10/1/23 3:30 PM

I had a week off of work so I decided to challenge myself to a metric a day minimum and 1000km for the whole 9 days. Completed it, took several days off for R&R but my legs still aren't back. Finished my 9th day last Sunday and really didn't ride seriously until yesterday and today (sunday). Legs are blowing up at about 2hrs....so that little challenge may have hurt me more than I figured it would. This getting old shit isn't fun. :(

I do training rides of 100k or more fairly regularly but did not count on the cumulative fatigue of doing them day after day. The 8th day was my longest at just over 90mi and it got bad. Really had to dig into the suitcase of courage to finish that ride. Day 9 ws no picnic either at 72mi.

Stats-
623.66mi / 1003.47km distance
16,373ft / 4991.7m elevation gain
31:58:15
19.5mph / 31.4kph
24,959 active kcal burned

And to make it even more fun I have my first ever gravel race next week....65mi and 7k ft climbing. That'll leave a mark.

10/1/23 7:20 PM

It is said, use it or loose it. Rob sure is using it.


If I read that right "623.66mi / 19.5mph" avg.

If you invited me to ride with you, I'd come up a few excuses to avoid it. ;O

Or just get with you on the 9th day when I am fresh.


Since back from vaca, I've been putting more rest days in and avoiding even 2 in a row and riding way better. Especially the ups.

10/2/23 6:05 AM

I have no knowledge of how old Rob is (don't really need to know either), but the 19.5 mph average struck me too. I'm not familiar with the terrain, but were you going that hard every day?

When I was in my early-to-mid 40's, I used to ride a week long tour annually that was put on by Cycle America, under their Pedal the Peaks challenge series. The tours consisted of 6 (or more) days of point-to-point riding in states of CO, WY, or the mountains of NM, with an average mileage of about 70-75 miles/day (shortest day maybe 50 miles and longest day >100 mi, with some days containing multiple mountain passes). I was in generally excellent shape when I did these, but would ride very hard one day, hooking up with several other faster riders and challenging each other, but then on the following day, would go out with several more recreational riders and do a recovery pace of maybe 3-4 mph slower, where I could converse with the other riders.

I always felt like I came out of those tours in peaked condition and was ready to go hard again after 3-5 days off the bike, but I was at most 45 yo then and never went hard on consecutive days. I have to wonder if the 9 consecutive daze at hard pace wasn't a little too much for someone past their 30's(?). Even the grand tour riders who are in their 20s and early 30s usually have easier days during the sprint stages where they just sit in the peloton.

Just some thoughts.

10/2/23 8:31 AM

My experience was similar to Lee's. In my mid-to-late 40s, I did a couple of 5- or 6-day supported tours (the last Midwest AIDS ride and GRAABAWR--the last probably misspelled). These were typically century per day rides, with a shorter day at the end, and when I finished those tours, I felt on top of the world. I'd head home and go out the next day with friends and ride their legs off.

I don't think I ever approach 19.5 MPH averages though!

Sadly, I am 65 and heavier now and it is no longer the case that I can do that kind of riding (and yeah, I know there are some people here north of me in age that CAN). My position is increasingly upright and slow, and I think a century would not leave me in peak condition.

But I still have fun.

Rob, Kudas for the numbers!

10/2/23 8:33 AM

I rode the Dempsey Challenge 65 miler last week (they didn't run a 100 miler this year). I got up the hills in the last 10 miles, good enough for me...:)

10/2/23 9:12 AM

I am thinking Rob is south of 50 still?? I was my most powerful up to around 44-5 years old. If I didn't move to TN and start drinking more and gain weight I'd have been better for it, least of which on the bike. ;)

I never saw north of 20 MPH averages solo since NJ for other than FTP 30 milers. I still can for my 28 mile loop. But I do a bunch of obnoxious plowing on shared trail to do it. So I gotta pic day/time for it and hope I am well recovered timing wise.

