Saturday in Frederick County

Great ride with some AVC members!

Lots of climbing (some long ones) including Harp Hill and High Rock, lots of time on the bike, great scenery, some FAAST descents, and if that wasn't enough lots of yellow sign sprints for those who were so inclined. Stephen wrote 5700 feet of climbing and 67 miles in his e-mail; I have not pulled the data from my Powertap yet. Over five hours, but riding time was actually closer to four. The faster climbers had more rest as they waited at the top of the climbs, and we also had a couple of other rest stops, including a stop to assist an older lady who was having car trouble and was stranded in rural Maryland.

Lance's workout had him trying to stay under 300 watts, which made the long climbs a challenge. For extra "difficulty" points Lance was riding an 11-23 (I use an 11-26 and was wishing I had brought a 10-28 (does that even exist?)). Seems like a good way for Lance to get a big gear workout! How about a fixed gear, Lance! I thought Kyle was doing a similar workout to Lance, but given the climbs and yellow line sprints I don't think he stayed below 300 watts much :-)

Nat was having an easy day except for a few climbs and sprints where something tempted Nat to actually turn it on. New Latitude member Brian makes long climbs look incredibly easy (well, he was making it look easy for the relatively short times I could stay in sight of him), despite riding an old heavy aluminum bike. He's going to be even faster on a light CAAD9. New Latitude member Stephen also climbs really well, rolls really well, and apparently LOVES to sprint too. Kyle just loves to sprint, and then sprint some more. There are WAY TOO MANY yellow signs in Frederick County! And Kyle and the AVC guys seem to know where each of them is, especially the ones just around a corner!

AVC'er John Olinski goes downhill like a missile, he uses an interesting aero position, sitting on the top tube underneath the seat. I have no idea where his knees and hands go, or how he steers.

Wheelsucker data:
Ride time: 3:57:16 (slightly shorter than Kyle, 'cause I was waiting at the top of the climbs while he was still riding up)
67.1 miles
2736 calories burned
climbing ~ 5700 feet
watts average = 195 watts, max = 977 watts
speed average = 15.7 mph, max = 49.8 mph
number of yellow sign sprints > 10

The "Other" Saturday Ride, a.k.a the Pete Penzell ride

Given the wet roads and chance of rain, and looking at the workouts my coach gave me, I decided to do my Sunday MTB (or fixie) ride on Saturday on the fixie, and ride the Saturday group ride on Sunday. That is why I was not in the Davidsonville Park & Ride at 9:55AM on Saturday. Rather, I was at the small parking area just off 450, close to the naval academy bridge, with Ryan Guttride and his friend David. Alex Pline rolled in a few minutes late after flatting on the way over. Ryan, Alex and Ali were on fixies, Dave was on a nice old road/commuter bike with fenders and GEARS.

As Alex reported on e-mail:

"Ryan, Dave, Ali and I had a nice ride (45 fixie miles) on the "other
ride". Hopefully, we'll see a wheelsucker report!"

It would appear that we are NOT seeing a wheelsucker report.

I was trying to avoid high intensity and was hoping to stay in aerobic zones, so was slower on the short hills. Ryan and Dave apparently do not believe in an off season or pre season where you work on aerobic rather than anaerobic systems. Or perhaps 340 watts is still aerobic for Ryan :-)

This Week's "The Other Saturday Ride"

Not sure who was at the Davidsonville Park n Ride yesterday, but Peter P, Doug Shapter and Alex Pline did the "other Saturday Ride" from the B&A Trail Park n Ride. I had been watching the radar map which showed a brief shower at 9:30 being the last of the rain. Regardless, I was going to ride my new Surley fixed gear bike. I had been doing a few shorter rides just to get acquainted with the fixie and was really looking forward to a group ride, so I was riding, rain or shine. At least it was pretty warm! I got there at 9:55 and after doing a few laps around the parking lot figured I'd be riding alone, but in rolled Doug and a bit after 10, Peter. The three of us rolled out and did the same loop as last week (see the full course on bikely.com), cutting it short a hair (to ~37 mi) by turning on Chesterfield Rd and then going south on Crownsville back to Md 450.

Towards the end of the ride, I was feeling the effect of the fixie. Going downhill was increasingly becoming difficult so I was feathering the brake more. On Sunday morning, I was definitely feeling a little beat up, way more tired than almost double the mileage for the regular Saturday ride. Better workout for less time?? I think I still have a ways to go before I attempt the regular Saturday ride on the fixie...

The other Saturday ride has worked well for me when I (like Peter and others) am a little constrained by family obligations, especially now that the rides are all starting at 10. I encourage others to attend if this works for you! Very fixie friendly.

The New "Other Saturday Ride"

Six riders cam out for the inaugural "Other Saturday Ride" led by Peter Penzel: Peter P, Peter, a West Annapolis Neighbor I never knew I had, Ty and Amanda Wu, Alex Pline and another rider who's name I did not catch (sorry!). We departed the B&A Trail Parking lot on MD 450:


View Larger Map

The route will be familiar to most team members: through West Annapolis, down Bestgate Rd, out MD 450 to Rutland Rd, Left on Rossback (away from the Dville park and ride), left on St George Barber, looping around to Governor Bridge and back to Rossback, over 424 and back down to MD 450. Because I was going to do the Team Thurmont Ride Sunday, I chose to pretty much wheelsuck the entire ride. I was chatting with Peter P (who rode the whole ride on the front) for a bit, but had to work too hard, so promptly went back to wheelsucking! As such, I made a bee line back to Annapolis on MD 450 with the other Peter, while the 4 remaining riders added a loop through Crownsville. and based on the suffering in Thurmont, I'm glad I did (see next post). Up St. Stephens Church Road, right on Chesterfield, north on Crownsville to Sunrise Beach, River Road, Generals Highway, Bestgate and back to the park and ride, for about 40 and change miles. A very nice course. If you short circuit and eliminate the Crownsville loop it's more like 35 miles.

As Peter P explained, he wants to have this be a real training ride that is very focused on making best use of 2.5 hours for training, rather than the rather unstructured standard Saturday ride. So if this appeals to you, come on out, Peter will be there.