Training at Hains Point

[rcannon100]

Well you can get a good breeze off the rio that can make it feel like biking uphill. Hains Point is outside my office door. I bike around it once in a while. My main take away: boring. I would rather do the Arlington Loop…. or just decide you are going to do X miles, strap the GPS on the bar – and wander until the odometer shows that you have completed your sander.

[Tim Kelley]

Riding laps there is great for working on your 1-8 minute power. Riding stop sign to stop sign at your threshold is an excellent way to build up your fitness. Or taking the front side easy and then slowly ramping up speed along the back into a sprint is another popular riding style. (Which is what most of the noon and Thursday night rides do).

If you have the time and inclination, it’s also the perfect place to get in a Sub-5 hour century ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/9568344 Doing something like this trains your mental toughness (staying focus in boring conditions) as well as working on building consistent base. There are no hills so you can’t coast, which means you are always pedaling, which can be quite taxing if you aren’t prepared for it.

[Certifried]

@Tim Kelley 23318 wrote:

There are no hills so you can’t coast, which means you are always pedaling, which can be quite taxing if you aren’t prepared for it.

Wait, you don’t pedal down hills?! That’s when I pedal the hardest LOL

[Tim Kelley]

@Certifried 23321 wrote:

Wait, you don’t pedal down hills?! That’s when I pedal the hardest LOL

Considering this is more of a fitness thread than a commuting thread, it depends on the hill but it’s a case of diminishing returns. The faster you go downhill the more wind resistance there is. You’d be more economical in the long run to pedal harder going up the hill than taking it easy it up the hill and then sprinting down.

Unless that is, you’ve been dropped by the group and are pedaling the hardest to catch back up…

[PotomacCyclist]

Ride around Hains Point on the next super-windy day. That will be as close as you can get to a hill workout on a flat road! A couple years ago I was riding there on a day with 35-40 mph wind gusts. At the south turn, I could barely stay upright on the tri bike. I probably had to lean over 30-35 degrees. I was struggling just to hit 8 mph on that section. (But as soon as I made the turn and had the wind at my back, I got an immediate boost of 10 mph+.)

I do some tempo and VO2 max workouts there. (Sometimes I do those workouts on hills in Arlington instead.) East Potomac Park is nice when it’s not that crowded. But it’s frustrating when one of those massive tour buses rides down the middle of the road, blocking off both lanes while moving at 10 mph.

[Dirt]

HP is a great place to train your mind and your body. It isn’t that interesting, so you’re forced to focus on power, endurance, form and dancing with tour buses. I’ve done more laps at Hains Point this year than in the previous 20 years combined. I’ve enjoyed them too.

The key to riding there is to balance getting a good workout with setting a good example as a cyclist. Navigating the 3 stop signs safely and responsibly is important. Honestly, I don’t come to a complete stop every time I get to a stop sign at Hains. I do slow way down and travel the intersections safely. If there’s traffic anywhere near the intersection, I do come to a stop and take my turn politely.

While I’ve been away for a week or so, I do many kinds of training rides at Hains Point. 3.5km accelerations (with a 1.5km rest between) is one kind of interval that I do a lot. I’ll do a minimum of 3, but usually 5 or 6 in a set where each interval is a little faster than the previous one. This interval is nice because you have no stop signs in that section of the loop.

I also do longer 30km efforts (6-laps). These are a little more tricky because you have stop signs to deal with and the higher traffic side of the loop. Just be safe and responsible and accelerate when you can. If you do them at a non crowded time of day, you can get a good workout in. On this workout I work to accelerate a little bit through the whole interval. I start with a reasonably fast lap, then try to shave 5-10 seconds off each 5km lap until I’m seriously honking up a lung at the end of lap 6. Again… dealing with traffic and riding the stop signs responsibly is MORE important than the lap times. This can be done safely and politely. Please make that priority one!

My training is far from scientific. Basically I just goof off and push myself hard in the process. That keeps it fun and interesting for me. I like having other people to ride with, even if I just see them for a few seconds as I pass or get passed.

Did I mention that you need to make being safe and polite at the intersections and on the lap the most important thing? You get the point.

Love,

Pete

[rcannon100]

I say this with the greatest of affection for you two, but why do it if its boring If part of the training is dealing with the boredom, then there is something I dont understand. (And this really isnt meant to be a challenge – the next time we are sitting and having a beer, I would love to hear why you guys do it).

For me, as discussed in the Work / Life thread, its intensity on the mellow road to no where. Today, if I get the work/life out of the way (this weekend its power cleaning the side walk…. no wait, I really could benefit from some *boredom* training)…. if I get done, then I may go wander the trails of fairfax, just cause I love the ride. Its the joy of the ride which helps me attend to the other parts of the week (like power cleaning the sidewalk)

[RESTONTODC]

@rcannon100 23326 wrote:

I say this with the greatest of affection for you two, but why do it if its boring If part of the training is dealing with the boredom, then there is something I dont understand.

