Bike like a Girl!

Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by klkaye

My friend Nils sent me a link to the New England Bicycle Club (NEBC) and pointed out that there’s a Tuesday night ride for Women that focuses on paceline skills.  Cool.

The first Tuesday was a washout … too much rain.  But the following week I went and did the “beginner” ride.  It was great.

The course is just shy of 21 miles and it’s rolling hills at most.  Our group was smallish and it was some good riding.  It’s similar to the route I ride on Saturday mornings with Quad Cycles … it’s nice to know your way around!  A couple of the women were not in the same physical shape and so we did have a bit of a split in terms of speed, but all-in-all it was really good.

Toward the end of the ride we made our way back to the MinuteMan Bike Path and we ran into another NEBC women’s team rider.  (I guess we were meant to have two ride leaders but one couldn’t make it.)  Three of us joined the new leader and she did paceline (the leader dropping off the top of the line and falling in at the rear) drills with us the last handful of miles back to Lexington Center.  That worked out really well.

I really want to get back out there tonight, and Sandy and Anna have said they want to join, but who knows what the weather will do.  Fingers crossed!

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Trails and Tribulations

Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by klkaye

Over the course of the last three weeks I have been through the ringer. 

 The bike I bought last summer was the wrong fit.  I was raised in the school of “it never hurts to ask” so I went back to Wheelworks in Belmont and talked to the owner about my dilemma.  The crux of it is that I need performance more than I need comfort.  Last summer’s bike was the right bike for the occaisional weekend rider who just wants to be comfortable.

They were great about working with me to get me into a new bike and they even threw a full/free bike fitting in for me.  I, of course, had dropped key phrases like “I joined Team in Training” … so they know what kind of riding I need to do, and they know I will be buying accessories.  ha ha

The new bike is great.  And, lucky for me, it was a 2008 model that didn’t sell so it was discounted.  I went from the Specialized Sequoia to the Trek 2.3 WSD.  If you know bikes, or just googled all of that, you know that I made a big leap up in performance.  And, I managed to stay with my “low profile” black/silver color scheme.  ha ha  Maybe I should have gone for the Maui blue with hibiscus flowers?? 

Anyway, the next piece was to fit the bike.  I met with a fitter and we set the bike up.  He told me that if I felt any of the “painful” things to come back as the fitting was guaranteed for three months.

Equipped with my new bike, I went out and rode harder and faster.  Yeah me!  And, I started to notice some pain around the right knee.  Back to the shop for me.  This time I saw a different fitter, and WOW!  what an experience.

We started by picking out new shoes.  I’d been putting this off since I am not totally made of money these days, but I was able to find a great pair of shoes (again last year’s that didn’t sell) and then we went downstairs to do a cleat fitting and take a look at my pedalling.

Turns out I am very “tibia neutral”.  Fabulous.  The guy said it’s a pretty rare thing, actually, so I guess I should stop being so sarcastic.  The really good part is that I don’t need special shoes or footbeds or an agressive road cleat, which save me a lot of money.  heh.

One my cleats were squared away he had me pedal the bike.  Ahah.  Herin lies the problem!  Turns out, I suck.  The pedal stroke is about pushing the pedal in a circle (spinning).  Four major muscles are involved:  quad, glutes, hamstrings and hip flexors.  I was basically using quads and hamstrings to get most of the work done.  I wasn’t using hip flexors at all.  Uh oh.  The hip flexors is what we focused on … they bring the pedal up and over the top.  It’s not enough to bring the pedal back to the 12 o’clock position, it needs to come over to the 1 o’clock position (or so).  And, when your hip flexors are tight or inflexible this turns out to be a really hard thing to do … I can get it done but right after I heard the “thunk” of hitting a dead spot in the pedal stroke.  So, I need to practice that and get stronger.

Because of my hip flex issues, we also changed the bike set-up again to get me a bit more upright to open that joint.  Did you pick up on what I just said?  First I was too upright in the old bike.  Then I went to a performance bike and we stretched me out and got me lower.  Now I’ve been brought back up a smidge.  He also raised my seat some more and fiddled with my handlebars.  AND, luckily, as I get stronger and better at this I can expect to continue to be refit on the bike.  Good times!

So I went riding on Saturday and it felt good.  Yeah! 

The next big battle is the weather.  Everyone’s joking that we’re the new pacific northwest.  Maybe the vampires will be here, soon?  ha ha

Oh well … someone please talk to the weather gods.  Thanks!

