Is BP going to pollute the entire North Atlantic Hemisphere?

Sweet, if this is right BP will have screwed up not only the Gulf but the Atlantic as well. And if I read the model right, it's only for the top 20M of water. What about the plumes that have been reported at 3000 ft below the surface?

I wonder what our grandkids will think of us? "Grandpa, did fish really live in the sea? You ate seafood? Did birds live near the ocean? You could play on the beach? Wow, your lucky Grandpa."

The model is from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, part of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Estimation Test

The max power output you can hold for an hour is often referred to as your threshold power. This is the number used to determine all your power based training levels because it's kind of a magic number. If you stay below your threshold you remain aerobic and you can sustain the output for a long time. Go above it and you go anaerobic and your time is limited. The greater your threshold power to weight ratio, the longer you can go faster. The ratio is important because if your a big person you'll have to put out big power.

Many people believe a devastating sprint or short burst of speed allows people to win bike races, but if your not fast enough to hang with the group for the race, you'll never get to use your crushing short term speed. I believe this has been some of my problem in the last races. During my training this year I haven't see much improvement in my threshold power. I intend to change that and make it a priority.

As you can image, holding your max power for an hour is hard, so people have come up with a number of ways to estimate the value. This morning I used Joe Friel's FTP confirmation method. It wasn't too taxing and I'm hoping the results are accurate. Basically it's eight 4 minute repeats with one minute rest between them. Each interval is done at 10 watts higher than the previous one. Start about 70-80 watts below your believed threshold. When you see your LTHR during the interval, your done and the average for that four minute block is your FTP.

From the data it looks like I got a little carried away with the last interval because I knew it was my last one. I hit my LTHR (163) - this is my average HR during almost all races - and averaged 304W. This is my new reference point for the training going forward.


Over the next couple of weeks I'll be working on that. I would like to raise it up as high as possible before CX season where pushing a higher wattage at a lower heart rate will pay some dividends. This is the time to make adjustments, this is after all just pre-season!

Training

It's been a few days since the road race and I've had time to reflect on how I feel and my power data from the race. The good news is I feel pretty good, the legs aren't too sore and I actually feel motivated to ride. I'd actually like to go hit some hills but for some reason finding time to get there is holding me back.

The discouraging news, well kind of, is my power output from the race. I've never gotten my max powers while racing; you get tired as the race goes on and my power drops. But so does everyone else. The sad part is my power levels and outputs are the same or slightly lower than they were for my Deer Trail race, last year. I think Deer Trail is a much easier race compared to the Morgul-Bismark.

I need to spend some time re-evaluating my training plan and program. If there's no improvement since last year, I have a problem with that. I have power testing coming up this week, we'll have to see were I fall out. I'll let you know.

Morgul Bismark Road Race

Wow, I was nervous going into this race. I thought there would be too much climbing and that I would get dropped early. But instead, I had a fantastic time. I put my game face on, tried to ride smart, stay out of trouble.

We had about 3.15 laps of the famous course with 4 trips up "the Wall", a 12% climb that isn't terribly long but you have to be careful. You have to get up to the top quickly but if you get there and your blown, your race is over because the pace is high as everyone races off. There's not a flat section in the entire race. That and the fact that there were about 135 starters in my race ensured this would be interesting.

I hooked up with the team and we all lined up together. The race organization was outstanding!! The course was well marked, routed and the volunteers and police did a great job keeping everyone safe! They deserve a lot of credit for making this such a big success.

We got started on what was going to turn out to be a fantastic blue bird day. The buzzards were out to pick off the road kill left by the pack. My personal goal was to make sure I was in a safe position at each questionable location and that I was near the front for each time up the major climbs. If I could make it to the final climb with the lead group I would be happy. I figured the danger spots would be going down CO-93, were we hit 52 mph, and the round-about at the base of the Wall. Those all ended up being fast but safe, the danger spots were the climbs (people would drop their chains then hit the brakes) and the slow ride up Marshal with everyone trying to catch their breath and get a bite to eat.


As the laps ticked off things were going well. Once we were on the final lap I was pretty tired but very happy. Sadly, I didn't move myself forward enough and on the hump the pace pickup considerably splitting off a case group I was in. About 20 guys were in the lead group and 10 of us were casing. I tried to pull them back but no one was helping. That put me in a bad spot at the bottom of the final climb. I still gave it what I could and picked off a guy at the finish line. Unfortunately it was for about 33rd place. But only a minute or two behind the winner.
Race Geek Information, my unofficial race time 2:01, 42.9 miles, avg 21.2 mph, max 51.9 mph, altitude gain 3,359 ft, normalized power 282W, Max power 1008W
The new Cannondale SuperSix 3 was phenomenal! I mean wow. It's light weight and stiffness made all my effort go to the wheels on the climbs. The oversized head tube made the high speed corners and descents feel totally under control. I saw a lot of other racers in the scary speed wobble, many with very expensive bikes. A couple of teammates took the SuperSix for a spin and were surprised with with stiffness and and efficiency. The ride is so comfortable, even after the entire race I in no way felt beat up. I am still blown away at how stiff the bottom bracket is while maintaining such a comfortable ride. It's a huge change from my last ride.

