Wow, lots to catch up on - first, Moab!

I can’t believe that I’ve been home a whole five days, but let me catch up on some things, and provide some links if possible.

Amy and I had so much fun last Fall, when we traveled to Girona with Marty Jemison Tours, that when we returned, we immediately began planning for another trip with them. Due to the dollar’s fall against the Euro, we pretty much ruled out another trip to Europe, but in a timely decision, Jemison started offering some domestic trips. When they offered up a week in Moab, Utah, we jumped at the chance. Our friend Chalmers went with us, and the three of us embarked on May 1st for some riding and adventure in the desert oasis.

Moab is really famous for its’ mountain biking, but Jemison is keen to open up the road riding options. Furthermore, the place is surrounded by National Parks and State Parks, and lots of public land, so while it’s popular, it’s also, well, pretty empty.

And BEAUTIFUL.

We did a short hop on the first day, riding out to a part of the Colorado River called “Potash”, which was fairly flat, and just followed the river. There were 11 of us in total, and Marty completely understood my need to ride at a higher tempo. With this elevation, and this type of catering, I was NOT going to let the opportunity slip through my fingers. So, I tempoe’d out, tempoe’d back, and met up with the crew before dinner.

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In the last photo, that’s John Hamann, owner of iBike. He came down to escape the cold and snow in Montana, and he and Jo Anne brought their bird, Einstein, seen here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Whareagle/MoabMartyJemison2008/photo#5197413351465086754

So, we had a dinner afterward, made new friends, and planned out the rest of the week. I pretty much tempo’d most of it, and while the altitude hurt for the first few days, I did adapt pretty quickly. The fun part was just holding tempo, watching wattage, and then CLIMBING some of the REAL climbs. There was a great 20-minute climb out on the last long day, and there was a fantastic 5-minute effort at the very beginning of the day we went in to Arches National Park. I think I set some new PR’s, and the ibike/quarq/ptap combo really started working well for me. I think we got variation within 1% most days.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Whareagle/MoabMartyJemison2008/photo#5197424282156856050

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The final two days, however, were just epic. Chris, one of the guides, stayed an extra day or two with us, and he took me on some of the famous mountain bike trails in the Moab area. I hadn’t been on a mountain bike in over 6 years, so I was nervous, but the rental that we got from Poison Spider was an Intense 5.5, and it had to be one of the most fun bikes I’ve ridden, ever. We did the Moab Rim Trail that overlooked the town, and then we did the famous Porcupine Rim, which had to be one of the hardest damned trails I ever rode. I liken it to riding over 8″ tombstones stacked in a 30 degree angle. It was RUGGED. I won’t say that I rode well (it was clipout city), but I did find my groove, and we used every inch of that travel as we descended down. I did finally end up doing a bunch of hike-a-bike, but in the end, the trail was perfect, and I will never, ever forget just how kick butt that ride was.

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We returned home rested, adapted, tan, and ready for the next few weeks or months. THAT leads me to the second part of this blog, but I’l have to do some work first. I think I’m really getting stronger. We’ll see, but this was just what I needed.

Today is my anniversary with Amy. I can’t imagine life getting much better. Well, maybe it would if I hit the lottery, but since I don’t play the lottery, I can’t complain about that, either!

Muenster Rally 2008

Hello all, here’s a synopsis of what occurred this Saturday at the Meunster bike rally, held in Meunster, which is pretty far north of Dallas, in the rolling prairie that has creeks which flow in to the Red River drainage.

Amy and I woke up early, packed the bikes, and headed out around 7:45, thinking that we probably needed the time to get there and find a good parking spot. We DID find a good parking spot, right in front of the Junior High, but when we arrived, it was about 57 degrees, and I think we were a little unprepared for it. However, it warmed up by the time of the start, and we rolled off to do the 100K with several hundred other riders. Attending for the Pirates of the Peloton were Andrew Popsack, Rocky, Bill Kleinman, and myself. There were a couple of other strong contenders, including Chris Powers, some riders from Tenzing, and a lot of the usual clubs from North Texas and Oklahoma.

