For the Love of Bikes

Life is better on a bike!

Page 82 of 103

Where to Go?

January 10, 2011 /

One of the things I use the so called off-season for is to plan bike tours for the upcoming year.

It’s a rough job, but someone’s got to do it.

This time last year is when we booked the Vermont to Quebec City tour that we did in August/September.  Good tours get sold out fairly early (learned this lesson in 2009) so decisions have to be made and $$ committed long before you do the actual tour.

Advance planning required, I just hate that.

Anyway, for 2011 we had decided to ride the Natchez Trace.  I found out about the Natchez Trace parkway last fall.  Interestingly, this Southern girl had never heard of it.  It supposedly offers beautiful scenery, good roads, no commercial traffic, plenty of places to check out along the route and lots of history too.  Sounds like bicycle heaven, at least as far as the U.S. goes.

The Trace is 444 miles long, starting (or ending if you prefer) in Natchez, Mississippi going straight north to just south of Nashville, Tennessee (see map).  It also goes through a corner of Alabama, so it would be a three state ride (but not a three hour tour… ;)).

A lot of cyclists ride the Trace as is evidenced by the number of trip reports on the Crazy Guy’s website.  I read a number of them last night and subsequently learned about a few issues with riding the Trace.  The main one being that there are no services, (food, stores, etc.) on the actual road, you must exit the Trace and travel in some cases 10 miles+ to get to a town. 

Even then, in some areas it doesn’t seem there are many resources even in the towns – most importantly restaurants/stores.  It isn’t a deal-breaker but it is something that has to be worked out and planned for.

Complicating things further is if we ride the Natchez Trace we will apparently have to do it self-supported.  We haven’t found any supported tours for the Trace except for a women’s only tour.  I find that surprising, but that’s how it seems to be, at least so far. 

I’ll fess up, we like the comforts of a supported tour, but we also like the safety net it provides.  The social part is nice too.

Further searches will ensue. 

Another logistical issue is getting back to the start site.  We are considering doing an 0ut and back ride, splitting the Trace up into a couple of tours perhaps. 

Nothing is decided yet, we are going to consider other areas too.  On the off chance that someone actually reads this post, if you have knowledge of the Trace or a recommendation for a good tour or place to ride I’d love to hear it.

Be right back

Vulnerable User Law for OK

January 5, 2011 /

I did not attend last night’s public meeting on bicycling with Oklahoma State Senator Andrew Rice, but I did submit the following comments to him through email yesterday afternoon as well as a copy of Delaware’s Vulnerable User Law.

Dear Senator Rice,

I plan to attend the public meeting tonight hosted by Oklahoma Bicycle Society where you will be speaking. 

I am an avid cyclist and advocate for cycling.  I know you are interested in pursuing legislation to improve the safety of cyclists in Oklahoma.  Colorado’s bicycle safety law has been mentioned as a possible model; I believe there is a better law to serve as a model for the type of legislation needed in Oklahoma.

That law is Delaware SB 269, Vulnerable User Law, which was signed into law in August 2010.  This law amended the Delaware code relating to careless or inattentive driving.

In addition to bicyclists, Delaware’s law protects pedestrians, highway workers, utility workers, emergency services workers, as well as persons operating mopeds, tractors, etc.  I would recommend in addition to the vulnerable users of public right-of-ways named in the law that persons with disabilities also be included (wheelchairs).

Safety on public roads and highways is a concern of many, not just cyclists.  All users that are vulnerable should be protected.

I have attached a copy of Delaware SB 269 for your information.

I look forward to hearing you speak and greatly appreciate your efforts to protect cyclists.

Sincerely,

Susan Lash

[email protected]

www.loveofbikes.com

New Year – Looking Back

January 2, 2011 /

happy-new-year

At the beginning of a new year, I can’t help but look back… at the same time I focus on what lies ahead. 

No, not while I’m riding.  😉

As I think about my plans and goals for 2011, I look back at the goals I made for 2010 – and feel a little smug about the ones I accomplished (8), a little sheepish about the ones I didn’t (3), and something in between for the goals I partially completed (4).

One thing I like about blogging is it gives me a record of the year.  With my memory, I need it!  I love all the posts about our bike tours (Katy Trail and Vermont – Quebec City), they allow me to go back and relive the trips.

I also like the plethora of posts I did on the 2010 Tour de France. 

Thirty-four posts to be exact. 

For every day of the Tour, including both rest days, I did at least 1 post, and most days, 2.  We’re not talking short posts either; for each stage of the Tour (21 stages – 20 stage races + a prologue race) I wrote a detailed recap of what transpired and my own analysis of it.

For Tour novices I wrote a Tour de France Primer to serve as a guide for understanding the Tour, and bike racing in general.

Why?  Because I love the Tour.  For 3 weeks in July my life is the Tour and riding my bike.  Yep, July is one of my favorite months.  Bike ride in the morning – Tour in the afternoon and evening.  Food in between.  It’s a good life.

If you are interested, you can peruse a summary of my Tour posts here.

I’ll get back to 2011 later…

Party smile

2010

December 30, 2010 /

Today I took my last ride outdoors of 2010 – grandchildren are coming tomorrow and I won’t be able to ride even if we are lucky enough to end up with as nice a day as we had today.