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Weekend: Two days, two rides

Posted on June 8th, 2009 by klkaye

I had agreed to meet Nils at Quad Cycles Saturday am for the 9.30 ride.  It was a bit chilly and overcast, which is kinda nice, actually.

The first piece of the ride is from Arlington out to Lexington and then we hook into the MinuteMan Bike Path.  At Bedford, we regroup.  There’s a scary fast group that takes off to ride 60 miles at like 18-20mph.  Then there’s a middle group that’s still fairly quick.  And, a slower group.  There’s like 3 routes to follow … one flatter, one hills, etc.

The second gathering site is where the groups further split to ride flat or hilly routes.  So Nils wanted to follow the hilly route (Strawberry Hill).  We missed the main group’s departure because I was slow getting to the first pit stop and I stopped to eat some Sharkies.  😉  So Nils and I set off to ride the route and at the last piece he was insistant the we turn left when I was pretty darn sure we needed to turn right.  I figured it would only add four miles onto the 36 mile route, so I went along.  We eventually popped out on some road only to see a bunch of the people from the ride go by. 

At first I thought we were on 4/225 which takes up back to the bike shop.  Normally at this point in the ride we should have stopped at Ferns (this cute little country story for a berverage or snack and a trip to the porta-potties).  Nils wanted to ride with the others, so I said I didn’t mind if we skipped Ferns (because I thought we we only had like 8-10 miles back to Arlington).

We started riding along and I saw a sign that said Chelmsford.  UH OH.  We were heading *away* from Arlington, not toward it.  I tried to call Nils’ phone (I stopped and was thinking to turn around thinking we must be with the 60 mile route or something).  Nils phone was dead.  I rode a bit thinking he’d turn around at some point.  We caught up and he said “yeah I know this route … it’s called the Dinosaur route … it’s roughly the same mileage and takes us back to Arlington.”.

Ok, so we rode away. 

And, then the hills started.  I got to learn the hard way that that’s why this is called the Dinosaur route … long, slow, long, on-going hills.  Swell.

We finally got to another meeting point in Lexington Center and Nils (who I knew was running late to get home to his wife and daughter) said he was just going to take off and go home.  So I rode with the pack back to the bike trail to head home. 

Then, I just wasn’t thinking.  I followed the pack off the bike trail.  But then I saw a road sign that said 2A.  I thought “uh oh, I don’t know where these people are going … why did I leave the bike trail??”  So, I turned back around and got back to the bike trail.  Realizing I’d added a lot of extra miles (overall I rode 10 miles miles … I expected 36 and rode 46 instead), I decided to stop at the Starbucks and have a machiatto and a banana.  MMM  There I saw the people that I had ridden with to 2A.  CRAP.  I could have stayed with them and gotten here, had I known.  😉

I sat and enjoyed my coffee break (it’s like drinking a chocolate milk) and then toddled back down Mass Ave to my car.  I felt good.  Long, but productive ride.  I am getting faster which means fitter and more efficient. 

I had said to Michelle that it would be fun to do longer, more leisurely rides with pit stops.  So we cooked up an idea for a “breakfast ride”.  I could not stop dreaming about pancakes and maple syrup.  Perfect high carb/fast burn foods.  I decided to throw in bacon for good measure.  Normally, I fear the calories so much that I have a hard time enjoying foods like this.  Well, we bike at 15-16 mph these days … so that’s like burning about 900 calories per hour.  BRING ON THE PANCAKES!

I got a text from Michelle saying to meet at her house in North Andover at 8.45am on Sunday to ride with her and Rafael … we’d do like 12 miles, stop for breakfast in Boxford, and then ride another 12 miles.  Sounds good to me.  We rode the 12 miles (average speed 16.9 … I did draft Michelle a bit … hee hee) and then stopped for breakfast.

[I was definitely feeling a bit sore from riding on Saturday.  The muscles in my legs and butt were sore from the work.  My shoulders were sore … I need to get refitted to fix that! … and I have a new/smaller/less padded saddle so I was feeling a little sore from that, too.]

After a nice breakfast break we went out to ride home.  That turned into a 16 mile ride instead.  There were no back-breaking hills, but lots of short climbs or long, rolly sections.  I made a conscious effort to slow down so that I didn’t feel sick from the food, or overtax my body.  Michelle and Raf were riding about 16.5 – 17 avg and I took mine down to 15.5mph avg and it was so much more comfortable.  I wasn’t huffing and puffing to keep up with them.  I like that!

