Group ride in glastonbury...Brrr....

Well yesterday's ride at Cycle concepts was challenging.  I did not feel all that great, and the cold did not help.  Although I wore my winter gear, I forgot my woolies and froze my feet.  The wind was a factor as well, helping to keep the speeds down.  We road a more moderate route than my last Glastonbury ride, called the Duathelon ride.  It was around 20 miles, and although I forgot my garmin, my brother sent me his history for the ride. We manage only about 13.6 mph, which is relatively slow for a group ride.
It was my daughter's birthday, so I went home early and watched my Celtics advance to the second round of the playoff beating Miami in 5. Go C's

Cranks, front chain ring and front d clean..ready to roll

Today is a rain day so I heard a bit of a crank creek yesterday and decided to clean and grease them.  Cleaned the front D also, which will hopefull fix the front shifting issue.  The front chain ring was quite dirty and the front drive side crank had some grit, but overall still smooth.  Added some Phil Wood grease to the whole drive train and BAM, now its done.
This makes my whole bike clean and ready for the 100K next Sunday.  I have two more training rides on Tuesday and Wednesday Nights to adjust any minor issues and the bike, if not me, will be reved up and ready to go.

Slow Ride.....Take it easy!

Well today was a recovery ride, just to put time in on the saddle.  I did about 20 miles at 12.3 mph with an avgExHr of 117 bt/min.  Road what I call my two bike shop route.  Road to Berlin Cycle through Cromwell into Rocky Hill to Cycle Concepts and back home again.  A bit hilly but only 12.3 made it enjoyable for me. 
Now I am going to kick back, made some fresh pasta with chilli sause, and relax for the afternoon.  Tomorrow is another day...

RI and a Nice Ride on FLAT Roads!

Yesterday, my brother and I went to RI to check on the boats, and do some recon on the new bridge for the Egg Harbor.  Then we went for a 22 mile ride ou nice flat roads for a change...My favorite!  We road into town to the bike shop and I had my front D adjusted as it was off a bit.  I also bought some Italia bar ends...NICE!  Parts of the ride were very fast, but the in town part of the ride slowed our overall ride speed down to 15.3 mph.  AvgExHR was 130 with a maxhr at 155.  Great workout for a breezy day.  The wind seemed to shift into our face at each turn because the down wind part was on the edge of a lake which for some reason caused the wind to come back at us.  I let NICK break the wind and I road his 6 most of the way, so this time it was a good workout for both of us. 
I am going to ride again today as it is beautiful out, and need to do the lawn. 
Last night we went to Paul's pasta and bought fresh whole wheat.  We ate it at Nick's, and I will again have it here tonight with Chicken Sausage chilli.  Yummy!

New Chain and a smooth shifting machine

Well I had Cycle Concepts in Rocky Hill change my chain today so I could ride this week.  Although it cost me about 20 buck more, it was worth it.  They also set my rear D. Highs and lows for me, and now the bike shifts like butter.  Took a short 8 mile ride at 15.6 avg mph.  No heart rate because I forgot my strap.  Felt very strong on the hills which thankfully there are few of in Wethersfield.
Riding to work tomorrow, and Tuesday. with Cynergy class on Tuesday.  Wednesday will be a group ride with Nick out of RH. 
Ate tooo much for lunch and now bloated.  Two 7 grain ham and cheese with hot peppers and onion.  Feel yukki. 

repacked hubs and truing wheels...ready to ride..:)

After a full winter of indoor rides, I thought it time to repack the hubs and check for truing of the wheels.  I removed the rear cogs and cleaned them as well, nice a shiny.  Used Phil Wood grease on both the front and the back, and tweaked the cones just right so that they roll out.  The hubs were very dry to my surprise, and needed the grease, so it was a good thing I choose to repack them.  I wanted to take the individual bearings out and clean them with wd, but could not get them out without trepidation. They did not appear to have any residue or dirt in them, so I spayed them with WD and whipped them out, then repacked.  They spin free now.  I had to readjust the rear d, but only took a minute and now they drop in nice.
Going to adjust the front brake a bit to align the pads evenly between the rim, and then out I go between storms to test it out.  I will report back later.
Bought some Diablo Chicken Sausage at D&D, and will cook them up tonight with Whole Wheat Pasta for dinner....Can't wait.
I also have stopped smoking Cigars on a daily basis.  I was smoking them at first to increase my metabolism to loose weight, and to keep something in my hands to keep me from eating.  Now that I am riding again, I want to stop to take my aerobic capacity up a notch to make better time on the hills.  I am going to allow myself to smoke once a week.  Kind of like I do for eating, allowing a day of all I can eat, or out to dinner night.  If I begin to add weight again I will have to rethink this plan though.

After a much needed rest day!...

