Potts Mountain

I decided yesterday I was going to try and ride to West Virginia and back... as a challenge of sorts. What would be my reward? A big ol' Hamburger of course! (I LOVE hamburgers, and have been depriving myself of one for several weeks now) Needless to say, I fell short of my goal.. but did meet the goal of burning 3500+ kilo joules of energy.

Back to my ride.

Hilly would be an understatement, so too was the weather forecast of "light and variable" winds. I'll buy the "variable" part... but the light... nope. The cross/headwinds made most of the way feel as if I were riding uphill the entire time. Was I? Unfortunately not... borrowing a GPS did give me a elevation profile of the ride. There were three mountain passes, but a lot of rolling grinders made the trip suitably tough.

The summit Potts Mountain was the turnaround point for this ride. West Virginia was only a few miles away... but staring down the backside. I decided I had reached my turning point. I was satisfied with my ride so far, but knew time-wise, it would not be wise to ride farther (for fear of ruining Katie's plans for the day!). While climbing Potts Mountain my iPod playlist came to an end. The final 15 minutes of the climb were zen like. For much of it, there was no wind at all. I don't think I've ever climbed in such a quiet and serene environment... the bike was even quiet! (no surprise there.. haha..)

Potts Mountain seems out of place in Southwest Virginia. It's pretty big (3500') and is one of the steadiest grades of found out here (2000' in 5 miles at a very consistent grade). Near the top the groves of trees look like they belong in Colorado. The views from the top were exceptional, I could see everything.. including the Peaks of Otter (really far away). The road has been freshly paved since the Summer, and there was even snow is the shaded areas of the ditch (as well as a nice coating of salt on the road).

I hate to admit, I rode the descent conservatively. A freshly paved rode with little debris and smooth turns begs for a Red Bull Rampage-esque attempt; but for the sake of self-preservation I decide to keep it smooth and steady. Catawba mountain features another thrilling downhill.

Anyways, the Training Stress score for this ride was pretty high. Go figure, wind + false flats/hills + big climbs meant the effort was a little tougher than I had planned. Fortunately I managed to stay in zone 2 most of the time, and kept my average power for the ride in the 211 neighborhood.

While it's definitely not the most climbing I've ever done for any given distance (feel free to come out and ride the Three Peaks with me sometime), I definitely want to ride Potts Mountain again. The Allegheny Range really is a lot different from the Blue Ridge Mountains.

That's all for now...

double take...

So I really did see a guy riding down Apperson with a full on carbon disc wheel today. Full on tri-bike decked to the halls. His buddy up the road of him was rollin' a pair Hed 3's. It was a well deserved chuckle after a super tough 3 hours.

Nifty iPod Trick

Now that it's winter time, my iPod is usually sandwiched in between my jersey and a vest or jacket. I've found that this tends to create condensation on the iPod. While I haven't found this to be a problem... I don't want it to become one. Here's my solution: You know those old bike socks with holes in the toes? Yeah... just put the iPod (or anything other mp3 player) in the sock. Simple enough. So far it's worked well...

It's gettin' cold outside!

Can't forget Walker...

Don't want to leave Target's brother Walker out either... I don't think he wants to go to any races anytime soon though...

Racin' Wife

She doesn't race... but she loves goin'! Not too big on time trials though... but managed to crack a smile at this one!

Racin' Buddy

People take their dogs to races all the time... it's a shame you can't take cats! Target clearly wanted to go to this one!

Reloaded.

The "offseason" has passed, and it's time to start rebuilding for next season. I enjoyed my time off... maybe too much! Milkshakes, burgers, a lot of food! So it's time to straighten up. I've never been big on calorie counting, but I'm going to at least try and pay a little attention to it this year. Last year I never really got to race weight. Oops!

So what's new? I've started seeing a chiropractor for some adjustments. Dr. Walter has been adjusting my fairly crooked body. Perhaps crooked is an understatement! Nevertheless I'm very optimistic that I will be much more comfortable on the bike in 2007! It helps to have an expert uber-certified fit techinician at my disposal to help adapt changes to my lower back/pelvis on the bike!

My next move to is to focus on core strength. After a year of nothing but riding my core strength and stability has all but disappeared. It's amazing how little you use your core in cycling... but just how important it is.

Things are looking good for JRVS in 2007. We've got some new riders and everybody returning seems super motivated for '07. We should have a super strong Cat 3 squad!

Anyways, I think that's all for now!

Ride of the Falling Leaves

I almost didn't ride this morning. I'm at that point in the year where it takes A LOT of motivation to ride. My body has pretended that's it's been October 30th since September 11th (the day after Carolina Cup). But.. I did get rolling anyways. The stroll up 12 O'clock Knob was a BEAR... almost turned around, but kept going. It was wet, but at least the fog was clearing up. The temperature was rising, but it felt good. The descent down the Roanoke side was fun, I rode conservatively... a CRV decided my lane was optimal... so we both swerved out of each other's way, and then a cat ran out in front of me.

Got to the bottom, the sun was super bright and blinding as it reflectedoff the still wet road. I didn't go all the way down to 221, I turned around and headed back up. The climb was much better, it's more gradual. I put in some tough efforts mear the top where the grade is more friendly to a congenital flatlander. I made sure I pushed hard and big ringed the last 1/2 mile.

The ride back down the Salem side was as tough as ever, wet pavement, steep sharp turns and leaves falling. Speaking of leaves falling, a gentle breeze was blowing the leaves like an orange October snowfall. Back to the descent, a heating oil truck climbing the mountain decided to hog the entire road.. leaving me with a four foot swath of pavement to manuever through the steepest and sharpest turn of the entire descent. Good stuff... I'm glad my bike has nice brakes, nice tires, and descends like a rocket on rails!

Burnin' Rubber

I've burned through an incredulous number of tires this summer. A couple Vittoria Open Corsas and a Bontrager 29" ACX... all prematurely toasted. One Open Corsa lasted 4 races (in a span of two weekends)... at the Cobblestone Crit my hub flange disentergrated in the first turn of the first lap. In the short stretch between the turn and the wheel pit, my chainstay managed to bald the tire.

A week later, I was sporting a new Open Corsa on the PowerTap wheel. It was the day after the Tour de Ports crit, and I was too lazy to swap tires. Sure enough on a wet ride in Williamsburg, I sliced the heck out of the tire and casing coasting down Diascund Reservoir Rd. I don't usually do training rides on race tires. Lesson learned.

This past Sunday I managed to tear a 1.5" gash into the sidewall of my rear 29er tire. Bummer. It was only the second ride. While not the finesse rider of a decade ago... I'm certainly not a basher. The sharp rocks of the mountain service road at Carvin's Cove got me again. No lesson learned here... just frustrated. On a positive note, it's motivation to run my old Stan's NoTubes system on the 29er. Worked great with 26 inches... I'll know by the Douthat race if I dig it or not.

No real point to the post... just ranting!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I realize I've been MIA on the blog. We've been busy... and well, I've been super unmotivated to write! In sum, I got married earlier in the Summer, which was outstanding. My return to racing in July was incredibly humbling... several DNF's later, I finally began to get my swagger back in August. Although satisfactory results elude me, it looks like I will at least have momentum and motivation heading into the offseason. Next year's big goal is to upgrade to Cat 2!

