It's Been Half a Century

...and I feel like it! We rode through Atlanta today in a mostly urban, hilly environment - all the way to Six Flags Over Georgia and beyond! (check out the map below for those of you unfamiliar with Atlanta geography).

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ga/atlanta/625713264

I made it through most of the ride ok, but I started having horrible knee pain about 3/4 of the way through the ride. I can attribute this to several things (other than just getting old!)

• I am riding a Hybrid Bike (a cross between a mountain bike and road bike), which is about twice as heavy as a road bike and, therefore, puts extra pressure on your joints since it's more difficult to pedal.
• I don't have "clip pedals", which for you non bikers is a shoe that allows you to actually "clip" into the pedals (like skis) so you can use both your quads (to push down) and your hamstrings (to pull up). Without clips, I was pushing down only, creating more tension in my knees.
• My seat height was apparently 2 inches too short - that makes a big difference!

All that being said, I have invested in new biking shoes, clips, and clip pedals, which I hope to try out next week after my knees have healed (I am icing them as I type!).

Slowly but surely....

Fruitcake, anyone?

Apparently, Claxton, GA (the location of the race) is the self-proclaimed Fruitcake Capital of the World. Who knew? The good news is that the race takes place during the holiday season, so fruitcake will be aplenty to ring in the Christmas cheer!

Get your own at:
www.claxtonfruitcake.com

40 Miles & All's Well!

Last week's ride ended with a bingefest of eating to reimburse my body for the calories I had stolen that day (lunch, 3 muffins, a whole row of Fig Newtons in the Walmart checkout lane, and then a hearty dinner with 2 dessert helpings).

Being a runner, I am not used to eating a big breakfast or snacking heavily along the route. Apparently, that's a "no no' in the biking world! So, I took the plunge and ate a good breakfast before my ride and stocked up on snacks along the way. What a difference! I had so much more energy and finished the 40mi ride (my longest to date) with energy to spare!

Bottom line: Biking more means eating more... this could be a bad combo :)

Check out my 40mi ride online at:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ga/peachtree-city/597542336

35 miles & looking better in the shorts

Ah, the biking shorts. If I ever needed any motivation to keep training, the biking shorts has surpassed it all. An aching need to keep up with my teammates and train for a good cause has been temporarily replaced by the horror that is spandex.

The good news is, even though its a selfish and purely cosmetic desire, the need to "look good" in my new biking shorts has spurred even more intensity in my training. On the 4th of July, when the rest of the country slept late and then ate hamburgers, I woke up at 6am and biked 35 miles with a group of intense bikers that I had no business biking with :) They all biked 50 miles and still beat me back to the end location, but I was still happy with my biking success and the fact that I made it back in one piece.

*NOTE: Following my ride, I was so hungry, that I immediately ate lunch, followed by 3 muffins and a whole row of Fig Newton cookies. Hence, while the ride was successful, little progress was made toward bettering my biking shorts physique.

Check out my July 4th ride map at:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ga/fairburn/566455392