Silver comet
Posted in on by
The last time I rode at Silver Comet trail was two weeks prior to Gulf Coast triathlon in Spring 2009. I remember that I rode 50 miles by myself. My speed was around 15 MPH. I rode it again last weekend with Susan since Sarah and Eric were out of town. Same distance. This time was over 17 MPH. What a difference 3 years made.
Bitter cold windy day
Posted in on by
Just a few days ago, I was talking to some people about how nice and warm this winter was. No ice storm like last year. I had to wear a winter coat only once or twice. We had some rain. The temperature had never been below 25F. What a mild Georgia winter! Lo and behold... this weekend surprised us with the dreaded winter cold snap.
We agreed that we would wheel down at 9AM. Instead of meeting at the Bud plant, we decided to start from the Sosebee Bike Park, just 2 miles from the plant. When I was on I-75, snow flurries hit my windshield. Just a tiny bit but that confirmed what the temperature was like. The current forecast was 38F with 15 MPH wind, it felt like below 32F. According to the forecast, the wind picked up 2 MPH every hour and the temp kept dropping. I wasn't concerned about the temperature. The wind was what scared me. As I was driving, I had to grab my steering wheel tight because I could felt the wind sway the car. I was looking at the pine trees. The branches were waving quite a bit. I got to the park and nobody was there. I checked my iPhone nervously. If they backed out on me, they would be in so much trouble. A few minutes later, Susan came. As soon as I saw the expression on her face, I knew she doubted whether she wanted to ride outside this morning. I said to her "is this stupid or what?". She couldn't agree more. We called Cadence Bikes to see if the spin room was open that morning. And... they were. Awesome! Apparently TNT Summer team had their GTS over there that morning. Cadence told us we could come this morning to spin. That was great news.
Sarah and Eric pulled up to the parking lot and we told them what our Plan B was. I knew they would not want to ride indoor, which was fine. At this point, we each had to decide what worked best for ourselves. You made a decision that you can live with for the next 3 hours (on the bike, that is). Michael joined Sarah and Eric that morning also. They were going to try to ride. If it was too cold and windy, they would drive down to Cadence. Susan and I left and got to Cadence around 10.30AM. As soon as I got from the car, the cold snap hit me. I was so glad we decided to ride indoor.
Cody set us up on the Computrainer. This time we rode the Ironman Germany course. It was a 2 loop course. Computrainer had 51.5 miles programmed, not sure why it was a few miles short. I found out later the elevation gain was 1,300. I forgot to mention something important. I got a new compact crank yesterday and got refitted also. The ride felt different from last week since I managed to stay in the big ring a lot more. I felt my right leg was over-extended a bit. My right knee kept brushing against the cable and my elbow when I was on the aero position, which was annoying. I may have to go back to Curtis to get adjusted.
After we rode 10 miles or so, Sarah, Eric and Michael came. They rode for 3 miles. Michael couldn't feel his fingers and decided to ride back. I felt bad for Eric, I don't think he could stand riding on the trainer. He was done after 28 miles, I think. Michael was done early also. Susan finished the course first. She was getting stronger on the bike. I finished second. I was so glad to be over. My sitting bone had a nagging pain after riding for 2 hours. The next morning I ran 9.5 miles on the treadmill. I was such a wimp. I didn't even want to walk to my townhouse to the club house which was around 1 mile. I drove and parked by the lake. I forgot what cold 14F felt like. I could hardly breathe.
We agreed that we would wheel down at 9AM. Instead of meeting at the Bud plant, we decided to start from the Sosebee Bike Park, just 2 miles from the plant. When I was on I-75, snow flurries hit my windshield. Just a tiny bit but that confirmed what the temperature was like. The current forecast was 38F with 15 MPH wind, it felt like below 32F. According to the forecast, the wind picked up 2 MPH every hour and the temp kept dropping. I wasn't concerned about the temperature. The wind was what scared me. As I was driving, I had to grab my steering wheel tight because I could felt the wind sway the car. I was looking at the pine trees. The branches were waving quite a bit. I got to the park and nobody was there. I checked my iPhone nervously. If they backed out on me, they would be in so much trouble. A few minutes later, Susan came. As soon as I saw the expression on her face, I knew she doubted whether she wanted to ride outside this morning. I said to her "is this stupid or what?". She couldn't agree more. We called Cadence Bikes to see if the spin room was open that morning. And... they were. Awesome! Apparently TNT Summer team had their GTS over there that morning. Cadence told us we could come this morning to spin. That was great news.
