Weekly Wrap-Up & Winter Training Series #5

Well this week it was trainer time due to bad weather after work.  I guess I'm just going to have to get used to the idea of riding the trainer during the week & getting outdoors on the weekends to ride.  The trainer has become a necessary evil to get ready for racing season.  I was able to ride 2 days on the trainer this week.  On Monday we were so swamped at work due to the long holiday weekend that I was totally wiped out when I got to my parent's house for the work week.  I pretty much ate dinner, took a shower, & actually was in bed by 8:30 pm.  On Tuesday I was able to ride the trainer doing a Cyclo-Spin workout.  I haven't done this workout in quite sometime, but I remember it kicking my butt the last time I tried it.  This time it wasn't so bad, so I guess that's a good sign that I'm getting in better shape.  On Wednesday I got on the trainer once again, this time using my favorite album to workout to, Operatioin Mindcrime by Queensryche.  I really love using this album for a trainer workout.  I warm up with about the first 2-3 songs, then gradually increase the load with each song until I hit about the 8th song which I use as a recovery period, then the rest of the album is riding the big ring & trying to keep the cadence about 90 rpm or higher as I increase the load.  I really can't keep track of any data on the trainer because my cyclocomputer requires my front wheel to be moving to keep all the important stuff, when riding the trainer, all it shows is heart rate & cadence, but will not keep averages of them. 

On Friday I did the Winter Training Series #5 route due to other commitments that prevented me from joining the group on Saturday.  I must say that this was the most challenging route we have done to date.  I was glad that there wasn't much wind when I was out on the route.  I was able to keep a good pace going for most of the route until I hit a certain section of road.  This section of road had several short, steep climbs on it which really took it's toll on my legs. As I was heading home I was certainly feeling those short climbs.  I really can't complain about the ride though, I felt good the entire ride, kept a steady pace, & enjoyed the challenge of the route.  Here is the data for the WTS #5 route:
Total Distance: 67.88 miles
Total Time: 3:40:08
Avg. Speed: 18.55 mph
Max Speed: 34.93 mph
Avg. Cadence: 92 rpm
Avg. Heart Rate: 153
Max Heart Rate: 173
Calories Burned: 3517

On Saturday afternoon, I took my commuter bike out for a recovery ride, my legs were a bit sore from the previous day's ride.  I just rode easy & spun my legs to let them recover.  It most certainly helped.

On Sunday afternoon, I rode with my friend Eddie H. who has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to bike racing.  He's been doing it for over 20 years, so it's nice to pick his brain & learn what it will require to succeed this upcoming season.  We only had about 90 minutes to ride, so Eddie certainly pushed the pace early in the ride.  I was doing my best to hang on as close as I could.  Eddie is a very strong rider who could drop me at a moment's notice, but I try my best to stay with him during a ride.  During some portions of the ride we went kind of easy for a bit, then the pace picked back up.  I was feeling it on parts of the ride, but I needed to be pushed to see if I could hang on.  All in all it was a good ride.  Here is the data for Sunday's ride:
Total Distance: 28.65 miles
Time: 1:29:48
Avg. Speed: 19.14 mph
Max Speed: 31.80 mph
Avg. Cadence: 91 rpm
Avg. Heart Rate: 144
Max Heart Rate: 166
Calories Burned: 1311

Riding at Night

Last weekend I had found my lighting system.  I had been looking for this for quite sometime & when I brought down the Christmas decorations, it was in the same box as the Christmas lights.  I was happy to find it because this meant that I would still be able to ride outdoors for a bit longer & not be a prisoner to the trainer as of yet.  I charged up both batteries & made sure that the entire system still worked.  The system worked great & so I thought I would give it a try up at my parent's house the following Monday night.  I used to commute to work quite regularly when I was working in Macon & really enjoyed riding during the dark.  It's a totally different feeling when riding in the dark.  You have to become more attuned to your surroundings & listen more carefully so you won't get run over by either a vehicle or some kind of animal jumping out in front of you.  I decided on a loop near my parent's house that wouldn't be too busy with traffic.  I mounted the lights, tail light, & wore my neon yellow wind vest for extra visibility.  I chose the wind vest over the reflective vest I have for this ride because it was still about 70 degrees out & the reflective vest makes it quite warm during the ride while wearing it.  The headlights worked great & the traffic really wasn't as big a hassle as I thought it might be on one of the roads.  This route is good because it has some steady uphill sections on it & I can vary the route so it won't get boring.  I rode two laps of this course & it took me an hour to complete it.  My legs felt good during the ride & the uphill section wasn't as bad as I though it would be.  I feel I'm getting stronger on the hills, but I still have a long way to go yet.  All in all it was certainly better to ride outside at night than to be stuck on the trainer.

