RTAWW # 4 - Maybe a few thoughts on Zwift and Strava

     So, the header to my blog disappeared. I'll have to figure that out sometime, but I don't think it's on my super important things to do list.  I was wondering what I should write about today - maybe my love for soup (I had some miso soup today), or about writing to several bike companies and their responses, or about the new (used) bike that I got a screamin' wicked good deal on, but I think I want to talk a little about some thoughts on Zwift and Strava. I got to thinking about this while I went on a walk today at Upper Bidwell Park - here:

      For those who don't know, Zwift is a like a computer game that you are able to attach to your bike trainer so you can spin on your bike at home and race/ride in various places (in the world?) on your tv screen.  It's a nice way to make spinning a bit more fun and interesting.  Strava is an app that tracks your riding/running which is shared with people who "follow" you. It also has many other little features which help you track progress and such. 

       I was thinking about Zwift because someone I know was asking if/how/why people like using Zwift.  The overall consensus that I'm taking from reading the replies is that people who use it like it.  I've never used it and don't have the money to buy a nice "smart" trainer to make the gaming experience accurate and worth your time.  I'm not sold on the idea.  I think it is cool that you can kind of interact with other people and the best feature is that it is great for getting in a ride (spinning) with little time because it's done in the convenience of your home and can be done in any weather.  The down side is, in my opinion, that it may detract from people taking the time to get out and getting that fresh air and actually interacting with people and nature. The other thing is that in my experience with spinning is that most people don't publicly share their spinning sessions.  I don't think that they need to - I pretty much never have (maybe a few times by manually entering the activity into Strava). This aspect of sharing activities is what made me think of Strava. I've had mixed emotions about using Strava for a while now.  I don't really use it much anymore. But I think that's about to change. The reason that I will start using Strava again is because, I think it is important to share your rides. I like seeing that my friends were out for a ride. I get ideas on places where I can ride. I get to see the sites that they saw (if they share a picture or two from the ride). And maybe most importantly, I get inspired to get out and enjoy a bike ride myself. 

     The connection of the two - Zwift and Strava - is that I see Zwift as a potential to detract from inspiring others to get out and ride your bikes where people can see cyclists. Not only does getting out and riding in public healthy for you, but it can inspire others to ride, and help the public image of cycling (for commuting or health or fun) - especially if you obey the law by not running stop signs or using hand signals and so on. 

     The short story is that I think both programs have their place, but I think it is important for people to get out into the fresh air where they can see others and others can see them so maybe more people will want to ride and enjoy life on two wheels. Ride on!

Wind Chill While Cycling - How Cold Is It With That Wind Chill?

I went out again in the bitter cold.  Today I checked the weather.  42F where I was starting out and 34F where I was going to be.  I wore my winter (not cycling) gloves ontop of my cycling gloves and I'm happy to report that I had nice warm hands for almost the entire time.  There was a point where I felt a slight chill but it didn't last long.  I wore an extra pair of socks and well my feet did better than they would have with one pair socks but still got pretty dang cold when I was going fast (15-35mph).  So as I was screaming down the bottom part of a hill I was thinking to myslef, "I wonder how cold it really feels with the wind chill?"  Thus I decided to seek out how cold it is.  I found this nice chart online.

Click on the chart to see it better!

Wind speed (or how fast you're going on you're bike in this case) is on the left and the thermometer temperature is on the top.  All of the other numbers are what the temperature feels like.  I saw on one chart stated that wind at 40mph or faster has little effect on the way temperature feels so if you go really fast on your bike it won't get colder and colder.  There is a stopping point to the cold.   So today the coldest point for me was about 21F (-6C) as I was going 35mph down in the valley where it was 34F (1C).  Cold.  Here's a Conversions chart for anyone who needs to figure the chart in Celcius. Happy and Warm Riding to Everyone.

Must Be A Running Week

I'm pretty sure I said something about being able to change up the workout schedule and it seems that's what's going on.  Even though it's still been a muscle building week there's been more running than expected already.  I have the feeling that my trainer's (my 3 year old and 1 year old) like the running since it ends with a trip to the park, so I think we'll be doing more of it.  They like when I do squats too because I use them for weights. 

Tuesday we were at the gym and we used the bike trainer then worked out our quads, glutes, and hamstrings with some machines then ran for 30 minutes.  We also did a little upper body workout.  I always try to do 3 sets of whatever amount of reps (usually depends how I feel) when I'm lifting free weights, increasing weight with each set and decreasing reps (like i said reps can change the most being anywhere from 10-20).   

Wednesday it was more of a normal at home workout.  I did jumping jacks, squats, reverse lunges, and calf raises.  The whole workout was only 30 minutes, but you have to get in what you can.  I did 3 sets of each.  100 jumping jacks, 20 squats, 20 reverse lunges (each leg), and 50 calf raises.  I didn't lift the kids today but they joined in with the jumping jacks. Well... they kind of did jumping jacks.  The one year old still doesn't get off the ground so it was more of a bouncing going on and the  3 year old just jumps.  He can do jumping jacks, but it has to be his desire. 
Had some water inbetween circuits and when I was done then sat on the couch a bit.  I needed to stretch but I failed.  Stretching is important and I need to do more of it since the difference is extremely noticable. 

Thursday (today) I rounded up the young ones in the stroller and ran 5k then took a trip to the park where they probably ran a 5k.  

