Author Archives: John Henry

Grand Ronde – Siletz Perm

Another longish training ride for Race Across Oregon.

I drove down to Grand Ronde and packed my car that the Casino Gas Station. I was ready to ride just as the sun rose. This was going to be a good day to ride!

Heading west on US 26, the road was wet from rain the night before. There was enough water on the road to kick up wetness onto my shoes and lower legs, but I was hoping that I would soon see drive roads. And I did.

I rode into Pacific City and the shy was almost completely clear. While is was a bit chilly, the beach goers looked to having great fun.

I took Hwy 101 south all of the way to Newport and then headed inland toward Toledo and then Siletz. Now, I was a bit inland and enjoying my ride to the north. Once I reached Lincoln City again, I just retraced my route back to Grand Ronde.

Pleasant Grove

Distance	59.9 mi
Moving Time	3:54:18
Avg Speed	15.3 mi/h
Avg Watts	123 W
Elev Gain	1,581 ft

	Avg	Max
Speed	15.3mi/h	33.3mi/h
Heart Rate	133bpm	157bpm
Cadence	70
Power	123W	564W
Calories	1,929
Temperature	52
Elapsed Time	4:18:57

Even with the last remants of the flu, I went out for a long ride today. My ride plan was to take it easy staying in Zone 2. But I picked up my pace for the last third of the ride and had a great time.

Training Week(s) in Review – 11/3 through 11/15

After my Gorgeous Gorge ride, I came down with the stomach flu. I have been taking it very easy, getting plenty of rest and sleep. This has caused me to delay my weekly training update.

I posted on 11/2/14 my intended training for the upcoming week.

On Monday, I took a rest day (except for my lunch walk). My plan was to do a gym workout ion the evening, but that did not happen as I was tired. Tuesday should have been an Indoor Trainer ride, but I had forgotten that Tuesday was the Salem Bicycle Club meeting which I attended. On Wednesday, I did get on the bike for the Wednesday Night Keizer Ride Joanne and I lead. It was a recovery paced ride. Thursday was an indoor training ride, my first with TrainerRoad and it was hard, so hard I stopped early. Of course, Friday is a rest day.

Saturday, I headed up into the clouds on an East Salem Hills ride which included two times up Fox Road. Sunday morning Joanne did a moderate ride early in the morning due to a commitment that afternoon.

Monday was another TrainerRoad indoor ride and Tuesday was Gorgeous Gorge.

Gorgeous Gorge

The Columbia Gorge is one of the most beautify places I know. So when Chris Hoy decided to lead a Salem Bicycle Club ride along the old historic highway on Veteran’s Day, I jumped at the chance to join him.

Chris Hoy – Our Ride Leader

Our Route would have us starting in Hood River and riding to The Dallas for lunch and then back the way we came. We started on the Columbia River in Hood River and climbed up hill on a very steep Old Columbia River Dr. Soon, we were at the entrance to the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail. Our climbing continued but at a lessor grade. Very soon, we reached a view point overlooking the gorge.

Columbia Gorge Looking Toward the West

Columbia Gorge Looking Toward the East

As the day of the ride approached, we were concerned about the weather. However, our concerns evaporated and as the sky cleared. It was a bit cold and windy, but we were dressed well and were warm. I took my Litespeed Appalachian out. I love riding this bike.

My ride for the day – my Litespeed Appalachian

The road was neither flat nor straight.

	Avg	Max
Speed	11.9 mph	36.7 mph
Heart Rate	108 bpm	164 bpm
Cadence	63	254
Power	108 Watts	573 Watts
Calories	1,935
Temperature	36?
Elapsed Time	6:11:34

Creating Custom Workouts using TrainerRoad

While TrainerRoad has a multitude to workouts that you can choose from, I’m a tweaker. So I had to explore the ability for TrainerRoad to create a custom workout.

I used a workout from the December issue of Bicycling magazine from an article entitled “Arctic Blasts”.

