yea i burned the first time out, but now i have an awesome base, so i just keep getting darker

benefits of biking FTW

6/10/2010 3:45:12 PM

It's definitely not a benefit for me. I have a tan line on my back that makes me look like I am wearing my tri jersey all the time--complete with tanktop sleeves and a thin strip on my lower back wear the jersey rode up a little. I call it my tramp stamp.

[Edited on June 10, 2010 at 3:53 PM. Reason : d]

6/10/2010 3:53:17 PM

i refuse to wear a traditional jersey when i ride



so that's what happens - but i feel you on the tramp stamp thing - i totally have a lovely tan line running along the bottom of the tank top that i wear.

6/10/2010 3:57:42 PM

fixed my bike today but its tooooo hot to start riding again. i haven't ridden in about 20 days

6/10/2010 4:40:10 PM

I used to wear running tech tees when I rode, then I discovered the jersey allows me to indulge my marsupial tendencies with the big pockets in the back. That, and I can't afford any more burns on my shoulders in my lifetime.

6/10/2010 5:58:06 PM

my wife just ordered the "if you are too close" jersey for me. i am stoked.

6/10/2010 6:32:04 PM

^ haha cool!

i dont wear jerseys when i ride, i just wear a running shirt & lather up on sunscreen

i did get tan lines in my legs though i have half a mind to wear running shorts over my padded shorts & just hike the riding shorts all the way up

6/10/2010 6:55:39 PM

so i finally did the 50 miles round trip work commute.

I rode my Ridley cross bike w/ a Topeak MTX rack w/ MTX trunk bag that slides into the rack and has fold out panniers. I almost thought it would be overkill until i had the trunk full along with both panniers! i brought my work clothes, towel, shoes, lunch, extra bottle w/ protein powder in it, snacks, and toolkit stuff. i didn't bring any lights since i'd be home before dark.

The trip there went well. i could feel the weight of all the crap having just ridden a road ride w/o anything on the bike, but i got used to it after a few miles. I love this bike, it fits and rides so nicely, i'd say even nicer than my steel bike surprisingly (same tires on both).

It took me 1:35 to get to work. i stopped a couple times when i got lost, traffic, and its quite hilly north of Boston where i work, etc. My normal car commute is about 45min in the morning. It was nice though, most roads through Boston have bike lanes, i took some dedicated paved bike paths near parks and ponds, side streets. Got to work and was feeling good. finished off my gatorade, drank teh protein drink, and was starving to death within an hour so i ate my lunch at 10:30.

My biggest concern for this 'adventure" was being ready to go again 8 hours later. its an awkward amount of time, itd almost be easier to do 50 miles straight. So i was hungry again at 3 so i got a chicken wrap. felt pretty sleepy. drank water, whatever.

The ride home went pretty well. I was definitely more tired and kind of just lazed my way home. I got home in 1:50, also getting a little mixed up a few times. it normally takes me a solid hour to 1:15 to get home by car. I then ate a lot and took a 3 hour nap...

hah so i don't know. it was fun, especially in the morning. but it wore my ass out. I'm not sure how to do better. maybe just get in better shape by taking more long rides, maybe eating more/better, etc.

I might go back to taking commuter rail up to work and riding the whole way back. thats a good compromise i think.

[Edited on June 10, 2010 at 7:04 PM. Reason : ass]

6/10/2010 7:03:31 PM

sounds like you did pretty good for the first run! i think the half train half bike sounds like a good plan.

how long do you think you could do it if you didn't get lost & you got used to the extra weight? if the weather is super nice you could ride both ways, but at least the train would give you a chance to take a rest. perhaps plan on riding both ways but take the train if you need to or do it so many days a week?

it would be nice to ride to work, its just not possible for me

6/10/2010 7:14:16 PM

i would commute if i could. i drive about 200 miles per day all around charleston. i just rode 17 miles. it took 47 minutes and it is hot as hell out. i was through both water bottles in the first 30 minutes. damn it was hot. i am trying to make sure i get in 100 miles per week. once that is happening i am going to try for 120.

6/10/2010 8:10:35 PM

I just converted my beautiful Trek Elance back from being a fixed gear and forgot how easy it is to ride with gears.

It's been a while.

6/11/2010 1:50:06 PM

Yeah, fixies are fucking stupid. Congratulations on making your bike functional and enjoyable again.

6/11/2010 1:59:56 PM

Nah- they aren't stupid if you're trying to improve cadence on long rides, and they are actually quite fun to take on short trips around town. I'm not advocating being a hipster, or using a fixie for racing or even serious training, but they are fun to ride.

