Most cyclists don't. The indoor trainer is synonymous with extreme boredom. Admittedly, this is a well-earned title. The very first time I used my trainer, the DVD player was on the fritz and did not want to work. I was so geeked to try it out, I just hopped on and started pedaling while staring at a blank TV screen. Within 30 seconds I was drooling on the handlebars in a deep and restful sleep.
Adding something to watch makes a big difference. I have found that a football game is great. It is live and you don't know the outcome ahead of time. Also, you don't have to pay close attention to it in order to watch it. Usually, I have to combine some form of intervals in order to keep from getting bored. Simply pedaling a decent effort for a prolonged period of time will get boring no matter what you do or watch.
The intervals can be anything from short sprints with long rests to 20 minute max efforts with 5 minutes rest between. You can also mix in other forms of exercise (stretching, core work, full body exercises, etc.) just to break things up. Recently, I have been doing 10 minute hard efforts with 2-4 minutes of off the bike exercise in between. I have found I can maintain a good effort for the time on the bike and have a relatively high average speed.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Ok, Gimli it is!
Recently, I decided to to name my singlespeed bike "Sam". Sam just seemed like a good name. This brought up the obvious question of, "What should I name my geared bike?"
At first, I couldn't think of anything. I was very uninspired. Then I thought about myself, my style of riding, what I like to do on the bike and finally about what my bike looks like. At that point, it hit me...Gimli!!! If you are not a Tolkien geek, you won't even recognize that name. You can find the basics on the character Gimli here. If you are dying to know more about Tolkien dwarves in general and you have huge amounts of unused time on your hands, you can go here. If you actually click on that link maybe you should consider getting a job or exercising or something else reasonably productive. Exploring the amazing world of Middle Earth is not normally considered "productive". Fun, but not productive.
Ok, so when I think of Gimli and cycling at the same time, I am reminded of one specific trait of your typical dwarf. Dwarves were known for being able to cover large amounts of ground in relatively little time under a heavy load. Basically, they had great endurance in extreme situations. This does not quite describe me yet, but I would like it to. I want to be able to do rides where I just go and go and go. I want to do the kind of rides that really amaze the average person ("You rode how far? Are you sure it wasn't a motorcycle?"). Any rides like that will be on my geared bike, hence the name "Gimli".
Also, when I think about how my bike actually looks, it is really nothing fancy. It is a rather ordinary gray with some black accents. In the LOTR movies, Gimli is certainly not "fancy". It is a little difficult for me to picture exactly what his outfit looked like. In reality, Gimli the bike is nothing really special either. It has more to do with determination, stubbornness and a willingness to suffer to get what you want.
Lastly, I am a Tolkien geek and I have always had a fondness for Gimli. I seem to be able to identify with him so my main ride gets the "Gimli" moniker. Enough said.
At first, I couldn't think of anything. I was very uninspired. Then I thought about myself, my style of riding, what I like to do on the bike and finally about what my bike looks like. At that point, it hit me...Gimli!!! If you are not a Tolkien geek, you won't even recognize that name. You can find the basics on the character Gimli here. If you are dying to know more about Tolkien dwarves in general and you have huge amounts of unused time on your hands, you can go here. If you actually click on that link maybe you should consider getting a job or exercising or something else reasonably productive. Exploring the amazing world of Middle Earth is not normally considered "productive". Fun, but not productive.
Ok, so when I think of Gimli and cycling at the same time, I am reminded of one specific trait of your typical dwarf. Dwarves were known for being able to cover large amounts of ground in relatively little time under a heavy load. Basically, they had great endurance in extreme situations. This does not quite describe me yet, but I would like it to. I want to be able to do rides where I just go and go and go. I want to do the kind of rides that really amaze the average person ("You rode how far? Are you sure it wasn't a motorcycle?"). Any rides like that will be on my geared bike, hence the name "Gimli".
Also, when I think about how my bike actually looks, it is really nothing fancy. It is a rather ordinary gray with some black accents. In the LOTR movies, Gimli is certainly not "fancy". It is a little difficult for me to picture exactly what his outfit looked like. In reality, Gimli the bike is nothing really special either. It has more to do with determination, stubbornness and a willingness to suffer to get what you want.
Lastly, I am a Tolkien geek and I have always had a fondness for Gimli. I seem to be able to identify with him so my main ride gets the "Gimli" moniker. Enough said.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sam the Singlespeed
I have decided to name my singlespeed "Sam". Why "Sam"? I don't know. It just seems right.
