# Lost: my fitness



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

I've lost my fitness. :mad2: It was last seen in late 2009 "crushing" the local hills around the South Bay. I went away to the mountains for Christmas and New Year for just 2 weeks, and upon return my fitness was nowhere to be found. I discovered the loss while riding a leisurely 40 mile loop with no hills around Portola Valley at lunch time today. If you've found it, please PM me. I will happily exchange it for the 5 extra pounds of useless weight that I coincidentally also recently acquired.

Thanks for reading!


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

I've gained 8 lbs because of back-to-back big dinners when my uncle and cousin came for a visit this winter (2 or 3 of them being buffets), and of course, holiday dinners as well. Other than squeeze in some riding an hold out until dinner (admittingly an unstructered diet), there was nothing else I could do about it. I mean, that food doesn't come all year around. It's seemingly disrespectful to my family and myself to ignore it. 


Anyway. dropped 4-5 of those pounds since most of it was just payload waiting to land in the toilet. That was quite the day...Rest of that loss was paired with getting onto riding and regular diet. Wouldn't be surprised if the scale was full of it.I'm pretty sure it's a digital _spring_ scale; more than 5 years old. Gaining and losing the weight that fast seems fishy to me.


Right now, I'm convinced I'm at "winter weight" - whatever it is. I ate well this winter, and don't regret it, but I'll see if someone from that Oakland flea market took it, and is trying to sell it for half price.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Ventruck said:


> Right now, I'm convinced I'm at "winter weight" - whatever it is. I ate well this winter, and don't regret it, but I'll see if someone from that Oakland flea market took it, and is trying to sell it for half price.


Yeah, lots of "lost" things seem to end up at the flea market. Also, some things just get misplaced or end up in a forsaken corner of the garage. I just found 5-10 Watts skulking around near my floor pump. Evidently I had forgotten to pump up the rear tire this morning, and it had deflated from 110 psi down to 75 psi over the break! I'm going to look around a bit more to see if I can find some more excuses ...


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## sometimerider (Sep 21, 2007)

Gulp... Over the next 2 days I'm getting back to riding after a 17 day layoff. I have some concern over how rough it's going to be. (And I haven't had the nerve to go near a scale.)


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## rox (Jul 7, 2009)

I think the fitter you are the faster you lose it. really makes the holidays and short daylight hours tough. after losing the first bit though the rest should be a slow decline. if i can just... sneak... out... a few more times...

we should calculate how much an extra 5lbs will cost one on a olh climb.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

Tell me about it, bud. I lost mine about a year ago, and you witnessed my demise. I really started noticing after you, Francois, and I went on the little side-route after that December (?) RBR. That longer ride you and I did up OLH and Tunitas was the most climbing I did all last year. I still managed almost 10,000 miles for the year, but unfortunately mostly junk miles.

New Years Resolution? Try to get better work-outs during my commute. I have a plan.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

rox said:


> we should calculate how much an extra 5lbs will cost one on a olh climb.


That's easy. Assuming you still have the same power then time up a hill is linear with total weight of rider and bike. For easy numbers, let's say that is 200 lbs so 5 lbs is 2.5%. If you used to ride OLH in 20 minutes, that extra 5 lbs costs you 30 seconds. Now imagine the upgrades that you would need on your bike to offset that 5 lbs and buy back the lost 30 seconds ...


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

Mine is fading too. On the upside, I've lost 2 of the 5 pounds I put on.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Dr_John said:


> I still managed almost 10,000 miles for the year, but unfortunately mostly junk miles.


That's a lot of miles and I saw your average speed from the other thread - very impressive. At the very least you have a lot of base miles in your legs!



Dr_John said:


> New Years Resolution? Try to get better work-outs during my commute. I have a plan.


Does your plan involve a power meter? At the end of the day, watts are watts and they don't care whether you are in the hills or on the flats. The difficulty on the flats is that it is hard to figure out how much work you are really doing. Finding the motivation and measuring incremental performance improvements can also be hard. I'd think that some power-target intervals on your commute would get you a better work-out. You'd still need to head to the hills from time to time to reap the benefits though.

Anyway, good luck with it whatever the plan is!


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> Does your plan involve a power meter? At the end of the day, watts are watts and they don't care whether you are in the hills or on the flats. The difficulty on the flats is that it is hard to figure out how much work you are really doing. Finding the motivation and measuring incremental performance improvements can also be hard. I'd think that some power-target intervals on your commute would get you a better work-out.


