October 2020 Biking Cycling Bicycling Bike/ Bicycle/Unicycle/Tricycle Challenge!
Machka9
Posts: 25,598 Member
in Challenges
If you are new to posting on this thread, or if you are new to cycling, we welcome you! If you are returning from a previous thread, we welcome you, too.
This thread is for anyone who rides a bicycle ... or unicycle, tricycle, tandem, etc.
Do you bike to work? Do you pull your children to the park? So you ride weekends? Do you spin at home or in the gym? Is Zwift your thing? Do you race crits, ironman, or centuries? Or, are you just starting out and remembering how much fun you had biking when you were a kid? However you choose to push your pedal, you are welcome on this thread.
There's no set challenge across participants - this is a mixed-ability / mixed-experience / everyone welcome group.
Just pick your own target that you want to achieve this month, post that when you join the thread, and post updates throughout the month as you're working towards your target.
Given the current situation many of us will be cycling solo or indoors ... share your accomplishments with us.
(BTW - Thanks to @CricketKate for starting all this back in 2012)
This thread is for anyone who rides a bicycle ... or unicycle, tricycle, tandem, etc.
Do you bike to work? Do you pull your children to the park? So you ride weekends? Do you spin at home or in the gym? Is Zwift your thing? Do you race crits, ironman, or centuries? Or, are you just starting out and remembering how much fun you had biking when you were a kid? However you choose to push your pedal, you are welcome on this thread.
There's no set challenge across participants - this is a mixed-ability / mixed-experience / everyone welcome group.
Just pick your own target that you want to achieve this month, post that when you join the thread, and post updates throughout the month as you're working towards your target.
Given the current situation many of us will be cycling solo or indoors ... share your accomplishments with us.
(BTW - Thanks to @CricketKate for starting all this back in 2012)
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Replies
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Jan-19 ... 241.6 km (150.1 miles) = 27 hours 2 minutesReview ... (Distances include cycling + walking + a bit of rowing)
Mar-15 … 489.8 km (304.3 miles) = 38 hours 4 min
Apr-15 … 491.94 km (305.6 miles) = 43 hours 6 min
May-15 … 361.81 km (224.8 miles) = 35 hours 50 min
Jun-15 … 569.53 km (353.9 miles) = 41 hours 53 min
Jul-15 … 230.7 km (143.35 miles) = 32 hours 45 min
Aug-15 … 211.3 km (131.3 miles) = 28 hours 8 min
Sep-15 … 306.7 km (190.6 miles) = 35 hour 2 min
Oct-15 … 441.82 km (274.5 miles) = 47 hours 43 min
Nov-15 … 660.21 km (410.23 miles) = 60 hours 41 min
Dec-15 … 499.91 km (282.8 miles) = 54 hours 56 min
Jan-16 … 864.79 km (537.35 miles) = 65 hours 36 min
Feb-16 … 470.53 km (292.4 miles) = 40 hours 39 min
Mar-16 … 917.73 km (570.2 miles) = 66 hours 13 min
Apr-16 … 417.83 km (259.6 miles) = 40 hours 23 min
May-16 … 267.09 km (165.9 miles) = 36 hours 10 min
Jun-16 … 552.1 km (343 miles) = 54 hours 48 min
Jul-16 … 709 km (440.5 miles) = 60 hours 41 minutes
Aug-16 … 775.9 km (482.1 miles) = 54 hours 52 minutes
Sep-16 … 371.3 km (230.7 miles) = 32 hours 20 min
Oct-16 … 649 km (403.3 miles) = 49 hours 46 min
