| Data |
Comments |
Date: 24 Nov 2005
Distance: 40 mi
Time: 2h 37m 59s
Avg. Speed: 15.19 mph
Temperature: 55°F
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FWIW: I have ridden about once a week since I last logged anything. All of those rides have been just under an hour and usually around 15 miles.
Well, I need a new chain. There's no disputing that. I can tell every time I shift onto my small chainring that I need a new chain. Hopefully I can hold out till January and I'll get the chain replaced and the headset repacked again (it's kinda gritty). And to think I only have 750 miles or so on the bike. Oh well, it's been a good investment. I just need to ride more.
Today was brutal. I took it easy but managed to hold a high speed. My biggest mistakes of the day were not taking my insulated gloves off when the temperature got over 60 degrees and then climbing the 12% hill on my last lap (first lap would have been okay...last lap stinks). My knees were killing me.
Let's see if I can do a repeat performance on Tuesday! |
Date: 15 Oct 2005
Distance: 27.49 mi
Time: 2h 7m 39s
Avg. Speed: 12.92 mph
Temperature: 72°F
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Rode the Silver Comet today. Very invigorating and I realize what I have missed all this time. It is really a fun place to ride and I want to go back over there soon. Biking is back! I have ridden a few times between this post and the previous one, but didn't feel like logging it. I just need to get a bag to put my tools and stuff in, as mine ate a lovely spot in my shorts. Oh well. I'll be back again...no worries. |
Date: 03 Aug 2005
Distance: 17.84 mi
Time: 1h 0m 0s
Avg. Speed: 17.84 mph
Temperature: 77°F
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My goal today was to break my own 1-hour record, and I succeeded by somewhere between half a mile and a mile (I am not sure as I have never taken times at exactly an hour, but it's a reasonable guess). At any rate, after the rides I've done around my neighborhood and considering the state of my shorts, I'm finished riding for the rest of the week anyway. I'm not dealing well with the leg pain (caused by lactate buildup) either. |
Date: 30 Jul 2005
Distance: 1.79 mi
Time: 0h 6m 7s
Avg. Speed: 17.56 mph
Temperature: 87°F
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I decided to go all-out around my neighborhood. I did not dream of setting a new record but I did. With some added inspiration from a dog chasing me in the last half mile, I made it back quicker than I would have previously thought possible. Now for the real question: can I make it in under 6 minutes? |
Date: 30 Jun 2005
Distance: 8.38 mi
Time: 0h 30m 34s
Avg. Speed: 16.45 mph
Temperature: 73°F
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The good news of the day is I proved to myself that I can do two rides of fairly high intensity back to back and not suffer too much from it. The bad news is my ride got cut short by about 20 miles because I hit a rock and flatted the front tire. I was able to change it out and ride back to the truck (which was about 1.5 miles away). I also stopped my speedometer when I got the flat so it did not record that final 1.5 miles, as the 7-10 miles per hour I averaged back to the truck would have thrown off my average speed. It is more important to me to get a good speed average so I have a good gauge of my fitness.
My legs and butt were sore when I started, but improved after 5 or so miles. A couple of miles beyond that, the soreness was gone. This was significant because it means that my body is adapting to the buildup of lactate caused by cycling. The better my body's ability to flush out lactate, the better my endurance will be. |
Date: 29 Jun 2005
Distance: 28.5 mi
Time: 1h 52m 18s
Avg. Speed: 15.23 mph
Temperature: 81°F
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Four laps around the inside, one lap around the outside, and a warmup routine consisting of about 3/4 of a mile outside of the park was enough to make my legs burn. I did not run out of breath really, but I was very hot and consumed all the water I had. Overall, it was a satisfying ride, now I just need to get my speed up. I kept an energy reserve until the last lap, when I expended all of the energy I had left. My average speed rose steadily after the first lap, peaked on the fourth, and dropped about .25 miles per on the fifth. |
Date: 22 Jun 2005
Distance: 20.08 mi
Time: 1h 23m 3s
Avg. Speed: 14.51 mph
Temperature: 78°F
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I climbed every major hill in Stone Mountain Park today and descended all of them except for one. What was originally going to be a slow casual ride was certainly that, but throw in a few short 5-12% climbs and there's an aspect that still wants to push hard. I refrained from pushing hard most of the time, though I did attain some nice speed at times, and by the time I got back, my legs were burning nicely. All part of getting in shape. |
Date: 21 Jun 2005
Distance: 11.91 mi
Time: 0h 45m 2s
Avg. Speed: 15.87 mph
Temperature: 76°F
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Same drill as yesterday, except I did the outer loop first. I'm trying to focus on maintaining a constant effort, but it's a lot harder than it seems. Usually I overdo it, and I overdid it today, hence my slower average speed.
I've not done any longer rides yet because I'm trying to build myself up on the shorter rides. Once I feel I have the 10-12 mile rides under control and can do the longer rides without much detriment to my average speed, that's what I'm doing to do. |
Date: 20 Jun 2005
Distance: 12.81 mi
Time: 0h 47m 59s
Avg. Speed: 16.02 mph
Temperature: 79°F
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Today's ride was nice. After giving my legs three days to recover, they received the ride nicely. I am going to go every morning this week that has favorable weather.
