Sunday October 5th, 2008

Sadly, yesterday's ride may be my last of the season unless I purchase some cold weather riding gear. Highs for the end of the week are only supposed to be in the 40s and the rest of my month is all booked up. Sniff, sniff...

Regardless, Nanci and I had a good long ride yesterday. We set out east instead of our normal west direction. This got us in to a kind of sketchy neighborhood but we quickly found the South Platte trail which was familiar territory for both of us. We were a little concerned about the gloomy clouds coming in over the mountains, but ended up on a long ride anyways. We ended up heading all the way down to C-470 and back up Kipling. Umm... yeah... Kipling is uphill the whole way... actually, from C-470 all the way home was uphill. My legs were definitely burning, but I was feeling pretty good on the hills. It was a good kind of burn, but I was spent by the time we arrived back home. We made it in just as the rain was changing from a drizzle to a rain shower.

Ride Stats

Distance: 35 miles

Time: A little under 2.75 hours... including potty stop and stop lights up Kipling

Challenge: Staying steady on the uphill

Goal: To stay in shape over the winter and to do some distance/endurance/charity rides next summer: Copper Triangle, Courage Classic or MS 150 bike rides. Not quite ready for Ride the Rockies yet, but maybe someday - check out the Elevation Profiles each day!

Sorry that the map is so zoomed out, but it wouldn't fit otherwise. We rode clockwise around the loop.

Sunday September 28th, 2008

Once again, a beautiful Colorado day. Nanci, Debra, and I headed out for a late morning ride. As mentioned in my last post, the original plan was to do Lookout Mountain. Thankfully, Nanci and Debra weren't really feeling up to the challenge either. Although, I will say, that I had psyched myself up for it and was going to hit the challenge square on the head, but wasn't too disappointed when I heard that the plan had changed. Nanci hiked 12 miles yesterday so I didn't blame her at all for not feeling up to it! So we just headed out and had a nice ride. We did a few good hills, Green Mountain being the trickiest. Debra is definitely a climber and womped Nanci and I on any hill that we encountered. We also had a few good downhill cruises reaching 36mph at one point! The season will be coming to an end soon, but am very happy to be able to ride in shorts and short sleeves at the end of September!!!

Ride Stats:

Distance: 33 Miles

Time: 3 or so hours including all pit stops and breaks

Challenge: Green Mountain

Goal: Ride at least a few more times before the weather turns

On the map below we headed south, then north:

Wednesday September 24th, 2008

Just a quick after work ride yesterday with my new biking pal, Nanci. We headed out from the apartment complex and just around the area we live. We did a little bit of exploring down some unknown paths. We avoided any large hills which was OK for just an evening stroll. Sunday could be very interesting... possible group ride up Lookout Mountain. Most of you don't know what Lookout Mountain is... but lets just say it has its name for a reason... it looks out over the entire metro area and is about a 4 mile switch back road to the top. Going down should be fun!

Ride Stats:

Distance: 10 Miles

Time: An hour or so

Challenge: None except for riding in to the sun

Goal: Make it up Lookout Mountain on Sunday w/o keeling over!

Saturday September 13th, 2008

What a beautiful day! Mid to Upper 70s, not a cloud in the sky, a bit of a breeze... Perfect Colorado day! I finally was able to meet up with the gal who lives here in our apartment complex, Nanci, for today's ride. We headed out planning on doing 20-25 miles, but ended up doing about 28! The whole ride felt great! We had intended on avoiding any large climbs, but ended up doing a few good hills. Most of them were gradual and I had someone to keep pace with, so it wasn't so bad. Had a fun cruise down a hill where we were doing about 30mph and that was with hitting the breaks to keep from losing control! It was a great route, and always great to see new roads to ride on! And, to top things off, we ended our ride with lunch at Whole Foods! :) Riding with someone is definitely more fun than riding alone, particularly someone who I know has more riding experience than me. She was very encouraging!

Ride Stats:

Distance: 28 miles

Time: About 4 hours including a few breaks for water, food, phone call, a tour of 24 hour fitness, and chit chatting!

Challenge: Keeping steady up the hills

Goal: Ride with people more often!

Sunday August 24th, 2008

Yesterday's ride wasn't all that great. I almost didn't post anything at all, but figured it was a ride, so it is worthy. I started off excited to get out, but as soon as I started pedaling, I just wasn't "feeling it". I was hoping that I would start to feel a little better as I rode, but it only got worse. I can't really describe what it was, but it just wasn't happening. Every time I came upon a hill, I would immediately feel tired and sluggish. I tried to push through, but ended up feeling sick, dizzy, and light headed. I ate a good breakfast, got a good night's sleep, and had plenty of water, so I'm not quite sure what was going on. So, after only a lightly moderate ride, I headed home dreading every hill that I had to climb, thoroughly defeated!

