Saturday's ride and more
There was a change in plans for Saturday, so I wasn't locked into a really long ride. Instead, we drove to Beit Govrin and then did a 25 km loop. This was the same route that they did at the Israeli Road Bike Championship the previous week. A few of the guys had ridden (not competed), so they were familiar with it. I asked them if it was hard and they said, "Not too bad." I asked if there were hills and they said, "Just a few small ones." They lied!
The whole thing was hills. I don't think there was one flat section on the entire loop! Going downhill is nice, but it's always so short. Uphill lasts forever. My fastest downhill speed was 52.3 kph, which is really fast for me. Going up one of the many hills, I looked down and saw that I was moving at around 8 kph. I can run faster than that! And I wasn't the only one struggling. The other slow riders around me were having lots of trouble, too.
I finished the first 25 km in about 1:05. I stopped on the side of the road, trying to decide if I really wanted to do another loop. My legs were tired, my knee was a little bit sore and it was starting to get hot. Then a teammate came up behind me and said, "Let's go!" -- so I went.
Loop number two started out better than loop number one. I was warmed up and didn't have much trouble with the first few hills, which were long but not very steep. But the sun got higher and higher and I got hotter and hotter (and the hills got steeper and steeper). At around 40 km, I decided that this would be my last loop. I just wasn't up to a third. The last five km of the route are the worst. They last forever. At 49 km, I was in the middle of riding up the second to last hill when my body screamed, "STOP!!!" I didn't listen at first, but I was very close to the breaking point. Next thing I knew, I had stopped my bike. Ugh. I got off and walked up the rest of the hill -- maybe 200 or 300 meters. Then that same teammate came up behind me again. He told me to get back on my bike because we were about to go downhill. I did, but not without some trouble. I had left it in low gear and my pedals were spinning like crazy. I finally managed to get on and down the hill and then up the final hill. That was it. I got off my bike and went back to the meeting point (so did my teammate).
So my total for the day was 50 km (of hills!). My knee was a bit sore, but not too bad and by later in the day, it was fine. I went home and took my son to the pool :-)
And today, I finally got off my lazy butt and started a weight training program. Of course, starting it on a day that I'm running in the evening probably wasn't the smartest thing on earth to do. I'll know how stupid it was later, when I get back from my run. I really want to take advantage of the summer to fine tune my weaker points (which are most of my points!. Apart from sticking to a weight training program, my other summer goal is to learn how to properly swim the butterfly (i.e. how to swim the butterfly without looking like a complete fool).
The whole thing was hills. I don't think there was one flat section on the entire loop! Going downhill is nice, but it's always so short. Uphill lasts forever. My fastest downhill speed was 52.3 kph, which is really fast for me. Going up one of the many hills, I looked down and saw that I was moving at around 8 kph. I can run faster than that! And I wasn't the only one struggling. The other slow riders around me were having lots of trouble, too.
I finished the first 25 km in about 1:05. I stopped on the side of the road, trying to decide if I really wanted to do another loop. My legs were tired, my knee was a little bit sore and it was starting to get hot. Then a teammate came up behind me and said, "Let's go!" -- so I went.
Loop number two started out better than loop number one. I was warmed up and didn't have much trouble with the first few hills, which were long but not very steep. But the sun got higher and higher and I got hotter and hotter (and the hills got steeper and steeper). At around 40 km, I decided that this would be my last loop. I just wasn't up to a third. The last five km of the route are the worst. They last forever. At 49 km, I was in the middle of riding up the second to last hill when my body screamed, "STOP!!!" I didn't listen at first, but I was very close to the breaking point. Next thing I knew, I had stopped my bike. Ugh. I got off and walked up the rest of the hill -- maybe 200 or 300 meters. Then that same teammate came up behind me again. He told me to get back on my bike because we were about to go downhill. I did, but not without some trouble. I had left it in low gear and my pedals were spinning like crazy. I finally managed to get on and down the hill and then up the final hill. That was it. I got off my bike and went back to the meeting point (so did my teammate).
So my total for the day was 50 km (of hills!). My knee was a bit sore, but not too bad and by later in the day, it was fine. I went home and took my son to the pool :-)
And today, I finally got off my lazy butt and started a weight training program. Of course, starting it on a day that I'm running in the evening probably wasn't the smartest thing on earth to do. I'll know how stupid it was later, when I get back from my run. I really want to take advantage of the summer to fine tune my weaker points (which are most of my points!. Apart from sticking to a weight training program, my other summer goal is to learn how to properly swim the butterfly (i.e. how to swim the butterfly without looking like a complete fool).
posted by bari | 19:45
1 Comments:
Hi Bari.
It has been a long time. Old Yahoo address I had did not work. So glad to see you are doing so well. How is the family. Avi, Shira, Yohai, and Yovel? Norene and I are doing well. Getting older (67) and traveling more.
Went back to Ireland again.(2003) E-Mail is bobwhorten@adelphia.net.
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