So far, so good.

Today, I did Amalfi loops (four of them) with the Perpetuem, and had no nausea, no gas, and no emergency potty stops (except one when I had to pee, but that doesn't count).

I had two bottles - one with water and a Nuun tablet, and one with the Perpetuem. I worked back and forth between the two and it seemed to go well. The only problem is that I got the strawberry vanilla Perpetuem and it tastes like watered down depression. It's not gross, it's just.. sad. Watery and sad.

Which is a shame, because I like the strawberry Recoverite. So I'm going to try the Orange Vanilla Perpetuem and see if that's less depressing. They also make a flavorless, which might not be a bad idea, except that no one around here seems to carry it.


Should you care to peruse, here's today's Strava ride data. Remember, when you look at how slow I'm climbing, that Gary doesn't have a compact crank or a granny gear and weighs over 20 lbs. He's not fat, though. He's just big-boned.






Guess it's not so bad. I did get "Queen of the Mountain".

The Amalfi loop is like a big mind you-know-what. It's got a climb, followed by a flat section, followed by a climb, followed by a flat section, followed by a climb that makes me want to cry. Or barf. Either works.

Here's where I wiped out a couple of weeks ago:

My nemesis. Note extreme banking on the right side. That's where I went down.

 This is "Chainbreaker Hill" looking back from the top:

Goodbye chain, it was nice knowing you.

It looks fairly innocent, except that it comes after a nice downhill so you're in a high gear, and then it goes from a gentle slope to a really crappy incline and that's where the chain breaks due to too much of le torque. Luckily, this hasn't happened to me, as I'm too much of a wimp to even try this one on the big chain ring.


And last, but not least, is "Surprise Hill". You know you're just about done with the loop, you've had a nice downhill and then a nice stretch of flat street and you start getting optimistic and thinking that you got this shit handled and then.. Surprise! It's a hill! D'oh! 

Surprise Hill

End of the ride view of the Pacific Ocean:

Dammit, forgot my swimsuit and bike lock. Next time.

Ocean Ave. and San Vicente Blvd.

I'm always tempted to take the commuter to the hills as it's got a granny gear and the climb would suck marginally less, but the point of this loop is to get stronger.

And tired.

Very, very tired.

I'm meeting a friend in Santa Monica for dinner tonight, so I'll grab the beater bike and stay in a low gear.