Andrew took the first strong pull for the Pirates, but when my turn came I took my pull, pulled off, and was surprised to find a lot fewer people either able or willing to work. We ended up in a rotation of about 8 to 10, with an estimated 40 other riders out there all just humming along with a crosswind off to our left. We made the turn past the first feed zone, and then Chris and I believe a Colavita rider jumped off the front and got about a 30 second lead on the rest of us. I knew this was dangerous, but I also knew it was early, so I took some solid pulls, especially on the uphills, and I think we caught up with them after about 15 minutes. Then the other Colavita rider went off the front, and I went with him. We got maybe 15 seconds up on the pack, now down to maybe 25 or so, and stayed off, until again Chris Powers bridged and sat on, and then allowed a select group to catch up. I think there was one more attempt by he and one other rider to get away before the second right hand turn, but it was reeled in. Powers has this unique standing climb at high cadence that just whips me. I prefer to stay seated.

The pack of again about 12 or so entered the middle part of the ride doing some work and enjoying the scenery, which was pretty lush, as we rolled over 1-minute hills and proceeded towards St. Jo. But at the same place where it happened last year, as we climbed over one last hill to get back on to the prairie, most of the rest of the riders were dropped, leaving me with Powers, another Bikes Plus rider, one Colavita rider, a McKinnery Velo rider, one other guy that I really can’t remember, and then myself. We got up to the prairie, looked over our shoulders, and saw no one. So, with the winds moderate to minimal, we rolled tempo through St. Jo, and then over towards the last 1/3rd of the ride. We even beat the setup of one of the feed zones, which was hilarious!

With about 15 miles to go, we agreed to head toward the last feed zone, but we were definitely eyeing each other as we pushed it up the hills and over the top. We were all running out of water, and I was definitely starting to cramp on my left rear hamstring, and there were warnings from my calves. I also have GOT to find a saddle I can survive on - they both need work, not my ass. But at 8 miles or so, I made a rookie mistake, not thinking, and sort of half-wheeled Chris on a climb, and he called me on it. I verbally apologized, and we synced back in, but shortly after that the CV rider and powers stormed up a hill on their feet, out of the saddle, and I had no way to respond. The other B+ rider sat on our wheels and I later learned that the MV rider was basically riding for Chris. They got anywhere between 30 seconds and a minute up the road. Sometimes I could reel them in, sometimes I couldn’t. Somewhere along the way the unattached rider cracked and fell back, and then it was just me and the MV rider, with the B+ rider sucking wheel, protecting his rider up the road.

I never gave up, however, and with my hands in the drops, I pushed as hard as I could in the 2-man-plus-one pack that I was in, and we finished in about 2:30, with the leaders roughly a minute up. I shook hands with the McKinney Velo rider, and the other Bikes Plus rider, told them I had had an excellent time, thanked them for their company, and rolled back to the car to get my recovery drink.

Looking back, I think the biggest mistake I made was trying to get in to that 2-man break with the CV rider. We probably didn’t have the horses to make it work, and I was honestly surprised at how good I felt. The climbs were pretty easy for the first 2/3, and again, it was enough to make the selection. Finishing 3rd, after my 1st place last year actually makes me feel pretty good, and I held my own with the other riders. I stayed fueled, though I probably should have eaten something maybe midway through. I’d like to have a teammate up there, but this stuff is HARD, and INTENSE, and I don’t know just how strong everyone is. Popsack is great, but I haven’t talked with him about his ride. Bill K seemed to have a strong ride, definitely finishing inside the Top 50, I would think.

Not wanting to squander such a great day, I got back on the bike and rolled out the course backwards to go find Amy and ride back with her. I saw her, Carla Strauss, her husband, Harold and Marilee Gaar, and Darlene Jones. I met up with several iBikers, and we agreed to have some together time to get some great knowledge spread around to enhance their experiences. Amy broke a PR on her ride, and looked just happy and beautiful. We stopped at the DQ in Sanger, got some ice cream desserts, and enjoyed each others’ company on the way back home.

I hope this bodes well for the summer - I needed a ride like this to reaffirm my potential as a cyclist and as a racer. Hanging with Chris Powers for 95% of a ride is a source of pride for me, and I hope I can continue to do well after I get back from the bike camp in Moab.

GO PIRATES!

First weekend of competition in 2008, and…

I DNF’d on Saturday, and DFl’d on Sunday. First race, I was actually going pretty good, but about 40 miles in, I got popped on the “Big Climb”, lost about 15 seconds, and as I was trying to bridge, that cursed left calf just cramped right up and seized. I HATE cramps! So I soloed in and gave the wave-off to Jamie, the official. Then on Sunday, I actually was pretty damned competitive and aggressive and bridged and broke away and just did all sorts of things to agitate the race, for about 1:51, and then got popped right before the feed zone. Ugh. Solo ride in - this time to finish, but it’s still embarrassing when you get passed by some friends, etc. Good thing they were in cars!

