The title says it all! Yeah, I haven't posted anything since the start of the year - and you know why? It's because I'm working so hard to get back into shape! You know who says exercise is fun? The ones that are already in shape - and have paid their dues a long, long time ago and forgot how much work it took for them to get into such good shape in the first place! Yeah, you know who you are ...
Then there are the rest of us - maybe someone like myself, who *used* to be in great shape - especially when I was road racing just a few years ago, back in 2007/2008 - if you wanted to do a road race, you could not just be a "weekend warrior" type cyclist - you needed to *train* - a lot - as much as possible - including 2 or 3 days during the weekdays (somehow) ... and that means you had to get out there and ride in conditions that are not exactly "ideal", i.e., raining (and raining hard, not just sprinkles), fierce wind storms, super cold mornings (like temps down in the 30s type cold), blazing hot afternoons in the summer (if that is the only time slot you had open to get in your training ride), etc.
Yeah - those hours spent training for my road races were a lot of work - then I stopped cycling one day, back in 2008, when I burned out on a training ride (I was training for my 4th Death Ride in July of that year - it's a 130 mile "fun" ride, where you do more than 15,000 feet of climbing by riding up and over 5 different Sierra passes - all between 5500 and 9000 feet elevation - totally *cruel* - but still, "fun") ...
So here I am, post heart surgery - trying to desperately get back to some semblance of my old self - I don't expect to race again (at least, it's not showing up on my calendar right now) - but it would be nice to get back into decent cycling shape - like maybe 80% or 90% of my max fitness back in the 2007 timeframe (that's when I set most of my cycling records - best times up various climbs, etc.) ...
And there is no doubt about it - coming back is hard work - regardless of whether or not you've had heart surgery - just ask any cyclist that has been off their bike for a few years and then tries to get back into shape (especially after gaining the requisite 30 to 50 pounds, as I did) - it's a *lot* of work! My only consolation is that one day (about 1 year from now, I am estimating), I will be able to look back at all the hard work I'm doing this year and say, "Yeah - it was hard, but worth it!" - I can't wait to say those magic words, for sure!
But right now, I cannot issue that statement - I can only marvel at how hard it is to ride my bike up a small (but tough) climb - like the end of Rodeo Gulch, for example - that is what I did yesterday.
One of my biking buddies, Mike, and I decided that we would try a classic ride that we used to do years ago (Mike was one of the guys I rode with on a regular basis - it was easy, since he lives right there in my neighborhood!) - the ride we chose for yesterday's adventure was the Rodeo Gulch - Granite Creek classic ride - we head out from Scotts Valley, bobble over the little rollers on Green Hills road, glide down Glen Canyon into Santa Cruz, then wind our way along the foothills until we get to Rodeo Gulch (just off of Soquel) - we turn onto Rodeo Gulch and then do the 4.2 mile climb up to the top of Rodeo Gulch, where you get a spectacular view of the entire world (well, Santa Cruz, at least) - and this was a beautiful morning - sunny - but really, really cold! - like high 30s, low 40s type cold ...
Now, the climb up Rodeo Gulch is 4.2 miles - and the average grade is just 3.5% - which sounds like a piece of cake - but it's deceptive because the road gradually gets steeper and steeper towards the end - and then you hit "the mailbox" - yeah, that nasty mailbox - the one where you make a small right turn - and then you get hit with the last 0.7 miles - but that last part of the climb averages about 10% - and that's a lot more work than doing a 3.5% grade type of climb - a *lot* more - in fact, it's so much more work, that I was riding just under 4 mph for that last part - 4 mph! I mean, a lot of people can almost walk that fast - but I did not walk- I pedaled the whole time, stroke by stroke - until I hit the top of the climb - and then I met up with Mike (who had zoomed up ahead of me, since he's in much better climbing shape than me right now) - and we enjoyed a little break, munching on our gels (yum!) and drinking a lot of water - and enjoying the amazing views from our little perch on top of the world (or, so it seemed) ...
