Journey to 100

Week 6 Recap

A rundown of last week's training:

• Monday - 90 min yoga
• Tuesday - 22.6 mi in 1:22 (zone 2)
• Wednesday - 80 min yoga
• Thursday - 60 min ride on trainer (zone 1)
• Friday - rest
• Saturday - 39.2 mi in 2:33 (mix zone)
• Sunday - 60 min ride on trainer (zone 1)

Riding to the limit

It's been couple hours since I got back from my morning ride, and my mind is still trying to process all that I've experienced during the ride.  All I know for sure is that I'll be pretty damn sore tomorrow.

The training schedule called for 2:15 ride today, so I took off with a plan to complete the loop and add 30 min of additional riding on the south end of Foothill Expy -- a similar route to last Saturday's ride.  As I approached Portola Valley though, a sadistic thought crossed my mind: "what if I try out the infamous Old La Honda Road that I keep hearing about?" 

Old La Honda Road is one of the most well-known climb in the Bay Area -- taking a rider up 1200 ft in just over 3 miles.  I've passed by the start of the road many times before, but I never attempted to climb it because doing so would significantly extend my riding time.  But since I was looking to add 30 min or so to my usual route today, I figured this climb would stretch my ride perfectly.

Or not.  The climb turned out to be not too difficult, but I really struggled on the high-speed twisty descent and ended up getting lost after arriving at Woodside.  By the time I found my way back with the help of kind cyclists/bikers, I was still 40 min away from my car and was starting to bonk.  When the ride was finally over I've covered 39.2 mi in 2:33 (15.3 mph avg) -- by far the longest/hardest ride to date.  Additional memories from the ride:

• It's humbling to see guys with double chain rings blow by you while you're struggling to climb on a triple.
• As uncool as it looks, I can see why a helmet-mounted rear-view mirror would come in handy on high-speed descent.  Constantly turning back to to check for cars at 30+ mph on twisty road is not fun.
• It's going to take some time to grow my confidence in the downhill...I'm still scared to lean far on turns.
• For a long ride like today I should stay in zone 2, but that was impossible given all the hills.  I stayed in zone 4 all the way up Old La Honda Road, and my HR didn't drop below zone 3 during adrenalin-pumping descent.
• I need to eat some food earlier into the ride.  At 1:30 mark I had a second pack of powergel instead of having a powerbar...and started to really feel the fatigue by 2:10 mark.  I ate my powerbar right then but it was bit too late.
• "Roadies" have reputations for being stuck-up, elitist, etc...but all the riders I came across today have been very kind and helpful.  Without them I'd still be wondering around on the hills.

Rough morning

They say third time's the charm, so I was looking forward to hitting the road this morning and finally beating the frosty wind.  In my gear bag was a pair of wind/waterproof snow-sports gloves, and fully-sealed windproof shoe covers.  But alas, I woke up feeling nauseous...and my stomach wasn't feeling to good either.  It was probably from eating a large meal right before going to bed...I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, so I hit the bed as soon as I can and that must've messed up my digestion.

Anyhow, after an hour or so I was able to eat a banana and a powerbar...which gave me enough fuel for an easy ride on the trainer (60 min in zone 1).  I'll take full advantage of the rest day tomorrow and hopefully will be feeling 100% by Saturday's long ride.

Tour of California

I love living in the Bay Area...the weather is great (well mostly), there are tons of places to ride, and we host world-class cycling events.  For the past four years, riders from around world tackled the infamous climbs of San Francisco Grand Prix.  Today, they attacked Sierra Road in the second stage of Tour of California.

I caught the action on a jumbotron by the finish line in downtown San Jose, and it was amazing to see all the top Tour de France riders go head-to-head on the roads so close to my home.  Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Bobby Julich, Floyd Landis...they were all here at this inaugural race.  Hopefully this race will be held for years to come. 

Morning ride - take two

Going into this morning's ride, I thought for sure I would stay warmer than the last time.  I had a pair of thermal gloves on and wore a thick a winter jersey with fleece-lining.  Yet the mother nature kicked my ass once again -- my core felt fine but my hands were so cold they were in pain throughout the entire ride.  Next time I'm bringing my snowboard gloves.

