Stats and overview

For January- 500miles - all but 12 are on the road. 27000feet of climbing, however the only real "Climb" that I did was up lookout yesterday (more later on this). Average speed is low about 15.5 mph, which works for me because my average HR is about 125 and my individual ride effort is about moderate.

I would like to take the time early in this blog to say a huge thank you to Dr Reifschneider for helping me with my back. It feels better now than it has in the last 8years. Graston technique and Chiro at Physical Dimensions in Lone Tree Colorado.

Yesterdays ride was a good one and I needed that to help my piss poor attitude. I headed out of the house determined to ride up lookout. It was a decent day if you wanted to fly a kite.  I had a headwind the 21miles to the base of the mountain. I felt a bit worked by the time I started climbing through Golden. I did not want to race up the mountain so I took it slow which was hard due to all the other cyclists out on the hill. There are some short "flat" sections where one can shift to a larger gear, or big chain ring and get some more speed. It was so windy up there that I would watch my speed drop from 18 to 8mph after changing directions in a corner. I felt good when I reached the top. Going down was fabulous. The tires I had felt very comfortable on the road, compliant and with a good shoulder roundness that made moving the bike underneath me in corners feel very natural. Top speed was 40mph. I had the wind at my back the whole way back which also helped with my mood.

Good month. I am looking forward to February. This coming weekend I am meeting a friend in Fruita. Yah- MTB time.

Long ride day

 

Left the house today looking to get 100miles. Snow was falling and the temp was hovering around 32F. No worries, this should blow over. Headed out of town and at mile 10 I took the picture above. Ice was covering my brakes and the rear spoke were thickining up with ice. My feet were already soaked, not a good sign. On the bright side, there were very few people out on the paths.
At mile 20 the roads were just soaking wet, I was on a narrow road with semi's whizzing by. This should lift any time now, after all it is winter. Made it to Castle Rock and could not feel my feet so I stopped at Taco Bell to warm up and get some food(high calorie). I warmed up and headed out again. Got to the high point of the ride and realized that I had a tail wind. Unfortunately I had to change my direction and head north into the wind in about a mile.
Mile 55 I could feel the ice inside my shoes when I moved my toes around. The temp had dropped combined with the headwind, my feet felt horrible. I made it into Franktown and stopped at the gas station. Got some coffee and called the wonderful wife to come pick my fresh-frozen body up. She said she would be there shortly.
In total I got 62miles and 4000ft of climbing. Short of what I was aiming for but I feel that the ride was a success. No Regrets. Good saddle time in adverse conditions, legs felt great, heart rate average was low at 129 which corresponded with the effort and the goal of the ride. However my bike is absolutely filthy and my toes still hurt. Se la Vie.

First post Created 1/23/2012

Training is starting and going well. Its about 40degrees F here in Denver. Ice on the roads and often wet. Trails are unridable at this time however we did get out on some anyways. Sticky mud and ice everywhere and about freezing out, did I mention its windy also. Well the worst part is my riding partner got his bike stolen after the ride while getting a beer. The bike was locked to his car and the lock was broken. That sucks. It was his first ride on this bike, brand new. Big ride tomorrow. Looking for 100+ miles......