longest yet

So yesterday i went for a long ride. i went back home to visit the family and took my bike with me to see if i could find any good rides back up there. It had also been a while since i had a good ride, so i decided to go for my longest distance yet. i didnt really find anywhere good to stay long on the bike though, so it ended up only being 28 miles, which is still 5 or so more than my previous longest. I am going to try to go long again on tuesday. The ride didnt feel that good though, and i hurt bad afterwards.

i went for a recovery ride today just to keep my legs loose, and it actually felt better than yesterdays ride with alot of rest. I was really hung over too... go figure.

only slept 8 hours or so over the past 3 days, and its raining, so no riding, which sucks. i was really hoping to do a good 30 miles today too, but oh well. might wake up early tomorrow and do a ride if i can make it out of bed...

hammered out a quick 8 miles today. been really sore recently, and im guessing its due to the lack of sleep.

otherwise, i found a bike to buy, a lemond tete that a guy might part with for under 1200. maybe, if its my day...

a light spin out today, got bored and didnt feel like doing homework yet, so just cruised through some new neighborhoods to see if i found anything cool. no luck there.

BLEH

ok so i had a hole in my tube, replaced that this morning, and decided to go for a ride with a kid from class. He was about my skill level, actually maybe a little faster even. we only figured we would go out about 15 miles since Im planning on going for a long one tomorrow, and he hasnt ridden much lately. Well, about 8 miles in we stopped so i could show him some other routes for hills, etc. and I got really nauseous. i think it was the gatorade i was drinking. who knows. he took a break at the top of a hill, and i met back up with him after my stomach recovered, and we finished out together. I ended up tacking on a few extra miles at the end to go for about 20, but got i felt aweful.

unfortunately nothing today either, I have a flat, and no pump... hopefully i can run and get one tomorrow otherwise im stuck on a spin bike till saturday...

nothing tonight, tired as hell, busy as hell, and had to go to a meeting for the cycling team. got my dues paid, found out i have a good shot at taking a class d race, and also found out that most of the races are crits, which i am scared shitless of.

tomorrow is going to be a good day at the gym though.

best ride... EVAAARRR

ok so 2 days off really paid off. today was the fastest ive ever attacked the hills, i was keeping at least 12 or 13 mph on even the steepest grades.

i took the first 7 miles easy, remembering the last time i took it hard how hard the climb back home was. after that though, i just blasted the pedals. on two separate flats, i hit 31 and 29 mph, which was great, that is only 6 mph shy of my fastest, and that was down a hill. i did have a nice tailwind, and a slight downhill going into it, but i definitly have never pedalled so hard in my life, and i loved it.

overall, i finished the 20 miles in about an hour and 15 minutes, a 15 mph or so pace. not the best i know, but im improving, and i coasted through most of the first half of my descents trying to keep some spare gas in the tank. i pushed a little longer out delong road through some beautiful horse farms. i wouldnt mind riding that a little more often.

the best weekend of my college career

WE BEAT LOUISVILLE.

That made for an amazing Saturday. I started off the weekend on Friday night with a really fast 10 miles. I slept through my group ride Saturday morning, but since it was a C ride, I figured i was better off going on my own at a faster and longer pace. I still dont know how I compare to other riders though, which Id like to find out before it gets too cold. I ended up repeating the route out armstrong mill road, which was nice, and then made it back in time to make the chili and setup for the tailgate. Had a few too many brews over the course of the day though, and today was miserable. Unless I can get outta bed early tomorrow, I am probably not going to get a ride in before tuesday.

taking the day off today most likely. i havnt gotten to hang out with sally all week, and i havnt had a day off yet. i have to work tonight too, and by the time i am off, it will be too dark. after getting clipped by a mirror and almost hit last night, im gonna stay outta the dark for a little while...

today was light day for me, 3 hours of sleep makes for a lousy work out. i did get about 10 real light miles in, at about 16 mph avg, and then went to the gym to work my core. im gonna pass out now.

architecture is a bitch. ill never go pro now... hahaha

first real ride

well, i bit the bullet and went for my first group ride, expecting it to be a light spinout leftover from the weekends workouts. it was 2 of the fastest guys on my team, and two other guys who were pretty fast as well. --i guess i shouldn't refer to it as my team yet, i don't even have a uniform or even raced yet... expecting a 15-17 mph pace over 25-30 miles, i didn't have a problem keeping up at all.

however after the second stoplight, i could not get back into my pedal... turns out the tension screw was almost completely out. i could move with with my fingers when i got home. it made every stoplight miserable, holding up the group, and making for a rather uncomfortable ride as well. that aside, it was quite challenging.

id never been in a draft line before, and was a little timid to ride right up another rider given my inexperience. i didn't get to experience the real effect, since i think they thought i was slower than i actually am and were keeping a 15mph pace the whole time.

we came to the first real climb, and i realized how bad my inexperience was... i could not even keep 10mph up the hill. my normal ride was too easy i had realized. i told them to drop me as i didn't want to hold up the whole group, and at this point, after suffering the embarrassment of the pedal problems, didn't want to frustrate them further.

i ended up just riding out the road for a while, in search of a new 20+ mile route. it was quite challenging, i had no idea Lexington had that type of terrain to offer. the road was rough at times, but turned smooth after the final stop. on my way back, i decided to run through a few subdivisions and check things out, where i was harassed several times by a trashy girl telling me to go on the sidewalk. the third time, i was riding along with a guy riding a hybrid at a pretty low pace. i talked with him for a few minutes at a stoplight, and he seemed to really enjoy the route. i will definitely have to ride it again.

all in all, it was a very humbling experience. from now on, i will carry wrenches with me, and really work on my climbing. i guess i need to find more riders of my ability to train with. i just dont have 30+ miles in me just yet.

Guess I need to say what I am and why I am riding. Im 21, about 175 pounds as of today, and trying to be a top competitor on the University of Kentucky Cycling team . I got into riding as part of a triathlon training regime, and went completely bike when I suffered a few minor running injuries in succession. I was lifting 5 days a week, but am trying to cut back so that I can trim off some of the bulk for the Racing season, which starts in Feb. I really miss competitive sports and found this is one I am good at, but don't need to spend all my time training with a team. Since I am in architecture school, and have a girlfriend and a part time job, I have next to no extra time.

I have been cycling for about 5 months now, and since I was in great shape when I started, I have had no problem quickly gaining speed and endurance on the bike. Hopefully I dont plateau...

I ride a Dawes road bike (cheap I know, but its not a bad bike at all, and I have upgraded it some) for the time being, but I am hoping to go carbon fiber on my next bike, hopefully I can get it in January, just in time to get used to it for race season.

Day 1 of the blog, not training...

Ok so im just going to start out with a recap:
Saturday morning I went for a quick 16 mile ride, Sally was making us go back to Northern Kentucky for the day, and I was in a hurry. I got the ride done in about 50 minutes, despite spending a good chunk in football traffic.

Sunday I took the day off, just doing a few pushups and trying to get to bed early to head to spinning class at 7am Monday for an easy recovery. No luck though, and I didnt fall asleep till at least 1:45.

Monday is my hell day at school, 12 hours, basically non-stop. I got up at 7 and did spinning class with Hillary and Sally came for the first time to try it. She wouldnt listen to me and her bike was not set up right at all. She hated it.