Tag Archives: Roadie

Short ride out to give the new gear a whirl

October 18, 2011 01:26 ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

Quick ride out to test the new saddle, helmet, Edge 500 and changes to bike setup….

First 5 miles as I was warming up were pretty harsh in full on heavy headwinds and crosswinds. Bike felt great though. Will reserve judgement on the saddle until I do some longer rides and get used to it, but initial impressions are positive (though before I went out I made some adjustments to the bike that could have had just as big an impact if not more – flipped the stem up, saddle height up 5mm and saddle back 10mm).

Nice touch that the Edge 500 comes with an extra mount, now positioned on the R800 I’m prepping as the winter steed…

Heres the route I took today. Spent most of the second hard down on the drops, pushing pretty hard:


As you can see the Edge 500 worked well, and it was great not having to keep looking at my wrist for HR data.

I’ll write more about these new bits and bobs when I’m back from holiday and can put some miles in with them.

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40 miles later, horrible cramp, and I’m learning more about my body

October 18, 2011 01:00 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Saturday 16th October 2011

After Fridays bonk, I took yesterday off as a rest day.I usually rest on Sundays, but flipped the schedule this week.

I woke up late, and the sun was shining, the sky perfectly clear, and the temperature around 15c – just the kind of weather that inspires you to want to go for a long ride.

So, I had my usual pre-ride meal (if you can call it that) of a whey protein shake with some organic oats and a banana, waited an hour or so and set off.

I deliberately didn’t push hard. I didn’t want to bonk again (though this time I did take extra fuel with me, and also bought some energy gels from a LBS around 17 miles into the ride).
And throughout the ride my energy levels felt good. No real problem there.
However, after around 24 miles, I did start to feel my legs tighten a bit, get a bit heavier, less willing to push on. Tell tale early signs of the potential onset of cramp. This is now becoming a common feeling for me.
The energy gels I’d bought had a very small quantity of electrolytes in them so at around 28 miles I had one, and it seemed to help a little bit but the feelings were still there, and getting worse, albeit perhaps a little more slowly.

I’d intended to take a slightly longer route home but given how I was feeling thought that was probably not the best idea so headed on a more direct route, constantly managing this pre-cramping feeling.

At 32 miles, on a long straight heading back toward my village I happened upon another rider in the distance.
I’m not sure why but I decided to push a little harder to try to catch up.
I did catch up, and as I got closer, noticed it was a casual rider on an old MTB with slicks. Still he was setting a reasonable pace considering his bike. I acknowledged him as I overtook, and carried on, really feeling my legs getting tighter and tighter.

Around a minute later, maybe even less, I heard a clunk of gears from behind me, and was shocked to see the same guy rocket past me. I couldn’t reign him in – he pulled out ahead of me.

I rested in the saddle for a couple of minutes, had a few stretches out of the saddle (during which my right leg nearly locked up!) and prepared for another push, by which time he was maybe 80m to 90m ahead of me and still setting a reasonably quick pace.

I set off hard and, clawed back the distance. As I caught him I pulled along side and commented he was going pretty quick considering his bike.
He said he was on the way to the gym and he rides the 6 or so mile route every day. I didn’t feel so bad then!
We bid each other farewell as I pushed on harder for the last couple of miles home. He was either hurting, or likely just wanted to conserve some energy for the gym, as he didn’t follow.

When I got home it was a struggle just getting off the bike. Legs were very stiff.

I’m getting round to the conclusion that having sufficient energy is not my biggest problem. Far more problematic is my cramping. What I’m learning is that…

a) I’m likely not not sufficiently fueled before these long rides. Unfortunately since I’m still trying to lose weight (maybe 15lb to go) I’m avoiding the type of foods that are proven and typically recommended the night before (big pasta dishes, Chinese etc). I usually only have a small portion of oats, a banana and some whey protein in a shake around 60-90 mins before I set off. Any suggestions here given my weight loss goals?

b) I’m just not conditioned to longer distances yet. I need more, regular time in the saddle on long distance rides.

