Magic Spot Flowing

I’m trying not to post all my W2W stuff on here — I have a separate training diary that I keep on the back of my door. But today’s ride was kind of interesting. It was the first ride of the “brisk” rides. The training program indicates rides as “Easy”, “Pace”, or “Brisk”. These aren’t really speeds per se, but amounts of effort, with pace being “ride at the pace that you plan to ride at in order to complete the target ride”, and easy and brisk being one or two notches on either side. There’s only one of each non-pace ride each week. (Monday – easy, Wednesday – brisk, plus Thursday – off — though I plan to be flexible on whether I take Thursday or Friday off).

So because I started training on a week that was going to be split up by my trip to Toronto, I didn’t properly do a brisk ride last week, and this was the first time.

I ended up doing a warmup, effortful riding, some work-rest intervals (conveniently delineated by Mountain View’s major streets), some short intervals, more effortful riding, and then a quick cool-down. I think that works out pretty well, better than just pushing myself a little bit for the whole time.

Right as I was getting home, I noticed that I was getting a kind of second wind. I was still tired, but suddenly my body was like “Oh, this is fun. Let’s keep doing this (but not anything harder).” I’m still tired (and my legs are quite tired) but it was nice to notice I could have gone on. That’s what endurance is all about in my mind. Same with the ride several weeks ago that was 38.3 miles total and began with Edgewood — after Edgewood I was tired, but I kept going!

Another thing I noticed is that my right ankle hurts a bit, I think from moving around too much in the shoe, and I really do think I should get my shoes refitted to see if they’re the right size.

In general though, I’m doing well. I’m tireder and hungrier than usual (I’ve been inhaling noodles like nobody’s business), and I find that I sometimes “don’t feel like riding all the way home”, but that’s not new — it’s just that when I feel that way I have to ride anyway instead of copping out by taking the train like I usually would, and then I don’t mind it once I am riding, so it’s all right.

I’m really looking forward to my “off-bike” day tomorrow. And starting to wonder if I’ve gotten myself into too much for Saturday — it’s going to be solid on-the-go from riding (34 miles) to BBQ to coffee to dinner to musical! I’m hoping it’s more awesome than it is exhausting, because it seems likely it’s going to be both.

Ride stats:
DST: 29.8 (target 30)
AVS: 14.7 (go me, target was really around 14)
MXS: 30.7 (Woodside descent)
Ride time: 2:01
Total time: 2:30

Route: Laurel > Valparaiso > Alameda > Woodside > Cañada to 92, back the same route except Valparaiso > Middlefield > Willow > Alma > Burgess to add a bit more distance at the end (otherwise the ride is only 28 mi). The ride is straightforward, pretty, and varied (lots of rolling hills, one steep climb and some flats), so it’s a good route.

Things I learned:
I’m not that slow as long as there aren’t too many steep hills. I don’t think this helps for Waves to Wine, unfortunately. :)
Any ride longer than 15 miles should use the Camelbak — not because I necessarily need that much water, but because I am not very good at either stopping to drink frequently or drinking from a bottle while ensaddled.
It’s a good idea to have food along (I learned this because I had food and felt inclined to eat, not because I neglected it).
I need a new, narrower saddle for my road bike.
I need a new helmet that doesn’t make my head hurt.
I may need gel shoe inserts.
I should bring a Buff to wipe up sweat if it’s hot.
Chamois cream stuff is awesome (but I learned that on the Sequoia ride already).
People don’t really stop at the Whiskey Hill stop sign. Because they are jerks? I don’t know.
I usually am stopped/resting 15 minutes of each hour of riding (so 1:00 hr ride time = 1:15 total time — not 0:45 ride = 1:00 hr total).
I’m no longer having serious issues around 20 miles but I do still start to feel more soreness/numbness around then.
It’s dirty out today — the crappy air quality can actually be seen in the amount of grit on my face.
I should remember to put on sunscreen.

Also learned: I kind of rock. Riding is so much fun and I’m getting better at it!

