Friday Morning Ride
Lately I have been agonizing over how I should approach my training rides. I discussed it here and here. Today, I came up with a new guideline for deciding what kind of ride to take. If I get up in the morning and feel like riding, then I will ride the type of ride that I feel like. If not, take my vital signs to determine whether I am still alive and then go back to bed until I feel better. I like this guideline, the less thinking the better! :-)
This morning, I felt like riding. However I was not sure how far I wanted to ride. So I decided to shoot for a 30-mile ride and see how I felt. I started off riding up Highway 1. When I got about half way to Davenport, I was not feeling that strong, so I decided to just ride to Davenport and back for a 20-mile ride. When I was approaching Davenport, I was feeling better, so I decided to extend the ride back to a 30-mile trip. As I was riding along Swanton road, I was feeling really good, so I decided to go up to the top of Swanton hill. This would make it a 36-mile trip with a nice climb up Swanton hill. Hmm, seems like this guideline has less thinking before the ride, but more thinking during the ride! I will have to work on that.
Recently, I was reading an article that listed tips on climbing hills. It suggested that you should try to relax your whole body while climbing. Start by relaxing your head and then work down your body. I tried this technique while climbing Swanton hill today. It seemed to work well for the first third of the hill. The bike felt very light and I was able to pedal up the hill without too much effort. At about that point, I had relaxed the top half of my body. Then it became hard. I could not figure out how to relax the lower half of my body. My legs were struggling to move the bike up the hill. How do you keep pumping your legs and relax them at the same time? Maybe I should just concentrate on relaxing the upper half of my body for the entire climb?
About 15 minutes after I left on my ride, my friend Bob called to ask if I wanted to ride this morning. My wife answered and replied that I had just left. Bob decided to see if he could catch me. Unfortunately about 5 miles up the road, Bob had a flat. We finally passed each other on Swanton Road after I had climbed the hill. Bob was gracious enough to turn around and ride back to town with me. Somehow I was able to find some more energy and we had a nice ride. Like last Saturday, we kept up a good pace and got home pretty quickly. Though also like my ride on Monday, some young punk just zoomed past us.
This morning, I felt like riding. However I was not sure how far I wanted to ride. So I decided to shoot for a 30-mile ride and see how I felt. I started off riding up Highway 1. When I got about half way to Davenport, I was not feeling that strong, so I decided to just ride to Davenport and back for a 20-mile ride. When I was approaching Davenport, I was feeling better, so I decided to extend the ride back to a 30-mile trip. As I was riding along Swanton road, I was feeling really good, so I decided to go up to the top of Swanton hill. This would make it a 36-mile trip with a nice climb up Swanton hill. Hmm, seems like this guideline has less thinking before the ride, but more thinking during the ride! I will have to work on that.
Recently, I was reading an article that listed tips on climbing hills. It suggested that you should try to relax your whole body while climbing. Start by relaxing your head and then work down your body. I tried this technique while climbing Swanton hill today. It seemed to work well for the first third of the hill. The bike felt very light and I was able to pedal up the hill without too much effort. At about that point, I had relaxed the top half of my body. Then it became hard. I could not figure out how to relax the lower half of my body. My legs were struggling to move the bike up the hill. How do you keep pumping your legs and relax them at the same time? Maybe I should just concentrate on relaxing the upper half of my body for the entire climb?
About 15 minutes after I left on my ride, my friend Bob called to ask if I wanted to ride this morning. My wife answered and replied that I had just left. Bob decided to see if he could catch me. Unfortunately about 5 miles up the road, Bob had a flat. We finally passed each other on Swanton Road after I had climbed the hill. Bob was gracious enough to turn around and ride back to town with me. Somehow I was able to find some more energy and we had a nice ride. Like last Saturday, we kept up a good pace and got home pretty quickly. Though also like my ride on Monday, some young punk just zoomed past us.
posted by Steve @ 12:30 PM
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