Go Team! - Part Duex

Our Route (click to enlarge)

The entire team got together for a ride today. We went about 9 miles and finished with a ride up and down the parking deck at work. It was a great ending to our first training session. I think we pushed a certain team member to his limit.. I'm not pointing fingers, but someone might need to play a little catch up. Jk, I'm sure after a few more rides, we'll all be about level.

Go Team! - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

The Skidmarks had their first "team" training day on Sunday. I met Ryan and his friend Kostya at the Crabtree Valley Mall entrance to the greenway. This was Ryan's first time on a bike in a long time so he wasn't sure how it was going to go. Overall I think we had a great ride. We ended up going about 13 miles in just over an hour.

Here are our stats:
Time pedaling: 1:01:23
Distance: 12.9 miles
Average Speed: 13.7 mph
Max Speed: 105.2 (sometimes the computer gets confused about max speed.. this prob threw off the avg speed too.)

back on my hog - Ben

I took a week off since I went home last weekend. I think I put on about 5 pounds on my trip to Buffalo. From now on, I'm going to start getting serious about training. My goals for the months to follow are:

April and May: 40 miles per week
June: 50 miles/week
July: 60 miles/week
August: 70 miles/week + at least 1 100 mile 2-day trip.
Sept: 70 miles the first week with the race happening the second week.

I went for a ride today with the following stats:

• Distance: 18.85 miles
• Average Speed: 12.2 mph
  
• Max Speed: 26.3 mph
• Time Pedaling: 1:32

So I need to ride about 21 miles before next weekend to meet my goal.

-Ben

Fine-tuning

Last post was March 23^rd, and since then there has been miles of road and trails experienced. Over the course of the past 3 weeks, I've received multiple sunburns, been smacked in the face a number of times with tree limbs, head bunted a tree at 15 mph, been through two front tires, 1 bike, 1 minor crash and basically rediscovered the "stoke" that mountain biking can provide.

Big ups to the Bicycle Chain for the full suspension Trek loaner, which has proved to be an excellent tool as I continue to train for the big event. I was able to use this bike over the course of two weeks, and have fallen in love with full suspension, discovering why the higher price is justified.

The Cannondale F4 has finally been fine-tuned. Big ups to Cannondale, who has corrected the fork problems by providing a brand new fork and a lifetime guarantee on both the fork and the frame.

During these past three weeks, I have tackled local Morrisville roads, Umstead State Park and mountain bike trails on the east side of the Haw River in Bynum. Within the next two or three weeks I plan on exploring Crabtree Park's trail system and further discovering my endurance limitations.

Keep on livin & keep on ridin!

Nate “the chain” Spotz

Training - Ryan

Continued my running regiment this weekend by running roughly 5 miles. Working on building my legs, endurance and overall breathing ability. I hate when people try to photograph you while you're trying to tune up!

Training Week 3 - Ben

My Route (click to enlarge)

Went for a longer ride this weekend... but I think I overdid it. My knee is sore and it stopped being fun for the last half hour of the ride.

I hooked the bike computer up to Sarah's road bike. Here are my stats:

Distance: 30.85 miles
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Max Speed: 31.2 mph
Time Moving: 2:22:33
Time Total: 2:34:42

Went for a 10 mile ride during the week. So that brings my total to (about) 66 miles. By the end of this, the plan is to be riding more than that in one day... ouch.

Training Week 2 - Ben

My Route (click to enlarge)

Since it rained all week, I knew that I was going to have to make up for not riding by really pushing it today. I ended up going about 25 miles I say "about" because I was riding Sarah's new bike and it doesn't have a computer on it. When I was finished, I measured the route I took by using photoshop's measurement tool on a map.

This was my first time riding a road bike. It took some getting used to. It definitely felt faster..but it was much harder on my wrists and neck. Overall, I think the discomfort is worth the light load and aerodynamics.

The first 10 miles were pretty tough because there was a significant headwind. Though, headwinds on the road bike seemed a little easier to manage because I was in a tucked position. The wind was coming out of the southwest, so once i reached umstead and started heading in a north-east direction, the ride became much easier. A special note to anyone who drives often on Edwards Mill road... LEAVE ROOM FOR THE BIKERS! I felt pretty unsafe riding on Edwards Mill road. The combination of a steep downhill, an unpredictable tail wind and heavy traffic was intense.

One I reached Crabtree Valley mall, I was feeling really good about how much strength I had left. I decided that instead of my usual route where I ride to Kiwanis park near five poitns and head home, I was going to go past it and try to make it out to Wake Med in east raleigh... somewhere during this time, I forgot about that vicious wind that was now behind me, but would be in my face for the entire (south-western) route home...

The bike path from Kiwanis park to east Raleigh is pretty cool. I had never been on it before. 50% of it is on boardwalks that overlook wetlands. I saw at least 10 turtles sunbathing in the water there... this is in the heart of the city, so I was not expecting that.

Finally, I reached Raleigh Blvd and decided to find my way home.. this is where I hit the wall of wind that had been at my back this whole time. I swear.. it took me as long to get from there to home as the rest of my ride did. It was a nightmare. But it's done and I feel good about it now.

Till next week.
Harris Out.