FFF Cycling

Day 3 Solsona to Cellers

2008-08-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Taking off from the Hotel Sant Roc in Solsona. We were not sure if it was going to start raining or not at this point. I am glad that I brought my knee warmers and some long sleeve jerseys - I needed them.
The climbing begins! our first climb took us over 1,400 m up the Coll de Jou. The descent was worth the climb.

Not much in the way of guard rails. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor. We stayed dry until lunch in the town of Coll de Nargo.

Day 2 Sitges to Solsona

2008-08-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

On day 2 we rode from Sitges on the coast, to the foothills of the Pyrenees, a total of 150km with a total elevation gain of 2,375m. My Garmin malfuntioned and was completely dead when we departed. I had plugged it in over night and charged it until it read: "Charging Complete". However, it would not turn on so I had no data for this leg of the trip. Fortunately, I was able to log on the the Garmin web site in the evening and found out how to reset my computer. Two other guys on the ride needed to do this on various other legs of the ride.

Lots of gradual climbs with comfortable weather for the first 100km. The roads in this region of Spain are very well maintained. Clean road surface with well pruned vegetation. Little motor vehicle traffic with plenty of room to goof off on the road.
Beautiful scenery heading up to the foothills. Poppies were everywhere.

With about 50km to go, my right hamstring tightened up. One of the few disadvantages of renting a bike. I thought that my bike was dialed in with pretty much the same measurements as my bike at home. Nonetheless, I was worried. Thankfully, my body adapted and this was the only day that my leg bothered me. From the half-way point on, rain was threatening us. It started pouring with about 30km to go and we all put our rain jackets on.

For about 5km, this is what we rode on. Mud! The asphalt surface had been torn up for re-surfacing and the sub-grade provided a challenging ride. When we arrived at the hotel in Solsona, I took a shower with all of my clothes on to get rid of the red mud all over. This was the beginning of the rain for the rest of the trip!

This was a challenging ride and we had not even started climbing in the Pyrenees yet!

Day 1 Sitges, Spain

2008-07-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

I spent 2 days in this coastal town about 30km west of Barcelona, in the Catalunya region - the people do not consider this Spain, but it is. Apparently, Juan Antonio Flecha lives in this area and we went on one of his training rides with some local racers. This little 30mile loop was the most challenging rides of my entire Pyrenees trip. There is one measley 1,500 ft climb that will leave you on the side of the road, wishing that you had broken a chain. I have never experienced 24% grade until now. It is reported that the previously mentioned Rabobank rider uses this climb for hill repeats - 6 times in a day! This is called the Rat Penat.

This was our warm-up ride just to get to know each other. I just assumed that everyone was going to hammer up this little beauty, so I took off once we got to the base and had a lonely, painful ascent. I kept expecting other riders to pass, yet I arrived at the monestary in solitude, painting a mark on my jersey for the rest of the trip...a marked man.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5935566

Remembering The Pyrenees

2008-07-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

I've been back for some time now, and finally I'm getting around to the blog. The trip through the Pyrenees was my vision quest - to find myself. What I found was not what I expected. Waking every morning with one sole purpose: to ride, is now just a dream. Riding everyday with a consistent group and challenging terrain that would extract its toll from my body with ease. I would tell people that I rode at a "social pace," yet those on the trip would tell another tale. I enjoyed every moment of it and have no regrets...I'm just happy to be alive.

It is impossible to take it easy, with ghosts tickling the back of your neck, spurring you onward. Famous climbs such as Col de Portillon, Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Aubisque, Marie-Blanque and Bagargui. I admit that I climbed these mountains only so that I could descend them. Inspired by the greats, I did things that would get a sane man put away. Perhaps, that is why I am so mellow right now. I have no desire to race for the time being. I am happy to be back with the family and content for the time being.

Arrival in Spain

2008-06-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Barcelona safely and took a taxi to the hotel in Sitges. We are on the Mediteranean coast, the weather is incredible 70 degrees and sunny with a nice breeze coming in over the ocean. I am looking forward to riding tomorrow.

Gearing Down for the Pyrenees

2008-05-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

I am taking the month of June off. No races. I will, however be riding. A 40th birthday present - to ride through the Pyrenees from the Mediteranean to the Atlantic. I have been riding easy without HR monitor and most often without the cyclocomputer. I will take my Garmin to document my journey and update my blog as my internet connection allows. Today's ride, I took the Garmin just to tool around the neighborhood and drop down into Snohomish. I have yet to discover the shortest path from Mill Creek to Cathcart, yet today yielded promising results. I took 156th - lots of construction - and cut through Forest View Elementary and Gateway Middle School. It appears that Silver Firs to 153rd down Snohomish Cascade Dr and South on 65th Ave SE connects with 164th. On the other side of Hwy 9 is the "Wall" - a great place to practice short, very steep climbs.
I did not climb the wall today, I went down Hwy 9, doubled back on Old Broadway and down Springgetti to Airport road in Snohomish. Unfortunately, the railroad crossing into Snohomish is closed for road construction. That crossing could use a serious upgrade. Nice timing before the Flying Wheels Century. It is amazing how much traffic builds up out here around Hwy 9. I took Springetti Road back up and crossed Hwy 9 at Larimer Road. When I turned up 56th to climb back up toward home, I forgot to shift into the small ring. I was not paying attention and just stood up. That climb is a lot easier on fresh legs, I was surprised that I could climb in such a gear- cross chain and all. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5794283

I think that I have completely checked out already. As far as I am concerned, I am in Spain. We will have to assess where I am at in July before I sign up for the Skagit Omnium. I will miss the MOE and Methow Valley. Plan on next year. I will work on bettering my Mt Baker climb in September. It would be great to actually ride with people I know this year.

Riding Solo vs Riding with Team

2008-05-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

I have been down in a rut lately. I train by myself and then race on weekends and expect to be comfortable in a pack. Tuesday and Thursday night races are just not practical. I read Brad's blog entry about his awesome ride with his Byrne teammates - despite Brian's bonkatude. I got to thinking, I need to ride in more competitive training rides more frequently. Over the winter, I looked forward to the Saturday team ride, especially coming back through the arboretum when things get a little "spirited".
My race season is basically over. It is now time to plan for next year. My goal is to establish a cohort of riders who will train with me and kick my ass when I need it. I perform best in team situations despite my solo efforts. Prime example was Sunday. I rode down to Seattle and met up with a group riding up from the SC. Total ride 70 miles. I pushed myself through the sprinter hills and rode above my comfort zone, in fact I rode above my head.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5766010
I cut out at mile 60 to ride home. Unfortunately at mile 62, halfway up the wall on 164th my hams cramped and I could not move my legs. I took two minutes to stretch, down a gel pack and finish my water. The last 10 miles, I cooled down.