That's all for now, hopefully it won't be another 3 months before I poset again!
-Tank

Day Off!

I had a good day off yesterday. Of course, the obligatory pass out on the sofa, waking up oblivious to my surrounding occured... although I at least had a productive day.

For lunch, I decided to give Mama Maria's italian lunch buffet a shot. Katie and I dine at Mama Maria's fairly regularly... and it is very good. The buffet isn't huge like a Calabash or Super Crazy Chinese... but it is tasty. I filled up on Plates of spaghetti, a salad, tons of garlic knots, and a couple slices of pizza. Very tasty, and very filling! Mama Maria's seems to be catching on with the cycling culture as well... there were quite a few cyclists in the room. How often to you get to talk about the Giro with another cycling fan? Morris Elam and I speculated on Basso, Ullrich, Guitierrez, Simoni, and of course Cunego's lack of prosperity. Good times.

After lunch, I switched out chainrings on the Klein, got a haircut, and returned home just in time to see the UPS guy dropping off my new rear disc wheel (not that I'm a great TT'ist... but I'll pretend). After stretching out the S3 tubular it was nap time! I passed out HARD on the sofa... only to be awakened suddenly by the phone ringing and Katie getting home at the same time. By now it's 4:00, she has errands to run... and I've got a bike to ride. Unfortunately my power nap was just long enough to get to the deep REM sleep... meaning that I was incredibly groggy. No problem... a little Rock Star Juiced (70% real fruit juice!)... and I was partying like a rock star.

Time to ride... a Tuesday off means I can make the Famous Tuesday Night Ride in downtown Roanoke! I've only done the ride a handful of times... it's definately a lot of fun; a good route indeed. I figured to maximize my workout quality... I'd ride the fixed gear. I've been riding a fixed gear for a while now... but last night was the first group ride I've taken it on. Of course Bernie Sanders showed up... meaning I should've taken my Klein with gears and the ability to coast. In a nutshell... the ride was a blast, you can really fly up all but the steepest climbs on a fixed gear... but never get a chance to really rest on the downhills.

Back to the Giro. Looks like Basso all but locked up the Giro today. I guess it must've been too cold for Danielson today; I would've liked to have seen him move up in the GC... not down!

Is anybody from back East planning on doing Mountains of Misery this weekend?

Bontrager Batcage

The Bontrager Batcage H20 cage rocks... holds bottles like a champ, and can even tote a Venti Iced Chai from Starbucks. I've been meaning to sing its praises for a while now... but better late than never. I've been exclusively using the batcage for a few years now... only the XXX Lite Carbon cage threatens its existenc eon my bike. In other news, I had the worst bout with allergies since the Ed Elliot Crit yesterday; lesson learned... mow the lawn after the ride.

lactic implosion

Yes, it's true... I cracked yesterday. I cracked hard. It was mother's day, and the JRVS Sunday morning ride had a smaller group than usual. Missing were many of the regular heavy hitters, but present were the sluggers... Cam and Todd. Wow... I had not ridden with Todd at all this year, other than a few warm up laps at Tyson's this year. Todd is incredibly strong and is focusing most of his energy on road racing this year with the Snow Valley amateur-elite team. At one point he and I got off the front and he just hammered... I've never seen anybody hammer so hard, but so smooth.

Anyways, back to my morning. It seems the week's efforts were finally catching up with me; I can buffer a lot of lactic acid build up, but once it reaches critical mass... I'm done. Chris, breakaway specialist/lead out man extra ordinaire/fellow Cat3/fellow allergy sufferer, was also having a rough day with the legs. On the infamous col' de Stonehouse I popped... slowly bobbing and weaving at the foot of the climb watching the Snow Valley duo fly up the road. My plan was to salvage what I had left and ride back with Chris. Next thing, I see Cam dropping back... "great..." I thought, "know I've GOT to dig in an go". I woke up in the morning with heavy legs and tight hamstrings, not much spark, but they still worked. Nevertheless, I dug in deep to get up the road to Cam (who was going just easy enough for me to bridge up, but hard enough to make me dig deep). As I caught up with Cam, we could see Todd and Steve up the road.

I was completely spent... spent enough that if I was riding solo, I would've called it a day and spun home in the 39t. I had to dig in deep to stay on Cam's wheel... we were definately cruising, slowly reeling in Todd, but at a pace I could sustain. As we hit rollers heading inro the "Roubaix" stretch, the rubber band finally snapped. I was on my own. The legs refused to turn over. I was spent, my legs burned... and threatened to cramp. I could barely maintain 100 watts for the remainder of the ride. I've never cracked like that before... never so hard. In hindsight, I'm glad Cam dropped back and pushed me past my limits. On a normal day, I would've been able to keep up... and even contribute to the pace; I've never had that much lactic burn before.

I actually rode my mountain bike...

I rode my big 29er yesterday for the first time since New Year's Day. I admit I've been neglecting the mountain bike this year; but mountain biking doesn't have the appeal it once did for me. However, spending time on the dirt yesterday was exactly what I needed. The frustations of allergies and less than desireable results lately had taken a toll on my ego; my mind needed a change, but wanted to pedal... therefore a mountain bike ride was the remedy. I ended up riding part of the proposed Commonwealth games XC course. It'll definately be a great course; but it's a shame I'm not a climber. Fortunately, at least, the major climb is fairly gradual and super smooth. Who knows if I'll be racing or not... I've found that mountain biking agitates my twice broken collarbone. Regardless of my mountain biking plans, I'll definately make it to the 19th Annual Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge.

As for racing, no plans until the PLT #1 Time Trial on June 11th. Watch out July.

worst performance ever...

This past weekend was incredibly disappointing! Chalk it up to a horrible time trial on Saturday and a laughable effort in Sunday's Ed Elliot Crit. Saturday's time trial was a 15 mile out and back course full of rollers... should've been the perfect course for me! Oh well... maybe next year I suppose; hopefully next year my breakfast won't continually try to come back up either. Sunday, my allergies were the worst they've EVER been while riding. After getting pulled by the moto-ref, I could not breathe... I could tell the inside of my nose was raw and bloody, my throat felt as if it were on fire. Oh well... while I'm frustrated and disappointed... this summer will be a different story.

know when to say when...

Three hours fast and hard were on tap for this morning's training ride. Needless to say, it didn't happen. First up the readings from the PT hub were intermittent, which really perturbed me! Nothing like cruising a long with inconsistent/no data! I looped back around to the house, swapped wheels... and off I went. Secondly, my iPod mini tends to have a mind of its own at times. For absolutely NO reason, it'll choose 3 artist, and only play those artists. My playlist or today featured 43 songs by several different artists. I think only 18 or so of the 43 tunes actually played. It's quite bizarre... there will be a long pause between songs, and chances are the next artist is the same as the one before. Today the iPod was on a junction, agents of good roots, and ryan adams kick... completely ignoring several other artists. Third the legs were dead... and not moving very fast or hard. So I turned around and spun home... perturbed.

Casey Auto Group Crit blog coming soon.

satisfied.

