Friday Follies ~~ Peace

Fifteen miles.  Six percent.

As soon as the ride begins, so does the climb.  It’s only fifteen miles.

People who ride tend to toss grade values around.  One hears them.  “It’s a ten percent grade for miles.”  Sounds intimidating.  “There’s sections that are over fifteen percent!”  Wow.

There is one group of folks, here locally, who speak of a two mile long grade at a whopping ten percent.  It’s supposed to be over near Luthersville.  I find that interesting.  Two miles is 10,560 feet.  If there were a 10% grade of that distance, it would rise 1,056 feet.  Add to that the general terrain elevation in the area, and it should stick up to an elevation of around 1,800 feet.  For purposes of comparison, Stone Mountain has an elevation of 1,686 feet.  I’d think the “Luthersville Mountain” would be visible.  Odd that I’ve never seen it.

The number 6% doesn’t sound like much.  That’s an elevation change of only six feet in a distance of 100 feet.  Hardly sounds like much.  But at a mere 12 miles per hour, a cyclist will cover 100 feet in 5.7 seconds.  To do that, on a 6% grade, the cyclist must lift the bike and rider 6 feet in that same time.  Not that tough.  The first time.  But it keeps going on.  That’s like picking the bike up and climbing stairs.  To maintain the same effort as a 6% grade, at 12 mph, the climber must go up one complete story, two flights of commercial stairs, every ten seconds.  And keep doing it.  A 6% grade is steep enough to make one know that it’s a climb.  It’s hard.  It’s not super hard, or terrible.  The bike isn’t in danger of stalling or tipping over.  But it takes an effort to make it go forward.

From the south end of Waynesville, North Carolina, the climb starts the moment the bike is mounted.  It goes to six percent immediately.  The grade continues up to Balsam Gap, and from there onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, heading south.  For fifteen miles, from Waynesville to Water Rock Knob, that grade is a relentless, steady, consistent six percent.  It will rise 4,752 feet in those 15 miles.

As the climb progresses, the rider will notice that breathing becomes more difficult.  This isn’t imagination.  The very air is thinning.  Half of the atmosphere is below 5,000 feet.  Ten miles into the climb, when the legs are really starting to burn, there is only half as much oxygen per breath.

It’s 15 miles long.  The grade is a constant 6%.  The rider will gain 90% of a mile of elevation.

Is it worth it?  The view is spectacular.  The descent back down is exhilarating.  Is it worth it?  A car could do it in a half hour.  A rider takes more than twice that long going up.

I can’t wait to do it again.  Peace lives at the top of that climb.

Holy Catfish! It’s SPRING!

Developing Speed

If you’ve been following this series, you may be wondering, “Just how do I go about getting faster on the bike.”  Likely you’ve noticed that we think highly of moderate and careful interval training, but not as a vehicle to speed.  Intervals help build endurance.

There are two basic kinds of things meant by “speed” on the bike.  One is absolute, all out, top-end speed.  The other is “speed maintenance.”  Interval work will help with the latter of those two.  Maintaining a given speed over a period of time is a function of endurance or stamina.  But top end speed comes from other areas.

It turns out that the “secret” to becoming faster is no secret at all.  It’s simple and consists of two parts.

1)    Get lighter.

2)    Ride a lot at very low speeds.

Remember, “simple” does not mean easy.  Truly most folks just won’t do what it takes.

Get Lighter:  Every pound you have to haul around slows you down.  A rider who is 15 to 20 pounds above idea weight, is a rider who is giving away a lot of speed.  Lose the extra baggage and feel better/ride faster.

Ride a lot at very low speeds:  This is a bit misleading.  By “very low speeds” we mean, “maintain a sustained, low aerobic zone heart rate.”  This is the famous “Base Riding” we’ve all heard about.  And there’s good news here.  Riding base, and doing it properly will help to reduce body fat content!

Long-slow riding does a lot of interesting things.

1)    Stimulates the development of deep rich capillary beds in the working muscle tissues.

2)    Gradually fatigues the muscle fiber at the periphery of the working groups,

3)     Stimulates the body to raise the base metabolic rate.

Number 1) is necessary, if more muscle fiber is to be recruited for higher output efforts.

Number 2) results in the strengthening and development of th fibers deep within the working groups.  This is essential to higher houtput efforts.

