Sufferfest

bee-u-tiful

2009-11-14T21:42:00.003-05:00

wow...what a day to be outside. I did 3 hrs or so with the group and tried stay on the front as much as possible and ride at or near 90% or so. It was hard to tell cuz my PT had a flat so I rode julie's Rolf Vigors...and I had good legs today and the PE was very low. I probably was hitting my FTP a lot.

Some things I've been thinking about...First is that this is the first year that I have ever felt like I've held my "race fitness" for the entire year. Right now I feel like I could still go out and do a 50mile RR and be in the game. Second, this is the lightest I've weighed at this point in the year in like...ever. I'm usually 6-8# (or more) heavier right now. Third, I'm still not really riding *that* much, just a lot of quality SST minutes. How these will affect 2010 will remain to be seen but I think they're all good.

Trainer time

2009-11-13T07:55:00.003-05:00

This week has sucked weather wise so the last 2 days were on the velodyne. Did about a 15' warmup then an hour at around 90% each day. Got through the latest Fast and Furious which sucked as a movie but was entertaining for someone that produces testosterone.

Weekend's gonna be good but I'm a solo parent again so I may have to just squeeze in my 3 hr rides when I can. I also *might* be getting SRAM Red.

OSB

2009-11-06T17:52:00.005-05:00

First of all a huge congrats to Aaron Trent who won the silver medal at the Para World Championships in England today. Noone trained harder this year.

I haven't been able to train that much this week as my wife has H1N1 and has literally been in bed for the last 3 days. I got my vaccine so hopefully I'll be spared. It's a nasty bug. So I've been doing the parenting duties solo and today I walked into work with my t-shirt on inside out...that pretty much sums it up.

New news: Next year we've got a new team going. LL, JC and I are riding for Outspokin. It's actually our old team as we rode with them 2 years ago. Adding Brian C. and Karl to our trio will be formidable. That's a lot of horsepower. Should be good. We'll win a lot of races.

Old news: And no new bike for me this year which is actually a good thing...way too many strings attached and promises broken (surprise!). We just wanna race. No BS. Ask me about it out on the road and I'll tell you the whole story.

Darkness

2009-11-02T18:36:00.002-05:00

Man, it got dark fast tonight. My ultimate light is being milled right now by a friend out in Utah.

Tonight I did the usual 70' @ 90% at the crit course except cut down the warmup/cool down to 2' each. I felt pretty good but was totally dragging all day long. The hardest part of the workout was definitely walking out the door, then I was good.

Will probably get out and just cruise around tomorrow in the fort then hit it again at the crit course on Wednesday for another 1 x 70'. My new bike has been delayed a bit but should be here very soon...

get your head in the game time

2009-10-29T21:30:00.003-04:00

Crusty's having his yearly halloween party.

Saturday night

2819 Heyward

8:00pm

be there for drunken debauchery

sorta ride

2009-10-28T23:38:00.001-04:00

Some incredible weather today...had to ride. My legs were feeling sortof crappy today, my PE was up so I rode for an hour at some mystery intensity cuz I was trying not to look at my PM. Just got some exercise and enjoyed the day.

1st indoor ride

2009-10-28T00:18:00.001-04:00

It was a rainy day today. I decided it was time to jump on the velodyne for my SST workout. I did a 5' warmup then around 45' at around 90% then drank a beer. I've got my 24" LCD TV, iphone, dvd player & laptop to keep me company.

142x2

2009-10-25T16:55:00.002-04:00

Some good riding this weekend. 2:50 on Sat and a little over 3 hrs on Sunday. Both days were 142 TSS. Gonna get out on the TT bike a bit this week to do my SST workouts as my new ride is going to be built up. The unveiling will be later this week...and you will be impressed!

Training, TT and LED's

2009-10-22T20:03:00.005-04:00

Nothing is more efficient than a 5' warmup, 70' at 93% @ crit course, then a 4' cool down. Done and home.

New TT bike came today and it's time to turn into an aero geek...I can't handle the "truth"

People are talking about the Magicshine P7 light. It's a great deal for under $80 (I've got one) but it's not even close to 900 lumens. More like 600-650. Still a kick ass deal and lots of light if you don't want to build one. They're chinese made and cheap so they've got issues, some of which can be addressed.

This puppy is 7 XPG's and is gonna be 2450 lumens in a 4cm diameter housing. I should have the driver next week then I'll build it. Gonna be sick. A giant hyperspace leap from my rides with a 10w halogen on slickrock trail in the late 80's. I'm gonna be building lots of lights this winter for people.

with optic:

i rode my bike in orlando F.L.A.

2009-10-21T23:24:00.002-04:00

I got back today from Orlando and Disney World. As much as I hate to admit it...it didn't suck. I was all ready for 10,000 square acres of walmart but Disney Inc. has it nailed. I'm still pretty fried from the whole thing and no telling how my 6 y.o. dtr feels.

