It has been a while since I have posted and the data from our rides are piling up on sheets of scrap paper. So first let me recap last weekend's numbers. Joyce already described our humbling attempt at Old La Honda on June 19, here are the stats from my gadget: 10.6 miles over 1 hr 14 min, avg 8.8, max 25.6 mph. Max altitude 1236, trip +1299, -1304, (total climb to date 8823), max grade 18%!!!!!! avg grade 2% - this has been zero for every trip we have done so far, so you can see Old La Honda is steep!
The next day (June 20) we had a training ride with Jerry. I was a bit nervous my muscles wouldn't work after Old La Honda (and they were still sore from climbing the dish). Joyce and I made plans to go to the farmer's market before the ride and we bought some delicious strawberries and other locally grown produce, then we headed for Canada Road. We rode a new route this time from Edgewood Road up Canada to the Sawyer Camp Trail. We rode that trail, which we have done twice before, and we could see our progress. It is mostly flat but then has a somewhat steep climb over the last mile or so. The first time we tried it I had to walk part of it, the second time I made it but stopped a few times. Well, this time we had already ridden 12 miles or so and I made it to the top without stopping and didn't feel like I was about to die! Then we had our adventure for last weekend, we RODE OUR BIKES ON THE FREEWAY!!!! Jerry says this is legal but is was very scary. (I heard from some other riders this weekend that he has taken others on this route as well, maybe he knows what he is doing :) He had a method to his madness. Apparently some of our CCC ride includes riding on freeways in Southern California. Good thing he told me this after I signed up, I don't even like LA freeways in a car! In any case, we survived the brief ride on the freeway (only went to the next exit). Then we rode through places like Belmont, San Mateo, and Redwood City to get back to our cars on Canada Rd. It was a beautiful day and the scenery and company was great, overall an excellent ride, and Jerry even commented on our smiles at the end of it all. We rode 25.3 miles over 2 hrs 22 min, avg 10.6, max 34.4 mph. Trip altitude +1875, -1765 (MOST CLIMBING TO DATE!!!!), max grade 18%, average 1%.
Although I feel that my progress is slow, I can definitely see that I am improving and that is very encouraging. Joyce is also making progress and she continues to zip right by me on the uphill climbs then I speed by her on the downhills trying to make up for my snail's pace and gain some momentum for the next hill!
Since we are serious athletes now, or at least posing as them, we did a bit of training during the week as well. We did take June 21 off and then hit the gym on June 22 for our first attempt at weight training. What were we thinking? Here we were at the new Stanford gym with all these fit, young Stanford students. We stuck out like a sore thumb. Of course the fits of laughter when Joyce couldn't get the crunch machine to move or when I couldn't even figure out which way to sit on the machine didn't help. Oh, and I never realized how bad my balance is until I tried to do lunges and couldn't do it without falling over! My labmate and friend, Mike, had volunteered to show us how to use the different machines, hopefully he can still show his face there :) Even though we had the machines set to the lowest possible weight for most (10 pounds) it was still a struggle to do 2-3 sets of 10 reps. The next day my legs and back were quite sore and remained so for a few days.
Wednesday June 23 was my cat Li'l Bit's first chemotherapy treatment and I decided to work from home so that I could keep an eye on her. Joyce and I had a ride planned from campus so I decided I would ride there from home to meet her in the evening. That ride is essentially flat and should have been a warm up for me. However, I really struggled with the rest of the ride. We took off from the parking garage and did the Alpine-Portola loop. It is typical for me to lag behind Joyce but today I was so far behind she would stop and wait for me. I felt like my legs were made of lead. I think it was from the work out the day before, which tells me I need to keep working out at the gym! After we did the loop Joyce was begging for more miles so we went around campus instead of back to the car. If it weren't flat I would have committed mutiny! Overall the ride from campus was 20.41 miles over 1 hr 44 minutes, avg 11.7, max 38.4 mph (Joyce yelled at me that I was going ot fast as I zipped by but I was afraid I wouldn't get up the hill if I didn't maximize the downhill before it). Altitude max 559, trip +902, -908, max grade 7%, avg 0%. Add 7 miles for my total since I rode in from home. Fortunately I hitched a ride home from Joyce, otherwise I might have slept in the office that night.
For our final weekday exercise adventure we had the choice of going back to the gym or walking the dish. Although it was quite warm during the day Thursday but it cooled off nicely. The last thing I wanted to do was use those damn machines again, especially since I didn't want to be too sore for my big ride Saturday, so I convinced Joyce to walk the dish. It seemed a bit easier than our past attempts so again we can see the progress.
That's it for now. My next post will describe this weekend's adventures! (are you on the edge of your seat?)
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