By George Ayoub
I rode 77 miles over the weekend, a 12, a 50, and 15. Throw in two spinning classes and I had a 100-mile week.
Sunday morning was fogged in but two friends and I did the upper loop of the Century planned for October. Down Blaine to Hall County Park, out to Engleman, north to Airport Road, west to Highway 11, south to Husker Highway, back to the park and into town. I added 5 miles of in-town riding where you encounter lots of stopping and starting, turning and weaving.
Best road to date is Husker Highway from 30 to 11. Smooth and new, one loud pooch about halfway, and very little traffic. Of course, it was Sunday morning, but I’ve ridden it on a Saturday too and virtually had the road to myself. Thirty-three days until the Century. No spinning. More saddle time. More sleep.
Keep pedaling, Be safe.
By George Ayoub
Thursday was my last spinning class until after my Century ride, which is October 11. Still get achy knees as the spinning bike seat seems to slip a little during the 45 minutes. I’m trading that sucker out for a different ride when I get back to in mid-0ctober.
I hope to squeeze in a 45-50 miler this week with a couple shorter(10-15) rides around it. Training schedule calls for a 65 before the big day. Endurance rides look something like this:
Sept 6 45-50
Sept 13 50-55
Sept 20 55-60
Sept 27 60-65
Oct 4 65-70
I may back off on the 4th simply to start conserving for the 11th. Sandwiched in there are shorter trainers, time in the saddle.
And no spinning.
Pedal safely, my friends.
By George Ayoub
Rode 40 Saturday with three friends. Knees held up well enough that I was able to spin a little 16 on Sunday without much trouble. I’m digging that.
Saturday I realized that I’m much better off riding with something in my tummy and when I keep up with my water intake. I got behind on both and suffered for a good 10-mile stretch.
Also learned that pace is important. Based on what I’ve read and in talking to people, I want to ride the Century in the 13-15 mph range. I realized wind and hills have an effect but I have a a hard time early in any endurance ride staying in the range. I get off the line way too fast. A couple friends went out fast Saturday. We had some tail wind after about 10 miles but I think my problems in the second half of the 40 were a result of me trying to keep a 16.5 pace when I should have been spinning at 14.
Rode the first 20 of course and it was beautiful. Hope to get 45-50 miles of it covered next weekend . . . fed, watered, and riding the pace I should be.
Keep pedaling.
By George Ayoub
Long time gone from Bawls and Bats, but here I am in the midst of training for a century ride, so I thought I’d post my progress.
Some background: I turn 60 in October. To celebrate — and to feed a not altogether healthy penchant for self-induced challenges — I decided to ride 100 miles: a century ride.
That’s a thing among cyclists, akin perhaps to a marathon for runners, a wide channel for swimmers, or 51 brats for Kobyachi.
I’m not what you would call a serious cyclist. I teach spinning classes 3 times a week, but riding outside has often been more infrequent. That was before I bought my new Specialized road bike, which is a joy to ride. Thank you John Wayne at Wayne Cyclery and Doug Whitman for taking care of me.
I wanted to do a century when I turned 50, the symmetrical math being what it was. Life got in the way as it did at 55, so you might say the ride is 10 years in the making.
This blog (Bawls, Bats, and Bikes ?) will chronicle my training up to the ride, which is Oct. 11.
I’ll also be throwing in observations and my own shiny two pennies worth on baseball, college football, and life toy department in general.
To whit: I hope to get to a 65-mile ride in preparation for the 100. My friends and Web-based workout schedules helped me dial that back from 80. In fact, my friend Barb who did back-to-back centuries on two successive days said if I could ride 50 (I’ve done 51), I could do a 100. “Hell,” she said, “If you can do 20, you can do a century.”
That may be overly optimistic, but saddle time seems to be the key. I have a 40-miler scheduled for Saturday. I’m sporting an achy knee, so I’m hoping the ice and Advil express will keep things in order.
If that goes well, I’ll be trading spinning class for saddle time after Labor Day. Short rides during the week (10-20 miles) and then one endurance ride on the weekend, working toward the aforementioned 65.
I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, if you’re reading this and have any thoughts on aerobars, I’d appreciate to hear what your experience with them has been. I’m thinking about a pair because I like the position, but I’ve read that it really doesn’t improve power. What do you think?
Safe pedaling.
