Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

Prepping For A Century

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I’ve been hemming and hawing for awhile, and during the week I finally made my decision — I’ll be riding in the Hotter ‘n Hell Hundred next month. Yes, it’s an organized ride, but there aren’t many like this one. It’s as much a happening as anything.

Held in Wichita Falls, Texas, in the far northern part of the state, the Hotter ‘n Hell always runs on the last Saturday in August — when summer heat is expected to be at its peak. As a counter balance to the heat, the route is flat. This year it’s been modified so that 100-mile finishers will go through Sheppard Air Force Base along with the 100-kilometer riders. In past years, the 100-milers missed the terrific welcome from the airmen.

Now, I’ve done centuries before. But as I mentioned in a previous post, I might have finished them, but I’ve been pretty trashed at the end. My goal this year is to finish and still be able to function normally.

I decided to start getting serious this weekend. Mrs. Noob wanted to head out for an easy ride Saturday, and I was happy to join her, knowing that when she wrapped up her 13 miles or whatever, that I could continue on and do my own ride.

She started to complain almost immediately. “I just don’t feel it today,” she said. She waffled about which route to take, but finally decided a Mopac loop would be good for her. But once on the shoulder of the expressway, she said she didn’t seem to be loosening up. I pedaled easily, to stay with her.

At the top of Escarpment Hill, I waited for her as usual, but when she caught up to me, she said, “I have an idea. Let’s go up to the next street, then work our way through the neighborhood and head back home.” Her hip was bothering her, which hadn’t happened for several weeks, and she was struggling.

When we went our separate ways, I headed for Convict Hill, the neighborhood hill that offers several short but steep climbs as well as a nice longer one in a generous shoulder beside the main road over the top. I did my usual repertoire of climbs, enjoyed the quick descent, and figured I’d head back to Mopac to do a complete loop before calling it a day.

But halfway back to Mopac, I started feeling like Pat. I had no snap in my legs. I turned the pedals, but didn’t pump them. My speed slowed. Once I got on Mopac itself, I realized I’d better pack it in. I turned off at the same street we had before, stopped in the shade of an overhanging tree, and rested before going home.

If this was the way I felt halfway through a summer of regular riding, I was concerned about getting ready for the Hotter ‘n Hell.

This morning’s club ride was going to do a Dam Loop — probably my least favorite ride in the Austin area. I knew that I wasn’t going to do the whole thing, given the combination of heat and higher-than-usual humidity we’ve put up with lately. But I felt good as our big group hit the road.

One of the highlights of the route is “Hail Mary Hill” — a tough one that ends at a church parking lot where we can take a breather. This is a steep one, and it has been my nemesis for as long as I’ve been riding. I made sure I was near the back of the group when we hit the hill, in case I had to unclip and walk up, as I’ve done so many times before.

But today, I felt strong. I was in my lowest granny gear, but stayed on the wheel of Jordan in front of me. I even got out of the saddle to pump a bit, which I’ve never done on that hill before.

I got to the top, and when I turned into the parking lot, got an ovation from everyone who was already there. We turned onto Bee Caves Road, which features a lot of long hills, and rode to our regular rest stop at a Walgreens. I decided to turn around at that point and head home, but instead of taking our usual route, I would go back the way we came, and deal with the hills on both Bee Caves and Barton Creek Blvd. A new rider decided he’d be smart to turn back too, so we swapped the lead as we made our way back, this time having a lot more trouble with the hills than we did on the way out.

Total mileage: 36. Average speed: 14.2 mph. Not big numbers for a guy who faces a century in a month, but because of the hills we tackled today, I figure the numbers did not represent our effort. If anything, the weather conditions this weekend were a good indicator of what the Hotter ‘n Hell ride will be like. I think I can be ready.

Inspired By the Tour

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Well, it’s Tour time again. As I have done in past years, I didn’t pay much attention the first few days. But I did watch Saturday, and that stage has inspired me for the rest of the year.

When Chris Froome went around Cadel Evans on a 20 percent climb and won by a wide margin, that got me thinking. I’ll never be Chris Froome, but I can be a better me.

Chris Froome wins Stage 7 ahead of defending champ Cadel Evans.