Group ride at HP is very fun, not boring. It’s a great place to do the paceline. You can get up there to pull until you tired and fall back in line. You don’t worry about getting lost if got dropped.

[jabberwocky]

@Tim Kelley 23318 wrote:

…it’s also the perfect place to get in a Sub-5 hour century ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/9568344 Doing something like this trains your mental toughness (staying focus in boring conditions)…

Thats the biggest understatement I’ve ever seen on this forum. :p

[TwoWheelsDC]

Well to sounds like it may be worth it to breeze through and do some laps after work. It’s on my way home, so that’s no biggie. I guess I just need to put a little thought into how I do those laps. No freaking way I’m doing a century out there though…doing one on the W&OD was bad enough, I can’t even imagine how bad it would be at HP…so tip o’ the cap to you on that one Tim! I think I’ll keep putting most of my effort into the hills though…gives me a chance to explore and not get bored.

[PotomacCyclist]

Note that the Park Police sometimes monitor the intersection on the east side of the park. They have issued tickets to cyclists for failure to stop at the sign, according to several reports. I’ve seen the parked police car there a couple times.

Though it’s generally safe, a couple years ago a cyclist was actually hit by a speeding Park Police car near that intersection. I don’t remember who was at fault, but a few of the Park Police officers tend to drive through that area at fast speeds.

The best time to ride at Hains Point is in the spring, when the cherry blossoms are at their peak. During that week you can’t say that the park is boring.

Other items that can enliven a ride through the park:

– Ride along Ohio Drive when maintenance crews have set up the irrigation piping system to water the trees and grass. At those times, there will be large jets of water spraying directly across the road. Be extra-sure to wear a helmet because you will get smacked by a water jet in the side of the head. Not enough to knock you over but you’ll certainly feel it.

– High tide on the Potomac River after heavy rains. Of course, if the road is flooded, skip the ride and go elsewhere. You can sometimes see the nearby sidewalks completely under water. The ducks could be swimming close to the road.

– Speaking of ducks, look out for the mother ducks waddling along with their brood across the road in the spring. They tend not to look out for cars or cyclists. You’ll have to look out for them.

– Look out for other wildlife. While we may not have lions and tigers and bears in the park, there is a very curious fox in that park. I don’t remember if I’ve seen any rabbits there.

– Ninja runners and walkers. LOTS of them in the park at twilight and into the evening. Even if you have a bright light, if you ride there after sunset, you may have to slow down a bit to provide more of a safety margin for possible encounters with the ninjas (people wearing all-dark clothing at night).

– Four-way traffic. Huh? People tend not to follow any particular rules about which direction they should travel on Ohio Drive. Thus I see cyclists, runners, walkers, roller bladers and dog walkers moving in both directions on the road. On busy days, you can actually have four-way traffic, meaning that some people will be moving counterclockwise on the inner lane, clockwise on the inner lane, counterclockwise on the outer lane and clockwise on the outer lane. Sometimes all at once on the same section of road. It gets a little crazy sometimes.

– Dog leashes. One woman was walking her dogs on a very long leash, maybe 30 feet. She let her dogs wander across the road while she decided to stay on the other side. Thus, the leash extended across both lanes of the road, acting as a very effective tool to clothesline unsuspecting cyclists. Fortunately I could see the leash far enough in advance that I could slow down and shout out about the leash.

– Short-term studies of the effect of wind. If you ever doubted how much a headwind or tailwind can affect you, ride along Ohio Drive and keep track of your speeds. Most likely you will travel much faster on one side of the park than on the other, because of the wind. I usually notice a difference of 3-5 mph. But on really windy days, the difference can be more than 10 mph.

[dbb]

@PotomacCyclist 23338 wrote:

– Look out for other wildlife. While we may not have lions and tigers and bears in the park, there is a very curious fox in that park. I don’t remember if I’ve seen any rabbits there.

I’ve seen wild turkeys and foxes in the morning on Hains Point.

Sometime soon, the NPS will likely be blocking the entrance to HP because of the July 4 fireworks. I’ve noticed it the past couple of years.

[Dirt]

@PotomacCyclist 23338 wrote:

Though it’s generally safe, …

You successfully identify the things to be careful of at Hains Point. Just looking at it that way makes it sound like one of the most dangerous places to ride. If course you need to look out for those things. Be careful out there. It is still arguably the safest road that is open to traffic to ride in Washington DC.

Be aware of your surroundings and you’ll be fine at Hains Point.

Rock on!

Pete

[PotomacCyclist]

I wasn’t making a list of hazards, just some notable items. I don’t consider a fox to be a threat, just a curiosity. Same with the ducks. I think they’re funny to watch. I don’t even mind the water jets that much, especially on hot days.

[jrenaut]

That’s how the ducks get you. They lull you into a false sense of security, and then when your back is turned . . .

[Author]

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