Changing Gears: 45 Miles Ride 7/15/2022
Changing Gears: 45 Miles Ride 7/15/2022
On Thursday night when I got the text from Mark Nielsen,
my Massage Therapist, telling me he wanted to talk before my ride, I really did
not want to make the call. Not because
it was Mark, Mark is great. More because
I just don’t like talking on the phone. I am a texter. I would much rather communicate with you
either via text or email than pick up the phone and call you. I think a lot of that is just having to hold
the phone to my ear. Which when you
write it down it just sounds stupid.
What makes it more stupid is I have a headset, and speaker phone but still
this awkward image in my head of me holding the phone to my ear and my arm just
being uncomfortable. It really does sound stupider and stupider as I write this
down.
I called Mark on Thursday (via speaker phone). Mark has been cycling for a long time. He is a cycling enthusiast. He supports several bike races throughout the
year included the US Nationals that happened earlier this year in Knoxville. Mark has been following me through my
training. We talk a lot about cycling
when I go in my massage work every two weeks.
Did I tell you he was great at the massage, if you need a guy, let me
know I can pass along his information. We even talked about him joining us for the
Tour De Fuzz, but I am not sure his calendar is going to allow him to do
that.
I was glad that I called Mark because he gave me some sound
advice. On one of the many times, I have
seen him for body work after I started to ride again. I told him I was a big
ring rider. I have three rings or gears
in the front of my bike. Since I started
cycling again and even before, I tended to live in the big ring upfront and the
small rings in back. I am not cycle
expert but basically, I ride in higher gears that in my mind give me more bike
to push. This makes me feel like I am
working hard on the bike and making myself stronger. I also have mentioned in many blogs that I
have had heavy legs or felt like I was riding in sludge. This could very well be because I ride in
hard gears. My cadence is low 40’s to 60’s. My speed is adequate, I guess. In a nutshell Mark told me I could be burning
myself out by working to hard to early in the ride. He suggested perhaps I try to ride in my low
gear. I reminded him I have three rings upfront,
and he said then it would make sense to spend time in your middle ring. I was a little bit skeptical at first. I am a big ring rider. Me Bill, me need be strong. However, I thought about how many more miles Mark
had ridden than I had. I thought how totally
cool it was he was on the phone with me talking this through with me because he
didn’t have to be. I thought man I am
lucky to have this guy on my team.
Mark and I talked about gearing up and down at the right
times. He said save the big ring for the
later part of the ride if I felt like I needed it. He told me yes, I might spin out at times but
to stick with it, and in the end my energy level should be better. Then he shifted gears on me and talked a
little bit about climbing and losing momentum. He said it is always an option to try to turn
bike if you lose momentum and try to get back in control rather than lose
momentum all together and fall over. He
said if you listen carefully, you can make these changes on the fly. You must listen because if you are flipping
around on a hill you must be aware of cars and other obstacles in your
way. It was more of an intermediate to
advance level bike chat, than what I thought I was ready for, because the idea
of turning on hill scares me, but I do listen very carefully to what is going
on around me. I could at least do the
listening for cars. Hell, if I had to, I
could even try the turn tool, I just hoped to hell I didn’t have to. Finally, Mark talked about changing
tires. He was willing to do a clinic for
me, which was super cool. I think we
might just have to do that one day when we ride together. Honestly, it was one of the best and most
productive phone calls I have had in years.
Thank you Mark very much for all your help and support, really
appreciate it!
Friday morning, I was rolling by 8:15. Everything seem to
click that morning and I was up and able to get out of the door when I wanted
to. The first thing that I did when I
turned onto Laughlin was move into my middle ring. I checked my back gears, and I was sitting in
the middle, so we were off and taking advice.
My cadence at the time was shit, but it would get better throughout the ride.
Heading out Greenville being in the middle ring upfront had moments
where I started to spin out. Which, I can’t
stand. However, often, I felt pretty good
cranking along. I noticed my cadence
getting better and better and my speed was over 11 mph, which made me feel
good. I kept playing with my gears in
the back. Moving them up and down until
I found the place, I like to ride the best.
