Riding with Confidence

As I've written in the past, I just don't feel like I'm up to speed so far this year.  Which is OK if its just a fitness thing but I also feel like I'm not riding with confidence.  I don't feel like I'm riding well, riding too stiff, no flow, can't corner well, descending skills suck, I'm leaving big gaps when riding in a group, etc.  It's not good and I feel like my lack of abilities is further hurting my confidence.  I used to feel as though my skills were an advantage of mine, now they seem to be missing. I've had a few friends crash this season, and they're fine but I seem to have this mental block and fear of having to wear a little Tegaderm.  

I need to get my mojo back.  I need to get back to enjoying the wind in my face, leaving my worries behind.  Not carrying them with me.  Perhaps I need to set up for a few skills workouts and remember what I can do.   Not sure there's time this week, but I'll set it as a priority.  

Mid Week Update

This past weekend and week have been good for riding.  Last Saturday I set a goal of riding 5 hours to make sure I was ready for that much saddle time during the Ridgeline Rampage which is coming up in 2 weeks.  I wanted to make sure my body was ready to ride that long and that my nutrition plan would keep my power output up during that riding time.

The ride was a total success.  I got in 4:52 and 84 miles, averaging over 17 mph with a normalized power just above my level 2 power level, 208W.  My power to heartrate decouple was under 17%, which is pretty good for my outdoor rides.

The ride ended up being great.  I'm glad I got that effort in.  I'll need a few more like that in the coming months, however I'll need to put more climbing in the route.

On Sunday I was given a second hall pass so I hit the team ride.  The legs felt pretty good and I put in a few efforts to remind the body what speed feels like.  It's funny how much of a benefit those long endurance rides give me.  During the ride we had a little snow squall got through, fortunately it wasn't even enough to get the pavement totally wet.  In the end, I felt great and my nutrition plan worked well to tack on another 50 miles.

Monday I got a little skills lesson during a mountain bike ride, which frankly, was something I needed.  Vincent offered up some pointers which captured the issues I has having and if I can get out and work on it, should help.

This weekend is going to be a little interesting in the riding department but I should be able to get in a few rides.  And with the weather hitting the 70's this week, I'll certainly be out to enjoy and welcome spring.

I Feel Way Behind

I was out for a mountain bike ride last night with a couple of friends, hitting some trails I haven't been on in a few years. It was great to get out for the evening ride and just enjoy the trail and competitive feel of riding with friends.  The loop we were one was nothing difficult or technical but it had a few short punchy climbs and some 'few minute' climbs.  I just kept feeling out of sorts and...... slow.  Slow is a bummer.

Typically come April I'm starting to feel 'competitive', but not so far this year.  It's certainly discouraging to feel this way.  I'm trying to stay focused on the fact that I started training a month later than normal and I've been sick twice.  So by default I should be a month or more back compared to normal.  On top of that almost all my riding has been base miles, they're necessary but it's hard to get fast doing endurance rides.

In the end I need to keep plugging away at the plan and not get too anxious.  I have the 50 mile Endurance race Ridgeline Rampage coming up in two and a half weeks.  Then Battle the Bear in a month, again the 50 mile endurance race.  I need to keep building the endurance miles to ensure I can survive those races.  According to my plan, those will help get me through the Bailey Hundo.  Time will tell.

Frustrating Training Camp

Well, that was certainly a test and not for the reasons I anticipated at the beginning of the week.  Last weekend I put in 5 hours... all below or right around 40 degrees.  On Monday I was coughing but still felt great so I kept to my minimum 2 hours of riding per day.  By Wednesday I was still riding but my throat hurt bad enough I didn't want to talk on those rides.  By Thursday I was heading home early sick.  I was down and out Friday and Saturday.  This is the second time this spring I've been sick.  Initially I was pretty mad about it, but what good does that do.  So I tried to get some small things done around the house while resting.

