15 miles on the trainer

I squeezed in 15 miles on the trainer. What would seem like a short, easy ride outside was of course a bit more challenging while indoors.

I usually do not even ride the trainer at this time of year. This is an early start, but a bit of a bonus in the calorie-burning department heading into my favorite holiday of the year Thursday. Can't wait for the family feast.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving and I'll be posting after the next trainer session of sweat.

Trainer? What?

True dat.
I  actually set up my trainer today. Not only that, I RODE it. Not only that, I rode it for an HOUR! Wow.

Not only that, it was actually nice enough outside to be riding out in the elements, with some sunshine and upper 40's and little wind. The only reason I stayed in was because I was waiting for a couple of phone calls that were coming in and I didn't want to miss them.

So I figured I would set up my winter surroundings in my cycling/recording lounge room in the basement. I've got the Klein set up in a cozy corner, actually facing away from the TV. That's because I usually don't watch TV while riding. I usually end up listening to something.

Once it was set up I decided to go ahead and get a little exercise. Why not? It was nice to be able to do an entire hour, which, in the dead of winter seems like a lot more work than it was today. I must have some leftover fitness in me from the outdoor season.

The annual fade

Now the sky is gray and the wind has a bite to it. Now this looks and feels more like the November I know. Now it's just about time to make the annual bike switch as I make the annual fade from cycling in November.

The bikes are still at the ready, because up until Thanksgiving I believe there might still be a chance of me jumping on one of them for a little exercise out there despite the cold I hate so much.

But as the old song goes, the thrill is gone.

At some point I'll have all my bikes lined up on stands in my basement, just standing at attention alone for a few months down there.

Between Thanksgiving and New Years I do not do anything related to cycling, and I eat what I want. I enjoy the holidays, and then afterward get very bored with the months of January, February and March.

After the new year arrives I will set up the Klein on my trainer and begin to once again think about cycling and losing some weight and getting in shape for spring riding.

But as of right now I still may have a few more miles in these legs in 2010. We shall see.

As we get closer to the end of the year I will be posting my annual top five rides story, when I look back and rank the five most-memorable rides of 2010.

The Voices

FOUR days in a row now out on the road and not even all that cold here in November. It has been quite a week.

25 miles on Sunday.
40 miles on Monday.
20 miles on Tuesday.
30 miles on Wednesday.

Today I did my Minooka route, which includes some climbing of course. Ouch. On sore legs that are already tired this week from a lack of training, the hills hurt today.

Then on the way in I was really getting worn out by the constant wind off the lake in my face. It made things a little cool, but in my heart of hearts I know we are on the brink of being trapped inside for months, meaning I would kill to be able to ride outside in a little cool wind like today.

Who says you can't see horses on an urban ride?

I do kind of feel bad for some of my fellow riders who would love to be out here with me taking advantage of a nice, mild November day on a bike. But alas, jobs get in the way and darkness comes early now as the clock ticks to Thanksgiving.

So that very thought is part of what fueled me to quit my whining on the way back.

Now, what's with the voices?

Well, that's the funny part of today's ride...my story of the day for you. While waiting to cross Calhoun there must have been some riders coming up on me from behind. Shortly after I crossed and started that long stretch to Springdale on the New Berlin Trail I swore I heard voices behind me.

With visions of it being that Beans & Barley rider I wrote about earlier this week and some riding bud of his, I, for whatever reason, decided to go hard tempo too make them work to pass me.

I dropped the Madone into the big ring while I myself dipped into a tuck in the drops and held a steady 90-93 rpm while turning 22's. I just kept going on that long stretch. At one point I thought about turning my head back to check because I hadn't heard a thing back there. Come to think of it, did I ever REALLY hear anything at all. Maybe I was doing all this for nothing. I should shoot a quick glance back. But wait, if they WERE back there then I'd be giving them 'the LOOK' and I really didn't want to send the message that I'm an ass up here!

Onward. Just keep going at this pace. So what if no one was ever back there...you've just motivated yourself to ride harder today then...that's what I told myself.

I made it to Springdale and eased up, pulled over and took a drink. Wanna guess where I looked first?

Indeed, there were two riders a pretty far way back coming toward me now. I was NOT hearing things back there. But as they got closer my bubble was burst. 

No, I had not dropped Beans & Barley dude. I had dropped a man and a woman, rec riders out enjoying the afternoon. 

What a stud I am huh?

I had to laugh at myself.

No ride Thursday. The last of the pre-winter yard chores are calling before the weather goes back into the dumpster this weekend.

Season Miles: 2,819

Parkway Expedition

First of all it should be noted that today's ride on the 10th of November was completed with bare legs. Yes, it was nice but it did start to turn cooler in the middle of the ride. The wind picked up and it is coming off Lake Michigan. I was a little under-dressed on top with just a long-sleeved jersey.

I ended up just doing a little exploratory in a different direction today. Reader and riding bud 'Der Jan' had mentioned to me Sunday night at the PhilCast Packer party that I should try to head north on the Oak Leaf instead of south.

I used to take that a few years ago, but it left me unfulfilled really, an ugly-ass bumpy stretch into Hansen Park was just too crappy to deal with. As I rode it today I found nothing has changed. Craptastic.

First parkway....Underwood, where I see that the old tennis courts I used to play on are now gone. I had no clue.

I know somehow I used to head north on parkway #2, the Menomonee River Parkway, but today I got turned around and stumbled to the east I believe. This entire ride I was sort of lost the entire time, yet still knew the general area I was in.

