Ron,
Congrats on that ride. What an accomplishment. It's nice to have this biking topic here on the Beacon. I have always loved cycling, it kind of makes a person feel like a kid again. But being that I was an equipment technician for over 40 years, mostly at John Deere, I have to, let's say, not leave things alone.
I purchased a carbon bike last year, have replaced the wheels to some Zipp 303's, added a third water bottle behind the seat, and installed some small Aero bars. My wife bought me the smallest gopro so I use that occasionally. Our local bike shop/store is like a kids candy store.
So my question for you is that I am going to do my first full century. I have done the metric version on this same organized ride twice. Last year I averaged 15 mph. Never thought I would do that, but after riding in some groups it made the ride more fun.
Now the full century has a different twist. There's a 14 mile climb that is not in the metric. I live close enough that I could drive up there and park in a small town about 12 miles from the climb and see how it goes, or I could leave it for the challenge of it all and not pre-ride.
Any thoughts?
I am at a point in my training that I could do the metric easily. I currently have my longest training ride at 50 to 60 miles per week and will increase to 70 next week. Usually Saturdays, as that's the day for the century coming up September 24. The rest of the week is scheduled rides including some hills, then sprints and casual riding.
Thanks for this post Ron, first time asking a cycling question here.
Castaway
Forums
-
Castaway - Name: George
- Who do you know with myeloma?: just myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 1/24/14
- Age at diagnosis: 62
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Castaway,
A long climb like that is worth scouting. I would give it a go before hand. When you are riding a hill, slide all the way back in your seat and place your hands loosely on the flat part of the handle bars. You will be in a more upright position. This allows you to engage your gluts and not just use your thigh muscles.
If the hill is long but not steep, find a gear that you are comfortable with and can keep a steady cadence. You don't need to attack the hill, as you have a long way to go, so don't over do it. Relax your upper body and don't over grip the handle bars. I like to ride hills seated as much as possible. Standing will help take the load off your legs, but will put more stress on your cardio system, elevating your heart rate and making you breath heavier. That is only good for short periods unless you are Alberto Contador!
For long practice for a century, I would target a ride of 80 miles if possible. So stretch your 70 mile ride another 10.The week before the century you should keep your rides short and not hard. If the century is on a Saturday, make your last ride on Wednesday and get two days of rest and recovery.
Good Luck! Let us know how it went.
A long climb like that is worth scouting. I would give it a go before hand. When you are riding a hill, slide all the way back in your seat and place your hands loosely on the flat part of the handle bars. You will be in a more upright position. This allows you to engage your gluts and not just use your thigh muscles.
If the hill is long but not steep, find a gear that you are comfortable with and can keep a steady cadence. You don't need to attack the hill, as you have a long way to go, so don't over do it. Relax your upper body and don't over grip the handle bars. I like to ride hills seated as much as possible. Standing will help take the load off your legs, but will put more stress on your cardio system, elevating your heart rate and making you breath heavier. That is only good for short periods unless you are Alberto Contador!
For long practice for a century, I would target a ride of 80 miles if possible. So stretch your 70 mile ride another 10.The week before the century you should keep your rides short and not hard. If the century is on a Saturday, make your last ride on Wednesday and get two days of rest and recovery.
Good Luck! Let us know how it went.
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Ron Harvot - Name: Ron Harvot
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Ron,
Thank you for the advice. Like yourself, I like to stay seated while climbing as much as possible. Of coarse there's times when it's a very short climb that getting off the seat works also, and it feels good to get out of the seat.
I will be taking your advice on the pre-ride next Saturday. I probably will start at a little town that's about 15 miles from the climb. That will give me some warm up time before I get there. Where I live, there aren't many long climbs that I can ride. Mostly rolling with a few short climbs.
These rides start at sea level near a town called Morro Bay here in California. The metric follows the coastline for the most part, heading towards Hearst Castle and beyond a few miles, then turns back. It's a beautiful coastal ride. The afternoon return on the ride has a tailwind pushing you home.
The century does that same ride with the added climb thrown in. They have great support and the century has 5 rest stops available, if needed (about every 20 miles). I try to pick and choose which ones to stop at and not stay longer than 10 minutes or so. Just so happens they have my choice of replacement drink at the stops. Fluid Performance, which is made near where I live. I use it after ride recovery also.
