fitness nosedive

Looks like my fitness has taken a pretty big nosedive.  I haven't been able to maintain my power output on tempo rides, so I'm going to hold of on posting anything on here until I figure out whats going on.  It's been hot lately, but I haven't had trouble with heat before so I'm not sure what the deal is.

hiatus (sp?)

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I haven't been up to a whole lot.  I raced Deer trail a couple weekends ago and performed pretty poorly.  I seem to be behind on my fitness compared to last year, so I'm bringing it back a notch, doing some lower intensity workouts and taking a little break.  I won't be racing next weekend (mostly because of the exorbitant costs the promotor is asking), so my next race will be in a couple weeks.  I'm going to do the CSP race on Thursday if the weather holds.  Those races are a ton of fun, so we'll see.

Tour of the Gila recap

I didn't have internet access while down at Gila, so I don't have the fresh race reports.  I'm just too heavy this time of year and my training wasn't specific for Gila, so I didn't get the result I wanted.  Here's the super quick and dirty report.

from Campie:
Quick report from the 2s. Good news and bad news. Good news: the team has won 2 mid race sprints and put a person in the lead break both days. Bad news: I can't climb at all (not a new development), our guy in the lead pack or break has has blown up in the last 10 miles both days, Jayson has a back injury of some sort that has him dropping out. He looked awesome the first day, bridging up to the winning break and then working in the break for 70 miles.

I flatted the first day about 10 miles from the finish and total blew up chasing before the Mogollan climb. I found out hitting a 10-20 percent climb with dead legs is not good. Today was another 6000' climbing day that had me hoping to make the time cut after riding solo in 30-40 mph wind for 60 miles. Ryan has ridden pretty well both days being our top finisher. Chad had a great day sitting in the winning pack until the top of the last climb and then hitting the wall.

Generally we are all tired, wind blown, and sunburnt. This race is very well supported by the community and awesomely organized. A cool experience for sure. 

Final day report:
That was a lot of fun and a lot of suffering. Jayson had a killer ride on stage 1 and unfortunately ran out of gas in the waning minutes of the race. He was in the break for almost the whole day in 30-40mph winds, so it was a major effort. Chad had a great ride on stage 2 and (similar to Jayson) ran out of steam on the final climb. Campie was looking good in the crit, but suffered a crash with about 5 laps to go and couldn't recover in time for the final sprint. I had a pretty mediocre performance down there. I did worse than I expected on every stage, but I gave it my best and just didn't have the fitness this time. Ah well. Awesome time hanging with the guys down there and we'll get 'em next weekend.

The Gila Monster is Calling

T - 2 days until Gila.  Driving down tomorrow at 5am, 1st road race starts Wednesday.  Myself, Chad and Jaymes will be competing in the 2s.

Haystack TT and Air Force Road Race recap

Last weekend was the Haystack TT (12.something mile time trial in north Boulder) and the Air Force Road Race (65ish mile road race near Co Springs).  Here's the quick recap.

Check out Dejan Smaic's photos from the event here.  My TT photo

I did the Haystack TT on Saturday in the rain with a time of 23min 41sec. It was sprinkling at the start, then started to come down pretty heavy as the "race" went on.  I felt good on the bike and put in what I felt like was a solid effort, but I'm still towards the bottom of the P12 field.  I did manage to beat every team time trial team in the cat 4s and cat 3s.

