MudNCrud Forums
Out'n about... just not Climbing => Biking => Topic started by: F'ueco on March 23, 2009, 11:15:21 AM
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First long ride of the year is coming up on Saturday. The Solvang Double Century. It's one of the easier ones, but should be a good warmup for Devil Mountain three weeks later! I'm hoping for somewhere around 11:30 time-wise... :)
http://www.planetultra.com/solvang/index.html (http://www.planetultra.com/solvang/index.html)
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Looks fun but my Achilles started aching just thinking about it. I've noticed at about 150 miles my achille's tendon really starts to get sore, but I think a lot of that is I stay in aero 90%+ of my ride ;D
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Brief ride report:
1. I need to get ride of those Speedplay pedals for good! They are pure misery after 130 miles or so... Back to Crank Brothers or SPDs!
2. I haven't been riding enough! I actually felt tired around mile 175. :-*
3. The wildflowers are out in force down there! Poppies, lupines and others (including some really bright purple flowers I couldn't identify).
4. We had a good laugh at all the wheelsuckers that went by! We choose to do doubles without drafting (either riding side-by-side or far enough apart that we wouldn't be in the draft-zone specified by USA Triathlon (7 meters or so). But a lot of people just seem to go from paceline to paceline to make the day go by faster. They could at least take turns at the front!
5. The descent of Drum Canyon Road is perhaps the worst road I've been on during a long ride! I certainly wouldn't want to ride that at night! Which means that you'd have to finish in less than 14.5 hours if starting at 5:00AM...
6. I didn't get my second wind until mile 176, while ascending Drum Canyon Road!
7. That part of California is generally a great place to ride a bike!
8. For the tandem that went flying past me on the right: pass on the left, idiot!
9. Apparently, I'm not fully recovered from Ironman... But that's not enough of an excuse to justify slow riding!
10. To the idiots running around Motel 6 at midnight on Friday night. Do you not understand that people go to motels to sleep for the night? STFU!
All-in-all, not bad... 193 miles in 12:35. Next up is the Devil Mountain Double on April 18. :)
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2623770 (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2623770)
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Congratulations to both of you.
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Great job!
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4. We had a good laugh at all the wheelsuckers that went by! We choose to do doubles without drafting (either riding side-by-side or far enough apart that we wouldn't be in the draft-zone specified by USA Triathlon (7 meters or so). But a lot of people just seem to go from paceline to paceline to make the day go by faster. They could at least take turns at the front!
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Is that not how a double century is supposed to be ridden? I've never seen a century or double century, but I thought that's how everyone rides them -- if you are able to save energy by drafting, why work harder? I don't know... I can't draft yet.
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We are just using the doubles (at least the easier ones like Solvang!) for training for the harder ones and for the longer rides (drafting isn't allowed in UMCA sanctioned races like Furnace Creek 508 (which I'm signed up for) and Race Across Oregon (which Joan is doing)). In rides that hillier (DMD, Central Coast, Mount Tam), drafting isn't much of a help since there's so much climbing).
So, if you're training for 'no-drafting' races, not drafting is good for you! ;)
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My ride from the weekend:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3451/3396254579_baf96a035c_b.jpg)
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Nice looking profile there!
Were there any butterflies out by Monticello Dam(n)? When we rode through there last May, we got swarmed by thousands of them... Beautiful country though, and you must have had perfect weather!
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What are you using for a bicycle computer?
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Mud- I use a Garmin 305 with Cadence Sensor.
As for the butterflies, they are starting to show up. They weren't swarming but there were a lot of them around. I have seen them swarm like you describe and it is pretty cool.
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Roughster, I think the right question to ask is what software did you use to process the Garmin data? With milestones, location marks and all. It looks really cool!
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Here's the training ride for today. I don't have any fancy bike computers, but suffice it to say that this one has a bit a zigzag look in profile. 67 miles and about 3500 feet of climbing.
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/Fueco/routes/Picture5.png)
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Sorry Mud that's the product of good'ole fashioned copy/paste and merge of the Garmin Training Center. I typed in the names of the Summits/Low points to give people who are familiar with the area the general scope.
