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wickedwordsRide Length: 27 miles (approximately)
Elevation: 2000 ft, according to bikely
Where: Magnuson Park to Seward Park
Start Time: About 10:00 am
End Time: 1:00 pm
How long: 2.22 on bike time, 11.2 mph avg speed not including a short stop.
Calorie guesstimate: 1700
The Cascade Training Series is a progressive set of training rides that are designed to improve endurance and speed such that you can tackle the big summer rides like the STP (seattle to portland), the RSVP (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party), or RAW (Ride Around Washington) Last year, I kept thinking that I should go to a few of them while they were on the easier side and yet I never made a single ride; this year, I was determined to get to at least the first one, and see just what I could do.
I made it up and out the door in time enough to get a chai on my way in. I'd packed a lot of stuff in my bags, just in case I needed it, including things like my bike lock and a second water bottle, plus food, wallet, cell phone, and tire repair stuff. When I got to the ride area, it was early enough that I got a parking space close to the portapotties, and I visited them before I went to unload.
There were a lot of different types of people and bikes, from recumbents ridden by a grandfather/teenage grandson pair, a tandem or two with a father/child set up, and just the standard racing bike and mountain bike sets. People sizes ranges from the tiny skinny things to Clydesdale and Athena sizes, so I felt pretty good. I was right in the middle there somewhere.
The CTS group is broken into 3 ride speeds: red (10-12 mph on the flats), yellow (12-14 mph on the flats) and green (14-16 mph on the flats). If you're over 16 mph, there's a whole different training group -- CATS, Cascade Advanced Training Series--and they ride a complete different route from this set for most of the series. I decided to sign up for the yellow group on the theory that if I needed to, I could fall back to red, but I really wanted to see if I could hold that pace for the whole distance. I knew I'd be dropped on the hills, as I still manage only 5-8 mph on the uphill ride, but I hoped I could make up for it at regrouping points and along the flats.
At the start area, I did hang in the back of the yellow and at the red group more, as that's my natural riding pace, so I got to hear the lectures from the know-it-all ride leader, who was of a real racing mind. ('every ounce counts when you ride the STP', 'carry less rather than more', etc). He wanted me to ditch my trunk totally, and just carry a few things in the pockets of my bike jersey, as this was 'such a short ride.'
He pointed out how much I had to one of the women who was leading one of the other groups and made a point of saying 'look at how the ride leader's carrying almost nothing.' Meanwhile, the ride leader started talking about how what I had was a randonneuring set-up, and how she was looking to add a trunk or something, so she could carry more. HA!
Anyway, I did chuck the bike lock, first aid kit, and spare water bottle into the passengers seat of the truck, but I did keep my trunk and everything else, folding up the panniers for the rest of the ride.
The start was kind of muddled. First came the 'ride smart' and 'rules of the ride' bit, then the fast group (the green group) left. 5 minutes later, the first half of the yellow group left, and 5 minutes after that was the 2nd half of the yellow, including me. I was at the end of the group for much of the ride down to Seward Park, and there were holes between where I was and the main thread of riders, even on the flats. But it was never horrible, and I did pass another rider who ended up dropping back to the red, so I think I did pretty okay. It was a much more focused ride than what I've done, in that my cycling crew is social and talkative and willing to stop if something comes up, but this ride was all very directed: we are going and you have to keep up. I'm not sure if I liked it, but it was an interesting change of pace.
When we rounded the corner right before Seward Park, we caught sight of the green group on their way back to the start point, and that was the only time we saw then for the whole of the ride. I had a bar, took advantage of the restrooms, and refilled my water bottle, then there was a call for people who wanted to do the optional loop of the ride. I wimped out on that, and joined up with the first yellow group that was leaving the rest point for the trip back up the switchbacks and the route home.
They dropped me pretty early, and I kept being passed by a few other yellow group riders. I did catch up with the group at the top of a big set of switchbacks, as they waited for the whole group; there were even a couple of people behind me! The tail of the group ended up getting separated at a stop light, and then we got a little lost getting though the arboretum; eventually, though, we stumbled on the second yellow group, and rejoined them for the trip back to Mag. Park. Again, I was at the tail of the group, but by this point, I was a lot less anxious about being separated and riding on my own, as I knew where I was going. I made it to the parking lot about about 1:00, three hours from the designated ride start time. Given all the fuss with the start, and a ten minute stop, I was really pleased with my effort. I completed the whole route as part of the yellow group, and was thrilled to accomplish my goal.
'course, I'm dying today and don't want to get on the bike at all, but I still free proud of what I have done.
