Moon Shadows are Evil
- Thread starter stb222
- Start date
I think she set you straight.
Whats wrong with golf, and folk music. I enjoy 18 holes and my mamas and papas albums.
Saturday
As expected, got in some solid time on Saturday morning, but still alittle shorter than planned. We ended up being out until 1:00 on Saturday morning, so I wasn’t really feeling the 5:00 AM wake up. So I woke up closer to 6 and drove over to close to my in-laws since I had to pick up my son there after the ride. It was in the 50’s, but the strong winds kept it on the side of chilly, but I did wear my windstopper vest,, which was a wise choice on this day as I could unzip on the climbs and zip back up everywhere else. I had a basic route in mind, but not really. Ended up just heading straight up Aquetong and hitting that nice climb on the other side of Carversville. The undulating terrain combined with the wind made for slow going on the way north but I did catch some nice tailwinds on the way back. I was hoping for a little more color in the trees, but we are probably a week or two away from that.
On the route back, I was excited to find that the pavement gods have shined down on us. Eagle Road (Alpe d’Kush) is in the process of being paved and the whole north face, which was the more beat-up side, is currently complete. And none of that tar and gravel crap either, super smooth asphalt. It appears that the southern face will be completed in the near future, which will sky rocket this climb and descent to the best in that immediate area, which it already was but now descending either side will be that much more enjoyable. I am more excited to cruise down the southern side as it is already a fast hill, but the new pavement will make it blazing fast.
Felt good on the ride and felt even better to get the 1 hour monkey off my back, however the terrain in PA is unforgiving. More ups and down than the NJ side.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53426883
One of my favorite climbs in this area, the sketchy guide cables add to the charm
Sunday
Got out in the early afternoon after a morning with the family. It was at or close to 70 degrees, which felt really nice. The wind was still there but nothing like Saturday. Headed towards Hopewell to avoid the wind and was fairly successful aside from venturing down the other side of the ridge and getting a full on head wind for awhile. Legs were a tad heavy at first but felt better as the ride went on. It was a beautiful day out.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53426875
Bottom Feeder Monday
In exciting office news, the shower is now fixed and everyone is a buzz about it. As a result I rode the cross bike at lunch and hit the canal and some road to loop back. I set out to create one of those weird fish that live like 5000’ down in the ocean and was mildly successful. I rode the two “single track” sections of the canal in this area and a couple of roots jolted me a tad, but nothing crazy. Again, nothing much to note.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53506139
Nutrition and Training
When I bought my garmin 500, I got the combo pack that includes the HRM strap. While I have boosted about not training and such, I still wanted to see if I was interested in using the HRM to gauge progress and what-not. I started using it and wearing it on every ride for a few months and was semi-interested in the numbers. I never got to the point of figuring out my zones but had something of an idea. One thing I did realize is that I can go harder and that I have probably never taken a real recovery ride. While I was using it, I know I rode harder because I would see where my heart rate was and knew I could go harder without having to worry about my heart exploding. But it didn’t’ take long for me to lose interest and now I have not worn the thing since I got back from vacation, almost a month ago. We will see where it goes from here…
On the topic of training, one thing I have learned from Norms thread is that I know I don’t get enough protein to build and retain muscle. Since I have been vegetarian for 16 years, my body has probably adapted to the lower protein consumption but I am curious to see up’ing my intake will show gains for the road. I am not a counting person at all, but I did count then on Saturday morning, which was when I rode 2.5+ hours. With the bars I ate before and during the ride, the Clif ROKS (20g) after the ride, my post ride breakfast (eggs and toast), I counted somewhere around 60 grams before lunch. At dinner we had Thai and I had fried rice and tofu, so maybe another 10-15 there? So all in all maybe 80 for the day. This was a high day for me and taking out the ride in the morning, the number would have probably been around 30. So I will probably focus on eating more protein post than I normally have before, or at least start thinking about it. Again, I will likely lose interest in this, but time will tell.
My latest bracelet for the month, wife approved!
Boobies make me smile
As expected, got in some solid time on Saturday morning, but still alittle shorter than planned. We ended up being out until 1:00 on Saturday morning, so I wasn’t really feeling the 5:00 AM wake up. So I woke up closer to 6 and drove over to close to my in-laws since I had to pick up my son there after the ride. It was in the 50’s, but the strong winds kept it on the side of chilly, but I did wear my windstopper vest,, which was a wise choice on this day as I could unzip on the climbs and zip back up everywhere else. I had a basic route in mind, but not really. Ended up just heading straight up Aquetong and hitting that nice climb on the other side of Carversville. The undulating terrain combined with the wind made for slow going on the way north but I did catch some nice tailwinds on the way back. I was hoping for a little more color in the trees, but we are probably a week or two away from that.