Sunday I felt pretty good (no medication) so the plan was to get back out on the bike.  I was out on the new mountain bike only to crash on the first 5 feet of my first single track.  I clipped a pedal and went over the handle bars.  No real damage so I continued on my ride.  About 40 minutes later I put a hole in the middle of the rear tire that the Stan's couldn't seal.  I put in my spare tube only to find it had a hole in it as well (I later saw a spot were the tube had a hole rubbed in it).  So, I was doing the walk of shame back to the car.  Fortunately some cool fellow riders pitched in and gave me another tube and loaned me a pump so I could limp back to the car instead of walk.  Much appreciated!  Thanks.

On a side note, I seem to have one of these rides every year and someone always bails me out.  Since I believe in the 'circle of life', I'm always willing to help a fellow rider when I find them in a similar predicament.  I figure if I earn good karma, it will come back to me when I need it.

So, my training camp ended up 3 days short plus one day with a 'broke' ride.  No long ride and not the hours I wanted.  It's still early but I feel like I need to make some changes to get things back on track.  First things first, let's get over this stupid cold.

Training Camp

I've found that adding a "training camp" to my schedule has been very beneficial to my fitness each year.  A training camp is basically an entire week where you commit to riding everyday of the week, including both weekends on either end (9 days)  The goal is to log as much time as you can.  My basic commitment is a minimum of 2 hours per day.  This number comes about because if the weather is poor, 2 hours is about all I can tolerate on the trainer.  But also be careful, 4 hours one day does not mean you've ridden two days worth of time.  It means nice job, now ride at least two hours the next day.  Thus I set out to log as many hours as I can.  Be warned, by the end of the week you can be pretty zapped.

Pace on these early training camp rides is typically base miles, Level 2 endurance power.  Training camps later in the season are more tempo, L3 based.  As much time as possible in that zone.  You're going for an adaptation with your body to get your aerobic engine rev'd up.

During the past few years when I've had training camps, I've only traveled someplace away from home once.  Typically I do what I can to set aside my extra commitments that I have for that week and just ride.  I'll come in to work a little late or leave a little early to get my riding in that week, because it's training camp week.  I take the long ride into work or on the way home.

I'm planning to have a training camp starting this weekend, through next week which is spring break for the kids.  The weather is looking good and I'm looking forward to getting out for some riding.  Wish me luck, and set yourself up for a training camp this spring, you'll be glad you did.

2013 Cannondale Flash 29er 1 High Mod Carbon - First Impressions

Back in March 2010 I got my first 29er, an aluminum Cannondale Flash 29er.  It wasn't the top end version by any means.  It's a super fun bike to ride.  I had a few issues with the bike but they were all resolved.  The fork had to be sent back to Cannondale once.  The Avid brakes sucked so I upgraded them.  The wheels that came with the bike were heavy so I got a pair of race wheels.  Overall, I enjoyed the bike a lot.  I certainly had no reservations about getting another Cannondale Flash 29er if the opportunity presented itself.

Well, an opportunity arose!   As 2013 bikes were being cleared out to make room for the new ones I came across a deal I couldn't pass up.  So, I struck while the iron was hot and snatched up a top of the line beauty.  The 2013 Cannondale Flash 29er 1 high modulus Rocket ship carbon hard tail bike!

I'm so over the black on black coloring so many manufacturers use.  I love the colors of this bike.  Red, White and Blue BABY!  It stands out and looks good.

Carbon XLR 90mm Lefty Fork.

Not sure I'm a fan of the Avid brakes but the lefty lockout is integrated on the break mount.  It keeps the cockpit nice and clean.

High modulus carbon

XTR derailleurs are awesome!  The Shadow plus technology doesn't stick out and is hidden away.  The genius of the entire bike is the extra clutch they put on the derailleur to prevent chain slap.  There is no chain slap!!  Coming down a bumpy descent is like riding a single speed...... almost!  The chain still raddles within the cassette but it is truly awesome for people that like having a quite bike.  Most importantly, it works!

