Just time this morning for a quick post on the weekend ride recap: Got to 23 miles on Saturday, via a lovely ride out from Renton, along the Cedar River Trail. And then turned around and completed 45 miles along Burke Gilman starting from Fremont out to Redhook and back. --Bee
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I promised to report (Bee writing) about where we went on our long ride last weekend, but here it is, already Thursday. See, here's the thing, it was awesome and traumatic and life-affirming, and so many things all at once, I think I was overwhelmed to capture the day in writing. Let me see if I can capture it eloquently: Our group of four met at a park in Tukwila at 11:30, it started raining before we got on our bikes. K had a flat tire at her house. We were soaked rats within the first few miles along the Green River trail. Confession that V and I shared, we only knew about this trail from the infamous serial killer back in the 80s/90s. Ar around mile 11 ish, K had a pretty loud blow-out, we saw a spark from her front tire. So we all pulled into a small (and creepy) park, which thankfully had a honey bucket. The state of her tire was not amenable to a patch, so B and K stayed at the park and Bee and V started biking over to a "near-by" bike shop to get K a tube. 4.8 miles* or one hour later, we returned triumphantly with the tube and we carried on, all voting to return back to the cars and chalk this day up to "real-world training vs endurance riding." I think we all had planned to get in at least 40-50 miles. *The photo on the left is our reaction when we realized that saving K's tire would involve climbing this hill in Des Moines. The pic doesn't do that blasted hill justice, but I'll tell you that our max speed all the way up was 2.8 mph. Pretty sure it was 1.5 miles to the top. And, as icing on the training cake, the pic on the right, is what we did the very next day, stock up on replacement tubes. Moral: sometimes training isn't about exercise, it's about accessories and finding out what you don't know how to do. Total miles: 33 + hard-earned knowledge --Bee Quick post between meetings: By tonight will have logged 43 miles for the week, not too bad! And 14 of those were on the road bike. I'm especially proud to have gotten a late start this morning, and make ti downtown for an 8:20 PT appointment (calf, of course) and then get to work by 9:20. It was sunny so I couldn't resist riding. Looking forward to the ride home and our long ride tomorrow, to wherever that may take us. --Bee
Here's what's happening this week, I rode the e-bike on Tuesday (total for the day, 14 mls) and today rode the REAL bike for the first time (total for the day will be 14 mls). WOW. it was not as hard or scary as I built it up to be. As I was explaining to V, because I've never ridden a road bike in traffic before, I was nervous about using signals, braking, *and* managing the clip/shoes with ease, without toppling over. It's like the pat your head/stomach thing. I think door-to-door the ride was about 40ish minutes, so longer than on the e-bike which was to be expected. With the shower/change, I got to my desk at 8:25, not too bad. I wish I'd stopped to take a morning pic or two, but I was focused on a lot of other, safer, things. Heh. Below, are two photos from the commute home last night, around South Lake Union, it was a loverly day for a bike ride. Notes: I forgot to wear the brand spanking new bike shorts I found at Title Nine. But I think I'll be fine going home. Will try 'em and review 'em this weekend on our long ride. Destination Tk. Stay tuned. --Bee I've been so bad about posting. I'm so sorry. I promise to get with the program! Part of the issue is that I feel guilty for being so behind on training. The ride last weekend to Woodinville was great though and I felt reinvigorated about the whole thing. It was just the right amount of work for our first real training ride. I was tired by the end but not in any pain. I run warmer than you and K so after ten minutes I wasn't cold at all. My butt was just a tiny bit sore the next day, really no big deal. And like you said, it was a pretty ride. I also made note of a few things I need to add to my kit (a shirt with back pockets, something to secure my phone, tissues) and a number of things I don't need to bring (spare shoes). It's my goal to pare down to very little over time but for now I'm going to keep my pannier on the bike. It doesn't add so much weight that it's going to kill me or anything and I hate wearing a backpack when we commute. I thought about both a mirror and a bell but am not going to get either for now -- I need to get used to looking around me completely when I ride and that takes practice, and I don't want to mess up my handlebar setup (which I love right now) since I can just as easily use my voice to announce myself. I'm also going to hold off on getting an adjustment or those center-bar brakes until I've put a bunch more miles in. I want to be sure I want them. I spent most of the ride shopping for my fantasy lakeside house. After I got home I soaked in the hot tub and looked at Redfin at houses for sale in the area. This one and this one are nice, but at $1.25M and $2M are indicative of just how inaccessible that lifestyle is. Maybe someday. Anyway, look how cute our little training group looked: The weather has been kind of crappy so I've been wary of commuting to work by bike. Really for no good reason other than being a princess. The wet certainly isn't going to kill me. To redeem myself, I have renewed my pledge to go to spin class to make up for the training. On Tuesday I went to my first work-day lunch Flywheel class. It was 45 minutes, with Tommy, and I didn't feel I was quite at my best for it although I did just a hair over 19 miles when I usually average 17. We spent most of the class sprinting though, which was why I felt so sucky, and my calories burnt were lower. I've definitely got a preference for higher torque rides with less sprinting -- this shouldn't come as a surprise given how little I like speed in just about any aspect of my life.
