august 30, 2007

rode out to cranford today to hand in an application. decided to take the ride despite tired legs. packed up my bag and got under way while it wasnt as hot as it would get. right away there was a bad omen when a car cut right in front of me not 1 mile from my house. she made a right as i was going straight and a swirve into the road was what stopped me from hitting her. this was a sign of things to come.

after getting up vosseller ave, which took a lot more out of me than i remember from the previous ride with eric, i headed down washington valley rd. ride went pretty well for the next 20-25 miles. had a tail wind, in the shade, and had a nice shoulder to ride in.

went down deer path rd and hooked up with new providence rd. after crossing 22 felt the ride was just about over. went through mountain side, got caught at a light, then continued towards cranford. as i crossed the intersection and was beginning to build up speed a car in front of me on the other side of the rd began to turn left. he didnt see me at all and kept going despite any effort i had to make me noticed. braked hard but realized i would slide under the car if i tried to turn out of the way. slammed into the side of the car and got my foot run over since he didnt notice me hitting the car either. thankfully i wasnt going full speed so the impact was far less severe. after my screaming, calling the police, getting checked out by emt's, and all that. i continued on my way with just a slightly sore foot, and slightly bruised knuckles in my right hand. so i am in exceptionally good condition after colliding with a moving car while on bike.

anyway. summer went well. reached essentially all of my goals and rode far better than i expected. lots of stuff is still planned for the fall and winter. im ready. :)

ride;

d-32.50
t-?
as-?
ms-?

*d- is based off of google earth. my fucking odometer reset again. im getting a new one.

monthly mile mark-2092**
in 115**

**odometer reset so these numbers are most likely wrong and short.

august 29, 2007

rode home again from stacey's with the aero bars on. today my legs were beat up. especially from the knees down. calves and tendons were burning not even halfway through the ride. had to sit up here and there and just take it easy. dont know if this is 'overtraining' but im weary of it. this weekend will afford me some time to relax and stay off the bike. then it will be on to september. hops to hops, another MS ride mike got us into, and the covered bridges ride are all planned for this month. hopefully my legs stay up to the task. ride;

d-8.76
t-26.17
as-20.04
ms-28.31

august 27, 2007

rode home from stacey's this morning. despite having tired legs from the previous day the ride went well. got home quicker than when i went there. first time that has happened. had a tail wind for some of the ride which made a difference. but overall the effort was hard and that is what made the ride what it was. ride;

d-8.76
t-22:45
as-23.06
ms-?

august 26, 2007 part II

rode to stacey's with the aero bars on. legs were tired but i maintained a decent pace and broke my fastest time. had a headwind and bag on my back that was pushing my head forward which was pissing me off. eventually had to adjust it halfway through the ride which im sure affected the time. ride;

t-8.66
d-22:58
as-22.66
ms-30.33

august 26, 2007

went out with eric this afternoon. took a long ride into the hills to the north of us. was originally going to head up to liberty corner but eric suggested another route halfway through the ride. although it didnt work out as he planned it went well. did some nice climbs and saw some new roads as well. had to do some waiting for eric but didnt matter. sometimes i went back down the hill and swung around behind him to climb up again. but hes got determination like no one else ive met in a while. may take a little longer to get up a climb but that guy does not stop. eventually we headed back and spun pretty good for a couple miles at the end. good sunday ride. helped burn off the awesome italian food i had last night at wills dinner. ride;

d-54.07
t-3:03:14
as-17.70
ms-38.99

august 24, 2007

went out with eric today after work. felt TIRED. my calves were aching almost the whole ride. eventually they loosened up though. we just spun around and attacked each other with some sprints here and there. got good at the end after i started feeling better. launched maybe 7 overall
attacks and he did about the same. good ride just wish my legs werent so tired. ride;

d-26.38
t-1:32:35
as-17.10
ms-35.68

august 23, 2007

took some days off to recovery from my first century a couple days ago. and after 1 day it felt like i needed it. pretty bad back pain had me off the bike for almost a week! but after a few days and some stretching i climbed back in the saddle.

went out after work today and did a nice effort with a few climbs. used the heart rate monitor i picked up which gave me a general idea of my comfort zones. 140-160 beats per minute(bpm) is where i should be in a hard effort ride. over 160 and it seems like my legs and lungs can blow up at any moment. but after using it for one ride decided to return it. doesnt give enough info. no average heart rate for entire rides. doesnt help much.

so i hit zion, rode along long hill, down lindbergh, and back up long hill. coming up long hill my legs were tired so took it easy the rest of the route. until seeing another cyclist on amwell. had to pass!! got around and did a good hard effort the rest of the way then cooled down after getting on east mountain. ride;

d-27.76
t-1:26:26
as-19.27mph
ms-45.39

*broke the 2000 mile mark today!!!!

august 19, 2007

CENTURY COMPLETE!!!

i shouldnt even have to write anything because this was my first one and it wont be forgotten. but i will anyway :)

head out by myself for a couple miles then met up with mike after about an hour. we headed through pennington and then down towards new hope. went on a very nice long road that had very light traffic. that was the case for most of the ride, light traffic. eventually we got down to washington crossing and headed into pennsylvania. after riding for a couple miles down to new hope. after crossing back over we headed back into montgomery. at that point mike took off and i was left with a decision. about 65 miles in and i could A-head home and put in a good 70ish mile ride or B-keep going!

