Headed out to HSF for a morning ride to finally try out my new pedals Tonya got me for my birthday. Having shed the combo platforms/spd's weighing in at 568 grams I was eager to lighten the load and put these babies on. After some normal back and forth between the frogs and egg beaters I ended up getting a set of Eggbeaters SL Stainless which say they weigh in at 260g. Hard to believe I saved over 300 grams just on the pedals but I'll take it however I can.
Last night I mounted the pedals, setup the cleats and was ready to roll this morning. Gotta say I like them alot and where I thought it was going to be too little with just a couple of prongs carrying the load I dont notice any drawback whatsoever and seemed to pedal easier. I did have a couple moments of fiddling around trying to engage but I'm sure thats just the unfamiliarity of switching from those beasts of a pedal that I could slam down anywhere around the 4" circumfrance of the platform and in they would slide. Also had one fall where I couldnt get out in time on spider inner loop climb I just started spinning and lost momentum and down I went in the brush.
Figured I'd be doing the solo ride since my timing lately has been hit or miss on hooking up with any of the usuals but ran into a guy (Mark) I used to see all winter that was on a single speed today so we ended up riding. Sorry Tom, missed your message otherwise I would of called. You may even know this guy from around your neck of the woods as he lives up in Blythewood somewhere off 21. Says he does alot of road riding and dont quote me but could of swore he said he did 22 centries last year, something like he set a goal to do one a month but then really got into it and rode all he could find.
The overall pace today was just a steady roll where we only averaged 10 mph. Weird, as slow of a pace as it was my heart rate was thru the roof today and even the easier climbs I was pushing 184 which is about 14 bpm higher than what I have been running so I wasnt complaining any on the slower pace. Just a good base miles ride, right.
Stats:
Total Miles: 23.47
Avg Speed: 10
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Speed Lessons
Been quite the hectic work schedule lately working 60+ hours the last couple weeks and has been taking a toll on family and trail time only to get a ride whenever I could manage. Hit HSF yesterday afternoon to try to add a few miles on and ran into Monty on Spider Woman. Seems like forever since I've seen him out there. After catching up on some conversations and all we headed out for some brisk riding. He warned me he was riding pretty strong and all but I like those rides anyway and said I'd do what I could to not keep him waiting to long at the checkpoints.
Fast paced it was indeed. Been so long since Ive ridden with him almost forgot why his blog is called "gone in 60 seconds", thats about the time I could manage to keep him insight! It was a good speed lesson and even though I didnt ride alot of miles I definately had to push way harder. Sorry Monty, I know you were saying things a couple of times I just couldnt muster the breath to speak let alone conversation. I think I pretty much rode at what would be my race pace and my heart rate was staying up around 170-180 whenever I glanced down. Had it not been for the long shop talk breaks we kept doing at checkpoints I know my avg heart rate would of been alot higher.
Did end up setting a new personal high average speed for this ride of 11.9 . Definately need to do this again!
Stats:
Distance: 19.87
Avg Speed: 11.9 (new personal high)
Avg HR: 155 (although way skewed from all the long checkpoint breaks)
Max Speed: 26.3
Fast paced it was indeed. Been so long since Ive ridden with him almost forgot why his blog is called "gone in 60 seconds", thats about the time I could manage to keep him insight! It was a good speed lesson and even though I didnt ride alot of miles I definately had to push way harder. Sorry Monty, I know you were saying things a couple of times I just couldnt muster the breath to speak let alone conversation. I think I pretty much rode at what would be my race pace and my heart rate was staying up around 170-180 whenever I glanced down. Had it not been for the long shop talk breaks we kept doing at checkpoints I know my avg heart rate would of been alot higher.
Did end up setting a new personal high average speed for this ride of 11.9 . Definately need to do this again!