Training Camp Weekend

This post is a couple of weeks late & I apologize for that, but just haven't been in the mood to post anything lately.  A couple of weeks ago we had our first training camp for the team I will be riding for next season.  This was the first time the entire team was able to get together & ride as a team.  The weekend consisted of rides on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, & Sunday morning.  The weather for the entire weekend was fantastic, didn't rain at all during any of the rides.  It was a bit on the cool side on the beginning of each ride, but once we got further into each ride, the weather warmed up.  The ride on Friday was for about 2 hours give or take.  We rode down in Milledgeville & I forgot how hilly it was down there.  The route had a couple of good climbs on it that had me doing single digit speeds up them, but I need the hill work anyway.  Here is the data for the ride on Friday:
Total Distance: 36.89 miles
Total Time: 2;09:13
Average Speed: 17.17 mph
Max Speed: 45.17
Average Cadence: 84 rpm
Average Heart Rate: 148
Max Heart Rate: 174
Calories Burned: 1976

On Friday night we had a team dinner with the sponsor & his family.  Our sponsor is fantastic & really is treating the entire team great.  We received our helmets & shoes for next season.  Then we received a couple of surprises.  The first was a duffle bag in team colors with the team name embroidered on one side & our name on the other side.  The other surprise was that each team member received a chair in the team color with the team logo on it.  Everyone was surprised by the gifts & it makes everyone that much more inspired to do our best this upcoming season.

On Saturday the big ride was on the schedule.  We were doing about 67 miles that day.  We started out on the same route we used on Friday, but added some more hills on the ride.  We worked on riding in a paceline, with each person taking a turn up front, then we kind of split up on the hills & became two groups.  One group was made up of the stronger riders & pushed the pace.  The other group was the riders just getting some base miles & saddle time.  I was in the second group.  We worked well together & really enjoyed riding with each other.  Here is the data from Saturday's ride:
Total Distance: 67.36 miles
Total Time: 3:35:27
Average Speed: 18.86 mph
Max Speed: 43.36 mph
Average Cadence: 85 rpm
Average Heart Rate: 143
Max Heart Rate: 170
Calories Burned: 3133

On Saturday night, we had a get together at the club house where our sponsor has a condo.  We had pizza from Mello Mushroom, salads, wings, & soda or water to drink.  Charles talked about what he had planned for the team this up coming season.  It was great just to hang out with the other team members in a relaxing atmosphere & get to know each other. 

On Sunday, we checked out of the hotel, had a worship service for those who wanted to attend, then it was time to head out for the final ride of the weekend.  This was somewhat of a recovery ride after the long ride the day before.  We did the same route we did on Friday afternoon, my legs were feeling the effect of the hills all weekend, but they really weren't as sore or as heavy as I thought they would be.  We rode in a double paceline & took turns up front & generally had a good ride.  Here is the data for Sunday:
Total Distance: 36.20 miles
Time: 2;04:23
Average Speed: 17.46 mph
Max Speed: 44.33 mph
Average Heart Rate: 136
Max Heart Rate: 168
Calories Burned: 1603

All in all it was a great weekend of riding & getting to know everyone on the team.  I look forward to racing with these guys during the season.