Then we ride along Rodeo Gulch at the top, where it just rolls gently - and finally descends a short distance to the end of the road, where it meets up with the intersection of Mtn View Rd and Laurel Rd - we hang a left (which is Mtn View Rd) - and do a fun drop down to Branciforte - then we saunter along Branciforte, which on average drops down some more (but ever so gently) until we get to Granite Creek - and then we do the Granite Creek climb back up into Scotts Valley.
The whole ride is only about 22+ miles - but it is also just about 2200 feet of climbing - in other words, it's a classic ride for us, where we do 1000 feet of climbing for every 10 miles we ride - that rule of thumb works out quite well for the vast majority of our rides, since from Scotts Valley, you either drop down into Santa Cruz for some ride - and have to ride back up to Scotts Valley - or you climb out of Scotts Valley and head up to the top of the Santa Cruz mountains, where you can then go either north or south and find some nice roads to get you back to Scotts Valley (and we have dozens of variations that we do for our various loops).
Well, I expected the Granite Creek climb to be tough - it is actually 2 climbs - one smaller one that is about 0.5 miles in length and then a bigger climb that is a bit longer - and definitely has a steeper average grade - but I had ridden Granite Creek a couple of times since my heart surgery - and had survived the climbs. So I knew I could get up those 2 climbs - I simply expected that due to my butt getting kicked by the Rodeo Gulch climb (which would soften up my legs a lot), I was going to do that Granite Creek climb at an all-time slow speed.
But - good news! - and this is where I can (ever so slowly) see actual progress happening in my comeback - I did those 2 Granite Creek climbs faster than my 2 previous attempts - I took 20 seconds off that first climb and 40 seconds off the second climb - woohoo!!!!
So this demonstrates to me, quite clearly, that I am getting stronger - it's all relative, of course - and compared to a few years ago, my times still royally suck - but they aren't quite as sucky (is that a word?) as they were when I first started riding back in November of last year.
As such, although I still cannot issue those magic words ("Yeah - it was hard, but worth it!"), I can at least say, "Yeah - it was hard, but one day down the road, it will be worth it!" - and that's all I have to say today... :)
Keep on cycling! And a corollary - once you get back into good cycling shape, don't ever stop!
Monday, February 11, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
There's Nothing Like Setting a New PB on New Year's Day - On A Recovery Ride, Nonetheless !
The title says it all! One of my biking buddies, Mike, and I decided to ride for the 3rd day in a row - and it was the 1st day of the New Year, 2013 - we figured to do a nice little recovery ride. That's where you just spin along in a comfortable gear, talking all the time - and never trying to work too hard - even on the climbs.
We thought we'd do 25 to 30 miles (it ended up smack in the middle - 27 miles for me, 28 miles for Mike, who rode down to my house to meet me - and then rode back after dropping me off at my house at the end of the ride). And, we decided on doing the ride down to the harbor area of Santa Cruz (Crow's Nest Restaurant, to be exact) via Glen Canyon and then back the same route. That would be a 21-mile round trip, so we thought we'd do a couple of loops around Scotts Valley (Scotts Valley Drive and Green Hills Road) to get those extra miles (and a little extra climbing feet) done.
And, we stuck to the plan - until we didn't. Well, Mike stuck to the plan - but then, he's in a lot better shape than I am right now. I'm the one that veered off the plan, but it was totally unintentional! As planned, we did an easy spin down to the Crow's Nest Restaurant in Santa Cruz - and, as planned, we noodled our way back towards Scotts Valley at an easy, conversational pace.