The Air Force Road Race on Sunday was brutally hard starting on the 2nd lap. The field got shredded on the second lap from 60+ riders to about 10 in the main bunch plus 5 who got away early. I got gapped on the major climb on the second lap, then formed a chase group of around 15 guys. We worked together for the rest of the race and on the last lap, I couldn't hold the pace, so gradually slipped back. I think I finished about a minute behind the chase group time, so I was somewhere around 30th. I'm not sure what happened to Ian, but he was with us on the 2nd lap before the peloton exploded. Jayson was in our chase group as well and attacked our group on the climb and got away. He must have finished around 16th or so and looked really strong.

benchmark

I've got a pretty good idea what my LT power is after today's workout.  I did a 15min warmup, feeling great, then did a 1hr workout aiming for 337W.  Well, after about 15 minutes, I was still feeling excellent, so I decided to push the pace.  I ended up averaging 346W average at 172bpm average for 1 hour.  I watched part of the 2009 Paris Roubaix as well.  I think that's my best 1hr power ever, so I'm feeling good going into the Gila in a week and a half.  My weight is 181lbs. (I weighed myself after the session), so my 1hr power to weight ratio is 4.21 W/kg.  Not bad.  I wish I was 10 pounds lighter, but I'm not.

bikes for sale

Time for some spring cleaning.  I'm selling two of my bikes that I rarely ride anymore.  They are both in great condition and I haven't raced on either.  Size 56cm on both.

Specialized Tricross Expert with SRAM Rival/Force.  Carbon/aluminum frame, carbon crank, carbon fork (and steer tube), carbon seatpost.  $1,400

Redline Conquest with Shimano 105 (10 speed).  Aluminum frame, Roval Pave SL wheelset, FSA Gossamer crank.  $700

Tour of the Depot stage 3 recap

109 miles, + 4,500ft of climbing + 50mph constant wind from south = a very, very hard day in the saddle.

Chad arrived at the start for the last stage today for what was supposed to be a 93 mile race.  There were massive winds from the south at about 50mph that nearly ripped the car door off when Chad got out of the car.  The wind was so bad, in fact, that the race director decided to cut the race short from 93 miles to 76 miles to avoid us echelon-ing across the road on the return leg.

Anyway, the first 20 miles of the race had the wind a pretty much 45 degree angle from the left, meaning the race was strung out and guttered for about an hour.  There were some strong surges and those in the back of the pack in the gutter had some gaps and were dropped pretty quickly.  About 45 minutes into the race, there was a really strong 3-4 minute surge.  I was on the rivet hanging on to the front group of about 15 and the peloton split into 3 groups.  The 2nd group caught up, but Chad was caught out in the back group and did not regain contact.

There were a group of 6 or so up the road and the peloton was shredded from 60 starters to about 30-40 going into the first 8 mile, 1,500ft climb.  I lost contact with the pack about 2 miles from the top and went over the top about a minute back.  Me and two others worked together over the descent and the flats in the headwind for the next 10-15 miles, picked up guys that got popped until our group was about 7-8 and working well together.  We were about 1-2 minutes behind the peloton for about 30 miles and finally caught them before the decisive 1,800ft climb.

Unfortunately, when we caught the peloton, we shortly found out that we missed the turn.  The entire peloton missed one of the 3 turns.  It wasn't a small error either.  We missed the turn by 11 MILES.  So, seeing as hour we tacked about an hour detour and an extra 22 miles, the race was pretty much over.  We all worked together to get home.  I got popped on the big climb early on, but it really didn't matter and I wasn't pushing it, just trying to survive home.  Apparrently, we picked up two other groups of 3-4 each that had missed the other turns!  One group went out to some army depot and we ran into them while they were on some road not even on the map.  The last group we caught said they missed a turn too.

All in all, it was a great workout, but a major sufferfest.  Only 29 of 62 riders finished the race and my cyclometer read 109 miles and 5 1/2 hours.  At the turns everyone missed, there were no signs or course marshalls.  Pretty disappointing, but hey, I finished 23rd overall and if I wasn't so aggressive in the circuit race, I would have finished in the pack and been 17th overall.  The GC time is really a crapshoot because some people did 100+ mile day, some did mid 90 mile day, etc.  Kinda depends on where you went wrong on the cours.  Ah well.  Chad made it most of the way and pretty much to the base of the final climb before packing it in.  We ate some food in town, then left around 3pm from SLC and got back to Boulder around 11pm last night.

