Fun & Fitness over 50

ski day at Plattekill

2012-01-26T21:43:00.000-05:00

Skied today at Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, NY in the Catskills. They advertised a $15 day so I decided now was the time. The weather has been a bit dicey too; rain just about every week. Today was supposed to be an unrainy day and there was supposed to be rain friday so this was it.

I was the second car in the parking lot. I didn't see anybody on the lifts or the slopes. Eerie. I like it uncrowded but this was a little strange. Eventually people started trickling in.

First run was on Powder Puff to warm up and test surface conditions. Consistent grooming, a little hard, no icy or bare spots. I think I got first tracks on that one

Then I did Sundown to Shredded Mozzarella, a blue run. Not bad. Looked like I was the second skier down it. Shredded Mozz is often tricky. There's a sharp turn with a reverse bank and it's faster than it looks. There's usually some kind of chop from the grooming on the corner too. Took a spill on that one.

My next planned run was Sundown then a right turn on to the Lower Face rather than continue on to Mozz. Lower Face is a Blue run but steeper. What Jiminy would class as a high intermediate. This is usually faster than I'm comfortable with and was what I had planned on working on today.

I pretty much alternated those runs today, concentrating on getting confident on the Face. I kept eyeing the Upper Face which is a black diamond cause it runs right under the lift. I have done it before. I finally tried it and it was ok if a little hairy. But I got down it alright.

After lunch it started snowing. I think it helped conditions a little but psychologically it's a big boost. It's so beautiful.

The upper face kept calling to me. I did it a few more times and got pretty comfortable with it. I think I've crossed a line. I'm craving steeper runs now. More Gs per turn! ;-)

The only other runs open today were the north face and blockbuster. I never got over to that lift. Had enough to work on I guess. Blockbuster was pretty nasty looking. Huge bumps. I think they just made snow and never groomed it out. I never saw one person on it all day.

Had another great day on the slopes. This has definitely been my best season so far in spite of the lack of snow and cold. I know the new skis (Rossi Bandits) have made a huge difference.

Here's video I made going down Powder Puff. I'm just using a regular hand held camera here.

Best Ski day ever

2012-01-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

Yes, I had my best ski day ever last week on Wed, Jan 11 at Jiminy Peak in Hancock, MA in the Berkshires. Even though we have had the worst winter since I started skiing in 2007. I think the ski areas especially here in the East have done a heroic job with snowmaking. I have had all good days skiing so far. Surface conditions have all been good it's just that the open terrain has been limited. We need a good nor'easter. We have not had nary a one yet this winter.
So, anyway, why was it my best day ever? Factors: quick lift=lots of runs/hr, better carving skis, decent surface conditions.
Last year I struggled with my 174cm, Salomon Xfree 8s. I think they're too long for me plus too narrow underfoot (62mm) and not much side-cut. Hard to turn.
This year I rented for the season from butternut, 160cm Rossy Bandit's and from my first day I noticed a huge difference. Now I'm carving much easier (still have to think about it, though) and am able to get into a rhythm and keep it up the whole run. Much more fun.
I don't know how many runs I did at Jiminy. Let's just say "a bunch". Felt it some in the quads but not bad. I really could have kept going. Probably could have tried some more challenging runs. That would have worn me out.
I'm using side-slipping too to slow down to a near stop, giving me a chance to check things out on a dicey slope. I find that fun.
Now I'm really getting that weightless moment at the weight-shift point on a carve and that feeling of abandonment to "falling" down the mountain yet in control.
I feel like I'm really skiing now.

Closest I came to getting hurt? In the lift line, of course. I was coming back into the singles line from straight down the mountain and someone was heading into the same line from the side. We both should have stopped. I guess we were both expecting the other one to stop. No harm really, except to pride. We were barely moving.

Next stop: Stratton in Vermont on Wed with Mrs. MTBMan1!

A Day to Remember

2011-10-29T21:56:00.000-04:00

It snowed today. Oct. 29, 2011. Actually, it's snowing right now... to beat the band. Several inches predicted here, maybe over a foot in the mountains south and east.
As originally planned, and not because of but inspire of, the snow, Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went to Butternut to pick up my ski rental gear for the season. I have skis but I decided to rent this year because I wanted to try something different and I didn't have money for new skis. I thought this was a good way to try something new without committing to them for several years.
My old skis are Salomon XFree 8s which I picked up used a few years ago. They are 174cm long and don't have much of a side cut. Also they are only 62mm under foot. I wanted to try something with a shorter turning radius so I picked up a pair of 160s (Rossi Bandits) with a more extreme shape and 75mm in the middle. The whole package including boots and poles was $150.
The guys at Play It Again Sports showed me the Line Prophet 98 which is a wide ski, 98mm underfoot, which we loved and the price is good for a new ski but still too much for me. I think it was 4 or 5 hundred flat (without bindings).
While at Butternut, we checked out the goggles in the shop. Mrs. MTBMan1 has been on the quest for the perfect goggle for a few years now and we may have found it. They had the Electric EG2 which is a spherical and has the widest field of vision in any goggle we have checked out yet. But we didn't bring her helmet and the sales guy kindly suggested we try them with the helmet because they were so big.
After we got home we did some research and found that Play It Again Sports carried that very model.
So after a fabulous steak supper done up on the grill (as the nor'easter really got under way) we trekked out to the store.
They had it, Mrs. loved (I loved it too) and we got them. Also dropped off Mrs. skis for tuning and her boots for a recal, Play It Again is great by the way. The staff is real friendly and helpful and i've learned a lot just from asking them questions. They seem to know their stuff.
I picked up a cable lock for my new skis. I wasn't too worried about anyone making off with my old ones but since these are rentals and all the rentals at butternut look the same, I thought it was a good idea to lock them up so no one would pick them up by mistake.
So it was a pretty exciting day, more so with the snow swirling about us.
If we get enough snow I'm seriously considering heading down to the town park in the afternoon and taking a few runs down the hill on my new skis.

The new skinny me

2011-10-27T21:28:00.000-04:00

It was snowing today (HOORAY!!!) so i went to the gym for the first time in 1 million years. Mrs. MTBman1 and I went together.
I did a moderately tough cardio workout for 1/2 hour on a stationary bike (what else). My bike was in front of a mirror. First time I've ever watched myself "riding" a bike from the front. I was shocked at how skinny my legs looked. I always thought they were pretty chunky from all that riding, big calves and all that.
Funny how our mental image of ourselves doesn't always mesh with the reality.
I also noticed that my leg strokes were not perfectly in-line vertically. There was some wobble and sideways motion.
It was helpful to see that and try to correct it. I'm assuming it's more efficient to pedal perfectly straight up and down. Also I would think you could possible develop some injury by doing it wrong (like painful knees, harrumph, *cough*).
Went to weight watchers after to weigh-in. Thursday is our day. Lost exactly 1lb. (wearing shorts and super light weight tech tee) ;-)
So my total weight loss to date is ..... (drum roll) .....

*25lbs*

ba-dah!

My BMI is finally in the "OK" range. (24.8)

new blogs

2011-10-26T20:43:00.001-04:00

I have tried to keep this blog focused. The content is about cycling, skiing and fitness in general for us older folk over 50.
However, that is not my only interest in life and often I have thoughts about things other than fun and fitness over 50. Often those thoughts are about spiritual things and music (as a musician). I don't think it likely that most people are going to be intensely interested in that combination (although some may) and I don't think i'm that good of a writer that folks are going to read my posts on that basis alone.
So, in the interest of focus and scratching my other itches, I have started 2 more blogs dedicated to the aforementioned topics. (2 more you say? He can't even keep up with one!)
They are: "Hey Mr. Bassman" at http://runbyidiots.wordpress.com and "Non Compos Spiritus Mentis" at http://halbedel.typepad.com/blog.
I am also using this opportunity to investigate 2 different blogging platforms, wordpress and typepad as you may have noticed from the urls.
I'll eventually put links and maybe updates on all the sites but otherwise I'm not going to mention it again (maybe).
And I'll offer email subscriptions also once i get around to it.
Ciao.

wonderful time of year

2011-10-24T23:03:00.000-04:00

I love the fall. Always have. The nights are cooler, so sleep is better. I sleep better with tons of covers on top of me and of course it's too hot to do that in the summer even with the AC running.

Fall means winter's coming and that means skiing.

And it's the best time for bike riding. Comfortable temps, beautiful colored leaves on the trees, a certain kind of light and that certain something in the air.

Today was such a day.

I almost did not go for a ride because I was feeling like i might be coming down with a cold again or perhaps my cold of 2 weeks ago was trying for a comeback.

But it was just too gorgeous and there is rain threatened for other days this week. So out I went.

i'm glad i did. It was well worth it. In addition, I decided to take a different route for a change. I think the change of scenery was just the ticket.

Everything was working great; the electronics, the bike and me!

Weight Watcher's

2011-08-09T21:20:00.002-04:00

Yes, Weight Watcher's, that bastion of tacky, bourgeois, middle class, 50's style dieting and weight loss. I did it. I signed up.

I'm on my 5th week now and have lost about 5 lbs. One week as much as 3.6 lbs and one only .4 lbs.

The main appeal to me was the accountability. I do well if I have a measurable goal. Especially if there's somebody else monitoring that goal. You weigh in once a week and you don't want the weigher-inner to tell you "sorry, you gained." Plus I'm paying good money to participate in this, $39 a month and I don't like throwing my money away.

It's a pretty good plan, really. They assign points to food. The higher the point value, the less you want to eat it because you are only allotted so many points a week. It just makes you pay attention to what you are eating. Nothing is forbidden, you just have to account for the points. So if I want to eat that 14 point piece of chocolate cake, I can. Only, if I'm allotted 36 points for the day, that doesn't leave a lot of room for meals.

You can pretty much eat all the fruit and veggies you want within reason. They don't dock you any points for those in an effort to encourage you to eat good stuff. So I just stuffed myself after dinner on 2 cups of watermelon ... zero points.

I started out at 207 lbs and I'm now down to 199 and change. My first goal is to lose 5% of my weight, about 10 lbs. I'm close. I'll keep you posted.

Gettin' there!

2011-04-22T17:28:00.000-04:00

Endorphins.
I don't suppose it matters what you do as long as it generates endorphins.
Then you're feeling good, i.e. having fun.
Of course I'm talking about physical activity not taking drugs or some other illicit and/or harmful behavior.
Today at the end of my bike ride, I was going down my last hill and realizing this had at least one element that skiing has. Speed and coasting downhill.
It didn't have the g-force and graceful dance of carving turns but that one element of going downhill fast. On the other hand you do also get that g-force thing on fast, tight turns when riding a bike. You know, like a dive bomber peeling out of formation to attack a target. Nyyaowww! Come on admit it, you've done it.
In fact I found myself doing linked turns on the bike in and out of a paved culvert on the side of the road going uphill no less.
Anyhow, I've been doing these short, 1 hour rides trying to get myself back in shape for the cycling season and nursing an injured right knee. Today was a really good ride, about 13 miles. It took almost 3/4 of the route to eliminate the right knee pain but it did go away. The last vestige of it was a little tweakiness on the front of the patella when standing on the pedals.
I'm still not pounding it and no big hills yet although I was tempted to go up Orchard hill.
This could be a good season!

A Sad Day

2011-04-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

This time of year we start cleaning up the yard, putting snow shovels and salt back in the cellar, getting the lawn mower tuned up and so on. Most people are happy about doing this. They've been cooped up all winter inside and are glad to get out and start being more active.
Not me.
I did all that stuff and also finally took my skis and poles out of my car and put them in the cellar along with my wife's skis and our cross-country ski stuff.
Sad.
The good thing is that it's been unseasonably cold. I had to wear my winter jacket today. That makes me happier. It's all those things that I associate with skiing; cold, snow, warm clothing. That connection says, "Good times!"
I rode my bike today. It was quite windy but I didn't mind too much. Right now my objective is time based not distance or destination based. There was a stiff headwind going west on Meads Lane but coming back I hit 30mph on the flat while hardly working!
I've been riding for 1 hour at a time trying to get my right leg back in shape. I hurt it this winter pushing a car out of the snow when I should have been skiing! It hurts behind the knee. I never got it looked at or x-rayed. I wonder if it's a torn ligament or something. It never bothered me skiing except getting in and out of the chair lift. It's when I bend it beyond 90 degrees that it hurts.
I'm trying to be cautious with it. That's why i haven't gone beyond 1 hour rides or done any big hills.

Today I took off from work. The hope was that I would go back-country skiing in the Catskills somewhere with my friend Ken. I don't have back country gear but he has an extra telemark setup with size 13 boots which is my size. He went up Slide mountain with his new Marquette skis last week and I am anxious to try them but there has been rain all this week so there has been flooding in the Catskills and not enough snow.
So I rode.

The New Program

2011-04-15T21:41:00.002-04:00

OK. Off-season training for skiing becomes in-season training for cycling. But in addition, this year I am going to work more on mobility and flexibility. Not only will this help me next ski season I think it is also good for us aging, *ahem*, Masters.

For a guide, I am using the book "Total Skiing" by Chris Fellows. He has a series of mobility, fitness and skills assessments that are then used to develop a training program. The scoring is on 3 levels. #3 is basically you're OK you just need exercises to maintain that level, #2 you need some improvement and #1 you need a LOT of improvment.

I scored myself a #1 in mobility but as I'm trying to do the prescribed exercises, I find some of them very hard and even impossible.

My biggest problems are my right shoulder which has had extremely limited range of motion and pain for several years and my right knee which I injured this winter (not from skiing).

To correct these problems, I have books from Rick Olderman, the "Fixing You" series. One on shoulder and elbow pain and one on order for hip and knee problems.

So what I'm planning is to ride bike 3 days a week and do exercises in between. Kind of intersperse the "Total Skiing" stuff that I can do with the gentler "Fixing you" corrective exercises and stretches. As my range of motion and flexibility improves I will do less of the correctives and more of the mobility and stability drills.

Also, for more summer fun, I would like to try Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) which was recommended in "Total Skiing" as a way to get out of the gym and get a good core workout. The boards can be pretty pricey but it's probably a good idea to rent first. I see a place out in the Finger Lakes that rents for $25 an hour. An hour is probably enough to start.

That's the plan and I've already started.

Ski season 10/11 ... R.I.P.

2011-04-14T09:45:00.002-04:00

With great reluctance, I officially declare today that ski season is over!
For me, anyway.
I had scheduled today as a day off from work and to be a ski day. I realized when I scheduled it that I probably wouldn't be able to ski but it was a "just in case".
My requirement to ski is primarily that the cost is no greater than $30. That eliminates Killington ($65), Mt. Snow ($55), Okemo, Jay Peak, Stratton, Whiteface, Gore etc.,etc,. My hopes for today were Belleayre and Hunter Mountain, both in the Catskills. Belleayre was saying they would be open "at least" until sunday april 10th, implying that they might be open another week. Hunter, generally in the same area was not saying. When they both closed on the 10th, I did some more research and found that West Mountain on the southern edge of the Adirondacks was offering skiing with electronic access at $6/hr. But they also closed on Sunday.
Looking a bit farther afield, I found that Mad River Glen in Vermont was planning on being closed during the week but reopening today and through the weekend. They were offering $39 tickets and are 3 hours away. Starting to be a bit of a stretch. However, they decided not to open because the rain and warmth wacked their base pretty bad.
I even entertained Smuggler's Notch (not TOO seriously) at 1/2 day for $34. They are 4 hours away. At $4/gal. gas prices and 8 hours of driving in one day for 4 hours on the hill, that's really stretching it.
So I'm calling it a season!
No complaints, really. It was my best so far:
16 ski days.
Improved my skills.
Bought suspenders.
Got valuable tips from Mike and Brian.
Skied black diamonds (and one dbl black without realizing it).
Tried out new ski areas: Catamount, Belleayre (find of the season), Gore, Maple Ridge, Bosquet.
Best conditions ever.

I'm not TOO depressed! ;-)

Actually starting to look forward to what's next!

And I admit, it's nice being able to go outside without having to suit up like I'm going on the space shuttle.

They're sore but they want more

2011-04-09T20:20:00.002-04:00

I have almost always skied until my quads were very, very sore. The only difference being when I started 4 years ago that point was sooner rather than later. Also it took longer to recover, almost a full week.
Now it only takes me a day. Then I get that feeling that they (my quads) want to be exercised. Like horses or dogs. I guess that's a good thing, right?
Same thing with cycling after I get into the season a bit.
Today was my first bike ride since September. I did a short one. Less than an hour. I have two problems that I'm nursing. My chronic right shoulder and the back of my right knee which I hurt pushing the neighbor out of the snow last winter.
It felt good to get out though. I neglect my cardio during ski season when there's not enough snow for cross-country which around here is about half the winter. I could go somewhere an hour or two away to do it but that's not practical during the work week.

Regarding skiing, I'm still hoping for one more day, next Thursday. The key will be if any areas are still open that I can afford. The big ones up north, Killington, Jay Peak, Smugglers, Sugarbush will all be open but they charge the big ticket prices.
Belleayre hinted that they might do another week if the weather and the numbers cooperate and West Mountain up near Glens Falls is open this weekend and hasn't posted a closing date yet. Also Hunter hasn't said anything about closing. They're all affordable for me. Belleayre is now $25 every day as is Hunter. West Mountain has electronic ticketing and you can buy lift tickets for $6/hr. That's cool.

On another note, I'm looking at a new summer activity, Stand up Paddleboarding (SUP). Gives a good core workout and most of all looks like fun and is outdoors.
I'm looking at renting and maybe a lesson to start off. Some of the boards are pretty pricey, $1000 and up.

Ski day #16 ... God Bless you, Belleayre!

2011-04-06T20:55:00.016-04:00

Thank you Belleayre for being open. Thank you for $20 lift tickets.
Thank you for great snow and grooming!