Tomorrow I am supposed to head out with a gal that lives here in our apartment complex. I'm hoping that Sunday was a glitch and I'll be back in the mood again tomorrow. Lets hope!

Ride Stats:

Distance: 16 miles (at best!)

Time: Too long!

Challenge: Every turn of the pedal

Goal: Never to have a ride feeling like that again!

Tuesday August 12th, 2008

I actually made it home early enough today to make it out on the bike after work! The ride was a real short one, but it was good just to get some bike time in while the sun was still out! I need to start focusing on shifting and cadence, so that is exactly what I did today. I worked on keeping my cadence the same regardless if I was on flat road, going up, or going down. This is actually harder than it may sound. I also got my gearing tweaked a little the other day after our group ride which made shifting tremendously easier! I'm hoping that I will sleep well tonight!

Ride Stats:

Distance: 7.5 miles round trip (just a shorty!)

Time: About 40 minutes

Challenge: No real challenge, just technique

Goal: Work on shifting and cadence for efficient riding

Saturday August 9th, 2008

I finally got a chance to ride with the women's group ride that I have been trying to connect with for the past three weeks! We met at the bike shop and headed out around the west side of town. We had a group of 10 or so which was pretty interesting. We did fairly good keeping everyone together, except for when we hit the hills. The hills quickly separated the wide range of ability levels that we had. I, unfortunately, was further back on the hills than where I would have like to have been, but it just encouraged me to bust my butt to keep pumping up the hills.

The group was super friendly and I even exchanged numbers with a gal who lives here in our apartment complex. Everyone was very encouraging to each other and we had lots of laughs. I was known as "Marquette Girl" as I was wearing my Sports Rack biking jersey that has Marquette, MI written across the back. We decided that we need to put name tags on our backs so that we know who is who as we are cruising along! :) I felt great after the ride, though thouroughly exhausted! The pace was very reasonable (15 mph in the flats) but we did lots of hills which took it all out of me!

I'm already looking forward to next weekend's ride! I hope that I will learn lots of techniques and skills that will help make my rides more efficient and help on my never ending task of making it up hills without feeling like I'm going to pass out! :)

Ride Stats:

Distance: Approx 26 miles

Time: 2 hours

Challenge: Hills & riding tightly with the group

Goal: Stay tighter with the group next week, particularly on the hills.

No map yet. I will see if I can get one put together, but I'm not sure all of where we went on the first part of our ride (lots of winding through neighborhoods). Will post if I get one together!

Sunday July 13th, 2008

Sunday's ride was not a new path, for the most part, but I was able to make it all the way around Bear Creek Lake park without stopping on any of the hills (including Mt. Carbon that kicked my behind a few weeks ago). I climbed the back side of it and flew down the side that I previously tried climbing. Going up was slow going, but it was good. I just have to remember to regulate my breathing so that I don't feel like puking half way up!

Really looking forward to this Saturday. I am doing my first women's group ride with the bike shop that I have gotten involved with. I'm not real sure where we're going, but we're heading out at 7:30am (so much for sleeping in). I'm really excited though seeing as how work has me sitting on my arse for 12 hours at a time lately. The ride should be good as they are aimed at a set pace and I'm hoping to be pushed a little. It will also be good to learn to ride in a group. Sounds like it would be instinctive (and it mostly is), but it is a little different needing to be aware of others around you and where your bike is in relation to them.

Ride Stats:

Distance: approx 17.5 miles (ended at Austin & Erika's)

Time: 1.5 hours

Challenge: Hills around BCLP

Goal: Continue working on hills and work on riding in a group on Saturday

Sunday July 6th, 2008

Today was just a quick ride to justify being lazy for the rest of the day. Rode down to Bear Creek Lake Park, did a climb, then came home. I was going to ride all the way around the park to do some more hills, but was still feeling my hike from Saturday.

Ride Stats:

Distance: about 16.5 miles

Time: 1.25 hours

Challenge: Hill in BCLP and Garrison St Hill (made it through one of two switchbacks w/o getting off!!!)

Goal: Do the loop around BCLP

Map is the same as my July 21st ride... today's ride was only cut short by about a half a mile.

