It's official...

I am no longer a Beginner. Last night I upgraded my USAC license to Sport class.

I love it when a plan comes together

I'm within striking distance of my weekly goal. I've racked up 5hrs of the 8.5hrs I need for the week. My plan is to get an hour and a half in today, and 2hrs tomorrow, so that I can have New Year's Eve to just kick back and relax.

Last night I rolled with the usual suspects on the Thursday mtb ride night time edition. Although I'm not a big fan of night riding, it's always fun getting out on the mtn bike.

Back to business

Today I got back to my routine. It sure was nice to have a simple bowl of cereal for breakfast.

Yesterday Base 2 got kicked off, and despite it being Christmas day I still managed to log 2.5hrs. Combine that with the hour I got in today, and I'm off to a good start. The amount of mileage and distance that I've racked up since getting my road bike has been substantial. I remember when 2.5-3hrs on my old hardtail would totally kick my butt. When I'd step off the bike I felt like I had been run over. Since that time I've gotten a lot stronger, but the more comfortable road bike has no doubt played a big part. If I get my hours in this week then I'll finish with 600+miles for the month of Dec... the training is, so far, a lot more focused and structured than last year at this time.

Making Merry

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, hopefully Santa brought you some nice stuff. I got some good stuff, including this.
I love Christmas, but I'm glad it's over... there were too many good things to eat, things that are not exactly what you would call nutritious.

Merry Christmas!

Besides getting a couple hours of saddle time in this weekend, I'm in total holiday mode. I might go for 2-3hrs on Christmas day, just so I can eat guilt free.

Anyway, things are gonna be quiet around here at least until Dec 26th...so have a Merry Christmas, and be safe.


I'm outta here.

Battle Royale

In an interesting twist, both Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis are going to do the Leadville 100 next August. It's not everyday that you can say that you lined up for a race, with two TdF winners on the line as well. For those in attendance, it'll make the race that much more memorable.

I wonder if I could handle 14,000ft of climbing?

I'm impressed!

Frenchwoman Jeannie Longo has her eye on the 2008 Olympics....which would be her 7th! She is 48yrs old, so she'll be 50 when the Beijing games open. My hat goes off to her, as she's been competing longer than most of the current pros have even been alive. That just goes to prove the old saying "age is a case of mind over matter...if you don't mind, it don't matter." Full Story

She is proof positive that it is never too late to go after what you want.

Dopey

I have had an epiphany.

When the word "doping" comes up, most people connect that to an athlete using chemical/pharmaceutical means to cheat, but I've come to the conclusion that "doping" means dealing with the USADA/WADA...they're the biggest dopes around.

I've been following the Floyd Landis case/details over at the Daily Peloton forums, and it is quite apparent that the the powers that be are more than happy to bankrupt Floyd to get their win. Now, there are many who consider Floyd to be guilty, and if he gets off it'll be on a technicality. Which is a shame for Floyd, as his reputation is essentially trashed. Now, if you're one of the ones who thinks that Floyd is guilty, then perhaps more concrete proof of the USADA's inane tactics can come from Jason Sager. Jason has been suspended for missing a post race test...which was the fault of the USADA personnel on site.
Since I feel that Floyd is in fact innocent, it is my opinion that both Floyd and Jason (and others) are victims of a deeply flawed system...a system that while created for a noble cause, is not interested in the athletes. They (USADA/WADA) are operating under the credo that "if you've not been sanctioned by us, then you just haven't been caught yet".

It's a load of crap!

My biggest hope is that Floyd wins and it brings to light the flaws in the anti-doping authorities' modus operandi.

Takin' it easy

I kicked off my final week of Base 1 with a 1:20 recovery ride. I was thinking of taking the day off, as my legs were a little sore after yesterday's ride...which was kind of strange as I didn't go all out, in fact my Intensity Factor for the ride was 0.76. For 2+hrs of saddle time that's not an overly high IF number. In any event, it left me sore, so after thinking about it I decided that some active recovery would be better than totally taking the day off.

It was indeed a recovery ride...my avg watts for 1:20 was 183. We'll see tomorrow, but I think it was just what my legs needed.

Nothing like a little Christmas decoration sightseeing while riding.

All quiet on the western front

Things have been kinda quiet lately...not a whole lot to talk about. It's that time of year where schedules become hectic. Tomorrow starts my final week of Base 1. This past week I didn't get my hours in that I had planned, due to Mother Nature having some plans of her own. Today was the only long ride I managed for the week, and it clocked in at just over 2hrs. As of today I've logged 2000 miles on the TCR... that averages out to 500 miles per month.

In other news, I finished reading The Tour, and you need to do yourself a favor and read both The Race and The Tour. Dave Shields has crafted a wonderful story that begs to be read.

Truth in labeling

I was at a party recently, and as usual, there was the standard fare of potato chips and other fattening snacks (all the good and tasty stuff). I took particular notice of the new Lay's chips that are "made with 100% pure Sunflower oil". Combine that with the "0gs of Trans fats", and most people would consider those chips somewhat healthy. Ohh how wrong you are.


Take a look at that ingredient list. The first thing you'll notice is that Sunflower oil is not the only oil. Sure, the Sunflower oil they're using is 100% pure, but it is only one of several oils...and despite the packaging stating 0gs of Trans fats, the "partially hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed oil" says otherwise. That is not really Lay's fault there. The FDA says that if you have 0.5g (or less) per serving of Trans Fats you can say that you have "0g of Trans Fats" on your packaging.

Ok, so you have 0.5g of trans fats per serving, typically a serving of potato chips is around 12-15 chips...how many people eat the exact serving size? I'm thinking double or triple the serving size, and that 0.5g of bad oil multiplies, along with the other fats.

Why do I mention this? As more and more companies start offering "healthy" alternatives, it is still going to pay to look at food labels. I'm doing my best to stay away from foods with man-made ingredients in them. It can be hard...you've got the aforementioned hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and Aspartame, just to name a few.
I try to go organic when I can, but as I said, it can be a challenge.

Anyway, I was just really surprised to read those ingredients.

Change of plans

John Lennon said it best..."life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Yesterday I totally missed out on riding, despite my best intentions. I did get 2.5hrs in today, and I'll get 1.5hrs tomorrow so I'll only be an hour and a half off my weekly goal. Not too bad, all things considered.

Required reading

I've read my share of cycling related books, but they've all been works of non-fiction; training guides/reference, etc. I would like to recommend a book that is a totally fictional story. The Race, by Dave Shields. It's about the Tour De France, and it is one of the best books I've ever read (of any book). I couldn't put it down. I finished it in one day. As I finished the last page I wanted to grab my bike and get out on the road.
It's an extremely compelling story, with a sympathetic protagonist in Ben Barnes.

Whether you know a Peloton from a Trinitron, you'll enjoy this book.
Big thumbs up!

BTW, it is twenty-friggin'-seven degrees right now! I'm cold just thinking about that number. Brrrrrr.

Jack Frost nipping at my nose...

And ears, feet, and any other exposed skin.


It is freakin' cold today! As I type this, it is 35 degrees with a 15mph N wind. Yesterday it was a rather mild 58, but that was the most uncomfortable 58 I've ever experienced. Between the wind and dampness it was miserable. As a result, I bailed on riding yesterday, so now I'm left with having to ride today, tomorrow, and Sunday... regardless of weather. Tomorrow and Sunday won't be bad, but today is gonna suck.
We don't have these kinds of temps very often, but when we do get 'em I wish I had better/more effective cold weather riding gear. I'll be wearing every stick of cold gear I own, and I'm sure I'll still be a little chilled.

It's all about suffering for your sport, right? That's a load of bullsh*t, isn't it?

Brother, can you spare some warm clothes?