Recovery Ride

After yesterday's hard ride, today was a very needed recovery ride.  I made it a point to do two things on this ride, one was keep it in the small ring, no gearing higher than a 39 x 16 & the other point was to keep my heart rate under 140 bpm.  I used a loop I have used quite often since I've been in this area.  It's a great route to use for recovery, no really big climbs & it's relatively flat for around here.  The weather was fantastic, a bit of a ENE wind, but I didn't worry much about that.  This ride was all about enjoying the scenery & making sure the legs felt good the entire ride.  I was chased on parts of the ride by some dogs, but as soon as I yelled at them, they just decided to leave me alone while I was riding.  My legs felt good just spinning the gears.  I made it a point to have a tailwind on the last part of the ride, so I could just relax a bit more & enjoy being out on my bike.  All in all it was a very nice day to take an easy ride.  Here is the ride info if anyone is interested:
Total distance: 17.53 miles
Total Time: 1:03:30
Avg Speed: 16.56 mph
Max Speed: 27.46 mph (downhill coasting)
Avg Cadence: 87 rpm
Avg Heart Rate: 121
Max Heart Rate: 140
Calories Burned: 655

A Ride to Hawkinsville

Today was a ride with a group to Hawkinsville & back.  The pace was going to be between 18-20 mph.  I was looking foward to it, but not the weather at the start of the ride.  It was 38 degrees when I left the house & headed to the starting point of the ride.  I wore a compression shirt, bibs, jersey, insulated vest, arm & leg warmers, & toe covers on my shoes.  I made sure to spin the legs on the way out to meet the others to let my legs warm up before the real ride started.  There were four of us who braved the cold for this ride, Martin, Steve, Trey, & myself.  We headed out towards Hawkinsville via SR 247.  We had a bit of a tail wind on this part of the ride & the pace was quite brisk.  We each took our turns up front & worked well.  On the way back from Hawkinsville, we had a bit of a headwind, but it wasn't too bad.  The weather had improved & warmed up a bit during the ride.  We rode through Perry & past the GA National Fairgrounds.  All in all it was a good hard ride for everyone. 
Here is the data from the ride:
Total Mileage: 55.12
Total Time: 2:48:46
Average Speed: 19.59 mph (everyone else had over 20 mph avg speed, but didn't ride as far as I did)
Max Speed: 32.57 mph
Average Cadence: 90 rpm
Average Heart Rate: 144
Max Heart Rate: 166
Calories Burned: 2426
Blood Glucose Pre-Ride: 110
Blood Glucose Post Ride: 100

Sorry for the lapse in posts

I'm sorry it's taken so long to post something new, but life has a way of throwing curve balls.  I've been unable to get to a decent working computer for quite sometime, so hence no posts.  I've gotten my computer fixed & it's time to start posting more often.  I've been busy with work here lately, so I haven't been able to exercise as much as I would like to.  The time change is coming soon & it looks like it will be trainer & roller season before you know it.  I'm not really looking forward to it, but it is a necessary evil if you want to be ready for the next racing season.
Speaking of the next racing season, our first team camp is coming up in a few weeks.  I'm really looking forward to getting to ride with the rest of the team.  I've ridden with several members during the local group rides, but some of the team members I've never ridden with.  I'll go into more details as camp gets closer.
Today I was able to get in a little over 2 hours on the bike.  It was a bit windy, but things like that happen.  I rode out to Perry & rode the Perry Parkway, one of my favorite roads to ride on.  I had a tail wind down the Parkway & put it in the big ring & kept it there on that stretch of road.  My legs were feeling pretty good & I was able to keep up a good cadence & speed.  I had a headwind on the way home, but still kept it in the big ring trying to build up some more power in my legs. 
Here is the data from today:
Total mileage: 39.52
Ride time: 2:07:48
Avg Speed: 18.55 mph
Max Speed: 31.80 mph
Avg Cadence: 88 rpm
Avg Heart Rate: 147
Max Heart Rate: 168
Calories Burned: 1930
Blood Glucose pre ride: 140
Blood Glucose post ride: 122

Long Ride Today

Today I was able to get in a long ride.  The weather was a bit overcast and cool at the start of the ride, so I wore arm warmers to keep the chill off.  I started out doing The Bike Store sunday route & during the ride I ran into a lady with a flat tire.  I stopped to give her a hand until help arrived, then proceeded on the ride.  Once I hit 341, I decided to head toward Camp John Hope Rd & ride that until it hits 127.  It's been quite sometime since I've been down that road & I had forgotten how hilly it was.  I managed to survive the worst climb on the road, even though I was only doing 8.5 mph up it.  Once I hit 127 it was pretty much a tail wind into Perry.  I had been keeping up with my hydration & eating during the ride, but decided to stop in Perry to check my blood sugar.  I had started out with a blood glucose of 134 but by the time I hit Perry an hour & a half into the ride, it was down to 95.  I stopped & had something to bring it up & then headed down the Perry Parkway for the rest of the ride.  The legs felt great down the parkway & I was able to keep up a good cadence & speed.  I came back down Arena Rd, towards Houston Lake Rd to head on back home.  My legs felt good the entire ride & I did a much better job at watching my blood sugar during the ride.  Here is the info for today's ride:
Total mileage: 54.02
Ride time: 2:54:33
Avg speed: 18.62 mph
Max speed: 35.79 mph
Avg cadence: 91
Avg heart rate: 148
Max heart rate: 169
Calories burned: 2659
Blood glucose pre-ride: 134
Blood glucose post ride: 141