Tour of the Depot Stage 1 and 2 recap

Chad and I finished the first 2 stages today. The TT went pretty well. It's a gradual climb for a few miles, then mostly descending for the rest of the TT. The winner finished in 18:30ish while Chad and I ended up at 19:55 and 20:01 respectively. Chad is a little under the weather and may have been able to go faster. I actually ran off the road on one of the tight turns into some gravel. I kept the bike up, but lost a bit of time. Overall, the TT was really fun. I spun out of my 55x11 on the descent, so we were clearly haulin'.

The 40 mile circuit race this afternoon was pretty boring and disappointing for me. It's a 5 mile loop with pretty steady gradual climbing, then the same descending. The first few laps were pretty hot. There were bonus time sprints at lap 2 and 5. I went for the 2nd lap sprint bonus, but the field was extremely fast and somewhat out-of-control, so I sat up with 300 meters to go. The 4th through 6th laps were pretty boring. I attacked the pack about 6 times during these few laps, but the same team would chase me down every time and wouldn't let anything get away. Most of the racers were content with a pedestrian pace, but my legs were feeling really good and wanted to make the race interesting. Anyway, on my last attack, I tried extra hard and when they chased me back I couldn't recover in time and got dropped from the pack. I chased for the rest of the race and got a good TT workout in, but it was over. I probably finished 5-6 minutes back.

Chad made some crucial moves during the last couple laps when the pace really picked up and did well to stick with the lead pack. Chad is sitting around 25th on GC and I was 30th after the TT, but I'm probably last now. Tomorrow is a big 90+ mile race with two 10 mile 6-9% climbs, so we're going to get our money's worth there. I'm pretty wasted now but Chad is feeling good, so we'll see if we can move the GC up tomorrow. Chad is only about 1min 30sec down on GC, so anything could happen.

Oreminer's Classic Criterium race report 4/4/10

I raced the USAC Oreminer's Classic P-1-2 race yesterday.  Pretty fun race.  The course is a 1.2km loop with no technical requirements at all.  It's on a hill, so half the lap is a gradual climb, half is a gradual descent.

The field was pretty big.  Definitely manageable since the course is so wide and open.  I felt pretty good for the whole race, but I spent a lot of time at the back of the pack (which is bad).  I won a prime half-way through the race for a sports massage.  The prime bell sounded and I attacked up the left side of the group at the start/finish.  There was a response, but it was delayed and it wasn't serious.  I stayed away to take the prime, while a group of 8-10 came blowing past me after the start/finish with a gap on the main field.  They stayed away for a little while, but were reeled back.

There was a group of 3 or 4 that went away early in the race and stayed away.  I think they were well represented because I tried to bridge once and a Rio guy just sucked my wheel and didn't pull around.  I don't have many matches to burn, so the attacks really cause me to struggle and recover at the back before returning to the mid-front of the pack.  Meh, I try, but I'm really not a threat.

Overall, a fun safe race.  I missed the Koppenberg race on Saturday, so it was good to get out and get some training in at race speed.  Our average speed for the 1hr 15min race was 26.7mph per my cyclometer.  Next weekend is Depot.  I feel pretty good, but I don't feel like I have the speed or fitness to contest the P-1-2 races thus far.  We'll see how Depot goes, but I'm looking forward to some stage race fun.

team website

Checkout the team website!
http://brccycling.com/2010/

pain cave

3 Minute Intervals.  I'm ramping down the interval length and upping the intensity.  My last workout consisted of 5 sets of 3 x 3 minute intervals with 3 min rest between efforts and 5 min rest between sets.  I was shooting for something rediculous like 440 Watts per effort, but ended up averaging around 400W for each effort after the first two.  These efforts are fun because the first minute feels good, the 2nd minute is pretty bad, and the 3rd minute is hard but you can see the light at the end of the tunner.  My heart rate got up to189-190bpm for each effort.  One month until Gila.  EEK.

filling space

We got dumped last night with wet, heavy snow.  It doesn't look good for the first real race of the year this Sunday, but we'll see.  Training volume has been low again this week.  Meh, I'm still putting in hard efforts, just not as much volume.  Data indicates I'm still improving, so that's good.  For the next 4 weeks, I'll be putting in 10 minute, 5 minute, and 3 minute effort workouts. 