The snow condition report on their web page said packed powder.
Yeah, right! After 2 days of steady rain? How do you get powder out of that?
But they were telling the truth! Conditions were fantastic, just like they said, like mid-winter.
Brian and I were finally able to link up for a ski day and I am really glad for how it turned out.
Uncrowded all through the day, there were only 26 out of 55 trails open but that was more than enough.
We found untracked freshies at 11AM and practically first tracks on some of the groomed trails. A lot of the trails were even better than packed powder. There was just powder not deep but powder none the less.
We rode their High Speed Quad - "Super Chief" all day so we got a lot of runs in.
It was a gorgeous, blue-bird day up until lunch time, then it started to cloud over.
The east side of the mountain was open over to "Yahoo" trail. Beyond that was "Area 51", a terrain park. I guess it was supposed to be closed but somebody had taken the ropes and the closed sign down. That's where all the fresh powder was. We did several great runs down that. We just stayed off the terrain park features. Further west beyond "Area 51" was "Algonquin". That was a nice groomer which I suppose was supposed to be closed too. Maybe that's why we got first tracks on it. ;-)
After lunch we got one more run on Area 51 and then they put the ropes back up but left the way to Algonquin open.
The easternmost edge of the mountain got really mushy later in the day but the west part was beautiful even when we quit at 2PM.
I skied some black diamonds, not very gracefully, but I did it so I'm pretty happy about that. Gettin' there. I did have a mild spill on one, Wanatuska, on the last run of the day, that notorious "one more run!" ;-)
This was possibly my last day of skiing this season, but if it is, I've never had such a good last day! Belleayre says they will be open at least through sunday april 10th. I have one more ski day next Thursday. It would be nice if I could find an affordable mountain still open by that time.
Thanks, Belleayre!
And a special thanks to Mrs. MTBMan1 who encouraged me to go even though it was her birthday and she had to work!
Here are some pics from the day:

Looking up Onondoga on a beautiful, blue-bird morning

The view from Onondoga (east side)

Brian, cruisin' down Area 51

Yours truly!

Looking up "Area 51".
It was virtually untracked powder when we first got there!

Looking down "Area 51"

R-r-r-r-r-r-r-

2011-04-04T21:58:00.002-04:00

RRRRRain! There, I've said it!
Rain is a four-letter word for skiers and ski area operators alike. The "R" word. At least during ski season. And there are resorts still spinning the lifts so it's still ski season! Heavy rain closes most ski areas and plays havoc with the trails and the snow pack. And if it goes into a deep freeze AFTER the downpour as it often does .... well, it ain't pretty!

What a waste of water! This downpour today could have been feet of snow.

Thankfully both Belleayre and Hunter mountain in the Catskills are open this week and affordable for me. $20 and $25 respectively this Wednesday when I am planning on going. And Belleayre is considering another week. Which would be good as I am hoping to go on Thursday the 14th. The rain may close many trails but who cares? All I need is one. ;-)

God bless you Belleayre and Hunter!

There's still snow to enjoy ...

2011-04-03T21:06:00.002-04:00

This afternoon Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went up to Thacher Park for a hike. We were pleased to find lots of snow.
We enjoyed walking on it, looking at it. We have an emotional bond to it.

Sadly, I was notified today that 2 of our favorite hills have decided to close even though 100% of their trails are open! That's right. Windham mountain has 46 out of 46 trails open and Butternut has 22 out of 22 open. There is no lack of snow! There is only a lack of skiers!

As of this date, Belleayre and Hunter in the Catskills plan on being open one more week. Hunter will close Monday and Tuesday because of rain but will reopen on Wednesday. Even better, they will be offering $25 lift tickets!
I am planning on going to Belleayre on Wednesday ($20) but will keep an eye on conditions. It's nice to have Hunter as an option just in case although I have never been there. I am leaning towards Belleayre because I am familiar with it and I just don't want to spend time at the end of the season when conditions are not optimal figuring out a new area.

That's all I have to say.

Going, going ....

2011-04-02T20:41:00.003-04:00

Gone!
What you see here is the iconic snow pile in our front yard taken about 9AM today. The last vestiges of our great winter of 2010/11.
By the time I came back out around 11 it was gone!
But what's really sad is so many of our ski areas have 100% or close to 100% of their trails skiable but they are closing because not enough people are coming out.
Today was Windham's last day and they were 100%.
Butternut is closed weekdays this coming week.Their last weekend is next week but they are 100% open.
Last year we skied Plattekill on April 2nd($20) and Mt. Snow on April 11th ($25) and they had very few trails open.
Such a great year with so much skiing left that could be done but the areas are closing. Can't blame them. It's so expensive to be open and if you don't get the paying customers you are losing buckets of money.
C'mon people! Where are your priorities????!!!!

The Big Fizzle

2011-04-01T08:41:00.002-04:00

Well that big storm fizzled out. S'posed to get 6 to 12". Ha!
Nevertheless, there is still snow to be found.
We have a last vestige in our yard.
The problem is not with lack of snow it's lack of skiers and boarders!
The mountains just can't afford to keep the lifts going without enough people coming out.
Mountains like Mammoth in SoCal traditionally stay open until July 4th. They could probably stay open all summer but they say it doesn't pay for them unless they get at least 4000 customers per day.
C'mon people get out there and support your sport!
I plan on going again next Wednesday as long as there's snow and an open resort. And the week after that as well!

Ski day 15 ... Jiminy Peak, Hancock, MA Berkshires

2011-03-31T16:45:00.010-04:00

"When in doubt, play it out" I always say. When they predict snow or rain but it ain't snowin' or rainin' yet, proceed with the plan! Around here (the great northeast), it works out more often than not whether that be for skiing, cycling, hiking or whatever outdoor activity you desire. I tend to do that cycling and yeah, I've got soaked but so what? You come home you take a hot shower and a nap and you're golden!
Today was a scheduled ski day for me and Mrs. MTBMan1. The forecasters predicted "chance" of snow, then rain in the afternoon. To be fair, I think the predicted chance was 40%.
Perhaps that forecast kept a lot of people away from the slopes because there was hardly anybody at Jiminy when we got there. I felt bad for the business. We took advantage of a $15 e-coupon. That's not $15 OFF that's $15 total cost of the lift ticket! The resort management must have predicted a slow day to offer that incentive! But very few people took advantage of it.
Obviously, WE did and I am glad of it!
While it was a gloomy, overcast day, not exactly a "bluebird" day, it barely snowed, just spit a little bit and we encountered no rain whatsoever. It was perfectly still, no wind. The snow conditions were good on the upper mountain but got pretty cruddy on the lowest parts as the day progressed. Typical for spring conditions but better than it could have been. It probably got up to the low 40s. The sun tried to peek out a few times but mostly it stayed cloudy.
Our favorite run of late has been West Way to Grand Slam. It's a low-intermediate run with several moderately steep hills broken up by flats. Interesting but not too strenuous. Also we've found that the snow stays in better shape here than on the east side.

The other run we did was Left Bank on the east side. This is a flattish green novice trail with one steeper hill. The snow was in good shape until the lower half where it got pretty cruddy. Just before the Q3/Widow White's Quad.

But we had a fun day. We had lunch and knocked off because of the crud. Why push it?

I noticed that my quads had recovered quite well from a punishing day at Plattekill last Saturday. They were very sore the day of but not much at all the day after.

It never did rain.

So was that the last day for us or will there be one (or two) more?

Big nor'easter predicted for us tonight and tomorrow. 6-12" they say. We'll see. Lot of times these big storm predictions fizzle.

Pray for snow and more cold weather!

Powder and packed powder, ahoy!

Like you care!

2011-03-27T11:13:00.010-04:00

I included quite a bit of detail last post about my day at Plattekill with descriptions of individual runs and trails complete with highlighted trail maps.
I realize that most of you won't really care about this even and if you have skied Plattekill before.
More and more I have looked at my posts as a personal diary of my outdoor and fitness activity only ... public.
A contradiction perhaps. A blog is a convenient way to make these entries and by default, it is public. Occasionally, people have indicated an interest so I acknowledge that possibility and I am delighted when that is the case. So don't get me wrong. I DO care that you may be reading this. Else, why would I write it?
In these particular posts, however, I primarily want to create a record for the benefit of my own memory so I can savor the fleeting experience during the long, hot and humid dog days of July and August or when I'm sick and inactive or unable to get outdoors because of other pressing commitments.
All this to say ... "get ready, here he goes again".
I left out a few trails I wanted to mention yesterday. :-)

"Buckle Up" and "Bailout"
Perry and I took the trail "Buckle Up" from the top of the south peak. It is listed as blue intermediate but is primarily flat. It could be a green except that it leads into hairier stuff. First turn off it is "Bail Out". Which I took. And I did. Bail out, that is.
Perry continued past Bail Out to "Block Buster" an expert trail that looked too steep for me. I mean, I think I could have done it but it would have sapped too much of the little capacity I had remaining in my quads!
As it was, "Bail Out" was no picnic; narrow, almost like a cross country ski trail although I would even less like to attempt it on XC skis because of it's steep and winding nature. I bailed on the switch back that you see indicated by the black circle. Wasn't going fast. Sat down basically but it was so steep that I wound up turning head down on my back in spite of my efforts not to and kept sliding to point that I was concerned that I would go over the drop off at the side of the turn. I got ready to jab my poles into the snow below my head if that seemed to be the case but i stopped in time. It was sort of fun but such a narrow trail doesn't give you a lot of options. Sort of a precursor to tree skiing I suppose.

"Sundown and Shredded Mozzarella"
I skied the trails "Sundown" and then "Shredded Mozzarella" quite a bit. Sundown starts at the top of the south peak, has a switchback 2/3 of the way down and then intersects with "The Face" and "Bail Out" and continues on to "Shredded Mozzarella".
This is usually a good, moderate intermediate run although it can have it's rough spots. Portions of "Sundown" before the switchback got kind of scratchy especially later in the day when the packed powder got skied off. The part after the switchback for some reason always stays in good condition even last year on the "bitter end" last day of skiing when very few trails were still serviceable. Then it tends to get rough again around the last curve on "Shredded Mozzarella" again mostly later in the day. I wonder if that's how it got it's name although I would say it's more like FROZEN shredded mozzarella!

BTW, click on the images of the trail maps for a bigger, clearer view.

Plattekill, I name thee "Quad-Kill"

2011-03-26T19:18:00.021-04:00

It was the perfect storm. A Saturday set aside for skiing, new snow on Thursday, below freezing temps and 2 free tix for Plattekill Mountain in the Catskills!
The common cold attempted to thwart my plan but I would not be denied and it backed down.
Made the trip with friend Perry. We got there well before opening and got the first chair on the Sunshine Triple!
Conditions were powder and packed powder. Fantastic mid-winter conditions for an early spring day! It was a mite nippy. 11° when we got there. It only warmed up to 31 by the time we left at 3PM.
I was really psyched about this trip. I had never skied the northface of the mountain. The first time Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went several years ago, the conditions were fantastic but I didn't have the confidence to venture beyond the 1 green trail "Powder Puff" on the other face.
The 2nd time, it had rained furiously a few days before and then gone into a deep freeze so a lot of the mountain was not open and what was open was icy. I did not attempt the north side which was mostly expert trails.
The 3rd time we went was last year at the "bitter end" of the season. I swear it was almost 80° and again, not a lot was open.
So this time, with a stellar winter behind us, still almost 100% of the mountain was open; 31 out of 35 trails!
With my newfound "skills" I felt confident enough to tackle the 1 green and several intermediates on the north side. The green trail is "Overlook" which is long, about 2 miles but narrow with dropoffs on either side. Manageable but a little hairy for beginners, I would think. The snow was great at the top but a bit hard and bumpy near the end.

Similarly, the intermediate trail "Ridge Run" was narrow but steeper. Still, the snow conditions and grooming were great. Most of the blue side trails off of Ridge Run were not groomed so I didn't attempt those.
It was great having Perry along. In addition to conversation and companionship, Perry is a better skier than me and he challenged me to try a couple of the black diamonds thinking the snow might be even better and the trails wider. He was right on both counts and I enjoyed several runs on "The Plunge" and

"The Face" but they were tiring for me, mainly, I think because I'm trying to keep my speed too slow for those pitches. Fighting harder against stronger gravity naturally expends more strength. On my first 2 runs on the black diamonds, I didn't do that great. I seemed to ski better on shallower pitches so I stopped to analyze what I might be doing wrong. Because of the fear factor of the steeper pitch, I tended to lean into the hill rather than commit to the fall line for the initiation of the next turn. Once I started doing that, it went much better. I was able to carve my turns again and get a good rhythm going.
I put in a good 4-1/2 hours of skiing and my quads are cooked but it's a good feeling! Oh, and my cold is making me pay but it was worth it! You can't take my day away from me! Bwah-hah-hah-hah-ha!

Veni, vidi, vici! (almost) ;-)

Here are some pix:
This is a view from "Shredded Mozzarella"

Looking back up Shredded Mozz

View of the North Face from Powder Puff

Another view from "Powder Puff"

'Nother view looking up Shredded Mozz, Sundowner and The Face

'Nother shot down Shredded Mozz

Here's a GPS track of a run I did down Powder Puff. I forgot to stop it until halfway up the lift so the run is only 1.3 miles. Note my blinding top speed of 24mph! Not Olympic material. hey, so it's not that steep!

Powder Puff - Plattekill Mtn. Roxbury,NY at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in New York

When does the hurting stop?

2011-03-23T20:36:00.002-04:00

That's right, my abs are still sore from last Saturday. That's 5 days! They do say us oldsters take longer to recoup after a hard workout but this is ridiculous.
Fortunately they're better and should be clear by Friday or Saturday when I am planning on skiing again. Neck and shoulders are mostly better too.
I am also recovering from some kind of bug. Left work this morning cause I was feeling crummy. Hopefully I'll be OK in a couple of days.
There appears to be some snow coming. Initially they were predicting possible double-digit accumulations in the Catskills which is where I'll be going but we'll see if it wimps out. Predicted temps out there at Plattekill are below freezing which is good if they groom it to chop up the hard pack, that's if it doesn't snow much.
In any event, I plan on getting out there before the lifts start up. Got free ticket vouchers too! ;-)

Sore Core

2011-03-20T17:55:00.003-04:00

I'm not surprised to be sore in my quads or calves after a day of skiing. Or my shoulders from poling. Or my neck from my head bouncing on the snow pack after a nasty backwards spill.
But I have never had sore abs from a day of skiing before. That's good, I think.
I'm supposed to be engaging my core.
And wow is it ever sore! You know, like laying down and getting up sore? Ow!
And I didn't even know I was working out because I was just having fun!
That's the way to do it!
If only every workout were like that. But, it's not to be. Gotta be some discipline in there some where.
It's gotta be unpleasant in the moment but looking at that distant goal is what motivates you.
Hopefully I have a few more days skiing this season but now it's time to pump up my bike tires and get out on the road. Maybe do some mountain biking this year for fun.
Still, I will have to do "workouts". I got my copy of "Total Skiing" by Chris Fellows and it's chock full of balance, mobility, and fitness (aerobics and strength) exercises that I really need to do between now and next year's ski season. Good stuff for us "masters" (old people) too.
*sigh*

It's been a great winter!

2011-03-19T18:27:00.004-04:00

It's been a great winter but it's not over yet!

Men's Bonding Day
Today was supposed to be a ski day for the men's group at the church. Any men, really. You know, men's bonding?
Well, as of this week it was just me and Brad. The other guys couldn't make it for one reason or other. Then, my last hope, Brad bailed on me ("you're our only hope Obi-Wan Kenobi").

Late to the hill
The original plan was to leave at 7AM so as to get to Butternut by 8:15 when the lifts open. But since no one was going, I decided to go to the Saturday morning men's group which is 7 to 8:30. But after I got home, I changed my mind and decided to go. It was a cool day, high 30's to low 40s so I figured conditions should hold up for awhile.
I got on the hill by 10 and conditions had already deteriorated pretty much. It didn't even look like it had been groomed but someone who had been there at opening assured me that everything had been groomed. It was pretty chunky.

First Run

My first mistake was to break my rule of doing a green warm-up run to check surface conditions and get limbered up. I went right for Applejack which I like for it's interesting terrain. But at the first switchback the heavy crud threw me and I did a "sit down" fall at slow speed. I gave myself a pep talk: "MTBMan1, did you forget how to ski? C'mon you can do this. Think!" Yep, survival mode. Threw all my technique out the window. But I regrouped and figured it out.

Hard Work
The snow was deep and heavy, crud. It was hard work pushing it. It didn't respond the same way as earlier in the winter. Eventually, through rethinking my approach and watching others from the lift, I think I did pretty well. Even had some fun! My newly acquired technique came through for me. Pole planting, carving, upper body forward into the fall line. Keep your speed up. Don't lose your rhythm.

Whiplash, Part 2
Complacency is your enemy!
I did really well on all the harder parts of the trails. Never fell. What got me was this little trail called "Fiddler". It's very deceptive. It just doesn't look steep. But you can get going pretty fast before you realize it. It was really chopped up too, almost mogully. Anyhow, the second time down it, I got going too fast and ran into some bad chop and ... bam! As I'm going down I'm thinking "OK, real injury this time". Head goes bonkity, bonk, bonk. No stars though. That's a good sign. Got right up. Skis still attached. Poles up the hill very nicely laid 180° from each other like I carefully placed them there!
Analyzing this spill later, I think I was a victim of the fear factor. I got going too fast for comfort saw a nasty patch of crud and actually bailed backwards. Always a bad thing for the head. Better to try and ski it, I would probably have made it. Of course this was right at the edge of the trail too. So the fear is that you'll slam into the woods or go down into a ravine. That compounds the fear thing. Better to bail than slam into a tree. That can get you killed.

All in all, I was quite pleased with the day and with myself. It wasn't the best of conditions but I think I did real well adjusting to it. I had some fun and a lot of nice, carved turns.

Next up, Plattekill on Friday. Got free tix burning a hole in my pocket! ;-)

A Really Good Meal

2011-03-17T21:31:00.003-04:00

A day of skiing is like a meal for a special occasion at a fine restaurant. It's over too quickly and you want to relive it in your memory. You want to go back and do it again so you can pay closer attention while you are doing it. But no, it's over.

Today was such a day... St. Patrick's Day at Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Ma. We went there mainly because it's one of our first and fondest memories and mainly because of their great trails and mainly because it's a first class resort and mainly because it was $17.

Our first run of the day was on West Way because Left Bank (the east side) wasn't open yet. By our second lift ride they had dropped the ropes on Left Bank and we took it but it was already really choppy. So ... back to the west side. Too bad, 'cause I really have wanted to try some of the blues on that side like Panorama. My first year of skiing I wasn't really ready for intermediate trails like Panorama and subsequently it either hasn't been open or conditions haven't been great on it like today.

Run of the day was West Way to Grand Slam. Really outstanding. It's a nice long ride, wide, plenty of room for turns and not too crowded. The day started at about 37° and went up into the 50s. With every run the snow got noticeably slushier. Some sections were OK though. Still had some groom and they were more shaded so weren't quite so soft and heavy.

I took one pretty good spill. Backwards. Not good. My stance got too wide and one ski went where I did not want to go. :-(

I did OK just letting go but my head took a good wack. Felt slightly whiplashed.

Nevertheless, we had some great runs and I'm ecstatic that I have made some big improvements this year. Mainly that I finally bought some suspenders so I no longer look (as much) like the Michelin Man! ;-)

Winter's not over yet!

2011-03-13T20:16:00.012-04:00

I'm encouraged.
Went for a short hike at the Five Rivers Environmental Center run by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation about 5 minutes away.
I was surprised and encouraged by the decent snow pack remaining considering there is no man- made snow production to build up the base.
I have been concerned about the rain and above freezing temps over the last couple of weeks that it might severely damage the trails for the remainder of the ski season.
Although there were bare spots, these were mostly caused by some flooding of the streams here. Anything untouched by the water was still pretty good. Even skiable!
Here are a few mobile pix that I took today:

That's about 10" of snow that you can see beyond the bridge. After that it was washed out.

Could I jump that?

Everything that was flooded was covered by a gray silt.

Dam from a mill that used to be at the site.

Geese

Yeah, I could ski that.

That too.

And this one.

I'm blessed

2011-03-11T17:46:00.004-05:00

"Into every life a little rain must fall"
"Spring is coming, get over it!"
... that's what I keep telling myself but it hasn't helped.
Every year, it seems, the transition gets worse.
The transition from ski season to end of ski season.
After a record January and February, we are going into March with rain and warm temps.
All that water gone to waste!
Anyhow, I was bemoaning the many days of damaging (to the snow pack) rain we've had and trying to be grown up about it (why?).
As they say, I can't complain (but I will).
We've had a stellar season up to now with great snow conditions and 100% trails open in all the resorts, I've had 11 ski days myself and
I got some good tips from my brother-in-law, Mike.
Sometimes I curse the area because we are often right on the snow/rain cusp and it seems more often than not, we'll get snow and then it'll rain on top of it and then we'll get a deep freeze. Not too good.
But what is good about this area is the variety of ski areas within 1 to 2 hours of me. There are several small "family" type operations that offer great prices, usually $20-25 during the week and some, even on the weekend after March 1 or 15th. Also, there are resorts 1 hour to the southeast of me in the Berkshires, 1 to 1-1/2 hours to the southwest of me in the Catskills, to the northwest are the Adirondack areas Gore and Whiteface and to the Northeast are the southern Vermont areas, Mt. Snow, Stratton, and Bromley. All have offered affordable deals under $30 from time to time if you keep checking diligently. So, I always have options.
I have fantasized about moving out west where the season is more reliable but I wonder if I would be able to afford it like I can here. I wonder if they have the smaller areas with reasonable prices?
For example, this last Monday was a washout with some heavy rain to our southeast so I was concerned about my scheduled ski day, Wednesday. I was planning on going to Jiminy Peak resort in Hancock, MA. I had an e-coupon for that day for a $25 lift ticket. That area in the Berkshires got more rain this time whereas to the west and north of us, there was snow. On Wednesday morning, I checked conditions at Jiminy and they said "frozen granular". I didn't like the sound of that. Sounds like "ice" to me. I checked out Belleayre Mountain, a ski area in the Catskills to the west and their conditions were "packed powder". Much better. And to top it off, they were offering tickets that day for $20! Score!
Needless to say, I headed for the Catskills. I had never been to Belleayre before although I had lived in that area years ago. It was a little over a 1-1/2 hour ride.
As advertised, the snow conditions were great and the hill was 100% open. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out the layout but I went right to it. There is a lower lodge and an upper lodge. I parked at the lower which was probably a good choice because it was less crowded. The lift from there (Lift 1&2) unloads behind the upper lodge and services almost all green beginner trails.
From there you ski down and pick up the Superchief Quad to the top of the east side.
Basically, almost everything from the top is expert, then converts to blue midway. The east and west edges have blues down the sides and there are several traverses criss-crossing the mountain to get you back and forth. The Tomahawk lift covers the west side and got me up to Deer Run, a long intermediate trail along the western boundary. Reminded me a lot of the Wilmington trail on Whiteface.
So there you have it. Had a great day, made a real breakthrough after lunch, poling finally clicked for me.
I'm ready for next Thursday: St. Patty's at Jiminy with Mrs. Mtbman1. 17 bucks! Woo-hoo!

Blessed!

Here's a link to a video of Deer Run: click here

My Pow Day

2011-02-21T22:02:00.004-05:00

We get President's Day off because I work for a school district. I was a little bit down because I had this day off but no place to ski with acceptable prices because it's a holiday week for the kids. None of the resorts have discounted prices. However, I did look and I found Bosquet in Pittsfield, MA, the Berkshires, that had an acceptably low ticket price. Yay! I'm in business.
As a bonus, we had 4-5 inches of light, fluffy powder by the time I got to the hill.
It got scraped off pretty quick but it was still pretty cool and I had a lot of fun.
My only regret is that I didn't go to the top of the mountain 'cause I thought it was all black and double-black diamond and I wasn't that comfortable with the hard pack that was getting exposed beneath the powder. After I was done for the day and looked closely at the trail map, I see where there was a possibility of getting down from the top on blues and a doable section of black. Oh well, there's always next Monday. ;-)
Anyhow, I had a blast getting my TPUs in.
Brother-in-law Mike, who gave me practically a whole day lesson a couple weeks ago, would probably cringe at my technique but I think I retained a few things. I certainly am having more fun and feel more in control. Except there was one steep that everything just seemed to go to pot on. I worked on it a few times but it was getting too scraped off for my taste.

Pray for snow!

Mike's Philosophy

2011-02-10T19:23:00.004-05:00

Scheduled day skiing at Butternut today. Cold, singles to teens, blue skies, packed powder. Very sweet.
Met up with brother-in-law Mike G. there. No surprise, it's second home to him (or first).
We skied most of the day together on the hill and Mike very graciously spent almost the whole time giving me a private lesson! I was thrilled. It was time for it. Haven't had a lesson since I started skiing 4 years ago.
And I must say it's made a big difference although I know I haven't really assimilated all of it.
Mike is a very graceful skier and Matt S. the general manager at Butternut has taken a lot of great pictures of Mike on the mountain. In fact, Mike is their poster boy. That's him on the lift ticket.
On a lift ride, I commented to Mike that he makes a lot of quick turns and doesn't really ski very fast. He replied that it's the turns that he especially likes about skiing. It's kind of a dance and he likes to milk a run for all it's worth. Some people like to shoot down the mountain as fast as they can every run and if they're having fun, that's great.
For Mike, it's an art form. I kind of like that approach. It got me thinking about the way I ski. I have got into skiing fast mostly because I found it was easier on my legs but I think the turns tired me out because my technique was bad. After Mike's tips, I find that I can ski in control even on the black diamonds with much less effort. Of course, the conditions were great today. ;-)

Next up, Mt. Snow on Monday for Valentine's Day and my birthday! Lift tickets are 2 for $49. Woo-hoo!

Check out a video I made today on youtube: http://youtu.be/767CCXjiAS0

Maple Ski Ridge

2011-02-03T21:46:00.004-05:00

Well, I had to get my ski fix this week. My hands were starting to shake.
I couldn't take another day off but I had this brainstorm.
I had never been to Maple Ski Ridge but it's only 1/2 hour away, is cheap ($25) and has night skiing 3PM to 9PM.
It's small, only a few trails, but it might just tide me over till next week.
I normally work 8 to 4 but today I went in at 7 so I could get off at 3.
Got up to Maple ridge about 4, bought a ticket, suited up and away I went. You buy an RFID card for $25 the first time. Put it in your pocket and you are scanned at the lift and a turnstile lets you on to the chair. You keep the card and if you want to reload it you can do it online and it's only $20. Pretty cool.
As I said, the hill is small but the problem is not the few trails but that the trails are short!
Also, as I expected, the place was crawling with kids, bus loads of them. I think I was the only adult on the hill that wasn't either with their kids or an instructor.
My first hour, my hands got really cold because you're not on the trail long enough to warm up before you're back in the chair. Fortunately it's a short chair ride. I had to go back in side, eat my banana and get warmed up. Then I put my buff head gear on as a bandana before I went out again. That may have conserved some body heat because I didn't have the hand problem again.
Any how, I wound up having a pretty good time. Once I accepted that it is what it is and just enjoyed the time.
It was the first time I ever night skied and I really liked it. About 6PM the kids started going home (homework to do I suppose) and by 6:30 it felt like I had the place to myself. I found an area that I really liked, it was wide open, groomed and fast (but not too fast) and it was easy to get alone on it. Very peaceful at night with the lights on and all.
So I put in about 2-1/2 hours there. A pretty good night. I am satisfied.

And, I finally have to admit, very tired. After shoveling all day yesterday, pushing my neighbors 2 cars out of the snow and XC skiing for 1-1/2 hours and then skiing 2-1/2 hours today, I'm ready to recuperate!

No more XC skiing until at least Saturday and then I'll make another attempt at Butternut next Thursday.

Meanwhile, more snow predicted on Saturday! Oh yeah!

2011-02-02T20:42:00.001-05:00

Satisfying day today pulled from the fire (or snow, as it were!
Had taken the day off and planned to go skiing (alpine) but the forecast for the area was for ice so I decided not to chance it. Instead went out to shovel snow from the driveway.
After my first break, I went out to shovel more snow and clear off the cars when I noticed my elderly neighbors having trouble moving their cars. They were both sitting on ice that had never been cleared from the previous storm. I swear I was out there an hour and pulled something behind my right knee in the process. I went home a crashed for an hour.
Then a third excursion out to clear more snow in the afternoon. After that I felt really good and decided I had to at least go XC skiing. I had to get out on this fabulous snow.
It was great. I've been able to go often enough this year that I'm starting to get my XC legs back. My stride and stability on the snow is much better and with the great snow conditions I could easily handle the downhills.
Then after a wonderful dinner of homemade chicken soup and biscuits by Mrs. MTBMan1, we settled onto the couch for a pleasant evening of reading. Very cozy!
And ... I had a brainstorm! Tomorrow I will go in to work early and leave early to go night skiing at a local hill! Only $25 and about 1/2 hour away. It's small but hey ... any skiing is better than no skiiing, right? ;-)

the start of ski season, yes, really!

2010-12-25T09:03:00.002-05:00

OK. I declare Dec. 24th my "official" start of ski season 2010/11.
In previous posts, I declared the start of ski season in stages.
Stage 1 was the ski expo
Stage 2 was the Warren Miller film.
Stage 3 is getting our skis tuned up (with coupons from the ski expo).
Stage 4 was a false start for me. Jiminy peak sent out emails on the Saturday after Thanksgiving that they had 6 trails open (for all practical purposes, 1) for $35! But it was too crowded, too narrow and too icy. After an agonizing 1st run, I hurt my knee and went home defeated.

However, yesterday Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went to Windham on our free Warren Miller vouchers along with our son Josh, 30, who is up from Baltimore visiting for the holiday.

Worked out great. Windham was the only hill in our usual roster of possibilities that did not start their holiday rates until Dec. 26th which made using our freebies possible as well as a reasonable rate for the 1 ticket we had to buy.

And the conditions were just about perfect. Little to no waiting on the lifts, good snow for the most part, especially later in the day and blue skies. Temps got up to about mid-20s I guess although we did see some water dripping off the lift towers in the afternoon.

Trees looked like they were coated with powdered sugar against blue, blue skies.

And I still know how to ski. Hooray! My best 1st day ever. I dove right into it with no severe warm up problems. No shakiness or weakness even though I ill-advisedly did a very hard workout at the gym on Tuesday from which I was still very, very sore.

So we have 1 full week to recover because next week is school holiday and the prices are too rich for our blood. Next likelihood will be Butternut or some other hill with $20 or $25 mid-week tickets the week after next.

Even though we haven't had any big snow around here, the mountains have got a few inches and the temps have been cold enough that they have been able to crank the snow guns around the clock. So conditions are good. Now if they can only hold!

Start of Ski Season ... Phase 2

2010-12-04T18:34:00.003-05:00

The second big event of ski season prior to actually skiing is the Annual Warren Miller film.
Warren Miller has been making full length feature ski movies for over 60 years.

It's an exciting event for all the ski/snowboard junkies, everybody hootin' 'n' hollerin', fist pumping, euphoric recallin'.

Filming is done in well known ski areas like Chamonix, France and Alta, Utah but the kicker is the unlikely and exotic locations. Places like Antarctica, Iceland, and Western China.

But the big draw are the free lift tickets. For $22 admission you get 1 or more free lift tickets. That easily covers the cost of admission.

The first time we went, several years ago, we got free tickets to Killington ($79), Mt. Snow ($72), Stratton ($67) and Windham ($48). $266 worth of lift tickets for $22!

Since then, the deal has got progressively less great. This year only 1 outright free ticket to Windham and 2 for 1 deals at Killington and Pico. But it's still a bargain.

I have to admit, I'm disappointed that the ski areas have backed off from their freebies. Stratton used to give away 15,000 lift tickets every year up until last year. My wife and I would each get one.

I suppose they have to make their money. Was it really hurting them to give these tickets away? Or is it just the big corporations that own them now can't bear the thought of it? I can't say. I wouldn't want to be responsible for a ski resort! The amount of money that goes out every day you make snow and run lifts, the liability insurance must be tremendous. And the risks here in the east especially with the weather!

Now that I'm hooked, I suppose I'd go regardless!

the start of ski season

2010-12-03T21:17:00.003-05:00

Yes, I've been skiing already but I'm not talking about that. For Mrs. MTBMan1 and I, the official start of the season is the Albany Ski and Snowboard Expo in November.

The cost is $8 but in previous years we bought them ahead of time at the local Hannaford Supermarket for $6. This year they were only selling at the door because the 1st 400 to purchase tickets at the door got a free lift ticket. Several local areas were participating and we got tickets to Plattekill.

Also, you get a book of coupons which includes some 2 for 1s for local ski areas. The first year we went Windham mountain offered a freebie but not this year.

The other thing we go for is a discount for ski tune up, edge sharpening, hot wax and stone grind, which we got. $20 at Plaine's in Schenectady.

I also won a ticket for night skiing at Willard Mtn. which I have never been to before.

That's our official start of the ski season. So now how about some snow?

Halleluiah!

2010-11-07T17:19:00.002-05:00

Yes, I know, I've been derelict in my duty. I haven't written anything since way back in October. Mea culpa! Lazy.
I have thought of a few good reasons to write but nothing inspiring enough to overcome my inertia.
Until today that is.
Get ready.
Yes, they finally did it. I've been waiting for 2 years.
THEY PAVED HURST ROAD BETWEEN BULLOCK AND CLIPP!!
I'm sure you don't remember unless you are a local rider but I have complained in past posts that they have been paving back roads all over the town of Bethlehem for the last 2 years but not Hurst road which was definitely one of the worst if not THE worst road in the county! (Tygert Rd. is pretty rough but and least it's consistent and it's not in the town of Bethlehem). My big gripe is that they paved roads through developments that didn't really need it and neglected the rest of Game Farm Road and Hurst.
But they finally did it and it's wonderful.
The thing is, no matter which direction you approach it from there are some pretty good downhills and you can and you certainly want to get going pretty quick. But it was so rough and inconsistent too so it was kind of dangerous. You could get into a bad rut and get into trouble. There were no actual potholes but a lot of patches and wide cracks almost big enough to catch a skinny tire.
One time one of my computer sensors got shaken loose.
So wow, it was pure joy today. It was hard to realize I could go as fast as I want, I'm so used to going cautiously.
Hey, I guess you have to be a rider to appreciate this! ;-)

Reflections on a life

2010-10-17T19:20:00.000-04:00

Last week, Monday, Columbus day, I rode with Charles. We went out from my house a little after 7AM. It was about 40 degrees.

The previous Saturday, we attended a memorial service for our friend, Tom Little who was killed by Taliban militants in Afghanistan in August while returning from performing an eye clinic in a remote area. Charles shared as a friend from the podium.

Needless to say, the service and Tom were still fresh on our minds as we rode today.

We rode up Derbyshire Rd. and So. Clarksville Rd. which is the first big hill I rode with Charles a couple of years ago when we first started riding together. I was remembering that and how intimidating it was for me at the time. You know how you are climbing a hill and encounter false peak after false peak. It's so discouraging. This hill was like this. Finally I thought, "I won't keep looking at how steep the hill is ahead or how much there is to go. I'll just look at Charles' wheel, and if it keeps turning, I'll keep pedaling. I'm on your wheel, Charles." And that's how I got through it.

When reviewing Tom Little's life at the service, we saw a man who's life for the past 30 years was committed to bringing some good to a region of the earth sorely in need of it. I can't begin to imagine the privation and struggle of it. Trying to mend fragile human life amidst so much destruction. His life spoke volumes without anyone having to say a word. The unspoken question to me was "Having seen this, now what are you going to do?"