Training up High Rock

2008-05-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try linking my Motion Based website data to my blog. Here goes:http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5766008

Let's see if it works.

Blog derelict

2008-05-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I have not been keeping up on my blog lately. My biggest cycling accomplishment this week was working with my 6-year-old riding without training wheels. She is hell on wheels. Following her around the neighborhood on my bike is good training for crits - lots of crashes and crazy, unpredictable turns.

I have to thank fellow blogger Alex (Dessa's days) for posting pictures of the road race results. The organizers for the Wenatchee Omnium have been a little over-extended for a while and need a break. I pulled into Wenatchee last Friday (technically Saturday AM) just after midnight and the race organizers were in the lower level of the Red Lion busy working on the TT start times and printing. Fortunately they were there because I had changed my entry from cat 4 to masters c and they issued me a number: 633.

After I left the Red Lion with race number in hand, knowing that I would be the last masters c to start the TT - yeah, I drove around Wenatchee for a while and headed out to the race course for a little after hours recon. I parked in a field with concrete rubble across from the Raven Ranch and climbed into the back of my canopy for some shut-eye. The moon was out, the wind was howling and the critters were chirping - the best night's sleep I had in weeks. I got 5 solid hours and woke up refreshed.

I drove down to ALCOA and set up in the corner of the parking lot with two hours to spare. I opted for my old Specialized Allez 9-spd with Bontrager Race Lite Aero wheels and Vision clip TT bars. The clip-ons and the Bontrager TT saddle mounted onto a Thompson Elite seat post flipped 180 degrees rounds out my awesome TT machine. Someday, I will get a real TT bike, maybe next year. I will say that I am happy with my Giro Advantage II helmet that my wife gave me for Christmas - I think that's why I placed top 10 in the TT.

Officially, I placed 7th with a time under 23 min. I forgot to hit stop on my cyclocomputer right away. I did not pass anyone until the way back, then I reeled in three other riders. I felt strong and wished that I had a little water on the course. I spent energy evenly over the course. I was aiming for 23 minutes because that was a respectable time last year with similar conditions. It worked this time.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5766000

The Motion Based link is something new for me. I thought that I would give it a try and see how things work.

Saturday night at the crit is was unbearable. Hot. Delays with the start. Less than optimal road conditions. I got to the line and ended up second row back. The guy in front of me kept fidgeting with his shoes, straps and rear wheel. Basically, I was set up for a shitty start and I followed through with that failing to clip in and ending up in the third group. I just rode my race, passing on the hill and finally using my sprint to catch the lead group with 5 laps to go. Wow is it easy just coasting around behind the lead group. I could have conserved a lot of energy up here. Better start next time. I held back until the last lap. I should have opened it up with two to go. I ended up 13th. This brought my GC down to 10th. Here is the data scoop on the Crit:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5766001

Yeah it was hot and I was suffering, the pic shows it

Too bad there were no photos of the road race on Sunday. That was the best part of the Omnium! I think that I would have been better off doing two laps on the climb rather than the TT course then the climb.

I was irrational Sunday morning. I got a decent warm-up but got to the start after everyone else. I knew that there were delays and did not want to stand around waiting, so I circled around and kept busy until I saw the juniors start then the cat 4 and finally the cat 5. I was content to stay at the back of the pack - I told myself "stay invisible and out of the wind". This did not work. The ref asked the masters c's to come to the front - so I did. I lined up all the way up front next to all the coffee guys and a rider from Walla Walla (L'Ecole 41). The ref called roll in order of GC, so I was 10th - I felt like I belonged on the front.

Not the way for me to start a race - I went off the front immediately without effort after the neutral roll-out. I watched my HR and kept under LT (HR 176). I was motivated to stay out front and not get mixed up in any crashes around the turn-around cone. I was so far ahead by that point, I was drunk. Now back into the wind for the last half of the TT leg and onto the climb. When I passed the finish line solo, I threw my empty water bottle under the table and told the official that I would be back for it. i kept expecting the pack to overtake me anytime, after all I was still just spinning along under my LT.

Before the turn to go up the climb, the pack finally caught me. Two riders from Excel swooped from my left cut over to the far right to angle back to the turn - dumb asses. Then, these two guys realize that we are on a fucking climb and basically drop back through the pack. These guys are built like linebackers, not climbers. Things started to sort themselves out already, but shit if you cannot climb, stay in the back of the pack. The road is narrow enough. I looked over at Don (Cucina) and asked if he knew where the Joe Miller turn was - I got a blank look in return, so I led the pack up Joe Miller.

I never really pushed myself too hard because I knew that the course would take its toll on me over the next ten miles, so I rode my own pace and let the lead pack go without chase - overconfidence? Seriously, I just wanted to survive. My computer did not. It turned off at the top of the climb. I should have re-charged it after the Crit last night.

Here's the data I have:http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=158823&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5766004

At about this point, two riders from WAR got past me. I looked at Rocky and thought "there's no way he is going to beat me". I was wrong. I lost it at that point. I would have done better grabbing his wheel and drafting him all the way back.

On the descent, I kept seeing a front wheel overlapping me. Enough of this half wheel bullshit after a couple of miles so I motioned the rider to go by. There were three Fanatik riders. It was a lot easier in their draft, but I took my turns up front. I knew the course, fortunately. On the stretch back to the finish line, I could have used my HR data and speedo, but I paid for my stupid mistake and just rotated through a pace line with the three Fanatik riders. They were tired, I was tired and we were all out of water at this point. I wanted to reel in Rocky from WAR and nearly got him at the line. I should have been more aggressive on the last couple of miles.

Bottom line: 10th on the road race, 10th GC and still no official results posted.

Wenatchee Pre-Ride

2008-05-12T23:07:00.001-07:00

I made it out to Wenatchee today to ride the course at 75%. I did my lactate testing last week and my LT HR is 176bpm.
I could not find the Joe Miller Rd at first. It looked like someones driveway. I made it around the loop and never found a grade of 20% the steepest climb I found was 14%.
Nasty roads, narrow and steep with lots of sand and gravel in the turns.
The descent is a killer. That one wore me out. Sunday will be interesting.

