It's high 30's and raining and I see more people (5 not including myself) out riding today than on a typical warm summer day?
Had a guy on Swailes road ride up next to me in his SUV and yelled "Nice bike", then at the intersection of Swailes and Peters yelled "CLEAR". Days like these make me happy.
This brings to a close the first full training week. Tuesday was time trial day as I simulated the 6.2 mile computrainer TT course. Wednesday was an hour of full tempo on the trainer. Thursday was an hour on the trainer with some intervals - Friday was more of the same but less and shorter intervals. Saturday I simulated the 45 mile St Leon race course on the RealAxiom and today I made it outside for a little over two hours.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Great day for a ride
Even though I overdressed, it was a great day out yesterday. For the first hour it was my intention to do as much continuous tempo as I could stand and then just ride around. I headed off to the Fred's Ride routes because the terrain is great for tempo and the traffic is nice and light (especially on a Saturday morning). As I finished up I saw Craig and Brian out for a ride- it's always nice to see other riders out as it makes me feel like less of a weenie on a chilly day. Maybe I'll see more riders today (another 40 degree day).
Ended up with a little over 45 miles in 2:30 as after the tempo ride I just cruised around for a while on the roads near my house. Overall I averaged 175 watts for the ride, but the tempo section was where it needed to be hovering between 210 and 270.
The first "week" of training for 2008 is nearly complete. I only started this past Wednesday though, but that day's ride and Thursday's rides were pretty tough. Short rides, but very hard. Saturday's ride was hard for that first hour as every time I saw my power was low I forced myself to ramp it up. Today's ride is a free ride, meaning just ride how I feel. Right now I feel great, but the first turn of the pedal can prove otherwise. We'll see.
Today was nice too. A little chilly, but I got 2 hours of easy riding in.
Ended up with a little over 45 miles in 2:30 as after the tempo ride I just cruised around for a while on the roads near my house. Overall I averaged 175 watts for the ride, but the tempo section was where it needed to be hovering between 210 and 270.
The first "week" of training for 2008 is nearly complete. I only started this past Wednesday though, but that day's ride and Thursday's rides were pretty tough. Short rides, but very hard. Saturday's ride was hard for that first hour as every time I saw my power was low I forced myself to ramp it up. Today's ride is a free ride, meaning just ride how I feel. Right now I feel great, but the first turn of the pedal can prove otherwise. We'll see.
Today was nice too. A little chilly, but I got 2 hours of easy riding in.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
2007 season in review
2007 was a season full of ups and downs. My race results were absolutely pathetic, save for a couple of time trials. It was nice though, watching my new team mates have great success over the year.
Toward the end of 2006, I transferred from Team Dayton to Project Velo, following 5 other team mates. Most of the people on Team Dayton were great guys, but it seemed like there was a complete lack of any team unity. I guess that goes hand in hand on a team with open eligibility. For reasons I won't go into, I was prepared back in July to leave Team Dayton and ride for myself in 2007. I was offered the last spot on Project Velo late in the year and decided to take it. Closed eligibility of hand picked riders is a nice change! It allows team management to keep the egos, the jerks and the people that think they are owed something that are all to prevalent out.
2007 started with a couple of indoor time trials in Centerville, then it was straight off to Mentor for the first race of the year. 20 degrees was not an ideal racing temperature. The OVR spring series brought quite a bit of success to the team and made our guys (and gals) watched riders.
By the time summer rolled around most of the development riders had their own agendas and goals so a lot of times I was racing by myself. I did most of the Ohio Cup races as a Master 3/4/5, and I'm the only rider on the team who qualified for that field.
This year, there was no time trial series in Casstown, but Colavita's local chapter picked up the slack with a 20k TT that was held once a month in Greenville. Although I did not have great results (speed wise), I was able to win the season series in my age group by being pretty consistent over the entire series. That was the highlight of my season.
Toward the fall, the races tapered down with a two week vacation to Scotland and the planned surgery. I ended up doing 36 races this year in the time available.
Hopefully with a new game plan, I won't have a repeat of 2007's struggles. My aim is to be 20 pounds lighter at the first race of 2008 than I was at the first race of 2007.
Time and hard work will tell.
Toward the end of 2006, I transferred from Team Dayton to Project Velo, following 5 other team mates. Most of the people on Team Dayton were great guys, but it seemed like there was a complete lack of any team unity. I guess that goes hand in hand on a team with open eligibility. For reasons I won't go into, I was prepared back in July to leave Team Dayton and ride for myself in 2007. I was offered the last spot on Project Velo late in the year and decided to take it. Closed eligibility of hand picked riders is a nice change! It allows team management to keep the egos, the jerks and the people that think they are owed something that are all to prevalent out.
