April 6 by Denis Osowski
Hello Freewheelers!
At long dark last...daylight savings time! Seems like nobody appreciates DST like cyclists with full time jobs but it is here at last!
With the onset of DST, our Tuesday and Thursday night rides will probably start filling out. Of course there are three factors to big weeknight ride turnouts....light, heat, and the general absence of water molecules in any form. Given that we should be so lucky to achieve all these events in a single evening, consider coming out for what many consider their favorite club activity!
This year we are going to try to bring some organization to the chaos that has sometimes accompanied these revered evening events. Read on for a format that we will try out during the early season. If people like it and show up in significant enough numbers, we'll keep it up. If not, then we shall let anarchy have its way.
Regardless of format, the Tuesday and Thursday rides start at 6:00 pm from the Botzum Trailhead in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (just south of the Bath Road & Riverview Road intersections).
The Tuesday Night Format - Beginning 4/11/06:
Tuesday will offer the traditional group ride with a just a bit of preplanning involved. We are going to try and come up with maps for 12 or so of our favorite ride loops. That's right, a map. We are going to see if we can post them to the website for anyone interested to download prior to the evening's festivities and then call out in advance which ride we're doing for each week. The map will show the general route and provide an additional benefit of showing convenient cut-offs for those who wish to ride a little shorter or try and join back up with the group.
We will also be introducing the concept of the Attack Zone. One of the big drawbacks to club rides is the unpredictable intensity of work one can expect to enjoy. By pre-planning and setting up specific hills, city signs, or other features in advance we hope to provide everyone with at least an idea of what to expect.
The "Attack Zone" concept works like this. Hill tops and city limit signs will be marked on the map (to the best of the map makers ability). At approximately 2km from that feature the ride group enters the "Attack Zone". Anything goes once inside that 2km. Attack early or sit in and wait for the sprint....or just plain sit in....basically just race for the hill top or city sign. Once the attack zone concludes the ride re-groups for those left behind. Generally, the first time we always do a 100% regrouping but then successive regroupings are more like 90%. That's where the map comes in ... those off the back can short-cut back onto the ride. In between Attack Zones the group will ride somewhere between easy recovery and medium tempo with the approximate average speed for the whole ride at between 18mph and 21mph.
The goal of the Tuesday ride will be to simulate race type efforts in a less structured and low pressure situation.
Ride lengths will be approximately as follows:
• Week of April 3 to May 1 (1.5 – 1.75 hrs)
• Week of May 1 to June 5 (1.75 – 2.25 hrs)
• Week of June 5 to July 10 (2.25 – 2.5 hrs)
• Week of July 10 to July 31 (2.5 – 2.25 hrs)
• Week of July 31 to September 4 (2.25 – 1.75 hrs)
• Week of September 4 to October 23 (1.75 – 1.0 hrs)
These ideas really aren't any kind of radical change, it will just be an attempt to formalize what has been going on forever on these rides and make them more enjoyable for everyone.
The Thursday Night Format - Beginning 4/6/06:
On Thursdays will offer a group ride as on Tuesday's but also an alternative for those looking for more even more structured workouts. Many have suggested such an offering and so we are going to give it a try for at least the month of April.
In April, Shawn Adams will be helping us out by coming up with specific workouts for us to execute together as a group. We will still meet at 6:00pm like normal but then those who want structure and those who want a group ride can part company and do their things. The structured workout will warm up for about 30 minutes, commence work for 45 minutes to about an hour (depending on daylight available), and then cool down.
The goal of the Thursday ride will be to provide a more precise workout prescription that riders can count on beyond that which they can in a group ride.
Ride lengths will be approximately as follows:
• Week of April 3 to May 1 (1.5 – 1.75 hrs)
• Week of May 1 to June 5 (1.75 – 2.25 hrs)
• Week of June 5 to July 10 (2.25 – 2.5 hrs)
• Week of July 10 to July 31 (2.5 – 2.25 hrs)
• Week of July 31 to September 4 (2.25 – 1.75 hrs)
• Week of September 4 to October 23 (1.75 – 1.0 hrs)
We don't know exactly what we're going to do in the structured workouts yet but we can promise it will be hard work.
Questions?
If anyone has any questions or comments please forward them to me.
Hope to see you at the rides!
Denis Osowski
President - Summit Freewheelers