Longbranch

2008-05-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes ya just gotta say "what the f***". It was one of those days. I was excited to race at Longbranch, it is a course that I liked last year, but was not prepared for. This year, I thought that I would be ready, yet my equipment did not cooperate. I wanted to get out front early, just to navigate some of the potholes, turns and hills. My objective was to reach the main hill first, recover on the hill and force people past me rather than dodging feeble climbers.
It worked and felt great. As soon as six or seven riders went by me on the hill, I tacked on and my heart rate came down. I wanted the front of the pack to build around me rather than chase. Anticipated the descent to the bridge, then shifted to prepare for the climb and when I adjusted my rear derailleur, it jumped from 21 to 11 and my chain bound up. I could not recover on the hill, got off the bike and ran across the road. The ref yelled at me to go right, but it was clear left and I did not want to cause a pile-up. The mechanic in the support vehicle tried to help me, but the derailleur cable kept getting stuck. I put the chain on the 21t cog and road back to the finish in hopes of a neutral bike or mechanic with a stand and tools. No such luck. One of the refs tried to help me, but we could not get it to shift.
One freakin lap on such a beautiful day. I decide to just make a training ride with the 53/39 21t speed options and did fine for a second lap. Caught back up to a group of five and worked with them until the finish stretch where my gearing 53-21 worked best and spun away from these guys, keeping in contact with the cat 5's. I keep spinning the rpms up to about 120-150 on the descents and decide to catch the cat 5's because I keep blowing by guys that are getting spit off the back. I hit the steep climb with good momentum and decide to keep it in the big ring - that worked until the chain broke and I met up with my top tube. I carry a tool kit with a quick link but decide against using it. I walk back, grab my chain, put my bike on my should and hoof it up the rest of the way to the top.
I met Jill from Starbucks who was there to cheer on her riders and she offered me a ride back to the start. So I only made it 2.5 laps and
left my Garmin on so it recorded Jill's driving speed back to the start as well.

My stats for lap one looked good. My HR did not get out of control, and I maintained decent speed for the first 8 miles whoo hoo.

I need a crash course on SRAM derailleurs and shifters.

Nice Day to Ride

2008-05-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Second ride of the season in short sleeves and shorts. I had about an hour after work and rode down to the flats in Snohomish. Maintained tempo across the 12 miles of flats. Managed to get 21 miles in my hour.

It felt good to get out today. I got the speed up heading down Hwy 9 to Snohomish, passing all the commuters on the way home. I kept the average speed between 22-24mph with HR 160-170bpm on the flats.

Riding back to wellness

2008-05-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

I had to take a couple of days off. My sinus infection got the better of me. It was all I could do to go to work and sleep.
Yesterday, I did a short warm-up on the trainer and then hit the weights. I have been feeling weak on the bike.
Finally, I was back on the bike on Wednesday.
I needed to get some tempo riding in and spent an hour on the trainer. Goal: Maintain 90 rpm, HR 150-160bpm.

I Want to Rock

2008-04-26T23:30:00.001-07:00

The only way I know to rock is to keep dragging my sorry butt up High Rock Road. I have yet to fully exploit this training tool, but I believe that it will be key to my performance in Wenatchee.

During the return trip I took High Bridge Road and took the left up Elliot. That road has been closed for some time, but is now open. Elliot dumps me out on Old Broadway right by 164th - a great little climb up to Hwy 9 that pitches up to 20%. I use it as a gage for how strong my legs feel. I am weak today and need to find my climbing legs again. Have my legs atrophied? Do I need to hit the weights again? I have not lifted since February.
Do weights really matter at this point?

I did High Rock this evening instead of weights. I was able to get out for a second ride today. First one this AM was short and sweet 20 miles for an hour down to Snohomish and back. Tonight, I did 40 just to get out to High Rock and back. Finally, my first ride in short sleeves and shorts!
I hit the climb and wanted to maintain a more constant effort. Averaged 13mph HR avg 177 Max 186. Time: 19:00 min, I still need to take a couple minutes off, but I am improving and the season is young.

I have been having problems with my Garmin. I looked at my profile this evening and it had changed to female, 150lbs, max HR 185. No wonder my zones were off. Corrected my profile. I have been pretty stable around 175 lbs. I will probably lose 5lbs in Spain during June's ride through the Pyrenees.

Not Rockin' It

2008-04-26T23:16:00.001-07:00

So, this is my awesome time-trialing position at Walla Walla. I am going to work on it. Clearly TT's are my weakest points at the moment. So what is my response? Work on hills today, screw the TT business for now.

I realized today that I have been lazy with blog for the last couple of weeks. I have been falling asleep without really training very hard. The popping in my ears and dizziness finally clued me in - sinus infection. I have had no energy lately, so for the last two days I have been flushing the sinuses with saline and getting more rest. I will skip the RR in Elma tomorrow and play with the family - tulips and rain?

Tour of Walla Walla

2008-04-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

ToWW

I love this race. Last year, this was my first stage race and I suffered. I admired the organization and the challenges presented by the three separate stages and I wanted to come back and finish in the top 20. We got off to a rocky start in Seattle with the snow and all. My wife and kids decided to stay home and Sarah thought that I was absolutely nuts for going. I'm glad I went. It was cold and windy - but dry.

Stage 1 TT

Again very windy and cold. I wrote off the TT about two months ago and decided to bring one bike. One of these days, I will get a time trial bike. I figured that the course was maybe 7 miles; 3.5 up and 3.5 down, why would I need to worry about aero for such a short distance. I stuck with my road bike and did not bother with clip-on bars. The course felt great! I caught my 30 second rider and felt like the way down was easy in the 53x11. I was shooting for 17:30, because that was a respectable time last year and I stayed right on schedule. I did not realize that the course was shorter - oops! I need to go faster on the downhill. I lost 2 minutes and 14 seconds over 7 miles.

Stage 2 RR

I knew right where I wanted to be at the start, so I left a big hole in front of me that the Jerky boys promptly filled. A couple of them can usually climb really well. I wanted to resist the temptation to blow out the front and take advantage of the 5 miles of downhill. I just wanted to keep contact with the front of the pack. The field seems a little twitchy and we used our brakes more than our legs. This surging motion usually causes my legs to cramp so I usually prefer to spend more time on the front pedalling - not today, the cramps did not set in until about mile 30 or so. My right hamstring cramped.

Basically, the tactics were pretty much the same as last year: lots of dickin' around for the short lap, followed by a surge down the decent into town and then a break from the main field up the 3k climb. After the climb: more excessive use of brakes - people would surge to go up front get hit in the face by the wind and slow down forcing those drafting to use brakes - we just don't trust each other to organize any kind of rotating pace line so we surge and brake.