Wednesday July 2nd, 2008

Today was the bike handling and cornering clinic that I signed up for. It was a good time. The instructor was the owner of the bike shop that I found and a 7-time Tour de France competitor. We worked on shifting your weight on the bike to make good turns and then headed out for a group ride. It was a nice ride. It is a little different riding with a group, but easy to get used to. Not sure how far we rode, but it was nice for a Wednesday evening ride. Gotta get out during the week more, it might help me stay sane!

Looking forward to trying out the regular Wednesday night women's rides, but a little worried the pace might be a bit quick. I'm aiming for two weeks. Next week is a bike maintenance clinic. Best part about all of the bike things that I am doing?? They are free!!!!

No stats for the ride, just a relaxing mid-week ride! :)

Saturday June 21st, 2008

Today's ride felt great! I didn't do any great mileage like last week but did some great work on hills! I rode down to Bear Creek Lake Park and tackled some hills there without stopping for a break. I didn't do the Mt. Carbon hill like I did last week, but instead I went the opposite direction around the park and over the dam. It was a nice moderate hill that was challenging yet very do-able. I am also getting more comfortable shifting and finding the right gear to be in for climbing. Also, I was able to make it up the Garrison street hill with only stopping once! And the stop was right before the switchback. The two turns are pretty tight, so I'm not sure that I will ever make it through them without stopping. :) However, if it wasn't for the switchback, I'm fairly certain that I could have made it all the way without stopping! Wow, that felt really good! Yay!

I am going to try and make it out of work early (aka - on time) this week and get a ride in after work. Next weekend I am going to be in Scottsdale with Anna and family so I won't be able to ride next weekend. And, the following week is the bike handling clinic I signed up for!

Ride Stats:

Distance: Round trip approx. 17 miles

Time: 1.5 hours

Challenge: Hills in Bear Creek Lake Park, Garrison Street hill, and dodging all the people using the path today!

Goal: Keep working on hills in BCLP and do the full loop around the park (lotsa hills!). Try to make it through the Garrison St switchbacks without stopping.

Saturday June 14th, 2008

Ok... I think I over-did it a bit for my third week out. Nonetheless today's ride was a good one. I unfortunately wasn't able to work on my goal of the Garrison street hill... but not getting too down on myself about it seeing as though I encountered this hill at about mile 35 in today's journey. I, however, was able to work on many other hills in the area. In particular, Mt Carbon in Bear Creek Lake Park. Knowing now that it actually has a name makes me feel a little better. This climb definitely kicked my butt, but was another good attempt at getting myself in shape to climb hills better. Unfortunately, that climb pretty much spent all my energy for the rest of my trip. Since moving here I have wanted to ride on the C-470 trail. Not sure why, but it just looked like a nice path. Today I finally did! It had rolling hills which was tough but again, good practice. Rode through the north end of Chatfield State Park then up the Platte River Trail to the Bear Creek Trail up to Austin and Erika's for a break and lunch. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it the last 8 miles of my trip (I was REAL tired at this point) but was too determined to quit. So, I did it! Made it the rest of the way home on the bike. Now, I'm throughly exhausted, thinking I may have over done it today, but feeling good at the same time for pushing myself!

Trip Stats:

Distance: Round Trip Approx 39 miles

Time: 3.5 hours (Damn stops on the hills definitely slowed down my time!)

Challenge: Mt Carbon hill in Bear Creak Lake Park and Garrison St Hill.

Goal: Garrison St Hill stopping only once and Eventually Mt Carbon hill... but that may take a while! :)

One cool thing to point out about the map, the only time I was riding on the street is the very first (and very last) straight north/south section. The rest is all bike trail. Gotta love Denver!!! :)

Biking Blog

So I'm going to give this a try. I want to keep track of my bike rides in hope that it will encourage me to ride knowing that someone may actually be looking at my rides, although, I don't think anyone will be real interested. Oh well... just more of a log for myself! :)

Saturday June 7th, 2008

Today I rode from our place down to Austin and Erika's. I felt a little more comfortable on my bike this week than I did last week. Every bump didn't make me tense up and wasn't as nervous when cars were passing right next to me. Checked out a chunk of the Bear Creek Trail which was very nice. Will definitely be riding on it some more.

Ride Stats:
Distance: Round trip - 16 miles (approx.) - need to find my odometer/speedometer

Time: 1 hour 45 minutes - including a 15 minute break at A & E's, a few other breath catchers going up the hill and a stop to put my chain back on

Challenge: Hill up Garrison

Goal: Be able to make it up the hill on Garrison without stopping, including making the turns on the two tight switchbacks - should be able to do this in one or two more attempts.

This is as close as I could get the map to my actual route. There are a few places where I wasn't near a road, but this is pretty close.