Nov-16 … 403 km (250.4 miles) = 52 hours 16 min
Dec-16 … 511.05 km (317.55 miles) = 52 hours 2 min
Jan-17 … 741.9 km (461.0 miles) = 70 hours 3 min
Feb-17 … 600.5 km (373.1 miles) = 57 hours 30 min
Mar-17 … 1113.2 km (691.7 miles) = 78 hours 25 min
Apr-17 … 1181.9 km (734.4 miles) = 76 hours 45 min
May-17 … 426.6 km (265.1 miles) = 39 hours 21 min
Jun-17 … 575.7 km (357.7 miles) = 41 hours 53 min
Jul-17 … 714 km (443.7 miles) = 52 hours 23 min
Aug-17 … 475.8 km (295.6 miles) = 38 hours 41 min
Sep-17 … 455.5 km (283 miles) = 41 hours 25 min
Oct-17 … 647.1 km (402.1 miles) = 57 hours 19 min
Nov-17 … 427.0 km (265.3 miles) = 50 hours 4 min
Dec-17 … 553.5 km (343.9 miles) = 52 hours 12 min
Jan-18 … 590.2 km (366.7 miles) = 57 hours 49 min
Feb-18 … 826.9 km (513.8 miles) = 57 hours 35 min
Mar-18 … 582.01 km (361.6 miles) = 50 hours 11 min
Apr-18 … 176.23 km (109.5 miles) = 29 hours 47 min
May -18 … 167.6 km (104.1 miles) = 29 hours 08 min
June-18 … 349.9 km (217.4 miles) = 36 hours 58 minutes
July-18 ... 324.2 km (201.5 miles) = 24 hours 26 minutes
Aug-18 ... 210.1 km (130.6 miles) = 25 hours 59 minutes
Sep-18 ... 261.7 km (162.6 miles) = 25 hours 11 minutes
Oct-18 ... 230.8 km (143.4 miles) = 30 hours 15 minutes
Nov-18 ... 216.8 km (134.7 miles) = 30 hours 3 minutes
Dec-18 ... 285.2 km (177.2 miles) = 37 hours 49 minutes
Feb-19 ... 175.5 km (109 miles) = 19 hours 8 minutes
Mar-19 ... 170.3 km (105.8 miles) = 28 hours 21 minutes
Apr-19 ... 160.3 km (99.6 miles) = 25 hours 4 minutes
May-19 ... 164.0 km (101.9 miles) = 29 hours 10 minutes
Jun-19 ... 246.2 km (153 miles) = 25 hours 40 minutes
Jul-19 ... 217.3 km (135.0 miles) = 33 hours 45 minutes
Aug-19 ... 162.5 km (100.9 miles) = 28 hours 4 minutes
Sep-19 ... 136.0 km (84.5 miles) = 23 hours 10 minutes
Oct-19 ... 196.5 km (122.1 miles) = 31 hours 27 minutes
Nov-19 ... 155.5 km (96.6 miles) = 25 hours 01 minutes
Dec-19 ... 203.7 km (126.6 miles) = 26 hours 54 minutes
Jan-20 ... 304.4 km (189.2 miles) = 32 hours 49 minutes
Feb-20 ... 248.6 km (154.5 miles) = 34 hours 50 minutes
Mar-20 ... 148.3 km (92.2 miles) = 30 hours 12 minutes
Apr-20 ... 171.9 km (106.8 miles) = 19 hours 28 minutes
May-20 ... 183.7 km (114.1 miles) = 20 hours 49 minutes
Jun-20 ... 130.9 km (81.3 miles) = 18 hours 50 minutes
Jul-20 ... 41.8 km (26 miles) = 9 hours 8 minutes
Aug-20 ...148.9 km (92.5 miles) = 21 hours 43 minutes
Sep-20 ... 119.8 km (74.4 miles) = 23 hours 17 minutes
Goal: More than ... Oct-19 ... 196.5 km (122.1 miles) = 31 hours 27 minutes
2020 Monthly October
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October goals - ride M/W/F each week with a goal of 260 miles for the month. Use T/TH for strength workouts.0
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September:
29 Hours
897 K
October:
Relax after only race left this year and start enjoying the mountain bike0 -
10/2:
Morning ride - 21.4 miles
Monthly total - 21.4 miles
Left to goal - 238.6 miles
Chilly this morning but got to watch the beautiful full moon set and the sun rise, a great combination. The rabbits were out this morning as well - saw 5 of them today.0 -
Driven to ride inside by bad weather so took the opportunity to try my Garmin's FTP test protocol out of curiosity.
Found it quite odd and didn't really see any advantages over simply doing 20min or 60min steady state FTP tests.