I was quite happy with 18 avg for a 52 mile loop I do earlier this year. There is too many crossings, else That may have been over 20 avg. But it is a rail grade with 4% max probably.

I'll add, I rode with a pretty strong 51 year old last week. He didn't know how to put down an open gap out of the saddle type maneuver. In fact he never lifted his butt off the saddle. Fast 43 miler I came away feeling strong and young for the day. ;)

Toward the last 8 miles I was glad he was big like me and big/good to draft. I had showed off a little too much.

As for Rob, that last 2 times we rode, he came here. 1st time he probably needed a rest day and I was waiting for him a lot. The next ride exact opposite, me dropped solidly. Two clydes on hills. Probably at least 6-7 years ago [when I wasn't 66 yr old] when he live PNW. I wonder if he has a different memory of these rides. ;)

10/2/23 10:03 AM

Rob, I would have no problem riding 110 km per day "forever" since I currently ride an average 80km per day through the whole summer. But doing it at 19.5 mph average would be a REAL challenge. I average closer to 18 mph in our moderately hilly area with about 1000 feet of climbing every day. I am most impressed!

10/2/23 10:12 AM

Well, the honest truth is that I was annoyed and frustrated when the AvS dropped below 20mph. Most days were pretty flat. I would have done more hills but wanted to keep that speed high for extra braggin points. A bit of a cheat in that regard. Still, on the last day I was holding just barely over 20mph until I turned around into a headwind, I had to resign myself at that point. Not that I would have brought the total average up all that much.

20-22mph on the flats is usually an easy z2 pace for me at this point. Recently did a double metric (or whatever 125mi comes out to in km) at 20.5 average with a normalized power of 240. It was funny that I felt great up until mile 120 and those last 5 miles I really went downhill fast to the point where I don't think I had 2 more mi left in me as I unclipped.

I went out the last two days and my legs blew up at around 2hrs both days, so definitely too much increase in volume at one time.

Bob, I recall being very out of shape and my ego was pushing me that second day. It hurt a lot more than I let on. ;)

I am currently 53yo but my ego refuses to age past 29. I look at is this way- I have a short window wherein (there is some evidence from other riders that) I can still perform at a high level, maybe another 4-6y, and I'm going to expend whatever energy I can to make whatever I can happen now that I've found the fire in me to train again. I love going fast on my bike and want to do it before it's too late.

Here are the stats for the 9 days of the challenge.

<img src=https://i.imgur.com/Fw02Zg8.jpg" width=900px>

10/2/23 10:29 AM

1st, that chart shows calorie burns to the conservative side for those rides, IMO.


"Bob, I recall being very out of shape and my ego was pushing me that second day. It hurt a lot more than I let on. ;) "

Don't think I didn't see it. Those two ride where close enough together I specifically recall thinking how you rode the 2nd time not healthy to be honest.

I've done those gulping air paces on hills stubbornly. Won't do it any more, not for a long time now.

Although after 5 years of Beta blocker and the Cardio Dr. sending he back to the GP early this year... I wonder where I'd be had the Beta blocker period not happened. HRM wise I mean.

My Polar record for the ride with the 51 year old the other day show a max of 177. I didn't see anything near that on Beta/Meds I can tell you. Considering 5 years ago my max on the tread mill was 184. I know I am way more fit now than then. So that max HR then was not a good sign of anything other than is wasn't 220 -61, I think used to be considered norm. Never bought that anyway...

Anyway, super happy to Med free @ 66. And plan to stay on the bike with me as the only motor as long as possible.

10/2/23 12:26 PM

Calories were active kcal, not including basal metabolic burn for that time. Due to lower than usual power, esp last 3 days, kcal were down even more those days.

Honestly don't track hr much save for z2...I tend to try and find my actual z2 by HR and the "conversation" test.

quote:

---

Anyway, super happy to Med free @ 66. And plan to stay on the bike with me as the only motor as long as possible.

---

10/2/23 12:30 PM

I liked ev-bikes better early on. When they only assisted to 20 mph. I'd mark and chase down for high intensity work outs/interval, FTP shit..