The goal here is to do something everyday.  So far 3 days in a row.  Hopefully I'll keep it up.  I am feeling bad about not being on my bike now for almost two and a half weeks but I have a feeling that's going to change with my coming weekend.

Here's a quick video on how to do reverse lunges.  I started doing reverse lunges since my brother told me that his physical trainer (while doing rehab-having torn his acl again) said reverse lunges are easier on your knees.

Date Day!!

So today was an abnormal workout day!  I got to workout/relax with my wife for about half of the day!  Maybe it sounds a bit odd but we went to the gym for our date.  My wife is lucky enough to be aquainted with the yoga director at this gym and she gave us some free day passes.  So we decided to use them finally.  We used the bike trainers, then worked out different muscles with the training machines, then ran for a half hour on the treadmills.  After all of this we got into the pool and finished off with the sauna. Quite nice.  We then went to the store together.  Going to the store without kids when you have young'ns is like sitting on the couch and watching TV for those who don't have kids.  We bought what we needed to make this

It's a grilled tofu sandwich.  My wife had something like this at a restaurant and wanted to go back as part of our date but I said that we could make it at home for a quarter of the price.  So we did. And it was good!  It is toasted basil garlic parmesan sourdough bread with basil pesto spread, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, tofu marinated in nama shoyu sauce, jack cheese, caramelized red onion, and then after the pic we added some buffalo cheddar (which is a spicy hot cheese) since my wife said it needed some heat.  We had already picked up the kids from Uncle and Aunties house, who (Thank You, Thank You) watched the kids while we were out playing,  so the kids helped us eat the sandwiches.   Great Day with the one I love! We of course missed our kids so we were happy to pick them up and go home.  I think we're going to sing songs together when I'm done here.   I was going to add my thoughts on gyms here but I think I'll make a separate post later.  Hopefully this sandwich will inspire some good eats!  I bet it would be good with some cold cuts or grilled chicken too, whatever floats your boat. 

Training or... not

I haven't ridden my bike for over a week now, but... it is now time to get going again.  Half the battle I've found is having a plan.  The other half is following through with that plan.  I have actually been "grounded" from riding (atleast outside) by my wife until I fill out some documents to get a loan to buy house, at least start seriously looking.  I've found that any glitch in my workout reutine can throw me into a stupor as far as staying in-shape.  I want to ride but... I... just don't really want to because sleeping or a movie (while sunken into the couch pillows) sounds much more appealing.  So it is almost my work weekend and it is about time to pull myself from the dark and evil depths of training "vacation."  To do this I must have a plan.  I'd recommend planning out what you're going to do in almost any situation. It can only help.  As of right now my plan is a work in progress but I will share it as it may give some ideas.  I want a two week cycle.  One week will be mostly weight training and building muscle strength off my bike with maybe one outside ride and a couple rides on my trainer and on the other week I would like to do mostly riding maybe 3 outside rides and trainer rides almost everyday.  I've found that right now, at my level, that putting in time on my bike in anyform is the quickest way to make gains.  So hopefully in the coming week or two I'll be able to give a more detailed account of what kind of training I'm doing to maybe inspire anyone else out there.  And hopefully it will keep me accountable a bit.   

Rael road bike concept 2.0 that you can read more about here http://bicycledesign.net/2011/07/rael-road-bike-concept-2-0/

   

IN SO MUCH PAIN!!

I don't know if anyone really likes being in pain (I'm sure there are some lucky few).  I personally have mixed emotions about the sensation we call pain, specifically soreness.  Right now I'm pretty dang sore and I haven't been sore like this for a long time (atleast six months if not more since I don't remember being sore like this).   Yesterday I went and did a workout with my bro.  we did some circuit training.  Four stations squats, box hops (side to side), reverse lunges, and an ab station (pick your torture, we did a mixture of crunches, planks, and leg lifts).  Each station for 2 minutes, two circuts, a rest, and a third go around.  We used some 25 lb dumbells,

a step-up-box

and some water bottles

For drinking of course.  

After we did our circuits we hopped on our bikes and did sprints up little grand canyon dr. I made a segment out of it on strava (my first segment).  It has an average 8.6% grade! 

So now a day later the pain has set in.  Actually it set in last night.   I like being sore after I workout.  It means my muscles are in the process of becoming stronger.  But when sitting down (especially on a toilet seat) my hamstrings and glutes hurt so much my face gets all prune like as I grimace, I don't like being sore.  To make matters worse I got to pull around freight last night at work (something I normally don't have to do anymore).   So long story short being sore is good to a certain extent. 

Haven't talked to my bro. yet after the workout, but I have a feeling (in my muscles) he is in the same way.

5K

Ran 5K today while pushing my two kids in our double wide stroller.  It is amazing what one season of cycling (or any constant activity) boosts your cardio.  I ran 5K for the first time last winter while training to start cycling and maybe do a sprint triathlon.  It was difficult and I did it on a treadmill.  Running long distances is not particularly unfamiliar to me but long distance for me is 2 miles.  As a kid I did track and field until I realized that just running does not float my boat.  After that I stuck to Basketball and Tennis where I did running as part of conditioning.  The 3 mile run had not been a part of my life until last year.  Hopefully it will become more and more a part of my life.  It really doesn't take that long.  I ran it in just under 30 min pushing the kids down and up a avg. 3% grade bike path and I didn't feel like I was pushing it.  The kids were good since they felt like I was going fast and the reward for being good was a trip to the park afterwards.  We'll see how much my time improves over the winter.