At the southern most apex of the long loop a dog ran across the road and caused the pack the fan out like ants on fire, then the pace picked up with the wind to our backs (I think - it seemed like the wind was coming from all directions).

Someone lost a full water bottle. I nailed it with my front wheel and the lid popped off spraying the riders to my right. It worked just like Geoff said it would and I held my line.

We started to drop riders and a few Cucina guys tried to go off the front. They did not last that long.

Eventually, there was a break that looked to be working with two guys at about mile 40. I pulled to the front and shifted into the small ring to spin up the hill after them. We gained ground and reabsorbed one of them and then the next. My heart rate remained elevated 185-193 for about a mile and a half. About 15 guys went by me after that attack had been neutralized and I tried to tack on. I thought no problem, we will be going down hill soon. They got away and I was calculating how soon until the turns so I could make up some ground. Fortunately my teammate Duane came bombing down the hill and offered me a wheel until we caught back on - thanks Duane!

Only 12 miles to go with 15 or so riders in our lead group. 2-3 riders went off the front and gave us a run for our money up the back hill and we chased down into town. Starbucks had a rider in the break and the two Starbucks riders with us were not interested in organizing a chase. Fortunately no one told the Whitman kid not to chase down his rider in the break - he did most of the work. Everyone was already dead tired and holding back for the last climb to the finish.

I tried to carry some momentum into the last 3k and found myself without anyone to follow. I needed a wheel, I'm not in that good of shape, yet. the last 1k took forever and I maintained a HR around 190 during the entire 3k climb - no sprinting necessary. I came in 14th 59 seconds behind the winner Ryan from Chinook. I easily lost 30 sec on the last 3k.

Stage 3 Crit

Lucky number 13 for me. I knew that I would not win this stage, so I just stuck with the front of the pack and watched for gaps to open and bridged as necessary. Eric took off at about 10 laps to go, so I chased him and rode his wheel for a while. I was watching the lap board and could not believe that we were down to the last 5 laps. I rested and lost my position. With 2 laps to go I thought why not, so I blew it out to regain a good position and make all the other riders suffer. Who wants to risk a crash in the last lap with riders who cannot keep up after a little speed? I wanted to grab the Whitman rider's wheel as he went by me, but was too timid on the back of the last lap. I ended up 13th with the same time as everyone else in the lead group.

In summary, I placed 17th overall. Missed out on the 40 year plus GC - 2 guys from Cucina and Duane were ahead of me. I need to work on my TT - everything. I need to get faster on straight down hills. Bonus: I listened to Geoff and did not crash because of a water bottle. I got lucky and did not hit the dog or get into a crash. Now it is time to see Joe, do some testing and start training for real (within the limitations of job, family etc.).

Easy Spin

2008-04-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

I took yesterday completely off. My body needed a rest despite my plans to ride.

Today, I opted to ride the trainer for 60 minutes at 90rpm, easy pressure. It felt good just spining along.

Trainer Time

2008-04-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

What a crappy day. I would not have ridden outside today even if I had the time.

Spent an hour on the trainer 2X10'(20"on/20" off). Felt tired and sluggish. Cadence suffered. Body started swinging side to side on second set - loss of form.

I'll have time to rest later on in the week.

Friday's drive to Walla Walla will be a rest day.

Licking my wounds

2008-04-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Fortunately I have no physical damage, only the mental anguish of blowing a race with less than 1:30 to go. Lots of time to think on that one. Back to training.

Planned on an easy ride just to get some miles (60) in preparation for Walla Walla. Lucked out on the weather, stayed dry and ran into good company. Then the oh shit factor kicked in when I got carried away talking with some friends while heading the opposite direction. Turned around and picked things up a bit. My wife had reminded me that we were taking the kids to the children's theater - she really hates the bike, it is the other woman.

I headed out from the house and cut down Seattle Hill Road and across Marsh Road to Snohomish. Looking for some easy flat terrain just to spin along. At about 10 miles into the ride, I spotted another rider heading for the Centennial trail in Snohomish. I did my own thing for a while, then I realized that I have seen this guy before in Everett: Litespeed with Spinergy wheels, Excel kit. Nice fellow originally from Britain, raced track and had impressive palmares as a masters in 2k pursuit. We kept it at a social pace, clearly he is wiser and more experienced a cyclist than I. We made our way up to Arlington and back to Machias when I ran into another group of riders that I wanted to touch base with.

I turned around and started to relay my experience at Volunteer Park yesterday. I used ride regularly with these guys from the Bicycle Centres in Everett. Nick wanted to talk about Walla Walla and his expectations there. He is a good strong climber and is consistent in TT he wants to place in the top 3 at WW. I keep hearing that from so many cat 4 riders. I kept a social pace until I realized what time it was and turned around. I ran into another Hygienist on the way and had to say hi.

I kept the pace brisk and targeted every rider I could see, on to the next one. There's another Wines jersey - Nic on his TT bike recovering from his hill repeats at High Rock yesterday, no Crits for Nic. Overall, a very social day. I really need to watch where I ride.

Maintained a moderate to brisk pace back out Marsh Road and up Seattle Hill Road, practiced some crit turns in the neighborhood just to round out my 60 mile ride. My legs feel warm, not too tired, but relaxed. I nearly fell asleep in the children's theater though...something about "If You Give A Pig A Party".

Volunteer Park Crit

2008-04-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Where's the Beef!

No results yet to speak of. I finished with the pack, skirted around the crash with 10 laps to go and reeled in two riders that tried to break with two laps to go. I pussed out and expected someone to pull me the rest of the way. Basically it was just a race to the corner, then the next corner, I should have just dug deeper. I thought that I could let 5-6 riders go by and tack on to the last one - wrong.

How many times would I hear on your left or on the inside, when I was on the inside. Bitch #1 why do the cat5 and unattached combine with the cat 4?

We had plenty of riders (83). I did manage to find ways to rest, even on the hill. I know that I could have pushed harder, but more importantly I need to keep working smarter.

I arrived early, spent 20-30 minutes going over the course, lined up in the forward quarter of the pack and promptly forgot to start my computer. I did not look at it until 23 minutes to go. My eyes were busy on the road and riders around me. I was expecting things to pick up during the last 5 laps and was prepared and rested. I managed to move through the pack with a false sense of confidence that I could do it again during the last lap. I started off the last lap on the lead, but honestly did not know what to do with it, so I sat up.