Props to Chris Kutach - he raced smart, and he deserves his Cat 2 upgrade. He barely showed his nose once in the race, and then finished 4th. He also drove me out and back, which was cool. I’m really going to enjoy having him as a neighbor.

Lessee, what else. You know, I’m not that upset about the weekend. I mean, I had a great time, I saw some new terrain, I raced hard, I set some new PR’s, and I also learned that you have to work to earn it. So I know what I need to do, and that’s RIDE MORE. I’m going to reinvigorate myself for Baker City, train harder on Tuesdays and Thursdays, try like all get out to ride outside on Wednesdays, and generate a program that I can be proud of.

I want that 330w/Kg/20, and I want to win a stage race. I know I can do it. I just need to train a little more, race a little smarter, and conserve some more energy for later parts of the effort. I also need to go out and PRACTICE some 5-minute hills!!! Like there are any around here!

Today was Nick’s birthday. Gotta remember that for next year.

Headin’ South for a week

I’m heading down to Fredericksburg for a week of riding, and will be going with Nick E, and Tim B. We’ll pick up Paul S, and he’s going to do some video shooting to put in to erg videos.

Last night I had a long chat with a building committee bigwig at the JCC, and we pretty much wrote up an Apollo-style program with terracing, 16 bike positions, twin screens, an extra door through the glass wall, and some pretty aggressive plans with the bathroom right behind. I’d be grateful for any of it.

Okay - I’m heading out, and I’m shutting off the phones. I gotta do a TON of stuff today, and it’s gorgeous outside, and I’m really mad that I can’t go out, but there’s this weekend and next week. Love and luck to all. I’ll try to report from camp.

Oh, brother…

Well, I knew being sick would take the wind out of my sails, and I haven’t really been right with my workouts most of the winter, but this sucks. About 1 week before I got sick, I did a 20-minute TT to see if there were ANY gains made in my w@FT over the past few weeks and months. In January, I’d hit a 263/20, which was a sizeable drop from the 305 I’d hit in May of ‘07. Then came the pneumonia, then came the summer and some good rides, but I missed a Fall camp, and instead Todd and I went and rode for 3 days in different locations around N. Texas. Good, but obviously not good enough. And most of those rides were meant to be Beta Test rides for the ‘new’ firmware on the iBike.

Then came Christmas, and some serious down-time, classes ended, we went chasing some dog that was loose out at White Rock Lake, and finally we got back up and running again in early January. Only, my performances really didn’t go that well. I was still losing weight. Nothing tasted good. I got super busy with all the iBike post-Christmas mess. And then, late Feb, early March, I got a fever. An old-fashioned, down for 4 days, 102.1 degree and won’t break fever.

Today, I decided to test myself, alongside a client who was coming back from some back injuries and other stresses in her life. We had an adequate warmup, and the quarq/ibike and CT were well matched (The Ptap 2.4 continues to read about 5.8% high), and BINGO. 21:10 later, I’m down a full 10% on my Threshold!!!! And when you figure out that I need TWO SEPARATE 4.6w/Kg/8min efforts AT relative altitude, to get a good finish at Stage 2 in Ft. Davis this this year, and maybe make the cut and ride with the leaders in Stage 3. Well, I’m a LONG way from there, so I’ve got my work cut out for me next week in Fredericksburg.

I’m going to order a pizza, maybe two. I haven’t been this light since college XC running days. It’s not good…

Reminder to self:

1. Must get new Flowchart together for latest updates to CompuTrainer CS 1.6 and MultiRider 3.
2. Must get article completed for Paul.
3. Must get relevant Garmin 705 software….

Another cool & windy day in Dallas

Got up this AM and went over to the JCC to set up an indoor trainer ride for the Pirates of the Peloton. Todd joined us, and we rode the Lake Placid Ergvideo for about 91 minutes. The Ptap and the SRM were of course fairly close over the duration, but again the Ergomo disappointed me in that it perpetually read low, lower than the CT. This is at 9 o’clock on the sensor, and a TIGHT, NEW, CLEAN install. So if it’s consistent, then I guess that’s okay, but I’d still prefer that the thing be closer to the SRM in most conditions.

This is a test

Testing testing testing 12345 54321 testing testing testing.

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