On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 10:24:11 -0500, David Kerber
wrote:
As I've posted here over the last two months or so, I got my new Fuji
Touring in early September. This past Saturday, I got my first long
(for me, anyway) ride on it, and was very impressed with it. I had
done plenty of rides up to about 22 miles before, but for this longer
ride I rode with another poster here in the NG's; I won't identify
him, but if he wants to chime in with additional comments, you'll
know.
I figured you might be embarrassed to be associated with me.
I am
the controversial one, right?
was hoping that riding with a partner would help me to keep from
pushing too hard and burnng out early.
I was certainly able to do that -- I was embarrassingly out of shape
from not riding for a couple months. It didn't show up at first; I
felt quite strong at the beginning, but after we had some miles on
us, I felt it much worse than I expected to. When we were deciding
whether or not to hit Pt. Judith, I should have declined; but I
suppose it was good for my health.
I left the house at 9:15 and rode the 8 miles or so to the starting
point (a Walmart) and got there a few minutes early, so I sat on a
bench in the sun; it was so nice that I was really tempted to just sit
there for the rest of the day. He pulled up in his truck with the
Afraid of how de-conditioned I was, I wanted to just sit there the
rest of the day too.
I survived it much better than I expected. As expected, my butt was a
little sore, but nothing serious, and my legs and arms were tired but
again nothing serious. I could have easily gone longer if I had
enough daylight. The next day my shoulders were just a little sore
and my legs a little tired; it just felt like I had done a good whole-
body workout the previous day (which is exactly what it was, I guess).
I did recover quicker than usual, although my butt is still sore.
However, later that day, I had a hypoglycemia attack -- never had
one before, so I didn't know what was going on. I was short of
breath, my stomach was knotted as if I was nervous, I couldn't think
clearly, and I was a bit dizzy. I was driving when it got that bad,
so I pulled over and called my girlfriend, who guessed hypoglycemia;
and sure enough, some beef jerky, Ritz crackers, and a soda later I
was almost human.
As for the lessons learned, I think I need to shorten my stem by 10 or
15 mm to reduce the weight on my hands a little, but other than that
Maybe, but I thought the same thing about my bike when I first
started taking long rides on it. Shortening the stem made it
significantly worse. You saw the stem I went to -- 130mm, 45 degree
rise; it stretched me longer and put my hands higher. You may need
to do something similar (though maybe not as drastic).
My lessons learned:
1. If you can't ride for two months, at least get a trainer or
something
2. There's no reasonable amount or type of food for me to eat on a
long ride. I've progressed from my 2 pounds of grease lunch (bonked
when all the blood went to my digestive system) to a couple pizza
strips (Maybe the same problem as the burger and mozzarella sticks)
to crackers and Gu (insufficient fuel), and nothing worked; and when
I only had crackers and Gu, I ended up hypoglycemic too.
Speaking of trainers, did _anybody_ see my question on the Bell
trainer?
The ride was great, and now I can't wait for next summer when I hope
to join some of the local group rides to rack up a few more miles in
warmer weather.
I really ought to do the same. I bet I could hit 100 miles drafting
a group!
Thanks for listening!
--
Rick Onanian