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Century Magic

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Bry

A century route starting from north-central Phoenix / Paradise Valley, with a 50 mile loop from Gainey Village to Fountain Hills to Gilbert Rd to Mesa, Brown Rd, Rio Solado Pkwy, and back to the Paradise Valley area via 68th St, followed by an out-and-back to the Carefree Towers. 121 miles with 3,500 feet of climbing.

Who turned the switch on?

All spring I’ve been waiting for my legs to come round, doing numerous 50 milers up tough hills, using steady, brisk spinning. Up till last week, it all seemed for naught, as I just haven’t had any power in the ol’ legs, and have had a general sense of lethargic-ness. I just haven’t had any energy.

But all that changed last week. A combination of four tough rides — (a “perfect pace” 50 miler with the Bullshifters out to the Sun City / Surprise area on Saturday a week ago), a climb fest out to Fountain Hills leading the Los Coyotes ride the following Sunday, a brisk training ride around Paradise Valley with the Tri Scottsdale group out of Gainey Ranch on Tuesday, followed by another tough Tri Scottsdale workout to the Hills of Via Linda on Thursday – all these rides left my legs feeling strong.

By Saturday, my legs were feeling really good, and I noticed on a ride out to the Hills of Via Linda (again), that the climb up Scottsdale Mountain didn’t feel near as hard as it otherwise had all spring. My legs were back.

It’s like someone turned a switch on in my legs.

All this set me up for a magical century ride on Sunday, where I got stronger all day long, up until the last few of the 121 miles I would end up riding.

May 19, 2013, 6:00 am — The Los Coyotes Fountain Hills / Gilbert Loop

On Sunday morning I lead the Los Coyotes ride on what has become one of my favorite loops: Out to Fountain Hills, down the Beeline to Gilbert Rd, and then south and west through the streets of Mesa / Tempe / Scottsdale. There’s a good sized group out today: Roland, Lynsey, Tom, Kevin, Greg, Thad, Paula, Tim, and Phil have graced us with their presence. Most of us had somewhat of a late night the night before, at a party at Thad and Paula’s. I don’t know about the rest of the group, but I was pretty beat when I got up at 5:00 am.

But my legs feel good on the way out to Fountain Hills, and I notice on the climb up Shea Blvd that it doesn’t feel near as hard as it had all spring – just like my experience with Scottsdale Mountain the previous day.

“It’s all downhill from here”

That’s what I tell the group as we reach the top of Shea. I tell them we have 25-30 miles of downhill / flat riding coming up, including a brisk spin down Shea to Beeline Hwy, and then further southwest to Gilbert Rd. Riding along with Greg down the Beeline, he and I reach speeds of 29 mph with ease, as we try to chase down Roland, who had gotten a jump on us and was zooming down the road with abandon.

We take drama lessons

At Gilbert Rd we turn to head south, and the group goes through a bit of “drama” as first Thad stumbles and falls while trying to clip in, bending his left brake / shifting lever assembly in the process, and Kevin has a flat, with half the group not noticing and continuing to zoom up the road. None of them know the route.

The group eventually gets back together along Brown Rd, after I “lecture” (ever so politely) about the group etiquette of waiting for others – especially the leader, heh heh. In their defense the group that had gone on ahead had tried to call us on our cell phones, but I don’t often hear my phone ringing when the wind is in my helmet.

It all works out in the end – well at least for a few miles anyway.

Cones of confusion

Somewhere between Rio Solado Pkwy and Mill Ave in Tempe, Paula loses her way. There’s a triathlon going on at Tempe Beach along Mill Ave, and I guess Paula gets mesmerized by the cones and confusion and somehow disconnects from the group.

I guess it’s my fault for not waiting at the corner for everybody, especially after my little mini-lecture.

Yup, what goes around comes around. Ha!

We put out APB’s for Paula’s whereabouts, and she was last reported to be heading west somewhere in the Priest / McDowell Rd area. She’s probably in LA by now.