Week 2 of Base 1 got rolling today, albeit not exactly the way I wanted. I was hoping for at least 1.5hrs of saddle time, but I got a late start and couple that with the nip in the air and 1hr is the best I could come up with.
I'm glad I live in Florida, as I don't think I could handle really cold weather (at least trying to ride in it.). It was around 50 degrees with a 15-20mph N wind, and I was using all my cold weather riding gear and I still was a little chilled... I don't know what I'd do if I lived in Colorado or N Dakota.

Week's End

Friday night I attended the club's annual Christmas party. I think they probably should have made it mandatory for everyone to wear their helmets, as that is the only way I would've recognized most of the people there.
Anyway...other than the restaurant being overwhelmed by our group, the evening went well. After everyone was finished eating there was a "Dirty Santa" gift exchange. I ended up with a pair of books...which I'd ordinarily be thrilled with, but take a look at the covers of those books.

Can you say 'dated'?

The party was my only real social outing this week, as the rest of my free time was devoted to saddle time. Today I finished up the week with a 50 mile, 2.5hr ride and 8hrs for the week.
I'm looking forward to a day or two off the bike.

December already?!?

I can't believe it, it's Dec 1st. Even though my first race of the 2007 season is not until the end of March, the '07 season seems so close now. I'm almost done with my first week of Base 1. Only 7 more weeks of Base training.
During the 8 weeks of Base I'll log somewhere between 1100 & 1600 miles. My legs are sore just thinking about it. The good news to that is that I should have a sufficient foundation to build on as I get into the Build periods.

It has begun

My first Base period began today, and damn if I didn't end up doing my first hour on the friggin' trainer. It should be obvious by now that I'm not a fan of trainers. They're Bo-ring!

Anyway, I've got 1hr down and only 7 more to go for the week.

Only in the South

You know you're in the south when you can see streets named after animal parts and pieces.

Thankful

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, getting your fill of some delicious food...and more importantly, takes some time to think about what you're thankful for.

For me, I'm thankful that I have my family to share Thanksgiving with, and I'm thankful for being more fit than I've been in my entire life. The bottom line is, we all have something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Groovin'

It was a beautiful day today, and there was no way I was gonna pass up some nice weather. I logged a solid 2hrs/41 miles. I had company in the form of; Muse, The Foo Fighters, Low Fidelity All-Stars, Better than Ezra, to name a few. Yep, I finally remembered to grab my ipod as I walked out the door. It's nice when I remember it, it really helps the time go by quicker.

The new saddle is working out well. So far so good.

Take a seat

Not long after getting my road bike I put on a new seat. It seemed I had lucked out and found a good seat on my first try, but as I logged more and more miles, the saddle didn't break in like I had hoped. After 1200 miles on this saddle I decided it was time to try yet another one.
For this go 'round I went with the Fi'zi:k Arione. I installed it and went for a 30 mile spin, and while I'm not gonna make any comments about how it felt (don't wanna jinx it), I will say that it has more padding, which is what ended up being the downfall of the Signo. Minimal works for me, but in the end the Selle Italia was just too damn minimal. The extra padding certainly works in favor of the Arione, but the next few days should tell the story.

The Anti Blog

Not much has been happening in my corner of the world...just been loggin' some easy miles and trying (albeit a lame attempt) to do some weight training.

Beyond that I've just been trying to keep up with all the drama in the world of pro cycling.

Blogging is kinda stinky right now, not much to write about without taking some artistic license. I'll be up in N Carolina over Thanksgiving, so maybe I'll be able to wax philosophical about riding in the mtns or freezing my asset off up there...who knows, the sky's the limit.

They're dropping like flies!

What the hell is up with USADA?!?! Do they have like a quota that they are behind on, or somethin'? First, Sager and one other fella get sanctioned for missing a doping test, now Bartman has been nuked by the doping nazis at USADA for the same exact thing.

There's just no pleasin' me

As of Saturday I put in a mellow 6hrs for the week. The day was really gloomy, but no threat of rain so I was planning on 2hrs of saddle time. On Friday I was lamenting our strange Nov weather. What can happen in 24hrs. As soon as I stepped out of the car I knew I was in for it. The wind was heavy duty, and I noticed that the temp, while not uncomfortable, had a little chill to it. The wind was blowing in my face, or provided a nice crosswind, for most of the ride. It was so bad that I cut my time short by 30 min., and during that time the temperature started dropping (the wind didn't help matters either). Keep in mind that I did not have armwarmers because when I left the house it was fairly warm. Bottom line, I froze my nubs off! It was around 74 when I left to go ride, and an hour and a half later it was 59.

Damn weather.

What month is it anyway?

Got out on the roadie today and it was a balmy 77 degrees. Nov 10th and it's damn near 80. This kind of weather is great for cycling but it's not the best for helping one to get into the holiday type spirit.

Junk

Did some junk miles today, hitting up the Thursday group night ride. Junk miles at this time of year is no big deal. The ride went well...

Had some fun.
Shed some blood...

Looks worse than it is.

And that brings me to "Sean's first rule of mtn biking at night"
The true severity of a root is diminished under the light of a single headlamp.

On a side note: Sager really got screwed over by USADA. It sucks that USADA metes out treatment like that.

WTF?!?

This is totally messed up. USADA are a bunch of retards.

It's done

Can you believe it, I finally had the planets align so that I could conduct a proper FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test today. I would've preferred less wind, but I put in a good solid effort and I'm pleased with the results. Now I can focus on the actual training now that I can properly calculate my training zones. Towards the weekend I'm gonna do one other test that will help me see what my strengths and weaknesses are.

Rain, rain go away...

You're screwing up my schedule.

It ain't called the toughest mtn bike race for nothin'

The famous, or I should say infamous, La Ruta de los Conquistadors is taking place right now. On Saturday's stage 2, Jeremiah Bishop stacked it hard and got a visit to the hospital for his troubles. It's a hell of a way to cap off the season.

JB, I hope you heal up quickly man.

The need for speed

I've read that many cyclists don't do enough of the long slow rides, or even recovery rides, because it's so slow and easy. I'm logging base miles right now, and I have to admit that it's damn tempting to drop the hammer. I can't tell you the last time I did a ride where my HR averaged 132bpm and didn't get over 145bpm.
You want to justify going harder/faster by telling yourself that you're losing fitness by going so easy. That's some bad thinkin' to get into. I've got to focus on the bigger picture...otherwise I'll not make it without screwing up my routine.

Ohh, have I mentioned that I hate lifting weights? Well, I do.

NRC style calendar for Mtn biking?

USA Cycling has unveiled plans for a new national racing schedule for mtn biking, similar to the NRC road calendar. It'll be interesting to see how it develops. Anything that helps our sport is a good thing.

12hrs of Pine Log- Witches, and mtn bikers

This was my second team outing at the 12hrs of Pine Log. Early in the season I had thought about doing a 12/24hr race solo, but I had an epiphany along the way... I'm not interested in that kind of suffering. So, with no desire to do one of these things solo, I took up the offer to be on a team again. I was doing this event primarily for fun, but considering my teammates I knew we had a decent chance of winning.

The day was supposed to offer perfect weather. Clear skies and temps in the mid 70s is what was called for. Considering that meteorology is not a perfect science, it's not hard to imagine that the weather that was forecast, and the weather we got were two different things.
It was cloudy and windy for most of the day, so everyone was walking around in jackets, arm warmers, hats, you name it.
Cal was to be our lead off man, which suited me just fine as it meant I didn't have to do any of that running sh*t. Cal got to his bike around 8th or 9th and took off into the woods. Since I was second I didn't have long to get warmed up and ready for the hand off. With the weather conditions, getting warmed up took on a whole new meaning.

