Month: November 2011 (Page 1 of 2)

Not really.

My afternoon was spent dealing with leaves rather than taking the bike ride I had planned. I’m not complaining, raking leaves on a day like today isn’t a bad way to enjoy it. The sun was shining and illuminating the grass, the birds were singing. It actually was pretty nice.

Must admit though it’s never occurred to me that a perfect fall day for biking might be a perfect fall day for raking leaves. Turns out it (sort of) is.

Getting the leaves off the grass isn’t something we typically rush to do, but we had beaucoup work done earlier this year (pictures) to take care of major erosion from an 11 inch rain we had in 2010. (Drought in 2011, monsoon in 2010. That’s Oklahoma for you.)

Anyway, with all the blood, sweat and bucks we put into repairing it, including getting  fescue grass to grow, it was important to get the leaves off of the fescue so it wouldn’t die back over the winter. We actually had to have a little patch work done today because of a heavy rain we had a month or so ago (feast or famine with rainfall) and new erosion it created. They laid new matting to hopefully prevent any future problems.

One thing I know is when the first snowfall of any substance happens, I’ll be using our new bobsled course. The curves, the gradual slope – I can’t wait!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday – we did here. Plenty of turkey and pumpkin pie – and everything in between!

We’ve even managed to get several warm weather bike rides in over the last couple of weeks. Some of our best weather here in Oklahoma is in the fall – nice temperatures aren’t unusual but no-wind days are and we get both this time of year. Definitely thankful for that.

During our rides I’m continuing to focus on strengthening my legs – without overdoing it. I discovered during our California tour that my climbing is the weakest part of my cycling repertoire – actually I knew it before – it was pretty obvious.. It was suggested on the trip that on the really tough climbs – like King Ridge – that I get out of the saddle and climb.

As I’ve mentioned here previously, this advice goes against everything I was taught and previously practiced, but I tried it and it helped. My “engine” is strong, but I had no power to make it up the long continuous climbs. Many of the steep climbs, especially King Ridge, you just had to stand and use your weight to drive the pedals – and it worked – I didn’t have to walk my bike on any of it. That was success for me.

Anyway, every ride we do to the east here has hills, and I’m now climbing out of the saddle on everyone of them. Working on my out-of-the-saddle climbing technique: minimizing rocking, relatively straight back and pedaling in time with my breathing.  My overall average heart rate has shot up from always being in the low to mid-teens before (111-118) to now being in the mid-high 120’s for a 30 mile ride with just under 2200 ft. of climbing (rolling hills). I’m not sure I should be doing this type of effort as the off-season begins, but I figure as long as I’m smart about not overdoing it, it’s okay.

Additionally, I’ve been using the spinner and doing the same thing with climbing. Every 5 minutes on the spinner I stand and push a very hard gear for 1 minute. I like it; it helps break up the monotony of indoor riding.

I’ll be doing some of that today as the weather is nasty here.

Before that though, I’ll be enjoying some of the Thanksgiving leftovers and a little football.