The Calm Before the Storm

 Today was the easiest ride we have left, other than the short jaunt to the Atlantic to dip our wheels on Friday. 


But it was hot.  And it’s going to get hotter as we do  three tough days. 100 miles and then 80 and then 90, all of them with mid 90s heat by noon and the last two with very difficult climbs.

My fitness level is good, maybe even great, but the heat is a wildcard in all of this. So I spent all day today hydrating as much as I could, and trying to save effort and energy for the next three.  I drank like I did in the Mojave but it wasn’t enough…

Despite taking it easier, I’ve got some aches and pains that won’t go away. And probably won’t until I’ve been off the bike for at least a week. I’ve got some strange pain under my left shoulder blade. My left Achilles is tight and bothering me. My feet continue to hurt on longer rides (hot feet from a compressed nerve that runs through the ball of the feet). My left quad is sore. And I have what feels like the start of carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrists and tender spots everywhere I touch the bike.  The accumulated stress of riding like this day after day doesn’t get washed away with a single rest day. So there’s nothing for it other than to push forward and finish this.

290 miles to go…

And now…your 2024 Ride Cross America Most Valuable Gear countdown… bonus edition (cause I can’t count and we only have three real riding days left after today…)

#5 Shokz Jawbone conduction Headphones 

I didn’t have these at the start of the ride, but most of the other riders were wearing them so I picked them up in the Santa Fe REI.  Plenty of battery for a seven hour ride. Super lightweight, so you forget they are on your head, you can hear road noise, and your fellow riders very clearly. If you want to jam to something really loud, you can blast it as high as you want provided you’re on a safe stretch.  In principle, you could take a phone call, but I am not doing that.  Definite addition to any solo rides I go on in the future.


#4. Wahoo power meter pedals 


I started training with a power meter in December, working with my coach Clayton Feldman. The first time I rode trying to keep power as opposed to speed constant was a complete revelation. It’s technically difficult at first, but so much easier on your body.  It is so much better than trying to watch your heart rate, because your heart rate is a lagging indicator of your effort levels. When you start up an incline, putting too much power into the pedals, by the time your heart rate catches up It’s too late and you’re already cooked.  When we were climbing the long steep grades out west, I already knew that I could maintain 220 W of power for 30 minutes, because I’ve been doing it over and over again in practice. So I just ignored my speed and ignored everything else other than keeping my power somewhere between 200 and 220 W.  Will do the same thing when we hit the steep climbs in Vermont and New Hampshire. Bonus… Seeing how much stronger I’ve gotten over the course of the tour and how much power I can put out over these rollers. Very hard to understand that personal growth just looking at speeds.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 18, 2024 at 8:21 AM

    Nice! I like your technical recommendations. Almost there, man! Stay healthy and safe and don’t crank the Pet Shop Boys too loudly! 🤣 SKB

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Training Montage

 I have dreamed of biking across the country since I was 13.   Four decades later, with kids grown up, nearing completion of a nine long years in a challenging job, I decided it was now or never.    Here is how I have trained over the last year... (Okay, but seriously, I biked about 3000 miles since mid December.... working under the demanding tutelage of CTS Coach Clayton Feldman, who has me in great shape.  FTP intervals suck...)
Read more

Riverside to Indio, and some hard news

Image
  It was a hard ride today, with a long climb early and head winds late.       We rode through and past some beautiful mountains but I didn’t see or appreciate it much. Literally moments before we departed I got a text from my niece telling me that my older brother Bob died this morning after a long bout with cancer. Bob was a great musician, an Eagle Scout, a bit of a hooligan in his youth, and a man who served his country with great pride, first as an enlisted soldier in the Army and then in a civilian capacity supporting other soldiers. He’d been in the hospital for a good long stretch, battling pneumonia then learning of a devastating new cancer diagnosis.     Given his health and long battles with other cancers, they offered him hospice, or a treatment that might help, or that might kill him.    A 50/50 shot.    He chose to fight. But then, Bob liked to fight.     He fought kids in school.    He fought our parents as a teenager.    He fought neighborhood bullies (one time, memorab
Read more

Packing and Travel Day

Image
Heading for LA in a few hours and putting some final touches on my packing list.   There is a lot of stuff on here! CrossRoads Suggested List But somehow, two small duffle bags and six pounds under my weight limit.  The key is:  three changes of cycling clothes, and two changes of civilian clothes to make it through 7 weeks.    (Those little blue squares are washing detergent for use in hotel bathroom sinks, super hygienic...) I packed enough calories to get me to the first SAG stop each day for the first two weeks.  That's roughly 10% of the total mileage.  Energy bars and hydration mix are heavy! I was a little nervous about my soft sided biking bag, and the comments online about damage to the rear derailleur.  Pool noodles FTW (h/t Tanya!) Fingers crossed that this gets to LA in one piece. My last bit of nervousness.  When I roll up in the Indy airport and the American Airlines ticket agent takes one look at this and says, "You're not checking something that big..."
Read more