Crunch numbers, set goals, ride faster

When I track the metrics of a ride from data collected by my Garmin computer, I always feel it builds my knowledge base of my tendencies as a rider. In pure numbers it shows where I was fast, sorta fast, slow, and very slow on a ride.

I’m always trying to increase my average speed when I regularly ride a 51-mile out-and-back close to my home. I don’t want to be in races, I just want to ride a consistently fast pace for a physical challenge. So I can be fit, and yep, keep the fat at bay!

I have a slow metabolism so if I don’t ride regularly and with some pep, I feel it. I know when I need to get on the bike and ride hard. It’s pretty often, like two or three times a week.

I used to weigh myself to keep track of where I was on the fit or fat meter. But now, probably because of a need to keep things positive, I only do so when I feel super light after a strenuous ride!

After a ride, I plug my Garmin into my home computer and get a breakdown of the ride’s speed, split by split and other details such as temperature, total feet ascended, and top speed.

I wanted to dial down into my mph averages on splits, plus challenge myself more by doing three long rides in three days and tracking the results for average speed.

So five weeks ago, I started riding my virtually flat 51-mile ride (1,100 feet of climb) on three consecutive days, just to see how the upped mileage load would affect my legs and speed.

I crunched the average mph of the four main splits on each of the three rides then averaged the three one-day mph averages. There are three more splits on the ride that I don’t time, since they’re at the beginning and end of it where there are traffic signals and pedestrians that interfere with consistent speeds. And I don’t time the super short turnaround segment that sandwiches the halfway point where I stop to eat and rest for a few minutes.

I’ve picked out a few splits of the ride to hammer on, some are easy, some are long gradual climbs, some are short false flats, others are long, highest gear flats. All of them are to boost my heart rate significantly. I don’t mess with tracking my heart rate with a chest band or anything else. I just push myself to that day’s energy edge taking care not to overdo it, and bonk.

I set a goal of 18 mph average speed on the splits over each ride in the three-day periods. For the first five three-day rides I hit my 18 mph average speed goal once, and came pretty close two other times. The two other three-day speed averages were on the slow side.

And the three-day average speeds were…

My average speed totals for each three-day ride period over the past five weeks were: 17.7 mph, 18.0 mph, 17.2 mph, 17.0 mph and 17.8 mph. I found that I rode only one of each three-ride cluster fast (for me), with the other two rides somewhat slower.

So far, the 18 mph average looks to be just about right as a goal for me. It’s high, but it definitely can be done!

There was no pattern to which of the three rides was fastest. Sometimes it was on the first ride, sometimes the second and once it was on the third. Now, my mission if I decide to accept it, is to get a high energy level on all three days and hit the 18 mph average more often.

It’s amazing how much only 1 mph will add to or slow down your speed over several miles. Doesn’t seem like much, but it really adds up. I try to keep at 18-21 mph on the flats, and average 17 mph on the various climb stretches on the ride that amount to only 1,100 feet or so. Those are tough paces to keep but they’re reachable on good energy days.

I’ve started to do the ride’s sprint interval segments out of habit, and have a couple of climb segments I plan on adding, which will be brutal to try to hammer on. But if I get them into the routine with the others, I figure I’ll be less likely to think about them and just automatically hit it when they come up.

Wheelsucking? Oh yeah

I must confess, I’ll draft a fast rider that comes along to help my time if I’m dragging my ass all alone out there. Never too proud to hang on to some hammerhead’s wheel as long as I can! Sometimes I can return the favor by pulling them for a stretch.

Recently I tried to stay on the wheel of a rider with a seemingly effortless 20-22 mph pace on flat trail. I stayed with him for several miles, rested a little, then humped up to pass him on a hill. I stayed ahead of him when the trail flattened out for a bit, and on another fairly short climb. But that extra effort to get ahead of him gassed me. I slowed down and it wasn’t long before he glided right past! Oh man, dropped. Couldn’t stay with him after that.

Other than pros I’ve seen working out on the trail before the Amgen Tour of California, this guy was the fastest spinner I’ve seen out there. Not a real young guy either. I saw him another time going in the opposite direction, riding smooth and fast again. Dude is fit!

I need to do that

On another long climb segment that I just try to gut out near the end of the first half of the ride, a little guy who looked like a pro, easily passed me, dancing on his pedals like Contador. That was the fastest I’ve ever seen a rider go up that extended climb. I need a lot more lung capacity before I could even come close to standing up all the way on that stretch. But hey, it can be done!

Adding up the positives

To keep the spirits up while on rides, which at times are grueling, I keep track of the highlights of each ride. If I ride a split at a fast mph average I’m shooting for, or if I have a good conversation with another rider, a strong overall ride, see a deer or a coyote, whatever it is, I take note. Definitely adds to the ride’s satisfaction.

The best highlight for me, though, I have to say, is finishing a ride without a crash or mechanical. Now that’s something I’m always truly thankful for.

‘Til next time, remember to strap on a helmet every time you get on the bike. After that, keep the rubber side down, ride safely and have fun.

