I have been wondering why hills are such a pain in the rear (literally, and legs too) to drag my butt up these days. It's not so much that my leg muscles ache, it's that there is no horsepower coming from the engine at the core. I wonder, "is it congestive heart failure?", "too much sugar?" etc. Jim R set me straight today, "You know your VO2 Max goes down every year past 50 don't you?" Well, no Jim, that's news to me. Now I have something to EXPLAIN it. My lungs cannot get enough oxygen into the blood to provide oomph for big muscular exertions. It would still be better to have the ability to scoot up the hills than an explanation of why I can't. I think that dropping about 30 lbs would help what oxygen there is be more effective, so I am SERIOUSLY on the plan again. This butt is decreasing in size, and I mean it. I may have to find that hacksaw in the garage to make it happen though...
Our ride today was just about all rollers all the time. Nothing very steep or very tall, but very many of them, to be sure. Great to see Peggy out for the first time this year. Mary too. Jodi was back. She did not lose her keys or lock them in her car this week. She did however lose a water bottle somewhere along the way. I love riders that are always reliable sources of blog material. Especially ones that don't READ the blog :) Joe was "along" too. He gets so far ahead of us, you can't really say he's with us, but we do touch base at the stop signs. Both of us have seen downturns in our construction related businesses lately and we feel the same way about having to reconfigure our companies to suit the available work load. Not fun. New Club Lite-er Mike was out today too on a cool Cervelo. Mike has been on a Millbrook ride before but this was his first Pintlala club ride. Mike is a psycholgist. He used to work for the state, now he's at Faulkner. I asked him to explain why we put ourselves through the hill and wind torture on our bikes, like we did today. I think he has to get back to me on that one. He had no ready answer. Alice was missing sad to say. After organizing the ride, she came down with a bug and felt discretion was the better part of valor this morning.
We turned in 33.4 miles on a route that a couple of us tried out a month or two ago. We really liked it. The weather was wonerful. 50 ish to start and warming to mid 60s. Breeze of about 10 in our faces for 70% or so of the way, adding to the workout and the good natured gripes. We all averaged somewhere in the 14 - 15 area avg speed. We advertise Club Lite as 13 - 15, so we were good.
There was also a great turn out of fast Club Regular Riders. Sam and Sammy were both out. Sammy displayed the colors of Team Holstein. Here's a pic:
I kid you not, that was his jersey. He even asked me if I had a camera to take his picture. Sam was more sedately attired, if that word can ever apply to cyclists. Robert came out as did Vanessa, Scott BAS, Richard and Bill T. There was an unidentified Air Force object looking young, slim, and fast. Don't know him. Bilee led the train out of the station, and from Sammy's Face Book entry, they flew for 60 miles and had a grand old time. Great to see them all.
This was the second time out on the Rivendell and it is a wonderful bike. Plenty of room for the rider to upgrade, but the bike is pretty cool as it is. I wanted to get a second set of the same wheels to put on another bike, and found that the Velocity Aerohead in size 650B was a one time limited run for a single vendor. I'll figure something out if none turn up, but I have emailed that Aussie vendor to see if they still have any. There is a NOS set of D-A hubs in my parts basket, but in all probablity I'll just wait till I find something that works and is more widely available.
I brought home Peggy's bike to play with and enjoyed giving it a look over this afternoon. She offered $ to me to do it, but I held out for something even better. Her famous Glassner Ride cookies. She's agreed to pony up a plate of good ones, but we'll have to wait and see!
Looking forward to a ride tomorrow after church!
Tailwinds..
Our ride today was just about all rollers all the time. Nothing very steep or very tall, but very many of them, to be sure. Great to see Peggy out for the first time this year. Mary too. Jodi was back. She did not lose her keys or lock them in her car this week. She did however lose a water bottle somewhere along the way. I love riders that are always reliable sources of blog material. Especially ones that don't READ the blog :) Joe was "along" too. He gets so far ahead of us, you can't really say he's with us, but we do touch base at the stop signs. Both of us have seen downturns in our construction related businesses lately and we feel the same way about having to reconfigure our companies to suit the available work load. Not fun. New Club Lite-er Mike was out today too on a cool Cervelo. Mike has been on a Millbrook ride before but this was his first Pintlala club ride. Mike is a psycholgist. He used to work for the state, now he's at Faulkner. I asked him to explain why we put ourselves through the hill and wind torture on our bikes, like we did today. I think he has to get back to me on that one. He had no ready answer. Alice was missing sad to say. After organizing the ride, she came down with a bug and felt discretion was the better part of valor this morning.
We turned in 33.4 miles on a route that a couple of us tried out a month or two ago. We really liked it. The weather was wonerful. 50 ish to start and warming to mid 60s. Breeze of about 10 in our faces for 70% or so of the way, adding to the workout and the good natured gripes. We all averaged somewhere in the 14 - 15 area avg speed. We advertise Club Lite as 13 - 15, so we were good.
There was also a great turn out of fast Club Regular Riders. Sam and Sammy were both out. Sammy displayed the colors of Team Holstein. Here's a pic:
I kid you not, that was his jersey. He even asked me if I had a camera to take his picture. Sam was more sedately attired, if that word can ever apply to cyclists. Robert came out as did Vanessa, Scott BAS, Richard and Bill T. There was an unidentified Air Force object looking young, slim, and fast. Don't know him. Bilee led the train out of the station, and from Sammy's Face Book entry, they flew for 60 miles and had a grand old time. Great to see them all.This was the second time out on the Rivendell and it is a wonderful bike. Plenty of room for the rider to upgrade, but the bike is pretty cool as it is. I wanted to get a second set of the same wheels to put on another bike, and found that the Velocity Aerohead in size 650B was a one time limited run for a single vendor. I'll figure something out if none turn up, but I have emailed that Aussie vendor to see if they still have any. There is a NOS set of D-A hubs in my parts basket, but in all probablity I'll just wait till I find something that works and is more widely available.
I brought home Peggy's bike to play with and enjoyed giving it a look over this afternoon. She offered $ to me to do it, but I held out for something even better. Her famous Glassner Ride cookies. She's agreed to pony up a plate of good ones, but we'll have to wait and see!
Looking forward to a ride tomorrow after church!
Tailwinds..
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