Ragbrai Review

Well, my first Ragbrai was quite a bit of fun. I need to work on my riding technique, pedaling with a more consistent force. I would push up the hills then take it easy down the hills, and it took it's toll, my legs were far more tired by the end of things than they would have been if I had rode with a more consistent effort. The week of riding got my legs almost (but not quite) as tired as they were after I had ran the St Louis marathon. The week of rest will feel very good. The ol' Schwinn Le Tour held up, and I didn't get a flat along the way. I'll need to look about getting different bike shoes or some padded inserts, the bottom of my foot got very sore as I rode. Camping was all right, I packed too much stuff, will need to make a list of things I needed and things I didn't need. The food was great. We got lucky and the weather wasn't *too* hot, but I think if it is hotter, you'd just need to get up eariler and ride more in the morning, resting more in the afternoon. It would have been nice to ride with a bigger group because the three of us rarely rode together, meeting up in the next town or such. Cell Phone coverage was quite spotty, so a better plan about meeting up would have been a good idea. I'll do it again some day, but probably not next year. For the week, 497.77 miles in 33:35:36 of riding, 14.8mph, 28662 calories burned biking. 3 pork chops from Mr Pork Chop, 3 Farm Boys breakfast burritos, 10 Chris Cakes pancakes one morning, a couple dozen Clif Bars, two bottles of crown (between Marc and I), several pieces of apple pie, and gobs of other food.

Saturday to Bellevue

Last day, good thing cause my legs were dead at this point. Got going about 6:10 today, heading thru Worthington, Cascade, Garryowen, Bernard, La Motte and arriving in Bellevue at about 11:45 to dip my tire into the Mississippi river. 58.53 miles in 3:45:16, avg speed of 15.6mph, best mile of 25.8mph, hit a top speed of 34.7mph down one of the hills. Day was the hilliest, but it still wasn't too bad overall. Got most of riding in before it was too warm out, but the sun still felt hot. Rode back to Cedar Rapids, showered, and then headed up to Cedar Point for a Jonsey's Tenderloin. After that it was back to St Louis.

Friday to Dyersville

Days are getting shorter, with today being only 59 miles. A storm had passed thru the area overnight, and some of the route around Dundee was thru a state park that was hilly with curves, and they decided to cut that part out, which reduced the mileage from around 65 miles to the 59. We got going shortly before 7am, going thru Winthrop, Lamont, Dundee, Manchester, Earlville and then getting to Dyersville at about 1:45. 3:44:17 of riding time, avg speed of 15.8mph, best mile of 21.1mph. Day was cooler, and the wind had shifted to the north, but it was still humid and the sun was hot once it came out in the afternoon. We went to a spagetti dinner at the Catholic church, sat around for a bit, then went into town to check out a few bars. Fun evening.

Thursday to Independence

Got going about 6:40 today, traveling thru Denver, Klinger, Dunkerton, Fairbank, Otterville and arriving at Independence at about 2:30. 63.3 miles of riding in 4:33:50, avg speed of 13.9mph, wind was from the south again so quite a bit of the riding was into the wind. Best mile was at 21.2mph. Ride felt all right, but legs were getting pretty worn out by this time. We grilled out Thursday night, riding up to the local Fairway and getting some steaks for the grill.

Wednesday to Cedar Falls

Got the Garmin set up to do auto stop below 3.5mph, which worked well with Ragbrai. Got going at about 7am, riding 68.09 miles in 4:20:04, avg speed of 15.7mph, best mile at 21.9mph, got in about 3:10pm. Rode thru Aredale, Dumont, Kesley, Aplington and Stout. We were camped at the Unidome at the UNI campus, and after showering headed up to The Hill and ate at Sub City. Walked thru campus on the way back, met up with some friends from High School (Todd Montgomery and Brad Jacobson) who had rode that day and were there for the outdoor concert. Talked with them then made it back to the tent.

