The month for lovers has come to a very quick and abrupt ending. The weather has been absolutely ridicules throughout the whole nation. Come on snow plows in San Diego Sunday, get real and, again, where is that global warming.
The weather has been frustrating for cyclists. I have not, as of yet, invested in good cold weather riding clothing, at least clothes that are good to ride in the 30 and 40’s. Yes I am a woos, and envy you that I see riding when I know you are not that comfortable but are out there. We can all make excuses but bottom line, we just need to suck it up and get out there and pedal our chubby, but cute, behinds off.
It has been two months since I have rode a first for me in ten years. I can feel it. Though I haven’t gained weight (per Dr. visits) I am sore, don’t sleep as well and find myself to be a touch, just a touch irritable. Ok, maybe a little, all right a lot more than a touch, enough to know I need to ride. So if you are starting out or still at the beginning of your cycling journey, be advised it is hard for all of us to get moving after awhile off. The Pros and their trainers swear by big layoffs. When you are not a Pro, have a busy life with kids, get ill and in general have to personally deal with the day in and day out quirks of life, it is difficult. I will say, that when you return from your first ride this season, it all comes back. Whether it is a ride around the block, 5 miles or 60, the feeling of the freedom, the head clearing and that full body warm feeling will be there and you will be back on your road to physical health and mental wellbeing. I know my pneumonia has passed; we will be pushing the 60’s most of the week on the east side of the Rocky Mountains so I will be starting March off on my way to 2011 miles this year.
Till Next Time
Ride Warm, Ride Safe, Ride Fast, but Ride
G
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Ideal Log Book
Yes, the “ideal” log book. I use a 12 column account and record book that can be found at any respectful supplier of office supplies, including drug and grocery stores. 12 columns are not necessary the books come in 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 as well as the 12 column books. One book will get you through three or four years depending how much you ride. I lay out the pre-printed columns with the following headings;
Date, Route, Time, Ave Temp, Trip, Running OD, Ave Speed, Max Speed, Ave Cadence, Max Cadence, ET, and Notes. This year I am thinking of going back to a heart rate monitor and add that.
The log book by hand has a lot of positive sides to it, especially individuality. You have the ability to be very specific in what your own goals are and how you feel is the best way to measure your progress. That alone is an enormous positive. Throw in, you can sit down during your cool down meal, mine is a can of Tuna or mix up some veggies and eggs, and that tilts to the positive side of the scale. You can do this without the cost of buying a book by simply using an excel spread sheet but that has a whole list of pros and cons in itself.
Done by hand to your individual specifications, you get a good read out of your performance and improvement, all in black and white, right in front of you. On the down side you may come to find what you thought you were doing may not have been true. A personal bummer, and apology to any one that has been keeping up with my words of debatable wisdom. I did my year end stats and had an unpleasant surprise. To start with, in my last post I said January was the first month I had not rode in, in over 2 years. Adding up my yearly averages I realized I did not ride in February 2010. I also found a mathematical error and did not ride the 1747 miles I posted I had. I rode 1684. My iffy-Jiffy log book also busted my bubble that I had improved in leaps and bounds. I did improve and if you look over what the results actually say it may be different than the bottom line. I have found through years of experience that the bottom line is only good if you know how you got there, keep that in mind Managers. My yearly bottom line told me I was below last year’s in all categories I use. There were a lot of minus 0.1 and 0.2’s so nothing really extreme. Then it hit me, which is where you must know where your bottom line came from. My totals were for 11 months comparing them to 12 months so my bottom line…………is actually in the positives not negative.
