I ended up riding 81 miles, and was I tried when done. The total ride took 6 hours, but a lot of time was spent visiting with others at the rest stops. The last 30 miles was the most difficult, very hilly and plus I was running out of energy. I averaged just over 16 MPH.
All in all, I enjoyed the ride and look forward to doing another ride soon.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Lake Wobegon Trail
Yesterday, a friend and I biked on the Lake Wobegon Trail, from St. Joseph to Albany, and back. This was my first time on the trail, and what a beautiful ride. We averaged 15.1 MP, and the distanced totaled 29.27 miles - my first ride of a significant distance.
Overall the ride was smooth, much different than riding on poorly maintained country roads. My rear end did get a little sore sitting on the saddle for 1 hour and 57 minutes, but I think that's expected. With the exception of a minor tightening in the back of my left knee, my knees felt fine. I think investing in a pair of biking gloves is a smart decision because my hands started tingling about half way into the ride.
Tomorrow I am riding in the Tour de' Prairie Lakes, a charity ride in Glenwood for Habitat for Humanity. The ride consists of three levels, 20 miles, 40 miles, and 70 miles. Guess what distance I'm going to attempt to ride? Yep, I'm registering for the 70 mile ride!
Overall the ride was smooth, much different than riding on poorly maintained country roads. My rear end did get a little sore sitting on the saddle for 1 hour and 57 minutes, but I think that's expected. With the exception of a minor tightening in the back of my left knee, my knees felt fine. I think investing in a pair of biking gloves is a smart decision because my hands started tingling about half way into the ride.
Tomorrow I am riding in the Tour de' Prairie Lakes, a charity ride in Glenwood for Habitat for Humanity. The ride consists of three levels, 20 miles, 40 miles, and 70 miles. Guess what distance I'm going to attempt to ride? Yep, I'm registering for the 70 mile ride!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Another ride
I think I'm getting addicted to cycling! I adjusted my saddle up and forward a little, and the results appears to less discomfort in my knees.
Speed: 17.5 avg, 25.9 max
Miles: 16.6
Time: 56 min
Speed: 17.5 avg, 25.9 max
Miles: 16.6
Time: 56 min
2nd Ride
Well, technically it's my first ride because I exchanged the 55cm for the 57cm; I think the 57cm is a better fit for me. I did the same route and marked the following statistics:
Trip: 14.14 miles
Time: 47:52 minutes
Speed Avg: 17.7
The bottom line is the ride felt great, but my knees were still a little sore. After reading many online articles about biking and sore knees, I decided to adjust my saddle up a very small amount. I hope to find time today for another ride, and to see if the small adjustment helps.
Trip: 14.14 miles
Time: 47:52 minutes
Speed Avg: 17.7
The bottom line is the ride felt great, but my knees were still a little sore. After reading many online articles about biking and sore knees, I decided to adjust my saddle up a very small amount. I hope to find time today for another ride, and to see if the small adjustment helps.
Monday, August 11, 2008
New Bike
After spending the past few days researching road bikes, I pulled the trigger on a new road bike yesterday. I purchased the Lemond Zurich. I test drove a variety of different bikes from manufactures such as Felt, Cannondale, Specialized, Jamis, and Lemond. Initially, I was shopping in the $750 price range, but quickly realized I would need to spend more to find a bike with some of the features I desired.
One of my last stops yesterday was St. Cloud Scheels. I noticed the Lemond Zurich was deeply discounted, $800 of the original sticker price! The sales person explained the reason for the deep discount was to make room for fall and winter products. Although I was liking the price, would I like bike itself?
As soon as I hopped on the bike for a test drive I knew this was the bike for me. The Lemod Zurich rides like no other bike I test drove, and with an all carbon frame and Ultegra components, this bike rides extremely smooth and shifts with ease. The only question I now had to answer is if I purchase the 55cm or 57cm size. I opted for the 55cm version because after riding the 57cm size, I felt like my back need to be cracked. According to the sales person, the feeling in my back was caused by extending myself too far, therefore, the 55cm size would be the better fit for me.
Last night, I took my new bike on my 15 mile practice route. While I was a little disappointed in my time of 42 minutes (I expected to shave off 5+ minutes converting from a mountain bike to a road bike), I only shaved off 2 minutes from my previous best time of 44 minutes with my mountain bike, I enjoyed the ride.
One issue I discovered was my knees were sore, somewhat of an aching feeling about 3/4 of the way through the ride, and continued to ache after finishing. A quick Google search revealed the most common cause of sore knees when biking is due to improper saddle height. However, I believe my saddle height is set correctly, my legs are almost completely straight when completing the full down stroke (think 6 o'clock). Another possible cause listed was using too high of a gear (think peddling hard). The recommended solution is to use a lower gear (peddling easy) with a faster cadence. If anyone has any other recommendations, please let me know.
I think I may bring the bike back to Scheels and make sure I'm properly fitted before my next ride. If all goes well, I'm planning on riding in my first tour this weekend, Tour de' Prairie Lakes!
One of my last stops yesterday was St. Cloud Scheels. I noticed the Lemond Zurich was deeply discounted, $800 of the original sticker price! The sales person explained the reason for the deep discount was to make room for fall and winter products. Although I was liking the price, would I like bike itself?
As soon as I hopped on the bike for a test drive I knew this was the bike for me. The Lemod Zurich rides like no other bike I test drove, and with an all carbon frame and Ultegra components, this bike rides extremely smooth and shifts with ease. The only question I now had to answer is if I purchase the 55cm or 57cm size. I opted for the 55cm version because after riding the 57cm size, I felt like my back need to be cracked. According to the sales person, the feeling in my back was caused by extending myself too far, therefore, the 55cm size would be the better fit for me.
Last night, I took my new bike on my 15 mile practice route. While I was a little disappointed in my time of 42 minutes (I expected to shave off 5+ minutes converting from a mountain bike to a road bike), I only shaved off 2 minutes from my previous best time of 44 minutes with my mountain bike, I enjoyed the ride.
One issue I discovered was my knees were sore, somewhat of an aching feeling about 3/4 of the way through the ride, and continued to ache after finishing. A quick Google search revealed the most common cause of sore knees when biking is due to improper saddle height. However, I believe my saddle height is set correctly, my legs are almost completely straight when completing the full down stroke (think 6 o'clock). Another possible cause listed was using too high of a gear (think peddling hard). The recommended solution is to use a lower gear (peddling easy) with a faster cadence. If anyone has any other recommendations, please let me know.
I think I may bring the bike back to Scheels and make sure I'm properly fitted before my next ride. If all goes well, I'm planning on riding in my first tour this weekend, Tour de' Prairie Lakes!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Minnewaska Triathlon
This past weekend I completed my 3rd triathlon, the Minnewaska Triathlon. I was a late entrant, due to our son being born just a week earlier. I was pleasantly surprised when my wife asked if I wanted to compete in the Minnewaska Triathlon, but I accepted her invitation before she had a chance to change her mind.
The distances for the Minnewaska Triathlon were as follows:
Swim: 500 yards
Bike: 10.2 miles
Run: 2.5 miles.
I had my best finish thus far, placing 33/85 male competitors, and finishing 9/23 for my age group! I still need to work on improving my swim times - a good winter time project at the gym. My bike and run times coming along nicely, and I may have to invest in a new bike - riding a mountain bike on a road course is somewhat a hindrance.
Here are the official times.
Swim - 9:13
Bike: - 31:42
Run: - 18:48
Total: - 1:01:39
I think this was my last triathlon for this season, but I look forward to next season with great anticipation.
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