Saturday, April 15, 2006

Tears of Joy..

The wind is strong. The air is cold. The road never ends.

Today, I truly understand what I had put on my blog head. I have ever ridden so much hills at the same time face such a strong wind before. The title for this post should be grunt of joy. When I was out of my saddle to climb, I would grunt every other stroke. There was one hill, where I grunt all the way up. I felt like a female tennis player all of a sudden.





Can you say ghetto? Notice the glass bottle I used to hold my eload powder. It works and it fits that space.




I lost one of the cage on the way back..maybe this explained my sudden increase of speed on the return trip? :D

After the first climb, I thought, 'ok, that's just one.' Then there is another. Ok, let's climb this one and then take a break. Then another..ok let's take this one and break....well, it might trick my brain but it didn't trick my legs.

I got up early at 4 am. Just like any morning of race day, I could never sleep. I loaded up my bike. I mean really loaded it up. 3 bottles, 2 tubes, pump , digicam, first aid stuff, bottle with eload, 3 gel flasks (w/ gel). Bike had became a tank.

Once I got up north, it got really chilly. There was no sun and a lot of hills. After climbing one, there would be another one popping up staring me in the face. I have asked for hills to train on. Well, today I got my present. I passed a ski resort. I climbed on the hills they used for skiing. :O I did not got off my bike and walk. I grunt my way up. (I did walked two times on other hills b/c I messed up my gears). On their website, it said the hill was 375 ft. Good stuff...

Once I finished my third bottle, I went to a gas station to get more water. As I stood there mixing my drinks, I thought about heading back. I decide I would considering my legs were getting shaky. That was about hr 5 into the trip.







That's right..it's snow. Can you say chilly?

Just one of the hills I had to confront.
This was on my way back. Sunny was out and no wind...perfect.
As I headed back, I dropped by a Subway and orderd a footlong (hr 6). The whole trip, I never felt hunger. I think this is a good sign. I am taking enough gel and don't have to worry about bonking.

As we all know, what goes up must come down and headwind easily became a tailwind. I took different roads on the way back and for 10-15 km, there were stretches where it was flat and quiet. On my aero, I was going 35-45 kph (21-28 mph). I passed a farm vehicle :D...I thought about drafting behind it..just a thought.

Once I headed back to suburbia, I missed the quietness of backroads. I was planning to ride more once I got back home to drop off some un-necessary gears. Seeing my dad and sis cleaning the house and my legs complaining from all the hill climbing, I figured I would call it a day and do some cleaning as well.

I didn't realize I hit 200 km until I gmap my path. Actually it was 210 km. I was about 30 km away from where I want to go. But hey, I got my 200 km under my belt..I am happy.

For those who love the numbers...this trip gave me a lot of PR... :D

Calories burned: 5600
Weight before: 145 lbs
Weight after: 145 lbs (good sign...eat enough and drink enough)
Distance: 210 km
Time: 9 hr (1 hr spent on taking break and lunch)
Gel taken: ~15
Food consumed: 2 bagels with PB (~1000 calories), 1 footlong coldcut sub, salt n vinegar chips (200 calories), two clif bar
Max speed: 69.9 kph (43.68 mph) [FAST!!!]
Avg speed: Based on time and distance...about 25 kph (15 mph)

Things I have to work on:
- hill climbing (switching gears, maintain steady position as I climb out of my saddle)
- hydration (I went to washroom hr 1, hr 3, hr 7 and hr 9. What happen to hr 4-6??)
- carry less stuff, over worried about this trip.

Overall..a great day to ride. I look forward to hitting those hills again. Now I have a place to train for IM Lake Placid.

22 comments:

Papa Tweet said...

Wow, nine hours! You're the man Cliff.

Anonymous said...

Well done Cliff! Glad you made it home safe and sound. I rode outside today and the wind was brutal. And it was coming from the North so I imagine your ride up was hard.

Get some well deserved rest!

Boris' Dad said...

i'm so proud of you cliff, way to go!!!

Rachel said...

Wow! Way to go. Especially with the hills, wind, and chilly weather. You'll be ready for anything now. (I'd be downing Big Macs).

qcmier said...

Awesome man!!!

qcmier said...

Oh, you didn't take the sub in a tube and beer with you???

anners said...

You did a fantastic job and I am glad that you got home safely. I am sure that this day will be remembered as a milestone in your training :)

Papa Louie said...

You had a great ride. Good training and learning experience. And you did it alone? That's commitment.

Habeela said...

You make it sound like a walk in the park! :D Way to get all of the components dialed in!

Nancy Toby said...

Great job!!!! Wow, fantastic!!

Be sure to find a non-glass container for your stuff before your event, that's a big DQ if it's in the transition zone!!

Bolder said...

outstanding cliff!

when i used to ride the escarpment, back in my Toronto days, there was just as much vertical gain as we get here in Boulder.

you should post your vertical gain -- i bet it's impressive!!

it's all about the bike.

Darren said...

Heya Cliff. I see you were biking in my territory. Looks like you had a great day - congrats!

Thomas said...

I told you that you would have a blast, didn't I? Sounds like you had an awesome trip, and the benefits, especially the psychologically ones, will stay with you. Just imagine at the IM, when you go on your bike. Just think "How far is that? Oh, I've managed way more in training!"

Hilda said...

Not olny some accomplishment but very fast and more than planned!
How come could you be there for nine hours???

Congratulations!

Rae said...

Awesome job on your ride! That's such a great achievement!

Love the pics, too! I can't believe you guys still have some snow.

Chris said...

Dude, that's awesome! Simply awesome!

Jennifer P said...

Great ride! I'm really proud of you. I do like the idea of a sub in a tube - I think I might try that.

Kewl Nitrox said...

That was a MONSTER ride! And 45km/hr in the flats on the aeros, that's classic man. It's what the bike is all about. :)

Holly said...

Fantastic ride this weekend Cliff! Glad it went well for you!

jameson said...

killer ride man... way to push though it. it seems like you had a really good plan and are learning a lot about how your body reacts to these rides.

Comm's said...

thats an amazing ride.

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