Training Log - March 22, 2009

Today I participated in the Guaranty Bank Tour de Houston, an organized ride that runs through various parts of the city of Houston. I road what was advertised as the 70 mile ride. The ride particulars:

• Distance: 67.5 mile
• Average Speed: 17 mph
• Max Speed: 29.8 mph
• Ride Time: 3:57
• Total Time: 4:45 (est)

I have to estimate the total time because I didn't notice what time I actually started. And had I seen that maximum speed on one of the down-hills, I would have pedalled a little harder to get to 30 mph!

It was an interesting ride. While it was neat to see some neighborhoods which I had not previously seen, it also did nothing to disprove a common perception of Houston roads. That is that they are all in poor to fair condition. I avoided and hit more potholes, cracks, etc. than I think I ever have. Thankfully, I only had one "near miss" with a fall, and no actual falls. That one was due to "wheel suck" where I almost got stuck in an expansion joint in a concrete road bed. Thankfully, I was able to get my wheel out of the crack without incident.

The ride started out really well for me. In fact, I was averaging 19 mph about 25 miles into the ride. Then the wind picked up some, and I slowed a little. Then I paid for my errors of not eating or drinking enough during the first part of the ride. By mile 45 I was hurting. I took a pretty long break at mile 50. By mile 60, I hurt some more, and by mile 65 I was starting to cramp. Thankfully, I made it to the end without collapsing.

Note that the ride distance was somewhat less than the advertised distance. That is because the ride was not well marked where the different routes split. The 70 mile riders were supposed to ride the same route that the 40 mile riders were on until mile 32 or so. Then the 70 mile route headed out on a 30 mile loop before going back towards the starting area.

The course officials and the riders didn't get these instructions clearly, so the vast majority of riders headed on the 70 mile loop the first time by instead of the second. While that didn't necessarily mean that the route would be shorter, when I made it back to where the routes converged, I headed straight back to the start instead of making the 2 mile loop around one of the break points. I figured the two miles weren't going to make that much difference.

So, my big learnings from the ride:

• Drink lots of fluids before and during the ride (I may where my digital watch to set a reminder of this for me on future rides)
• Eat during the ride (at least every hour); preferably, eat something with some protein
• I like my bike a lot; it road really well, and I was pretty darn comfortable

So that's it for this ride. I hope to get on the trainer at least once this week. Stay tuned to see if that happens!