Well Wednesday was a much needed rest day after the hard ride Tuesday.  Last night, Thursday night, Nick and I road out in Marlborough, (our short route - 11.4 miles at 13.3 MPH).  It was a relaxed ride, and took the strategy not to stand except on crests, and it worked for me.  Did not get nearly as winded, and was able to climb much more consistently with better pace.  I did raise my saddle a bit, which put me in better position for the hills, and enabled me to use more of my pedal stroke.  The post is set just before the second word, and just after CARBON.  My MaxExHr was only about 150, and my avg was about 126 or so, much better!
Today I will go to the gym and do some ab work and lift a bit as it is raining.  Tomorrow is a hard day, starting with spin class, rain again.  I am then going to repack my hubs, true my wheels, and other maintenance tasks. 
Ate Pizza at Nick's last night, two slices of tomato basil garlic pizza.  There was not suppose to be any cheese, but there was...Yummm

Hilly Climb in Glastonbury with Cycle Concepts

Tonight Nick and I road out of Cycle Concepts in Glastonbury for the first time.  The ride was 17.25 miles at an avg 13.5 mph.  This was very difficult for me to maintain at the accent was 1197 ft.  Going up hill is agonizing for me, but coming back down is FAST! and fun.  We must have avg about 30 mph for about 3 miles cruising down back roads.  Sometimes I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I was huffing and puffin from the beginning to the end of the ride tonight...Tough.

Nick and I ate whole wheat pasta at Giovanni's in Glastonbury with a spicey sause with Halipino peppers.  I could only eat about 1/2 of it though, and took me quite a while to recover after the ride.

Will I ever be able to ride up the hills?  I know it is early in the season, but I did work out all winter to be able to see some improvement might be nice.

Hills of Marlborough..Man

My brother and I rode the Hills of Marlborough today, 24 miles at 12.2 mph avg speed, max speed 47 mph...wow.  The ride lasted 1:55 minutes and we accended 2023 ft.  My maxExHr was 160 while avgExHr was 136. I tried to hydrate prior to the ride, but I still got a bit dehydrated even though I drank two water bottles during the ride.  With the metric century ride less than a month away, I am not feeling very confident in my finishing without a few serios brakes. 
Making Whole wheat pasta with the leftover chilli used as the base for the sause.  Should be goooood!:)

Double commuter ride...:)

A beautiful day, and two commutes to work...NICE!  Took a 1/2 day personal day, but went in to set up the gym for a sub that was not supplied, so I road back home.  Took Nichole to her appointment, and then went back in on my Tommaso, fast!  Was tired on the ride home, so went relatively slowly, but did 20 miles all told.  Will ride tomorrow rain or shine...savings on gas $15 bucks or so...Sweet!  Have to get a rain jacket though at some point I guess.  Going to wear my non bike rain gear for now til I can raid the money tree again. 
Ben took the truck so I could not go to the gym tonight for Cynergy class, but my legs are beat after that group ride, and 20 today anyway. 
Choley made a kickin' veggie red sause for the whole wheat pasta, and it came out perfect...al dente.  She does not like it hot, so I added some crushed red pepper.  Pretty good, but I like fresh italian long pepper better.

First Group Ride...Hard!

Tonight was my first group ride at Cycle Concepts in Rocky Hill.  Only 12.78 miles at 15.8mph, but for me was very hard.  My best ride here in CT was around 14 to 15 so this was fast for me.  I managed to stay with the main group until the first big hill, then a 5 of us broke off into our own group.  It was very hot and humid, so I got over heated.  My legs are a bit sore now, but felt good.  My avgExHR was 146 bt/min, which is very high for me, and my MaxExHR was 162 bt/min (my personal high).  Not sure I can do two nights in a row, but plan to do tuesdays in Glastonbury and Wednesdays in RH.  We shall see whether that sticks.
Tomorrow is Cynergy, and am riding to work in the AM.
Split a bowl of Pasta with Grilled Chicken tonight for Dinner at Michael Angelos...Yum and was just the right amount. 

Florida Day 5: Easy 20, no garmin

Well with no way to tell how far or fast I went today, I bet I went much slower.  No constant challenge from the speed and cadence indicators.  From calculations from maps I bet I did between 15 and 20 miles at around 16+- 2 mph.  At the end of the ride, I caught another cyclist on Vanderbuilt and road his six until Pop's house.  It took me about 2 miles to catch him and I bet I was doing better than 23mph to do it.  Good sprint! 
I ordered a new Garmin and should be in CT by the end of the week, hopefully. 
Have to bring the bike back today, sad to say no ride tomorrow.  Going to play golf this afternoon and cannot wait.  Be back tomorrow night in CT :(

Florida Ride Day 4: Long and fast...Lost Garmin! MAN!

OK today was a long and fast ride out to Bonita Springs, down to golf shore drive south and back to pops.  I figure about 35 to 40 miles.  Ended up riding with two other riders, one caught me, we caught the other.  I was averaging about 19-20 when the guy caught me, and we managed that till I dropped them at Golf shore South about 25 miles or so.  Lost my garmin crossing 41 south of my dad's place.  There we speed bumps on the walking path, and it must have jared the garmin loose.  The new mount was loose to begin with, and was leary of using it...:(
Great ride but costly in the long run.  Would have been my personal best long and possibly speed ride. BUMMER>

Florida Day 3: Short slow ride...

Today was a short slow ride to the club, one circuit and back to Dad's. Took Vanderbuilt to Main Road and into front entrance of Audoban. Then came down main road to bike shop on the way back...Took it easy today. Stats will say 10.7 miles but I did about 13 or 14. The computer would not connect to the satelite on the way to the club, and had to restart it. Got about 3 miles into the ride before it restarted. Don't have an MPH but probably about 15-16. Was going about 22mph for awhile down the main road with the cars cutting the wind for me...NICE! The lights messes up my groove though. Bummer. The Vanderbuilt Dr route out to Fort Myers is much better with no stops, just slow downs.


Mad Dad my Potato mixture for breakfast, he liked it.
 
Playing golf after lunch, and tomorrow long hard ride day...Nice!