New Bottom Bracket for the Alu Bike

...though the frame suffered the hack saw a bit. The old bracket was frozen, so I had to get creative. I cut new flat edges into the bracket so I could take a plumber's pliers and get some leverage. The rash covers about 1/4 of the edge. I'm hoping the threads and the remaining flat surface hold it in place. I trimmed the other side down using a dremmel tool and avoided further damage.


Both bikes are clean, and I've ridden the Alu to work a few times already. It's a much nicer ride than my cheap mountain bike.

I rode another two weeks after the last post and then mostly nothing while I finished the project from Hell. I have pedals on the spin bike and have been on the seated squat machine a few times. Time to get back to it.

Recent Rides: 92 miles Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday

double lollipops Saturday, and Tuesday 8/6 and 8/9 34 miles, 15.9mph
Today 8/11 was a breakthrough. I did the single Cherry Creek Lollipop at 17.0! (24 miles)

Priorities, Commitment

It's been said many times, but I'm seeing making riding a commitment to my training working. I find myself riding when I might rather do something else at that moment. It comes from a commitment to long term goals. It's that commitment that pushes me to ride when I'm tempted to skip a ride. I know I'm either building or breaking a habit. My commitment to the habit of riding is greater than my desire to take a break. Making riding a priority means I say no to other things.

I was at the DMV three times and really wanted to be done with it at one point, but riding was a priority, so I said "no" to another trip to the DMV and went for a ride. It worked.

Wed. 7/26: 34 @ ?, Sat. 7/29: 20 @ 13.9, 24 @ 15.9

Getting Serious about Losing Weight

I noticed in the mirror that there's weight to loose without harming muscle. Clenching various muscles and stabbing, I see flabbing. I saw something like 183 at the beginning of the month and hope to have made some progress (1 lb/ week) on Monday's weigh-in. I'm working harder at a commitment to ride 100 miles/week and not consume extra calories. I don't drink sugar-laced Gatorade and I don't insist on eating calories burned after a ride. I didn't really gain weight while training, but I really didn't lose anything. The rhetoric that you need to eat to recover may be over blown when you consider individual differences. My friend Ken struggles for every calorie and will lose weight if he's not careful. I do a little better and to actually lose weight, I have to focus on not eating and continuing to ride.

Awesome End to the Tour de France

Cadel Evans with Andy and Frank Schleck: a Schleck sandwhich on the podium. Contador fell too far behind while Evans motored coolly along. Great acceptance speach from a man who had a long road to the podium: he thanked the hosts in French. very classy.

Sunday: Double Lollipop 34 miles, 16.2 mph

morning double lollipop: 34 miles, 15.9mph

I took a dinger on the way home at the highline canal. I was expecting a car to send a clear signal and come to a full stop. When the car kept crawling forward after
having seemed to slow, I panicked in that lower-brain way and stopped. But I couldn't
get out of my new pedals fast enough and down I went.

Notes to Self:
- loosen the springs on the new pedals
- don't expect cars to stop. To them, "Yield" means slow down and grease it avoiding any collisions.

Top 10 Signs you are not ready for the Triple Bypass

* you have not ridden Vail Pass
* you have not ridden Vail Pass and Loveland Pass
* you think you are strong for having survived Ward and Super Jamestown on the same day
** try it with 20 miles in between on a hot and humid day where the Peak-to-Peak is at 12,000 not 9.000 feet
* you have not ever averaged 17.0 mph on anything


* you haven't completed the Copper Triangle
* you haven't failed the triple before
* you haven't ever ridden a simple Century
* you are being passed, a lot, on climbs to Ward
* you haven't ridden enough to either lose those 20 lbs or to realize what is to be gained by doing so
* You are so new in to cycling that you post a blog about it and the epic challenges your are attempting

The Triple is hard. It is not for beginners. There's not even shame involved in trying, but really, it's no Elephant Rock or MS-150.

34 miles, 17.0mph, Cherry Creek to REI

first time to average 17.0mph

I met a couple, hauling ass, on the trail. The conversation started when the woman, following her partner, commented that I did just as well crossing Evans as they did navigating the flooded bike trail underneath. I commented on her Triple Bypass Jersey and discovered they had ridden it too. When I asked which day, she replied "both". Very friendly folks, but they didn't stick around for long. I couldn't keep up. BTW. The guy was wearing an Alp D'Huez jersey. Alp D'Huez, the hill the tour went up again just two days later.

34 miles, 15.5mph, Cherry Creek double lollipop

Notes for Next Time

Train Harder
Anyone who makes it will say it was not that bad. They've put the trauma out of their minds. The ones who don't make it will say it was really hard. Either is worthless advice. Find out in detail how much they were riding. Especially avoid advice on later climbs based on a single-day, single-pass ride. They get harder as the day wears on. Knowing that you can do a hard pass or two is not enough. You need to know that you can do many hard passes at altitude: Loveland pass tops at 12,000 feet.

Schedule
- start at 5:30
- crest Vail Pass at 8:30, 3 hours slightly slow (2.5 at 40min/1000 feet) 25 miles climbing 3500 feet
- make the Nordic Center in Frisco by 9:30, stop and eat, 15 miles down and flat
- crest Loveland pass by 12:30: 18 miles, 2.5 hours (2 hours at 40min/1000 feet) climbing 3000 feet
- Loveland aid station by 1:00, eat
- Idaho Springs by 2:30 (23 miles)
- crest Juniper Pass by 5:30 (3500 feet, 45min/1000 feet is 2:38 or 5:08)
- done at 6:30, in 13 hours.


It's not just being able to climb at 40min/1000feet, it's being able to do it for the third time in one day with another 40 miles mixed in, at altitude.

Post Mortem 58.4 miles, 5:30 over 6:45, 10.5 mph

- If you are planning on finishing the triple, you really must get up to 100-150 miles/week.
If you can hack Ward, Super Jamestown and then Ward again, on the same day, you'll live.

- really, do what they say, don't change equipment that last month. My new cranks are 2.5mm longer than what I had been riding. I had never done a serious hill climb with them, and I suspect the lack of exercise on those played a part.

- if you are getting passed a lot on Ward, you will get passed on the triple. There are a lot of very fit riders out there and this ride is for them. Going from lard-ass office worker to triple conqueror takes flawless, dedicated training. The problem isn't just riding that much, it's organizing your life so that you can ride that much.

- started training in January weighing about 183 lbs. I weigh that much now. It's not that I haven't lost fat, I just haven't lost more than I put on.

- you don't need 4 water bottles. The support is good. Take two.

- the leg coverings, raincoat and long-fingered gloves were worth it. I though I missed my tights, but the leg coverings, insulated, were nice to have.

- Gu chews seemed to work well, though I have wicked gas now.'

- The new bike's geometry is nice. The longer cranks seems to be nice, but without a lot of training on them, they may have contributed to premature pain and quitting.

- The 34x32 gearing on my SRAM Apex was awesome. A lot of riders passing me were on the same cadence, but only had the 34x28 available from an Ultegra compact double crank. They rode faster. Lucky for them, they had the muscle (and youth) to support it.