The course was almost 7 miles long, 6.7 miles to be exact. There's nothing much in the way of challenging terrain at Pine Log, but what it lacks in technical riding, it makes up for in speed. It is a hella fast course.

Cal, being the superhuman freak that he is, was the first rider out of the woods.
We tag and I take off. Our plan was to throttle it during the daylight hours, so then we could afford to ease up a bit during the night laps. The biggest challenge for me on that first lap was keeping focused because I was having trouble staying warm...I was trembling at times. That first lap I didn't see anyone until the last mile or so. I came across the line with a lap time around 27:39. I averaged what I thought was a blistering pace of 14.3mph, that is until Cal's next lap...

Cal, heading out on one of many laps

Cal was turning out consistent sub-26 minute laps! The rest of us were pretty close...28 minute or less lap times. By mid afternoon we had almost 20 minutes on the second place team, and to add to that the sun finally came out. The best time of the day for the second place team was 28 minutes, so with each rotation we were putting time into them.

Surly Pugsly, courtesy of Big Daddy Bike Shop

The sun is out!

As the sun goes down, the real suffering begins. We're all getting tired, and with the temperature dropping it's a real challenge to stay warm in between laps.

Base camp

Now, what would a race that takes place on the weekend before Halloween be without some creepy goings on?
As the sun set we started noticing people wearing some odd attire. Most were wearing robes or capes (not Superman,but Dracula style capes). I saw one dude dressed like a pirate, and he was standing by the restrooms singing "what do you do with a drunken pirate". It was at that point that I chalked it up to some people enjoying Halloween a little too much. I came in from my first night lap and sat down, only to take notice of drums beating. Now, I'm not talking about someone jamming on a drum set, I'm talking about a "natives are restless, ceremonial drumbeat" kind of drum sound. I ask if I'm the only one that hears it, and I am informed that on the other side of the trees they have a big ole campfire going, and they are dancing around it, chanting. Hmmm. Cal jokes that it's a bunch of witches and that they're going to sacrifice a mtn biker. Up until Cal's remark, I had chalked this up to a bunch of people REALLY getting into Halloween. Earlier in the day I had parked in the group camping area (thats where we were going to setup our base camp), and I took notice of a bumper sticker on one of the cars. It read, and I quote "Get a taste of religion- Lick a witch". There were also a couple of "Goddess" type of stickers on the car as well.

Chilly night laps...brrrr

Later we were also told that they had a seance over there. Someone also overheard them announce "that all the kids participating in the children's ritual should come on over, as it is about to begin". Were they just having one hell of a Halloween bash, or something more? I have no idea. All I do no is, those damn drums were still going when I left to go home at 11pm. Allow me to add how that particular situation played with one's head while out on the trail all alone in the middle of the night.

Let's get back to racing...
By sunset we had lapped the second place team. Thank God I only had to do one full night lap. I came in at 8:30 and Rachel went out with a mission to make Cal do another lap. Both Rachel and Philip busted their asses to get back in time.
(Note: the rules for this race said that you could only go out for another lap if you had time to complete a lap before the 12hrs was up, and if you came in after 10pm your last lap did not count).
Philip comes in at 9:29 and Cal is forced to go out again. Cal came across the line with like 1 minute left to go.
Our final tally was 25 laps completed. 3 of us did 6 laps, and Cal did 7. Our prize for 1st place was $500, which didn't hurt my feelings any. We also set a course record. In the 5 years that the race has been taking place, no team has ever done 25 laps.

I really enjoyed the racing, but even more importantly I enjoyed the time with friends.

Will we do it again next year? Possibly. Maybe we'll shoot for 26 laps.

No rest for the weary

Today training commenced for the 2007 season. I would've liked some more down time, but to be able to peak for my first 'A' race next year I had to get started right now. For the next 4 weeks I'll be in the Preparation phase, or what the coaches call "training to train". My workout schedule will be made up mostly of weight training, so in a way I will get some down time from riding. I'll still be doing some riding, but no structured workouts, and will most likely do some of my riding on the mtn bike.

The legs are still kinda crispy today. I think it'll take a couple more days for the soreness to go away. Cal was trying to get me to do the Gar Pond Gallop, but considering how shot my legs are, that's not gonna happen.

That was hard

I survived yet another installment of the 12hrs of Pinelog. I'm still tired, so I'm not gonna go into too much depth right now.
It was a long 12hrs, but we won, and we won with panache. In the late afternoon we lapped second place, and when we were done we also ended up with an event record. We logged 25 laps, and no team had ever done 25 laps before. All in all it was a good day.

Look for a full report in another day or so. I even have a couple of pics too.

Pinelog bound

In a few hours I'll be heading out for the 12hrs of Pinelog. I've got everything packed and ready to go, so for once I should be able to leave without obsessing over last minute details. It may take me till Monday or Tuesday to post a write up about it, but I'll get to it.

All Base and no Max makes Johnny a slow boy?

In the world of exercise science, ever so often a concept comes along that challenges the status quo. For years, the idea has been that in the off season cyclists do lots and lots of "base" miles to build your aerobic capacity, but at the same time NOT do any maximal efforts, for fear of undoing your base work. Well, it appears that is up for some debate.
It makes sense, but I would like to know how "small" of an amount is needed.

Fall is in the air

I had to make an unscheduled trip to North Carolina, and I took the opportunity to do some road biking while I was there.

There are worse places to ride.

I came back to the last Tuesday Worlds of the year. Since it was the last one of the year the turnout was really good. I had really good legs today, and held my own...even covering a couple of attacks, and managed to save enough gas in the tank for the finish sprint (which I didn't win, but I wasn't expecting to win against the likes of Cal). I was just thrilled that I had some juice left to give the sprint a go.
This weekend is the 12Hrs of Pinelog, and everything is a go. We just haven't registered yet, as the topic of a team name seems to be a hang up...I didn't realize that it was something that required that much thought, but what do I know.
Starting Monday I'll be taking a couple weeks off from regimented rides. I'll ride a couple, three times a week just for fun.

That's depressing

Hit up the Tuesday Worlds again. This was the second to last one for the year. Cal and I were chatting, and he commented on my new Powertap. He asked me if I was gonna be doing a whole power based training plan, to which I replied, "yep, sure am." Cal proceeds to tell me that he doesn't follow any structured training plan. He'll just go out 3-4 weeks before an event and do some training specific to the needs of the upcoming event.

When he told me that, my first thought was "You suck!" I wanted to push him off his bike. He's pretty damn fast/strong right now, can you imagine if he followed a structured plan? The dude would be damned near untouchable in competition. If I ever want to throw down with Cal, I better pray that he doesn't start training seriously, othewise I might as well hang it up right now.

This is some funny sh*t!

If you haven't listened to Dave Zabriskie's podcasts, you need to do yourself a favor and listen to some of them. DZ has got to be the goofiest dude in the ProTour peloton (and I mean that in a good way).

WKO+

I've started using some awesome software by Cyclingpeaks. It's their WKO+ program, which is a full power analysis package.One of the most exciting aspects of it is the Performance Manager, which gives you the potential to predict performance, based on your training load.


It's cutting edge stuff... Training Stress/training load is like the new frontier for sports physiologists. Lots of new research will be done on it.
I'm really looking forward to using this software to its fullest potential.

Suffering for your sport

The 24 Hrs of Moab was this past weekend, and it sounds like it was a real sufferfest, complete with some post race drama. Between that and the action at the Solo Worlds a week ago I think I'll pass on doing any solo 24hr events.

Power tools

The last couple of days I've been enjoying using my new Powertap. It's been interesting to see the correlation between a given wattage and HR. It was like I was only getting part of the picture before. I tried doing an FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test the other day, and while I put in a good effort (and didn't come up with a totally embarrassing number) the legs didn't have a snap to them.

