Pushing Myself

I have not written much recently because there has not been much to report. I have been on the bicycle, but as I explained in my last report a couple months ago, the bicycle is on a stationary trainer in my garage due to my time constraints.

But I have gone out on the road a couple times since the last report. I have stuck to riding up Old La Honda Road. This is because I have been recording my time up the 3.5 mile hill as a measure of my fitness level. Overall, it is a medium-length ride of 41 miles that I can do in less than 3 hours.

The last two times, I matched my personal best, thus proving that riding the trainer is a productive workout. This time, I was determined to push myself harder than I had before.

For a while, I had been thinking about how I have gone from being a beginner-level cyclist to an intermediate-level. Yet, it feels like I have not gotten much stronger or faster for a long time. Eventually I realized that I probably have to increase the intensity of my rides.

When I first started serious riding over two years ago, I could not make it up the hills. I would push myself just to keep going at a slow pace. I would often have to stop to catch my breath before continuing. Sometimes I would run out of energy and have to abandon the climb and turn around to coast back down. Through relentless pursuit of the summit, I became strong enough to always reach the top, and now I practically never stop to rest along the way.

It struck me that the reason I have not gotten stronger lately is because I need to push myself to the point of exhaustion like I would be at when I was a beginner. Only then would my body respond and improve my fitness level. Even though I always push myself, I need to push myself even harder. I need to burn so much energy that I feel like I may not make it to the top.

Back to my last ride. From the outset, I started strong. Usually I keep just a little in reserve to be sure I get to the top. This time I decided to keep a fast pace regardless of how tired I got. I started panting pretty soon, but I did not let that bother me. At the halfway mark, my leg muscles were burning, but I did not let up. At the two-thirds mark, my legs felt weak and were begging me to lower the pace so they could recover. I ignored that strong temptation.

I reached the top panting and feeling totally spent. I made it in 24 minutes 30 seconds — a full two minutes faster than my previous best time. It may not sound like it, but that is a major improvement.

I confirmed my status as an intermediate-level cyclist. I passed about 15 other cyclists on my way up. But I was passed by two elite-level cyclists who were keeping a casual conversation going with each other while effortlessly zooming by me, as I panted.

Although tired at the top, I recovered pretty quickly and paused only long enough to put on my jacket for the trip downhill. I had plenty of energy to keep a fast pace on the mostly flat route back home. Again, passing more people than the number who passed me.

So even if very long rides rarely fit into my schedule this year, I should be able to make up for that by increasing the intensity level. That actually takes as much mental strength as it does physical strength. But the results I am seeing should be motivating enough to do it.

Winter Training

Having been mostly home-bound the past couple months, I did not have the chance to go on long cycling adventures like I did earlier in the year. Having worked so hard at improving my fitness level, I thought I should find an alternate way to stay in shape. It would be a shame to lose all my gains.

It looks like I have found the solution — a bicycle trainer. This is a device that I attach to my bicycle that converts it to a stationary bike. It is basically a simple stand that holds the bicycle upright by the rear axle, and provides resistance to the rear wheel.

All the time I have attempted in years past to ride an actual stationary bicycle resulted in my becoming bored to the point of mental pain. My hope was that since I am using one of my actual bicycles, I would have some familiarity and comfort, leading to a better experience.

Although skeptical, I decided to give it a try. The fact that I did not have to buy a new trainer (my friend Rom lent me his since he was not currently using it) made it easier to start the experiment.

Click on either picture to see the full-size image.
Here you can see my bicycle set up on one side of the garage. I have placed the front wheel on some wooden planks to keep the bicycle level. In the second picture, you can see a close-up of the bicycle attachment to the trainer. It is being held by both sides of the rear axle, and a resistance cylinder is pressed to the tire.

It was probably good that I was expecting the experience to be boring, because I was able to put up with it and get a good workout the first time I tried it. I found that I could pass the time by listening to my MP3 player while riding. (I will do a future report on what exactly I listen to when I ride.) The trainer itself has 5 resistance settings, plus I can further adjust resistance by shifting gears on my bicycle.

