October 16th, 2008

Back in business? Almost. I've got the bike built up, now I just need to remember how to ride it.



Got it handed to me last weekend at the Ocala Stage Race. We'll see how the Horse Farm Hundred goes this weekend.

The good news is that the fit is great. I'm quite possibly more comfortable than on the Trek. I could stand having the bars a touch lower, but that's life.

I'm feeling decent -- can't really ask for more.

The road season is officially over. It's time to start all over again, which is convenient, as I'm basically starting from scratch. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

September 23, 2008

I just got back from a two mile run.

Wait...

What?

Yeah. It's getting that desperate.

But, there is some good news:

1. This was the single longest distance I've ever run in my life. And I didn't do the fat kid shuffle even once! (Hey, I was a fat kid once, so I'm allowed to say that.)

2. This was by far the fastest I've ever run. It took me 15 minutes to run the two miles. That's about 7:30 per mile. My middle school/high school single mile record? 10:30ish. Well there's some improvement, and certainly some room for some more.

Running is okay. It seems short. I was ready to stop when I got back to my house, but I felt like I could keep going. Apparently I can't kill myself while running (two miles) like I can on a bike.

Oh yeah, bikes. That's right.

Guy number one: "Probably have it by Friday."

Guy number two: "Yeah, probably 10 - 15 days if we're lucky."

Same shop.

I'm not holding my breath, but I can't wait either.

September 2, 2008

Try buying a bike right now. Just try it. I dare you. I've been plopped smack dab in the lull between the selling out of the '08 models and the fresh arrival of the '09s.

Still no bike. It'll be two months since I've ridden a road bike on Thursday.

The good news is that I don't think I'm as bad off as I thought I was. Dave convinced me to go out with he and the good ol' boys last Sunday, and assured me there'd be a 30 mile bailout route. Nope, no such thing. I spun along for the full 70ish miles -- definitely the longest ride I've done fixed -- on a saddle that makes me hate life after 10 miles.

But I hung on for the most part, shook things up at some town lines a few times, and was up to no good in general. The toughest section was heading west, as there was a pretty stiff east wind, and while everyone else seemed to be recovering, I was spinning out trying to keep up.

Sure, I was cramping at the end, and the phrase 'my kingdom for a freewheel' kept running through my head for quite some time, but I survived.

Soon, I tell you, soon.

August 21, 2008

I hold in my hand a check for $2,454.97 from FedEx. I'll admit it -- I did a little dance.

Now if I could just get The Bike Route to return my calls so I can order a CAAD 9, I'd be in good shape. Once this storm blows through, I'll have to visit them in person.

I'll be on the road by next weekend with a new frame and a smattering of new parts. Things are looking up!

August 4th, 2008

The good:

- I finally got to go for a bit of a ride today - nothing extravagant, just over 18 miles round trip out to my (not so) local bike shop.

- I finally got my new team kit, and if I do say so myself, I'm looking pretty great.

- A 58cm Cannondale should fit me like a glove, if my test ride on a nearly set up bike is any indication.

- I get to move into my new house hopefully some time this week.

- I got word from FedEx today that everything is looking good with my claim, and I should hopefully be getting a check sometime next week.


The bad:

- The bike shop I went to doesn't have any 58cm CAAD9s in stock, and Cannondale is out for the year.

- Cannondale isn't making any white CAAD9s for 2009.

- I really had my heart set on a white CAAD9.

- I still don't have internet or really a place to live that isn't really cramped.

- A few friends are going through some rough times, and there's not much of anything I can do.

July 24th, 2008

It's been three weeks off the bike today. Super bummed. FedEx is taking their sweet time. It took them three days to deliver the box, and four to pick it back up for inspection -- assuming they actually pick it up tomorrow. I feel like I should be able to add some extra money onto my claim, as they've basically taken away my only mode of transportation (lost all my pedals) for the past week.

Looks like I might have to miss racing in Jacksonville in two weeks. Super bummed.

Let's just pile it on, eh? I'm pretty convinced I've either got a recurrent case of mono or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Moving on Tuesday. Looking forward to being done with it, but not doing it. Living with a great person in a great house should be pretty alright, as long as she doesn't steal all my food. I'll be homeless for about two weeks, as I can't actually move in until the 15th. That should be fun. I've got a place to stay, but it'll be cramped, and I'm sure we'll be on each other's nerves by the end of day two.

July 19th, 2008

I'm itching to ride! I got back back to Gainesville last Tuesday night, and my bike got here on Thursday. Sort of.

A whole corner of the box was missing when it was delivered, and it was taped over. When I unpacked the bike, my road shoes, my road pedals, a water bottle, and one of my clip'n'straps pedals were missing. Whoops. That can't be good. Upon further inspection, what do I find but some chunks missing from my downtube.

Looks like that $3000 worth of insurance might come in handy. I photographed the box extensively and submitted my claim post-haste. Here's hoping they pay up soon. The worst part is that they lost all my pedals, so I can't even ride my other bike! It's now been 14 days since I've ridden at all. What a bummer.

But if there's a better way to waste time than by planning your next bike build, I don't know it. I've been dorking out pretty hard about it and have everything completely nailed down. Just because I know you're curious, here's the plan:

Cannondale CAAD9 (white with black and blue highlights)
Move my Record group over
Deda Zero100 stem (black)
Deda Newton bars (black, white tape)
Deda Zero100 seatpost (black)
Specialized Toupe (white)
Shimano Ultegra pedals
Shiman SH-R220 shoes

And maybe, just maybe somewhere down the road, some Reynolds DV tubular race wheels.

In case you weren't keeping track, that's mostly white with a few black touches, and a very select few small blue highlights. Should be classy and nice, and match the orange/grey/white kit at least decently. I'm looking forward to it, but then again, at this point, I'd probably ride just about anything. I think I'll be going for a run tomorrow, just to hopefully keep some semblance of an aerobic base at least.

This season has been an on-off-on-off spin cycle. Here's hoping I can find some consistency soon.

July 4th, 2008

Well, today was a day for fireworks and explosions I guess.

I'll just cut to the chase: DNF. I'm done for the weekend.

Everything was going splendidly until the last lap. The field was huge (almost 150), but it wasn't giving me too many problems. I was moving up consistently, and although the climbs were tough (real tough) they weren't giving me too many problems. I'd say that up until the end of the race, I'd felt better than I ever had in a race before.

Then we started the fourth and last lap. Headed down the descent (hitting upwards of 55mph every time) my chain popped off to the outside. No biggie right? It's not like I was pedaling. Thats what I thought. Then I noticed my chain dangling somehow dangerously close to my spokes. Uh-oh. I gently tried ot shift it back onto the ring, but it jumped down off on the inside, and somehow got jammed up on a chainstay, locking my cranks up. I tried wiggling around and doing all I could, but there was nothing getting it out of there. Guys are flying by, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I end up having to brake and slow down as quickly as I can (which, as it turns out, is not all that fast) and, of course, I came to a stop right at the base of the hill. Great. A quick clip-out running dismount flowing into a quick one finger chain fix, and I hopped back on, keeping a full 5mph of momentum. It turns out that wasn't enough. There was enough of a hill left to get me up to about 40mph, but when the field is moving at 60...

I semi-consciously decided to chase back on. It seemed like the obvious answer. I did consider riding tempo and just making the time cut (which I was sure I could do), but let's face it: I was 19th in the GC, and I was looking to move up. I knew I wasn't going to win the stage (10 extra pounds anyone?) but I was sure I could put some time into a few guys in front of me, and there was only 46 seconds separating me from the leader.

I pushed as hard as I could, time trialing through all the rollers, and took it easy only just before the wall. I hit the wall, and got many, many pity claps and cheers. I hit the steepest part right before the corner, and I was ready to call it quits. I figured if I could just make it to the feed zone at the top, I could keep going. I was starting to realize I wasn't catching back on. I made it to the feed zone, and kept climbing (albeit more gently) for another few miles. Then the bigger rises leading up to the base of the mountain hit me. They hit me hard -- too hard. I had nothing left at all. There was a delightful granite pit off to the right, so I "decided" to pull out and have a delightful cookie tossing contest with myself. Nobody won.

Still facing the climb up the mountain, and a now approaching time cut, I called it quits, and barely made it back to the parking lot.

I'm disappointed, but I'm fairly certain I'd make the same decision to chase in a heartbeat. Maybe next year.

July 3rd, 2008

Longsjo Fitchburg Classic: Stage One -- Time Trial

(This may get repetitive, but it'll probably be appearing in multiple places, and I don't feel like re-writing it).

I was on the road by 6:30am from Cambridge out to Fitchburg for my 8:38:30 start of the time trial. It's pretty short, about 6.9 miles, but mostly uphill. I've never climbed a hill before, and certainly not for five miles at a time. Luckily, I got to pre-ride the course yesterday, so I have a vague idea of what to expect -- rough pavement, cracks everywhere, uphill for five miles, rolling for one, and downhill for one.

We end up getting there a little later than I'd like, so I don't get quite the warmup that I want, but I'm feeling decent, if not a little empty in the stomach and full in the bladder (port-a-johns are at the parking lot, not the start line). I'm the 17th guy to go (bib number 417), but 416 isn't there, and in front of 415 is 412. I was kind of excited about having a 30 second man still in sight when I finished, just to give me something to chase. From what I can tell from a quick glance at the start 418 and 419 don't seem to be there either, so maybe I won't get passed.