It's gonna be great being able to gauge my efforts better. One thing that you HAVE to do in training, whether you're using a power meter or HR, is know what a given effort feels like. When I was using HR exclusively, after a while I learned to recognize what my threshold HR felt like, and if I looked down at my monitor, sure enough I was right around my threshold rate. The reason for this, is you can't always be staring at your computer/HR monitor...especially in a mtn bike race. That's a recipe for disaster.
Anyway, back to being able to gauge my efforts better... Since I know what a given HR feels like, I can take a glance at my watts and see how the two compare, and either back off a bit, increase my effort, or perhaps cut the ride short.

Now, one thing you aren't gonna see here is any reference to my actual wattage numbers. They're just numbers, and don't mean much by themselves. The most you'll ever get from me on the subject is whether or not I am pleased with some numbers.

I bet the numbers from tomorrow's group ride will be interesting, to say the least.

2007 Race Season

I'm starting to put together my '07 race calendar. I'm doing this now, because I'll have to have this calendar laid out when I go to plan out my training program.

So, without further ado...

Sean's 2007 race calendar (tentative)

• 4/1-SERC #3- Bryson City, NC
• 4/15-SERC #4- Athens, Ga
• 5/6- SERC #5- Ducktown, Tn
• 6/3- BUMP-N-Grind- B'ham, AL
• 6/16 & 17- SERC #7- Fontana, NC
• 7/19-22- US Nat'l MTB Championships- Mt Snow, Vermont
• 7/28 & 29- NMBS #6- Sugar Mtn, NC

There are some events that don't have dates yet, and some of the above dates might change, so this is all I can do at the moment.

Who turned on the A/C?

Got out on the bike for an hour today, and the temp was 60 degrees, so it was time to pull out the arm warmers. I know, I know..."just look at that Florida boy, can't handle the cooler temperatures." Ya damn right! I don't have the insulation I used to have.

I've got the power!

The new Powertap is laced to my wheel, and all hooked up and ready to go. I took it for a spin this afternoon, and while I didn't do any testing, the experience was eye opening. I spent my time seein' what different wattages felt like. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was in the stone age when I was training solely with HR. I can already see the potential for serious improvement when I start training for next season.
The amount of data that is collected can be daunting for the uninitiated. For anyone considering purchasing a power meter, I highly recommend the book "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan. Parts of the book border on techno babble and take reading it a few times to get an idea of what those boys are talkin' about, but it's good stuff.

I'm planning on not doing any formal testing(for threshold power + strengths & weaknesses) till after my 2 week break, but curiosity might get the better of me, which means I might have to break down and do the tests in the next week or so.

I would imagine that quite a few cyclists who train with a power meter use it as a bragging tool. They'll gladly tell you at every chance that their "threshold power is X watts" or somethin' along those lines. It's all well and good that you can produce a certain number of watts for X amount of time, but there's more to it than that. Having a Ferrari doesn't make you a great race driver...sure, that car gives you the potential, but it takes more than a big engine. You might be able to produce upwards of 5.5-6 watts/kg and if you don't know tactics and strategy then you could probably be beaten by a beginner.

Tuesday Worlds

I was back out on the road for yet another installment of the Tuesday World Championships. I've been learning some things about pacing and riding in a bunch, so I was eager to put it into practice. Not 5 minutes into the ride and a couple of the speed freaks were off the front. That left Cal with our group, and being the only guy capable of driving a pace that could catch the break, he wasn't in any mood to set a pace to reel them in. Needless to say we just let them do their thing. As it turns out, Cal cut his ride short (probably still recovering from the race on Sunday), so that left a group of about 7 or 8 of us.

As I said, I was commited to being more aware of my pacing and certain group tactics, and I did much better this time. Heck, I even attacked a couple times. The first was a full blown sprint up a hill, and the second one was towards the end of the ride. As a result of that attack I ended up winning the sprint...not that it ended up being a sprint.
I took my final pull in the closing mile/s of the ride and I knew that if there was indeed a sprint then I would be at the back, and not in a good position to make a bid for the sprint finish, so I decided to stay in the front and drive the pace. I think the guy behind me got wise to what I was doing and came around me, and the rest of the group followed. I got on the back, and immediately came around the other side and throttled it. I got on top of a tall gear and just concentrated on turning those cranks. I came up even with the leader, and passed him. Someone made an attempt to pass me, but they just couldn't do it...and I held off everyone till the end.

Now, if I did that with the faster guys in attendance, then I'd really have something to brag about. As it is though, it just made me pleased that my legs had that much snap in them after only one day of R&R after the race.

Ride stats:
Time- 1:18
Distance- 32 miles
Avg Speed- 24.3mph
Max speed- 33.5mph

Lookie what I got!

That's right. A Powertap, baby! It's a Powertap SL, to be exact. I could tell you how much I paid for it, but then I'd have to kill you. I got a killer deal, let's just leave it at that. I'm looking forward to training with power. This past season I saw firsthand the limitations of training solely with heart rate.

Today is the usual Tuesday World Championships. I'm hoping I can hang after Sunday's race. The legs feel pretty good, so I think I'll be good to go.

Competition

The comment was just made how the Beginner class in the FSC series is much more competitive than say, the SERC series...possibly the equivalent of the SERC Sport classes. I don't know about that, but one thing is for sure...the level of competition has grown all across the board.
Last year when I raced at Tom Brown, I came in 7th out of 14 Beginner 35-39 racers. The winner last year averaged 12.05 mph, and this year the top 7 finishers all had faster avg speeds than that. I'm sure that the route of the course played into that some, but methinks that everyone is getting faster.

I don't know if the Beginner classes are this fast throughout the rest of the country, but if they are, the definition of what constitutes the beginner class will have to be updated.

Season in review

My season started back in April and so it has been a long one. While I didn't do a lot of racing during the season, I was doing a lot of training. I won some races, and I learned a lot about race strategy. As a matter of fact, learning race strategy is exactly why I didn't move up to Sport after winning a race. The strategy will come in handy for the more experienced classes that I'll be competing in next year.
I learned that I do well when the course goes up, and I learned that on flatter courses I have to get a very good start...even if I have to redline myself to do it. This is something I was thinking about last night, and this morning even. Yesterday I said I'd rather risk a mediocre start(for times that I don't get on the front row) than tangle and go down at the start. Upon reflection, I think it is better to adopt a "no guts, no glory" attitude towards starts. Just don't settle for anything less than a good position when entering the trail. If it isn't a mountain course, then you need to be prepared to go in the red and get yourself into the top 5 at the start. When training for next season starts you can bet that 'starts' will be something that I will be working on.

The 2006 season had the highest of highs, and some pretty low 'lows'. I think I made a wise decision to pull the plug on the remainder of my season, as I'm already excited about what possibilities are in store for the 2007 season. I still have the Pinelog race to concentrate on for now, but once that is over I'll take a couple weeks off from structured training, and then around mid Nov. start up again.

I ran outta race- FSC #3 race report

I had some bad mojo to cleanse after my disastrous outing at Hanna Park 2 weeks ago, so I came into Tallahassee looking to kick some butt and make up for Jax.

