Friday, May 29, 2009

What a week...

I must say, I've had a pretty solid week training. All's been pretty normal w/ a couple exceptions. Tuesday was a scheduled MMSF TT, but there was a very solid forecast for rain in the evening, so I got out in the morning instead and rode a very hard solo loop of the MM Forest (rather than the TT course, which is out-and-back). The wind was all wrong for a blazing fast time at the loop (and I was on road bike), but I rode it hard and came in ~30sec slower than "really fast."
Then Wednesday I suited up for the Wednesday Worlds training race, which I rarely do due to working, but I decided to give it a go. There are a lot of CatI's and Cat II's that do this ride every week, so if you make the split, your basically racing a Cat I/II race at that point, which is good training. Anywho, there was a nasty crash coming over the first climb and I got caught up in it. A rider went down in front of me and I ran over his legs and bike, which sent me over-the-bars and into the ditch. It was lucky I went into the ditch rather than onto the pavement, which the other guy did and broke his collar bone. Total bummer. He's a Cat I and very experienced rider, so I'm not really sure what happened; accident I guess. After we regrouped the ride was very fast and it ended up with just me and the two dudes I normally ride with on Tues/Thurs mornings. It was a good hard 45-50miler that left me tired.
So Thursday, after Wed's night effort, I just rolled out ~1.5hr w/ no efforts or anything. Just turning pedals really.
Then Friday I dusted off the MTB and spun on it for ~1hr on the Clear Creek trail. BCSP MTB race is Sunday, so I figured a little spin on the MTB would be in order.

This is the view of my MTB cockpit:

And this is the view of the Clear Creak Trail from the MTB:
Friday I turned 31 and Lindsay got me a waffle maker, which I have wanted. It's pretty sweet. I used it this morning w/ ~94% success. I need to get my recipe/portion dialed in then I'll be a waffle making machine (that is to say, I'll be better at using my new waffle making machine). Pretty excited though.
Thanks to all for b-day wishes, etc!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Where are my kudos?

(bonus point to anyone who knows whom the title quote is lifted from)

I should be given a humanitarian award so far today. As I let up the garage door to go ride this a.m., a beagle/russel mix ran into the garage (or car hole to less fancy people [anyone know that quote??])/basement. I got a hold of her and called the number on her tag, but the owner's voicemailbox is full. We put her in the basement and Lindsay continued to try to call the owner, to no avail, while I rode.
While I riding I think I spent equal amounts of time hammering and getting turtles off of the road. I snapped this pic of one critter I left on the road. I thought about trying to "tail" him Steve Irwin style, but I felt far less agile in my racing cleats than The Croc Hunter was in his safari boots.I did have a good ride though. I ended up by myself, and rode out, climbed Shilo rd, rode across South Shore dr then went form Helmsburg up Grandma Barnes rd. I've only ever gone down GMB road, and I'll say this: GMB is a bitch (of a climb). I wasn't feeling very good (back hurt, stomach not feeling right and legs not great) the whole way out, but I found out when I turned back I was riding into the wind. It was light, but enough to push you back a little. Then coming in on 45 I passed a triathlete, gave him a wave and gapped him (not sure who it was). He then sped up and was maintaining my speed, but staying well behind. As soon as I noticed him lingering, I instantly went into "solo-break-being-chased" training mode. Now I don't mind people marking me for a workout at all, but if I want a result at Fishers this year, I think solo is about the only way I'll produce it (those who know the finish there understand), so this was the perfect opportunity to ride solo outside myself w/ someone chasing. I rode way harder for way longer than I wanted to but got him dropped eventually.


Here's the dog I found. I got her back to her home (which is 3 houses down it turns out) later in the afternoon. I took her on a walk (yeah I use rope for leash, so what) and her owner called while I was walking her. She's out of town, but her roommate is in town so she told me to just take her to their house and let her inside.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

S.O.S. (same old situation)

Man, not a lot going on right now; just more of the same. I am super busy at work right now. Summer in the bike biz!
I did do a pretty killer, pretty climb heavy loop on Tuesday. (for the loc's) I threw together North Shore Dr., which is a killer, then came across South Shore Dr. but turned off onto Shuffle Creek Rd., which is a tough climb up to Hwy 45. I've ridden all of these roads, but never in this sequence. It was a good route to get some hard climbing and windy rollers as well (spring here is pretty windy at times). Otherwise, I got in a full week, though I had to get out early a couple days to get to work early to get everything done on that front.
MTB racing next weekend. I'm planning to ride my MTB tomorrow for a couple hours assuming it doesn't rain. For that matter, I'm planning to ride road today (Sunday) assuming the rain will hold off and/or not be too bad. I need to get on that now...

