I did quite a bit of riding last weekend -- about 35 miles each day. That really seems like a lot to me, though perhaps by the end of the season it will be routine. I remember in my TNT marathon training that 10 miles seemed like an intimidating "double-digit" run, yet by the end of the season it was nothing.
On Sunday I rode up to the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, up Pierce Road. Hill climbing is very hard! I was sweatin' up a storm, standing on my pedals and wrenching on my handlebars to throw myself up the hill. It was a joy to pause under a big oak tree at the entrance to the winery before a wonderfully fast descent down Highway 9 to downtown Los Gatos.
One thing I've realized in the many miles and hours I'm spending on a bike this season -- you can get a tougher workout on a bike than you can running. When I'm running, eventually all the pounding on the legs becomes too much and you need to stop, and probably take the next day off, too. But with cycling, there's no impact, and it's all about extracting every last ounce of energy from your big leg muscles. So, you can just keep riding until you're completely exhausted. Or puking. Yippee! (not)
1 comment:
HIlls are not my friend either - I experienced the worst of them riding up hills in San Francisco over the last two weeks. Even in the lowest possible gear, I work up quite a sweat pedalling up.
The fast flying cars on the side dont help either.
But there is a silver lining to that cloud - going downhill. Losing all that potential energy, going fast and furious - nothing matches the freedom it gives.
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