Ride report 1, this morning’s ride:
Portola Loop, backwards from usual (Santa Cruz > Alpine > Portola > Sand Hill).
DST: 17.5mi
AVS: 13.9mph
MXS: 39mph according to the computer, but I think really about 32-33mph
Time: 1:15 riding time (about 1:25 total)

I had a really wonderful ride this morning. I decided to go in reverse from the way I’ve done Portola Loop before, to find out what it was like to climb Alpine. Answer: weird. Alpine starts at about 3mi from home for me, but the climb-that-feels-like-a-climb doesn’t start until about 5.5 or 6 miles (and ends at about 7.5 with the turn to Portola). But the whole thing feels like a downhill going the other way, though a very gradual one.

On one of the steeper early sections, I was being passed a fair bit by other cyclists. This happens to me a lot when I’m out in the hills, because 14mph is a fairly slow average speed for a road cyclist (why I’m pleased our W2W team is called Team Slowpoke :) and my hill-climbing skills aren’t the best anyhow. However, I found myself extremely content to be doing exactly what I was doing at that moment. It was sometime between 9 and 9:30, a warmish, calm morning with the fog slowly clearing, gradually creeping up from Menlo Park into Portola Valley, and I was delighted to be alive, to be there, and to be riding, and to be riding at the speed I wanted to ride. I had a similar moment yesterday on the way to the train station. It’s wonderful to be in the moment and be happy to just be riding.

(In my training program, weekend rides are done at “Pace” speed, which means the speed you plan to ride during the event, and I’ve decided I’m not going to try to get faster than 14mph AVS. If I do, that’ll be a bonus. This is about endurance for me rather than speed.)

The rest of the ride was lovely too. I took one brief rest stop before Portola, and then had an incredibly fun screaming descent onto Sand Hill at Whiskey Hill. That’s where I was going the fastest, but I’m pretty sure my computer got confused later on by a sensor, because I wasn’t going 39, more like 32ish. It was exhilarating.

The downside of doing the loop that way is coming back on Sand Hill. The 280 interchange there is not as well designed as on the other side; the bike lane doesn’t carry through, so you have to be very careful about merging motorists. Also, Sand Hill has a number of traffic lights, which Alpine doesn’t, so descending, although incredibly fun, is apt to be interrupted by a few lights and by people turning right who fail to merge correctly. My mirror helped me avoid a few potential trouble spots.

Still, I enjoyed that route tremendously and likely will take it again. One advantage is the slow climb up Alpine; another is that the Alpine/280 interchange area is safer than the equivalent on Sand Hill (the stop signs require people to use lower speeds). There’s also more variation in the up-down profile that way, because Sand Hill goes up again before it goes down, instead of only going down.

One other advantage is that it can more easily hook in with other routes that way. For example, you can go off to Arastradero at one point, or you can take Mountain Home or Whiskey Hill to Woodside, and even go all the way up Cañada to Edgewood or 92 if you are just that crazy. Someday I probably will when I am scheduled for longer rides. Right now I’m just in the last week of base-building before training, so 17.5mi is plenty.

Ride report 2, a coworker’s first ride to work!
I don’t have the statistics for this one, but I wanted to recognize/congratulate a friend of mine at work who rode her bike to work for the first time on Friday. She has been talking about buying a bike and riding to work for a while now, and gas prices lately have provided more motivation to do so. So she is the proud new owner of an Electra Townie and rode it from home to work (and back home, I imagine) on Friday. Go K!

On Friday she very kindly thanked me for the support I’ve provided in suggesting bikes, equipment, and routes, and explaining traffic laws and safe cycling. I’m glad to have helped her do what she wanted, and I’m glad that my help is helpful, because it bodes well for my potential attempt to become an LCI.

I reorganized some blog categories this morning. I’ve been a bit lazy about adding all the categories I want, because it requires more effort than just tagging a post (but also forces you to actually reuse the same categories again and again, so you don’t end up with tagging issues like having “geekyness” and “geekiness” both as tags) so I went back and added some.

