Biked for another 15 minutes last night and pushed a bit harder for 5 minutes and actually tried to check my heart rate at different times, will try to monitor it better next time. Completed 4.48 miles last night, after 5 minutes of less than 18 mph and heart rate was 138, after 10 minutes between 20 and 21 mph and hit 166 bpm, after 15 minutes of between 17 and 18 mph I was at 144 bpm. Will try to get my bpm every minute next time, although that will be harder. Averaged 17.92 mph.
Ok I think I need to start and try to bike again, it seems my company is moving my office less than 5 miles from my house with good roads and decent shoulders between so I guess I will try to bike to work off and on. Should be easy rides to and from although I need to figure out how to transport my laptop back and forth but will figure it out. I jumped on the indoor trainer and biked for 15 minutes and luckily I did not feel like I was going to die this time, so it seems this time will be easier, but we shall see.
Thanks for reading
Ok, I have had a Keurig for quite a while. Started with a KCup version years ago which I learned a lot from about cleaning these things out. I had one for about 6 months before it failed me, because of my not cleaning it out like I should. They sent me a new one, which I cleaned a bit better and it lasted for about 13 months and something went wrong with that one, and of course they sent me a new one since it was real close to being within warranty time frame and I had cleaned it pretty often. I had that unit for over a year when the Vue version came out, which I could not wait for, I love latte drinks etc and wanted to be able to customize the brew etc.
I signed up for hosting a Vue party from houseparty, they were giving a Vue to you if you were picked, but failed to be picked but they did send a coupon for 50% off, so I finally could afford a Vue and bought one. I have loved using it and have cleaned it religiously every 3 months for the past 18 months. I started to have an issue with it leaving water in the Vue Cups which caused water/coffee/tea ending up in my cup daily without brewing, and it also did not burst air during the brew cycle which it used to do to make the froths. So I called Keurig and tried to explain the problem and they instructed me to clean the brew head which I did not think I had, but I did do that not too long ago. I asked what would be the option if it did not help and she said “you are out of warranty but there are things we can do”. So I cleaned the brew head again to no avail. So I called back and tried to explain the issue again, this time the customer rep listened and then said please hold for Corporate consumer affairs, the pleasant woman that got on the call said “ok I have your address here and we are sending a new unit out to you right away.
Their customer service is awesome and I cannot complain about them any time that I have called. Especially I am way out of warranty and they still sent me a new unit.
Thanks for reading and thanks Keurig for your customer service!
Well, thought I would start to bike again after taking a long time off. Boy did I make a mistake taking that time off! Only rode my trainer for 10 minutes tonight, my legs were tired after 2 minutes. I just need to keep riding to get back to where I was before I stopped because of my RA. Will see how often I can do this or at least walk some.
Will post later
Sorry, it has been a while since I have posted, well I wanted to get a few things together to update. First, I finally got to take my bike outside for the first time. This was also a chance to ride with my son, who is 18 years old. It was actually a great time, even with his bike giving us a fit with a crank nut coming loose every mile or so. Brought a fair amount of tools but not that tool, oh well. I think he enjoyed it anyway, although maybe not as much as I did spending the time with him. We also had a flat on his bike within a mile of the house, but that went well. It is great that he seems to enjoy this with me. Sounds like we are going to try to ride a century in a couple of months.
One thing that riding did was showed me a couple of things, how I do with clipless pedals and how well the handlebar water bottle holder worked. Well, let’s start with the bottle cage, first. It is a MWave bottle cage like what I wrote about in my July 21 post (. It worked really quite well and I actually really like having the water bottle up there on the handlebar. After 12 miles it never once made me feel it would jetison my water bottle out of it, and I am using a polar 24 oz insulated water bottle and it fits really well. Next thing, I used my SPD clipless pedals for the first time outside, and it went surprisingly well. I think it helps to use a trainer at first but it only helps a little bit, since you need to use them in surprise situations to learn how to use them. One thing I noticed, don’t put so much pressure on yourself to clip in, start pedaling and try to clip in at a slightly faster speed, it makes it easier on you.
