Adventures on a Bike

Pie!, originally uploaded by Arlyn Asch.

Pie is always good.

My heart-rate monitor read: 103% of max HR.  Shouldn’t I be dead or something?

I was about a third of the way up Torrey Pines hill going very fast and feeling very good.  Well, very good for being at 103% of my max HR.  I’ve been training with a heart-rate monitor since April and usually when I get above 95% I can feel the acid building up and I know the clock is ticking until I’ll need to slow way down and recover.

But for some reason, on this day, I’m at 103% and all is well.  I ended up setting a new personal record up Torrey Pines by a single second.  I decided to make the day into intervals and managed five separate pushes above 95% max HR.  Here’s a graphic that shows my HR and the elevation profile of the course:

I picked 180 to be my max HR after experimenting with how high I could get it to go, and for awhile it seemed like a solid ceiling.  I guess I broke the ceiling.

It was raining as we approached the intersection of Dye Road and Hwy 67 in Ramona.  I didn’t mind the rain really, I found it refreshing on such a humid day.  And it wasn’t raining that much, just enough of a sprinkle to keep everything shiny.

I was on ‘Alpha’ Dave Voris’s wheel and he was pulling me up to the leaders as we slowed for the right turn onto Dye Road.  I was all on fire inside, ready to attack.  Guido was ahead of me and he was the one I needed to gap without warning.  If he caught my wheel as I went by I’d never lose him.

The plan (inspired by Voris) was for me to attack the nine-man Descender peloton on Dye Road and see how long I could stay away.  Dye Road is a 3-4 mile flat stretch of back country road where we like to get into a tight paceline and go as fast as we can.  It would be really challenging for a single rider to try and stay away for the entire stretch of road.  My legs weren’t completely fresh after a mad dash to the coast on Thursday and I don’t consider myself to be very good at time-trialing on long flat roads either.  So it was a perfect challenge, just the kind I like, one with slim chances for success.

Just as Guido and Jeff sat up to regroup, I took off at full speed. Dye Road is long enough (3 or 4 miles) that I had to beware of burning out early.  I got in the drops and hammered a fast tempo that felt hard but not unsustainable.  I watched as my HRM went to 101% (more on that in another post).  At first I told myself not to look back, but then I did.  I had gapped the peloton by about 150m and Guido was in the middle fighting his way up to me.  I just focused on maintaining my rhythm.

After a few minutes I looked back again and Guido was only about 10 feet behind me, just about to get into my slipstream - crap!  I jinked left to break up the draft and pushed it to 103%.  I thought, “If he gets on my wheel now, I’m done!”.  I put my head down and gave it everything I had.  When I looked back again, Guido was well off my wheel, headed back for the peloton.  Whew!  I relaxed a little and let my HR go back to 99%.

I began to realize that I might just be able to stay away.  I was about a mile from the finish and it didn’t look like the peloton was going to pull me back.  I focused on high cadence and keeping my rhythm solid.  I looked back again with about a quarter mile to go and Guido was trying to come across again!  I hammered it for everything I had one last time, trying to ignore the screaming in my legs and managed to stay away.

I stopped at the light at the end of Dye Road and waited for the rest of the group.  Both Guido and I were exhausted and I congratulated him and thanked him for chasing me so hard and forcing me to accomplish something that I didn’t think I could do.

The caveat in this adventure is that I didn’t let the Descenders regroup on Dye Road before attacking so they were strung out when I went and not expecting any aggression.  So, the real trick (maybe for next week?) would be to get onto Dye Rd, let the peloton regroup and then attack and stay away.  I wonder if that’s possible?

On my German vacation last week, my wife’s brother Klaus informed me that I was going mountain biking with him and his brother Winfred. I was immediately both terrified and totally stoked for the challenge. See, the thing is that Klaus and Winfred are both uber-hardmen and it was totally possible that I wouldn’t be able to keep up.  But there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to cycle the great forests of northern Bavaria.  So after getting assurance that we’d go slow and arranging to borrow a bike and gear, I was ready for it.

It was an epic day riding through beautiful German forests.  Seriously the best day I’ve ever had on a mountain bike.  There is no way I could explain how amazing the day was so I’ll cut straight to the photos.

Here I am getting ready to go - first time on a mountain bike in over three years!  The bike was fantastic - fully suspended with disc brakes.  Thanks to Winfred for letting me borrow his bike while he struggled with a rigid frame bike (center).

