Riding the “Beast of Satan”
Wednesday, I visited the Doctor.
Thursday I climbed aboard the “Beast of Satan” and took a relatively easy spin. I learned some things.
- I need to have a relatively low gear so that I’m not pushing hard on my foot.
- The low gear means that I’m needing to spin at a fairly high cadence in order to get any cardiovascular value from the workout.
- I hate the trainer, but I’m going to embrace it for the 20 days necessary.
- These rides are critical for my training for the Flèche.
I rode for 21 minutes, logging a disappointing 5 miles, some of that in a much higher gear than was smart.
Friday I once again jumped on and simply spun in the lower gear that seems right. I managed 6.3 miles in 30 minutes.
Saturday (today) feeling more comfortable with the gear selection, I opted for some interval training, using only cadence as the determining factor for the difficulty of the ride. Two minutes warm up, one minute very high cadence (read bouncing or just short of it), two minutes easing to normal 80-90 rpm, one minute VHC. I kept that up for 30 minutes, then increased the cadence for the last 15 minutes as I pressed on to get 10 miles on the computer. Sweat was dripping steadily off my face those last 15 minutes. I would have rather been out riding with friends on a 200k today. That will come.
16 days … and you better believe I’m counting!
Rev Rider 
Allez!
Nicely done. Obviously, you need not concern yourself with the mileage totals. Heck, I’m not sure what a mileage total even means when you’re on a trainer.
I’ve been reading about the fleche and it looks like fun. Does the entire team have to ride together or is it more of a relay race? I’ve also noticed the Wilderness 200k that runs right through my stomping grounds. Perhaps its time to join up…
The fleche is the only Randonneuring Team event. All riders stay together. At least three riders must finish in order for the team to have successfully completed the ride. Joining is great. You will meet all sorts of people through these Randonneuring events. (Re: Mileage totals. I do have a wired computer on my trainer that gives me elapsed time, distance, and a few other stats.)
According to my memory, you were to be released yesterday by the doc. Correct? How did it all go??
It went very well. I’m able to ride outside! More later. I’ve been slammed with work this week. Thanks for asking.
This is good news. Riding outside is so much more enjoyable. My wife through the winter months takes two indoor spinning classes a week and she is more than ready to get back outside and hit the roads. Bless you on the continued healing process.