Took the day off yesterday. I knew I had a late meeting at work and was going to need to get home quickly to get kids to sports, so I had the car with me. Today, I knew I would have some more time, so I rode to work again. Just an easy ride today, no intervals or anything. But I apparently got my PR on a segment called "Buttsmell Sprint". Nice. But I have to agree about the smell. Definitely a stinky ride.
After getting home tonight, we had to turn right around and get kids to soccer and football. I took soccer-duty. I had a nice long running loop planned, but the weather was a little sketchy, and I didn't want to be too far away if it started raining and they canceled practice. So, I stayed a little closer to the field. Maybe I'll do a longer run next time.
After practice, things went a little crazy when my car wouldn't start. I had someone come by to jump my car, but that didn't work. Battery was just dead, dead, dead. My wife had to come by and pick me up after my son's football practice. First, we went home to grab a few tools, then she took me to the auto parts store for a battery. Then we drove back to the soccer field to change the battery in the dark. I got it taken care of pretty quickly, and everything worked like a charm. Back to the auto parts store to give them my old battery while the wife and kids ran to Wendy's and picked up some dinner. At this point it was probably 8:30pm, and we definitely didn't feel like cooking. I had enough sense to get a caesar salad with grilled chicken.
Ready for another ride to work in the morning.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
Couple more rides
I didn't end up posting anything yesterday, but I did end up doing another ride. Since I did a nice trail-a-bike ride with my daughter on Saturday, it was my son's turn for a ride on Sunday. He hopped on the trail-a-bike and we rode the smelly Platte River Trail into Denver, stopping at REI and grabbing a drink at Confluence Park.
Then I got up this morning and wanted to get in another ride. The Lifetime Cycle group has posted a few challenge rides lately, generally time-trial type of rides. I decided to try my hand at a new 10-mile time trial route they set up. Before I started, there were only three people listed on the Strava segment for this ride. When I finished, I ended up in third place out of the four, just missing second place by 4 seconds. But within a couple hours, the guy in fourth place had ridden it again and moved up to first place. So, now I'm last out of 4 riders, which is disappointing. I'm going to have to try again soon.
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| Stopping for a snack at Commons Park |
Then I got up this morning and wanted to get in another ride. The Lifetime Cycle group has posted a few challenge rides lately, generally time-trial type of rides. I decided to try my hand at a new 10-mile time trial route they set up. Before I started, there were only three people listed on the Strava segment for this ride. When I finished, I ended up in third place out of the four, just missing second place by 4 seconds. But within a couple hours, the guy in fourth place had ridden it again and moved up to first place. So, now I'm last out of 4 riders, which is disappointing. I'm going to have to try again soon.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Racing?
Well, today was an interesting day. Earlier this year, I decided I was feeling pretty good about myself, cycling-wise. I was feel strong in the club rides with Lifetime Fitness, and on various event-rides I had been doing, like the Triple Bypass. I had noticed that I always seemed to be leading out the group on the Lifetime rides, with maybe one or two others riding with me, while the rest of the group stayed behind. It's not that the rides aren't challenging or fun, but I've been hoping for something more.
I decided to think about racing. As may have seen in an earlier post, I looked around for races I could enter, but it's pretty late in the season and there aren't many road-type races left. We're getting into cyclocross season, and road events are drying up. I managed to get myself into a time trial, which was pretty fun. And I was pretty happy with my results, considering it was my first racing event.
After that time trial, I started thinking about next year, and races I could enter. I could just enter races unaffiliated with a team again, but I thought it would be cool to actually get onto an actual team, to get race training and advice. So, I started looking around to find out what I could about local race teams. I started by finding all the Colorado teams by looking at the USA Cycling web site. From there, I narrowed it down to teams that were somewhat close to where I lived. That left me with about 5 or 6 teams. After that, I looked at their team rosters on USA Cycling, to see if it was a big or small team. I was hoping for something with a decent-sized roster, so there would be a variety of people, with lots of ability levels. Basically, that narrowed it down to just one team: PSIMET/Zilla Racing.
