Rapha Rising day 10- 640 m

rode one of my favorite climbing courses  today it's not as elevated as my other routes probably a category 2-3 so didn't get to many meters in but i am happy to notice much better results, i felt much stronger and better in shape. today's ride really felt effort less compared to how i use to feel before i stated the rapha rising so very happy to see results. Also there is now 483 competitors i am currently ranked 144, i really hope to move up to at least top 100 before the week is over.

Rapha rising day 10 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

Losing my focus to the DARK SIDE. Rapha rising day 7,8,9-513 m :(

 It was Friday morning coming off a great ride the day before & really focused to move up the rankings of the rapha rising i knew Friday & Saturday would be crucial days to put work in.... Well i find out that it's my friends birth day and all the boys are going to celebrate by going camping in the mountains that i usually ride. So i had a tough decision but decided to let loose a little which turned into a lot. Since we were camping in the mountains were i ride i tried to get a little ride in which only came out to 513 M but that was not the upset for me, the real upset was how i indulged myself in alcohol all night with the guys acting like a teenager again into i finally passed out then waking up with the usual hang over that comes with the punishment of acting like a fool, i new my Saturday ride was doomed. Now as for Sunday... another soccer game for me so no ride. so three days lost, & let me not forget to mention that two riders have officially finished so winning this thing has been long out of reached but i will still be happy to see how far i could go just for myself so not giving up.

Rapha rising day 7 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

A rest well worth. another 1,289 M

After taking two days off for Rapha risings day 4 & 5 i rode my best ride yet for day 6. I felt very strong today my knees were felling a lot better but still a little sore. I also signed up for strava.com to track my results for this challenge since it seems that most of the competition is using this website. although i still enjoy garmins website i am liking the more user friendly strava better i found that it keeps your results more in dept & shares your info to others a lot better, it is easy to find local riders & clubs but the downside is that you do have to pay if you want to upload all your rides. Anyways the reason i am mentioning this is because it also let's me see how the competition is going, out of 269 riders in strava i am currently ranked 48 in this Rapha challenge which isn't a bad result so far but there is about 5 really solid riders that are almost impossible to catch up to but i will not stop ridding. My goal is to at least rank top 10 on strava.com

Rapha Rising day 6 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

No dice for Rapha Rising day 4 & 5

Well only being a cyclist for about 6 months now & not wanting to spend the money on getting professionally fitted finally caught up to me. My knee pain finally got the best of me after every ride i realized that i had to adjust something with my saddle height and seat. Turns out that  my saddle height has been a couple inches to low & also my seat was pushed to far back so i was over extending my knee. After spending these two days icing and resting i feel good enough to get back on the road again. These two days off definitely hurt my chance to finish the goal since i had to ride at least 1000 m a day but maybe i could make up for it with the future rides.

                                                         :( get your bike fitted! or else!

972 m + Fireworks! Rapha Rising day 3

Despite it being independence day & witnessing a great win by tyler farrar i was not much in the mood to go riding. I found myself complaining about the heat, stiff knees, & feeling like i was about to overdose on Carbohydrates, but being about 20% Spanish & 50% Mexican i told my mind that i ride better in the heat & it worked. Besides my knees acting up i felt like i had a strong ride today & it turned out to be a good choice to go riding but as my other rides i still think i climb a lot more meters than i really do. This is no easy task i have now realized that this is a true challenge, I just hope i could stay focused & consistent for the upcoming  days.

Rapha Rising day 3 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details  

 

                                            We had the roads all to are selfs today :)

                                           the 4th of July American independence day

No biggie but somethings better than noting, 604 m in the books.

So i had a tough decision today between my Sunday soccer game or  to keep up the climbing. Well i ended up splitting it up  to just enough climbing to not get to tired for my game. It was sort of a bummer only getting in 600 m considering how much fellow competitors are racking up but i did get something in so that's better than noting. The best thing is that i am  not tired & feeling strong for tomorrows ride. I will definitely have to have a great ride tomorrow if i want to stay close to the others.

Rapha Rising day 2 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

                                                not the steepest but this is how the roads look

                                                                  Nice & smooth

                                                     We shall meet again

                                      Not the best cook but this is my recovery meal

1,168 m in 45.0 °C weather = Worst Bonk ever !

So my first ride for the rapha rising didn't go exactly how i thought it would. Within the first hour the sun teamed up with Mt baldy road to destroy me they cracked me like a egg and tried to turn me over easy, as i was on the verge to call it quits early i decided to take a little break to rehydrate and cool off, i soon got right back on my saddle like pancho villa and road right up mt baldy road then up to glendora ridge road at this point it would be half way of what i finished but what i didn't know is that i would soon be out of water. Being a new rider and this being my first summer ride i figured 45oz of water would be good enough well *WRONG* as i started my descent back down i was pretty much in zombie mode. The worst of all i thought i climbed way more than i did the route i chose was not good enough for the climbing so i will be changing my route. On the bright side im still alive and ready to give it another crack.
Rapha Rising day 1 by thewolverine33 at Garmin Connect - Details

                                                                      Gearing up

                                                          loading up on the carbs

                                                       My arch rival. So pretty but yet so mean