I arrived in Tally on Sat. afternoon and went directly to Tom Brown Park to register and pre-ride the course. I met up with, and pre-rode the course with Cal & Rachel. It was nice having some fellow FWB peeps to ride with. The course was essentially the same as last year, but with a couple changes...the biggest being that it was now being run in the opposite direction of last year's course. Upon riding it the first go-round I immediately gave it a thumbs up. It flowed nicely, and not long after entering the woods you were greeted with a sustained climb (that's right up my alley!).
There was one section though that was cause for concern. Not long after entering the woods you make a hard left turn and go down this rooty, eroded descent. The best line was, or I should say only line was on the left side. Venture too far over to the right and you could get your front wheel stuck in a hole and end up going over the handlebars (something that Cal experienced firsthand). During the pre-ride I cleaned that section, but I was still concerned about what would happen when you have a bunch of riders trying to go down it at speed during the race. As it turns out, my fears were unfounded and nobody (at least in my group) got hung up there. I saw a Sport class female with a bloody chin, and later in the day an ambulance and fire truck made an appearance at the race...carrying someone off. I suspect both of those injuries were sustained at that spot.

Since the white wave went off at 9:30am at the Jax race, we weren't going until 11:30am this time around. With that in mind I made it a leisurely Sunday morning. I still got up early because I wasn't sure if Cal was gonna need feed zone support. After my routine pre-race breakfast (Fruit & Nut pancakes, minus the nuts- Mmmm, yummy!), I made my way to the venue so I could watch the Sport and Expert classes.

After lounging the morning away I got ready, warmed up, and did a last minute check of the bike. I made my way over to the start line thinking I, for once, had gotten their in time to get a first row position. Boy, did I call that one wrong. Second row position. Again. Dammit to hell! I was shoehorned in there, so I wasn't gonna get too frisky on the start...I didn't want to tangle handlebars with someone and go down in the first 50ft of the race.

So, the race starts and with my lousy position I probably am somewhere in the upper teens to 20s as we enter the woods. It should be noted right here, that after that initial 50-75ft I can start sustaining a pace that no one passes me...I hold my position, so I think that if I just got on that damned front row I'd do pretty good, at least a top 10 position.
Anyway, that tricky descent is the first test. I nail the line and go scooting thru that section. The climb starts in a few hundred yards, and that's where I start reeling people in. I past 3 or 4 riders during that climb, so at this point I'm feeling really good, the legs are turning over nicely. The next section is some nice flowing singletrack, but it runs along an embankment, so passing spots are few. Despite this I still manage to get around a few more riders, some of whom are from the 19-29 class. The next singletrack sections are tight and twisty in places, and with my height and broad shoulders...most of you know that tight and twisty is not my fave. When you hit the climbs in the open fields you know you're nearing the end of your lap. Getting out of that tight & twisty doesn't come soon enough. Give me a sustained climb any day! By the time I get to the top of the last climb I'm sitting around 10th. The first lap is almost in the books. Just as soon as I can make it around the BMX track without going over the handlebars or doing a backflip. Let me tell you, after racing at or near your limits for 30 minutes and then have to deal with getting around a BMX track intact takes big time concentration.

On my second lap I catch up with someone from my class and I pass him on that first climb. He tells me that he wasn't too far off from the rest of the group. Nothing like a little extra motivation, right? He sticks on my wheel for a while before dropping off the pace. I come across the occasional rider, most of whom are from other classes. As I near the final climbs I've started catching up with some 30-39 guys. As I near the final section of singletrack, I see a couple guys ahead of me, but with the winding nature of the trail I can't tell how close they are. It's not until I exit the woods and make my way to the BMX track that I see how close (or far, depending on one's point of view) I am. One of them is not in my class, and unfortunately he's the closest one to me. I tried to reel that guy in but I just didn't have enough space to do it. I crossed the finish line a few seconds behind him. I asked the guy if he knew what position he finished. He wasn't 100% sure, somewhere between 4th & 6th. Hmm, if that's the case then that means I finished 5th-7th.

As it turns out, that guy finished 5th. I came in 6th...just off the podium. If there had been an extra 1/4 mile, or even an extra few hundred yards I would've gotten past that guy too. When he crossed the finish line he was cooked. He got off his bike at the finish line and sat down on the spot. It was a chore for him to answer me when I asked his position.
That said, if there had been a 3rd lap I have no doubt that I would've reeled in more of the top 5. As it was, I just ran out of race.

While I'm still miffed about the start, I have no complaints about my performance once I entered the woods. In two laps I went from around 20th position up to 6th. Nobody passed me, even from other classes. I passed aggressively (fortunately everyone was willing to let me pass), and I rode cleanly. This last part of my season didn't go as planned, but that's racing. I do have a NORBA Nat'l win, so I think I can still call my freshman season a success. Don't you?

I have more to add, but it's been a long day.

The woods are alive...intruder beware!

Gotta watch out for the flora when out on the trails.

A branch made an attempt at cutting my throat during yesterday's mtn bike ride.

Final countdown

Today was my last training day before my race. Actually, I don't think you could call what I did "training", because I decided not to do any intervals today. The legs still felt a wee bit tired, so I opted for a low to mid intensity 1hr ride on the roadie, and then I attended the group mtn bike ride. During my rides I was thinking that maybe I should go ahead and do some intervals, but sitting here after the fact I think I made the right decision.
Friday will be a total rest day, and then Saturday I'll turn a couple laps pre-riding the course...nothing too intense.

I'm trying out a new beta version of blogger. Lots of neato behind the scenes additions. I took the opportunity to change up the look too.

Hammered

As I suspected, after yesterday's hammer session on the road the legs weren't feelin' snappy, so I called an impromptu R&R day today. I figure that at this point one more interval session ain't gonna matter. If my fitness isn't good enough then that extra session of intervals won't help. Tomorrow morning I think I'll go for a nice spin, maybe even do a couple of intervals just to keep the legs ready for the action to come. I'll do the group mtn bike ride in the afternoon and then I'll be done until I pre-ride the course on Sat.

Group Hammerfest-10/3

I made it out for another group road ride, and having been on 2 of them I can safely say that it is some of the toughest riding I've done this side of racing. I didn't get dropped this time, but I had to bury myself a couple times to hang onto a wheel. There is a big learning curve to riding in a bunch, let me tell ya. I kept getting surprised by the sudden accelerations when a strong/fast rider would take a pull. One second I'm about a wheel length behind someone, the next second I'm almost a bike length behind. I've just got to pay close attention as to whose turn it is, and be prepared to bump up the pace a little.

The other thing I have to do is get more comfortable sticking to someone's wheel. If I get anything closer than a wheel length to the person in front of me, my proximity alarms go off. I've just gotta get more comfortable with hugging the wheel in front of me. When I resolve those two issues I'll do just fine...and I think that experience will be the best teacher. I think I've impressed some of the old timers with my strength, they seem surprised at how new I am to road biking.

That said though, these rides can add a whole new dimension to one's fitness. Riding with people of this caliber HAS to make you stronger/faster. I know for a fact that one of the guys is a Cat2, and I know that a couple of the others have to be at least Cat2s or 3s. You can't keep riding with people like that and not benefit from it.

The group rides end on 10/24, and my goal is during one of the remaining rides to save a bit towards the end so I can contest the sprint. I won't win it, but I just want to show that I have a little something left to give.

After today's ride I'm prepared to alter my race week training program. The legs feel decent right now, but come tomorrow if they're not peppy then I'll abandon my training plans and then do a recovery ride on Thursday. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize this weekend's race. As far as the Florida Series goes, Tallahassee is as close as it gets to a home course...so I really want to do well there.

Ins-n-Outs

Coming off my road ride yesterday I ran into Cal & Rachel (I'll be riding with them at the 12Hrs of Pinelog), and the subject of the Tues group road ride came up. I knew that road racing has a lot of strategy involved (moreso than mtn biking), but I had no idea of the nuances of a leisurely group ride. Here are a few nuggets that Cal & Rachel passed on.
For starters, it is important that I learn who is who...in other words, who are the fast people. The reason for that is, if you're getting ready to take a pull at the front and one of those fast people is behind you then you don't want to take a really hard pull or run the risk of getting dropped when it comes time for that fast person to take the next pull.