  Reynolds carbon 29er wheels!  Reviews on these wheels seem to indicate the spokes like to untension.  I'll have to keep checking them out.  So far I like the ride quality.  When I converted them to tubeless the tires snapped into place giving confidence they were in tight.  They popped into place just like my Stan's ZTR crest rims I used on the old Flash.  Most importantly they come with 2 years of Reynolds Assurance Program (RAP), so I guess I'm covered.

After a few rides my first thoughts are that this bike is a rocket ship!  Super efficient and fun to ride.  I'm looking forward to more rides on this bike.  I'll post updates as the season goes along and I learn the true personality of the bike.  It's kind of fun having a bike that's so far above my ability level!

Aero is Everything

Even when racing in the mud.  Notice the aero helmet, did it make a difference... maybe.  Either way Zdenek Stybar was fast and it looked good.

But WOOOW! These aero helmets look horrendous!  Just nasty.  Oh my.  Are they faster?  .... oh who cares, don't do it.

Ikea called, they want their helmets back.

Sick

The entire household, including the dog, has been sick this past week.  Making things pretty miserable and not much fun.  So I've been focusing all my time and effort to the recovery effort.  I'll try and get a few more posts out in the coming days.

Base Mile Optimization

Now that I'm back to riding base miles I've been spending some time thinking about what makes a good base ride.  I typically think about long 'slow' rides; slow isn't quite right because a steady base ride can be done at a good pace.  You should think of it as a steady pace that you can hold for a long time.

Having a powermeter really allows me to look closer at that definition.  The long steady pace your targeting during base miles is typically referred to as Zone 2.  For my zone 2 workouts I like to target 200 +/- 10 watts.  Based on this description, the definition of a good base ride is maximizing the time spent in the target power zone (2), and minimizing time spend out of that zone.

It's easy to do on a trainer.  You pedal at the target zone, no stopping, no coasting, no hills.  Basically you end up with a 100% efficient base mile ride.  See below, no time spent not pedaling and the overwhelming majority of the time is spent in the target zone.

Now when you take that ride outdoors and you have traffic, hills (up and down), lights, pedestrians and other interruptions.  You start to loose that good base ride.  During a recent 2 hour ride I was sad to see that I had over 20 minutes of not pedaling.  According to my good base mile definition my two hour ride was really only 1:38, which isn't as exciting.  

 So, how do you fix that?  Theirs not much you can do about lights, cars and pedestrians other than select a route without them.  Since I live at the foothills of the mountains most of my rides have hills.  So, to minimize the riding time lost spend coasting down hills I apply my brakes and pedal against them to keep my watts up.  It's not so exciting to be pedaling down hills with your brakes on but in the end, your ride will be better.  Below is the same two hour route as the one above, this time the time spent not pedaling was reduced by about 8 minutes.  I know, 8 minutes, but in a time crunched world were it's hard to get bike time in the first place..... I don't want to give up those 8 minutes.  Hopefully I'll get better at this and my time spend riding base miles will be maximized.

 This also shows that riding the trainer can be a great way to get in quality base miles, as long as you can mentally stand the drone for hours.  Which is challenging.


    

SRAM Rival Stages Cycling Powermeter Review

Part way through this past cyclocross season I purchased a SRAM rival stages powermeter that I can use on both my Ridley X-fire CX bike and my old aluminum Cervelo P3 TT bike.  So far I've been pretty pleased, that is to say, I've had no issues and it works the way they advertise.

First of all it's super easy to install, just like installing the left crank arm.  Second it's easy to communicate with.  My Iphone talks to it in Bluetooth mode, and allows me to update its firmware.  The Garmin edge talks to it using the ANT+ protocols.  Just zero out the powermeter by leaving the crank pointing down and then hitting the calibrate button.

I raced with it during CX season and had no issues and now it's on the TT bike.  No big deal.  Below are some pictures of my rival cranks.  I moved it from my compact 110 rival CX chain rings to the standard 130 TT chain rings with no recalibration or anything.  Just moved it.... easy.