- I was amazed that my el cheapo tires, the ones that came with the bike, survived as well as they did. I considered another set of Gatorskins, but didn't make time.

- be careful when listening to someone who found it an easy challenge and offers confidence in the face of weekly climbs to Ward. The numbers tell part of the story: you should be able to complete three climbs to Ward in one day. The part they don't tell is the mileage in between the climbs, and the altitude. It's not about attitude, it's about riding , plain and simple, lots of hard riding.

- I died on the climb out of Dillon: This is where I died. I was on pace to do this in 3.5 or 4 hours. I started the climb at 10:00 at about 9100 feet near the dam when I stopped to take my leg warmers off. I stopped again to switch gloves, and again to peel my shirt and grease-up. The under shirt was comfortable, but the stops add up. I might get some sleeves next time. There's another stop on the Vail Pass climb there where I put my leg warmers on that could have been avoided by starting that way. I stopped below the A-Basin base around 10,500. 1500 feet should have taken an hour when climbing near Boulder from 7000 to 8500.


So, thus ends six months of training. Muscle gain but no weight loss. Stay tuned as I try to tackle that goal now, without the fear of losing muscle crucial to climbing those passes.

Ride Day

My riding partner and I decided it would be better to ride separately. He makes stops work for him. I make relentless progress work for me. It's an organized ride, so there's no issue of not finding help if you need it. Volunteer course marshalls were posted at the turns so you knew where they were and the local police were at the larger intersections directing traffic. The State Patrol patrolled the route. They were pretty friendly, throwing a thumbs up as a question and flashing a
slight grin in response to a thumbs-up reply.

Mandy and I woke up at 4:45 in hopes of being out before 6:00, possibly 5:30. I had set up coffee and showered the night before, so started eating breakfast. Mandy beat me to the coffee machine switch. Getting dressed was easy as I had laid-out my clothes, equipment and various salves: Butt'r, sun lotion and lip protection. I put a few things away and Mandy drove me down to the starting area. Other riders rode that mile, but it was cool to have a ride. As I started off,
Mandy headed back to the room for a few more winks (?) and to pick up and check out.

The ride out of Avon was wet,cool, and humid. I managed to keep a very low pace, saving my energy. I caught a picture of the steamy ride:




I rode on stopping every hour or more often to get some liquids and GU chews down. I didn't want to dehydrate and I wanted to try and maintain glucose and glycogen. I started out wearing a long-sleeve althletic undershirt and just cycling shorts. After an hour, I pulled on some leg covers as I expected some cold on Vail Pass. The leg covers are great. They are easy to get on and quite warm. I stopped at a high spot on the way up;



The trail goes from the North side of I-70 to the south side here. When you come out from under I-70 and look East, you see a very steep hill. After wondering about the "really steep spot on the way out of Vail" that I'd heard about, I knew where it was. As with other sections on this ride, there was too much going on and no place to stop for a photo.

Near the top of the pass was a view that came with a stopping point. I think this is Black Ponds.




The ride down vail pass into Summit County was absolutely fantastic. Partly because the pain of climbing was over, partly because of the small rush of having conquered the first pass, but mostly because it's just pretty. I wish I had a helmet cam. Of course, this was another section where there was no place to stop safely and take pictures. The trail is narrow and the riders moving quickly.

I had texted Mandy at the top and she replied that she was waiting near the dam road in Dillon. I followed the trail, bypassing the stop at the top of Vail Pass, to the stop at the marina in Frisco. I called Mandy and she clarified her location. I grabbed half a bagel. Having drunk 2 bottles at this point, I filled one with Gatorade.

The ride through Summit county is pleasant, though not as nice as the ride in from the top of Vail pass. It does, however, offer spots to stop and take pictures:




We crossed the flat part of the County and started up to Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and finally Loveland Pass. I stopped on the way up a few times to peal my undershirt, my long fingered-gloves as well as my leg covers. I chugged water each time and ate GU chews at least once. It's a long climb. As I had climbed 2700 feet followed by 2200 feet or more ( see the post on climbing Ward and Super Jamestown) in one day, I expected to do well on this climb as the two pair compare well, and we were very strong after the Ward-Super Jamestown climb. It must have been the elevation and thin air. Loveland Pass is nearly 12000 feet, Vail Pass is 10,600. Ward and Super Jamestown climb to only 9000 feet or so. It could also have been the increased crank length on a bike I've only been riding for three weeks. In any case. the higher I climbed, the slower I got, the more painful my legs became. I eventually stopped short of the A-Basin Ski area, but within view of the Palavacini run.



I really wanted to summit Loveland Pass. After a rest, I got on the bike and tried again. The pain in my legs included my hip flexors and hip joints. Like a NASCAR racer with an engine problem that can't be fixed, I knew the race was over. I called Many for SAG at mile marker 221.




She was waiting for me at the Loveland Ski Area, on the far side of the pass. She had to hike back to the car and come over the pass. She found me easily and we headed on down into Summit County and took I-70 through the tunnel and headed for home. On the way, we saw that the rest of the ride wouldn't have been all that nice anyway:

Trip to Summit and Eagle Counties

Mandy and I had booked a room in Avon months ago. We had been toying with the idea of getting some altitude exposure in Summit county, but only got serious about 3pm on Friday. I managed to get a room at the Village in Breckenridge for $120, just hours before arriving. The chamber of commerce has a lodging line that rocks: 800 553 8549. We got organized, got out the door at 5:30, and were sitting in the bar at Mi Casa before 8pm. I had a burrito like none I've had in Denver for quite a while. With the ride two days away, I allowed myself two beers. Mandy had Chili Reno (sp?!) and G&T. It was fun both remembering past visits and watching the new (younger?) crowd there.

The next morning we checked out. I had left the bicycle in valet storage and we locked it up on the bike rack.


We were on a quest for some Butt-r which I realized I had forgotten. We took some pictures of the runoff on the way:




We found some breakfast worthy of a tourist town. I had a bagel with spinach and eggs. Mandy had a plate of potatoes, eggs and bacon. Everything except the bagel were cooked in a microwave. Chewey eggs. On the way back we noticed the moisture that's been in the are for a week or so was up to it's tricks again.



We headed to Avon.

After getting lost on "guy navigation" we broke out the map and found the hotel. It's an OK place, but didn't scream to have it's picture taken. Apparently they've had enough bad experience with guests bringing dirty and greasy bikes into the units that they asked for a $250 deposit and loaned us a sheet to use to protect the property. It was big enough to have underneath the bike as well as drape over it so chain grease wouldn't get anywhere, nor would the tires scuff anything.


We walked to the grocery store for provisions. I'd heard some stories about the rest stops in the triple (long lines) and though a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jam would be wise to have. We got some corn tortillas, ham, pico de gallo, and an olive tampenade for Mandy. We also bought a soft-sided cooler with built-in ice-packs to keep it all. I finally found some aspirin to treat a headache that had been bothering me since we arrived in Breckenridge the night before. I thought the lower altitude of Avon would cure it, but it didn't. Avon is at 7000. Breck is at 9600. Though I bought baby-asipirin, a handful of them did the trick.