Staying Steady

I'm pleased that I was able to get a 3rd straight day on the bike.  The weather has been quite cool & overcast, making for some great riding weather.  I kind of took it easy today because I'm planning on a long ride tomorrow seeing as I'm going to be pretty busy with other obligations this weekend that prevent me from doing long rides.  Today I just headed out to Perry again to ride some different roads I haven't ridden in a while.  Here is the data from today's ride:
Total distance: 29.06 miles
Total time: 1:35:58
Avg speed: 18.16 mph
Max speed: 29.87 mph
Avg. cadence: 91
Avg heart rate: 133
Max heart rate: 153
Calories burned: 1221
Blood glucose pre-ride: 119 (probably should get it a bit higher pre-ride)
Blood glucose post ride: 87 (don't really want it that low again)

Thanks for reading......

A Good Ride Today

Today I was able to ride one of my favorite roads.  I love riding the Perry Parkway, it's just a rolling road that you can keep up some good momentum while riding it.  I try to incorporate it into several different routes I ride.  The weather was cool, overcast, & a bit windy on the way out to Perry.  I had armwarmers on, but once I reached the Parkway, the sun had come out & I decided to take them off for the rest of the ride.  My legs felt good the entire ride.  I guess one benefit (if you want to call it that) of the poison ivy is that I had to take time & completely rest from any cycling & running.  My legs seem to be coming around quicker than I thought they would, but I really haven't pushed the issue with them yet. 
I received a new bike computer over the weekend & have been learing about it.  I now have a Sigma Sport BC 1909 HR.  It is wireless with heart rate & cadence.  This thing is pretty cool.  I've always tried to spin my legs to save energy during a ride, but never really knew what my cadence was, now I can look & see. 
Here is the ride info for today's ride in case anyone is a numbers geek:
Total distance: 33.87 Miles
Trip time: 1:49:15
Avg. speed: 18.60
Max speed: 31.08
Avg Cadence: 95
Avg Heart Rate: 144
Max Heart Rate: 166
KCal burned: 1601
Blood Glucose Pre-Ride:122
Blood Glucose Post-Ride: 100

All in all a great day on the bike & looking forward to another one tomorrow.

A New Start

This is the restarting of this blog.  I have decided to get back into racing my bike for next season.  I was offered a chance to join a new local cycling team & the opportunity was just too good not to pass up.  I'm getting back into the swing of steady trainging again & it feels good.  I've been dealing with a bout of poison ivy for the past few weeks & haven't been able to ride.  I was able to get out on the bike yesterday & do about 19 miles.  It really felt good to be back on the road again.  I was going stir crazy not being able to exercise until the poison ivy was cleared up enough to ride.  I'll try to better post my exploits, both the good & the bad here as often as possible.  I'll also provide insight on riding & racing as an amatuer with Type 2 diabetes.  I hope my adventures will either inspire you or at least amuse you.  Thanks for anyone who reads this. 

Charity ride & catch up time.