I ran some tests to compare the readings of the stages powermeter with that from my G3 Powertap.  I put them both on my TT bike and did an easy endurance ride and the two powermeters read within 10 watts of each other.  They're not exactly the same but they're close.  The difference isn't enough to be in different power zones or anything.  The one draw back is the stages only reads the left leg and I know my left leg is stronger/more efficient than my right.  I don't know if it's 10 watts better, but maybe.

Either way, with the low cost of the stages powermeter and the simplicity of its operation.  I'm happy with it and would think it would make an outstanding powermeter for just about anyone.  You're not locked to a wheel nor is it expensive like a full crankset (quarq or SRM).  I see Sky cycling is even using them.  It will be interesting to see if the Tour champ(s) have an issue with only getting data from his left leg.

I just moved the stages powermeter to the old Cervelo P3 TT bike

I had the stages powermeter on the Ridely CX bike for half the 2013 CX season

This is a WKO+ comparison between the PT and Stages powermeters on the same ride, on the trainer.  The top graph shows the power.  It looks like there's a little offset in time (my fault for not cropping the data correctly).  As you can see the power numbers on the yellow/Stages line appears to be slightly higher than the red/PT line.  The heart rate data in the second graph should line up perfectly as I was only wearing on HR strap, the offset is do the slight difference in data crop.  The average difference between the Stages and PT powermeters was about 10 watts.

Starting Season Statistics

Ok, weekend goals completed.

To determine my season starting threshold power (FTP) I used the TrainerRoad.com 8-minute test workout.  It's pretty simple, two 8 minute all out efforts.  You take the average power from the two efforts and 90% of that number is your estimated FTP.  The TrainerRoad system calculates everything for you.  On a side note, the TrainerRoad program has been really helpful for me.  I've enjoyed it and find it useful.  I have a couple of screen shots of the test below.

During the first 8 minutes I averaged 309W and the second 312W.  I feel like I paced my efforts pretty well and I was happy about that.  At some point I'll do the twenty minute test and see how it compares.  The test results are that my FTP is currently at 279W.  It could be a little higher if I'd done this outdoors but I'm just looking for a reproducible test result and this should be close enough.

Also, my body weight was 180 lbs.  Again, not too bad.  Races that I've performed well at have been when my weight was closer to 175 or a little lower.  Hopefully this base season will allow me time to burn some of those calories and shed a few pounds.

Tis the Season

Ok, it’s time to get a little more serious and start mapping out and preparing for the 2014 season.  It’s time to begin getting in some longer base miles, not that I haven’t been riding a little, but now it’s time to get a little more formal about it.  Time to analyze those workouts to a greater degree and make sure things are progressing.

This is the latest I’ve ever started my season, I typically try to start those base miles in early January.  With the cold weather and snow we've had this year, I’m glad I haven’t been on the trainer as much as that would have required.  My plan is to kick everything off with a power test this weekend and a body weight measurement.  I can’t say I’m look forward to either of these but it needs to be done.  This will be my starting point.

Once my power numbers are identified I’ll use them to target my endurance power zones and begin ticking off the miles.  The goal will be getting to body adapted to consistently riding and building up my aerobic engine to get it ready for the season.  I'll post on the results this weekend.

The ‘Off’ Season

Towards the end of this past CX season I was “looking forward to the off season.”  I felt a little burned out.  But what does that mean?  I’ve reached a point were not exercising really isn’t an option.  After a day or two of resting I really don’t feel all that good, I literally start feeling like I’m getting sick.  Once you develop a level of consistently exercising, stopping is almost as difficult as getting started.