The end of the ride has an oak pit BBQ with all the fixings. of coarse pie and ice cream for dessert if you want some.
Thanks again,
Castaway
Thank you for the advice. Like yourself, I like to stay seated while climbing as much as possible. Of coarse there's times when it's a very short climb that getting off the seat works also, and it feels good to get out of the seat.
I will be taking your advice on the pre-ride next Saturday. I probably will start at a little town that's about 15 miles from the climb. That will give me some warm up time before I get there. Where I live, there aren't many long climbs that I can ride. Mostly rolling with a few short climbs.
These rides start at sea level near a town called Morro Bay here in California. The metric follows the coastline for the most part, heading towards Hearst Castle and beyond a few miles, then turns back. It's a beautiful coastal ride. The afternoon return on the ride has a tailwind pushing you home.
The century does that same ride with the added climb thrown in. They have great support and the century has 5 rest stops available, if needed (about every 20 miles). I try to pick and choose which ones to stop at and not stay longer than 10 minutes or so. Just so happens they have my choice of replacement drink at the stops. Fluid Performance, which is made near where I live. I use it after ride recovery also.
The end of the ride has an oak pit BBQ with all the fixings. of coarse pie and ice cream for dessert if you want some.
Thanks again,
Castaway
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Castaway - Name: George
- Who do you know with myeloma?: just myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 1/24/14
- Age at diagnosis: 62
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Sounds like fun! That ride will be challenging.
I am doing my final ultra race that same Saturday. It is called the Texas Time Trials and is held in the northern part of the Texas Hill Country. It is done an a 26.5 mile looped course, so you ride multiple laps. Ultra racing had the goal of being a RAAM qualifying event (Race Across America from California to Maryland). Those that can complete 500 miles within 48 hours qualify for RAAM. I am not doing anything quite that ambitious. My riding partner (also named Ron) and I are doing the 2-man 12-hour team ride. This will be our 3rd race in this format this year. There are a total of 6 races, and you take your 3 best races by total miles covered for purposes of determining the overall Ultra Cup winner for your classification. We have an excellent chance since there are only 3 teams that will have done at least 3 races and we are ahead of both of them.
I will report on how we did. This coming weekend we are heading south to do a couple of laps on the course for practice.
I am doing my final ultra race that same Saturday. It is called the Texas Time Trials and is held in the northern part of the Texas Hill Country. It is done an a 26.5 mile looped course, so you ride multiple laps. Ultra racing had the goal of being a RAAM qualifying event (Race Across America from California to Maryland). Those that can complete 500 miles within 48 hours qualify for RAAM. I am not doing anything quite that ambitious. My riding partner (also named Ron) and I are doing the 2-man 12-hour team ride. This will be our 3rd race in this format this year. There are a total of 6 races, and you take your 3 best races by total miles covered for purposes of determining the overall Ultra Cup winner for your classification. We have an excellent chance since there are only 3 teams that will have done at least 3 races and we are ahead of both of them.
I will report on how we did. This coming weekend we are heading south to do a couple of laps on the course for practice.
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Ron Harvot - Name: Ron Harvot
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Just to show that Ron doesn't get to have all the fun, let me report on a great ride I was a part of yesterday.
I joined with a group of new and old friends to ride from Front Royal to Skyland and back on Skyline Drive in Virginia. We rode a total of 85 miles with 11,000 feet of climbing. It was a perfect day, low 80's and not a cloud in the sky. All of that climbing was quite a challenge, the first one being 6 miles and several in the 5-mile range. Amazingly, I felt good enough today to go to the gym and ride another 43 miles.
Not bad for an old guy with an incurable disease. Gotta keep rolling!
I joined with a group of new and old friends to ride from Front Royal to Skyland and back on Skyline Drive in Virginia. We rode a total of 85 miles with 11,000 feet of climbing. It was a perfect day, low 80's and not a cloud in the sky. All of that climbing was quite a challenge, the first one being 6 miles and several in the 5-mile range. Amazingly, I felt good enough today to go to the gym and ride another 43 miles.
Not bad for an old guy with an incurable disease. Gotta keep rolling!
