Good Weekend

[dgaddis1]

Saturday - up early to go do a local MTB race. Ate pizza and cheesey bread for dinner the night before....not the best choice. Never felt good during the race, wasn't as fast as I should have been. But kept it rubber side down and finished 2nd in my class.

Each lap finished with a lap around a field, this is me finishing a lap around the field and about to dive back into the trail in the woods. The race started with a lap around the field to spread everyone out a little before heading into the woods, and I was on my single speed bike, which means I didn't have the gearing to go as fast in the flat field as the other racers so I was the last one into the woods. Spent the first lap passing a bunch of folks, but rode the last two laps all by myself without ever seeing anyone again. It was hot out in the field with no shade!

Then the wife and I went to Dickey Farms, a local(ish) peach grower and packer. Picked up half a peck of peaches, some pickles, jam, and had some of their delicious peach ice cream.

Sunday we went for a bike ride together around some paved trails at a local park - nice easy ride that's right up her alley, and a good recovery ride for me. Spent the most of the rest of the day watching some TV, and got the grocery shopping done. Cooked a pair of turkey breast tenderloins for dinner (no pics). Smoked them at 250ish on the kettle with hickory wood, and also grilled some fresh corn on the cob. We ate one of the tenderloins for dinner that night, and sliced the other one thin for sandwich meat this coming week.

For dessert we grilled some pineapple, and the wife made a honey/olive oil/cinnamon glaze for it - it was awesome!

On the menu for tonight: grilled pork chops with some 'watermelon salad', and some grilled peaches with a honey/nut cream cheese filling for dessert. I'll be sure and take pics.

 

[hachi-roku_fan]

Sounds like a great weekend! I just did a 26 mile trip on a bike with my wife on Saturday and my legs were done that day lol. I think I need to really learn how to eat before because I felt gassed out the first 5-7 miles and then my small PB breakfast kicked in and I got my second wind, but felt done again at mile 20-22. Did you eat anything before the race?

 

[Clasko2]

Looks awesome! Reminds me I need to hop on my Long Haul Trucker and get some miles in this summer...before I bend the steel frame. Hahaha Thanks for sharing.

 

[dgaddis1]

Sounds like a great weekend! I just did a 26 mile trip on a bike with my wife on Saturday and my legs were done that day lol. I think I need to really learn how to eat before because I felt gassed out the first 5-7 miles and then my small PB breakfast kicked in and I got my second wind, but felt done again at mile 20-22. Did you eat anything before the race?

Food while riding is a huge subject. What works for me may not for you, and vice versa.

My usual race-prep is start hyrdating several days ahead of the race. Eat reasonably healthy the day before, and have a good breakfast about an hour before the race - that gives it time to settle, and get through your stomach and allow you to actually start absorbing nutrients. I don't eat a big breakfast, don't want to feel full or bloated at the start.

This weekend was a short local race, not some big event I had been planning and training months ahead of time for, so I wasn't as careful with food. I had chicken bagel from Chick Fil A for breakfast before the race. My race was 15 miles, which took me an hour and a half. That short of a race, I don't eat during the race. To minimize weight on the bike I only took one water bottle with me - it was empty by the time I finished, but I finished it off on the last lap with not too far to go, so it was just enough.

I've been riding seriously for a decade now, so I've pretty well figured out what works for me and what doesn't.

If you aren't a really serious rider, 26 miles is a big day! Feeling gassed may just be a fitness thing, not nutrition. That 2nd wind may have had nothing to do with food, but instead you got just finally got warmed up and settled into a comfortable pace. I know if I start out to fast I'll feel like crap for a while, which will slow me down a bit, but then I'll feel better. My 2nd hour on the bike I usually feel better than the first. My wife likes riding rail-trail type stuff, but doesn't have any interest in doing a long ride. Her longest so far was just shy of 20 miles, and it whooped her. On the flip side I do a 'Tuesday Worlds' ride every week, it's a road ride that is essentially a race-pace ride. I ride with the 'B' group and we've been averaging just over 20mph lately, doing 34 miles in 1hr 40mins. The 'A' group is even faster! I don't eat anything on those rides, the biggest thing (for me) is making sure I'm properly hydrated before the ride starts. I try and drink more water than normal all day on Monday and Tuesday. Really, during the summer I try and drink more water all the time. We've had several Tuesday rides that started with temps in the mid 90's already, and summer isn't even in full swing yet. I know we'll have some 100+ degree starts coming up...

Getting back to nutrition - one thing I've struggled with is cramps on long races, like 50 mile MTB races in the mountains. Anything were I'm going to be on the bike for more than two hours I eat something, you gotta keep fuel in the tank! I've tried all sorts of different foods and drinks, and some things obviously work better than others (I've gotten away from gels and pre-made bars and other highly processed stuff and try to stick to 'real food' as much as possible) and I've decided that cramping for me is *usually* not a nutrition issue, just a fitness issue - pushing my muscles harder and longer than they're used too. No food is going to fix that.

 

[ronbrad62]

Very cool, Dustin. Hope you have Monday off to recover from all that activity. A bike ride up and down the street with my daughter has me ready for a long rest, so I will be a spectator and let you younger guys do the racing.

 

[dgaddis1]

Very cool, Dustin. Hope you have Monday off to recover from all that activity. A bike ride up and down the street with my daughter has me ready for a long rest, so I will be a spectator and let you younger guys do the racing.

Age ain't got nothing to do with going fast on a bike!!

Here in Macon there's a big group of really strong racers, I mean, some of the fastest in the state of GA. Most of 'em are older guys. Two weekends ago we had a MTB time trial, here's how the top four looked:

1st - 22:05 - 46yr old, works from home, flexible schedule
2nd - 22:52 - 62yr old, retired
3rd - 23:something - 55ish year old, semi-retire, flexible schedule
4th - 24:10 - me, 32yrs old

For a race that short, it plays to the advantage of younger riders like myself.
On longer races the older guy's better endurance pays off more. Some of those guys have been serious cyclists longer than I've been alive! On longer races they'd all be a lot faster than me.

I've been averaging a little over 5 hours a week on my bike lately, which is a lot for me. The guys in the top three all average about 10hrs a week. I have a customer in AL I built some wheels for, he usually averages over 20hrs a week! He's already ridden 6,000 miles this year, and last year he rode over 16,000 miles.

 

[dgaddis1]

Pork chops and more grilled pineapple to finish of the holiday weekend. Cooked some extra for left overs for lunch today, 3 BBQ'd chops and one with Hardcore Carnivore Black. I need to check my IT thermometer, it seemed like it took way to long to get the temp up, and they turned out kinda dry and tough. Maybe I cooked them to fast?