Friday, December 7, 2007

Rest week - sort of

Yesterday's ride (on the trainer) sucked. Lack of motivation, general grumpiness and a restless night of sleep last night earns a day off and an easy ride for Saturday.

Tuesday I did my 6.4 time trial simulation in exactly the same time as last week BUT with 14 more watts. Huh.

Wednesday was more SST/Hard-Tempo/zone 3/3.5/4/whatever-you-want-to-call-it and some micro intervals. I love all these sweet new words now that I have a power meter. It makes me an automatic superstar. Now I can impress my wife with acronyms like FTP, CP, W/Kg, SST. I think I just heard her yawn. "Guess what honey, I rode SST intervals at 85% of FTP for a heart rate of only 80% LT!" I feel like an idiot sometimes. She sees me on the trainer and says "You're not riding hard enough" and I am forced to retort that "I am on a rest interval"...nah nah nah.

There are a lot of debates (arguments really) currently going on about the use of power meters for non professional riders. Some find it a total waste of money, and others justify it through all the bells and whistles and feedback it gives you. I simply enjoy riding more with one. I am a techno geek and love gadgets. Will a PowerTap make me a better rider over the winter than I would be without it? Who knows? It's not up to someone else whether or not I'm a poseur for riding an expensive bike with a power meter during a training crit along side some crash happy monkeys. My justification is not up for debate. It's like a debate of expensive bikes vs inexpensive bikes (or really more like overpriced vs REALLY overpriced bikes). I don't care what bike this or that guy has. If you show up and ride the shit out what you brought, no matter what you brought, I love you for it.

That being said, I do cringe every time I see a guy in a cat 5 crit wearing a full US Postal kit, with matching Giro helmet riding a Trek, but I'm an ass like that. Hey, I have a Trek too, but I was more fond of the ONCE team kit. While I was riding my Giant TCR. With my ONCE labeled Giro Pnuemo helmet. Shut up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There have been a lot of articles saying that if you don't have time, do intensity. Just don't forget the most important part is adequate RECOVERY, on and off the bike.

Hey, I ride an overprices bike w/ a powermeter and carbon wheels. Ask me if I care what anyone else thinks! You hit the nail on the head...my job is to ride the shit out of it and be my best!

Keep up the good training!