Kidding aside, Thad waits for her at a Circle K as the rest of us head north to complete what turns out to be a 50 mile loop.

I hope Paula made it back safely and that everyone had a good time!

Gainey Village, 10:30 am — The day’s just getting started

My legs felt good the whole way around the loop. If anything, they got stronger as the miles accumulated. The weather has been very nice — almost chilly at the beginning. And even now, at 10:30 am, it’s not all that hot.

Hmm … , I say to myself. I’z got a supposed double century ride coming up in June, (the Grand Tour). Maybe I should take advantage of the nice weather and good leg sensations and go for a century today.

I figure if I head up to Carefree and back, that would make enough miles for a 100.

So off I go. Tim comes with me for part of the trip, and we make our way up Thompson Peak Parkway to Pima and Pinnacle Peak Rd. We part company there as Tim leaves for home, and I continue up Pima.

My bike has other ideas

The idea is to ride as far north as Westland Drive, and head west to Scottsdale Rd, down Carefree Highway to Cave Creek Rd, and then loop home. I know that will get me the requisite miles.

By the time I reach Westland, I decide I might as well head up to Carefree. It’s only a few more miles. So what if it eventually puts me over a 100. From there, I can zoom down Cave Creek Rd all the way back to Phoenix.

I reach Cave Creek Rd, but instead of turning left, down the hill, my bike has other ideas. It steers me east, up the climb to Carefree Towers (Bartlett Lake Junction). What the hell is my bike thinking?

I figure I’ll go along with this climbing nonsense till Tree Lined Trail (a 1/2 mile up), and then turn around. That’ll teach my bike! But somehow, Tree Lined Trail comes and goes. Somehow, so does Lone Mountain Parkway, and the next thing I know, my bike is passing the towers and reaching Bartlett Lake Junction.

The interesting thing is that on the climb I felt way better than I did a month ago on the Desert Classic Century. Then, I almost passed out just reaching Lone Mountain Parkway. It was hot that day, and it’s almost as hot now – except the tail wind I’m feeling has a bit of coolness.

And now, my legs feel as strong as they did when I started this morning, some 84 miles ago. It’s magic!

Surprise at AJ’s

I zoom back down Cave Creek Rd to Pima, retracing my route, reaching Pinnacle Peak Rd by the 94 mile mark, where I stop at the AJ’s to refill water bottles — only to have someone come up to me and ask about the Grand Tour (a 200-miler in Malibu, CA.) I was wearing my 2011 Grand Tour Jersey and he had noticed it.

Turns out it’s Artie from the Bullshifters, wearing street clothes, a hat, and guitar in hand. I didn’t recognize him without a helmet. I didn’t recognize him with a guitar. It takes me a while to make the connection – to remember that he was a musician and that’s who I’m talking to.

The Los Coyotes group often stops at AJ’s at Pinnacle Peak and Pima on Sunday mornings, and a jazz trio has been there almost every time. All the while it was him that had been playing guitar. I just didn’t know it.

Make it a double (metric)

I leave AJ’s and begin calculating how many miles there are to reach home, and realize that if I completely retrace my route back to Gainey Village, rather than heading more directly there, I can easily get in a double metric century today (120 miles.)

No, I’m not completely crazy – honest! There’s some logic to doing more miles. It’s not every day you have the time to put in a 100 miles on your bike, and every mile after a 100 is a valuable commodity. It provides hard-won information on how your body responds to the miles, and it gives you the confidence to go even further.

As in the Grand Tour?

Three weeks ago I was feeling there was no way I’d be doing a full double century (200 miles) any time soon. But now I’m reevaluating that. My legs seem to be back to their normal self. They haven’t felt this good since before I crashed, a year and a half ago.

Perhaps the Grand Tour is in the cards after all.

Desert Classic 2013

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Bry

ABC’s Desert Classic Century, 2013 edition. 102.5 miles (we goofed and had to backtrack at one point, adding some extra miles). Approximately 3,000 feet of climbing.

