for a lot of racers and riders, it's difficult to balance a love of getting out on the bike, or a need to train, with the constant obligations of family, work, education and/or other hobbies and interests. starting with this post, we'll do a little name checking for some of my favorite ways to squeeze a chunk of training into what seems like an ever diminishing window of time. i'll throw out some stuff about commuting, weekday training rides that take place during early morning, lunch and after work, and the full on race simulation smackdowns you find at places like hains point.
weekday training rides represent a really good opportunity to squeeze in some good riding or training. some people choose to do these rides just to get some time outside or some time out of the office. some people enjoy the camraderie; catching up with friends you have not seen for a while, joking and telling stories and talking smack. some people enjoy commuting to avoid the hassle of cars and transit. and some people ride the wheels off their bikes, making up for the short duration with crushing intensity. all of these are great fun and good reasons to get out. I'll try to cover each of these and show some of the diversity in the way people choose to ride and train during the week with limited time. but the first name check goes to my favorite current training ride: pete's hill ride.
our host,flying the stars and bars:
pete's hill ride goes through the hills of arlington just west of key bridge. if you have never ridden through there, you are in for a surprise. though a lot of northern virginia is flat to rolling, arlington has these unending rollers, some of which are quite steep. it's almost as if some crazed glacier from the last ice age 10,000 years ago went a little extra nutty as it receded along the west bank of the potomac.
here are some stats on the ride courtesy of doctor timothy barry:
- Distance -- 17.5 mi
- Min. elevation -- 162.6 ft
- Max. elevation -- 457.9 ft.
- total climbing -- 1658.9 ft
- climbing distance -- 8.45mi
- descending distance -- 9.07mi
- flat distance -- 0 (look at the elevation chart if you don't believe me)
- Highest point is the top of Williamsburg Blvd, which we hit 3 times.
- Longest climb is Powhatan up to Williamsburg, about 175 ft.
one of the other interesting things about this ride is the fact that so much of arlington has bike lanes which allow us to ride two abreast while not impeding traffic. this is progressive and enlightened, it makes for a really nice ride, and is soooo vastly superior to some jurisdictions i could mention. check it below, room to groove.
my favorite part of the ride is the climb up powahatan. it's not a terrifically difficult climb but the false flat that leads into it saps your momentum and the hill just keeps getting progressively steeper. the ride tends to string out there, and people stop talking and ride hard.
but in the end, guys are always really friendly. below, eli and simon smile and chat while the rest of us stare at the rear hub on the bikes in front of us.
and for those that get down with data, below is a link to the power tap file from the 3/7 ride. the ride data includes my spinning from my office to the site where we leave. you'll recognize the ride start as the wattage goes up. since i am chronically late, i had to chase for a good ten minutes so the start seems more difficult than it actually is.
USER_DEFAULT_3_7_2006.zip (34.24 KB)
- - - posted by scott