On the route back, I was excited to find that the pavement gods have shined down on us. Eagle Road (Alpe d’Kush) is in the process of being paved and the whole north face, which was the more beat-up side, is currently complete. And none of that tar and gravel crap either, super smooth asphalt. It appears that the southern face will be completed in the near future, which will sky rocket this climb and descent to the best in that immediate area, which it already was but now descending either side will be that much more enjoyable. I am more excited to cruise down the southern side as it is already a fast hill, but the new pavement will make it blazing fast.
Felt good on the ride and felt even better to get the 1 hour monkey off my back, however the terrain in PA is unforgiving. More ups and down than the NJ side.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53426883
One of my favorite climbs in this area, the sketchy guide cables add to the charm
Sunday
Got out in the early afternoon after a morning with the family. It was at or close to 70 degrees, which felt really nice. The wind was still there but nothing like Saturday. Headed towards Hopewell to avoid the wind and was fairly successful aside from venturing down the other side of the ridge and getting a full on head wind for awhile. Legs were a tad heavy at first but felt better as the ride went on. It was a beautiful day out.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53426875
Bottom Feeder Monday
In exciting office news, the shower is now fixed and everyone is a buzz about it. As a result I rode the cross bike at lunch and hit the canal and some road to loop back. I set out to create one of those weird fish that live like 5000’ down in the ocean and was mildly successful. I rode the two “single track” sections of the canal in this area and a couple of roots jolted me a tad, but nothing crazy. Again, nothing much to note.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53506139
Nutrition and Training
When I bought my garmin 500, I got the combo pack that includes the HRM strap. While I have boosted about not training and such, I still wanted to see if I was interested in using the HRM to gauge progress and what-not. I started using it and wearing it on every ride for a few months and was semi-interested in the numbers. I never got to the point of figuring out my zones but had something of an idea. One thing I did realize is that I can go harder and that I have probably never taken a real recovery ride. While I was using it, I know I rode harder because I would see where my heart rate was and knew I could go harder without having to worry about my heart exploding. But it didn’t’ take long for me to lose interest and now I have not worn the thing since I got back from vacation, almost a month ago. We will see where it goes from here…
On the topic of training, one thing I have learned from Norms thread is that I know I don’t get enough protein to build and retain muscle. Since I have been vegetarian for 16 years, my body has probably adapted to the lower protein consumption but I am curious to see up’ing my intake will show gains for the road. I am not a counting person at all, but I did count then on Saturday morning, which was when I rode 2.5+ hours. With the bars I ate before and during the ride, the Clif ROKS (20g) after the ride, my post ride breakfast (eggs and toast), I counted somewhere around 60 grams before lunch. At dinner we had Thai and I had fried rice and tofu, so maybe another 10-15 there? So all in all maybe 80 for the day. This was a high day for me and taking out the ride in the morning, the number would have probably been around 30. So I will probably focus on eating more protein post than I normally have before, or at least start thinking about it. Again, I will likely lose interest in this, but time will tell.
My latest bracelet for the month, wife approved!
Boobies make me smile
kush
Active Member
I did not know that!
Good news. I haven't been up that in months. I'm trying to arrange fo a shower at work so commuting in the winter months is more convenient. I'm not sure I know how to ride longer than an hour anymore though 🙄
I must have just missed you Sunday, I was in the Sourlands area in the afternoon doing a century ride I call the Farmlands to Sourlands.http://www.mapmyride.com/edit_route?r=577128744026517438
I missed a turn on Zion rd. and headed down Province Line rd. Fortunately I found someone walking on the road to tell me I had to peddle back up the hill to get to Wertsville rd.:drooling:
I want to do this ride again in a couple weeks, let me know if you can join me, or at least a leg of it...I could use some company on these long rides.
That is a tough wrong turn to take. Province Line is the longest climb in mercer county according to bikemapnj, however, not really steep aside from the kicker at the end. Weekends are booked for awhile now, so we will see about getting together at some point.
you know what's funny kev, is that you and i basically came to the same conclusion with the HR data. i pretty much learned that i've NEVER taken an easy day. like not once, even on the days when i thought i was. i'm always pushing. i need to slow down on occasion.
one of these days i'll learn to take my own advice.
one of these days i'll learn to take my own advice.
There were days when I would just spin around and have a perceived exersion of nothing compared to my normal rides, but once I put the HRM on, I realized I wasn't that far below where I would be for a tempo ride. The only difference was that i wasn't pushing enough to have any discomfort in my legs.