Bottom line: Pack finish, avoided crashing, worked within the pack.

(I'm on the far left of the screen.) Here is a picture of me trying to let 5-6 riders go by me to get a better position and rest.

(I'm third guy from the left). Here's a picture of me getting absorbed by the pack and essentially losing any chance at a good position. I can see Brad's helmet in the center - orange and blue.

I could see the finish at this point, but was essentially blocked out before the corner and could never really apply any power. If you look closely, I am behind the unaffiliated rider in blue 20 or so back. My red frog on my right sleeve is visible as is my red (Kyrium ES) front hub. Ouch

Alec was a little miffed that the officials credited me for his 10th position finish. He is number 719 and I am 729 - this was corrected. Duane is visible as well. He did his best to keep me from blowing it earlier on in the race.

Dinkin Around

2008-04-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know that tomorrow is Volunteer Park Crit, but I needed to get out and ride. My body literally started to shake.

I went through and checked my tires, brakes and checked that everything is tight. Seat post number secured etc...

Easy ride around the neighborhood, practicing crit style turns. Headed down through Mill Creek, up to Silver Lake and then back down to Bothell before returning home. It is impossible to avoid hills around here.

I ate during the ride and kept topped off with fluids, (bulked up to 175lbs). I wanted to stay out and go for a much longer ride, but tomorrow beckons me. I am just excited that I could work in another race this month. I ran into another rider from the team toady wearing the old kit (Blue, white and red). Eric? I thought that he said Aaron. I am bad with names. He asked me why I wasn't going to race the 4/5 and the masters c/d afterward. I guess I will see how I feel.

I Thought Yesterday Was Windy

2008-04-10T23:07:00.001-07:00

Wow!
I had an hour after work to ride tonight. Dry roads and decent conditions. Very windy though. I admit that I felt tired and had heavy legs. I had several decent sprint intervals - the best one came at the end of the last major climb. I saw the green light at 132nd coming up from Seattle Hill Rd and went for it. It turned yellow and like a non-sprinter I was on the hoods. I need to practice hand placement on the bars.
I am very tired and need to get a good night sleep. I expect good weather on Saturday for the Volunteer Park Crit

Snohomish Loop

2008-04-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Bugged out of work early today. Working in an office in Everett for the next 4-6 weeks. Met my training partner at the Bicycle Centres in Everett. I show up with the rain bike and he's got his Orbea Opal nice match-up. He let me pick the route. I could not tell where the wind was coming from -everywhere at once and hard. We had about an hour so I wanted to get the most out of our ride.

We headed down 52 toward Lowell and turned South down Lowell-Larimer Rd. Maintaining tempo until Gravel Hill Road (before Seattle Hill Rd). We connected up with Seattle Hill Road and cut down through Silver Firs - fantastic road surface. We kept a decent tempo down 132nd to Hwy 9 and passed all the cars on Hwy 9 in rush hour traffic. We went around Harvey Field and headed back to Everett along the Lowell-River Road (Massive head wind). I kept the tempo up and pulled my training partner across the flats - he took a short pull and had enough. Finally, back up 52 from Lowell back to the Bicycle Centres.

The ride felt good. I work harder with another rider in tow. I don't think that I will do my 20/20's tonight. I was spent. Spirited ride with good tempo. Average cadence 82 with just over 1000 ft of elevation.

Keeping cadence

2008-04-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Trainer night
Goal tonight: Maintain 20 mph @90 rpm for 60min sub AT with 1 min rev-up for 30mph.
Watched the recording of Tour of Flanders 2008. Relaxed, steady, tempo work.
Cadence of 90 rpm feels more natural.

Sunday Morning Pancakes

2008-04-06T15:36:00.001-07:00

My training partner called this AM and cancelled our ride. He hit a Pit bull yesterday on the way to our usual ride and destroyed his rain bike. Luckily for him he did not break his body.
I decided to hang out with the kids this morning. They watched Disney Channel for an hour while I did my work on the trainer. I wanted to make the Mickey Mouse pancakes that I had promised them after our Disneyland trip earlier last week.

My cadence has been a big concern of mine lately. I need to bring up the pace again to keep the pedal speed up. I have become complacent with my cadence and lost track of it when I switched over to the race bike. I resorted to my favorite interval set that got my cadence up over the winter: (10"on and 20" off) x20-60. I did 40 today (2x20). I wanted to focus on short, quality efforts with fast pedal speed 10" @ 120 rpm and 20" @ 90 rpm. This type of workout is less painful than the 20/20 that Andrew recommends, yet I will do my 20/20's this Wednesday. Today, I needed to get rid of the lactate in between efforts and make the rest at 90 rpms seem real. My goal was more to retrain my cadence set point around 90 rpm instead of 80 rpm. Quicker knees!

I drained two 16oz water bottles and stripped down to my bibs after the last set. My daughter asked: "Why are you naked daddy?" Sweat factory baby, sweat factory...

I eat fewer pancakes after a workout like this.

Climbing Specifics

2008-04-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

High Rock road

4.11 miles, 1,035 ft, 21.5 minutes. Thirty seconds faster than last time, yet 2 min off a decent time. Between mile 2 and mile 3 I was lagging. The grade peaks at 10% here and I lost focus - where is the finish again? I need to work on driving harder during this point next time. I will reset timer and follow along to keep track of mileage and time to stay focused. Today, I just kept the odometer and timer running all day and analysed lap 2 when I got back.
Still snow on the sides of the road during the last mile. I would like to ride this with a lighter bike at some point.

More vertical miles

2008-04-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

Another ride up High rock road.
It takes about 45min from the house to get to the base with some decent sprinter hills on the way. Lots of time out of the saddle today, working between power poles or mail boxes. I tried to be consistent during the 4 mile climb.
Cadence is still low. I felt like I had no real punch in the legs today. Weather conditions were decent. No rain, still I chickened out and rode the rain bike.

60 min Recovery

2008-04-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

Easy recovery ride steady state 60min on trainer.
Still getting used to new set-up and cadence sensor. My cadence is still too low. Need to start high cadence work.
Tried to keep cadence around 80rpm and steady pace. Challenging, kept creeping down to 70-75rpm.
I will get out on the road in the AM. Forecast calls for only 10% chance of rain between 7-10AM.

Back on the road

2008-04-03T20:39:00.001-07:00

After walking Disneyland and California Adventure from opening to closing for the last 2.5 days with my 4 and 6 year-olds, it was good to get back on the bike.