The next thing I wanted to say is riding on a trainer helps quite a bit when you get outside, at least it did me. I have been riding quite a bit on my trainer since June 23, normally between 5 and 6 days a week. I have been riding between 30 minutes and an hour, normally it works out to 30 minutes though, but remember a trainer means constant pedaling, no coasting down hills etc. Another thing I have been doing on the trainer is varying the workouts, from a nice steady 23+ mph pace in 9th gear to intervals using 18th gear, where I pedal slow for a minute (65 rpm cadence) then pedal medium speed (75 rpm) for a minute then pedal fast (85 rpm) for a minute. I saw a Carmichael training video that said this helps with hill climbing. When I started riding in June I was riding 7 miles in 30 minutes and struggling to now actually making it over 11 miles in 30 minutes, it feels good to see progress like that. By the way, I am using two apps for tracking my workouts, mapmyride.com (my profile is at http://www.mapmyride.com/profile/571095/) and endomondo.com (my profile is at http://www.endomondo.com/profile/5520863). I like how mapmyride lets you view your workouts and make your maps, but endomondo is a better tracking app and I like how it shows your tracked workout. They both have apps for Windows Phone 7 as well as Android and Iphone so you should try them out and see which you prefer.
Thanks for reading,
Later
I have acquired a video by Tacx, set in the Pyrenees, and I really enjoy this one. I am not sure if that helped me or not bit it seems that I actually set a record for time in the saddle and distance and average speed. I rode an hour for the first time ever and also rode 21.3 miles and 21.3 mph. I am not sure how this will translate to actual road time, but I do know that on my trainer I am constantly pedaling and not getting off of the bike during that time, so I think it is harder to ride on my trainer. Guess that will be something to try soon when I actually take my bike on the road.
Thanks for reading,
Later
I only had a single brazed on area for a water bottle holder and I am planning on riding some longer rides soon and wanted to see how I could add a water bottle holder to my bike. I found M-Wave plastic water bottle which clamps on to just about anywhere. I found it at http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/M-Wave-Plastic-Cage-for-Water-Bottle/11065150?adid=bzv_fb_revshr_001 and ordered it. I put it on my handlebar and have loved it there ever since, now I do have to admit it has not seen the road yet, but it feels tight enough that it shouldn’t be a problem. I have heard the seat bottle holders like to jettison bottles, I just hope this is not the case with this one.
Thanks for reading,
Later
Well, just rode again, and since I had just ridden the other night for longer than any other time, I thought I would just ride 30 minutes. Now the farthest I have ever ridden in 30 minutes was just under 10 miles, tonight I made it 10.4 miles which gave me the fastest average speed so far of 20.8 mph. Minor accomplishment, but one nonetheless. I think I may drag my bike outside this weekend!
Thanks for reading.
Later
Well my working out on the trainer seems to be paying off, I set a few different marks that I feel are impressive as well as achieving a goal I set almost a month ago. First the goal that I set, which is what caused me to work so hard last night, on mapmyride.com/tdf you set a goal to achieve a subset of the Tour de France, any where from 100% of the tour to 4.6% or 100 miles of the tour, which is what I chose. I had achieved 84 miles as of yesterday morning, so in order to complete it I would have needed to log another 16 miles, which I have never ridden that far before. So that was my mini goal last night to hit 16 miles in one session, and thought I would bike an hour to achieve it, well I made it with some time to spare. I actually completed 16.5 miles and it took me 50 minutes to do it, and in 45 minutes I had completed 14.7 miles, completely blowing out my old distance and time max from before. I also set a record for myself by making it 9.5 miles in 30 minutes, and I actually was feeling quite good at 30 minutes. I actually blew my old average speed out of the water too, the fastest average I had before was 17.6 mph, last night I actually made it 19.8 mph over the course of my ride. I am starting to feel very confident in my fitness level as far as starting to join a biking group and being able to keep up with them. On a side note, all of this riding has also had a side effect which is also making me happy, I have dropped from 214 on 6/25 to 208 as of 7/18, that was not just from biking, it is from biking and watching my intake of food and snacks and I also have been weighing myself everyday, which I think really helps me, it forces me to consider what I am eating the previous day or two.
Thanks for reading,
Later
I have been riding the trainer now for almost a month, during that time I have learned a lot about myself and about using a trainer, and I am still ramping up my distances and average speeds. I have hit an all time high miles of 13.2 miles in 45 minutes, which works out to 17.6 mph (which is the fastest average speed I have maintained). I have also achieved 138 miles total logged in this time. I have started to feel like it is paying off to keep on working out, I would also like to say that the videos are very helpful as well at keeping me motivated, even if I just pedal away at a steady pace while someone just keeps trying to get me to go faster and faster on the video. I am getting closer to being able to start riding outside where I will feel I can keep up. Hopefully it will be soon.
Thanks for reading,
Later