Texas Hell Week - Day 4: hammer time!

Whoa. Rode today with a group of fasties on a very hilly route. Fortunately, we had no wind early in the ride, and a nice tailwind coming home, so with pacelining and sprinting up the hills we averaged 19.3 for the 80 mile ride. It wasn't a total sausage fest, as two women, including fast Katie, were riding with us. By the end we were down to six people, pretty much all ex- or current racers. The pace was just beyond my comfort zone, so an absolutely perfect ride. The ride in was especially nice, with the tailwind and some nice scenery. By the time we were rolling into town, though, all I could think about was getting home. A few more miles and I think I would have collapsed from exhaustion! But that's the best kind of training ride isn't it? :)

Not sure about the Leakey Death ride tomorrow. The smart plan would be to recover and reap the benefits of this ride. Maybe an easy spin, a nap, and the consumption of food and beer.

Texas Hell Week - Day 3: baby farm animals, cleat fitting

Feeling a bit tired after back to back 70+ mile rides, I decided to do the 'C' ride of 40+ miles, and maybe hammer it a bit more. 'Hammering' ended up being 'rubber malleting' and 40+ miles ended up being even less due to erroneous directions. No big deal, as the route through open ranch land led me past a young white (albino?) calf, and very cute frolicking lambs. The extra time allowed me to stop at the local bike shop and get cleats fitted to my new shoes. I also lowered my bars after realizing that the BMC actually had a taller head tube than my Surly Pacer! There was only one thin spacer remaining, and the stem was already flipped down, so I took the spacer out. That should help a bit in the wind!

Wednesday is the 'Leakey Death Ride' - 100+ miles with two brutal climbs. Bring it!

Texas Hell Week - Day 2

Today was still a bit chilly, in spite of promises of normal weather for the day. Indeed, it is now sunny and warm in the later afternoon, but too late for the ride! Today was a little slower: 73 miles at 17.1 mph due to nearly bonking. Yesterday I only needed two Gus and one bottle of Powerade, so I packed accordingly. In the end I used up both Gus and three bottles of Powerade, and forgot to bring some cash on the ride so I had to ration myself and ride slower.

Highlights: the ride back home on a quiet, scenic ranch road instead of the busy road we went out on, and Katie's story that makes my collarbone surgery look like a boo-boo (maybe not a highlight, but good to share war stories).

Texas Hell Week - Day 1

Yesterday was the first ride of the annual "spring training camp" known as Texas Hell Week. Normslly that means an escape from cold, snowy Minnesota to warm, sunny Fredericksburg, Texas. Yesterday was a bit chilly though, requiring arm warmers, knee warmers and the long-fingered track gloves that I happened to bring along, plus some chemical warmers that I found in the bottom of my tote. The track gloves barely did the job even! Still, much better than studded tires, ice, snow and general yuckiness! It was a good ride though, 16 miles at 17.1 mph.

Highlights: a confused lamb that didn't know whether to try to outrun us or run in the opposite direction along the side of the road, a mean trailer park dog on a collision course with my front wheel (dispatched with a stern "no" but probably responsible for my average speed coming in above 17!), and the usual motley asssortment of riders from all walks and all parts of the country to chat with.

Texas Hell Week 08 - Day 7 and 8

Catching up - day 7 was finally the century, which I rode with Patti. The first 75 miles were fine, but I faded after that. Fortunately we had a tailwind on the way back so it wasn't too bad. Day 8 was an "easy" 60 miles. It felt so short! Both days were gorgeous. Then a two day trip back - Texas to Kansas City, then home via Des Moines where we had coffee with my mom. Went for a quick ride today to stretch out the legs after being cooped up in the car. Certainly not west Texas, but temps in the 40s doesn't suck either.

Texas Hell Week 08 - Day 5 and 6

This was to be the highlight of the week - the famous Leakey Death Ride. I'd intended to do the full 100+ mile ride, but due to road construction that route was closed. The 75 mile option was like last year, and I wanted to do that rather than stay in town and do the 100 mile option that didn't involve driving. Sascha's Birchwood friends Patti and Heather, who've never done Hell Week, came along as well. I was looking forward to riding with Patti, who's a fit rowing and speedskating powerhouse getting into cycling for cross training. We drove out to the start, couldn't find the court house again, and just headed out. Patti and I drove into the headwind for the first five miles before we turned west. She's a very strong rider, so we made good progress and were evenly matched. Watch out Minnesota women - I bet she's going to be ripping some legs off this season! We were caught by a tandem riding group after a while and sat in for a bit while avoiding a sketchy rider with aero bars and a drunken line. I inserted myself between him and Patti to try and make things safer for her, being a relatively new rider. Eventually the tandem riders stopped, and the sketchy rider hitched a ride on our train. Patti later said that he'd told her that he didn't think he was welcome with the tandem crew. We eventually dropped him on the big stand-up-or-fall-over hill (think Ramsey hill, only three times as long!). Due to my crash the day before, I didn't have my loweest gear available (the derailleur was pinging the spokes a bit), so that made it even harder! Patti was right behind me the whole time - amazing for a new rider! Speedskating really does cross over to cycling, as Connie Carpenter proved in 1984. Pics should be coming, as I gave my email address to a lady at the top taking pictures for her husband.