Number 3)  Means that the body’s engine burns more constantly and at a higher rate.  This results in fat conversion, while working and on a 24/7 basis.

That’s the argument.  Just how does one go about this kind of riding?  Base riding should be done in the range of 70% to 80% of Lactate Threshold (LT).  For those of you who don’t know your LT, this means really really easy.  Heart rate is only slightly elevated, breathing is easy.  Conversation is unimpeded.

Before I go on, I’m often told by folks,  “I can’t ride that slow!”  The reply to this is…  Baloney!  Yes you can.  And yes you can climb hills that slowly too!  (More on that soon.)  It takes a bit of practice, and you may not be used to it, but it’s completely do-able.  More, if one truly wants to be able to ride faster, then one will do the work of riding really slower.

Duration:  The clock is your friend for this kind of riding.  It’s not about getting there fast, but rather about taking one’s time to get there.  An ideal “Base Ride” is between two and five hours long.  (Start with shorter rides and work up gradually.)

Discipline:  One of the problems with this kind of riding is that it is fragile.  It takes an odd kind of focus and dedication to do it right.  Basically, the low output must be maintained for the entire ride.  No sprints.  No breakaways.  No jumps.  One must stay focused on keeping the effort well down, and within target range.  An hour of low zone riding is completely wasted, if one goes to high aerobic zones for only two minutes during the hour.  To get the maximum benefit from this kind of ride, go slow and stay slow.  Save the speed work for another day.  For this reason, it is best to do this kind of thing alone, or with one trusted riding partner.  (Groups tend to get faster.  Someone else always has an agenda!)

Nutrition:  One must “wash” exercise calories.  Riding at this level requires about 200 calories per hour.  An equal amount of food (fuel) must be taken in to offset this output.  If this isn’t done, the body will attack lean muscle mass.  Not good.  Eat enough to replace the “Base Ride” calories.  The fat loss occurs from proper control of food intake when not training.

Good luck with your slow riding.  Honest, it will make you faster.

Next Week:  Conquering Hills

Persistence

“You say the hill’s to steep to climb”

“Climb it.”

“You say you’d like to see me try”

“Climbing.”

“You pick the place and I’ll choose the time”

“And I’ll climb”

“That hill in my own way.”

“Just wait for the right day.”

“And as I rise above the tree lines and the clouds”

“I look down, hearing the sound of the things you’ve said today.”

(Fearless  Waters, Gilmour)

There are things one does on a bike, things that mean something to the individual.  For me, each and every one of these meaningful things was something that didn’t work the first time, something that took effort, repeated attempts, and often a lot of false starts and failures along the way.

My first attempt at a hard climb wasn’t a mountain.  It was a steep street in Staunton, Virginia.  I didn’t make it.  In fact, I barely made 20 feet before I stalled.  Wrong bike.  Wrong rider.  Wrong day.

I eventually got it right.  There is no way to relate the feeling I had as I crested that hill the first time.  Today, I have no idea how many times I have climbed it.  It always leaves me breathless and hurting.  It’s always good.

The first attempt at climbing a mountain was similar.  I started the thing.  Soon the legs were on fire.  The lungs followed.  I’d barely gone a mile before I had to pull over and stop.  I made two more stops, and two more starts on the way up.  I did make it to the top, but it wasn’t pretty, and I walked the last half mile.

One of the best days I ever had was the day I rode, in one long unbroken effort, to the top of that mountain climb.  At the top I knew that I could do this.  It still wasn’t pretty, but it was a triumph.

It is not given to all of us to be fast, or to be great climbers, or to be super endurance riders.  Sometimes the best yardsticks are not the accomplishments of others, but rather the testing of our own limits, and the surpassing of our own boundries.

We do not know what we are capable of.  We will never learn without the risk of failure.  We will never improve without the will to persist.

Thursday Thoughts: Gasoline, Cycling, and Natural Laws

It’s not news that gasoline prices are rising.  The correct questions are,  “How high will it go?”  and,  “What are we going to do about it?”  As I write this, local prices are between $3.81 and $3.98 per gallon.  Nationally the average price is above four, and climbing rapidly.  Does anyone think this is going to stop soon?