I know it's been over a month since my last post here & I'm sorry. I have been on the bike training. I have done two weeks of power workouts, two weeks of endruance rides, one week of leg speed workouts, & now I'm back on the power workouts. This coming week is also getting ready for the Tour de Cure. I'm doing the 62 mile route again. I feel stronger this year, even though I wasn't able to get in the base miles like I did last year. I'm still struggling to lose the weight, but I'm working on it.
Yesterday I was up in Buford, GA at the grand opening of Cafe:ine Coffee Shop & Addictive Bicycles. Jason Kriel, the owner of the coffee part of the business told me about a ride he was putting on to raise money for MS when I saw him at the Roswell Crit. I decided it would be a good cause to ride for & I needed to work on my climbing anyway. Blue Bicycles had some demo bikes to ride & I was lucky enough to get a RC8 with Dura Ace 7900 group on it. This is the first time I had a chance to ride a Blue. It was very comfortable & was quite stiff on the climbs. I have to work on the engine more when it comes to climbing, but it will come in time. The route had some good climbs on it & I certainly felt every one of them. The group doing the 50 mile route stayed together most of the ride. The group was accompanied by some riders of the MyoGenesis racing team. The group stayed together the majority of the ride. It broke up with about 10 miles left. I was able to stay with a good size group & it was a good time. After the ride there was a cookout which tasted very good after all that climbing. There was a raffle for some extra donations & I was able to win two pairs of DeFeet socks & a t-shirt. All in all it was a great time & a great cause to help out.

It's been WAY too long I know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I haven't posted anything on here in quite some time & it's nobody's fault but my own. My offseason was pretty much shot to heck due to work & sickness. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. I thought I might have to move closer to Atlanta for work here last month, so having to deal with all the associated things with moving, it put my training even further behind what I already was. Well, things with the job situation have settled down & I'm staying put where I am for now as long as I know. I'm finally able to put some effort into getting back into some type of training. I was able to do a ride with Eddie on Sunday for a bit over 44 miles. We did 3 efforts during the ride. The first one wasn't too bad, but still couldn't stay with him. The second was into the wind & it was absolutely brutal. After recovering from that second effort, the third one was with a tailwind. I was able to keep a great pace during that effort, but there was no way I was able to stay on Eddie's wheel. He was absolutely flying on that last effort. On Monday it was 5 x 5's. My legs were certainly feeling it after doing 4 sets of them. Last night was a pyramid workout on the trainer due to rain. I worked up to 6 minutes, then worked my way back down. I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk after I was done with that workout. Tonight was a tempo ride on the trainer, legs felt a bit better after that. We'll just have to see how the rest of the week pans out. I'm hoping to get some riding in this weekend, but it all depends on the weather. I'll do my best to post on here more often. Thanks for reading.

It's been a while!!!!!!

I know, I know, it's been way too long since my last post. I've been busy doing an offseason workout program & by the time I get home from work & do the scheduled workout, it really doesn't leave much time to post as often as I would like. I will do my best to post at least weekly. A couple of Saturday's ago, I rode down to the Perry Welcome Center to see if anyone was there for a ride. I was lucky enough to run into 4 other riders. I was told that they would be doing the Marshallville to Montezuma route. I decided to join them & it was certainly a fun ride. We had a bit of a headwind on the way out, but on the way back from Montezuma we had a nice tailwind. I was able to keep up the pace above 20mph the enitre way back to Perry. I took it a bit slower on the way home, but I still managed to get in 79 miles @ just over 4 hours. This past week I was sticking to the workout schedule up until the weekend. I seemed to get a bit on the sick side during the weekend, so I wasn't able to do much but just took it easy & rested. Yesterday I was able to get out on the bike & get in 2 hours on the road. It really felt good to get out & ride again. I'm just ready to get back into the swing of the schedule again. I'm hoping to get a good ride in this weekend, but it all depends on the weather. Thanks for reading....

Weekend wrap-up

Well the weekend didn't turn out as well as I had hoped it would. I was looking foward to a long ride on Saturday morning, but when I woke up it was quite foggy outside. I don't have a problem riding in bad weather from time to time, but I really don't ride in the fog. The last time I rode when it was foggy outside I was nearly ran over, so you can see why I don't care for fog so much. On Sunday I was able to get to ride with Eddie. We did a steady effort ride for 2 hours, it was a nice ride. We headed towards Perry & hit the Perry Parkway, one of my fav roads to ride on. We rode through Perry then headed back home. I ended up doing 38 miles & my legs felt pretty good the entire ride. I wasn't able to get to ride yesterday due to other obligations, but the day turned out pretty good after all. Today was just commuting to & from work. I'll probably get on the trainer tomorrow, the forecast calls for 20-30 mph winds, which really doesn't sound like much fun at all. I'm hoping for a nice day Saturday so I can go for a nice long ride. That's about all I have for now, stay tuned for more adventures or misadventures......

