Doesn't it feel great to exercise? I love how I feel after a long day in the saddle, like I do when I have ridden 80-100 miles or more on the road. I love the days I have been able to spent 6 hrs or more traversing the incredible MTB trails and views at Dupont State Forest. It is this strange feeling of total exhaustion mixed with a adrenaline high, that I absolutely love.
I had lunch with some friends yesterday, and we got talking about some of the things - life long adventure goals we would love to do, but probably never will. John is a fishing and boating biff, and he wants to take a boat the length of the inter-coastal waterway. Don loves to hike, and wonders how far he could make it along the Appalachian Trail. I piped in that I would love to ride my bike from coast to coast someday. They all agreed that I should definitely do that.
Here's the the thing... when I am riding regularly, I get in an average of 400-500 miles in a month. Do you know how far I would need to ride to get across the United States? 300-600miles per week!
I accumulated 3.7 miles for the month of October. Right now I have the big goose egg for November. I got a long way to go. Anyone else feel my pain?
Ok, so I stole this entire post from Jonathan Pait over at http://lowcadence.com/2009/10/30/hes-back/ . Why? because these videos are proof that I am in elementary school when it comes to the ability of some of these riders out there... Check it out!
Danny Macaskill is back on the Internet… and Norwegian television… displaying his mad skills in Lisbon. Sure, it’s a Volkswagen commercial, but he still amazes me. See if you get the same feeling that he is about to drop down on top of the car in one of the sequences.
Some might say that is cheapening his image by going commercial. I say more power to him as he finds ways to make a living and profit a bit doing what he loves. Though, I do have to say I like the Volkswagen commercial better than the s1jobs.com one.
Enjoy! Oh, and Danny, keep them coming.
Before you watch this video and think I am an amazing rider, please let me clarify... this is not me! Boy do I wish I could fly like that! However, I have a job, wife, and 3 little kids to support, so I am a little less extreme. This video is shot in real time, and takes the guy 2:28 to finish the course. Mark and I rode the course again on Monday afternoon, which is located on the Sulfur Spring trail coming down from the upper parking lot at Paris Mountain, and we finished it in just over 5 minutes. Now, we had been riding for nearly an hour, and had climbed for a good percentage of the ride, but this does not shave 2:30 off of our time... These guys are good! Real good!
I have spent some time over the last week riding arond the area the best I could. I decided to stop by trek bicycles to get some help with a ride route that would't include dodging traffic the whole way. I'm not sure why it has taken me a month to swing by the LBS (Local bike shop) but it is something every biker should do when in a new city.
What are you afraid of?
Well, here I am in Charleston SC and the biggest icon in this city is the Cooper River Bridge. So, I spent the 1st few days here in the waiting room at MUSC looking at maps, and trying to map out a safe way to come from our condo in Dunes West on Mount Pleasant, over the bridge, and down to the MUSC hospital. The other night, I gave it a shot.
I was super prepared. I had my headlamp on the helmet, the blinking taillight in place with fresh batteries. Lets do it!I rolled out from the condo, only to turn back after 100 yards because I realized I hadn't checked my tire pressure before leaving. Sure enough, the humidity and temperature difference in the low country compared to the upstate had had a significant impact on my tire pressure. I was down to 70lbs of pressure. I quickly pumped it back up to 115psi and was soon on my way.
I quickly noticed how incredibly flat this area is. Sure, you notice it while driving around, but something about rolling along on your own power makes it rapidly evident. I was hauling! I mean really moving! This flat stuff was fun!
Then I got winded... and fast. Apparently, the heat and humidity even at 10pm was something my body didn't like. I had to ease off of it a little bit. My average speed fell from 23mph to hover right around 20mph.
My route headed out east from Dunes West through the Park Wes community. I crossed over hwy 17 at the publix stoplight, then took the access road from there to the backside of walmart. From walmart I hooked up with Rifle Range Road which carried me down to Coleman Blvd and the Cooper River Bridge. From the bridge I picked up Bay St, then headed south on Calhoun
The climb over the bridge on a bike is really kinda disappointing. I have run the 10k Bridge run before, and that was some work! On the bike however, the incline came and went in just a minute or so. Then back to the flat again.