At the store, we found out that the B route was also under construction! The hard core group that was assembled there decided to do it anyway, but Patti and I elected to be safe and just head back the way we came. Heather rolled in not long after we'd discussed our options - she's quite the little triathlete powerhouse herself! So back we went, my hamstrings screaming after yesterday's epic ride and one trip over the nasty hills already, plus getting cold at the store. However, the NNW side wind was slightly at our backs, so the trip back was in the big ring for the most part, and Patti dropped me on the big hill! We met up again later on and rode the rest of the way back into town with a nice tailwind and paceline going - exhilarating!

Back in town we stopped at the bestest BBQ place - Busbee's BBQ in Bandera. Yum! I had a really interesting conversation with Patti about skating and rowing. Seems that they're really not that different from cycling in terms of the core training and competitive principles! Judging from when Heather rolled into the store on the way out, we were expecting her any minute, but she texted me that she'd made a wrong turn! She ended up going about 12 miles out of her way, poor girl. But that was good for 82 miles, plus the ride back was much more pleasant with the tailwind anyway. Afterward, I was beat, so today I'm taking off the bike completely, and considering a century tomorrow.

Texas Hell Week 08 - Day 4

I almost ended up among all the carcasses on the side of the road today. After taking it easy yesterday, I was extra motivated to ride today, even though thunderstorms blew through last night and early this morning, and scattered thunderstorms were in the works for late afternoon. However, according to the forecast, all was good for the time we'd be on the road. I had some doubts when I showed up at the start and no one else was there. In the end, six others showed up. We were on our own, as there would be no official support due to the iffy weather. The rest were doing the 100 mile route, so apparently I was in the "hard core" group. We rode together for a while, but after my rest day I was feeling frisky and went off the front. The day was nice, but soggy. I almost biffed it on a double set of cattle guards, and slowed up to make sure the person behind me made it over them. I think I scared her when I told her about it, but she assured me she'd be extra careful! About halfway into the ride it started sprinkling, then raining, then pouring! Fortunately it was fairly warm (60s), but after a while my fingers were getting pretty numb, and I started getting pretty worried. The others were no where to be seen, even though I stopped at the (closed) BBQ landmark and a couple of other times to put on arm warmers and eat. The wind was worrying me, but I kept up the effort to stay warm. Finally the rain let up, but the roads were still wet, and I slid out on a surprise corner that came up on a little meandering road that must have been a cattle trail at one time. A couple of guys in a pickup who weren't too far behind checked to see if I was okay, and everything seemed to be in order enough to get home. I soldered on imagining I was a racer doing a spring classics race, and eventually made it home and jumped in the tub to soak away my aches. Not the best day on the bike, but I like to think I'm tougher for it!

Texas Hell Week 08 - Day 3

After yesterday's ride I thought it would be best to take an easy day to recover and get ready for another two days of tough rides. Wednesday is the infamous Leakey Death Ride. Even the 60ish mile version is tough, and I'll be doing the 100 mile version. Rode 25 easy miles today, tried to keep the heart rate in the 120s. Hanging out at a coffee shop and catching up on the blogging and a little work. Took a picture of some frolicking lambs with the cell phone camera today. The little lamb on the far left next to its mother was especially cute.

Texas Hell Week 08 - Day 2

Yesterday I was feeling great even after pushing it on the bike, but today was totally different! I hooked up with Fast Katie for the B ride - 65ish miles. I think she got even faster since last year (or I've gotten slower!) because I was trashed by the end of the ride. It was a nice ride - perfect weather, a little windy in parts maybe, lots of happy lambs and calves frolicking in the ranch land. Katie and I pushed each other and were at the front of the B groupers until I missed a turn and we made a 6 mile detour. Near the end of the ride I started getting tired, to the point that when I got home I collapsed in my sweaty kit and snoozed for an hour.

Afterward I met up with the girls and we had a great dinner at a nice cafe with some fun music and good food. Life is good!

Texas Hell Week 08 - Day 1

Currently in Fredericksburg, TX: Sunny and 79 (feels like 79)
Currently in Minneapolis, MN: Cloudy and 31 (feels like 26)

That pretty much sums it up. Although it's been marginally decent in Minneapolis the last few days, it's pretty much impossible for me to get a 60 mile workout in Minnesota when I'm expending my energy trying to stay warm and avoid snow, ice and sprawlsville traffic. Here about the only thing I have to avoid are sheep and cows wandering across the open range! It was a gorgeous day and I was feeling extra frisky, getting some "muscular endurance" drills in as well as 60 miles. No mechanicals, although something's up with the bottom bracket. Rode with a group of fasties for a while, among whom was Fast Katie, although I didn't recognize her until we ran into each other again on the way to the coffee shop. I've committed to making the highlight of the week the infamous "Leakey Death Ride" - a 100 mile epic with some very serious (for Texas) hills! For now I'm sticking to the "B" rides - ususally 60-70 miles. Hopefully I'll have a better base of fitness by the end of the week!