This weekend’s awesome ride starts easy on the W&OD trail from Leesburg and go south once we get to Purcelville for a short loop. After that we have a very scenic route up to Lovettsville. Return is through Loyalty road and scenic waterford for a very fast finish on Dry Mill rd… Reward is waiting for us at Fireworks pizza in Leesburg !!!! It’s going to be a great ride.

See the ride map and cue sheet below:

Download the Garmin Training Center File(.tcx)
Download the cue sheet (.pdf)
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Hello All,
Today, we have a special article by Andrea Milano, our intrepid and fearless ride leader !!!

Andrea leads bike rides  in the Haymarket and Warrenton area, with several rides during the week, and a longer ride on the weekend. For more details, and to join rides, please join the ‘Fauquier/Haymarket Cycling’ google group.
to get you ready for our rides…
 
 
 
What to bring on a Ride
· Bike – I guess this part is obvious.  A road bike is preferred for the distances we’ll be riding.  It’ll be more comfortable and significantly faster …

We’ve all been there… You finish you bike ride, you’re eating a well-deserved protein-heavy-milk-shake at the coffee shop after a long hard ride, and you start talking about the ride:
‘This was a great ride, my Average power was 178 watts, but I managed to pull an NP of 223 watts, which is quite good for my FTP of 240. My average BPM was 156, close to my LTHR of 161. This ride was brutal with an IF of 0.93, and TSS of 129’

Yes, the above sentence was written in English, …

I suck at weight management. There, I said it !!!
Everyone knows I have trouble managing weight throughout the year. In spite of that, I do try, and I regularly monitor my weight… One my favorite home gadgets is my Withings scale:
This beauty allows me to track my weight, as well, as fat%, giving me readings on my lean mass and fat mass totals. What’s best of all… as soon as I step on the scale, it updates my information online, allowing me to create graphs like this

This graph …

Last weekend we went out to do the Bay Country Century.
This century is part of the list of century rides I was tracking on my list of century rides, and it was a last minute decision to go. It’s good when they don’t sell out and there is room to go on last minute notice.
The century started at Owings, MD at the Northern Middle School, and had a very nice scenic route, but surprisingly filled with short but steep climbs. A total of 4,453 ft of climbing was not what …

The Skymass ride !!!
This ride starts at Front Royal, foes to Skyline, for the Cat 2 climb from the gate, then heads to 211, for a fast descent to Luray. From there, we tackle Massanutten moutain for our second Cat 2 climb of the day. From there… easy riding back to Front Royal… If your legs are still alive that is

Garmin Training Center (.tcx)
Best format for turn by turn directions on Garmin Edge 500 Cycling GPS Will provide true turn by turn navigation on Garmin Edge 800 GPS Cycling …

Fast and flat ride from Vint Hill. This ride uses very flat and very flat roads around Vint Hill all the way down to Quantico and back.
With only 1,410ft of climbing for 45 miles, this is ideal terrain for getting pacelines and get average speed in excess of 20 mph.

Garmin Training Center (.tcx)
Best format for turn by turn directions on Edge 500. Will provide true turn by turn navigation on Edge 800 including custom cue entries.
GPX Route (.gpx)
Only the cuesheet entries, not the entire track. Useful for the Garmin Edge …

This an out-and-back ride on Skyline drive. Unlike doing the complete gate-to-gate ride, this does not require someone to pick you up at the end of the ride. just park at the visitor center at dickey ridge and head south where Skyline meets 211, then just head back. The 2nd part of the ride is easier and allows you to push on the way back knowing that returning will be easier (trust me).
The ride tackles one of the hardest climbs of Skyline drive (211 to panorama, a Cat 2 climbs). …

Today, I’m dissecting everybody’s favorite mountain ride… Skyline Drive.

Skyline Drive runs 104 miles north and south along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park and is the only public road through the park. You can enter Skyline drive at

Front Royal near Rt. 66 and 340,

Thornton Gap at Rt. 211,

Swift Run Gap at Rt. 33, and

Rockfish Gap at Rt. 64 and Rt. 250 (also the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway).

The directions for the Front Royal visitor center, situated at mile 4,  can be found at …

Starts in Leesburg, tackles Woodburn and Harmony Church road on route to Purcelville, then heading North to Lovetsville, almost to the Maryland border, along the very nice flat roads on rt 690. This route avoids most hills in the area for a good moderate training ride.

See the ride map and cue sheet below:

Garmin Training Center (.tcx)
Garmin Training Center (.tcx)
Best format for turn by turn directions on Garmin Edge 500 Cycling GPS Will provide true turn by turn navigation on Garmin Edge 800 GPS Cycling Computer including …

Hooray !!! It’s skyline ride !!!
The ride avoids the hardest climbs of Skyline drive (gate to dickey ridge and 211 to panorama, which are both Cat 2 climbs). This ride still has plenty of Cat 3 and Cat 4 for your enjoyment.

Here’s how to get to Dickey Ridge.

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July 2012 UPDATE: I have now made a review and comparison of PowerCal. See my new post with detailed review and powertap comparison here.
One of he big, and most surprising product announcements from Cycleops two weeks ago was the all-new PowerCal heart rate monitor.
This new device is an ANT+ heart rate monitor strap with a twist… Based on your heart rate, it derives the power you are producing. This is a very surprising announcement from a company that is almost a standard and helped open up and democratize the power …