Today’s post title refers to Natural Laws.  The Natural Law I have in mind is the Law of Supply and Demand.  Make no mistake, it is a LAW!  When demand for a commodity is high, the price rises.  When the price rises high enough, the demand will fall, followed shortly thereafter by the price.  Believe it!  This is as much a Law, as Gravity.

I have spoken and written a lot about using the bicycle for transportation.  Please consider the following facts:

There are approximately 2,000,000 active cyclists in the United States.

Almost all of those cyclists are drivers too.

The average driver travels 12,000 mile per year.

The average private motor vehicle gets about 19 miles per gallon.

For the typical driver about 45% of miles are commuting to work, 45% are “utility driving,” and the remainder falls into a variety of categories.

“Utility Driving” means trips to the store, to the pharmacy, the doctor’s office, hauling the kids, or other errands.

Supposing all two million American cyclists actually managed to do about half of our “utility driving” by bike?

1. 12,000/19 =   631.6 gallons of gas per driver.
2. 631.6 X 0.225 = 142.1 gallons saved by using the bike instead of the car.
3. 2,000,000 X 142.1 = 282.4 million gallons not purchased.
4. If gas goes to $5.00 per gallon, that means we could take about $1.421 billion worth of demand off of the market.

If we further suppose that each and every one of us managed to “recruit” one more rider to do the same thing, we’d remove upwards of $2.8 billion worth of demand.  Might that not have an effect on pricing?

Let’s take it just a bit farther.  What if we could manage to change something like10% and 50% of our commuting from gasoline to pedal power, the increased savings could be huge, and the decrease in demand would be felt at the pump.

One might, reasonably ask,  “Okay.  What’s in it for me?”  For a good answer, go to the second line above, and multiply it by $5.00.  The answer is $712.00 saved each year.  And that figure doesn’t include improved health and fitness, and deceased wear and tear on the car or truck.

A further advantage would be the increased presence of cyclists on the roads, with a companion decrease in automobiles and light trucks.  More cyclists means we are more visible, and that usually leads to greater acceptance and to more attention being paid to us.  Good all the way around.

This blog’s readership is relatively small.  Please point your friends to this post.  In addition, I’m going to start a series, aimed at the nuts and bolts of transforming automotive driving to “utility cycling.”  In addition, I’ll be carrying this in my weekly email newsletter, the “Tuesday Tome.”

Please do give this one some thought.  Feel free to comment.  Let’s see what we can do on this one. 

Fast Bike?

Here’s the bad news.  You can’t buy speed.

For those who want to worship at the altar of Speed, I have bad news.  Buy the fastest lightest bike on the market.  Eat the fastest food.  (I’m not talking about McDonalds here, but rather that gunk in tubes and bottles.)  Get the fastest kit, and the fastest shoes.  Buy yourself some of those little tiny weird fast gloves.  Acquire the fast helmet.  By all means, do all that.  But I’m sorry to tell you this, it’s not going to make you any faster.

A slow rider on a fast bike is still going to be slow.

A fast rider on a slow bike is still going to be a fast rider.  Sadly, the converse is also true.

So why do manufacturers build these fast machines?  And why do the super racers ride them?

Short answer:  Money!

Longer answer:  For the very best of riders, the difference between one bike and another is extremely small, but victories are made up of these small differences.  For the rest of the world, they build those things so that people will buy them.  Speed is an easy sell.

You can’t buy speed.  You can buy efficiency.

A light and lively bike is a joy to ride…  for a little while.  Unfortunately, the really and truly fast, dedicated, racing machines are not very comfortable.  If they are truly serious, no compromise, racing bikes, then everything else is secondary.  They are designed and built to be fast.  That’s not comfortable, and that’s not long-term reliable.  For the overwhelming number of casual and recreational riders, such a machine is going to be uncomfortable fairly quickly, and it’s going to be a maintenance headache.

Let’s face it, the difference between a reasonably quick, decently comfortable, highly reliable road bike, and an all out racing machine boils down to two factors.  1) About seven pounds.  2) $7,000.00.

There is one other difference between a good sound recreational bike and a red hot racing rig.  With only moderate maintenance (read less than a hundred dollars and less than 10 hours) the good recreational rig will run all season long.  On the other hand, the full-bore racing rid, with extremely close expert maintenance (hundreds of dollars and hours) has a mean time to failure of about 100 hours.  That doesn’t mean the bike is finished.  It just means that, even with the absolute best care, it will only go about 100 hours before something breaks.  (Usually something expensive and unrepairable.)