That one certainly makes sense. I had already seen the folly of taking too hard of a pull. I was planning on putting a cap on my pull efforts, and this little bit of info was just further reinforcement.

The next thing is, there is also some...well, I'll call it inter-personal conflicts. Apparently, there are some bad feelings between some people on the ride and arguments can ensue, etc, etc. Now why is that important? You don't want to be behind the people who are sparring, as you might inadvertently get dropped when one of them 'sits up' to get back at the other one...or some other childish act.

People. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em.

6 days to go

Today begins the race week taper, in preparation for Sunday's race in Tallahassee. I'm gonna take a bit different approach to this weeks training than I did for the Jax race. While my legs didn't feel bad at the Jax race, I think that pushing the hard efforts right up till Thursday surely didn't do me any good. So, my new plan is to give it a medium intensity effort today, and use tomorrow's group ride as a high intensity effort, and then do some intervals on Wed, and wrap up the week with a recovery-ish kind of ride on Thursday.
That'll give me Thurs, Fri, & Sat to get recovered and be ready to fire on Sunday.

With all these miles, I could've ridden someplace interesting

Well, I've had the TCR for two months now, and it's seen some serious use. As of today I've logged 900 miles on it. In that time, I have replaced the saddle, got some new pedals, and switched out tires. The pedals and tires are winners, but the jury is still out on the saddle. I'm headed in the right direction with the overall design of the saddle, but on longer rides my rear is telling me I could use a bit more padding. I'm gonna give it another couple hundred miles before I commit to changing it out.

I'm still quite pleased with the TCR C3. It's stiff, and responsive. The Shimano 105 and Ultegra components work like a dream. I can't imagine Dura Ace working THAT much better...at least enough to warrant the price difference. My opinion of the brakes hasn't changed any, as I've not been in a situation (steep descent) to really see how they work under a big load. The only part of the bike that I'm not overwhelmed by is the wheels. The Xero XSR-3s are heavy (over 2000grams), and they do not spin well (if you give them a spin with your hand it won't take long before they come to an abrupt stop, as if your brakes are rubbing.). To their credit, they are strong. In 900 miles they are still rolling straight and true.

If things go my way, my next addition to the bike will be one of these. I have a lead on a good price on one, so if I'm lucky I'll be able to score one. Using it will help me to take my training to the next level. I'm not gonna say anymore about it until I have confirmation... I don't wanna jinx it.

Stink

Another day.

Another ride.

Another set of intervals.

The only thing that set this ride apart from the others was having to hold my breath as I went past a roadkill. Ick. Nasty.

Rockin' the Blur

I just didn't feel like doing any road training today, so I did the group mtn bike ride this afternoon. It's not the best atmosphere for doing long intense efforts, but I had fun, and that was the important thing. Tomorrow I'll be back to my training.

It's official, I'm doing the 12Hrs of Pinelog on a team with Cal, Rachel, and I think Phillip. Those names don't mean anything to you, but they are all FAST folks. On the road ride the other day, I was doing 27mph and Cal sprinted past me like I was dragging an anchor. It's gonna be fun. That will be my last race effort of the year.

Post Mortem

I just cannot get over the intensity of the Tues group road ride...Day-um! The legs didn't have the snap to them, but I still hung in there. I managed a few pulls at the front, and other than getting dropped for a bit I was able to hang with the group. I think I would've done better if the legs had been more awake. There are only 2 or 3 more group rides left before the time change and they end them for the year, but next year I'm gonna make the group ride part of my training. If I can hang with that bunch, then I can handle anything a mtn bike race throws at me.


Time: 1:17:30
Distance: 31 miles
Avg Speed: 23.8mph
Max speed: 35mph

I'm beat, so I'm off to bed.

Make a path people!

If I learned anything from this past weekend's debacle, it's that I'm gonna be more aggressive when it comes to passing. I'm going to ask to pass in a friendly, loud, and clear voice and I'm only gonna ask once. I will then announce to the person that I'm coming by whether they like it or not... "I gave you a chance to let me by, so don't get mad at me if you end up in the bushes."

Goin' for some group ride action this afternoon. Gotta try and get as many in as possible, because as soon as the time change occurs the group road rides will be done for the year.

What went wrong?

It'd be easy to just say that everything went wrong at Jacksonville, but then that wouldn't make much of a post, would it? My emotional state is a wee bit better, so I'll break down what happened on Sunday.

I'd almost wish that I could say that I raced as hard as I could and got my ass handed to me, but alas, that's not the case.

The start is where the damage was done and the race was decided for about 85% of the field. This year the race organizers combined all the 30-something riders into one group, which made for a field of about 34 or 35 riders. From the starting line the course ran along the treeline for about 500ft or so before turning right onto a dirt road for another 2-300ft, and then you had to make a hard (emphasis on hard) right turn into the trail...and that was where the real trouble began. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Let's get back to the start of the race. I thought I'd gotten to the starting line with enough time to get a place on the front row, but everyone else had the same idea and I was relegated to the second row. As the whistle sounded the guy in front of me fumbled getting into his pedal and any chances of a really good start went out the window. I start working my way along the outside, making some ground as we hit the dirt road, and then comes the entrance to the trail. Imagine 30+ people trying to get thru a door as fast as they can...it looked like a bunch of monkeys humping a football. Riders were falling, getting tangled up with each other...it was a disaster.I waited almost 20 or 30 seconds to get on the trail. One guy who was right in front of me, was trying to get going and kept getting hung up on some roots, and when he did get on his bike he just rode off the trail and passed 3 or 4 people in the process. HELLO!?!? Course cutting is against the rules A-hole! (I'll remember you #140...cheating motherf&%@!*) That ordeal gave the first 4 or 5 riders onto the trail valuable time, time that would be almost impossible to overcome considering the course. I probably entered the singletrack close to the back of the pack (upper 20s or so).

Hanna Park is VERY tight and twisty, which means there are hardly no places to pass. There were a couple doubletrack sections and a couple of dirt road segments that allowed some passing, otherwise you had to ask permission to get by someone...and this is where things went from bad to worse. I have never seen so many poor sports in a race. It was like nobody wanted to let you by. There was one really fast section that allowed you to pick up some speed, but I spent that section in a friggin' parade. I couldn't get them to pick up the pace and they weren't too intent on letting me by. I tried every trick in the book. After pointedly asking to let me pass I tried a different strategy, I asked them to let me in front so I could bridge us up to the group in front of us. That didn't work either. When we'd come to the road or doubletrack sections, you'd think they'd let the faster riders get by. But no, they'd actually speed up! We hit a wide area for me to pass and I can get past one fella, but then the others would sense me coming by them and then they'd speed up to keep me from passing, only to slow back down on the singletrack so they could recover from that hard effort. What the hell is that all about!?!?
One guy in particular was REALLY bad though, and he cost me the most time. I kept asking to get by and the dude was ignoring me. Then a guy from another class slips by me, and I was like "I'd like to go faster myself, but this dude won't let me pass". This guy wouldn't even let the guy from another class get by. On the wide areas this guy would actually go out of his way to block someone trying to get by.
And that is how I spent the bulk of the race, trying to battle past the weaker riders...weaker riders who didn't have the decency to let the faster ones go by.

I finished 15th, 16th, 17th...I'm not even sure, and to be honest, I don't really care at this point. Being stuck behind the slower riders I couldn't go as hard/fast as I'm capable of. When I pre rode the course on Sat my avg speed was 9.5mph. My avg speed on race day was 10.1mph...10.1mph!!! When I came across the finish line I had gas left in the tank. I couldv'e easily done another lap, and that is what pissed me off the most. If I raced as hard as I possibly could and I was beaten then so be it. I gave it my all and just wasn't good enough on that day...that's racing. But to not be able to give it 100%, that's a hard pill to swallow. It really hit me hard. All this training and I wasn't even able to use it.

