After climbing Mt. Diablo on Monday, I felt pretty strong, so when I tackled Mt. Hamilton on Monday, I decided to push the pace a little. I managed the first hour at 1750 feet/hour! That’s substantially faster than the 1450 I’d been doing before, managed mostly by staying one notch above granny gear rather than in granny gear, as I had before. In the third hour I tired badly, so it took me as long as usual to get to the top (3:15), but it’s nice to know I can ascend faster. Maybe this is feasible after all.
Yesterday was a short workout, but again, I felt good so I pushed the pace a little more than I normally would for a recovery ride. I also did a resistance training (weight training) workout, but it was a lighter workout than usual and I did a lot of combination stretching/core exercises. (I’m still a bit sore this morning, so it wasn’t that slackerly.)
Today’s another short workout, only 1:30, but I’m supposed to push the pace into Zones 3-4. I’m pretty sure I can do that, not by heartrate but by perceived effort.
I continue to be enchanted by my Garmin Edge 350. It records all kinds of cool data, which I intend to analyze in more detail when I have the time to figure out the software. I am still not sure about the battery life (I did download the firmware update, but it’s not changing things as far as I can tell), but I think I’ll turn it on and leave it on at some point and see how long it actually lasts before turning itself off. I will also order a USB-to-mini-USB converter so I can plug in the external battery pack.
I have bought a new light system! I got a Light & Motion Vega, which is a self-contained (no battery pack!) unit that provides up to 4 watts of LED light – very bright, plenty enough to see by. At 4 watts it provides 2 hours of light, at 2 watts 4 hours, and as a blinking safety light it lasts up to 20 hours. 2 hours isn’t super-long, but I figure I’ll mostly only need it at dawn, so that should be enough. I’ll need it both for the Davis Double Century (which comes up May 19) and the Death Ride. I’ll have to try it out one of these evenings and see how bright it really is. It was $175, which is a pretty penny, but I’m grateful not to need an external battery pack – I have very little space left on my frame for gadgetry. I have a 43 cm bike, which is small enough that it barely fits a water bottle and frame pump – external battery packs would be very hard to fit in.
Anyway, I’m feeling good about my strength today. I have the feeling I could totally knock off AIDS Lifecycle if I were to do it today (or after about a week’s rest), which is a nice feeling after only 9 weeks of training.
Sounds like your rapidly improving. I always think of bike riding as a zero sum gain routine. Meaning if I push hard at the beginning of a climb I pay the price in the last phase.
Are you finding you get back pain on a long climb like Mt Hamilton ? I find that when I climb over 3000′ without some flat spinning, or climb in either too low a gear or too high a gear my lower back gets pretty irritated.
Your light will be more than enough. 4Watt LED is about equivalent to a 10 watt halogen in actual viewable light. Amazing what a flash light costs though ! I stashed my lights in a plastic bag next to a tree after the 2nd pass. Picked it up after the 4th pass and tossed it in the car on the way to Carson pass. Saves a bit of weight.
Brian