“It never gets easier, you just go faster” ~~Greg Lemond
It's been a little over six weeks since I began training for my century. I am really happy with the gains I've been seeing, especially considering the short amount of time. As planned, my longer rides keep
getting longer and I've seen a small increase in my speeds, even on the longer trips. I'm also down about 10 pounds since my training started, which keeps me on schedule to hit my desired race weight.
I was curious how I was stacking up to last year's workouts. I scrolled through my cycling app until I got
to a ride from one year ago. I wasn’t working towards a goal like I am today, but I had been riding a
few days a week for almost four months at that point. I was serious about shedding the pounds and getting into better shape.
But I wasn't even close to where I am now.
So for fun (and because I thought I could turn it into a decent article), I decided to ride the exact same route. To get a fair comparison, I rode
the old bulky bike. I cut 25
minutes off last year’s time. Since
I was in comparison mode, the next day I took the same route again; this time on
my new road bike. I beat last year’s
time by 32 minutes which was seven minutes faster than I just did on the
old bike. There’s no arguing that better
equipment makes a better rider.
“It never gets
easier, you just go faster.” I would
expand on this to say you just go faster and
farther. 12 miles , that was a big
deal back then. It would be an entire month until I broke 20. A few weeks after that, I logged my longest ride of the summer which was 27 miles . My best week was just 65 . Now I routinely do 100 miles in three days.
Every week I set one day aside for my long ride. I have been increasing the distance a few miles each time. In addition to the normal pain and discomfort you experience from any workout, being on a bike for three or more hours can get boring from time to time. In order to break the monotony, I keep looking for new
travel destinations. Sometimes it’s
nothing more than a new gas station to refill my liquids. Other times I’m looking for some place a little more
scenic. Either way, new roads make the trip a lot easier...at least mentally.
My scenic trip around Blue Marsh Lake
A few weeks ago, while I was trying to plan one of my longer rides,
I remembered an old high school friend, Colleen, lived about 25 miles up the road. I shot her a few messages and she invited me for a visit. We coordinated a day and a time. She just bought a new farm and was excited to show it off. I was looking forward to catching up and really happy to have an objective that did not revolve around my next bottle of
water. I set out on my trip late in the morning. The temps were in the mid 80's and I had to make a few hard climbs just to get to her place. When I finally arrived (a hot a sweaty mess), I was thrilled just to get off my bike. The first thing I did was apologize for my stench. After that, I got a tour and she introduced me to all of her beautiful horses. We also managed to get a couple of cool pics.
I smelled so bad, this horse had to be bribed with treats to pose with me.
We had a great visit, but eventually Colleen filled up my water bottles and sent me on my way. It was such a memorable trip. Not only because of the destination, but I also learned two valuable lessons.
First, it helps to know your roads. The elevation gain on this trip was way more
than I wanted and/or expected. But I
fought through it and I’m probably stronger for it.
I also found myself on a long road which was freshly and only partially “oiled
and chipped”. If you are not familiar
with the term "oiled and chipped", it’s when they tar the road and dump loose gravel on top. I’m sure they probably steam roll it, but not
all the gravel gets embedded. It
just lies loose until enough traffic kicks it off the side of the road. It definitely is not an ideal riding surface
for a road bike. But that wasn’t even the
worst part. As I stated earlier, the
road was only partially oiled and chipped. Half of it was just dirt and stone.
Not to mention a pretty steep hill.
I’m not ashamed to say, I walked the dirt and stone section on my way back. I almost wrecked several times trying to get down the hill and riding up the thing with tiring legs just added a few more levels of difficulty.
The second lesson I learned: keep your breaks short. As much as I enjoyed catching up with my
friend, touring the farm, and seeing all the horses; I spent way too much time
out of the saddle (if there’s a pun there, it’s intended). Getting back on the bike after about 90
minutes was a miserable experience. And
it wasn’t just that I was tight. I was
tight, I had 25 miles
to go and that was all I could
think about. Fortunately I started to loosen up after a few miles and I eventually became distracted by things other than my legs; like
this interesting wood sculpture.
Are Gnotem Poles real? Yes they are.
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