20mins in Z2, 5mins in Z6, 10mins in Z2, 20mins at threshold, 10mins in Z2 - just seemed complicated for no apparent reason.
Also didn't understand why my score was lower than 95% of my average during the 20min threshold portion. Think I'll revert to my normal 20min tests which strike me as far more repeatable in a consistent way.
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I'm a bit late to join the party. But I didn't do any cycling yet this month, so I didn't miss logging anything
It's getting kinda grey/cold/disgusting outside at the moment, so my goal for this will be to motivate myself to keep riding anyway. Let's day 250km for October.0 -
10/5:
Morning ride - 19.34 miles
Monthly total - 40.74 miles
Left to goal - 219.26
Cool morning, lots of animals up early this morning - 6 rabbits, 3 squirrels and a couple of cats.0 -
Finally stopped raining so got out on the roads - didn't last long (13 miles) as a puncture stopped play.
Pump/inflator decided not to work so had to get rescued.
Second time this year I've had to call my wife to pick me up.0 -
10/6 - Morning ride - 14.02 miles
10/7 - Morning ride - 20.02 miles
Monthly total - 74.78 miles
Left to goal - 185.22 miles
Since I am going out at the crack of dawn these days, I have been scaring up a bunch of rabbits along the bike trails - saw 8 or 9 yesterday and several more this morning.1 -
Best weather day of the week so decided to do the same Gran Fondo circuit I did last week but in the opposite direction. Thought I was being clever doing it that way round to give myself a tailwind on the final stretch but forgot about the hardest climb which builds steadily from 5 - 6% to 10 - 12% with a final kick at up to 19%. Doing that at 50 miles into the ride wasn't the smartest move!
Had a lovely moment at the halfway mark when I had a short break. Watching a hawk soaring on the breeze with a backdrop of autumn coloured hills was magical. Retirement is pretty damn sweet at times.2 -
Driven to ride inside by bad weather so took the opportunity to try my Garmin's FTP test protocol out of curiosity.
Found it quite odd and didn't really see any advantages over simply doing 20min or 60min steady state FTP tests.
20mins in Z2, 5mins in Z6, 10mins in Z2, 20mins at threshold, 10mins in Z2 - just seemed complicated for no apparent reason.
Also didn't understand why my score was lower than 95% of my average during the 20min threshold portion. Think I'll revert to my normal 20min tests which strike me as far more repeatable in a consistent way.
Sounds pretty close to the original Hunter Allen's VO2 Max and 20 minutes TT, aka FTP test. Hunter's warmup is a bit more varied with 3x1 minute fast cadence bursts. The 5 minutes is the requisite VO2 Max test, all out, to expend one's anaerobic capacity. Z6 is odd but ok if you are average and expecting an increase. Again it should be all out. The testing protocol is actually two tests in one session to determine one's FTP and power at VO2 Max.
What test protocal are you doing?0 -
Driven to ride inside by bad weather so took the opportunity to try my Garmin's FTP test protocol out of curiosity.
Found it quite odd and didn't really see any advantages over simply doing 20min or 60min steady state FTP tests.
20mins in Z2, 5mins in Z6, 10mins in Z2, 20mins at threshold, 10mins in Z2 - just seemed complicated for no apparent reason.
Also didn't understand why my score was lower than 95% of my average during the 20min threshold portion. Think I'll revert to my normal 20min tests which strike me as far more repeatable in a consistent way.
Sounds pretty close to the original Hunter Allen's VO2 Max and 20 minutes TT, aka FTP test. Hunter's warmup is a bit more varied with 3x1 minute fast cadence bursts. The 5 minutes is the requisite VO2 Max test, all out, to expend one's anaerobic capacity. Z6 is odd but ok if you are average and expecting an increase. Again it should be all out. The testing protocol is actually two tests in one session to determine one's FTP and power at VO2 Max.
What test protocal are you doing?
This is the built in FTP test on my Garmin Edge 1000. (The result can be used to update your power zones.)
The Z6 interval is strange as they give you a range based on an FTP estimate you input before the test and clearly you could go at the top or bottom of that range if you wanted to.
