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First century, first ultra, first double metric
The 'meter said 201 km...
Early Sunday afternoon I set out for a training ride of 160 km (my personal record for one day has been 140 km so far). From Helsinki I rode to Porvoo, then North to Pukkila and West to Mäntsälä and then I decided to visit Hyvinkää before going back because it looked like it would be a bit short ride... so that did it... The early middle part I was riding accross idyllic countryside in good sunlight. There was rain for 5 km so I was pretty wet - no raingear and also no warm clothes on this ride - but I dried up very well. Mosquitos attacked whenever I stopped and ran to the woods. I saw at least two dead frogs on the edge of the road. In the evening, two live ones. The early night seems to be very popular with insects here as well. I agree with the bugs, some of the best riding can be when the sun is setting down. The air is not hot any more, the traffic is almost gone, it is very peaceful and great to concentrate. Darkness finally fell at 1 am when I hit home. Funnily enough it was a very strong ride, my legs felt just fine at the end though some other parts of my body didn't take that as well. In the early part my back and groin were problems (yes it's an upright not a recumbent) and now I have still a numb and sore groin and my left pinky is numb... Think I have to start consuming sports drinks and gels and bars for real, relying on sugar-based foods is not that efficient. Though a combination of dried fruits, peanuts and cheese sandwitches with orange juice seemed to serve quite well. The total time was 10:40 hours but weirdly enough, I think I consumed only about 5 liters of drinks. It's another tribute to the benefits of systematic training: a month ago I did 77 km, and every week I added more, before that I've been doing different kinds of training for several months. -- Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi |
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#2
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First century, first ultra, first double metric
It must be fun to ride in daylight at midnight.
Do you also cycle in winter ? I had a short taste of Helsinki in February and it seemed rather slippery. Congratulation for the distance ! Jacques |
#3
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First century, first ultra, first double metric
jacques wrote:
: It must be fun to ride in daylight at midnight. Well it's not easily done this far South :-) But friends of mine say I'll soon be going to Ivalo and back on a bike, might be worth trying then... :-) Guess you are right: excessive hours of daylight make it easier to ride excessively long. (But you could just get a decent lighting system, and pack a load of batteries in other locales...) Something to try next season :-) : Do you also cycle in winter ? I had a short taste of Helsinki in February : and it seemed rather slippery. Yes, this winter I cycled. And Helsinki indeed can be very slippery. My first attempt to start the season was in February, after a couple of weeks I got bored of riding perpetual ice... It seems trikes are somewhat popular in this country, and I am going to join the crowd soon. Should make the long endurance rides easier as well... -- Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi |
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