We walked around and found a pub for dinner. I had bangers and mash. Mandy had fish and chips. We listened to a woman play guitar and sing a lot of older songs with a slightly slower tempo. Good singer though. The bar tender wouldn't put the tour on because "all you get is a yellow jersey" whereas in baseball you get a fancy ring. It started raining while we were there, so we stayed for a while. I managed to hold myself to a single beer: Smyithwicks. Mandy had G&Ts.

We got back to the room and I organized things for the next day. We watched some show that's not quite as cool as Iron Chefs, and then saw a real episode of Iron Chefs. I fell asleep during the weather.

Last Training Ride? Lollipop 24 miles, 15.2mph

Too much going on last week for a moderate ride. I replaced a switch housing and switched on the right handle of a motorcycle (now sold). My legs felt the work of crouching and standing for a few hours. The ride today was slow, a little sluggish, less so as it wore on.

There was a huge thunderstorm over Denver last night. It dumped 3 inches in the area and turned the streets into rivers. Cars were stalling out in the deeper water and traffic was a mess. It took me over an hour to go 4 miles. To be fair, I wasn't sitting in traffic waiting to follow lemmings into too deep water. I did that once and parked the car on higher ground for 20 minutes while the rain let off and the water levels came back down.

This storm started about 3:30 and rained hard for almost two hours. The weather reports yesterday (Thursday) suggest much better conditions for the weekend. I wonder. It was humid out today and there are already large clouds outside today at 1:30.

Training Drink

On my last ride, I drank sugarless (no sugar, no sugar substitute) sports drink. My teeth will thank me. They were starting to hurt from all the kid-stuff @#$@#@% sugar water I've been drinking.


I wonder how much more weight I would have lost without all the fructose in the
HFCS in gatorade. ....lessee: if I drink 1000 calories of the
stuff on my long rides and half of it comes from fructose,
and I did that for 26 weeks, that's 13000 calories or 4 pounds.
...plausible, barely. I wonder how much my liver will thank me....

I'm not sure what I'll do on the triple. I could use the sugarless stuff and
spike it with Hammer Gel for the big ride...teeth be damned, at least there will
be less of a load on my liver and more of the calories will be immediately available.
The big gain will be from continuing to avoid the HFCS for the rest of the summer.
Maybe I can make a bigger dent in my gut by September.

Single Lollipop: 24.3 miles, 1:28 @ 16.5

...still can't match the boss's 16.7.
He says he rides 2mph faster after a new bike!
The old one must have been one POS!

I'm getting used to the bike. Having my pedals and seat from
the Raleigh on it help...even if the creak followed the pedals.

Heat Training (70 miles)

70 miles, 6 hours 20, 143 average bpm
my new computer says 13.3 average, but I don't thing that's average over the time the wheels are moving, that's average from start/finish. Anyway, it was a long miserable ride. It got up to 90 and the perfectly clear sky that was so amazing early in the day made for tortuous heat as they day wore on. No street credit today: I called for SAG at REI. I drank 4 bike bottles of gatorade, 3 16 oz bottles of water one 16 oz bottle of lemonage and 1 16 oz bottle of OJ. 144 ounces?

The route was from home South on the Highline Canal, North on Cherry Creek, North on the Platte, West on Clear Creek, South on Rooney Road, East on Bear Creek and North on the Platte again.

The load the heat puts on a ride is not to be underestimated. The need for more clear water as well. I was sick of gatorade by the time I was done with it.

I need to exchange seats and get my old one on this bike.

I notice the different crank length: Many times on this ride, I thought I was slogging into the wind at only 14mph and saw 17.1. It doesn't seem as effortless. It's harder, but faster.

First Ride (long cranks)

I road the Roubaix this morning in full gear and on familiar turf. I had bought the bike after only three or so parking-lot rides at various stores. When I was at Wheat Ridge Cyclery (WRC), I was fitted on and rode both the 54cm and 56cm sizes. The junior fitter was a little happer with my knee at 90 degrees on the 54, so I came back the next day with proper shorts and shoes to have the fit examined by someone with more experience. I fit right between the two and the 56 puts my knee a little further back than dead vertical over the pedal pivot. I may move the seat forward. The 56 also comes with longer cranks:




My first ride was a single loop around Cherry Creek Res. I must have eaten something questionable because my stomach wasn't happy and I was a little low on energy. I got 25.6 miles at 15.7 mph. The bike seems light, solid and a bit....cheap. But it *is* a plastic bike that doesn't weigh much. The larger frame holds me in a more stretched out position which is nice. I had to lower the seat a few times in 1/8 inch increments to get my knees and hips to be a little happier. The bike felt fast and easy to ride hard. My muscles ached. I wonder how much of this is getting used to the longer cranks. ...the rest of the frame too. So for now, it is a new and different frame. I hope I get used to it over the next two weeks.

(expensive) Bottom Bracket Repair

Having screwed up a BB in part to impatience, I applied my impatience at Wheat Ridge Cyclery to "fix" the BB. This is a 2011 Specialized Roubaix Elite. It's a larger frame than I had been riding, built in carbon fiber. The components are SRAM Apex, with a revolutionary compact double inspired by Alberto Contador.

Alberto Contador switched the derailleur in the 2011 Giro from the top-of-the-line SRAM Red to get the lower gearing. In fact, it was Contador and his mechanic Faustino, in the 2008 Giro, looking for lower gearing for a 24% grade, who inspired the Apex's gearing:

Bottom Bracket Bummer

I was hearing creaks and bumps from down BB way while riding. I'd also heard enough comments about how much faster people were on new bikes. After removing my cranks and trying to spin the BB by hand, I thought it needed replacing. It was as little stiff. I ended up rounding the "bolts"



I feel the need for a hacksaw, but I'm in no great hurry. Good thing the replacement cartridges are only $40.

Packet pickup at Wheat Ridge Cyclery

Driving back from the ride near Boulder, I stopped at Wheat Ridge Cyclery to pick up my Triple Bypass information packet. No longer sweaty, but ragged, I made my way past neophytes refreshed by their decision to buy a new bike to the counter and got my packet. On the way out I wondered if I could get the right tool to pull my cranks and have a look at the bottom bracket myself. My bike has a Shimano Ocatlink bottom bracket.

I wandered over to the service counter and waited for the guy in front of me to finish. When it was my turn I asked about tools to pull cranks. With a few questions and a visit to my bike, the tech realized I needed a large crank puller, not a small one. The hole in the octalink is larger and the small crank puller pushes against air. He even pulled a bottom bracket (BB) and gave me a better idea how they are used.