Elevation: 2000 ft, according to bikely
Where: Magnuson Park to Seward Park
Start Time: About 10:00 am
End Time: 1:00 pm
How long: 2.22 on bike time, 11.2 mph avg speed not including a short stop.
Calorie guesstimate: 1700
The Cascade Training Series is a progressive set of training rides that are designed to improve endurance and speed such that you can tackle the big summer rides like the STP (seattle to portland), the RSVP (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party), or RAW (Ride Around Washington) Last year, I kept thinking that I should go to a few of them while they were on the easier side and yet I never made a single ride; this year, I was determined to get to at least the first one, and see just what I could do.
I made it up and out the door in time enough to get a chai on my way in. I'd packed a lot of stuff in my bags, just in case I needed it, including things like my bike lock and a second water bottle, plus food, wallet, cell phone, and tire repair stuff. When I got to the ride area, it was early enough that I got a parking space close to the portapotties, and I visited them before I went to unload.
There were a lot of different types of people and bikes, from recumbents ridden by a grandfather/teenage grandson pair, a tandem or two with a father/child set up, and just the standard racing bike and mountain bike sets. People sizes ranges from the tiny skinny things to Clydesdale and Athena sizes, so I felt pretty good. I was right in the middle there somewhere.
The CTS group is broken into 3 ride speeds: red (10-12 mph on the flats), yellow (12-14 mph on the flats) and green (14-16 mph on the flats). If you're over 16 mph, there's a whole different training group -- CATS, Cascade Advanced Training Series--and they ride a complete different route from this set for most of the series. I decided to sign up for the yellow group on the theory that if I needed to, I could fall back to red, but I really wanted to see if I could hold that pace for the whole distance. I knew I'd be dropped on the hills, as I still manage only 5-8 mph on the uphill ride, but I hoped I could make up for it at regrouping points and along the flats.
At the start area, I did hang in the back of the yellow and at the red group more, as that's my natural riding pace, so I got to hear the lectures from the know-it-all ride leader, who was of a real racing mind. ('every ounce counts when you ride the STP', 'carry less rather than more', etc). He wanted me to ditch my trunk totally, and just carry a few things in the pockets of my bike jersey, as this was 'such a short ride.'
He pointed out how much I had to one of the women who was leading one of the other groups and made a point of saying 'look at how the ride leader's carrying almost nothing.' Meanwhile, the ride leader started talking about how what I had was a randonneuring set-up, and how she was looking to add a trunk or something, so she could carry more. HA!
Anyway, I did chuck the bike lock, first aid kit, and spare water bottle into the passengers seat of the truck, but I did keep my trunk and everything else, folding up the panniers for the rest of the ride.
The start was kind of muddled. First came the 'ride smart' and 'rules of the ride' bit, then the fast group (the green group) left. 5 minutes later, the first half of the yellow group left, and 5 minutes after that was the 2nd half of the yellow, including me. I was at the end of the group for much of the ride down to Seward Park, and there were holes between where I was and the main thread of riders, even on the flats. But it was never horrible, and I did pass another rider who ended up dropping back to the red, so I think I did pretty okay. It was a much more focused ride than what I've done, in that my cycling crew is social and talkative and willing to stop if something comes up, but this ride was all very directed: we are going and you have to keep up. I'm not sure if I liked it, but it was an interesting change of pace.
When we rounded the corner right before Seward Park, we caught sight of the green group on their way back to the start point, and that was the only time we saw then for the whole of the ride. I had a bar, took advantage of the restrooms, and refilled my water bottle, then there was a call for people who wanted to do the optional loop of the ride. I wimped out on that, and joined up with the first yellow group that was leaving the rest point for the trip back up the switchbacks and the route home.
They dropped me pretty early, and I kept being passed by a few other yellow group riders. I did catch up with the group at the top of a big set of switchbacks, as they waited for the whole group; there were even a couple of people behind me! The tail of the group ended up getting separated at a stop light, and then we got a little lost getting though the arboretum; eventually, though, we stumbled on the second yellow group, and rejoined them for the trip back to Mag. Park. Again, I was at the tail of the group, but by this point, I was a lot less anxious about being separated and riding on my own, as I knew where I was going. I made it to the parking lot about about 1:00, three hours from the designated ride start time. Given all the fuss with the start, and a ten minute stop, I was really pleased with my effort. I completed the whole route as part of the yellow group, and was thrilled to accomplish my goal.
'course, I'm dying today and don't want to get on the bike at all, but I still free proud of what I have done.
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