Tues. Wed.

I hate the ominous forecast that is the current 10-day. It is a 30-40% chance of storm every day. You don’t know what to expect.
Yesterday I went out by myself and rode North Shore/South Shore around Lake Lemon. This is a hard road ride and the course my next (scheduled) RR. I had to take an altered route in, as the road that is my normal road in (Robinson Rd) was closed. I had to come in straight on Hwy 45, which shaved off about 5 miles, but nothing big. At least I got all the hills. I refer to NS/SS as my nest "scheduled" RR because this year the Indiana Race Series (IRS) is having, for the first time, a series overall called the Mag 7, which will reward the top 3 overall in each category. I had no intention of competing for the Mag 7 OA, but I am currently 6th overall. That means I have a chance of moving into the top 3, but I have to do the St. Crispen RR at the end of July. I’ll crunch some numbers/odds and see.
Today I plan to race a MTB TT at Nebo Ridge this evening, but because the weather has not cooperated most evenings, I decided to ride this morning, just in case tonight gets rained out. I rode the Bottom Rd loop @ tempo, although I intended to go extra easy. It just felt fine, so I went a little harder than I planned. Oh well, the TT is for no points or anything, so I’m using it as an excuse to ride MTB. So today may end up being a 2-a-day, weather pending.

1 hr, EZ

Just did the per normal Monday roller spin. My legs feel better than I expected them to today, but it's still good to just spin them out for an hour on rollers w/ NO HILLS.
The forecast isn't looking too good this week. That sucks for training and for the trail condition both for Wed night @ Nebo Ridge and for the weekend @ North Vernon. Let's hope for dry weather. I want to trian and I want dry trails!

Two-a-day

Race Report: Morgan-Monroe State Forest Road Race (and Time Trial)
I found out last night that to place overall in today’s RR, you had to do a 5 mile time trial after the road race. So about 10:30p.m. I fished my aero bars out of the closet where they live and decided if I did good in the RR, I would do the TT, and if I did crappy in the RR, no TT. I ended up 3rd in the road race, so to get paid I had to do the TT, and do good or else I would get bumped out of the overall.
The road race didn’t pan out as I thought it would. 1) it stayed far more together than I expected it to and 2) nobody was willing to take reasonable pulls except me and one other Morris Trucking guy. It was ridiculous. I would take 7-10 minute pulls, then get short pulled by some guy for about 10 sec, then pull again. They just wouldn’t work. Finally a Morris Trucker stepped up and took some good pulls to help me out. I don’t mind long pulls at all on a course I know well, if the field is blown apart, but toward the end of the finishing lap we had 9 guys, and only two of them had done any work (Morris Truck and me). Karma caught up w/ all but one. Adam Liebewitz took 1st, did little work, but is super fast (I've heard he’s the junior track national champ currently), and Morris truck and I took 2 and 3.
The TT was only 5 miles, so it was just go as hard as you can. The guy who got 4th in the RR had a good TT and moved up to 2nd, which bump Morris Truck to 3rd and me to 4th overall. So I took 3rd in the RR, 4th in the TT, which was good for 4th overall and $50. In the money.
The most gratification came when we were waiting for results and a guy said to me "hey, are you the guy who was doing all the work out there?" I said "yeah, that was me." Him: "man, you pulled, like, the whole race."

Here’s the stats:
RR:
Dist:42 miles
Av speed:22.8
Max speed:43.6
Av hr:172
Max hr:191
TT:
Dist:5 miles
Av speed:25.5
Av hr:179
Max hr:181
That’s my Sunday. Next Sunday is the Muscatatuck mountain bike race. It’s always a big one. Should be good. Plus I’m planning on racing a MTB TT Wed evening. Lot’s of racing…

Last couple of days (one tired, one fine (but wet))

