Day 3 – Today Was a Challenge

By Mark Heggestad
Never, ever, ever, in all my years of biking, running, downhill skiing, water skiing, etc… have my thighs burned so severely for so long.  Today we climbed up and through Santiam Pass at over 4,800 feet.  We biked 62 miles.  We were slow (average speed of 11.3 MPH), except for the six-mile descent when I maxed out at 40.4 MPH.  That was exhilarating and almost worth the climb. 

In the picture below, half way up the mountain in the background is the road we are biking.  We were past that point about 45 minutes after we took this picture and had another 500 feet to go before we maxed out at 4,800 feet.



This is me saying no big deal, which in retrospect was quite foolish.



Temp today fluctuated quite a bit, but for a good portion of the ride it was around 70 degrees. There was no place to refill water along the entire route, so Bruce came by in the pick-up with refills.  There is no way I would have finished the day without the refills.  Can’t say enough how much easier this entire trip is because we have the support of Bruce. Actually, I believe this trip would be impossible without his support.


We again traveled along a scenic river a good portion of the ride.  Here is typical landscape for today.



For those who are interested, some additional stats from today’s ride:

Total time on bikes = 5 hours, 29 minutes
Average RPM = 72
Calories burned = 3,200
Average heart rate = 140 bpm
Max heart rate = 182 bpm

Tomorrow we will hopefully have a little easier ride to let the body heal.  Total distance anticipated tomorrow is 50 miles with relatively flat terrain.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 4, 2017 at 5:37 AM

    Congrats on the big climb yesterday! Thanks for sharing the pics, commentary and statistics. Will be interested to see how RPM and heart rate change on flat terrain. You certainly won't hit 182 max! What are you doing for re-fueling while biking (besides water)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blessed Beyond MeasureMay 4, 2017 at 11:47 PM

      Water and Gatorade. I eat protein bars, nuts, a fruit, and cheese along the way. I need to do a better job on nourishment.

      Delete
  2. Ed KoullickMay 4, 2017 at 7:01 AM

    Mark, impressive ride and photos. That thighs burning: is it skin chafing?

    ReplyDelete
  3. JohnMay 4, 2017 at 8:43 AM

    Nice job on the climb guys! Gravity is very real....

    ReplyDelete
  4. KujoMay 4, 2017 at 2:10 PM

    My thighs hurt just thinking about it...sitting here with Max enjoying the Pics!

    ReplyDelete
  5. FragrantflowerMay 4, 2017 at 2:21 PM

    Mark, The scenery is fantastic. The hills of course are the toughest part. You did really well on a big one! You are well on your way? Did the radios come in handy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blessed Beyond MeasureMay 4, 2017 at 11:45 PM

      The range of the walkie talkies is very limited in the mountains. Not even a mile. I expect they will work better once we get to flatter terrain.

      Delete

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