New Year's Day Ride

Today was the annual New Year's Day ride down here in wonderful Warner Robins, Ga. I met Charles on the road & we rode to The Bike Store. It was a bit on the cold side when I left the house, so I had to decide what I was going to wear. It was going to warm up during the ride, so I went with a long sleeve wicking t-shirt, my club kit, Pearl Izumi arm & leg warmers (best Christmas present I got, even if it was from last year), my Pearl Izumi skull cap, my Trek Oslo cold weather socks, & my DeFeet Slipstream shoe covers. My hands had on my cold weather gloves, but I brought along another pair of lighter gloves in case my hands got too warm. There was a great crowd at the start of the ride. The Bike Store was giving away 2 gift certificates, one for $100 & one for $50. We each drew a card & I was able to get lucky & win the $100 gift certificate. My new year is already off to a good start. We headed out slowly and stayed together as much as possible. We were out on the ride when we heard that there was a crash back in the group. I heard that Dave Sexton touched someone else's wheel & went down. As of this posting I don't know how he's doing, but I'll post as soon as I hear something from someone. The route was the usual Sunday route. We pretty much stayed together as a group until we were in Perry. Once we crossed the train tracks, some of the guys felt froggy & tried to sprint away. I was able to close the gap, but I started to get cramps & had to back off just a bit. The group I was with kept up a pretty good pace the rest of the ride. My legs are a bit sore, but I feel much better after the ride. I'm looking forward to the weekend, going to do some long rides this weekend. That's about all I have for now, stayed tuned for more adventures & have a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got some new bling for the bike!!!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend I was able to get a deal on some new components for the bike. I had Charles at The Bike Store to thank for that. He put new SRAM Force group on his cross bike & sold me his Ultegra components. Today was the first time I had a chance to ride with the new parts. I hadn't been able to ride much since a week ago Saturday, but that's ok. I'm still a bit sore from the crash, but it's slowly getting better. Today I headed out & the legs felt pretty good. I did a route that I usually do. It's only a bit over 30 miles, but there are rolling hills on the route. I was surprised how good my legs felt after warming up. I kept it in the small ring during the early part of the ride just to be sure my legs were doing ok & it wouldn't hurt. The new parts worked fantastic. It shifts much better now than with the other components. I'm looking at getting the Orbea fixed. I found out that it might cost as little as $45 to get the cable guide replaced. I have the old 9 speed parts to put on it, so I'll have a spare bike in case something happens to the Trek. I just want to give Charles & Ethan @ The Bike Store thanks for doing all they have done to help me out. Stay tuned for more adventures.....

Wednesday Rides & a Crash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went for a ride early Wednesday afternoon seeing as I had the day off. I hadn't been on the bike for a week. I decided to just take it easy to see how the legs were feeling. I was surprised at how good they felt with being off for a week. I kept it in the small ring, but did push the cadence up a few times. I just took an easy route with just a few climbs, nothing big, just so I woudln't kill my legs. I ended up doing about 23 miles with an average speed of over 19 mph. I guess my legs felt better than I had thought during the ride. On Wednesday night, Charles from The Bike Store, was putting on crit practice at Perry Primary School. I decided to give it a shot, I need all the practice I can get when it comes to crits anyway. There were about 5 of us at the start and I wanted to see how good my legs felt. After warming up a few laps, I thought it was about time to see about putting the hammer down. I picked up the pace and was keeping a steady 21-23 mph just slowing for the corners. I was doing that for the better part of an hour. I then decided to do a few slow laps to recover for a bit. My legs were starting to get a bit tired. After a few cool down laps Charles was feeling a bit on the froggy side. I was trying to chase him down when I was turning a corner, one minute I'm upright on the bike, the next, I'm down on the pavement wondering what happened. I layed there to make sure I wasn't seriously hurt. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, my helmet took the brunt of it. Thanks to the helmet manufactureres for making a great product. I found out that my rear tire blew out & I think that's what caused me to go down. The bike is fine & I'm just a bit sore. I went for a recovery ride today, my legs felt good. I took it easy for most of the ride, but I had to put in one hard effort to see how my legs would feel. The legs felt pretty good doing a hard effort on the big ring. It hurts more to walk than it does to ride. I've got a bit of a limp, but I'm sure that will go away when the soreness is gone. I'm just going to have to be a bit more careful when taking corners. Thanks for reading & stay tuned for more adventures......