I’m not down on top the line racing bikes.  But let us maintain a sense of proportion here.  Think about the difference between a Mazda Miata and a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Holy Catfish! It’s SPRING!

Getting Strong and Building Endurance

Last week we teased this.  Most cyclists are looking for the following three things:

1)   Speed

2)   Climbing ability

3)   Endurance

(A close fourth would be the desire to lose weight.)

We’re going to focus on that third one, Endurance.  Without the necessary endurance, all the rest is just about pointless.  So how does one build endurance for cycling?  The answer is through a calculated and carefully applied program of higher intensity cardio-vascular work.

Before we go on, there are several cautions that need to be addressed.

1)   Before beginning any program of increased physical stress, consult your doctor!  Be sure that you are cleared to undertake high effort exertions.

2)   Understand that the high effort exercise entails some risk.  Always work with a partner.

3)   Know the following:  Intensity work is like a powerful drug.  It is best taken in small doses and in extreme moderation.

4)   Start where you are.  Work gradually up to higher effort levels, allowing your body to adapt.

5)   Plan to increase resting time to compensate for increased fatigue.

One of the many counter-intuitive aspects of cycling is the relationship between cardio-vascular intensity, and performance.  Intensity intervals are used to build strength and stamina.  (We will discuss speed work in the future.)

How does one go about this kind of training?

To begin with, the basic tools are a heart rate monitor, and a watch.  (It is best if the watch has a stop-watch function, but this is not absolutely necessary)

There are several ways to ride the bike and get an interval workout.  A stationary trainer is a superb instrument for this kind of work, but it has the drawback of being indoors, and being somewhat boring.  Higher efforts can be sustained by using higher gears and simply riding faster, but this has sever drawbacks.  Speed is harder to control, and room is difficult to come by.  That leaves Hill Intervals.

Work on hills is possibly one of the best methods of interval training.  The speed is lower, and it is quite possible to find a hill that is three, to five minutes “long.”  Scout your regular ride routes for such opportune terrain.

Doing Hill Repeats:

Once you’ve located a suitable hill.  Pick one day a week for the first three to four weeks.  Use your ride to the hill as a warm up.  Then, start climbing the thing.  Keep your heart rate in the lower middle aerobic zones.  (Deep breathing, but not distressed.)  Ride the hill in this fashion for about four to five minutes, and turn around and coast down.  Now Climb again, this time raising your heart rate and breathing rate to a high-mid zone.  (Conversation is still possible, but difficult, breathing begins to be labored.)  Hold this rate for two to three minutes, then turn around, coast down and recover riding gently for two minues.

Repeat this exercise two more times, then warm ride back home, using the return trip as a warm down.

After doing this once a week for four weeks, add a second hill repeat day, and add one more interval to the program.  This last interval is a very hard effort for one minute, followed by a recovery.  Repeat this program for another four weeks.

Be sure to allow more rest time during these weeks.

This will develop a lot of stamina, the ability to go longer without fatigue.

Next week:  Developing Speed

Audax Tune Up: Ride Report

It‘s kind of hard for me to wrap my arms around this ride.  I’m not entirely certain how to categorize it, or sum it up.  Perhaps my best course is just to report it.

The weather was as close to perfect as could be asked for.  Temp at ride time was just a bit above 70 degrees F.  The sky was clear, and the humidity was low.  Six of us assembled in front of Bicycle Unlimited, and pushed off right on time.

This wasn’t a large number for one of these rides.  It was a big Sunday, and a lot of folk were also out of town, or attending to conflicting activities.

The ride can be divided into several distinct phases.

Struggle to leave the “Bubble”:

Let’s face it, there’s no flat way to leave Peachtree City.  In the past we used to go up the north end of the Peachtree Parkway, but this presents problems.  There’s a lot of traffic on that road, and it’s narrow.  In recent years I’ve prospected alternate routes out of town.  All of them have something of a challenge.  On this ride, I choose to use the multiuse paths.  The problem with them is that they are, in places quite steep.