Granted it was windy, but when it is 70 degrees on December 30th, I don’t feel right about complaining that it’s windy.  That would be serious whining.

Anyway, Mark and I just took a leisurely rolling stroll through the neighborhood.  Nice to be on Rocket (my Scott CR1 Pro) instead of the spinner – wind and all.

I just uploaded today’s ride up to Garmin Connect and ran the report to see what my totals were for the year.

Drum roll please… 

2,178.47 miles ridden on the road in 2010!

My goal that I set way back in December 2009 for 2010 was 2,000 miles so I exceeded that.  I like it when I exceed my goals.  I also rode 224.24 miles indoors on the spinner/trainer.

In 2009 I rode 1600 miles, 400 miles less than I had planned and considerably less than 2010.

The difference?  A couple of things.

One being, we took two week long bike tours that between the two of them made up almost 600 of the miles.

The other was I crashed in September of 2009 and lost a month due to injury.

A lesser reason, I was highly motivated in 2010. 

Fortunately, I stayed healthy and I had the opportunity to ride two fantastic tours – the Katy Trail in Missouri in May 2010 (240 miles) and a fantastic group tour  starting in Burlington, VT and ending in Quebec City, QE,Canada (345 miles).

2010 has been good to me.  Yes, I worked hard to complete those miles, but I was fortunate to stay healthy and safe while riding them.  While I celebrate reaching my goal, I find myself thinking of three of my fellow cyclists in Oklahoma that were not so fortunate.  I feel so sad, angry and hurt that their lives were taken from them because of inattentive drivers.   My heart goes out to them and their loved ones.

Alan Spencer

Clyde Riggs

Debra Miller

 

Indoor Training

December 27, 2010 /

In the past 3 weeks (since we bought a Lemond RevMaster spinner) I have ridden 180 miles – indoors.  The scenery is boring (except when Mark walks by) but the temperature and wind speed are perfect.

The RevMaster’s (aka the Master) bike computer calculates that thus far I have ridden:

10 Activities

Distance:
181.21 mi

Avg Distance:
18.12 mi

Time:
12:15:26 h:m:s

Avg Speed:
17.3 mph

Avg HR:
109 bpm

I am determined to not lose the fitness base that I gained in 2010.  At the same time, I am cognizant that if I over train during the off-season I will pay for it later in the year.  To safeguard against the latter and to get the biggest bang from my workouts, I have been reading up on fitness and training – particularly in regard to cycling. 

Interestingly what seems like common sense to me – that the more fit you are the lower both your resting and maximum heart rates will be – is not a widely held belief, although it is becoming more common.

A study from Liverpool, England shows that the maximum heart rate for athletes is lower than for aged-matched sedentary people. The maximum heart rate of male athletes was calculated to be 202 – 0.55 × age, and for female athletes, 216 – 1.09 × age. Both weight lifters and runners had similar maximum heart rates, which were significantly lower than the age-matched sedentary people. The athletes have hearts that can pump more blood with each beat than the hearts of sedentary people, so they do not beat as often.

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

My resting heart rate (RHR) is 40 (update: I’ve been using my Edge and HR monitor to track RHR which gave me the 40, taking it myself first thing in a.m. it’s been 45, 46 and 48), through what is referred to as a field test to calculate my maximum heart rate (MHR), I found my MHR to be 158.  There are many calculations for calculating MHR.  Using Mirkin’s formula my MHR is 154.  Dan Heil, Ph.D., recommends, 210 – (half your age in years) – (5% of your weight in pounds) + 4 for men only = MHR.  Using this my MHR is 175. 

I use a Garmin Edge 305 with heart rate monitor for all of my bike rides.  I upload the ride data and utilize it in setting and tracking goals and fitness.  Based on that data (and my RHR of 40) I believe the MHR of 175 is too high while the MHR of 154 is too low for me. 

I “picked” 165 as my MHR and use it to set my training zones.  From the data I have I believe it is reasonably correct.   Also, I read that the formulas for calculating MHR are based on running and that cycling produces a MHR of usually 3 – 5 beats lower.

Utilizing a heart rate monitor and heart rate zones I can target my training to maximize my cycling (and cross-training) workouts.  I am in the process of uploading preset workouts into my Edge so I can utilize some of the heart rate based workouts I have found.  I also hope to collect data on how long I am in each zone.  I monitor that during the workout, but the Edge doesn’t collect that info.

Years ago I rode outdoors year round – then I got older and wimped out.  The spinner is easy to use and with my technological toys (mp3 player, netbook, portable dvd player and cell phone with Angry Birds app) I have plenty to distract me from the monotony of riding for up to two hours at a pop.

I will monitor and track my average heart rate, cadence, miles, time on the bike as well as monitor and vary the intensity of my workouts.  I will also monitor my RHR at least weekly to guard against over-training.  I plan to post regularly on my progress (or lack of) – in part to guard against under-training.  A little accountability couldn’t  hurt.

I’m curious how others train in the off-season, what do you typically do and how did you arrive at your MHR?

Sun

« Older posts Newer posts »

For the Love of Bikes Blog (2009 - 2023) is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Based on a work at www.loveofbikes.com.

© 2026 For the Love of Bikes

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