Recovery based training - a theory in development. Part one.

Reading books, articles, reports and studies on exercise physiology has been a regular pastime for a long time. Over the last twenty plus years, I have read more articles and reports on endurance training than I can count. I've read about training levels based on percentage of heart rate (max and reserve), percentage of threshold pace, percentage of race pace, colors, and perception of effort. The theories have tended to have a lot in common. Here are some of the shared assumptions. These are also ones I will rely on:

Small racks are nice too.

Bicycle rear mini-rack -  a Rando hack

This relentless cold weather and a touch of cabin fever motivate me to "fine-tune" my ride. Esmeralda, my Surly LHT, used to have a full size rear rack. It had way more carrying capacity than I needed for randonneuring, especially since I started using a Velo Orange Campagne handlebar bag, so I took it off.

PA Dutch 200K - January 1, 2011

Five hours after toasting the arrival of 2011, I began the final preparations for my first ride of the year. Pull on layers of riding clothes, eat two servings of  microwaved oatmeal, load the Surly onto the car rack, and double-check my mental list of things to bring.

The weather forecast predicted midday temps in the 50's, but at 5:00 am, the temperature hovered just above freezing. Relying on the forecast, and the warmth that riding hills would bring, I left my wool tights and sweater at home and trusted that the remaining layers would be enough to suit the day. 

The course was the PA Dutch 200k. This would be my first time on it. Pre-ride mapping  on an internet site identified seven “category 5” climbs (course map and elevation profile.) According to mapmyride.com, a cat 5 climb is the easiest of the category worthy climbs, but there would be seven of them on the 128.9 mile course. 

It would also be my first time riding with the PA Randonneurs, a group whose  reputation for staging hilly rides preceded them. I don't love riding hills, but in the last 10 months of randonneuring, I've gotten better at it. And to get where I want to go in this sport, I may have to get even better. Today could be a good measure of my mid-winter condition.

A few bikey things I likey.

These are a few not so everyday items that make my ride just a bit nicer. Some are from individual craftsmen, others are more widely available, and one is not bike specific. None are run of the mill.

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Some things are worth staying up late:

Group Dynamics

Saturday, December 11, 2010 - And now for something completely different.

To earn the Randonneuring R-12 award, I will have to complete at least one timed ride of 200K or longer, each month for a year.  After nine months of biking solo and semi-solo (solo in a group event) routes of at least 200k, this would be my first group ride, a 200k permanent with Randonneurs Katie, Keith and Angel.

The official Randonneuring organization of the United States (RUSA) defines a permanent as “like a brevet but you can ride it any time, not just on one specific date. Like brevets, routes can start and finish in the same location, but they can also run point-to-point, and can be any distance of 200km+. Permanents are open to any RUSA member."

Riding a permanent also gives you the opportunity to ride long routes that someone else has scouted and mapped for scenery and road conditions. This route was user friendly, with no extreme climbs. Although called a 200K, the actual length of this ride was 130 miles. 

On the way to the start, I wondered how the day would play out. The plan was for us to start, ride and finish together. I was pretty sure that none of the four had ridden together for an extended time. And when you think about it, asking four people to ride bikes together for 130 miles in freezing cold from sun up to sun down, when they don't really know each other, might be asking a lot.

Getting it done

11.07.10

My pursuit of an R12 award continues. To earn it, I will have to ride at least one route of 200k or longer each month for a year. This is month eight. The route is the Schuylkill to Delaware loop. It is 200 kilometers. I rode this route once before, but because that ride started at midnight, my memory of the first half of the ride is one of following a small pool of light along a road under a night sky. This time, I start just after dawn.