Summer Riding Provides Bike Variety

More Bruce rides, WNY work rides and a local club Time Trial Series provides plenty of opportunity for riding. So the Lemond and Y-Foil are getting out and seeing some action. Yet untapped are club mountain bike rides, but that should be happening soon.

I was still hurting from the Whiteface UPhill race when I rode with Bruce and a crew of six the following week. That did not help me go up the very steep and too long Glens Falls Mountain Road just before the half-way point of the 55 mile quick ride. Bruce had to wait for me at the top, but as always, the reward is in the descent and we cruised to the Stewart's for a well-deserved break. The second half of the ride was much better as the climbing up West Mountain Road was less steep and at the beginning after the rest. The rollers going back to Skidmore were fun and the ride left a satisfying drained feeling.

Stewart Dam Crossing ----->

My work now takes me to WNY for more time to be with new people I have hired and to keep close to our customers there. I have begun packing up the Lemond with both wheels off in the back of the Subaru on my road trips. It saves the Cannondale from getting dinged and makes it possible to go on trails if needed. Also, the bike is heavier, so the rides I do will be better for training. I was able to get away for part of an early afternoon at Letchworth State Park in Mt. Morris, NY. If you have not been there, you should go. It is described as the Grand Canyon of NY. That is a lot to live up to and it does not compare to the western version, but it is a beautiful cut valley from the Gennese River flowing north through the Glacial till of western NY.

I started at the Mt. Morris entry near the dam and rode the length of the road south through the park to the other entrance at Portageville. It is 17 miles one way, so a 35-mile ride altogether. The ride south is uphill all the way with many dips and steep, short climbs mixed in. At first I thought my brakes were dragging on the flats, but I soon realized I was going upriver, so the flats were false ones. I stopped several times to rest my still weary legs and take some pictures of the river that at times was almost 600 feet below my vantage point. The road was smooth, but the air was awful as the local customers were spreading their manure and it was sinking down into the valley. No wind, but plenty of foul air. The return trip was a blast as now the false flats were leaning downhill and the down hills carried you over most of the uphill climbs. I now realized my legs were not as bad off as I thought.

I did get the Epic out for a short stroll one night with Donna walking Harry through our trails. It will be good to get back on the mountain bikes for some real single trail riding soon. The ankle is getting to the point that it will be ok.

I have wanted to do the Glens Falls local club Tuesday Time Trial on West River Road near Ft. Edward ever since they started doing them two years ago. But, Tuesdays have been tough for me to be home for in the summer, and every time I was, I was too tired or there was a thunderstorm. This time I was tired, but decided to go anyway. I was glad I did. There were 26 riders in all, and of all levels of ability and with all kinds of bikes. The Cambridge club riders make up the majority, but riders come from all over. The bikes ranged from state of the art TT bikes with aerobars and disc wheels to regular tour bikes.

I knew the road well from traveling with Donna as she rides to work and back. In fact Donna rode into work this beautiful day and I met her with the car as she was returning. I got to the parking lot about 45 minutes before the start, enough time to ride the five mile out, five mile back course for warm up. A donation of $5, signing the release and getting the number were all I needed to do. We lined up and started 30 seconds apart. My speedometer was not working, and I was almost glad. I know that a good time would be less than 25 minutes, so I just used the clock on my computer.

I hit it hard from the start and judged that I was pushing along at about 165 beats per minute (my heart rate monitor is also not working) by the level of breathing I was doing. I thought I could keep this pace for 25 minutes, so just kept at it. When my legs started to resist, I click up a gear for relief. At the turn around I was about 12 minutes into the ride, so felt I was doing a good ride. I passed two riders on the way out, and nobody else and no one passed me. On the way back I moved to a lighter gear a couple of times to get relief, but kept near the same pace. As I approached the rail road sign, which is near the finish, I pushed hard and had about 12 minutes more on the clock.

As it turned out my time was a little over 25 minutes, or 23.7 MPH, which was good enough for sixth place. I was happy with that! I would love to do it again and think I could improve by pushing bigger gears. The Y-Foil is really fun to ride and I was glad I rode it Monday morning for a 35 mile ride to get used to the positioning of the aerobars. I felt very comfortable with my position on the bike.

Next post should be about getting the Epic and/or Yeti out in the woods.

