cycling and spandex is metal!by Robbie
Saturday:
Long day in a new chamois, and a long day in the saddle in general. To begin, we did the Lyons-Raymond-Peak to Peak-Brainard Lake-Ward... ride. The ride started out with Will Stewart, Spencer Sator, Kevin Selker, and Heather Unger. I had my usual pre-ride meal of Spruce Confections' granola bowl with yogurt (and sometimes soy milk) and a cup of coffee, which totally rocks!
The clouds were looking pretty darn ominous considering we were headed up to the peak to peak hwy. Somehow it is always cold up there and often raining, hailing, or snowing. I felt really crappy for the first part of the ride. My new bib was too tight all over the place. It felt like my legs were tied in tourniquets and for some reason the spandex was squeaking around on my seat. This new chamois also professes a “denser chamois” which felt a little too dense at first; I felt like I had a brick between my legs. My right knee was aching and it felt like I was slipping off of my seat so I compensated by pedaling funny. Ugh.
On the way North on 36 Phil Zajicek passed us riding with another Navigator's rider and Mara Abbott--just another day in Boulder...
Kevin and I sprinted to a purple sign and he totally blew me away. We caught up to Phil and Mara after they were stopped at the stoplight coming into Lyons. They were out on a relaxed ride, as were we, but their relaxed pace is a little faster so they disappeared again. Spencer was feeling stronger than he did last week so he took off on the climb up to Raymond. Eventually Will decided to chase, and then much later Kevin decided to chase. The way that Spencer recapped the events was that Will and Spencer were taking turns pulling just to be gentlemanly, but when Kevin caught up and pulled away they had to draft each other to keep from falling off the back. Eventually we reconvened at the Raymond general store. Phil, Mara, and Fred Dreier were also hanging out up there. They went their way and we followed suit shortly after.
I put in an effort heading up the final pitch up to the peak to peak. My legs felt pretty dead though, I wasn’t experiencing any of that “weightlessness” I mentioned last week. It was another one of those rides (which I keep having) where I swear my brakes are rubbing or my tires are flat; neither of which have been true yet. Another ugh. We continued on the peak to peak until the Brainard Lake turn-off, at which Kevin and Heather headed down through Ward and Will, Spencer, and I headed upward.
Spencer, though much stronger already than last week was suffering on the way up to Brainard. The way I look at training is that it improves your ability to continuously burn matches through out the day. Without training we all have a match or two to burn, it usually goes out after any big effort. Spencer had about twice as many matches than last week, but they ran out somewhere on the road to Brainard. He eventually told us that he’d wait at the spring in Ward. Will and I continued riding and paid $1 to do the Brainard Lake loop.
Then we rode downhill for like 40 minutes and my back hurt. The End.
Sunday:
Rode 5 hours with VeloNews crew and Mr. Zajicek. Flatted coming down from Gold Hill to Lefthand, pinched tube with tire iron, Fred had to lend me another one. Had to chase group up the Ward Wall. Ate a Clifbar. Rode fast up to Brainard. Phil sprinted past at like 25mph uphill and taunted Fred, I tried to catch on but failed. Rode solo up to the pay station. Rode the Brainard Lake loop. I suck at descending so I had to ride really hard to catch Fred and Phil down on Lefthand. Then Phil did another crazy sprint up the backside of Lee Hill and disappeared. Meanwhile I had already bonked and was zigzagging. I ran out of water and ate a goo, but it got all stuck in my mouth. When I could breathe again I pushed my pedals harder until I caught up to Fred and Phil, who had been soft-pedaling for a mile to let me catch up. Then they went really fast on the downhill and I was back to chasing. Then I got a mocha at the downtown Spruce Confections. Then I rode up Flagstaff to go to the Zinn 25th anniversary party, where I proceeded to drink beer and stumble around like a zombie. I think I actually descended much faster after putting down a few beers. Long day of ouch.
I found out my Waltworks track bike was stolen when I got home so I rode around for another two hours on the mountain bike, in search of the criminal. I think I started to develop a saddle sore by 8pm or so.
Hope I'll be recovered in time for Tuesday's Bus Stop ride.