So the off season isn’t really time off, it’s just unstructured time where I can do whatever I want.  Honestly, one of the reasons I enjoy riding my bike so much isn’t the races.  It’s the training.  Since my last race, Jan 11^th, I’ve been in the ‘off season’.  I’ve kept my training time unstructured, aka not scheduled.  I’ve focusing on spending time with the family which has limited my workouts to an hour or less each day.  I’ve made the family the priority so I fit my workout in without interfering with their plans.  It’s easy to find the time but difficult to make plans or attend any classes.  There’ll be enough time in the future when I’m asking for a pass to go ride, it’s my payback time now.

This off season has been about refocusing.  I have to remember what a normal person should eat, and bringing the caloric intake back to normal.  I’ve been going to the gym and lifting weights to shift the body composition back to the muscular side.  I’ve continued running, brining my long runs up to miles I haven’t seen in years (which isn’t much, 6-7 miles in a single run).  I’ve also been hitting the trainer for some work on my pedal stroke; high spin efforts, isolated leg interval and stands.  None of these efforts have been overly intense; they serve to rejuvenate the body and mind.

With the upcoming 2014 season and my planned races and goals, the most difficult part of the off season is patience; the patience to wait, to not overdo it, to take it slowly and get back to the basics so that I’ll be ready when the time comes.  Fortunately the weather has been helping; the thought of base miles in the snow and ice have greatly enhanced my ability to be patient.

2014 Cross Nationals

This past cyclocross season culminated in my participation in CX Nationals which were held in Boulder this year.  It was awesome to have the race near home, which honestly, is why I participated.  Of course just fitting the race into my weekly, post holiday crush ensured I wouldn't have time to enjoy and participate in the 'extra curricular' activities.  First lesson learned, it would be better to travel to the race so I could fully immerse myself in the joy that is the National Championships.

My races were, fun but not overly spectacular.  My goal was to simply finish on the lead lap and have fun.  That's it, no other expectations.  I was able to race in two races, the championship race and a non-championship race for my age group 40-44.

The first race was the non-championship race on Wednesday morning.  The weather was finally warming up and melting the snow that had fallen during the previous weekend.  The number of racers was huge, like 115.  I didn't have a terrible starting location, there were a lot of riders behind me.  Unfortunately, and to keep a long story short, on the second lap I was passing the pit and took a 180 turn.  As I slid across the snow in the corner, my rear tire hit a rut and the tire was dislodged from the rim.  I was running mud clinchers.  As I came out of the turn, I made it to the sand pit before the tire blew off the rim bringing my race to a sudden stop.  There was still some time and I didn't want it to end that way so I threw the bike on my shoulder and ran to the pit.  Once at the pit the nice Shimano man put the bike on the stand and gave me a rear wheel.  I jumped back out to finish the race but ended up a lap down on the finisher.  I wasn't DFL, but I wasn't real happy with my finish either.  Fortunately, I still had my championship race on Saturday.

My championship race was the first race of the day, early Saturday morning.  The course was a lot drier and there were only a few icy spots left.  There were about 130 starters this time and I was starting way at the back.  That first lap was crazy, stupid chaotic, but amazingly I got through pretty well.  A video form one of my teammates shows the first lap below.  He had it worse than I did. In the end, the day was not to be mine.  Sometimes your the hammer and sometimes your the nail.  I gave it what I had but it really wasn't what I had envisioned my race would be.  Fortunately I didn't have a mechanical but I just didn't have the legs.  In the end, I was pulled as the leader came by, shortening my race by 2 laps. 

In the end I didn't reach my goals but I certainly learned a lot and had fun.  I'd definitely be interested in racing nationals again.  I'd even be willing to travel so I could immerse myself in the event.  It made me hungry to improve my cyclocross skills and fitness.  We'll have to see if I can do that.  I'm a little worried all the easy gains are gone and I've just hit my 'genetic speed limit,' requiring me to commit to more training hours than the work, life, hobby balance can withstand.

Time to Go Somewhere New

I've been wanting to get back to this blog for a while, but I've felt like I haven't had time or a story people would be interested in.  So, I've held back.  While that may still be the case, I'm going to try and renew this site.  Don't worry, it will still be cycling related.  For this season I think I have a journey that I think people might be interested in.