I rode Sam exclusively for about a month because of issues with my geared bikes rear wheel. By the way, why no name for my geared bike? It hasn't earned one yet. I have considered something like Shadowfax or Mercury or Greased Lightning. Unfortunately, they all sound pretty lame and I'm no faster on the geared bike than I am on Sam. Maybe I should call the geared bike Gimli. You would need to be a Tolkien geek to get the reference.
Back to the topic. While riding the single speed, I did discover several things. When tackling hills, it often seems easier on Sam than I expected it to be. That doesn't really make sense does it? Hills should be harder on Sam. I have a theory as to why hills seems easier on Sam.
On a geared bike, you have to hit the right gear at the right moment. If not, you can lose a lot of momentum. Too big of a gear or too small of a gear and you will lose momentum. A good example was yesterday during my Metric Century. There is one very steep hill toward the end of the ride. It is made more difficult because there is a smaller hill right before that takes away a good bit of your momentum. At the bottom of the steep hill, I down shifted into too high a gear. I then had to down shift farther and grind up the rest of the hill in the granny gear.
On Sam, this is not an issue. "Which gear should I be in? Oh wait, it doesn't matter; I only have one." As I am going up a hill, I seem to automatically adjust my cadence to match the gearing I have. In general, my cadence seems to flow with the terrain, going up or down without much conscious thought.
The tires on Sam are 32s versus 23/25s on my geared bike. I have been running Sam's tires at about 60 psi as compared to 90-110 psi on my geared bike. It feels like the lumps and bumps in the road are better absorbed by Sam. Some of the perceived comfort could also be due to the forward rake on Sam's fork. The forward rake allows the fork to act a little more like a spring. Either way, the bumps feel less bumpy and that is not a bad thing.
When I compare speed on similar terrain, I really don't seem to be significantly slower on Sam compared to my geared bike. Sure, if you add a lot of hills, there will be a difference, but most of the rolling hills I ride on don't seem to slow me down much. Once again, I would not have expected this. I anticipated having to slowly grind up hills and not being able to get good speed on downhills.
I did the Tour de Donut on Sam and actually finished faster than I did last year when I was on the geared bike. The route was mostly light rolling hills and flats. Toward the beginning of the race, I found myself easily passing people on hills. What? As I was watching the other competitors, I think most of them were not hitting their gearing quite right and would lose a lot of their momentum.
I have really come to love riding Sam, despite the fact it is an old, heavy beater-of-a-bike with rattling fenders and a little too much reach to be truly comfortable. As I write this, I have a much greater urge to hop on Sam than the geared bike. Go figure.
I rode Sam exclusively for about a month because of issues with my geared bikes rear wheel. By the way, why no name for my geared bike? It hasn't earned one yet. I have considered something like Shadowfax or Mercury or Greased Lightning. Unfortunately, they all sound pretty lame and I'm no faster on the geared bike than I am on Sam. Maybe I should call the geared bike Gimli. You would need to be a Tolkien geek to get the reference.
Back to the topic. While riding the single speed, I did discover several things. When tackling hills, it often seems easier on Sam than I expected it to be. That doesn't really make sense does it? Hills should be harder on Sam. I have a theory as to why hills seems easier on Sam.
On a geared bike, you have to hit the right gear at the right moment. If not, you can lose a lot of momentum. Too big of a gear or too small of a gear and you will lose momentum. A good example was yesterday during my Metric Century. There is one very steep hill toward the end of the ride. It is made more difficult because there is a smaller hill right before that takes away a good bit of your momentum. At the bottom of the steep hill, I down shifted into too high a gear. I then had to down shift farther and grind up the rest of the hill in the granny gear.
On Sam, this is not an issue. "Which gear should I be in? Oh wait, it doesn't matter; I only have one." As I am going up a hill, I seem to automatically adjust my cadence to match the gearing I have. In general, my cadence seems to flow with the terrain, going up or down without much conscious thought.
The tires on Sam are 32s versus 23/25s on my geared bike. I have been running Sam's tires at about 60 psi as compared to 90-110 psi on my geared bike. It feels like the lumps and bumps in the road are better absorbed by Sam. Some of the perceived comfort could also be due to the forward rake on Sam's fork. The forward rake allows the fork to act a little more like a spring. Either way, the bumps feel less bumpy and that is not a bad thing.
When I compare speed on similar terrain, I really don't seem to be significantly slower on Sam compared to my geared bike. Sure, if you add a lot of hills, there will be a difference, but most of the rolling hills I ride on don't seem to slow me down much. Once again, I would not have expected this. I anticipated having to slowly grind up hills and not being able to get good speed on downhills.
