Training Log Archive: PG

The low average heart rate notwithstanding, it wasn't all, well, mellow, or easy, or meandering don't quite describe the ride properly. Lazy comes pretty close. But I think the best adjective for describing a good chunk of the ride is scientific. And that certainly sounds better than lazy.

Did a tour of some of the watering holes in the southern part of Franklin County, and I don't mean bars, just to see what might be around. Had my binoculars and camera in a small pack, in case they were needed.

Pretty slim pickings, as it's still early in the fall.

Chard Pond, zip.
Montague Center Pond, zip, but really nice fall colors.
Turners Falls Rod and Gun Club (along the CT River), some geese, a couple swans, some mallards, essentially zip.
Unity Park (also along the river), geese, cormorants, one lonely great black-backed gull.
Turners Falls Power Canal, still more geese, a couple of mallards.
Wetlands in Old Deerfield, zip.
Tri-Town Beach, lots more geese and a few wood ducks.

As I said, very slim pickings. But a nice way to see the countryside.

And there were a few times, like some small hills early on or three miles into the wind on route 5, when I was anything but lazy...

In the flats south of town. Included a short side trip down the trail to the east part of Lake Warner, just to see what might be happening there (not much, as it turned out).

I love the fact that my bike will take me a lot places. Not everywhere, for sure, but it expands the possibilities. Sort of like my Subaru. :-)

C • The magic of bicycles 1

South Deerfield and Whately, mostly flat, put out a little effort through the rollers in Whately. Pleasant outing.

Towards the end, stopped at the boat launch by the bridge to chat up a guy about his kayak.

More digging. Making progress, got one more week to get finished. Trying to do something most days. My back starts to complain if I do too much. Amazingly, when I get on the bike the back is fine.

And, no, I don't mean I'm trying to dig while on the bike....

C • bike digging 6

Easy pace. Windy from the south. Crossed the river and went north on River Road, very pleasant. Crossed back at the rail trail bridge and then had the prospect of 9 or 10 miles into the wind.

Avoided as much of that as I could -- did a little extra climbing to get away from the open fields along the river, and then went into mountain bike mode for the last couple of miles, up Gunn Cross and Gunn Mt. Roads, down the lower part of N. Mountain Road. When you're in the woods and the hills and going slowly, the wind is the last of your concerns.

Certainly more enjoyable than coming straight back along the river. :-)

Mostly mellow ride. Wanted to do at least one of the local (and short) climbs just out of curiosity to see what my time would be -- I rarely test myself these days, but for some reason today seemed a good day to do so -- but when I got to the bottom of South Sugarloaf I had no desire to head up. So I didn't.

So I cruised a few miles north through the farms, a nice tailwind behind me, heading for option 2, Pine Nook Road up through Eaglebrook School. When I got there, I seemed to have at least a bit of enthusiasm, so up I went. 0.62 miles, 325' climb, average about 10%.

It was a proper test, meaning, as fast as I could. I had done it twice before this year (and never before then that I can remember), 7:08 in May, and 6:43 in August, though the latter trip I was also carrying three ears of corn, so perhaps not comparable.

A real hard effort all the way up. Looked at my watch a couple of times, thought I might get close to 6 minutes, but the last bit is steeper and a little longer than I remembered. Checked my heart rate once, 166 about a minute from the top, just right, my max is about 168-170 and I figured that was about what it would get to. So, again, a proper test, ie. a max effort.

The last 20 seconds or so my legs were getting real wobbly, but there was just enough left to crest the pitch and stop the watch, and fortunately the road flattens immediately. The time number was excellent, 6:20. :-)

On the other hand, the heart rate, well, the Garmin obviously got pretty excited about how well I was doing, because the number there was 183. WTF. Highest number I've for for a while. Bogus, of course. But pretty exciting for a moment...

And then a mostly mellow ride back home, except for a couple of miles into the wind that had me working harder, and a huge amount of traffic on the bridge that took quite a while to negotiate.

One of these I'll have to get up my gumption to do Sugarloaf again while I'm still young and fit....

And then a couple of hours of just plain hard work outside, finishing digging up a plant and then moving it and rotating it and replanting it properly. Lots of assistance from Gail. Wasn't sure we could actually get it done (or, maybe, wasn't sure we could get it done without breaking my back). But finished up just as it was getting dark, and I can still walk.

It would be nice if the thing survives. Hopefully it will flourish.

Easy afternoon ride in Deerfield, mostly flat. Legs felt OK, but didn't figure it made any sense to get more ambitious.