See, you can teach an old dog new tricks. There was not one gear that I loved, it depended
on the road, and if we were going up or down.
After a while I started getting the hand of middle ring riding and I
liked it.
The other message I took from Mark and something I have
heard David saying over the years and something I started to really do last
week was let the bike do the work for me.
Use the gears. I felt like I was
really doing that for the first time.
Now when it came to climbing Greenville Hill 1, 2, and 3 I was totally
in granny gear all the way. It was a
long ride, no reason to burn out too soon.
The climbs still feel tough, but my confidence on them is strong. I don’t have any doubt that I am not going to
make it to the top of each one.
Hill 4 which was on Tesla was a breeze. I just sat in middle ring in front and back
and cruised it. One of the only times I
used big ring all day on Friday was coming down Vasco towards Mines Road and that
is because I know I was going down a fast downhill.
Friday, I need to add miles to my ride, so I added pushing
out Mines Road. You know Mines of the White
Whale Mines Road (https://dreamingofalifelessordinary.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-white-whale.html
). I wasn’t about to attempt the Climb, which
I have since learned isn’t climbing Mines at all, it is actually climbing Del
Valle. So, the White Whale is really Del
Valle but that is another story for another day. The idea was to push to the base of the climb
which is where Mines Road splits off to the south and Del Valle Road takes you up
to the entrance of Del Valle Regional Park.
Going out Mines to the base is no walk in the park. It is the start of a slow steady upward
road. Its not awful. So, I pushed out 3 miles on Mines to the base
of the climb. Sitting there for a second
looking at the hill rise in front of me was like looking into the face of some Insane
Deity. Something, you must hold in awe
and at the same time fear for your life just looking at it. Part of me wanted to keep going, to keep
pushing and see just how far up that monster we could get. However,
I had a ride mapped out and coming out this far was part of the plan. So, I turned and head back down Mines. Going north on Mines is fun on the bun! Let me tell you, I was cranking like a mad man
and probably averaging 17 or 18 mph. It
was great. I felt strong going in my
middle ring. It felt good and
right. I took a bike path off mines that
would lead me to Concannon.
On the path I got behind a white-haired gentlemen and part
of me thought don’t crank so hard. Don’t
burn it out. Sit behind him and let
things come to you. However, I am not a
patient man. Plus, I wanted to keep cranking,
so I announced I was on his left and I blew around him. He thanked me for letting me know I was there. Which what is wrong with cyclist today and
not telling people on your left. I mean
is it hard? Where is the etiquette?
So, I cranked down the bike path on Tesla. I was feeling amazing. My cadence was in the high 80’s and 90’s. The speed was throttling around 17 mph. I felt so good. When I heard a voice in my ear, the white-haired
man had caught back up with me. He wasn’t
trying to pass me though, he just wanted to chat. He yelled at me “Man, I wish I had your legs! Keep going!”
Then he fell back before I could thank him and I did just that, I kept
cranking along. It was a great
compliment for someone who father called him Thunder Thighs a lot of his
life. I love my big power legs and I
know that they are going to make me a much better cyclist having them.
Next while I was on Holmes, I saw a girl with dark German Shepard. My god did she have the prettiest smile. Wow, she almost knocked me off the bike with it. When I said hi to her and she smiled back and
said hi. I should have stopped the damn
bike and gone back and said hello. Who knows maybe if KA wills it, I will see her
again someday? It really was a wonderful
smile, and it still makes me smile thinking about it.
At Murdell and the park there I took a five-to-ten-minute
break. I ate my sack of nuts. I got some sports drink. I walked around and
stretched out the legs. The fact that I
got off the bike at 22.5, smack dab in the middle of my ride was just
lucky. After my stop it was time to push
to Pleasanton, so down Stanley I went to Burnell, then Burnell to Nevada then
back to Stanley and through downtown Pleasanton. It was so cool riding my bike through Downtown
Pleasanton. It was like a goal I didn’t
even know I had. I enjoyed and smiled
looking at all the shops. I waved to the people coming in and out of the bike
shop.
