Group ride this morning from the local meeting spot, The Grocery Bag. There were, I think, 8 total riders and we were headed towards Kenly, then back to start. Temp was nice to begin with, slightly warmer than I thought it would be. I had to take the amfib tights off and put a different pair on - I was sweating before even starting the ride.
Had a mechanical not long after starting, one of the guys had trouble with his seatpost slipping and we used some parts from a patch kit to fix it. The clamp wasn't getting a good grip and it was as tight as possible. Got that fixed and headed on....our next road was NC 222...my testing ground.
A short ride down 222 to the intersection of Hwy 42 - crossed this and I started my test. As usual, I started too damn fast and was getting tired after 5-7min. I looked at the time and thought "13 more minutes!! I'll never make it". But, I did. Jay was on my wheel the entire time, encouraging me, telling me I was doing good, "c'mon it's not time to quit", keep pedaling smoothly, just a little further...that helped, but not quite enough. I just didn't have any more to give...I didn't have a good supper the night before and overslept this morning, so not a great breakfast either. I ended up getting just slightly better normalized power for that 20min - 183watts. Cadence was really good - 97! And, had an average of 19.2mph.
Probably, when I do the test next month, maybe it will be a little better. I hadn't ridden all week due to just not feeling any love for my bike and the wind has been awful around here this week. I'll definitely try to get more riding in this month so I can maybe raise my threshold numbers in March or April.
Anyways, after the 20min test, I took it easy for the next 2mi into Kenly and met the guys at the McDonald's for some more water & another gel. Then we headed on towards Clayton. To me, it seemed like the pace was pretty fast after leaving the rest stop and I started getting the cramping in my calves, but not bad enough that I needed to stop. Came on this one grade and I got dropped, just didnt' have it in my legs to keep up. Jay slowed and waited on me, then he and I tried to catch up to the rest of the group. Here's were the title comes from...those guys missed the turn and we turned. Waited on them for about 5min then headed on following the route. Those guys eventually figured out what they did wrong and turned around. While Jay & I were at the last rest stop, the group of Lost Boys showed up.
Heading out for the last leg of the route, I got a serious cramp in my right quad just after cresting a slight grade. Had to stop for about 5min or so and rest it. One of the guys massaged it and that helped a lot. I had to limp back in, slower than I wanted to, but at least I didn't quit.
A really great route and great company today. I always enjoy riding out that way. Tomorrow will be another beautiful day and another ride!
2 comments:
Hey, great blog entries. Have been reading them the past few weeks. I do triathlons and so am doing something pretty much every day. I saw your comments on not eating well and poor performance on the time trial. Good solid eating the day before and breakfast I have found to be critical to good performances. I would not say over eat, but the night before I would have a good solid meal with high carbs, not too much fat, and a good bit of protein. Lots of fluid as well. Both of these help in getting you recovered afterward better also.
On the training vs. group rides, I think the main thing would be to let the folks know you are going to be riding with them but doing something a little different. I have thought about seeing if others wanted to start doing some sprints (intervals) to stop signs or whatnot as well. Just depends on the day, though I personally would never care if someone wanted to do them on their own. Have you tried weight training on the legs? Or just some squats/lunges at home, can help those quads kick it in gear when needed. Again great blog and had fun riding on Saturday. I am headed out to Blue Jay Point for the Gyros slow ride with Neal, come on out for some quick hill training sometime!
Tommy
Thanks. Yea, I have trouble sometimes getting the proper carb intake in the night before longer Saturday rides. And in getting pre-hydrated. I guess I should really work on that, because I'm going to need the pre-hydration more so this summer.
I really enjoy group rides, but just didn't know what to do because sometimes (here lately) they are easy rides for me and I need to be working a lot harder than I am. I have started going to the gym and have been doing the following for the legs: 2 sets of the following: squats, single leg squats, leg extensions, leg curls, and adductor/abductors (inner/outer thighs).
Maybe I can get out in the next week or so to another Gyro ride. I did one late last fall and really enjoyed it. Some good climbing out that way too!
Karen.
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