Finally took some photos of my “updated” Micro. I have them uploaded to my ”My Wheels” page.
Monthly Archive for May, 2006
Last week the weather here in Newberg Oregon was pretty wet… Ok, not unusual for Oregon, but when it is rainy, I don’t ride.
Time off the trike is well needed however, and now I’m prepariing for the Seattle to Portland Bicycle classic - 200+ mile ride, one day.
I’ve gained quite a bit of weight from last year, rode the Wasco at 205 lbs, my heaviest, will need to shed at least 10 lbs before July. I’ve decided to incorperate running into my training program as running has always burned the weight off faster for me. No extreme running here, just a mile or two every day. There is a track across the street from where I live, so no excuses (plus, my sweetie walks while I run the track - a win-win!)
My polar is in the shop getting its two year overhaul, so the next week or two, I’ll be riding “solo”. The ride today was weird not having my heart rate, speed, cadence and such at a glance.
I ran about 1.5 miles this morning and went for a 40 mile ride - I’m feeling pretty good!
The Wasco was yesterday, found that I have improved my performance from last year, however, I have some more ground to cover…
I arrived in The Dalles Oregon Friday evening and found it raining and the weather report for Saturday didn’t look too promising either.
Woke up at 7:30am, only to find it raining - thinking to myself there are 3 and half hours left before race time, plenty of time for the rain to stop - knowing Oregon, I had resigned myself to be riding in the rain.
8:30am my wife and I went to breakfast, still raining. By the time we got to the start line at 9:30am, the weather turned for the better - not a drop of rain by race start at 11:00am. It turned out to be a perfect day to ride.
According to my Polar s720i, my first hour was my fastest, taking only 1 hour 5 minutes to complete the 18.6 mile course, however, each hour afterward became progressively slower.
I was lapped by faster recumbents (I kind of expected that), in the trike class which I raced, I did come in first, with Mark Mueller (the other trike) coming in second this year. I covered 3 of the four lap course in 3 hours 40 minutes (yes, I was lapped). Last year Mark came in first, I came in second.
The showing for the trike class was a bit disappointing, especially after reading the boards. Perhaps next year there will be more than just Mark and myself racing trikes.
On a positive note, the four hour trike challenge is still on the table for next year…
2006 Wasco Wild West 75
Part of getting ready for the “big race” is having plenty of rest. That is the hardest part of training - not riding.
I’ll ride tomorrow - a short warm up ride - just to feel the road beneath my wheels. Will have to remember that the time for an all out effort is on Saturday.
The Wasco is next Saturday - I’m as prepared as I can get. My ride today was 56 miles in length with many hills. My average was 17.5mph with a top speed of 40 mph. Being that the Wasco is 75 miles (perhaps not as hilly), I’ll have to really get my averages up to make the 4 hour challenge. At least I’m really prepared for this year’s Seattle to Portland and should break my personal best.