Anyway, our big team meeting is this Friday and we'll get kits and whatnot.  I'm excited to see and meet the other peeps on the team that aren't on the P12 team.  I'll post up some photos of the new kit once available.

Oh yeah, I modified my bike rack for my motorcycle so that it holds the spare wheel better.  Also, somehow I've got Versus on TV now!  That's sweet because now I can get cycling on tv (although the coverage is so packed with commercials that it's almost not worth watching).  Adios for now.

Koppenberg

Training has been going ok over the last week.  I'm managing to fit in 10-12 hours a week which is ok, but not great.  I'll probably get the same this week.  Last weekend we had a team ride down in Denver which was pretty fun.  Rode a bunch of areas that I've never been to.  coming up in a couple weeks is my favorite race of the year, the Koppenberg.  this year, there's a separate 2s category, so our P/1 race will be super hard.  I don't think I have a chance at this race, but I'll stick it out and give it the best I've got.  I double-flatted last year at this race, but I was in the chase group anyway and out of the top 10.  Anyway, I prerode the course on my motorcycle this afternoon around 6pm and put together a short vid with a PiP map.  Enjoy.

This thing is supposed to be straight

Race #1 is in the books and here's the fruits of my labor:  DNF.  The race went ok.  The guys at the upper level of this sport are aliens.  I went off the front about 5 min into the race and a garmin guy went with me.  We had a little gap, then a few bridged up to us.  Then 3 more, then 4-5 more until we had a break of about 10-12 guys.  I was hanging in there, but the pace was so rediculously high that I was doing everything I could just to stay there.  Then, the pace went up again and I didn't have it so I had to drop back.  This is about 20 minutes into the race.

I hovered in the main pack for the rest of the race, but the break was long gone.  The pace in the pack wasn't too bad, so I was able to go to the front, try a split, get reeled in, hover, etc.  Then with about 15 minutes left in the race, I'm in the main pack and a guy chops my front wheel.  We're on the straight before the first turn and he swings out of the peloton to accelerate to the front, but as he stands up, his bike slips back and he sticks is rear derailleur in my front wheel.  I break/snap/crack/bend a few spokes, unclip and manage to keep it up, but the front wheel is toasted and I pulled off to assess the damage.  DNF

Luckily, it's just a few spokes and I think I can source some new ones from Excelsports and true my wheel up before next weekend.  Ah well.  That's one way to start a season.

February review, March preview

My training for February was decent.  I didn't get in as many hours as I wanted, but I was doing some hard workouts and I think the long hours we're hampering my recovery.  I averaged between 10 and 13.5 hours this week.  This week (my recovery week), I'm planning on getting about 5 1/2 hours on the bike, then I'm skiing both days this weekend, so I'm counting each day as an hour.

Here's the preview of March.  Intense training and racing means I'm cutting back the hours.  I have 12-13.5 in the plan, but really I expect 10-13 hours for the build weeks.  On my intense days, I'm trying to get an hour of hard riding in.  On the easy days, I'm pretty much just commuting to work and back -- easy riding.  The way I see it, the season is upon us, so no point in trying to build up a base by riding a lot at low intensity.  That was reserved for Dec, Jan, Feb.  Now, it's time to build some speed and recovery for the weekend racing.

recharge the batteries

As you can probably tell, my last few posts have been a little pessimistic.  It's a product of having some consecutive bad workouts (stressed, tired, unmotivated) and the end of a 3 week build period.  I try to build from 12-15 hours a week.