Easy Spinning July

Knee injury makes progress and then returns with a hike in the Adirondacks. Biking is a cure but at a more relaxed pace than I am used to, which provides surprising benefits.

Slipping and falling on a slippery rock while mountain biking at Grafton left my knee in pretty bad shape. But, it returned to good working order in short order after biking on the road. So good that I agreed to do a hike with Donna - big mistake! The hike I agreed to was a 7 mile walk up Stratton Mountain. The hike we wound up doing was a 9 mile climb over the Brothers and Big Slide, an Adirondack 4000-footer. Donna's brother called the morning we were taking off and told her about his planned hike which started with the hike we did. So, we would meet them on the way up instead of going over to VT. Which worked out well.

We caught Kevin, Luke and his two buddies on the ascent of the first Brother and stayed with them until we started over towards Big Slide. Then we separated as they were moving pretty slow due to their large overnight backpacks. It started to rain pretty good and the climb to the peak of Big Slide was done in a downpour. The downpour would last the rest of our trip. The climbing part is the easy part for me. The descent is the killer. Every step puts pressure on both knees that just drives the pain home. With slippery conditions, it is even worse. We hit a bare, slick rock section that was ice-like. Even being extra careful, I managed to fall heavily on my right elbow which pushed my arm up into my shoulder, resulting in a partial separation or tear in the A-C joint.

After eight hours of trudging through the trail, we returned to the car. Kevin and his group were to go up a couple of more High Peaks before camping that night, but we were sure that did not happen. As it turned out, they just made it down low enough to camp in a lean-to after peaking on Big Slide, and then trudged out themselves the next day. Needless to say, now both my knees and shoulder were hurting. Muscle soreness, since I am no longer running, also was an issue for a few days. The joints were to be a longer lasting issue.

However, after a couple of days recovery, I was out on the road bike. Last month (June) I set a record for Mountain Bike miles at 103, mostly due to the Black Fly Challenge. In July, I pretty much stick to the road, doing 13 rides averaging 34 miles each with still a couple of days to go. I am 43 miles short of a record July road mileage, so will have to see if I can work that in tomorrow.

The riding I am doing is at a much slower pace due the joint tenderness. Donna and I have ridden together more than ever this month and it has been great. I still get a good workout because I can hit the hills hard and then wait at top or circle back. Once in awhile I will time trial out ahead and then again wait or circle back. Going slower has allowed for faster recovery, so more rides. Also, new routes are ridden when someone else picks the roads. We have been taking turns "leading" the rides.

One thing I did to relieve strain on the knees was installing a 12-25 cassette on the Cannondale. With the 50/34 crankset, the effort needed to get up and over steep inclines is much reduced. Also, I have been doing more time trial riding on flat roads - getting the cob webs off the Y-Foil. Finally, last Friday, I got back into the woods and did an intermediate ride with the Grafton group. New tires on the Epic have reduced the chance of slippage on rocks. It was a mistake to go so long with the worn out tires I was running. I now have to get a new set for the Yeti.

With quite a few vacation days on the book for August and September, we have a great opportunity to get some good riding in. We have a couple of Adirondack long group road rides planned, along with a ride from Lake George to Ticonderoga, returning by boat. Playing around on the home trails has inspired me to use the great opportunity of getting out in the woods at home for workouts - even using the lights to get rides in. Who knows, maybe I can get Mountain Bike race-fit for one of the fall races.

May Wrap-up

Memorial Day Weekend provides a memorable end to May. A 62-mile, 5000-foot climbing ride in the Adirondacks on Saturday, followed by Donna and I teaming up for the Saratoga Duathlon on Sunday, and a mountain bike ride up the 11 mile Kelly Stand Road in Vermont privided an opportunity to go hard at three disciplines / bikes in one weekend.

Saturday's MHCC group ride led by Art G., called "Team Guerrilla Road Ride, Alternate Plan B (TGRRAPB)," was the first "Quick Ride" of my cycling life back in 2000 and I have returned every year since. The first ride was with my old FujiClub 12-speed and I was very nervous not knowing any of the riders. I had no idea what a ride of that length or amount of climbing would entail. I even did not know what to bring along in terms of repair tools, food, etc. I strapped my large handlebar mounted pack on and loaded it up with spare parts and tools! At the last minute, after I saw that the rest of the riders had tiny saddle bags, I ejected my 5 inch adjustable wrench. I kept up with the pack of 15 or so riders the first half of the ride, but paid the price the second half with cramps. I limped in many minutes after Art had provided a wheel to bring in an overweight guy that was behind me with 10 miles to go.