I'm not going to pretend I could attempt something on the order of what Tom did. This is not to make an excuse, but his was a unique calling. His intelligence, capabilities, personality and faith all came together in a synergistic way to accomplish a remarkable work.

However we can all do something to make the world a better place. We all have a responsibility to use the resources given to us wisely and not solely for our own gain. This is a tall order and not easily accomplished.

It is an encouragement to see someone who has gone before us. If he has kept going through tough, seemingly impossible circumstances, we certainly can keep going in the same direction.

I'm on your wheel, Tom.

fun ride on mohawk-hudson bike path in Cohoes, NY

2010-10-10T20:03:00.003-04:00

Today's ride was a little outing on the Mohawk-Hudson bike path from Cohoes to Colonie, NY and back with Mrs. MTBMan1. We brought a picnic lunch. It was great! Really classic, fall day. Warm in the sun. Cool in the shade. Unbeknownst to us there was a marathon foot race today from Schenectady to Albany on the path. The road was blocked with orange cones and we were afraid we wouldn't be allowed up to park at the path entrance but the police let us through. Apparently it was just the tail end of the race.
This section of the trail is especially beautiful in the autumn with a couple of "corridors" arched over with brilliantly colored trees. It's a favorite of ours this time of year.
We rode out about 4-1/2 miles and then back and ate our sandwiches but the yellow jackets came around and drove us out.
It was a refreshing and rejuventating time.

Here's a little video (our batteries ran out and our spares were bad too!)

A little fartlek

2010-10-09T19:38:00.002-04:00

Speedplay. I like to do this. Nothing "serious". I might start out a ride as I did Friday with no training objective in mind except to get "some exercise" and enjoy the ride.

But I like to stretch my legs, if you will. Pump 'em. And if I'm not serious about doing a recovery ride, that's what I'll do.

Then when I get warmed up, I'll start hammering. Maybe not flat out maxxed out but getting the old heart rate up there around 85%.

Especially when I do my usual 1 hour 15 mile after work "Dunkin' Donut" route. Because I'm so used to sections that are good for sprinting, I'll usually fall into that if I'm not doing some specific training routine.

So Friday's ride was like that. The weather was great. I wore my RRW4L jersey.

I had a little trouble with shifting onto the small chainring. Need to adjust that before my next ride. Also I wiped but did not lube my chain after riding in the rain earlier in the week (shame!)

Tomorrow (Sunday) will do a ride with Mrs. MTBMan1 and then Monday AM with Charles.

Pushing 1500. Will I make 2000 this year?

Healthy life style or ... Obsession?

2010-10-03T20:18:00.002-04:00

3 yrs ago when I started cycling seriously, I put in 4000 miles. The next year, 2000. This year I may not make it to 2000. What of it?
I think initially I expected to exercise enough to lose weight without changing my eating habits. Now that reality has set in I have accepted that that will not be the case.
Unless you are a professional, competitive athlete you will not be able to do that. You will have to eat less to lose weight.
So what's the other reason to ride a lot? The high. It feels really, really good to give it your all on several hours of riding. You get in the "zone" and it seems like you can go on forever. You are a machine with endorphins bathing your brain.
This is where people get into trouble ... with their health, their relationships. They exercise to the point of physical breakdown. Or their relationships go downhill for want of time spent tending to them.
So I guess I'm OK with doing 2000 miles or less per year. But I'm still going to have to reign in my eating habits!

Simple ride

2010-09-29T20:46:00.002-04:00

A simple ride today with Mrs. MTBMan1. Just enjoying each other's company and the Native American Summer as it is only in the Great Northeast!

About 8 miles in 1 hour. A recovery ride for me after my 50 on Saturday. I was still a bit sore, nothing terrible, yesterday so this was just the thing to get back into it.

Probably won't ride again until next Monday. We are going away to southern Maine for our 32nd wedding anniversary. I checked out the ride possibilities in that area and while they promote cycling, the roads don't really seem very safe. Narrow, winding, no shoulders and heavy "distracted tourist" or "impatient local" traffic. Doesn't sound like fun.

There is a state forest near there so I think a hike would go great.

Fall is here with a vengeance. Winter is in the air and then ...

Skiing!!

Happiness is ...

2010-09-26T15:52:00.003-04:00

... a new hydration system!

My old camelbak has sprung a couple of leaks. The drink tube was leaking out the bite valve and the bladder or the cover, I can't figure out which, was leaking like crazy. After a ride with red Kool-aid, I looked like I had poison ivy all over my right arm and leg!

After I posted a video on Youtube of me cleaning my camelbak, a guy from Hydrapak left a comment with a link to a video of how you clean a Hydrapak with a reversible reservoir. That sold me because cleaning the camelbak was a real chore, actually getting it to dry out after cleaning it was next to impossible. By having a reversible reservoir, it is easy to air dry the thing. So I got one and I love it.

They also have a retrofit plug'n'play adapter for the drink tube connection to the reservoir so you can just push a button and it pops out. Easier for filling as well as cleaning. I just ordered one for $5.95. With the Camelbak, the drink tube was glued into the bottom of the reservoir making it impossible to clean that end of things completely.

The model I bought was the "Flume" which holds 70 ounces. My old one held just 50. Most of the models come with the plug'n'play adapter but this one doesn't. While the tube is disconnectable from the bottom of the reservoir, it requires quite a bit of force to remove it so I figured who needs more hassle and for 6 bucks, why not?

Old man, old bike ..

2010-09-25T21:10:00.003-04:00

Well, today was the day. Rode the Love146 benefit 50 miler. As far as I could tell, I was the only old timer on the 50 mile ride and the only one with a "retro friction shifter's on the stem" bike. Proud of it too.
I think I fared pretty well. At least I'm happy with my performance. Did it in a little over 3-1/2 hours ride time and averaged 14.4 mph. Good for me on that long of a ride.
It wasn't too hilly although there was a fair amount of climbing. Nothing real steep though.
In fact it was a beautiful route. I hope they use it again next year.
I would say about the first 2/3 of the route there was almost no traffic and the scenery was gorgeous. Fields, woods, farmland, lakes. And it was a perfect fall day. Leaves starting to turn. The temperature in the low 70s.
Part of the ride was a loop in the Saratoga Battlefield park. Just beautiful. Except for the paved road through it, it was just as I would imagine it was in the 1770s.
My friend Brad and his wife rode a tandem with their 2 kids in tow. I have to give them a lot of credit. They were both sick with colds and towing 75lbs of kid. Can you imagine. Needless to say they were fried. We rode in together.
Before we rode they announced they had raised $40,000 for the cause to date with more usually coming in later.
The support was good. Plenty of rest stops. Clif Bars was a sponsor so there was drink, bars and gels all over. Moe's Southwestern Grill provided yummy burritos for lunch.
And the bike performed admirably with no problems whatsoever. No flats, no chain drops. Yoo-hoo!
A successful day!
I guess I won't give up just yet.
Here's the route on MapMyRide.com:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/saratoga-springs/158128277914945919

MTBMan1 rides ... an MTB!

2010-09-21T19:36:00.002-04:00

Mountain bike, that is.

When I first picked the moniker, MTBMan1, it was because I thought I would be doing mountain biking. #1: I like it. #2: I didn't like the cars and dogs of road cycling.

However, in most cases, mountain biking means racking the bike onto the car and driving someplace.

Road cycling I can do right out my door. And when I have only 1 hour to ride during the week that about settles it. As far as the dislike for cars and dogs ... I dealt with it and it's now no big deal. Except for way out in the country dogs are generally fenced or tethered and the problems out in the country are few and far between. They can be managed. Cars are not generally a problem as long as you avoid certain roads. Personally, I use a rear view mirror because I just don't want to trust my life to the assumed goodwill and common sense of drivers, in spite of the "dork" factor of a helmet mounted mirror. :-)

On Saturday, however, I discovered that my Raleigh needed a bottom bracket overhaul! This 1 week before the Ride, Run, Walk 4 Love benefit ride. I dropped it off at my LBS, Mad Dog and thre proprietor, Matt promised it would be ready for Saturday but what to do about keeping in shape this week?

On to the trusty Trek 4400. This entry level mountain bike that is too small for me but has an extended seat post, is generally only used once a week on bike path rides with Mrs. MTBMan1.
But now it is pressed into service!

You know what? It's OK. Yesterday's ride was hard because it's slower going with the knobby tires and low gearing. Also I'm not used to the wide seat. And there was a stiff headwind on Meads Lane too.

Today was better. I put a little more steam into it and climbed Orchard Hill. I was curious how I would fare with the low gearing. I still worked just as hard but was able to spin up with a higher cadence which is what I was hoping. I also took a quick side jaunt down a power line cut. As it turns out, there is a little trail riding that can be done a short ride from my house without driving out to the Pine Bush or someplace.

My original intent, when I started riding seriously a few years ago, was to road bike during the week and mountain bike on the weekends when I had more time. I may do more mountain biking but I'd like to do it with a partner. My friend Bobby La-C says he wants to buy an MTB and ride with me on some trails over by his house. May happen.

I'm still a little nervous about getting my Raleigh back in time for Saturday's ride. I'm not going to attempt to ride the Trek 55 miles! ;-)

It's Fun!

2010-09-18T20:28:00.003-04:00

Biking is fun!
Duh, Dad.
I mean sometimes I can get so caught up in training for performance that I forget that. Every ride has to be a tooth grinding, metal mashing, chest heaving ordeal. This is how you get burned out. Every day like that and suddenly one morning you can't do it one more time. Today I had a "hey this is fun" moment. Usually it's when coasting downhill but not always. Sometimes you get in the zone in the flats or a slight grade and you feel like you could go on forever. Those times are important.

No Big Hills
Today I rode somewhat under 2 hours. No big hills. And it was great. Energizing rather than exhausting. I didn't even want to take a nap afterwards. It was an absolutely perfect day. Temperature not too hot, not too cool. Low humidity. No wind (I just realized)! Clear skies.
Here's the route: Saturday 9-18-2010 at EveryTrail

Maintenance is Constant
I did notice however, a gap if you will, in my pedal stroke. Everytime I went around there was a click, I don't know how to describe it, not audible but tactile, like there was a moment of no load on the pedal. I thought it was just my pedal stroke. Odd. But maybe I had slipped into bad pedaling form. When I concentrated on making smooth circles, apply pressure evenly all around the stroke, it seemed OK. But when I got back home and checked out the crankset, it jiggled! Play in the bottom bracket. A lot! Ungood! Bop upstairs to let Mrs. MTBMan1 know I was back and then off to Mad Dog Bicycles for the diagnosis. Matt is pretty sure my bearings are shot. Bummer! He's going to have to order parts but he promised to get it back to me this week because ...

Ride, Run, Walk 4 Love Coming Up in One Week
That's right. Next Saturday is the 55 mile ride to raise money for Love146. Donate here.
So here I am without a bike to train with. I'm thinking about calling Tommy who last year offered me the use of his Specialized Allez for the ride. I could at least train on it. Maybe I would use it if I felt OK with it. I would need a spare, pump, things like that. Of course I have my mountain bikes to train on too. But they're not as much fun on the road.

Alive Again!

2010-09-10T19:52:00.002-04:00

Traditionally, winter is a time of dying, quiesence, retreat and hibernation. But for me, autumn and the onset of winter is when I come alive again. Especially after a long hot summer.

Don't get me wrong. I like the change of all the seasons. That's one reason I live here in the Northeast. I spent 2 years in Atlanta and didn't like the lack of distinction between seasons.

Although I enjoy the comfort of riding in the warm weather, I just plain sleep better and have more energy as fall approaches and we get a few cool days like we have this week.

I took a short ride today after work. It was cool and overcast. Almost like November. Dreamy, melancholy, calm. I wore my long sleeved jersey for the first time this summer.

I felt good about my riding. I didn't do a particularly hard ride, no training objective, but I felt like a competent rider. Like I know how to handle myself gracefully on a bike.

Hopefully I can get a long ride in this weekend. I am training for the Ride4Love on the 25th, fund raiser for Love146, an anti-child slavery organization. The ride will be 55 miles and the route doesn't look too hilly. Rollers mostly. But I need to build up my endurance. I haven't done a lot of rides over 26 miles, a couple recently around 30. Last week's was 34 miles and very hilly!
I would like to do 40 flat ones this weekend on the Mo-Hud bike trail.

BTW, if you would like to donate to the ride, you are more than welcome to do so. I have a goal of $500 and I need $90 more to make it. Click here to donate.

Pacing

2010-09-08T20:40:00.003-04:00

Mrs. MTBMan1 was concerned with my ride on Monday. I was pretty cooked at the end which is not all that unusual for one of my over 25 mile rides but she was concerned that I was unwise to push it so hard considering my age and that I am overweight and have an "apple" shape (pot belly).

Point well taken. While I have ridden up to 75 miles on a ride, the week before I did the mega-hill Sickle Hill Rd. ride, I only did one measly 1/2 hour spin on friday. And then to push it to the max on Sickle Hill ... well maybe I might have popped my cork.

I am trying to train for the Ride, Run, Walk for Love benefit ride for Love146. (which you are more than welcome to donate to here). ;-)

The ride is 55 miles and Monday's was only 34 but as I said contained a mega-hill which I wound up walking but I did max out at 99% of my computed maximum heart rate.

I looked at the route for the benefit ride and it doesn't look very hilly so I don't really need to train for hills just endurance.

So I think I will just train by myself like I did on previous years. I can push the miles on the Mo-Hud bike trail down by the river which is mostly flat and I won't have my super-fit (and young) bike buddies to chase. ;-)

In the meantime ("which is a groovy time" - Jimi Hendrix), I will try to ride at least an hour a day to keep everything tuned up.

At least that's the plan.

I quit!

2010-09-07T19:55:00.002-04:00

Well, I wanted to, that is.

Monday, Labor Day, I rode with my friend Brad and his wife (they rode a tandem, minus their kids this time) in the hilltowns of Albany County.

I pumped up my (nearly)flat rear tire, loaded the bike on the rack and headed out west about 20 minutes to Brad's house in Berne.

By the time I got there my rear tire was already going soft. Not good.

So I proceeded to change it. I had a really hard time getting the tire off. Broke my speed lever. Not happy.
Also my Camelbak was leaking sticky Kool-Aid all over me and the bike. By the end of the ride I looked like I had a bad case of poison ivy. And the drinking tube is shot. The interior of the tube is deteriorating and bunches up so I can barely draw on it. I wanted to put it in the garbage right then and there.

When Brad came out and saw me changing the tire, he suggested we take the bike down to his basement shop and adjust the shifting which I had been having problems with the chain getting stuck in the rear dropout.

Brad has a full bike shop and he is a very good bike wrench even able to build wheels. He was trained by a master mechanic and it looks it. He was very fast and very confident and did a great job. He explained what he was doing but he was so fast it was hard for me to pick up all the nuances. I understand the concept of adjusting the derailleur and can do it but the dexterity and speed with which he did it can only come with a lot of experience and expert supervision.

We finally got on the road and I proceeded to drop the chain off the big chainring. In retrospect, this usually happens when I'm shifting up in the front while going downhill. I think I'm spinning too fast when I shift.

I was pretty discouraged at this point and wanted to quit bike riding. Everybody tells me to get a modern bike and I'd like to but there's this thing called a budget.

Anyhow, at about 6 miles we started up our big hill for the ride, Sickle Hill Rd. That's sickle as in the Grim Reaper's tool of choice.

This has got to be the worst hill in Albany County. Can I do it? Not even close! 1100 ft. rise in about 1 mile. Steep and long.

Check it out on the route on everytrail.com:Sickle Hill Rd. at EveryTrail

I got to the first rise and saw that it kept going up so I stopped and walked it. Good thing I did. There was a long way to go and it just didn't let up. It was hard enough walking it.

After that the trip was OK and I decided not to quit. 34 miles. ;-)

Oh yeah, I ordered a new Hydrapak hydration system which has a reversible reservoir which makes it easier to clean and dry. I'm excited about that.

p.s. Brad and his wife made the whole hill on the tandem

Fed up with the heat!

2010-09-02T19:48:00.002-04:00

OK. I know it's just an excuse. And it has never stopped me in previous years but I'm just sick of dealing with the heat. 1 week, 2 weeks, OK. But it's been non-stop this summer. Bring on the Fall and Winter! That's when I come alive.

I last rode on Sunday and it was hot enough. It was a real workout. Partly because of all the hills but also because I haven't been doing longer rides on a regular basis.

The first year I did the 75 mile ride for Love146, I did progressively longer rides every weekend adding five miles each time up to a 70 miler 2 weeks before the event. And that 70 miler covered some of the same roads I did on Sunday. In other words, hilly!

Also I wacked my toe last week and it's still bothering me. Wasn't too bad on the ride but walking is a problem. Hope it gets all better soon.

Now I just checked my rear tire on the bike and ... yup, it's flat. What is it with rear tires? You know what? I'm just going to assume it's OK. That rear tires lose more air per day than front tires. I'm not going to keep changing tubes. It's crazy.

Am I getting old?

Hilly Ride and an Italian lesson

2010-08-29T21:23:00.004-04:00

Today I rode with my friend Brad and his wife who are training on a tandem towing their 2 kids in a trailer for the Love146 benefit 55 miler in Sept.

We rode from their house in the "hill towns" outside of Albany, NY. There's no way to ride anywhere out there without encountering some significant hills.

The first was Cole Hill which I had heard about but never done (up, that is. I've gone down it). It is about a 15% grade in sections and fairly long. This was to start without getting warmed up. Wasn't too bad but there was plenty more climbing before the ride was over. That was a hard 30 miles. I'll be feeling it for a couple of days.

One thing I learned. Brad raced for the Air Force in Italy so he taught me how to say "car back" in Italian: Macchina! (pronounced "mah'-key-nah") Or more properly, it's what the Italian riders say when we would say "car back". They're just saying "CAR!"

Dropped my chain into the rear dropout once and off the big chain ring once. Brad offered to adjust everything and clean the chain. I think I'll take him up on it but I want to watch so I'll learn something too.