I smiled again when I crossed Black Avenue and even thought about riding by the pool. Black is the home of the master’s program I swim. I am sure I have said that before. I pushed right on down Santa Rita Road and took my right on Stoneridge. I stopped for my second and final time at Jack London and Isabelle. The same place that has become my frequent lunch spot in the shade. I got off the bike and walked around. I ate my protein balls and switching my water bottle so that I could continue my sports drink. I really like drinking the Sport Nuun. Seems to treat me pretty good. After an 8-minute pit stop, I got back in the saddle and started riding again.
It was at this point that the first time all day my legs
felt a little tight. Although after peddling
for another few minutes they felt right as rain. I was back in Livermore now and over forty
miles on the ride. I was amazed at how
good I felt climbing up North Livermore on the other side of the 580. I remember the first day I road that climb
and how I cussed the world. Friday it
was not easy, but it wasn’t hard, it was just something you had to do to get
home.
Funny thing about saying that something wasn’t easy or hard,
but I glanced at my watched and realized I was at 42.something miles. I am not sure if it was mental or what. However, after coming up North Livermore and
heading for May School, I sort of hit a wall.
I was just tired. I mean the good
news is I didn’t feel tired until mile 43 or so. That bad news was that I felt tired at mile
43. I won’t say I hit the proverbial wall. I really wonder if it was mental because as
soon as I got up North Livermore and I knew it was all flat going home, I just
didn’t want to peddle anymore. I didn’t want
to stop. I just didn’t want to go
either.
When I was on May School Road, I got passed by a rail thin
older man who was cranking away like he was LeMond himself as I was coasting
along. Letting gravity pull me
home. When he went by me with such relative
ease, I decided I wasn’t going to go out like that. My reaction time was slow, and he got way out
ahead of me. I knew I was never going to
catch him and catch him wasn’t my plan.
I just knew I wasn’t going to half ass it the rest of the way home. So, I kept my legs churning, I eased my gears
down and got myself back home.
45.42 miles after starting. It took me 4 hours and twenty
minutes to do. I will call it with my
rest really closer to four hours, but I am not going to be that guy, so whatever,
I guess I am that guy by writing that. My average heart rate was 153 BPM. Average speed was 10.4 MP. Total elevation gained was 967 feet. Active calories where more than I normally
eat in 2 days at a whopping 2,641. All
in all, not to shabby.
I was lucky because I got to see Mark that night for a massage,
and he went to work on my tired legs. My
legs were tired, not terribly sore, not as much as I would have expected going 45
miles. The massage was great and really
helped me with my recovery. I thanked
Mark for the great advice and told him how I kept my gears in the middle most
of the day. That I didn’t feel sluggish
or like I was pedaling through mud out there.
It was really great to just switch up my gears and make my legs last so
much longer. It was great.
Now we start planning for 50 miles. I am toying with the idea of trying to climb Del
Valle next Friday. Part of me wonders if
doing a climb like that is needed for training for this race because none of
the climbs on the race map seem to be that long or sustained. I know that is partially the fear talking. I
took the girls in the car on Saturday morning and drove out Del Valle and I am
not going to lie; it is a monster like I have never tried before. Mark said he would come with me, and we would
use every gear on my bike to get up it.
The problem is I am using every gear on my bike to climb 300 feet, I can’t
imagine using them to climb to gain 765 feet.
I have a ride mapped out that takes me over Del Valle then back up the
other side. So, would be talking about
two climbs of 765 and another of 556 feet.
One is a 5-mile-long sustained climb, while coming back over is just 3
miles of climbing. Thinking about it
makes me want to crawl under my desk, grab Kona and hide. I have all week to figure it out. I have found a few other places to go and try
to ride as well. There are hills out on Manning over there that way I could
train on. There is also North Mines
hill, I want to go up and over as well.
So, we have lots of options. Plus,
on Wednesday I am heading back out to Cross.
Lots of ups and downs to look forward to.
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