Friday, November 25, 2005

Some Riding History






First cycling race I competed in was the "Cannonball Race", from Seattle to Spokane on highway 90 with 9,200' of climb. Had six flat tires and was pulled over by the police once, still set a record time of 13 hours 47 minutes, averaging 20+ mph for this 275 mile race.

Next came the "S2S Race", again Seattle to Spokane but this time over highway 2 with 18,500' of climb and 285 miles, still hold record for this race.

Vancouver Time Trial, a ten mile course on a fairly flat roads, always windy as it is between Vancouver Lake and the Columbia River. Had a time of 21:07, avergage speed 28.8+ mph.

oregon State Time Trial, a 40K race with 300' of climb, averaged 29.2 mph

Race Across Oregon, 538 miles, 40,000' of climb, part of a four person team that set record time of 28 hours 25 minutes.

Bakersfield Time Trial, a ten mile course with 517' of climb, set record time of 22:27, averaging 27.5+mph.

All the above record times were ridden on a EasyRacer GoldRush Replica (GRR), the one pictired with black carbonfiber fairing and a red bodysock. Its components are: Large size GRR frame, Dura Ace headset, Kalloy adjustable stemstock narrowed handlebars, Terra Cycle five water bottle adapter bars, carbonfiber water bottle cages, XTR 9speed shifters/brakes , XTR rear dearailluer, carbonfiber Cobra seat, carbonfiber front fairing, EasyRAcer fairing mount, XTR front hub with 18 spoke radial lace on 36 hole hub with 18 guage DT spokes to velocity 36 hole rim, XTR rear hub 36 spoke laced three cross with 18 guage DT spokes on Mavic Open Pro rim, IRC 451 tire on front, Michellin Por Race 700 x 23 on rear, for time trial Renn rear disc with Vredestein Fortezza SE 700 x 23 tire.

Although riding fast and hard is fun, the social rides to coffee shops with friends are always the most fun. The health benefits from being an avid cyclist are amazing. Energy level is always high and you get to eat, eat and eat some more.

To view my ride distance statistics and journal go to bikejournal.com and look for Rand1951 (Me), am currently fourth in USA with 20,403miles ridden so far this year, as of December 4th,2004.

Dry Roads,

rand

2 Comments:

At 6:32 PM, Blogger AGM said...

Rand, I'm out of comp now. At 66 and not being independently wealthy, I find my time is pretty much taken up with just just keeping things on track, however, I did race from age 16 to age 42, with breaks in between.Still ride a mountain bike over bush tracks, but that's fun, not comp.
There are a couple of things that surprise me a little with your bike comments. First is that you are permitted to use this bike design in competition; second is that 20,000 odd miles put you in #4 spot for miles covered in a year.This works out at less than 400 miles per week.Forty five years ago a competitive cyclist who was serious about road racing would have been doing better than that sort of distance. I used to count on 500 a week leading up to a road season, 500 + during the early season, and dropping to 300 to 400 during the late season.
I guess you would be doing lots of interval work at only 400?

 
At 12:15 PM, Blogger rand said...

Hi Agm,

Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed message.

Used to average 700 miles a week, but with age recovery time started taking longer. So I reduced my miles and added interval work trying to maintain speed for time trials. At 56 years I still average over 28 mph in both 10 & 25 miles TT's.

The cost of maintaining my bike riding 700 miles/week was becoming a problem also.

My typical week was 100,140,100,140,100, 200, rest day

Would usually burn out and take the winter off.

When I dropped miles I began riding year round, riding through the winter made me a stronger rider. Think it may have been because I could climb harder and longer because not really an overheating problem in colder weather. Can remember some winter downhills when my eyes and nose got so cold it was painful.

My tapering was usually one to two weeks before a big race, never liked to taper too much, just never felt as strong if I took too much riding time off.

Not as fast as I used to be, but definately can stay in shape and ride with anyone.

 

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