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goldmine848 - Name: Andrew
- When were you/they diagnosed?: June 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 60
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Andrew,
That is impressive! I have never done a ride with that much climb. Even on the hilliest days at RAGBRAI, we were looking at less than 1/2 that total. In North Texas we have short punchy hills that are not comparable. That is why I want to go to the Davis Mountains in southwest Texas to experience some real climbs. I think I would be all cramped up after a ride like that, assuming I could even do it. Thanks for sharing!
Ron
That is impressive! I have never done a ride with that much climb. Even on the hilliest days at RAGBRAI, we were looking at less than 1/2 that total. In North Texas we have short punchy hills that are not comparable. That is why I want to go to the Davis Mountains in southwest Texas to experience some real climbs. I think I would be all cramped up after a ride like that, assuming I could even do it. Thanks for sharing!
Ron
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Ron Harvot - Name: Ron Harvot
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Ron,
Just checking in on your time trial event and how it went for you. I was going to take your advice and pre-ride the 14-mile climb a week before my century ride. Unfortunately, my wife and I spent that Friday in the local emergency room as my wife had issues with a shunt that was placed during neurosurgery last year. She had surgery to remove it the next day with a few days of recovery.
Priorities first, so I didn't ride for about 4 days. I did sign up for the 100 miler anyway, as they allow you to take any of the 3 courses and ride them as you like. All the rides run the short metric ride with added out and backs.
We had most unusual weather. Normal for us is in the high 60's and a tail wind in the afternoon. I started at 7:30 and temp was 75 and windy. I turned to try the climb over the pass and when I got to the rest stop, it was close to 90. Refueled and teamed up with 4 others and continued to climb but the wind was blowing us onto the road.
At that point I turned back as others did and rejoined the shorter ride. All in all I had great time. That's what counts really. Distance of 76 miles, 15.1 MPH avg. My new Garmin 520 really helped watching heart rate and cadence mostly. Also grade percentage.
I am changing out my ultegra rear derailleur to a medium and gear set from an 11/28 to an 11/32 this week.
Andrew,
Really impressive ride. Two thumbs up, Andrew. Yes, us old guys are doing pretty well with our bike riding even with all these treatments for our disease. I also had prostate surgery in January that set my cycling back 6 months. Stay positive and ride on.
Castaway
Just checking in on your time trial event and how it went for you. I was going to take your advice and pre-ride the 14-mile climb a week before my century ride. Unfortunately, my wife and I spent that Friday in the local emergency room as my wife had issues with a shunt that was placed during neurosurgery last year. She had surgery to remove it the next day with a few days of recovery.
Priorities first, so I didn't ride for about 4 days. I did sign up for the 100 miler anyway, as they allow you to take any of the 3 courses and ride them as you like. All the rides run the short metric ride with added out and backs.
We had most unusual weather. Normal for us is in the high 60's and a tail wind in the afternoon. I started at 7:30 and temp was 75 and windy. I turned to try the climb over the pass and when I got to the rest stop, it was close to 90. Refueled and teamed up with 4 others and continued to climb but the wind was blowing us onto the road.
At that point I turned back as others did and rejoined the shorter ride. All in all I had great time. That's what counts really. Distance of 76 miles, 15.1 MPH avg. My new Garmin 520 really helped watching heart rate and cadence mostly. Also grade percentage.
I am changing out my ultegra rear derailleur to a medium and gear set from an 11/28 to an 11/32 this week.
Andrew,
Really impressive ride. Two thumbs up, Andrew. Yes, us old guys are doing pretty well with our bike riding even with all these treatments for our disease. I also had prostate surgery in January that set my cycling back 6 months. Stay positive and ride on.
Castaway
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Castaway - Name: George
- Who do you know with myeloma?: just myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 1/24/14
- Age at diagnosis: 62
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Castaway,
My partner and I were the overall Texas Ultra Cup champions. We did the most miles in the male 2-man 12-hour team classification. Here is a picture of us with out trophies!
The ride on Saturday was brutal. Normally by mid September the temps start to moderate and we get into the 80s (F), but not this past weekend. I did great the first two laps 17 mph the first and mid 16s the second. However, when I started the last lap at around 1:30 p.m., the heat index was 98 with almost 60% humidity and winds out of the SE at 10-15, gusting into the mid 20s. The wind was in our face on most of the hill climbs and only at our back for about 6 miles. I started cramping and my speed came way down to a 14 mph on that lap. My partner experienced a similar situation. He started his 4th lap at around 3:30 and got in about 17 miles and called me on his cell. He was cramping and said he needed to be spelled.