The upside of the online logs, their fun, especially if you want to let the world know your being active. It can maintain that social network mentality of this particular decade. Like anything else they have the cons. They can take up a lot of time when you start perusing the possibilities and contacts you can make. Then if you have a wireless bike computer and are using one of the previous on line logs I discussed you should hand right the results down first anyway. My tall son found that if you set your wireless computer down, next to your lap top or desk top, to record your stats to your preferred log, your bike computer goes wild, racks up the miles and some great speeds. Say What?............If you have a Wi-Fi system in your house, your favorite coffee stop and even your bike shop it will affect the wireless bike computer, it runs off an attached Wi-Fi sending unit so be careful about those free Wi-Fi areas and where you lean your bike. So if you are riding along and suddenly averaging 50 mph and a 199 rpm cadence you may look around for an establishment with a strong Wi-Fi signal. There is a bike path in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that climbs up to the Garden of The Gods, it passes behind HP, the computer company, for about a half mile and it will even freak a wired bike computer.
As a side note to training logs, I even add when I replace parts, so I know the mileage I got out of them as well as tune-ups and even when I cleaned and oiled my chain. Either way you feel like going, a training log is a wealth of information, Information that will help you meet your goals. I use both types and all 3 that I have discussed, I have way to much time on my hands.
Till Next Time
Ride Fast As You Are Able, Ride Warm, Ride Safe, But Ride
G
Date, Route, Time, Ave Temp, Trip, Running OD, Ave Speed, Max Speed, Ave Cadence, Max Cadence, ET, and Notes. This year I am thinking of going back to a heart rate monitor and add that.
The log book by hand has a lot of positive sides to it, especially individuality. You have the ability to be very specific in what your own goals are and how you feel is the best way to measure your progress. That alone is an enormous positive. Throw in, you can sit down during your cool down meal, mine is a can of Tuna or mix up some veggies and eggs, and that tilts to the positive side of the scale. You can do this without the cost of buying a book by simply using an excel spread sheet but that has a whole list of pros and cons in itself.
Done by hand to your individual specifications, you get a good read out of your performance and improvement, all in black and white, right in front of you. On the down side you may come to find what you thought you were doing may not have been true. A personal bummer, and apology to any one that has been keeping up with my words of debatable wisdom. I did my year end stats and had an unpleasant surprise. To start with, in my last post I said January was the first month I had not rode in, in over 2 years. Adding up my yearly averages I realized I did not ride in February 2010. I also found a mathematical error and did not ride the 1747 miles I posted I had. I rode 1684. My iffy-Jiffy log book also busted my bubble that I had improved in leaps and bounds. I did improve and if you look over what the results actually say it may be different than the bottom line. I have found through years of experience that the bottom line is only good if you know how you got there, keep that in mind Managers. My yearly bottom line told me I was below last year’s in all categories I use. There were a lot of minus 0.1 and 0.2’s so nothing really extreme. Then it hit me, which is where you must know where your bottom line came from. My totals were for 11 months comparing them to 12 months so my bottom line…………is actually in the positives not negative.
The upside of the online logs, their fun, especially if you want to let the world know your being active. It can maintain that social network mentality of this particular decade. Like anything else they have the cons. They can take up a lot of time when you start perusing the possibilities and contacts you can make. Then if you have a wireless bike computer and are using one of the previous on line logs I discussed you should hand right the results down first anyway. My tall son found that if you set your wireless computer down, next to your lap top or desk top, to record your stats to your preferred log, your bike computer goes wild, racks up the miles and some great speeds. Say What?............If you have a Wi-Fi system in your house, your favorite coffee stop and even your bike shop it will affect the wireless bike computer, it runs off an attached Wi-Fi sending unit so be careful about those free Wi-Fi areas and where you lean your bike. So if you are riding along and suddenly averaging 50 mph and a 199 rpm cadence you may look around for an establishment with a strong Wi-Fi signal. There is a bike path in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that climbs up to the Garden of The Gods, it passes behind HP, the computer company, for about a half mile and it will even freak a wired bike computer.
As a side note to training logs, I even add when I replace parts, so I know the mileage I got out of them as well as tune-ups and even when I cleaned and oiled my chain. Either way you feel like going, a training log is a wealth of information, Information that will help you meet your goals. I use both types and all 3 that I have discussed, I have way to much time on my hands.
Till Next Time
Ride Fast As You Are Able, Ride Warm, Ride Safe, But Ride
G
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