My past two days have been normal training wise (you seeing the pattern yet???). But, Thursday’s 4 hill ride was a little different. I usually just roll between the hills and then hit the hills hard, but I was tired, so I just rolled to whole ride, basically @ tempo. I felt fine today on my normal Friday shorter easier ride. It was spitting rain though and I got wet, but not soaked. Whatever, I just wanted to turn my legs over for an hour or so. I thought about taking the day off due to how I felt Thursday, but I’m a big believer in active recovery, so…
Tomorrow is "rest" (no ride, but work 9 hours), then MMSF RR Sunday. Weather looks good, so let’s hope for, uhhh, good things. I don’t want to jinx anything (but note: I've prepared for this race and have high hopes), so just hope for good things and we’ll see.
I worked 42 hours this week, partly accidentally, but I worked for another guy who was gone for a couple days. I try to be mindful of overtime, but it was unavoidable this period. Oh well, only 2 hours.

MMSF hot lap, well pretty hot

As planned, I went out alone this a.m. and busted out a lap on the MMSF course. While the lap wasn’t as hot as the lap RS and I busted last week (low 34min), it was pretty hot for a solo @ low 37min. That’s still just over 22mph av, not as fast as RS and I turning it in @ just under 25mph, but not bad. It was HOT too. I’m not much of a sweater and I was dripping. I couldn’t see out my (*Rudy Project*) sunglasses due to my having sweated all over them. I had to take them off and stick them in my (*Rudy Project*) helmet to get them off of my face. (*shameless sponsor product plugs*)
The lap felt good, but I wore myself out. I was tired for the rest of the day. The heat took it out of me w/ such a hard effort. As a rule, I operate better in the heat, but it shocked my system a little today. Oh well, 1) the heat is supposed to break after tomorrow and 2) I will remember to take my E-Caps (http://www.e-caps.com/) on longer/harder days (and especially race day(s)).

Buddy cruise

My friend MStein came down last night to ride this morning w/ Ryan and I. He and his girlfriend got in around 8:30 or so and we went to Fazolis for the $3.49 bottomless pasta bowls. That is a killer deal. All-I-can-eat pasta and ‘free’ breadsticks for $3.49. And I can eat a lot of pasta and breadsticks.
It was nice to hang w/ them for awhile, but when we got back it was bedtime.
So we went out this a.m. to do the Paragon ride. I thought this would be a good ride for Matt, since he gets 0 hills where he normally rides and this ride is ‘flat’ by ‘down here’ standards. We took it easy, as Ryan is racing tomorrow, so we just rolled it out. We ended up doing the ~2000’ of climbing, 42 miler @ 19.7 mph. Not killing it, but riding.
Tomorrow’s plan is to spin out to the MMSF loop, bust the loop HARD, then spin in. Gotta get be ready for this weekend’s race out there…

Make up

As planned, I got up an hour early and did a loop of this weekends road race course, the Morgan-Monroe St. Forest. I just took it easy and rode it sub tempo. I felt tired and sluggish. I need to nap this evening. I was doing nightly 35 min naps earlier in the year, but I haven’t for a few months. I can feel how tired I am, but I don’t want to take time off yet. I may schedule an easy week in the near future. Between training, working ~40/week, and all the other little stuff I have to do, I get exhausted.

Wasted Weekend

What a weekend. Saturday went as normal, which is a 9 hour work day and an off riding day. Work wasn’t terribly busy, which was nice because it has been TERRIBLY busy lately.
Like an idiot I volunteered to pick up Sunday for the guy who normally works Sunday because he’s out of town. Working 7 days in a row kind of sucks anyway, and by the time I take another day off, it will have been, like, 13 days in a row. Anyway, the plan was to leave as quickly s possible after work and high tail it to Muscatatuck Park in North Vernon to ride the MTB course for two weeks from now. Of course, people kept pouring in the bike shop w/ a few minutes to close, which is totally inconsiderate. I wanted to leave at 3, but I couldn’t get rid of customers until a few minutes after, then I had to close to day still. As I said, it is totally inconsiderate to go into a small store close to closing time, especially on a Sunday when it ought not to be opened anyway. Also, I heard some lady say during our ‘last 5 minutes rush’ "everybody must have heard you’re about to close and came in." I was like "yeah, real fu##ing funny" (to myself).
Anywho, we got to Muscatatuck and it was overcast, but looked like it may hold off. The second, literally, I got my shoes on and stood up outside the car, the rain started to fall. I was like, screw this Linds and I drove all the way over (1.25 hr), we’re riding. So we took off and it started absolutely pouring buckets. We came to a trail that went back to the parking area and took it. We sat in the shelter house for about 10 minutes of non-relenting rain, then left. It was a total waste of time/gas. I guess the bright side is I now know how long it takes to get thee form here.
I rode for 8 minutes today. I suck. Wait, the weather sucks. I‘m planning on getting up early and doing more mileage then usual for tomorrow to make it up.
Morgan Monroe St Forest Road Race is this weekend. Let’s hope for a good week and a good weekend to come.

