Ingolf Ultra Distance Cycling

Solid endurance training this weekend. Was pushing for a 300+ miles for …

Solid endurance training this weekend. Was pushing for a 300+ miles for the weekend. Had 155 on Saturday and 152 on Sunday. Did not go for faster speed. It was simply mental preparation and saddle time. Funny some may wonder why … I could answer because I can but reality is even I sometimes struggle on long rides. It was crazy this morning after 40 miles I debated myself if I may call it a day after 100 miles or if I shall try to get about 145 miles in (to get a total of 300). Today around mile 75 I joined a local group doing the ‘Easy Sunday Morning’ ride. And even I did my share of pulling after the ride and me being at mile 115 I decided to add a decent loop to get over 140 miles. Happy I was able to get it over 150. It was a mindset fight more than physical fight … glad I pushed for it. At the end I decided to add a few miles going into headwind only to see how I do. Overall a good solid weekend of endurance training. Glad I did stick to it.

posted by ingolf2314 at 13:27

I would not have imagined to be in the lead for first half year. It's go…

I would not have imagined to be in the lead for first half year. It's going to change next month due to at least 2 extremely strong racers much younger. in addition whats cool for me ... I have done racing completely self-supported only so far and will continue to not use a support crew for the next races. Support crew get the racer much better and continues supply of nutrition and drinking supply plus at night provides protection and much more visibility due to the lights. Difference in average speed is more than many might imagine (I have done both options now). The cool thing ... I am not using coaching help and no crew mans I run the race season 2025 on extremely tight budget. So it's possible to be successful even with limited funding available. 🙂 Getting ready for my next race as my biggest challenge in 2025.

posted by ingolf2314 at 13:25

What a cool race and training weekend. We are in May and … i try to have…

What a cool race and training weekend. We are in May and … i try to have at least a special event every month. 🤣😂🤪. Ok maybe not every month. For May it was the 12 hour Calvins Challenge National Championship Race. Its my first time on that and … weather was a bit tough. Extreme wind plus I admit I am racing without support crew. So far all races self-supported only. Downside in that race. So we got informed to ride the long lap as long as we can finish it and than switch to the short lap. With crew support besides getting food handed I would have been told its ok switching after second lap due to the insane wind. So I was one of the very few who did 3 of the long laps. That did cost me easy well over 10 miles after analyzing my data. But no complaints since I was focusing only on myself. I treated the race as a training race for my big race. That extreme headwind is equivalent to a 10% climb. So I was not unhappy. First stop after 100 miles and second stop after 150 miles. The lost time in lap 3 made me push hard on short loop to not miss the 200 mile marker. So I finished 1st in my age group and 5th overall. Also … I was one of the very few so named self-supported racers. So am am ok with the result since 12 hour races is not my specialty. Sunday I relocated to Helen GA so I can do a week of climbing’s. Normally after such tough race I would take it easy … ended up with a bit over 40 miles and over 5000 ft of elevation gain. Admittedly … I am tired now. Some may state thats a foolish idea to do such training after the race. No argument on may end … current focus is fun on riding not a overly tight training schedule … and I love climbibg. Overall it was cool even I am exhausted.

posted by ingolf2314 at 12:14

After 4 month into season 2025 I have an unexpected ranking in the World…

After 4 month into season 2025 I have an unexpected ranking in the WorldCup. Thats with full time work and limited training options. Very happy with the snapshot well knowing it will change soon. 💪

posted by ingolf2314 at 08:32

Helen Georgia Gran Fondo Race in Appalacian Mountains ... Had a cool Geo…

Helen Georgia Gran Fondo Race in Appalacian Mountains ... Had a cool Georgia Gran Fondo Race in Helen GA today. Miles are including warmup and cooldown mainly used for travel from/to my van. Result was not perfect but goal was to use it more as a training race. Did use a bicycle thats not setup for climbing specifically. Had my climbing bike with me but I wanted to test the Madone Gen8 with aerobars setup with the larger front chainrings ... Yes was needed to see how it would feel like in Race around Poland. So it felt better than expected and looks like I need no special adjustment on the setup. Had a faster overall average speed and was able to improve my PR's on lots of the sections including climbing. So that was a good test and shows the new Madone Gen8 is capable to do acceptable climbing and is doing better than the old Gen6. Happy with the outcome. Will do a few more Gran Fondo races to test more things but some of them most likely might switch back to either Emonda SLR or take the aerobars off the Madone SLR. Time will tell. At least a cool Race.