Usually I just do the simple 20 minutes as sustainably hard as possible and take 5% off the average power. Simple, repeatable and consistent which seems better for tracking progress.1 -
Ok, had the feeling it was just the 20 minutes TT. The 5 minute VO2 Max test is actually a critical part of the FTP test and without it, the estimate is on the high side. I believe there's only one research recently with "trained" subjects that indicate it doesn't matter but there's no other opposing studies. Hunter's and Coggan's dataset was with "trained" subject as well. It's odd that most programs switch to self selected power for the 20 minutes but not the 5. Outdoors, Garmin's test would be "ok" since erg is not trying to rip you legs off. 120% of FTP for 5 minutes is on the upper end for the VO2 Max estimate already!
Personally I prefer Joel Friel's 30 minutes TT (average power = FTP) for outdoors testing. Indoors I just use Trainerroad's ramp test with a Kolie Moore's baseline test at the end of my build block to determine my time to exhaustion.0 -
10/8 - Morning ride - 16.34 miles
10/9 - Morning ride - 20.32 miles
Monthly total - 111.44 miles
Left to goal - 148.56 miles
Been muggy the last couple of mornings, humidity pushing up from the storms in the gulf. Still good riding, just have to manage water consumption a little better (drink more often).0 -
Rest week for me so far but I'll be back on the bike tomorrow. We're on holiday next week so I'm hoping to get some good rides in.0
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Had to scratch from a club ride today as the scheduled earlier start meant it was too cold (7c) for my Raynaud's afflicted hands and feet. Seems this season that 10 - 11c is the tipping point where my hands are cold but functional but below that they turn to frozen fish fingers.
Fitted some news tyres and couldn't resist getting ones to match the bike.
152 miles for the week, 191 miles for October.
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Date: duration / miles / elevation gain / NP / work
10/02: 01:02 / 14.972 / 1,919 / 210 / 711 (RGT Cycling)
10/03: 01:05 / 17.034 / 1,783 / 198 / 730 (RGT Cycling)
10/05: 00:24 / 7.033 / 0 / 207 / 249 (Trainerroad)
10/06: 01:06 / 22.371 / 73 / 180 / 710 (RGT Cycling)
10/07: 01:00 / 13.349 / 0 / 177 / 592 (Trainerroad)
10/09: 01:20 / 15.408 / 0 / 176 / 803 (Trainerroad)
10/10: 02:10 / 39.885 / 1,535 / 185 / 1,348 (RGT Cycling)0 -
10/11:
Morning ride - 20.67 miles
Monthly total - 132.11
Left to goal - 127.89
Won't have any other rides this week, popped two spokes on the ride yesterday (old rims and age is catching up with them), ordered a new rim but that won't be ready until Friday. Will have to find other ways to exercise this week.0 -
What a beauty, @sijomial!
2.5 commutes for me so far in October (writing from the office
):
Wed, 10/7/2020 11.8 km + 17.2 km
Tue, 10/13/2020 11.8 km + 12.8 km
Thu, 10/15/2020 12.5km + tbd
66.2km for October
I'm toying with the idea of buying a gravel bike for winter commuting. Something with big tyres and disc brakes. The only problem is I have too many bikes:
my good road bike,
an old trekking bike that I don't really like riding and currently have collecting dust as a trainer setup next to my desk,
plus the scrappy thing I rescued from trash and rebuilt during the first three month of Covid19 (it just needs new brakes, then it will come live at the office for short trips around the campus),
plus my mother's old bike which she wanted to get rid off after getting an ebike, to have more space in the cellar. Which means that now I don't have space for another bike