In 2014, I'm planning to make some changes in my normal cycling routine.  The past few years I've primarily stayed on the road bike, raced an early spring season then had a short break before cyclocross season in the fall. This year I'm planning to make some changes, I'm going to target some races I've never attempted and frankly have been a little worried about trying.  I'm going to focus on some endurance mountain biking races this summer.  I've already signed up for the Bailey HUNDO and I'm thinking I should have a run at the Leadville 100 by way of the Silver Rush 50.  So look for stories and details about my journey towards these goals in the coming months.  Hopefully it will prove to be an insightful and fun ride.

USADA and Lance Armstrong

Everyone has their own belief, theory and reason to support or hate Mr. Armstrong.  Did he dope or didn't he.  I don't know if he did it or not.  I do know it made for great entertainment watching him crush the tour every year, and he had a few good books.  He's stories helped get me out on a road bike, I was already rediscovering mountain biking a few years before he became big.

I also know that just about everyone else that was in contention for the tour wins during 'Lance's' time has since been busted for doping.  Which is an interesting aspect to this entire story.

 Anyway, instead of reading all the analysis from the folks trying to sell magazines, have a read through the actual letter Mr. Armstrong received from the US anti doping agency (USADA).  I bet they don't send these to just anyone.  Gad Zooks - Use or attempted use, possession, trafficking, administration or attempted administration, assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up, aggravating circumstances.  The letter also lays out similar charges against 4 other people, including team doctors and team director Johan Bruyneel.

What a mess.  Hopefully there will be some benefit to this, through change that improves the sport and protects it's participants from these activities.  Some how I think larger changes than just busting a few doctors and a racer are going to be required.

First/Early Season 2012

It was my plan at the beginning of 2012 to split my season into two blocks.  The first block was to be an early road racing season were I would hit all the big spring road races.  Then I would shut things down, enjoy some summer family time and riding and ramp it back up for cyclocross.  The early season events began with Boulder Roubaix and culminated with the Superior-Morgul Omnium.

At the beginning of the season I had big goals.  I’m a category 3 cyclocross racer so I wanted to raise the bar and upgrade on the road.  I wanted to drop another 5 pounds and increase my threshold power.  Sadly I was unsuccessful at all of those goals.  I did plenty of riding and I worked with a coach.  We tried to plan everything out but it just didn’t happen and to be clear, it wasn’t because I didn’t due the planned work.

In races were I had hoped to be worrying about upgrade points, I was just trying to score Colorado Road Cup points for the team; and I wasn’t even successful at that.  By the time I reached my planned peak for the Superior Omnium I was just hoping I could finish in the top 20.  While I had a lot of fun at each of the races, I certainly didn’t have a shining performance.  In the end, I did finish in 18^th in the omnium, accomplishing my last minute goal of a top 20 finish.

In the end my goals were not meet.  Where they too lofty?  Was everyone else just so much faster because of the warm spring?  I already weight less than I did in high school, my body just didn’t want to give up more, or at least I couldn’t seem to make it.  My threshold power didn’t improve much during the spring even though my aerobic engine was sufficient.  So I’ve made some changes going forward to see if I can improve things going into the second, and more important to me, part of the season.  I’ve returned to my-self coaching ways, they got me upgraded in cyclocross in the first place.  Since I’m calling the shots with my training again and I have time, I’ll be putting more effort in those longer intervals that will result in threshold power improvements.  I’ll also be paying close attention on trying to get a few more pounds off so I’m not throttled on the big stair run-ups like I was last year during cyclocross season.

I’ll be writing about my plans and how they’re coming along, stop back by if you’re interested.