I also moved Cycling into its own top-level category. It’s by far my most heavily-used category (except for “Personal” which is a default category), and with all the recreational cycling and Waves to Wine stuff I’ve been doing, I wanted to have a category for that, which didn’t fit into its previous home under Transportation Alternatives. The category structure is more complicated now, but it reflects reality better.

I also moved the categories and links around, so that “links” is at the top now and includes a link to my Waves to Wine personal page. You can donate there, and I’d love to start getting some donations (W2W is less than three months away now, and I’m doing formal base-building to prepare for training, which will start in July), so if you have a spare few dollars and want to donate, please use that link. I really am happy with any amount of donation, so don’t feel it has to be a lot. If you have any trouble donating let me know. I haven’t tried to use their system yet, but hopefully it’s pretty good.

Disappointment is a funny thing.

I wasn’t sure when I got up this morning whether I was going to ride my bike or walk to the train. I hate to admit it but I don’t always like doing a riding commute. Walking to the train is just so simple, and fairly calm and stress-free. If I want to ride I usually shower the night before so as to start clean, which I didn’t do last night, and I normally don’t ride on Pen Committee meeting days anyway because I don’t like to ride home from them through Redwood City.

On the other hand, I am trying to build up a proper base for starting training for W2W, and that means riding pretty much every day, and really, why not ride?

So I was debating my options this morning. I got up early enough to have enough time to decide. And I had decided to ride, got all dressed and put on sunscreen, and then it turned out my back tire was flat. So I had to decide if I would change the tube, or if I would use another bike (still requires refilling the tires at least, also there’s no seat on the old commuter right now, I would miss the train I wanted, etc), or if I would just go take a shower and walk to the later train.

But even though I kind of started out not wanting to ride, I was disappointed that I didn’t get to do it. It’s funny how that works. And it is a reminder that doing the W2W training is going to take a serious commitment and so far I am not really demonstrating that commitment. I recently decided to order a RoadID since I am going to be riding more, and they say that if you have extra space you can put a slogan or something on there. I don’t have allergies or medical conditions so I did have some space. I decided to put “100% commitment”. It came from another phrase I use in a different context, but it seems appropriate to me. I think I will need the reminder when it is windy or early or hot or I just don’t feel like riding that I decided to do this and I am committed, and that it will mean giving up some things to get what I really want. It means checking my tires and everything the night before so I am always ready. It means going to sleep and getting up earlier and not having so many lazy evenings. It means being committed even when there is nothing and no one to hold me to it except myself.

By the way, if you are interested in a RoadID, they sent me a Tell a Friend coupon for $1 off. $1 isn’t much but anyway, if you want it, comment and I’ll send it to you. It can be used by up to 20 people! I got the purple wrist one.

Yes, it’s possible to get sunburned in the small strip of skin between your bike glove and your watch. (Best option: sunscreen, then watch.)

I rode all the way in to work today and it took me 46 minutes total (including stopping time). I am getting faster. (I think I had a partial tailwind too, though it sure as heck didn’t feel like it. It was very windy today, and when I turned broadside to the Bay I got a headwind.) We got three people riding all the way in today at work, our own mini-BTWD!

I’m thinking of two rides this weekend. By myself, Saturday morning, either Sand Hill/Woodside or Portola Loop (Sand Hill/Portola/Alpine), and with friends, Monday, up Edgewood and down Canada, possibly venturing into Portola territory again. Sounds ambitious, but next weekend is the Sequoia ride, so it’s time to step it up. Soon after that it’ll be time to start proper training for Waves to Wine!

I took a road bike class at REI today. The class was interesting because it was a mix of levels, from people (like me) who commute and do a good amount of recreational cycling, to people with experience mountain biking or light recreational cycling, to people who hadn’t been on a bike in years.

The main thing was that our instructors were really, really great. So patient and knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and they were able to teach all of us something. I went in knowing I would probably be a bit ahead of some of the stuff they were covering but also believing that you can always learn something, and I did — a lot of something. First, I learned to dismount properly instead of my awkward slides. Such a small thing but so cool and such an improvement. And lots of stuff about posture (‘ducky butt’) and some more advanced tips on shifting and cornering. Oh, and what those holes in the other ends of the tire lever are for!

