An Epic Day on the Bike

Last Saturday myself, Sue, and Al went out to ride Rev3 bike course again. I think I've ridden it 5 or 6 times now and each time it becomes less and less daunting....hopefully that means good things for Canada. We finished the loop after a well-paced 56 mile ride. My goal was to ride approximately 5.5 hours. I looked at a map the night before and saw that I could ride up and around Lake Waramaug from Middlebury for a 45 mile loop. I knew I was going solo because Sue was going out for an hour run and Al was having bike troubles all day.

My plans changed quickly in the parking lot when Chris Thomas, Ian Ray, and another friend of their's drove in with the intention of riding the Rev3 course. They were all jazzed up in their orange timex gear and bright orange bikes. Besides being fast, they just looked fast too. I was clearly out of place. Chris could easily be pro and is one of the country's fast age group triathletes, usually winning top amateur athlete at most races he competes in while beating many of the pros. They didn't really know the course well and said they weren't going hard and welcomed me to come along. We had some enjoyable conversation for the first 15 miles but I could tell that the pace would be too fast for me especially on already tired legs. As soon as we hit Rt. 63, they were gone and I was left holding up the caboose. I didn't see them again for quite a while.

My pace really fell off on Rt. 254 so I just took it slow and steady. I knew I was going to skip the out/back and pulled into a little deli to refill and get some more calories......a muffin this time around. I decided to sit down for a few minutes and enjoy my rest and muffin. I had 15 miles to go with a few more hills to climb so the extra rest was nice. Chris comes up and asks if I was okay (he did the out/back). I said fine and soon resumed my ride home. I get to the corner of route 6 and 61 and decide I might try to take a shortcut home.....that was a mistake. I head down route 6, off the rev3 course and connect to White Deer Rock road to a very steep climb.....oh well, what's another climb at this point? I made it back and packed up. Chris came running in. Not only did he ride about 7 more miles than me, he also ran 20 minutes or so and we finished about the same time :)

I clocked a lot of hours, probably around 7, 108 miles of riding, and well over 8,000 feet of climbing. A great day!!

Workouts have suffered big time this week with lots of Rev3 planning........countdown......only 2 weeks to go. I gotta get more sleep.

A Little Training Update

Two weekends ago, it was a guys training weekend in the Hamptons. We sat in traffic for hours trying to get through the city and on the LI Expressway to the Hamptons. We finally get in around 9pm Friday night and we ate pizza and pasta when we got in. We had a big training day planned for Saturday so carbo loading was essential. We woke up Saturday morning and ate a light breakfast and went for a decently paced 50+ minute run before heading to the local YMCA for a swim. We get to the Y and found out the pool was closed. One workout done. We head to get more food.....great bagels and tofu cream cheese. Pig out some more. We suit up with our cold rain gear. It was cold and rainy so we were in for a long day. The plan was to ride for 4-5 hours all over the hamptons. We rode for the first hour in the rain and we steadily became colder and more wet. We decide to explore shelter island. Its a few minute ferry ride each way. Fortunately the rain slowed down and stopped but we were still soaking wet. Fortunately it was getting warmer so we dried out enough that we could feel our extremities. I enjoyed the riding and the scenery, especially has we rode down billionaire's row in southampton.....an incredible out/back of amazing properties. We ended up riding 90 miles and I paced well and finished the last 30 minutes pretty strong. Head out to a nice family style restaurant and pile in more carbs.....wiped out. Wake up Sunday and its raining again. The plan was to head out to the Montauk lighthouse, an out/back with some more wind and rolling small hills. We ride 2:30 hours in the constant rain. I had a slow leak in my rear tire all day and my legs were shelled from the previous day. It was a recovery ride for me. My fingers and toes were numb. Back to the house, take warm shower, put on dry clothes, eat again, and muster up enough energy to run. I decided to play this part by ear. I didn't have much left in me but managed to run 40 minutes with approx. 15 min. tempo pace. Pack up and head home.

This past weekend, I organized a Rev3 course preview day. We had approx. 60 people turn up and it was raining again. We went out in 2 groups and I lead the slower group. There was a huge disparity in cycling speeds so we were forced to stop often to bring the group together. I was constantly traveling from the back to the front all day......a day of intervals, trying to lead the group and help people falling off the pace. There were lots flats and mechanical problems. I got in 56 miles and lots of climbing and topped it off with a hilly 9 mile run.

A big weekend ahead......preparing to get myself motivated.