Sat and Sunday mornings I got up and rode with Ward and his crew. Saturday was the group ride with 60-70 assorted riders. A huge group that seemed more like a critical mass event. Soon after the start I followed Ward to the front and we started hammering but after a few hard pulls I had no idea where I was going so I left it to the others and just sat in. It was a good ride but with lots of wind, felt more like a race at times.

Sunday was a smaller group of 12 or so of strong riders and we did around 70 miles mostly just cruising but there were a few times we made it hard. It was pretty cold for Florida...50˚ at the start and only warmed up to 60˚. Luckily I threw in some knee warmers and a vest for the trip. I got about 350 TSS for the weekend.

Back to the crit course on Thursday...

1x70'

2009-10-13T22:37:00.002-04:00

Headed out for the usual at the crit course...Was gonna do an hour at 90% but felt good so I just kept going. I missed training yesterday so I wanted to do something significant. The legs felt like I could have ridden another hour at this intensity. Sweet!

May try to do a longer ride tomorrow. Maybe 4:45pm at the gate...do the thursday route? anyone? Bueller? ping me if you wanna go.

Saturday

2009-10-10T18:35:00.002-04:00

Met the group then headed out to do my own thing. Had a lot of things going on and needed to get back home. Did 30' at 90% then got really hot and shut it down...why is it hot in October? I didn't feel all that great anyway.

1x60'

2009-10-08T19:02:00.002-04:00

Did a loop in the fort with Chris and she sat on my wheel while I did this-->

Had awesome legs tonight. Effortless riding.

the usual

2009-10-07T21:56:00.002-04:00

Did the usual today after work at the crit course...85 TSS in about 75'. Pretty efficient. Just cruised at 85% and timed it so I was 5' from home at the end.

I'm gonna be out there A LOT this winter, mostly M-Tu-Wed at around 5pm. It's really the perfect place to train. If you're a newbie and want to start some structured training come on out and ride a wheel. I'll be starting some threshold in November but right now it's all SST.

I'm also building a Dual-Triple Cree LED light using the just released XPG's and it should be close to 2000 lumens and insane. If you're gonna go...go BIG. LED's en route now from Australia! I will own the night...

Wkend update

2009-10-03T23:54:00.002-04:00

Got out with Chris/Karl and Dean...mostly had it turned to 'medium' but Karl smashed me once and I smashed him once. Even. Rode 2.5 hrs. Btw...I'm no longer doing easy rides. I'm either training or resting. On or Off. 2010...gonna kill, rip legs off, etc etc.

I really need to download my PT one of these days...that's the trouble with 15hrs of rec. time and the off season.

Last TNWC of 2009

2009-09-29T22:27:00.004-04:00

Another smallish group tonight but there were enough strong dudes to keep it interesting and fast. Not much happened for the first half of the race. A break of around 8 of us got away at around the midpoint and this was probably less of a break than just natural selection. Pretty much everyone was there so I wasn't too concerned about doing much work to make it stick.

I knew I had to use that one match I had at just the perfect time. With 3 to go Wingo launched and got a pretty good gap. We sort of took our time chasing him down which was fine with me cuz that meant one less strong guy to worry about for the finish. Again I did a minimal amount of work...just surfed the back or just rolled through and off the front to conserve as much as possible.

With one to go I planted myself on Marc's wheel and at this point he had a 95% probability of winning so I wasn't too thrilled about sprinting against him. Plus what made matters worse for me was there was a strong tailwind blowing down the finish (advantage to Marc). Usually with that wind I like to attack into the wind with about 1k to go and if I can get a decent gap I can sometimes hold it to the line with the tailwind. I did consider trying this but I didn't think I had the legs to pull it off. My one match is sortof puny right now.

Coming to turn 3 of the last lap Jay was leading it out...then Toby, Marc and me. Right after the turn Marc attacked hard and it sort of surprised me...I totally didn't expect it. A split second later I went after him, dug deep and closed the gap just before turn 4. He bombed the turn and drilled it up towards the finish line. I looked back once and it was just us two by a good ways. I knew I had a huge advantage at this point but still wasn't convinced that I could come around him. I just relaxed, stayed an inch from his wheel and waited till the last possible moment... and with 50m to go I jumped hard and pipped him by a wheel for the win. Very fun finish, good instincts and aggressive riding by Marc but just bad luck.

zippage

2009-09-28T06:53:00.001-04:00

posting for a teammate...lemme know if you're interested:

Front and Rear Zipp 404. Dimpled. Bought 2 seasons ago used. Very low mileage Continental Tubulars: $1,000

Front and Rear Zipp 808. Dimpled. New in the box, mid season 2008. Light mileage Continental Tubulars: $1,200

Zipp 900 Disc. Dimpled. Bought, used, in 2008. Vittoria Tubular: $900

Front Zipp 1080. Dimpled. New in the box, end of season 2009. 40 miles. Very, very low mileage Continental Tubular: $950

fo sale

2009-09-23T07:37:00.002-04:00

New Kuota Kredo Ultra

XL (57cm top tube)

$1000

another TNWC

2009-09-22T22:58:00.002-04:00

Good TNWC despite a small field. I think after 15 min there were only about 10 guys actually left racing. I missed the break (grrrrrr...) and ended up chasing with a good small group. We worked it and kept the break in sight but just could not close it. I decided to just pull as hard and as long as I could to get a good workout.

dirt

2009-09-20T22:09:00.002-04:00

Today I got out with Jay and Mark D for a mtn bike ride at Harbison...it's been *a while* since I've ridden off road. At least a few years. When I lived in Salt Lake in 1989 I used to spend weeks and weeks riding around Moab and other places in UT and Colorado. I had a nice road bike but just never rode it as I had great trails leaving right from my place up Emigration canyon in SLC and it was too much fun.