I also learned that there’s no big secret to descending. It’s just scary sometimes, and bikes with you on them have a minimum speed that they want to go on a certain angle, and if you can’t handle it, you can’t — you can always walk it. We didn’t actually do descending much, but they talked about it. Of course, along with techniques to shift your weight, be in the right gear, etc. There were lots of tips that I wish I could have written down to ponder at leisure.

There’s definitely stuff I wish we had covered that we didn’t get to, but that’s fine. It’s stuff I can check out on my own and learn by asking people who are more experienced, which is really just a less formal version of the class.

But probably the most important thing I learned is that I can spend 30 minutes riding to a place, many hours playing and learning on the bike, on roads and trails, and 30 minutes riding home, and feel like, gosh, this is great. Even with a headwind and sulfur smell from the Bay and going pretty slowly and stinky bird poop (fortunately not on anyone, but it was around). It made me believe that I’ll actually enjoy the prep time for Waves to Wine — that I really want to spend that much time on the bike, learning and working and above all, just riding. It’s surprisingly easy to forget how great it is to be riding and to be engaged with pushing myself to learn and try new things on the bike, so I treasure the reminder.

I’ve registered for WtW now, so there’s no backing out. I’m even on a team, with a friend from the SVBC Peninsula Committee. Anyone else want to join? We’re Team Slowpoke.

I decided to actually go ahead and put up a personal page. It’s a little corny, but it’s fairly true as these things go.

I’m not a big fan of soliciting people for donations. In fact, for a long time I thought I might not ever get involved with any ride that’s “for” something, because my feeling is, why should my intent to ride be the reason for donating to a good cause? It doesn’t really compute for me. Either the cause is worthwhile of itself or it isn’t; my riding shouldn’t make much difference either way. Nor should donations have to be used to put on an event — the money should go directly to the cause. However, the fact is that events bring in money — they’re done because they work. And from what I can tell, about 80% of the money is not used for event costs, which is a decent ratio.

So I’ll say it like this: if you feel it’s a good cause, this is your opportunity to donate to it! I and the people who will actually benefit from the money will both appreciate it.

I came across this comment on a bike blog I found while trying to figure out what the vertical footage of Waves to Wine is:

I’m considering doing the STP in a day. Though for me it may be just a bit insane as I don’t get anywhere near the riding in that you do, but I downloaded a training schedule from Cascade and Cycle U and it seems possible. At 56 though, I’m wondering if I am being unrealistic in my goal setting.

Well, you can second-guess yourself for all kinds of reasons. Age. Commitment. Priorities. Whatever. It’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one doing it.

I think I should go for it. But I wish someone would tell me how much climbing it is. Why the lack of info? The only thing I could find was old ’02 and ’03 reports that totaled around 3000-3500 feet, but the route is different now (it used to start from Santa Rosa both days).

For anyone who’s interested in cycling stuff –

I’m thinking of riding Waves to Wine in September, the Northern California MS 150 ride. It’s two days, 75 miles each day (in challenging hilly terrain).

I have the book Long Distance Cycling which has several training programs in it for a century, two basic ones and one that’s for second centuries where you want to improve. Is a training program for a century adequate for the MS 150, or is it going to come in too low on giving me the endurance I’ll need for the consecutive days? If any of them might be adequate, would it need to be the more intense one?

Or would I have to find a different training program? Is the MS 150 not a very good first really long-distance goal because it’s longer than a century in aggregate and I should stick to just a century this year?

A century would still be a very major goal for me since my longest mileage in one day so far is 40 miles during last year’s Sequoia Century 50K (which I’ll probably repeat this year since the longer courses still look really intimidating, but we’ll see). The positive thing is I certainly wasn’t completely wiped after that because I hosted a party that same evening, and I’d done little if any real training (riding my bike to work more than usual was about it) so with training it should be easier.

Any thoughts from those of you who’ve attempted some longer distances, or know people who have?