Ride stat: 22.6 mi in 1:22 (zone 2, 16.5 mph avg)

Week 5 Recap

A rundown of last week's training:

• Monday - 90 min yoga
• Tuesday - 60 min ride on trainer (zone 2)
• Wednesday - 80 min yoga
• Thursday - 22.5 mi in 1:18 (zone 3)
• Friday - rest
• Saturday - 32.5 mi in 2:00 (zone 2)
• Sunday - 60 min ride on trainer (zone 1)

Beating the clouds

Bay Area weather has been very unpredictable lately.  Last Sunday we had a very warm weather in the 70s, then few days later it dropped to 30s...and yesterday it actually snowed (seriously!).  Luckily I woke up this morning to a sunshine -- but the heavy clouds were already moving in from all directions so I braced myself for a wet ride.

After an easy week last week, it was time to increase the riding time again.  I completed today's ride in exactly two hours as planned -- covering 32.5 mi in zone 2 (16.2 mph avg).  Since it only took me 1:40 to complete the loop this time around, I added out & back ride on the south end of Foothill Expy for additional 20 min of riding time.  Some notes from the ride:

• I bought a cold-weather jersey and thick gloves after the freezing morning ride, and it was worth every penny.  They kept me warm even during rapid temp drop at the end of the ride.
• Took a powergel at 0:45 mark and ate a powerbar at 1:30.  I wasn't hungry, but wanted to start practicing eating on the ride.  During a century a rider needs to consume 200-300 calories per hour.
• Hit max speed of 40.1 mph while coming down Foothill -- probably one of the highest speed I've ever hit.
• I finished the ride just as it started to shower.  Perfect timing.

Morning ride

Because weather forecast is calling for a rainy weekend -- and partly because I was motivated by the latest Nike ad -- I decided to go out for a morning ride today.  Now I'm not a morning person, so I figured waking up before sunrise was going to be the hardest part.  But as it turned out, it was the freezing temperature (below 40 in CA) that killed me...I was so cold for the first 30 min, I felt like I was one of the male penguins braving the ice storm in March of the Penguins.

Since I didn't have too much time on my hand, I rode a 22.5 mi loop at a faster pace than usual.  I warmed up in zone 2 for first 20 min, then stayed in zone 3 for the rest of the ride -- finishing in 1:18 (17.2 mph avg).  As cold it was, a morning ride does feel good afterward...I have a lot more energy than I normally do in this time of the day.  Maybe I'll actually get into this whole morning ride thing.

Lazy Saturday

Today was one of those lazy, totally unproductive days where I accomplished only one thing: a bike ride.  I was out 'till late last night, so I slept in and didn't finish my "morning ride" until 3 pm.  By the time I finished my lunch the sun was already setting...ugk.

This weekend caps the fourth week of training -- and the first of scheduled rest weeks -- so a shorter ride was in order today.  I took a modified version of the loop, finishing 22.6 miles in 1:22 (16.4 mph avg).  Few observations from the ride:

• The new wheels are amazing.  They're definitely light -- I've noticed myself going faster on climbs without any increase in exertion.  What's even more amazing though is their stiffness; the bike feels much more responsive during acceleration and corning.
• The left ITB felt perfectly fine during and after the ride -- but noticed a slight twinge in the right knee and ITB.  Iced both knees afterward as precaution.
• I've been hearing that wearing a base-layer shirt underneath a jersey keeps you cooler due to better moisture management -- so I gave it a shot today and it felt great.  My skin felt cooler even though I had my jersey fully zipped the entire ride.

Brand new wheels

After drooling over them for months on catalogs and websites, I finally gave in to the temptation and bought the sweetest pair of wheels on the planet -- 2006 Mavic Ksyrium SL3.  For the price of 10 Walmart bikes, I now have a Tour de France tested wheelset that weighs only 1500g...yet still extremely durable.

Of course, a slow-poke like me doesn't need a fancy wheelset like this...but this upgrade will make any rider go faster due to reduction in rotational weight.  Plus, I've been wanting a second set of wheels to be used specifically with the trainer (which can cause a lot of wear & tear).  So rather than spending money to get some cheap wheels, I decided get this kick-ass pair and use my stock wheels as beaters instead.  I'll see how they perform tomorrow.