Thursday, April 4, 2013

ride for the ride's sake

I work a nine-days-in-two-weeks schedule, and I'm off every other Wednesday. In season, I like to ride with a group of the Princeton Freewheelers (I call 'em the "Old Guys") who ride together three times each week, but in this cold, they don't usually go out. But temps were up in the 40° range by late morning yesterday, so I got the bike out.

Regular readers may know that I'm trying to avoid competitiveness in my riding: I don't compete for speed, I don't post my aggregate distance ridden, and so on. On yesterday's ride, I didn't take my computer.

Here's what I noticed: I started off into a headwind, and I pushed hard for a few miles to keep my average speed up, even though I wasn't registering my average speed. But when I turned onto Canal Road (sideways to the wind, and the canal has tress enough to block much of the wind), I set a different pace: not slow, but one that I could maintain, probably for hours. I decided not to climb Coppermine (and I think that decision was related to not having the computer on), and to stop at the Philly Pretzel Factory in Rocky Hill for lunch (which decision was solely related to feeling deprived; I've been trying to get my weight back down). Three for $3; I ate one right away, and had another in Griggstown. Gotta keep the energy up.

Tailwind on the way back, and I was cranking to take advantage of it. I know I was going fast because of how the traffic was passing me on the local streets (not as quickly as they sometimes do).

It was a fun ride. And I think I'm going to ride without computer more frequently. When I do ride with the computer (my GPS), I'll keep it on the map setting so I don't see the numbers.

After all, if it isn't fun, why bother?

(The next time you come on a Hill Slug ride, ask Laura OLPH about "Tell It To Strava".)

4 comments:

  1. So from that post am I supposed to take it that most of your rides are for the computer's sake? If so, then you really are a sick pup!

    Speed shouldn't be the primary statistic. At least I don't think so. It's all about how long the ride is or was. A ten-miler is nice. And a five-miler is awesome. Don't you think?

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  2. "So from that post am I supposed to take it that most of your rides are for the computer's sake? If so, then you really are a sick pup!"

    Your honor, I plead guilty as charged, especially the last two words.

    That's part of the competitiveness that I'm trying to get away from. When I'm actually on a group ride, I find it difficult, sometimes, not to show off, or not to prove to some hotshot that I can keep up with him (or her). In order to ride less like a jerk in groups, I save my pushing for my individual rides, but even some of them are less fun because (for example) I want to match last year's best performance.

    I'm sure I've posted that I'm keeping track of my time as well as my mileage. Grant Peterson, over at Rivendell, suggested that we might want to keep track of time rather than miles, because if you push for miles, you might be miserable... but a long (in time) ride, at a comfortable pace, might be better than a longer-mileage ride at an uncomfortable pace. (I'm not going to look for the reference now, but it's probably on the Rivbike site, or in one of the readers.)

    As for shorter rides? I have a four-mile loop around my condo complex and the one next door. It's fun, but it's not worth getting suited up for. My idea of a good ride is about three hours. Or four. Maybe five. Sometimes six, if the company is good and I can get something to eat now and then. I think I did over seven hours once, but trying to explain to The Excellent Wife that I was having a good time, even though I was almost crippled by the time I got home... well that was actually more difficult than the ride itself.

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  3. You mention food in both your post and your reply. What is more fun for you: riding or eating? I'm not so fond of pretzels, but the brownies and cream filled muffins next door at Wawa are very enjoyable to consume. :)

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  4. I suppose eating is more fun... but I can ride a lot longer than I can eat. And I can eat with many more of my acquaintances than I can ride with (TEW, for example). OTOH, I eat much more frequently than I ride... [sigh] I suppose my weight would be under better control if I were to reverse those two.

    Drinking, on the other hand, is right out.

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