April 27, 2013

It’s been a few years since I’ve done Arizona Bicycle Club’s Desert Classic Century, but I knew a bunch of Bullshifters were likely to be riding and I needed to get in some longer miles, in case I do the Grand Tour Double with them in a few months. So I decided to come out for the day and see how things went. Chris from the Saturday Los Freeloaders group came as well, and we would ride together the whole day.

There was a nice contingent of Bullshifters at the start, (Oggie’s Brewery on 67th Ave and the 101 freeway). I’d say they were the largest group on course. I’ve found over the years that this century ride is not well attended. For whatever reason the ABC club barely advertises it, and I think that’s the main problem. The route itself is a nice one.

The Bulls were out in full force today.

Here I am with Chris, my riding companion for the day. She was teased incessantly by the group for wearing a jacket at the beginning. It was a bit chilly starting out, but would quickly heat up and reach the upper 90s by the afternoon.

Chris and I stayed with the Bullshifters up to Carefree Hwy, though the pace picked up as we neared Carefree Hwy, and I was dumped off the back before reaching the first rest stop, and after regrouping and heading west on Carefree Highway to New River Rd, I was dumped unceremoniously again as we headed north and east. I simply do not have any power this spring, and am often off the back on many rides, despite lots of training. It’s a bit disconcerting.

To her credit, Chris powered along with the group, till somewhere near New River.

“It’s all downhill from here”

I eventually caught up to Chris at the rest stop on the backside of New River as she waited for me, and we made our way south and then east towards Cave Creek and Carefree. Her original plan was to just do the metric century, but at the third rest stop near Cave Creek Road, I gently coaxed her into doing the whole enchilada.

“Yeah, it’s a climb up to Lone Mountain Parkway,” I told her. “But then it’s all downhill from there. It’ll be easy.”

That was enough to convince her to give it a go. Trouble was, neither she nor I accounted for one teensy little detail. It was getting hot, and there would be a headwind on the way back. (There’s always a headwind on the way back on this ride. It’s been that way every time I’ve done the Desert Classic.)

I sucked on the climb up to Lone Mountain Parkway – the climb I had convinced her to do, some 62 miles into the ride. I’ve never felt so awful on this hill, halfway up to the Carefree Towers. It was a hot, hot ascent. After reaching the top of the route for the day, I nearly passed out, seeing stars. The saving grace was that it truly was all downhill from there.

I recovered on the long descent down Lone Mtn Parkway, Stagecoach Pass Rd, the legendary Legend Trail, and Pima. We reached a rest stop at a gas station near Pinnacle Peak and Pima, only to find the whole pack of Bullshifters there. Turns out Jim was not taking the heat well, and had to rest there quite a while. He eventually had to sag it in.

As such, we got to ride with the group gain, but that was short-lived. Though I was still riding as strong (well, as weak) as I was at the beginning, Chris began to fade as the miles accumulated and the heat and the headwind picked up. I slowed my pace to match hers and we inched our way to the finish. But Chris was a trooper and hung in there the whole distance. It was 99 degrees by the time we reached Oggie’s Brewery, having covered almost 105 miles.

Though I did complete the century, my first long ride since the fall Death Valley Double, in many ways this was a discouraging day. I had no power anywhere along the course, and though I personally didn’t fade towards the end, I had little energy to begin with. Right now, I can’t see doing a double century.

How can I shake my legs out of their doldrums?

Bartlett Lake Spring 2013

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Bry

The ride to Bartlett Lake is a 40 mile round trip from the Carefree Sundial (near the corner of Tom Darlington Rd and Cave Creek Rd.) There’s a lot of climbing on this route — almost 4,000 feet worth.

