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Riding 3/4 of the Mildflower Tour — OMG! April 19, 2006

Posted by Amber D. Evans in : Cycling, Chico CA, Training Stats , 7 comments

What a beautiful day!

Started the ride at 8:45 AM and ended by 12:00PM. The temperature was around 52 degrees F and climbed up to 60 degrees F by the end of the ride.

The following was a test for my upcoming event:

The ride was as follows: Home –> Park –> Bruce Rd. –> Skyway –> Honey Run –> Pearson Rd. –> Clark Rd. –> Butte College –> Durham –> Jones Ave. –> Fair St. –> Home (Thank God!)

Note: Yes, I know my bike is heavy. Yes, I know it’s not made for road riding. Yes, you’re going to give me money? Uh-huh, I thought so. Just leave it be for now. :D I’m getting there …

Quick, incoherent notes about the ride.

Bad start: forgot to eat breakfast. Too late to eat by the time I realized. At least I had Cytomax on me.

Honey Run killed me, only because I started out sprinting and trying to muscle my way up the hill at too quick of a pace. I began the turn off crusing 20 mph and quickly used up that energy once I got to the Mobile Home park sign (where the real hills begin). Still tried to sprint/muscle my way up the first two turns. That winded me and caused me to have to stop periodically (4) while ascending the hill. (TOTAL Suckage!)

The last 3 miles of hills was fine at a slow but very steady cadence (equating to ~6 mph) uphill. The key for Honey Run? For me, it’s obviously to go SLOW and STEADY. Focus on breathing, heart rate, and anticipating gear changes. I did notice that once in the last three miles, the going wasn’t as steep and it went QUICK.

I also noticed that I’ll have to grab my bottle with my right hand instead of my left as my right hand is too unstable to control the handlebars while on the hills. I’m considering three turn-out points to recoup and hydrate while on the hill, but I’m not sure of the proper cycling etiquette to do so. (I guess I’ll have to ask Brian about this.) At the top of the hill, I was out of Cytomax and onto the second bottle (full of water).

Everything after the Honey Run hill was fine–it’s all downhill from here–and the flats were very comfortable at ~15 mph.  (At that pace, it ought to be!) Upon cresting the overpass while on Durham-Dayton Hwy, I noticed hot spots forming on the outsides of my Cannondale-clad feet. I also caught my knees trying to splay outwards. The culprit? Lack of concentration and fatigue. My stomach was growling violenty. Really, really should’ve had breakfast. It’s a good thing the rest stop lunch is prior to this point. I’m anticipating a half-hour lunch stop to eat, drink, and relax before completing the remaining miles of Durham and River Rd.

As for the terrain, the road between Butte College and Durham beats you all to hell. There’s some nasty headwinds, too. I’ve gotta’ be watchful of that and not overexert myself. I still have 15 miles to go after reaching Durham and the whole way back on River Road is nothing but rough and windy.

All-in-all, I’m glad I rode today. It was a tough ride and not as successful as I had anticipated. Despite that, I feel reassured and confident that I can complete the full Metric Century on April 30th, 2006!

It’s all coming together …

Posted by Amber D. Evans in : Reflections, Chico CA , 4 comments

The stars and moons are beginning to align. I can feel it. My project is well underway; I implement it on Monday. From there, just more writing to be done. Only a few weeks later and then there’s a defense–I’m thinking, “Presentataion” so it’s less scary-sounding–and then I go “home” to Virginia.

All the while, I’ve been squeezing workouts in during the early mornings and anytime I can. I’m not doing badly at all. I fell off the wagon two weeks ago and then hitched a ride back on sometime last Tuesday. I’m right back where I should be, although I was wiped out by the end of last week! I had to take two days off in a row to recoop and now I feel recharged.

Spinning was incredible yesterday as was the tiny bit of outside cycling I got in. Today I’m planning to ride Honey Run with the hopes of being back before lunch. Next? Well, I plan to eat (a lot), then continue building my project until Pilates time. Shortly after that, I would assume that a visit to the land of Nod would be in order. Not an exciting day, but it’s a day I’m looking forward to.

Time to go start it!