Yep. Picked up a Garmin 500. Can't wait for the MetriGear, so will go with a Pro+ hub - want the convenience of moving quickly around my three bikes. Haven't decided on rim/builder.


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## Mtn2RoadConvert (Aug 28, 2006)

Man, with all those feasts over the holidays I think some of my weight gain is water weight from eating so much sodium. A few days back in the saddle and back to a better diet, and all should be well.


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

I'm up 5 pounds and slow (a minute slower on OLH right now but I'm hauling more clothing and a light+battery as well on most rides).

On the plus side, I accompanied my wife on her first climb of OLH today.. I never thought taking 37:49 up OLH would be fun, but it was


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

ratpick said:


> On the plus side, I accompanied my wife on her first climb of OLH today.. I never thought taking 37:49 up OLH would be fun, but it was


That's cool! I hope to be setting a new personal worst on OLH later this year with daughter


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## iRoNeTiK (Nov 30, 2009)

I stopped riding on Dec 20th but I managed to hit the gym 3 times during Xmas week and 2 hour mountain bike ride New Years week but still gained 5 or so lbs. 

Started riding/commuting again last week and gym but got sick this past Friday so didn't do any riding this weekend and no Early Bird Crit, instead crappy movie theater and a lot of NyQuil, Soup & Tea

Argh, just trying to get back into my weekly routine! So far, no luck, and now rain next couple days. Someone trying to tell me something?


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## shibaman (May 2, 2008)

I think that most people gain weight and loose some fitness this time of year. Think of it as recovery time, and healing for our over used bodies.:thumbsup: I have gone from 164 to 170 lbs. in the last few weeks. It has made me stronger at the gym, cost me some endurance on the bike. 
I did 78 mi. in the area of Sutter Creek/ Volcano last Sat. Actually got to see the Sun. 
I felt very strong up the hills, and had a great time. My climbing strength is still good, but my endurance has gone down some. 
I am not worried about fitness at this point. Got plenty of time to build it back up. I am going to be training with the Cycle Folsom boys to get ready for the Death Ride. Now is the fun time for me. The rain days are going to be spent on a Mt. bike playing in the mud, and just having fun.


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## Kwantani (Sep 26, 2002)

Looks like most people heading into the new decade in such a depressing state/mode, sigh....


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Kwantani said:


> Looks like most people heading into the new decade in such a depressing state/mode, sigh....


It was supposed to be a joke thread! Anyway, I'm back on track. Yesterday's ride before the rain arrived was much better than last week. I figure that a month or two of base miles is a good thing before exerting myself more with some serious hill climbs.


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## CHL (Jun 24, 2005)

Ukbloke:

I know where your fitness went. I saw it enjoying a relaxing afternoon in Tahiti, planning to tour the Coral Sea as you suffer through the long arduous winter. It told me to relay a message to you: "Don't wait up for it, it ain't coming back any time soon!" 

Like most of you, I haven't been riding much these days. The weather hasn't cooperated much and I've had other plans. However, 24 Hour Fitness has been my best friend after work, so I've kept the holiday "pounds" at bay. Any case, happy new year to all and let's have some fun getting rid of the extra ballast!

CHL

p.s. Finally made it up Hicks from Camden Ave. Now it's time I try Bohlman.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

CHL said:


> I know where your fitness went. I saw it enjoying a relaxing afternoon in Tahiti, planning to tour the Coral Sea as you suffer through the long arduous winter. It told me to relay a message to you: "Don't wait up for it, it ain't coming back any time soon!"


I just got another update from my fitness! You can see what it has been up to here.



> ATTENTION UKBLOKE STOP WEATHER AWESOME STOP NATIVES FRIENDLY STOP TDT AWESOME STOP BUT ROADS VERY ROUGH STOP SEE YOU IN THE SPRING STOP NOT STOP YOUR FITNESS


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## sometimerider (Sep 21, 2007)

ukbloke said:


> I just got another update from my fitness! You can see what it has been up to here.


You aren't going to get much improvement from roads that don't exceed 300 ft. elevation.

(I should talk - I just did over 50 miles up the coast from Santa Cruz. Not a real climbing exercise, but I felt good about it.)


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

sometimerider said:


> You aren't going to get much improvement from roads that don't exceed 300 ft. elevation.


It's the off season. My fitness is putting in some base miles on a tropical island. Meanwhile I'm up in the Sierra, watching the pine trees and looking forward to some skiing tomorrow. And waiting for the enormous dump of snow next week (though I'll probably not get to ski it).