Weekend was a wash for riding

Woke up on Saturday morning to rain. I headed to the meeting place for the Peach Peloton ride, hoping the rain had stopped in north Macon, but it actually was raining harder there then when I left my house. I thought I would head up to see if they were doing the Southside Fondo ride in Fayetteville, but it was the same story, rain. So, seeing as I was already up that way I stopped in to Epic Bikes to give the Power Tap Time Trial Series a go. I warmed up on the trainer for 20 minutes, then it was time to hammer. I increased the cadence & pushed it hard for the next 10 minutes. I started to feel it about minute 7, but I just gritted my teeth and pushed through it. I averaged 274 watts for the 10 mintues. I'm hoping to do it here again in the next few weeks to see if my numbers will improve. On Sunday it was pretty much the same story, it rained the entire day, so riding outdoors was a total wash. I'm hoping to be able to ride more this week and looking foward to the Peach Peloton ride this weekend. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Great weather for a ride today.

I was just about to head out for a ride alone, when Will called and asked what I was doing. I told him I was just about to head out for a ride & he asked if I wanted to join him and his friend Tim. I told him of course and he said to meet them at his house. My legs were a bit tight at the start of the ride, but by the time I met them at his house, they were feeling pretty good. We headed out towards Old Perry Rd, and I was feeling good. We took turns up front breaking the wind. We headed out to Hunt Rd and then hit Sandefur Rd. I like riding down that road, not much traffic, and smooth pavement. We hit a section of the road that has a slight downhill to it & Tim just took off. I tried to catch him, but couldn't close the gap even at 31 mph. I later found out that Tim is a Cat 3 racer, so that might explain things just a bit. We then headed down Bear Branch Rd and when we hit the first section that had a rise to it, Tim took off again, I did my best, but there was just no way I was going to stay with him. He slowed at the top to let me catch him, then we both waited for Will to catch up with us. On the next section that had a rise to it, Will tried going away, but Tim just made catching him look so easy. We then took 247 to Piney Grove, where I took a good steady long pull. The final section of the ride was down Old Perry Rd again, only in the opposite direction from earlier in the ride. There is a section of road that Will likes to attack on, & today was no different. I was behind him and I knew he was going to try something, the only thing was I didn't know when he was going to go. Sure enough, he tried getting away on the last climb as he usually does, but Tim & I were having none of it. Tim caught him first, then I did. He said it sucked doing about 21 mph up that hill and being dropped none the less. We took a quick break & chatted for a bit before splitting up and heading back to our respective homes. All in all I did 35 miles with an average speed of 19.62 mph by the time I got back home. I had a great ride with some great company. Stay tuned for more adventures.......

Catch up time

I think it's about time to catch up and post my adventures from over the weekend. I was going to do the Peach Peloton ride this past Saturday, but situations dictated a change of plans. I had to help a friend out of a situation so I didn't get to participate. I really enjoy doing the rides, no matter how much I suffer on them. It's a great group of guys that show up for the rides and they are a great bunch of racers too. I went out solo on Saturday afternoon and did a 40 mile ride that I really enjoy doing. I rode out to the Perry Parkway and pushed the pace on that part of the route. I came back home on Lake Joy Rd. My average speed was 19.48 mph for the entire ride. My legs felt good the entire ride. On Sunday I rode with my friend Will. He has a new Cannondale & he hadn't seen my new Trek, so we got a good look at each other's new toy. We headed out down Old Perry Rd, then headed out down Moody and then Sandefur Rd to Lake Joy. We took that road into Perry then headed out towards the Perdue plant, then ended up riding down Piney Grove Rd to Old Perry Rd. It was a good ride with a good friend. Today was just a steady tempo ride. I did 2 hours still trying to break in the new saddle. I kept the tempo as steady as I could and kept it in the small ring the entire ride. I rode down the Perry Parkway and then headed back Lake Joy, my legs felt pretty good the entire ride. It's just going to take time to get used to the new saddle. The new bike is working great, comfortable and stable for me so far. Stay tuned for more adventures......