Not tonight !

Today I was a bit sick in the morning, the cold made me feel feverish and my head was heavy. So more or less slept through the day, by evening I was confused how I was feeling and there was time for a ride. So after putting air by 7:25 Pm I was descending the Kharitabad fly over ! hehe .

The initial plan was may be a round or two that would be 20 kms but as the ride went on I felt I had something left in me so why not after 3 rounds I was determind to make 5 rounds . My speed was the best I believe 3rd round was completed by 8:30 PM thats 30 kms in an hour . After the fourth round though I struggled really hard, there was so much pain in the backside, often I had to just get up from the saddle ever 2-3 mins and my knees too hurt. Though the good news is I am having the stamina to go for 50 kms non stop. I finally completed the 5th round by 9:35 PM thats 50 kms in 2 hrs 10 mins. My last 50 kms was in 2 hrs 30 mins. But for the pain the back side and my knees I could have gone faster and longer, I had the energy to do it. That was on a sick day ... I was so thrilled by the timing of this 50 kms , if you would have asked me then I would have said Sick today yeah..but not tonight :)

Anyways for the record 50 kms 2 hrs 10 mins is the time to beat

Diet and training

Diet is so very imp and thats where I am making mistakes , I am not able to regularize the good things. This week so far I have skipped breakfast many times had so and so lunch and a decent dinner most of the times.

Ideally I would love to have a high calorie high burn rate, a calorie gazzler, that will bring in the stregth in my legs also get myself a lot more organized so that I can leave office and cut down on those AOE games, unncessary late night thats eats up into my schedule teh next day.

Saurday and Sunday are two days when I train and train hard , I need to have atleast two to three more such days in a week.

Another thing I need to work on is the drink during a ride, Going by the 20-40 rule , I need to drink every 20 mins and considering 50 kms is taking about 2 and a half hrs for me right now thats 7-8 on ride drinks. Thats two bottles, + I can carry the glucose and electrolyte mixture in the saddle bag to refill if required. Lets see how that works out,

40 mins food is a more bigger problem, I dont know what to carry, high carbohydrate content, easy to carry is what I need , but I cant carry the snickers all the while, may be a one bar and then something else ... but what its going to be ...requires more research and googling . The regular protein drink is a good enough supplimental drink for now.

100kms non stop in 5 hrs would be decent , would be fun

Remembrance

There are so many shades in everything, Till now I had read everything good about cycling , what can possibly tarnish something that is so pure and simple, "a bike, a rider and a place to ride".

But as I begun to dig deeper into the culture , the legends, their stories, things begun to acquire a darker shade. Cycling and drug abuse have apparently gone hand in hand. Infact there has been an instances where people have died on the track, while racing cause of drugs and worse the prevailing thought then was cause of the harshness of the sport it was legitimate to do so. And until quite recently the drug checks where not so strictly enforced.

This was while I was going through the heroics of Eddie Mercex and his attacks on those hills. his duel with Ocana , when you read that and side by side you read episodes like that of Tom Simpson . well you have to live with that , the good coexisting with the bad, its there always well almost always, there is quite often a darker side to everything. This is not to imply that I look down upon Simpson, the fellow could actually stretch himself so far that he died , he could stretch himself so far .. that speaks of his determination, commitment. He probably wouldnt have resorted to drugs if that was not the prevailing culture , but sadly he will always be stickered with that episode. Its convenient , its unfair aswell and sad. People will seldom reflect on his early childhood and subsequent rise as a professional cyclist but ..... ohh that guy who died on the hills.

Thats us!

Hell on wheels

If Dog in a Hat draws images of struggle, competition, politics,drugs in a professional cycling circuit this short documentary will tell you the other side of it.

As someone in the documentary apts captures teh spirit.

"For me, suffering has two meanings
Suffering can be negative
If you try to suffer for its own sake
thats bad, thats unhealthy, There is something wrong in your head

But when you talk about suffering that you must get through
and that you can survive through enormous effort, that is somethign else
That is positive, good and beautiful
Beautiful cause you think of courage, of stamina
loyalty, of willingness, to make sacrifices, modesty and love
From this perspective the suffering during training,
during sporting competitions,while doings ones job,
which all require great effort,
is the same as religious suffering
it is love
it is beautiful
I like that
"

Roam

I was sold with the opening soundtrack anyways. Its a nice feeling to hang out with complete strangers, there was no tension in the air, its taken for granted that you will strike a chord no matter what.. This was my first meeting of the Hyderabad Cycling group , We were meeting in a local restaurant for the screening of a cycling movie and it was Roam. The music was so good Bob Marley types, soulful,clear,freedom qualities that you look for strive in youself......

"To roam is to search for somthing new ,
on local trails in your hometown ,
or halfway around the world in a place your never been.
on a mountain bike you can cover a great distance in a short period of time ,
or a short distance in a great period of time.

they said that the journey can be more important than the destination.
in mountain biking is no destination.
just a bike a rider and a place to ride !!!!! "

In a way isnt life like that a track on which we have to keep rolling, occasionally there will be steep climbs where you almost give up, but you keep the faith and carry on...its really that simple. Looking back you reflect on it that was tough but I made it .... keep rolling folks with the wind in your face, warmth in your muscles , freedom in your heart just a bike and a rider... just life and you :)

Faster Stronger Fitter

Diet again and again, I need to talk to myself to not loose sight of this ...more carbs and more proteins . I can gradually feel teh strenght coming into the legs.... the speed increasing it still pains a lot over those hills but, I am more confident now.

Initially I was thinking that not going down to the lowest gear is a good thing...it was more of a ego thing really.The key however lies in keeping it all aerobic... never crooss the lactate threshold never make it anerobic, cause then the recovery would be longer and possibly complicated. Pace yourself and I can see that overall if you keep it all aerobic, you can still push along at a faster clip and you dont get tired that quickly.

So Keep it aerobic and watch your diet....This weekend I will aim for 80kms NON STOP lets see ...Then there is the speed factor aswell ... I need to improve it further and I need to hit the gym now ... especially on the days when I am not riding to do some building and conditioning....

Man I can go farther and I can go faster .....

SPD pedals rock

Got the SPD pedals on my bike now, and boy do tehy rock. The speed today was awesome, and I was able to maintain it through three rounds of Hussain Sagar. was a bit apprehensive to use them in the first place, cause if your feet is clipped and you cannot take it off the pedals when coming to a stop, you will fall. Infact that was exactly what the guy in the store had warned me, he had said two three falls are inevitable, and it would be quite embarrassing, you lying down with your feet clamped to the pedals that would be a sight :). But its really not that difficult, it does take some time to get used to it, but no big deal.

I guess what really works is your feet position, now that its clipped the position is perfect and the transfer of power all that efficient. It makes a huge huge difference... the cycling shoes are meaningless without the spd pedals, but together they rock,