I'm satisfied with this past weekend. A little disappointed in missing the break that rode away on KOA. I was there... all I needed was a couple extra turns of the crank... and I would've been there. "KOA Hill" is an ugly monster of a climb near the end of the JRVS training ride. It's ugly, it opens up with a false flat, then a steep wall, and finishes with a relatively mild grade to the top.

Anyways, the ride was pretty good on Sunday. Fairly well rested, I was ready to roll. I told myself I'd ride angry... but try to save some anger for the end. The roll out started well and steady... heavy with conversation. Although Todd Helmick was absent, there were still a few heavy-hitters: Cam, Stephen DeLisle, Chris, Dave Rushing, et al. Overall, I was aggressive, but not stupid. Usually my efforts early on cost me dearly by the time we get to "Stonehouse Hill"... but I was wise to monistor my efforts closely. I rode Stonehouse aggressively... hitting the base of the climb with Cam and Stephen, then launching a few soft attacks once the group reintegrated in order to move up the climb (and to regain my tenacity of climbs!). For reference, by "soft attacks"... I intended to get a little off the front, but never try to stick it. Nevertheless, I was happy to arrive at the top of Stonehouse in the group; the past few efforts were marred by my lack of fast paced rides: I was ready this time.

After Stonehouse, we slowed the pace a bit before picking things back up through the "Roubaix section". The Roubaix section features horrible pavement and twisty roads... my kind of roads. Roubaix was fun. Next up was KOA.

KOA broke up the ride pretty well. Cam, Stephen, and Chris got away with a gap. A small group of us gave chase. We were able to organize a rotating paceline... slowly bringing them back. Eventually the pulls at 30mph began to wear down the group... leaving Dave Rushing and I taking longer pulls at the front. As we were on the verge of catching them... an old Caddy pulled right out in front of us... forcing us to all but come to a complete stop. After the caddy, Dave Rushing and I broke away to give chase. We were able to close the gap to just a few seconds when the sprint started. Cam took the sprint easily, but we never caught them... we just barely missed the catch and were waaaay too gassed to sprint anyways. After the sprint, we reunited... crusing back to the Waller Mill parking lot under and umbrella of conversation.

After the ride, Cam was nice and bought Chris and I smoothies. We hung out at the BikeBeat in the 'burg briefly with Chris and Steve (who finished with the main group). I dropped off Cam... then swung by the Beat in Kiln Creek about arrangements for this Saturday. After that, I helped my Dad move some firewood... ate Easter dinner with the family... then hit the road for Salem (leaving Katie behind!).

Peaking?

-7 degrees

It's good to feel good again. It's bad that I have exhuasted my supply of allergy medicine; hopefully I'll have that problem remedied tomorrow morning.

I flipped my stem, so it's once again a negative rise. I know that it is biomechanically counterproductive for me to do so... but to be honest, as a crit racer, I did not like the way it handled flipped positive. Perhaps for the occasional mountain timetrial I'll flip it, but for general training and racing, I'll keep it low. Besides... I went out today and posted my highest average zone 2 watts, so it can't be that bad.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. While it's still to be determined when we'll arrive in Yorktown, I'm very much looking forward to Sunday's JRVS/Casey Auto Group training ride. Cam says, "Bring my race wheels and ticket puncher". We'll see who gets their tickets punched. I'm ready for a good ride, I'll be rested and feeling good. Oh yeah... and I get to spend Easter with my family too.

HCC

The Hampton Roads Cycling Classic kicked off and wrapped up this weekend. A windy April weekend played host to the events this year (quite the contrast from last year's oppressively hot July event). Saturday featured a 16 mile time trial in Smithfield; while Sunday featured the Conte's Classic (formerly the Ford Classic) in downtown Norfolk at Waterside.

Katie and I arrived in Yorktown shortly after 1am Saturday morning... I needed to be up at 5:30 in order to eat and get to to Smithfield on time. A little groggy, I finally got to bed at about 1:45... set the alarm, but didn't turn it on. Amazingly I awoke at 5:40, still groggy, but impressed I woke up without an alarm. I showered, dressed, top off the gas tank, then hit the McDonald's drivethru for a Nusbaumer breakfast (hot cakes).

I arrived in Smithfield in record timing... it really is amazing how much time is saved when 80% of traffic lights are green. I expected to be TT'ing in the rain, but fortunately the weather held out, and it was windy. Very windy... crosswinds, headwinds... more headwinds, and only ONE short stretch with a tailwind. I'm glad that I didn't ride a disc wheel (not that I own one)... I don't think they provided a significant advantage. I was also glad that my rear Reynolds Stratus with a hole n the rim held up (I'm not using it for mass starts... so don't worry).

After warming up and gettig ready, I was reminded of a lesson that I know all so well (and usually avoid these situations). My TT helmet (a Louis Garneau Rocket) had been stored in a closet since September... I took it out of its bag to find the shell slightly deformed and the straps extremely out of whack. Scrambling, I tried to get it wearable, only to have a 7 inch piece of the strap dangling. I wrapped that around the other straps and was on my way to the start.

I arrived late to the start, still putting my gloves on. They told me to come to a stop, put a foot down, and go. So I did. For the first 200 meters of the TT, I was putting my gloves on and making all neccessary adjustments. I'm not 100% sure how late I was to the start, or exactly how much time I lost fumbling around after the start. In sum, I don't think it made a huge difference, as I'm not a great time trialer (although I did a decent Mill Mt. TT last year); so a win wasn't lost here. I ended up 13th... snagging a couple of BAR points.

I awoke Sunday and turned on the local news for the weather... it's remarkable how much can change overnight: the day was going to be cooler and windier. I got there early, relaxed, warmed up... and was ready to go. The Norfolk course is tough and technical, a good candidate for a breakaway. In each of the races I watched (Women's 1/2/3&4, Cat 4, Men's 1/2/3) and our race, a breakaway succeeded. Very impressive when you consider the windy conditions.

I was disappointed in my legs not showing up 100% for the day, but all things considered, it's alright. Early on Chris took a solo flyer off the front for a few laps. I moved up to the front, determined to cover any chase attempts. There were several attempts, instigated by Seigler Imports and Hilton's Stephen DeLisle. My goal was to latch onto any of these attempts, hopefully bridging up to Chris, creating a big break with at least two JRVS/Casey Auto Group riders in it without me chasing Chris down. It was a good break attempt, and Chris at least got a prime out of it. Maybe next time it'll work out better in our favor.

Eventually a break of 5 got clear of the field in our race, and a solo rider chased in purgatory for 6th. Eventually the gap became insurmountable, and we gave up chase. The last few laps, I was hurting pretty bad, I really wanted the field sprint, but unfortunately could not force my way into the position I wanted (Ie I started the sprint from waaay back).

Chris and I shared a razor thin line betwen a rider moving over and a curb/sidewalk that jutted out into the lane. Both of us shared the same logic... either brake and coast to the line, or coast through between the rider and the curb with zero margin for error. We chose the curb line... interrupting our soon to be sprint (our pedals would have clipped the curb)... then starting the sprint really early. In the end we didn't catch the guys with a clear line to the finsh, but we did pass quite a few. I came across the line in 10th with Chris, Ken, Dave Olds, and Dave Rushing in tow. It was frustrating not to have at least one man in the break... but with every race I try to learn at least one lesson. Lesson learned; a kamikaze effort would've been approrpiate in the case to get into the break (for anybody on the team); even if I couldn't hang... then Casey Auto Group would've had a shot at victory. I was glad to have Rushing in our race, he's a vet racer with a lot of experience, and pointed out some things we could've done differently in the end that would've ensure at least a little more success.

Rest week, the home for Easter... see you all at Waller Mill for the ride.

Doh!!!!!!

I thought about staying indoors and riding the trainer this morning. In hindsight, I wish I had. Windy days and intervals don't mix, but I was determined to attempt them nevertheless; itt was also pretty chilly this morning (after having a taste of 70+ degrees you don't want to go back!). I'll go right ahead and admit it: I took a spill this morning.

Most mornings I begin my ride with a decent from the neighborhood that features an off-camber (waaaay off camber) switchback with quite a bit of drop. Most mornings I try to see just how far I can lean the bike over. This morning I pushed the bike waaaaaay over... I think a piece of gravel decided to ruin my physics experiment in cornering. I slid a bit... ruining my team bibs in the process (at least they weren't my brand new ones!), watched the PT CPU pop off and slide... and watch the Klein slide right into the curb. I briefly assessed the damage, picked up the bike... turned around andlimped home. Total damage: scuffed saddle (a hard to find old school Concor Light!), scuffed shifter (no biggie, I knew it was inevitable), popped out a bzzzkill (no worries... it slides right back in), road rash, a sore elbow, and a bruised ego. Fortunately the ego will bounce back... and I'll have my finish line tenacity restored.

For a while my day seemed determined to nose dive into some sort of kamikaze mission. Fortunately, total disaster was avoided. Things were pretty busy at the shop early on.. meaning that my service work for the day was having to take a backseat (fortunately I was able to get everything done). Also, I blew up an inner tube fore the first time in a loooooong time; for a moment all I heard was ringing in the ears.

It's nearing closing time, and I'm looking forward to going home, seeing Katie and the boys (Target & Walker), eating dinner, and then finally giving this morning's workout a shot on the trainer. We'll see.

54x11 Sunday?!

testing: 1...2...3...

Yesterday I did my first Cat 1/2/3 race. It was fast... and oh so smooth. The Tyson's Corner Circuit race: 1.1 miles with a fast downhil backside and long grinding start/finish stretch. Katie and my cousin Ryan can verify that I was actually smiling for the first few laps; I felt at home. I'm glad promoters occasionally allow 3's in with the 1/2's... it's a great learning experience. Anyways, I lasted about halfway through the race before pulling out.

I awoke early Sunday morning with already tired legs. I'm in Build 2, with loads of intervals... by the weekend the legs don't seem to have much zip. No worries though. During the Cat 3 race, I tried to stay near the action, joining promising moves.. but to no avail. I knew I didn't have the legs to ride in a small break, but if I could get in a decent group, it would be a matter of "institutional imperitive" (do as little as possible while getting the job done). Needless to say, I missed the move of the day. A group of 9 made the split, eventually getting a gap of 40 seconds on the field. Rockville Harley Davidison tried blocking the field from chasing... at least that's what I think they were doing. It was as if sometimes the were chasing full throttle... an others the refused to pull through. I attempted to organize a chase; but came up empty handed. On the final lap I moved up to my usual spot near the front. Evolution had a train of guys trying to blast through the back side of the course for a lead out. Being the oportunist that I can be, I got in behind them. Unfortunately their second man ran out of steam, causing a swarm on both sides of us (talk about a blown lead out!). I sat up and finished at the tailend of the reduced field.

The 1/2/3 race was great... I know if I had not done the 3 race, finishing would not have been a problem. Who knows? Maybe I could've followed the right wheel to be up near the front atthe finish? The race ended up in a field sprint... my coach and mentor Cam lost by just a tire width. So close... he had it until the final few meters. There was a crash in the sprint... amazingly only one guy went down.

After the race; Katie, Ryan, and I enjoyed dinner at the TGI Friday's in Tysons. Check out the Jack Daniels burger sometime... very delicious. We ate, chatted, then finally parted. It's always great to mix bike racing and family. The drive home wasn'ttoo bad, but finally became tedious halfway down 81. Nevertheless, we arrived home safely.

This weekend I'll be at the Hampton Roads Cycling Classic... the Smithfield TT on Saturday (finally a TT under 40k!), and the Conte's Classic in downtown Norfolk Sunday. Sunday's course is great: 180 degree turn, cobbles, and a loooong (and misleading) finishing stretch.

53x11? We'll see Sunday.

It's Wednesday already?

I cleaned my drivetrain the other night; put a fresh new 10 speed chain(stripped of the factory gunk) on, cleaned the rings, cassette... everything (cleaned off the pulleys... didn't feel like stripping them). I wish I had taken a picture... it was CLEAN! It sparkled, and boy did it feel good during Tuesday morning's cruise intervals.

Hmm... as for Jeff Cup; not much to report. I made it until the 3rd lap when I got gapped on one of the hills. After getting popped, I dropped out, as I didn't feel like rding two more laps off pace. The race was fast... but I wasn't drifting from the front to the back effectively on the climbs.

Allergy-wise, I seem to be getting back on track. After a week and a half, the allergy medicine is finally kicking in; I feel much better. The past couple of days' workouts have been outstanding... I'm once again crushing the intervals. Watch out.

According to the rumor mill... junction will be opening for Agents of Good Roots in Charlottesville this June. Both bands reuniting for one night? I'll have to make a call or two.

Tyson's Corner this weekend.

Agents of Good Roots

Did anybody else have trouble sleeping last night? I sure did... I slept like a rock for a few hours, and the tossed and turned for the remainder. I decided to procrastinate on my workout today... instead of riding the trainer doing sub-thershold intervals this morning, I'll do them tonight. Not really looking forward to it... but it's a trainer specific workout. I'd love to have a trainer with built in programmable power so that I could set it at the right output with no deviation. But I suppose riding the trainer with a PT is better than nothing! I've just got to keep a keen eye on the power output. We have a CompuTrainer here at work that would make a great tool; sometime I'll make use of it. I look forward to running the SpinScan sometime soon; I scored pretty well last time, and hopefully well show improvement next time. I finally feel like I'm getting smooth on the bike again... I was a little rough for a couple of weeks.

