max heart rate:179 (which is REALLY REALLY good for me)
tired?: only a little bit...
energized?: heck yes!
legs tired?: yes, but not sore!
could have done it three or four times over! training is paying off peoples!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
conquering spin class!!!
avg heart rate:153 (which is REALLY good for me)
max heart rate:179 (which is REALLY REALLY good for me)
tired?: only a little bit...
energized?: heck yes!
legs tired?: yes, but not sore!
could have done it three or four times over! training is paying off peoples!
Also, on a side note, have fell in a bit of a state of heart with a pair of Shimano WR40 bike shoes in a 42...big sigh..must find room in the budget....
max heart rate:179 (which is REALLY REALLY good for me)
tired?: only a little bit...
energized?: heck yes!
legs tired?: yes, but not sore!
could have done it three or four times over! training is paying off peoples!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Out on my own...
Today was a big day, out on my own, no team, 60 miles. In the rainy mess....
I really wanted to succeed. I fell a short of my goal...Big sigh. 10 miles in I got a flat. If you recall, I had no hand in changing the previous flat, so it was a huge sinking feeling in my chest...
I parked the bike on the edge of a very nice lady's lawn and pulled out all of the gear, spoons, tube, pump. Looked at my tire, of course it was the rear one again and said you can do this kid, you paid very close attention last time...
so here is how it went...
1. Note the gear you are in: 4th - check.
2. Unscrew your tire and pull it down and away from the derailer: check
3. Place bike on the ground gears up: check.
4. Take evil tire and get the tire spoon in between the rim and the tire itself: not so much of a check on this one..but even though it took ten minutes..made it happen.
5. Connect correctly inserted spoon to spoke: check
6. Insert the pulling edge of other tire spoon into the space created by the existing spoon and pull around the wheel: not so much....this is how that went if it was it's own entry...6. Try really really hard to insert the tire spoon into the space. so hard you snap the plastic piece off. flip the spoon around, try with the flat end. after 3-5 minutes decide that was a very dumb idea. Take the spoon with the pulling end that is still intact out from the tire and swap it with the broken one. Decide you should have done that ages ago. manhandle tire until it comes loose: check - moving on...
7. Remove tube with the hole in it: check
8. Reinflate tube to find out if it was a pinch or a hole: check- and btw it was a hole, in the same place as the first hole from a few weeks ago! Make mental note to bring bike to repair shop to have tire checked out.
9. Replace tube with the spare you brought with you: check
10. Push the tube and the tire onto the rim: The tube went great. The tire was a complete and utter beotch. My fingers still hurt, the tire was wet, the rim was slippery, I started at the wrong side. However! When I finally snapped it all into place witht he aid of the tire spoons I actually shouted out "YES!". and yes, I was standing on the road by myself looking like a dummy. oh well, who cares..not me :)
11. Put tire back on bike, make sure to put the chain back on original gear: Henry made this look very easy when he did it. I knocked my chain loose from not only the rear derailer but the crank as well. More big sighs and very dirty hands. Yet i reigned supreme and absolutely made it happen. So CHECK!
That took a half hour. At that point I was soo off schedule. I started booking it, went up past 44 into Simsbury and then proceeded to read my map wrong and miss a turn. Big oops, kept going made my own little path around. At mile 20 ish I was soaked, my feet were soaked and freezing cold, the wind was going crazy and it had started to rain a bit heavier. So giving in to my major concerns of foot damage, and illness, I cut my ride short to 30 miles. I did decide to take care of the tire check up while I was out and stopped at the cycle shop in Simsbury for 10 minutes to pick up some more tubes, replace my spoons and get the rim looked at. It was fine, very strange.
So I feel a bit like I failed today out on my own, but I did ride the farthest I have ever ridden alone. I guess there is a bit of a silver lining there. I am going to hop on the elliptical at home tonight and make my legs do some more work so that the cookie ride won't kill me this weekend. Yay for cookies!
Praying for no rain tomorrow and Thursday! If not spin class it will be:)
I really wanted to succeed. I fell a short of my goal...Big sigh. 10 miles in I got a flat. If you recall, I had no hand in changing the previous flat, so it was a huge sinking feeling in my chest...
I parked the bike on the edge of a very nice lady's lawn and pulled out all of the gear, spoons, tube, pump. Looked at my tire, of course it was the rear one again and said you can do this kid, you paid very close attention last time...
so here is how it went...
1. Note the gear you are in: 4th - check.
2. Unscrew your tire and pull it down and away from the derailer: check
3. Place bike on the ground gears up: check.
4. Take evil tire and get the tire spoon in between the rim and the tire itself: not so much of a check on this one..but even though it took ten minutes..made it happen.
5. Connect correctly inserted spoon to spoke: check
6. Insert the pulling edge of other tire spoon into the space created by the existing spoon and pull around the wheel: not so much....this is how that went if it was it's own entry...6. Try really really hard to insert the tire spoon into the space. so hard you snap the plastic piece off. flip the spoon around, try with the flat end. after 3-5 minutes decide that was a very dumb idea. Take the spoon with the pulling end that is still intact out from the tire and swap it with the broken one. Decide you should have done that ages ago. manhandle tire until it comes loose: check - moving on...
7. Remove tube with the hole in it: check
8. Reinflate tube to find out if it was a pinch or a hole: check- and btw it was a hole, in the same place as the first hole from a few weeks ago! Make mental note to bring bike to repair shop to have tire checked out.
