Category Archives: Training Rides

Training Rides

Trying Out Zwift

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I’ve recently been suffering on the trainer. I listen to music, but generally hate every minute of it, largely because it’s painful and I’m bored. Then I decided to try Zwift – an indoor cycling “game” that connects to your smart trainer – https://zwift.com/

I’ve done 2 rides on Zwift and have enjoyed how interactive it is. You see other riders, the terrain you’re riding, you can draft off of other riders, and all of your data is right in front of you: power, speed, incline, weight to power ratio and more. I have found myself riding longer and harder when I use the Zwift app, so that is certainly a positive thing. It’s still painful, but I’m not bored!

You can do a free 7-day trial before paying something like $15/month. You can also upload your data directly to Strava, GarminConnect, Training Peaks, and other apps.

If you haven’t tried it yet and need a way to keep your cycling fitness through the winter when outdoor riding is a challenge, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Just for fun, Training Rides, Travel and food

Final France wrap up

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I’m traveling home today with a very long layover in Detroit, so it was a good time to post a wrap up of the France trip. I rode 7 days straight, and climbed over 37,000 feet during that time. Total mileage was just under 200 miles.

I had 2 days during the week that I felt awful. But I pushed through and on Thursday, when I climbed over 5,000 feet, I finally started to feel like I had before pneumonia and my Achilles injury. It feels so good not to gasp for air at the slightest physical activity!

Friday was a fun day watching the Tour de France riders pass by our village. We rode down the super steep driveway and watched the Tour caravan, then waited for the cyclists to come by. We then rode into town for a beer to watch the rest of the race at a bar in town. It is hard to describe how fun and interesting it is to watch the race in France with cycling fans from all over the world.

Here is a link to video I took of the “Sky Train” passing by on the road below the village we were staying in: Video of Tour cyclists passing by

While I did not stick to a strict ketogenic diet this week (the bread in France is just too good to pass up), I look forward to getting home and getting back on track with it. The nice thing about being fat-adapted is your body will go back to fat burning once you get back to a ketogenic diet. It will hurt for a few days, but I’ll get there…

 

Training Rides, Travel and food, Uncategorized

Beautiful ride – Cirque de Gavernie

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Today we rode up to the Cirque de Gavernie – a fairly easy climb up to about 2800 feet with views that will take your breath away. We had lunch there, and unfortunately got caught in a torrential downpour while descending. I have not been that wet in a while and this time it was not very enjoyable. Total climbing by the time we got back to the gite was around 3600 feet and 33 miles.

However, the ride up and our lunch view was amazing. The internet is not cooperating so I can’t upload a picture but will try again tomorrow.

Tonight we drove to Cauteret and up to Pont d’Espagne, also known as The Spanish Bridge. It was a crossing point for exchanges with Spain from the mid-19th century. The bridge and waterfalls surrounding it are two of the more incredible sights I’ve seen. We plan to ride it tomorrow and will gain about 4500 feet in elevation, and our total ride will be around 38 miles. I hope to post pictures tomorrow!

 

Training Rides, Travel and food

No rest day after all

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I decided to go for a ride before leaving to pick the guys up in Saint Laury Salon. I headed up the Tourmalet and went about halfway before turning around at the ski resort. The road was absolutely packed with cars and cyclists, I’m sure because the Tour de France will be coming through this area in a few days. The pictures below are halfway up the climb – the top part is really beautiful with switchbacks, green grass and lots of cows!

With the lovely steep climb back to the gite, I ended up with 3400 feet of climbing with just under 21 miles of riding.

I then headed out for Saint Laury Salon, a beautiful town at the base of the Lac de Cap-de-long, a lake at 2160 m, which makes for a great climb. I climbed it in 2016 but it was very foggy that day, but this link show some beautiful pictures of it: http://www.lacsdespyrenees.com/lac-191-Barrage%20de%20Cap%20de%20Long.html

Even though I was driving a stick shift on roads I’ve never driven on (with white knuckles), the drive to Saint Laury Salon was beautiful. The town itself is quaint, and the nougat there is magical. I may have gone overboard when buying some caramel nougat (spent 34 euro). I’m just pretending it’s not full of sugar…

 

Training Rides, Travel and food

Second big ride in the Pyrenees – painful but beautiful

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Today we left the gite in Viscos and rode about 10 miles to the base of Hautacam, then climbed this beast of a mountain. It was beautiful, but very steep, and painful! After 40 miles of riding with about 5000 feet of climbing we were treated to a ridiculously steep climb back up to the gite – just over a mile with 800 feet of elevation gain and sustained grades of 13 and 11%. It hurt. But it gave me a lot of time to think  so I spent the time thinking about as many pleasurable memories as possible to help take my mind off of the torture I was inflicting on my legs.