We cycled through the Bavarian Rhön Mountains.  A largely unpopulated nature park of lush green forests and short, but steep hills to provide the exercise.  Of course, lush green forests are green cause it rains all the time and this day would not disappoint.  Coming from San Diego it was kind of nice having it rain most of the day.  Really different from what I’m used to.

WIth the trees covering overhead, it’s like riding into a hole in the forest.  The trail was wet from the rain and climbing was extra fun with your back tire slipping on rocks, roots, etc.

I was super inspired by this ride - I can’t describe the feeling for bombing down singletrack at 25mph in conditions like this.

And of course, this is Germany which means we stop at a place like below for some mid-ride Apfelstrudel mit Sahne und Eis.  The Germans really know how to suffer in the woods

Yes, it was as good as it looks.

Klaus and Winfred climb the last bit up to where the horse-drawn sleigh picks up commuters on some mornings.  The sleigh runs as part of the local bus system.  I’m not making this up…

After 50 kilometers, we found ourselves at an historic Catholic Monastery that also happens to make some of the best beer in all of Germany.  We told each other that we’d have 1 or 2 beers, but not more than 3 as we had to cycle home still.  I should mention that beer is served in 1 liter stone krugs.

The first one goes down really easy.  The second one starts everyone singing traditional German drinking songs.  I’m not terribly clear on what happens after the third.

With a couple of liters of beer in us we bombed down the last 6km of single track back to home base.  It was so much fun I laughed the whole way down.

Thanks Klaus and Winfred for such a wonderful adventure!  If you guys are ever out in San Diego, we’ll do a ride SoCal style - ending at Pizza Port, of course.

It’s been a busy week and I haven’t updated you-all in way too long.

The Mrs. flew with the kids to Germany a week ago and today I once again fly across the Big Pond to join them.  It’s a “visit-the-family” trip which means my beautiful bike is staying home without me.  Don’t worry - I’ve arranged for a sitter.

We’re visiting my wife’s family in a very small, rural town at the northernmost tip of Bavaria (Bayern).  I met the Mrs. while stationed in Germany with the 8th Infantry Division way back in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was still up, the Cold War was hot, and driving an M1A1 main battle tank around (Western) Germany was just plain good times.

I’m really looking forward to spending some time back in her sleepy village.  There’s not much to do except eat, drink coffee, talk, eat more, drink beer, sing a few songs - all while hiking through the woods (sometimes even at night).  Here’s a map of where we’re going to give you the idea…

View Larger Map

I have actually been cycling and just not writing about it.  Went to Julian last Tuesday and set all kinds of new records for myself.  1:46 to the top of Old Julian Rd and 2:56 to the pie shop in Julian.  Then I suffered all the way home.  It always happens that way.  I always end up limping back for home, wishing that someone would hit me with a car just so I can get a free ride home in an ambulance.

Here’s the elevation profile to explain.

For some reason (and I think this is what makes me a little odd), as soon as I get home I’m stoked and ready to ride again.  All memories of past suffering are replaced with visions of glory.  So I talked Mark into joining me for a return trip on Saturday.

We took it nice and easy all the way to Julian.  I could tell Mark was nervous about the distance and elevation so we kept the pace low and I took the front a lot.  We arrived in Julian just fine and enjoyed our pie a lot.  We sat in the dappled sunshine and played with our iPhones as only boys can do.

Then we started home and Mark bonked.  Really hard.  With 15 or 20 miles to go I could tell he was really suffering.  I stayed with him and felt sorry cause I know I’ve spent a lot of time in that house of pain, especially on my way home from Julian.  After a time, we made it home and Mark survived (I pinged him the next day just to make sure <g>).

Now I’m getting on a plane and heading back overseas.  Maybe while I’m there I’ll talk the wife into letting me get a mountain bike!

Best recovery beverage, originally uploaded by Arlyn Asch.

Goes perfectly with a pepperoni and jalapeño pizza.

On the train again, originally uploaded by Arlyn Asch.

Headed to Anaheim on the train with Mark. Eighty coastal miles riding
back. Best part is Pizza Port at the end. I love Cars, Trains and
Bicycles.

Back in February, I started shaving my legs. Yeah, at first it was a little wierd, but I kept on.  Among the Descenders, clean legs are in the minority, but not by much.  On my recent trip to the Tour de France, there was only a couple of guys with hairy legs.

So, I guess I’ve gotten used to it.  Yesterday, I was looking at some old photos of me on a bike from last year - here’s a cute one of me, Romy and my daughter after riding the MS Bike Tour.  Make sure you click on it to get the zoomed in image.

Look at those nasty, hairy legs!  I guess it’s funny how we get used to some things.