 |
[RC] 25 milers/racing - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: Karen Nelson knelson4299@xxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== In thinking back over 20 years, I remember distinctly a problem with new riders- regardless of distance. They were overestimating the distances they traveled when training. Then when they got to a ride, they had problems meeting the standards of the time/distance because they thought the speed they were training at was faster, covering more ground in less time than was reality. Giant OOOOOPS. Coming from a car racing background, I hired people with mountain bikes who had odometers to ride with me and measure segments of trail in Chatsworth, so that when I trained, I knew the distances fairly closely, and I used my digital watch to make sure of the speed I was traveling. It sure helped. When you think you are traveling 12 miles in an hour of training, and you are only going 8-9 miles, you get your mental picture all balled up, and this translates to problems when in an actual ride. This is not to say there haven't been rides which were marked long, but that is another topic. I remember one rider who swore that her mare WALKED at 12 mph. I bit my tongue to keep from asking her why she didn't just "walk" the entire 50 miles, and her net running time would be just minutes over 4 hours. At the time she was taking 7-8 hours net to do a 50. As a bookkeeper, I knew her calcs were way off, but I used this info to place ahead of her many a time. The long term outcome of this problem for new riders is that they have NOT built any stamina with their poor calculating of speed/distance/time. They get mentally tired way too soon, and it can take them alot of re-assessing before they get to the bottom of the problem. I remember how worn out I was at rides the first year, and it wasn't any fun. Now I have to start all over due to a bad back injury. NOt really looking forward to it, either. Riders have to also realize that LD riders have NOT finished until they meet criteria. Don't stop at the "finish line" and chat with the volunteers. Time is ticking away really fast...Tick Tock.......Keep moving to the P/R line for your finish. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|