And hooray! My gps worked properly. Here's the route:

Berne

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Coulda, Shoulda

2010-08-26T20:06:00.002-04:00

I shoulda taken my gps for a ride today. I didn't because I thought I would just do "Dunkin' Donut" again like I've done all week. But I didn't.

On the spur, I took another route.

I've touted this area quite a bit because of its proximity to so much good country and hilly riding. However, every place has it's limitations and for only having an hour to ride after work every day (at least until the clocks turn back) there aren't too many rides I can take. Especially since I'm kind of particular about avoiding fast roads with big traffic.

It does get boring though so I took a different route and did it in just under an hour (59 min). The first part of the ride is OK. It goes down a residential street and then cuts through a development. Not exactly country but plenty of old greenery, quiet and pleasant. Then there is a stretch of country road followed by "Long Lane". It's not named after a guy named "Long". It is long! ... and straight. Kind of boring and fast 60-70mph traffic. Trucks. Along "Long Lane" is a railroad yard, a plastic plant and a cogen facility. Basically an industrial strip. But it is technically country.

But boy what a headwind today! I normally don't like wind and I didn't particularly today but I didn't really mind it as much as usual. My mind just kind of drifted on Long Lane and before you know it, I was at the end.

Here is the route. I mapped it manually on mapmyride.com:
&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/-delmar/499128286855679390"&amp;gt;Creble Rd.&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/ny/-delmar"&amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Delmar, New York&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;
Now that I mapped it, I see it's not Long Lane but Creble Rd. Well I'm not going to rewrite this post now! I always thought it was Long Lane. I swear they changed it!

I like it gloomy!

2010-08-25T19:59:00.002-04:00

It's been a couple of gloomy days but I like gloomy. Today was especially nice as it didn't rain on me but it was dark gray and perfectly still.

I guess there's a peacefullness and quietude about it that I like. Not that I don't also like a bright sunny day.

There were still a few people out riding but you don't find as many. I like that solitude too. It's even better when it is raining. I used to like to get suited up and walk for miles and miles in pouring down rain. There's not likely to be anyone else out and about! ;-)

I tweaked my high gear limit screw on the rear derailleur a couple days ago because I was still dropping the chain into the rear dropout. Very annoying as I have to take the wheel off to free it.

It's been good. I tightened up on the cable and turned the screw in a quarter turn or so.

So far my rear tire has been holding air too. So far so good.

Sometimes my GPS will put me in Canada but most of the time it's been ok.

Nothing epic today. Usual 15 mile ride (Dunkin' Donut) after work.

I was really going to take it easy cause I've had a big headache all day but ... I didn't. I didn't go all out but I did do a couple sprints. But guess what? No headache.

Discipline

2010-08-18T20:09:00.004-04:00

When I was younger, I used to get up at 5AM every morning to do something. Meditate, pray, practice some instrument.

Now I get up later, have a cup of coffee, sit on the couch with my eyes closed, sip the coffee, make another cup and drink it. Then get ready for work. In between all that I may or may not pray or meditate or read for a bit.

A few years ago when I started cycling seriously I rode almost every day. I put in about 4000 miles that year.

Last year it was about 2000 miles. This year I may not make it to 2000.

Why has my discipline fallen off? Age? Maybe I've given up on some goals that subconsciously drove me.

I didn't ride yesterday because I had a really physically hard day at work. I am a network administrator which is mostly a desk job but yesterday I had an assignment that said I needed to go "move some PCs". In a school district in the summer that usually means to load up some computers and monitors on a cart, take them to a desk or classroom and set them up. What it meant in this case was to load up a few hundred monitors and computers on pallets on a loading dock in the sun for pick up by a salvage company. Then it was unloading a tractor trailer load of new computers. I was totally unprepared for this. I had brought no water and was not dressed for the job. I was thoroughly soaked with sweat and dehydrated by the end of the day. Needless to say I did not ride after work.

On another note, I really like my doctor's scale. At home in my pajamas I weighed 205. At the Drs. office in my street clothes and shoes I was 198. Now a doctor's scale, that's got to be the right one! ;-)

Anyhow, I did ride today. About 15 miles. It was little warm, a little muggy. Overcast. Still. I thought it might storm but it didn't.

Oh yeah. The GPS worked right today. I don't know what did it. I deleted all the stored trips in the blackberry and I also setup a new web filter at work. Let's see if it keeps on working.

GPS ... Fugeddaboudit!

2010-08-15T21:30:00.002-04:00

My GPS seems to like to put me in Canada. Today, according to it, I rode somewhere north of the US border above Michigan. Mileage was correct, 22.1, but time was only 35 minutes which gave me a nice average speed of 36 mph. Might be conceivable for Lance or Levi. Elevation was interesting at 2490 up and 4718 down!

I won't bore you any more with this. Yes my GPS readings are off. I suspect it has to do with the fact that internet access through this work provided blackberry goes through my connections back at the office. I think the uploads are getting corrupted somehow.

Rode with Charles today. In the rain. Was nice actually. Made it comfortable temperature wise and it wasn't so hard as to be a visibility problem.

The only thing I don't like is that after about 1-1/2 hours my shoes are real squishy.

And watch those wet brakes! Yowsa!

p.s. I tried something new today. Got tired of my homemade lemonade so I loaded up my bottle and Camelbak with cherry cola and filled one of my pockets with peanuts. Munch 'n' ride. Interesting. But I still missed my Clif Bar!

2010-08-14T21:20:00.002-04:00

Got a nice 2 hour ride in today. Not too hot, about 80°. Bike was good: tires held air, shifting was good, only dropped the chain once off the little chainring. No problem.

But the technology! Ai-yi-yi!

First the heart rate monitor dropped out, lost communication with the chest strap. OK. No problem. Restarted it. Then once I looked at it and it was reading 66 bpm. Uh ... I don't think so. After I've been slamming it for an hour? That's almost my resting heart rate when I get out of bed in the morning! OK,mMaybe the batteries are down. But I haven't had it that long and I haven't been riding that much.

Then the computer said my cadence was 104 when I know it was down in the 60s or 70s at least. And it stuck there for awhile. Hmmm.

Then, when I got back the GPS said I had gone to somewhere in Quebec in 2 hours, 930.2 miles averaging 424.5 miles per hour. Pretty good huh? Good thing I didn't get a speeding ticket. But then, what police cruiser could catch me? Hard to enjoy the scenery at that pace! Don't believe me? Check my route here:

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*** sigh ***

Good thing you don't need all those gadgets to ride, eh?

Tire changing ... the bane of my existence

2010-08-10T21:16:00.002-04:00

Had another flat tire today that I had to repair before going on my ride. I took the day off from work so I had time to do some wrenching.

As usual, I couldn't find a leak in the tube so I just swapped it out. But why is it so hard to get the tire off. Some people do it with just their hands. Yeah right. I'm struggling with 3 tire levers and it's still a wrestling match. Goes back on somewhat easier.

I stopped off at Mad Dog Bicycles the other day to pick up some Slime® but Matt says he doesn't carry it. Doesn't believe in it. He says if the tube does blow it makes a mess.

Does anybody have any experience with this stuff?

The second worst bane of my existence is shifting adjustments. I've been having problems with the chain dropping off the little chain ring, sometimes even to the outside on the big chain ring, it won't shift onto the biggest cog, and worst of all, the chain drops off the smallest cog and gets wedged in between the cassette and the drop out necessitating removal of the rear wheel to free it.

After I changed my tube today, I put the bike up on the rack and adjusted the derailleurs.

Today's ride was 100% malfunction free! Hooray!

a time to weep and a time to laugh

2010-08-08T22:26:00.003-04:00

I've been silent the last couple of days because I have been struggling with something.
If you are a regular reader you know I try to keep it light and humorous and of course, about fitness, particularly cycling and skiing.

I try to keep the serious side of my personal life out of it.

But sometimes you can't ignore the elephant in the room. They say the show must go on but life isn't always just a "show".

You may have heard about the 10 aid workers murdered in Afghanistan. Well the team leader, Tom Little, is someone I have known for nearly 30 years. We've been invited to their home here in Delmar, I have hiked with Tom in the Catskills a couple of years ago and see him and his wife frequently when they are in the states as recently as a few weeks ago.

So you can imagine this has put a damper on my spirits the last few days. I can't wrap my head around this and I can't pretend it's business as usual. My weekend riding buddy Charles was even a close friend of Tom's and he is really broke up.

Yes, Mrs. MTBMan1 and I rode a little yesterday and enjoyed the beautiful day down by the bike path in Albany. But it was a quiet and somber ride as we tried to digest the news.

And yes I rode by myself a bit today and it was a good ride and I thought a lot about Tom and his family.

And that's all I have to say about that.

140 miles per hour

2010-08-06T21:31:00.003-04:00

Before my ride today I was going to title this post "Sore calves, slow leaks". I had sore calves, not from cycling, but from painting. At least that's the only exercise I had this week. Mrs. MTBMan1 and I journeyed to Baltimore to visit our son and meet up with our daughter who bussed down from NYC. Our original plan was to travel from Baltimore to Hancock in northwestern Maryland to rent bikes and ride the Western Maryland Rail Trail as a family but son had plans to work on his house so we pitched in to paint his study. I did the cutting in and it was up and down the step stool innumerable times and crouching on my knees on the floor. That's the only thing I could conceivably believe could have made me sore. We never got to the Rail Trail. It was very hot and humid anyway so I'm not sure how much fun it would have been.

As to the slow leaks ... I mentioned in a previous post about my mysterious leaking tire which rode fine one day and was flat in the garage the next and I could not find a leak to save my life. In fact, I reinflated the tube and left it out for days and it never lost any air. So I packed it up for a spare.

But on my ride today, first in 6 days, I used my GPS as usual and when I got back it reported that I rode 69.4 miles from someplace south of Boston, MA to near Durham, NH in about a half and hour. Basically a straight line as the crow flies at an average speed of 140.3 mph. Pretty good for a bike, eh? Must have flown. Perhaps I went into a trance and did a bi-location like superman did in one episode. Cause I thought I was sloggin' it in upstate NY. Who knew?

Or maybe the trip to Baltimore confused the GPS. It got disoriented.

Now my cycle 'puter says I did 21 miles in about 1-1/2 hours. But it doesn't know about bi-location!

The Little Things

2010-07-31T21:08:00.002-04:00

One thing I like about cycling is you get to appreciate the little things of life that are really the important things.

Like going past a "cool spot" in the woods where there is maybe a shady ravine with water or a cave and the you can feel the air for a moment as you go by. You won't feel it or care in an air conditioned car with the windows rolled up at 70 miles an hour.

Or wild flowers and scenes like these on todays trip. Mrs. MTBMan1 and I took a short ride with no objective but enjoyment on the Mohawk-Hudson trail segment in Rotterdam, NY just outside of Schenectady. We went from near Lock 8 on the Erie Canal to the Kiwanis Picnic Area a few miles away.

Temps were cool, even fall-like and perfect for leisurely riding.

Pond along the bike path with wildflowers
Black eyed Susan
Queen Annes’ Lace
A tributary off the canal
‘Nother shot of the same view
Check out the bees
These purple flowers were all over

For the Reward

2010-07-27T20:18:00.003-04:00

I wasn't going to climb Orchard today. I wasn't looking to do that much work but I started thinking about the reward of Bullock Road at the top. Smooth pavement and totally shaded. Cool. Worth it!

This turned out to be a pretty good ride. It's about the same length as my regular 1 hour-er "Dunkin' Donut" but includes the pretty good hill Orchard Hill and of course the wonderful Bullock Road. It also traverses Meads Lane. It's the most direct route from my house out to the country with minimal suburbs or busy roads.

The only problem with it is that it traverses 3 busy rail crossings so you could get stuck behind a long, slow train at any or all of them. It's all the same track. So if I really need to stick to a 1 hour ride it could be problematic. Nice for an after dinner ride where time is not so critical.

I was dreading going down to the garage to get my bike, half expecting to find the rear tire flat again. It wasn't. Also, the tube that went flat that I couldn't find the leak yesterday, was still pumped up full of air where I left it. Maybe someone is sneaking into the garage and letting the air out of my tires. I haven't actually had these flats on the road, they've all been when I went to take the bike out after it had been sitting for a day or 2.

Here is a picture from today. Sheep on Meads Lane.

Here is todays ride. I need a name for it. Take a look at it. What do you think? Butterfly? 50s eyeglasses? Waterwings? If you can't see the route, go here. If that doesn't work, let me know.

swdfcvjh

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The Fear

2010-07-27T06:36:00.002-04:00

I got the fear.

Fear of breakdowns in a remote place far from help.

I've got 2 cars that are getting on in years and miles, a 96 Camry and a 95 Geo Prism. 170,000 and 203,000 miles respectively ....

and ... a ~1980s era steel 27" friction shifting Raleigh Olympian that keeps getting flats on the rear tire. In spite of new tubes, new tires, new wheels!

I just replaced a tube and when I went to ride the next day the replaced one was flat!

Now, what's got me scared is, flats are a fact of life with bikes. Ok I got that. Should be a no brainer but the tires I have are so darn hard to get off and on. And it doesn't seem to matter if I have new or patched tubes, they all go flat, eventually.

I got this Crank Brothers speed lever to help with removing the tire but it requires so much force to get it started that I'm afraid of slipping and really cutting myself bad or something. Also, it seems to peel off rubber from the tire bead. That can't be good.

If you're really good, you're supposed to be able to change a tire without any levers at all, just your hands.

Well, I can get the tire ON with just my hands but no way can I get it off. No way.

I've wound up using 3 levers to get it off. 2 of the regular kind to get it started and then the speed lever to finish it up.

Then the other thing is my pump. The one I ride with. I'm just not comfortable with it. It seems to only get about 60 lbs of air into the tire. I guess that's enough to get home on. It's a Topeak.

Anyhow, I immersed the tube in a tub of water and looked and looked but I couldn't find the leak! Now THAT'S a slow leak!

I put another patched tube in and went out for another short ride. It was so gorgeous out. I've had my fill of the hot and humid weather.

I retraced the ride I took the other day with Mrs. MTBMan1 which blog I titled "No numbers ... just fun" so I could record the numbers. :-) (voice of Samwise Gamgee to Gollum "You're 'opeless!")

No numbers ... just fun

2010-07-25T21:31:00.002-04:00

I told you about my flat. I pumped it up and went for a ride anyhow and it held up for a 20 minute ride.
But I didn't feel to confident about it as far as going out for a couple of hours so I declined my Sunday AM ride with Charles until I could see what was up with the tire.
In the afternoon, I changed out the tube. Boy what a bear that new tire is getting off the rim!
I started out trying to use the Crank Bros. speed lever but it was too hard to pull and it started shaving rubber off the bead of the tire. It was really hot and humid out too. My glasses got so fogged up I couldn't see.

Forget it!

After a nap, I took the wheel down to the basement and worked the tire off using a combination of the speed lever and two standard tire levers. Still was tough!

Turns out the tube was leaking from one of the patches I put on. I patched the patch then put another patched tube into the tire and pumped it up.

Then, unexpectedly the weather got beautiful. The sky cleared up, a fresh breeze started blowing and the humidity went away!

Too good to pass up!

Mrs. MTBMan1 and I decided to take a relaxing ride out to Meads after supper. The air hadn't been this good for weeks!

When I went to get the Raleigh out of the garage .... flat again! Arrrgh!

You know what? I didn't check the tire and the rim for any possible causes like McSween suggested. I didn't get the Slime like I said I was going to do either.

OK. I'm not going to get into it now. Just grabbed the Trek and forget about it.

It was perfect really. A perfect day to just smell the roses with the Missus and try not to work up a sweat. Just what I needed.

No computer, no heart rate monitor, no GPS .... No numbers.

Just fun.

Fed up with Flats!

2010-07-22T20:36:00.002-04:00

Today's ride was a real quickie. Didn't have enough time when I got out from work (turns out I did) because I had a church meeting at 5:45.

Meeting got out at 7. Home by 7:10. Then suit up, fill water bottle, strap on HRM, etc., 7:20.

Grab bike ..... errrrr.....

Rear tire flat!

That tire was fine yesterday after I got home from a ride. I pumped it up. Looked OK. I headed out.
Checked the tire once after a minute. It was still hard.

But that's it! Tomorrow I'm going to Mad Dog Bikes and get me some Slime! It's a tire sealant. Some people swear by it. You fill the tire with it and if you get a hole in the tube it's supposed to seal it.

I DO NOT LIKE FLATS!

Tire held up fine though it was only a 20 minute ride.

I wasn't totally a good boy on this ride. Supposed to be a recovery ride. I did ride with a lot less intensity than yesterday but still not totally watching my effort.

I fear recovery rides! If I'm logy when I start out I don't really get revved up unless I ... rev up!
I'm afraid I'll still feel logy during and after the ride. Also I get very uncomfortable if I stay in the saddle the whole time.

In other words, it's less FUN! Yikes! Can't have that can we?

Yes, these numbers are pitiful but at least I rode:
Miles: 4.77
av HR: 115
Max HR: 132
av cadence: 78

OK. It's hot.

2010-07-21T20:30:00.004-04:00

I don't like to complain about the weather but I have to say after 2 weeks of this hot and humid stuff, I'm starting to get a little worn down.

I rode today for an hour after work and rather than rejuvenated I was very, very tired afterward. But now I think I am dehydrated. I thought I was drinking a lot during the day but after the ride my urine was dark so I guess that means I'm not.

Also, after reviewing my numbers I realize that I rode harder than I thought. My average HR was 137 and max was 165, a fairly intense ride for me on such a hot day.

So, after mowing some lawn (if it wasn't for the weeds I wouldn't have anything to mow!), I shut my eyes for a few minutes and drank a soda and a glass of water. I feel much better now.

I'm just going to give you the link to my numbers today, sweat365 track workout. See if that works for you.

