|
rbent Forum
https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl General Category >> Ride Reports >> Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL ride https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl?num=1178720524 Message started by aikigreg on May 9th, 2007, 9:22am |
|
Title: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL ride Post by aikigreg on May 9th, 2007, 9:22am With the rain we've had every Tuesday night these last 4 weeks, I have been unable to try riding with the Texas Wheels on their hill training night - as if the Thursday "speed" night wasn't hilly enough! Anyway I arrived early and discussed the route and tried to figure it out as best I could. The idea would be that instead of hitting the rollers out in Ceder Hill/Duncanville, we'd go up lake ridge and do a circle that included riding up the Texas Plume TWICE. I think Bud plotted this hill at 200 feet of climbing in aboiut a mile, with one section at 12%. Gets the heart rate around 180-185 real fast for me - pukesville if I'm not careful. So I tried a new strategy tonight. I stayed with the paceline, and jammed right up the first sets of hills going towards the Plume. Stayed in the first third of the line and used the next mile of level ground to recover. As we started to hit a small descent leading up to the plume I jammed on it and put a hundred yards or so on the paceline and held the lead until the Plume became steep. The whole line passed me, but I overtook 3 roadies on the way back up - the new 11-32 cassette lets me climb in the middle ring - MUCH more power. I still had the whole line in my sight and could have taken them easily, but I stopped to wait for Bud at the top of the hill. Unbeknownst to me, he had a mechanical so my wait was for naught. So I caught up with the last rider again and toyed with him down and around and back up the plume a second time. Back down lake ridge to a street called valley view. It's a 3 mile or so high-moderate incline, leads to a screaming downhill, and then before you looms THE WALL. It's maybe 30 yards long, but you can't get a running start because of the incline leading towards it, and it's so steep that my front wheel was bouncing up every time I mashed the pedals hard, and "chirping" on the way back down. Once you climb the wall you go back the way you came and do the entire valley view road again. Apparently you're only supposed to do the wall a second time, but I did it twice. Then it's out to I-67, back down the Plume, and a 9 mile sprint back to the finish. 32 miles, 2500 feet or so of climbing. Seems MUCH worse though! In spite of the hill slowness, I kept a 16.6 average. Speed night on Thursday oughta be much easier, if I can recover. |
|
Title: Re: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL r Post by Bud_Bent on May 9th, 2007, 7:17pm This ride did not go swimmingly for me. Three combined mistakes caused me to have mechanical failure before I even made it out of the parking lot. Mistake #1: If you replace an 11-28 cassette with an 11-34 cassette, make sure your chain is long enough for big gear to big gear. I didn't. Mistake #2: When I was last on the Corsa, I was sprinting to the finish of the 163k populaire Sunday, right behind Jorge. I was in the big chain ring, and never bothered to downshift into the middle ring, like I always, always do before I stop. Mistake #3: When I took off for this ride, I seemed to be in too high a gear, so I kept downshifting the cassette until I was in the biggest gear. With a too short chain, it all jammed. Once I got going again, I seemed to be a bit slow, and I really struggled on the Texas Plume climb. I broke off the route and settled for 30 miles at a recovery pace. I guess recovery time is something we all have to figure out individually, and apparently, two days is not enough for me after a 100 mile ride. I'm taking the rest of this rainy week off. Hopefully, I'll then be ready to give Paul hell on the airport ride. |
|
Title: Re: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL r Post by aikigreg on May 10th, 2007, 7:02am I'm hoping it'll be clear enough for tonight's ride. I'm starting to drop some fat finally and I'd like to keep the miles up and keep it off. 5 pounds less is five pounds less I have to carry up the hills in Austin for 105 miles Saturday. |
|
Title: Re: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL r Post by FlyingLaZBoy on May 11th, 2007, 11:00am Bud_Bent wrote:
Hmmm... Hast yon Bud thrown down the cycling gauntlet??? Trying to take advantage of a poor recovering surgery patient before he's fully recovered? Bring it on! -- oops, I mean, "For shame, for shame!" ::) Careful, good Sir, or I'll sic the Lady Jane on your butt, and all you'll see is hers receding into the distance! ;D Paul |
|
Title: Re: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL r Post by aikigreg on May 11th, 2007, 1:20pm You have *no* idea how fast Bud is these days. These days he stays on my wheel for a few minutes to tire me out, then he blasts out in front of me and is a half mile ahead before I can blink. And then he disappears. He usually has time for a shower by the time I get back to the parking lot! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL r Post by Bud_Bent on May 11th, 2007, 1:59pm As I recall, that airport ride always has some riders fast enough to make me eat some dust. That doesn't mean I can't harass Paul a bit, though. :) |
|
Title: Re: Airport ride Post by FlyingLaZBoy on May 11th, 2007, 3:54pm Guess I'd better air up with helium, then... ;)<grin> The tires, that is... |
|
Title: Re: Tues night hell..I mean HILL, no I mean HELL r Post by EZ-Rose on May 11th, 2007, 5:07pm Now...Now...boys....dont make me pull over!!! ;D |
|
rbent Forum » Powered by YaBB 2.1! YaBB © 2000-2005. All Rights Reserved. |