Wishbone: Ward and Super Jamestown (almost)

38.5 miles, 5000+ vertical feet, 3:32, 10.8 average mph, 43.6 max mph

We started a little late after some pleasant father's day distractions
(and crepes), so we drove to the Greenbriar (bottom of lefthand canyon).
It wasn't so amazing that I felt strong on the ride up, but Ken, who had
only had Saturday as a break from 350+ miles on Ride the Rockies, felt
strong as well. My first ride up, in April, was at a pace of about 45 minutes per
thousand vertical feet. Today, we road 2600 feet in just over an hour and a half.
The old pace would have consumed another 20 minutes: a good 20% improvement.
We made it up to 8100 feet on the way to Ward and turned around avoiding
a thunderstorm. We might have ridden further, but have gotten soaked,
and cold often enough. We've both been in the mountains enough around
storms and lightening that no one was going to get "manly" about having
turned around possibly prematurely. When we got closer to the Y, we
saw better weather and decided to do Jamestown. This evolved into
attempting Super Jamestown again. We made it. ....past Overland Dr. where
it starts going downhill again...but not to the dirt. The steepness of
Super Jamestown was quite rewarding, and the experience, especially the
strength and speed up to Ward made it conceivable that we will survive
the Triple Bypass.

18 miles to Bicycle Village for a tuneup: 15.4mph

My chain is getting old, my cassette only goes to 26, and I wonder about my bottom bracket. Time for a tuneup. I took my bike to Bicycle Village by way of a ride.

Haunted by my boss's phenomenal speed on similar rides (16.9mph), I started out hard and fast. Sucking air, I let off the gas when I crossed Havana after 20 minutes or so with only a 15.4 average speed. Not having given completely up, I started to make excuses:

• Larry is shorter than I am so he has less wind resistance.
• The height comes with reduced weight, so his energy makes speed, not weight move.
• My bike's old drivetrain (11 years) has such resistance it holds me back 1mph.
• Larry must be riding with longer cranks. Mine are 170mm.
• His bike as phenominal gearing: 34x32 to my bike's 30x26 (though soon to be 30x27)...and it makes him faster.
• His GPS has the wrong wheel size and erroneously calculates his speed.

I hope it's not incurable over training that's holding me back. I have another long ride with climb planned for Saturday.

Epic Tour: 81.5 miles, 5:26 over 6:20 at 14.9mph

Either I just finished the longest ride I've done in 6 ;years, or the longest ever.
Today's ride was 81.5 miles in the front range. The contender is one of the days on the last MS-150 I rode in 2005. It was at least 80 and maybe just a few more.

Today's ride started in East Denver bound for the center of the world: the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. Curious about a trail my boss mentioned, one that I had never ridden, I headed north on the Platte along I-25 headed for the Clear Creek trail and Golden. Along the way I met some guys riding about the same pace as me. We rode together navigating some wrong turns and detours through Wheat Ridge. I lost them where the Clear Creek trail crosses Kipling. Then I lost the trail in a residential neighborhood. I knew I needed to turn around when I could see the trail across a small valley from a high spot on the wrong side. I turned back to where I though I lost it and stopped when I saw a rider headed my way. Turns out I needed to cross a dirt parking lot and pick up the pabed trail again. The rider was headed the same direction so I followed him. A bit of chit-chat revealed revealed common goals of heading down to Bear Creek and that I didn't know hot to get there. The rider said he was going that way and offered to show me the way. It was true most of the ride up to this point and more so through Golden. You see parts of the cities from the bike trails that you don't seen on the major roads and freeways. The trail past the Coors brewery and down through Golden is very nice. We stopped at a place he knew to use the bathroom and introduced ourselves. I got some water from a convenient spigot. Pat and I headed up to the elaborate Jefferson County government building known as the Taj Mahal for its extravagance to Rooney road, one ridge East of Red Rocks. Now we were back in territory familiar to me and headed for Bear Creek. Pat stopped at the top of a hill (the dam) and we chatted a bit about bikes. Pat was riding a 1965 Falcon. A ten-speed at one time, rigged up with a single 42 tooth chainring and 15 and 23 tooth cogs in the back. No computer, GPS or power meter. This guy had a steady pace: 15mph, but he can do it up anything. We continued down the dam and parted ways. Meeting this guy, with his very nice neighborly attitude and willingness to show me the way reminded me of the help you see travellers get on TV shows. I was always amazed at how easy it is for folks to get help like this and really enjoyed such an experience at home. Thinking of what a nice day it had been, I noticed the growing clouds and got busy on Bear Creek. I stopped at the confluence of Bear Creek and the South Platte to call Mandy. I enjoyed the stop and talking to Mandy for a bit, but the clouds were getting darker, so I got off the phone. A few miles later the rain started. It wasn't thunderstorm rain. I was hot, so I left the rain jacket balled up on the back of my hydration pack. I stopped at the center of the world again to notice the much bigger storm passing over East Denver, my destination. I had no urge to ride in a thunderstorm, so I took my time on Cherry Creek headed for home. Of course, my legs hurt bad enough after 65 miles that I couldn't go much faster. I stopped at 4 mile house to refill my water pack and lumbered on thinking of the cred I would get with the 7 miles I would gain by not taking the short way home.

No recovery feast can slow you down

I passed on riding 35 miles again today for two reasons: the clouds, and some lethargy due ( I think ) to not eating like I burned 1200 calories yesterday. Maybe it was the $15 off coupon at Mezcal we had to spend (good tampequena steak).

double lollipop: 33 miles, 2:02 @16.1mph

nice hard ride, still getting passed by girls, spitting up yuck after some cheese last weekend.
Lungs feel like I had a long day at the pool in the chlorine filled air! It's pollution from the Arizona forest fires!! You can't see the haze, but Mandy was complaining about a sore throat after we had the windows open. Only after congratulating myself on a hard aerobic workout that strained my lungs did I think of the smoke.

Careful what you eat: aborted ride: 14.5 miles, 58min, 15.1 mph

I was hungry before the ride and ate a large bowl of granola which led to a stitch and some cramping, so we turned around.

Diversion: Miata drive over Squaw Pass

We took the new (to us) Miata to Idaho Springs via I-70 and had lunch at Beau Jo's Pizza. On the way back we went over Squaw Pass into Evergreen hoping to drive some twisty roads. We saw lots of cyclists (a dozen) and noticed quite a temperature difference up at 11,000 feet!
Need to ride this one soon!

double Ch. Ck. Lollipop: 35.3 miles, 2:15, 15.7mph

nice early morning ride in the cool air.
...I lost a part to my stem after bouncing along the bumps on the road in the state park.
$8 to have fixed at Bicycle Village.

Excuses, Holidays and a new car (16 miles on the mtn bike to/from work Wed and Thus)

Training in Boulder is a little easier when you don't have to worry about having hijacked the only car at home on a Saturday. Partly to that end, we bought a Miata Thursday.No rides Friday, but I took the day off of work to get emissions and a temp tag for the thing. Now I have the car and need to go ride Ward when I'm fresh from no rides during the week.

Jamestown: 38 miles, 2:49, 13.5 mph

We had an aborted attempt on Boulder, Ward, Lyons, Hygiene, Boulder. Ken lost a seat post bolt at the bottom of the canyon and called his wife for SAG. Ken's friend Paul and I rode up to Jamestown to at least get a hill climb in. I'm impressed with this guy. 5'7" 270 over a year ago, and down to 170 or less now. His weight loss program included a lot of riding and aerobics that he was stronger than me today. Nice guy too. He knew we have only one car and offered to pick me up, then refused $10 for gas.