I rode around the outer loop the easy way on my 2nd lap. It was hot and I decided to stop once, and as soon as I did, I got back on the bike and headed off--I needed the airflow more than the break. The big downhill at the end of that road was fun. Last time I did it, I scared myself to death as I was on my other bike and wasn't really in control. This time, I tucked down on the drops and the bike coasted nicely.
The new saddle is wonderful. I found a good position on it and it did a good job for me. Smartest thing I've done in a long time.
Oh, and my speedometer hiccupped and said that my maximum speed was 84.8 mph. Right. |
Date: 16 Jun 2005
Distance: 0.73 mi
Time: 0h 1m 43s
Avg. Speed: 25.51 mph
Temperature: 78°F
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I rode much farther than this but not as far as I normally would. I was only going to ride one lap but they turned me around right at the last hill (with only half a mile to go). I turned around and ended up doing about 9 miles. The time and everything listed above was for a little timed exercise I did. By comparison, Olympic track time trialists can do a kilometer (about 0.6 miles) in around a minute. I've got a little ways to go before ever hoping to reach that. :) |
Date: 15 Jun 2005
Distance: 9.76 mi
Time: 0h 36m 51s
Avg. Speed: 15.89 mph
Temperature: 86°F
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Despite me getting a late start on the ride, it went well: I am starting to get my legs back. I decided to not push myself quite so hard and, as a result, I was able to deliver much more consistently than yesterday. (my first-lap average yesterday was around 18 mph, today it was around 16.5 mph). A base layer and a lot more water also helped me tremendously.
I don't expect to see much different between now and next week, but if I can keep close to 16 mph average this week I'll be okay. |
Date: 14 Jun 2005
Distance: 10.01 mi
Time: 0h 38m 8s
Avg. Speed: 15.75 mph
Temperature: 83°F
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Went back to Stone Mountain today only to find out how out of shape I really am. It's a little bit embarassing. At any rate, a solid week of riding should put me on the right track. I'm going to probably put the climbing intervals on hold for right now and just focus on getting back in shape, then get more specialized later on in the summer. |
Date: 13 Jun 2005
Distance: 1.58 mi
Time: 0h 7m 27s
Avg. Speed: 12.72 mph
Temperature: 85°F
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Although I rode much farther than this (somewhere on the order of 5 miles), I was only keeping track of hill-climbing distance. The average grade of the hills I was climbing is around 5%. I can tell I'm a bit out of shape but I was also feeling sick to my stomach for some reason. At any rate, I've got a lot of work to do. |
Date: 13 Mar 2005
Distance: 10.85 mi
Time: 0h 37m 54s
Avg. Speed: 17.18 mph
Temperature: 78°F
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Two laps around the mountain was all I could really do because of my tight schedule, but my legs felt very good, even having not been on the bike for a while. I was focused on shorter high-speed intervals at 27-28 mph for about 1.5 miles around the front of the mountain. |
Date: 23 Feb 2005
Distance: 40 mi
Time: 2h 30m 58s
Avg. Speed: 15.9 mph
Temperature: 63°F
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First time I've done 40+ miles since September, and probably the last time for a while. I'll eventually make an attempt at 50 miles, but after riding today my legs feel very tired. |
Date: 19 Feb 2005
Distance: 4.58 mi
Time: 0h 21m 57s
Avg. Speed: 12.52 mph
Temperature: 57°F
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Just went a few easy laps around my neighborhood and got my hill-climbing legs a decent workout. Tuesday is looking good for a distance ride (50 miles maybe?) |
Date: 18 Feb 2005
Distance: 3.17 mi
Time: 0h 15m 53s
Avg. Speed: 11.97 mph
Temperature: 53°F
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Rode some around my subdivision to loosen my legs back up. Took it really easy as not to wear myself out after this cold I've had, but hey, 164 calories isn't bad. I can afford the cereal I had that way. Anyway, I'm going to try to get out again on Tuesday. This weekend is going to be too full to make anything out of bicycling. I'd really like to get a 70 mile week in next week, but we'll see if that actually happens or not. |
Date: 15 Feb 2005
Distance: 34.48 mi
Time: 2h 9m 5s
Avg. Speed: 16.03 mph
Temperature: 49°F
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The weather was forecasted to be 70 degrees and sunny, so I expected good weather in the morning when I went riding. They couldn't have been more wrong. The temperature started at about 50 and never got above 50 for my ride. On top of that there was fog, which was dense at times. Due to the fog, the high humidity, and the wet road, I got pretty wet and so did my bike. I stopped twice, once after 20 miles to call my mom, and once after 32 miles to warm my toes up, which were cold, wet, and numb.