Since that first ride I have learned a great deal on how to eat and train. We have had as few as 7 riders on cold, rainy days and set the record for the most riders this year due to the great weather at 32. The second year of riding TGRRAPB I learned about over-hydrating. I just drank water and wound up cramping again, even though in better shape, due to diluting out my electrolytes. After this lesson I always carry one bottle of water and another of sports drink and alternate drinking from each. The third year I learned how eating too many carbs and not enough protein induces insulin to drain all of your circulating blood sugar leaving you without fuel for muscles. At the half way point we stop usually for about 20 to 30 minutes at a country store in Adirondack for a rest stop. The picture shows us a this year's edition. After devouring large amounts of GU and power bars and sports drink we started off around Schroon Lake. After about 20 minutes my legs seized up on this ride for the third time in a row. By the fourth year I finally completed a TGRRAPB in good shape. I now pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my longer rides and can eat it with confidence even at a long stop knowing that the protein and fat will prevent the insulin surge.

The long climbs and descents and smooth Adirondack roads twisting by lakes, rivers, streams and mountains make the TGRRAPB a must ride for every year. There is a core group of riders that returns year after year. Some are the same riders that do other Quick Rides and others I only see on this ride. This year we had a fellow that claimed to be an American European ProTour rider. He had a beautiful Team Phonak BMC team issue bike and told great stories about riding for Landis and others on the Phonak team. We always stay and eat some cake that Art's wife provides and talk about the ride and other things as we recover. The group this year was pretty unanimous in thinking our ProTour rider was spinning a tall tale on us.

The last three years I have gotten myself into the shape and have the experience to do the ride well without needing lots of recovery time. In fact, I have done it knowing I will be doing a 20-mile time trail the following day teaming up with Alix or Donna in the Saratoga Duathlon. The first year Alix and I managed to run-ride-run to first place in the mixed team division. Alix ran a good first 5K and I used my Trek Y-foil to advantage and completed the 4-lap, 5 miles per lap course in about one hour. The result was that Alix was the first women to start the second 5K run and she held her position through to the finish. She brought the crowd to cheers as the first women finisher - she said it was awesome! That first year Donna did all three legs and placed first in her age group.

The second year the race grew in size and Donna, Alix and I failed to repeat our first place finishes, but we still were respectable. I finished 16th in the field of 200 for the bike leg portion of the race, which I thought was good. It is great fun to pass riders and move so fast through the field. The Y-Foil is such a fast bike being all carbon and DuraAce components. The aerobars with bar end shifters allows you to stay aero the whole time. The course is flat except for a short climb at the end of each lap. Once you figure the right gearing, you get into a pattern that repeats lap after lap. I watch the computer and time each lap trying to bring in negative splits. If you stay under 15 minutes per lap you are going over 20 MPH. The previous day's ride is either a good warm up or a drain on leg power or both!

This year I felt really good after doing the TGRRAPB so I expected to do well in the duathlon. For the first time I am teaming up with Donna, instead of Alix. Donna tags me at the end of her 5K and I start running with the bike out of the transition area. She yells that she has set a PR for the 5K with her first leg time. OK - now the pressure is on; I better come through with a good effort to support her PR. Last year I averaged 22.3 MPH, so to go better I need to hit well under 15 minutes per lap. I started off and felt off. Legs felt ok, but my stomach was not right. I had eaten too much - taken in what I would normally do for a long ride, not a 1 hour hard effort. By the time I rounded the third corner I started bringing up breakfast. The first climb to finish the first lap and I was not pumping in the right gear - not going fast, others were passing me! My time for the first lap was 14:45 - not fast enough. After that lap I started to feel better.

As is often the case, I passed riders and the same riders would pass me back - each of us showing our own preferences for different parts of the route. By the third lap we are thinning out to be the same riders and only passing really slow riders. My lap times were getting better each lap. By the fourth lap I felt really good. My finishing pace was a new record for me at 22.6 MPH, which was good enough for 7th overall out of 150 riders. Donna ran another good 5K leg and we finished 4th out of 12 coed teams and only 25 seconds off of 2nd place. We enjoyed the great spread of food and each had messages at the end of the race.

