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Rediscovering Zone 2

01.05.2014 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

Took a ride with a friend the other day. It wasn’t meant to be anything big, just using streets in our neighborhood, catching up about Christmas and whatnot, and just enjoying our time out. The day was on the chilly side, but sunny. The wind was there, but wasn’t a factor.

As we left one subdivision to enter another, I glanced down at my bike computer. It was blank. I had forgotten to start it when we began our ride after meeting up at a local coffee house. My computer will go to sleep if it’s idle for five minutes, and I have to click a button to make sure it starts registering when I start up again.

At first, I was angry at myself — I’ve made that mistake before. But then, I looked back at our ride up to that point, and decided I really didn’t need the computer’s data for the day anyway. We had covered about eight miles by then, and I know our average speed was probably in the 12 mph area. I wasn’t working any harder than I do when I ride with my wife. I was in Zone 2.

Zone 2 is familiar to riders who use heart rate monitors. It describes the space between 70-85 percent of maximum heart rate. Three years ago, I was in a riding clinic where we were ordered to ride only in Zone 2. The coach said that since we weren’t training for any races, but were just building a base, this was the kind of riding we should be doing during the winter months anyway. Besides, Zone 2 is where your body learns to burn fat.

We were out for about an hour and a half — 20 miles, give or take. During that whole time, the only effort we put out was on the few short uphills we encountered. In fact, my friend suggested we attack some hills, since our riding had been — well — boring up until that point. But on the hills, she decided it was time to end the ride and head home, so we didn’t even get in any meaningful hill work.

But that evening, I could tell I had done some good riding. My weight was down a bit, I didn’t feel bloated after dinner, and I was ready for a good night’s deep sleep. Zone 2 might not test your abilities as a cyclist, but it does good things for your future riding. I enjoyed it so much, I’m going to make a real effort to spend most of my winter in Zone 2. Or at least the next two months’ worth.

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Categories // training Tags // training, zone 2

Quiet Time

01.10.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

We here in Central Texas have a nice advantage over many other places during the winter. It never really gets too cold to bike. Oh, we moan about chilly weather, as in the case of last Sunday’s ride, but our conditions that day would have been welcomed in, say, Iowa.

So when I got home from work today, the first thing I wanted to do was jump on the bike. It wasn’t even chilly today — 66 degrees (19C) at 4 p.m. I added a pair of arm warmers to my usual summer bike clothes, and hit the road.

I stuck to a familiar route through the neighborhood, knowing that I wouldn’t be out for much longer than an hour. Wide suburban streets with little traffic. But I didn’t feel the need to push it. Instead, I settled into an easy, steady pace, and pretty much maintained it for the entire ride.

Because even though our winter is mild, it’s still a time to relax on the bike. No need to ride as hard as possible, or to do intervals, or to maintain an average speed above a certain mark. Winter is recovery time — time to build the base for the upcoming season.

Instead of speed, I concentrated on more mundane things, like keeping a steady pedal cadence, making sure I applied even pressure to the pedals throughout the stroke (“pedaling in a circle”), and keeping my heels down on the pedals. I never breathed hard during the ride, and don’t expect to do much hard breathing for several more weeks.

At the Veloway, I passed several guys decked out in racing kit as they faffed around at the start of the track. Midway through my second lap, I  rounded a hairpin turn and saw one of them gaining on me fast. Soon, he zipped by me with a friendly “Hi!” I think he would have been glad of some company, but I just let him go (I never did figure out where his two buddies got to). I checked my watch, realized it was time to head home, and did so, getting passed in a two and a half mile stretch by three more cyclists.

A couple of years ago, I took a cycling clinic at the onset of winter, and all we did was pedal in Zone 2 (That’s slow and easy riding, where the heart rate doesn’t get elevated much). The clinic leaders explained that while it’s tempting to ride faster, we need to resist the urge for awhile, and let our bodies recover from the hard riding we’d done in the spring, summer and fall.

I wasn’t maintaining Zone 2 on this ride, because I did pedal strongly up an easy hill or two. And when I got home, with 18 miles on the computer, I was once again surprised (this shouldn’t surprise me anymore, because it happens frequently) that my average speed was 15.8 mph. Riding easy will still get you from Point A to Point B in good time.

I’m looking forward to taking it easy for another four or five weeks.

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Categories // training Tags // training, zone 2

Easing Back Into It

10.05.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

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.

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Categories // training Tags // easy rides, zone 2

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