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SO WRONG

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I was looking at my calendar and scheduling some events for February when I realized that my penultimate ultra-century ride (136 miles, if you must know) is set for Saturday February 14, a.k.a., Valentine’s Day.  OF COURSE it would be.  While this fact will probably make my SAT jump for joy (“oh yay!!!!  I get to ride my bike with my sweetie on Valentine’s Day!!!!  We get to do a long, long, long bike ride!!!!), that same fact makes me cringe inside (“how typical that something that will hurt me mentally and physically occurs on the day that most normal people celebrate love”).  I am so grateful that February is a short month and that it is NOT a leap year this year.

grumpyvalentine

Sufferfest

~ reluctantroadie ~ 3 Comments

The title of this blog post does not refer to each and every single bike ride I endure.  It refers to the local “fun” event held yesterday by a very generous businessman/avid cyclist.  Over the past 10 years, he has sponsored 3 long and painful rides each year, appropriately named Sufferfest I, II, or III.  Each year, the Sufferfest I ride (what I braved yesterday) consists of 2 Red Rock Canyon scenic loops, 1 climb up Potosi, then back to the Red Rock loop for a third torturous circuit.  Anyone who has ever cycled the Red Rock loop knows that the first 5 miles = pure climbing; it is a 13.1 mile one-way road that begins with a 1000 foot climb….then retreats a little bit, then ascends again, topping out just before mile 5, after which the road descends and cyclists joyfully ride downhill….then at mile 7, you hit a “wall,” which basically feels like you’ve run into a brick wall.  After that, though, it’s pretty much downhill to the end.  Imagine doing that loop once.   Now imagine doing that twice in a row.  Then you ride up to the Potosi summit, which is a 9.5 mile ascent that gains just over 2200 feet in elevation.  Yuck.  Then you zip back down to do ANOTHER RR loop.  Then you collapse.

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(Cool photo that a friend took during his hike in Red Rock Canyon!  This is during the third and final RR loop.  I am at the back and my SAT is in front.)

Honestly, I was dreading this event.  Some people ENJOY putting themselves through VOLUNTARY PAIN for HOURS on end.  SAT, this means YOU and your like-minded sickos that you call “friends.”  I started out slowly, as I usually do, and my SAT was with me the entire time, sometimes chatting with another unwitting cycling victim, sometimes pushing me uphill (literally….he wanted me to experience a “friendly boost” whilst on the saddle).  The first loop was fine, the second was a bit more difficult, Potosi was hard (but I managed to dig up some extra energy and sprint the last 50 yards to the top only to get that dumb climb finished!), and the last loop was awful.  I didn’t eat enough during the day and “bonked” (totally depleted of glycogen/energy, felt lightheaded, had tunnel vision and slurred words….basically, I felt like I was drunk).  The good thing about bonking this time compared to the last time (which was a few months ago, I believe) was that I recovered much faster.  I guess I can attribute my quicker recovery time to all this training I’ve been doing.

IMG_0910(Do I look like I’m having fun?)

There were specifically three cool things about Sufferfest yesterday: 1) I wasn’t the slowest one!, 2) the free food and support, and 3) the pig-out fest my SAT and I enjoyed after the ride.  (Burgers and bottomless fries at Red Robin.  They disappeared fast!)  Ok, maybe I have a *teeny tiny* sense of pride in accomplishing something I never thought I would do.

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(Cyclists at the last aid station at the top of the RR loop climb.)

SufferfestScreenshot(Screenshot of my Suffering.)

