Spring Training

Training for the 2010 race season is in full-swing — well half-swing, anyway. Racing in the Expert class this year is going to be interesting, to say the least. I haven't increased my hours on the bike at all over last year, which probably doesn't bode well considering I'll be racing an extra lap this year at an even higher pace. But, after two years of racing Comp and doing well, it's time to avoid the sandbagger label and go suffer with the big boys. Lots of guys I've raced with the past few years are moving up this year too, so it will be just like old times in some ways.

Did an impromptu threshold wattage time trial test the other day, and my numbers were about where I expected them to be. Got a 50-mile mtb race in a couple of weeks which should either whip me into shape or destroy me. Possibly the Cable Off-Road Classic the week after, then the MMBS season starts the following Saturday. Pretty sure I want to do 24 Hours of Moab again this year, so I'm looking at the race season as training for that. We'll see. No matter what, this year will be a learning process and an adventure. Looking forward to it. I think...

Spring training

Build 1 phase is over, thank God. 3 weeks of hill intervals was brutal. Right now I feel like my road fitness is about a 7 out of 10. My mountain bike fitness is maybe a 5 or 6. Overall, I think I'm right about where I should be for this time of the year. First race is in 3 weeks. Giddyup.

Cool invention idea

Somebody needs to integrate Playstation controls into a bike handlebar (that idea ©2008 Chris Van Ert). How cool would that be? Some sort of funky STI shifter/hood configuration. Anything to kill the boredom of indoor trainer riding.

End of season

It's that time of year when I have absolutely ZERO motivation to train anymore. I was going to buy a cyclocross bike and try racing this fall, but can't justify spending that kind of money with the economy in freefall. So, right now my riding pretty much consists of one or two 45-minute rides after work, the occasional ride towing Owen in the trailer and a weekend mtb ride if it's not raining. There's a mtb race in Red Wing on Sunday, but it's at 9:00 am, meaning I need to leave my house around 6:30. It's a fun course, but I'm not sure it's worth getting up at 5:30 on a Sunday. We'll see.

What do you do to stay motivated in the shoulder seasons?

Annual fall burnout

Really struggling to find motivation to train right now. I've got one mtb race left and maybe will try some cyclocross this fall, but right now the last thing I want to do is cruise intervals. I did get down to Lebanon Hills for a couple of laps on Saturday. Managed to bend my front brake rotor on a rock, but otherwise had a good ride. The new exit section is fun. The big berms remind me a little of the original trail exit from 10-15 years ago.

On the road again

Finally able to ride again after being sick for 2 weeks. Got 40 in on Tuesday and another 40 miles last night. Finally found a decent northern route that isn't a narrow no-shoulder road, hillbilly jamboree.

Distance: 40 miles
Average Watts: 200
Average Speed: 20 mph
Calories burned: 1550

No Race

This cold is an ass-kicker. I've been sick for a week with no real signs of improvement. Just mowing the lawn killed me on Saturday so I decided to not even bother thinking about racing at Buck. Went for a 45 minute spin yesterday just to get one ride in for the week and not lose too much fitness. Hope this crap goes away soon.

Red Wing

Hit Memorial Bluff yesterday for a good 2 hour ride. Trails were in great shape, as usual. A few downed trees from Friday's storm, but I'm guessing those will be taken care of by race day. I've ridden here so many times I didn't really need the preride, but it's such a fun trail that it's worth the drive. I mainly worked on the Stairway to Heaven climb and the climb out of the Quarry. Got Stairway dialed, had one crap ride out of the Quarry but got it dialed so that I cleaned it 3 out of 4 times. The trick will be not getting stuck behind someone who can't ride either one during the race. That, and getting into the singletrack ahead of the traffic jam at the start. I'll be following Clayton "Holeshot" McLagan for the lead out.

Afton Gravelfest

route map here

Had a flat before I even started riding. Hole in the tire had to be booted, first tube didn't hold air. Frantic search for another tube. Fast group leaves while I'm fixing tire. Roll out with the second group. I'm on the front pretty much the entire way down Lake Elmo, feeling ok. We roll towards Afton and the Afton Hills climb. I stand at the base of the climb to drop the hammer only to discover they have just tarred and graveled the road, and my bike slides out from under me. Luckily I didn't hit the deck, but it kind of put a damper on the climb. (Note to Afton lovers: gravel EVERYWHERE) Halfway up the fast group is on their way down, so I pull a 180 and latch on. We roll through Afton and hit the Coulee. I sit about 5th wheel, and for once I fight the urge to attack from the very start of the climb. It stays together until the first false flat, then someone attacks. I see John T move to attack him and I react. I follow John and we crush it the rest of the way up, attacking and counterattacking until we reach 50th street. First test of the day, and I got an A- (would've been A+ but John rolled by me at the very end).

Up 50th to Trading Post and more gravel. Detour out to Neal with craters and pavement the consistency of a cheese grater. Luckily, we're all experienced riders and no one makes any foolish moves. 20mph tailwind down Valley Creek to Stagecoach and I'm spinning out in my biggest gear. Super strong head/crosswind the rest of the way back, but we've got a very organized paceline of about 7-8 guys, and it's smoother than Billy Dee Williams. 350-450 watt turns on the front the rest of the way home with a few attacks at the end. Brian and I led the charge for the last few miles, trading pulls back to the parking lot. Rolled in just behind Brian for the "finish". Second and most important test of the day, not getting dropped, and I boost my GPA with another A, with extra credit for a strong finish. (It would have been great to be able to grade myself like this when I was in school.)

GREAT ride. I was hanging on for dear life after the Coulee, but recovered and found enough power to keep everyone honest. I need to find a way to translate this to mountain biking. On a road bike I can "reach deep into my suitcase of pain" as Paul Sherwin would say, but haven't been able to do the same thing on the mtb consistently. Some day...

Training

Had 4 days off the bike last week. Went for a spin Thursday, felt okay. A couple of laps at Hillside on Saturday in the hot, hot heat, felt pretty good. 2 hours on the road bike yesterday in the even hotter, hot heat, not so good. I'm sure the Fat Tire Ale from Saturday night didn't help the hydration in the 90 degree heat. Just didn't have much power in the legs, especially into the wind coming home. Flatted and cooked in the sun changing the tube. 50 mile hilly hammerfest to Afton on Tuesday. Hopefully the legs make a comeback.

Rest Week Recap

After last Sunday's Afton race, I was supposed to have a week off the bike. That lasted until Tuesday, when I put in 70 miles. I stayed off the bike again until Saturday, mostly because I felt like crap. Saturday I still felt lousy, but it was my only chance to go to Mankato and preride the course before the race. So, I packed up and headed south.

The comp/expert course has at least 2 sections that aren't in sport. I've ridden "Mad Squirrel" before, which consists of a rutted, rooty downhill with some wicked switchbacks. I hadn't ridden "Quick Release" before. Yikes. The pictures on MORC don't really do it justice. SUPER steep, with tight turns covered with roots, meaning you've got to keep your fingers off the brakes and let it roll. The bottom drops out to the base of the ski hill with a big pile of loose dirt at the bottom to get through at high speed. 4 times through this outta be fun. If somebody in front of you doesn't make it you're screwed, because I don't know that you can walk this section. I'm hoping to not be that guy. I cleaned it both times I rode it, but decided not to push my luck any further since I was the only person out riding.

Yesterday, no ride, just a long walk with the family. No ride today, hills tomorrow.

Afton, again...

Rode into work yesterday morning to try to wake the legs up since I was still feeling pretty tired from Sunday's race. I'm supposed to be in a transition week, which means no riding. So what do I do? A 60+ mile ride from the Birchwood to Afton and back. See map and elevation profile here. Over 70 miles total yesterday. Ouch.

Recovery products

NY Times has an interesting article on recovery products and energy drinks/food.

I think it makes sense for the average Joe who only does a short, low-intensity workout a few times a week. But, and maybe it's just a placebo effect, I can definitely tell the difference in the hours and day after an intense workout or race if I don't take Endurox right after the event. Especially if I've got another hard effort that following day. It's also much more convenient to have a bottle of R4 ready to go right after a race than it is to have an actual meal.

Or, you could use Gary's preferred recovery drink: Heineken.

Afton

Hit Afton for a couple of laps Sunday afternoon. Saw quite a few others out doing top-secret training. Low 80's and sunny, pretty much like most race days there. Manhandler/Whistler was brutal, baking in the direct sun all the way up. Trail was mostly dry, except for start area and the gravel road. 2 days of potato salad and beer didn't bode well for training.

Looks like rain all week and severe weather forecast for Sunday. Good times.

Stillwater ride

Original plan was to roll with the slow group and use this as a slow burner. Of course that didn't happen. I rolled with the fast group, which consisted of more new faces than familiar ones. The first 15 miles were relatively flat, but everyone was taking flyers, trying to split things up. I knew the big climb out of Stillwater on 11 would splinter everything so I saved my matches for later.

We caught the slow group right at the base of the climb, so we had to weave our way through 20 people and up the first part of the climb. This thinned things out a bit, but the faster guys came back together before the big hill. I decided to try keeping it in the big ring and sprinting up the climb. So, I stood up and went. Stayed standing all the way to the top (that was some good pain), looked back and I had about a 100-150 meter gap. Didn't get caught until Stonebridge (stupid stop sign), but by then we had shelled all but 6 guys.

