3 days rest, setback, and a new course record!

I was tired from the 192 miles of the week before, so I took a few days off to recover. In the past I've been guilty more than enough times of not giving myself enough time to recover, setting up disappointing results. Even Tuesday I still felt tired so I took another day off, and today I hit it again.

I felt heavy, then stop and remembered what I ate which amounted to everything. It seemed I was always hungry. I weighed myself when I woke up and I was at 220. :( Definitely did not pay attention to what I was eating, hungry or not. 5 fucking pounds!

So this morning after work I set out to do my 26 mile climbing loop. I felt fast on the flats, I was in the 39-13 around 85-90rpm. On all the climbs I could tell I was going faster than I had done in the past, and I made it up all of them without having to slow to a crawl to regain some cardio. I pressed on all the way to Lebanon turnaround point and got there 1 minute faster than my previous record! 53 minutes!

Yes that's a great result to break the record, but I couldn't help but imagine what the times would have been if I had only gained 1 pound back instead of 5. Or what about none?

My average for the ride was .1 mph slower than last Tuesday but overall I felt much faster. Tomorrow is another day.

1,740 calories in 1 hr 36 min (26 miles at 16.3 mph)

215 and counting!

Today is an awesome day as I got out of bed this morning I jumped on the scale. It read 215! That's 3lb less than last Sunday. Since April 22, I've dropped right at 20lbs.

Honestly, I would have liked to have lost more, but your body can only do so much. You just can't go ride 100 miles a day for hours on end after basically taking a 2 year break. You have to build up too it.

I took today off, and I'm taking Monday off as well. My legs feel tight, and I feel tired. I don't know that I'll reach 200 miles this upcoming week but we'll see. It all depends on feel.

A great week has past, and the start of a new is among us. Hopefully the drama of last week is over once and for all.

Quest for 200!

Well this week fell a tad short, I stop @ 192 miles for the week. I rode 30 today, and 15 miles into my ride I was dead. I stopped at the same ice cream shop and got some food and turned around. Once again the engine room came back to life and I made some decent time to get back. Yea, I probably had it in me to ride another 8 miles but what for? I have bigger fish to fry, and the Highlander is still a ways off. Luckily it's not next weekend!

Special thanks to Tom my riding buddy for having some cash on him. Owe ya man! Told ya that potato salad is the bomb! :)

All in all I had a great week on the bike, definitely need some rest though, I shouldn't be bonking riding at 16-17mph. I'm taking Sunday & Monday off to re-energize. I'll blog again tomorrow to see where my weight is. I have a feeling I'm going to be happy with the result.

2,041 calories in 2 hr (30.8 miles at 15.4 mph)
(That's 12,810 for the week)

Miranda's Ice Cream, Morrow OH

The plan today was to ride from Loveland -> Xenia -> Loveland (84 miles)

I did just that.

At 20 miles out, I got hungry which is never good if your riding, especially so early. I ate a sports bar and a few minutes later I was good to go. At 35 miles out I was hungry again. Uh oh. I ate a protein bar but I never recovered. I covered 41.5 miles in 2hr 42min at Xenia Station.

I filled up the water bottles and sat for a minute then took off. With still over 33 miles to go, I completely bonked. So I just rode my tempo. I had $4 in my cycling pouch and I was desperate to find somewhere to eat. If I ate another bite of a power bar or drank anymore water I was going to puke. I needed real food.

I rode the next 13 miles at about 10 miles an hour and made it to Morrow. I saw this place called Miranda's Ice Cream shop and they had a barbecue sign out front so in I went. I got a cheeseburger and a side of potato salad. Then of course I was so sick 2 bites and I felt full. I ate the whole burger and most of the potato salad and within 15 minutes I was off again. The burger was great but the potato salad was amazing!

I could tell immediately the engine room was re-energizing. With 15 miles to ride I was in my 39/13 and just soft pedaling. 45 minutes later and 10 miles to go the engine room was firing on most of it's cylinder's. I kicked up the cadence to around 90 in my 39/13 and held it all the way in.

Definitely happy with the ride. I would have gotten a lot less time if I wouldn't have blown so bad. Today was just what I needed. Long low-medium intensity rides to burn off this fat. I tell ya, I'm fatter than a farmer's pig! :)

5,557 calories in 5 hr 30 min (84 miles at 15.3 mph)

Thursday Reunion!

Rode tonight with some rider's I hadn't seen in a few years. Shawn, Erik, and Ezio. It was great riding with them. I hadn't seen Shawn & Ezio in about 2 years, and Erik closer to 3.

When I fell off the back they slowed and waited, and when the engine completely blew after going for a sprint sign Erik turned around and came and got me and paced me back to Shawn's house.

Thanks guys, I hope to do it again!

1,473 calories in 2 hr 2 min (25 miles at 12.3 mph)
(This is way wrong for this ride calorie wise, there were climbs, and several high speed pulls) In reality it's probably closer to 2000 but for sake of record keeping and lack of a HRM we'll say the 1473. Rock on!