As my SAT kept reminding me, the group of cyclists who tackled Sufferfest I yesterday is a select group and being on the slower end of the spectrum is still pretty strong.  There were about 50 cyclists who signed up for the whole ride, but at the end of the day, only about 10 finished.   Most people already knew they would only do 1 or 2 loops, then go home and do something fun.  A fair number of people were deterred by the threat of rain and didn’t bother showing up (it didn’t rain).  Because I actually finished the whole thing, I will get a (free!) t-shirt commemorating the event.  My SAT thinks I’ll be doing Sufferfest II and III with him.

grumpycatNO

Progress

~ reluctantroadie ~ Leave a comment

Week 13 of 16. The mandated number of miles this week is frighteningly high. 282 miles. That is almost the same number of miles from my home to Phoenix, AZ (according to Google Maps). I never thought that I would ever voluntarily train for an athletic event of any sort and here I am talking about mileage, speed, interval training, and pain. CRAZY. Have I noticed anything during the weeks of training I have so far endured? Well, let me attempt to quantify my findings:

1) I am complaining less. At least out loud. (Does complaining in the form of the written/typed word count, such as this blog?)
2) I like my cute cycling socks, cute helmet, cute shoes, and really cool sport shield sunglasses. I will post a pic of my new shield sunglasses in a separate blog post very soon.
3) I can bike longer whilst listening to podcasts, i.e., educational distractions.
4) I am learning various bits of information and trivia whilst riding (see “podcasts,” point #3). For example, did you know that there is a law against dying in the Houses of Parliament in Britain? This is partly due to the British government’s desire to save money on state funerals; members of Parliament are considered important enough to warrant state funerals, but the expense of having one is great enough to pass a law banning MP’s from expiring whilst Parliament is in session. Frankly, I’d probably expire from boredom, but that is an entirely different thing altogether.
4) I am eating a lot more junk food (and more food in general) during this training period without (much) guilt. I have eaten more french fries during the past couple of months than during the past 10 years.
5) Yes, I admit, I AM getting stronger and faster. Well, at least I am pushing myself harder once in a while. It is kind of cool that I have concrete evidence attesting to my increasing speed and “prowess” on the road bike via Strava (a social media site for cyclists and runners where one can upload data from one’s cycling/running computer and share training progress). For instance, today, I biked the Red Rock Scenic Loop (again) and got another personal record (PR), breaking the PR I got last week for doing the loop. I was quite surprised because I didn’t feel like I was going particularly fast today.

At this point, I’m still not certain if I’m going to take a (long) hiatus from the bike after the double century. I expect that I will decrease the mileage considerably, unless my SAT spikes my water/food with mind and mood altering substances that will influence me to continue riding long distances whilst thinking it is my own idea to do so. (Mental note: guard my liquids and foods.) I am a little surprised and yes, even impressed, that I’ve adhered to my training schedule THIS LONG. The proverbial light at the end of the (training) tunnel is but a minuscule glimmer at this point….but the fact that I can sense that shimmer of light every few days is heartening.

There is always someone crazier….

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My SAT told me about a guy who rode across the country on a unicycle way back in 1981. Many people think riding a bicycle across the country is crazy. I can’t imagine doing that same feat on 1 wheel. (However, the abs one would obtain whilst riding a unicycle would be amazing due to all that core work! But that is NOT a good enough reason for me to acquire a new hobby, thank you very much.)

The reason for this post: my SAT just asked me if I would unicycle across the country with him someday. Guess what my answer was? Wait for it….

….NO.

(I mean, really? Does my SAT not know me by now?)

Throwback Thursday: Red Rock Scenic Loop

~ reluctantroadie ~ 7 Comments

I was looking through some old photos on my computer a couple of days ago and I came across a few pictures and a video of my first ever road bike ride.  In honor of “Throwback Thursday,” I am publishing said video.  Since I currently have a free wordpress account and not a fancy premium one, I don’t have enough space to upload a video directly in this blog.  So, dear readers, please click here to view the video on youtube.  You will note that I am not saying much in the video.  This is for obvious reasons:

  1. the Red Rock loop is full of climbing (i.e., it is hard!).
  2. I am annoyed at SAT for recording me in my hour of pain.
  3. I am annoyed at SAT for talking, laughing, and just generally being annoying.
  4. I am annoyed.

