A Full Weeks Work

So finally I exercise every day.  First some anecdotes and news.

So when I bought some new wheels for the Trek, somehow I bent them up pretty good only after a couple of rides.  So I tried to "true" them myself.  "Truing" is the process (art?) of tightening and/or loosening the spokes to bring the wheel back into straight and round, or "true".  So I played at this for hours, with no real joy - I thought it was a bit better, but not much.  Finally I decide to cough up the $15 to get the guys at Sports Basement to do it.  When I go to pick them up there is a note on the receipt.

"Don't let whoever tried to true this wheel ever touch another wheel again.  It was so messed up it took three hours to fix.  This should be a $30 charge rather than $15.  Don't ever try to true a wheel again"

The guy that was returning me the wheel wasn't the author of the memo on the receipt and started to apologize for it, when I stopped him saying "No that is probably a fair cop, I did mess with it a lot without having any idea what i was doing".

Secondly I put the 11-28 on the back wheel (finally, I have had it for about a month).  I was going to buy a new back wheel specifically for it and swap them in and out.  But as the guy at Sports Basement pointed out while talking me out of buying a wheel, "is there really that much difference you want a $600 back wheel?".  After a small amount of research, it seems there is not.

11-25:  11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23,25
11-28:  11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,28

Probably should of thought of that myself.  So I just swapped them and put the 11-25 away for when i am a better (stronger) rider.

Monday

Finally I do some exercise on Monday, and I am into the pool.  I was all keen to do a fast swim and was watching the clock trying to do 10 laps in 4 minutes.  I felt like i was keep that up, from lap 10-100, every 10 laps i was pretty close to doing 4 mins.  I definitely wasn't losing time.  The clocks are not always the easiest to see and when I finished up, once again I has somehow missed pushing the button on my watch.  So I put down 43 minutes - which is kind of my default time for the 1.4 miles (2.2km).

Tuesday

 I was going to swim and ride but got home late.  Colleen wanted to do a quick ride so she could get to the gym, and once we hit the road she didn't really feel like she was up to it.  She was still feeling the effect of the weekend ride.  So we just did a little out and back for 11 miles (18km).  I was tempted to go out again, but never mustered the drive to do so.

Wednesday

Soccer at EA.  Running is feeling more fluid and I am starting to get to the point where my whole lower body isn't aching after playing soccer.  Enough or my stabilization muscles are starting to get stronger and used to the shocks of stopping, starting and lateral movements after a four weeks of soccer at least twice a week.  Did 4 miles (6.4km) of running in the hour of soccer.

Colleen was keen for a run when we got home, and so we went out on a little 3.2 mile (5km) loop.  She did pretty well, we averaged 10 minute miles (6:15 min/km).  When she hit 3 miles I told her to walk the rest of the way and i tried to sprint the rest of the way home.  I got half way.  I still don't have the endurance or strength in my quads yet.

Thursday

Out for a solo ride, with the new gearing on there is only one place to go. Old La Honda.  I ride out trying to go slow and fail dismally.  I get there a little tired, it is ~9miles (14km) from home.  I check my time at the bridge at the bottom, 31:13 and start up.  I put the clever watch to showing me just distance and time.  I know it is 3.3 odd miles (5km) and I know i want it to take me less than 26 minutes.  So I just look at them and ride.  I get to the top at 54:05.  New Record!   22:52.  Pretty happy with that and when I get back I am talking myself up to Colleen.  But then when I check the last ride I did, it wasn't so special.

I was much faster up the hill, once of the mile splits I was 71 seconds faster over just that mile.  But over the whole ride I was only 3 mins and 23 seconds faster.  I checked every split verses the last ride and over the first 17 miles i was 3 mins 30 seconds faster - over the last 9 miles I was actually 10 seconds slower.  To busy being chuffed with my performance up the hill.

Friday

Lunchtime soccer again.  It was a slow game I had to run two laps around the field to hit my minimum distance requirements for Colleen (3.5 miles).  The lack of distance was probably due to playing sweeper for a fair duration of that game.

Out for a swim in the evening.  I pay close attention to ensuring I hit the start button on the watch and pay close attention to the clock as I o each 10 lap segment.  I am always on target, and somehow over the last 30 laps I get 3 minutes to the good.  I hit the watch at the end and I am done in 37:15.  I think that is too fast, but I know over the last 30 laps I was on count - and earlier on my base wasn't showing me to be that fast, so I am a bit confused.  It is much faster than I usually do the 100 laps (generally around 43 mins) but it is the first (second really) time I have been on it with both the pool clock when I am in progress and the stop watch at the end.  Just have to compare it to next time and see how it looks.

Saturday

Out for a ride with Colleen and Todd, same ride as last weekend.  We do it in about the same time and speeds.  The ride is fairly flat and without the wind would be a fun, fast ride.  With the wind it is less fun and a bit more of a struggle across the rolling hills than you might otherwise expect.

Sunday

I decide after my first ride up Old La Honda with the new rear cassette I plot a somewhat crazy ride.  First up OLH and then up Kings Mountain Road, or Twin Peaks, is my catchy name for it.  Sunday I do it.

Out to OLH takes just over 29 minutes it should have taken longer, but this guy tries to race me at the bottom Sand Hill, after 280 he goes past me and I just ride his wheel to the top.  At the top he accelerates and starts down, I just tuck and roll.  He is about 30 yards (~25m) ahead at the bottom, but he rolls into the short sharp uphill and I wind up still on the big cog and blow past him and keep the momentum up the hill.   The smart thing to do would have been to ignore him and keep my strength for the hills ahead.

Up OLH I keep good pace, one guy goes up past me flying, I catch him while he is talking to a guy riding up.  Then he passes me again, and I don't see him again.  Another guy passes me about 100 yards (90m) from the top and says as he goes past, "I finally got you".  I just grab his wheel, and follow him up I push him a bit and tap him on the shoulder as he stops at the top while I ride off to the next hill. The ascent takes 24:28.  Going down down Skyline is the best part of the ride.  I need to borrow Kris's GoPro and attach it to my bike to get some video of my decent.

Over to KM (Kings Mountain) and up again.  No-one passes me on the way up KM and I pass a few people on the way up.  It takes about ~32 mins it is a less steep and less windy climb but the extra length is a killer.  The annoying think about it is the top isn't the "top", you keep going up hill after the climb and then, there is a lot of down hill, which almost makes it all worth it.  But not quite.

Details of the ride are here. 

Profile: Twin Peaks