Sunday's Ride report

Some of you were wondering what happened to the ride Sunday.

http://nafdr.tumblr.com/

It got snowed out by 4" to 6" of snow

http://nafdr.tumblr.com/post/46081143441/nafdr-cancelled

 

Anyway while riding down Woods Chapel road I saw a restaurant called Las Playas.

If you lived in the Independence/Raytown/Kansas city area around 40 highway in the 70's and 80's then this probably doesn't ring a bell.

This is the original location off 40 highway. I never met anybody who didn't like it. I'm not sure what happened.

 

The Greek Revival mansion in which it used to occupy is recognized as the Thomson House.

Not this Thomson  (The old Thomson Elite...So choice!)

 

This Thomson. Hmmmmm "The Thomson family fled during the civil war". Any guesses as to why they might have fled during that time? Curious timing.

 

Need a consideration from a month ago?

http://curbdestroyer.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-road-to-another-105-miles.html

 

Were they Confederate sympathizers (they did have slaves), or was it because of General Order No. 11 (1863)?

 

Ewing's decree ordered the expulsion of all residents living in Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's Mills, Pleasant Hill, and Harrisonville, and except those in that part of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west of Big Blue, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence.

 

The mansion now sits in Independence. It is north of Brush Creek, but is it West of Big Blue? Who knows how the lines were drawn just 150 years ago.

 

150 years ago it was a plantation with slaves. Now a little perspective. Do you think the Civil war was a long time ago? I'm about 50 years old and I don't feel like I've been around very long. 50 is 33% of 150. So it was 3 short 50 year life times ago.

 

A day before 85 Miles...maybe

It's a day before the Near April Fool's Death Ride. Am I ready for 85 miles? My preparation hasn't gone as planned, it's been more of a bunch of 20 -30 mile rides. I figure I can ride 30 miles 3 times...well survive it anyway.
It's supposed to snow 6" to 12" saturday night and sunday morning. This reminds me of the first Gents race that got snowed out. If I remember right it was 70 degrees the day before, snowed 4" on the day of the race, then it was 50 degrees the day after and by late afternoon all the snow had melted...crazy...Aprill Fools right?

Cassettes these days. Do you really need an 11 tooth cog? I find exchanging the 11, for another mid-range cog that I would actually use, the better choice.

Even back in the day of 6 and 7 speed freewheels the smallest cog I would use would be a 13. There has only been once I've been mildly uncomfortable with a 13. It was during a road race in Kansas, and we had a tailwind and the group was going about 45Mph. on a long stretch.

Odds are I'm going to be more annoyed switching back and forth between 16 to 18 because I don't have a 17, than 45Mph Kansas tailwinds.

But these are the days of 10 or 11 speed (20/22speed), not 6 or 7 (12/14speed). To be honest, I think instead of adding more in the back, they should add one in the front (38-45-53), and use a 7 speed in the back creating a 21 speed without the cross over issues, but as you know "Racers" will never bare the stigma of racing a triple. But they will exchange a 53 for a 50 if they call it "Compact". Ohh marketing, it makes my head hurt.

 

Getting in Shape to Get in Shape

From doing nothing more than commuting the 16 miles back and forth to work (8 miles one way), I've found for a long distance ride I'm going to have to get in shape.It seems the rust is coming off pretty fast. I went out for 28 miles this morning and I felt pretty good, not fast.






I just rode to across the river and back. Last Sunday I pushing myself to get back, and that was only 20 miles. Maybe it was a bad day. The statistics are a lot better than 5 day ago.

Time: 1:57:14
Miles: 28
Mph: 14.3
Ave. HR: 141
Climb: 1257

Where's my fitness?

What a day for a ride. With the snow on the side of the road, it doesn't feel like a average 37 degree ride. Rather it's marbled with 32 degree winds gusting off of the snow. It's an experience. I mean you can ride the same stretch of road everyday and have a different experience depending on the weather and/or time of year.

The statistics look like this. Terrible.
Time: 1:21
Miles: 20
Mph: 14.7
Ave. HR: 145
Climb: 1063






As I say, "Welp, There you have it"! 21 days until I need to ride 85 miles in 6 to 6-1/2 hours at the Near April Fools Death Ride. Is it those extra 10Lbs. slowing me down? or is it just not riding enough. Gee if I rode more I probably wouldn't have those 10 extra Lbs. Doesn't really matter. I did the Mad Ride on about the same amount if I remember right, and it ended up being 105 miles. I probably won't have as a detailed report since this ride is out in the middle of nowhere. With these things it comes down to mind over matter. Speed is another issue.

The training Outline, determining the long ride of the week.

To survive a long ride you should build up to 2/3 to 3/4 of the distance of the event. For example, when training for a 100 mile ride, your longest ride should be 67 to 70 miles". They also say you should add 5 to 10 miles every week, but I don't have time for that. I'm going with 15. I figure I can ride 35mile, so I  will start there and see how it goes. The long ride in my weekly schedule will be on either Saturday or Sunday.

 

So here is my plan for my weekend long distance ride.

March 2nd/3rd  35mi

March 9th/10th: 50mi

March 16th/17thth: 64mi

March 24th: 85miles

 

Training for NAFDR will be a little different. It's been a long time since I've based training off distance. I have been doing time based traing because time is what matters. You can ride 24Mph with a good wind at you back, or 12 Mph into a headwind. Riding for 2 hours into a headwind averaging 12Mph is a lot harder than 24 with the wind at your back.

 

With that said and the potential for a foot of snow this might be a problem. I probably should have gotten up early this morning and taken full advantage of the weather.

The road to 85 miles

How to get ready for 85mile bike ride in 1 month, when all you have been doing is riding a trainer tooling around the neighborhood at best. Not to mention eating donuts while doing it.

Oh well, that was then this is tomorrow. The ride is call "Near April Fools Death Ride".

http://nafdr.tumblr.com/

Basically a bunch of my friends and I, when we are out of shape in he early spring, decide to ride more milage than we are prepared to take on. Combine being un-fit with the usual windy, cold weather conditions, and the result is always a ride splintered with miserable people along the route turning it into what we call a "Death March".

Ironically this year's ride routes us through most of the countys that were evacuated during the civil war as a result of General Order 11 (1883). If you do a little reading on General Order 11 (1883) it will become obvious to you why this route will be seemingly uninhabited by human beings.

The route's road conditions very from paved (not much), chip & seal/rough (sounds like a music band), gravel, and some dirt, and in our case probably mud.

Follow along here for more detailed information.