Stats:
Distance: 19.87
Avg Speed: 11.9 (new personal high)
Avg HR: 155 (although way skewed from all the long checkpoint breaks)
Max Speed: 26.3
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Saturday Ride - Close to being chicked by track team
Headed out for an early ride this morning to get back in time to run some errands and although the temp was nice it was pretty thick this morning. The trails were pretty damp too and this was the first ride in awhile that I had to hose the bike down afterward to get all the clay and sand off.
Pressed for time and the damp trails stayed off Lost Creek and the inner loop and did an offshoot of the Race to the River ride but added the long fireroad climb and an xtra crooked pine.
On the long fireroad climb behind stewardship ran into a "PACK" of woman runners, must of been between 20-30 of them , maybe some track team or something. This was the last place I expected to see anyone but sure enough there they were and I had come up on the first pack on one of the climbs. Now, you know you run into a pack of all these woman running up the hill and I gotta pass and try to not bog down into low gear and have them take me on the climb or nothing :) so had to suck it up and let the heart rate spike to keep my momentum and come out on top. Although I was panting like a mother when I cleared them I was able to pull it off ok. Whew, its one thing to be chicked by a girl rider but I dont even know what you would call this had it had turned out different.
My last ride I tore the sidewall on my front tire and had to pick up another but ended up having to get what was available and had to settle for a 2.0" instead of my preferred 2.2". Although I guess it must roll better not sure if I like this or not yet, seemed a little twitchy and played on my subconcious thru spiderwoman and it was a pathetic attempt thru the rock garden. Ya, thats it, it had to be the new tire :). Anyway I'm gonna keep this but think I definately prefer a little wider front profile.
Overall
Distance: 25.73
Time: 2:20
Avg Speed: 10.9
Avg HR: 147
Pressed for time and the damp trails stayed off Lost Creek and the inner loop and did an offshoot of the Race to the River ride but added the long fireroad climb and an xtra crooked pine.
On the long fireroad climb behind stewardship ran into a "PACK" of woman runners, must of been between 20-30 of them , maybe some track team or something. This was the last place I expected to see anyone but sure enough there they were and I had come up on the first pack on one of the climbs. Now, you know you run into a pack of all these woman running up the hill and I gotta pass and try to not bog down into low gear and have them take me on the climb or nothing :) so had to suck it up and let the heart rate spike to keep my momentum and come out on top. Although I was panting like a mother when I cleared them I was able to pull it off ok. Whew, its one thing to be chicked by a girl rider but I dont even know what you would call this had it had turned out different.
My last ride I tore the sidewall on my front tire and had to pick up another but ended up having to get what was available and had to settle for a 2.0" instead of my preferred 2.2". Although I guess it must roll better not sure if I like this or not yet, seemed a little twitchy and played on my subconcious thru spiderwoman and it was a pathetic attempt thru the rock garden. Ya, thats it, it had to be the new tire :). Anyway I'm gonna keep this but think I definately prefer a little wider front profile.
Overall
Distance: 25.73
Time: 2:20
Avg Speed: 10.9
Avg HR: 147
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Anniversery
My first year has finally come to an end today and its been quite adventurous along the way getting into this awesome new pastime. I can only hope for the years to come I keep the same enthusiasm and enjoyment that made it a great year.
It was this time 1 year ago my wife and I decided to pick up a couple Schwinn mountain bikes from Target to give what at the time we thought to be mountain bike riding a try. A couple of $200 mountain bikes in hand we gave Saluda Schols a try and was like wow, cool and all that stuff. Then after hearing from a co-worker that Harbison had some good trails took my son out there for a ride to check things out and was blown away thinking alright now this is the deal. Remember heading out on the weekends for long grueling rides just to complete a 4 mile firebreak ride or parking in the back so I could do stewardship not able to do anything longer. The Schwinn took a beating and didn’t last 3 weeks before heading up firebreak climb across the river/road area the rear derailer launched into the spokes and broke the derailer and 2 spokes. It had been 3 weeks and I was hooked and luckily for me Targets return policy of up to 30days let me return the bike for a refund and I was able to persuade Tonya on letting me get a real bike. Sure I know the Trance isnt no high end rig but coming from a Target store wanna be mountain bike I couldn’t of been happier.
