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December 24, 2004
2:04:27:14
This is supposed to be a rest day, but today's weather forcast looks much better than tomorrow's. Also, Gilles was shutting down the NFS server for repairs from 12-2. So I cross trained today, riding to Pontcharra on the Belledonne side of the valley. (70 km round trip)
Maybe I'm not eating enough fruit this week. I now have two water bottles and drank plenty along the way, but had a couple of near cramps in my left calf, and one uncomfortable cramp in my chin right near the end.
The SPD pedals are a little bit looser than Look pedals, but still fine. I don't think the tune up the other day did much for my derailleurs, however.
Posted by Mark at December 24, 2004 02:18 PM
Comments
Do you have your cyclocomputer yet and if so, is it on the bike or is 70 kilometers a guess?
Posted by: Dana at December 25, 2004 05:47 AM
Just computed that 2:04:27 for 70 kilometers is riding at a 20.92 MPH average. Anyone can ride 21 MPH for a little while but for over two hours is quite another matter. My best was just over 18 MPH for about one hour and seven minutes.
Posted by: Dana at December 25, 2004 05:56 AM
Opened the cyclocomputer this morning and mounted it today, so 70 km is a guess. I don't think it'd be off by more than about 5%. It's 32 km from work to home, and I rode a little further along the valley than our house. Plus I had to cross the valley leaving work to get to the Belledonne side.
Drinking calories may help keep your performance up. I drank 1.4 l of energy drink, sugar water with vitamin C, and tried to focus on spinning at a high cadence to give my heart a workout and keep from wearing out my legs. It would've been nice to have the cyclocomputer, but we were waiting until Christmas to open presents.
Met several cyclists going the other direction, but only one guy I passed in my direction. There's something satisfying about passing people who have better gear than you do.
My fastest recorded time yet for almost an hour is 32 km in 56:52:98 coming to work, http://mcraig.org/mark/archives/000324.html, about 21 mph. The road on the Belledonne side of the valley has shorter, flatter hills, too. That definitely helped my time in this direction.
I'm pretty sure Xavier said we were averaging 34 km/hr last time the three of us rode to Tencin, which is slightly uphill from work. Drafting makes a difference. I think Matt said that at 40 km/hr, drafting behind somebody is 30% easier than riding in front.
He also says the records are set by guys on recumbents. He wonders if some of them have tried dimpled farings, like golf ball covers.
Posted by: Mark at December 25, 2004 04:14 PM