How many recovery days before a Century?

[jj]

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 23:14:37 GMT, "Joe S." <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
>--
>
>-----
>
>"jj" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 14:46:06 -0500, "Joe S." <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >> Are you having any problems on this bike? Any plans to upgrade?
>> >>
>> >> Anyway, just touching base.
>> >>
>> >> jj
>> >>
>> >
>> >For the past month -- and for the next 2-3 months -- my bike-riding is
>> >taking a back seat to this:
>> >http://www.schlatter.org/House/intro page.htm
>>
>> That's got to be a lot of work.
>>
>> >I work at the local Home Depot -- my shift is 0400-1300 after which I
>head
>> >straight to the work site.
>>
>> Oh, I thought you were retired.
>
>Retired from the Army and will retire for good once my daughter finishes law
>school.
>
>>
>> >With the slab poured and the framers about to
>> >start, I'll have more time. I am doing 12 or more miles on Saturday and
>> >Sunday mornings and that distance is no problem, except that my butt
>starts
>> >hurting around 10 miles!
>>
>> That's not normal. You probably have some kind of fit problem.
>
>It's a big-box store bike -- a Schwinn something purchased at a local
>sporting goods emporium. I replaced the stock saddle with The Seat but my
>skinny buns still get tired after several miles. I recall reading somewhere
>about a seat where they send you something on which you take an impression
>of your butt and send it to them then they make a seat to fit.
>
>The problem that I see with seats is you don't know if it feels good until
>after you buy it then ride on it for a couple of weeks -- after which it's
>too late to take it back and try another one.

Naw, man you pad your butt - cycling shorts, not the seat. I only spend
about 40% of the time on my seat anyway, most of the time I'm on the nose,
with just about 20-40% of my weight on it. I knew you were riding a 30lb
BSO, but figured you'd have begun to outgrow that by now...

Don't worry though you'll get the idea sooner-or-later.

Take 'er easy. ;-)

jj

 

[Peter Cole]

Glewis wrote:
> I will be riding a century in 7 days. I've been averaging riding
> 100-150 miles per week. How many days before the century should I taper
> off riding and how many miles daily? Or should I stop riding
> completely 3-4 days before the century ride?
>

I don't know what you *should* do, but often before very long rides I
like to lay off several days because by that time my legs are aching for
the exercise, if you know what I mean. It seems the first half of the
ride goes by as a warm up. It's like fasting before a big meal.

 

[Peter Cole]

Chris Neary wrote:
>>Quite. As I say, in my view a century ride is no biggie. I know one
>>guy who's done one (and hilly at that) on a fixed wheel, that was
>>brave!
>
>
> I think people in general have this mindset that fixed gears are hard.
>
> In steep terrain with the wrong gearing, yes - but on a climb well-matched
> to the gearing, the fixed gear can be *easier* than a conventional bike.

Around here (Boston -- Sheldon Brown's backyard), fixed gears are pretty
common. It's not unusual to see a dozen or more on our weekly rides.
Lots of people ride them on centuries, one friend rides one exclusively
and has done brevet series (2,3,4,600km) on his. Last week I noticed a
young woman doing a 42 mile rolling ride with us (~20 mph) riding a full
on track bike (no brakes). She did the same thing in a 40F rain last
spring, both times starting from her home 10 miles away.

The hard part of fixed gear riding is often the descent, just spinning
your legs fast with no load is very tiring, and you do this while
everyone else is resting.

People tend to view fixers as heroic, they're not, but they do extract a
toll, especially on long rides. You have to be just a little stronger to
keep up.

 

[Booker C. Bense]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email protected]>,
Chris Neary <[email protected] > wrote:
>>Quite. As I say, in my view a century ride is no biggie. I know one
>>guy who's done one (and hilly at that) on a fixed wheel, that was
>>brave!
>
>I think people in general have this mindset that fixed gears are hard.
>
>In steep terrain with the wrong gearing, yes - but on a climb well-matched
>to the gearing, the fixed gear can be *easier* than a conventional bike.

_ Ssh... You're giving away the secret of the fixed gear
club. How are us middle-aged fat guys going to get any creds
at the esspresso shop now? %-)

>
>I've ridden a flatish 70-miler on my fixed, as well as a 50 mile ride with a
>tough climb (East side of Patterson Pass, for SF Bay Area readers), and I
>don't think either ride was significantly more difficult than it would have
>been on my "normal" bike.
>
>A friend has done the Solvang Century on his fixie, as well a loop which
>included climbing Mt. Hamilton. He's a fit rider, but no superman.
>

_ You have to try it to believe it, but it is remarkable how much
easier climbing is on a fixed gear vs a freewheel gear of the
same ratio. Particulary if you have the necessary body mass....
The one thing you learn pretty rapidly is that momentum matters.

_ Booker C. Bense

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBQwIK5mTWTAjn5N/lAQHOdgQAhgOaX2GPH5QPsmTv2oh+xV/8ISaz/skM
WwIBU9OLVI6Uc1LGtE3i/kQoqjT2sO6X0teXMKIwZh3dDQukcubUHeh4vrsW61dj
YtxjQ+2M52V/MxIjx4QsLg3bKu+IrR6a+YRdmnZDWfFwATQnDp9oZfoGWmCDYILM
bonO19IAels=
=pHiJ
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

 

[Chris Neary]

>_ Ssh... You're giving away the secret of the fixed gear
>club. How are us middle-aged fat guys going to get any creds
>at the esspresso shop now? %-)

The best thing about the fixed is that if you drop someone while riding one
it is a major ego crush, but if you get dropped, you can blame it on the
machine.


Chris Neary
[email protected]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh