Team Moose Tracks

Strategy for a Century, Part 4

My fourth strategy tip for a century ride is to: ride the second 50 miles faster than the first 50.

Said in another way, this means: don't start off too fast, waste your energy, then dog it the last half of the ride.

I've seen what can happen when a person goes out too fast and then fades at the end, and it's not good. I want to make sure I have something left for the second part of the ride.

Strategy for a Century, Part 3

My third strategy tip for a century ride is to: eat the right foods before, during, and after the ride.

In fact, a previous post I wrote about this topic says it all.

Update on Strategy for a Century

In an earlier post, I said I either needed a new bike or new tires to improve my performance.  Well, I got both!  I bought a Trek 1200 (road bike) that should be a LOT easier to ride for 100 miles -- as long as my back and rear end hold out.  :-)

Strategy for a Century, Part 2

Second strategy point for riding a century: Ride as close to a one-day, 100-mile ride as I can before the event itself.

A big part of a century is in your mind -- thinking you can do it.  I want to go one step farther and actually know I can do it (or at least get close) before the event.  So I've taken off two days (today and next Friday) and will be riding somewhere in the 75 to 100-mile range each day.  If nothing else, I'll learn a lot -- what I feel like at certain points in the ride, what I do need and don't need to bring, etc.  I'll let you know how it went on Monday's post.

Strategy for a Century, Part 1

Four members of Team Moose Tracks (Scott, Brian, Bill, and me) are going to be riding in a century (100 miles) before the "official" ride on July 16.  Our date is June 4, so obviously we've been training fairly hard the past couple of weeks. But even as important as training is strategy, so I thought I'd take the rest of this month and post an item every other day or so about the strategy I'll be using on June 4.

First strategy point: Get a better bike and/or tires. 

I've been training on my Specialized Expedition comfort/hybrid bike for the past several months, but advice from experienced bikers says that at a minimum I need thinner tires (less resistance) to make the ride better all the way around.  If possible, I need a road bike -- that would be the best solution of all.  So what will I do?  Stay tuned.

Cycling Training: Riding Inside versus Outside, Part 9

As we wrap up the riding inside versus outside series, I wanted to leave with a few miscellaneous thoughts (the series started here):

·     Though I’ve talked about all the bad things about riding outside, there are a lot of good things.  The best is just being outside in the fresh, clean air.  Another is feeling free.  Another is making the bike fly down a hill or around a corner. Another is the wind (hopefully to your back) blowing around you.

·     Bikes can go places that cars can’t.  This makes riding outside even more fun.  Bikes can go into construction areas (road construction projects are great to ride on after the people quit working for the day – they are paved roads with no traffic on them!), on sidewalks, on grass, on bike paths, and on and on.  It’s just another thing that makes biking outside fun.

·     It’s really important to ride as close to 90 rpms as possible.  This is easier to do inside, but it can make an especially big difference in saving your energy when riding outside.

So that’s it for my riding inside versus riding outside series.  I’ve had a blast doing it.  In hope you enjoyed it as well.

Cycling Training: Riding Inside versus Outside, Part 8

Here’s the next part of the riding inside versus outside series.  The series started here.

Inside: Your weight doesn’t matter very much.  Your only point of resistance is the back wheel.

Outside: Weight matters a lot.  Every extra pound is another pound you have to haul 20 miles.  Outside you have your weight over your front and back wheel – and they both make friction with the road.  Which, unfortunately, makes it much harder to pedal.

Now to Part 9.

Cycling Training: Riding Inside versus Outside, Part 7

Here’s the next part of the riding inside versus outside series.  The series started here.

Inside: It’s easy to listen to music or something else while you ride.

Outside: It’s a lot harder.  First of all, listening to music takes away your hearing – not a big deal inside.  But outside, losing your hearing means that you can’t hear that car coming up from behind, you miss that dog chasing after you until the last moment, or you’re so caught up in a song that you miss a stop sign.  But worse than all this, it’s harder to change songs if you get a bad one on your walkman.  Inside it’s a snap.  Outside, you’re using both hands most of the time, so you can’t just fast forward (at least that easily).  So if you get a song you once liked but now hate, you’re in for four minutes of torture!

Now to Part 8.

Cycling Training: Riding Inside versus Outside, Part 6

Here’s the next part of the riding inside versus outside series.  The series started here.

Inside: Bike maintenance is a second thought.  It’s not that important.  If something goes wrong, what’s the worst that can happen?

Outside: The worst that can happen outside if something goes wrong is that you’re killed.  Yikes!  The best thing that can happen is that you’re three miles from home with a bike that doesn’t work.  Yikes again! 

When you ride outside you need to pay extra special attention to bike maintenance – air in the tires, chain lubrication, brakes, etc.  If you don’t, something really bad can happen.

Now to Part 7.

Cycling Training: Riding Inside versus Outside, Part 5

Here’s the next part of the riding inside versus outside series.  The series started here.

Inside: You don’t have to pay much attention to what’s going on.  In fact, it’s pretty boring.

Outside: There’s too much to pay attention to.  Things like shifting constantly, keeping your inside pedal up when riding around a corner (something I never do), and avoiding mud, water, melting snow, etc. to name a few.  You can’t relax and veg out while riding outside.  If you do, that’s just the time that you’ll run over a broken bottle on the road and puncture your tire.

Now to Part 6.