I rode past where the Tosa farmer's market is held and took in the great smells from Cafe Hollander. At one point I saw Jacobus Park and Doyne Park. Parkway #3 was the Honeycreek Parkway. When it appeared I was going to head into the Valley I turned around and found my way home. I had had enough of that cold wind off the lake in my face.

On the way back I was on a trail that went right behind the Hart Park tennis courts, which brought back a lot of memories from warmer days past. I can remember some great battles on hot summer mornings with Len Kasper on those courts. We used to play in the mornings before going into work. I got him into tennis and as a regular player beat him quite often at the start. As he got better I stayed the same and his youth and strength got the best of me. By the end of our playing days he was the one beating me most often on those courts.

Bare legs though. Wow, what great weather...and it is supposed to continue Wed.

Season Miles: 2,789

November?

What beautiful weather for the 8th of November. And I took full advantage too, despite being buried in work I made sure to just stop and hit the road by noon today. 40 miles later I have a couple stories for you.

Today I wanted to do lunch in...

 Wales of course! That would mean a pretty long ride for me considering I have not been on the bike doing any training the past month. But with weather that was sunny and low 60's at this time of year I was going to go for it with all I had.

I did my lunch there, my face being warmed by the brilliant sunshine as I sat at a picnic table.

The PB&J never tasted better than today either. The food was some welcome fuel after a hard-fought ride to get out there.

There were two kinds of pain on this ride today, the good kind and the bad kind. I experienced the good kind on the way out. While waiting in the middle of Moorland to cross I heard a squeaky noise behind me and suddenly there he went, a roadie sporting a Beans and Barley racing kit went sprinting through the intersection despite the fact that a couple of cars were coming toward us at a pretty good clip. I waited because there were no cars behind these two, and I have been trying to be a good ambassador for the sport. This dude should have waited too. That is the kind of stuff that makes a bad name for all of us with drivers.

Anyway, for some unknown reason after I crossed I decided that despite the fact that I had a long way to go I was going to pick up the pace and see if I could catch this guy. Why? Not sure. He was there. I was behind him by about a block.

I started in on making a big effort to close the gap. I was not gaining by much at all on the chase to Calhoun. Now, Calhoun to Springdale is a long stretch on the New Berlin trail and this would be where I would give it my all. I was going between 21.7 and 23.3 the entire time and hardly gaining. Chest heaving. Lungs pumping. Legs aching. I'd jump in and out of the saddle in the drops just to try to maintain enough to close the gap. Meantime this younger, stronger, faster kid looked like he was hardly making an effort to do this.

I would drop off a bit to recover, then try again. At one point, with snot now freely flying out of my nose and my body moving all over the machine I must have looked like a raving madman. I remember hardly having enough breath to say to myself out loud, "Oh God."

I lost him heading into the Waukesha industrial area. It was not to be today. Then heading into town he passed me going the other way after having turned around ahead. I gave a slight nod to him and kept going.

That's the GOOD pain of the ride.

After my lunch I enjoyed taking it easy on the way back to Waukesha, knowing I would be tired. Little did I know how bad that would become.

Going up the hill at Carroll College my quads started to cramp. Within a mile the threat of bad cramps turned into reality. Now the entire muscle on the inside of my left thigh running down to my knee was knotting up. If this has ever happened to you then you know what kind of crazy pain this is. You can't ride if it gets bad enough.

I babied it for a pretty good stretch, rubbing my hands into my legs and pounding the knotting muscles in an attempt to ward off a complete lockup. It happened with only three miles to go when I went up a slight uphill at Greenfield Park golf course. My leg got so bad I had to hop off the bike and get control of myself.

Needless to say it was tricky getting home the rest of the way. And needless to say, this is the BAD pain of the ride. But then again, how bad can anything be when the sun is out and it's 63 degrees on November 8th in Milwaukee and I'm out riding!

Season Miles: 2,769

Bustling November Sunday

For November 7th this was some pretty darned nice weather to ride in. With the Packers playing Sunday night that meant the stars were lined up for me to get back on my bike for the first time in a while. The 2010 season isn't quite done yet.


You what else isn't done yet?
The construction in the Root River Parkway. These guys should be ashamed! I've never seen a road project that took so long to complete. This thing has been torn up for most of the summer, and neither the bridge to Loomis nor the road to Whitnall Park are open yet.


So I rode the detours and did a lap at Botanical. Just 25 miles, but you have to start somewhere. Looks like it will be even warmer on Monday and Tuesday, so if my schedule permits I'll get out there both days.


Everyone and his uncle was out there today, from walkers and riders to families working in their yards. This mild start to November is a blessing. Lets hope the forecast is right for this week.




Season Miles: 2,729

New shop and nice weather

Hey cycling fans, just a quick check-in note today on a couple of items...

1. In case you didn't know, the new Trailside Cycles bike shop along the New Berlin Trail is now open. I stopped in this week to take a look. Owner Hans is still setting things up, but it looks like it will be a welcome addition in a great location for those of us who use that east-west path.

2. Forecast looks great for getting in a few November rides this coming week. Sunshine and 60! I have not been on a trainer yet and the bikes are still ready to go outside. Looks like a ride Sunday and Monday will be possible for me. I have some new booties to break in, given to me for my birthday back in August. I don't really enjoy riding in the colder weather with layers on, but I DO think it is still better than doing a half hour on the trainer in the basement!