feeling from the endorphins.

Another First

Glen posted recently about several “firsts” that have taken place this spring.

Today was another day for firsts for me. I participated in the Saturday morning PVC ride. This ride is a big draw for many competitive cyclists in the area and somehow I joined the ride, mainly because a couple teammates wanted to try their legs at the ride. I was impressed with number of cyclists on this ride. There must have been 50 or so riders raring to go this morning.

They actually rode it pretty well and were able to hang on for 3/4 of the ride. I, on the other hand, didn’t make it far at all. I have an issue staying as close to the wheel in front of me as I should and unfortunately that caused a gap to form that I just couldn’t close.

So that’s my new focus – to work on my drafting skills.

I also do much better when I start in the front of the group, which I didn’t do today. Since I was a guest rider on this one today I thought it would be better to sit in the back and observe.Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to do that.

It was pretty foggy this morning so I when I got dropped I headed for home to grab some lights and hit the road for a longer ride.

So much for mid-50 degree temps today. The fog hung in pretty hard, enough that I couldn’t wear my glasses because they were so condensed with water droplets that I couldn’t see. After30 miles I could no longer feel my feet, despite my toe covers. The cliff bar in my pocket was so cold and hard I couldn’t chew it until it had been in my mouth for a while to soften and warm. (I bet at times I looked like a chipmunk or I had a big wad of chew in my cheek.)

My planned 50 miler with on a different route, turned into 45 miles without a few hills I had planned. Probably a good thing anyway because my legs just felt so heavy and flat, despite the opener ride last night.

Sunday is a rest day, but I’ll spin my legs easy inside since it’s going to rain tomorrow. The first CCCP ride of the season is Monday and I hope to participate.

Tempo Turned to Time Trial

The plan was to ride tempo tonight. Just a steady effort for a 90-minute loop. That plan was shot all to hell about 5 miles into it.

I warmed up and started feeling good. The average mph started coming up so I wanted to see how high I could keep it. With that came an all out effort, or time trial effort, for most of the ride. (Steph warned of this sort of thing when doing an opener ride – you start feeling good and start riding harder than what is planned.)

My max average mph was 16.7 but finished with a 16.4mph average. That’s not all that great but for this early in the season, that’s pretty good for me.

Three things I saw on this ride made me really smile:

1. A small group of cyclists, two of which I know from some local group rides, out on the roads, training.
2. A herd of 5 deer on the road about 500 feet in front of me when I crested a hill. As I slowed, they just looked at me. I tried to get a shot with my camera phone but two oncoming cars forced them into the woods, followed by two more that bound across the road into the woods behind them.
3. A father and son out in the yard tossing a baseball.

I needed these smiles in between the suffering. Unfortunately my heart rate strap is not working – I would have liked to see these numbers tonight.

Tomorrow is a night off, and it will be much needed. I’ll join hubby at a local wine tasting as a reward.

Thank Goodness for Friends

The wind was howling today. 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph. I hate riding in the wind.

Good thing I had some friends to get me out there.

Steph told me to get out and use the wind to my advantage for a good workout. I only planned for an hour so it wouldn’t be too long.

Then I had planned to ride with another friend. She almost didn’t come because of the wind and the cold. But she was around and had all her gear so she decided to ride after all.

We had a stiff headwind going out, with a cross wind in other spots, but on the way back we had an amazing tail wind. That worked really well because I was able to work hard and open up a bit into the wind and just relax on the way back.

By the time I returned I felt like a million bucks. Tomorrow I hope to be in good shape for a little longer ride.

Recovery Ride

Today was a planned recovery ride after the hill work Saturday. My intent was to go really slow. Unfortunately some of the others that joined me went a little harder than I intended so I dialed it back and dropped from the group.

The stiff wind didn’t help with the work load. It was pretty tough going when I was heading back home. You can’t do anything about Mother Nature and just have to adjust when you can.

Tomorrow will be a full day off the bike for complete recovery before getting back on the bike again Tuesday.

My bike is spiffy clean after a little time spent on it this afternoon. That’s one chore I really enjoy after my rides and didn’t get a chance after the last few rides. Perhaps with all the dirt gone I’ll be able to ride faster – no extra weight and no extra wind drag.

First Official Team Ride

Today was a great day for our first official team ride, minus a couple gals who should be able to catch up with us next weekend.

Teresa, Shannon, Julie, Adrienne, and Dana.

Time for some food, especially for those who skipped breakfast.

There was a lot of climbing involved for this time of the season but we all managed just fine.

Tomorrow will be a much easier ride for me and I’m sure I’ll feel every incline.

A Few Things I’ve Learned

There have been a few things I have learned from cycling, expecially over the past 6 months:

Riding in the rain or on wet roads

I used to think that my tires were going to go out from underneath me when riding on wet roads, especially when it was raining, causing me to hit the pavement. But I’ve ridden on wet roads enough to know that’s not the case and you can ride comfortably when the roads are wet. It’s also not an excuse to blow off training. In fact, it’s probably essential to gain confidence riding on wet roads – it’s not always sunny  or dry during races.

Knee pain

I’m not unlike many other cyclists that stuggle with knee pain. During my bike fit after building up the Aegis, the tech noticed that due to the position of my cleat, there was no float on the inside and only float on the outside.

Upon attaching my cleats to my new shoes I made sure to move the cleat in such a way that when in my natural pedaling position there was an equal amount of float on either side.

Now I have no more knee pain, except when I wear my other shoes that haven’t had the cleat adjusted.

Time to Get Busy

I ordered my license a couple weeks ago. I originally chose no team/club affiliation because my club wasn’t listed.

Then things changed and we found out we would be racing for Portland Velo Club/Cyclemania. So I requested my license to be changed to reflect that.

It took less than a week for the new one to arrive:

Now it’s time to get busy and train my butt off!

Feeling Much Better Now

I made a drastic decision last week to give up coffee.

For those of you who have quit cold turkey, you know what I’ve been going through.

The first two days a dose of Ibuprophen was required mid-day. Then the next 2 days I just felt lethargic and just not myself.

Now I’m finally starting to feel like my old self again. The energy is starting to come back and the cobwebs in my head are clearing. I managed two 1-hour spins on the bike with my refound energy, which should also add to my energy level.

It was, however, a little depressing to see snow again this morning. However, it didn’t amount to much and quickly changed to rain. This weekend, with partly sunny skies and temps in the 30’s and 40’s, I’ll be out on the road. Now that will make me feel really good!

If You Don’t Like the Weather in Maine, Just Wait a Minute…

Or so the adage goes. In this case, even if you DO like the weather, just wait a minute.

We went from temps in the low 60’s Saturday, to low 50’s Sunday to snow today. Grrrrr.

Well, at least it was just a few inches. Even though it seemed to snow for several hours today it didn’t amount to much. The roads on the way home were just wet and didn’t have much snow. I probably could have managed a ride after work but I didn’t bother. I did some yoga instead.

With a bit more snow/rain predicted for Wednesday it looks like I’ll be putting the trainer tire back on for some indoor spinning this week.