Saturday:
Long day in a new chamois, and a long day in the saddle in general. To begin, we did the Lyons-Raymond-Peak to Peak-Brainard Lake-Ward... ride. The ride started out with Will Stewart, Spencer Sator, Kevin Selker, and Heather Unger. I had my usual pre-ride meal of Spruce Confections' granola bowl with yogurt (and sometimes soy milk) and a cup of coffee, which totally rocks!
The clouds were looking pretty darn ominous considering we were headed up to the peak to peak hwy. Somehow it is always cold up there and often raining, hailing, or snowing. I felt really crappy for the first part of the ride. My new bib was too tight all over the place. It felt like my legs were tied in tourniquets and for some reason the spandex was squeaking around on my seat. This new chamois also professes a “denser chamois” which felt a little too dense at first; I felt like I had a brick between my legs. My right knee was aching and it felt like I was slipping off of my seat so I compensated by pedaling funny. Ugh.
On the way North on 36 Phil Zajicek passed us riding with another Navigator's rider and Mara Abbott--just another day in Boulder...
Kevin and I sprinted to a purple sign and he totally blew me away. We caught up to Phil and Mara after they were stopped at the stoplight coming into Lyons. They were out on a relaxed ride, as were we, but their relaxed pace is a little faster so they disappeared again. Spencer was feeling stronger than he did last week so he took off on the climb up to Raymond. Eventually Will decided to chase, and then much later Kevin decided to chase. The way that Spencer recapped the events was that Will and Spencer were taking turns pulling just to be gentlemanly, but when Kevin caught up and pulled away they had to draft each other to keep from falling off the back. Eventually we reconvened at the Raymond general store. Phil, Mara, and Fred Dreier were also hanging out up there. They went their way and we followed suit shortly after.
I put in an effort heading up the final pitch up to the peak to peak. My legs felt pretty dead though, I wasn’t experiencing any of that “weightlessness” I mentioned last week. It was another one of those rides (which I keep having) where I swear my brakes are rubbing or my tires are flat; neither of which have been true yet. Another ugh. We continued on the peak to peak until the Brainard Lake turn-off, at which Kevin and Heather headed down through Ward and Will, Spencer, and I headed upward.
Spencer, though much stronger already than last week was suffering on the way up to Brainard. The way I look at training is that it improves your ability to continuously burn matches through out the day. Without training we all have a match or two to burn, it usually goes out after any big effort. Spencer had about twice as many matches than last week, but they ran out somewhere on the road to Brainard. He eventually told us that he’d wait at the spring in Ward. Will and I continued riding and paid $1 to do the Brainard Lake loop.
Then we rode downhill for like 40 minutes and my back hurt. The End.
Sunday:
Rode 5 hours with VeloNews crew and Mr. Zajicek. Flatted coming down from Gold Hill to Lefthand, pinched tube with tire iron, Fred had to lend me another one. Had to chase group up the Ward Wall. Ate a Clifbar. Rode fast up to Brainard. Phil sprinted past at like 25mph uphill and taunted Fred, I tried to catch on but failed. Rode solo up to the pay station. Rode the Brainard Lake loop. I suck at descending so I had to ride really hard to catch Fred and Phil down on Lefthand. Then Phil did another crazy sprint up the backside of Lee Hill and disappeared. Meanwhile I had already bonked and was zigzagging. I ran out of water and ate a goo, but it got all stuck in my mouth. When I could breathe again I pushed my pedals harder until I caught up to Fred and Phil, who had been soft-pedaling for a mile to let me catch up. Then they went really fast on the downhill and I was back to chasing. Then I got a mocha at the downtown Spruce Confections. Then I rode up Flagstaff to go to the Zinn 25th anniversary party, where I proceeded to drink beer and stumble around like a zombie. I think I actually descended much faster after putting down a few beers. Long day of ouch.
I found out my Waltworks track bike was stolen when I got home so I rode around for another two hours on the mountain bike, in search of the criminal. I think I started to develop a saddle sore by 8pm or so.
Hope I'll be recovered in time for Tuesday's Bus Stop ride.
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