Here's another pic from the 40k a couple weeks ago taken at the finish line (hence my sitting up and not looking very aero)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

I started doing pot

But I'm not sure I'm doing it right. I'm snorting the pot.
Actually, I got a Neti Pot the other day. I've only used it a few times, but it really clears out the sinus and seems totally awesome. What it does is runs saline solution through your nasal cavity (in one nostril and out the other) to clear it out. It definitely feels weird, but being a former swimmer, water running through the nasal cavity is a feeling I'm used to; it's just been awhile. I'm excited about using this when I feel congested or have sinus pressure.

I wonder how long this guy waited for the Giro di Italia to pass him by.

The Sunday plan for Nashville 90 was vetoed due to SR 446 (the first ~20miles of the 90) being under construction (rumour is that it's freshly chipped, but not yet sealed, making it basically a tarry-gravel road). So we decided to ride the Gaitesville Route. But we were going to modify it for more distance by skirting to 135, going in the Horseman's camp entrance to BCSP, riding the Horseman's camp climb, then exiting the park at the North entrance. This was my idea, and we had to remember to bring our park passes to get into the park w/out paying. Well, of course, I was the only on of our three that forgot his pass. So we bagged the idea and just rode the Gaitesville route. It was so fricking windy that I wasn't too terribly upset about missing the extra mileage. We did however, ride super strong and av'd over 22mph for the ~67miles. That's pretty much killing it by my survey.
With that I got my 10+ hrs for the week. And other than low morning temps (it was 38 when I got up today), this week looks pretty good weather wise.
Take care all, talk to you later in the week.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

What a week.

Despite a pretty bad week weather wise, I got in my full week training wise. Actually, looking at my calendar, I got in a full week last week too, but it was short hours due to racing TT on Sunday. A full week means I'm @ ~7hrs on Friday, so that a 3hr ride Sunday puts me @ 10. And I'm there. I have felt really good this week too. Very solid. And that's with a few crappy nights of sleep, so I'm a little pumped on that.

I did have to change my intended route twice on Thursday due to the biblical rains on Wed. I was going to do a good tempo 2-2.5hr ride and go up Catholic Cemetery rd (for the locs), but When I got to the high point of Anderson Rd. I saw this below: You can't really see too well in the pic, but it's a rushing foot or so of water across the road.

So I thought I'd ride Shilo Rd instead to get those hills in and when I looked to my right I saw this down Shilo: Again, crappy pic, but totally flooded.

So my only real option was to turn around and go back the way I came. I ended up going back to Old SR 37 and going North to the entrance of MMSF, then turned around and came back in. It was a solid 2hrs and I rode a good tempo, but route wise it was a bust.

So I hope to get in a Nashville 90 Sunday. I've yet to ride NV90 this year and I could use the long ride.

I also want to go on record saying there is a definite spring this year. I usually feel like (and say) that "it went from cold/crappy to hot" (this) year. Not this year. We for sure are going through a true spring. I kind of like it.


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Time Trialling is hard.

More specifically, time trialling twice in three days is hard. Last night (Tuesday) was the third, but my first (due to crappy weather the other two), of the every-other-Tuesday Morgan Monroe State Forest 10mile TT. So despite having done a 40k Sunday, I went out for it. I rode good, and actually set a PR (I think) of 22.49. But I was feeling it once home. I woke up around 3am to pee and could barely walk (or at least it seemed so at the time). I felt much better at 7:30 when I actually got up, but still a little stiff.
This worried me a touch as I had planned on doing a hill attack workout today. I figured I'd just go out and give it what I have, whatever that may be. To my surprise I felt really good and rode really strong. I try to make myself feel as if I'm turning myself inside-out on the 4 climbs I do, but sometimes I can't get myself to the "heart jumping out of chest" level of effort. I thought today would be one of those where I can't, but it wasn't. Good feeling.
I'm going pretty good right now. My plan was (is) to have a couple hard weeks, then go into the BCSP MTB race off of that training, but then go into the IN State Road Race the following weekend rested from the block and try to get a result.
Here are a couple pics (taken in super low res): This is @ the start of DINO Warsaw. Right before the dude in white clipped the rebar and crashed into me.


Me and my "Sub Hour Club" shirt form the 40k Sunday.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Go!

It's said that a time trial raced properly is done so hard that you want to quit the whole time, but not so hard that you actually do.

The Monroiva TT series has 40k and 20k that can be done on the same course, you just turn around @ 10k for the 20 and @ 20k for the 40. I remember thinking @ the 10k mark that I could just turn around there and do a 20k instead of the full 40. But I didn't. Perfect effort I'd say.

It's kind of crazy how much damage and pain you can inflict in just 1hr on the bike. I'm always sore in places I am never otherwise sore after 40k's. The morning was chilly for time trialling, (high 40's) and there was a weird cross wind that I've never experienced on the Monrovia course before. It did give you a couple sections of pure tailwind, but fewer than a straight north or south wind would have. It made for a interesting and hard ride. I missed a personal best by ~30seconds (I went 56:13, which is a 26.5mph av), but I didn't really expect a PR in the cooler conditions. I am confident I can break the 55min barrier and go into the 54's this year.