Tuesday to Hampton

Rode thru Dakota City, Thor, Eagle Grove, Clarion, Cornelia and Alexander before arriving in Hampton. Total of 71.18 miles in 4:48:21, avg speed of 14.8mph, best mile of 22.6mph, we left shortly after 7am, getting into Hampton about 3pm. We stayed over at James' cousin's house, which meant we get to use a real bathroom to shower in, and sleep in a real bed. Was quite the luxury (: We went down to downtown but the food vendors just didn't look all that appetizing and we ended up eating at Hardees. Stayed up a bit chatting and such, but then got a good night of sleep before getting going the next morning.

Monday to Humboldt

Rode from Spencer to Humboldt, including the Karras Loop to have my first 100 mile ride. Distance was 100.74 miles including some riding around in Humboldt to get over the 100 mile mark according to the Garmin, and total time was 7:01:36, avg speed of 14.3mph, best mile was 22.0mph (north riding with a tail wind). We left shortly after 6:30 and got into Humboldt at about 5:45. The Karras Loop was quite a bit thinner on riders, but the stop over city there (Albert City) was fun and had some great homemade Ice Cream. Rode thru Dickens, Gillet Grove, Webb, Marathon, Laurens, Albert City, Havelock, Rolfe, Bradgate and Rutland, arriving in Humboldt around 5:45 pm. There was a pretty stiff wind from the south which was annoying, but it wasn't too warm out. In Humboldt we rode to Pizza Hut and had dinner there, you know you're hungry when you consider Pizza Hut tasty!

Sunday to Spencer

First day of riding, heading out of town at about 6:45 it was amazing the number of bikes on the road, I was expecting a lot, but I wasn't really ready for just how many riders there were. Rolling thru towns always meant slowing to a stop and walking thru and seeing a bit of the town. We rode thru George, Ashton, Melvin, Hartley, Moneta and the arrived in Spencer at about 2:45. 76.97 miles in a total Garmin time of 5:22:10, avg speed of 14.3mph, best mile of 21.0mph. Good first day of riding.

Ragbrai, Saturday in Rock Rapids

Got up early Saturday morning, James showed up and Marc (Wang) and I headed off to Bellevue to park the car and catch the shuttle bus to Rock Rapids. We missed our turn and had to come into Bellevue a different way, and were a bit rushed - by the time we got to the bus there were limited seating options, and we took some seats in the back. Not the most comfortable, but not too terribly bad. We got into Rock Rapids, set up our tents and then rolled into town to check get some food and to go dip our tires in the Rock River.

Hour Ride

Hour ride this evening, mostly to keep loose and burn any extra calories off. 17.37 miles in 1:00:51, avg speed of 17.1mph, best mile of 19.9mph, avg heart rate of 154. Trying to adjust the back gears so that it will reliably get to both the highest and lowest gears, seems like it's just not wanting to do both no matter how much I fiddle with it. Overall a good ride though, plan on doing the same tomorrow.

Weekend Walking

While in Cedar Rapids over the weekend, walked 1 hour both Saturday and Sunday morning with Judy to try to burn off a few calories and such. Saturday, walked 1:03:45, 3.48 miles, avg pace of 18:20. Sunday, walked 1:01:40, 3.5 miles, avg pace of 17:17. Plan on getting some light riding in this week but other than that, resting up for Ragbrai.

40 miles

Rode in the early evening, getting in 39.86 miles in 2:22:34, avg speed of 16.78mph, best mile was 20.8mph, avg heart rate for the ride was 148. Seemed breezy out, but must not have been riding in a headwind all that much, cause out and back was about the same speed. My fastest avg speed for a ride, so guess the new tires and whatnot is helping some. Weekend off from riding.

Windy!

Windy out, but in the low 80s and not very bad humidity. Same ride as yesterday, but got tired of peddling into the wind, so only made 3 trips back and forth. 23.51 miles in 1:29:53, avg speed of 15.7 mph, best mile was 22.2mph, avg heart rate of 149. Plan on making up the half hour by biking 2.5 hours tomorrow, hope the wind settles down.

Back On The Bike

Two hour bike ride from the lake to the Page Extension parking lot by the Katy Trail (including the hill there) and back 4x times. 32.52 miles in 1:59:04, avg speed of 16.4mph, best mile of 19.7mph, avg heart rate of 153. Overall felt pretty good, I'm guessing the new rims and tires helped out a bit. Need to adjust the front bag a bit to get it in a comfortable position. The back tire has a bit of 'hop' to it, apparently finding decent 27" tires is just not so easy anymore, and you get what you pay for. They're better than what I had... I have a few more rides planned to see how everything feels overall.