It's nearly impossible to do it alone. Try sticking a really slow rider in front of you. I do recovery rides with my group and invite newbies to join us just to keep us slow. It works when they show up but when they don't we are pushing the envelope in no time. Recovery rides should be 'guilt producingly slow', I can't go slow enough to feel guilty without a little help.
I told you this like 2 years ago. I would suggest ignoring your own advice, and taking mine.
Now that I have a PM I realize the word "tempo" is thrown around and almost nobody knows what it really means. It's harder than people think.
A potential problem with what you're both doing is that you're going to be mired at the same spot because you're highs are not high enough and your lows are not low enough. I call this a "potential" problem because if you don't care, then it's not an issue.
i care, i just don't know if i'm willing to do what i need to do. for me it always comes back to why.
like, for example (in my first cathartic moment a few years ago):
self:why do need to be 250 lbs? i'm never going to be competitive as a power lifter unless i take some hardcore drugs and why would i do that now (as a married man and father of newborn twins)? is this going to really help me gain anything?
self: no
so here i am looking at cycling through the same eyes. i know what i need to do. for starters, stop being a bad load (which i've done) and do sprints. i know that's what gets you faster. but what do i really gain? does it really matter if you're faster than me, or if roger is faster than you? we all live in a cycling microcosm that in the grand scheme of things means nothing.
yet still i ride.
so, i guess the answer is, yes, it does matter. at least a little.
like, for example (in my first cathartic moment a few years ago):
self:why do need to be 250 lbs? i'm never going to be competitive as a power lifter unless i take some hardcore drugs and why would i do that now (as a married man and father of newborn twins)? is this going to really help me gain anything?
self: no
so here i am looking at cycling through the same eyes. i know what i need to do. for starters, stop being a bad load (which i've done) and do sprints. i know that's what gets you faster. but what do i really gain? does it really matter if you're faster than me, or if roger is faster than you? we all live in a cycling microcosm that in the grand scheme of things means nothing.
yet still i ride.
so, i guess the answer is, yes, it does matter. at least a little.
Last edited:
kush
Active Member
Jakey, the point that JZ raps about is a good one. And it doesn't really have anything to do with rationalizing your workouts in general.
You are "potentially" stuck in in the junk mile range, not making progress, thus "potentially" wasting time that you can redeploy in same volume but doing it a bit smarter in a combination high intensity and low intensity workouts.
The time spent on junk miles is usually some moderate pace riding, typically too hard to serve as a recovery ride, but not hard enough to really spark increased fitness.
Junk miles are probably ok in base building and endurance pace riding, however. Or if you're just doing it only for fun
You are "potentially" stuck in in the junk mile range, not making progress, thus "potentially" wasting time that you can redeploy in same volume but doing it a bit smarter in a combination high intensity and low intensity workouts.
The time spent on junk miles is usually some moderate pace riding, typically too hard to serve as a recovery ride, but not hard enough to really spark increased fitness.
Junk miles are probably ok in base building and endurance pace riding, however. Or if you're just doing it only for fun
i 100% agree with you kushy...i'm firmly in "junk mile" land. i think i have been for at least two years...but it hasn't really bothered me all that much. it's not like i've really done anything about it. i'm in experimentation phase now with a new workout program that i'm roughy three weeks into. i'm going to push it a bit and see what happens. i have a goal in mind that i'm going for so we'll see what happens. if i can keep at this for the next six months i may get there. we'll see. it's mostly whether or not i can stay the course and if my body can hold up to the repeated beatings. bring on the bayer back and body.
anyway, back to moon shadows.
I am pretty much in the ame spot as jake, as norm pointed out. I have been pretty mcuh stuck in the same place for the 2nd year in a row. While I have made improvements with efficiency and climb and have seen average speed increase on the same course, overall I don't think I have gained as much as I could if I tried or trained. Norm makes a good point that this is only a problem if we cared about it. Again, pretty much the same as jake, I care about it but I don't care that much to put myself on a training plan.
I certianly fall into the junk mile category. Not going hard enough and not recovering/ going slow enough. Ben has mentioned this before about some of us and it doesn't suprise me that he is on the money. Maybe I will put myself in the pain cave more often and see if I like it there, we know norm sure does.
I certianly fall into the junk mile category. Not going hard enough and not recovering/ going slow enough. Ben has mentioned this before about some of us and it doesn't suprise me that he is on the money. Maybe I will put myself in the pain cave more often and see if I like it there, we know norm sure does.
...well not, you know, not every day.
Anyway, if you don't race, I wouldn't recommend heavy training and frequent Pain Cave visitations. Race day is where it all comes together. If you don't have that carrot it's going to be impossible to really amp yourself up every day.
i have a carrot, but it's about six months away...
Waaaaaay too far away. Way way way too far.
yeah, well, you don't live in junkville.