tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12516764894021262702011-04-21T23:35:52.106-04:00The adventures of Chris Clay a Clueless Cyclist trying to get a clue.C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-27935750350599828232009-05-02T22:41:00.003-04:002009-05-02T22:59:15.349-04:00

This year for the Tour of the Vineyard I ended up doing the 50k. It was my first ride of the year and as expected the last portion of the ride was rather rough. Still the weather held at around sixty and overcast for the whole ride, which made for great weather. It did finally open up once we had finished eating, but by then we were ready to head home and nap the pain away.I was more tired than I

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-82769680701422517492009-01-03T17:32:00.002-05:002009-01-03T17:35:02.728-05:00

It has been a long while since I last got a good ride in on my bike. Once Gabe came out the chute there just wasn't time to do everything in a day. Mostly it was losing my ride home from work. While I could mange the 18 miles to work, signing up for 36 a day was beyond my energy level with the nights being full of interrupted sleep.I can only hope that when the ground thaws I'll have the time and

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-12341184200019193772008-05-16T22:48:00.005-04:002008-05-16T23:02:53.567-04:00

The past several years the ride on the Vineyard the first Saturday in May has been beautiful. This year it was anything but beautiful. The forecast was for a cool, clear, and overcast ride. What we actually had was rain, cold, and wind. Though to be fair it didn't actually start raining until we were all out on the road, and up until that point I thought wearing just shorts was a fine plan. In

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-35973862498509212712008-04-13T10:31:00.003-04:002008-04-13T12:11:12.418-04:00

It has been spring for a while up here in Massachusetts, but the way the weather has been you could have fooled me. I've done the important yearly maintenance to my bike to get it in shape for the coming season. Including new road shoes and pedals to replace my mountain bike shoes and pedals. They were causing circulation issues on really long rides, so I'm hoping the new shoes will clear that up

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-51394008723155997152007-11-02T10:00:00.000-04:002007-11-02T10:07:31.031-04:00

I've been on a number of short 5-10 mile rides on weekends over the past month, but my riding time has definitely decreased. It doesn't mean I'm not already looking forward to next spring though! I often find myself dreaming of rides as I slip off to sleep, and I'm already doing some preparing for keeping in shape this winter. I probably won't spend much time on an indoor trainer, at least until

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-53998868063814289522007-10-02T01:16:00.001-04:002007-10-02T01:20:55.847-04:00

It was pretty amazing, the poison ivy and then a wicked head cold that has run me down over the last three weeks pretty much ended my riding season. Now that I'm finally starting to feel better a part of me wants to get back out on the road for October before the rough weather sets in but I'm not sure if I'm going too. The TMI version is cycling cooks the family jewels, and if you're looking to

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-58091236414240079392007-09-16T14:36:00.000-04:002007-09-16T14:45:18.378-04:00

Surreal, that's how I would describe today's ride. I haven't been on the bike since the last Landry's group ride thanks to a combo of poison ivy, allergies, and a cold. I felt like I was floating over the bike for most of the ride, and just watching a bike cruise along the road. The air was cool and crisp, and the sun was bright but not overbearing. The only thing that kept bringing me back down

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-17569177194794805382007-09-01T15:40:00.000-04:002007-09-01T15:49:50.903-04:00

I woke up before the sun came up this morning at 5:45am to give myself time to bandage up my arms before heading down to Norwood for the Landry's group ride. The ride itself showed me just how much having the massive reaction to the Poison Ivy has taken out of me. The whole ride I felt sluggish, and just couldn't get my muscles to go when I needed them too. It was only on the hills that I was

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-20275883808871625332007-08-30T22:43:00.000-04:002007-08-31T14:10:10.591-04:00

I'm not sure where I screwed up but I screwed up big time. I haven't been on my bike as the poison ivy really nailed me. I have spots of it everywhere. My wrists are really in a sorry state, as are most of my fingers at this point. It makes riding the bike a daunting proposition. I really want to get back on but I'm also reluctant to ooze all over my handle bars. I may not be riding in the group

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-91878368474443934342007-08-28T20:36:00.000-04:002007-08-28T22:18:24.595-04:00

I love our new house, we have a huge yard and a large swath of forest behind us on city land that won't be developed. The downside is there is poison ivy everywhere in the forest. So far Michelle and I have done three rounds of thinning it out the hard way, by pulling up the roots. It would be easier to spray poison on them, but that would be less ecologically sound as the missus says.On Sunday I

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-84096627601035246572007-08-27T19:47:00.000-04:002007-08-27T19:59:37.407-04:00

I made the full circuit to a from work today on the bike, and while the ride in was smooth and uneventful the ride back was full of surprises. The biggest surprise to me was how much energy I actually had to keep pedaling hard up the hills all the way home. Even the big Medway hill didn't phase me as I powered up it without having to down shift or stand up.Around the middle of the ride I noticed

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-32352405320056873002007-08-27T08:58:00.000-04:002007-08-27T09:07:53.595-04:00

