2019 by the Numbers

I struggled physically all year in 2019. I felt tired nearly every workout and struggled to finish what felt easy before. I felt zesty and invigorated only a handful of days. I felt like I spent weeks and weeks feeling too fatigued to move. As you can see from the weekly bar chart, my activity trended up and down all year long, like a wave. It’s like I spent a few weeks working really hard, only to find I never got to the reward of feeling better. Then I’d rest. The cycle repeated over and over. The chart matches my memory. in 2019 I spent many weeks feeling like I was “peaking”, like I reached my personal best. The weekly bar chart matches that memory. You can see a gradual build until a few weeks of peak performance in the summer, after which I rested. The weird thing is I feel like I didn’t do as much activity in 2019 as I had in many years. However, my activity was quite higher than 2017. I did have some technical difficulties with my hardware in 2017, so I had more untracked workouts that year than the others, but I don’t think I missed so many as to make the difference shown. Why did 2019 feel so bad? It is aging? Is it because 2018 was so fantastic? Is it a glitch in life, perception, or my hardware? Who knows?

While I can’t help but be full of intentions and expectations for my physical self in 2020, I want to also take time to congratulate myself and recognize that I am still doing well even if it doesn’t feel that way.

Trying Zwift for the first time

I set the bike up on the new trainer this morning. I hadn't had the bike on the trainer since last spring. I tried TrainerRoad out before and found it OK, but the interface appeared outdated and uninspired for something with a monthly fee. So, today I tried Zwift. Such a different experience! Zwift gamified indoor training. I am not much of a gamer, but I must admit that "unlocking achievements" and choosing my own virtual kit entertained the crap out of me!

The screenshot above shows my avatar taking a break on the side of the road in an underwater tunnel.  In a virtual world, I get to ride in places I never would in real life. This program also includes other people like me, all over the world, who are doing the same route as me at the same time. Avatars can interact by giving thumbs up or even text-based messages. The expansive community appeared warming, pleasant, and positive. A group riding at my pace were concerned about their buddy, Andy, who wasn't keeping up the pace today. They cheered him on, and extended best wishes when he dropped out. I have no idea who Andy is, or if these other people even knew, but I felt encouraged by all their support. 

After I finished the ride, I figured out how to add modifications, like how to add a helmet and change my hair. The more you do, the more options you get. There are fun medals you can earn, like the "stalker"- an award for following another rider's progress for at least 15 minutes.

I started out with the FTP test, to get an idea of my starting place. Sadly, my FTP score flashed across the screen at the end of the ride and I have no idea how to see it again. I remember it being lower than I thought it would be. I averaged 190 watts during the test, but the watt level it gave me was much lower. I thinks that's disappointingly unmeasurably low beginner level. However, the recommended watts that the test told me to ride at seemed incredibly low. I felt like I was barely pedaling for the first 30 minutes. For the test, I had to ride at a pace I felt like I could maintain for 20 minutes steady. I think I did a good job riding at the same pace throughout, and think I matched the recommended watts pretty well for each segment. Since I am not used to indoor training, I have no idea how my performance matched what I can do outside, or how how well I can do period. 

The bike felt like it leaned to the right, which distracted me. I worried that the rear triangle would snap off the trainer and I'd crash to the ground with a broken bike. I tried to offset the lean by leaning to the left, but I felt uneven throughout. I called my live-at-home-barista (aka bf) over to look at the bike. He could see how much I leaned to the left, but didn't think the bike leaning to the right was much of a concern. We both contemplated it's placement. Since the drive train of the trainer is off-center compared to the placement of a wheel, it was hard to tell if it was aligned correctly. 

Ride details are below. Apparently I rode on an island near Papua New Guinea today. I wish I could see the results of the fit test. If I continue using this app, I'll have to do the test again after I get my bearings a bit. 

After riding, I took my sweat-soaked (you really sweat riding indoors!) self to the other room. The afore-mentioned home barista made banana pancakes for breakfast while playing Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes on the radio. Because it was raining outside. Even though it was raining, I got to get in my ride and some pancakes, too!

Ride to Peavy Arboretum

On the last day in June, I had the grand opportunity to log some training rides in my old stomping grounds. I don't get to ride in Corvallis often, but when I do, I have a lot of fun reminiscing. I rode to Peavy Arboretum. I used to drive out to this place to run on the trails. Can you believe it? I used to run? What was I thinking. I biked here a few times too, in the summer when most of the students were away. 