The only problem w/ the 40k's is they start really early (7:30am). This leads to a couple of problems: 1)it's good I get a workout in early, but I am too tired from a)getting up early and b) riding super hard to do anything else worthwhile for the rest of the day, which leads to 2)all I want to do is eat for the rest of the day. I did manage to vacuum, clean the shower and take out the trash/recycling, but I had to force myself to. I also ate a bunch.
Easy ~50min this a.m., then a local 10mile TT tomorrow. I need to use the TT tomorrow to test my bike computer. I am using a different tire than I have in the past (700x20, rather than 23) and my computer setting was way off w/ it. 40k is 24.8miles and my comp reported 30.3! I did the "rollout" test yesterday when I got home to see what I come up with and the 700x20 on my TT bike rolls out 20mm shorter than the 700x23 (2076 vs. 2096) on the road bike! I couldn't believe this finding, so I did it again and got the exact same number. We'll see tomorrow I get 10miles on the dot.
Well, I don't race again for a couple weeks. Next line is BCSP MTB race May 31. There's another 40k that day, but I'll miss that one. I need to send my coveted "Sub hour Club" shirt up w/ someone and exchange the size M for a S though; they're a little husky.
And that'll be the end of this picture-less post. I'll probably mow our yard tonight. Blah.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

It is spring...for sure.

This was taken off of Bottom Road Tuesday. Nice looking sky, lots of yellow in the field, lots of green beyond.

Then today I got rained on for 1.5hrs. That's how I'm sure it's spring.

But I got good quality ride in both days. Tuesday I ended up riding alone. I did the ~43mile Paragon route and rolled it really solid. I wasn't too sure how recovered I was from the weekend, so my plan was to roll it tempo, but I felt really good, so I rode it pretty hard (not super hard, but good steady effort).
Then today I got out for some TT intervals. This was the first time of the year for these and I have to say I felt a little soreness/tiredness in my legs today. These are 8min 53x12 gearing intervals based on 70rpm cadence. It should be noted that while this workout is pretty much solely based on cadence, my cadence unit wasn't picking up so I had to do these 100% on feel. I think I was pretty well on (based on time), but it was a little hard to do it blind. I have another cad sensor, which I switched out tonight and it's registering again.
In other news: our dryer crapped out. I took it apart to see if something obvious was wrong that I could fix, but no dice. So I called a guy and he knew right away from my description of the problem that the drive motor had bitten it. It's close to $200 to fix and a whole new machine is ~$280. This machine is ~5yrs old, so we're thinking we're better off just getting a new one and keeping this one for future parts.
I might be racing a 40k time trial this weekend. 40k's hurt so bad!!!

Sunday, May 03, 2009

DINO Warsaw, etc.


(I don't have a pic from this weekend, so here's an MTB pic from last year)

Saturday was stop #1 for the DINO MTB Series in Warsaw IN. It's a long drive up, but a good trail and always a good turn out. There was a lot of talk about rain and wet trails in the week leading up, but Saturday provided nothing short of perfect trail conditions. I, being 1)lazy and 2)leary of the conditions kept on my wet condition tires, which was a mistake (in hindsight, of course), as they didn't hook up well in the dry dirt at all.
I pre-rode most of a lap and felt like I was riding terribly. "Uh oh" I though, this could be bad. I know I have good legs, but if I can't handle the bike it doesn't' really matter. Once I got racing though, I was riding quite well, so whatever. There was a crash that I managed to find myself "in" at the start. A guy clipped his bars on the re-bar marking the course and and fell into me. I didn't go all the way down, but had one foot unclipped and my bars touching the ground. So was chasing/behind people I'm faster than form the gun. I passed several people and rode pretty well. I ended up 21/44 overall but 12th out of the Cat 1-non pro field (Cat 1 pro/elites start 2min ahead of the rest of us, but then 2min is subtracted from our time. Still though, we're not really racing them directly). Not a great result, but not terrible.
Sunday RS and I went out for a 3hr ride. I rode super hard Saturday racing and he rode super hard Saturday on a training TT ride. So we both wanted to ride eas(ier), but for whatever reason we ended up riding super hard anyway. We did a really cool (though kind of climb heavy) route and on the way back in RS asked if I wanted to try to climb Indian Hill road (which is a gravel road w/ a SUPER steep climb). I said "not particularly, but I'm down for whatever." So we detoured over Indian Hill (we both made it up no problem [on road bikes nonetheless]), then descended it and came in. It was killer ride, but after two very hard days, I think I'll be feeling it.
I did my usual ~50min EZ ride this a.m. and actually felt pretty good. I can feel some tiredness in my legs, but not what I expected really.
Forecast isn't looking too awfully bad, lets hope it holds out.