I sent them an email to see if they were looking for new members for next season, not knowing that they had just posted an entry to the BRAC site saying they were looking for a few new riders. They emailed back the other day, saying they were having a meet-up and ride for prospective members this morning.
This morning, I got up and headed over to Two Rivers Coffee in Arvada, where I met four current members, and two other prospective members. We headed out on a 40-mile ride in the Arvada/Golden area, then back to the coffee shop. We sat around and chatted for a bit over some delicious smoothies, asking and answering questions. Basically, I'm in. Just need to pay the membership dues and order my team kit. I should be getting a team handbook soon. This should make for an interesting year next year.
Hey, look! I figured out how to embed Strava rides instead of the Garmin Connect version. I like Strava better.
After getting back home, my daughter and I went for a ride, with me pulling her on the trail-a-bike. The ride was actually pretty difficult, considering:
That's all for today!
I decided to think about racing. As may have seen in an earlier post, I looked around for races I could enter, but it's pretty late in the season and there aren't many road-type races left. We're getting into cyclocross season, and road events are drying up. I managed to get myself into a time trial, which was pretty fun. And I was pretty happy with my results, considering it was my first racing event.
After that time trial, I started thinking about next year, and races I could enter. I could just enter races unaffiliated with a team again, but I thought it would be cool to actually get onto an actual team, to get race training and advice. So, I started looking around to find out what I could about local race teams. I started by finding all the Colorado teams by looking at the USA Cycling web site. From there, I narrowed it down to teams that were somewhat close to where I lived. That left me with about 5 or 6 teams. After that, I looked at their team rosters on USA Cycling, to see if it was a big or small team. I was hoping for something with a decent-sized roster, so there would be a variety of people, with lots of ability levels. Basically, that narrowed it down to just one team: PSIMET/Zilla Racing.
I sent them an email to see if they were looking for new members for next season, not knowing that they had just posted an entry to the BRAC site saying they were looking for a few new riders. They emailed back the other day, saying they were having a meet-up and ride for prospective members this morning.
This morning, I got up and headed over to Two Rivers Coffee in Arvada, where I met four current members, and two other prospective members. We headed out on a 40-mile ride in the Arvada/Golden area, then back to the coffee shop. We sat around and chatted for a bit over some delicious smoothies, asking and answering questions. Basically, I'm in. Just need to pay the membership dues and order my team kit. I should be getting a team handbook soon. This should make for an interesting year next year.
Hey, look! I figured out how to embed Strava rides instead of the Garmin Connect version. I like Strava better.
After getting back home, my daughter and I went for a ride, with me pulling her on the trail-a-bike. The ride was actually pretty difficult, considering:
- I had already ridden 40 miles today
- I was riding my mountain bike, still with big knobby tires
- Some rain started rolling in, along with a lot of wind.
That's all for today!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Commute, rain, crash, flat
I think the title of this post says is all. Another day of bike commuting. This afternoon, the rain started coming down, so I had a bit of a wet ride home. My ride is mostly on a multi-use path rather than roads. In a couple spots, there are a couple wood-plank bridges to cross, and one of those has a pretty sharp turn onto the bridge. The bridge was wet, and when I made the turn at a pretty good speed, my bike completely slipped out from under me, sending me down pretty hard.
Other than a giant bruise on my ass, and a brake hood that was knocked out of place, everything is fine. I made it all the way home without incident, but then ended up with a flat tire while riding down my street. I patched it when I got home, and it was a weird one. It was on a seam, but on the wheel-side of the tube, not the tire-side. This has me a little worried that it could be a defect in the tube, and not any kind of puncture. It's patched up good, so we'll see how it holds up.
On a brighter note, I received a photo today from the Best on Hess Time Trial. They had hired a photographer to shoot the event, but when the date changed, it put this event up against the USA Pro Challenge, and the photographer was already scheduled to shoot that race instead. So, one of the sponsor's employees was out there shooting instead. Here is a shot of me at the starting ramp.
