Rode my first century Saturday...
06-12-06, 03:19 PM
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Rode my first century Saturday...
Then Sunday I rode my second. 
The ride was the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, Ottawa to Kingston on Saturday, 177km, then back on Sunday.
Lots of fun.
I didn't quite make my training goal of 1000km this season before riding, I've got a six month old baby, flying lessons and an upcoming house move to worry about. Not really excuses, just sayin'. What really hurt me though was a lack of longer rides on the bike I rode this weekend. I procrastinated on raising my handlebars, not getting it done before the trip and paid for it with some upper back/neck stiffness this weekend. My lack of conditioning and time dialing in the bike fit also meant sore knees after about 50k on the second day.
I'm already feeling somewhat better today though, and should be back up to snuff in a couple days.
The ride itself was a blast. Really well organized with support vehicles, police presence, communications vehicles, excellent stops, quick check-in/out at the ends and good accomodations. I didn't sample the free dinner/breakfast.
Our group of four averaged 28 kph on the nose on the ride down to Kingston (6:19). The weather was all right with a crosswind turning into a quartering tailwind for the second half of the ride. It was a chilly 9 degrees Celsius as we left, and was cloudy and breezy, warming to maybe 15 or so when we arrived in Kingston. Last year it was apparently sunny and around 30, so I'm not too upset with the weather we had going down.
Accomodations were in dorms at Queens and were pretty decent.
The weather seemed like it would be much the same on the way home, but as we left Kingston it started to rain a little. It was downright chilly and I was kicking myself for leaving my full fingered gloves at home.
After around 50k it started to dry out again, but my right knee started twinging a little. Another 30k and I had favored my knee enough that now both my knees were equally sore. It was around this time that my brother announced he likely wouldn't be finishing as his achilles were bothering him. The thought of quitting in solidarity nibbled at the edge of my mind, but I decided not to. He arranged a pickup around 120k into the ride home.
At around the last rest stop (130k) the route and wind got their act in order and we were cruising along north of 40kph for a little while.
We pulled in after 7:05 on the way home. I had another 4k ride to get home after check-out. My knees had started to stiffen up and I don't think I even averaged 20k for that short ride. Thank god it was flat.
Oh, and I had my HRM on both days. Averaged 137 bpm on the way down, staying above 120 for about 4:30 of the 6:19. The ride back I lost the filed data, but my average was definitely below 120. I wasn't pushing as hard because of my knees/back, not because of my muscles...
Lessons learned: Do longer rides first. Do them on the equipment you'll be using. Resolve any fit issues you have before the ride. (I think I need to raise my bars and maybe my seat a little)
Anyway, a fantastic experience. My perceptions of ride lengths is pretty much permanently altered. I have always had, and still have a lot of respect for the longer distance tourers and randonneurs, and am in awe of guys who can do 100's of km at race pace as well.
Will I do it next year? If at all possible.
I'm second from the right in the pic below. Here's a link to my image gallery of the ride.
The ride was the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, Ottawa to Kingston on Saturday, 177km, then back on Sunday.Lots of fun.
I didn't quite make my training goal of 1000km this season before riding, I've got a six month old baby, flying lessons and an upcoming house move to worry about. Not really excuses, just sayin'. What really hurt me though was a lack of longer rides on the bike I rode this weekend. I procrastinated on raising my handlebars, not getting it done before the trip and paid for it with some upper back/neck stiffness this weekend. My lack of conditioning and time dialing in the bike fit also meant sore knees after about 50k on the second day.
I'm already feeling somewhat better today though, and should be back up to snuff in a couple days.
The ride itself was a blast. Really well organized with support vehicles, police presence, communications vehicles, excellent stops, quick check-in/out at the ends and good accomodations. I didn't sample the free dinner/breakfast.
Our group of four averaged 28 kph on the nose on the ride down to Kingston (6:19). The weather was all right with a crosswind turning into a quartering tailwind for the second half of the ride. It was a chilly 9 degrees Celsius as we left, and was cloudy and breezy, warming to maybe 15 or so when we arrived in Kingston. Last year it was apparently sunny and around 30, so I'm not too upset with the weather we had going down.
Accomodations were in dorms at Queens and were pretty decent.
The weather seemed like it would be much the same on the way home, but as we left Kingston it started to rain a little. It was downright chilly and I was kicking myself for leaving my full fingered gloves at home.