So I drove out and despite my earlier cramps switched with him and finished that lap. I got a second wind and finished strong. We beat the second place team by over 5 minutes. Well, it turned out that you cannot drive out on the course to make a switch. The only way to switch is to ride your bike in the opposite direction to a spot then switch. My partner would then wait to be sagged in. Apparently this was done for safety reasons to keep vehicles off the road.
We were unaware of the rule and actually told our competitors after the race what we did. They then wrote a protest and the race director came to us as we were tearing down our pit and told us that he was forced tale that last lap away which that cost us the race. We ended up sharing a beer with the other team after words anyway.
Hard lesson to learn, but that is the way it goes. We still won "physically" and were the overall cup champions, so that is all that really mattered to us. So a physical win but a technical loss! My legs are still sore this morning but had a great time.
My partner and I were the overall Texas Ultra Cup champions. We did the most miles in the male 2-man 12-hour team classification. Here is a picture of us with out trophies!
The ride on Saturday was brutal. Normally by mid September the temps start to moderate and we get into the 80s (F), but not this past weekend. I did great the first two laps 17 mph the first and mid 16s the second. However, when I started the last lap at around 1:30 p.m., the heat index was 98 with almost 60% humidity and winds out of the SE at 10-15, gusting into the mid 20s. The wind was in our face on most of the hill climbs and only at our back for about 6 miles. I started cramping and my speed came way down to a 14 mph on that lap. My partner experienced a similar situation. He started his 4th lap at around 3:30 and got in about 17 miles and called me on his cell. He was cramping and said he needed to be spelled.
So I drove out and despite my earlier cramps switched with him and finished that lap. I got a second wind and finished strong. We beat the second place team by over 5 minutes. Well, it turned out that you cannot drive out on the course to make a switch. The only way to switch is to ride your bike in the opposite direction to a spot then switch. My partner would then wait to be sagged in. Apparently this was done for safety reasons to keep vehicles off the road.
We were unaware of the rule and actually told our competitors after the race what we did. They then wrote a protest and the race director came to us as we were tearing down our pit and told us that he was forced tale that last lap away which that cost us the race. We ended up sharing a beer with the other team after words anyway.
Hard lesson to learn, but that is the way it goes. We still won "physically" and were the overall cup champions, so that is all that really mattered to us. So a physical win but a technical loss! My legs are still sore this morning but had a great time.
- Texas Ultra Cup 2016 12 hour 2 man team Champions
- IMG_0412.JPG (78.25 KiB) Viewed 694 times
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Ron Harvot - Name: Ron Harvot
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
As a follow up to explain the Ultra Cup. This is part of ultra marathon cycling. There are a total of 6 different races in Texas. The overall champion has the most total miles. It is measured by taking your best 3 out of the 6 races. We had done two previous races which we won going into the Texas Time Trials (TTT). The team that beat us on "rules" violation at the TTT, had less total miles overall than we did in their best 3 races.
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Ron Harvot - Name: Ron Harvot
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Feb 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 56
Re: Biking with multiple myeloma
Ron,
Thanks for the update. What a super accomplishment. Nice trophy for all that hard work. I assume that you have a special time trial bike. Sure wish we had a time trial event like that where I live. Maybe I should suggest that to our cycle clubs out here.
I sure have learned a lot about staying on top of staying hydrated and eating while riding. Just now getting that fine tuned. It sure makes a huge difference finishing a long ride feeling great without cramping.
Congrats again, thanks for the update!
Castaway
Thanks for the update. What a super accomplishment. Nice trophy for all that hard work. I assume that you have a special time trial bike. Sure wish we had a time trial event like that where I live. Maybe I should suggest that to our cycle clubs out here.
I sure have learned a lot about staying on top of staying hydrated and eating while riding. Just now getting that fine tuned. It sure makes a huge difference finishing a long ride feeling great without cramping.
Congrats again, thanks for the update!
Castaway
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Castaway - Name: George
- Who do you know with myeloma?: just myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 1/24/14
- Age at diagnosis: 62