April 14, 2013

As another edition of the Los Coyotes Sunday ride, I led a group of four out to Bartlett Lake and back. Well, “led” is somewhat a misnomer, as Roland, one of our companions, zoomed up the climbs and out to the lake in short order. He was way ahead of the rest of us. I stayed back with Nancy and Josephine, the two gals that came out, to encourage them up the first climb and on to the lake. This route is tough even if you are in shape, and neither of them had done that much riding this spring. I would have been more worried about them, but Lynsey also came along – in her van, and served as sag for us. I knew if anybody got seriously gassed, they’d have an easy ride out.

We almost had a fifth rider, as Thad did show up at the start, (and he gets credit for that!), but his attempt to fix a flat tire at the start was not successful, and we noticed said tire was really in poor shape, with threads showing. He decided maybe that was a sign he should just head over to the Black Mtn Café for an early breakfast.

I was almost glad I “got” to ride slow and stay with the gals. I didn’t have that much energy in the first place, and it was nice to have time to enjoy the scenery and take a bunch of pictures.

Speaking of which …

Nancy and Josephine top the climb to Bartlett Lake Junction northeast of Carefree.

I’m still decked out in early morning layers, eight miles in. It was a bit chilly at the start, but the day was really quite nice.

The ride to Bartlett Lake has some mighty fine scenery, especially in the spring.

The three of us at the lake. Photo by Lynsey.

Josephine starts the long climb out.

Nancy all a smiling – for some reason. Isn’t there 14 miles of climbing to do?

The desert in its seasonal splendor.

About four miles up at this point.

Hmm, Nancy, where’s that smile now?

Near the five mile mark – the first climb just about completed.

Desert globe mallow in its splendor.

Nancy tops the first climb. She was determined to finish the whole route, and she did, all 40 miles of it. Way to go Nancy!

“Sheriff Joe” was struggling today, but managed to do all but the last climb. I give her a lot of credit for trying – many of our riding buddies never even bothered to come out. Too bad, they missed a really nice outing.

One of the bikes had an untimely demise on the way home. Here’s what happens if you don’t strap your bike to the rack properly and it bounces off on the freeway. Names shall go unnamed here.

Fountain Hills–Gilbert Metric

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Bry

A metric century starting from the Gainey Village Shopping Center in northeast Scottsdale, looping around to Fountain Hills, Beeline Hwy, Gilbert, and through the streets of Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale. Approximately 1,300 feet of climbing.

A fast and fun metric century route

A few weeks ago, while on a casual Los Freeloaders ride, the weather was so nice I couldn’t resist tacking on a bunch of miles, and ended up on an impromptu metric century ride by myself out to Fountain Hills and then down the Beeline Hwy for a few miles, turning down Gilbert Rd, and then south all the way to Gilbert.

If you’ve never ridden the Beeline heading southwest out of Fountain Hills, you’re missing a treat, for this section of highway has a very wide shoulder (almost as wide as a lane of traffic), is fairly free of debris, and the best part: it’s downhill. You can easily cruise along at 25 mph without too much effort. And this is after coasting down Shea Blvd in Fountain Hills to the Beeline, after you’ve reached to top of Shea at the intersection with Palisades Blvd. You have almost 35 miles of downhill before reaching bottom in Tempe.

No one I know personally has done this loop. Not that it’s hard or mucho miles or anything, but many of my riding buddies would never attempt it, thinking that it is too far. But that’s a misperception.

Yes, Gilbert & Guadalupe may seem like a long ways away from the Fountain Hills area, but in fact it’s only 20 miles. And the loop shown above comes out almost exactly a 100 kilometers – a metric century. Long, but not 100 miles long.

The only really dicey part of this ride is the short few miles south along Gilbert Rd, after leaving the Beeline. You have to cross a bridge over the Salt River, and there is very little shoulder here — and potentially a lot of garbage truck/trailer traffic heading back from the area dump that sits just north of the Beeline at Gilbert Rd. Other than that, this route is about as safe as any urban ride is going to be.

In the route shown above, instead of going straight down Gilbert Rd, I made a jaunt east on McKellips, heading over to Lindsay Rd, before turning south again to Gilbert. Why this little jaunt? Because Lindsay Rd has bike lanes all the way. Gilbert Rd does not. It gets dicey through the center of Mesa.