But then, when we started the Glen Canyon climb (to get back up into Scotts Valley from Santa Cruz), I started out exactly as we had planned - spinning an easier gear on the climb - and we would have stuck to the plan - except I seemed to get into this total rhythm - the climb up Glen Canyon is uneven - it's not a very hard climb - the grade is fairly mild and it sort of rolls up and down, doing more rolling up than rolling down - and there are a couple of spots where it pitches up a bit (but again, pitching up is not to suggest we hit these steep, 15% sections - it just pitches up from 2% or 3% to maybe 6% or 7% - and only for a very brief time). When I hit those little parts where it pitches up, rather than drop down a gear (to keep the spinning on the lighter and easier side, as planned), I just kept it in the same gear and just pushed a bit harder on those sections where it steepened a bit - for whatever reason, it just wasn't all that hard - and the rhythm felt good - not changing gears on a climb can allow you to sometimes keep a nice rhythm going - assuming the changes in pitch are not too severe, of course - and this was the case with Glen Canyon - the "steep" parts are not really all that steep - just a little steeper than other parts. Overall, it really is the easiest climb to get back up to Scotts Valley.
So here I was, motoring along in this nice rhythm - and breathing a little harder as a result - I had noticed our riding time (1:02:40) as we started the "official" climb of Glen Canyon - and at some point during the climb (like, after the last main part that pitches up briefly), I looked at the riding time and thought there was a reasonable chance I could do a new (relative) PB for that climb - and the funny part is that I had just done a new (relative) PB on that climb the day before, which was the LAST day of 2012!
My very best time (ever) on that climb was 14:19, done back in early 2007. My very first time, post heart surgery, was 22:26. My end of the year PB (relative) for 2012 was 21:12 - and according to what I saw on my cyclometer, it looked like I could possible hit about 20 minutes for the climb I was doing - on our recovery ride, nonetheless - and the first ride of 2013 - how cool! Mike could tell that I had gone into a different mode - he sensed that I was going for a new PB, so he just motored along with me.
My breathing never got labored - just a nice steady rhythm - and pushing it a bit more than planned - and just as we hit the end of the climb, I realized I had done right around 20 minutes - in fact, it turns out that my actual time on that climb was just 19:24 - almost 2 minutes faster than my previous PB (from the day before) - and only 5 minutes slower than my all-time record time in early January, 2007 - wow!
I then did a simple calculation, using my famous ClimbCalculator - and put in the numbers for the Glen Canyon climb, to then determine how much time I gain for every 10 pounds I lose (I'm about 30 to 40 pounds overweight right now) - and it turns out I would get back 1 minute every time I lose another 10 pounds - and that is WITHOUT gaining any strength in my legs (which will also happen as I get in better shape). So if I then assume I can lose 30 pounds over the next 5 months (very realistic and doable - that is about 1.5 pounds per week), my time - today! - would be about 16:24 - just 2 minutes off my all-time PB!
Then, if you figure that I will, in fact, gain some more climbing strength in my legs over the next 5 months, it stands to reason that I should be able to come very close to my all-time PB of 14:19 for that climb by the time we hit the end of May, 2013 - woohoo! - wouldn't THAT be ever so cool?
So now I have some real strong incentive to get those extra pounds off - not only will the cycling be more fun and easier, but I will have a chance to get my fitness creeping back to where it was in 2007, when I was in my very best shape of all time (even better than when I was in my 20s!!).
So for all those old geezers out there (like me) that are trying to claw their way back into shape - even after heart surgery - anything is possible, I can guarantee you!
Keep on riding!
We thought we'd do 25 to 30 miles (it ended up smack in the middle - 27 miles for me, 28 miles for Mike, who rode down to my house to meet me - and then rode back after dropping me off at my house at the end of the ride). And, we decided on doing the ride down to the harbor area of Santa Cruz (Crow's Nest Restaurant, to be exact) via Glen Canyon and then back the same route. That would be a 21-mile round trip, so we thought we'd do a couple of loops around Scotts Valley (Scotts Valley Drive and Green Hills Road) to get those extra miles (and a little extra climbing feet) done.