The workout creation interface ran slowly on my under powered PC, but that just gave me time to think about what to do next.

Once I had a few minutes of experience and after a couple of oppies, I got the hand of it and quickly created my workout.

Then I rode it. The method you use to determine the intensity of the intervals is by percent of Functional Threshold Power. The workout described in the magazine was based upon perceived exertion. My translation was a bit low and as such, my actual values (yellow) ended up a bit higher than my targeted values (blue). But the beauty of the TrainerRoad tool is that I can edit my custom workout to increase the targeted efforts. I’m going to have some fun with this!

	Avg	Max
Speed	13.8 mph	22.4 mph
Heart Rate	116 bpm	151 bpm
Cadence	65	100
Power	147 Watts	415 Watts
Calories	648
Temperature	72?
Elapsed Time	1:06:07

Moderately Easy Recovery Ride

Just an easy flat ride – except for the wind and rain.

My legs felt tired after yesterday’s hills so I decided to follow my wife around the flats of the Willamette Valley. Just the two of us and we had great fun.

Avg	Max
Speed	14.1 mph	23.5 mph
Heart Rate	114 bpm	154 bpm
Calories	560
Temperature	50?
Elapsed Time	1:25:53

East Salem Hills (in the clouds)

It’s Saturday, so it must be hill climbs.

I was having (yet more) work done on my car so I was limited in the choice of hills I could climb today. But that is OK as I was close to Fox Road, so that is where I headed.

Just like last weekend, there was low clouds that was almost fog. But this weekend, I dressed a bit better. I wore my winter cycling shoes, wool socks and brought two sets of gloves with me – a light climbing set and a heavy descending set. I was ready.

I decided to ride up State Street – a good, long climb. As I gained altitude, the clouds became more than fog and less like clouds. The temperature dropped also, dipping down from the low 40’s to the high 30’s.

After reaching the end of State St., I continued on Doerfler Road and came upon some trash that someone had left along side of the road.

People, please pick up your trash!

After Doerfler, came Fox Road to Drift Creek to Victor Point and back to Fox. This loop is 8.7 miles long and I did it twice, just because it’s twice as nice.

Ride Statistics

	Avg	Max
Speed	13.6 mph	35.3 mph
Heart Rate	122 bpm	148 bpm
Cadence	67	254
Power	136 Watts	509 Watts
Calories	1,861
Temperature	39?
Elapsed Time	3:47:30

Indoor Trainer Ride

	Avg	Max
Speed	17.3 mi/h	20.8 mi/h
Heart Rate	138 bpm	158 bpm
Cadence	61	143
Power	199 Watts	348 Watts
Calories	605
Temperature	73?
Elapsed Time	45:19

I tested out TrainerRoad (www.trainerroad.com) tonight. Easy to set up, easy to pair my ant+ devices (powertap wheel and heart rate monitor) and went for a ride.

The website offers a multitude of workouts and I just pick the first one that seemed interesting – California Roads. Once loaded, I learned that the video that goes with the workout is an extra cost item, so instead I watched my DVD of the 1992 Raris Roubaix. I have to admit that this workout hurt me as much as the cobbles were hurting Greg LeMond.

I was not completely rested tonight, and as such, I found myself tiring quickly. The workout is 55 minutes long, but I shorten it by ten minutes. Nonetheless, it was fun!

Wednesday Night Keizer Ride

	Avg	Max
Speed	13.2 mph	34.0 mph
Heart Rate	94 bpm	133 bpm
Cadence	65
Power	88 Watts	590 Watts
Calories	580
Temperature	50?
Elapsed Time	3:03:51

Such a beautiful night for a ride! Eight of us got to enjoy a perfect night for a ride.

At 6:30 pm, the temperature was 58° F! Because there was no wind, there was a bit of ground fog near the river, but overall we were quite happy with the weather.

Long Distance Ramblings

Journal of an Oregon Ultracyclist