Other than a giant bruise on my ass, and a brake hood that was knocked out of place, everything is fine. I made it all the way home without incident, but then ended up with a flat tire while riding down my street. I patched it when I got home, and it was a weird one. It was on a seam, but on the wheel-side of the tube, not the tire-side. This has me a little worried that it could be a defect in the tube, and not any kind of puncture. It's patched up good, so we'll see how it holds up.
On a brighter note, I received a photo today from the Best on Hess Time Trial. They had hired a photographer to shoot the event, but when the date changed, it put this event up against the USA Pro Challenge, and the photographer was already scheduled to shoot that race instead. So, one of the sponsor's employees was out there shooting instead. Here is a shot of me at the starting ramp.
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| Best on Hess - ready to start my first race |
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Commute training
So, like I said yesterday, I decided to try to turn my commute into a training ride. The plan, at least for the morning, was to do a 5-minute warm-up (or as long as it took me to get to 104th and Riverdale), and then alternate between 5 minutes of low-cadence work and 5 minutes of high-cadence work, until I got to work. Well, that was going great, until I got a flat tire. First time in years that I've gotten a flat during a commute. It was pretty annoying, but I dealt with the heat and the bugs and got my tube fixed, and got to work.
On the way home, I just did a steady-state ride, trying to get home to get my daughter to soccer practice. I'll try another interval workout tomorrow morning, and hopefully keep my tires intact this time.
On the way home, I just did a steady-state ride, trying to get home to get my daughter to soccer practice. I'll try another interval workout tomorrow morning, and hopefully keep my tires intact this time.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Ride / run
Not much to say today. I rode to work again today. Then, I ran my usual 4-mile loop during my daughter's gymnastics class.
Something I'm looking into this evening... how to turn my daily commute into a true training ride. Coach Troy, the guy who does the Spinervals videos I use for training, wrote a response to a letter in Triathlete Magazine that I thought was pretty interesting. Basically, trying to turn what is normally just a flat, steady commute into some interval and technique training. Maybe I'll come up with a routine and trying to incorporate it tomorrow.
Something I'm looking into this evening... how to turn my daily commute into a true training ride. Coach Troy, the guy who does the Spinervals videos I use for training, wrote a response to a letter in Triathlete Magazine that I thought was pretty interesting. Basically, trying to turn what is normally just a flat, steady commute into some interval and technique training. Maybe I'll come up with a routine and trying to incorporate it tomorrow.
Monday, August 26, 2013
USA Pro Challenge
On Sunday, the USA Pro Challenge came through Denver for their final stage. We look forward to watching every year, and this year was no different. The race started at 1pm downtown, so I figured I had a little time to get in a ride of my own beforehand.
Baseline-Valmont-Lookout
Lifetime Fitness was doing a ride in the morning, but they were starting at 8am, and I was hoping to start a little sooner. Instead of riding with them, I decided to basically do their route, but I started at 7am from home, instead of 8am from Lifetime. By the time I got to the first major intersection of their route, at Huron and Baseline, it was still probably about a half-hour before they were going to be starting, so I had a good head start.
I cranked through their scheduled route, then kept on riding, taking a bit of a long way home. I ended up stretching their 40-mile ride into a 60-mile ride, and was still home by 10:30AM, with plenty of time to take a shower before heading downtown for the race.
USA Pro Challenge - Stage 7
We gathered up the family and headed downtown to catch the race. After finding a parking spot, we walked to Civic Center Park to get some lunch, and hopefully weave our way over to the starting line. Unfortunately, it apparently takes 20 minutes to make a quesadilla for some reason, so we missed the actual start. The race consisted of 8 laps of a 9-mile circuit through downtown, so we'd still have plenty of time to see them.