You may also note that I am wearing sneakers instead of bike shoes that clip into the pedals; this is, again, for the obvious reason that I would have fallen on my face and broken my neck had I had “clip-in” style shoes and pedals.  I had enough trouble maneuvering my bike up and around and down that darned loop.

So, there you go.  Digital proof of how I was tortured during my introduction to the sport of road cycling.  Sigh.

iSore

~ reluctantroadie ~ 4 Comments

(This is a long post.  You are forewarned!)

This weekend featured 2 new “firsts” for me, plus a return to my “last-resort” method of training: indoor bike.  So many words, so little time, so let’s begin!

Yesterday, my SAT and I embarked on a new type of adventure: the multi-disciplinary outdoor fest.  We decided to hike up Bridge Mountain, which is one of the most popular and beautiful hikes in southern Nevada and is situated in Red Rock Canyon.  Most people who climb Bridge Mountain drive their high-clearance vehicle (HCV) up the 5 mile gravel road to the trailhead.  That gravel road is appropriately named Rocky Gap Road, for it is indeed VERY rocky.  I am not sure which is faster: driving up the road or hiking up the road.  There are many sharp twists and turns along the narrow road that necessitate good driving skills, a cool head, and patience (for high speeds are well nigh impossible).  I was eager for my SAT to hike Bridge Mountain because I knew from personal experience how fun of a climb it is.  Along the way to the summit, one will see the rocks change color from grey (limestone) to red and cream (sandstone).  There is also a hidden forest near the summit as well as a beautiful stone bridge or arch (thus, the name “Bridge Mountain”).

Whilst discussing the idea of hiking Bridge Mountain, my SAT smirked and suggested that we do Bridge the “correct” way: (mountain) bike up Rocky Gap Road, hide our bikes at the trailhead, then hike up.

“It’ll be SO much faster going down Rocky Gap on our bikes and besides, we have to do this the proper way,” my SAT declared.

“Proper according to whom?” I inquired.

“To anyone hard-core,” he asserted.

“How long do you think this will take?”  I asked.

“Let’s say 2 hours….wait, no, probably more like 1.5 hours for you,” he calculated.

Oh joy.  A 5 mile mountain bike climb, which is something I rarely do, for almost 2 hours.  To add incentive, my SAT invited a friend (Mike) to join us who knows the route up to Bridge AND who is even less experienced than me on the mountain bike.  I reluctantly agreed to this endeavour and yesterday morning, we got on our bikes and started pedaling up the rock and boulder strewn road.

Honestly, that was one of the hardest things I’ve done on the bike.  My lack of expertise on the mountain bike was most evident when I had to negotiate my way uphill through rocks and gravel.  I was going so slowly that I lost my balance (and patience) several times.  All the while I was huffing, puffing, and fearing for my cardiovascular health, my SAT was smiling, laughing, and doling out words of encouragement.

“Pedal HARDER!”….”Why are you just standing there?”….”GET BACK ON YOUR BIKE.”

(Ok, he DID say some nice things too, like how well I was doing and how far I’ve come.  Of course, my state of mind during the entire climb was such that I decided that SAT now stood for “Sadistic Apathetic Trainer.”  I think the word “sadistic” is apparent enough; the “apathetic” was my adjective to describe his attitude to my pain during the climb).

Mike wasn’t saying much either on the bike ride up the climb and had to admit he did not make HIS wife do things like my SAT was making me do.  Take note, my SAT.

We finally got up to the trailhead, heaved in as much oxygen as we could, then stashed our bikes off the trailhead:

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The hike up to the top of Bridge Mountain was beautiful.  Perfect temperature and gorgeous views.

IMG_9522(Our goal!)

IMG_9548(My SAT and I on top of the bridge.)

The ride down Rocky Gap Road went much faster than the climb (obviously!), but I still had to brake most of the way down, as I kept on gaining speed when I wanted to go slower over the rocks and boulders in my way.  However, we all made it down safely and before the sun set.

IMG_9558(SO HAPPY to be DONE.)

