My scheduled workout for Saturday was flipped with Sunday since Sunday was Michael's birthday. Due to the weather reports, I was concerned about getting in a full FOUR HOUR bike ride (eik!) so I scheduled a double at Train Chicago Studios.
My ride started at 7:30am (early!) and I asked them to upload the Ironman Wisconsin course so I could experience it a bit. They set me up with this super cool program called Racer Mate where the video corresponds with the terrain. So basically, you are watching a screen at the pace you are riding. The technology they have is truly amazing!!
For those that don't know the difference between an indoor vs outdoor ride, I would say indoor is much more painful from a seat perspective. Outside, you are getting up and off your saddle for bumps and wind while indoors your lady bits are subjected to the saddle for the FULL FOUR HOURS. Numbness and pain do occur, yes. It can be brutal.
For the first two hours of the ride, I sat next to a guy named Michael W who was a great cyclist. We chatted about our lives and family and interest in cycling and he carried me through the first two hours. The program is also interesting in so far as the fastest rider "controls" how long you're in the hills... meaning, I'd experience the hills when he'd hit them (he was a faster rider than me). So the good thing was that I still hit the hills, but perhaps wasn't in them as long since he could summit faster than me. The other fun part of the video is actually "rode" through areas I recognized my friends Don and Jenny live along the route, so I waved when I passed them. :)
I'm not sure how I describe this makes a lot of sense if you haven't used this technology, but in the end, he only rode for 2 hours. After that, the video holds frozen until I caught up to where he stopped (I think he was at mile 28 and I was at 24).
Around that time, Carrie showed up to ride about 45 minutes with me. Again, it was nice to catch up and have someone to share the pain with...although it was unfortunate for her that she arrived right when we were heading up a pretty substantial hill (about 17% grade). She unplugged until we got to the top and then continued to ride. This time, I was in pole position, so she experienced the hills how I climbed them. After her time was up, I basically had another 1 hour and 15-25 minutes or so to finish. When I came up to 4 hours, I decided I would ride to hit 50 miles. I think I was about 2.5 miles short and of course, those last 2.5 miles were a mental challenge. I was fighting the "you only have to ride 4 hours" mentality with trying to work on my mental toughness and go to a number beyond what was required. I'm glad I did it and I was only on the bike for another few minutes. It was worth it.
After my bike, I had to run for 30 minutes. I haven't done a brick that intense for some time and the reminder of the lactic acid in my legs was a good one! The long video ride of Madison was good mental preparation for my ride on the course next Saturday. I am going to do just 40 miles and see how it compares in real life.
Also, Carrie said she has some additional rides that she isn't going to use that I could have so I may take her up on that and ride the course a few more times indoors in the next month or so.
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