headed along 518 to hook up with canal road then took it easy as my butt, back, and legs started to feel the miles. the next 25 miles lasted a long time. my average speed was down and it felt like no position was truly comfortable. after going through colonial park took canal road back the direction i came. crossed over to 533 then finally hit 514 with 95 miles down. going down 533 then 514 the reserves i was keeping came out. i pumped the miles out at a good speed knowing there was little time left on the bike for the day. finally after just over 5 hours and 30 minutes my odometer clicked over to 100 miles for the ride.

i felt happy and tired and proud. pushing myself with 35 miles left to ride to keep going was great. it was an example to myself of whats possible as long as i stay focused.

great ride...

d-101.18
t-5:36:32
as-18.03mph
ms-35.63mph

august 18, 2007

got a couple things for winter and overall use today. check it out...

heart rate monitor

waterproof/windproof helmet cover

good long sleeve jersey

rain/wind coat for my outside layer. one i had was gray(not visible)

arm warmers!


was able to save 15% with a coupon. :)

august 16, 2007

after a much needed day off got out tonight for a good ride. went to a fellow club members house for a ride and bqq. went with eric but the 'group' had already left. after riding for 25 minutes or so we passed them going in different directions. eric and i did some jump arounds and then headed back after about 45 minutes. with a couple miles left the group caught us and we latched on. sadly eric got dropped but i was able to hang on. this was the B+ to A group which a group that last year i couldnt touch. but with some effort i hung in there and felt good. even though my time riding at that pace was far less than there's it felt like i would be able to hang with them.

after the ride we stuck around for some really good food and some talk. took a smart approach and decided to use the small plate for my meal instead of the large one. most likely reduced my calorie intake by a lot! but now my stomach is growling like mad!!!! hope people keep meeting up during the week, it was nice to get out and be pushed. ride*;

d-26.30
t-1:21:38
as-19.33mph
ms-37.38mph

*included ride to work;

d-2.60
t-7:01
as-?
ms-?

august 14, 2007

got some bad news today. all the remaining events for the CRCA have been canceled through august. too bad cause i was looking forward to more tt's and maybe a rr or two. this year though i hope to do the grass track races so long as they are still on. anyway...

got out tonight despite mike and ed calling out. planned on doing sprints but knew i would have to work by myself tonight. wanted to eat a little earlier so only put in a short ride but high in intensity. did three loops around one of my short routes. got in a couple sprints, some standing starts, and rode at a very good pace. would have been much better to ride with someone else but you do what you gotta do. hopefully some rides pop up for me or else racing this season may be over. ride;

d-14.22
t-40:42
as-20.97mph
ms-31.77mph

august 8, 2007

time trial tonight and it went awesome. hot and humid and winds 10-20mph! i got placed more in the middle of the group than last week and took off just hoping to maintain around the same time as the previous week. due to the wind and temp i figured things would be much harder. but halfway through after seeing the guy in front of me i got it on! i put a huge effort in and on the final straight away had him in my sights. clicked up, grabbed the drops, and stood up to sprint! to my surprise i flew past him and sprinted the rest of the way to take ten more seconds off my time! dont know my overall numbers but know my time :)

tt time - 18:18

got some compliments too which felt good. all the climbing up zion and sprinting is paying off. :)

august 7, 2007

went out with mike after work. felt tired at the beginning but found my legs a couple miles into the ride. the weather was hot and humid but thankfully the sun was behind the clouds for the ride. after warming up for a bit decided to do some sprints. wanted to try out jump arounds. where you ride in a line one behind another and with no warning the last rider jumps out and sprints to no determined point. other riders have to react and try to catch. they worked very well and were much more exciting than the regular sprints i was doing. kept a good pace through out the ride and ended up doing about 30 miles. tt tonight. its hot and windy out. great! ride;

?? my odometer reset.

august 3, 2007

extreme ride today after work. took a quick rest after getting home then headed out to do some climbing. second hottest day of the year so hydration would be important even if it was 7pm already. went up zion which got my heart going then down long hill to cool down. after going up long hill had thoughts to go out to spring hill rd but the sky was getting darker so i stuck to the regular loop. got tailed by a car down zion which got me to grind a little bit then headed back up after the driver commented, "pretty good". up zion on a high gear. funny how it feels like my climbing is quicker in a high gear. dont know if i would be able to sustain it over a longer climb but for short ones it works well. after up zion the sky was even darker so had to head home. allowed a car to pass me before the real decent down zion but pumped it downhill and caught them! the stop sign at the bottom let me blow right by them then thay had to pass me again on amwell. risky, but fun. ride;

d-21.19
t-1:10:32
as-18.03mph
ms-48.60mph

august 1, 2007

had a great start to the month. did the clubs tt and what a difference the aero bars made. not only was i extremely comfortable the entire ride but my time went down 42 seconds from the last time!!! thats a huge difference. my tt time has gone every time this year. 19:23, 19:10, 18:28. under 18 is a reality even for this year. even though more money can be put into the bike to make it quicker more time can be spent on it the way it is to make me quicker. im opting for option two. unfortunately my schedule wont allow me to make it to the road race tomorrow night. but this weeks racing goal is satisfying. ride*;

d-30
t-?
as-?
ms-?

*reset the odometer before starting the tt. tt's numbers^;

d-7.31
t-18:83
as-23.68mph
ms-36.01mph


^rolled a distance before taking odometer off bike allowing it to keep reading after tt was over.