I rediscovered on of the greatest bands ever a couple weeks ago. I've never forgotten about them; I just had not been relying on CD's while driving. Agents of Good Roots. That's all there is to say. One of, if not the best and most talents acts to come out of Virginia. Unfortunately they disbanded a few years ago. They were briefly signed to RCA, with some success on Modern Rock and Adult Alternative Contemporary with two completely different songs. It was their live show that really made AGR. Completely different from night to night, with no telling what to expect from show to show. I know I must have seen them at least 80, if not 100 times... never once was the show the same. It's not like some Phish or Panic thing either... they weren't really a jam band, although it was easy to label them as so. They were very much a jazz induced rock band, and definitely not strangers to improv. The amount of musical talent on stage was astonishing, and very complimentary... it was musical magic in the making. Their final album, recorded for RCA but independently released, was a definite show piece for what they could achieve. Needle and Thread is amazing, "Shotdown" brings back memories of Wednesday nights at Alley Katz... I've NEVER heard a band capture the live feeling of a song in the studio! Simply amazing. I often though Agents of Good Roots were at least 5 years ahead of their time, listening to Needle and Thread, I found myself thinking, "This stuff is pretty relevent now!" Not that their music was ever irrelevant (although a stint with a different bass player made them more a jam band briefly)... but I think the album could be successful finally in 2006; it was recorded in late 1999. If you see a used copy at a music store or online, snag it.

Where'd you get that vibe?

5x5's

Today marks the first Wednesday of the year I've done intervals. Today's prescription was a 5x5 workout, with 4 minutes of rest between the five intervals of five minutes. It was downright cold this morning. As usual, I watched the temperature drop from 32 at 6:30 this morning to 29 when I left at 7:30. I still haven't completely figured that one out... since sunrise is a bit before 6:30 these days. The high winds skewed the tems even more... with a frigid windchill.

I tooled around town a bit, just warming up before heading over to the Hanging Rock area. Kessler's Mill Rd. and Rt. 311 were to be the battlefield for the intervals. The first two were directly into the wind. The wind definately made things frustrating, as I was in my 39t cog, going 16-19mph at 330 watts. It almost made me laugh. As I reached the approach up Catawba mountain, it was time to ride with the wind. What a difference a friendly breeze makes, I was flying... much much faster. It felt pretty good, although it was definately chilly!

At the end of the 3rd interval, I almost witnessed a horrible accident. Traffic was stopped on 311 (a two lane road) for a turning vehicle. A huge pickup truck didn't see the brake lights and stopped cars, forcing him to thread the needle. He slammed on the brakes, swung off the road, onto the shoulder (skidding a bit), and then continued on past the stopped cares on the shoulder. Quite the impressive display of last second handling, but something a littlle bit of attention would have prevented the situation entirely. After some hindsight, I am glad I am not one of those riders that squeezes past stopped cars on the shoulder... had I continued on the shoulder this morning, I would've been lucky to be in Intensive Care. A little courtesy and patience on the road goes a long way.

The final two intervals were tough, but completed nontheless. No big drama, no excitement, just a lot of focus and some minor drooling. Today I eschewed monitoring my heartrate during the efforts (although the PT was recording HR), just focusing on Time and Power. I also audtioned some of the new team clothing. I'm glad I ended up getting the thermal jacket... it may not be the most techincally advanced, but it kept me warm and looks good. The bib shorts remained the same; although the jersey seems to have a bit more room in the torso. I'm beginning to look forward to Sunday's Jeff Cup, making my Cat 3 debut. That's all for now.

Get the dirt off your shoulder.

implosion!

Winter is back! Just in time for Spring. Today is chilly and overcast... tomorrow low to mid 30's with a broad range of precipitation: rain, freezing rain, snow, and sleet. The weather for my rest week could not of been much better for this time of year (go figure it was a rest week!). Tomorrow it looks like I'll be a slave to the trainer. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for epic rides in extreme weather conditions; but I've already had my taste of warm weather, and my body no longer accepts the cold and precipitation.

Yesterday I did the 1:00 group ride. I imploded. It could've been due to the fact that it was faster and more climbing than I'm accustomed too at this point in the year; although i suspect it may be allergies. The symptoms seem to be the same every year, unrecoverably high heart rate, sinus crud, breathing difficulty, and a few others. Oh well, the trick is to try and get things under control... the key word being "try". Hopefully it'll work out. It is kind of ironic though... during interval workouts I have been having trouble getting the heart rate up... now it just goes up and doesn't come back down very easily!

breaking news...

I awoke this morning to find my upgrade request to Cat 3 was approved!

weekend update

Finally, a chance to sit down and type a blog. This weekend went pretty well; as I returned to my flatlandish roots.

Saturday was supposed to be a quasi-lazy day for me, a chance to catch a mid-afternoon nap and recover from a restless week. It started out with a bang... the Saturday morning ride out of Kiln Creek featured a brisk and steady pace. After emerging on Cool Rd, I turned right as the group turned left... a few, including Pete and Pat, joined me. No regrets on turning a steady temp ride into a conversation pace ride-if only for a few minutes; we eventually were reintegrated into the group. I did get a couple good sprint-like jumps in Saturday morning, which did inspire some confidence for Sunday's race. On the downside, my HR did have trouble recovering after efforts on the ride, I casually chalked this up to lack of sleep the night before. Also of note, I tried the Jelly Belly Sport Beans... although they are very tasty, and definately provide a confectionary treat... I found myself with a bit of a sugar rush not long after consumption; better stick with the Hammer Gel (and the occasional Enervitene when push comes to shove).

As for the rest of Saturday, it was filled with good cookin'. For lunch, I met Jeff at the Mongolian BBQ in Williamsburg. What a delight... it was the best it's been since I can remember. Definately a bonus, as Jeff and I (and several others) used to raid that place on a regular basis in high school (especially on half days). Between the ride, a haircut, and lunch, an impromptu appearance at BB in Kiln Creek helped burnt some time I had to kill. I found some pretty smokin' Pearl Izumi RED shoe covers using their "Aerosensor" material. DW figured I'd be among the first to buy; he was right... he had just put them out on the floor that morning. Fortunately, I was able to dodge Gilly Garlow's marriage advice 101 this time. Oh yeah... they also updated the layout of the store... it looks great. I was very impressed. After lunch I stopped in to see the 'BurgBeat people, then home to wash the car and bike, and eat dinner with the parents and bestman Matt.

So Saturday turned out to be a marathon. Fortunately I was able to get a full night of sleep... made even better with the window open. Sunday turned out to be a hot 80-something degrees with relatively high humidity.

Chris and I met at Kiln Creek to carpool down to Chesapeake for the Snowball Crit #2. We had a good team meeting and warm up. I was able to secure a front line starting position, and the the race was off! Whoa... man, is my HR really that high!? "Uh oh..." is what I was thinking fairly early on. The 3/4 race turned out to be a bit faster than the previous Snowball, but that wasn't the problem, my HR would not recover! I repeatedly tried to move up to the front, and try to join my teammates in taking turns at the front, but I just couldn't move up far enough! It was even more frustrating when I was struggling just to hold the wheel in front of me! I finally shifted up a few gears to lower the cadence and thusly try to lower the HR; eventually I started to feel a little more comfortable... although I still had trouble moving up in the pack.

I don't even t hink I was in the top 20 as we hit the bell lap... not where you want to be if you want to have any chance to sprint in the end. Fortuantely, I managed to find Chris' wheel with just about half a lap to go, "PUNcH IT CHRIS!" Next thing I know, Chris has delivered me right onto Steve Simet's wheel. Perfect! Rounding the final turn, I shot out wide, sheltered from the wind at just the right time. BOOM! The first (remotely) explosive sprint of the year for me! I was able to obtain immediate separation and handily took the field sprint for 2nd. However, I hate to admit, I did not even know that a guy solo'ed in by a large margin (refer to my inability to move up). Apparently the guy attacked on lap 20 of 35, and put 25 seconds on the field in two laps. Not to shabby considering we were flying and it was windy. I also hate to admit that I nearly dropped out of the race; although I was determined to not let my teammates down as they agreed to help me... a win would've secured my Cat 3 upgrade.

