All posts by Mike

Two years since reverse Pesky/West Alpine?

Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tdf trip planning

France is just two weeks away, so definitely a sense of urgency to getting in some tougher rides! Seems like most every Sunday ride lately has been 56-57 miles. Time to start ramping things up, and add a bit of climbing, not just miles. And with the weather finally getting nicer on the coast, and verification that super-cookies are back in Pescadero (last week’s ride confirmed that), reverse Pesky seemed like a good plan. It even includes one of my very least-favorite climbs, Haskins from the coast-side.

Pretty much every Sunday ride starts with a climb up Old LaHonda, and pretty much every ride up Old LaHonda sucks for me. First climbs always suck these days. In general, it’s taking me longer and longer to find my rhythm and not feel like I’m fighting a losing battle. The remarkable thing is that I always do… always finding that place where I could keep on going and not be wondering if I could keep on going.

So I survived Old LaHonda, and then felt pretty decent on stage road (heading south), didn’t fall apart on the coast side of Haskins, and pretty much came on strongly on West Alpine. Unfortunately, it wasn’t such a good day for Kevin, but I’m sure that’s going to change soon.

Past performance is not a predictor of future results

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

Got a new bike computer, the Garmin 1050. It is *so* nice!!! Super-bright screen with greater contrast, easier for 68-year-old eyes to see, easier for gloved hands to work the screen, and displays relevant information regarding your fitness level and what might be done to improve it.

Cruising through the menus, I found one (that’s also available on the Garmin 1030 and 1040 I think) that gives your past best accomplishments, going back to the beginning of time (not really; goes back to when you first started logging rides with a Garmin). One of the items shown was 20 minute power, which, of course, couldn’t be measured until I got my first power meter. That peak 20 minute power reading was from October 13, 2013. So I had to go back and look it up, right? And the title of that ride…

First real ride with “Power” (Stages power meter)

That’s right. My first ride with a power meter demonstrated the highest-20-minute-power I’ve ever seen. Which means, basically, that it’s been all downhill ever since. I have no way of knowing when my peak power readings might have been; when I was 50 I had a bit of a second “peak” in fitness (the first being the years I raced, which prehistoric times… no power meters, no cell phones, no bike computers of any kind). But I do know that I’ve been on a steadily-downhill trend since 2013 at least.

The good news is that my Garmin-estimated VO2 max is coming off it’s low and back up to 47 (was 46 a few weeks ago) and hopefully I can get it up a bit higher as I get ready for France. I’ve also got another glass-booth breathing test coming up, where I’ll get an idea of how the lungs are working and push for more attention to the cause of my breathing issues.

Yesterday’s Kings ride- not too bad. I was feeling pretty good on Kings, possibly feeling the effects of taking Ketones about 35 minutes prior to the ride, rather than waiting until just heading out. As with most things, seems like I need a bit more time to warm up and for meds to take effect.

Also finally on blood pressure meds. Losartan, which will hopefully not have an affect on my performance like Amlodipine did. First dose last night. Think if I take it just before sleep, I can sleep through the worst of any side-effects.

Here’s that ride from 11 years ago-