So, this week is my rest week and I've decided to totally chill out on the training regimen and recharge the batteries.  Yelena and I are going skiing both days this weekend and spending the night in Aspen on Saturday night.  That will be nice.  Tele-skiing is a bit like hitting the gym.  There's not a whole lot of aerobic, but after even a short run the legs are on fire.  Of course, it probably wouldn't hurt as much if I didn't get so low in the turns, but hey thats the fun of it!

My riding this week will/has consisted of going to work and back which is about 45min round trip.  I was feeling really good on the way home, so I did a short indoor workout on the bike and it felt good.  I also switched off from watching cycling videos to watching world superbike videos.  You can get the same type of workout experience (watching speed, competition events) without having to deal with constantly being bombarded by cycling (which I self-inflict every day surfing the internet.).  So, yeah, take this week off, recharge, then fire up the engine for some march madness.

The drawbacks of cycling competition.

Training for cycling requires constant devotion and consistency in training to reap results.  Unlike most skill sports, you can't take an extended time off from cycling and retain your level of competition or fitness.  The athletes that play tennis, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. can all take time off and come back at the exact same level.  Skill development rarely diminishes.  I used to play tennis competitively.  I haven't played in months or even years, but I could pick up a racket this afternoon and compete at a fairly high level still.

With cycling, it's quite the opposite.  There really isn't much skill required in cycling.  There is tactical sense, knowledge, and experience, but in terms of skills, there really is only a little to learn.  If I took off a year of cycling, then hopped back on, I would pretty much have to start over.  Therein lies the problem.

I give up a lot of things to compete at this level.  I'm not at the top, and never will be, but I'm at a sustainable effort.  I put in around 10-15 hours a week, every week.  This is the only way I know of to maintain fitness and improve.  Unfortunately, I also have a job.  This means, I work 40 hours a week, then try to fit in a 2 hour workout when I get home.  It's extremely demanding psychologically and physically.  I also plan my whole year around the racing season, leaving little if any time for all the other things I enjoy so much like camping, backpacking, travel, climbing, etc.  Every year I think "this is my last year", then at the end of the year, I convince myself that I can improve a little more, so I dedicate myself again for the following year.

We'll see what happens from here.  I miss all the backpacking, hiking, and travel trips I used to take, so we'll see.

Another day at the office

This is the start of my rest week for this period.  I had a decent last few weeks of training, but just can't fit it the volume I was hoping for.  Last week was supposed to be upwards of 16hrs, but I only managed to get in around 13.  This week, I'll probably hit about 7 hours along with skiing on Saturday and Sunday in Vail and Aspen.  I had a lot of trouble hitting my intensity workout goals for last week, but my 80min tempo ride went really well on Saturday, so I'm not too stressed.  March is just around the corner which means the high intensity training will start up in earnest to prep for Depot and Gila.

on again, off again

I fell off the horse the last couple weeks in terms of my eating habits.  Hopefully, I'll turn it around this week.  I'm still hovering around 180lbs., so no improvement on that front.  I got in a good workout this morning with two 15 minute efforts at 369 watts that I was able to do.  I'm improving on that front and the first practice race is about 4 weeks away.  The first real race 7 weeks away, then it's off to the races every weekend after that.

Solid block of training = Solid fitness level improvement

I did a power test this morning and it looks like my last block of hard training really paid off.  My 5 minute max power effort resulted in an average of 455W, which is 19 Watts higher than my previous test on 12/12/09.  The good thing is that my training plan is working and I am improving.  The bad thing is that my new power levels are going to make my workouts harder.  ugh.

Met all my teammates for this year and we decided on some big races.  I've got the Tour of the Depot, Tour of the Gila, Tulsa Tough Omnium, Cascade Classic, and Steamboat Stage Race on the radar.  It's going to be awesome if we can field a team and get support for these races.  It's lookin' good!