In contrast to yesterday’s beautiful weather, today was quite rainy and cold.  I still had a considerable number of miles to ride for the week and it wasn’t looking good for a long ride today.  Despite my lack of adequate rainy weather gear, my SAT and I set out for a bike ride anyway.  We were only a few miles into the ride when we both decided to turn around and go home for the following reasons: 1) every time we turned a corner, our tires would direct streams of water into our shoes.  Cold, wet feet do not a comfortable ride make.  2) My saddle (seat) is one of those fancy cut-out ones to alleviate pressure.  While I cycled, water from the wheels would splash up the cut-out and onto my butt area, making my cycling pants feel like a spandex sponge.  I could feel myself squeezing water out of my chamois (the padded part of my cycling pants) whilst sitting and rotating my posterior during each pedal stroke.  3) It was just plain cold and miserable.

We arrived home and immediately shed our sodden clothing.  I resigned myself to a long session on the indoor bike in the gym.  Better than nothing, I suppose.  I hope tomorrow is a sunnier, drier day!

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(Just arrived home and not impressed with the precipitation.)

It takes a village….

~ reluctantroadie ~ 2 Comments

Happy New Year, my devoted readers!  😉  I hope that you all enjoyed the magic of the Christmas season with food, folks, and fun.  As outlined in my last blog post, I have been riding more with other people and that has made my suffering, er, training, more bearable and even enjoyable.  I did my first group ride in Death Valley on the weekend – without my SAT! – and it was a lovely day getting to know new people and seeing scenery from a different perspective (I’ve been to Death Valley before, but only by car).  We started cycling from Furnace Creek and that ride was the first time my Garmin cycle computer registered a negative elevation:

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Here is a pic of the desert in Death Valley between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells:

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Another variable I introduced into my training regime was the podcast.  Amazing!  I downloaded a whole bunch of podcasts onto my phone and have been enjoying various shows and stories on topics ranging from current events, the history of cinnamon, and pop culture quizzes.  One trivia gem I learned whilst listening to a podcast: when pooping, dogs align their bodies so that their head faces north and their bottoms face south.  Moral: when hiking or going into the woods, always take a dog with you!  I’ve found that the miles fly by when I listen to interesting facts and anecdotes, which is both encouraging (“I’ve already biked 20 miles!”) and entertaining (“I wonder if humans align themselves in the same way as dogs when relieving themselves outdoors….”).  Ah yes, the lofty and philosophical questions of life with which I occupy myself during a bike ride!

Burnout and Interval Training

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Happy Christmas week!  I hope that all of you are enjoying your respective holidays and partaking in as much holiday food and drink you can endure.  Last week was memorable in a number of ways, including, but not limited to quality time with family, eating/drinking/cooking/baking/repeat, and burnout.  Ah yes, it was inevitable: too much alone time on the bike equals burnout.  I wasn’t riding my bike with friends and I was trying to adhere to my dang training schedule all by myself.  I had a chat with my SAT last week, who reminded me (again and again) how imperative it was to ride WITH OTHER PEOPLE.  He suggested that I take the rest of the week off in order to clear my head and take advantage of the time with our visiting family, then reassess how I feel about riding.  Well, since I’m not totally stubborn (insert SAT’s rollicking laughter), I took that advice and merrily went about enjoying the rest of the week bike-free.

Yesterday, I felt rested enough and fresh enough mentally to restart my training regime with two friends.  We went on a nice ride together (37 miles, to be exact) and I came back home refreshed and….smiling.  Shocking, isn’t it?  Today, those same friends and I did some interval training.  What is that?  Basically, interval training can be described as short periods of work followed by rest.  The main aim is to improve speed and cardiovascular fitness.  We followed a route that consisted of 10 short climbs; we started by coasting down the first hill, then climbed up the next one as quickly as we could….then we coasted down the next hill, then climbed up the next hill as fast as we could….and so on and so forth.  Here is what that looked like:

1stIntervalTraining

Since today was a cold and windy day, the hill sprints were very effective in warming us up.  Once in a while during those hill sprints, I imagined my SAT chirping encouragement to me.  I’m still not sure if that inspired me or annoyed me.

