CV ride June 2 - Eastward Ho!

Hi Gang!





Sorry I've been quiet here for a couple of weeks. My daughter came home from college and my computer time has been a little abbreviated as she hunts down her friends and a summer job.

Here's a reminder about the weather: it is likely to be pretty warm. Bring two water bottles and/or a hydration pack. We'll have sag support every 10 miles or so, but you can easily need more than one bottle in that time. We've not had much warm weather yet this season! Expect to feel slow, sweaty, and tired until we acclimate a little bit. That's normal.

Another reminder - those of you who are behind in base miles (miles spent riding the bike, specifically) should move heaven and earth to catch up as best you can. If your general fitness is in good shape (i.e. if you've been exercising and the spin classes don't leave you totally wiped), you can do wonders for your cycling by committing to a slow, short ride EVERY DAY for a couple of weeks. Start with 5 miles/day - something you can do after dinner. Doesn't have to be fast, and the idea is to do just enough at a, um, sitting that you start to toughen up without being stressed or sore.



As you gain cycling-specific fitness, you may find that some of those aches and pains, especially in the upper body, start to disappear. Also, don't forget to stretch and change positions every few minutes on the bike. If you do that, you'll stay fresher, longer.


See y'all on Saturday! The map and elevation chart for the ride can be found at: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/or/portland/436618275 if you want to get a previw of what you're in for. I'll bring route sheets. We're meeting at the Sellwood Grand Central Bakery; be sure to be there early if you're expecting a pastry.

Sandy

Sandy's Saturday Century

Another week, another century.
I turned the Community Vision training ride into a century by riding there, and riding back, with an assist to Russell for making a wrong turn that caused me to make ANOTHER wrong turn that tacked on the extra 5 miles that made it a legit century.
The AM was C-O-L-D. I didn't think I'd have to start a ride in May at 34 degrees F, but there you have it. The ride over to the start at Orenco Station was uneventful, and the coffee was welcome.
We rode to Roy via Mountaindale - not a bad jaunt overall, and everyone was in good spirits.
A few of us stayed afterwards to have lunch at Swagat which was MOST EXCELLENT. They had a lunch buffet going, so I tried a little of everything, including the curried goat. I wasn't sure how I felt about goat, but it was tasty - like lamb but with a little more....oomph.
After lunch I started pedalling home, rather gingerly due to all of the good food in my belly. I modified my goals for the return trip to: less than 2 hours total riding time, and not letting the West Portland hills (quite literally in this case) get my goat. So I decided to finally find the Highway 26 bike path, which is supposed to be a flattish way home. Plus, I've never met a bike path I didn't like, right? It took me a surprising amount of juking around to actually find the thing, which miffed me. Seems to me that it could be marked from the transit center. Once on, it was pretty well marked, though, and it dumped me out at the entrance to the zoo.
I wound through the Arboretum and found Kingston without much fuss, which Susan had told me was my route outta there, and headed down into town. I took the Burnside Bridge which kept me out of most of the 5 de Mayo crowd, and (conveniently) took me past Citibikes, where I found nothing of any particular note other than a quick break.
Just a couple blocks past Citibikes, I ran into (almost literally) a Shift2Bikes moving party. They were putting the mattress and box springs onto a bike trailer when I rode by. I stopped to ask a few questions, which of course made me look like a volunteer, which I had to politely decline on account of some accumulating goat issues (gotta get home....). But it was really cool, even though I have to say that I think that heavy hauling is what internal combustion engines ought to be reserved for.

Other than that, nothing of particular note except that I have FINALLY bowed to convention and gotten a cyclometer:
It works fine, I guess. I put it on my commute bike, which is a Fuji Absolute DX (flat bar road bike with fairly standard geometry and a carbon fork). I have discovered some things that I suppose I kinda knew....

• First, I go slower up hills and faster down hills. But I don't go quite as slow up hills as I'd feared, or quite as fast down them as I'd hoped.
• There are areas on my commutes that I'd thought were flat that are really slight up or downhills, and that really affects my speed, at least in the moment.
• I watch the cyclometer too much. I really suspected that I would, which is why I've been resisting. People tell me that I'll learn to tune it out.
  
• I ride faster when it's chiding me. I have mentally set my "where's your pride, girl???" limit at 6.0 mph going up Thompson Road, and lo-and-behold, I can deliver on that. Next month, maybe 7. Or at least 6.5.
  

In the past 9 days I've ridden 245 miles on the commute bike and an even 100 on the road bike (at the Monster Cookie). I guess now that I have a computer I've got some numbers to throw around.

See y'all up the road,
Sandy

Core Training for Cyclists

I can't over-stress the importance of core strength in cycling. Your arms are for balance and steering, not for holding you up on the bike. In an ideal world, that's your core's work - keeping your trunk stable and strong on the bike so that your neck and shoulders don't get sore. For many of us, our core gets neglected. We think about lifting weights to train our arms and legs, but often we forget the vital linkages in between.

You can significantly strengthen your core over several weeks. Here's a link to a recent article in Bicycling magazine that describes a very effective abdominal workout. I've been doing it more or less faithfully for a month or so and I can vouch for it! It doesn't take much by way of equipment, other than a stability ball (if you don't have one, the two exercises that call for it can be easily modified), and it only takes about 10 minutes a day - a small investment of time for a nice payoff later.

Weekly recap

Hi Gang!
Congrats to all Monster Cookie finishers! I had a great time. I started from the first rest stop, at about 5:30 AM - shortly before sunup - and was treated to a coyote howl-in! Moments later the local roosters took up the call, and I was outta there.
Weather was perfect - or danged close - so about 1500 people came out. Amazing variety of shapes, sizes, and configurations of bikes.
The Community Vision team rode well! Everyone has progressed SO MUCH from last year. You looked strong, and I felt proud for you.
Wednesday night we had a great spin class. If you've not been coming to these you're missing out on quite a treat. The instructor, Willie, is VERY good and totally focused on our needs as a team. Between the mid-week spin classes and the weekend rides you'll be up to speed in no time!
Speaking of mid-week - who's wanting more time in the saddle during the week? There will be a lot more opportunities to ride in the evenings coming up.
And - Reach the Beach will be here before we know it. Who's in??? We need to figure out how to arrange transportation back after this event. Let's get the wheel rolling.....
Weather outlook for Saturday keeps improving - hopefully they're right and we'll have a pleasant ride!
See you Saturday,
Sandy