Life is better on a bike!

Category: training (Page 1 of 5)

Spring Rides

IMG_20140216_142926077Typically I’m more a fan of autumn bike rides than spring due to the strong winds that accompany the warm temperatures of spring. Especially here in tornado alley. Today was as pretty a spring day as I can imagine having and without the strong wind. Add to that an unusually clear blue sky and it was a day to rival the best of days in October.

We did our usual fast and flat ride, except for the fast part. We rode to Jones and back, plus the sod farm loop, for 32 easy miles. Locals know exactly where I mean, and the rest of you don’t care so no need for further details. 🙂

Since I’m not eating any sugar or refined carbohydrates (other than from vegetables and limited fruits), I’m also not ingesting any gels or Heed before, during or after a ride. I’m using the fat burning method to supply my energy. When you use sugar to fuel your efforts you have to continue to replenish or you bonk. The more sugar/carbs you ingest the more your body burns and the more you have to take in. On the other hand, there is a fuel source you most likely have plenty of: Fat. Fat supplies you with an endless source of fuel – at least for most of us.

Don’t take my word for it, if you’re interested just Google something like, “burning fat instead of carbohydrates” and you’ll find tons of information. I mentioned Mark Sisson in an earlier post, he’s certainly written about fat being the fuel of choice. You have to adjust your body to relying and utilizing fat stores rather than carbs/sugar so it’s important to do it the right way. I continue to take gels with me just in case, but so far I haven’t needed them.

How do you fuel for rides?

Those Annoying Cycling Goals

I am well off the mark to meet my goal of 3,000 cycling miles for 2013.

I realize 3,000 miles in a year isn’t much for a lot of you, but a goal is a goal and whatever it is the plan is to meet it and maybe even exceed it. At least in January, February, even March it is, now not so much.

For me to get 3,000 miles, I am going to have to average 70 miles each and every week from now until the end of the year.

Doesn’t sound too difficult, but considering I am going to be gone and without a bike some of those weeks means it is not going to be easy.

Know what I am using as my incentive to get it done?

Not making a mileage goal for 2014!

Seriously, always having a mileage goal for something you love can make it feel like work and just something else you have to do.

Plus, I have done other activities like swimming, hiking and running that don’t count towards that cycling goal, but are things I enjoy and want to do so why limit myself with a cycling goal. For instance, this past week we were at the Grand Canyon North Rim, took lots of hikes, but didn’t ride a single mile.

One of the readers here when I posted my goal for this year back in January told me she wasn’t making a cycling goal because she wanted to be free to walk, hike, etc. and not feel that she had to always bike to meet some arbitrary goal. Start woman!

Wish I had done that. I should have, I saw the signs, I didn’t make 2012’s cycling goal either: goal of 3200 miles, completed 2900 and some change.

Really, I am just not as focused in general on training type cycling as I was in years past. I don’t know if it is my age or the fact that I have been doing this so long (23 years) to remain so gung-ho. I guess probably both.

My focus on the type of riding I want to do is shifting too. Although I am still more of a cyclist (spandex-clad) than a bike rider (regular clothes) I am slowly (no pun here) but surely moving more in the direction of bicycling. I imagine I will always do both, but I like using my bike for transportation which has nothing really to do with miles or speed. I also like being fit, strong and fast for a middle-aged woman (true if I live to be over one hundred :), so I will still ride and track speed, heart rate, etc., at times too.

My plan is for my Garmin 510 to have 3,000 miles of cycling on 12/31/13. I wouldn’t feel as good about not having a goal next year if I don’t make this one. I am not even sure why exactly, just one of those quirks that serves me well at times and makes me miserable at times.

I am looking forward to next year and not having a goal, just riding to ride. What about you did you set a goal? Regretting it like me or if you are going to smash it, do tell.

30 Days of Biking–Day 5

Day 5 ride was the longest of the #30daysofbiking rides so far.  I joke – and like most jokes there is truth there – that rides in street clothes are rides of a *bike rider* and rides in spandex are rides of a *cyclist*. It is a well understood fact (by most anyway) that drivers are more tolerant of bike riders than cyclists.