So, two day total:  46 + 28 = 74 miles.  4.45 hours of biking = ~3,600 calories (online calculators vary).  Now, it’s Monday.  I don’t hurt anywhere except my tight shoulders.  I can feel my muscles, but everything is ok.  I’ll get to yoga tonight to stretch out and then plan to ride 20 miles Tuesday night with a local women’s group that teaches paceline and bike handling. 

Wheeeeeeeeeee!

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Another first …

Posted on June 1st, 2009 by klkaye

Sunday afternoon Nils called me and asked if I was up for a bike ride.  Sure!

I knew I wanted to check out slimmer saddles so we agreed to meet at Quad Cycles in Arlinton and do like a 25-30 mile loops out the MinuteMan Bike Path and toward Acton.

As I drove over to the bike shop I took note of the wind.  The trees were swaying and stuff was really blowing around.  HMMM  The sky didn’t look great.  Big, dark, patchy clouds.  I continued the few miles drive toward the bike shop.  Same sky.  I googled weather for Arlington and Acton.  The little picture said Sunday with the picture for Thunderstorms.  BLECH. 🙁

I called Nils and said the sky looks foreboding and he said that we should just go out and see what happens.  ok.

I got my saddle swapped out with something slimmer and bought the chamois butter.  Quad Cycles did set me up with a 10% discount (in the computer) because I am doing Team in Training … just have to give my last name from now on when I am there.  Sweet.

Nils arrived and we headed out.  We were flying.  My computer was reading between 17 and 22 mph as we wove through people and intersections.  Nils is fun to ride with — but he’s such a boy.  He’s fearless.  I feel like a big fat pansy riding with him.  But, he’s also very considerate and if I get screwed at an intersection he slows down and waits, etc.

Around the 95/128 overpass we start to feel some raindrops.  We get to Bedford and the sky looks worse to the west.  So, we decide that we should just spin around and if it’s not raining further east we could continue toward fresh pond and back.  We laughed and agreed that some riding was better than no riding.

And, then the skys opened up.  BAM.  Pouring rain.  They don’t call road bike tired “slicks” for nothing.  No sudden movements, no swerving, no fast braking.  Roads get slippery and bikes get dangerous.  Road bikes don’t have fenders.  Welcome to road sludge up your backside — even onto your neck and in your hair.  I had to take my sunglasses off because it was just too dark.  Water was everywhere and slid down my face into my eyes. 

I am really allergic to pollen.  All the water that was falling off the trees and onto me and all over my face did a number on me.  Pollen rain water in my eyes.  Ouchie.

Nils peeled off at Park Ave and rode home while I pedalled back toward my car at Quad Cycles.  I got there and assessed myself.

Wet?  Check
Cold?  Check
Road grime and foliage stuck to my legs and arms?  Check
Filthy bike?  Check
Everything I own soaking wet?  Check

(ok you get the picture.  It was pretty darn miserable.)

However.  That will not be my last or only time riding in the rain.  So I better get used to it and better at it, too.  In the future, though, I hope to have made some better equipment choices.  Like rain gear.

So we rode a hasty 1o – 12 miles in about 45 minutes and called it a day.

**GNAT ATTACK on the way to Bedford: 
We passed through the foresty section before the overpass and the swarms of gnats were thick and nasty.  Imagine, we were going 20 mph — I looked! — and it took us like 15-30 + seconds to fully pass through the gnats.  I was spitting and sputtering and you could feel them pelting your skin and face.  We had to pass through them again on the way back, but at that point it was POURING rain and so they were less fierce.  When I got back to my car I took my bike jersey off (I had a tshirt and sports bra underneath) because it was soaking wet and caked in road dirt.  My t-shirt underneath was covered in gnats!  When I got home and went to shower I discovered tons of gnats on my skin under my sports bra.  YUCK YUCK YUCK.  It was then that I started to accurately contemplate just how many of those tiny pests I’d likely ingested.  *gag*

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1h49 minutes, 27.4 miles … avg speed= 15mph GIDDYUP!

Posted on June 1st, 2009 by klkaye

Over the past two weeks I have been learning more and more about cycling.

I perused some books at Barnes and Noble one afternoon.

I consulted a friend and former racer.

I spent an hour and a half talking to the bike shop guys in NC and getting refitted.

What did I learn?  Well I am so short that my bike frame is really little (46cm), which means a lot of my components are smaller and that’s not always such a good thing.  We did swap out the stem.  But my cranks are 165 whereas most folks have 170 or 172.5.  Ok so what the heck does that mean?  Well the cranks are the radius (half the diameter) oh each pedal stroke.  Simply … how much chain is being pulled with each revolution.  I ride with my friend Michelle a lot.  She’s really tall.  Her cranks are 172.5.  In order for me to maintain the same speed as her (in the same gear), I need more revolutions per minute since my cranks are only 165. 