Hanna Park has no business being a race course. You NEED places to pass, and Hanna doesn't have that. The race promoters should've either A) split up the 30 something racers, or B) had a longer run up to the entrance of the singletrack, so the field could get spread out and not get log jammed. No race should be decided at the start, that's totally retarded.

Yesterday has caused me to make a shift in my plans for the remainder of the season. I had zero fun yesterday, and every race I've been in has been fun (and they weren't fun because I won. 2 of my 3 races I didn't know how well I did till the results were posted.)... fun, because I rode as hard as I could, and gave it everything I had. So, it's time I have some fun on the bike. I'm going to race at Tallahassee in 2 weeks and then I'm gonna be on a team for a 12hr race at the end of October and then that's it for 2006.

As far as the 2007 season. I'm gonna focus on mtn events. I'll do the SERC events that take place in the mtns, the NORBA Nat'l in Sugar Mtn, the Nat'l Championships in Vermont, and then I think I'll also hit up one of the NORBAs out west, and maybe the BUMP n Grind. I won't be doing any of the Florida Series next year, except maybe Tallahassee, since it's so close.

FUBAR

FUBAR...that sums up everything about that race today. I'd go into more detail, but I just don't feel like it right now. Maybe tomorrow.

I'm off

In the morning I'll be leaving bright and early for Jax, so don't expect too much till after the race.

Time for bed. *Yawn

Race of truth

It's probably not hard to guess, but I decided to man up and do the Time Trial today. They call the TT "the race of truth"...just you against the clock. Not to oversimplify things, but the secret/s to a successful TT are A) try and catch the riders who went before you, and B) try not to get caught by the riders behind you.
The turnout for this month's TT was small compared to last month, but there were still 15 or so riders out there to test their legs against the clock.

This is only my second TT, and being new to the whole roadie and TT thing I've not been too concerned with how well I do compared to the other riders out there. My plan was to use the TT to gauge my fitness. Last month I rode the 10 miles in 26:22, so obviously I wanted any time lower than that. One of the worst things you can do in a time trial is to take off too hard...something that the guy who went before me found out the hard way. I got a good solid start and ramped it up over the first 5 miles, so that on the return trip I was zoomin'. I knew I was doing well when I past both my 1,2 & 3 minute men. I came across the line with a time of 25:44. I was hoping to shave a few seconds off my previous time, but I wasn't expecting to go below 26 minutes since I don't have aero bars or any of the usual TT accoutrements. Even more surprising was the fact that I ended up with the fastest time of the day!
Of course, it doesn't mean a whole lot as the two fastest guys weren't in attendance today. I am pleased though. I've only been riding a real road bike for about a month and a half, and in only my second TT I go home with the fastest time...beating riders using aero equipment.

Since I couldn't say no to some competition and went ahead and did the TT despite my initial hesitation, it is safe to say that today WAS my last hard effort before the race. I'll chill out on Friday, pre-ride the course on Saturday, and then it's race time.

Ohh, I almost forgot. After the TT I went with a couple of my buds for a little mtn bike time. I figured it'd be good to get time out in the woods. That too went well... right up until I realized that a damn stick broke a spoke. So, what does Sean get to do tomorrow? Take his wheel to the shop to get a new spoke put on. Drat!

I'm beat, I'm goin' to bed...later.

Race day approaches

Only 3 more days till my race. I did some descending intervals (30 sec on, 30 sec off, 5 min,4,3,2) today, as well as some 5x2 min max intervals, and overall they went well. I completed 4 of the 5 2 min intervals, but on the 4th one I felt my power dropping some, so I bagged the last one.
Tomorrow is the monthly club road TT, and I want to do it, but I think that I should make today the last of my intense efforts...give myself plenty of time to recover and be fresh for Sunday's race. I think I'll see how the legs feel in the morning. If they're kinda lifeless then I'll forget doin' the TT this month.

On a completely different note...
I think the 90+ degree temps have said goodbye for the year. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. Too bad every day can't be like it was today.

Every cloud...

Has a silver lining.


The "cloud"?... An approaching thunderstorm.

The "silver lining"?... A tailwind caused by said thunderstorm.

Between yesterday's intervals, and 50 minutes of Tempo today, I'll be taking tomorrow off.
I'll ride Wed. and Thurs., take a break on Fri. and then pre-ride the course on Sat.. Sounds like a plan.

6 days and counting

The first stop on the FSC series is in the books, and it still chaps my hindquarters that things played out the way they did and I couldn't attend. I can't focus on that though, what's done is done. This coming weekend is race #2 in Jacksonville, and I'm gonna be ready for it!

I did some descending intervals, and 2 minute max intervals and they went off rather well... so you could say I was pleased with today's training. Now if I could just totally recover from that damned trip.

That felt good!

Got out on a real bicycle for the first time in over a week, and it felt muy good.

Despite pangs of disappointment I think I made a good decision not to do Reddick. I'm still very tired, and I think it's gonna take me at least another day to get fully rested up.

Home

After a terribly long and uncomfortable plane trip, I'm finally home.

Tired.

Need sleep.

That is all.

Sin City

Sorry for my absence, but I'm still in Vegas, and at $11 per day for internet access I've been holding off on updates. Vegas is...well, Vegas. I wasn't able to take my bike (which is a whole other story), I found some joints in my room, I've even been propositioned by a hooker right in the lobby of the MGM and I'm not even due to leave for another 24hrs.
Since I didn't have my bike, I was relegated to exercise bike hell.

Not exactly the view I was planning on.

The Reddick race is on Sunday, and I'm pulling the plug on attending it. I think I'm asking for a poor result if I go. I will be flying during the night on Thursday, and won't get home till Friday morning. My body clock will be on Pacific time, and I will have to try and get a good nights sleep Friday and then get up early Saturday to drive the 5+hrs to Reddick, get a couple of good practice laps in, and then try and get some sleep...now dealing with still being on Pacific time and being in the Eastern time zone. If it sounds confusing, that's because it is. The bottom line is, I think I'll get to the race on Sunday morning tired and feeling like crap.
I'm upset at the prospect of not attending this race, as I want to make a run for the series title, and this will certainly make the task that much harder. As upset as I am, I can't help but feel that I won't be able to give the race 100%... and while I can't control things like flat tires, chains breaking, or some sandbagger showing up, I am going to these races to win, not 2nd or 3rd, but 1st. So if I can't go to win...well, you get the picture.

Next weekend is Jacksonville, and I'll be fully rested and ready to kick some butt.

This weekend I'll be back to regular updates.

Revelations

I finally made it out for one of the Tuesday group road rides...and what an eye opener it was. As the group was assembling, it was intimidating seeing some of the serious equipment that was being amassed for what was in essence a "fun ride".When I did the TT, there was a fella with a Cervelo P3 Carbon, and the same guy was there for the group ride, and he was sporting a Soloist Carbon...that's almost $7 grand in frames alone, God knows what the complete bikes cost.
Once the ride started it didn't take long to realize that riding in a 'peloton' takes quite a bit of concentration. You're constantly having to assess and adjust your positioning so you don't lose the wheel in front of you, get to close to that wheel, or because of someone moving in on your position.
I was able to handle the pace nicely, and one of the highpoints was taking a pull at the front at almost 30mph. Not knowing the ins and outs of riding in a bunch led to a mistake which resulted in me riding alone for almost half the time. After taking my pull at the front I lingered along side instead of filing all the way to the back of the line. The reason I didn't, was if there was some sort of break, I didn't want to be all the way in the back when it happened. I should've ignored my competitive notions and joined at the rear. As it was, we hit a hill and the peloton had momentum on its side and before I could latch on I had been spit out the back.
I spent the rest of the ride in a no mans land. The only consolation I had was that I caught and passed two stragglers later on.

