I was a happy camper Saturday. I had done my first 50-mile bike ride in almost 3 years. Why did it take so long? I have no idea. All I can say is that I was elated because biking has always helped my running and the fact that I was in good enough shape to do a 50-mile ride 3 weeks after starting a bike ride every weekend was great news.
I started at 11:15 am from home. The first few miles were spent warming up. I had chosen to go a circuitous route to get to Foothill Expressway. A slight detour into downtown Mt. View was needed in order to give Arul (he and his wife were running the SF Half marathon the next day) my small digital camera. That mission accomplished, I got back onto Foothill Expwy only to make a pit stop in the Bicycle Outfitters. I bought an awesome looking Castelli biking jersey that I promptly put on (the one I was wearing went into the back pocket of the new one).
On the bike again. I had already put in about 15 miles by now. I decided to make a left turn onto Arastradero Rd this time instead of the usual left turn on Alpine Rd. A few small hills later I found myself in a Jewish school/synagogue complex looking for a water fountain. I filled up both my bottles and started up Arastradero Rd. again.
That road soon ended on Page Mill Rd. I made a right turn and headed up the hill towards El Camino Real. My aim was to find a gas station so that I could buy some food and Gatorade or Powerade. I found one and was soon happily munching away on peanuts and drinking Powerade .
A mile from home and the odometer showed 41 miles. I decided to circle the block a few times to take it to 45 miles. Very soon the goal became 50 miles which necessitated a bigger block! When I got off the bike at the end, the cycle computer showed 50.18. Way to go Rajeev.
Biking helps strengthen quads in a hurry. Next week I want to tackle hills. I will most likely head up Highway 9, take a right onto Skyline and follow it to Page Mill. Down Page Mill and then back home via Foothill again should give me a good hill climb and substantial mileage.
3 comments:
Great job Rajeev, inspite of 3 hr run in night, you managed a 50 miler on sat, way to go.
And you sounded very strong too.
I'm looking at starting to cycle - I think it'd be great ultra cross-training.
Angie,
I'm not the only one to notice the correlation between cycling and faster runs. Speedwork (running) needs strong quads and what better way to make them so than biking?
You will have a blast. If you are not too keen on off-road cycling, start with a mountain bike and put slicks (smooth tires) on it. This way you will get to ride faster on the road. Once you get to like it more, buy a road bike.
They make awesome clothes (colors and texture) for cycling. Shopping for bike clothes is as much fun as biking itself!
http://www.teamestrogen.com/ is a good site for colorful biking jerseys for women.
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