We were up at 3:30AM. After getting back home and putting the wife and kids to bed, I escaped for a decent 2 hour ride. Windy, but sunny. Ride through Snohomish valley through Monroe and back up via Highbridge road through Cathcart. 1,500ft of hills, average speed 19.8, average cadence 81.

My cadence seemed lower than I was estimating before. It is helpful to have a cadence sensor again

Goal for the day: Just ride. Get used to SRAM shifting and new set-up. Rear derailer cable stretched by halfway point - phantom shifting. Drivetrain very noisy. Backed out barrel adjuster 1/2 turn - this did the trick.

Adapting to Change

2008-03-31T02:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not too sure how to count this training session. Sunday or Monday?
I promised myself to have the cadence sensor set-up by Monday - check.
I am adapting to a new set-up on the bike: 175mm cranks instead of 172.5 and a zero offset seat post to get my knees in a more neutral position. Spent some time getting the proper fit on my bike. I do feel like I am engaging more of the large muscle groups over a greater range of motion and my knees actually feel more comfortable. I was afraid to make these changes before Sequim.
I know, there are less than three weeks until Walla Walla. I have not even spent any time in the TT position. I think that I am going to bag that all together and focus on getting comfortable in this new road position. This bike will be a good all around set-up for the TT, RR and Crit.
I also need to adapt to the SRAM shifting. I played around with it bit today on the trainer, it makes a lot of sense and is hard to screw up. I did keep one Campy item though - my crankset is Fulcrum
Goal: Easy recovery HR 120-130, get used to new set-up practice shifting and split time between the drops and the hoods.
My cadence is lower than I expected. I will evaluate the cadence again after an interval workout on Thursday.

Tour de Dung Sequim #2

2008-03-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

We got lucky.
Despite snow and wet conditions in Seattle, we had sunshine and dry roads in the morning for the races in Sequim.
Well, I did not meet my goal of making the top ten in the finish. I made top 15 and went from 2nd place to 14 in the last 100m. I was spent and could not even stand to sprint at the end.
Wind was stiff out of the usual direction off the water. The average was slower than Sequim #1.
My heart rate monitor was not picking up. Apparently, my Garmin was picking up someone else's and various points. I felt about the same as Sequim #1 and spent most of my time on the front with two riders from Carter Subaru. I thought that the three of us were going to make it until the last 100 meters.

Link to Google Map High Roack Road

2008-03-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D5257454&ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=47.804623,-121.954937&spn=0.033552,0.093555&z=14

High Rock Road

2008-03-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

I finally dragged myself out to High Rock Road. I picked a fine day at that - temperatures in the low 30's, wet with snow/slush on the last mile of the hill. I thought that I had packed away the AmFib tights, but nooo.
I was not motivated. I stayed up till 1:30AM and got a late start in hopes of the weather improving.

Essentially the climb is a little over 4 miles with a little more than 1000 ft elevation gain. The grade fluctuates all over, but never goes beyond 11% (5-7 avg). Narrow road, rough but manageable. Little to no traffic. It would not be a good place to take a larger group.

Goal for today: 60 min hills.
Feeling lethargic and unmotivated. I could not find the climbing legs today, so I just spun along at AT. Very lonely - I wish that Roberts was here to taunt me, he loves this place! So this is me going through the motions, just knocking out two hill repeats. I thought that if I could just hold 10 mph I'd be fine. My rain bike does have a cadence sensor that I managed to re-acquire by the second lap. My average cadence is a little low 79rpm for the climb gearing 39x23.
Equipment: Rain bike = Surly Pacer, full fenders, Campy Centaur gruppo(2005), Campy Vento wheelset, Vittoria Diamante Rain tires with Mr Tuffie strips. Heavy freakin bike.

Recovery Day

2008-03-25T23:12:00.001-07:00

Easy day on the trainer.
Pyramids:

(4'+3'+2'+1)x4 at 18mph; 20mph; 22mph; 24mph. The first one went so well, I increased the second by 2mph. HR climbed too high for today's goals. Easy spin for 10', then 2 more sets followed by 10' easy spin.

Today's goal = active recovery HR 120-130bpm. Varying low intensity efforts just to keep from getting bored and change tempo. I estimate cadence 4' @80 rpm +3' @90rpm + 2' @100rpm + 1' @110rpm "light and lively"

Tomorrow: Hills

Rude Awakening

2008-03-24T23:48:00.001-07:00

This evening I tried out a different work-out. A very popular interval set 20 sec on 20 sec off. I will admit that I have not worked that hard at a training work-out in 13 years. I was tempted to do two sets but decided (whimped out?) to focus on quality and just see if I could finish 1 x 15min set. Whew!

I warmed up gradually on the trainer, then hit the first set aiming for 30mph and focusing on quick knees, rather than pushing hard. Yes, there is a diminishing return over time and gradual increase in HR over time, yet I still hit my speed goal all the way to the end. I will be brave next week and try two sets. The 20"on/20"off is a real kicker. Perhaps I will set a specific lap for intervals to spread the curve out next time.

By next Monday, I will have a cadence sensor rigged up or perhaps my other race bike completed. I will have 175mm cranks on that bike and will take some time to adjust from the 172.5mm cranks that I have been using. I will be curious to see cadence data to compare from set to set and on race day. Somehow my Garmin picked up and average cadence of 94 rpm during Sequim without a cadence sensor...hmm.

Sunday evening post Easter workout

2008-03-23T23:51:00.001-07:00

Boring night on the trainer

My kids were up early this morning, ready for the Easter bunny. Maggie (6yo daughter) and Quinn (4yo son) captured my full attention and I bagged my morning ride. I had been invited to do more hill repeats out at High Rock road - I declined. Last week I had 3 days of hill work.

Easter brunch with the in-laws and more jelly beans and chocolate than I should consume in a month. My body was shaking - yes I need to work on the nutrition thing too. I did wash my rain bike and put my trainer wheel back on my race bike. After dinner and the evening routine with the kids, I got on the trainer for an hour just to keep my HR around 125. I need to get the cadence sensor set-up on the race bike. The chain stays are super beefy on the S-Works Tarmac and the sensor rubs the wheel magnet no matter how much I adjust it, so I had to move it past the crank arm just to get the speed sensor to work. I could put a magnet on my shoe...

Weekly Training

2008-03-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

I need to stay on track and post my training. I am trying to increase my weekly mileage without getting out of control. My body is 40 and recovery time is just as important as training time, not to mention the ever trying balancing act of family and sport. I am really not too sure how much I should train to achieve results at this level. I seriously doubt that I will be able to train 6 hours a day 6 days a week - it took that to get national results in rowing. This last week, six workouts with 166 miles, three times on the road and three times on the trainer - no weights or swimming this week.