The one that I am least likely to ride is my mothers bike, but I can hardly sell that, since it doesn't feel like it belongs to me. But she doesn't want it back either...2 -
Jan-19 ... 241.6 km (150.1 miles) = 27 hours 2 minutesReview ... (Distances include cycling + walking + a bit of rowing)
Mar-15 … 489.8 km (304.3 miles) = 38 hours 4 min
Apr-15 … 491.94 km (305.6 miles) = 43 hours 6 min
May-15 … 361.81 km (224.8 miles) = 35 hours 50 min
Jun-15 … 569.53 km (353.9 miles) = 41 hours 53 min
Jul-15 … 230.7 km (143.35 miles) = 32 hours 45 min
Aug-15 … 211.3 km (131.3 miles) = 28 hours 8 min
Sep-15 … 306.7 km (190.6 miles) = 35 hour 2 min
Oct-15 … 441.82 km (274.5 miles) = 47 hours 43 min
Nov-15 … 660.21 km (410.23 miles) = 60 hours 41 min
Dec-15 … 499.91 km (282.8 miles) = 54 hours 56 min
Jan-16 … 864.79 km (537.35 miles) = 65 hours 36 min
Feb-16 … 470.53 km (292.4 miles) = 40 hours 39 min
Mar-16 … 917.73 km (570.2 miles) = 66 hours 13 min
Apr-16 … 417.83 km (259.6 miles) = 40 hours 23 min
May-16 … 267.09 km (165.9 miles) = 36 hours 10 min
Jun-16 … 552.1 km (343 miles) = 54 hours 48 min
Jul-16 … 709 km (440.5 miles) = 60 hours 41 minutes
Aug-16 … 775.9 km (482.1 miles) = 54 hours 52 minutes
Sep-16 … 371.3 km (230.7 miles) = 32 hours 20 min
Oct-16 … 649 km (403.3 miles) = 49 hours 46 min
Nov-16 … 403 km (250.4 miles) = 52 hours 16 min
Dec-16 … 511.05 km (317.55 miles) = 52 hours 2 min
Jan-17 … 741.9 km (461.0 miles) = 70 hours 3 min
Feb-17 … 600.5 km (373.1 miles) = 57 hours 30 min
Mar-17 … 1113.2 km (691.7 miles) = 78 hours 25 min
Apr-17 … 1181.9 km (734.4 miles) = 76 hours 45 min
May-17 … 426.6 km (265.1 miles) = 39 hours 21 min
Jun-17 … 575.7 km (357.7 miles) = 41 hours 53 min
Jul-17 … 714 km (443.7 miles) = 52 hours 23 min
Aug-17 … 475.8 km (295.6 miles) = 38 hours 41 min
Sep-17 … 455.5 km (283 miles) = 41 hours 25 min
Oct-17 … 647.1 km (402.1 miles) = 57 hours 19 min
Nov-17 … 427.0 km (265.3 miles) = 50 hours 4 min
Dec-17 … 553.5 km (343.9 miles) = 52 hours 12 min
Jan-18 … 590.2 km (366.7 miles) = 57 hours 49 min
Feb-18 … 826.9 km (513.8 miles) = 57 hours 35 min
Mar-18 … 582.01 km (361.6 miles) = 50 hours 11 min
Apr-18 … 176.23 km (109.5 miles) = 29 hours 47 min
May -18 … 167.6 km (104.1 miles) = 29 hours 08 min
June-18 … 349.9 km (217.4 miles) = 36 hours 58 minutes
July-18 ... 324.2 km (201.5 miles) = 24 hours 26 minutes
Aug-18 ... 210.1 km (130.6 miles) = 25 hours 59 minutes
Sep-18 ... 261.7 km (162.6 miles) = 25 hours 11 minutes
Oct-18 ... 230.8 km (143.4 miles) = 30 hours 15 minutes
Nov-18 ... 216.8 km (134.7 miles) = 30 hours 3 minutes
Dec-18 ... 285.2 km (177.2 miles) = 37 hours 49 minutes
Feb-19 ... 175.5 km (109 miles) = 19 hours 8 minutes
Mar-19 ... 170.3 km (105.8 miles) = 28 hours 21 minutes
Apr-19 ... 160.3 km (99.6 miles) = 25 hours 4 minutes
May-19 ... 164.0 km (101.9 miles) = 29 hours 10 minutes
Jun-19 ... 246.2 km (153 miles) = 25 hours 40 minutes
Jul-19 ... 217.3 km (135.0 miles) = 33 hours 45 minutes
Aug-19 ... 162.5 km (100.9 miles) = 28 hours 4 minutes
Sep-19 ... 136.0 km (84.5 miles) = 23 hours 10 minutes
Oct-19 ... 196.5 km (122.1 miles) = 31 hours 27 minutes
Nov-19 ... 155.5 km (96.6 miles) = 25 hours 01 minutes
Dec-19 ... 203.7 km (126.6 miles) = 26 hours 54 minutes
Jan-20 ... 304.4 km (189.2 miles) = 32 hours 49 minutes
Feb-20 ... 248.6 km (154.5 miles) = 34 hours 50 minutes
Mar-20 ... 148.3 km (92.2 miles) = 30 hours 12 minutes
Apr-20 ... 171.9 km (106.8 miles) = 19 hours 28 minutes
May-20 ... 183.7 km (114.1 miles) = 20 hours 49 minutes
Jun-20 ... 130.9 km (81.3 miles) = 18 hours 50 minutes
Jul-20 ... 41.8 km (26 miles) = 9 hours 8 minutes
Aug-20 ...148.9 km (92.5 miles) = 21 hours 43 minutes