SAT

Tomorrow will be my rest day, mainly because I have plans to go hiking with some friends.  Have a safe New Year’s celebration and see you in ’15!

This sums it ALL up.

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My SAT and I went for a ride today.  We rode almost 50 miles.  Quote of the day and perhaps, of this entire training experiment:

SAT: It’s a dream come true to ride my bike with you!

Me: Funny how we have such different perspectives on the same activity.

—~~~End quote~~~—

Rain, rain, rain

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The past week has been gray, cloudy, and rainy.  If I were typing this from the Pacific Northwest, that statement would mean nothing, as most days would be gray, cloudy, and rainy.  However, I live in the desert and I am accustomed to enjoying dry, sunny days and being the envy of my friends and family around the country.  It is not surprising, then, that I have felt lethargic, fat, and old this week. My cycling has been less-than-inspired and I would rather do almost anything than get my butt on my bike.  I suppose I can try to see this as a life lesson: perseverance will lead to success in whatever endeavour I choose  to pursue.  Case in point: I just tested for my first degree black belt in taekwondo this weekend and am pretty proud of that accomplishment.  That took three years of consistent effort and energy, despite how I felt on any given day.  Now I can enjoy the fact that I’ve attained a certain level of competency in that martial art.

spar

(Some days, I think I would enjoy cycling more if I could punch it.)

Eye on the prize, even though I don’t always enjoy the process.  On a brighter note, raising my handlebars a wee bit has greatly helped my sore neck and shoulders.  I still have soreness in those areas, but it’s definitely more manageable and does not occur in the first hour of riding.  I may have to get a shorter stem and get my handlebars raised even more, but for now, I’ll continue observing my body while I ride my bike with this new measurement in place.

Thoughts

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I’m approaching the end of my third week of training and I’m currently wondering if I can actually do this.  Some days have been easy to get on that bike and pedal, while other days have proven to be more difficult.  I still don’t LOVE riding my bike, although I like the IDEA of doing something as big as a double century.  (I do enjoy the massive amounts of food I can eat without guilt!)  One factor that is leeching out any joy in riding my bike is the neck and shoulder pain I am constantly experiencing.  Typically, I feel pain about an hour into any ride.  I’ve been stretching on and off the bike and starting to research solutions; so far, the most obvious solution is to figure out if my bike fits me correctly.  My SAT and I will probably get me to a professional bike fitter in order to see if I am correctly aligned and pedaling efficiently.  If I feel pain an hour into a ride, I can’t imagine what I’d feel like after 15, 16, or 17 hours (my projected time for completing a double century).

That is a painful thought.  So….let me think about something more fun.  I was going to post another “Throwback Thursday” article yesterday, but got distracted by work and other stuff.  Better late than never, right?  A handful of years ago, my SAT and I were in London and when I researched online for things to do, I found a bike tour company that seemed fun.  I booked our bikes and we enjoyed a really cool tour of the main tourist attractions while getting a bit of exercise.  It was fun to see the tour buses get caught up in traffic while we rode around obstacles and accessed places the buses couldn’t go because of their size.  🙂  The bikes we rode were these big, cushy cruisers and since our route was pretty flat, the biking was easy.  It’s funny for me to think back on my past and recall more bike moments than I remember having!

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(Photo 1: me on my bike.  Photo 2: trying to run through the wall to get to Platform 9 3/4 in order to catch the train to Hogwarts and see Harry Potter!)

Throwback Thursday

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Since it is Thursday, I thought I’d post a few pictures of bikes from my past in honor of “Throwback Thursday” (a.k.a., #tbt on the internet!).  During our long ride in Yuma last weekend, my SAT and I were sharing stories of our first bikes and describing those wondrous pieces of machinery that got us around in style in our respective formative years.  The first bike I owned was a pretty nifty blue BMX that I rode everywhere (I know this because my bike sported “BMX” on the frame).  I didn’t go fast, but oh, the independence that I flaunted whilst pedalling that blue BMX!