This Saturday during the Landry's group ride I rolled through my 500th mile on the bike since I bought it. I've definitely improved since then, with my main nemesis hills becoming a place where I gain ground instead of lose it. I still can't pull at the front for long periods of time, but if I'm on someones wheel I'm getting much better at hanging on to it at speed.The group was pretty spread

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-25171353429382449742007-08-22T21:49:00.001-04:002007-08-22T22:15:58.289-04:00

The Sullivan family reunion out in Oregon was great fun last week, and a great opportunity to meet parts of the family that I hadn't met before. While I was out in Oregon I drove into Portland with my wife to visit River City Bicycles and I was stunned. I've never seen so many cyclists on the road in a major city before, and I've never seen a city laid out in such a manner that was so friendly to

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-18568264188552997452007-08-09T23:20:00.000-04:002007-08-09T23:26:35.185-04:00

I ended up not riding Tuesday and Wednesday as I wanted to rest for the Wednesday race on Tuesday and Wednesday the weather scared me away in the morning only to ignore the weather man and turn into a beautiful afternoon.The ride into work today I had fresh legs and a head full of anger at missing the race yesterday so I really attacked the hills hard. I gave it everything I had to carry my speed

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-47239838363444363662007-08-06T21:23:00.000-04:002007-08-06T21:38:17.467-04:00

When I woke up this morning my quads were really tight, and I really just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. Instead I played proverbial footsie with the alarm clock for around a half hour before I finally convinced myself that riding into work at a nice even pace would do more to loosen up my muscles than driving into work and taking the day off.The ride into work went well, and my legs

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-46235230522750817362007-08-05T21:37:00.000-04:002007-08-05T22:02:34.500-04:00

Michelle and I spent the afternoon on a tour of the Garden in the Woods. I had a fun time taking pictures of the various flowers, and I particularly liked this one. Since I already had an easy hike under my belt when we arrived home I went out for a short 13 mile ride to try and flush some of the crap out of my legs from yesterday's effort. The only real excitement came as I pumped up my front

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-81515432335978083172007-08-04T19:20:00.000-04:002007-08-05T12:55:51.390-04:00

Once again I awoke at 6:00am Saturday morning to drive down to Norwood for the Landry's group ride. Wiser after last weeks experience I went out with the B group, and I had an absolute blast. Patrick was our group leader, and he had some fresh legs after taking around a week and a half off due to the flu. Unfortunately with only 9 people in the group we had no chaser and we lost two early on at a

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-22855719664823698582007-08-03T22:47:00.000-04:002007-08-03T23:03:52.417-04:00

I didn't ride yesterday as I had to spend a couple hours in the afternoon taking care of car and bike maintenance so I had to skip so I could swing into work early. The world from the Landry's in Norwood crew is that I didn't get ripped off with the wheels. I'll be taking them out for a ride tomorrow on the group ride. My plan is to only use the for racing after the group ride. I'm excited to

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-15659794813723974662007-08-01T22:58:00.000-04:002007-08-01T23:13:12.367-04:00

I'm whipped, the ride tonight at Wompatuck was way faster than last weekend as there were more people and some better riders that really pushed the pace. Once again I was lapped multiple times, though near the end I managed to hold on for two laps giving it everything I had and the stopping to watch the finish. The sound of the finish is something I'll never forget, and it is a sound I'll cherish

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-1536452023573314792007-07-31T21:03:00.001-04:002007-07-31T22:42:22.076-04:00

Yesterday it rained. I didn't ride, and that's all I have to say about that.Today I woke up and for the first time I really wanted to skip biking into work. Taking yesterday off allowed my muscles to tighten up and I was pretty uncomfortable. Still I managed to force myself through the motions of getting ready for the ride, and inevitably I was on my bike pedaling my way into work.Since I'll be

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-14169532328272409332007-07-29T19:18:00.000-04:002007-07-31T21:03:05.666-04:00

Today I decided I'd do a two hour or so ride at a nice slow and steady pace to try and pump the crap out of my legs that I'm sure I built up from running on empty for an hour and a half yesterday. Looking at google maps I decided to try out a loop right near my home that would be six miles long and do it several times. The loop was pretty good, hilly but no monster climbs. One of the climbs had

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-5488411559013186692007-07-28T15:00:00.001-04:002007-07-29T19:19:42.046-04:00

Despite a full day of work and the hard riding yesterday I didn't sleep well last night, and that should have been my first clue to take it easy today but I wasn't listening. When I made it down to Landry's in Norwood for the Saturday morning group ride the weather was overcast and the total group probably around 25 people or so. As the group leaders worked out the route it became apparent that

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-29062675121304936822007-07-27T21:22:00.000-04:002007-07-27T22:50:22.131-04:00