Instead of riding all the way south to Guadalupe Rd like I did, you could just turn off Gilbert Rd and head west on Brown, and eventually hook up with Rio Solado Pkwy before hitting the streets of Tempe. This would shave off an estimated 8 miles, making this a 54 mile adventure.

I may make this shortened version the official Sunday ride Los Coyotes ride this weekend. I can probably convince a few sacrificial victims to try it.

Actually, it’s a great loop if you want some fast, wide-open riding, which this route features a fair amount of – for an urban area, anyway.

Carefree Towers Loop

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Bry

The Carefree Towers Loop, clockwise, from the Gainey Village Shopping Center in northeast Scottsdale. 59 miles with approximately 2,300 feet of climbing. This route tops out at 3,240 feet (according to my GPS).

April 7th, 2013

Another edition of the Los Coyotes Sunday ride, this time, a favorite loop of mine up to the “towers” in Carefree (at Bartlett Lake Junction). Four of us were out on this fine day: Me, Roland, Lynsey, and Phil.

I totally sucked on the 6.2 mile climb up to the towers, averaging around 9 mph from the Shell Station (the corner of Tom Darlington and Cave Creek Roads). I remember the days of 13-14 mph average up this stretch. Ah well. As Phil said to me after my lamenting of this fact, “Don’t worry about what was. Just be happy with what is.” A very yoga-like comment there, Phil.

So far, I haven’t had to repeat any of the routes for these Sunday rides. I wonder how long I can keep that up?

Rio Verde Loop

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Bry

Rio Verde Loop counter-clockwise, the “Cowboy Way”, starting from the Gainey Village Shopping Center (Scottsdale & Double Tree Rd). Approximately 2,500 feet of climbing.

The Cowboy Way around Rio Verde Loop

On Sunday I led the newly dubbed “Los Coyotes” ride, taking the pack around the Rio Verde Loop, featuring a climb up Nine Mile Hill. This made for a 58 mile, 2,500 feet-of-climbing adventure, and I think all were all glad it was a nice cool morning to go out and tax our climbing legs (48 degrees at the start, warming up to the lower 70s by the time we finished.)

Going counter-clockwise on this popular route in the Fountain Hills area, up Nine Mile Hill, isn’t the easy way, but it is the Cowboy Way, (props to the band Riders in the Sky for that expression.) Most groups do this loop clockwise, down Nine Mile Hill, and while it’s fun speeding down the endless miles, it’s just as “fun” (I think so anyway) to go the other way – a kind of “Feldenkrais” exercise. (Hey, google it buds!) The sense I’m talking about here is to purposely move in an “opposite” way than you are used to, in order to get to unstuck from your habits, and develop more flexibility and functionality of body and mind.

Relax into Infinity

The Rio Verde Loop makes a good route to toughen those climbing legs. I tried to keep the group pace at an aerobic effort, though the short, steep climbs through Fountain Hills made that difficult to do, and several kept “hammering” off the front. (They shall go nameless, ha ha!) But kudos that they could even do that! Me, I was often last up the really steep stuff through Fountain Hills, ironically, (what with being the so-called lead coyote), and mid-pack on the long climb.

If you’ve never climbed the arrow-straight Nine Mile Hill (Rio Verde Dr, on the eastern, downhill slope of Dynamite Blvd), it’s not a steep hill (mostly a steady 3% grade), but it goes on seemingly forever, with an endless line of light poles fading into the uphill distance. It’s a good place to test your yoga-mind and see if you can stay in yoga-zone and relax into infinity.

Good group to hang with

Eight riders made the trip with me today, and it was a good group of riders to be hanging with: Tom, Ted, Eric, Tabitha, Phil, Kevin, Lynsey, Roland, and myself. It’s been a dream of mine to get friends to come out and do rides like this with me. It’s the reason I volunteered to be head coyote on the Los Coyotes Sunday rides – an offshoot sister-ride of the milder Los Freeloaders Saturday adventures.