All told, I enjoyed the ride. I had one scare where I hit a pothole in the dark that nearly shook my teeth out of my head. I stopped on the next side street to make sure I had not damaged a wheel, pinched a flat, or lost a water bottle. This is the downside of riding at night. My headlamp is pretty high in lumen's, but at 20mph I feel like I am riding ahead the light at times... this is a bad feeling.
As many of you know mountain biking has been one of my favorite pastimes for the past 10 years. Many of my biking friends have tried to trick me in to road biking over the past few years with little success. This year I decided to join them, in the name of cross-training, so I borrowed a bike from one of my buddies. Somehow, I ended up registered for the 34th Assault on Mount Mitchell before I really had time to think it through. For those of you who might not be familiar with the Assault on Mitchell, www.freewheelers.info/aomm/, it is touted as one of the top 10 most difficult road biking events in the country. The ride spans a total 103 miles from Spartanburg, SC to the peak of Mount Mitchell, which is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. The ride is considered grueling not only because of the 100 plus miles, but the total cumulative elevation gain is over 12,000 feet. To make matters worse, over half of the elevation gain is in the last 25 miles!
After a few training rides and several interviews with past "Assaulters," I felt like I was ready for the challenge. I stuffed the pockets of my nifty road bike jersey with Hammer Gels and Power Bars, filled my water bottles with Heed Electrolyte Replacement Drink, and clipped in my pedals along with 1200 other bikers from all over the United States. We left the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, SC at 6:30am on a Monday morning with the common opponent in mind … Mount Mitchell. This event is billed as a ride, not a race, but wouldn't you know that this year the organizers sold 1200 tickets and the Parkway Officials placed a limit of 750 bikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Do the math … this meant that 450 riders would ride over 80 miles and not be allowed on the Parkway to finish the ride. That pretty much makes it a race in my book.
I started with my friend Milo and we were able to hang in and draft with a fast group for the first 45 miles or so. We got separated at the top of Bill's Hill, where I stopped to fill a couple of my water bottles. As I was getting back on my bike, I met up with Quentin, another friend of mine, and we rode together with a different pack of fast guys until I got dropped from the group just before Marion NC. Tish met me in Marion with a new supply of Hammer Gels, Power Bars, Heed, and some much needed encouragement. I left Marion and headed up Hwy 80 alone before catching up with Milo at the first water stop on Hwy 80. Milo and I stayed together the rest of the day and we both crossed the finish line with a total elapsed time of 8 hours and 29 minutes! I'm not really sure how to describe the event, but I do know that "Fun" is not the word for it … really.
Next year, I will train harder, ride faster. I followed jonathan pait's advice and did all I could to stay with the pack into Marion. I nearly made it, but fell off some 8 miles short and never really recovered. Truth is, I didn't have enough base miles in, and I should't have been suprised that I didn't have enough gas to go with the big boys. This meant I had to suffer my way through Marion and up to the parkway before my body was able to recover.
I met up with Mark on the parkway, and we agreed there that we needed to work together rather than race each other, because neither one of us would be ending up with a great time anyway... we made it!
This year there was a huge fiasco with the bike returns. It took some people longer to get their bike back than it did for them to do the Assault. This is all some of them will remember about the day...
I on the other hand will remember very little about the day. Tomorrow is the birth of our 3rd child Josiah, who is going to have a major heart surgery minutes after birth... This is my Mt Mitchell, this is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. I am just looking forward to it all working out ok, and being over soon...
This is the email I got from Mark Pittman earlier in the week.
More info. Sounds like a climb fest!
When : Saturday May 2nd at 8:00 am
Where : The Landrum Ingles located at Exit 1 on Hwy I26 West
Ride info : We're planning on heading up Saluda Grade to the Watershed and up to the Tuxedo area where we will make our way over to the climb up Caesar's Head and then work our way back . I think the route is about 90 miles with plenty of climbing . Climb at your pace and regroups as usual at the top of climbs and as necessary . Figure on about 6 hours total ride time . This ride will be a steady pace ride and we would like to keep moving as much as possible so come prepared to work as a group. Store stops : one for sure and possibly two quick stops.
For some reason after getting the specifics of the ride, I was still game for giving it a go. The thing is, I am supposed to be training for the Mt Mitchell Assault later this month. Like most people doing the assault, I haven't gotten enough miles in.
The group got started a little bit late, because there were 2 girls inside using the bathroom. I was kinda annoyed that we were waiting on them, but as we waited I realized that I needed to take a leak as well... I was just too proud to say so. We headed out of town with a group of 21 riders, and just thinking bout going to the bathroom had made my bladder swell. We turned down a road then went along some railroad tracks, and some yeehaw behind us in a car started laying on the horn like a real jerk for us to get over. Went he went by, we realized that he was a fellow cyclist, just a little late for the start. He sped by us and park in a small lot up ahead and unloaded his bike. We stopped for less than 30 seconds to allow him to get his bike off the car, and I took the opportunity to run into the woods and relieve myself. The guy in the car waited on me, but the rest of the pack went on. Fortunately he is a strong rider, so we were able to pull the pack in within just a few minutes.
The first thing I noticed as we chugged along on the flat, was that there didn't seem to be any weak riders. The 3 female riders, who I had expected to struggle throughout the day, were at the front of the pack. I typically cruise on the flat around 18-20mph. This ride was going more like 22-24. Things might get tough! Mark and I stayed fairly close to one another, but didn't talk much because it was becoming evident that there would be work to do!
Our first real climb was the Saluda Grade. This starts in Tryon, and climbs forever up into Saluda. We were about a mile in, when one of the females attacked! She stoop up in the pedals and completely left us all. I tried to pick up my pace, but there was no way I would be able to compete with her speed. I was incredible! I felt pretty good all the way up the climb, and arrived in Saluda within the top 6-8 riders. I knew that I may have pushed it too hard early on. Mark was not near the front like I expected, and when he arrived a few minutes later, he was red in the face, and shook his head in disgust when I asked him how he was feeling.
I have inserted a video of a guy climbing the Saluda Grade in an Audi. He is doing 60+ mph at times. Imagine struggling up this thing at 6-10mph.
We picked up a few additional riders from the Bakery in Saluda, and climbed out of town on what I know to be the return path for the Bakery run. Most of these riders were getting away from the roads they are familiar with, but I was beginning to feel comfortable, because section is part of where I have ridden often. After a long, fast descent back to the base of the watershed, I felt strong. Here is where Mark decided to call it a day. We would be climbing into the Tuxedo area, then on to the worst part of the day climbing Ceaser's Head. He decided to head back from here, go over Hogback Mt. then return to Landrum. All in all, I think he did 70mi... which is not too shabby of an effort.
As I climbed up toward Tuxedo, I still felt strong. However, I was a little concerned to be out with all these riders, none of which I knew personally, and none of which seemed to be easing off at all. We all lined up to go down Hwy 25 for a stretch, and really flew once we turned down Gap Creek Rd! There were times we were even getting over the 50mph mark. It was here that we dropped someone named Ralph, and lost them all-together. This shook my spirits again, because I really did not want to be left out there alone with a really long ride back. We took a break at a gas station near the base of Ceaser's head, and at this point we were around 50miles into the ride.
I drank 2 more bottles of Gatorade, topped off my bottles again, and rolled on out. This is where my ride went bad... really bad. Apparently, the combination of too much Gatorade, not enough water, and too much effort early on had done my body in. Early into the climb I felt my left leg begin to cramp, then a few minutes later, the right leg. I knew I was in trouble. The females I had been concerned about holding us back all beat me to the top. I had become dehydrated, and the rest of the day I would have to spin as lightly as I could to avoid overexertion. The hill is 6miles straight up, and I barely made it under an hour. I was the last one to arrive at the rest area.
The nice thing about doing these rides is that everyone is willing to wait for you. The problem is, the strongest riders get to rest the longest, and the weakest one (me) don't get to rest at all! The rest of the day is a blur for me, because I had my head down and focused only on keeping up with the pack. To my credit, I don't think I made them wait on me at all through the Dupont forest, or on into Flat Rock. I suffered silently. One of the guys asked me, "Are you feeling ok? You look salty." Sure enough, I had begun to look salty because of the amount of sweat my body was producing in order to cool down my core temp. (It was an overcast day. I would have not made it if the sun had been out.) I spoke up next time we were near a gas station, because I was out of fluids, and we still had 25-30 miles to go.
I was able to get my bottles filled, and away we went again. I was able to get my speed back as we left Flat Rock, but when the climb came to get back into Saluda, I was toast once again. The riders regrouped at the Bakery and headed on DOWN the Saluda grade. This was a ton of fun! I have ridden a motorcycle for years, so taking some risks on the downhill didn't intimidate me too bad. We had two motorcycles pass us on the small hill before reaching the decent, and two of our guys PASSED the motorcycles on the way down. It is just way easier to maneuver a lightweight bicycle than a car or even a motorcycle. I stayed with the leaders all the way down.
Then the road flattened out again. I was fine until the climbing began, and again I felt as though I was on the verge of major muscle cramping episode. With some pain, I reached Tryon, and headed towards home. We came to a T in the road, and the ride leader said we were to go left. There was a ton of complaining, and half of the group turned to the right instead. Apparently the left turn would require even more climbing. Reluctantly I turned left and gritted my teeth all the way home. At the base of each major hill I found myself hating my decision, but when I finished I would be able to say I had ridden the entire route.
I got back to the parking lot with a ride time of 5:50, just under the 6 hr mark like promised. Our actual time out on the road was closer to 7 hours, but I needed every break we got. During the day I had consumed nearly 2 gallons of Gatorade in all, and 1 bottle of water. Even drinking that much, I had lost 3.5 lbs in sweat. I won't drink so much Gatorade next time. I will get more H2O in me. By the way, only one rider decided to do the additional 10 miles round trip up hogback mountain and back to get over the century mark for the day. Yep, you guessed it!
It was a girl.
I read about the ride at http://www.greenvillespinners.org/ Here is the description:
The ride heads north from the BiLo start/finish toward Lake Robinson. We then cut over to Packs Ridge Rd and ride the ridge of Packs Mountain. We will have a light break set up at Lake Robinson so you can enjoy the great view across the lake while you refuel for the climbing at Packs Mountain. We will have a SAG vehicle to support the riders on this route. We plan to have pre-ride mechanical support provided by The Great Escape of Greenville. Now best of all this is a FREE event sponsored by the Greenville Spinners Bike Club!
Now when I saw the big word FREE, I was instantly interested. I arrived at the Bilo parking lot 20 minutes early, unloaded my bike, and joined the group of 50-75 riders at the start line. I rode about 20 miles yesterday pulling my little girls, so I didn't want o go out to hard and find out I didn't have any gas in the tank.
After a few minutes of formalities, the ride was off on its way. I had decided t try to stay with the 1st 20 riders or so at the start, so that I wouldn't have to work so hard to stay with the pack. Problem was, I found myself in the front 3-4 riders within minutes after leaving the Bilo plaza. This could not be good. Had I gone out too hard again? 5 miles in, I found myself all alone, I had taken my turn pulling, but no decided to take my wheel. I looked back to see the other riders in a loose pack behind me, content to let me go.
Because I can ride alone every day, I decided to ease it of, and drop back into the pack. I slowed to a crawl, to let the group catch me, but when they swallowed me up, it was all I could do to accelerate back up to speed and stay with them. I soon found that this ride did not contain any "team" riders or jerseys. For whatever reason, maybe because it was a free ride, the big boys had not chose to join in. Sp today was like a JV ride then. If that were the case, perhaps I could finish fairly high.
(This was not a race let me remind you, it was a ride... but anyone who has ever been on one of things knows that the word "race" is implied)
We reached Lake Robinson at 1the 10mi mark, and because of some confusion with the way the arrows were painted on the road, the entire group pulled in to the parking lot. Very few of us wanted to stop, so after a loop around the parking lot, we were on the way. It was at that point I decided that I wanted to finish in the top 10 for the day if I could. There were about 5 riders that I could see pushing the tempo. I decided to lead out again, and see if we could break away with 5-8 riders. When I hit it this time, 4 other riders joined me.
We each took turns pulling strong, although one large rider (I heard him say he was on a 64 frame) was definitely doing more work than the rest of us... I knew I would not be able to out ride him at the end of the day... and I didn't.
Someone complimented me for my trailer hitch attachment on my bike. He also pulls his kids around for a good training workout. I thought this was pretty cool, because I am usually pretty self conscious about having the attachment on my bike. Most of the time, I take it off when going on an organized ride. This morning I forgot to do so.
Just before reaching the base of Pack's Mountain we went through a series of fast downhills, which we took to casually as a lead group. As we began the big climb, our group of 5 had grown to 10-12 riders.
Now for the climb. The big boy I was keeping an eye on had seemingly no problem going up this thing. often, the taller riders suffer on the hills, and make it back on the flats. This was not the case for him. He climbed very strongly as well. The same group of 5 of us pulled pretty quickly away from everyone while going up the climb. Don't get me wrong, we were all suffering, but apparently the fellas behind us were having a worse time of it. Basically that was the last time we saw the rest of the pack.
We reached Lake Robinson for the second time at mile 33. This time we stopped for the SAG, and hung around long enough to see a few riders begin to straggle in. The heat, now 75 degrees, was beginning to take it's toll. 2 of the riders we had spent the day with decided to wait for a friend, so we went on without them, picking up a few guys who decided to make the stop a quick one.
At the next stop sign, we came up on a rider who was not part of the day's ride, and the poor guy fell over at the stop sign, because he was too busy looking back at us, and forgot to un-clip. I felt sorry for him, because I have done the exact same thing. He insisted he was fine, and went on our way.
Fatigue began setting in around mile 40, because another guy fell over at a stop sign, this time nearly taking me and the big guy out when he went down. He also told us to go ahead, he wanted to check his bike before continuing. To his credit, he caught back up to us a mile or so later, which is not easy to do at all when riding out there all alone.
We pulled back in to Bilo without a sprint to the finish, yellow jersey ceremony, flower wreath, or a milk jug for the winner. We rode in together, I guess I finished third, but we had succeeded in staying away from the pack all day, something I had never done before.
Granted, this is like a JV ride for cyclists, but it still felt pretty good nonetheless. Now I am going to take a nap!
Click the link for a panorama view of Packs Mountain
Here was today's ride.
I got to the park, unloaded my bike, and jogged over to the bathroom to change my clothes. It was cold, way colder than what I had brought riding gear enough for. Nonetheless, I decided that once I began to sweat, I would be plenty warm.
Here is a side note: while changing, a woman in the bathroom on the other side of the building flushed the toilet, and the floor drain on my side let out a sonic explosion that scared the mess out of me.
I took my normal route up mountain creek trail, and headed out towards the Hincapie challenge. This climb was particularly miserable today with no gear shifting possibilities. It is weird how your mind fights with itself, and I started making excuses why I might need to stop for a moment...is my seat set too low?... is my shoe coming untied?... do I need to stop and check the crank arm that fell off last week?
As I told myself to keep going and not quit, I spit over my left shoulder, and suddenly found myself off the road and in the ditch on the right side of the road. This was stupid mistake. Why would anyone be so idiotic to lose control of their bike while spitting? Now, I had ridden into the ditch, and because of my pep talk with myself earlier I refused to quit. This meant I rode up the hill in the ditch for about 15-20 feet before I could get back on the road again. What a momentum killer!
Now some of you might be saying: "So what, it was only 15 feet, what is the big deal?" The deal is, this Hincapie Challenge is a horrible hill. It is like riding up the trunk of a redwood tree. So, 15-20 ft is a huge deal!
Fortunately I made it home with no broken bones or bike components... it was a great ride.
Moral of the story: Keep your eyes on the road. It is a painful return when you get off track.
What ways are you getting distracted from the goal you have before you?
I took the same route as last week, but today's ride was on the single speed. (this is a bike stripped from its gears and derraliers.) It would be a tough workout. However, my crank arm came loose halfway up the hincapie challenge. I turned back towards the truck, because like i said earlier I didnt have any tools with me today.
Partway back, the crank arm actually fell off. I rode the rest of the way with one pedal like a handicap man. I am glad I have two legs. Only one leg stinks...
Why not skip the ride then? I am preparing to ride in the Mt Mitchell race later this spring. I needed to get some miles in. I decided to leave 1 hr before my family did, so they could pick me up if I had trouble.
10 mi - feel good, but notice rain water pooling in my shoes
20 mi - feel miserable, looking for Erin to rescue me
30 mi - stopped to get water in Clevelland, SC. I have sent Erin on against my better judgement. She has gone past me at this point.
40 mi - reached North Greenville College . feeling better at this point because I know the roads from riding them previously. Home is in reach.
50 mi - come up on Rock's at Lake Robinson. In a ton of pain. toes and fingers are numb. Not sure why these last 5 miles are killing me.
57 mi - arive at home. thank you Lord! Hot soup and hot shower!
Yesterday, Erin had a doctors appointment at 10:00. Rather than stay at home with the girls, I decided to go over to Cleveland Park and do a few laps. There is a number large trail system that that intersects with this park, called the swamp rabbit trail. It is one of the coolest new things built over the last few years by the City of Greenville.
I did not however, want to ride the swamp rabbit trail. This trail is for novices and hobbyist, which of course I don't consider myself, (I definitely should!) instead I wanted to try the Cleveland Park loop. This is a 2.5 mile lap that all the "serious" cyclists that work in the downtown area come and ride over their lunch break.
I pulled the girls around in their double trailer, and really got an incredible workout. Granted, I got some crazy looks, (something I am growing more accustomed to when riding with the girls) for riding in full gear while towing them along, but also received a great deal of props from the other guys as I climbed the hill with them.
I had a blast! I did 15 miles in about an hour of ride time, but I did have to stop at the zoo once for a potty break, and stop one other time to pass out raisin boxes to my passengers to quiet them for another 5 miles. Total actual time was more like 1:20. All told, I didn't think it was that great of a workout, but my legs are most definitely feeling it again! Look out for me to be there again some Friday morning. I will be the one pulling what looks like a golf cart. You can't miss me!
I finally had a few minutes yesterday to get out on the bike. If you were watching my twitter account you noticed that I had every intention of going out on the MTB. I decided instead to take to the road. It has been a while since I have ridden the Allez, and I really wanted to spin in the open air for once, instead of in my living room. Also, because of my riding on the trainer, I wanted to see if I could ride at a consistent cadence. This is something I never used to be able to monitor, but when I got the new bike it came with a computer that shows cadence.
I had been training at a cadence of 85 to 95 or so, and this is what I decided to ride at yesterday. I rode from my house over to Paris Mt. State park, which is about an 9 mi ride, then up the Hincapie challenge to the turnaround and back home. Riding at this higher cadence was a very odd experience. I liked spinning, fast and smooth, and it was kinda fun to be changing gears much more often in order to keep the cadence steady. But, it is an uncomfortable pace. I have found that I MTB at a very slow cadence. This transition may be difficult to make. Is it necessary?
1. How long should I plan for each workout?
2. Should I base my workout on cadence, or distance traveled?
3. How important is it for me to stay in true riding position/form?
4. Will this actually make me a better rider, or just a guy who sweats a lot while watching TV in the living room
Any insights?