Training Log Archive: veinbuster

I thought I might just go out for 2 hrs and did give myself permission to bail then, but I really wanted to do a Everesting sanity check, so I picked a shortish route that would let me see how well I could manage known climbs over time. Average gradient for the loop was just under 2% with most hills at 4-6% and one maxing out at 11%.

The plan was to keep the heart below 160 on the easy hills and under 170 on the steep one. Stretch the lower back on the steep down hills and eat/drink on the gradual down hills. The plan was good and I feel this was a sustainable effort.

I did observe a serious flaw at about 500m of climbing. I had chosen convenient compression for my right leg rather than cycling compression. As a result I started getting some pinching behind the knee and had to try to adjust it every 5km or so for the rest of the ride. On a normal 2hr ride the work compression would have been fine, but not for this much leg work. Yes, I do know better. I haven't checked yet for the bruise that will probably be there for two or three weeks.

The numbers for sustainability: heart rate for the first half hour was 146, so minimal escalation. Average speed drifted down by about 2% after the first 500m of climbing. That I attribute to more traffic reducing corner speed and needing to coast a bit more while adjusting compression - so minimal degradation.

Projected ride time to Everest at 500 and 900 m was 24hrs. With remotely reasonably pauses in that kind of effort it would make it a weekend event for me versus squeezing it into a Saturday with the younger fitter crew. Not that it is something I should be considering anyway.

Cheated myself a bit today - too big of a hurry to get out for a quick ride before Mrs. Gets up.

A short ride to scout the area for a place Mrs. Might be comfortable riding.
There isn't much flat. Most hills are 3-6% with little stretches of 8-11%. To get out of the complex you have to climb for about a km on a mostly 8% grade with a decent amount of 11%. Not Mrs. friendly even without the heavy traffic. I rarely see that much traffic at 7am on the weekend.

I did find a quiet road in the valley that was mostly under 3% but after 4km there was a stop sign with a notice that the road ended in 0.2 miles. There is one more road in that area to scout but I needed to get back for my anniversary.

C • Happy Anniversary! 2

Smokie with a more representative test of the new tires. The grip really is amazing. This is most noticeable in how much corner speed I was comfortable carrying. I was consistently faster and taking tighter lines in a number of corners I am familiar with on this route. While the tires were made for racing, I feel they instill confidence in traffic.

At one point I thought the tires might be prone to some lateral motion in turbulent air, like a truck going by at highway speed. Later in the ride I realized I might have been compensating for some movement I am used to and what I was feeling could easily have been having to adjust for having expected a slip that didn't happen. I'll watch for that next time before I pass judgement.

There was plenty of traffic and in one part of the second town I went through I passed four blocks worth of cars waiting for a red light.

Day 3 resistance bands and push ups.

cut short for a crisis

Smokie testing new tires.

I was living a bit dangerously putting 24mm tires on my Zipps 404 rims which specifically state you can only use 18-23mm rubber. But Specialized apparently tested a bunch of configurations in a wind tunnel and the 24mm had the best numbers.

I changed the front first and gave it a 10km road test. This reminded me that I know full well that the best rubber should be on the back.

It seemed to ride well and was definitely grippy so I popped the rear on and went out again as the sun was setting.

I wasn't nearly fast enough to say anything about aero dynamics, but the tires are super sticky. More so than anything I've used, with the exception of the scorcher slicks I use on the Greenspeed. I would bet on these tires giving a good rider an advantage on a tight crit type course based on corner grip. It will be interesting to see how they wear. I expect a somewhat shorter life than the tires I replaced, and maybe a lot shorter.

So far I like them. I'll ease into some longer rides before accepting definitively that the extra mm won't be a problem.

the warning

the temptation

old versus new

Day 2 free weights and pushups.

I had planned to ride the unit through commuter traffic after work, but changed the plan to prove I could. However, the bike is calling to me whispering: It isn't raining yet. It's still light outside. You're over half an hour behind how much would would have exercised if you'd gone for a ride.