Which brought me to my second big lesson about cycling … spinners versus mashers.  Spinners fluidly move the pedals around the whole circle (equal effort at all points) and tend to pedal faster.  Mashers put most effort on the downstroke and tend to pedal in a higher gear a bit slower.  Because my cranks are short, I have to work on my spinning.

What I have been told is that the advantages to spinning with shorter cranks is that a)  it’s easier on your body, and b)  it affords you more “get up and go” on flat surfaces.  The disadvantages all lie in the hill-climbing.  GRRR.  Damn hills!

So Saturday Michelle and I went out riding later in the day.  We decided to shoot for two hours and something like 25-30 miles.  I was anxious to see if the adjustments we’d made to my bike really were going to make the difference.  We chose a route that was somewhat hilly.  A few long, winding climbs and a few short, steep climbs.  Along with nice stretches of flat road and a few rolling sections. 

I have also been thinking about nutrition/hydration.  So, I imposed quick fuel breaks at mile 10 and 20.  We were really zipping along — felt great. 

We finished our ride at Starbucks and I treated myself to a Carmel Machiatto with real sugar!  I figure it’s the adult version of a chocolate milk. 

All-in-all I was really pleased with this ride.  On these shorter rides I am riding at like 75-90% effort (hills take a lot more out of me) and I know that as I start to tackle the longer distances I am going to need to slow it down to a steady 75% or I just won’t last. 

Plus, Michelle is your classic weekend warrior.  No warm-up, no cool-down.  ha ha  I yelled at her.  😉

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TNT Kick-off

Posted on June 1st, 2009 by klkaye

Saturday morning I went to Boston University for the Team in Training Kick-off event.

This season (summer/fall) there are six teams training:  3 marathon teams, 1 TRI team, 1 cycle team, and 1 hike team.  We all gathered for the same pep-talk, to meet our team mates, coach and mentors and to receive our training packets.

The cycle team consists of:

– coach
– 2 mentors (who have done the events before)
– 6 particiants (they expect anywhere from 2-4 more people to sign up over the course of the next month/summer)

Additionally, we learned that some of our training will be with the TRI team … since they need dedicated cycling coaching, too.

My coach did suggest a more narrow saddle for my bike, so that’s on my TO DO list, now.  Oh … and I need to buy some chamois butter!!

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The Blue Ridge Parkway

Posted on June 1st, 2009 by klkaye

Suffice it to say … I am insane.  🙂

 So, I went to visit my parents who now live in the greater Asheville, NC area and I brought my bike thinking it would be a great time to get some rides in because the weather is so predictably nice there.  Originally Michelle and me were going to make the trip together, but her mom’s too sick right now for her to leave.  So off I went by myself.

 Asheville is in the Smokey Mountains.  It’s hilly.  It’s beyond hilly.  It’s just up/down/up/down.  There’s basically nothing flat.  There are some nice backroads that have easier grades/profiles.  The problem is the rednecks BOMB along those roads and it’s just a scary situation all around.

I found a book with some great rides outlined, but the cue sheets were REALLY detailed.  I thought, “Great … I have to maintain momentum on these hills *and* navigate???”.  No way.  So, I finally decided to just ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The locals told me “around Asheville it’s a lot flatter”.  It seemed like a good place to ride because the speed limits are much slower and the area is very friendly to bikes and motorcycles, etc.

I park my car and head UP the onramp.  (everything is UP … I wish I had some instrument on my bike that told me the grades of the hills)

So, the warm-up first 15 mins consisted of pedalling uphill for 1.54 miles until I just stopped and turned around … I was like “oh man, this is insane!”.  The downhills are crazy, too.  Squeezing my brakes I hit a max speed of 34mph.  I’m not yet totally comfortable with the bike and so that was as daring as I felt.

In the end, I rode for about 13 miles.  Normally that would seem like nothing.  It took me a little over an hour to grind out those miles.  My average speed was about 12 mph because I was soooo damn slow on the hill climbs.

Afterwards I went to Carolina Fats Bike Shop and the guys hooked me up.  The owner was awesome … I told him that I know I need to keep riding and get into better shape, but asked if there were any adjustments we could make to the bike.  He did three significant things:

1.  my stem was only 70mm and he swapped it for a 90mm
2.  lowered my handlebar height and raised my seat
3.  replaced 25 tires with 23s

Muuuuuuch bedah!