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(Blurry, but it gets the point across.  I think I was about 6 years old here.)

I graduated to a white, girls’ bike that accommodated my growing height and girth.  Perhaps not as cool as my BMX, the white bike more than did its job in getting me from point A to point B.  I remember being quite fond of the front reflector, for some strange reason (maybe because I have a penchant for shiny things?).

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(I had no sense of style back then.  Please excuse that!  I think I’m 8-9 years old here.)

When I turned 10, my big birthday gift was a 10-speed Raleigh.  I can’t find any pictures of it, either online or in my photo albums, but rest assured that I was darn proud of it and rode that adult bike like the big kid I was.  I had that bike for years.  My first real adult bike was one my mom gave me; she had a CCM (Canadian low-end brand) ladies’ mountain bike that she sort of-kind of-not really learned to ride.  She eventually got fed up with her lack of skills, so she gave it to me.  Again, I can’t find a photo of that bike, but here is a similar one from the Canadian Tire website (current retail price is $199.99 CDN):

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(The above is a photo I took with my phone of the website.  I don’t have the technological know-how to do anything fancier than that.)

My first “nice” bike was a 1996 Norco “Tango” (Canadian brand) and according to bikepedia.com, it weighed 25.1 pounds/11.4 kg.  It felt pretty light at the time!  I had the 15″ frame (smallest one), which fit me really well, and rode that bike to (grad) school for many years. Click on this link for all the specifications.

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(Going to class!)

There you go.  That is my bike history.  It was a fun little jaunt down memory lane and it’s amazing to see how far bike technology has come over my lifetime!  Readers: what bike stories do you have?

Food, glorious food

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pig-icecream

Four things make biking difficult for me: 1) Wind advisory headwind.  2) Extended  climbing.  3) Not eating enough food.  4) Gray, cloudy, overcast days.  I recently experienced 1 and 2 in my little bike tour a couple of weekends ago and lived to tell the tale.  Today, I was a victim of 3 and 4.  The only thing I ate was my normal breakfast (oatmeal with raisins and soy milk).  Many trainers, including my SAT, can not emphasize the importance of eating often and enough before, during, and after a ride.  I thought that I could get away with not eating more this morning because I wasn’t planning on a big ride (only 15 miles today).  Halfway into the ride, I was starting to feel slow, fat, and lethargic.  Overcast days don’t sit well with me; living in the desert has certainly spoiled me with sunny days almost every day!  I’ve noticed that cloudy days dampen my mood and lower my energy.  In any case, I felt “blah” and was very happy to arrive home (and eat something!).

I think I need to revamp my food intake.

Wow, it’s flat here!

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I got to ride in Yuma, AZ this morning for the first time ever and it’s super flat.  I’ve never ridden almost 10 miles in less than 30 minutes before; that’s right, SuperCyclist = Me!  My SAT and I are here in AZ to visit my parents for the T-day weekend and since I’m not planning on stopping my training, we brought our bikes along for the trip.

The weather today is great: sunny, warm (hit a high of 70F/20C when we finished our ride), and not too windy.  We had a great little tailwind on the way out (“I am invincible!  I am amazing!”) that we had to pay back going home (“What is this madness?”).  Stopped for a few photos of the big sky and an expired tarantula (my SAT wanted me to pose with my face beside it, but I was too creeped out by its bent, hairy legs and the ants feasting on its sad carcass to indulge my SAT’s ridiculous request).

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Photo 1: Big sky.  Photo 2: Creepy crawly carcass.  My shoe provides perspective. Photo 3: Dorkiness personified.

Tomorrow, we may actually ride to the US/Mexican border.  That would be kind of cool.  And yes, in case any of you were wondering, I enjoyed my ride today!  That’s TWO rides in a row.  Of course, cycling on flats is a novelty for me and hitting an average speed of 22-23 mph is unheard of, at least for yours truly!