6/11/2010 2:06:50 PM

Quote :

" Congratulations on making your bike functional and enjoyable again."

haha i laughed

6/11/2010 4:20:23 PM

i was going to skip my sat morning ride but decided to go do the short route 20mi, instead of 40. unfortunately that group is much slower but i could use an easy ride with this weekend with everything else i have lined out

6/11/2010 9:35:49 PM

sat morning ride went awesome. we did 46 and i pulled the last 4 at 22mph. it was nice we had a lil larger group than normal. we started with 11 and we had 10 with 7 miles to go but the tempo dropped most of the group. we finished with 3. i would like to pat myself on the back for punishing the others and only having 2 stay with me for the last 4 miles. this the first time i have been able to drop others with just tempo riding.

6/12/2010 12:02:56 PM

Oops, I forgot to post here that we got the bike back.

6/12/2010 2:24:49 PM

Finally went clipless today. Picked up a pair of Specialized Elite Rd shoes.

6/13/2010 12:02:41 AM

Hey, I have those shoes! What kind of peddles do you have?

6/13/2010 12:07:32 AM

Some Look pedals that I got off Craigslist.

6/13/2010 12:16:41 AM

No big mileage lately- 20 on Thursday, 15 on Friday and lots of hauling around stuff this weekend with the trailer (dog food, aquarium, etc). It's resistance training!

Finally got my fixed gear up and running again- turns out when I originally built the wheel, I laced 3 spokes incorrectly (oops), making a stupidly major hop in the wheel I could never correct on the trueing stand. Bf pointed it out to me and the rim pinged right back into place after fixing it.
I also put on 2 new Dia-compe brakes, I nearly pitched over the handlebars when test riding .

Anybody thinking of doing that 3ring Cycle out of Pittsboro later this month? I might do the 60 mile- getting ready for the century/Oly tris.

6/13/2010 5:13:22 PM

did 50 today. first time i've done that far with just taking a short break in the middle.

hopefully i'm ready for next weekend's 63 mile ride

6/13/2010 5:52:04 PM

50 is a solid ride any day of the week. if you did 50 today you should be fine for 63.

6/13/2010 8:00:18 PM

just rode for an hour. i did not turn my gps on. i only watched heart rate and time. i think i did well considering how damn hot it was. i went through 2 water bottles and my camel pack. tomorrow night i am going to ride all out for an hour and see if i can beat 20 miles solo.

6/14/2010 9:11:28 PM

^^ that's what i'm thinking

also saw that there are rest stops along the way.... which is kind of "duh!" but still happy to have them there anyways.

6/14/2010 9:14:34 PM

are you eating at all while you are riding? i know anything over 35 and i need to snack on something. saturday mornings are my chance for a long ride. i will usually eat egg beaters, 2 pc turkey sauage, and a slice of 2% cheese on a bagel before i leave the house. then i will usually kill a protein bar on the ride. then i am usually hungry as hell when i am done. the only time i went no snack i bonked hard and had to ride some ladies wheel at 14mph to get home. i was donzoooo. are you snacking?

6/14/2010 9:53:28 PM

i usually just have a cliff bar before i leave and then i'm okay....

usually go through 2 bottles of water and then two bottles of Gatorade during the ride. i'll stop at 7-11 or something for my rest to load up with my liquid.

6/14/2010 10:07:06 PM

^ I usually try to eat some some of protein and carbs before heading out on weekend mornings- egg on a bagel with a Luna Bar, or some cottage cheese with some nuts or fruit. I've been going through 2 or 3 water bottles with electrolytes in one and water in the rest.

6/15/2010 12:45:08 PM

I usually eat a thick peanut butter sandwhich prior to a ride and then if it's 2+ hrs, I will generally take a hammer gel with me (about 1 per hour). Usually try to supplement that with plenty of water and sometimes some watered-down gatorade.

6/15/2010 12:47:33 PM

Quote :

"i usually just have a cliff bar before i leave and then i'm okay.... "

wow i would bonk in the first 45 minutes. you may try getting some more protein calories or fat calories and see if you have more strength for the ride.

6/15/2010 7:16:58 PM

if i eat too much, i'll get sick on the ride... happens to me a lot.

so i've found that the amount of food around what a cliff bar gives me is the right amount. but i'm open to suggestions on what i could be doing instead (although i noticed that the cliff bars are super high in carbs - so i'm switching over to luna bars)

6/15/2010 10:05:17 PM

i like to eat oatmeal before a ride and if its anything over 30mi i like to have at least 1 gu & sometimes a large gatorade, depending on the heat (i dont do it in the winter but doesnt mean i shouldn't lol)

i need to ride with my camelbak more now that summer is here, i can def tell a major difference in my energy level

then after my sat rides, the club i ride with provides sports drinks, pbjs, cookies & bananas at the park where we meet up. so i usually grab 1/2 a pbj & banana and a bottle full of sports drink for the drive home, then eat again 1-2 hours later. this is a major benefit for me since i have a 30min drive home (and the club is only $20 a year! awesome)

6/15/2010 11:17:17 PM

^ I need to find a club like that around here

6/16/2010 8:55:37 AM

what are your times like (anybody) for 40 - 50 mile rides... i did 50 last sunday, took one short break and one maybe 5-7 minute break

i know it varies depending on what the terrain is like - but just wondering

6/17/2010 5:37:07 PM

2:20-2:45

[Edited on June 17, 2010 at 5:44 PM. Reason : 50mile]

6/17/2010 5:44:27 PM

I've got really varied terrain out here; I can bike 40 miles up and down the coast in about 2:30 accounting for traffic in the more popular beach areas, in 2:00 in a flat route going inland, or about 4:00 if I start at my place and go up into the Santa Monica Mountains.

