I claimed that riding 150km was simply a matter of riding far enough. It's true, but it hurts a lot and is just a little bit boring. Sitting for nearly 6 hours in one place is somewhat tedious, and certainly a pain in the ass. However, I didn't do it to see how it felt -- I don't really do things just to see how they feel -- and I knew it would be bad. I did it to see whether I could do it. I can't say that I'll do it again in a hurry, but I'm glad I did it, glad I could do it.
The stats, for what it's worth: distance 150.52km, time 5 hours 47 minutes and 39 seconds, average speed 25.9km/h, and maximum speed 48.2km/h. A world of pain.
This incidentally was one of my goals for the season -- and I'm half way to achieving my 10 times 100km for the year.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Fourth 100km with Crash
After a two week break due to a conference (DISCOTEC in Oslo) and a visit to see my brother, his wife and their new baby Mia in Germany, I finally got out on the bike for a ride with Dennis.
We again did the same route, but needed to deal with a little cold this time. Fortunately, my stomach was sufficiently devoid of sandwiches and the two week hiatus had done its work on my muscles; I was fighting fit.
The first 30km were quite quick, at above 30km/h (though I forget to reset my cycle computer until after the first 5km). Nothing much of interest happened, though I managed to stick with Dennis over the 3rd hill (hills 1, 2 and 4 were different stories). Unfortunately, I missed a turn in Amerongen and we lost each other. After waiting for a while, I continued onwards. A cold headwind pushed impeded my progress along the dyke, but that soon stopped as I headed away from the river.
I decided to add some extra kilometres to my ride, so I turned towards Maarn for some hills and forest. As I was riding through the forest on a single track, it started to get darker and began to rain. I had in my mind to avoid a particularly nasty bump in the middle of the single track. That was all I was thinking about as a wove through the trees. Then I turned a corner close to the end of the track, at the 88km mark, and I changed gears. At that moment, with one hand on the handlebars, I hit that bump, and the bike took a sharp turn to the left. I quickly grabbed the brakes, but the bushes were too quickly approaching. As stinging nettles pieced my thighs and blackberry thorns scratched my skins, a log sprung in front of me and I flew over the handlebars, landing on my back. In true Tour de France form, I quickly jumped back on my bike, deciding to check for injuries as I rode along. Nothing serious, apart from raised white bumps from the nettles, all over both legs. Fortunately, the hail that came moments after quelled any pain....
After the hail stopped, the ride ended uneventfully. I managed to maintain a decent speed, indicating that any injuries were not serious.
The uitslag: Distance 100.11km (recorded), time 3h41m42s, average 27km/h, max 50.1km/h.
We again did the same route, but needed to deal with a little cold this time. Fortunately, my stomach was sufficiently devoid of sandwiches and the two week hiatus had done its work on my muscles; I was fighting fit.
The first 30km were quite quick, at above 30km/h (though I forget to reset my cycle computer until after the first 5km). Nothing much of interest happened, though I managed to stick with Dennis over the 3rd hill (hills 1, 2 and 4 were different stories). Unfortunately, I missed a turn in Amerongen and we lost each other. After waiting for a while, I continued onwards. A cold headwind pushed impeded my progress along the dyke, but that soon stopped as I headed away from the river.
I decided to add some extra kilometres to my ride, so I turned towards Maarn for some hills and forest. As I was riding through the forest on a single track, it started to get darker and began to rain. I had in my mind to avoid a particularly nasty bump in the middle of the single track. That was all I was thinking about as a wove through the trees. Then I turned a corner close to the end of the track, at the 88km mark, and I changed gears. At that moment, with one hand on the handlebars, I hit that bump, and the bike took a sharp turn to the left. I quickly grabbed the brakes, but the bushes were too quickly approaching. As stinging nettles pieced my thighs and blackberry thorns scratched my skins, a log sprung in front of me and I flew over the handlebars, landing on my back. In true Tour de France form, I quickly jumped back on my bike, deciding to check for injuries as I rode along. Nothing serious, apart from raised white bumps from the nettles, all over both legs. Fortunately, the hail that came moments after quelled any pain....
After the hail stopped, the ride ended uneventfully. I managed to maintain a decent speed, indicating that any injuries were not serious.
The uitslag: Distance 100.11km (recorded), time 3h41m42s, average 27km/h, max 50.1km/h.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
3rd 100km
Keeping up the tradition of hard cycling (relative), Dennis and I did the so-called ledig erf fietsclub route (the green one on this map). On top of that, I rode the 14km to Dennis' house both to pick him up and drop him off. Dennis rode like a man possessed, as the expression goes, and I rode like a man with a hangover and an undigested sandwich in my belly. I performed terribly on the hills. Nonetheless, with the help of Dennis, I improved my time since last episode:
* 100.35km (I actually did 106km, but I stopped the clock early), total time 3h37min29sec, average speed 27.6km/h, and a maximum speed of 47.1km/h (mainly because I used the downhills to rest).
* 100.35km (I actually did 106km, but I stopped the clock early), total time 3h37min29sec, average speed 27.6km/h, and a maximum speed of 47.1km/h (mainly because I used the downhills to rest).
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