Pedaled around for a few months thinking I was doing something, then for Christmas got me some clippless pedals, shoes and other riding gear and thought I was finally bumping things up a notch, but still just a strolling to get 14 or so miles in on a weekend . Didn’t have a cycle computer then so don’t know the real speeds or times but it had to be snails pace. Pretty much continued at this pace and intervals throughout the winter but by the end at least I was able to make it thru spider woman only worrying about crashing on the rocks, still no inner loop though.
By far the biggest eye-opener of the year came when I heard of the Harells Wednesday group ride starting up and decided that would be awesome to try. I had heard it was a brisk ride and intentionally packed plenty of hydration thinking it could be rough and I may need this. That first ride was the dang toughest ride I had ever done by a mile. I remember grasping for air, cramping and literally laughing at my predicament where I couldn’t even drink my dang water because I couldn’t stop breathing so darn hard or afford to stop cranking and returned home with the pack still almost full. It wasn’t a matter of trying to keep up, but rather trying to keep everyone in sound distance so I could find them, it was really pathetic but even with all the suffering endured I loved being forced to push it so hard. I was just blown away in all aspects on how these guys were able to do that.
From that turning point entered into 3 sport class races to get my feet wet and establish some baseline rookie year numbers. My race results aren’t pretty but atleast now I have new goals to work towards improving on and the events have been some of this years greatest experiences.
For next year a few of my goals will be
- Increasing my general riding avg speed from 10.4 to 11
- Ride Lost Creek clockwise in 30 minutes or less
- Be able to clear Spider Woman rock garden the majority of the time
- Improve my race times by 2+ minutes
- Be able to hang to within “sight” distance of the group rides
- Ride 50+ miles in one outing
It was this time 1 year ago my wife and I decided to pick up a couple Schwinn mountain bikes from Target to give what at the time we thought to be mountain bike riding a try. A couple of $200 mountain bikes in hand we gave Saluda Schols a try and was like wow, cool and all that stuff. Then after hearing from a co-worker that Harbison had some good trails took my son out there for a ride to check things out and was blown away thinking alright now this is the deal. Remember heading out on the weekends for long grueling rides just to complete a 4 mile firebreak ride or parking in the back so I could do stewardship not able to do anything longer. The Schwinn took a beating and didn’t last 3 weeks before heading up firebreak climb across the river/road area the rear derailer launched into the spokes and broke the derailer and 2 spokes. It had been 3 weeks and I was hooked and luckily for me Targets return policy of up to 30days let me return the bike for a refund and I was able to persuade Tonya on letting me get a real bike. Sure I know the Trance isnt no high end rig but coming from a Target store wanna be mountain bike I couldn’t of been happier.
Pedaled around for a few months thinking I was doing something, then for Christmas got me some clippless pedals, shoes and other riding gear and thought I was finally bumping things up a notch, but still just a strolling to get 14 or so miles in on a weekend . Didn’t have a cycle computer then so don’t know the real speeds or times but it had to be snails pace. Pretty much continued at this pace and intervals throughout the winter but by the end at least I was able to make it thru spider woman only worrying about crashing on the rocks, still no inner loop though.
By far the biggest eye-opener of the year came when I heard of the Harells Wednesday group ride starting up and decided that would be awesome to try. I had heard it was a brisk ride and intentionally packed plenty of hydration thinking it could be rough and I may need this. That first ride was the dang toughest ride I had ever done by a mile. I remember grasping for air, cramping and literally laughing at my predicament where I couldn’t even drink my dang water because I couldn’t stop breathing so darn hard or afford to stop cranking and returned home with the pack still almost full. It wasn’t a matter of trying to keep up, but rather trying to keep everyone in sound distance so I could find them, it was really pathetic but even with all the suffering endured I loved being forced to push it so hard. I was just blown away in all aspects on how these guys were able to do that.