Spring in them thar hills

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Bry

View from Sun Ridge Parkway, Fountain Hills, AZ

Fountain Hills circuit (minus the big kahuna – the top of Golden Eagle), starting from the Gainey Village Shopping Center. 38.5 miles with roughly 2100 feet of climbing.

Early spring edition of “Bryan’s Sunday Ride”

I know – I need to come up with a better name than “Bryan’s Sunday Ride”. But on my way to the start this morning I saw two coyotes standing in the middle of the road on Double Tree. So maybe I should call my Sunday Ride the “Dos Coyotes Ride.” I’ll use that for a while, and see if it sticks. I don‘t know who or what the “Dos Coyotes” are, so that’s a puzzle.

Anyway, five riders came out today: Tom, Lynsey, Roland, Stephanie, and yours truly. All are commended for choosing to ride today, as opposed to many of our cycling friends who would rather stay home and lie on the couch and watch TV and eat Cheetos – or whatever they do on Sunday mornings. Some of our cycling friends chose to go hiking today, instead of biking. I mean, really … (just teasing!)

Spring in the hills – and a spring in our step

To those who didn’t come out today? You really missed a treat. This was a great day for cycling. Gorgeous weather: sunny and clear, with brisk-to-cool-to-mild temperatures. A mostly pleasant route, (with great views and fast descents), spring flowers providing splotches of color to enjoy, snow on the mountains northeast of town, and cycling companions adventurous enough to try whatever hills I threw at them. What more could a person ask for?

Mountain Pose

This was a “Mountain Pose” ride – a day to be “in the state of hill climbing.” Not to do a set number of hills, but rather to go out in the direction of said hills, and climb them one at at time, till we felt like not climbing any more. We managed to do all but two on the menu: Golden Eagle (a 20% monster), and Scottsdale Mtn (a 10-12% monster – mild in comparison to Golden Eagle, though). One rider has a regular double chain ring on his bike that would have made it difficult to tackle Golden Eagle. Another rider is still a bit afraid of going downhill fast. So I steered us around the really steep stuff.

Lynsey and Roland from the top of Palisades Blvd.

Stephanie and Tom pausing before the downhill. ‘Tis not often you see snow from Phoenix so late in the winter.

Some random guy that Tom happened to take a picture of. Looks like that guy stole my bike.

Stephanie keeps going and going

A special call-out and kudos to Stephanie for coming out and doing all the climbs with us – even after saying she wasn’t going to do the last climb (Hidden Hills). A trooper you are Stephanie, and quite a bike rider given the number of times around the sun you’ve experienced. We’re all impressed.

Reatta Pass Loop

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Bry

Reatta Pass Loop, starting from Gainey Village Shopping Center (Scottsdale & DoubleTree). Approximately 1600 feet of climbing.

Ramping up the fitness

The past few weeks I’ve been trying to get back into some semblance of fitness, and part of this has been to lead Sunday rides – mainly comprising of riders from the Los Freeloaders group. Some are good at climbing hills, some not. Though I’m willing to climb any or all hills, my climbing kinda sucks these days, really. That’s why I tackle the beasts. Guess I like to torture myself or something.

Last Sunday’s edition was up to the Reatta Pass area, where we climbed the hill on Dynamite Blvd, and then threw in an additional climb up Jomax. From the Gainey Village area, this makes a good route to toughen those legs. Featured is a lot of 2% grades – the kind of grades I suck at. I’d rather have either flat roads, or 6% switchbacks, personally.

Though cloudy, we had relatively nice weather, and all six in the group finished just fine. Featured were Tom, Joe, Phil, Lynsey, Roland, and Moi. Kudos to those who actually came out to ride. As for you others, ahem … (just kidding.)

Legend Trail

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Bry

Legend Trail out-and-back, starting from the Coffee Bean, Gainey Village Shopping Center, SE corner of Double Tree Rd and Scottsdale Rd. 47 miles, with approximately 1,500 feet of climbing.