c) I’m probably not adequately hydrated BEFORE the ride. I drink nowhere near the level of water thats recommended daily for the average person

d) I definitely need to force myself to drink more fluids DURING the ride (today I returned from the 40 miler with one of my two 750ml bottles still completely full). Think I’ll try using time or distance alerts on the Garmin to remind me.

e) AFTER the ride, I’m still not drinking enough. Even now sitting here writing this I’m feeling a bit dehydrated. As soon as its posted I best go down a couple of litres.

f) Since I sweat a lot, replenishing electrolytes is key. When I make my magic powder mix (see: http://www.rideforthe96.co.uk/?p=22) I’m deliberately upping the electrolyte quantity beyond whats found in typical sport drinks.

g) There may be a secret weapon in the form of pickle juice. Have a look at this very interesting socialtrailriders.org forum thread: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/racing-training/7700-worked-pickle-juice-stopped-my-leg-cramps-merged-2.html

Anyway, on the plus side, the route I took today was really nice, not too many busy roads, and Southwold turns out to be much nicer than I expected:

Also, when I saw this road sign to a place called ‘Wangford’, I had to stop, chuckle, then take a pic:

Until next time…..

Subsy

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Ooooo errrrr Missus, I bonked hard!

October 18, 2011 00:43 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Friday 15th October 2011

After Mondays 8.24 mile run, and Wednesdays 9.5 mile run, the knobbly knees were aching so I thought I should rest them a little.

I’d intended to do some intervals on the indoor trainer, but the weather was nice here today so I decided to go out on a real ride. I used mapmyride.com to plan out an 18 mile loop, fueled with a whey protein / 40g organic oats / half pint skimmed milk shake around an hour before the ride, and half a banana about 10 minutes before. I packed a small banana into my jersey pocket for some mid ride fuel.

After a little slow paced warmup I felt really good and so lifted the pace to average between 17 and 18 mph. In another navigation mishap (really want a Garmin Edge 500 for the bike), I missed a planned turning and got lost again.

Not one for ever backtracking, I just figured I’d find a new route. (A reminder – I’ve just moved to the area so have never been down these roads before, and to me, not having the appropriate Suffolk/Norfolk background, one pig farm looks (and smells) just like the next!).

To cut a long story short, the planned 18 miler was extended by 10.5 miles. Still feeling pretty good, and maintaining a good pace, I stopped briefly at around 17/18 milesin, and yammed my banana down, in an attempt to avoid bonking.

Like with my runs this week I’d been focused on maintaining a fast and steady cadence, and it seemed to be paying off.
Off I went again exploring the area. Had to stop a few times to check Google Maps on my phone and make sure I was heading in the right general direction.
Other than this, the large number of junctions I had to negotiate, and a 4 mile stretch of what can only be described as a mudtrack (my aching spine!), the roads were pretty great for riding.

Then bang. Happy ride ended. Pain began. 23 or 24 miles in (I didnt care how far I’d come at the time – just how far I had left from home).

I bonked.

My legs seemingly suddenly had nothing left. The 17-18 mph pace was all of a sudden confined to between 12 and 15. I was gutted. The banana was supposed to stop this. Damnit! The last 5 or 6 miles were hell. I was starting to cramp up (electrolyte loss?) and I knew that the goal I’d set myself at around twenty miles of a 17 mph+ run over a 25 mile+ distance was slipping away.

I knew I couldn’t push any harder without significant risk of having to stop. I did what I could. Down to the drop bars to make myself as aerodynamic as possible. Pushed my legs round as far as I could – constantly feeling on the edge of breaking down and them locking up.

I arrived home and drank and ate, and felt strength returning. Synced the Garmin and uploaded the workout to Endomdo. Average speed 16.9mph. So close! Probably if I hadn’t stopped the few times to check where I was, and there were fewer junctions on the route, and I’d avoided the mudtrack, I would have met my goal of a 17 mph average, but without a doubt my body failure was the real cause.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/25744981

Off to research flapjack recipes and electrolyte tablets….

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