On a positive, the field sprint gave me a significant boost in confidence. It confirmed that I've been working hard, and that the power and drive is there. On a negative, I feel horrible for not pulling my share of the load up front during the race. I can't recall ever really suffering that bad in a crit before... and not having much to show during the race. The sprint was great... and as usually, after a good sprint I just want to see straight, not puke, and get off the bike. I'm looking forward to more suffering in races... although a lot more productive suffering!

Yesterday's recovery spin was maared by wind. The wind managed to kick a leaf up into my brakes as if I was mountain biking in the fall. I also tried the Gatorade Endurance Formula sports beverage (lemon-lime)... it was tasty and fit in my water bottle. I forgot my bottle before the ride... I think it's still sitting right where I left it (unless Target or Walker knocked it over)

Restin' on a Rest week!

It's go time.

The race this past Sunday went well. I ended up 6th, not what I was hoping for, but not bad. I knew a break would eventually stay away, unfortunately I didn't make that particular break. Seigler Imports, Richmond Ciclismo, and Bike Works were very well represente din the field; launching several attacks until one stuck. Wade from NCVC and I tried to cover and stick to the dangerous looking attempts, but couldn't muster the energy to stick to the one that stuck. Oh well, Wade ended up getting me by half a wheel in the field sprint. Roger Hunt deserves a lot of credit for digging deep, bringing me up into postion with just a couple laps to go. Thanks again, Roger.

This weekend brings the last race before BAR time. The Snowball Crit #2. Looks like Casey Auto Group/JRVS will be extremely well represented in the 3/4 race. Unfortunately the strategy is classified; although I hope to reveal its success Sunday night or Monday morning.

that's all for now.

strange

It was 77 yesterday, and it snowed this morning during my ride. Strange.

thursday

It's 76 degrees outside... how nice it would be to be outside. Oh well, at least it's windy, so I'm not too jealous. Of course it will be cooler this weekend, but should not be anything like last weekend. I went to Walgreen's today to have a passport picture made... it's perhaps a marginal improvement over one I had made nice years ago. Other than that, not too much to report today, although I did finish my weight lifting (other than a few more heavily reduced workouts).

Wednesday

It's Wednesday. I awoke this morning to a balmy 60 degrees. "Great" I thought, "It will be another nice arm ride," although the forecasted high for the day was in the 50's. Although my ride began at 60 degrees, the temperature dropped 13 degrees over the two hour period. It was a chilly (although still warm compared to most all mornings so far this year) 47 degrees. Strangely is was 70 degrees when I went to lunch, and 63 after lunch... strange.

This weekend's forecast looks to be much more comfortable than last weekend. The Sonny Hutchin's Memorial Crit is Sunday at the Southside Speedway in Midlothian. Hopefully I can improve on my result from Sunday. It'll be fast, and I hope it comes down to a field sprint.

Finally, the Season is Upon Us.

I'm quite happy now... it's racing season. The Virginia Cycling Association (formerly known as D42) kicked off the season with the first of two Snowball Crits yesterday. They have altered the categories a bit from last year; which I assume is from increased demand.

I did the Cat 3/4 race with quite a few teammates. It was windy, with a huge headwind coming down the Executive Dr. straightaway; I knew a break wouldn't have a chance in this race unless it was a big break. As seems to be the norm with the Snowball Crit, everybody flew down the start/finish stretch, while on the back straight of the course everybody sat up, causing swarm after swarm. I was very happy with my positioning throughout the race, despite the swarming, I was able to stay within striking distance at all times. A few guys tried to break away solo, or a couple at a time... but quickly found their efforts futile. Rick Young spent a little too much time at the front early on, he is flying for this time of year, and definately should've been there in the end. I kept myself out of the wind until the last lap, where I had to stick my nose into the breeze on the last headwind stretch (it was REALLY windy). The guy that won, shot hard out of the 2nd turn, opening a huge insurmountable gap. As the sprint started I lacked my explosiveness, but made up for it with a diesel-like effort to finish in 3rd. I'm satisfied with my result, it's early in the season, I just finished base mileage, and there were a lot of guys already flying. I'll be flying soon enough, I've learned to be very patient with my training this year.

Saturday I did the BikeBeat shop ride... a heavenly flat rout profile. It was a pretty good size group considering the windchill. Nevertheless, David Wilson was in hurt mode... although I hate to admit, soon enough just a handful of us were trading pulls... and it hurt.

congrats to Chris N. for the upgrade to Cat 3

End of Monasticism

Everywhere I went it was nothing but headwinds. I figured an out and back course would involve some sort of polarization; but I was wrong... there must have been some funky crosswinds today.

Anyways, today was my first interval session of the year. The end of the monastic base period! Although I did break the silence with one group ride, and briefly rode with some friends out at Wintergreen, I can now integrate back into group rides... especially races! The Snowball Crit #1 is this weekend, I should be up for it physically. Ah, back to the intervals. It was chilly this morning; during my first cruise interval I think my arms went numb at some point. It was just warm enough to not warrant the heavy stuff, but cool enough to be tough on the arms. The second and third intervals went well. I tried my best to keep the power (classified) consistent. I was happy to be finished after the third one. I had to get out to Elliston and Shawsville (almost Christiansburg) to do my intervals, to my knowledge, that's the closest quasi-flat stretch that suitable for 8 minute efforts ( i hate the trainer).

Thursday's 20 minute criss cross intervals will be fun. Maybe not. Nevertheless, it's a necessary evil. Throw weights into the equation, and it's going to be a long morning of workouts.

Anyways, I think that's all for now. Hello to the occasional group ride and the races.

"The Warm Pool is Closed Due to...

Accidental Defecation" That is the sign (printed and laminated) that greeted me as I signed into the YMCA this morning. Kinda disgusting, but pretty funny at the same time. At least it was the "Warm Pool" and not the Olympic pool. The "Warm Pool" is basically the kiddie pool, complete with the huge mushroom looking thing you see in water parks.

As for the workout, Mondays are now an optional recovery ride and the weights are now longer heavy... going back to the higher reps, lower sets. Nevertheless it snowed again last night, I figured a ride on the wet grimy roads would be counter productive (I'm trying to avoid getting sick). The low reps thing was cool, by the time I got past 10 reps today my muscles were cryin'. I guess all that matters is that I didn't quit, and I got everything done.

Tomorrow brings the first day of intervals this year. I'm excited. Although I must admit I am slightly hesitant, as I fear that I may have a little bit of a cold coming on. I've been lucky so far to keep illness at bay (especially compared to last year!). My resting HR has been high lately, although I am hoping it's a sleep related thing, and not a viral related bug.