I got no hope of catching the 28+ sleds.

10/2/23 12:36 PM

I caught him going over the top and we ended up chatting. I know nothing about e-bikes but he said his adds 50% of wattage, i.e. put out 200W and it gives you another 100W, up to 20mph. He said the bike weighed 60lbs and even with that added wattage the power to weight to get him up the hill that fast seems crazy...I was doing high 300s/low 400s just to keep him just slowly getting away from me vs leaving me in the dust like when he first passed me and I was taking it easy.

Yeah, I'm that guy....I try not to be a dick but every ride is a race.... ;)

10/2/23 5:08 PM

If I had even 50 extra watts your last ride out here, you'd have been history. LOL

Elaine test rode a Trek Dual Sport plus Stagger. I made the mistake for telling her to try highest setting. ;)

The first two setting I told her to catch up to me after I sprinted away. The highest setting it still took a while for her to get by me, but boy did she. Yelling Whoo Hoo as she went by up a medium grade.

And those are mild assists compare to some.

On that note: [too lazy to clean up that code mess, but viable link]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiV4quyvdiBAxWNLzQIHUxsBJkQwqsBegQIDRAG&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcDa1Ns9hvho&usg=AOvVaw2pqi2rEKQNGiLu98sNJ6CJ&opi=89978449

10/3/23 6:51 AM

That video was funny, but also a little bit sad...

10/3/23 8:16 AM

Curious about it being "sad" to you, Andy...sad can mean multiple things.

10/3/23 9:29 AM

I think it's the idea of this guy who made a name with his feet kind of "taking advantage of" the others with what is essentially a "hidden" motor. Yes, we all know that it's there.

"What, are you tired?"

Just feels wrong to me, I suppose.

10/3/23 9:50 AM

I thought it was a mildly funny take on Jens being retired and not being as fast as he once was and also his seemingly irrepressible good humor. Different strokes, I guess.

10/3/23 11:22 AM

Oh, it's funny on the surface, but below that it just bugs me. It's like a retired Lance Armstrong joke, where Lance was riding with a needle sticking out of his ass. Jens, in team colors, is essentially riding a motorcycle that looks like a bicycle, but none of the other riders is saying anything about it.

10/3/23 11:33 AM

They are just extras after all. ;)

I find Jen's sense of humor, well funny.

But I have a clear prejudice after meeting him, and him accepting me for a selfie after he already said that was it. But my puppy dog eyed/begged look worked.

Gracious people person was what I gleamed. I was not that big a fan prior.

"Geez Andy, check your lawn"

LOL, I wasn't going to say anything. It's not like old stars hocking reverse mortgages or auto service contracts... Is it? ;)

Last edited by Sparky on 10/3/23 12:28 PM; edited 1 time in total

10/3/23 12:08 PM

Geez Andy, check your lawn, there may be kids on it….

I saw that a couple years ago, a couple years after taking a 2 day ride led by Jens at the Dempsey Challenge. It’s a funny promotion for Jens’ sponsor, Trek, which is trying to sell e-bikes. There is nothing serious about it except promotion.

10/3/23 8:27 PM

In our younger days - back in the 1980s, when we were in our 30s - my wife and I did a twelve day fairly lumpy tour on our tandem around north-eastern New South Wales. This pre-dated bike computers, so a couple of years ago I plugged the route we had ridden into RideWithGPS to see how far we'd gone and how much we had climbed. Over the twelve days it came to a total of 1458km (906 miles) with 17500m (57400 feet) of climbing.

https://ridewithgps.com/events/76948-1985-tandem-tour

This was at the top of the biggest climb of the tour, on day five:

