Where did you ride your Cannondale today?

[Jon K.]

I admire folks who can do the indoor trainer routine. I have a set of rollers that I used for a while back when I raced a bit, and a Serotta fit bike with a magnetic resistance gizmo. I don't get beyond thinking about dragging one of them out for actual use.
What is your perceived effort in the 110-120 heart beat range? When I used a monitor my average on road rides would be in the 150 bpm range.

So far as "indoor trainer routine", it's pretty simple for me. Do some stretching, put on my shoes and gloves, grab a towel for sweat duty, get on, clip in, start the pedals turning and turn OFF the brain until the timer on the iPhone signals 45 minutes. (Actually did 50 minutes last night so I could claim 500+ "total calories" burned.)

Hm, I'm not good at judging "perceived effort." I would say that I'm in Zone 2, based on the "if you can talk, but someone would know that you're exercising" measure. However, the Apple Watch thinks my max heart rate is 163 (where it got that number, I'm not sure) and the heart rate reserve calculations - 70 to 80 percent of (max hr - resting) + resting - would give me a Zone 2 range of 132 to 142 bpm.

I think the highest I've touched on the trainer is 124 beats per minute. You have to remember, I'm a 65-year-old late-to-workouts guy who has had two heart attacks, an ICD implanted in my chest due to the heart attacks reducing my ejection fraction to around 35% (on the borderline for a-fib), and pulmonary embolisms in both lungs at the same time. I consider pushing my heart rate over 110 bpm pretty darn good under the circumstances. My GP and cardiologist have told me to "keep doing what you're doing."

I really can't afford a Wahoo Kickr or Tacx Neo 2T or one of the other fancy direct-drive smart trainers. I could afford a wheel-on smart trainer, but since I'm not really interested in "social cycling" indoors, I'd probably best be served by cadence and speed sensors.

 

[IdahoBrett]

I think the highest I've touched on the trainer is 124 beats per minute. You have to remember, I'm a 65-year-old late-to-workouts guy who has had two heart attacks, an ICD implanted in my chest due to the heart attacks reducing my ejection fraction to around 35% (on the borderline for a-fib), and pulmonary embolisms in both lungs at the same time. I consider pushing my heart rate over 110 bpm pretty darn good under the circumstances. My GP and cardiologist have told me to "keep doing what you're doing."

Very inspirational paragraph! @Jon K.

In a time long past I was physically active. I was in a decade long section of life of poor physical fitness when I got into cycling two years ago this coming summer. I’ve lost 45 lbs.(20kg’s) and feel so much better. I hope to stay in the saddle riding my Cannondale’s for as long as I can.

 

[Jon K.]

Very inspirational paragraph! @Jon K.

In a time long past I was physically active. I was in a decade long section of life of poor physical fitness when I got into cycling two years ago this coming summer. I’ve lost 45 lbs.(20kg’s) and feel so much better. I hope to stay in the saddle riding my Cannondale’s for as long as I can.

Really?

I don't consider it inspirational. I hate to exercise, the bike indoors is a boring torture rack and outdoors it is a risk-filled terror that's cost me a bunch in medical bills. But I do it.

I really shouldn't be so self-deprecating. I didn't grow up being exposed to sports - Dad wasn't all that interested, outside of the occasional game of golf with his or my Mom's brothers - but I did try some when I was young.

I joined a summer club swim team when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I wasn't all that good, less than mediocre, but it was a small team in a smallish town in Ohio, so it wasn't like there was Olympic-level competition. I did learn all the strokes, but was never very fast at any of them. I didn't continue training after high school.

I did a couple of 10k running races in college, but barely trained for them and only got through them due to sheer cussedness. I don't think I ever broke a 10-minute mile.

About the most active I've been since is playing tournament table tennis, again at a very low level and in a very on-and-off fashion. I'm bad enough that at the last tournament, I was beaten in a five-game match by an eight-year-old.

 

[IdahoBrett]

Yes, really Jon. It read, to me at least, that you were knocking on Deaths’ door.

The inspiration is that it seems you’re not going out of this world without a fight.

I don’t have any diagnosed health issues. But I am 56. Statistically I’m past the halfway point of being alive on Earth. I recently changed my trajectory of an unhealthy lifestyle. I’m not going out of this world without a fight. Cycling is my weapon. My choice of armament is a Cannondale.

So ride on @Jon K. Whether indoors or out, it reads like you are doing the right things. That’s inspirational.

A couple of books I’ve read in the last year; Fast After 50 by Joe Friel and The Midlife Cyclist by Phil Cavell. Good stuff in them pages.

 

[Jon K.]

Yes, really Jon. It read, to me at least, that you were knocking on Deaths’ door.

Not really, so far as I know.

And to explain, since in looking back at my first post about this all, the pulmonary embolisms came long after the heart attacks. The first heart attack was in 2006, the second (thankfully, much more minor, though my cardiologist would argue that none are minor) in 2015. Blasted my way through cardiac rehab both times, but didn't stick with it after.