Some fine downhill riding

Legend Trail, a road that drops down from Stagecoach Pass (Carefree area) and curves round in a half-moon shape towards Pima Rd, is one of my favorite areas to ride. From Stagecoach Pass, it’s downhill, with good views of the McDowell Mountains and the Phoenix valley. Legend Trail is a divided four lane road with good bike lanes, and at least for now, little traffic. If there’s no headwind, you can easily ramp up to 30-32 mph down to the intersection with Pima Rd. And then, you can continue the high speeds down Pima – though this road has a lot of fast-moving traffic these days, and is not quite as nice for cycling as it used to be.

I went up this way last Sunday, with three other friends. (Two of them, ahem, wimped out halfway up, so it was just me and Tom for the whole distance.) We started from the Gainey Village Shopping Center, which makes a good staging point, as there is plenty of parking, and easy access to the northeast valley. Plus, there is the Coffee Bean coffee shop for afterwards, or Paradise Bakery if that floats your boat.

A New Sunday Ride?

The four of us got to thinking we should start a Sunday group ride from the Gainey Village center. (I know at least one other group does this – the women’s only No Women Left Behind group). For many of my Saturday riding friends, which tend to live further south, staging a ride from Gainey Village would give them the opportunity to try more routes in the northeast valley, which is a great area for cycling in the Phoenix area. You can ride up to Reatta Pass, or up to Carefree, or over to Rio Verde / Fountain Hills, and keep the rides in the 45-65 mile range.

While it’s possible to do more of a loop on the Legend Trail adventure shown above, taking alternate roads back, (such as heading west on Pinnacle Peak Rd over to Hayden and then south to the Scottsdale Airpark area), on this day we decided to just do an out-and-back, since the roads taken on the way up make for the best route anyway.

I actually started from home, adding 12 miles to the trip, making a 59 mile day for me. And I needed the miles. After not having ridden much this year, (only six, count-em, six rides so far!) I’m feeling fat and slow. This ride, on a beautiful day — sunny, temps 45-65 – reconnected me with my cycling spirit, and made me remember that yes, I really do like cycling!

Down the dog

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Bry

Other than when I was out of commission due to shoulder injury, the past few months have been the longest dry spell I’ve had when it comes to riding. I’ve only been out on the bike a few times since last October — due to a combination of cold / rainy weather, having a long protracted cold myself, and simply not having the motivation. My only form of exercise has been walking the dog once or twice a day, and a few sessions of yoga.

My yoga practice has been sporadic, and as a result my legs and arms feel like concrete, so inflexible they are, and not being able to get full range of motion with my shoulder is a downer. The warrior poses aren’t comfortable, triangle pose painful, and my experience with crescent pose is hardly recognizable from what it used to be. I remember when that was my favorite pose and always felt good and just challenging enough, especially when we used to add the balancing twists to that pose.

I’m simply not enjoying the yoga classes these days, and really have to push myself to go. I miss going to power yoga class, doing repetitive sun salutations, and frankly, have been finding basics class kinda boring.

But all is not lost! Why, just the other day, I did my first downward dog that didn’t hurt – for the first time since my accident — over a year and a half ago! Woo hoo!

Granted, my form for this pose isn’t quite there, but not having it hurt is quite the milestone.

And, without me doing much in the way of specific exercises for it, my range of motion is coming back. External rotation is almost back to normal, and internal rotation too. Much to my surprise, I can do yoga mudra, something I thought I’d never do again. These are significant accomplishments, of which I am grateful.

Next up? I’ve been mulling over cycling goals for the year, and have mostly decided to focus my attention on other things. That being said, I think I will do the Grand Tour Double come June. It’d be a nice goal that’s quite doable, and will keep me training on the bike. And the Grand Tour is one, big, all-day rolling party.

I’ll probably sign up for the Death Valley Double next fall too. Maybe the fourth time will be the charm.

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