And, we stuck to the plan - until we didn't. Well, Mike stuck to the plan - but then, he's in a lot better shape than I am right now. I'm the one that veered off the plan, but it was totally unintentional! As planned, we did an easy spin down to the Crow's Nest Restaurant in Santa Cruz - and, as planned, we noodled our way back towards Scotts Valley at an easy, conversational pace.
But then, when we started the Glen Canyon climb (to get back up into Scotts Valley from Santa Cruz), I started out exactly as we had planned - spinning an easier gear on the climb - and we would have stuck to the plan - except I seemed to get into this total rhythm - the climb up Glen Canyon is uneven - it's not a very hard climb - the grade is fairly mild and it sort of rolls up and down, doing more rolling up than rolling down - and there are a couple of spots where it pitches up a bit (but again, pitching up is not to suggest we hit these steep, 15% sections - it just pitches up from 2% or 3% to maybe 6% or 7% - and only for a very brief time). When I hit those little parts where it pitches up, rather than drop down a gear (to keep the spinning on the lighter and easier side, as planned), I just kept it in the same gear and just pushed a bit harder on those sections where it steepened a bit - for whatever reason, it just wasn't all that hard - and the rhythm felt good - not changing gears on a climb can allow you to sometimes keep a nice rhythm going - assuming the changes in pitch are not too severe, of course - and this was the case with Glen Canyon - the "steep" parts are not really all that steep - just a little steeper than other parts. Overall, it really is the easiest climb to get back up to Scotts Valley.
So here I was, motoring along in this nice rhythm - and breathing a little harder as a result - I had noticed our riding time (1:02:40) as we started the "official" climb of Glen Canyon - and at some point during the climb (like, after the last main part that pitches up briefly), I looked at the riding time and thought there was a reasonable chance I could do a new (relative) PB for that climb - and the funny part is that I had just done a new (relative) PB on that climb the day before, which was the LAST day of 2012!
My very best time (ever) on that climb was 14:19, done back in early 2007. My very first time, post heart surgery, was 22:26. My end of the year PB (relative) for 2012 was 21:12 - and according to what I saw on my cyclometer, it looked like I could possible hit about 20 minutes for the climb I was doing - on our recovery ride, nonetheless - and the first ride of 2013 - how cool! Mike could tell that I had gone into a different mode - he sensed that I was going for a new PB, so he just motored along with me.
My breathing never got labored - just a nice steady rhythm - and pushing it a bit more than planned - and just as we hit the end of the climb, I realized I had done right around 20 minutes - in fact, it turns out that my actual time on that climb was just 19:24 - almost 2 minutes faster than my previous PB (from the day before) - and only 5 minutes slower than my all-time record time in early January, 2007 - wow!
I then did a simple calculation, using my famous ClimbCalculator - and put in the numbers for the Glen Canyon climb, to then determine how much time I gain for every 10 pounds I lose (I'm about 30 to 40 pounds overweight right now) - and it turns out I would get back 1 minute every time I lose another 10 pounds - and that is WITHOUT gaining any strength in my legs (which will also happen as I get in better shape). So if I then assume I can lose 30 pounds over the next 5 months (very realistic and doable - that is about 1.5 pounds per week), my time - today! - would be about 16:24 - just 2 minutes off my all-time PB!
Then, if you figure that I will, in fact, gain some more climbing strength in my legs over the next 5 months, it stands to reason that I should be able to come very close to my all-time PB of 14:19 for that climb by the time we hit the end of May, 2013 - woohoo! - wouldn't THAT be ever so cool?
So now I have some real strong incentive to get those extra pounds off - not only will the cycling be more fun and easier, but I will have a chance to get my fitness creeping back to where it was in 2007, when I was in my very best shape of all time (even better than when I was in my 20s!!).
So for all those old geezers out there (like me) that are trying to claw their way back into shape - even after heart surgery - anything is possible, I can guarantee you!
Keep on riding!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
