I'm starting to think that I am more goal oriented than I thought I was. It seems without some goal for some event my motivation is lacking. Sure I love to ride and have fun, but without a goal of some event, that doesn't seem to be enough to get me out of bed at 4:00 AM.
I have a goal to ride the RTC Viva Bike Vegas 2013 Gran Fondo Pinarello in September and I am stoked that my dad is training to do it with me, but at 17 miles I don't have a need to really do a lot of training to get ready for it.
I'm also looking to the Bike MS: Vegas Challenge 2013 on November 9 & 10 of this year. I would do the 30 mile ride on each of the 2 days. This will take some training and will be tough, but its far enough away that I don't feel the urgency to help motivate me at the moment.
So, I have been looking around and realized that the Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon will be happening in October and that is something I can work towards. Since I haven't done any swimming and very little (OK none) running since I last did this in 2010 (read about it here) I have a bunch of work to do if I am going to do this and beat my 3:30 time from then. While this is certainly motivation to get out there and do the work, I'm still not totally committed to doing this event.
So I am going to continue to weigh the pros and cons for doing the Pumpkinman and see how that would mesh with preparation for the Bike MS event and decide over the next week or so whether or not to commit to it. If I do, I will have to adapt the C25K to may 16 weeks to the event to work on my run, I will need to start scheduling time to get in the pool and get my swimming back up to an OK level, and I'll need to work on climbing on my bike in order to conquer the climb up to Boulder City.
Even if I don't I need to get back on my bike and get fit. Its as simple as that.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
First ride with my summer riding partner
It's Sunday morning, the sun is up and the heat is starting to build for the day. The forecast is only to hit 103, unlike the 113 we hit last week. My riding partner is finally up and we are ready for a ride about 8:30. Jacob and I head out to the garage to check the air in the tires and get ready for our first ride of the summer.
He feels his tires and declares them OK, but I know better. I put on the pump and show him the gauge which reads about 18 lbs. I ask him how much air they should have and he doesn't know. I show him how to figure it out by reading the sidewall of the tire. His require 35 PSI max. We pump them up and then attend to mine. Once we are all aired up we put on our helmets, open the garage door and head out for our ride.
The sun is warm, but not oppressive as we pedal west. We stop a few houses up the street to adjust his seat as it was too low for him. It seems he may have outgrown his 20 inch bike he just got at Christmas.
I show him the new wall on Quarterhorse where the desert has been hidden and new houses are being built. We head uphill to Pebble and he mentions that his legs are already getting a little tired. I use this to pitch finding a larger bike for him with gears. He says he doesn't like gears, but by the time we are done with the ride, his opinion will change.
Once we get to pebble, we can then head down to Durango with the slight down grade all the way. He notices the lack of pedaling on my part compared to all the work he is doing and decides that gears and larger tires wouldn't be a bad thing. So now I'm in the market for a used 24" bike to get him some better gearing for the road.
Once we hit Durango I instruct him on the proper etiquette and riding position as it can be a fairly busy road and there is a section about 30 yards long where the shoulder is only about a foot wide. He is excited about having ridden on his first "road ride" and when we get back is eager to go on more over the course of the summer.
We didn't go far, just over 2 miles, but it was a great ride. No we have to work on building his strength and stamina and get him more experience on the road.
He feels his tires and declares them OK, but I know better. I put on the pump and show him the gauge which reads about 18 lbs. I ask him how much air they should have and he doesn't know. I show him how to figure it out by reading the sidewall of the tire. His require 35 PSI max. We pump them up and then attend to mine. Once we are all aired up we put on our helmets, open the garage door and head out for our ride.
The sun is warm, but not oppressive as we pedal west. We stop a few houses up the street to adjust his seat as it was too low for him. It seems he may have outgrown his 20 inch bike he just got at Christmas.
I show him the new wall on Quarterhorse where the desert has been hidden and new houses are being built. We head uphill to Pebble and he mentions that his legs are already getting a little tired. I use this to pitch finding a larger bike for him with gears. He says he doesn't like gears, but by the time we are done with the ride, his opinion will change.
Once we get to pebble, we can then head down to Durango with the slight down grade all the way. He notices the lack of pedaling on my part compared to all the work he is doing and decides that gears and larger tires wouldn't be a bad thing. So now I'm in the market for a used 24" bike to get him some better gearing for the road.
Once we hit Durango I instruct him on the proper etiquette and riding position as it can be a fairly busy road and there is a section about 30 yards long where the shoulder is only about a foot wide. He is excited about having ridden on his first "road ride" and when we get back is eager to go on more over the course of the summer.
We didn't go far, just over 2 miles, but it was a great ride. No we have to work on building his strength and stamina and get him more experience on the road.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
RTC Viva Bike Vegas 2013 Gran Fondo Pinarello
Looking ahead to the fall and my second "big" event of the year, which will be RTC Viva Bike Vegas 2013 Gran Fondo Pinarello. Last year I did the 17 mile ride and had a blast! Read about it here.
I've been thinking about doing the metric Century but am still not sure as I've heard some rumblings from a family member or two that they might head here to ride as well. That would be totally AWESOME if they did! Since they aren't up to riding the longer distances, I would then ride the 17 mile route with them.
I truly enjoyed this ride last year. It was an early start, but that was so we could ride the Las Vegas strip with all of the lights on.
Anyone else want to ride the strip in September????
.
I truly enjoyed this ride last year. It was an early start, but that was so we could ride the Las Vegas strip with all of the lights on.
