Epic Weekend Ride #3 - Prelim.
I’m back. Here’s the quick and dirty...details to come after I wash the eight layers of grime off of myself, and figure out just how jacked up these tan lines really are.
1. I’m unkilled by the heat, which actually wasn’t that bad. Right now it’s 88 degrees though, so I’m very glad I’m done.
2. My Profile seat-post drink system is going back on my bike, I ran out of everything on mile 40, yeah, not fun.
3. There were about eight of us riding, 6 of the seven guys had their Justice League Junior membership cards with them, which was just fabulous for them. Not so fabulous for me. For the longest time we were averaging 22-24 mph and I totally wanted to die.
4. Several of them had done Ironman Wisconsin already, and told me that the hills we were riding were nothing in comparison. Gulp. There was one hill that I had to stand up and pedal in my granny gear to the top of (so did they though, so I didn’t feel like too big of a wuss). On every hill I asked them, are these what the hills are like in Wisonsin? they smirked and said, ahh, no. When I asked them about the hill that about busted my granny gear, they said, “well, that one was close.”
CLOSE!??
Aggggghhhhhhh!
5. By the time all was said and done, my fasted speed on the most awesome down hill ever was 37.6 mph. Fast is fun boys and girls. Up one of the evil hills my slowest pace was 6 mph. O M G. I said many, many, many bad things.
6. Overall, we rode 60 miles in just under three-and-a-half hours. Average speed 17.5 mph. I wouldn’t have pulled that pace by myself, no way on those rollers for that far.
Three months…man, do I have a lot of freakin’ work to do.
1. I’m unkilled by the heat, which actually wasn’t that bad. Right now it’s 88 degrees though, so I’m very glad I’m done.
2. My Profile seat-post drink system is going back on my bike, I ran out of everything on mile 40, yeah, not fun.
3. There were about eight of us riding, 6 of the seven guys had their Justice League Junior membership cards with them, which was just fabulous for them. Not so fabulous for me. For the longest time we were averaging 22-24 mph and I totally wanted to die.
4. Several of them had done Ironman Wisconsin already, and told me that the hills we were riding were nothing in comparison. Gulp. There was one hill that I had to stand up and pedal in my granny gear to the top of (so did they though, so I didn’t feel like too big of a wuss). On every hill I asked them, are these what the hills are like in Wisonsin? they smirked and said, ahh, no. When I asked them about the hill that about busted my granny gear, they said, “well, that one was close.”
CLOSE!??
Aggggghhhhhhh!
5. By the time all was said and done, my fasted speed on the most awesome down hill ever was 37.6 mph. Fast is fun boys and girls. Up one of the evil hills my slowest pace was 6 mph. O M G. I said many, many, many bad things.
6. Overall, we rode 60 miles in just under three-and-a-half hours. Average speed 17.5 mph. I wouldn’t have pulled that pace by myself, no way on those rollers for that far.
Three months…man, do I have a lot of freakin’ work to do.
posted by Wil at 1:29 PM
16 Comments:
Don't let them scare you too bad. The hills aren't really steep per se. They're just a little on the longer side.
Lots of rolling terrain. Three longer hills. I wouldn't really call them climbs, but they do take probably a few minutes to get up.
That said, I'm glad I have a 27 tooth gear on my cassette and compact cranks. :)
Wow, epic ride indeed. That puts my little 12 miler this morning to shame!
^^^27 with a compact???
wil, don't let the hills scare you. they're just flat roads that point up a little!
try not to stand on climbs when you're training. staying in the saddle will help you build more power.
you'll get there!
Riding with others can push you to be better. You are gonna be GREAT!
To me, that sounds like a great group ride and a good pace too.
Sounds like a fun time Wil.
So, tell everyone about your nutrition in detail for the rides. I love that part
Sounds like you're doing good to me.
Wil:
Hills are just part of the game. And the best way to approach them (especially longer, more drawn-out hills) is just to find your pace and settle in. Most importantly: don't blow yourself up in the first throes of the hill. This is something that you learn if you live in an area with long, sustained hills (like Utah, where I grew up), but is tough to instill in folks who train in areas with hills of smaller length.
A good thing to do would be to watch some video from the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia and see how the top climbers (Armstrong, Basso, Pantani, Hamilton, Vinokourov, Hampsten, Simeoni, Vaughters, Leipheimer, Landis) do the hills. While many of them stand for a while, the best of 'em also know how to get a good spin going in the saddle. They go for a higher cadence and spin up the hill as much as they can. It's much, much more efficient than standing, which tends to raise your heart rate and can blow you up if you're not used to doing a "stand-and-dance" spin.
And the speed today was high - wow! I'm glad you were able to hang with 'em, but it sounds like it was outside your current "ideal-plus-one" zone. If anything, your training partners might not have been tuned into your needs, but that's hard to say.` But it's also good that you trained with a group that's a bit above your current level. As mentioned earlier, it's a good way to improve and to gague your current fitness level.
But hey: you survived, you've learned, and the bike didn't beat you!
Keep up the training, Your going to rock the Ironman. Don't let those guys freak you out. You will kick butt on the hills when you get there.
Wil,
It sounds to me the ride threw all it had at you and you handled it just fine. Keep working, working, working.
Stay tuned...
Wil, they are just playing with your head!
You did a great job!
Awesome ride! I'm out here in your neck of the woods this weekend for a wedding and will be checking out the Steelhead routes while I'm here. Should be fun!
Wil, your Justice League membership card and tatoo kit has been shipped and will arrive via fedex on Monday. You can cover your jacked up tan lines with your skin tight, form-fitting neoprene super tri-Chica wetsuitwhich I have not saved in "my pictures" (lead me not into temptation).
One hill at a time, one ride at a time. Training is challenging enough without riding IMWI every time Apollo takes you out.
Hey Wil - I was on-course this weekend and, um, yeah. The hills are hard.
Encouragement aside, they're something to prepare for. Go to a compact crank if you can (thank God I did) - 27-12 is beautiful. No point obsessing or worrying about anything - train on hills whenever possible (of course), but at the end of the day just keep your legs and heart strong for the marathon. You know. Ironman 101.
x
Weel since you are going to be on the course before race day, I say do not worry about the hills till you see them for yourselves. Repeat after me: I fear no hill.
I'm with J^
Stay in your saddle as much as possible on the climbs...it conserves energy and makes you much stronger.
27 with a compact....Chris...we need to talk ;)
Wow! Sounds like you did great! You are very brave to venture out with those guys like that.
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