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.