I eventually found a routine to get a good workout in a one hour session. I start with 5 minutes of low intensity (medium gearing, medium cadence), then follow with 10 minutes of medium intensity (high gearing, medium cadence), and then 5 minutes of high intensity (high gearing, high cadence). I then twice repeat the sequence of medium/high intensity. Then I finish with 5 minutes medium intensity followed by 5 minutes low intensity.

I set up the bicycle in the garage instead of in the house for one big reason — sweat. My workout requires enough effort that I am dripping with perspiration for the last half hour. I did not want the bother of keeping it from getting on the carpet indoors. Plus the garage is much colder than the inside of the house, so I don't start sweating until later into the workout. It is a good indication that I am getting a good workout that I am sweating profusely even in a 50°F garage.

But the real indicator of the value of the workout would be by whether I am keeping my level of conditioning. I found that the few times that I have been able to get out for short rides, my legs were stronger than they would have been had I not been using the trainer. My hill-climbing strength seemed to have remained at the level it was when I was riding regularly. However, my flat ground strength seemed to have increased. But maybe this was just in my head, since this type of riding is what the trainer simulates the closest.

Last weekend, I had the chance to measure my fitness somewhat objectively. I did a longer ride from home, and the route included Old La Honda Road. As I have mentioned before, this is the benchmark climb for most Bay Area cycling enthusiasts. My time of 26 minutes 20 seconds up the hill matched my personal best. This time pegs me as an "intermediate" level rider. A cyclist fit enough to race competitively would do it in under 20 minutes. Beginner-level riders would probably take 35 minutes or more. Anyone not in shape probably could not make it up the hill at all.

So I am declaring my bicycle trainer experiment a success thus far. I have maintained my fitness level despite not having the time to bicycle outside as much as I used to. I have been able to adjust my schedule so that I am able to ride the trainer for one hour before work 3 days a week. (I am finding that I need to have a couple rest days in my schedule to allow my leg muscles to recover.)

The next season of centuries and double centuries will start in another month or so. Time-wise, I am not yet in a position to plan to do any of them. It's good to know that fitness-wise, I am keeping the same level. So I do not need to plan this far in advance which organized rides I want to do — I can make a last-minute decision, thanks to my trainer.

Back to the Coast

My training schedule was interrupted by a surprise party. I was able to ride this past weekend, but for the one before, I was in Illinois. A bunch of relatives went there to attend a surprise birthday party for my mother in law. Although I could not train, I had a great time.

I have not mentioned it so far, but I actually have a specific goal for all this training. The main century I want to do this year is scheduled for July 12. It called the Death Ride. It is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and it is 129 miles long with 15,000 feet total elevation gain. Although most people focus on the distance, it is really the total climbing plus the fact that it is at elevation (between 4000 and 9000 feet) that give it its name.

Nothing I have done so far is as difficult as this, so that is why I am determined to improve my conditioning so quickly. I will write more about the Death Ride in future entries.

Click for interactive map.

So this weekend I wanted to be sure to do a challenging ride. Last week, I was able to do Page Mill Road to Skyline Blvd after work as a warmup. My goal for this weekend was to ride to the ocean and back (which requires going over the mountains in each direction). The total distance for this route would be 71 miles.

The first ride up the mountains was on Old La Honda Road because I wanted something only moderately difficult. Since I have not done a ride this long for a while, I wanted to make sure to pace myself accordingly. Strangely, I saw very few cyclists. This is one of the more popular roads for weekend cycling. It was a beautiful day, but it was unusually cold (probably 40's and 50's) which is what kept the roads empty.


I crossed Skyline Blvd and descended Old La Honda Road on the other side of the mountains. From here there are fantastic views of the ocean side of the mountains. This connects to Highway 84 which continues (at a relatively gradual grade) to the coast. The last few miles before the ocean are mostly flat, but a strong headwind made it more challenging than it should be.