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Saturday … and the biking ain’t easy

Posted on May 20th, 2009 by klkaye

Quad Cycles in Arlington has group rides both Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9.30am.  My friend Nils told me that he’s gone on the ride a few times and it’s well done.  Just Nils and me cycled the route two Saturdays ago and I was pretty slow (he was home late and Melanie — his wife — wasn’t happy with us).  This time I told Nils — go at your own pace, I don’t want to get you in trouble again.  ha ha

 So, I confirm with Nils that I am going to ride this Saturday and then I also mention it to my friend Michelle — we bought our road bikes together last summer and enjoy riding together.  Her mom’s sick with Leukemia, so she’s never 100% sure of her schedule.  (and, yes, her mom is the one I am doing Team in Training for)  Michelle agrees to come do the ride with us and we all met at the bike shop last Saturday around 9.15am.

 The warm-up section of the ride is easy and with the drafting it just feels TOO easy.  The first check point is the end of the Minute Man trail and we split into fast, moderate and slower groups.  Off we go … again the first bit of riding is nice and easy.  Then we hit the hilly sections and I am slow.  Hmm. 

After a few conversations with ppl — most importantly my friend Rich who used to race — I have come the conclusion that I have two challenges:

1.  weight to strength ratio:  I am an average-sized woman (not a skinny biker type) and I just need to be stronger.  It’s to the weights with me.

2.  recovery:  I wear a HRM and my actual BPM recovery is good, but my anaerobic and lactic recoveries are not where they need to be.  Rich’s advice:  wind sprints.  Yeah, that should be mucho fun.  (blergh)

I managed to complete the 36 mile ride in 2h20 which is not pathetic, but I did feel like I was pushing between 70 and 95% at all times.  I need for a ride like that to become easier to I can move onto bigger challenges.

Well, thank god I have a six month training period before Nevada!! 

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Hills, hills everywhere …

Posted on May 13th, 2009 by klkaye

I went for a ride on Sunday with Michelle.  She lives up in North Andover and so I drive to her house and then we head out.  We didn’t have a lot of time so Michelle thought up a route that took us about 14 miles around NAndover and Andover. 

 Sunday was a pretty day, a bit chilly but we dressed for it.  Except … 20mph winds.  Really?!?!  Oh, and Michelle’s route turned out to be hill, hill, hilly!  We maintained an average speed of 14.5 (we CRANKED on the downhills … in an effort to ride the speed back uphill as much as possible, ha ha) … I was pretty pysched with that speed.

 Today, I was going to meet Melissa for lunch and she works 9.2 miles from my house out in Waltham.  Totally bikeable.  So, I set out to ride and realized that my bike pump was pooped.  So I was over to Quad Cycles to fill up the tires and get a new pump.  Off I ventured to meet Melissa … in my head I thought, “hmmm … Trapelo Rd is one big ole hill … how much is this going to suck?” and sure enough I got to Trapelo Rd and got my ass worked.  I checked Google Maps and Trapelo Rd is 3.7 miles (the section I travelled along) and there are three very steep hills along a route that climbs the entire way.  There were a couple of great downhills (I saw speeds +28mph) but then you have to come to a screeching hault at big intersections.  You give up all your speed and then climb uphill again.  oh joy!

 It was good work.  I realize that I am just logging time/miles on my bike and the real training begins once I start riding with TNT.  At least I am getting better with my gears and clipping in and out of my pedals.

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The journey begins …

Posted on May 13th, 2009 by klkaye

I knew I wanted to do a significant (mileage) ride and so I started checking out organized rides in the area. The biggest obstacle is that each ride usually benefits a charity and they all want you to do a tremendous amount of fundraising in order to participate in the ride event.

I happened upon Team in Training (TNT) — I knew the organization, but not the details — and learned that they go beyond what other groups do … they require you to:

  • agree to participate in an endurance race (in your chosen category)
  • join and train with a team (in your area, in the same race category)

To help you succeed, TNT provides each team with a coach and a race/program coordinator (who’s an employee of TNT).

I went to an information session and decided this was the right group for me.
The other piece of this is that Michelle’s mom, Joan, is struggling with Leukemia, so it just seems “right” that I should raise money to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

So, today I sat down and made my fundraising page, created this blog and sent the mass email to everyone asking for money … good times! ha ha

Seriously, though, I need to raise $4,300 by November. So, I gotta get to it. And, the training begins in June … I meet my team and coach at the TNT “kickoff party”.  We will follow a training plan for the next six months so that I will be able to ride a good race:  109 miles, in the desert, at a higher elevation and average at least 16 mph.

It’s going to be fun!

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