Yesterday I was one of the three ride leaders for the club’s UDT (Ultra Distance Traning) rides. These are geared for training to ride in Ultra Distance events. I lead the fastest paced group and was joined by Gary F. and Joe F. at the start. I have refered to the three of us as the 3 F’s. Later on the Page Mill climb we were joined by Brian C. I am not sure, but yesterday’s club ride seemed like the fastest I ever did, with that amount of climbing.

Here are the stats for the ride:

114.5 miles
8,880 feet of climbing
16.6 mph average speed
Total Time: 7:44
Rolling Time: 6:53:39
Average HR: 140 (165 maximum)

Looking at the curve, I was not in the so called “red zone” that much, but I was sure pushing hard to keep up with Gary and Joe. The average speed of 16.6 mph shows we were really moving, considering that we climbed so much over the course of the ride. I guess my legs are the limiting factor at this point.

We kind of played a game also to see if we could come in under 7 hours for the first 100 miles. We reached that mileage with a total time (including stopping) of 6:58:55, and had climbed all but 400 feet of the total for the day. We almost missed this target because of the stoplights on Foothill.

After the ride I felt that I was in good enough shape to do the Everest Challenge so I signed up. This is the USCF California/Nevada State Climbing Championship that involves climbing 29,035 feet over a two day race, on 9/22-23. I still have some time for some intense training. See my prior blog entry on an attempt to estimate my performance for the Everest Challenge.

Categories: Training Log