The route is "Dunkin' Donut" which I have published before:

ride Wed. 7/21/2010

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Another Hill

2010-07-18T17:11:00.004-04:00

There's nothing quite like the feeling of going down a straight hill with good pavement at 40+ mph after having climbed a long steep and windy one with maybe not so good pavement. It's your reward and it sure feels good.

Especially on a quiet 70 degree perfectly clear sky Sunday morning with no cars!

Finally got a ride in with buddy Charles at 6AM today. Under 2 hours riding time and kind of meandering this way and that across Southern Albany County. A ride I titled because of it's appearance on a map, "Glasses on a Stick". Eyeglasses on a Stick, that is, that have been run over by a truck.

We rode up Blodgett Hill Rd. A new first for me. I have ridden down it a couple of times so I knew it was going to be long and steep in a couple of places.

Hey, you know what? It was no big deal! One steep section but I've definitely ridden worse. Then down Tracey Road, a nice smooth, section where I got coasting about 40 mph. Sheer bliss.

Now on this section of Tracey Road is a former drug and alcohol rehab place for the rich and famous in the 50s. Secreted away here in the boonies when it was not OK to acknowledge your problems in public. The local lore is that Marilyn Monroe spent some time here drying out. This was corroborated by Ken, an 89 year old, still farming farmer and former neighbor of Charles' who we saw outside on the farm today and we stopped to say hi. Ken's life would make quite a memoir. He was in the first wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day and fought in other major battles like the Battle of the Bulge. Understandably, he doesn't like to talk about it.

I have been having some problems with my calves cramping up especially on climbs lately. Perhaps from all the hot weather. But not today.

And my new cassette is running ... oh-so-smooth! I can stand and pedal hard with confidence. It feels so solid! Even Charles remarked how quiet it was.

I have been submitting these rides to Le Tour Challenge and am now ranked 1790 out of 4206. Woo-hoo! I did much better last year where I didn't miss a day out of the 21 that the tour rode. The last stage I rode, Stage 11, I came 789th for the stage.

Oh well, it's just fun, right? Plus, I get entered for some cool prizes including some awesome bikes!

Now, if I could just get up everyday and ride and 6AM, that would be something!

Here's the route! Again, if you don't see the video or if it doesn't work as a link, go directly to my primary blog here.

glasses on a stick

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Why Recovery Rides Fail

2010-07-15T19:21:00.003-04:00

A recovery ride.

That's where you recover from a hard workout that damages your muscle fibers. The goal is to get the blood flowing and keep things limbered up but keep the intensity down so you don't damage any more muscle fibers and give the ones you damaged yesterday time to heal.

So why can't I stick to that protocol?

1. competition: a rider passes you. what are you to do? You don't want him to think he's better than you just because you're deliberately taking it easy. You would say, "Hi, I'm doing a recovery ride." but then what if he says "Yeah, me too." So you chase him. Recovery ride failed!

2. discomfort: You need to stay in the saddle. When you stand and pedal you're lifting your whole body weight. Your heart rate will go up and your muscles will not heal. But your butt is sore from so much sitting. So you pedal out of the saddle. Recovery ride failed!

3. speed: Faster is funner. It's fun to go fast. It's boring to go slow. But you need to keep your exertion level down which may require you to ride slower than you'd like. The heck with this. I'm outta here. Recovery ride failed!

4. heat: a corollary to #3. On a hot day, one the great things about a bike ride is that you generate your own breeze. If you are going fast enough, that is. So, you go faster. Need I say more? See #3. Recovery ride FAILED!

5. hills: some day I may be fit enough and light enough to go up the hills around here and not break a sweat but that day is not now. And around here, hills are unavoidable unless you want to ride loops in a parking lot. RECOVERY RIDE FAILED!

........... sigh .................

Well I DID have fun anyway. And my chain slipped off the small cog in the back and wedged up between my wheel and the drop out. You know the drill. I had to take off the back wheel to free it up. I'm so cool.

I made some salty limeade to drink for this ride. Whew, too salty. Especially nasty after all the ice melts and it gets warm.

I chased a bird along the road for a few hundred feet. I think he was playing! Kept right in front of me on the right. Of course he could have gone up and away.

Snuck up on a deer with my new super quiet cassette. He was feeding by the side of the road. Didn't even hear me until I was right next to him. Ha, ha! Good thing he didn't bolt into me!

Actually I didn't see one other bike on the road. The only thing I chased was the bird. But I did get out of the saddle and I did make a breeze! ;-)

So, not a perfect recovery ride but it is what it is.

Av HR 117, max 138, calories 626, miles 9.66, av spd. 14mph

here's the route, if you can't see it, go here: http://funfit50.com

Meads - Short Loop

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BYOB

2010-07-14T20:02:00.002-04:00

Breeze, that is.

People often ask me "Why do you ride in such hot weather?"

I like to reply that it's one of the best things you can do on a hot day because you bring your own breeze with you. Especially around here where there's nothing that's perfectly flat. It's all hills or rollers up and down. And lots of trees. So there's always shade somewhere.

I rode late today. Right after supper. We had Mexican and I got terrible heartburn on the ride. Also I brought plain water which gives me heartburn, believe it or not. Took a pill and some Tums when I got home.

First ride with my new cassette and it was smoooooth and perfectly quiet. Now people have no warning when I come up behind them so I have to cough or something. ;-) No skipping either.

My left calf was wanting to cramp up which rarely happens to me. Sure it was hot but I've ridden hotter days for hours with no problems. It first happened going up Orchard Hill and then several times after not necessarily when climbing. I tried to some on-bike stretches while coasting on the down hills.

Also on Orchard Hill I caught my computer not registering any movement. Speed says 0 mph and the time and mileage are not incrementing. It's not flashing either like it does when it loses communication with the wireless. Hmmmm.

I called this route "Stingray". It about the same general shape and area as Dunkin' Donut but has a longer tail where the Donut handle would be. Same road just went longer on it.

Here it is:

Sting Ray

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Piece of Cake

2010-07-13T21:56:00.002-04:00

When I picked up my new 6 speed cassette from Matt at Mad Dog Bicycles, he expressed concern (mock?) that I was going to put him out of the repair business because I was doing the job myself.

I don't think so.

Replacing the cassette is really a cake job. All you need is the little puller thingy and a breaker bar or ratchet with a 1" socket.

I did this recently when I replaced my rear wheel and again tonight so I'm getting pretty good at it. Only took about 10 minutes. I'm getting better at removing the rear wheel without touching the greasy parts. Almost. The chain still falls off the small chainring and I have to put it back on. No biggie.

I did a little test ride and it seems fine. Tomorrow I hope I will have time for a real ride.

I'm thinking I paid a lot for my cassette, $42. I was looking in the Nashbar catalog tonight and the Shimano XTR 9 speed is $170. Ouch!

Dana and Matt at the bike shop told me I'd love this cassette. It's nice and smooth and quiet. We'll see how it performs tomorrow.

Oh, mapmyride.com is going to credit my ride yesterday towards today's 9th TDF stage although they might not allow it to be a verified because the date is different. At least I'll be entered for a prize. I see 2 people from Albany won prizes for Stage 8, cycling shoes and a $100 gift certificate for TwinSix. Not bad.

Back in the Saddle Again

2010-07-12T21:58:00.002-04:00

After not riding since Wednesday, I finally got a ride in today after work. I wanted to put in a good effort but it was hot, 90 degrees, so I was a little careful. Not exactly a time trial but not a walk either.

I submitted this one to Le Tour Challenge. They wound up crediting all my rides but one and seem to have made some positive modifications to the site. But I think today was a rest day for the tour. I wonder if they'll apply it towards tomorrow's stage. Probably not. No problem. I didn't ride solely because of that.

It was really great to get out. Like I said it was hot but there was a breeze now and then.

My smallest cog skipped like crazy early on in the ride so I avoided riding hard on it. I bought a new set from Mad Dog and haven't put it on yet. It started skipping right after I replaced the chain. Common problem. The worn chain wore down the cog teeth and now I have to replace the cog. Should have checked it more often. I have the tool. Try to do it tomorrow after work.

Un-rant

2010-07-09T20:58:00.002-04:00

I'm a little ashamed of myself (just a little, I'm not too big on self-castigation) for railing against mapmyride.com in my last post.

I've always believed that if you stick your head up above the masses you're going to get it shot at by those who aren't willing to take risks to accomplish anything worthwhile, in other words, the critics. I don't want to be a critic of someone who is trying to accomplish something and mapmyride.com has accomplished something worthwhile and they continue to try and do so.

I guess it's about expectations. I so enjoyed Le Tour last year that I was excitedly looking forward to it again and when the new interface had some shortcomings I was disappointed. It didn't help my mood that I was coming down with a cold in the middle of the heat wave of the season and was unable to ride as much or as hard as I would have liked.

Their new interface is actually pretty nice. It just had some glitches as any new software development will and I appreciate their effort in trying to improve the site.

Having said all that, they have been making real efforts to try to correct the problems and I see that they have credited me all but one of my rides and put my status at the top of the leaderboard as I suggested so the end user doesn't have to search through 15,000 listings to find their ranking. They still haven't listed my rides as verified because I am using a GPS but as I said, I'm done criticizing.

So hat's off to you mapmyride.com for doing what you do.

Kudos also to sweat365.com for a great site and a real service to the fitness community!

Abandoned Le Tour Challenge

2010-07-08T18:22:00.003-04:00

I'm very disappointed in mapmyride.com and their Le Tour Challenge this year which mimics and follows the Tour de France. I logged 3 rides with a GPX file from everytrail.com software on my blackberry and it's supposed to be considered a verified ride according to mapmyride.com rules and none of them show up on the web site.

I really enjoyed it last year when it worked properly and all my rides for the entire 21 days showed up verified or not.

Kind of takes the wind out of your sales when you take the trouble to log the rides and the web site doesn't work properly.

Poo!

I guess I'm a little grumpy. I'm in the middle of a combined chest and head cold and having to work late on an IT project. Plus we've had all kinds of goofy outages and problems this week to boot. I haven't slept too well, mulling these problems over and over to what end?

Plus it's hot. I don't mind riding in it if I'm not sick. I rode a 100K for Tour de Cure 2 years ago in just these conditions with 3 broken spokes! 7 miles into it somebody said, "Hey, your back wheel looks a little wobbly!" I stopped at the next rest stop and released my rear brakes so the wheel wouldn't rub. By mile 42 the wheel was rubbing on the frame. A volunteer wrench fiddled with my spokes to help it a little and I finished fine. Had a real bad case of hot foot though! I finally got off the bike at about 55 miles and gave my feet some relief for a couple of minutes. That saw me through until the end. Should have rested sooner! ;-)

So ... no ride today, that's for sure. Tomorrow ... doubtful. Maybe something by Sunday AM.

And now that I've got it off my chest, I'll probably give Le Tour Challenge another crack. I'll try logging the ride as unverified and see if that makes a difference.

just to ride ...

2010-07-06T21:04:00.002-04:00

I haven't been feeling to well the last couple of days. Sore throat, drainage, blah ...
But I haven't missed a ride day yet.
Thought for sure I would skip it today.
This AM felt completely zoned out, didn't sleep well, etc.
Then had a rough day at work. Wanted nothing better than to slip through the day unnoticed, not wanting to think hard or actually DO anything that required any real attention. But no .... the sky fell.

I could think of nothing but getting home and doing ZERO after dinner.

But actually, as I lay on the couch trying to drift off to never never land, the blue sky beckoned to me. "Just ride, ride" it seemed to say. "You don't have to train, you can just ride for the pure joy of it. Don't have to work too hard. It's hot out there. But you'll feel a breeze you create as you ride and you'll pass under lots of shady trees and feel the cool air as you ride past a little creek hollow in the woods. Ride."

I didn't really feel all that bad and I didn't want to lie on the couch all night and then just go to bed.

So I went. It was pretty hot still (at 7:30PM) and the ride created breeze wasn't all that cool but I'm glad I went.

As my riding buddy Charles says, I've never regretted going for a ride!

When in doubt ... ride it out!

When in Doubt .... Ride!

2010-07-04T21:01:00.002-04:00

When I woke up this morning I felt like I had been hit by a train. Sore throat. Just blah.

I had intended to take a 2 hour ride early before it got too hot.

As time wore on it was between no ride or a one hour ride ... or take a ride later. I wouldn't be able to do it until maybe 3:30 or 4. But by then it would be hot.

I took the ride.

Usually I try to ride with Charles on Sunday AM before church but I didn't call because I hadn't decided if I was going to ride or not or when. He didn't call either, it turned out for the same reason.

But about 20 minutes into my ride, on Meads Lane, I ran into Charles riding in the opposite direction. He was just winding down his ride and heading back. I was intending to go another 10 minutes and then head back. He had already done Orchard Hill twice but wanted to go one more time with me so he came along for the duration.

I wasn't sure if 30 minutes would put me at the top of Orchard Hill and it didn't. It put me in the middle. But that was OK. I felt good enough to push to the very top just before the drop off down to Bullock Road.

I told Charles about my indecision to ride or not and he said whenever he felt like that he reminded himself that he never regretted a decision to ride.

Ain't it the truth!

Here is my route. Stats are not worth mentioning.

Orchard Hill and Back - 1 hour

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Le Tour - Day 1 - The Prologue

2010-07-03T18:33:00.003-04:00

Today is the first day of the Tour de France and also the first day of MapMyRide's Le Tour Challenge.

It works like this, every day the real Tour rides, you ride. Or as often as you can. Then you submit your ride to the mapmyride website and your entered in a daily drawing for a lot of cool prizes. Somehow, they rank you as if you rode the real tour based on some formula and criteria which are totally beyond me. If you submit a verified ride, i.e. via some GPS enabled device you get a chance to win a jersey based on your performance but I'm not that good of a rider although I will try to submit via a GPX file generated by everytrail.com via my blackberry.

I rode an easy 15 miler today and submitted it the Le Tour Challenge. My new Sigma computer worked flawlessly today. Hopefully I adjusted the magnet/sensor combo correctly and it will stay that way.

I put a new chain on the other day and it seemed to skip a couple of times when pedaling hard in a big gear. Indication that the cog set needs to be replaced too so I had Dana, the wrench over at Mad Dog Bikes order me one. It's hard to get a good 6 speed set for an oldie but goodie Raleigh like mine.

Today was the last good day before the hot and humids begin tomorrow, the 4th of July. Monday and Tuesday are supposed to get up in the 90s.

By the way, the computer said the ride was 15.1 miles, the GPS said it was 14.7 miles and when I exported it to mapmyride it said it was 11 miles!

My stats are:
RPMs: 77
Average HR: 123
Max HR: 142
Miles: 15.1
Time: 1:03
Cals: 960
Ave. Spd:14.26mph
Max Spd:33.7
Ascent:1083 ft
Descent:1129ft

Here's the route:

Feura Bush Loop

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Video premier! Quest for Righteous Pavement!

2010-07-02T21:02:00.005-04:00

Finally got a ride in today but my front wheel speed sensor for my new computer was acting up. Those sensor/magnet positions are sure fussy!

I rode an aerobic workout. Three 10 minute hard intervals followed by 5 minutes of easy spinning.

I got my handlebar camera mount reinstalled and took some video of a couple of favorite bits of roller road on the Dunkin' Donut route.

Here is my first roller at the end of Van Dyke before Meads:

This is going west on Game Farm Road before the bridge over the Beaver Dam.

This is going back east over the same section. Check that groovy (smooth) pavement! MMM-MMM-MMM!

If these videos don't play right, come here.

Another First!

2010-07-01T20:02:00.003-04:00

No ride again today. Got back from a meeting too late. But I did change my chain! Very important!

When I changed out my wheel yesterday because of a broken spoke, I thought it was a good time to check my chain wear with my handy Park Tool chain checker, excuse me, Chain Wear Indicator.

Well, lo and behold, it failed the test! It was 1% worn which is time to replace!

So when I went to Mad Dog Bikes today to get some spare spokes to repair my now spare wheel, I picked up a new chain.

I believe this was the first time I changed my chain. The new chain as well as the old has a master link which makes it easy to install and remove the chain without a chain tool but I still had to remove one link from the new chain to make it the correct length.

This was the first time I used the chain tool from my Park multi-tool. It worked great. In fact I think I like it better than my dedicated chain tool which is around here somewhere.

My old chain was just absolutely filthy. I have got to get better about keeping that thing clean. I am such a bad boy when it comes to maintenance. I only maintain it when it breaks!

My copy of Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance recommends wiping the chain down after every ride and lubing it. Then, next am after the lube has had a chance to soak in, wipe it down again before riding. That gets the excess oil off that has soaked through and pushed some of the inside dirt out with it. Just another chore to do besides getting all my gear on, filling my drink bottle and topping off the tires with air. Sigh. Patience is a virtue I am still developing.

I'm quite pleased with the addition of another skill in my wrenching repertoire, though. :-)

Home Groan

2010-06-30T18:16:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, rather than do a workout from Dave Ertl, I did a hard workout but a more informal one. This one is similar to the "stop sign" workout where I alternate sprinting between stop signs or intersections and resting between same. This, perhaps, mimics normal riding more than the timed intervals.

Having said that, it was probably a less intense workout than the Dave Ertl ones. :-)

Today, I rode an easy recovery ride with Mrs. MTBMan1. No hard ride tonight. I took a look at that wobbly rear wheel and sure enough, broken spoke! I thought that wheel was only a year old but I bought it after the 2008 Tour de Cure where I rode the 100K with 3 broken spokes! I released the rear brakes so they wouldn't rub. Then at the 42 mile mark, a volunteer wrench straightened the wheel out enough so I could finish by adjusting the tension on the remaining spokes.

Anyhow I don't feel TOO bad. The wheel is TWO years old and I am a little HEAVY and I do ride pretty HARD and it is very HILLY around here and BUMPY at times although they have resurfaced a lot of roads in the last couple of years.

I figured the quickest way to get back on the road was to buy a new wheel, which I did and I switched out my cassette (after taking the opportunity to clean it up pretty good) and put everything back together. Later I'll get some spare spokes and repair the other wheel so I'll have a good spare.

