July 2016 Bike Cycling Bicycling Challenge

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Happy Canada Day from a Canadian-Australian.

Saturday 2 July -- 1186 metres (3891.076) of climbing, in 81.8 km of cycling, completed within 5.5 hours (elapsed time) and 4:35 moving time for an average speed of 17.8 km/h (moving time).

The ride included a couple Category 4 climbs with various climbs in the 13-16% grade range.

Starting temperature 12°C with a high of 14.7°C halfway through the ride. We had a headwind on the way out and tailwind on the way back, for the most part, with some odd, very chilly gusts now and then. It was mostly cloudy and looked like it was going to rain several times, but fortunately, that didn't happen. On the way back we were sure we were going to get caught in a rain squall, but it passed behind us and we just got a small blast of it.

We started the ride about 12:30 pm so, since the sun sets at about 4:45, it was pitch black by the time we finished. A little night riding practice. For some reason climbing is so much more difficult in the dark.

And we stopped for lunch at the halfway point. I had been looking forward to that, but unfortunately they were out of many choices (busy day what with the federal election), and what we ate (paninis with lots of spinach) didn't sit well at all. I was about 1 km out of the town on the way back when I started feeling very unsettled. And then about 8 or 9 km later we started a long, long climb (one of the cat 4 climbs) and by the time I got to the top, I was not feeling at all well. Fighting to keep things down. However, I took an electrolyte tablet and a Zantac, and that eased things a bit.

The route mainly followed the coast so we had lots of beautiful views of water and green hills.

There were lots of birds around ... a large flock of black cockatoos filled a tree next to where we parked at the start of the ride and we had to dodge and weave between the pine cones they were dropping from the tree ... we were being bombed! And during the ride, I spotted herons, oyster catchers, small gulls, large Pacific gulls, a cormorant airing its wings ... and most spectacular was a massive wedge-tail eagle which took flight from a tree next to the road, and flew across, right in front of Rowan. I don't think I've ever seen them that close, but Rowan has because they come onto the property where he works. In fact, just yesterday, he rescued a young one which had flown through the net over the orchard, and then had become stuck inside.

Overall, it was a good, strenuous, training ride on a beautiful but quite hilly route.

Oh, and I wore my new winter cycling boots for the first time. They're very comfortable but I will have to do something about drafts coming in around my ankles. And ... I need to install a cleat!! I forgot all about that and so had to ride with my platform pedals the whole way!!

Machka9 wrote: »

Elevation profile:

Machka9 wrote:

Review ...
Distances include cycling + walking
March: 489.8 km (304.3 miles) = 38 hours 4 min
April: 491.94 km (305.6 miles) = 43 hours 6 min
May: 361.81 km (224.8 miles) = 35 hours 50 min
June: 569.53 km (353.9 miles) = 41 hours 53 min
July: 230.7 km (143.35 miles) = 32 hours 45 min
Aug: 211.3 km (131.3 miles) = 28 hours 8 min
Sep: 306.7 km (190.6 miles) = 35 hour 2 min
Oct: 441.82 km (274.5 miles) = 47 hours 43 min
Nov: 660.21 km (410.23 miles) = 60 hours 41 min
Dec: 499.91 km (282.8 miles) = 54 hours 56 min
Jan: 864.79 km (537.35 miles) = 65 hours 36 min
Feb: 470.53 km (292.4 miles) = 40 hours 39 min
March: 917.73 km (570.2 miles) = 66 hours 13 min
April: 417.83 km (259.6 miles) = 40 hours 23 min
May: 267.09 km (165.9 miles) = 36 hours 10 min
June 552.1 km (343 miles) = 54 hours 48 min

Well, let's see ... last July my distance and time took a nose-dive. Hopefully this year will be better than that!
July 2 - 81.8 km cycling (250 min)
July 3 - 32.1 km cycling (100 min)
____________________________________________
Totals:
July Cycling Outside: 113.9 km (350 min)
July Cycling Inside: 0 min
July Walking: 2.5 km (30 min)
July Stairs: 30 flights (24 min)
July Time Total: 404 min = 6 hours 44 min
July Distance Total: 116.4 km = 72.3 miles

July 9 - 100 km cycling (315 minutes)
July 12 - 4 km walking (50 min) + 15 flights of stairs (12 min)+ 45 min on my bicycle on the trainer + about 5 min of core work/weightlifting

Last week, I was battling food poisoning acquired at lunch on the 81.8 km mentioned above ... and then an unrelated allergic reaction to an antibiotic. I had all sorts of plans for great workouts last week ... and barely managed to get some walking in.

Then we went up north for a 3-day weekend and were intending to do 3 days of cycling, but the weather had different plans. It's winter here and very wet, cold, and unpredictable. But we did get one good ride in! And it was a good ride ... the fastest 100 km I've done in years!

Back on the trainer this week.
____________________________________________
Totals:
July Cycling Outside: 213.9 km (665 min)
July Cycling Inside: 45 min
July Walking: 34.4 km (425 min)
July Stairs: 140 flights (112 min)
July Weightlifting: 20 min
July Time Total: 1267 min = 21 hours 7 min
July Distance Total: 248.3 km = 154.3 miles

July 13 - 3 km walking (35 min) + 15 flights of stairs (12 min) + 50 min on my bicycle on the trainer + about 10 min of core work/weightlifting
July 14 - 1 km walking (12 min) + 30 flights of stairs (24 min) + 54 min on my bicycle on the trainer + about 10 min of core work/weightlifting

Me on my trainer and my husband on rollers ... at least we're getting some sort of cycling in.
____________________________________________
Totals:
July Cycling Outside: 213.9 km (665 min)
July Cycling Inside: 194 min
July Walking: 38.4 km (472 min)
July Stairs: 185 flights (148 min)
July Weightlifting: 40 min
July Time Total: 1519 min = 25 hours 19 min
July Distance Total: 252.3 km = 156.8 miles

Saturday 16 July -- 164.9 km training ride.

We did a 200K mid-June, and wanted to do a long ride mid-July too, so we decided to ride a century today.

Plan A took us to a location that got snow earlier this week and then flooded. We decided to do a different route.

Plan B had us doing a Y-shaped route, starting at the bottom of the Y and going out the left side first, then the right, and back to the bottom of the Y. But mid-ride we changed our minds, and decided to do a section in the middle of the Y twice rather than the right segment. That worked out all right.

Our route started with a long climb up and over the hill into the city. Then the middle section of the route was relatively flat, by comparison. And the route ended with a long climb up and over the hill to our suburb.

It was about 12.5°C when we started, got to a high of 16.4°C, and then cooled down to 8.3°C by the end of the day ... with some particularly cold spots on the last climb and during that descent, after dark. But, for a change, it was sunny all day! In fact, it had something of a spring-like feel. It's still the middle of winter, but after all the cold and miserable weather we've had, it's nice to have a spring-like day. But it was windy ... 22-30 km/h with gusts as high as 48 km/h.

We started the ride about 8:30 am, after the 7:00-8:10 am recap of last night's live coverage of the TDF Time Trial. Priorities!

Moments after we started, I had trouble with my cassette shifters. Sometimes I couldn't shift ... the shifter would move freely but nothing would happen. Sometimes when I would try to shift into a smaller ring, both shifters (brake and shifter) would move, and nothing would happen. More frequently, I could do the shift, but the shifter wouldn't return. I decided I would just deal with it until we got into the city.

We climbed up and over into the city and stopped for a quick break before riding out the Cycleway. Shortly after we got going on the Cycleway, we stopped at a hardware store to get oil to see if that would help my shifters. It might have made some difference, but then Rowan turned one little screw, and it was all good!

For some reason, people like smashing bottles on the Cycleway Friday nights, so we had to dodge patches of broken glass here and there. But on the bright side, there were a lot of cyclist on and near the Cycleway today. I don't know if I've ever seen so many cyclists out and about. I guess everyone decided to get out and enjoy our brief glimpse of spring! In fact, one cycled and chatted with Rowan for some distance.

We continued on to New Norfolk, across the bridge and along the rather flooded Derwent river for about 12 km before pulling a U-turn and returning to New Norfolk. I like that stretch of road along the Derwent ... it's scenic, and we could see snow covered mountains in the distance. We had lunch in New Norfolk - both of us had cauliflower and cheese pies (one of my favourites) and Rowan had a sort of custard pie with fruit for dessert while I had mud cake.

There had been a headwind all the way out to where we turned around, so going back was great! We flew along (and set several personal bests on Strava). Next thing we knew, we were back on the Cycleway and flying back to the start of the Cycleway.

We stopped there, again, and made up bottles of Ensure. Part of the training ride was to try out possible nutrition solutions for long stretches of longer rides with no services. The Ensure worked well ... tasted good and provided energy and electrolytes.

Back to the end of Cycleway, against the wind, and back to the start again, with a tailwind .... but a dying tailwind, so we weren't flying anymore.

And then it was homeward bound. Through the city, and then up and up and up. The sun set while we were making our way through the city, and so partway up, we stopped so I could take a ginger tablet. I have found that climbing in the dark makes me feel a bit sea sick with the swaying light. Ginger tablets work for other "sea sick" situations, so we thought I might try one for this ... and it seemed to work. I climbed the hill in the dark, and no sea sick feeling.

Then a quick descent into our suburb, another climb as we cycled through the suburb, and another descent to home.

Distance: 164.9km
Moving Time: 8:54:36
Total time: 10:17:33
Elevation Gain: 1,767m

July 15 - 3.1 km walking (35 min) + 30 flights of stairs (24 min)
July 16 - 164.9 km cycling (520 min) (see above)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Machka9/view/164-9-km-training-ride-883674
July 17 - 3.5 km walking (40 min)
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Totals:
July Cycling Outside: 378.8 km (1185 min)
July Cycling Inside: 194 min
July Walking: 45 km (547 min)
July Stairs: 215 flights (172 min)
July Weightlifting: 40 min
July Time Total: 2138 min = 35 hours 38 min
July Distance Total: 423.8 km = 263.3 miles

Sunday -- 100.1 km ride in the afternoon and evening (after dark) | 725 metres (2378.6 feet) of climbing | Total time: 6 hours 19 minutes | Moving speed: 18.9 km/h

The wind wasn't too bad and the sun came out now and then. The high for the day reached 9.5C ... and then dropped to 2.1 by the end of the ride. That was a little chilly!

This was a training ride as we're adjusting things and testing things for longer rides.

• Our new reflective vests worked well.
• My new boots worked well ... until the temp dropped below 4C.
• My gloves aren't quite warm enough under 4C either.
• Our clothing layers were good.
• The chocolate Ensure provided most of our energy quite adequately.

tristramtrent wrote: »

I have found I like to take a satchel with everything but the kitchen sink with me (books, lunch, camera, sketchbook...) and feel like a self-sufficient travelling type. One day I will end up with a pedalling RV.

35dollars wrote: »

2 words - "pannier rack" - far, far more comfortable than carting around 100 pounds of crap useful equipment on your shoulder or back, and a lot less sweaty too.