MB says there is actually over 7K of climbing (Elevation Gain (ft) +7,412 / -7,404). I don't know which is more accurate, but I can tell you there is a shitload of climbing and the biggest comes after 60 miles of pretty hard riding. On the map below, the climb starts at the sharp left on the (121) and doesn't really end until the next sharp left before the right turn off of the 121 (I rode the loop counter clockwise starting in Vacaville). Not too mention, I had a NASTY headwind all the way from Fairfield to Vacaville on the way back. This was done on Sunday aka Temperature (°F) 64.4°F avg. 66.2°F high Wind Speed ( mph) N 19.5 avg. N 25.3 max.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/3405670753_d1730d6579_o.jpg)
Fueco, your ride looks pretty sweet as well. My next big ride will be a similar loop as the one above except I will go all the way around Berryessa and pick up the (29) to Middletown down into Calistoga then back down the Silverado Trail, back up Monticello (121) then Manka's Corner to Vacaville. I probably wont do it though till after IM CDA. Not worth the possible injury / muscle fatigue it will cause. I expect it to be close to 120 -150 miles or so and 10k+ climbing.
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Saturday's ride was a fairly standard long ride for Joan and me. We started off a bit after 8:00 and picked up Sean and Rob at The Bike Outfitters. Then we headed up to Page Mill, and up that to the top.
From there, Rob left us since he was going to do a "brick workout" at Rancho (for those that aren't hip to tri-geek terms, that's a run immediately after a long ride). The rest of us headed down Alpine Road and up and over Haskins Hill into Pescadero. From there, we headed north through San Gregorio and up to Tunitas Creek. From the top, we went over to 84 and down into Woodside. Here, Sean split off because he was starting to feel too tired; so Joan and I headed up Canada Road a bit to make sure that our total mileage would be at least a hundred miles (turnaround was a bit past Edgewood). We then headed back via the Portola Loop and Foothill and back home. Good times!
Total mileage was 100.85 miles with nearly 8000 feet of climbing. I don't have a profile view, but picture two big climbs (Page Mill and Tunitas Creek) with some smaller ones between (Haskins Hill, Stage Road (three separate climbs); along with some rollers at the beginning and end. A truly great ride!
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/Fueco/routes/040409.png)
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This past Saturday was the big one for the spring. The Devil Mountain Double, yet again. How did I talk myself into doing that one again? Why did I remember the later climbs as being easy? And just how did I make it up Sierra last year without walking?
I suffered fiercely this time around. The good part was that I rode with Joan from the lunch stop to the end. At least that helped keep my sanity intact!
The total time was 18:22, 24 minutes slower than last year. But at least now I really don't have to do the ride again... ;)
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/Fueco/routes/dmd.jpg)
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Gee, 18+ hours! Insane. Good job!
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Proud, it was hot this weekend.
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And now that I've recovered, I'm ready for more...
This weekend will be an easy ride (60 miles or so). And then next weekend will be the Davis 24-Hour challenge. Should be a fun way to celebrate my birthday (and Joan's). :)
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happy bday and good luck.
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Oh yeah, that was fun! ;)
12 hours in the rain. Neither Joan nor I fancied the thought of riding for another 12 hours... 162.5 miles, in the rain. Quite the way to spend a birthday!
http://www.deitchman.net/blog/ (http://www.deitchman.net/blog/)
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I hear you on that one F'uceo. I rode the Napa Tour de Cure yesterday. Had a solid rain being driven by a nasty windy for the 1st half of the ride. It sucked beyond just the conditions because it forced me to take my road bike, can't risk the P3 in that muck :P
Overall it was a great ride, and it was my 1st outright win for a century. The next nearest century participant was a good 10 minutes behind me. Considering everything, wind, rain, unfamiliarity of the course, road bike, etc... I wasn't too displeased. I actually came in under 5 hours, but as usual forgot to hit the stop on the gps until I rode up to my truck.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3500425321_24b43e18b0_o.jpg)
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Roughster,
Congratulations.
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Crazy!!!
