Sunday, November 29, 2020

6 bike climbs in 7 days


43 mph on the way down


Spent 3 more days on the boat this week.  Went out on Thanksgiving day and stayed out til Saturday.   Each day I did the bike climb up Raccoon Mtn.  It was beautiful and hard to leave the amazing beauty of the TN River gorge.   So, 7 days in a row of workouts, but only one on the track.

These bike climbs were good overall fitness, not particularly conducive to speed, but good cardio/calorie burning.  The last ascent on Saturday, I pushed it and made it to the East Overlook in 35:34,  I think my quickest climb.  Heart rate is not like a hard track workout, it's like stairmaster, about 126 - 140 bpm.  Intensive tempo workouts will push my heart rate to the max - approaching 170.

It was a little warmer these few days, although I put up the full canvass and turned on the heat at night.  I did make one trip into Chattanooga to pick up and order from Panera.  I was originally planning to go home on Saturday, but I stayed for the day.  After the bike climb, I headed up river into the gorge where I spent a lot of time just floating down river just off shore, drinking hot tea, watching wildlife, and looking at the shoreline.  I found a rare pristine sandy beach to walk on.  No footprints but mine and the great blue heron - social distancing at it's best.   

With harsh weather coming, I got home Sat. evening and winterized the boat on Sunday morning.  With cold and snow in the offing for Mon. and Tues. morning, I'll probably not return to the track til Wed. Winter will definitely arrive this week with low temps forecast to be 21º Mon and Tues night and up to 3" of snow by Tues morning, highs in the 30ºs.  Rest of the week: mid 40ºs day, mid 20ºs night.  

I just bought yet another pair of Clifton 1s on Ebay.  Becoming a hoarder of Clifton 1s.  I will have 4 pair of Clifton 1s and the Rincons.  

It was a memorable trip.   Boat ran great.


Morning fog in the gorge

Golden sand TN River Beach

Sunset by the river



Selfie from the top
Raccoon Mtn Visitors' Center





No comments:

Post a Comment