Also it seems my headset is binding (or the bearings are shot). Matt at Mad Dog Bicycle seems to think I should try loosening it up a bit first to see if that helps. A project for another day!

Great Expectations .... minor Disappoinment

2010-06-27T12:42:00.005-04:00

I told you that I am a pavement connoisseur and one of my pet peeves is bad pavement that doesn't get fixed when better roads nearby are repaved.

I was very happy a couple of weeks ago when I found that a bad stretch of Game Farm road had been recently paved and was interested in seeing how far it went and if the town also paved another road that I frequently ride that is really bad, Hurst Road.

On my weekday 1 hour rides, I don't have enough time to go further than the railroad tracks on Game Farm and Hurst is way beyond that besides and to check it out in the car would be, well ... how can I say ... uncool!

So that was my objective today. I had 2 hours for a ride before church, 6:30AM to 8:30 and I definitely wanted to check the last piece of Game Farm Road and Hurst Rd. Game Farm road from the tracks to where it ends on county route 308 is only 1/3 of a mile but it is very rough macadam with stones showing. It ends up at about a 6% grade so coming down it you can get going pretty good but it is a bone rattling ride.

Well, they didn't pave it. Boo-hoo. I was quite disappointed.

I continued on up Orchard Hill. They didn't repave that either (it could use it) but they did do some patches. Same thing on Hurst. No repave but a few patches on the worst spots. They could have done more.

Hurst Road ends on Clipp Rd which is actually pretty rough itself but it's more consistent and it's flat. Hurst has potholes and ruts in random spots which makes it hard to cut a decent line through at speed going down the hill which is up to a 7% grade in one spot.

On this ride I also had some trouble with a rubbing sound when I pedal hard out of the saddle on a hill. This was of some concern because there have been only 2 reasons for the rubbing sound in the past: 1. Rear wheel was loose in the dropouts or 2. Broken spokes! #2 is the one I was worried about and the rear wheel did look a little wobbly.

I stopped twice to make sure the wheel was centered in the dropouts and that the quick release was tight. I also did a spot check on the spokes and didn't find any broken ones although I did find some loose ones. That may account for the wobbliness. But it still made the rubbing noise. I finally figured out that it was the brake pads that were rubbing. All I needed to do was either push on the pads themselves or else flick the brake lever lightly to stop the noise. That was a relief. Although I should get those loose spokes tightened up.

It rained a little over half way through the ride. It wasn't supposed to. I guess God should have checked the report before he pulled the lever on today. Ha ha.

Terrific ride. A little over 2 hours and 29 miles. This was for endurance so it was a moderate pace. Average HR was 120bpm and max was 145. Burned about 1300 calories.

Here is the route:

endurance ride Sunday 6-27-2010

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Dread

2010-06-26T19:26:00.002-04:00

There are two things I dread, income tax time and changing my bike computer.

You may recall I have been having trouble with my bike computer. It keeps counting time and miles even when I stop riding, raising havoc with my average speed numbers. It thinks the wheels are still turning when they're not.

For father's day, I got a new one, a Sigma BC1606 DTS. The good news is, it's a different make and model than my old one. The bad news is, it's a different make and model than my old one. Therein lies the dread. I have to figure out how to install and use another bike computer.

This wouldn't be quite so bad but for the skimpy documentation, another of my pet peeves. It's all done in pictures. What little text there is has been translated into all 42,806 languages there are in the world. I'll be half way into trying to read a sentence before I realize I'm not on the English page.

This model happens to be a wireless one for both speed and cadence so I thought this would make it neater and easier and it does to a point.

It took some prolonged looking, at the components and then at the pictures and then back again. Sigma uses rubber O-rings, essentially elastic bands on steroids, to fasten their components to the bike although, to their credit, they provide the option to use wire ties. And I'm glad they did.
The O-rings are much quicker and easier than the wire ties ... when they work. Plus, if you need to fiddle with the positioning of the magnets and sensors (and believe me you do!) it's also much easier to do.

I hooked everything up and then spun the cranks and the front wheel to test. The cadence worked right out of the gate. No problem there. The speed sensor took a little fiddling to get it to work ... and then it didn't work ... more fiddling. Finally got it and went back inside to read more of the documentation ... how to work the functions. I saw that I was supposed to have used the thicker, more sturdy O-ring for the speed sensor so ... back outside. I tried to get the thick O-ring to fit the groove in the speed transmitter but it didn't seem right so I decided to use the wire ties.

Now of course, it didn't work again. More fiddling. Finally got it. I hope it stays working!

Now I have to familiarize myself with the functions and buttons on the new computer.

More dread.

I hope this thing is worth it!

Pacing

2010-06-25T20:17:00.002-04:00

Today I did an anaerobic workout from David Ertl's Training for the Busy Cyclist.

I enjoyed it.

With these different types of workouts, aerobic, anaerobic and hill/leg strength, I am learning to pace myself differently depending on the workout.

Here is the program for this workout. It mimics standing and blasting out of a corner on a crit.

1) Warm up for 10 minutes
2) stand and accelerate out of the saddle. then sit and continue to accelerate for 30 sec.
3) back off for 30 sec.
4) repeat 10 of these intervals (10 minutes)
5) rest easy pedal for 5 minutes
6) repeat 2 more of the 10 minute interval segments
7) spin easy for 5 minutes

I found that I could ride hardest of all during these 30 sec intervals because of the more generous rest times.

This is pretty fun finding out the various pacing techniques for the different types of riding. Learning more about my own body directly, by experience. Different from intellectual learning.

I averaged 130 bpm heart rate and hit a max of 159, seems to be a frequent number.

Hope to get a longer, 2+ hour ride in on Sunday AM.

How Hard is Too Hard?

2010-06-23T20:01:00.004-04:00

The last 2 high intensity workouts on the bike, I felt pretty wiped for the rest of the day. Monday, in fact, I didn't feel well at all.

I was therefore wondering if I was pushing it too hard. You're supposed to go as hard as you can during the hard interval portions of the workout but I'm just wondering about the age factor (I'm 62) and the weight factor (ahem ... well, let's just say I'm not at my optimal weight). Dave Ertl who wrote the eBook "Training for the Busy Cyclist" is a "masters athlete" himself. Love that term "masters" instead of "senior". So it implies he's older but it doesn't say how old he is. Of course, every single person that writes on fitness says see your doctor first, i.e. don't sue me if you drop dead.

So, anyway, should I work so hard I throw up, keel over, hit a tree? Or less than that. There's working as hard as you can really, i.e. can't physically do no mo' and there's working until you decide you aren't willing to endure any more pain. 2 different levels really.

Even if I choose the latter of the 2, I guess if I feel sick afterwards, that's too much. Of if that's a consistent problem, check it out with the doc.

For today, I debated just riding for fun, no training objective or doing intervals but just not working so hard. I opted for the latter but I wound up training hard anyway. I guess I felt good enough. Not throw-up level but hard nevertheless. As a matter of fact, I rode harder in the second half than in the first. I guess I got warmed up. :-)

This was one of Ertl's 1 hour aerobic workouts and it went like this:
- warm up 10 minutes
- ride as hard as you can for 15 seconds
- "rest" by spinning easy for 15 seconds
- slam 15, chill 15 for 20 minutes!
- rest (spin easy) for 5 minutes
- slam 15 and chill 15 again for 20 minutes
- cooldown and home: 5 minutes

Needless to say, you don't recover completely in 15 seconds and your heart rate gradually works up to 85-90%MHR. But it's doable. It's a little tricky keeping track of the time. Those 15 second segments go by pretty fast. Especially the rest ones! ;-)

Also, on this route you have to deal with intersections, corners, stop signs, traffic, etc. so those don't always line up with 15 second intervals. Usually it means the "rest" portions are a few seconds longer (oh, darn!).

You know what? I really enjoy these training workouts. It makes the ride interesting otherwise I get pretty bored riding Dunkin' Donut every day. I felt pretty good today so I don't know what happened Monday. Maybe something I ate (or didn't eat).

And oh that sweet, sweet pavement on Game Farm Road! MMM-MMM-MMM! Zip right across that concrete bridge with nary a blip either direction.

Tomorrow: rest or easy ride and then for Friday, an anerobic or hill/leg strength training ride.

Here are my numbers for today:
cadence: 69RPM
average speed: 14.9mph
Distance: 14.7 mi
average HR: 137
max HR: 159
calories burned: 902

Also, I spent 40 minutes in Zone 3 (138-173bpm or 80 to 100%MHR). I'm quite pleased about that!

Go Back, Jack, Do it Again!

2010-06-21T21:46:00.002-04:00

Today was another intensity workout from David Ertl's eBook "Training for the Busy Cyclist" from roadbikerider.com.

This was a hill/leg strength workout for 45 minutes and it goes like this:

1. 10 min: warm up
2. Find a hill about 1/4 mile long and 6% grade. Choose a big gear that you can push no faster than 60 RPMs and slam it up the hill!
3. Chill for 3 minutes (i.e. recover with easy spinning, mostly back down the hill)
4. Do it again.
5. Do it as many times as you can for 30 minutes
6. Cool down for 5 minutes.

The problem with this around here is finding a hill that's 1/4 mile long, 6% grade and within 10 minutes ride of my house.

The best I could do, which I don't think was too bad, was a 1/4 mile of hill about 12 minutes from the house (I think I can cut this down by doing a different route). The grade, however, rather than 6% ranged from flat to 15%. Best I can do. If I have to drive somewhere, well that blows the 45 minutes to 1 hr that I have available after work out the window. Tricky.

My average HR was 124 bpm and my max was 158. Not as hard of a workout as the aerobic and anerobic hours that I did the last 2 times.

If I get to workout tomorrow, I will do some upper body strength training at home or at the gym.

The search for righteous pavement!

2010-06-19T11:18:00.002-04:00

How could I have forgotten about this?! They paved the rest of Game Farm Road! Halleluiah!

I am a connoisseur of pavement!

Last year, the town paved a lot of rural roads around here. One of them, Game Farm Road, which is on my regular "Dunkin' Donut" route was partially paved. The part that they didn't pave was just terrible. One of the roughest in the county. Not potholes but it was that old style macadam that was a good percentage stones. Every year more and more of the asphalt was leached out of the surface leaving more and more stones until it was like a cobblestone road. Bad for bikes, rollerbladers and skateboarders.

After this winter it was really bad. Then, one time when I was going back down the road, it's a pretty quick downhill, there is a bridge over a pond that is surfaced with concrete. The transition from the asphalt to the concrete is abrupt and I had found a spot on the lefthand side that was worn down enough to ride over at speed without much of a jolt.

This time over, when I hit that spot I nearly broke my wrists! I was sure my front wheel was going to be destroyed too. The asphalt had been gouged out right alongside the lip of the concrete so you almost had to stop to go over it. !#$!#$!# WHO DID THAT!!! WHY DON'T THEY FIX THAT PAVEMENT!!!

Everytime I hit that section afterwards I grumbled about it. Then I noticed a small dashed white line newly painted in the middle of the road. And then I noticed that the asphalt next to the railroad crossing was deliberately gouged out too. Hmmmm. Maybe they're going to pave the road? Almost too much to hope for!

On Tuesday's training ride, they patched the bumps on the bridge and the tracks. Better but ....

Then on yesterday's ride, hooray! That has made my year! I will now be happy for a long time. Weeks. Maybe months!

Now, if I find they've paved Hurst road, I will go into a euphoric trance forever. That must be the absolute bone-shakingest , bike breakingest worst road in the county. It's a fast downhill and so rough and inconsistent it's impossible to find a reasonable track through it. The last time I went on it I thought boy if there's anything loose on this bike this will be when it shakes loose and sure enough my computer transmitter came loose and slid down my fork.

There's this other road, Tygert, out in Voorheesville that is a rougher surface but at least it's consistent. I think it was just poured that way with a lot of stones of a particular size.

Anyhow, I love that stretch of Game farm road. Either way there is this "S" curve on a hill that is so much fun to do fast and now it'll be even funner!

What is sore?

2010-06-18T21:28:00.003-04:00

I started doing my training based on the eBook from Roadbikerider.com by David Ertl entitled "Training for the Busy Cyclist". Tuesday I did a hard ride, a one hour aerobic workout. Wednesday I was feeling it, Thursday I was feeling it, and today I was still feeling it!

You're supposed to rest after a hard workout until the soreness goes away completely. I'm not sure if I was really sore today. I mean, I was definitely feelin' it in the quads especially. If I actually wait until I'm not feeling the results of the hard workout, it'll be a week! I guess that's the old person effect. It takes us older folks longer to recover.

Anyhow, it was a real nice day. Too nice not to ride. I debated doing another training ride or just take it easy. I did the training ride.

This one is from the eBook and it's called an anerobic ride. It was for one hour. Here's how it goes: warm up-10 min, ride hard as you can-2min, ride not-so-hard-but-not-easy-1min, repeat 3 times, chill for 5 minutes, repeat the whole sequence 3 times.

I used my old faithful 1 hour training route, Dunkin' Donut. It's not perfect but it's familiar. I know what's coming. That's important because I'm working so hard physically that it's hard to think or make decisions.

I'm glad I did the training rather than the easy ride. I usually am. It's not only physically good but there's the sense of accomplishment and the fact that you're getting better.

I may not get an endurance ride in this weekend but the next training ride will probably be hill climbing/leg strength.

getting with the program

2010-06-16T06:38:00.004-04:00

I recently downloaded this eBook from roadbikerider.com by David Ertl titled, "Training for Busy Cyclists". This is right up my alley. While I don't particularly consider myself an overly "busy" person, I am frustrated by my limited amount of time that I have to ride.

The premise of this eBook is that especially with limited riding time you have make every ride count. Every ride must have a training objective. While this is no revelation for those of us who have been riding for awhile and are literate and aware of the cycling literature available both in traditional print media and on the web, it does help me to have a "coach" even if that coach communicates somewhat generically to the cycling masses through electronic text.

I also find it useful that David Ertl supplies examples of training regimens depending on how much time you have for each ride. The idea, again pretty standard, is that you workout really hard 2 or 3 times a week followed by days of rest and then, if you can, do an endurance ride of at least 2 hours on the weekend.

You can say I started this on Sunday with an almost exactly 2 hour ride amongst the hills and rollers of south Bethlehem (NY).

Yesterday, after work, I squeezed in a 1 hour hard ride after work and before dinner which pushed my limits.

The plan was this: 10 minute warm-up, 10 minutes of slamming it, 5 minutes rest, 10 min slam, 5 rest, 10 slam, 10 minute cool-down and end. Total, 1 hour.

I was able to ride harder for the 10 minute intervals than I expected. As you may remember, I have recently been riding the 2 miles of Meads Lane up around 85-87% of maximum heart rate and thinking that was pretty hard. I don't know how long that takes but it's not 10 minutes. Yesterday I was hitting around 155 to 166 bpm, 89 to 96% MHR over the 10 minute interval. Harder than I thought I could sustain. It wasn't easy. I was really panting hard and by the third interval almost whining with every breath. It's not at the level where you can't do anymore but you don't want the pain anymore. And I don't mean any bad pain like chest pain or joint pain but leg muscle burn!

I rode "Dunkin' Donut" for this training venture and it's not the best route for it. There are stops, intersections and traffic during each 10 minute segment but it's hard to find straight unbroken stretches of road outside of the state thruway where you can ride uninterrupted for 10 minutes.

Today I was somewhat sore. Not terribly so but enough. The next 1 hour workout in David Ertl's book (you don't have to do them in order) consists of 15 second intervals followed by 15 seconds of rest over a period of 20 minute segments! Sounds like that may be a hard one to do on the road because of the need to frequently check the time. I may do that one in the gym on the stationary.

indicators

2010-06-13T21:06:00.002-04:00

Indicators that I've gained a few pounds, that is!

I don't need to weigh myself. Or even look in the mirror.

1. pants fit too tight
2. geezer neck is gone
3. can't breath and clip toenails at the same time

Today I have a new one: when pedaling in the drops, my thighs are contacting my abdomen!

Sigh.

At least I'm riding.

Took a 2 hour ride today. I was going to go with Charles but he couldn't go until later. Too late for me. So I went on my own at about 3 o'clock.

It was an iffy day, weather-wise. When I started out it was just misting lightly. Soon it stopped altogether although it started misting again a couple of times but for the most part, it was a dry if gloomy ride. That's OK. I like it gloomy. :-)

Rode 28 miles on all country roads. As I've said elsewhere, Sunday morning is the best ride as far as quiet and minimal traffic and Sunday afternoon is 2nd best.

Here are my numbers for this ride:

Cycle - 2.1 hours - 06/13/2010

Workout:

Type: Cycle
Date: 06/13/2010
Time: 15:00:00
Total Time: 2:04:39.00
Average Heart rate: 126
Max Heart rate: 158
Calories: 1508
Distance: 28.5 miles
Average Speed: 13.72 mph
Max Speed: 33.7 mph
Ascent: 2,041 ft
Descent: 2,044 ft
Average Cadence: 71

And here is the route:

cycle June 13th 2010

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Rainy day!

2010-06-12T21:44:00.002-04:00

I mean rain ALL day. It's still raining now at 10PM-ish.

I probably wouldn't have ridden anyway. Too much going on.

We painted the BR ceiling and one wall in the living room. That makes me feel old. All the bending and squatting and stretching into weird contortions (when cutting in).

Then we went to a goodbye party for a friend who is going to work overseas for a year.

But then we did get a good walk in. Almost an hour. Once again I forgot: 1. Heart rate monitor and 2. The GPS so I don't have any fun numbers. It was a great walk though. It did stop raining almost completely for the duration and I love walking on a rainy day. It was so lush and green. Mrs. MTBMan1 and I had fun talking about everything under the sun (er ... clouds) so it went fast. I could hardly believe it was almost an hour.

I hope I can at least get an hour ride in tomorrow. Supposed to rain tho.

ride for fun

2010-06-11T19:50:00.003-04:00

Finally got some nice weather today and took a one hour ride after work.
The temp was perfect. Just warm enough for it to feel good riding downhill in the shade.

