Thursday, March 20, 2008

My own response to Random Thoughts


Topic 1: Well, there's a couple things that Safari fails at.  1. I went into options and selected, "Open links in new tab," not "Open links in new window," however, many pages open up in new windows.  I like tabbed browsing.  I like having one window to work it all.  2. I use google docs and have a couple spreadsheets.  On other browsers, you can navigate web-based spreadsheets normally with tab and arrow keys and such.  Not so with Safari.  O well, time to go back to the regular browsers.  Some pages do load up faster though.  Pezcyclingnews.com most notably.

Topic 2: I'm getting in shape, but not in shape.  Well maybe.  I did the Wed night ride and couldn't hang too well.  There's 3 possible reasons why.  Number one would be not enough food/drink.  I was semi-strong at the beginning of the group ride, but rode solo for 1.5 hours before.  I didn't have an energy drink or food till I got to the shop to start the group ride.  I ate a pouch of Cliff Shot Blocks and filled a bottle with Gu2O.  So I had some fuel to start out with the group.  I really should have heeded my own advice and had more to eat/drink though.  After an hour or so, I was struuuugling up the climbs and getting dropped bad.  The droppers were: Kevin Limpach, Greg Shimonek, and Ryan Legg - all really strong guys.  But in past years, I was always able to keep up or drop them.  Reason number 2 was the intervals I did the day before.  This is not as good of a reason since Ryan said he did pretty much the exact same thing the day before and was still riding away from me on the hills.  The final reason is I'm just not as strong as them......yet.  I guess the past 2 days have been about the only time going really really hard this season so I have some time to make up some ground.  I do need to drop about 5-10 pounds to really fly up the hills again.  I'm probably going to have to give up pop and cut back proportions to accomplish that, though.  Probably a healthy choice in any event.

So my plans for the next few days are: Today, easy ride, we're talking 15mph average tops.  Friday, maybe another easy ride since I'll be giving blood at lunch time.  Saturday, a trip down to Lincoln to help out with the Training race our team is hosting.  Sunday is up in the air.  It's not looking to be great weather, but I don't care anymore.  As long as it's above 15 degrees, I'm just fine with riding.  Last Sunday, Bryan and I started at 8am and it was a brisk 20 at the start.  That was just fine as we had a great ride.  So if you have suggestions for a route/time/meeting place, I'm open to ideas.

7 comments:

Biker Bob/Runner Bob said...

I also notice when I'm out of the habbit of pushing into the pain zone on a ride (or running in my experience) I just can't manage it as long. After a couple times, it doesn't surprise me as much, and I can push through it a bit more.

I guess that's the mental training part.

munsoned said...

Yup. Like I said, I had a decent start and kept up with the guys along Omaha Trace and even won the sprint to the downhill sign. But after that, it was bad news for me. I think if I go on some rides with Spence and Co. where the pain never stops, I'll get in shape pretty fast.

bryan said...

I'm going to ride on Sunday, but it might be solo. With Easter and all of the baby chicks and bunnies and Peeps and such, I don't know what's going on. Considering Saturday's effort will undoubtedly leave me sore, I may just sneak out for 2 hours when I have the time.

johnny said...

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5725&status=True

If you check out Pez cycling here is the story they did while I was in Cal. Shot blocks rock. I needed some 2 weeks aga with double caffeine.

KEV said...

I want to get in 80+ miles in the morning to early afternoon. Thinking about riding HWY 370 from my place down and across into Iowa from Bellevue, and then heading North to Mo Valley. Need to be just North of Mo Valley by 1:30ish so I'll play it by ear as we get close. If you want to go I could maybe ride back part of the way with you and then turn back. Let me know if your interested. Maybe meet at Hayworth Park around 9:15 or 9:30?

Shim said...

Reason #4, you are not taking my advise on beer as a recovery drink,

munsoned said...

Hey Kev, sorry to respond so late. I'm not exactly sure what route you had planned or what back-tracking you would do, but I'm probably just going to put in an easy couple hours sometime tomorrow. Not sure when. So have fun on your ride and hopefully there's a decent South wind to push you North. That's a great route up to Mo Valley, up Old Lincoln Hwy. Couple really good climbs and not much traffic. I remember doing that loop from Mo Valley, over to Blair then back down South. The Hwy between those 2 towns was not bike friendly, but the trip was always worth it. Anyway, have fun!