9. Replace tube with the spare you brought with you: check
10. Push the tube and the tire onto the rim: The tube went great. The tire was a complete and utter beotch. My fingers still hurt, the tire was wet, the rim was slippery, I started at the wrong side. However! When I finally snapped it all into place witht he aid of the tire spoons I actually shouted out "YES!". and yes, I was standing on the road by myself looking like a dummy. oh well, who cares..not me :)
11. Put tire back on bike, make sure to put the chain back on original gear: Henry made this look very easy when he did it. I knocked my chain loose from not only the rear derailer but the crank as well. More big sighs and very dirty hands. Yet i reigned supreme and absolutely made it happen. So CHECK!
That took a half hour. At that point I was soo off schedule. I started booking it, went up past 44 into Simsbury and then proceeded to read my map wrong and miss a turn. Big oops, kept going made my own little path around. At mile 20 ish I was soaked, my feet were soaked and freezing cold, the wind was going crazy and it had started to rain a bit heavier. So giving in to my major concerns of foot damage, and illness, I cut my ride short to 30 miles. I did decide to take care of the tire check up while I was out and stopped at the cycle shop in Simsbury for 10 minutes to pick up some more tubes, replace my spoons and get the rim looked at. It was fine, very strange.
So I feel a bit like I failed today out on my own, but I did ride the farthest I have ever ridden alone. I guess there is a bit of a silver lining there. I am going to hop on the elliptical at home tonight and make my legs do some more work so that the cookie ride won't kill me this weekend. Yay for cookies!
Praying for no rain tomorrow and Thursday! If not spin class it will be:)
Monday, April 19, 2010
hiatus is over!
i feel terrible that I haven't posted in ages, but the hiatus is over. I am back on the wagon 100%! fundraising guns a blazin and full tilt on training. deadline for fundraising is may 9th, need to get a good chunk of that done. this weekend should help, captive audience at the work convention i am going to...definitely plenty of follow up time! I sent out the letters that needed sending, it is amazing that there really are not a lot of people who don't have e-mail anymore. i need to repost my contest, that should help as well.
Monday, April 5, 2010
45 miles and counting
If anyone had told me a few months ago that I would have ridden a bicycle from Farmington, CT to Seville Dam in Barkhamsted, CT; I would have told said person they were crazy. However, 25 miles into our ride this Saturday I found myself standing next to the dam, munching on a power bar and a pb&j sandwich (thank you road angels!!). It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining bright, I had just climbed the biggest hill I had ever seen from a two wheeled perspective and come down the other side of that hill at over 40 mph. :)
Now getting to that point was an adventure. I have the honor of getting the first flat tire of the season. Mile 15ish, out went my back tire. I had missed the bike maintenance clinic, so very lucky for me, all 3 of my coaches stopped to help. Even funnier is it took all three of them to fix it. Coach Henry put my new tube in, Coach Dave pumped it up and promptly snapped off the top of the presta valve which I think may have broken the other coaches pump...and of course bye bye tire. Another new tube, tire all set, off we go.
Because I now have two busted tubes to carry back, my overfull bike bag that lives under my seat unzipped and out flies my bike tool. Thank goodness it didn't topple Jen who was drafting behind me. So poor Coach Henry stopped to pick up my tool. At this point Jen and I keep going. I pull out my water bottle (if I have learned anything through this it is that hydration is important :)) and when I went to put it back in the cage it popped out and went flying across the road, and then promptly bounced back again into Jen. Fun half mile let me tell you.
BUT!!! I made it. And I made it in with the majority of my pack. I was the last in, but only by a few minutes, which felt great. Especially because I am still riding without bike shoes and clipless pedals. Hopefully I can get those into the budget. It would be a huge help on the hills.
This week is all about maintaining my training, took yesterday off with Easter travel and today did a ton of around the house work, plenty of stairs and cardio. Great weather this week, should be back on the bike tomorrow! Bike computer is back up and working, bike pump is loaded on the new bike, hopefully the new back bag that will hold a bit more gear will be in soon and complete the package. Now that all of that is taken care of, need to focus on fundraising, which is starting to get scary! Deep breath. I can do this...
Now getting to that point was an adventure. I have the honor of getting the first flat tire of the season. Mile 15ish, out went my back tire. I had missed the bike maintenance clinic, so very lucky for me, all 3 of my coaches stopped to help. Even funnier is it took all three of them to fix it. Coach Henry put my new tube in, Coach Dave pumped it up and promptly snapped off the top of the presta valve which I think may have broken the other coaches pump...and of course bye bye tire. Another new tube, tire all set, off we go.
Because I now have two busted tubes to carry back, my overfull bike bag that lives under my seat unzipped and out flies my bike tool. Thank goodness it didn't topple Jen who was drafting behind me. So poor Coach Henry stopped to pick up my tool. At this point Jen and I keep going. I pull out my water bottle (if I have learned anything through this it is that hydration is important :)) and when I went to put it back in the cage it popped out and went flying across the road, and then promptly bounced back again into Jen. Fun half mile let me tell you.
BUT!!! I made it. And I made it in with the majority of my pack. I was the last in, but only by a few minutes, which felt great. Especially because I am still riding without bike shoes and clipless pedals. Hopefully I can get those into the budget. It would be a huge help on the hills.
This week is all about maintaining my training, took yesterday off with Easter travel and today did a ton of around the house work, plenty of stairs and cardio. Great weather this week, should be back on the bike tomorrow! Bike computer is back up and working, bike pump is loaded on the new bike, hopefully the new back bag that will hold a bit more gear will be in soon and complete the package. Now that all of that is taken care of, need to focus on fundraising, which is starting to get scary! Deep breath. I can do this...
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