This ride had no training goal. I just rode for the joy of it. Haven't even looked at my numbers yet.

I downloaded this ebook from roadbikerider.com called "Training for Busy Cyclists" by David Ertl, a USA Cycling coach.

It's for riders that don't have more than 5 hours a week to ride. It's right up my alley. His premise is, the less time you have to train the more intensely you have to train. No big revelation there but he does provide some guidance and workout ideas to help put this into practice. Intervals primarily. Like my "Stop Sign Game" I described in a previous post.

This will work out well for me as I have generally 3 days where I can do a 1 hour ride after work during the week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I can usually put in a 2 hour ride one day on the weekend or if not then 1 hour each of Saturday and Sunday. That leaves Tues and Thurs for rest days.

A 2 hour or more ride on the weekend would be good though, for endurance, as 1 hour rides don't give you that. They're for strength and speed.

Rides like today are considered "junk" miles as they have no training value but I consider fun to have some value of it's own. :-)

Cold!

2010-06-10T20:27:00.002-04:00

It's been unseasonably cool around here of late. I think that's great! I love the cool weather. I got a little sub-cerebral endorphin hit from it. It makes me think of skiing. :-)

You know how "they" say it takes 21 days to change a habit (addiction)? Well, I didn't count the days but after my last day of skiing I was kind of strung out for awhile, in mourning if you will, about the end of ski season. There was that loss. I really felt something was missing to not be able to look forward to my weekly day of skiing.

As time passed and I ramped up my bike riding, that strong sense of something missing began to fade into the background. Now I find myself really excited about riding again. This is becoming a cyclical (no pun intended) thing with me. You know how winter is traditionally a "death" of sorts and spring heralds new life. Well winter for me is the transition time between the end of skiing and the ramp up of cycling. Spring is when I've really kicked into the groove on the bike and I'm looking forward to my daily ride.

I remember last fall when we set the clocks back and I no longer had enough daylight for riding after work. It was kind of sad. That was my second "winter" period. Fortunately these winters are only a few weeks long.

I really need to hunker down and do the gym thing when that happens. Skiing one day a week is not enough for me to maintain a fitness level throughout the winter.

On another note, I had a dream the other night that I was in Texas down by the ocean and there were these huge mountainous swells of waves and suddenly it was cold and the waves were frozen and covered with snow. I no sooner thought "I should have brought my skis" than there were people all over the place skiing!

What's up with that!?

Now I remember!

2010-06-08T20:43:00.000-04:00

Now I remember what I wanted to talk about Sunday's ride. The wind.

There was a pretty hefty wind that night. In fact, we had some humungus rain earlier in the day. I guess the storm was worse than I thought. On the ride, I saw one big tree down inside somebody's roof!

So yeah, it was windy. A big front came through. Turning it from hot to cool. I was talking on the phone on Friday to some guy from Dallas and he asked me what the weather was like up here in upstate NY. I said hot, 83 degrees. He laughed and said that ain't hot!

Anyhow, it got real cool after the front came through. I didn't check but it felt like it was in the 60s.

I rode one of my usual routes, a loop. Because of the wind I rode reverse my usual direction which traverses Meads Lane which has a western exposure. When it's windy, the wind is usually from the west so if you ride Meads from south-east to north-west, as I usually do, you get the wind in the face. I hate that. One of the things I forgot to say about today's ride is that I had a headwind. Riding into the wind makes me angry for some reason. Especially if I'm trying to do a hard workout or make good speed or something. As I've said before, it's personal. It's as if the wind has a will and it's opposing you. Just when you're thinking it's bad ... it gets worse! GRRRR!!!

In any event, it was a successful strategy and I had a nice tailwind all the way down Meads. As usually happens when you have a tailwind you don't even notice it because you don't feel it. You're going along with it. I forgot all about the wind and only realized it in retrospect. My normal mode when I'm going east on Meads is to slam it and get my speed as high as I can for as long as I can. It's hard work. This time I daydreamed my way down Meads and couldn't even remember riding it except for the hairpin turn down Van Dyke at the end. I didn't even notice my speed and couldn't have cared less. It was too pleasant!

Now that's a good tailwind! You won't hear me complain about that.

The Stop Sign Game!

2010-06-07T19:23:00.003-04:00

Took a ride today. Beautiful day. Clear, dry, cool. After a good warm up, I decided to do "the Stop Sign Game".

The Stop Sign Game is where you sprint between stop signs and then rest between the next set of stop signs. A way to add interest, vary a ride on the same route, get a real workout and practice pacing yourself.

So, for example, if it's only 100 yards between one set of stop signs, I'm going to go all out as hard as I can go. But if it's a 2 mile segment, obviously I can't go that hard for the whole section. If I want to go a consistent pace, I'll have to moderate it quite a bit and learn how hard I can maintain for that long of a stretch.

I will alternate between sprinting and resting so if on another ride on the same route, I start the game at a different segment, the previous short sprints will now be short rests and the long rests will be long sprints. You get the picture.

It was fun and definitely a good workout.

On this particular ride I was wondering what my "anerobic threshold" was. I was wondering this because on the 2 mile Mead's Lane section I usually can maintain 152bpm heart rate or so and at this point I'm doing a pretty rhythmic "huffing". Not gasping or panting for breath but definitely not inclined to "chat" easily. Harder than this point is "real hard".

On another note, I took a ride yesterday, just under an hour. My first since Friday when I came down with some kind of stomach "bug". My stomach still hurt a little bit but I was well enough to ride. Anyway, I didn't write about it and do you know, I can't remember a thing about it although I know I had something I wanted to say at the time.

That would be one good use for a digital recorder. To take notes during the ride. It's not good enough quality to do a running monologue for a podcast because of the wind noise, but would work as far as helping me to remember what I wanted to say later. Still need an easy way to stop and start the recording. I don't know if voice activation would work because of the constant wind noise.

In lieu of that, I really should sit down right after the ride and write ... after my snack, that is! ;-)

No Way!

2010-06-05T18:27:00.002-04:00

... was I going to miss riding, that is. I rode yesterday after work even though I was coming down with some kind of intestinal virus that was giving me cramps and the runs all day.

I was glad I went 'cause today I definitely did not feel up to it. And it wouldn't have been wise anyway.

After I rode, I didn't even feel good enough to blog about it.

It was a pretty good ride. Because I wasn't feeling good, I intended to take an easy ride but typically I wound up pushing it a bit. I rode my Dunkin' Donut ride which starts out pretty flat but ends up in a series of rollers. It's just over 15 miles.

I was pleased with the ride and my numbers. Average HR was 135 and my average speed was 15.5mph.

New Tire!

2010-06-02T21:15:00.001-04:00

I bought a new tire last night at the Down Tube Bicycle Shop in Albany. They only had a $16.95 one which I thought was too cheap, I mean it looked cheap, and a $44.95 one. After much consideration, I went with the expensive one. It was more than I expected to pay but tires are literally "where the rubber meets the road." Tires, tubes and flat prevention and stable handling are probably the most important safety considerations in cycling. The new tire was a Bontrager "Race Lite" 27x1-1/4" and it has a Kevlar belt.

Here is the old tire. You can see the cord showing here:

If you look carefully, you can see daylight through this pinhole here:

I should have checked the tire out more carefully before this. That's one of the things "they" tell you to check before each ride.
I kept getting flats, including in my brand new, 1 week old tube. I wonder why?!

No ride ... new tire

2010-06-01T21:30:00.002-04:00

No ride today but I did get a new tire!

I told you how I kept getting flats in the rear tire. When I finally took a good look at it, I saw that it was down to cord and had a hole clear through. Not good!

Plan for tomorrow, if the weather cooperates: change tire after work. Ride after supper. Probably not a long one because I am getting together with a friend of mine at 7 but a ride nonetheless!

I should probably get new brake pads too. I would like to have more stopping power than I've been getting lately. Especially when it's wet.

But I'm psyched today. New tire! Woo-hoo!

Pilgrimage

2010-05-31T19:25:00.010-04:00

Today, Memorial Day 2010, Mrs. MTBMan1 and I just took a walk.

We drove about an hour east into Massachusetts and to the summit of Mt. Greylock where we hiked a part of the Thunderbolt Trail.

It was kind of a pilgrimage for us.

In case you don't know (you probably don't), the Thunderbolt Trail is one of the oldest ski trails in the country and in 1936 hosted the United States Eastern Alpine Ski Championships. For years it's been unused until this past ski season when it was resurrected for a race.

There is a movie about it, Purple Mountain Majesty which documents the history of the trail and helped to inspire it's recent renaissance.

Unfortunately, (stupidly), I failed to bring a GPS or heart rate monitor. We would have liked to know how far we hiked, elevation and calories burned in particular.

I'm guesstimating we hiked about 3 miles and at the steep grade and rough terrain that's sayin' something. Part of the hike was along the Appalachian trail.

It was great to get out in the fresh mountain air and enjoy the breezes and vistas and reminisce about last ski season.

Here are a few pics from the day.

Yours truly at the summit

Certain notable points in the trail are designated by signs

A look down the Thunderbolt Trail from "The Big Bend"

Typical of the trail back up to the summit:

Hills ... Love 'em ... Hate 'em!

2010-05-30T20:54:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I dread climbing and sometimes I love it.

Actually I was really looking forward to the hills today. I haven't climbed in this particular area all season. This was the second time I've ever done this climb and it seemed easier today.

It was certainly the perfect day and my favorite time slot. Sunday morning, early before everybody's up for the day. Charles now lives about 2 miles from my house so he met me at 6:30 and off we went. It was about 58 degrees, calm and no rain predicted.

As you can see from the graph below, it's mostly climbing for the first 16 miles. Definitely all climbing from the 10 mile mark where the climb into the Thatcher Park area begins. At about 11.5 miles is the start of Indian Ledge Road, today's big climb.

I was surprised at my heart rate numbers. I averaged 130(75% MHR) and topped out at 155 (89%MHR). Low for me for a hard climb like that. I have a theory that I run a lower heart rate in the morning than in the afternoon and evening. One time I took a group ride around 6:30PM and was shocked at my relatively high HR numbers. And I didn't feel that I was working particularly hard either.

My computer for some reason measured about 7 miles less than the actual mileage. I'm sure it had to do with the fact that the sending unit got shaken loose at a particularly rough downhill and I had to stop and reposition it. So my mileage and time numbers are not particularly reliable. The GPS reported a high speed at one point of 58 mph! I doubt that although I got going pretty good on the way back down from summit. Nothing quite like a long downhill run after you've earned it!

Almost back to my house I nearly skidded out on a sharp turn. It felt like a flat in the rear. Sure enough the tire was soft but not completely flat. That was a new tube that I just installed last weekend on a ride. After I got home, I patched the tire. Upon close inspection I can see that my rear tire is shot. Cord is showing in some spots and there is a hole clear through the tire! Time for a new one. My LBS isn't open again until Wednesday so I may be riding one of the mountain bikes till then unless I can find a 27" tire in Albany on Tuesday (Monday's a holiday).

Here are my numbers:
Average heart rate: 130
Maximum heart rate: 155
Total ride time: 2:34
Total ascent: 2854 feet
Total descent: 2835 feet
Cadence: 64 rpm

And here is the route I call simply, Indian Ledge:

indian ledge

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Can't brag about this one!

2010-05-29T18:58:00.003-04:00

Today I rode with my friend Brad and his wife Jaime and their 2 little kids. Brad and Jaime were on a tandem mountain bike and the kids were being towed in a trailer. Brad was the "puller". The bike alone weighs about 50lbs.

It was an easy ride for me. With their weight, they made good time going down hills but of course were much slower going up. Brad was a pretty good racer with an Air Force team in Italy a few years back but he's out of training now but I have to give him credit. We went up Orchard hill which isn't that long but it has a few steep sections. I certainly couldn't have done what he did. Nor would I even attempt it. ;-)

Brad and Jaime are planning on doing the tandem thing with the kids in the trailer for a 50 mile benefit for Love146 which I will also be doing so that's what they're training for.

They usually do a 26 miler but after orchard hill Brad was fried and opted to turn back with me. I wound up doing 19 miles and had a really invigorating but not too hard ride.

I hurt for Brad. He's very ambitious attempting this. Of course he's only 28 but you can still hurt yourself.

Here are my numbers:

Here is the route we took:

Voorheesville 1-1/2 hr. loop

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Why Bother?

2010-05-28T21:19:00.002-04:00

Weighing myself, that is.

I can feel the "extra" when I bend down to tie my shoe or fasten my pants. I know it's not good.

I'm a numbers/graph type of guy but I like to see the line go down not up.

It's like doing my personal finances. It's fun when I'm flush with dough but when I know things are tight, I'm reluctant to do the budget or cash flow.

It's not about regular exercise. I have no problem there. It's just about eating. The body doesn't lie. You take in more calories than you burn ... you gain. Simple. Sure, it's harder for some of us than others, that metabolism thing ... some people can't gain a pound to save their lives ... but no use crying over it.

It is what it is.

Quickie

2010-05-27T21:30:00.005-04:00

I did it again.

Today was a day with no expectation of getting any kind of workout in. I worked a little late plus I had a meeting at 5:30 to 7.

When I got out of the meeting at 7, hmm, it seemed a little bit light. Like I might have time for a quick ride.

So that's what I did. When I got back to the house, I changed in record time grabbed my gear and was moving on the bike by 7:09.

I took what I call the "short loop", 7.9 miles-ish, which of course traverses Meads Lane, one of my favorite roads.

Once again, as I did yesterday, I tried a high but not maxed effort over the 2 mile length of Meads. 152 bpm or higher which puts me in the 88% to 90% of maximum heart rate range. This is sustainable. At least over that distance. I hit a high of 159 bpm or 91% of max. Again, I'm not gasping for breath but breathing pretty hard and regular. Puffing, I call it. And my legs are working hard but not screaming for relief. I'm maintaining a good speed and cadence too. I'm liking this.

Here are today's numbers:

And here is the route:

meads - short loop

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No Sprint

2010-05-26T19:26:00.003-04:00

As promised, I did not ride or go to the gym yesterday. No time. That's OK with me. If I can do 6 out of 7 I'm down wi' dat! And if life gets in the way so I can't do that, well, I'm not going to obsess over it. It was a nice, and I think, well deserved rest.

Today they were predicting possible violent storms in the afternoon so I thought I might wind up at the gym but it was almost clear skies when I got out of work although in the 90s.

But hey, no big deal. I rode a 100k when the temps were in the 90s with 3 broken spokes on my rear wheel. No big deal. And I'm in better shape now than I was then.

I rode one of my usual after work routes which all seem to end up traversing Mead's Lane. But I tried something a little different. Rather than doing 2, 3 or 4 all out, pedal to the metal sprints. I tried to find a pace I could sustain for a long distance. And that seemed to be about 88% MHR or 152 bpm. I maxed out at 159 bpm, 91% MHR. At that pace I was working pretty hard, I wasn't gasping for breath but huffin' and puffin' in a pretty consistent rhythm. I wouldn't be inclined to carry on a conversation, let's say.

That worked well. It's much more pleasant than those all out sprints and I got a pretty good average speed (for me) of 15.2 mph.

Now if I can just lose 20 lbs. I'll be flyin'! ;-)

Here are today's numbers:

And here is today's route:

meads - medium loop via poplar drive at EveryTrail

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I'm an addict!

2010-05-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

I said yesterday that I definitely needed to give my butt a break and maybe just take a walk and go to the gym to do an upper body workout.

Wrong!

I went for a bike ride. :-)

Especially when the weather is this gorgeous I just can't not do a bike ride. But seriously, I really need to work on these arms!

Yesterday was a real recovery ride but today I hit it moderately. Only 2 or 3 sprints and then just rode how I felt. Which was pretty good.

My average speed was 15mph which I was surprised at 'cause I wasn't really trying for speed particularly. I'm happy about that. I hope my computer is OK. It never agrees with the GPS app on the BlackBerry. The GPS always shorts me as to mileage and speed. Actually I know the GPS is wrong at a couple of spots. My highest speed on this loop ALWAYS is the end of Van Dyke where there is a dip down then up and I usually slam it to see how fast I can go. I didn't do that today but I did hunker down onto the drops to get the aerodynamic effect and I still got 34 mph out of it. My all time best on that dip is 38 mph and change. One time the computer showed 44 but I know that was a malfunction!

The GPS showed other spots as my high speed that weren't even downhills. Uh-uh. But I'm still happy with EveryTrail GPS because it automatically maps my route. Fun and a real time saver.

Tomorrow I will definitely take off because it is my late day coming home from work and I don't have time to ride.

I can live with that.

Toast!

2010-05-23T20:20:00.001-04:00

My legs are toast! After that 3 hour ride yesterday. A 3 hour ride is generally no big deal to me so I was surprised at how fried I was. Maybe I've just forgotten how it feels since it's been so long since I'd done one. (first this year?)

All my rides lately have been 1 hour or under with few exceptions. After I got home from the ride I mowed the lawn and installed air conditioners in the house so that may have contributed to my fatigue.

It didn't seem that bad while I was riding. Even up to the end with it's couple of big hills.

Today, I felt was a good day to completely abstain from riding and to recover as much as possible but by suppertime I just didn't feel right. Kind of out of sorts. Couldn't clear the cobwebs out of my head. That sort of thing.

So I decided to take a recovery ride. The more I thought about it, the better I felt. But I promised myself "Real recovery ride". No hammering trying to catch somebody who passes me or trying to maintain a high cadence on the upside of the rollers.

I think I did pretty well for once. My average HR was 100 and I managed to keep it below that for much of the ride. I tried to keep my cadence above 80 rpms when possible without going too hard up the inclines.

The only thing that really needs a break is my seat! Maybe tomorrow I will just take a walk and work my arms at the gym!

I won't bore you with today's numbers. They're pretty unexciting, as they're intended to be.

Here is the route which I call "Meads - short loop". Only about 7 miles and change.

meads - short loop

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