<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHcd8lxQ08Q91h3332B8lSvprDVuBJlthYd9JKy4tgzTcNcCnXZaD-vchGsqD3F1W_wCo_Rt_RDFYpmsEdDkFkb54TDOosFifnRE4Kq7sZOgeY8Z8bgD=w2400?source=screenshot.guru"> <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHcd8lxQ08Q91h3332B8lSvprDVuBJlthYd9JKy4tgzTcNcCnXZaD-vchGsqD3F1W_wCo_Rt_RDFYpmsEdDkFkb54TDOosFifnRE4Kq7sZOgeY8Z8bgD=w1350-h900-p-k" /> </a>


And this was the highest point we reached, on the final day:

<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHc2xEqbkKMgv0mKjwX9VZ5OhnSAef9ghqbz7Adsvkbf3LC4rKlfyLuVSt6Y1F6-167fVhyyqlOBXw7yVaGvNCH3lWA5JH8FYt26Zs4_B62wwngVuoxc=w2400?source=screenshot.guru"> <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHc2xEqbkKMgv0mKjwX9VZ5OhnSAef9ghqbz7Adsvkbf3LC4rKlfyLuVSt6Y1F6-167fVhyyqlOBXw7yVaGvNCH3lWA5JH8FYt26Zs4_B62wwngVuoxc=w1350-h900-p-k" /> </a>

These days we rarely ride more than about 50 miles a day when touring.

10/7/23 7:19 AM

I'm with you Dan; the whole thing was meant to be a lighthearted spoof to promote Trek bikes. I thought it was hilarious. I hope Jens is enjoying his retirement as much as he apparently enjoyed making this ad.

10/7/23 10:12 AM

Dan E.

Just occurred to me we had touched on your Dempsy ride prior when I brought up rest days and what that was doing for me, and still is. That and the Hypersphere ball therapy to deal with muscle imbalances being highly helpful for me, yada.

Back to your Dempsy, you had commented;

"work to my advantage if it prevents me from going out to fast, which I pretty much always do in these events… But realistically I’ll probably do it anyway"

Did you do it anyway? Go out fast, or taper in. And results where?

10/8/23 6:37 AM

I rode reasonably OK given I didn’t ride much in the month before the event due to the nagging quad glitch, plus I really hadn’t done any long rides in general. Didn't start too fast, but lots of folks passed me anyway. I didn’t have any snap in my legs, but OTOH I rode the last 10 miles, which really are pretty difficult, pretty well. I leapfrogged one guy by skipping a rest stop and when he passed me the second time he said “just one speed, right Dan?” and that was about right.
The leg didn’t bother me or limit me at all.
The guy who passed me was actually a past poster and occasional lurker who had relocated to Maine and by chance parked next to me in the parking garage. He had a cool Carver bike with a Rohloff internally geared hub and belt drive.
They had an app which tracked riders on the course (anyone with the app could do so).
First in person large scale event I’d done since covid, pretty good everything considered. Patrick was there, rode the 25 mile course I think.

10/10/23 2:06 PM

And a big thank you to Antney for reactivating my forum account. (I wasn't aware that there were such problems with auto-bots trying to register that it had to be shut down)

Yes, I've been guilty of lurking here over the years and have always enjoyed the topics and community this group of participants have maintained over the years. I'm guessing I participated a bit in the forum 20 years ago? Andrew C, Paul D, Wayne L and Brian B (a teammate of mine back then), are a few of the posters I remember from back then besides those who are still here and active.

As Dan said, I retired and moved to Maine a few years ago. Retirement afforded me the time to get back on the bike and start working on my fitness again. Nothing like Rob's streak of metric centuries at speed but I'm elated that I'm comfortable again with 10 or 12 hours a week on the bike again.

From my lurking, I knew there was a chance that I'd run into Dan at the Dempsey Challenge but I didn't expect to park next to him in the parking garage. I probably spooked him a bit because he didn't know me from Adam but I knew about his stable of bikes and that he drove a Tesla. Heck, I even showed him the Berthoud bar-end mirror that I got on his recommendation.

But Dan, I believe my banter with you was that you were "riding like a metronome." It can be interpreted as just one speed but it was meant as a true compliment to your riding style...smooth, relaxed, souplesse.

I'm glad I got to meet you.