Sep-20 ... 119.8 km (74.4 miles) = 23 hours 17 minutes
Goal: More than ... Oct-19 ... 196.5 km (122.1 miles) = 31 hours 27 minutes
Thursday, 1 October 2020 … 0.0 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Friday, 2 October 2020 … 3.2 km walking + 8.4 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Saturday, 3 October 2020 … 0.0 km walking + 15.3 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Sunday, 4 October 2020 … 0.0 km walking + 11.4 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Monday, 5 October 2020 … 4.7 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Tuesday, 6 October 2020 … 1.8 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Wednesday, 7 October 2020 … 2.2 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Thursday, 8 October 2020 … 1.8 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Friday, 9 October 2020 … 0.0 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Saturday, 10 October 2020 … 0.0 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Sunday, 11 October 2020 … 4.3 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 0 flights of stairs
Monday, 12 October 2020 … 2.8 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 4 flights of stairs
Tuesday, 13 October 2020 … 5.3 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 4 flights of stairs
Wednesday, 14 October 2020 … 3.8 km walking + 7.8 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 2 flights of stairs
Thursday, 15 October 2020 … 1.8 km walking + 0.0 km cycling + 0.0 km rowing + 5 flights of stairs
2020 Monthly October
Walking Distance (km): 31.6
Walking Time (min): 402.1
Cycling Distance (km): 42.9
Cycling Time (min): 135.5
Flights Stairs Climbed Number: 15.0
Flights Stairs Climbed Time (min): 12.0
Totals
Total Distance (km): 74.6
Total Distance (miles): 46.3
Total Time (min): 549.7
Total Time (hr): 9:09:40
Finished University!!!4 -
Bit more of a struggle to ride this week as hands and feet are not liking lower temperatures.
Funny ride yesterday, set out to do some big climbs but immediately apparent I simply didn't feel good, no energy in either legs or lungs - very odd as I should have been relatively fresh. Toned the ride down and just did a steady plod avoiding the big hills.
Today all back to normal. Yesterday was just one of those random bad days I guess.
120 miles for the week, 311 for October so far.
Pleased to hit 900 Strava PRs for this year, way more than I've accumulated in a year before and a bit surprising as most of my riding has been on local roads. 1000 by end of year is a pointless but entertaining target.
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10/19:
Morning ride - 19.91 miles
Monthly total - 152.02 miles
Left to goal - 107.98 miles
Didn't ride last week - popped two spokes the weekend before and had to order a new wheel (took a week to get the new one in). Did stay active with morning walks 4 of the 5 days last week, total walked for the week was 13.73 miles.1 -
10/20:
Morning ride - 17.5 miles
Monthly total - 169.52 miles
Left to goal - 90.48 miles
Been a good year for the rabbits - saw at least 20 cottontails while riding this morning.0 -
10/21:
Morning ride - 20.57 miles
Monthly total - 190.09 miles
Left to goal - 69.91 miles
Muggy morning and warm (70 degrees when I started). Did see some rabbits and a young opossum.0 -
10/22: morning ride - 16.9 miles
10/23: morning ride - 16.01 miles
Monthly total - 223 miles
Left to goal - 37 miles
Got wet this morning, had a front move thru and the rain started when I was about 2 miles from the house... oh well... I didn't melt 1 -
Nice and challenging ride yesterday.