Superior-Morgul Race Weekend – Road Race

Sunday morning was an early start.  I was up and moving at 4:30 am to drop my wife at the start of the Colfax Marathon.  Her big goal happened to be the same weekend as mine; I would recommend avoiding this situation to anyone thinking they can pull it off.  Once she was off, I drove over to Superior for the road race.  Of course I was a little early but that gave me time to stretch the legs and get everything set up.

My fear during this race is always the climbing.  I’m not a small guy and climbing has never been something I felt like I exceled at.  My plan was to try and start the climbs at or near the front the drift back if needed so that I didn’t lose the group at the top.  The race started with a neutral start as we rolled out to the base of the wall for our first climb to the finish where we would begin our 3 lap race.  Once we were out on McCaslin the motorcycle judge blew his whistle and gunned the motorcycle like we were about to take off or something.  I saw a few racers twitch like there were ready to sprint and I quickly yelled out “easy guy’s, that doesn’t mean go.”  Everyone had a laugh and we headed up the hill.

I felt like the race pace was pretty high but as long as I could survive the climbs the rest of the course was not overly difficult.  It wasn’t long before I was having a difficult time with my pre-race plan.  The group would swell-up on Marshal road before the climbs and I couldn’t move forward.  I was starting the climbs at the back of the pack.  At that point I knew I didn’t have much room for error and I would absolutely have to give everything to stay with the group as I couldn’t drift back.  I would have to suffer, and suffer I did!  Every time I went up the wall and hump 2 (the hills I did in the TT) I was faster than the personal records I set during the TT (except for the last time up the wall).  The road race went over the same ground as the time trial and twice we did it faster than my TT, I know a group is faster than a lone rider but we were over a minute faster!

On our second to last time up the wall through the finish line the back of the group was struggling, including me.  As we hit the top gaps were forming and I had two teammates back with me.  I knew if we didn’t catch that group quickly we’d never see them again.  I turned myself cross-eyed to close the gap and managed to close the gap.  Unfortunately I was right near the bottom of the last hump climb and I couldn’t keep the pace going up the hill.  So I set my own pace and hoped for the best, one of my teammates did manage to bridge and stay with the lead group so I guess the effort was worth it.  I never caught them again but a small chase formed to help reach the finish.  I can’t say that I helped the chase group much other than to try and keep myself in a good position.

In the end we finished a couple of minutes down on the folks in the lead group.  The last climb up the wall to the finish was everything I had.  After a full weekend of racing I was done.  I ended up 33^rd, finishing in 1:56.  That’s a couple of minutes faster than when I did the race a few years ago and that year the winning time was 1:59.  It was a hard race and in the end I learned I can climb better than I think I can.

I'm still pulling my final thoughts together on this race weekend as well as some future plans so look for that post in the coming days.

Superior-Morgul Race Weekend – Criterium

Our criterium race was early in the morning on Saturday, sadly as I awoke I could hear to gentle pitter patter of rain on the window.  It tapered off and I quietly hoped we were done with the wet stuff as the course would likely be dry if it stopped now.  I got geared up and headed over to the race.  When I got there the road was dry and the temperature was cool.  Perfect, I got in a few practice laps between the races before heading back to the car to get in my final warm-up on a stationary trainer.  As I was riding the trainer it started to sprinkle again, then it picked up into a full on rain.  So sad, I’ve never done a road race in the rain much less a fast paced criterium with a couple of high speed corners.  For the most part the rain stopped before the race but the streets had rivers running on them and at the bottom of the hill with a fast left hand corner, there were lakes.

I lined up on the front and figured it would be safer to be on the front at least the first couple of laps to make sure everyone made it around the wet corners.  After someone nearly crashed into me during a practice lap taking a corner stupidly, I knew things might get interesting.  I tried to be patent on the front and not go too hard but after a few laps the pace went up and I ducked back in the group for a nice little road spray shower from the other bikes.  Things were progressing nicely until there was a prime announced for additional omnium points and the group took off like they were fired from a gun.  I was left struggling to hang onto the tail end of a splintering group and finally got gapped off.  The legs just didn’t have a response to that acceleration.