We ended up finding a good spot around Colfax and Lincoln where the race would pass by twice on each lap. We were in the middle of the road, so after the race passed by in one direction, they passed the other direction about 10 minutes later, and all we had to do was turn around. It made for some pretty constant excitement.
After watching them for four or five laps, we started to wander closer to the finish line, looking for a good spot along Broadway. We had a hard time finding a spot right along the fence, so we ended up a few feet back, behind some other people. We put the kids on our shoulders, so they were able to see fine for the last couple laps. And from this spot, we were able to hear the race announcers talk about what was going on, so we were able to get some race updates the whole time.
After the race finished, we were close enough to the finish that we were able to go and watch the final podiums. That was pretty cool. Well, actually, it was really hot. Especially with kids on our shoulders. The temp was approaching 100-degrees yesterday, and there really wasn't a breeze, so it was pretty stifling down there. After the final podiums, we stopped back at Civic Center Park to get some ice cream and water, and wandered back to the car.
At home, we watched the race on TV, trying to see ourselves. We actually got a few split-second shots of ourselves a few times during the race, and could see the back of the kids' heads during the final podiums.
All in all, a pretty fun day. Here are a few photos.
That's it for this year. Looking forward to watching again next year!
Baseline-Valmont-Lookout
Lifetime Fitness was doing a ride in the morning, but they were starting at 8am, and I was hoping to start a little sooner. Instead of riding with them, I decided to basically do their route, but I started at 7am from home, instead of 8am from Lifetime. By the time I got to the first major intersection of their route, at Huron and Baseline, it was still probably about a half-hour before they were going to be starting, so I had a good head start.
I cranked through their scheduled route, then kept on riding, taking a bit of a long way home. I ended up stretching their 40-mile ride into a 60-mile ride, and was still home by 10:30AM, with plenty of time to take a shower before heading downtown for the race.
USA Pro Challenge - Stage 7
We gathered up the family and headed downtown to catch the race. After finding a parking spot, we walked to Civic Center Park to get some lunch, and hopefully weave our way over to the starting line. Unfortunately, it apparently takes 20 minutes to make a quesadilla for some reason, so we missed the actual start. The race consisted of 8 laps of a 9-mile circuit through downtown, so we'd still have plenty of time to see them.
We ended up finding a good spot around Colfax and Lincoln where the race would pass by twice on each lap. We were in the middle of the road, so after the race passed by in one direction, they passed the other direction about 10 minutes later, and all we had to do was turn around. It made for some pretty constant excitement.
After watching them for four or five laps, we started to wander closer to the finish line, looking for a good spot along Broadway. We had a hard time finding a spot right along the fence, so we ended up a few feet back, behind some other people. We put the kids on our shoulders, so they were able to see fine for the last couple laps. And from this spot, we were able to hear the race announcers talk about what was going on, so we were able to get some race updates the whole time.
After the race finished, we were close enough to the finish that we were able to go and watch the final podiums. That was pretty cool. Well, actually, it was really hot. Especially with kids on our shoulders. The temp was approaching 100-degrees yesterday, and there really wasn't a breeze, so it was pretty stifling down there. After the final podiums, we stopped back at Civic Center Park to get some ice cream and water, and wandered back to the car.
At home, we watched the race on TV, trying to see ourselves. We actually got a few split-second shots of ourselves a few times during the race, and could see the back of the kids' heads during the final podiums.
All in all, a pretty fun day. Here are a few photos.
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| At our pretty good vantage point, where we watched most of the race. |
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| The breakaway, probably on about the second lap. |
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| Between laps. |
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| It's tough to get a good photo with a phone, so Lisa was pretty excited that she managed to get both Peter Sagan and Tejay Van Garderen's butt in this picture. |
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| Waiting for the peloton. |
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| The final podium. Tejay, Tommy D and Matthias Frank. |
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| And a quick video of the riders coming through on one of the laps. This should give you a sense of how close we were, and how fast the riders were going. They averaged about 30mph throughout the entire race today. |
That's it for this year. Looking forward to watching again next year!
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