Cruise intervals tomorrow, Zone 2 Wednesday, and criss cross intervals Thursday. Bring on the speed.

ice

Much like last Saturday, this Saturday brought snow into the valley. Fortunately the roads weren't as nasty as last week, save some bridges and very isolated areas. The big purple Lemond with fenders once again got the nod for the day... I love fenders on nasty days. The wheels (old Vector Comps) still have water in the rims from who knows how long ago. I weighed the bike after getting into work today... 27.5 pounds without bottles, but with some ice build up. That's quite a bit of heft right there.

The ride itself was pretty ordinary, although the occasional changeover to sleet kept my facial nerves occupied. It'll be cold tonight... I look forward to riding the Klein (hopefully) tomorrow.

max spin!

I actually got to enjoy the warm weather this morning. It was great... despite the 30 mph wind. Actually the wind worked to my advantage. Fridays are typically my "max spin effort days", meaning that I ride at a very high cadence for a period of 30-45 minutes; usually completed on my fixed gear. For 36 minutes I rode at an easy effort (although low cadence) straight into the wind. Fortunately the route is about as flat as it gets around here, so hills weren't too much of a problem or concern. While I hovered in the 35-90 rpm range heading out, I was able to maintain 120+ coming back, with long stretches of 140+ rpm. It was perhaps the best max spin session I've had this year... if not ever.

On a side note, I just about had my elbow clipped by a car going about 55 mph. Fortunately I was able to catch up to him at the light. I remained calm, and just let him now he almost hit me... and that perhaps he should refrain from cellular activity while riding. Once again, I must stress that I remained calm... no yelling, no cursing... I just wanted to let the driver know for his own good.

Other than that it's been a typical day. I've started rebuilding my time trial bike; I'm in no hurry at all, but it needs to be done eventually. Seat height and setback look to remain the same; although I've got a slightly longer stem to start out with and a different bar angle... we'll see what happens. As for TT'ing it, that's not going to be a focus this year. I still hope to put in some good results this season; however I am not anticipating any TT specific training. The Mill Mountain TT will be an aim for me (even though I don't like climbing)... it's a short (i.e. realistic) climb here in my own back yard; although I may have to go for a high placing at the Natural Bridge TT in April... we'll see.

Congrats to Ken for the upgrade to 3... hope to be there soon.

finished heavy lifting

I completed my heavy lifting this morning. Hopefully it will make a difference. I'm hoping anyways... I haven't really sprinted in a long time. Although I did do a sprint back in December while just doing light weights. The results at the time were promising, my max power output showed a10% improvement over the race season. I'd be happy with a 15% gain, but if it's 20... even better! We'll find out next weekend.

Boom Boom Boonen

base done

I'm done with Base mileage. The last week didn't go exactly as planned... part mother nature, part under the weather. I developed a little bit of a cold over the weekend, but nevertheless still pulled in a nice 3+ hours in the driving snow. Katie was hit with the cold bug a lot harder than me... probably due to her chosen profession of teaching. I have to admit, I'm pretty tired today... despite being a rest week, I feel far from rested... very tired.

The warmer weather has arrived just in time for the rest week, and sure enough it looks nasty and cold for this weekend (I have a couple longer rides planned for the weekend of course). Next week looks to be chilly, I begin some cruise intervals Tuesday, and some Criss Cross intervals Thursday, with plenty o' Zone 2 too.

Next weekend is also the first Snowball Criterium in Chesapeake. I won the first one last year (B race)... which was actually my first road race, and a great start to a full season. This year they've changed the categories a bit, and I'll be doing the 3/4 race. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity for a field sprint. After that it's the Sonny Hutchins Memorial Crit in Richmond, following Jeff Cup, I'm hoping to get an upgrade to Cat 3.

We'll see.

Winter.

Winter came back this week. Although I didn't truly get to enjoy the "balmy" winter we've had so far (it was still pretty chilly at 7am). Anyways, the Pacific jet stream is no longer dictating our weather. Welcome back winter. How much snow will you drop on us this weekend? I really wish you could have procrastinated just a bit so that I could get my 7-8 hours in on the bike this weekend! Hopefully I'll awake tomorrow morning to find the roads passable enough for my rain bike with fenders.

This week was... no... is cold. Wind chills in the teens didn't stop me from riding all week, but I sure as heck couldn't do it this morning! I just couldn't, and there was no wind on top of that! Oh well, Friday's are my max spin workouts... I'll just get a quick workout on the trainer tonight.

I'm beginning to get excited about race season... I have been for a while. There are moments I find myself with quite an adrenalin rush, just thinking about racing; more specifically the last 500 meters of a race. After all, it's my passion.

I forgot to mention

I made it into the news.

Homecoming

I've been patient. I've been isolated. I've deprived myself from riding with others. I've been focused entirely on maximizing the quality of my Base periods... a lot of solo rides in Zone 2. I decided to break the monotony yesterday with the JRVS Sunday morning ride in Williamsburg. I wanted to see how my body would react to intensity. Surprisingly, it handled the task pretty well, the power was there, at times the speed was there. Although I eventually fell off pace, I feel as though that was largely in part to some pretty big efforts I put in early on. No regrets.

In other news, Winter has returned. By Sunday I'll have somehwere between 17 & 20 hours on the bike... hopefully all outdoors; much of which will be below freezing. Joy. I am still motivated.

15 minutes!?

I rode my bike 15 minutes today. A far cry from the 2.5 hours I had scheduled in. My plan was simple... I didn't have to be at work until Noon, and registration for the Jefferson Cup opened at 9am. Assuming the race would fill up in less t han two hours (it did), my plan was to register and the ride.

At 9am on the dot, I began my resgistartion attempts, Bikereg's server was struggling to keep up with the demand of many others... except all of the categories had "closed" beside them. By 10am, Men's 35+ Cat 5, 50+, and Women 4 opened; finally around 10:30 everything else started opening. I got in; ableit a bit frustrating! By 11:30 the race was full! (a field limit of 100!). Long story short, I started my ride, shortly after starting I decided to end it.

After a very abridged amount of sleep the past few nights, I've been feeling a little run down. In addition I think I over stressed my knees Monday in the gym... they're not very happy, and quickly let me know yesterday. In sum, I figured I'd call it quits today and try to give the knees a break. Next up on the block is getting through this mental fatigue.

In other news, I spoke to Brain Sheetz last night... it turns out Nick, Matt, Jay, and Brain are reforming a new rock band. Good stuff, should be great stuff actually. It'll be interested seeing Matt as the frontman.

Watts what you say.

If you haven't gotten a power meter yet... go get one. Although I've been using a power meter for over a year now, this year I am using it much more effectively. Almost every ride so far in my Base 1, 2, and 3 has been downloadable; I even have the extra bike mount on my fixed gear so I can download the ride data minus the power. So far I've noticed a pretty dramatic increase in average power output in my zone 2... I've essestially gone from averaging 185-195 watts to 220+ watts per ride (while riding longer!). With the use of the power meter, I've been able to get the most out of my workouts; focusing on quality over quantity.

Speaking of quality, the weather has been top notch lately. Yesterday was no exception. Aside from being one of the rare days in which I've been able to ride in the middle of the day (as well as ride with a fully glycogen charged liver!), the weather was beautiful, I actually got to ride with bare arms for a bit and feel the wind in my hair ( no hat or nuthin'!).