We plan the epic ride for Monday.

This ride started in S. Boulder.

Cherry Creek Lollipop: 23.8 miles, 1:36 at 14.8 mph

Rode with Ken today. It was a little slower partly due to aches and partly due to lacking the same spirit. We are planning an epic ride for Saturday: 80 miles including a climb to Ward.

Cherry Creek Lollipop: 23.8 miles, 1:27 at 16.4 mph

Nice fast ride. The Lollipop as I call it, is a ride down the canal to the res., around and back. Lots of serious riders out racing each other. I even heard a bit of trash talk. There was a race going on at the res. I managed to be waved through some stop signs as I rode with the route in a few places. Did I say it was fast? I huffed and puffed continuously for about 45 minutes before I hit the hill on the East side. That's when I saw that guy in front of me....and cranked it back up for the way home. I road easy once I crossed Alameda.

Use Chamois Butt'r

I've been riding longer rides and suffering a sore butt. The soreness comes in two kinds. First is some raw or hot spots where there's some chaffing between clothing and the very tops of legs or other parts in crotch-land. The other can only be described as the beginnings of what must be like bed sores where your sit bones are.

A friend who rides a lot made a bathroom stop and had forgotten to lube/grease/butter up, so he drug a tube of this stuff out of his camel-back. I sheepishly asked if it helps. He said yes.
I held out my had expecting a tooth-paste amount, maybe as much as you'd use for hand lotion. He squirted a bunch. Not a pea, but maybe 10. He said to smear it around and not to worry, it would get absorbed. I went to the bathroom (an outhouse), pulled my shorts down and
applied the stuff. With so much there was no hope, as in hand lotion, of it absorbing soon, so I went with the flow. I rubbed that last bit on my calf, just to clean my hand of the remaining substance and pulled up my shorts. I had expected a feeling somewhat like a soiled diaper must feel like and wasn't disappointed. Making faces, I got my things together and got on with the ride. Immediately, the beginnings of small hot spots that would tolerable on a 2 hour ride disappeared. We rode for another 3 hours. The stuff made an improvement, but had
only applied it to the very tops of my legs and the side of my man parts nearby. I completely avoided the sit bones.

A few weeks later, on a much longer ride, my sit bones were suffering. I asked, sheepishly. Much experienced friend said "yes" they will help and I made use of a rest break.

It's not so huge a difference that I would grab for it on every ride, including a 45 minute lunch ride when I have good shorts available, but I use the stuff. It makes long rides a little more tolerable. The diaper feeling is still there, but the benefit out-weighs the
teen-age squeamishness.

Get some. Use it.

What I bought is the what is pictured above. Chamois Butt'r. Despite the name it's as much for synthetic as natural pads. It's not oily or greasy like a lotion, though it has a similar consistency. After a ride there's not a lot of evidence of it left. The inside of my shorts feel a little oily, but they are snot o bad that you fee like you have to get a container for them. I don't have raw hot spots, or odd dry spots near the sit bones. My *** is still tender, my legs are sore. My lungs dry, etc.

2 Resevoirs Makeup: 56.6, 14.9 mph, 3:48, 134bpm

ride time 3:48,4:37 to do it, so 49 minutes of stop lights and breaks:
1 at Ch. Creek for butter, 1 at Hudson Gardens and another at REI.
The mileage is lower because I started a the house and headed South instead
of going to Ken's office. Instead of taking 7th back, I rode to 4 mile house
and then up Forest street and back through Crestmoor.

average BPM 134

Absolutely lame week: 65 miles.

...I walked to/from the bus stop twice.

2 Resevoirs No Drop ride: 65 miles: 13.2 mph

I joined a friend's ride from work.We rode from downtown to Cherry Creek Res.,
on to 470. We turned up Santa Fe just short of Chatfield Res and head back downtown.
Friend and I added 10 miles to/from my house to downtown. The group of us, 4 from
that office and me, suffered 3 flat and 2 loose cleats, lots of sore butts and
a slow rider. We rode 65.4 miles in 4:55:45 at 13.2 mph. The crazy thing is the
whole ride took 8 hours and over those hours, I averaged 129bpm. Consistent
cadence, rythm and pace were not on the menu today. I would slow down to keep
my eye on the slow one and then race to the front with a burst of energy. I saw 170 on
my heart rate monitor once, and 159 a lot. I was encouraged with the suggestion
that intervals are good for you.

I need to get ready for an epic ride from Boulder to Ward, Lyons, Hygiene and back
to Boulder next week.

Week ending 5/14: only 74 miles

at least I walked to/from the bus 2 days.

Cold day in H..Ward: 30 miles, 2:41, 3000 ft . average 11.1mph

We were a little worried about the weather so we drove to the bottom of lefthand canyon and rode from there. We made it to the "Turn of Events" at 3000ft of climb and Ken had some heartburn.
He started to turn around and then it went away, but I was already sold on the idea so we continued down. Lucky thing. The rain started, and it was already 35 degrees out. We were in for a long, slow, cold ride. I had tights on and pulled rain jacket on. It was too cold for hands. Ken lent me his waterproof gloves and did the best he could with his full-finger gloves. We stopped a few times to recover from the cold. At one point (the turn between jamestown and ward), we saw some other folks who had stopped because of the cold. Without thinking, I answered a question about how far we had to go: "to my car at the bottom". Once we got to the bottom and in the car, we drove back up looking for them, but didn't find them.

Back at Ken's, his wife had prepared an awesome training table lunch: sweet potatoes, cole slaw with radish, and steak with horsey sauce. Yum! I'm not as bonked as I ususally am after a ride like that. Thanks Pam!

Rainy Adventure on Ch. Crk.: 27 miles at 15.5mph

I road to the canal and got three grains of sand in my eyes: 6 miles
I went home and got my goggles and headed to Forest street to go down
to the cherry creek and head downtown.

I stopped at REI to look at bikes. I talked to a mechanic about the crank on my
Raliegh that I suspect of ticking. It was very, very cool. He showed me the parts
and how the tools are used to pull it apart in case it is the crank that is making
noise. We discussed compact double vs triple vs SRAM Apex and SRAM Rival.
He knew what the climb to Ward was like and that if I'm riding the triple
from Avon to Evergreen I would want as low a gear as I could get: the SRAM.
Finally, and perhaps most usefully was a shared realization that triples are
hard to find and SRAM usually comes on carbon frames.

It rained on the way home and I discovered that my wind jacket is distinctly
NOT a rain jacket. Mandy picked me up at the mall.

Family ride: 17 miles to the beach at ch. creek and back.

I was late so I drove to 4 mile house where I met Gary for a ride to the res.It was an easy ride with some show-off breaks up hills, followed by getting passed. We went ot the beach that I had never seen before. The sand got in my eyes as I realized my trouble with dust and sand in the past has to do with following someone. Gary got cramps so I drove him home from 4 mile sparing him the climb.