Followed a route exploring the Surrey Hills area of outstanding natural beauty.
Although I live fairly close and ride there often this was a route from an organised tour company that a fellow MFP'er shared to take me out of my comfort zone.
Some roads very familiar, some I've only ridden rarely and plenty of brand new roads that I've passed nearby but never tried.
Started out on a wet gravelled track shared with lots of walkers and their dogs with stunning views of The Devil's Punchbowl but not ideal on slick road tyres. First 30 miles was on mostly tiny roads, often badly surfaced, wet and covered in tree debris and slimy leaf mulch, sometimes very hard to see where the margins of the road were - very little grip combined with steep descents was nerve wracking at times. Bike wanted to go faster than me but I was already braking as hard as the limited grip would allow. Second half was more open but with a lot of climbing at the end just when you are getting tired.
Well thought out route which was challenging with long climbs but not hateful, thankfully they didn't include any of the extreme climbs nearby with 15 - 19% gradients which feel more like a punishment than a hobby. I'll do it again in the Spring or Summer when I'll be able to spend more time looking at the scenery rather than the road surface.
Bike needs a clean now....
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I've been a bit quiet this month - an end of season break with a holiday in Devon in the middle. We took bikes with us but only did relatively short rides for the most part as I was meant to be having a break from riding I also took a break from calorie counting and ate plenty of pasties and scones.
Today winter training started - 2 hours of riding to z2 heart rate so my coach can look at what power that came out at. I'm also doing a bit more strength work and a bit less riding for a while, I think.3 -
Poor weather has made it harder to ride this week and only got out three times.
Upside is more time for strength training, four sessions this week and got my bench press back to pre-lockdown levels.
101 miles for the week, 412 miles for October.0 -
Few more commutes from me, for a total of 128.5km for October so far.
And a very scary experience: I must have had a crash(?) during my ride home last Thursday, but I don't remember anything about it. One moment I'm outside the office, unlocking my bike and waving goodbye to a colleague getting into his car, and the next thing I remember it's two hours later and I'm sitting on my couch at home, and my left side plus the palm of my right hand are hurting.
Thanks to recording my rides with my Garmin, I can tell exactly *where* something happened:
My ride is going normal until that point, comes to an abrupt stop, 5 minutes spent in place, then continue home at little more than half the usual speed. I seem to have done all the usual things after coming home too, like stopping the Garmin, storing my bike in the cellar, switching of the bike lights (battery powered and showing ~70% full, consistent with an hour of riding), hanging the helmet and reflective vest in their usual spots... I just don't remember any of it. I had to go downstairs and verify all those things.
Fortunately nothing worse happened. My bike has a few scuffs on the left bar-end and pedal that I don't remember seeing before, I have a few bruises and a mild concussion (which apparently also explaines the gap in my memories - I learned now that you can even lose time before the moment you hit your head), and I will replace my helmet (I don't see any cracks in the shell, and I don't remember hitting my head, but based on the evidence, I probably did...).
So at this point, what's really bothering me is not knowing what happened. Did my chain jam and cause me to fall? Did a car come out of the parking lot on the right and I had to brake too suddenly to avoid it and skidded on the wet pavement? I'd like to avoid a repeat experience, but that's hard to do if I don't know what went wrong the first time.
So I guess, general take-home-message: Take care when riding in the dark on wet pavement. And always wear a helmet.2 -
@_nikkiwolf_ , so sorry it happened! Sounds very much like you got a concussion from the crush. If you are getting any weird symptoms, like headaches, weakness, fatigue, something unusual and out of norm, consider going to a doctor and get checked out. Sounds so scary not knowing what happened and have such time gap in your memory! Please take care! I commute too, it's always challenging with some drivers being total jerks. And most likely no one stopped to help you, since you got home on your own.1
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