This short ride qualified as epic. Google sent me on a dead end. This wouldn't have been too bad, expect going there required me to cross a busy highway, and I had to cross it again to back track. Then I plowed down the Crescent Valley hill, happy that I wouldn't have to climb up it, only to find the road closed at the bottom. I had to climb up it anyway. Then, at the very end of the ride, I fell off my bike while stopped in the drive way! 

I went  up a hill, err, mountain, I didn't know existed in Corvallis. Maybe I rode it once and blocked the memory out, I am not sure. Vinyard Mountain is accessed via Concord Drive. There is a Strava segment called grape crush that I crushed! That felt awesome!

Shocking analysis of the Dexter Climb

When I started commuting to work years ago, I made it a goal of mine to span the entire Dexter Climb without dropping below 10mph. The special thing about this hill is that it creeps up on you. You start climbing. It becomes a bit of a bottleneck as you find yourself passing other cyclists just as more still are passing you. You make it past the bus stop and to the end of this , nice steady hill. And then. That's where the hill really starts. Suddenly, you realize it’s gotten steeper and longer. You look ahead, and you can’t see where the hill ends. If you pushed already, you don’t have enough push now to keep the pace. Finally, you can see ahead and it looks like the road levels out. But your eyes are lying to you. It’s still a hill and it doesn’t give up being a hill until you get all the way to the intersection. You know you’ve won when you cross the line of cars waiting for you faster than a snail, with a little breath and dignity left.
Today I pushed up the hill with everything I had. I thought it would be fun to compare Strava’s analysis with yesterday, when I strolled up the hill in a daze and no ambition. 

Todays' aggressive Dexter Climb

Yesterday's chilled out Dexter Climb

Yesterday I didn’t purposefully go slowly up the hill, I just carried on normally. Today I really tried. I gave it all I got. Just as I crested that last bit of hill I could barely muster the energy to make it to the end. It was the sort of effort where my legs went numb and my peripheral vision went black. Still, I stood on the bike and gave it everything. The monstrous difference in perceived effort appeared to be just that- a different in perceived effort. My cadence and heart rate were the same. I finished the climb a whopping 1 second faster. This seems to fit, given that I can coast all the way into work versus pound it to work and the difference in time is negligible. My peak heart rate was 2 beats higher today, which is interesting given the vast difference in perception. Most notably was a spike in pace part way through today’s climb. I passed someone on a folding bike before a bus bump out and tried really hard to pass them with enough oomph that I wouldn’t slow them down when I went in front of them. Perhaps the results would have been more impressive had it not been for that obstacle. Other than that, I am surprised in how similar each climb appears when just looking at the data. 

Today's aggressive Dexter Climb Analysis 

Yesterday's chilled-out Dexter Climb Analysis

Exploring Strava

Screenshot of this morning's "flybys"- I am the hollow black dot in the middle of the map.

I signed up for a Strava account for the first time a few weeks ago. I’ve been hearing about this cycling app/community for years, and always steered clear of it because everything I heard leaned toward competition. I am not in it (whatever “it” is) to beat anyone or win anything. Strava seems like the app of choice for cyclists, however, so I finally decided to give it a try. 
Immediately I can see the social pieces it builds right into the experience, whether you want them or not. They are somewhere very close to the fine line separating “totally cool and barrier-breaking” to “creepy and invasive”. 
For example, last Sunday I joined Cascade Bicycle Club for a group ride. I loaded my ride data into Strava, and the first thing it showed me was several other Strava users who went on the same bike ride. Even though I don’t know their names (we had 3 pace groups and some 45 people) much less their Strava usernames, Strava’s system easily calculated that we all went on the same bike ride together. Each person gave the ride a different name, but Strava knew. It knew we were all together. 
This morning I used Strava to track my morning commute. Stava’s “flybys” feature tracked other Strava users who I passed or passed me this morning. Not only did it track them, it provided me wither their names, routes, route speeds, and the exact point where we met on each other’s route. I’ve been naming the regular commuters for years, but only in my head. In theory, I could learn not just the name of “high cadence grey backpack lady” but also where she lives and works and how fast she rides overall. What about “flappy yellow rainjacket guy”? Strava could take my commute to a whole new level. 

"flyby" data from my Sunday group ride

A screenshot of my “flyby” data from my Sunday group ride is pasted above. Alexa, positioned below me, what the ride leader. I assume we only matched 96% because my phone stopped tracking just a few miles before I finished the ride. All the other people, well, they must have been on the ride, too.