From that turning point entered into 3 sport class races to get my feet wet and establish some baseline rookie year numbers. My race results aren’t pretty but atleast now I have new goals to work towards improving on and the events have been some of this years greatest experiences.
For next year a few of my goals will be
- Increasing my general riding avg speed from 10.4 to 11
- Ride Lost Creek clockwise in 30 minutes or less
- Be able to clear Spider Woman rock garden the majority of the time
- Improve my race times by 2+ minutes
- Be able to hang to within “sight” distance of the group rides
- Ride 50+ miles in one outing
Sunday, August 10, 2008
40.54 Mile Season Finally
Two days short of my first year of riding decided to go out with whatever I could muster and hit Harbison this morning for one last rookie ride. A late night last night listening to live music and a few drinks at the "Dam Bar and Grill" put me a little behind schedule and wasnt able to hit the trail head until 10:30 but was ready to set a new distance personal record or drop trying.
Rode at a steady pace and hit every trail and fireroad I could to keep it going, even tried to head down that section of the bluffs that has the sign saying "Now leaving HSF", only to come to what I thought to be a dead end at the bottom of a ravine. That section isn't bad just wish I knew if there was another way out and after gazing around a bit had to head back out the same way I came in. Wasnt in any rush and hit a couple sections I hadnt been just to see where they led and the first part of the ride was able to add a little exploration to the mix.
When I was at 30 miles decided to do spider woman again and thats when I realized I the miles were starting to take a toll on me, hit it the more familiar clockwise direction and very quickly found my lines drifting all over and reaction time sloppy. By the time I got to the rock garden it put it on me good and although no crashes I was bouncing all over and at that hardest section had to dismount and just walked across. After getting out of there things started really slowing down and just stuck to the outerloop trails.
Heading in for this ride I was just focused on being able to maintain energy to make the distance but I soon realized I have other problems to deal with once I past the 30 mile mark. Even though its just another 10 miles past 30 I found those the hardest 10 miles I've had to ride in awhile. Also found my left foot starts going numb, my hands start cramping and my seat starts killin me. Just when I was set on upgrading my pedals to something lighter now I'm going back and forth and my need to get a better seat first.
Stats:
Distance: 40.54
Time: 4:08
Avg Speed: 9.7
Max Speed: 23
Avg HR: 148
Rode at a steady pace and hit every trail and fireroad I could to keep it going, even tried to head down that section of the bluffs that has the sign saying "Now leaving HSF", only to come to what I thought to be a dead end at the bottom of a ravine. That section isn't bad just wish I knew if there was another way out and after gazing around a bit had to head back out the same way I came in. Wasnt in any rush and hit a couple sections I hadnt been just to see where they led and the first part of the ride was able to add a little exploration to the mix.
When I was at 30 miles decided to do spider woman again and thats when I realized I the miles were starting to take a toll on me, hit it the more familiar clockwise direction and very quickly found my lines drifting all over and reaction time sloppy. By the time I got to the rock garden it put it on me good and although no crashes I was bouncing all over and at that hardest section had to dismount and just walked across. After getting out of there things started really slowing down and just stuck to the outerloop trails.
Heading in for this ride I was just focused on being able to maintain energy to make the distance but I soon realized I have other problems to deal with once I past the 30 mile mark. Even though its just another 10 miles past 30 I found those the hardest 10 miles I've had to ride in awhile. Also found my left foot starts going numb, my hands start cramping and my seat starts killin me. Just when I was set on upgrading my pedals to something lighter now I'm going back and forth and my need to get a better seat first.