I can see where riding in a group on occasion can do wonders for your fitness. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back out there at least once more before they wrap it up for the year. I can tell you one thing though, I won't get ejected off the back like that again. No sir.

Head Scratcher

Ok, I'm totally stumped on this one.

What...

Is...

This?

And what the heck is it for? Any ideas? If you don't know, feel free to make something up. At this point I'm open for any and all ideas.

Sexy Beast

Despite having a nice road bike, I'm having a serious case of bike lust. What exactly is the object of my new found affection? The redesigned Orbea Orca.

That is one elegant, sexy ride!

Motivation and Lollipops

Athletes are always looking for that "edge" that will enable them to train/compete harder, faster, longer. Some turn to man made alternatives, but for everyone else it is a continuous struggle to find that extra motivation deep down inside.

Well, I found some motivation today... there's nothing like a rain storm, complete with lightning, to give you that added 'oomph'. I was about 10 miles out when I saw the impending storm approaching, and I made it 4 miles before the rain proceeded to wail on me. That was bad enough that I was trying my best to get back to the car in a hurry, but when the lightning started I kicked it into overdrive. For that last 6 miles I was turnin' 85rpm at 50x12. My avg speed for the whole 20 miles was 22.6mph. Two weeks ago during the monthly TT I only averaged 22.8mph, and that was a 10 mile round trip!
The threat of electrocution sure can light a fire in the ole legs.

Today I got my new shoes and pedals. The Speedplay Zero pedals are pretty nice, even if they do look like a lollipop. In an interesting twist, most of the mechanism for clipping in and out is in the cleat, so the pedal doesn't have a lot to it.

Mmm, lollipop.

The shop recommended that I go home and get familiar with clipping in and out, but I wasn't having any of it. I'll get on the job training. They require a bit different method (instead of clipping in toe-heel, you use the ball of your foot and go straight down.) for clipping in than my old Eggbeaters, but nothing that is gonna require a big learning curve. The jury is still out on the new pedals, but my initial experience is good. I think I'm going to like them a lot. For mtn biking, nothing beats eggbeaters, but for the road bike the Speedplays are more to my liking.

That is one serious cleat design there!

Last but not least, when I go to Vegas next week I'm going to take my road bike. I'll be able to get some training time in a place with some real elevation changes, and not the bumps we have here. I'd normally take my mtn bike, but I don't want to risk damaging something on it, because I'll be tight on time when I get back...I'll have a day and a half before I have to be in Reddick for my race.

One is the loneliest number

I was out burnin' up the roads again this morning on the road bike. When you do long miles, your mind starts to wander and you think of all kinds of things. Unfortunately, you never really think of anything super deep, just off the wall stuff.

Take today for instance. It occurred to me that I never seem to hook up with anyone out on the road that is at my fitness level or better. I welcome the opportunity to tag along with a faster rider...it would give me a chance to get near race pace sessions in on occasion. But as it works out, I only seem to come upon people who are out for a leisurely ride. If there's someone riding who is there for a real workout, they're either finishing when I'm getting ready to start or vice versa. As a result of that I've done all my road training all by my lonesome.

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

On a slightly different note, as of todays ride I've logged 500 miles for the month of August. I think I've been riding that new bike a bit.

Damp

Saying it's damp out is a bit of an understatement. The last week or so, the humidity has been terrible...like livin' in a swamp. In just a one hour ride, the water was pouring down my head and face, like I had a faucet turned on. Yuck.

The Florida State Championship Series is less than a month away. I'm feelin' really good about my fitness. The road bike has really added some intensity to my training that was previously missing. This coming week I'm gonna suck it up and concentrate on some serious intervals (power intervals, climbing, etc.). This will be the last full week I'll have to train. Next week I head to Vegas for business. I hope to do some riding with a buddy while I'm out there, but I don't expect to get much done in the way of structured workouts. If nothing else maybe I'll get some time on the indoor bike in the hotel gym. When I get home I'll only have a day before I have to head to Reddick for the first race of the series.

This is gonna be a fun week...

Little bit a this, little bit a that

Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since getting my road bike, and in that time I will have logged over 400 miles. Getting a road bike really can take your training to the next level.
I've been using some mtn bike shoes, and Eggbeater SLs and that combination isn't well suited to road biking. So, I've got some Sidi Zetas on order, and I'll be mating them to Speedplay Zero pedals.

It hasn't taken long, but as I expected, the Floyd Landis debacle has become non news. It could take 16-18 months for the whole thing to play out, even though many people have already condemned him, without due process. I have repeatedly stated that, at this point, I believe Floyd. Apparently, others believe him as well. Phil "the voice of the Tour de France" Liggett in an interview, is skeptical of the positive drug test.
For those that believe Landis, or at least feel that the WADA, UCI, and the French lab have made a mess of everything, there is a petition floating around.

Missed it by that much

The good news is I was able to rearrange my schedule to attend the weekly Tues ride, the bad news is, I missed the group. Traffic was horrible, so I got to the meeting spot at about 5:02 or so. When I pulled up there was no one around. I figured they must've just left, so I hurried and got my crap squared away and took off thinking I'd be able to catch up to them, or at least catch sight of them. I knew I'd catch sight of the slower group sooner or later, so I kept a good pace the whole way out. Well, to make a painfully long story short I never caught up with the main bunch. About 17 miles out I just turned around, and ended up working with a guy taking turns doing pulls back to the parking area.

I'll have to try this again in the next couple of weeks, and next time I'll have the knowledge that the ride starts promptly at 5pm.

Low profile

I've been logging some intense sessions lately, and it has taken its toll on me. Saturday I went to bed feeling really tired. Sunday I was draggin' all day long... I even took a snooze in the afternoon. I was feelin' better today, but I figured I'd take an extra day and fully recharge my batteries. Tomorrow will tell the tale.

I'm hoping to participate in the Tues group road ride. There are some hammers that ride on Tuesdays, and everyone keeps telling me how riding (or attempting to ride) with faster riders will do wonders for your fitness.

Sitting pretty

I got my new saddle, and I've got a couple rides on it. Originally, I was gonna go with the Selle Italia SLK, but I've since opted for the Selle Italia Signo Gelflow. I'm very pleased with my selection. I know that the real tests will come with longer rides, but at the moment my hind parts are most thankful for the new perch. The Signo has an ingenious system whereby the sides/tail flex under pedaling forces, which gives a cushioning effect to the rider. Some people don't like the feel of that system, but it works for me.
The Signo is a perfect example of "less is more", at least in my case. As the pictures show, it is a minimalist saddle compared to the Aliante Sport that did grace (or curse, depending on how you look at it) the TCR. I've learned that my caboose prefers a flatter, more firm saddle.

The idea of the cutout is one of the best the saddle industry ever came up with!

Dang near 'board flat'. Just the way I like it.

I should be testing out the saddle on a longer ride tomorrow...we'll see.
Today I finally was able to participate in the local club TT. It's a 10 mile course, which is mostly flat, just a couple of hills to keep things interesting. This monthly TT is for fun, but seeing some of the rigs that people were using, you'd think it was a stage of the TdF, or the Giro d' Italia. Aero helmets, rear disc wheels, uber expensive frames (Cervelo TT frame was a standout), you name it. The legs felt good, so I gave it my all. I completed the course in 26:22, with an average speed around 22.8mph. Not too bad for a noob roadie.