The week started off Sunday with hill repeats, Wednesday included some decent hills with a stiff head-wind and finished the week Saturday with hill repeats. The trainer stuff was just plain old boring steady state, no intervals. On my rides, mail boxes, yellow lights and orange cones mark on the fly interval work - I just make it up as I go. No official training program yet. I have yet to refine my conditioning to such levels of sophistication. Joe gave me an earful about waiting so long to do basic lactate and AT testing. I will do my testing and set goals based on the results. Maybe I'm just lazy in that department.

Sequim aka Tour de Dung

2008-03-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Review Sequim #1: March 9, 2008

I wanted to review this course because I plan on racing it next weekend. It is relatively flat with a few rollers and a possibility of strong winds. It was not bad on March 9th, the wind was not a factor over the 48 miles for the cat 4/5 race.

After the neutral roll out, I shot out and jumped on the front of the pack to be the first one into the corners. Early races with cat 4/5 combined get pretty hairy. My goal was to get out and just spin at or around AT which I estimate to be 178 bpm. I wanted to reach the last turn before the 5 mile straight and then sit up. People were content with me on the front. We averaged 23 mph for the first lap and I led approximately 2/3 of the way. After the turn down the straight away, a guy would shoot off the front (Carter Subaru) and we would let him hang and come back - his first road race he said. A group of 5 or 6 would try to break, I would jump on the back wheel and the break would abandon. I kept forgetting about the rumble strip, nailed it straight on and look back - oh well. By the time we reached the finish line for the end of lap 1 it was time to rest.

Beginning of lap 2, resting taking it easy up the rollers. I was mid-way back in the pack by the time we reached the hard left for the 30-35 mph descent and I found myself over the fog line before the hard right 2 miles into lap 2. I just relaxed and let whomever wanted to cut me off go and then worked my way back up. By mile 4 I was back on the head of the pack spinning along up the gradual climb to mile 6. Same thing along the straight away: I policed the front until the right hand turn to the finish line. I let things go at that point and guys started jockeying for position. No big deal. Somewhere near the finish line, there were people walking on the road and a recreational cyclist. Crash. Guys went down, bikes were everywhere. We re-grouped by the neutral roll-out section.

Lap 3, a break started in the rollers just after the parking lot. One of my teammates was tacked on to the back and I started a gradual chase, gaining momentum down the 30-35mph descent, when one of my other teammates yelled out "don't chase down your own man". I sat up 2 miles into lap 3 and chatted with my teammates for a while. Wow it is a lot easier to hang out in the pack! I watched my heart rate come down 10-20bpm. I putzed around the pack a bit, played on some of the rollers. Sequim is a great course to maneuver around from the back of the pack to the front and back again. No one seemed interested in organising a true chase. We did not form a pace line or anything. People were just content to pedal along. Meanwhile, the break was succeeding.

In lap 4, I relegated myself to the back of the pack. Not a very wise move. At about 3 miles into the last lap - Crash. We could smell rubber. I made it through but hung back to mack sure my teammate made it back on safely. No problem for him. I did notice however, that I had two small cramps forming in the middle of my quads both left and right legs. (Rectus femoris). This happens when I do not spend enough time on my race bike. When I ride my rain/commuter bike and neglect the race bike. I have purposely ridden my race bike on the road and trainer much more over the last two weeks to correct this. I also need to set my rain bike to the same measurements as my race bike.

Back to the race. Yes, I felt my legs cramping a bit and yes people were rattled from the crashes, but we were going to finish this race as a pack finish. It was more challenging moving up through the pack during the last 5 miles. I managed to get from the back of the pack to the middle by the 200m mark. I could not stand and sprint effectively with my legs cramping so I just broke left and spun it up to try and stay safe. Two of my teammates rode my wheel to sling-shot ahead of me at the line - pack finish 21 or 22.

So what do I do next time to get better results? I will race at Sequim #2. I will place in the top ten this time, but how? I am getting to know some of the riders in cat 4. Some I remember from cat 5 races last year. There are some pretty solid riders out there and good people. I would rather take my chances with 10 guys in a break than 65 in the pack next Saturday. Personally, I would love to see some organization in the pack. I really don't care who I work with, we are all cat 4/5 racers. If possible, work with a pace line to keep the pace up from the get go, say 26mph. I'm not going to pull forever and a day again without results, but I will work and work hard - it's only 48 miles! It is funny to see a pace line form and have one guy ruin it by gapping everyone - relax, keep it smooth. I really don't know what I am going to do until race day.

Cougar Mountain aka Zoo

2008-03-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

Review of climbs 1 and 2. Essentially the climb is just over 2 miles with approximately 1,000 ft elevation gain. These graphs make it look pretty boring, there are a few switch backs and it does kick up to 16% in places. It takes about 15 minutes. The first climb took 15:15 and the second took 14:45. I admit, the last time that I climbed the other side of this hill, I weighed 10 pounds more and I was on my rain bike which weighs 10 more pounds than today's bike - Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL, Kyrium ES wheels, full Campy Record gruppo. I did feel like I was cheating compared to January's ride, but I did not miss the snow.

I was happy with the results: I held back just enough to gas it at the end and not get too carried away. If anyone from that group reads this I hope that you don't get pissed off, because I enjoy climbing. More importantly, I enjoy the descent that a good climb usually offers. I got yelled at all winter for going too fast up hills - I really was trying to go up the hills slower over the winter training, really. Now I just need to get some results in races to back up my claims.
At 174 pounds, I do not claim to have a climber's body, but I have made progress in that department. These kinds of rides will prepare me for the Pyrenees in June. I am going on one of those supported tours from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. On a more local level, I will keep in mind that the hill climb to the finish in Walla Walla is only half of Cougar Mountain.

Training Ride Saturday, March 22

2008-03-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

Today's training ride was awesome in so many dimensions. Beautiful weather, experienced riders, who I trust, challenging terrain and a few good tips from the riders who know a heck of a lot more than I do.

The atraction this morning was Cougar mountain, aka Zoo (L'Alp d'Issaquah). We rode it twice just for fun or maybe we just felt guilty for not racing today.

When the weather is cool and dry, I don't sweat enough to make contact with my heart rate sensor and then I think that I bumped it or something on the second climb, so there are some odd data points to the HR curve.