I was late because I road a Specialized Roubaix. I liked the tightness of a new bike. The length of a Roubaix and the slightly larger 56 cm frame was nice. These bikes come with SRAM compact double drive trains. IF I can get the one with a 11-32 cassette, You get a lower gear than on a triple. I'm still suffering from the sticker shock: they are over $2k.

A Murder in Ward: 48.5 miles 4:18 at 11.2mph

We rode from Ken's to Ward, then down to Lefthand Canyon up and then down.
Crossing the diagonal bridge where a month ago I passed him quickly
and told him "you suck" he pulled away and kept the pace up all
the way back to his place. Karma is a bitch. Later I asked," I'm
looking for excuses, how many miles did you ride this week?"

"just this ride" he answered.

With this ride, I finished the week at 120 miles or so.

I learned a few more things from the master this week. Mostly
it was the value of Butt'r. He had some mentholated Italian
stuff and offered some at the first rest stop. We must have
built up some mutual trust. He squirted what was to him a modest
amount onto my hand: about double what I might have taken.
It's a godsend. I'm a convert.

It was a good ride, we both enjoy the heightened level of intensity
from having a training partner, and the results that we are noticing.

Cherry Creek Dam Rollers: 30.8 miles, 16.0 mph

fast, fast, fast
still panting as I type...

Cherry Creek Dam Rollers: 40.7 miles in 2:43:50 at 14.9 mph

cool and windy on the rollers: some chance for burn. Its more like a climb than the easy-peasy creek path, but not quite the same. I only drank 1 bottle and could smell that I burned a bit of muscle.

Race to REI: 23.6 miles in 1:26:44, 16.4 mph

I felt like a slug for not motivating to ride much.
Then I felt like a slug from a combination of
too much wine, some back-ache and stomach cramps.
The ride was a bit windy, but no traffic. I stopped
twice to drink and catch my breath: once at the mall
and once at REI. I can't wait to see if a time for
that route is posted from back in January.

Pain: 60 miles in 4:15 at 14.1

It was a cold and breezy day. There were clouds in the sky.
Immediately after starting, I stopped to put on my jacket.
I was wearing an athletic undershirt, a cycling jersey,
a fleece vest and my riding rain jacket. I warmed up
but still spent most of the day with the jacket on.

I road the shortest way to Cherry Creek and on to downtown.
Then I followed the Platte to Bear Creek and turned to climb
it to Bear Creek Lake Park. The cool cloudy weather combined
with seeing recent developments at the park made it seem like
a foreign place even though my parents live within 5 miles of
the park.

I climbed to the top of the dam. Mount Carbon, actually. It
rises to the tremendous height of 5,700 feet. From there I
road around park and up and over the dam again. I guessed I
was at the half-way mark at 32 miles...I probably was, but I
took a shorter way home.

I hit 50 miles along the platte before reaching downtown
and had to stop be cause the pain in my legs had increased.
After a short break I started again, but focussed on riding
an easier pace: 13mph, not 15. It was the most painful
10 miles I've ridden, but made it home.

Has the mountain climbing increased my muscles' ability to
create lactic acid faster than it has increased their ability
carry it away?

Ward and Old Stage: 40 miles, 5 hours, just less than 4000 feet

I started out a bit intimidated by a longer ride combined with a considerable climb and wasn't too happy to see my heart rate spike to 164 as we worked to keep up with a packed we had joined. It was my fault. I was too excited and cranked up hard than necessary, pushing he early parts of my ride into lactate threshold. Once on the hills, a more aerobic pace was easier to maintain as we settled into familiar territory. At the top was a little to cold to ride past "the turn of events" all the way Ward. My riding partner was threatened with a migraine. It was starting to snow...and that ride is still damn steep. We turned around and headed for some warmth. Down at Old Stage we found more better spirits and more climbing to do. It's not that we were being prisses and didn't want to ride in less than perfect conditions, but there's no need to risk a cold etc. for displays of bravado. There's tons more riding to be done.At the end of the day, after working to keep up with Ken most of the day, I gave in to a surge of energy and passed with insults flying over the Perl Street bridge...shattering whatever strength I had left. I followed him to his place.

Ward: 3 hours, 32 miles, 3300 feet

Jamestown on mapmyride

look for and click on the 3D link!

First Big Climb: Super Jamestown

I rode from 36 up Lefthand Canyon past Jamestown towards Ward.
20 miles, 2 hours.

I drove to East Boulder and met a friend whose ridden Ride the Rockies nearly a dozen times. I hoped he would assess my state of fitness and ride some punishing climbs with me. He was a little worried about keeping up me with after seeing this log. We started out with modest ambitions: just to have a ride up the hill. We didn't need to prove anything. Early on, either he was talking too much or I was riding too fast, so I let him lead. There was a little bit of me passing him slowly on flats and him passing me on the hills. We stopped in Jamestown for a break, and he introduced what was to come. The 7% grades would increase to ones that have "ruined" much stronger riders. Ken also mentioned a craving for sweet potato chips and guacamole from a local restaurant. Naive to the true meaning in what I just heard, I enthusiastically said "ride on". The climbs got very steep. I had no idea I could ride a bike at 3mph. Nor did I know how easy it can be to do a wheelie. We climbed some really steep hills. I told Ken another way to explain how steep Super Jamestown is compared to just Jamestown is that it's flat to Jamestown when the real climb starts: 14%. The point of the climb is to make it to Ward and /or the Peak to Peak highway. It turns to dirt up there somewhere, but after stopping where Ken had stopped to wait for me, a short way after starting again, I had had enough and it was time for the descent. We flew down the canyon at 35 mph. Just as I wondered if I was going too fast, Ken passed me. 1 hour 40 minutes (or so) climbing, 20 minutes down. Plans are to do this much more often this year as we're both riding the triple. Ken will ride Ride the Rockies in the last weeks of training...not me.

We drove back to his house where his awesome wife Pam, had guac and chips for him. Great ride Ken, thanks.

87 miles in 5 days

20 with Gary Wednesday
16.5 with Mandy Saturday
14.5 on spin bike Tuesday because it was smokey and cold
36 miles to work and back on mountain bike Tuesday-Friday
It was windy on the rides to work. I ache.

35 miles, meh! 14.1mph

went out for a ride with a friend. Riding slow wasn't a problem, but we stopped and talked for about a half hour and sort of lost interest.

partial Epic Ride

Week of 3/11: 120 min aerobic.

walked to buss on Friday, ride home
drove to /from on Monday
road to/from on Tuesday, Wednesday?
road to on Thursday, chauffeured home late.

1 walk, 5 ride: 120 min.

64.6 miles, 4:34, @137+bpm, 14.1 mph,

ride time was 4 1/2 hours, time start o finish was 5 1/2. I had a flat, stopped for lunch at chick fil a....the lemonade was too tart to drink. good potato waffle fries though.