2007 started with a couple of indoor time trials in Centerville, then it was straight off to Mentor for the first race of the year. 20 degrees was not an ideal racing temperature. The OVR spring series brought quite a bit of success to the team and made our guys (and gals) watched riders.
By the time summer rolled around most of the development riders had their own agendas and goals so a lot of times I was racing by myself. I did most of the Ohio Cup races as a Master 3/4/5, and I'm the only rider on the team who qualified for that field.
This year, there was no time trial series in Casstown, but Colavita's local chapter picked up the slack with a 20k TT that was held once a month in Greenville. Although I did not have great results (speed wise), I was able to win the season series in my age group by being pretty consistent over the entire series. That was the highlight of my season.
Toward the fall, the races tapered down with a two week vacation to Scotland and the planned surgery. I ended up doing 36 races this year in the time available.
Hopefully with a new game plan, I won't have a repeat of 2007's struggles. My aim is to be 20 pounds lighter at the first race of 2008 than I was at the first race of 2007.
Time and hard work will tell.
Here we go!
Just a photo I found...I miss that helmet (cracked it)
Today starts "training". I've decided to simplify my training down to two things; raising FTP and race surges. Race surges have been a weak spot for as long as I've been racing and I lose too much energy every time I burn a match to connect back to the wheel in front of me. Raising FTP will help specifically in time trials and generally will help my overall cycling fitness.
Then there is the weight loss goal - I'm trying to get back to my cat5 weight of 165 by mid January. That's only 10 pounds away, but I want to make it a slow weight loss so I don't crash and burn from not enough calories in my body (been there, it's ugly).
If (if) I can raise FTP and lose weight at the same time, that will make me way better off when the time trials start in the spring.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Saturday 11-10
Why is it becoming difficult to title these things?
Today was pretty nice out for November in Ohio. It was maybe 40 degrees at the start of my ride. My plan was to ride out and do one of the Fred's Ride routes as it's been a while since I've been out there. That plan went away as I took a sip from the only bottle I brought and it disintegrated in my hand. Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink (as it ended up all over the road!). So I got back home after an hour of riding, got another bottle and rode a while longer. Overall I ended up with 2 hours and 10 minutes of riding, the longest ride since the surgery. I STILL don't like riding over rough roads, but my comfort level is pretty high now. I have a couple more days of just riding around before the actual training starts (November 14th).
Today was pretty nice out for November in Ohio. It was maybe 40 degrees at the start of my ride. My plan was to ride out and do one of the Fred's Ride routes as it's been a while since I've been out there. That plan went away as I took a sip from the only bottle I brought and it disintegrated in my hand. Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink (as it ended up all over the road!). So I got back home after an hour of riding, got another bottle and rode a while longer. Overall I ended up with 2 hours and 10 minutes of riding, the longest ride since the surgery. I STILL don't like riding over rough roads, but my comfort level is pretty high now. I have a couple more days of just riding around before the actual training starts (November 14th).
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Transfer notice 11-6
RFG Solutions has more transfers in the news. They added some real depth to their team for 2008. I didn't see them much in this neck of the woods (being southwest Ohio) this past season, but they are sure to light it up for Team Columbus' races next year.
Etc
Today ended my streak of 7 whole days in a row riding. Now I'm totally pain free on the bike, but today's schedule didn't allow for any time to ride. Tomorrow I am leaving for Grand Rapids where there's a woodworking trade show. No riding will happen until Friday at the earliest as that's when I'll be back in town. It seems like there are thousands of manufacturing companies in Michigan but not many designers or engineers. That bodes well for me, not that there is a lack of work at the moment though.
As for the riding, like I said I am pain free. The power seems to be there but the 5 weeks off hurt the endurance the most. Maybe it's just that before the layoff it was warm out and now it's not. That sure plays into my desire (or lack thereof) to wipe the snot off my nose every 20-25 seconds while riding outside. Maybe I'll get lucky this weekend. It will be a good week to test my power since I'll have the next couple of days off. We'll see.
As for the riding, like I said I am pain free. The power seems to be there but the 5 weeks off hurt the endurance the most. Maybe it's just that before the layoff it was warm out and now it's not. That sure plays into my desire (or lack thereof) to wipe the snot off my nose every 20-25 seconds while riding outside. Maybe I'll get lucky this weekend. It will be a good week to test my power since I'll have the next couple of days off. We'll see.
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