Easing Back Into It

Been off the bike since a cold hit me Sunday night, so I was glad to wake up this morning with almost-cleared sinuses. After several hours of catching up on much-needed yard work, I decided it was time to ride.

“Don’t go crazy!” warned my wife, as I headed out the door. I had no intention of it. I decided to do my regular Friday route, minus the two hills that I normally include. And I would pedal at a Zone 2 pace (that means slow and easy).

It’s always a revelation to see just how much being off the bike can affect your pedaling. Off the bike, plus weakened a bit by the illness. I did not have any verve rolling through the neighborhood, but I reminded myself that verve wasn’t what I was after. It was just some time on bike. Turn those pedals. Don’t worry about speed.

I was out for about an hour and a quarter. I rode almost 19 miles, cleared out the rest of my sinuses, and felt great when it was over. Because I rode easy, I wasn’t even tired. Then I checked my computer. A 14.5 mph average. That’s a whopping three-tenths of a mile per hour under my average pace for that route.

Riding easy does pay dividends. I might ride easy again tomorrow.

Riding Easy is Hard

Today I figured it was time for an easy ride. Lately, I’ve been pushing it hard, doing hills, doing intervals — or fartlek — but generally, including a lot of fast or strenuous riding. Obviously, that can’t continue, and I do bear my overall condition in mind.

So I rode over to the Veloway. Although there are stretches where I tend to really hammer it, I told myself that today I wouldn’t watch the computer, wouldn’t pay attention to cadence. I would just pedal around a few times and head home.

When I pulled in, it turns out there was some sort of organized ride going on. A group that benefits kids had set up a tent and a food and drink table. An ice cream truck tootled away in the parking lot. Lots of people of all ages, mostly in street shorts and cotton t-shirts, pedaled mountain bikes and cruisers around the three-mile track.

I thought the conditions were tailor made for me to do my easy ride. But some of the riders, adults who seemed to be associated with the group, were real bikers. How could I tell? Well, they wore lycra jerseys and padded biking shorts and rode road bikes. I’ve got a problem when I see folks like that on the Veloway — or anywhere, for that matter. I suddenly feel the urge to catch and pass them. I started my first lap, took a swallow from the water bottle, and set out after two guys about 100 yards ahead of me.

It took me all of five seconds to remind myself that today was an easy ride. I shifted down to the small chain ring and rode at a moderate pace. Heck, if you’re going to go easy, go easy. I was going easy, but I sensed that it still wasn’t easy enough.

Then, two guys passed me. I knew they were coming, because I’d seen them when we were opposite each other at a hairpin turn. I expected to be passed. But the second guy — he never should have passed me. He was a big guy with an awkward pedaling style. His knees pointed outwards and he seemed to be one gear lower than he should have been. I applied a little more pressure and drafted him.

Uh, this is an easy ride, remember? I backed off, and watched him pull ahead. Well, at least I could take satisfaction from passing the little girl on the mountain bike.

No I couldn’t. I passed her and felt like a schmuck. The only consolation I could take was that if I hadn’t passed her, I’d be going so slow I’d have trouble staying upright.

That was pretty much the story of the day. I did four laps, 12 miles total — 18 for the round trip from home. I remembered what was drilled into us at a clinic last fall when we had to stay in Zone 2. It was hard then, too. Twice, I passed “real” cyclists. Each time, I recognized the error my ways and slowed down to get repassed by them.

When I turned into my driveway at home, I figured my easy ride had been a bust. I knew I pushed harder than I should have. But the computer said I averaged 14.9 mph for the trip. I compared that to past rides I’d done on that same route. My average turned out to be 16.2. On a couple of occasions earlier this year, I averaged more than  17 mph. OK, I guess I did go easy — sort of. But man, that easy pedaling — that’s hard.

Riding With My Wife

My wife wanted to go for a ride the other day. “But, can you pick a route around here that’s flat?” she asked. Pat has an arthritic hip, and it can cause her a lot of discomfort on rides, especially if she has to deal with hills. Apparently, she was experiencing a flare-up of her arthritis this day. But she truly likes to get out on her bike. It’s her main form of exercise.

“I think we can come up with something,” I answered, not fully convinced. We live in a suburban-style part of town, right on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. It’s not much of a stretch to find some grades just a short distance from the house, and I like to use some of these residential streets to do hill repeats for myself. An all-flat route? That would take some thinking.

We started out heading north. This four-lane divided road with its 40 mph speed limit gets traffic out of our residential part of town toward a more mixed-use area. But even here, there are some rises and dips. And today, Pat wanted flat. Less than a half-mile on the street, I turn off onto a side street. This more or less paralleled the original route, and the grade was much milder here. It was also a road Pat had never ridden on, since we never had any reason to.

We came to a good east-west connector, which I often travel on one of my more frequent weekend loops, but I opted to cross it this time, and continue on. More residential streets, more turning. By now, Pat was confused.

“Are you going to be able to get us out of here?” she asked.

“No problem,” I said, as I turned left again. Now we were in an older, very pleasant neighborhood that reminds me more of the Houston suburbs than Austin. We turned onto a road heading south, and stopped at a light.

“Here’s a slight hill,” I told her. “We have to go up, around a bend, then down to a long flat stretch.” She was game for it.

About two miles farther, I discovered the flaw in my plan. If we turned right at a stoplight, Pat would have to contend with a hill that didn’t look particularly tough, but could be a challenge if you weren’t ready for it. I figured we’d stay on residential streets, and turned before we got to the light. Again, she was confused by the streets I took, but I knew they ran in roughly the same direction as the main road. We snaked through some more residential twists and turns, and found ourselves within a few blocks of our house.

“Do you want to keep going?” I asked. “We can do some more of this.”

“No, that’s good for today,” she replied. We pulled into our driveway and put the bikes away. She was pleased with the ride. Not too much exertion, and she felt like she had had some exercise.

In all, we did about nine miles. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was a good experience on a couple of levels. For me, I got in a ride, and I was forced to pedal easily. Not once did I jump ahead and get way out in front of her. It was a Zone 1 day, and I do too few of them anyway. I think it’s a good way for me to maintain balance in my riding.