In the first three miles of the ride, I supplied the comic relief.  I derailed completely first on the rear, and then on the front, and again on the front.  After that, I outdid myself and missed a turn, necessitating a complete reversal and backtrack.

Eventually we made it out.

To Palmetto with adjustments:

The trip from the edge of Peachtree City to our breakpoint, in Palmetto, is always one of adjustment.  Faster riders move forward, more relaxed ones tend to drift off the back.  This is the stretch where accommodations are made.  We adjust to each other’s riding style.  Gaps have to be filled.  Faster riders need to move to the back of the group.  It takes some sorting out.  This day was no different.  By the time we reached the breakpoint, we were riding well, as a team.

Palmetto to the Lunch Stop (First Hint of a problem):

A short stop in Palmetto, followed by one of the most enjoyable sections of this route.  The 13 miles, from Palmetto to the Chattahoochee river crossing, are mostly down hill, and largely without traffic.  Add to that the scenic beauty of this spectacular Spring day, and this stretch is about as nice as it could be.

Of course, as soon as we crossed the “Hootch,” the road tips up, and the next three miles are a long “grinder climb.  Folks took this in good spirits, laughing and joking about the climb.

The route turns from Capps Ferry Road to GA-166, and rolls north.  For a long stretch from the intersection down to the Dog River inlet, the road drops almost 200 feet.  It’s a screamer of a descent, and a lot of fun.  After that, we were in the big, heavy “rollers,” that go on for almost 10 miles.

It was while working through these big “boomers” that we had the first hint of a problem.  One member of our group was feeling a bit under the weather, and a bit depleted.  We did a hand-off of a snack, and eased the pace a bit.  We’d get to the lunch stop and see.

Lunch to Fairburn (Decisions and Solutions):

The route is actually planned to avoid Fairburn, but that wasn’t in the cards for this day.  Our ailing member was in trouble.  We had an emergency conference after one particularly long grinder climb.  A decision had to be made.  The distressed rider was not going to make the entire route.  They would have to abandon.  Now we had to determine how to do this safely.  (I will not just leave a distressed rider by the side of the road to fend for themselves.)

After a short discussion, we decided to alter the route, proceed into Fairburn, and leave the rider there.  We had the thought that they could stay in place, off the road, and in a safe place (Oz Pizza came to mind) until another of our riders finished the route.  A retrieval could then be accomplished.

Unfortunately, we didn’t count on the character of the town of Fairburn.  It was Sunday afternoon, and the place was closed.  Everything in town was closed.  More conferencing.

Our ailing rider decided that the short trip down the relatively flat Roosevelt Highway, to Palmetto, would be doable.  That would get them to an open store.  The rest of the group would proceed back to Peachtree City via an altered route.  From there we could retrieve motor vehicles and arrange an easy pickup.

Fairburn to Home (Determination):

We waved goodbye to our friend, and headed for Fayette County.  This part of the trip had a somewhat different character.  We all felt a need to expedite the journey.  As soon as we reached a somewhat low traffic road, I held an “on the road conference,” and polled the group.  The question,  “We have about 15 miles to go.  Does anyone need to make a stop?”

I was gratified when all present answered that they could proceed without stopping.  Good job!

Still it was late in a long day.  Three of our group had long since passed their previous all-time mileage records.  We needed to pay attention to each other and proceed in the best possible fashion, not dropping anyone, or creating other problems.

I’m proud to say that the group did this splendidly.  We handled the remaining large hills in a conservative fashion, supporting and encouraging each other all the way.

Good news waited us at the end of the ride.  Our “abandon” had arranged a pick-up and ride.  So everyone was safe, and accounted for.

Final Details:

The main group rode an “official” distance of 68.4 miles.  Three of our members (including our “Abandon”) established personal all time distance records.  Despite my early bout of “mechanicals” we had no serious incidents.  The day was spectacular, and the riding exceptionally good.

I’m very proud to have spent the day with such a sharp and pleasant group of folks.  Good sense and skillful riding were the keys to making a challenging day a successful one.

Given enough long rides, it’s inevitable that someone has to “abandon” from time to time.  There is no shame in this.  Live to fight another day.  What is far more significant is the way in which the problem was handled.  On this ride, it was done with grace, intelligence, and care.

To all who came, BRAVO!  To all who missed this one, be there on 15 April!  It promises to be a grand ride.