This morning we hammered the trails for a couple hours...for the first hour I was pretty gripped, trying to ride fast when my reflexes and technical skills were lagging behind. The last hour I started feeling like a rider again. Good fun and I'm sure I'll do more this winter.

TNWC

2009-09-15T21:34:00.005-04:00

I wasn't feeling that super today. Yesterday I did about 90' with 45' of 85% and my lower back was a little tweaked (I think from doing several no-hands laps to mix it up!). I basically just sat in tonight and cruised the back. I wasn't gonna do ANYTHING before 35' in to save my single match.

At 35' I started to get a little active and went with a couple moves but nothing would stick. The last 20' was pretty good racing. With 3-4 laps to go 4 guys got a little gap and the diminished field was left to chase. It seemed that lots of guys were pretty tired and I tried to bridge once at 2 to go but just dragged everyone up a ways till I pulled the plug.

With one to go I tried again, jumped pretty hard and got a gap. Derek managed to get my wheel so I figured I'd just drag him to the break. Right when I made contact he attacked (textbook!) and blew it apart...including me. End of my night and I rode home at a steady pace for some more exercise.

I have no idea who won. I was a little impatient at the end but it was fun none the less and a good workout. I was really comfortable on the bike tonight. I continue to be amazed at how well I'm riding with hardly any training since July.

Saturday

2009-09-12T18:47:00.002-04:00

Karl and I did 3 hrs today out and around Eastover. We both felt pretty good so we rode pretty steady with him killing it on the front for 60% of the time. I didn't feel awful despite not having ridden this far in a long time. My batteries died on the PT so I was going by PE. I was gonna do 2 easier rides this weekend to get my TSS but one harder one works out about the same.

TNWC

2009-09-08T21:55:00.007-04:00

Cool race tonight...lots happening and it was pretty fast. LL told me he was gonna launch after the first catch at 15' in but with my diminished fitness I figured I needed to burn that one match I had nearer to the end. LL, Karl and Ward were away for a long time and it took a hell of a chase to pull them back. I had to take a couple big pulls even though I didn't really want to but the chance of those guys staying away was pretty huge.

For the last third of the race I just sort of surfed and kept an eye on things...with everyone in the group chasing like mad I figured it would come down to a bunch sprint so I went into chill mode. It all stayed pretty much together and I was sitting 20th wheel with a half lap to go so I inched up towards the front following Marc W. Someone then put in a massive attack at 1k (Ward?) and I just put my head down and stayed glued to the wheel in front of me. That friggin hurt!

Coming into turn 4 I was sitting 3rd on Marc W's wheel...James (?) was leading it out. Coming out of 4 the train was starting to die and MW was again just sitting on and looking around for a wheel. At around 200m to go I saw my opportunity as the leadout was riding on the left gutter. I thought that if I could attack and ride just off the lead guy's shoulder and taking some people with me that I could maybe box MW in and have a shot at winning. I didn't know how many were following me but it was not enough and MW made it through and won pretty easily (but those tactics have a zero % chance of working in a 1-2 race). I got 2nd.

Damn these races can be fun...

400

2009-09-07T20:02:00.002-04:00

Ok...my 5 week siesta is over. Time to start keeping the weight in check and maintain some fitness. My goal for the next month is 400TSS a week. Not huge but it will require riding 3-4x per week with 2 good days. I'm gonna keep the volume down and make it all about quality...SST will rule.

Today I did about a 90' ride with 55' at 85-90%. My new FTP is around 275w but is probably a little bit lower than that.

On a side note my shoulder is still pretty jacked from the crash last tuesday...I came soooo close to a major rotator cuff injury and I'm still not completely satisfied that I didn't tear something. I'll give it another week before I think about an MRI.

US Pro

2009-08-30T23:47:00.008-04:00

I headed up to Greenville on Sunday to catch the US Pro road race. It's always a fun time and Ella wanted to do the kids world championships. Mike Tamayo had said I could catch a ride in the Ouch team car so I found him in the caravan before the race but there was a USA Cycling dude riding so he was going to try to get me on one of the other laps.

That didn't work out so Crusty's like "just jump on that moto" and I ended up with Trey Smith who was driving one of the press moto's. I had to wait a few minutes until Mrs. Hincapie decided she didn't want to go...yeah, really. I don't know what was more fun...watching the riders up close or having Trey going REAL fast down Paris Mtn and railing the corners! It was an incredible ride.

compare that to the ride in the Healthnet car...I'll take the moto!