Zen and the Art of Not Freaking Out on Drivers

Remember my "New Year resolution?" Well, it was to calm my self down when reacting to negligent (or purposeful a##hole) drivers. Well, in last two days I have been put to the test. And it can only be tested in real situations, when you are making a "knee jerk" reaction w/ no thinking about it. Yesterday and Wed, both, I was nearly taken out once by a person backing up and not looking and another by a dude not using a turn signal (my fav). In both of these situations, where a year or so ago I would have lost it and yelled, etc, I kept cool and either just gave "a look," or (no toto forcefully) aid "use you turn signal." Finally, I’ve beat the demon of blowing my top and getting myself 1 situation closer to getting shot by some hillbilly.
Training wise, the week’s been good. Yesterday I got in the 4-hill ride and didn’t feel strong. So I bought a rotisserie chicken last night and ate half of it. I ate the breast chopped on a salad and the rest of the half w/ some BBQ sauce. Animal protein = good. I did my short/easier ride today and felt fine. At least I’ve gotten in a full week w/ no weather (or any other) interruptions. I shouldn’t speak too soon though, as it may rain Sunday and I need Sunday to complete my week. Hopefully it stays nice for a stretch.

Go w/ the flow

Per my definition of "tempo ride," which is harder than easy, easier than hard, go w/ the flow/by feel, I went w/ it this am. Turned out the flow was fast. I rode plenty fast (solo 32.3miles, 19mph w/ 1500’), but w/ low heart rate and low(ish) exertion. I was a little surprised at that after yesterday’s effort. My legs were actually a little sore and tired from that, but I felt great today. I should make note too, as a non-cyclist reader recently asked me if I get sore after certain rides and I answered her "I’m always sore, I just don’t notice it day-to-day because I’m always sore." When I say I’m sore it means I’m noticeably sore. Training like do you are constantly tearing your muscles down, which is why higher levels of protein (and rest) are needed for constant rebuilding. So given the rate/amount of muscle breakdown we experience, we’re always sore.
The weathers been go to us this week thus far. Let’s hope it keeps this up…(of course the heat from out west is supposed to make it’s way here this weekend, but I can deal w/ heat, just not rain). They’ve had 100’s out west and we’re looking at 90’s, but as long as it’s dry, I’ll take it.

Hot lap- that burns!

Today Ryan Shan and I set out for some Morgan-Monroe State Forest training. The MMSF RR is a couple weeks away and it’s in my best interest to ride this ride several times between now and then. We rode out to the loop, which starts atop Bean Blossom hill (a big mother), then busted the whole loop, HARD. Here’s for reference: Pat O’donell holds the course record @ 34min, 20 sec. Ryan and I rode the loop in 34.03. True, there were two of us, but we weren’t trading pulls, so whatever. That’s just shy of 25mph on this course. A couple more hot laps like this and I really hope to shine at the MMSF RR. We rode in eas(ier) and got in just under 50 miles for the morning.
Monday was the standard 1 hour easy roller spin, and tomorrow will be the Bottom Rd loop @ tempo. Good weather = good times.