I would love to ride a 5 hour century! I think my fastest was in the 5:30 range (during Ironman). Perhaps one of these days I'll actually ride a straight century for time. ;)
I hear you on that one F'uceo. I rode the Napa Tour de Cure yesterday. Had a solid rain being driven by a nasty windy for the 1st half of the ride. It sucked beyond just the conditions because it forced me to take my road bike, can't risk the P3 in that muck :P
Overall it was a great ride, and it was my 1st outright win for a century. The next nearest century participant was a good 10 minutes behind me. Considering everything, wind, rain, unfamiliarity of the course, road bike, etc... I wasn't too displeased. I actually came in under 5 hours, but as usual forgot to hit the stop on the gps until I rode up to my truck.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3500425321_24b43e18b0_o.jpg)
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just going thru the bike stuff today and came across this...
the 121
someone's been living in So Cal
;D
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someone's been living in So Cal
Guilty as charged! ;D
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Yesterday was my birthday so I decided to ride a century, however, to a add a bit of spice to it I did it on a work day.
At first light I took off and got in 19 miles. Great sunrise, nice temperature and no wind made it a perfect start. Got to work in time and was the first teacher out of the parking lot, which is a hard thing to do, at the end of the day.
The wind kicked up and by the time I got on my bike to make the next 81 miles. There was a constant wind at 10-20 mph, most of the time at 15+. Most of the time it was a crosswind but that still wears on me. Near the end of my windy battle I saw I had enough day light left so I decided to add a couple miles so I would do a total 2 miles per year. So for my 51st I got in 102 miles. The best part of the ride was when my wife drove my kids by to I could trade out my water bottles and take on a couple of snacks, without stopping, from the car using a Rock Racing musette bags, we got at the Tour of California earlier this year. The kids got a kick out of that.
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US Congrats keep it rollin
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Good times, eh?
I rode all of 15 miles today and felt incredibly sluggish. To be fair though, I'm a bit under the weather and still recovering from Saturday. I'm allergic to something in the air!
Saturday was the Central Coast Double, which turned out to be my second slowest double yet (the only slower one was this year's Devil Mountain Double). I was plagued by foot problems (this was the last straw. I'm switching back to my old shoe/pedal combo until I can figure out how to make the Genius 5.5s work for me!) and a few mechanical annoyances (a flat, and a creaky bottom bracket -imagine that after riding 162+ miles in the rain the previous weekend!).
I felt good at times, but the rest of the time I was just in pain. I ended up swapping pedals and shoes with my dad at mile 150 (he had been sagged out from a previous checkpoint), so I rode the last 70 miles in mountain bike Sidis with Crank Brothers pedals. Much better!
Long story short... 18:05 is far too long for a ride that took 15:45 last year! :o
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I did the Mount Tam Double Century yesterday...
Except for a lot of rough roads and a few rude cyclists/drivers; the day went really well. This ride has a little more climbing than Central Coast, but the weather was so much better that it made the miles fly by!
I got to ride with my friend Josh for a while around miles 50-65; and later rode with my friend Jason and his posse for most of the second half of the ride. The best comment came from Alfie, who was amazed that I was pulling some wheelsucker along at 22 MPH into a headwind at about mile 150 ("That was amazing!").
The MTD is one of the better organized doubles out there, and the route is nice except for the bad stretches of road. Descending rutted asphalt at mile 180 is just plain cruel!
When I get to it, I'll post a full race report. My total time was 14:34, which is nearly two hours faster than when I did the ride in 2007 (16:30). Good times!
Joan also finished, but had similar issues as during RAO. Her back started hurting around mile 100. She came in about 50 minutes after I did...
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/Fueco/routes/mounttamdouble.jpg)
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Cool looking loop. Congrats to both of you. Hope Joans back gets to feeling better. Look forward to the TR.
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Check out my blog for the full report on the Mount Tam Double...
http://www.deitchman.net/blog/ (http://www.deitchman.net/blog/)
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Bass Lake Powerhouse Double done... ;D
Much suffering as a result of soreness from last weekend. But I made it. More details to follow...