Recovery Wednesday

I set the wheels on fire today! :) What's funny is I bonked after 18 miles. How do you bonk on a recovery ride when your only doing 16? I didn't care, like I said, I thought it was funny! I'll tell ya why I bonked - because I didn't eat enough the night before. I knew I should have got some chicken!

Leeeeeeeeeeerrrroooyyyyyyyyyy Jennnnnnnkkkkkkkkinnnnnnnnnssss!!! (least I got chicken)

(inside joke there, google Leeroy Jenkins if you want in on the joke)

1,979 calories in 2 hr 2 min (30 miles at 14.8 mph)

Hammer Tuesday!

Good ride this afternoon. Smashed my 2 week record of the Loveland -> Lebanon route by 4 whole minutes. Did the route today in 53 minutes!!! Felt great on climb #1 and #2. Climb #3 I struggled some, maybe it was from going harder on #1 and #2 but I must have done something right to beat my time by 4 minutes!

I think I could have got overall less time, I ran out of water with about 3 miles to ride and you fade quick when your out of water. Must have been dehydrated from the start, I usually only do one water bottle each hour.

All in all I felt great today, even better today than Saturday. The recovery drugs must be working!

1,760 calories in 1 hr 35 min (26 miles at 16.4 mph)

Rest Day Thoughts...

Had a chance to do some component research yesterday. I've decided on a set of Titanium Zero Gravity brakes which will reduce the weight of my bike by about 1/2 a pound. Leading up to Highlander I will get my bike back in for service for a tune up and have a Dura Ace bottom bracket installed.

As far as wheelsets go the Mavic SSC SL's seem to still be the best bang for the buck. Tires I haven't had a chance to look into yet but I'm going to assume the Michelin Pro Race2 tires are the best outside of clincher's. That combo was awesome when I rode it in 2005 to the Summit of Mt. Mitchell.

I can change the bike all I want, but the rider has to be in shape also. Taking Eggman's advice at least for the next few weeks I'll be doing 30-40 miles 3 times a week at medium intensity with some intervals, 1 hard ride all out followed by 1 recovery ride at low intensity. The days and miles will vary depending on feel.

This week I'll be ordering an HRM from someplace. I don't need anything fancy, you know keep track of your heart rate for xxxxx amount of time and tell you your average. I'll use the internet to figure out calories burned vs. what I should consume. I won't be riding with the receiver on my handlebar, it'll be in my back jersey pocket where I can't see it until after the ride.

This training I'm riding on feel - I have enough experience to know what I need to do.

I'll be ready.

Loving You Sunday Morning #2

Good milestone's for today, tipped the scale this morning @ 218.

Recovery ride: 1,437 calories in 1 hr 12 min (21 miles at 17.5 mph)

Rest day Monday, we'll see what Tuesday brings.

Finally, a good day...

Finally a good ride.

3,602 calories in 3 hr 33 min (54 miles at 15.2 mph)

Felt really good on climbs, power on the flats. All in all, a good day.

Recovery is key...

Stopped by GNC on Friday morning to get my fix of recovery aids. Muscle Milk has been the #1 recovery for a long while now. They were out of Endurox R4 so I'll be picking some up this coming week when they get there shipment in.

Endurox R4 within an hour after a ride, Muscle Milk before sleep, 1 vitamin every 12 hours. I feel good and recovered today. We'll see!

One bad ride deserves another...

Friday was one of those days with no power, no cardio, and no speed.

I turned around and went home for a whopping total of 17 miles in 64 minutes.

1,144 calories in 1 hr 4 min (17 miles at 15.9 mph)

New Parts...

Well it's been a while since I bought anything for my bike. Today I ordered a new compact crankset:

Also scheduled my bike in for some service, getting all new cables, brakepads, and the hubs on my wheelset repacked. The 34-50 should help me get up the climbs a lot better, and I can run my 12-23 on the back. If it's too much I can switch to a 11-21. How much difference is a 39/27 vs a 34/23? Enh, who cares. Pedal harder! :)

Registration Confirmed

Saw in my email box today my registration for Highlander is confirmed. The 100+ mile suffer fest is a go.

What wheelset to buy? With all the climbing and descending, I'll probably pick up another set of Mavic Kysrium SSC SL's. I need to make that decision by at least the end of June...

I have to get my bike in for service, all my cabling and brake pads are original except for the front shifter cable. May opt for a compact crank too, will have to see what options are available when I talk to the man on Wednesday.

Rest day...

What started off early April as a joke between me and a certain female singer became full reality end of April when the weather broke. We had a huge falling out and the next day it was like 75 so I went and rode. The intensity is there, along with the mental toughness I once had in 2003 and 2004. IF I can get the weight down and maintain that, I should be okay. Right now I got a long way to go.

I did sign up for the Highlander, I'm not sure if I'll be fit enough to ride with the Eggman & Crew, but I won't be last either!

Today was a rest day after 3 hard days for me on the bike.