So while out enjoying my ride, I get stopped by a Montgomery County deputy. Great... Well, actually I had already stopped at a truck stop and he just wanted to talk about bikes. Louie just picked up a Madone SL at the Blacksburg shop and just loves bikes. I had a chuckle when he said my bike looks like it's set up for climbing; only because it's not that light, and it's set up as a crit bike. Sometimes simple things make me laugh.

In other news, I'm hoping to make a trip home to the coast this weekend, and meet up with the team (Casey Auto Groups/JRVS) for the Sunday morning ride in Williamsburg. It's sure to be a shock to the system as I heard from Cam that they did 50 miles in 2:14... I guess they forgot it's January.

that's all for now... maybe more later.

Giggidy.

It's Saturday... a rare day for me to be working. No biggie. The question being how do I squeeze a 3 hour training ride in, work at 9:30, and somehow manage to not intrude on my evening with Katie. Solution? I'm glad I have lights. Gotta love HID lights... they're pretty bright, and cars look at you as if you're some Unknown Rolling Object. At 5:30 am, I awoke to find the temperature 10+ degrees warmer than the weather forecast anticipated... definately a good start. I ate, showered, and prepared to head out the door.

I have to say, 38 degrees with calm wind seemed quite balmy compared to the latest tren of low 30's and 20-40mph winds. My plan was to ride the Bradshaw Rd. loop, and theen continue on to work; which worked out great as I arrived to work at 9:30 on the dot. Oh yeah... due to a generous grant, I'm rolling on brand new DuraAce 10 speed ( much nicer than my used D/A 9). As I rolled out of the driveway, I calibrated my PowerTap (a fairly usual occurence). Anyways, as the sun came up, I was surprised to see my power output higher than norm, but the heart rate right in zone 2. Good stuff indeed.

It was a fairly uneventful ride... although it was neat seeing the sunrise twice. Let me explain... there was the initial sunrise, and then I rounded a mountain that then blocked the sun (all though there was already plenty of ambient light for the second). As I pulled into work, I was happily surprised that my 3 hour ride resulted in an average of 224 watts. Good stuff. Needless to say, I'm glad the Subway next door opens at 9, because I was famished! Oh yeah... I forgot to mention somewhere out near Ironto the temperature must've fallen 10 degrees. Quite chilly. When I got to work, Dave asked if I was cold or bonking... he couldn't really tell. I think I finally warmed up sometime around 12:30. Of course it's 62 degrees now outside, and I'm inside at work.

*this entry (like most) has not been proofread and is laregly the product of a stream of unconsciousness.

A Bit O' Rest

This past week was a rest week. A very convenient rest week. A very stressful week. Perhaps I didn't get quite as much rest as I would have liked... no biggie. Aside from some nasty weather early in the week, an extremely disappointed eye examination, and attending Trek University Thursday, we had the first Annual East Coaster's staff retreat at Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia.

Mountain Lake is a beautiful resort. You may recall it from the movie Dirty Dancing. We were holed up in a relatively new 4 bedroom chalet that was quite nice. The resort would make an excellent location for a team training camp.... just be prepared for some climbing. I opted not to join Cole in riding up the mountain Sunday; being firmly entrenched in Zone 2 Base 3, I've been avoiding mountains like the dentist (except when i went to Wintergeen). Nevertheless we had a good staff retreat, getting both the Roanoke and Blacksburg shops on the same page.

Trek University was very informative. Beefed up from last year, the emphasis was less on the technical aspect of mechanics, and more about the Trek/Lemond/Fisher/Bontrager product lines and what Trek is doing to maintain and improve on its status as the best brand in cycling. I was disappointed on the lack of Klein content, but that came as no surprise. I really enjoyed seeing everyone from BikeBeat; it was almost like a family reunion, many of whom I've known for many years.

Well. that's all for now. The race season is fast approaching. Go ride your bike.

Titanium Boron Steel

So today I worked on a Huffy that had a top tube decal reading "Titanium Boron Steel". Interesting indeed. I'd like to see a Huffy, or any bike that contains all three materials. Titanium, I like the feel of a sweet Ti bike. Steel is real, gotta love the feel (make mine Reynolds 853 or TruTemper OXII please). As for Boron, I've never ridden a bike enhanced by Boron... although Lance has. If you have heard about Lance's Madone 5.9SSLx... it may be a cool read. Trek used Boron in the bottom bracket to increase the stiffness (efficiency) of the frame greatly.

ANYWAYS... this was the last big week of my Base 2 period. Next week is a rest period, and then I head into Base 3. Soon... soon I will be fast. This weekend was definately a surprise... for me and Coach Cam. I can feel that my endurance training is coming along nicely. I had to work pretty hard to get into and stay in Zone 2. Not overly hard, but anytime I slacked off the heartrate dropped like a rock. I was pretty happy, I was able to average 215 watts (gotta love riding into 30mph headwinds) Saturday and 213 Sunday. Good stuff. I also felt like I was training in Belgium... pouring rain, temp sin the low 40's Wednesday (my PowerTap didn't like that so much); 30-50mph winds on Saturday blowing snow and sleet as the windchill was below the dew point; and just a tough ride that felt like drudgery on Sunday as my Base 2 came to a close.

That's all for now... I'm looking forward to a well deserved rest week and the opportunity to see friends and family as I head home for business Wednesday night and Thursday.

Breaking the silence.

So I haven't been very good at updating my blog. My apologies. I hope you haven't missed me. Nevertheless, the only excuse I can come up with is lack of time. Things have been pretty busy around here, waking up early to train, go to work, get home, eat dinner, go to bed. Far from a monastic approach to life, but definately at times a bit blitzing. As for the house, it has really developed a "homey" feel. The cats are settled in... although they don't get to go outside nearly as much as they'd like, as it turns out our neighbor is an animal lover and feeds stray cats every morning. Needless to say, I'm not too crazy about that, I don't need Target and Walker coming under the influence of the Sharks or the Jets... or whatever the neighborhood stray cat gang is.

As for training, it's going well. Today I got in my 3 hours... albeit a very wet (did I say wet?) and cold 3 hours through communities that influenced Deliverence. Sunday I headed out to Wintergreen for a 3 hour ride before meeting my cousin Ryan for a full day of snow boarding. After cranking up Reed's Gap only top find parts of the Parkway impassable I descended back down to Rte 151 at the base of the mountain. Despite living in the mounatin I really dislike climbing (except for Mill Mounatin & 12:00 Knob), but I LOVE descending. At the bottom while contently cruising down Rte 151 I ran into some friends from back home. Teammate David Rushing and the father and son duo of Peter & Stephen Deisle drove out for some hill work. They were more surprised to see me than I was them (I think)... afterall, why would I drive out to the mountains to ride by myself when I live in the mounatins? I tagged along for a while, governing my efforts up Boblet's Gap, then bombing the twisty descent before separating at the base of the stupidly steep Wintergreen ascent. Kinda cool, I got to break the monotony of riding alone with the pleasure of riding with friends from home. Anyways... I'll apologize for the lack of congruency of this post... I'm pretty tired. Until next time.