Sarah and Eric pulled up to the parking lot and we told them what our Plan B was. I knew they would not want to ride indoor, which was fine. At this point, we each had to decide what worked best for ourselves. You made a decision that you can live with for the next 3 hours (on the bike, that is). Michael joined Sarah and Eric that morning also. They were going to try to ride. If it was too cold and windy, they would drive down to Cadence. Susan and I left and got to Cadence around 10.30AM. As soon as I got from the car, the cold snap hit me. I was so glad we decided to ride indoor.
Cody set us up on the Computrainer. This time we rode the Ironman Germany course. It was a 2 loop course. Computrainer had 51.5 miles programmed, not sure why it was a few miles short. I found out later the elevation gain was 1,300. I forgot to mention something important. I got a new compact crank yesterday and got refitted also. The ride felt different from last week since I managed to stay in the big ring a lot more. I felt my right leg was over-extended a bit. My right knee kept brushing against the cable and my elbow when I was on the aero position, which was annoying. I may have to go back to Curtis to get adjusted.
After we rode 10 miles or so, Sarah, Eric and Michael came. They rode for 3 miles. Michael couldn't feel his fingers and decided to ride back. I felt bad for Eric, I don't think he could stand riding on the trainer. He was done after 28 miles, I think. Michael was done early also. Susan finished the course first. She was getting stronger on the bike. I finished second. I was so glad to be over. My sitting bone had a nagging pain after riding for 2 hours. The next morning I ran 9.5 miles on the treadmill. I was such a wimp. I didn't even want to walk to my townhouse to the club house which was around 1 mile. I drove and parked by the lake. I forgot what cold 14F felt like. I could hardly breathe.
 |
| The weather forecast from this weekend |
It’s all about the journey
Posted in on by
I'm prepping myself for tomorrow's ride. It's 30F with 15 MPH wind. I found this ....
Sometimes that journey involves a cold and tough ride. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. Stay tuned.
It’s all about the journey
It’s not the destination but the journey that holds the best memories. It only takes a second to cross the finish line, but the real story is how you got there.
A taste of IM Canada course
Posted in on by
This Saturday the forecast again wasn't ride friendly. A few days before I emailed the gank to ask them what they think. I was hoping that Susan would want to ride indoor at Cadence. I was very curious about the climbs. I needed to decide soon whether I wanted to change the crank from standard to compact. Susan jumped on the idea. She had a cold this week so she would prefer ride indoor. I got up on Saturday morning and the first thing that I did was checking the weather. It was actually really nice, now the chance of rain was just 10%. Sarah and Eric rode outside. We arrived at Cadence at 9AM and started rolling around 9.15AM.
Computrainer was so cool. It looked like just like a normal trainer. I didn't remember tightening the wheel to the roller, so I assume it adjusted automatically. Susan and I set up our bikes side by side. In front of us was a giant projector that was playing some old stages of Tour de France. To the right, there was a flat screen TV that showed the IM Canada course and our statistics. Current speed, average speed, output in watts, average output, how far behind you were from the leader, the grade of the course and so on. That's what was so cool about Computrainer. Lots of data... even some that I don't know what they meant.
The course looked very deceiving since it was so stretched out in length, but not in width. John came in to the room and made a comment about how flat the course was... I thought Canada was hilly. Hold on! This is when you put a disclaimer, the objects on the flat screen may appear (a lot) flatter than they are. 2 hours and 20 minutes were on the schedule that day. I thought about applying the 15% rule meaning the required time spent on the trainer was 15% less than the time spent on the road. But this was the actual course, it should feel like riding outside, so we stuck with 2:20.