As usual, the scenery helped make up for the brutally steep roads. I was so tired by the time I reached the top of Hautacam that I didn’t take pictures, but you can see from this site what it looks like: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hautacam

I also promised pictures of  the adorable town we are staying in.  A few of the stairs down the gite and the beautiful mountains in the background.

A few of the town with mountains in the background: 

Tomorrow is a rest day for me – I’ll be driving the car for the guys as they do a big day of climbing. I’ve already done 2 of the 3 climbs so I’m happy to take the day off and help them out as we need a vehicle to get everyone back.

Training Rides

Celebrating a return to health with 3 big rides

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I found out earlier this week that I am officially over pneumonia. Woo hoo! And what better way to celebrate than getting on the bike and pushing myself! I have been doing some small rides and doing interval work on the trainer trying to build up my endurance, but I had no idea how I’d do on a long ride with lots of climbing, much less multiple days with lots of climbing.

Jonathan has wanted to ride Independence Pass for a long time. It is a bucket list item for him. So we decided to make a weekend of it and we set out early Friday morning to ride Independence Pass from the Leadville side, and Jonathan and our friend Matt rode from Leadville, and I set out from Twin Lakes (a very cute, quaint town near the base of the pass). I rode 34.5 miles (about half of that to the top) and climbed 3200 feet. My total ride was 2 hours, 45 min, and was by far my longest ride since injuring my achilles in April.

The ride on that side was absolutely beautiful. We climbed up to just over 12,000 feet and the only downside was a nasty headwind. Below is a picture of the three of us at the summit:

After dropping Matt back off in Leadville, we drove to Aspen/SnowMass where we stayed the night. The next morning we tackled Independence Pass from the Aspen side. It was a little longer climb, about 19 miles, and more climbing, 4250 feet, but it was even more beautiful than the ride the previous day.  I took my time, kept my heart rate under control, and felt pretty good by the time I made it to the top (where Jonathan had been waiting for quite a while – good husband).

And because 2 hard days of riding for me wasn’t enough, Jonathan, who knows my competitive spirit, put the idea in my head that we should do another big ride today.  So of course I said yes. We started in Breckenridge, rode over Swan Mountain, into Keystone, and we both started up Loveland Pass. I went a few miles, then decided the high speed traffic and lack of a shoulder was enough for me (and I’ve ridden this pass before). So I went down and climbed a much more scenic pass, Montezuma Mountain, just outside of Keystone. I climbed 3000 feet and total riding time was 3 hours.

While I have been unable to ride much since April, when I hurt my achilles, and then getting pneumonia 4 weeks ago, I haven’t lost my love for riding. In fact, being unable to ride for so long has definitely made me appreciate it much more. I wasn’t out to set any land speed records, and was just riding for me. It certainly helped that the scenery was spectacular!

Tomorrow will definitely involve a recovery ride, then back to training hard Tuesday. I have a lot of ground to make up!

Training Rides

Finally Back to Riding (Sort Of)

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I learned a few weeks ago that I did not tear my achilles – huge relief. But I had to start physical therapy to wean off of the boot, and strengthen my calf and achilles. Just last week I got the go ahead to ride the trainer for 20 minutes, and to increase as my pain allowed (no climbing).

I did a little climbing on the trainer yesterday and am definitely feeling it today, but hope to keep pushing it so I can start riding and climbing outside. We have a trip to France in mid-July that I’m hoping to be ready for, as we’ll be riding a lot of challenging mountain routes (and watching the Tour!).

It’s great to hear from many of you who are training to ride keto-adapted. I promise it gets easier…hang in there.

Training Rides, Travel and food, Uncategorized

How I ended my fast

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This week I did a 4 day fast, and incorporated a high intensity interval workout on Day 3 which I blogged about, then on Day 4 I rode outside to see how I would feel.

I rode for just over an hour, and climbed for 45 minutes for a total of 1500 feet. My heart rate barely got under 169 the whole time, but I felt great otherwise. I drank Zip Fizz while riding, and I definitely tried to drink more than I normally would. This wasn’t difficult, because I felt very thirsty. But my legs felt surprisingly good, especially since I haven’t done a lot of climbing lately.