Bad weather makes for wet riding

Yesterday the plan was to go to Brown County State Park to ride MTB for 2.5 hours unless it rained a lot then cleared, in which case road riding was the order. It rained, but not much, so we went to BCSP around noon or so. Lindsay and I went and nobody else wanted to come down for fear of a total washout and wasting a 2 hour drive (for them, it’s only about 20 minutes for us). So Linds and I went for it. It was wet, but not too wet. It wasn’t quite slick, but too wet to be tacky and perfect. But no sloppy wet either. It was in a limbo state between slick wet and tacky wet. But just too wet to go real fast, but whatever, it’s practice riding. We were the only bikers there the whole time we were there. It was kind of weird, being out on the 9 mile loop and not another person there at all (except Lindsay, but we didn’t ride "together"). Anywho, I did 2 big laps, one w/ the Hesitation Point climb (~2 miles of switch back climbing), and one w/out. It was just under 2.5 hours and some good riding. I’m very glad I went because I would have sat around all day playing the should I/shouldn’t I ride game due to the dreary weather.
I planned to ride kind of easy since I was by myself and just kind of make sure I was climbing good and hitting good lines, but once I got going I felt good, so I rode pretty hard, which lends itself to more mistakes, but I rode good and it’s good to get hard MTB workouts in.
My last weeks hours were off due to getting rained out Wed, which is my longest/hardest weekday, so hopefully I can get in some full weeks coming up here.

trapped in purgatory (Boltinghouse)

As punishment upon myself for missing yesterday, I deviated from the third hill on the 4 hill ride and replaced it w/ Boltinghouse hill. For those who don’t’ know (or don’t remember as I think I’ve spec’d it out before), Boltinghouse is less than ½ mile long (~.4mile), and gains 180 feet in that distance. This makes (according to my watch) for a average grade of 9.6%, and rumor is it reaches 20% in one spot. So That was my ride, 25 miles w/ a little over 1200’ of climbing.
Normal short ride tomorrow, off Sat and I think we’re going to go ride MTB at Brown County State Park Sunday. It may rain for the weekend, so we’ll see.

Rain Delay

Well, the 60% chance of rain beat out the 40% of none. I actually went out and got started in the rain, but by the time I got to campus (about 3-5 minutes) it was pouring- raining really hard. I looped around through campus and headed back, as I was completely soaked. When I got home it started raining even harder- full on downpour, so I guess it was good I turned it in. I decided to do a little session of stretching and put my spare pair of cleats on my old pair of shoes, so I have them to wear on wet days. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but haven’t gotten around to it. I wished I had them this morning, so I figured today would be a good day to get them ready.
I don’t stretch too often, so it probably didn’t really do me much good, but at least I felt lie I was doing something.
So, I got in 16min of riding and laid down 3.6miles for the day. Not the highest volume ever, but whatever, it’s raining. And my bike was too wet to want to put it on the trainer when I got in, but I’m calling that a good thing. I really don’t want to ride trainer (at all) (and especially in June).

Boring couple of days

I haven't blogged for a couple of days because nothing has really happened.
MondayI rode rollers one hour, per normal, as this is the only way to get in an easy hour around here.
Today I rode the Bottom Rd. loop @ tempo, which turned out to be a pretty fast ride. I eas feeling good, so I went w/ it as is a tempo ride (go w/ the flow).
I plan to ride the Morgan Monroe St Forest lopp tomorrow hard. The MMSF road race is at the end of the month, so I want to get in several good qaulity MMSF rides between now and then. Rain is forecasted @ 60%, so hopefully it holds off and I'm not eithe riding in rain or riding on trainer (not sure which is worse).
We shall see...