It took me an hour to clean the bike when I got back home. I also confirmed that, even with the saddle adjusted to be more comfortable, I still need a new one, as the shape isn't very good for my rear. I've also come down with a minor cold, so I don't anticipate riding much until that goes away. Next week I'm going to start blending some harder intervals into my riding to get my legs better conditioned for faster-paced riding. |
Date: 12 Feb 2005
Distance: 9.6 mi
Time: 0h 31m 26s
Avg. Speed: 18.32 mph
Temperature: 58°F
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It was late after I took the bike back up to the shop but I wanted to take the bike for a test ride. The chain problem was not completely solved so I'm going to work on it some more myself. I spent the first lap talking with a guy on a single-speed bike, which made the time go by faster (and the draft helped too). |
Date: 11 Feb 2005
Distance: 12.5 mi
Time: 0h 48m 20s
Avg. Speed: 15.52 mph
Temperature: 38°F
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Rode 2 laps around and at the start of the 3rd lap, the chain came off in a high-gear sprint. I learned a lot about gravity and the sudden decrease in resistance nearly sent me into the top tube. I managed to repeat the problem several times, even while sitting. Up until the chain jump my average speed was around 16.5 miles per hour. |
Date: 06 Feb 2005
Distance: 29.32 mi
Time: 1h 45m 34s
Avg. Speed: 16.66 mph
Temperature: 60°F
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Rode my first lap around the outer loop at Stone Mountain (by the golf course and whatnot) and rode 4 more around the inside. My speed would have been better had I gone around the inside solely but I wanted to push myself harder today--and I did. On my last lap I had absolutely no energy as I had sprinted up every hill for the 3rd and 4th laps. I also took a little bit of time to practice riding no-hands, and ran out of water on my 4th lap. Despite nearly a week off I have not detrained much and, as of today, am back on par with my 50 mile per week goal. |
Date: 04 Feb 2005
Distance: 12.89 mi
Time: 0h 48m 50s
Avg. Speed: 15.84 mph
Temperature: 58°F
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Rode hard for the first lap and then did a lap around the outer loop, hence the slower average speed. Today was more of an aerobic day than anything else and I am starting to shift my training to shorter, higher-intensity workouts. Of particular importance was my one-lap time: 14 minutes, 45 seconds at an average speed of 19.3 miles per hour. |
Date: 30 Jan 2005
Distance: 1.1 mi
Time: 0h 7m 7s
Avg. Speed: 9.27 mph
Temperature: 43°F
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Following the ice I wanted to get out and ride a little bit to keep my legs loose so I took my bike for a quick spin around the neighborhood. I did not ride any faster or farther in an attempt to stay clear of any black ice on the road and to keep the water I went through from getting everything dirty. |
Date: 26 Jan 2005
Distance: 31.63 mi
Time: 1h 54m 57s
Avg. Speed: 16.51 mph
Temperature: 66°F
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Went out with the goal of doing 30 miles in under 2 hours, which I accomplished easily. I overexerted myself on my 4th and 5th laps and bonked on my 6th lap. Spend a little bit of time with Beka. While I was out, the bike's odometer turned over 100 miles. Not bad for the 10 days since I started riding the bike. I stopped twice: once after 15 miles to go to Beka's house and the second time near the end of my last lap because my legs were burning so badly. |
Date: 25 Jan 2005
Distance: 14.74 mi
Time: 0h 51m 57s
Avg. Speed: 17.02 mph
Temperature: 56°F
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Rode 3 laps around Stone mountain, and on my 2nd lap picked up a group of about 4 other riders and they gave me a nice draft. I don't know how much it affected my speed compared to not having them (my average speed errored out at some point on the first lap) but they were helpful. I left the group at the base of the final big hill and proved to myself that attacking at the base of a climb will give huge gains quickly (I reached the top before they were halfway up). |
Date: 24 Jan 2005
Distance: 3.92 mi
Time: 0h 17m 38s
Avg. Speed: 13.34 mph
Temperature: 49°F
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Due to the cold weather and the fact that I had classes today I didn't get to ride much; only a few laps around my neighborhood. It's much hillier here with a lot more stop and go stuff so I can't attain the average speeds I do at Stone Mountain, but the hill-climbing gives me a good workout nonetheless. |
Date: 21 Jan 2005
Distance: 6.39 mi
Time: 0h 37m 24s
Avg. Speed: 10.25 mph
Temperature: 65°F
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Went back with my parents and rode one more lap around the mountain. The ride was a nice recovery ride, even though I left them on the final climb and met back up with them at the truck. |
Date: 21 Jan 2005
Distance: 24.49 mi
Time: 1h 28m 29s
Avg. Speed: 16.61 mph
Temperature: 64°F
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First high-intensity effort around Stone Mountain. Rode the inner loop 5 times and did not attempt the outer loop. Midway into my first lap I was plagued by front shifting problems (the chain jumped off the big ring), which I resolved after 15 minutes. Had I not had those mechanical problems, I would have probably been able to do 30 miles in the 2 hours I allotted myself. |
Date: 19 Jan 2005
Distance: 18.02 mi
Time: 1h 19m 30s
Avg. Speed: 13.6 mph
Temperature: 40°F
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First real ride on the new Trek 1500. I did not push myself very hard due to the cold temperatures and because I'm not quite used to the new bike yet. Went around the 5 mile loop at Stone Mountain once and almost around again, then turned around at the outer loop road and rode the more difficult outer loop. I am going to push myself a bit harder next time, as the temperatures are forecasted to be better for riding. |