I have to fix the eating and meeting part of coming back to work though. I stopped by The Garage on my way back to the office and got a really proteined-up salad and scarfed it down at my desk before running a team meeting an hour after the end of class. I made it but I felt like throwing up the whole time. That exhaustion and the beans and greens in my belly just created this churning yuckiness. I'm going to try to remedy that next time by having a snack an hour or two before class and then bringing something comforting like a peanut butter sandwich to eat at my desk after. I'll get to try that tomorrow, when we're taking Aina's class together. -V Ok, ok, ok, it's not high-fashion...but I'm really proud of riding home yesterday (7 miles) in my work clothes, so what you see here are the boots, moto pants, and drapey shirt that I wore at work. it made getting on the bike after work so much easier. Thankfully you can't see the perspiration from this angle, heehee. New route today: 8th ave, slow and slightly inclined for some burnTotal mileage 14 (bike: Giant) --Bee
So, on Sunday, it was bright and warm, and neither me nor my husband could bear to waste a precious sunny day in Seattle, so we decided to venture up the Interurban for a short ride. I was really feeling the after effects of yesterday’s ride, in the sit bones, as they say. We took a leisurely ride of about 11 miles and it felt nice to have a different experience than the bone-chill from the day before plus a light recovery day to give my muscles some time to adjust to DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), an actual thing. Here’s a few shots of the trail and me. One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday’s summary is that my neck and shoulders got overly tired about ½ hour before we finished. I’m due at the cycle shop for an adjustment now that I’ve put some miles on the bike, and that is one area to target, likely the bar-to-elbow ratio needs some fine-tuning. And my helmet (Nutcase) is a bit heavier than one I normally use, so I noticed some muscle soreness in my neck as well. All part of the process…refining and tweaking so all these things are worked out by ride weekend. Mileage: 11 --Bee Here’s my STP-training day recap: Saturday was chilly, I mean, head-to-toe chilly, so the 3 hours of bike time were felt by every part of my body. I learned a few things about accessorizing: Need to wear double-lined socks because though I had on a very nice pair of biking smart wool socks, my toes were cold the first hour and a half. I had on three top layers but needed one more. I wish I’d taken the time to hunt for and find my pair of padded biking shorts…ow! Need to add: Mirror, speedometer, bell, pump, and remember to bring my bike lock
The ride: The Burke-Gilman trail is very popular, and there was a lot of biker and ped traffic, the water views were amazing, and the ride itself felt very zen and relaxing. There were some biker groups who clearly owned the path at times, but nothing too severe. The mid-ride break: We stopped for lunch at the The Hollywood Tavern, and pictured above is the delish meal: fried chicken sandwich, ceaser salad, and of course a Red Hook IPA. YUM. Virtually guilt-free given the ride home. It was a successful ride, I felt pretty good after, tired, but not exhausted and beaten down. Mileage: 28.4 --Bee Today is our first training ride together, whoopie! We're heading out to Redhook, with a stop for lunch, total mileage 28.4 along the Burke-Gilman trail. Nervous, but glad we're doing it. Results, reactions, assessment to be posted later. --Bee
Too tired from playing tennis last night to bike into work today so...with the inspiration of my bff V, signed up for a noon spin class, which is 45 minutes of blood-pumping sweat (and hopefully no tears). It also gives you a guaranteed 21 miles. OK well, it normally gets you about 22 miles but I was a little off my spin game today. Daily total: 20.2. STP training plan: 80. Total miles this week: 35
Let's talk about the sciatic nerve a moment...I woke up this morning with a dull right hip ache, for me, the tell tell sign of a sciatic flare-up coming on. I popped a muscle relaxer and took a long hot shower, and wore one of those heat therapy patches (I have them on subscribe n save!). So far so good. I *almost* cancelled the spin class, but instead sucked it up and just made myself go half-speed and pay attention to my back to make sure I wasn't feeling anything odd. I feel great this afternoon and hopefully the exercise will help things along. Thanks for listening to me kinda whine. --Bee |