Carmichael's Training book: The Time-Crunched Cyclist

This is a book about how really high-intensity work outs can get you ready for a racing season in only 6 hours per week. The basic argument is that while high-intensity workouts will improve your high-intensity ability, it will also help your endurance. Carmichael puts a caveat on rides longer than 3 hours. More interestingly, he puts a caveat on riding the program for more than 12 weeks. Apparently you train so hard that after 12 weeks of it, a kind of long-term fatigue will set in and really hold you back. He says an endurance training program that involves at least 10 hours a week will better prepare the rider for endurance riding and won't involve as hard a long-term bonk as this program. It's almost scared me into riding the 12 hours/week instead of following this program.

Has anyone used this program?

12 miles, 49 min. 14.7 mph

...road with friends before my niece's birthday party.

BONK: 19.7 miles, 1:26, 13.8 mph 129 bpm

How many things did I do wrong:
- didn't eat a big meal the night before that I had been doing on accident..Hey it's Friday night. Time for a plate of sweet potato fries!
- played with friends' Kinect box and got some exercise, burning what little calories I'd eaten.
- drank a cup of coffee before the ride
- ...and the killer, took a 5-hour energy because I was sleepy. I think the killer here is the
extra cup of coffe.
- drinking 3 ounces of gatorade/hammer gel mix (diluted for a water bottle) may not have helped either.

5 miles into the ride I could feel my blood sugar drop. Up a hill a few miles later I had no energy.
Snarfing some Sharkies helped avert disaster, but can't make up for 1000 calories of missing glycogen.

"Are you OK?" polite or rude?

I had two flats today. Really it was the same one twice, but I was stopped at the side of the road twice. Each time, about 90% of the riders would ask if I had what I needed, or if I needed assistance. It was all very friendly. Trying to get the bead back over the rim on the second flat was a little challenging since my fingers had already be through it once an hour earlier. I was a little "over it", and working the bead over wondering what damage I was doing to the skin on my fingers. A woman rode by just as I was making faces at the lover I embraced tightly, the wheel. She asked "are you ok?" I responded as clearly as I could with the valve cap in my teeth and with an insistent, if somewhat irritated tone, she asked again. Lady, its the bead I'm focussed on, not you. I'm good: I'm wrestling a tire. Things are happening. I am not sitting doing nothing with a "I"m screwed" look on my face, hoping just one of these passers by would be decent enough to offer help (they all are). If anything, it's obvious I've got it going on. ...so I answer louder, more
clearly "yes, thank you" with a tone that's not too far from "go away".

Without the really cool tire iron tool (not the three, but one that extends and clips onto the axle), wrestling the bead of a Gator Skin tire back over the rim is a b***h! You slam your knuckles on the spokes repeatedly while you try to push the skin right off your fingers. If you've done this, (and are hence actually capable of helping) you know this. If you have a little bit of empathy, you asses the situation and leave the poor SOB to his misery. He'll get it on there....or sit looking at you with a miserable "please help" look.

How did February stack up?

My goal for Feb. was: "2/26 46 miles on bike, 176 min. on trainer"
I got to 44.7 miles and a total of 4:37 of excerise. I basically wanted to be
at 6 hours. I think I lived through a mild virus this week. I felt naseus on
the bus on the way home and didn't spin in the evenings. It showed with a strong
ride, but I'm a little behind my schedule of doing 6 hours of excercise.
Perhaps I should count my somewhat vigorous walk to and from this bus. This week
I did that 20 min walk 9 times for a total of 3 hours. Counting that, and I"m well
into my 6 hours exercise per week.

I think the end of March puts me at 15 weeks out. There are training programs that
split beginner vs advanced on the past workout ours per week: 8 hours. The beginnger
schedule ends up riding something like 60-80 miles/week. That's a nice minimum that I
should be able to improve on quite a bit.

44.7 miles, 14.3 mph, 3:07 RT

2 flats, 2 supply stops making it 4:02 overall.
133bpm over the 4 hours. I"m sure I rode > 140 though.
If my heart slows to 100 during the hour I'm not riding...

133 * 4 = 532.
(532 - 100) /3
432/3
144bpm...could have guessed.

Lowry to the Cherry Creek Mall (long way)

23 miles, 1:30 15.4mph 140bpm

nice ride up the creek.

35 miles, 15.2 mph, 142 bpm, 2:19

35 miles, 15.2mph, 142 bpm in 2:19
...another slow 5 miles to take it up to
40 miles, 14.4mph, ?? bpm, in 2:45.

Compare that first time to what I did a month ago:
30 miles, 13.5 mph in 2:13.
distance is almost 20% more, speed is 15% more?

Compare that to what I got with another 5 wimpy miles
and the speed is still up and the distance up 33%,
time is up 25%.

training seems to be working.

...so I was trying to ride slow. I wonder how well I would do
I really did manage to take it easy?

45 min. easy (120 bpm) on Wednesday, lots of walking to the bus.

Recovery: EAT!

I ate like a horse on Sunday night and noticed it Monday.
I didn't feel so bad.

...really, 1000 extra calories.

25.1 miles, 13.1 mph, 1:55,

I didn't start the HRM, so no average.
I saw 180 during a sprint, and a lot of 149 and 155.

achey, achey, achey after lifting weights 4 days ago.

punishing....just a ride to REI and back.

lots of slush and ice and weird, butt-clenching 10 yard long runs through it.

week ending 2/6: good.

60+45+45 on spin bike for 150min.
2:45 min on spink bike...might equate to 35 miles?

goal is 35 miles, 132 minutes.
I road 32 last week in 2 hours or 120 minutes.
10% up is 132 minutes, and I did 165 minutes on the trainer.

2:45, 119 bpm on trainer: Aching Backside

2:45 on the trainer, with 119 bpm average
I got up to use the restroom a few times and finally quit when my butt couldn't take anymore.

How many calories? 800/hour? http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/ says 1527 with a VO2 max of 35.

According to Wikipedia…

The average young untrained male will have a VO2 max of approximately 45 ml/kg/min

...so the calculator says 1686 at VO2 max of 45.

45 minutes, 1 1-minute interval on the trainer

45 minutes on the trainer

one hour on the spin bike

Overtraining?

I felt really out of it on Sunday, even after a 1200 calorie pizza feast for dinner.
...maybe too much fat and not enough calories?

We've been eating a bit of coconut oil as well and it's giving me stomach cramps.
...not too gross: I'm taking it in the form of a coffee creamer and a sort of
liquid yogurt similar to Kafir.

Hopefully I'll feel up to a spin this evening after no shovelling or hiking to bus.
This is the week that it's below zero F outside. I shovelled last night, but I didn't
make the trek to work.

February Goals

2/5 35 miles on bike, 132 min. on trainer

2/12 38 miles on bike, 145 min on trainer

2/19 42 miles on bike, 160 min. on trainer

2/26 46 miles on bike, 176 min. on trainer

3 hours, 3 hours = total of 6 hours/week.

A small detail: Successful Registration

I registered successfully for the East ride (Avon to Evergreen) of the Tripe Bypass on Wednesday.
Since I told most folks at the office now I have desires to avoid both public humiliation and the waste of the $150 registration fee.