Stats:
Distance: 40.54
Time: 4:08
Avg Speed: 9.7
Max Speed: 23
Avg HR: 148
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Saturday Group Ride
Good Saturday ride this morning. Hooked up with Tom, Dennis, Joe and Barret this morning around 7 for a beat the heat ride. Well, it was a good idea anyway but darn it sure felt thick this morning even from the getgo and just rapidly got worse. Think if it wasnt for the endurolytes and gels I would of tanked but they somehow kept me in check thruout the day even dropping 5 lbs of fluid from the event.
Soon after we pulled out Tom blew a front tire flat going down that Firebrake downhill creek crossing section where you really get flying but somehow he was able to save it from a nasty crash and Barret had a spare tube to make for a quick change and we were off again. Good Save Tom, that could of been a rough one.
Hit the bluffs, then off to Spider Woman counterclockwise with inner loop, couldnt of been more than 30 minutes into the ride and thats when started really feeling the heat and pretty much stayed soaked the remainder of the day.
We hit that long fireroad at the back of stewardship today but this time we were going the other way to let us rip that baby down hill. Feeling good and enjoying the ride and all it was here I tried to get a piece of Joe. Joe was in the lead so I started jokingly shouting outdaway, outdaway and felt the need to get a little hammer out. It was another flash of forgetting the caliber of riders I'm with, Joe was ever so gracious to move over to the side to let me up, but not let me by, he was ready to bring on some hammer of his own. We were off..... and moving too, hit a new max speed of 31.2 and was a good burst of hammer, but ever so short lived. Only could hang for a tad and Joe quickly put me in my place , but it was fun while it lasted :) .
Somewhere around the 24 mile mark we were running out of hydration and most everyone had other things to do so we ended up back at the filling station and talked shop while Tom, Joe, and Barret packed up.
Dennis and I wanted to get some more base miles and ended up doing one more clockwise outerloop (less spidy) to make sure we got our 30 in. This was the first real ride that I actually got to talk with Dennis any and was really good meeting/riding with ya. Hopefully will have plenty other oportunities. Dennis, if you make your way to this post, your number came across as restricted on my cell phone so I couldnt get it, give me a call sometime if your want to ride.
Stats:
Distance: 33.91
Avg Speed: 10.6
Max Speed: 33.91 (Trying to take Joe on )
Avg HR: 149
Soon after we pulled out Tom blew a front tire flat going down that Firebrake downhill creek crossing section where you really get flying but somehow he was able to save it from a nasty crash and Barret had a spare tube to make for a quick change and we were off again. Good Save Tom, that could of been a rough one.
Hit the bluffs, then off to Spider Woman counterclockwise with inner loop, couldnt of been more than 30 minutes into the ride and thats when started really feeling the heat and pretty much stayed soaked the remainder of the day.
We hit that long fireroad at the back of stewardship today but this time we were going the other way to let us rip that baby down hill. Feeling good and enjoying the ride and all it was here I tried to get a piece of Joe. Joe was in the lead so I started jokingly shouting outdaway, outdaway and felt the need to get a little hammer out. It was another flash of forgetting the caliber of riders I'm with, Joe was ever so gracious to move over to the side to let me up, but not let me by, he was ready to bring on some hammer of his own. We were off..... and moving too, hit a new max speed of 31.2 and was a good burst of hammer, but ever so short lived. Only could hang for a tad and Joe quickly put me in my place , but it was fun while it lasted :) .
Somewhere around the 24 mile mark we were running out of hydration and most everyone had other things to do so we ended up back at the filling station and talked shop while Tom, Joe, and Barret packed up.
Dennis and I wanted to get some more base miles and ended up doing one more clockwise outerloop (less spidy) to make sure we got our 30 in. This was the first real ride that I actually got to talk with Dennis any and was really good meeting/riding with ya. Hopefully will have plenty other oportunities. Dennis, if you make your way to this post, your number came across as restricted on my cell phone so I couldnt get it, give me a call sometime if your want to ride.
Stats:
Distance: 33.91
Avg Speed: 10.6
Max Speed: 33.91 (Trying to take Joe on )
Avg HR: 149
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