Some pretty decent cyclocomputers are still fairly cheap, and I've found mine to be really helpful. If you're out on a 2+ hour ride, it's great to have a better sense of how you're doing as the monotonous minutes roll by. It's also nice to get an understanding of how much you're typically affected by winds, hills, etc.

6/17/2010 5:51:41 PM

yea okay i feel pretty slow. granted i did my first 50 mile ride on sunday and was about 3h30m on it.

the thing that gets me in my area is the number of stop signs along the trail. once i get outside the city a decent way, there aren't a lot, and i can go much faster. but the first 10 or 12 miles are a lot of stopping.

i've got 63 miles on sunday, in a race for charity - so i'm curious to see how long i take with that one with roads being closed and not having to stop as much.

6/17/2010 5:57:47 PM

Don't think of that as being pretty slow, just think of it as having room to improve. As long as you're getting better, it's all good!

Having traffic and stop signs does make a huge difference though, so don't get discouraged. That's a big plus to my inland route I ride: it's a bike and pedestrian path only for 8-9 miles, so I can just do laps of that and really get a good workout without any slowdowns. On some days, I prefer riding on a trainer at the gym for just that reason.

6/17/2010 6:26:49 PM

yea i definitely have room for improvement... the other thing that probably gets me is that i'm on a hybrid bike, not a road bike, so my arms definitely start to get stiff and sore with not as many positions to move them around to.

if i ever get a new job... i'm going to get a road bike i think

6/18/2010 7:35:47 AM

A road bike may help, but also think about engaging your core when you are riding. That way you are holding up your upper body with your abs/back than solely with your arms. That will help the soreness issue.

6/18/2010 8:50:53 AM

^ You can also strengthen your core and make yourself more flexible with yoga or Pilates. or ab work on a stability ball. I'm sure people can recommend 80 different routines for that.

I was having some soreness issues on longer rides because I had all but dropped my regular yoga practice- once I started incorporating hip openers and spine lengthening after rides, it eased the tension in my lower back. I've learned my lesson and just signed my lazy butt up for some power yoga classes for the summer.

6/18/2010 10:41:51 AM

yea i do yoga pretty frequently actually - i think i just need to focus more on my tummy than on leaning on the bars

and just incase anybody in here wants to support my ride on sunday.... 63 miles for the tour de cure: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/DistrictofColumbiaMetroArea?px=5855181&pg=personal&fr_id=6857

6/18/2010 10:45:31 AM

Quote :

"MSFITS Ice Cream ride. June 18th. 25 mile and 100km. I hope to see some of you there! http://www.msfits.org/icecream2010.pdf "

Thanks for posting that (about 4 pages ago), had a blast on the 22.7mile, finished near the front, so, next time I'll have to do the 100k. (I did pick up a used road bike 8 days ago, huge difference on the road compared to a mtn bike.)

6/19/2010 11:41:41 AM

i am about to go ride. my new jersey and bib shorts came today. i will have the wife take a pic so i can post them. they were 30 bucks and are a lot nicer than i expected. i love ebay!

6/19/2010 6:39:15 PM

this is the first pair of bibs i have owned. it is all i will ever own! man they were awesome. did 20 miles 1:04.

6/19/2010 9:27:20 PM

woot!

63 mile bike ride today.... supposed to be about 90 or so and humid, sweet!

6/20/2010 6:06:51 AM

Just picked up some new wheels/tires, derailleur cables, chain and a light for my Trek.

6/20/2010 2:16:11 PM

fucking kicked my ass today

so damned hot. lots of stops just trying to stay hydrated. but felt good to do something for a good cause

now, dealing with epic heat rash - oh joy

6/20/2010 4:27:02 PM

Yeah, I killed my water bottle 3 times today and had 2 or 3 big cups of water as well at Ruckus. Put in about 30 miles today. 63 miles is no joke, good job with the ride, [n]Lunak[/n]!

I'm thinking of riding to the coast in one day sometime in the early fall. Anybody else down?

6/20/2010 6:13:44 PM

Oh, forgot to show you guys my totally sweet new jersey.

6/21/2010 1:15:02 AM