The embolisms showed up in an MRI or CAT scan in early 2020, after I'd been afflicted with some sort of "mystery flu" ;-) in October/November 2019 that caused me to do nothing but sleep and work for a few weeks and caused changes to my sense of taste and appetite as well. But remember, this was before Covid was supposed to be in the USA....

I would say that I had a mild case of whatever it was. My sense of taste did eventually come back, but not before I went from 252 pounds (as of May 2019) to under 160 in about a year. Try as I might, I couldn't keep the weight from falling off. I was not eating much, so sometimes I would drink eight or ten protein drinks a day - the chocolate ones were the only ones that were really palatable to me.

Then, Mother Nature tried to ensure I wouldn't regain any of the weight I lost - I was diagnosed in February 2021 as a Type II diabetic. I finally cut out sugary soft drinks and sweet tea, though I can't totally give up sugar even now. My blood sugar is pretty well-controlled now, though the drug regime is expensive.

Somewhere along the way, I bought the R600 back from the friend I'd sold it to when I was unemployed for a while, decided I needed to use it if I was going to spend money on the restoration/tune-up/etc., and started riding.

I've contemplated trying the Senior Games triathlon some year, but I haven't swum or run in decades, and I've been having some issues with my left shoulder which would impact my swimming strokes. Maybe I need to hire a physical therapist and an exercise physiologist....

 

[black lightning 1987]

It would be interesting to get a working HRM and see what my rates are these days. According to the 200 bpm minus age rule my max would be 10-20 lower now than I used to average.

 

[IdahoBrett]

It would be interesting to get a working HRM and see what my rates are these days. According to the 200 bpm minus age rule my max would be 10-20 lower now than I used to average.

I just got one! And I'm learnin' myself how to set it up. I shall give a report in the next few days.

I don't remember what my max heart rate was 30+ years ago. I never gave it much of a thought. Even when my coach was having us runners find out what it was. I ran on perceived effort. Not percentage of max heart rate.

But now I want to know.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Will be interested to hear what you bought and how well it works. I've never had one that worked consistently. Still have half a dozen or so new ones (ACT brand) that were evidently cheap on eBay because they don't work very well, and I've had Nashbar, Performance, and Polar in the past.

 

[IdahoBrett]

Will be interested to hear what you bought and how well it works. I've never had one that worked consistently. Still have half a dozen or so new ones (ACT brand) that were evidently cheap on eBay because they don't work very well, and I've had Nashbar, Performance, and Polar in the past.

Bought the Garmin Edge 540 with the bundle; speed & cadence senors, HRM-Dual heart rate monitor.

I rode with it all yesterday. It took me a bit of fumbling to set it all up. I still have to tweak the main screen setup. The HRM worked as advertised. I’d say the old formula of 200-age is outdated. I pedaled up a hill at a perceived 85-90% effort that lasted about 3 minutes and hit 167 at the top. It didn’t feel like I’d hit a max heart rate. I’m a bit past 33. I’ll seek out a max soon. Yesterday was only my 7th ride post injury. Still have some lasting effects. So I’ve only pushed my perceived effort to 90% or so for short bursts.

The ClimbPro feature is pretty neat. Kicks in automatically. That little feature told me I’m not as tough as I thought. A hill I thought was a 5% grade is only 3%. Bummer. I climb that hill during every ride. Can’t wait to climb a “real” hill with the new set up.

I’m so ready to do something other than sprinting through neighborhoods. As far as the Batbike goes that is. But physically? I gotta do some major mileage on my R400 first. And hope and pray my mid fifties body holds together.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I'd agree on the max heart rate. Guessing I could easily top 200 minus age. Wouldn't be surprised to top it by 50 BPM.

 

[Jon K.]

I'd agree on the max heart rate. Guessing I could easily top 200 minus age. Wouldn't be surprised to top it by 50 BPM.

Actually, it's 220-age in all the places I've looked. Of course that's just an estimate, and probably not based on folks who indulge regularly in an exercise routine.

I'm 65, almost 66, so for me, 220-age = 220-65 = 155, so Zone 2 (aka 70-80%) for me would be anywhere from 108.5 bpm to 124.

More accurate, but still an estimate, is (0.7*(max heart rate-resting rate))+resting rate to (0.8*(Max-resting))+resting, which, if I believe my Apple Watch in saying my max heart rate is 163, would be (0.7*(163-60))+60 = 132 to (0.8*(163-60))+60 = 142. Clearly unattainable to me at my current level of fitness. Especially if the perceived effort of Zone 2 is "unable to sing, able to talk but clearly sounding as if you're exercising."

The Zones go up to Zone 5, which is max effort unable-to-sustain-for-more-than -a-few-minutes-unless-you're-a-pro-cyclist. Zone 2 is supposedly where the maximal adaptation for endurance takes place. Y'know ADP and ATP and all that jazz.

I just get on the bike, turn my brain off and roll the pedals over. 'tain't a competition....

 

[IdahoBrett]

Out and about today. It’s Spring! Time to get out and ride!