Anyone else want to ride the strip in September????
.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
100 Miles Of Nowhere...
Ok, here's the story for this:
Not much to remark on for this segment of the ride. I did a bunch of laps, the sun was out and warming things up and surprisingly my legs didn't feel much worse for wear. My saddle season was another matter, though. I was getting quite sore.
Just after the 50 mile mark it was time for another break. Still maintaining about the same pace as these miles took just under an hour as well. Here I was at 50 miles and 4 hours into my ride.
More powerade, a Honey Stinger Blueberry Buzz bar, a few more pringles and some oreos and I was on my way again.
I noticed that I was slightly slower and this was due to shifting my position on the saddle looking for some relief. It wasn't to be found, though. I toughed it out to 62.5 miles and decided that was it for this event. I had completed the 100 Miles Of Nowhere Las Vegas Metric Century around the block edition. I was pleased to have made it that far since this was 3 times the farthest ride I had taken in the last 3 years.
Now for a nap, some sushi and Cold Stone Creamery.
I was competing in the 100 Miles of Nowhere Las Vegas Block edition. As I posted here, I signed up for this for the first time this year back in mid-April. I figured I would have lots of time to train, get my stamina up and be ready to go. While i had the time, things didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped in that regard. My longest ride leading up to this event was only 20 miles.
My swag showed up 2 weeks ago. Great swag from all of the sponsors. Here is my race plate.
As I planned my event I decided to use laps around my block as my course for the event. From training and testing ride I determined that it was approximately .47 miles around the block. Doing the math that meant I would need to do 213 laps to hit 100 miles.
One concern I had was with the forecasted temperatures for June 1st. !0 days out the forecasted high was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Way too hot to ride in all day. Since a lot of my training is done before work when it is nice and cool, I decided to start my ride nice and early in order to try and beat the heat. So my plan was to get up and be on the bike by 4:00 AM.
As I posted yesterday here, I had just changed my seat and did a quick shakedown ride to check the position. Friday night I washed my cycling attire, laid out all my supplies for before and during the ride, set my alarm for 3:30 AM and went to bed early for my at 9:00 PM.
The alarm went off, what seemed like way too soon and it was time to get up and get going. I got dressed, headed downstairs and had a banana and some Oreo vanilla cookies washed down with a bottle of Starbucks Vanilla Frappacino. I then aired up the tires and opened the garage. I was relieved to feel the cool air come in as it was only about 65 degrees. I turned on my Garmin and my lights and off I went.
The first lap wasn't too bad except for the 10 to 15 mph wind from the west. This meant that I was pushing into the wind on the uphill prat of the lap. Not bad, but I started thinking that it might prove to be a problem later on. One lap down and a whole bunch more to go.
Very few people were out so early so i basically had the streets to myself It was relatively peaceful and quiet.
I got into a pretty good rhythm and the laps started going by. I kept a count of laps in my head and the goal was to complete at least 45 or 50 laps before I took my first rest. As I rode along I noticed that the sky to the east was getting lighter and eventually at 40 laps I noticed the sun on the mountains o the west. A few more laps and I actually saw the sun over the houses to the east.
As the laps were adding up, my saddle area was getting a little tender. Let's face it, I just didn't have enough saddle time leading up to this ride.
I hit 53 laps, which was 25 miles and decided it was time for a rest. I checked my Garmin when I went in and noticed that I had completed the 25 miles in 1:55 which equated o an average speed of 13.0 mph. I was right on the pace that I had envisioned before the ride. I knew I needed to get hydrated and eat some calories or I would be in trouble.
So, some powerade, more Oreos, a couple of fig newtons and I was back on my way. As I rode the next laps, the neighborhood started waking up. People were walking their dogs, backing out of their driveways and starting to do some work round their houses.
As the laps progressed I was thankful for the Garmin as I lost count and had no idea how any laps I completed. fortunately I had my distance traveled on the Garmin.
One thing to note is that during this stage I actually had a dog chase. On the opposite of our block a woman was putting her 3 dogs into the car as I rode by. I was almost by when the largest of the 3 dogs spotted me and all 3 took off after me barking. The woman called after them and within a house or two they decided to listen and turned around.
At approximately 12 miles I passed the house and my wife was there cheering me on! Thank you dear! I completed the next lap to make 12 1/2 miles in just under an hour and it was time for my next break. I had just under 3 hours seat time and a total of 37 1/2 miles so far. My saddle area was also quite sore.
A banana, a powerade, some pringles and a couple of fig newtons and I was back on my way.
My wife took a picture of me during the ride:
Not much to remark on for this segment of the ride. I did a bunch of laps, the sun was out and warming things up and surprisingly my legs didn't feel much worse for wear. My saddle season was another matter, though. I was getting quite sore.
Just after the 50 mile mark it was time for another break. Still maintaining about the same pace as these miles took just under an hour as well. Here I was at 50 miles and 4 hours into my ride.
More powerade, a Honey Stinger Blueberry Buzz bar, a few more pringles and some oreos and I was on my way again.
I noticed that I was slightly slower and this was due to shifting my position on the saddle looking for some relief. It wasn't to be found, though. I toughed it out to 62.5 miles and decided that was it for this event. I had completed the 100 Miles Of Nowhere Las Vegas Metric Century around the block edition. I was pleased to have made it that far since this was 3 times the farthest ride I had taken in the last 3 years.
Now for a nap, some sushi and Cold Stone Creamery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)