If I can dissect the course, there were 5 parts. First from Penticton to the base of Richter Pass, around 40 miles. It's relatively flat but there was one hill with 9.8 grade. Still quite steep. Second, Richter Pass, the first big climb. Third, the seven rollers or sisters. Hilly but not quite as challenging as Richter Pass. Third, Yellow Lake, the second big climb. Fourth, back to town. It was a nice descent, getting the legs ready for the marathon.
We rode the first part (see red circle on the chart). It was weird since you couldn't see what was coming up, you couldn't really shift gradually. Some inclines and declines took you by surprise. The spin room was quite dark so I couldn't see my cadence without pressing the light button on my Garmin. We had different visitors coming in to the spin room. There were two TNTers that Susan knew from past events. They stayed and chatted with us a little bit. Then, towards the end of the ride, Mary showed up. Sarah told her that we would be riding at Cadence. It was great. It took my mind off the trainer since my butt started to hurt and I started getting a headache. I knew she was looking for a new tri bike. She wanted to see what bikes Cadence had.
I was glad that I got to taste the course a little bit. My conclusion is I need a compact crank. I'm going to call Curtis on Monday. I looked at my options. I think I want to go with FSA Energy. It's a step up from the one that I have now. It's around $175 including the bottom bracket.
Computrainer was so cool. It looked like just like a normal trainer. I didn't remember tightening the wheel to the roller, so I assume it adjusted automatically. Susan and I set up our bikes side by side. In front of us was a giant projector that was playing some old stages of Tour de France. To the right, there was a flat screen TV that showed the IM Canada course and our statistics. Current speed, average speed, output in watts, average output, how far behind you were from the leader, the grade of the course and so on. That's what was so cool about Computrainer. Lots of data... even some that I don't know what they meant.
The course looked very deceiving since it was so stretched out in length, but not in width. John came in to the room and made a comment about how flat the course was... I thought Canada was hilly. Hold on! This is when you put a disclaimer, the objects on the flat screen may appear (a lot) flatter than they are. 2 hours and 20 minutes were on the schedule that day. I thought about applying the 15% rule meaning the required time spent on the trainer was 15% less than the time spent on the road. But this was the actual course, it should feel like riding outside, so we stuck with 2:20.
If I can dissect the course, there were 5 parts. First from Penticton to the base of Richter Pass, around 40 miles. It's relatively flat but there was one hill with 9.8 grade. Still quite steep. Second, Richter Pass, the first big climb. Third, the seven rollers or sisters. Hilly but not quite as challenging as Richter Pass. Third, Yellow Lake, the second big climb. Fourth, back to town. It was a nice descent, getting the legs ready for the marathon.
 |
| IM Canada Bike Elevation Chart |
I was glad that I got to taste the course a little bit. My conclusion is I need a compact crank. I'm going to call Curtis on Monday. I looked at my options. I think I want to go with FSA Energy. It's a step up from the one that I have now. It's around $175 including the bottom bracket.
The training has officially begun.....
Posted in on by
January 30 was the official start date of the IM Canada training. It also happened to be my sister's 37th birthday (Happy Birthday sis). Prior to this week, I spent around 10 hours in training. The number would just keep growing. The weekend prior, Mary rode with us at Silk Sheets. I love that course. A lot of steady climbs. After the ride, we went to Panera Bread to talk about the training races. She also mentioned that we would ride 2 century rides and one race distance ride. It didn't surprise me because the Iron Team also did the same thing. I would rather spend a lot of time on time to make sure I'm ready for the race. This is what we tentatively decide.... drum roll please.
- March 18 Publix Half Marathon
- April 22 Zooma Half Marathon
- May 6 Rev3 Knoxville Half IM
- May 12 Up a Creek Without a Pedal ride
- May 20 Tour de Cure or Mountain Arts 80 miler*
- June 8-10 Triathlon Camp, Blue Ridge North Carolina
- June 16 Jackson County Brevet Century
- June 23 Eleven Lake Oconnee Olympic tri
- June 24 Hiawassee 5K swim*
- July 14 GA Games OWS 3K, 1K
- August 26 IM CANADA!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
