Down sick

Missed riding last week due to the Fabulous Fiber Fest, and this week I've got some kind of intestinal virus. Went halfway up Page Mill, felt rotten, came back down again.

They're repaving Page Mill, so I think I'm going to have to find somewhere else to train for the next few weeks. I think I'll try getting down to the Peninsula earlier, and doing the loop that goes up Congress Springs Road (Hwy 9). Either that, or go up Old La Honda to Skyline and back.

Bloody intestinal whatever-it-is.

Not too much to report this week...

Did another round of Page Mill Road and was disappointed to find my performance down from last week--I attribute part of it to simply not eating enough (I was getting that "out of gas" feeling near the end), but am worried that I'm not riding often enough to keep my riding form, since I'm only out one day a week. I haven't thought much about what to do about it--it's likely I won't make any changes--but I'm contemplating.

The core issue right now is that during the week I'm spending three mornings a week at the gym, three evenings/mornings with Mike, and I really don't want to sacrifice one more evening day to exercise. My primary focus right now is the book, and I need the writing time. So I may just suck it up and do what I can with one long ride per week plus three days a week of weightlifting. I doubt I'll lose enough form to really hurt, and who knows--I might even gain some!

Page Mill is definitely getting easier, though--especially as I learn the twists and turns and get an idea of what to expect around the bend. And my descents on Old La Honda are getting faster as I gain confidence in descending. Can't wait for that skills workshop in September!

Stats for today:


Up Page Mill: 1:19 on bike, 1:30 total, 6.4 mph avg
Route: 37.9 miles, 3:09, 3:30 total

A few more notes

Two more bits of news:

First, Velo Girls, a women's cycling club in the Bay Area, is holding a two-day cycling skills workshop in September, which covers all sorts of on-bike skills, including ascending and descending! When I found out about it I sent in my registration form right away--just hoping I got in: apparently it's filling fast. I'm really looking forward to it--I've been cycling for a long time but I haven't learned a whole lot of the finer points of handling a bike. I'd love to be able to barrel downhill without crashing, and I think the workshop will help me learn the skills I need to descend safely.

Second, my first session with the trainer went well. I was a little concerned because she seems to have me mostly doing core work, not weightlifting per se--but we worked hard enough to leave my hams and glutes sore for a couple days afterwards, so I suspect it's working better than I thought. She has me doing a couple of exercises, which I'll list later (once I get back home--I'm at Mike's place right now), and will probably give me a different set of exercises on Monday and Wednesday, when we meet again. After that I plan to meet with her about once a month to shake up my training routine.

Skipped the gym on Friday since I was still a bit sore, but planning to go regularly on Monday Wednesday Friday, then 1-2 long rides over the weekend (most likely 1 long ride, I seem to have quite a few social commitments). That should do it for the next few months--I don't have to get really serious about training until December. :-)

Yowza! that's fast.

Today I had a double breakthrough: I made it all the way up Page Mill without resting AND I shaved eight minutes off my ascent time! I also took half an hour off my usual time for the entire 37-mile ride, finishing it in just over 3 hours on the bike vs. my previous 3:30. My average speed for the entire ride shot up to 12.4 mph, over 10% faster (!) than the first time I went up Page Mill a couple weeks ago. HUGE improvement.

So I'm pleased. More than pleased: downright smug. I'm improving by leaps and bounds, much faster than I'd expected to...I mean, I'm only doing one not-quite-40 mile ride per week, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things. And not only am I doing hills faster, but my overall speed has picked up as well: I'm cruising at 20 mph on flat ground, whereas before I was averaging closer to 16-17.

(I am trying very hard not to say that this just demonstrates what pathetic shape I was in before I started going up PM regularly...I *was* in good shape at the time, dammit, having just finished the AIDS Ride--I just wasn't training for hills. Nonetheless I am amazed by how fast I'm improving. Maybe Markleeville won't be that hard, once I get to it...)

Now that I've gone all the way up Page Mill without resting, and still came back feeling good, I'm thinking I may up the challenge...maybe go up Page Mill, down Old La Honda on my usual route, but then go back up Old La Honda again to make it *two* big climbs for the day. The two together would be just over 4000 feet of climbing...not Markleeville by a long shot but a good first step.

I'm also eyeing Mt. Diablo, which is reputedly a dead ringer for Monitor Pass (one of the big mountain passes on Markleeville)...once Mike moves up to the city and I don't have an easy ride site in Palo Alto anymore, I may start driving to the East Bay to go riding.

I can't *believe* I was thinking (sometime back in March/April) of hanging up my cleats after the AIDS Ride...this is way too much fun to stop!

Stats for the day:

From Arastradero to Skyline, 1:17 on bike, 1:25 total time. (Compare that to the two hours it took me a couple weeks ago!)
Avg. speed 6.5 mph going up skyline

For the loop:
3:02 on bike, 37.89 miles, avg. speed 12.4 mph

I like my new trainer!

Spent half an hour talking to Carol, my new trainer, and I really like her. No attempts to sell me on a generic exercise program, no nonsense about drinking a smoothie at the bar every time I exercise, and no hand-waving gobbledygook. She knows her stuff. I'm meeting up with her tomorrow morning and we'll start in on a new program.