Category — Bike Training

Great article and so true!

http://www.active.com/cycling/Articles/Bike-Fit-The-Wrench-Does-Not-Fix-the-Machine.htm?cmp=306&memberid=95442714&lyrisid=20716855

This training has been quite amusing. It’s pretty funny that on almost every ride, something comical happens. The beauty of long distance cycling, I guess. LOL

As you know, Saturday I did the long brick (written previously). On Sunday, I was supposed to ride 2 hours. But first, I was supporting some of my athletes as they competed in a sprint distance triathlon. So the plan was to meet some of my other athletes after the sprint tri to ride the Danskin course and give them exposure to the course. I had planned on riding in twice to get in at least 1 1/2 hours. I felt OK with cutting the ride a little short since my legs were pretty tired from the previous day’s workout, and the 2 hours I was supposed to do was to be done on fairly flat, of which this course was not.

So, the sprint tri went great, the weather was nice and everything went according to plan. At 11am, I met up with the people I was going to ride with and off we went. Lap one was going great until we got to the steep downhill.  I felt a little prickle on my right shoulder.  As I continued after the sharp right turn, I felt another prickle, this one hurt more.  Finally, the stinging got worse and I felt another one.  I pulled over and asked one of the women I was riding with to check if something was in my shirt.  Lo and behold, a bee had flown into my shirt on the downhill and stung me three times!  Good thing I’m not allergic to bee stings….

Gretchen and I said good bye to the other 3 ladies and started on Lap 2.  Lap 2 started uneventfully, but this soon changed.  As we started up the third hill, the sky got really dark.  I stopped an waited for Gretchen at the top of the hill.  We decided it was probably best to turn around–the skies were THAT dark.  So, off we went down the three hills we just climbed—and then came the torrential downpour and severe winds.  If you recall Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, you can picture how we felt trying to stay on our bikes as the cross-winds were trying to lift us off the ground, and raindrops the size of stones.  I’m guessing hail was involved at some point.  If all of this isn’t eventful enough, the story continues.

So, I was not looking back, I was just biking as fast as I could to get back to the car.  I get to my car, throw everything in the car and wait for Gretchen.  5 minutes pass…10 minutes pass…I’m starting to freak out and think maybe she got knocked off her bike during one of the wind gusts.  So, I decide to drive a little of the course to see if I could find her.  I drive up the road, no Gretchen.  I drive back to the park, no Gretchen.  I look for her phone number in my cell, and of course it is not there.   NOW I’m panicked!

I see a policeman driving around the park and flag him down.  I tell him I’ve lost my friend and ask him to go drive the route to see if he can find her!  I told him I’d stay put in case she comes back.  Off he goes, and I sit in the car.  I’m now in full panic mode.  About 10 more minutes goes by (mind you it felt like HOURS) and  I see a car with one of the other riders in it.  I start to tell her I’ve lost Gretchen, and guess what, Gretchen was driving the car!!!!!   Little did I know, she parked in front of the restaurant, not in the park.  So when she got to her car, she waited there.  She went into the restaurant thinking maybe  I was inside looking for her.  She ran into the women we rode with, who were eating lunch, and asked for my cell number.   Of course, she was in a panic too and thought maybe I was hurt!  The woman who had my number had left her phone in her car at the park.  Thank goodness because that’s where I was waiting!  Anyways, all turned out well, but that was scary!!!

Oh, and of course I had to clean and lube my bike AGAIN!!  Boy, I am getting so good at this

Check out this link to a video that shows correct technique when cornering on the bike. Just be careful when riding with a group, where you decide to take the corner- and holding that position- is critical to avoid accidents.

Check out this video from REI on how to fix a flat….then PRACTICE IT!!!

http://www.rei.com/bike/Shoplette/Fixing+Flat?cm_re=ls*ea*fixing_flat

So just in case you didn’t think the 32mi ride hilly reservoir ride was hard enough, try doing it with a headwind of 15-20 (OK, maybe it wasn’t TWENTY, but it certainly felt like it) and 35 degree temperatures! Oh and it started raining towards the end of the ride that felt like sleet….SWEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTT………

However, in spite of the above, I felt great on the ride.  My winter training is really paying off.   Usually the first reservoir ride of the season is a very painful and demoralizing experience.  Not today, I was able to go at a decent speed on the flats and slight inclines.  But, as usual, the hills still gave me trouble.  But no worries, IMFL is FLAT LOL Just kidding.  My mantra this summer will be—–I WILL WORK ON THE HILLS, I WILL WORK ON THE HILLS, I WILL WORK ON THE HILLS.

Marie wrote in a question post:  “On the topic of all the snazzy duds I am going to get to wear this season, are tri-shorts different than biking shorts (I just tried them out, interesting….)”

Diane’s response:  Marie, tri shorts are different than biking shorts in that they have a smaller pad so you can swim, bike and run in them.  Bike shorts have the big padding and are only for biking.  The uniforms we are getting have tri short-padding so you can wear them for all three events.  In a race, you definitely want the tri shorts so you don’t have to pull on bike shorts over a wet bathingsuit (plus, lets face it, who wants to run from the swim to the bike transition in a bathingsuit   ) and then run after the bike in your bike shorts.

I have bike shorts and tri shorts.  Now, I wear tri shorts to get my body used to riding long periods of time in shorts with less padding.  Up until last year though, because I was racing shorter  distances, I wore bike shorts when I was long rides and tri shorts every other time.  It’s all a comfort thing.  You will definitely want to do some training in the tri shorts to toughen up

Let me know if you have any other question.

Diane

Jim, Marie, Nancy and MaryEllen,

Speaking of hill training from our class Thursday, here is a good article from active.com about it.  Enjoy..

Bike training in the Hills

Diane