I begin looking for other riders to work with and came across the current omnium race leader in my category, perfect, a free ride.  He had beaten me in the TT by almost two minutes so I knew he’d be strong.  Fortunately he’s technical skills in the corners were not very good and I could easily pass and on the fast turns, gapping him.  He would bridge up and I would hold on for dear life.  We were stuck in this mode for far too many laps.

As the laps ticked down our group had swelled to about 5 and we still had not been lapped.  We had just been given the 2 to go sign and were getting ready for our bell lap when the motorcycle marshal came buy in the final 100M to the finish line.  We kept going but were caught about 10 feet from the finish line by the sprinting finishers.  Suddenly our race was over, personally I wanted to finish on the lead lap but after all that chasing in the cold and wet, I was ready to be done.

Unfortunately the officials thought I was with the lead group and placed me in 3^rd for the race.  Now, I’d really like to finish on the podium in a road race someday but this was not the day.  Once I caught the error I let the officials know and they set out to figure out what had happened.  Unfortunately this didn’t happen until later in the day because immediately after the race I had to go warm-up, I was wet and cold and not hanging around to find out the placing of a lapped rider.  Anyway, they ended up giving me 15^th for the crit.  I was pretty happy to have safely negotiated and finished my first wet criterium.  Now the legs would really have to recover before the long hard road race.

Superior-Morgul Race Weekend – Time Trial

This past weekend was the pinnacle of my planned spring road race campaign, the Superior-Morgul Omnium.  Three days of road racing near my house on roads I am very familiar with.  Friday evening was a roughly 6.5 mile time trial (TT – race against the clock), Saturday was a 45 minute criterium and Sunday was a 49 mile road race over the famed Morgul-Bismark loop.  If you have a look at the Strava widget on the right side of the blog you can see the maps and all the details on each of these races.

Since these races were a goal of mine, I had specifically targeted my training in an effort to be at my best.  Leading up to these races I tapered off my training to rest up for the races ensuring I would survive the weekend and be as fast as possible.  For me, resting is always harder than just riding, it gives you time to think about all the things you could have done differently and doubt yourself.  I tried to push that all out of my mind because right before the race it’s too late; doing anything different is only going to cause more harm than good.  The week before the races I backed off the number of intervals and took a few days off the bike the week before the race.  I got in some short openers on Wednesday and Thursday to make sure the body was ready for the TT Friday evening.

I arrived at the Time Trial race early to get my number and check out how the TT was being run and ensure I got in a good warm up.  I only do a TT about once a year so I wanted to refresh my memory on these things.  I don’t have a time trial bike, or deep dish carbon aero wheels, or a pointy helmet, or clip on aero bars; I was going to do the time trial retro, meaning no extra aerodynamic enhancements other than what you find on a standard everyday road bike.  I knew it would be a disadvantage and I’d lose time but my legs were going to have to do the work.

My concern for the race was pacing, there are too pretty big hills (the wall and so called hump 2) connected by a flat section and I knew if I went too hard on the hills I’d lose even more time on the flats as I fought to recover.  So I decided to using my heavier, 32 spoke Powertap wheel to help gauge my effort.  My plan was to be a little under my threshold power or coasting on the descents, at or near threshold on the flats and above on the steep part of the climbs.

I got in a good warmup and went down to the start house.  We got to start out of the official US Pro Challenge Time Trial start house, which was kind of cool.  I stuck to the plan during the race and the legs felt pretty good, I set a new personal record going up the Wall in 5:49 as well as the second hump in 3:17.  In the end I finished the TT in 18:42, finishing in 18^th of 28.  At first I was a little disappointed but after looking through the results most people were within +/- 20 seconds and I set two personal records up those hills, what more could I ask for?  I set out to recover and get ready for the Criterium that was to be held about 12 hours after my TT.  During cyclocross season my second race of the weekend was typically my best; hopefully this weekend would be same.