The TER crew was tired but happy after the race. We all went down to the festival to have some beers and the best post race food I've ever had available. Veggie wraps from Whole Foods. All free for the racers!

Adam did the entire Omnium and desired a little special attention from the masseuse. He desired it!

The photo's were all taken from others on the web. Thanks for the great shots everyone.

Bummer News

9News is reporting that U2 has postponed their North American 360 tour. We had tickets for June 12th. I was so looking forward to it! Bono hurt his back or something. Well, get better dude.

I guess that leaves us open until 2011.

Deer Trail RR

It's been awhile since my last post. I feel like I've been hiding from the Internet for the past week. I've also been waiting for pictures from my last race. So far, I haven't found what I was looking for.

Anyway, last Sunday was the rescheduled Deer Trail RR. This is the third year I've done the race. It is basically a 42 mile L shaped race with 180 degree turn arounds at the ends of the L. An hour east of Denver you'd think they could find more roads so we didn't have to go out and back. The turn arounds actually end up playing an important roll because it's really hard to get 70 people turned around, the lead riders always hit it while everyone else is slowing down to get around the turn.

This year we had about 10 riders from the team out there in a field of about 80. All have raced before and are strong riders. They key for this race is positioning. You don't want to get dropped because someone opened a gap you couldn't close.

This year the weather was nice and wind speeds were the lowest I've ever raced. I've done this in 40-50 mph gusts. This allowed the race speed to go way up too. The team all lined up early and had a great starting position. Sadly when the pace went up I started hurting and had to drop back. Somehow during this race I was able to move around in the group pretty freely and I used it to my advantage. After dropping back, whenever the pace slowed I moved up. I survived the first turn around and continued to try and move up. By the time we hit the right turn onto the top of the L, I was in the top 5. I tried to stay comfortable on the way out and not loose too many positions. I was yo-yoing pretty bad. I tried to eat and stay out of the wind, fortunately my teammates helped me out.

This outward bound was into the small head wind and I knew once we turned around the pace would go way up. So I was in the top five going round the cone. I wasn't disappointed. I was also amazed to see how small the group had already become. We were flying back and I wanted to try and slow things down. So I went to the front in an effort to keep people from working together. But there was one dude just flogging himself. So I just sat second wheel in an effort to keep him isolated on the front. I knew I didn't have it anyway so pulling through wouldn't have been smart. We road back almost half the coarse like that. My legs were starting to crap a little but I tried to hang.

Invariably the pace shot up again when some other racers pulled through and I didn't last long. I tried to help other teammates and hold on to the best position I could. I settled for 19th. Not bad since there were about 80 or so starters. I also finished about 10 minutes faster than any previous year. The team had three racers in the top 20 and veryone else in the top 50. I would say that's a good showing, everyone felt good and had good time.

Two years ago I go 6th in this race. Last year I was 18th. Maybe I should take a pass next year. Maybe I should train more?

Thanks for reading, I'll post photos if I find them.

You Knew It Was Comming... Right

I'm not saying it's true or even that part's of it are true.

But come on, you knew is was going to happen. Don't people know all things come out in the fullness of time. It just eats at you.

Velonews : Landis admits doping; alleges use by Armstrong and others

Cyclingnews : Landis confesses to doping, implicates Armstrong and Bruyneel

This Week

has been crazy. Last week I took half the week off work so my wife could go on a little "ladies vacation." I was behind at work before taking the time off, this week I've been buried! Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time with the kids but I'm paying for it this week.

My motivation to ride this week has totally tanked. The weather hasn't helped. Snow in May doesn't make me happy. Oh and Nate's been sick this week.

Wow, this is a sad post.

I'll stop whining and go to bed.

2010 Cannondale SuperSix 3

I've been working on getting a new road bike for a few years now and specifically working on this deal since last November. Well, it finally happened. I have to tell you, I'm blown away by how far bike technology has come in the past 8 years (since my last road bike). The ride is amazingly stiff in the bottom bracket while maintaining a wonderfully compliant ride. Look at the photos, the standard 53/39 rings look like a compact. Despite the highly efficient bottom bracket the ride is incredibly comfortable. The tapered and oversized headtube makes the bike very stable in the corners and on descents. I am really, really impressed, I like it a lot! I will add more of a review later but right now I'm totally blown away with how well it rides.

Mountain Bike Racing - The Movie

Nothing too exciting this past weekend to report on. Got in some more mountain biking, worked around the house and play time with the kids. Thanks to the in-laws for helping me out with the home fixings, that stupid outdoor faucet got the best of me.

The race I was going to do was cancelled due to the possibility of weather. I hope the race series doesn't go away, it's been fun.

I found a movie on the web from the race I won a few weeks back. You can catch a glimpse of me at the beginning on the right side. I was following this guy for a few laps then I lunched my move.

Enjoy.

2010-04-17 FRMTBS #2 @ NAAC (Golden, CO) from jasper9 on Vimeo.