On Monday we decided to take out the mountain bikes and explore a favorite road over in Vermont. The Kelly Stand Road is a dirt road that climbs for about 10 miles along side a beautiful tree-lined stream. People camp between the road and stream and there is little traffic. The road is only open in the non-winter months and connects Arlington to Stratton Mountain. The Appalachian Trail crosses the road at the 9 mile mark. At the 11 mile mark there is a historical marker where Danial Webster addressed 15,000 people in July of 1840 at the Whig Convention! It is hard to believe that this little traveled road in the middle of the Vermont forest would ever have had that many people on it. The climb is long and steady but never too steep. A good workout for sure and an awesome, long and fun descent. We ate some food down along the stream and then drove home.

Today, the last day of May, I did my first ride after the Memorial Weekend trio of rides. It was one of my usual routes out Lick Spring Road, up the Summit Lake climb (.5 miles, 250 feet), up north road, back to Greenwich. I decided to finish by going up Willard and then going home, since I am training for the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race in 3 weeks. At the top of Willard I see a CRBC rider heading down. I figured he was out alone on a training ride, beating the afternoon thunderstorms like I was. When I get to the Willard Ski Area driveway I see several cars, bikes and bikers milling about. I turned into the driveway and saw that these were more CRBC clad riders. One saw me roll up and said, "Hey, this isn't one of our guys." I asked who was playing in my neighborhood. He told me that they were filming a commercial for Litespeed bikes! Sure enough they had beautiful Litespeeds decked out in Zipp wheels. They said they had to take pictures here instead of Tennessee to keep for getting shot out on the good country roads. I warned them that getting shot was still a possibility here. He asked if I was just out for a ride and I told him I lived 6 miles down the mountain and I was finishing off a 40 mile ride. We talked about the Battenkill-Rubaix Race and I rode home. Once again I was reminded how special an area we live in - a road and mountain biking paradise that I hope the rest of the world only slowly learns about so it stays that way.

Month Without Posting - a good sign for Ridn!

Yes, it has been more than one month since my last blog entry. Work and play have kept me very busy. Work entails customer meetings while winter weather makes them assessable; play has been snowboarding on great snow and trying to keep aerobic fitness up and body weight down.

An excellent opportunity to combine work and play occurred in March when I was able to travel to Reno / Tahoe to attend the Western Dairy Management Conference. I arrived early and left late in order to get three sun-filled days of snowboarding in the Sierra-Nevada's. While snow levels were lowest their in years, at about one-half of the normal amount, nevertheless, the riding was first rate. The first two days were with coworkers Jim and Bennet at Mt. Rose and Squaw Valley. The base was deep and carvable top to bottom - no eastern ice! While there was no western deep powder, it still a blast. The last day I went solo to Northstar and enjoyed the Backside Runs that are steep, yet very rideable as soon as the snow softened.

When I returned we got a St. Paty's day 2-footer that made Killington into the deep powder paradise I was seeking out west. I was able to go on a Saturday morning when the crowds could not get there due to roads being plugged with snow. The entire complex of mountains were left ungroomed and natural, so I finally had the chance to let my Malalo ride on top of loose snow. It was great to ride the bumps when the bumps were soft.

As far as aerobic fitness is concerned, I was only able to get one decent road ride in before the big storm put things on hold again. And that ride was a hand and foot-numbing experience. I finally had to hook the Y-Foil up to the Cyclops and do some indoor training in the back room on the first day of spring - it was 5 degrees outside!

Decision time came this past Saturday. Do I finally get out and ride the bike so I have some fitness for the fast-approaching Battenkill-Rubaix (a 56-mile race on climbing dirt and blacktop roads) OR get in one last day of Killington snowboarding?? Killington won out and it was a great day of attacking the soft bumps on Chute and Bunnybuster. Today (Sunday) will be the road riding day.

Still trying to combine work and play, I found a bike store in Sacramento that rents Trek 1500 / 105-equipped road bikes, so I can try to ride out there when working the first week in April.

It is a great thing to be able to work riding into working and to have the dilemma be which type of riding do I do today?