Joker's Wild Half Marathon

Well, back from the Joker's Wild Half Marathon that was ran at the Creve Coeur Lake about 3 miles from my house, hard to pass up. SOMEBODY PLEASE SHOOT ME IF I DO NOT PASS THIS UP NEXT YEAR!!! Heh, a July half marathon in St Louis is NOT a good idea (: With the rest I got in this week, I was actually feeling pretty good, and for the first half (the course was done as a double loop) I was cruising along, right about 1:03 for the first 6.5 miles (a 9:50 pace or so). But then the second loop, I started slowing down. From about mile 9 to mile 12.6 we were on the Page Extension spur that goes out and hooks up to the Katy Trail, and there's not a tree in sight along that, and so the sun was just beating down. I have my garmin set up so that it beeps if my heart rate hits 181, and it kept going off, so every time it did, I would walk a bit. So the last 4 miles I had quite a bit of walking. Unofficial time posted at the race was 2:15:00.1 ... bah (: Splits from my garmin were 10:10, 9:06, 9:19, 9:34, 9:47, 9:56, 10:16, 10:21, 10:42, 10:27, 10:51, 11:20, 11:23 and 1:35 for the last .17 miles (9:20 pace, I tried to finish strong). I actually felt like I could run more the last few miles than I did, but my heart rate was just a wee bit too high. Avg Heart Rate for the race was 172. Overall I'm happy with my time even though I didn't better my Hospital Hill time, if it had been overcast or about 10 degrees cooler, I think I could have kept up my earlier pace. Done running until after Ragbrai, legs will be happy about that.

Happy 4th!

Thought with a few days rest, the run this morning would go a bit better, but legs were tired, it was near 80F with high humidity, and never felt like I was getting in the groove. Not a bad run though, and now two days off before the half marathon. 8 miles in 1:26:18, avg pace of 10:47, splits of 10:44, 10:39, 10:32, 11:09, 11:03, 10:56, 10:45 and 10:25.

Rest Time

Well, bike is in the shop, so no riding for me ... going to run Wednesday, then have a few days rest before the half marathon on Saturday. Ah..... rest!

Looooooong Bike Ride

Well, got going out the door right around 6:30am, getting rolling around 6:40am. The plan was to bike from the house to the lake, then out to the Katy Trail, then WAY out on the Katy Trail, then head back and meet Judy around 1pm in Defiance and go to lunch either in town there, or on the way to Costco. Was nice out, first stop was in Matson about 25 miles out, at about the 1h35m point. Second stop was in Marthasville, about 2h37m into the ride, 41.8 miles. At about 60 miles into the ride, I turned around to start heading back - a bit too far for meeting Judy at 1pm because I was starting to slow down and there was a bit of a wind heading back. I stopped in Treloar for my third break and called Judy to let her know I'd be 10-15 minutes late, then got going again. Shortly after the 5 hour point, around 78 miles into the ride, I had a spoke break on my back wheel, causing the wheel to wobble significantly. I released the rear brake so it wouldn't rub, and it seemed like things weren't too bad, and I was more or less in the middle of nowhere, so I decided to keep going. The wind was picking up, and the wheel was rubbing a bit on the frame, so I was slowing down even more - and I was getting really tired. I was going to be about 10 minutes late from the late time I had told Judy, so instead I stopped in Matson rather than Defiance, and called Judy and had her come the 2 miles to pick me up. I really was tired enough I didn't feel like going on - heh. 95.56 miles in 6:16:07, avg speed of 15.2mph (was about 15.8mph when I turned around, so last third was quite a bit slower), best mile was near the start at 17.5mph. AHR for the ride was 146. The Garmin says I burned 5138 calories, which I ate at Culvers for lunch afterwards (two double cheeseburgers, heh - so a good start on refuling anyway). I'm beat. Bike will be going to the shop Monday, so no riding for me. Image of my ride here.