I waited to eat for about an hour after, then had a Stabilyze bar and some pistachios. About an hour after that I had half a hamburger, and that was pretty much all I could eat. My stomach handled it ok – not great, but ok.

The next morning I still wasn’t very hungry but I did eat a few pieces of bacon and a few bites of egg. Then at lunch I had more bacon (in my defense, the name of the restaurant where I ate was called Bacon Social), and an omelette along with berries. I felt really good after that meal,  and I think my stomach is back on track.

I’m hoping to ride outside today, so I’m not going to eat until I do some type of workout. I have to travel for work starting tomorrow, so I’ll probably stick to an intermittent fasting routine for the week until I can plan another longer fast.

I lost over 8 pounds during the 4 days. As of this morning I had gained 2 back, which isn’t surprising since much of the weight loss is due to water loss. I learned that I could still do a hard workout while doing an extended fast, which gave me confidence to fast more in the future. I’ll have to take a closer look at why my heart rate was so high. I do recall having a higher heart rate when I’ve ridden after fasting in the past, so it could be something that happens naturally when fasting. The other thing that was new during this period of fasting was the trouble I had sleeping. I had trouble falling asleep and would wake up after only a few hours of sleep. I don’t recall that happening in the past.

To summarize what I learned: 1) Hydration is the key to a longer fast (past one day) and when I drink more than I think I need, I can manage my headaches. 2) I can (and should) continue exercises as hard as possible while fasting.  3) I need to better understand why I wasn’t sleeping well. 4) I love the feeling of being in a fasted state!

Ketosis, Training Rides, Uncategorized

A fasting plus exercise first for me

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I’ve been experimenting with fasting for over a year now. I routinely do intermittent fasting, where I’ll skip breakfast and try to eat my meals within an 8 hour period. I’ve also done longer fasts, ranging from 2 days to 5 days. But when I’ve done the longer fasts (longer than 2 days) I’ve been nervous about doing a high intensity workout. Today I confronted that fear and I am so glad I did.

I’ve been fasting for 3 days, with nothing but coffee with cream and MCT oil in the morning and water throughout the day. Today I started drinking water with Zip Fizz because I was getting a headache from dehydration. I fast for a number of reasons – to help get rid of diseased cells, to cleanse my body when I haven’t been eating as well as I should, for weight management, and because I like how I feel when I’m fasting (most of the time).

I decided I was going to do a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout on the trainer to see how I would feel. I did 30 minutes of interval work, where I would get my heart rate as high as possible, pedal easy for 30-60 seconds, and then do it again (starting with a warm up and ending with a cool down).

I felt great. I had done a similar workout on Sunday, and today I felt better (and stronger) than I did on Sunday when I hadn’t been fasting. I’m planning to fast another full day, and will try to ride  outside tomorrow (a longer ride) to see how I feel.

On prior fasts longer than 2 days, I’ve fought with dehydration headaches. This time I’ve been far more committed to my hydration than before, and it has definitely made a positive difference. One thing I did notice during today’s workout is that I did not sweat nearly as much as I did on Sunday…not surprising given the dehydration that occurs with fasting.

If you’re thinking about fasting, there are a number of great articles online, or if you’d like something more comprehensive, read The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jimmy Moore and Dr. Jason Fung.

Training Rides

An epic day of suffering to get back in shape

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I have not been on the bike much this year. January I was sick most of the month, February I traveled a lot and when I was home it rained, so March I’ve had to kick it in gear to get back into climbing shape. What better way to do that than a 4 hour ride in the mountains, with 4700 feet of climbing? Ugh. Wow, did I suffer, and Strava confirmed it:

It was an absolutely beautiful, warm day, and much to our surprise, one of the roads was closed because of rock slides from the rain we’ve had so we didn’t have to deal with cars, motorcycles, skateboarders…just a handful of other cyclists out enjoying the spectacular day.

I couldn’t do much more than lie on my couch when we got home. It was an early night, to say the least. But I got back on my back today for a 1.5 hour recovery ride and about 1200 feet of climbing, and am happy to say I feel much better. It was another beautiful day, and I am grateful to be able to ride my bike, even when it hurts.

I have a long way to go to get back into decent climbing shape, but at least I’ve gotten one hard training ride out of the way!