I did the Tour de Donut on Sam and actually finished faster than I did last year when I was on the geared bike. The route was mostly light rolling hills and flats. Toward the beginning of the race, I found myself easily passing people on hills. What? As I was watching the other competitors, I think most of them were not hitting their gearing quite right and would lose a lot of their momentum.
I have really come to love riding Sam, despite the fact it is an old, heavy beater-of-a-bike with rattling fenders and a little too much reach to be truly comfortable. As I write this, I have a much greater urge to hop on Sam than the geared bike. Go figure.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
My Rear Wheel and the Windy Day
Today was the Colorburst, an annual charity ride put on by the Rapidwheelmen, a local cycling group. The purpose of the ride is to raise funds for MADD and to have a good ride near the peak of the autumn colors. I participated 2 years ago and rode my first Century (100 miles). That ride was very hard but also very rewarding. It was my first real taste of what I might be able to accomplish on a bike. Since that time, I have ridden 2 other century rides, but I have not forgotten the sense of accomplishment I had with the Colorburst.
I was determined to do it again this year so I signed myself up. Michelle, Hannah and David are out of town this weekend, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Vander Heide (Smooches, Hon!), so I had all the time I needed to prepare and to enjoy the ride without having to be concerned with time. My level of fitness is adequate to finish the ride so it was just a matter of going out and doing it.
The Colorburst takes place mostly in the Lowell/Ada/Cannonsburg/East Rockford area. It has some truly beautiful riding. Most of the terrain is rolling hills and the colors were wonderful. If you are participating, you can choose to do a 17, 34, 62 or 100 mile ride. They also have 32 and 62 gravel road routes available. The road rides consist of a series of loop with a central rest stop at Townsend Park, in Cannonsburg. In order to do the 100, I would stop at Townsend Park 3 times. You can check out a course map here.
This year had a couple different "wrenches in the gears". First, I have been having a problem with my rear wheel. Back in mid-September, I had noticed a broken spoke. I took it into the bike shop to be fixed and it took them a week and a half to fix it. Whatever. This did give me an opportunity to ride my single speed, but that is a whole different post. I got the wheel back this past Monday and did not get a chance to ride on it until this past Thursday. I was barely 8 miles out when another spoke came loose. Imagine my frustration. One day to go before a big ride and my rear wheel is out of commission. Yesterday, I took it back to the bike shop and they fixed it for free. Thank you very much.
I was around 25 miles in today when I started to hear the telltale ting-ting-ting-ting of another loose spoke smacking the seat stay every time the wheel went around. Honestly, I wasn't all that surprised. I suspected the wheel was going bad.
So this is the situation. I am a quarter of the way through a ride I have been looking forward to for about 2 years. I have a rear wheel that is no longer 100% structurally sound. It is entirely possible I could have finished the full 100 miles without incident. It is also possible I could have been all the way up near Sand Lake and have my wheel taco. If I was lucky, I wouldn't be hurt. If I wasn't, I could be seriously injured and my bike could also be totaled. The best case scenario is that I freeze my hind end off waiting for the SAG vehicle to come pick me up.
I decided to finish the loop I was on because I was already half way through and the wheel didn't have too much of a lateral wobble. I managed to tuck the loose spoke into several other spokes so I didn't have to listen to it the rest of the way back.
When I got back to the Townsend Park rest stop, I was pleased to see a mechanic from Alger Cyclery. We talked for a minute and he told me I could probably finish the 62 mile ride but the 100 would really be pushing it. His guess was that the rear wheel hub (the central part of the wheel) was probably worn out. There was no way to fix it today. In order to get it structurally sound again, I would need a complete rebuild. By the time you do that, you might as well buy a whole new wheel (better start saving my pennies now).
From there, I took it easy and avoided as many bumps as I could and managed to at least get a Metric Century (100 km/62 miles). I do have to admit, there was a small part of me that was relieved I wasn't going to be doing he 100 mile route, which leads to the other "wrench in the gears".
WIND!!! Steady, strong, unrelenting 25 MPH wind coming from the northwest the whole day. Gusts were easily above 35 MPH. There were several instances where I was going into the wind and a gust just about knocked me over. At one point on 5 Mile, east of Cannonsburg, I could barely keep myself moving at 10 MPH. This was on a smooth, flat section of road where I would normally be cruising at 18-20 MPH. When I was going perpendicular to the wind, I often had to lean my bike slightly into the wind to avoid being blown into the center of the lane.
Riding in a strong wind is demoralizing. You are working so intensely hard and your speed is just pitiful. It can take the most enjoyable ride and just tear it to shreds. The only upside to a strong headwind is when you turn around and it becomes a tailwind. Once you turn around and the wind is at your back, you begin to have visions of yourself as a pro cyclist. "Why yes, I do believe I will enter the Tour de France next year. Should be fun." Thankfully, most of the end of the ride was with a tailwind.