The plan is to take Wednesday off as well and then ride 4 hard hours on Thursday and rest on Friday. Saturday is another 4+ hour day. My friend from Sidney should be joining me so I don't know how hard I'll be going just depends on how I feel.

I held off on the HRM for now, at this point I'm too out of shape for it to matter.

Monday...

Rode 40 miles of flats today.

2,726 calories in 2 hr 28 min (40 miles at 16.2 mph)

Getting better. I definitely can tell I am not recovered. Tomorrow is a sit on my arse day!

Loving You Sunday Morning

Ride this morning was cold...a chilly 47 degrees and windy.

26 miles, 1hr 50 minutes @1695 calories burned. Watch out I'll set the land on fire near you!

Felt good on climb 1 and 2 after yesterday's effort. I rode to Lebanon because it was on the other side of the river and it was sunny. Got to Lebanon in 61 minutes.

Bonked with 7 miles to go. No warning, one pedal stroke was fine, the next was nothing. Never had it come on so quick, usually you get a little warning anyway. I had a power bar in my jersey but I was going home anyways.

Tomorrow is another day.

What a ride...

49 miles in 3 hr 25 min. yea yea yea, I know, a whopping 14.3mph.

Today was the first ride on the 27. The loop I ride starts @ Loveland City Hall and goes North on the bike trail. At the 4 mile mark there is a 1/3 mile climb (climb #1) to the right. It starts off real steep, then levels off, and then is steep again and even has a couple of mini switchbacks which is kinda cool. It dead ends into a field, so unless your crossin' it you have to turn around. I rode this entire climb sitting down.

I descend back to the bike trail and 2 more miles north there is another climb that is at least 1/3 mile (climb #2) if not a little more. It's not real steep except for 1 section but that's only like 40ft. long. It goes up into a neighborhood and I think some of these houses must cost 700k+. They are super sweet. I rode this entire climb sitting down.

Back down to the trail and about a mile north more it branches off into Lebanon which is only 5.2 miles in length. This trail is not like your ordinary bike trail. It's flat for like 1.8 miles then there is one big climb which is 1/2 mile long (climb #3) and then it's up and down and rolling all the way to the finish. I was in and out of the saddle and all over the place on this climb. I was way into the red, I knew my time was close and I was going for it.

Today I got to Lebanon in 57 minutes. Prior to that, my best time was 1 hour flat. Took off a full 3 minutes. I was happy about that and on a good day, for me at least. Coming back it's more downhill but still rolling and you can big ring it and put the power down. I don't have a computer on my bike but I know I was going 25 or more judging by gear and cadence.

When I got back to the entrance I went North some more. My original plan was to ride to Morrow and then go back but I ran into a rider from Sidney who got all his stuff @ Tipp Cyclery also so we chatted. He was going to Fort Ancient and he started in the same spot I did so we rode together. He was a older gentleman so we kept it around 16 or 17 for the most part. At that point I didn't care about speed anymore, I just wanted the time.

We got to Fort Ancient and he wanted to try the climb, his bike was setup for a triple with a 27 on the back so I said wtf. I got about 1/2 way up and I hear him crash behind me. He fell over. I felt bad for the guy. I turned around and we chatted some. He said it was super hard...:) He got his bearings and we went down to the bike trail.

I was out of water and I think he was starting to bonk and I knew Morrow was about 3 miles from where we were. He was going like 12. I told him to grab his bars tight and I pushed him. He said I picked the speed up to 22 or so and held it for about a mile before I swung off. Once I recovered some I kept us at 19-20 all the way to Morrow. There we filled up our water and ate a power bar.

I told him he should try climb #2 as that will suit him better. He got to the steep part and then walked and then rode all the way up to neighborhood once it leveled off. I think he can make it if he's a little fresher. We agreed that he should work on climbing climb #2 and when he can do that on a consistent basis to try climb #1. The key is to set realistic goals. I should listen to myself. Me doing highlander in 4 months...Hell YES!

We exchanged #'s, I told him I'm doing a 40 mile recovery ride tomorrow and no hills.

Sorry for all the words but I haven't felt that good on a bike in quite a long time...on a more positive note, calorie calculator says I burned 3254! Rock ON!!!

Update...The Return Of The Hammer!

Weight is now down to 222. I had a lot of riding that week on vacation, I rode about 120 miles and did some hill repeats. Though I was weaving like a drunk I made it to the top every time. And that was in a 12-23.

This morning I changed to my 27 and will be doing more hill repeats and hopefully have enough power to stay seated a lot of the climb except for the steep section. Uphill is still hard at 222.

I took off my computer and threw it away. Sometime this weekend I will order a HRM and just use that data to determine calories burned etc. Once I get my weight to 200 I'll get a computer again, and then see what I got to work on speed wise.

Though according to the online calorie calculators, my last ride was 3 hours and 5 minutes, and burned 2954 calories. Felt like I burned 10,000. I was wiped. That was Thursday. I took Friday off and I'll be back at it again on Saturday.