The newbies didn't quite grasp the whole rotating paceline concept. When they got to the front they would hit the gas and fly off the front, instead of keeping the same pace and letting the guy who just did all the work catch a break. After a little coaching things smoothed out and we were flying between 25-30 mph through the rollers. I took one more flyer on the final hill, staying away until the descent. Then the cat and mouse for the sprint started. I thought I was finally in a good spot, about 4th wheel with 1,000 meters to go. Then 2 guys sat up and I was in the worst position possible. If I took a short pull and sat up I'd get attacked. So, of course, I went for it with about 600 meters to go. Legs were burning, got caught at about 100 meters to go but managed to catch a wheel. Was still in it but got boxed in for about 4th place.

Overall, legs felt pretty good. If the temp ever gets above 70 I may be able to breathe and we'll see how things improve then. Hopefully no repeats of last weeks total body shutdown (I'll be working on recovery the next few days).

Max Watts: 957
Average Watts: 210 (next ride I will try to hit the interval button to get more accurate averages, excluding the warm-up and cool-down parts)
Average Speed: 22.5 mph
Distance: 40.34 miles
Calories burned: 1575

Recovery Ride

Took an easy morning spin yesterday to keep the legs alive. Turned into a harder effort coming back into the wind, but not a hammerfest. Tonight we hit the hills by Stillwater for 40 miles. Can't decide if I'm gonna sit in with the slow guys and just get some miles in or if I'm gonna do the usual race effort.

Obey the recovery week

I think I'm paying the price for overtraining. Yesterday morning I woke up and felt horrible. Super weak, nauseous and out of it. It took everything I had to get Owen to daycare and get back home. I crawled into bed to rest for a minute. I woke up 4-1/2 hours later. Better today, but still super tired. Hoping to ride this weekend, but will definitely take it easy.

Nason Hill

Super windy and I got gutterballed about 5 miles in (literally, blown off the road into the gravel). I latched back onto the pack, but as I was doing that there was a break of 6 guys at the front. We started chasing but only me and 2 other guys would pull through. I got frustrated and went for it, trying to bridge up. Didn't work. Sat up, waited for the chasers. Same deal for the next 15 miles: 3 people out of 8-9 took turns pulling, and if anyone else did pull through they went way too fast for anyone to follow (after they'd been sitting in forever).

Well, I put up with this until the big climb, Nason Hill. Dropped the hammer and shelled the dead weight. Passed lots of shredded riders from the original escape. Eventually, the stronger, cooperative riders from the previous chase group caught me. But, the 5 of us got a smooth paceline going and drilled it for the next 20 miles. I felt great on the hills and took a few monster turns on the front. Legs were absolutely screaming for me to stop, but I was able to ignore it for once (holy crap am I paying for that now. Ouch). Took one more big pull up the last twisty hill on 7 before the sprint. Dwight gave me the secret sign to follow his lead out for the sprint, but that was game over for me. Sat up and watched the sprint unfold. Good times. Great ride. This is what was missing from my training last year.

Max Watts: 795
Ave Watts: 225
Miles: 43.36
Calories burned: 1654

So much for my recovery week...

I was only supposed to ride 3-1/2 hours this week, all short recovery rides with a 40 minute TT today. I did a 40 mile hammer ride on Tuesday and a 3-hour leg ripper on the mtb at Afton today (including 5 times up Manhandler). I'm feeling pretty cooked, but it was a fun week. I'll take it easy tomorrow...

Fun facts from today's ride:

Guy sitting next to his bike on the switchback climbs, smoking a cigarette yells "You guys are ANIMALS!" as we ride by. He was in flavor country.

Some other dude was out riding with a cat. Yes, a cat. As in fluffy, litter box using, Meow Mix eating feline.

We got road raged by a guy in a golf cart.

Hey there legs, welcome back!

Did the R&G hammer ride last night. 40 miles from White Bear Lake north to Hugo, up and around Big Marine Lake, then back on the rollers via Norell and 7. I was able to hang with the fast group and actually put in some attacks on a few hills. Made the mistake of taking a huge flyer with John Thompson and burned a bunch of matches, almost got dropped, but recovered before the first climb. I didn't get dropped by the Oftedahl brothers (although I'm guessing this was a recovery ride for them) and had enough left in the tank for a long lead-out at the end.

I miss the group ride. There's nothing quite like a smooth paceline slicing through the wind at high speed. When I was taking my turn at the front the watts were in the 300-375 range on the flats. A few times even when I was sitting 3rd or 4th wheel I was ticking over 275-300 watts (my threshold is about 260). We caught the first group right before Big Marine and blew by them like they were standing still. I think Mealhouse was the only one to latch on and I think he fell off after the hill. Good times. Great night. Hopefully the fitness is coming around. Even if it's not, that was my best ride of the year so far.

The Stats (including warm up and cool down)
Max watts: 805
Average watts: 205
Calories burned: 1355
Average speed: 22.9 mph
Max speed: 38.75 mph
Distance: 40.68 miles