Just before the coast, there is a small general store which is a popular bicycle destination. This area is relatively remote so there are few services. But since it is part of several popular bicycle routes, cyclist often break there. They have a bicycle rack outside in expectation of the visitors. I decided to eat an egg salad sandwich here since it had been 3 hours since I started, and about four hours since I had last eaten (a peanut butter jelly sandwich and a boiled egg).


I took the sandwich with me to the beach, which was one mile away. There were quite a few people here, as one would expect on a sunny spring Sunday, but a very cold breeze was blowing in from the ocean so most needed to bundle up.


I rode up the coast a few miles to connect to Tunitas Creek Road, which was my route back over the mountains. I had been on this road last fall with my friends Andy and Sarah, but we only went down. This would be my first time up. I expected it to be difficult, but it was less of a struggle than I thought it would be. By the time I reached the top, I was tired but not exhausted, which was a good sign.

I crossed Skyline Blvd and descended on Kings Mountain Road, which was the coldest part of the route today. From there it was the usual, mostly flat stretch back home. The total time for the ride was 7 hours. Minus all the breaks (I had to take on/off my jacket several times, took pictures, ate) the time was 6 hours. I need to be able to do this faster if I want to do the Death Ride.

They Hiked, I Biked

We had another weekend of clear weather, so I wanted to maximize my cycling opportunities. I can tell that my conditioning level has dropped off over the winter. I need to get back to a schedule of long rides on the weekends plus intermediate rides mid-week.

This weekend gave me a chance to get some serious riding done. On Saturday, I did my standard short/two hill/20 mile ride. We had plans for the evening, so I needed to keep it relatively short. I planned to do the longer ride on Sunday.

Since the weather was nice, Vaishali and Rom wanted to do a hike on Sunday. They ended up choosing to go to El Corte de Madera, in the hills just off Skyline Blvd. Since many of my usual rides go up to Skyline, I thought I would try to meet them. Of course, actually being there at the same time as them would be difficult, because they would be at the parking area only a the start and at the end of their hike. And I could not estimate what time I would reach there with any precision.

I rode this route clockwise. Point C is home and point B is where Vaishali and Rom parked. Click for the interactive map.

The route I took to get up to Skyline Blvd was Old La Honda Road. I did the climb in 30 minutes, which was not that much slower than my usual time. My conditioning had not regressed as much as I thought.

The 6 miles on Skyline to get to where they parked ended up being more difficult than I expected. Parts of it were uphill, but not really that steep. I had used up most of my energy on Old La Honda, so I was struggling more than I normally would.

I reached the parking area and saw that both of their cars were there. I paused there for a few minutes and wondered how long I would have to wait until they returned. Knowing they were think of a two hour hike, I did not see the point of spending too much time there. I found a pine tree branch on the ground and placed it on Vaishali's windshield. I knew she would know that I had come by and placed it there.

The rest of my route home was either downhill or flat, so I had no problem with it. Next on my agenda — watching the Tour of California.

Old La Honda

I came into this weekend with no specific bicycling plans. It had been a while since I did a long ride (60 miles or more), but I did not think I had enough time to do one. Plus I wanted to do some yardwork at home and we have limited daylight this time of year.

I decided to just do a medium length ride. I did a loop from home, up Old La Honda Road and then back. I have done Old La Honda before, but had never timed myself on that particular stretch. I decided that I should do that this time. The 3.3 mile, moderately steep road is a benchmark measure for local cyclists.


Bay Area cyclist measure their time on this road and use it to determine what level of cyclist they are. In the 2006 Low-Key Hillclimb series, the median time was 20:24, with the fastest time being 16:33. You have to be a very strong bicyclist to do it in the former time, while the latter time is in the realm of actual racers.

I measured myself at just under 30 minutes, which is about where I would have expected. I need to seriously improve my conditioning to come close to the Low-Key median time. Maybe that will be one of my goals for next year.

My whole ride ended up being 42 miles, and I did it in just under 3 hours. This falls into my "moderate" length category.