Rest Week

I got in a solid block of training this month and am glad for a rest week.  I'll do a little bit of intensity, but back off a lot on the total hours.  Below is my training journal of the last few weeks.

After this rest week, I'll start incorporating 2 workouts a week with high intensity.  Still not a big volume of high intensity, as only 45-60 minutes high intensity for each workout, but I should start to build some speed.   I'm not losing the weight like I was hoping, but I feel like I am getting stronger and my last tempo workout was the best thus far @ 321W for 80 minutes and a 169bpm HR average.  5 1/2 weeks until the first test of the season, Frostbite Time Trial, so we're inching closer to the season.

It's still really cold now although we're getting more light.  It's probably dark at 5:30pm now, but the high is still in the low-mid 40s.  Another month or so of 40ish highs during the day and then we'll be over the hump.

Bicycle of DOOM!!

I'm nearly finished with my time trial bike build.  I bought everything used off ebay.  The full bike was $850, then got the 55 tooth chainring for $45, then the carbon HED wheels for another $500.  All I need now are some carbon pads for the brakes and a TT saddle.  The bicycle of doom is nearly complete.

2010 Cycling goals (revised, once again)

I revised these goals once again now that the 2010 calendar is out and several races I planned on banking points on are not included.  Plus, with the addition of some new races out-of-state, I'll be traveling during the important races.

1-  Race well at the Big Cycling events of 2010:  Tour of the Depot, Tour of the Gila, Tulsa Tough, Cascade Classic, Steamboat Stage Race

2-  Finish Gila TT inside of 38min. 
------------How to:  Increase lactate threshold power.  Work on TT position.  Do early CO TTs.  Buy a TT bike!  This should land me in the top 10.

3- Finish top 5 at Gila Stage Race.
------------How to:  Drop body weight and body fat percent.  I'd like to get down to 165 lbs. for this race, but 170 is probably more likely.  I'm 180-185lbs. now and I haven't been below 175 lbs. in several years, so this is a stretch and will require a dedicated effort.  Other objective is to improve climbing ability.  I'll probably start training in the hills after work in the month prior to the race.  Specific hill climb races will also help with this.

4- Win Sprinter's Jersey at CSP mid week criterium series
------------How to:  Consistently show up for the races and give it a shot.  I did this Wednesday afternoon race series this year and it was a blast.  I missed a bunch of races, but at one point, I had the sprinter's jersey.  The races are laid back, safe, and really fun because there is little stress.

5- Three top 10 finishes in road or crit races.
------------How to:  Maintain focus and discipline in the high intensity training portion of the mid to late season.  This one is really a crapshoot..  I don't know if this is achievable or not.  Many (if not nearly all) of the races finish with a break escaping the pack.  I don't have the power to stay with the break, so that relegates me to sprinting with the bunch.  I was a decent sprinter in the 3s, but in the p12 races, I haven't had much success.

"New" TT bike!

This thing is hot off the ebay shelf and in the stable with the other bikes.  I went for a more basic TT bike so I can splurge on wheels.  I also was given a TT helmet from my mom this holiday season.  :)

 

 

 

The bike seems pretty comfortable from the get-go.  It's setup right now in full UCI legal position.  I'll need to do more video capture to fine tune the position.

January Training Plan

Here it is.  My first "hard" workout starts today.  This is the start of my 3rd block of this phase.  I don't know if I'll be able to make the prescribed power levels, so this probably will get adjusted with time.  I'm aiming for between 14-16 hours a week, but I usually only end up riding around 10-12.  The extra hours are just for weight management anyway, so as long as I hit my hard workouts (tempo, LT, etc.), I'm satisfied with my week.

ok, scratch that.  That workout tonight was way too ambitious.  I ended up doing (1) 15 min interval at 366W, rest, then 5min at around 350W, rest 5min, then did a 40min tempo.  It was a good workout though, so I'll try to do (2) 15 min intervals next week.  Here's the new hotness: