What with working on my son's new house and dealing with medical problems I got waaaay behind in my bike riding. In fact, I haven't done much intentional exercise since Yosemite, in July.
In the past month I've gotten back on the aluminum horse and resumed my schedule. Sort of. I'd lost a lot of stamina. Just before Half Dome, I'd ridden a thirty-mile course, with two, one thousand foot climbs, twice. It's taken me a month of riding just to climb that first thousand foot hill. It's summit is three miles from my doorstep. I finally made that climb today.
I still have a way to go in the stamina department. In July I was climbing that hill in the highest-hardest gears. Today I had to settle for the lowest-easiest gears. But the important thing is that slow I may be but I still finished the course.
I'm still being passed by every gray-haired old man and five-year-old in a big wheel, which is hard on the ego. I'm seriously considering having my gear ratio changed. I'm sure that's not cheating. No matter, I know if I keep at it I will do better.
4 comments:
Keep it up Pastor Don....
bless you, my son.
Lance Armstrong surprised the bike racing world not only because he recovered from cancer and became a Tour de France champion. He also used very low gear ratios and high pedal rpm. He has since been widely copied. It used to be said an optimum pace was around 80rpm. Now people think it's more around 100rpm.
That's a very high pace -- you'll find it difficult to pedal that fast without practice. Lower gear ratios will help. I find it helps me be more aerobic when I ride.
Finally, to avoid hypocrisy, I admit I have hardly ridden at all for many months. Your stick-to-it-ness is impressive. Keep up the good work.
Okay, yeah. I tried the low gear ratio/high pedal rpm. So...what exactly is the benefit of being exhausted and quitting ten minutes into the workout as opposed to pacing yourself and climbing a 1,000 foot hill?
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