The other upside was I got to come home in time to see Michigan State smack (literally) Michigan for the fourth year in a row. GO GREEN! GO WHITE!
The Colorburst will be on my agenda again. I just have to do it. The next time, I will have a strong, durable rear wheel and hopefully the wind will be a little calmer.
I was determined to do it again this year so I signed myself up. Michelle, Hannah and David are out of town this weekend, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Vander Heide (Smooches, Hon!), so I had all the time I needed to prepare and to enjoy the ride without having to be concerned with time. My level of fitness is adequate to finish the ride so it was just a matter of going out and doing it.
The Colorburst takes place mostly in the Lowell/Ada/Cannonsburg/East Rockford area. It has some truly beautiful riding. Most of the terrain is rolling hills and the colors were wonderful. If you are participating, you can choose to do a 17, 34, 62 or 100 mile ride. They also have 32 and 62 gravel road routes available. The road rides consist of a series of loop with a central rest stop at Townsend Park, in Cannonsburg. In order to do the 100, I would stop at Townsend Park 3 times. You can check out a course map here.
This year had a couple different "wrenches in the gears". First, I have been having a problem with my rear wheel. Back in mid-September, I had noticed a broken spoke. I took it into the bike shop to be fixed and it took them a week and a half to fix it. Whatever. This did give me an opportunity to ride my single speed, but that is a whole different post. I got the wheel back this past Monday and did not get a chance to ride on it until this past Thursday. I was barely 8 miles out when another spoke came loose. Imagine my frustration. One day to go before a big ride and my rear wheel is out of commission. Yesterday, I took it back to the bike shop and they fixed it for free. Thank you very much.
I was around 25 miles in today when I started to hear the telltale ting-ting-ting-ting of another loose spoke smacking the seat stay every time the wheel went around. Honestly, I wasn't all that surprised. I suspected the wheel was going bad.
So this is the situation. I am a quarter of the way through a ride I have been looking forward to for about 2 years. I have a rear wheel that is no longer 100% structurally sound. It is entirely possible I could have finished the full 100 miles without incident. It is also possible I could have been all the way up near Sand Lake and have my wheel taco. If I was lucky, I wouldn't be hurt. If I wasn't, I could be seriously injured and my bike could also be totaled. The best case scenario is that I freeze my hind end off waiting for the SAG vehicle to come pick me up.
I decided to finish the loop I was on because I was already half way through and the wheel didn't have too much of a lateral wobble. I managed to tuck the loose spoke into several other spokes so I didn't have to listen to it the rest of the way back.
When I got back to the Townsend Park rest stop, I was pleased to see a mechanic from Alger Cyclery. We talked for a minute and he told me I could probably finish the 62 mile ride but the 100 would really be pushing it. His guess was that the rear wheel hub (the central part of the wheel) was probably worn out. There was no way to fix it today. In order to get it structurally sound again, I would need a complete rebuild. By the time you do that, you might as well buy a whole new wheel (better start saving my pennies now).
From there, I took it easy and avoided as many bumps as I could and managed to at least get a Metric Century (100 km/62 miles). I do have to admit, there was a small part of me that was relieved I wasn't going to be doing he 100 mile route, which leads to the other "wrench in the gears".
WIND!!! Steady, strong, unrelenting 25 MPH wind coming from the northwest the whole day. Gusts were easily above 35 MPH. There were several instances where I was going into the wind and a gust just about knocked me over. At one point on 5 Mile, east of Cannonsburg, I could barely keep myself moving at 10 MPH. This was on a smooth, flat section of road where I would normally be cruising at 18-20 MPH. When I was going perpendicular to the wind, I often had to lean my bike slightly into the wind to avoid being blown into the center of the lane.
Riding in a strong wind is demoralizing. You are working so intensely hard and your speed is just pitiful. It can take the most enjoyable ride and just tear it to shreds. The only upside to a strong headwind is when you turn around and it becomes a tailwind. Once you turn around and the wind is at your back, you begin to have visions of yourself as a pro cyclist. "Why yes, I do believe I will enter the Tour de France next year. Should be fun." Thankfully, most of the end of the ride was with a tailwind.
The other upside was I got to come home in time to see Michigan State smack (literally) Michigan for the fourth year in a row. GO GREEN! GO WHITE!
The Colorburst will be on my agenda again. I just have to do it. The next time, I will have a strong, durable rear wheel and hopefully the wind will be a little calmer.
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