dj whitebread
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Back at it
I am coming to my third week of really riding my bike consistently. I am starting to feel stronger, though nowhere near strong enough. The weight is starting to come off again, little by little, which is a good thing. I went under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time this week, so that made me happy.
I was feeling good this weekend on the bike, so I decided it was time for some humbling. I went ride up some of the hills near here in an effort to remind myself I'm still slow and heavy. Mission accomplished. Ladera Norte is still steep, they didn't change that. But in all honesty, it was good to get up it (however slowly).
I've been watching the stages of the Giro, and it is just so impressive how the leaders can power up those mountains. It is always nice to see the giant group that comes in many minutes down. It's nice to know that even professional cyclists aren't all climbers. (Though, comparably they can still fly up the climbs.)
Work is going well. I am excited. I should hopefully know very soon what the final destination is for next year.
Friday night we're heading to another cooking class at Central Market. Joanne Weir (a chef who had a show on PBS the year we didn't have cable, and thus we watched a lot of PBS) is teaching. I am really excited. I loved her show (I even have one of her cookbooks).
I am going out to the Driveway tonight to take part in our weekly crits. The series has been awesome this year under new management, and the addition of the 4/5 race actually gives me a workable target. We are doing the long course tonight and going up the corkscrew, so hopefully I'll hold on past the first time we go up the corkscrew. ;)
I'm going to get a little bit more work done before I get ready and head out on the bike to ride to the crits. I hope everybody's weeks end well!
Labels: cycling, driveway crits, Giro d'Italia, job search, Ladera Norte, personal training, work
3:46 PM |
Monday, March 17, 2008
I finally earned the view
Or how I had forgotten just how steep Ladera Norte is.
Today I decided to go ride my close-in hill ride. It features three hill climbs that are all very close to where we live: Mt. Bonnell, Mesa (which climbs up Cat Mountain), and Ladera Norte. I got up the first two. I had done Mesa last week, and it was that day when I really started to convince myself that I could possibly be a cyclist again. So all that was left was Ladera Norte.
I started strong. Then it started to really fight back. I looked down at my computer and my heart rate was going steadily up and my speed was going steadily down. I started to feel my front wheel come off the ground on each pedal stroke. At this point I was going 3.8 mph... so while I wasn't going to fly up it I was determined to finish it. The way the climb works it's pretty steady for a while, and then there is a flat, followed by a short little wall to finish it out. I got to the flat. The little wall you can't spin up; you have to get out of the saddle and just push yourself over (not that I was doing much spinning at 3.8 mph). I got to the wall and tried to stay seated, but it eventually I had to get up. There's about 1-2 seconds where it feels a little bit better, then it feels much worse. I got through the worst of it, sat down and got to the stop sign. After rolling down the street a bit, I turned around and came back to enjoy the view that I had been enjoying for the last several weeks. But this time, I earned it, and man, did that feel really good.
Labels: cycling, Ladera Norte, training
7:46 PM |