Today was a good day on the bike. My ride in this morning was fast and easy. The hills are giving me far less trouble and I didn't feel any fatigue all afternoon. The highlight was being passed by Michelle in the car on a downhill. When I saw it was here I stood up and sprinted after her. I couldn't catch her but I was keeping pace until the road started to go uphill again, which was pretty much

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-53003886528961832007-07-26T21:43:00.000-04:002007-07-26T21:55:22.325-04:00

I slept in this morning until 9am, which is kind of funny because just a couple months ago waking up at 9am would have been waking up early. As soon as I rolled out of bed my muscles in my legs, butt, and back started to complain. Since it was already late I decided I'd just drive in with Michelle and go for a long walk instead of riding today.I probably walked a little over a mile and half this

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-44419139227707416552007-07-25T23:13:00.000-04:002007-07-25T23:29:53.902-04:00

I left work early today to go to the Wompatuck Training Criterium and still ended up getting there just in time to line up and go. Now there are many rides that you can show up to cold and be fine, this was not one of them. Up until now I've considered 20mph on the flats really fast, but today totally blew that away. Even though it is just a training race these guys were flying. I managed to hang

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-61750166578547794832007-07-24T19:46:00.000-04:002007-07-25T23:25:33.715-04:00

After waking up this morning and moving around a little I decided that today would be a rest day for me. While nothing hurts badly I'm approaching a high level of overall fatigue. Since I've been eating and sleeping well I'm taking it to mean I've pushed a little to hard. Crew taught me the danger of pushing into total exhaustion day after day, so I think I'll just try and dodge that bullet this

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-35821763982469088642007-07-23T21:31:00.000-04:002007-07-23T23:03:01.211-04:00

In a classic move I put my water bottle on a shelf near my bike while I pumped up the tires and left it there. I really didn't notice I'd left it behind until I was already about 7 miles into the ride. The weather this morning was cool and breezy with a 12mph headwind causing lots of trouble for me. Once I did notice I'd left my bottle I decided I'd just tough it out. After about 10 miles it

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-75541230659060149552007-07-22T17:12:00.000-04:002007-07-23T21:31:05.748-04:00

This afternoon I went out with Michelle for a nice easy ride. Since she rides a MTB I left the Synapse in the Garage and rode my MTB as well. What a difference! Right away I noticed how much cushier the seat as and how much harder it was to get the bike going and keep it going. We took back roads into the center of town and after a quick hydration stop road back home. Since it was just a six mile

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-65812833361828359482007-07-21T14:48:00.000-04:002007-07-23T11:15:40.343-04:00

Once upon a time on a cruise ship my father, sister, and me were doing a workout when the instructor said that this next exercise would work our obliques. I asked my dad what they were, and he replied "Do this for 30 seconds and you'll know exactly where and what they are." Boy he was right. If you asked me today what muscles are used in bicycling I could point to every single one.I woke up at

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-12898067533008712522007-07-19T22:42:00.000-04:002007-07-19T23:28:26.914-04:00

I wasn't expecting to be able to have a sunny ride in this morning, but the weather obliged and I hit the road around 8:25am. After about 7 miles of solid riding the bike started to handle a little strangely, and as I looked down at my back tire the vision and sound of the flat filled my senses. Now I had a spare tube, some plastic levers, and a CO2 tire inflater but I've never had to replace a

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-67863451449067314532007-07-18T09:39:00.001-04:002007-07-23T11:15:55.948-04:00

The ride into work this morning was overcast and very humid, which made the ride hot and sticky even though its only 70F. I made the ride in exactly an hour today, though the highlight for me was a really long hard push in top gear that carried me for about a half mile to the first speed sign where I sailed through at 31mph without any further acceleration. I had been keeping pace with a truck

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-57093458300254686422007-07-17T10:01:00.000-04:002007-07-17T22:45:52.127-04:00

The weather channel says its supposed to rain from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday. In theory I'll still be able to bike in tomorrow morning and beat the storm, but it looks like I'll be stuck driving. I'm hoping I'll have a window of clear skies to ride but we'll see. I'll be especially bummed if the Saturday morning group ride is canceled.During the ride this morning I gave up going really

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-82346889361251972712007-07-16T07:17:00.000-04:002007-07-17T11:45:10.155-04:00

In the past whenever I've been getting into shape, whether it was for Crew or Cross Country the 3rd day of training has always been the wall for me. This morning I've got minor aches and pains throughout my legs and back and I haven't even started peddling yet. The good news is that if the past holds true it should start getting easier after today. In any case its off to work.Today's ride was

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251676489402126270.post-86957586216868809582007-07-15T14:11:00.000-04:002007-07-24T21:18:07.120-04:00

My commute to work recently changed from 3 miles to just over 18. While I occasionally commuted to work on my bike previously, 3 miles of biking wasn't really worth having to take a shower once I arrived at work. At the same time my new commute is long and hilly enough that my old mountain bike just wasn't going to cut it so this past Friday I went down to Landry's in Norwood and test rode

C4http://www.blogger.com/profile/09528745595060035915noreply@blogger.com0