-- Mark Eric Larson

Boxer Boy brings it

Motivation to kick it up the pace a notch on the bike comes in all forms. Even when you’re tired, and your legs are heavy.

Slogging out the last leg of a 50-mile ride recently, I was passed up by a guy on a road bike, mashing his pedals at about 20 mph. He had on Bermuda shorts, his boxers were visible, he had on a T-shirt, no helmet, but was listening to tunes on earphones. No clips, just tennis shoes. I sped up and followed his wheel, curious about how long this guy could keep the very fast pace. After a fairly good stretch on the flat trail, he started to slow to about 18 mph and I passed him.

He turned his head and smiled as I rode by, his face red as a beet. This guy must be high, I thought, he doesn’t seem to have a concept that he’s probably very close to a red-line bonk. Anyway, I rode ahead for awhile, and figured I dropped him for sure.

Then he passed me again. As he rode next to me I said, “Why don’t you get some monkeypants and a helmet so you can go faster?”

He didn’t seem to hear what I said. He just smiled broadly through his red face and said, “I made you ride 10 mph faster than you were when I passed you!” He beamed as if he’d just pulled off a magic trick. But it was more like 4 mph faster. “That’s the effect I have on people!” By “people,” I’m pretty sure he met kitted roadies who he liked to mess with by passing him with his no big deal, casual riding look.

“Good for you,” I said as he rode ahead, again knocking down a 20 mph-plus pace.

I followed him for awhile, then when he slowed a bit, I put down the hammer for a good stretch and dropped him. Dude was a trip.

He was right, though. Without his needling my competitive nature, I would have ridden that stretch with a whole lot less pep.

So, thanks Boxer Boy. You the man! Hope you didn’t bonk.

Tales on the cycling trail

I sometimes meet interesting riders while taking a food break at the 25-mile turnaround point of my regular ride. That’s where I park the bike, sit on the side of a concrete planter, munch food and contemplate the day.

The other day, I said howdy to an older guy riding a steel Bianchi who pulled in and we shot the bull. He said his name was Don, and that he rides 100 miles a week, same as what I try to do.

He has Crohn’s disease, and his doctor tells him his riding is a great thing he can do for his health. We laughed about how many times we see parents ride with no helmets, while their kids follow, fully helmeted. Nope, makes no sense, we agreed, but it’s common. Don said he quit riding with a guy that refused to wear a helmet.  He’s sure one saved his life in a bad crash.

He said he took a corner too fast once on the same bike trail I just rode up, and veered off the pavement. He crashed when he tried to steer back onto the lip of the trail. He was messed up, bleeding.

Two riders came along and stopped to help him take inventory of his injuries. He asked them to help him back on his bike so he could ride back to his truck, several miles down the trail. But they saw he was really banged up, so they called an ambulance.

Don spent a few days in the hospital with a collapsed lung and plenty of road rash, and I think he said he messed up an arm and a shoulder.

“My helmet saved me,” he said. It was bashed hard and scraped up, he said. It deflected a nasty blow that would have met his skull, and may have killed him, or left him in soup-sipping mode for the rest of his life.

He told of another crash he had that actually had a happy ending. He was in a left hand turn lane when a driver in the lane at the last minute decided to veer hard right, wanting to go straight ahead rather than turn. Problem was, Don was sitting on his bike on the right side of the turn lane next to the car. But this driver never saw him. He and his bike were dragged by the car’s mirror and thrown onto the pavement, messing up him and his bike.

The driver, it turned out, was a nun, he said. Oops, a last second, no-look move mowed him down. But all this happened directly in front of a police station. A cop wrote the nun a ticket, and Don, after recovering from his road rash, got some settlement cash out of the ordeal. Not many bike crashes have happy endings like that.

But Don took it in stride, and keeps on riding.

Nice to meet you, Don, keep riding and stay safe.

WTF was that all about?

I see odd things on the bike trail while on rides. Here are a few:

A guy juggling three balls while riding a bike: Must be tuning up for his magic act with a little multi-tasking. Pretty sure he wasn’t wearing a helmet. Crash? Not him, too cool for school.

An abandoned skateboard on the side of the trail: Maybe it was broken and abandoned, or maybe the rider was taking a nature break. Seemed odd at the time.

A rider balancing a large, gnarled tree branch on his handlebars: As he rode, he balanced this big ass branch, as the branch poked into the airspace of the oncoming lane. I figured this guy saw the branch and couldn’t believe that it was just the perfect missing part of his back yard garden. Hope he made it back without crashing or forcing another rider off the trail. Had to take some bike handling skills.

A rider on a tandem, with nobody on the back seat: He was either on his way to pick up a partner rider, or maybe just missed whomever he used to ride with on the bike. Looked odd, for sure.
A skunk waddling with purpose along the trail: He sat up and watched as I rode by. I didn't slow down to see if he was ready to rip with some of his personal identity spray.

‘Til next time, make sure and strap on a helmet every time you get on the bike. And then keep the rubber side down, ride safely and have fun.

 -- Mark Eric Larson