November 18, 2006

I was headed to the log boom this morning for a group 25-35 mile ride at a steady pace when the phone rang. It was Seujan asking if I wanted to go riding...well, I was dressed, and had my bike...so we met at Marymoore for a ride around the Lake Sammamish. I had a great ride and felt strong. This was my first ride with new wheels on my bike (homemade Dura-ace hubs with DT Swiss rims and double butted DT Swiss spokes). The wheels felt very smooth. It was also the first ride since Down Hill zone did an adjust on my derailer system (front and back) and shortened my derailer cables. My bike shifted really well...no dropped chain!

I spent most of my time in my big ring. I tried to climb the last hill before the turn about on West Lake Sammamish in my big ring...and had to drop to my small ring towards the top. I have a lot more power for some reason in my large ring. My quads complained off and on (mostly when I was climbing). Time with stop lights etc. was 1:37:55 (my best time for that particular loop). distance 22.95 miles. Pace 14.5 MPH which isn't bad considering I haven't been riding much since I broke my ankle in June. Cadence average 77 RPM. Average HR 160 BPM which is 83% of Max HR.

after a 13 minute rest:

I decided to ride out to Bothelll on the Sammamish River trail and Seujan decided to ride with me. So we started out at an easy pace. About 2 miles out from Marymoore, I was drafting behind Seujan. She asked how the pace was and I said perfect. I was at about 86-88% of MHR. Pretty soon I was between 90-92%. We rode for about 7 miles at that pace. It was a total blast and of course I was drafting...Good friends lets you draft! As we approached Bothell (10 miles) I dropped off the back and started some easy recover pedaling. We were now at 33 miles. I felt great. So I decided to ride with Seujan towards Seattle till we met up with Ruth. We met Ruth after another 6 miles (39 miles total so far). I'm still feeling great. We turned back towards Marymoore and Ruth (who just finished a long run before her ride) was taking it easy (which was 85% for me). My quads were starting to complain a bit, but I was still feeling good. As we approached Bothell (mile 44) my body said it was getting tired and my quads were really complaining. I was drafting and having a bit of trouble staying on Ruth's wheel. At mile 47 I told Ruth I'd see them later and dropped down in pace from 85% to 70-75% and crawled back to Marymoore with my quads screaming. This was the most fun I've had on a ride and longest road ride since I broke my ankle! Final distance 55 miles (according to my Heart Rate Monitor)