Yesterday, I did do a low-effort climb of Page Mill Road, mostly because it was warm and because Page Mill was on my mind because of the ToC stage. I surprised myself by being only 10% slower than my PR, though that is still more than 4 minutes of time to find in the spring! It felt good to be going up hill.


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## desmo13 (Jun 28, 2006)

well, i finally got on the scale since the end of october (my last cx race, and last real ride) sadness... up 10 pounds.. but then again, 22lbs lighter than I was last feb. so a gain. started chris carmichael time crunch cyclist 3 weeks ago, and core/full body weights last week. besides intervals on the trainer, I have gotten out for a couple long rides. power isnt there at all, but endurance, feels good. my HR was about the same on my medium group paceas it was in fall. Havnt tried diablo yet, then we will see how far in the hole I really went


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## twain (May 18, 2004)

Ain't it the truth?
2009 was a banner year full of pr's capped with an 18:38 up OLH on Thanksgiving.
The next day we got on a plane for a trip back east...got sick for nearly 2 weeks.
Did OLH on 12/6 and barely cracked 22 min.
I had also done Page Mill in 37:35 at the end of September. On January 3rd, struggled up it and wanted to turn back several times. Finally finished in 45:44 (!!!). Then tried to hang with the Tibco women's team on skyline. Got dropped like a rock. 
It's pathetic!!!


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

twain said:


> Ain't it the truth?


You've got to pay the piper at some point and let your fitness go, so that you can come back stronger than ever for the next season. At least that is what I'm telling myself.

37:35 on Page Mill Road is amazing! Is this with the "standard" timing points (trail edge of Arastradero to the stop sign), or did you move the goal posts? I did a run up Page Mill Road on a standard double, with the wrong cassette, and in the melting snow late last year. That time is so bad that I won't publish it. The only thing slower than the climb was the descent.


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## twain (May 18, 2004)

*moved goal posts*



ukbloke said:


> 37:35 on Page Mill Road is amazing! Is this with the "standard" timing points (trail edge of Arastradero to the stop sign), or did you move the goal posts?


Yes, I moved the goal posts. I start at the stop sign by Alexis Drive. This is 9/10th mile shorter than the stop sign at Arastradero. Assume 15 mph--add 6 mins for apples-apples?


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

twain said:


> Yes, I moved the goal posts. I start at the stop sign by Alexis Drive. This is 9/10th mile shorter than the stop sign at Arastradero. Assume 15 mph--add 6 mins for apples-apples?


More like 4 minutes. I'll look it up in my GPS logs some day. This brings your time in pretty close to my PR of 41:08. It is hard to imagine finding 4 minutes on Page Mill from self improvement. Phew!


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## masterken911 (Jun 17, 2009)

surprisingly i actually drop couple pounds during this past winter cut down in meats intake ( no more Macdonald's and BK help, i guess lol ) haven't ride for 5 days with this nasty raining weather. tomorrow ( saturday ) is expected to clear so i could finally go out and get 30 miles of fresh air.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

masterken911 said:


> haven't ride for 5 days with this nasty raining weather. tomorrow ( saturday ) is expected to clear so i could finally go out and get 30 miles of fresh air.


Yes, the weather recently is obviously not good for training rides. On the other hand the powder depth at the ski resorts is taller than me, and I'm going on a back-country snow-cat snowboard adventure tomorrow!!


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## ratpick (Jul 31, 2008)

masterken911 said:


> surprisingly i actually drop couple pounds during this past winter cut down in meats intake ( no more Macdonald's and BK help, i guess lol ) haven't ride for 5 days with this nasty raining weather. tomorrow ( saturday ) is expected to clear so i could finally go out and get 30 miles of fresh air.


Heh.. if there actually is sunshine tomorrow, I'm going to ride until I can ride no more.. and this will be way more than 30 miles  I probably only have fitness for about 40-50 so I expect to be suitably sore on Sunday!


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## masterken911 (Jun 17, 2009)

just when the weather improved, my allegy returns. hopefully next week i can logg in 100 miles. fingers cross


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## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

I'm adding myself to this thread.
hopefully by March I'll remove myself from this.


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## Mtn2RoadConvert (Aug 28, 2006)

masterken911 said:


> just when the weather improved, my allegy returns. hopefully next week i can logg in 100 miles. fingers cross


With all the rain we've had recently it's going to be a fun Spring on the time.


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