For the climbs, our captain advised us to try and repeat the same effort and time ourselves. I am trying to figure the Garmin out as I go and hit lap button when we started our climb and when we ended our climb. I left the rest up to Garmin and ended up with about 12 laps for the entire ride. The two laps of interest are in the next blog entry.

Review of 2007 Tour of Walla Walla Continued

2008-03-21T21:58:00.001-07:00

Continued Review

Right out of the ditch, chain back on, I panic and spike my HR to 199bpm to catch back up. The descent is fast and long.

The pace was slow at first. It might be better to hit it in the beginning and take it easy up the first climb on the back side of the short loop. Things stayed together until the end of the short loop, climbing the main hill. At this point the head of the race made a break and the pack splintered up the hill. My teammate told me to go. I should have stayed.

Knowing what lay on the other side of the climb, I sprinted up the hill. I met up with a small group and tried a rotating pace line to chase. This was my first effort in a race scenario with this type of pace line. I was spent by mile 32. I did not know how to recover on the receding line and surged too much on the advancing line. I killed myself. Time for the solo ride. I made it to Walla Walla dead tired and out of water - should have taken a bottle at the feed zone.

The return leg on the flats and in the wind was a real bear. I had nothing left. An HB guy (seemed like a track type) caught me and let me hang on with another rider for a while (4miles). This is why I put more base miles in this winter and worked on recovery.

Somewhere around mile 45, two masters types caught me. A Byrne rider and a Recycled Cycles rider with about as much experience as myself. I was just happy to have the company. The back stretch of Walla Walla is desolate.

Both of these riders dropped me on the final climb to the finish - I was cooked. The entire women's field blew by my going up that last climb. Even my teammate who was five minutes back swears he saw me and was gaining on me. The last devil goaded me on and I was able to stand and climb the rest of the way. Quite pathetic.

What I would do differently: If I could, I would not stay up have the night before with my 5-year-old, puking. We had a stomach bug, mine just came out the other end. I was quite dehydrated. I wish that I had taken on a bottle at the feed zone after the short lap - I needed it. Normally two 22oz bottles is enough for 60 miles.

I have worked with a team (Wines of Washington) over the winter. Excellent prepartion for base miles and working on pace lines. I am getting a clue on how to recover in a rotating pace line and how to stay smooth. I will work with team mates during the road race. Last year, I had one. This year we should have at least 10 in the cat 4. I will finish with the pack this year!

Review of 2007 Tour of Walla Walla

2008-03-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

The Tour of Walla Walla was the 2nd race that I entered as a cat 4 - again way above my head at that point.
I wanted to review the road race course first, starting with the neutral roll out. According to my Garmin 305, the hill in Walla Walla is only 0.8 mile long and 168 ft elevation gain with the average grade around 5%, the steepest approaches 8%. On subsequent passes I measured 2 miles and 555 ft same grade%. So count on 2 miles with 555 ft climbing. Not that big of deal overall, just a naked hill with no trees to make it look more intimidating. I'm not sure what the big dip is in the grade curve - it is to be ignored = irrelevant.
The race officials kept the group together up the hill at about 10mph. When the horn sounded at the top, I reset my computer and promptly shifted from my small ring to the big ring, dropping my chain. When I shifted the pack in front of my slowed, and I lost forward momentum. Exit stage right, put chain back on with my hands, in the ditch. Nice way to start the race, eh?
The best part of this course is the 766 ft descent over the next 7-8 miles. I was able to catch back on to the pack without much problem - just in time for the first crash. It seems like I can smell the burnt rubber before I see the rider go down.

Review of 2007 Piece of Cake

2008-03-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would review some of the races from last year. The OBRA Piece of Cake is coming up 3/30/08. I will not go this year despite the very flat course and well organized venue - abundant and clean "Honey Buckets".

Last year I got shelled off the pack (cat 4) halfway through the race. I was sitting up tossing back a gel pack and watched the head of the race pick up and move away down the straight stretch along the Columbia (key word= windy). I picked up other stragglers along the way and had a great training ride. I wish that I could go back this year. Instead I will race at Sequim #2.

What I did wrong last year: I wasted energy getting to the front of the pack, expended even more energy on the front, then got hung out to dry - I could not get a wheel. I ended up back at the back and decided to replenish and rest, that's when things really picked up. I was too far back. I kept bridging smaller groups that could not catch the head of the race. I did not know anyone in the race.

What I would do differently: Race with teammates. Line-up early to start toward the front. Work with riders to bridge gaps. Train harder to develop base speed to maintain and train harder to develop dynamic power to react more quickly to a break.

Wednesday, March 19 2008

2008-03-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 19

Windy (8mph S), yet dry day. Rode to the BC Everett shop approximately 13 miles, paused the Garmin and forgot to start again until I got back to Snohomish. You will see this kind of mistake from time to time.
Unsure how the screenshot will look until I post it.
32 miles 18.7 mph avg 167bpm avg. A few hills.
I saw a Cucina rider at the end of ride. I waved.

Garmin TC exports

2008-03-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

On a more serious note, can anyone give me a good idea on how to import my Training Center files from Garmin?

In the beggining

2008-03-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I suppose that I should clear up the title of my blog before proceeding.

FFF Cycling could stand for many things: F cubed, Frickin Fat Farting ....you can free associate the expletives as suits your taste. However, the "F's" stand for my personal goals in this decade: Fit, Fast and Forty (Fifty?). Yes, I am one of many old guys who enjoys riding a bike.

I would like to use this blog as a forum to learn from others and assess my progress toward these goals : Fit, Fast and Forty. A teammate, whom I respect, recommended creating a blog for training purposes and personal accountability in my daily training regimen. I have already reached the third goal: Forty. So, on to the other two...or will I ever reach these goals?

I ride a bike to escape. Basically, when I am on the bike things are quite simple: Don't die. Nothing else really matters. Yes I monitor my heart rate, keep out of the way of big trucks and try not to overcook turns on wicked descents. As I ride to escape, I learn things about myself. Golden nuggets if you will. Simple things such as: "Wow I need to work on hills" or "Holly cow batman I'm fat". My favorite: "I guess that I should eat during the ride even if I felt great at the 50 mile turn-around". I am no superstar athlete and, despite starting my own blog, I am not that full of myself...maybe just a little? EGO. Note the number of times I use I.

I am now at a point where I need input; basic help on how to acheive my first two goals of fitness and speed on the bike. So I plan on posting a history of my training and invite whole-hearted criticism for which I may thank you or spank you accordingly.