I’ve got some things going for me. My weight is finally starting to come down. I’m about seven pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of the year. But I’ve noticed that my average speeds are lower than they ought to be for mid-summer. I must be slacking on my rides. A friend of mine is coming back from hip replacement surgery, and has been riding like crazy to get back into biking shape. She (yes, she!) posts her Garmin stats online, and her average speed is now ahead of mine — and this on the same routes in our area.

Hmmph! That was a wakeup call. But that’s all right. Now, I have something to shoot for. Two things, actually. I’ve decided I’ll do a century later this summer, maybe in August, maybe in September, and I have to get myself ready for that.

I’ve done three centuries so far, and as a friend observed, I’ve been pretty done in after each one of them. So the goal is not just to finish the century, it’s to finish it feeling good. And that doesn’t mean riding it so easy that I still have a lot of oomph left at the finish. It means marshaling my resources so I can get through those testy last 30 miles or so without dropping to an average speed in the single digits.

My work toward that goal has already begun, and it wasn’t all by design. I’ve got a balky cassette that will be replaced this week. At first, I thought the problem was just my chain, so I got a new chain. But the new chain and old cassette don’t play well together. I am effectively limited to about eight or nine of my 18 speeds when I ride. So I’ve been spending a lot more time riding in the big ring than I usually do. (I prefer to spin with a high cadence in the small ring.) I’ve even been climbing Convict Hill, my neighborhood grade, in the big ring — something that had never occurred to me before. The first time, I struggled. Yesterday, I got to the top without much trouble, much to my surprise.

Today, out on the club ride, my job was to guide a new rider. Although he had mountain bike experience, this was his first real road ride. He’s a big guy, with huge calves from his mountain biking, and he could have pulled away from me fairly easily for much of the ride. But I was in my big ring strategy, and kept with him or ahead of him for most of the 40-mile trip. And when I got home, I didn’t flop on the bed and nap for two hours as I so often have done. I’ve been working on household chores for most of the afternoon.

Thibault Pinot congratulated by his team director as he approaches the finish line in Stage 8.

I also watched today’s stage of the Tour, and saw how first-time Tour rider Thibault Pinot caught the lead rider on the last hill of the course, then gave it everything he had to hold off the peloton made up of all of this year’s top riders to win the stage. He dug deep. I’ve been doing a lot of riding, but not much digging. The digging begins. I’ll keep you posted.

Stravacide

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While I’m busy overcoming the cycling blahs (see previous post), I learned of a case where a really enthusiastic cyclist went out to beat a record for a segment on Strava — and lost his life when he collided with a car.

You’re probably aware of Strava — the GPS-based training aid that’s gaining in popularity by the day. I mentioned it here earlier this year. The main attraction of Strava seems to be its ability to divide a ride into segments. If you post the segments publicly, others can see your time for that segment and try to beat it.

Users have even coined a name for it, as noted on the Competitive Cyclist website:

  • Stravacide, [strah-veh-sahyd]
  • noun
  • To ride significantly harder during training than originally planned (e.g. on a climb or a defined stretch of road) in order to increase one’s ranking on the Strava Leaderboard for a specific segment.

Now, the family of the deceased cyclist, one Kim Flint, Jr., is suing Strava, claiming its general negligence led to the wrongful death of Flint. The complaint alleges that Strava breached its “duty of care” by failing to warn cyclists that the road on that segment was “not suited for racing” and “unreasonably dangerous;” for failing to take measures to ensure that KOM (King of the Mountain) challenges take place on safe courses; and for encouraging dangerous behavior. The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $25,000, contends that if Strava had done those things, Flint would not have died as he did.

Hey, I just report the facts. I’ll let you figure out whether the plaintiffs have a leg to stand on, or if this suit will be thrown out of court as frivolous. All I know is that, while I don’t use Strava myself, I do have several segments on my routes where I do keep track of my times — or, more often, my top speed. I don’t need Strava for that, and I don’t need a third party looking out for me to make sure my record-breaking attempts are done under pristine conditions.  I don’t need Strava to kill myself; I’m perfectly capable of doing that on my own.

Of course, I’m also perfectly capable of judging conditions for myself, and determining whether I’m comfortable challenging my best on a given day, or waiting until the wind, for the road surface, or debris, or reflected light, or whatever changes until I am comfortable.

Strava didn’t make Flint ride that day.

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