Registration includes a commemorative jersey. I considered buying shorts or a jacket, but thought $70 for short sight-unseen was steep....and I have two jackets already. The jersey will will do the
job of proving my registration as well as anything. I hope some photographers are along the route!

32.3 miles, 2:07, 15.3 mph

nice creek ride, lots of spin, no hills, some wind
I found I was riding forward on the seat and felt it more in my quads than my hamstrings.
The flats with spin were nice for a change from past weeks with the short 8% grades by
the Ch. Creek. dam.

Need longer rides though.

off week

just walking, no spin trainer rides.
I felt a code or something coming on.
I managed to avert it and give my perhaps overworked muscles a rest.

nothing Saturday, 28.7 at 14pmh on Sunday

a little windy, very little food, pain in legs at end of ride

30 minutes on Thursday, nothing Friday but beer

45 minutes on the trainer yesterday

SLSIA

30 minutes on the trainer yesterday

a little more resistance than before, achy legs

30 miles, 2:13:30, 13.5 avg mph

Lowry to Ch. Crk. HS via the Highline canal and Ch. Ck. trail

The day after 25 miles

I ache more than I remember a 25 mile ride making me ache, but not quite so much as after the combined 155 miles of two days in the MS 150 in 2005. I'm considering a light spin ride to REI and back (still 16 miles). Maybe I should turn around at the Mall.

Curiously after I stopped my ride to wait for the chauffeur, my lungs were not happy. I had a dry cough. I hope the pollution wasn't too bad (yeah right).

Bonking, Bonk Training links

There's various arguments for losing weight and training that involve hitting the wall of glycogen depletion, or "bonking":

Basically, you don't lose weight without depleting about 2000 calories worth of stored glycogen.
Low-carb diets maintain that state and are bad for muscle. Exercise can be used to deplete the store. When followed by more exercise, you're burning fat. Eating to recover the store keeps your
muscles happy. It's good to know what your maintenance level of calories is: what you burn just
sitting at your desk, how many calories you eat and when, as well as how many calories your exercise burns.

The articles suggest that depletion and the switch from glycogen to fat as sources for energy is immediate and binary. It's fair to assume they dovetail. Bonk Training is about pushing the depletion hard and training with low blood sugar and can damage the central nervous system.
Glycogen aware weight-loss likely doesn't have to be extreme. Exercise at 130bpm long enough to burn some calories after you've made a huge dent in the glycogen store. They suggest you exercise long after a meal, when insulin is low for a long time. Some suggest two workouts, with the second coming after no food or only after an hour and a half of a moderate meal: to avoid building the glycogen store up all the way.

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Should_you_bonk_on_purpose_.htm
http://www.superskinnyme.com/Weight%20Loss/Exercise/Cardiovascular%20Exercise/Bonk_Training.html

2 hours, 25 miles, 13.3 mph

I read an interesting article on losing fat without losing muscle. After having tried the low-carb diets years ago and understanding from experience that you have to deplete your glycogen stores, I wondered: Can you lose fat without depleting your glycogen stores? I think the answer is basically no. When you go on a low-carb diet, you first lose about 5 lbs in glycogen and associated water. From then on, you eat little enough that the stores never build back up. The danger here is that you eat so little the body starts breaking down muscle, not just fat. So how does an exercise diet work?

You still have to deplete glycogen stores and then burn calories. In the low-carb diets, the burning is just living. In the diet and exercise method you catch yourself when blood sugar is moderate (1.5 hours after a meal), work out long enough to deplete glycogen, then workout longer to burn fat. Then you replenish for a day or two before you do the cycle again. Because most of the time you are not glycogen depleted you won't be fooled by the initial 5 lb weight loss, and you won
t push your metabolism to the point of slowing because your body fears starvation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieting

just 20min of walking

I was really cold yesterday and headachey. I ate like a pig and slept like a log.
...a little better today. Oh yeah, gotta log those two beers on the diet site.

40min @ 130bpm

...and a walk to and from the bus.

on the bike again....125bpm for 40 minutes

back side aches.

45 min @ 120bpm

reading facebook while spinning slowly. I'm at 120bpm or so. Yesterday I had 140.

Saturday Jan. 8 - new wheel, reading stand

Saturday I took my wheels in to be trued. I'd had them in before, but didn't get them into perfect shape. Instead of going to Bicycle Village where, as at many other shops, I thought they were more interested in selling than solving problems, I went to Wheat Ridge Cyclery. After a slightly annoying wait in the service area while staff milled around, satisfied that we were where we needed to be, I got someone to look at my wheels. The front was ok. It just looked bad because the tire wasn't seated properly. The back was certified as "done" when the technician, looking at the wheel in a truing stand, said "yeah, that's not gonna come out.". Fair enough, it was an annoying flat spot. The tech gave me a decent range of choices: new wheel to match the remaining front, new pair of slightly better wheels, or a dee-luxe set of wheels. Of the new wheel options, I could get a whole new rim, hub and spokes in silver, or order and lace a new rim to my old hub. The prices where the same, and I was happy to get fresh bearings so I went with the former: $165.
I told him I'd see how the season went and perhaps I'd "earn" a new set of wheels. He liked the response.

On the way home, we stopped at Home Depot for some lumber. I spent the evening building a tall and narrow table. I built it just wide enough to straddle the spin bike and tall enough to clear the handle bars. It should make reading while spinning much easier. I finished the job by clamping a lamp to the I-beam in the ceiling above the spin bike.

(no ride)

A New Venture?

I'm another middle aged man facing his increasing limits of physical ability. My physical resume is pretty laughable. I'm a geek at heart and by trade. I didn't play any organized sports in high school or college, though I rode a bicycle a bit in college in Boulder. I didn't start riding anything longer than 30 miles until much later. In my late 30's my wife and I trained an road 4 MS 150 rides. But, I haven't done much in the last five years.

I don't know how it caught my eye again. I thought I'd plan to spend the summer riding my motorcycle over mountain passes. "It", the ride, the Triple By-Pass, is a very long single day ride in Colorado, made more of a challenge by the fact that it crosses three mountain passes on its way from Denver (more/less) to Vail. It's 120 miles and something like 10,000 feet of climbing. it's a goal, out there. I'm not so goal-oriented that I think of crossing the finish line in Vail (Avon?) as much I think of the journey I'll be taking between now and July to prepare for it. If I'm in shape enough to ride from Evergreen to Idaho Springs and back, I will have found success. If I manage to do so with my wife, then I'll be that much more successful. And that is a dimension that the finish line in Vail does not capture.

The ride, in detail, starts in Evergeen, goes over a pass I've heard names Squaw Pass, that the ride material call something else. The road then drops into Idaho Springs and the ride is just beginning. The next leg is to head towards Summit County and enter it by going over Loveland pass to Copper Mountain. The final leg goes over Vail Pass to Vail. It's insane.

This blog will log my training and evolving thoughts about the actually doing the ride. Let's see how it goes.