Sunday longer recovery

I wanted to get in 40-50 slightly below moderately pace miles today. I set out to Spencer and came back via the Hilly 100 route to add a few miles. I ended up w/ about 47 miles, which was perfect. The only X factor was the wind. It was super windy down here today. It usually isn’t too noticeable w/ the hills, but it was windy today. Oh well, since it was just a recovery ride, it doesn’t really matter. The week is looking good for a full workout week w/out weather interruptions. Plus I don’t have to worry any race related logistical stuff (setting up course, course maintenance, etc) , which while I like doing it, it does eat into training time. I don’t race MTB for about a month now, so I have plenty of time there. There is a race in about two weeks, but it’s in Portage IN (near Chicago), so I’m not going due it being hella far away (5 hours at least). So I don’t race until the end of the month and that’s road. I should be able to get 3 solid weeks in before racing again. Sweet.
So that’s that. Another week ends/begins.

A good time had by all

Had a great couple of days. Luther and Jayne came down last night from Muncie to stay here before today’s race. The three of us went out and rode an easy lap last night and after it had rained Thursday night, the course was a complete muddy mess. It was really bad. Only 2 of the 4 hills were ride-able and all of the corners had to be taken very slowly so to not washout. I was not looking forward to today.
We went and ate and had couple beers at The Crazy Horse, sat around there for a while and talked and had a generally good time (it’s ALWAYS a good time w/ Luther). We got to bad around 11-11:30, again, not looking forward to today.
We got to the race site around 10:30, and thankfully, the course had dried out significantly. It was wet still, but not sloppy at all, just tacky and perfect, really. One of the hills was non ride-able, for most people, but otherwise it was great. It was cool, and sunny, a perfect MTB race day. I rode great, passing a lot of people and beating all of my key rival people. I felt good the whole time and never really felt worked. Plus having set up the course and ridden several laps on it, I knew the course really well, and there’s no substitute for knowing a course.
Jake Prater (ex-Muncie fast guy, long time friend and brother of Josh, Dan and Luther) showed up and raced to. I haven’t seen Jake since my wedding, last July. It was good to see him, and he rode good too. Jake’s kind of the border between a pro and expert. He could be fast enough to be pro if he had the resources (money) to train and not worry about working; so I was pumped to be closing the gap on him every lap. He ended up beating me (10th for him, 14th for me), but I had a great race and can’t complain at all.
Thanks to G. Parry for coming out and supporting. It was great to have a race a few mile form my door and have several locals out cheering. Knowing a lot of people at races is awesome.
After racing we went to Laughing Planet for burritos and coffee. We sat outside, ate and talked for probably more than an hour. It was awesome to have the whole old clan together (-Josh, but +Lindsay and Jayne) for a good ol hanging out session.
When the "northerners" left, Lindsay and I walked over to a free concert in the park down the street form our house and checked out the bands for awhile. It was a fun-filled, but long day w/ over two hours or MTB racing in the middle. Yeah, I’m tired now.

===========================Side Note============================

The Movie "Cruel Intentions" is on and that movie made popular the song "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve. The opening line of that song goes down in my book as one of the greats:
"It's a bittersweet symphony this life. You try to make ends meet, you're a slave to money, then you die."
-and ain't it so?

The Boatramp TT

I went out and did the Pinegrove Boat ramp time trial this morn. I rolled out nice and easy, hit the TT like a man possessed, then rolled in easy. I PR-ed (personal record-ed) the TT w/ a time of 11.17, which is a little over 21mph for the 4 miles (and remember, the first 2 are pretty much straight uphill). Again though, on the final leg off the boat ramp, the black lab that lives there ran out in front of me, costing me a few precious seconds. Oh well the B-Town record stands at 11.11, (http://colinallen.dnsalias.org/cgi-bin/pgkr.cgi) so I’m 6 seconds off of that, and that dog probably robbed me of 3 or 4 of those counting slowing, yelling, getting back to speed, recovering from all-of-the-above and having my rhythm broken. Whatever, it’s just amongst friends anyway.
So, w/ that my week mileage will end up a little low, but that’s okay because I had three hard days on a row (Sat, Sun and Mon), but only Mon counts toward this week. My hours will likely be okay(ish), as I’ll probably ride 2-3 Sunday, but at a recovery pace. Then I’ll try to get in a full normal week next week.