After around 50k it started to dry out again, but my right knee started twinging a little. Another 30k and I had favored my knee enough that now both my knees were equally sore. It was around this time that my brother announced he likely wouldn't be finishing as his achilles were bothering him. The thought of quitting in solidarity nibbled at the edge of my mind, but I decided not to. He arranged a pickup around 120k into the ride home.
At around the last rest stop (130k) the route and wind got their act in order and we were cruising along north of 40kph for a little while.
We pulled in after 7:05 on the way home. I had another 4k ride to get home after check-out. My knees had started to stiffen up and I don't think I even averaged 20k for that short ride. Thank god it was flat.
Oh, and I had my HRM on both days. Averaged 137 bpm on the way down, staying above 120 for about 4:30 of the 6:19. The ride back I lost the filed data, but my average was definitely below 120. I wasn't pushing as hard because of my knees/back, not because of my muscles...
Lessons learned: Do longer rides first. Do them on the equipment you'll be using. Resolve any fit issues you have before the ride. (I think I need to raise my bars and maybe my seat a little)
Anyway, a fantastic experience. My perceptions of ride lengths is pretty much permanently altered. I have always had, and still have a lot of respect for the longer distance tourers and randonneurs, and am in awe of guys who can do 100's of km at race pace as well.
Will I do it next year? If at all possible.
I'm second from the right in the pic below. Here's a link to my image gallery of the ride.
06-12-06, 03:30 PM
#2
riding once again
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Congrats! 
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06-12-06, 03:51 PM
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34x25 FTW!
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Well done! I've never done back-to-back big rides like that but now you have me interested. 
06-12-06, 04:01 PM
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Great story! An Ottowa is such a gorgeous city! I was a leader for a bike tour from Finger Lakes to Ottawa and it was such a great experience.
Back to back centuries. Very nice!
Lots of guys I ride with are California Triple Crown winners. Serious stuff man, don't think I can do it.
Back to back centuries. Very nice!
Lots of guys I ride with are California Triple Crown winners. Serious stuff man, don't think I can do it.
06-12-06, 05:13 PM
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I was moderately impressed with myself Sunday for riding 35 miles without a break. My hat (headsweat) is definitely off to you. Fantastic achievement sir!
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06-12-06, 05:26 PM
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Congratulations. 2 centuries in 2 days...man, that's tough. My arse would have been hurting.
06-12-06, 09:15 PM
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My butt is fabulous, Hip. Erm, it feels great. Umm... My butt's not too sore today. That sounds better.
I brought two pairs of bike shorts with me. I used chamois cream for the first time which seemed to do it's job, more or less.
The pair of shorts I rode on the first day was the older of the two (identical shorts) and the padding is about half as thick. If I had been thinking straight I would have just bought a new pair of shorts for this ride.
I had some 'normal' saddle 'bruising' on my sitbones (like how riding feels early in the season), and a little chafing around the edge of the pad on my thighs on the first day. I think the cream maybe made it move around a little more, and that combined with the older chamois which isn't quite as firm as it was before, maybe it scrunched up or wiggled around.
On the second day I was riding identical, but newer shorts (Sugoi), and they seemed to work much better. My sit bones were still kinda sore, but there was no movement/chafing. No willy tinglyness or anything like that. My butt would have been ready to ride again today.
I'm on a Ritchey Vector Wing saddle which has a softer section in the middle, but not an actual 'cutout'.
What kept me from riding to work today was my knees. I was grunting going down the stairs to breakfast today. They were pretty stiff. By the end of the workday I could take the stairs without moaning, and think I'll be up for an easy ride to work tomorrow.
I brought two pairs of bike shorts with me. I used chamois cream for the first time which seemed to do it's job, more or less.
The pair of shorts I rode on the first day was the older of the two (identical shorts) and the padding is about half as thick. If I had been thinking straight I would have just bought a new pair of shorts for this ride.
I had some 'normal' saddle 'bruising' on my sitbones (like how riding feels early in the season), and a little chafing around the edge of the pad on my thighs on the first day. I think the cream maybe made it move around a little more, and that combined with the older chamois which isn't quite as firm as it was before, maybe it scrunched up or wiggled around.
On the second day I was riding identical, but newer shorts (Sugoi), and they seemed to work much better. My sit bones were still kinda sore, but there was no movement/chafing. No willy tinglyness or anything like that. My butt would have been ready to ride again today.
I'm on a Ritchey Vector Wing saddle which has a softer section in the middle, but not an actual 'cutout'.
What kept me from riding to work today was my knees. I was grunting going down the stairs to breakfast today. They were pretty stiff. By the end of the workday I could take the stairs without moaning, and think I'll be up for an easy ride to work tomorrow.