I talked yesterday about how easy going drivers were on Day 4’s ride, today’s bike jersey/shorts ride i.e., cyclist ride was an example of how irritated drivers can be. I find it so interesting that depending on how you are dressed (and possibly the type of bike you are riding) people actually react differently to you. It wouldn’t be an issue for cyclists except the irritated drivers sometimes respond in a manner that puts us at risk. There have been studies done confirming this, according to one, the safest person riding a bike is a female pulling a trailer commonly used for hauling kids.

Today’s ride was great regardless. We parked at Oakdale school and rode to Jones on Hefner Rd. The same road that hundreds of cyclists (and bike riders 🙂 will be riding tomorrow at the Redbud Classic bike event. Signage was already out warning drivers to expect possible delays.

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The ride to Jones is so peaceful (and easy), especially on weekdays when most are at work. We saw more cows than people. I had to stop to take a picture of this longhorn and her calf. 

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Once we hit Jones and started heading back we decided to just ride home and pick up the car later. Good decision because once we started heading north we had a very nice tailwind from the southwest. You can see how strong the wind is from the flag in the photo below.

Aren’t the redbuds beautiful!

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We picked up another 8 miles by riding home of mostly easy pedaling although there was a fair amount of traffic. One person buzzed us even though the left lane was completely empty choosing to stay in the right lane where we were passing us very close and THEN got over into the left lane. 

Once we could we got off the busy streets and ride through neighborhoods to get home we did. Also gave me time to get a few more shots.

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Day 5: 26.5 miles/14.8 avs/119 ahr/922ft of ascent.

Bliss on a Bike

For a change we decided to ride a very flat route instead of our usual hilly route. I am so glad we did. It felt so easy compared to our usual 2100 feet of ascent for a ride of this length (32 miles) instead we only climbed 690 feet in total. Nice.

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No hills meant pretty constant effort and speed, plus there are fewer than half the stop signs. Our hilly route has a stop sign every. single. mile. It gets old and besides slowing down the average speed, we are constantly having to ramp up effort to get back up to speed over and over – which wastes energy. And guess what you use to pedal a bike!

Between the fewer stop signs on the flat route and the easier pedaling our average speed was nearly 2 miles per hour higher. Most importantly, it was more enjoyable. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and NO WIND. 

First graph is today’s route, 32 miles, 692 feet of ascent, 15.3 average speed, average heart rate of 115. Second graph, a typical ride on our hilly route from 2 weeks ago, 2188 feet of ascent, 31.4 miles, average speed of 13.5 (slower than typical but not for this early in year), average heart rate 119. I have a low resting heart rate of 40-42 and often start my rides in the 60’s so heart rate isn’t a good indicator of suffering or difficulty for me.

Flat Route with Note

Hilly route noted


Today was a perfectly perfect day for riding: 72 degrees, 0 wind, little traffic and even not that many cyclists which surprised me giving the perfect conditions.

Flags here rarely ever look like this:

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No wind and flat roads make for blissful rides.

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Yesterday I had a detailed bike fit done which I will post about later, but with the tweaks to my position and the new Chorus drivetrain, new carbon handlebar, new stem, new brakes and compact gearing feels like I am riding a new bike. A new fast bike!

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Leap Day

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Today was the type of ride I should take more often. Slow and easy. Riding along with my bud side by side on country roads where we saw way more cows and horses than we did cars and trucks. Just talking and enjoying the spectacular weather.

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We rode a little over 21 miles but it was almost effortless. We usually ride the same speed or at least with the same effort: putting our heads down (most of the ride) and pedaling hard.

I know it’s best to vary your effort to get stronger and faster but I tend to forget that when I’m doing a training ride. And if I am on certain routes (east and west training routes) I only know one speed.

But this time of year is all about base miles so I even have a reason to ride slower.

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When I ride around town on Condor, my commuter, I never put my head down and go, it is always more about getting somewhere or just enjoying the ride. But put me on my road bike and I get locked in to riding hard. 


I’m glad we had this kind of ride today, it served as a good reminder to slow down and just ride.
What about you, do you tend to ride all out when you’re on a training ride?

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