I felt surprisingly relaxed until the official holding me nearly let me go, which got a little bit of panic into the system. I got the countdown and took off. There were three photographers lined up at the start, and all three of them got the snazzy 'check me out' face. Sometimes you've just got to do it.

Next thing I know, I'm out of breath and only at the base of the first hill. I started out too hard, even while reminding myself not to. It's easy to get excited. I make myself slow down a bit, as I know the first hill is the steepest, and I'm inches from blowing up. I pull the heart rate back down to 186 and keep on trucking.

I catch site of my one minute man at the top of that hill (tiny dip down to the next hill -- they just keep on building). I can't tell if this is good or bad pacing-wise, or if he's just not riding as strongly.

2.3 miles into it, I catch him on an uphill. He's got all his aero gear (sans disc wheel), so he was holding the gap on the small descents, but I was power past him on the ups. After this, I didn't see anybody for a while, and was just concentrating on keeping a rhythm. I decided to stay in the big ring the whole time, but definitely found myself in 53/25 quite a few times (couldn't get to the 27 in the big ring, or else I would have). I was out of the saddle twice and on the hoods, on the tops of the bars (still tucked over) once, but other than that, I was in the drops the entire time, just trying to stay as low as possible, keeping the knees and elbows in.

I finally saw my 2:30 guy at about mile four. I picked up some distance on him on the final hills, but he had a decent position, and once we hit the downhills, I couldn't close the gap too much. I had paced myself to nearly explode right at the top of the last big hills, barely suffer through the fast rollers, and then basically be dead for the last downhill mile, and I nailed it perfectly. I had closed down the gap from #412 to about 100 meters by the time we finished.

All in all, finished up in 19:46, good enough for 19th, and (if I'm not mistaken) the first finisher without any aero gear. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

July 2nd, 2008

I'm finally in Boston, and the race starts tomorrow. We went out tonight to pre-ride the time trial course. My start time is 8:38:30 -- one guy goes every 30 seconds.

It's a good course (pretty rough, but good). It's got some hills, that's for sure. The steepest is probably the first, and it just keeps going up and up and up for five miles. The last two-ish miles are some slightly downhill rollers and some more downhill, and are generally screaming fast.

I rode it with my friend Nick and his teammate Craig. I felt surprisingly good, but probably pushed myself a little too hard, but wanted to make sure I got the legs going a little bit.

I've got no aero equipment at all (other than a skinsuit) so I'll be cannibal-stylin' it tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

June 29th, 2008

Why hello there. It's been a while. That's probably a good thing.

You may find yourself wondering: how does one prepare for a state championship road race? I don't know -- ask the guy who won.

I had high hopes going in of at least a top ten, if not a medal and a jersey. My team did too, and they rode hard for me, but I couldn't hack it. I was feeling pretty decent for most of the day; but did I drink enough? did I eat enough? Nope. You see, I still get excited and forget to do these things from time to time. No excuses, but it happens.

It started out pretty well. Ken had warned me about getting stuck at the back on the hills in the first lap, so I jumped a bit from the start, and he and I got a good 15 second gap on the field. There's nothing like holding a gap at 18 miles an hour... We didn't want to sit off the front, but they weren't exactly coming to get us. We soft pedals for about a half lap until finally being absorbed, leaving just two over-eager juniors off the front (for about another half lap, I think).

The course was laid out so there was the start/finish, a right turn, a fairly hilly (for here) road, a right turn, a flat road, a sharp right, and a slightly rolling road that wiggled slightly back around to the start/finish. The finish was coming off of a pretty good downhill, so it was going to be fast -- I'd hit 42 after a quasi-leadout there a few weeks before, which is something for me.

I was moving around the pack well, avoiding the front, and doing well on the hills. I don't want to go into details, but I ended up needing to have a few words with a guy, who's actions resulted in me having to chase back on and close a slight gap to the field. The effort took it out of me (both physically and psychologically) and after getting caught behind a three-wide wall of larger blokes on the steepest section, I was stuck miserably off the back. Couldn't chase back on. The gap didn't grow at all for about a lap, but it sure didn't shrink either. Poor positioning - my fault.

During all of this, a storm rolled in. 40mph winds gusting to about 70 (I would guess). Torrential rain and some painful hail, and apparently a few lightning strikes in the huge field we were circling. I stuck it out and finished though, only to not be listed on the results. Such is Florida racing.


I'm on my way now to Boston, via New York City, for Longsjo, and I can't wait. I don't feel like I'm nearly as ready as I should be, but having never climbed a real hill before, let alone a mountain, I'm treating this more as a cycling adventure than an A priority race. I'll bet to see some good friends, have some good times. It'll be delightful. I'll let you know how it goes.

June 6th, 2008

Screw it -- you folks (all 1.5 of you) don't want daily updates with the minuscule details of boring rides, and I don't necessarily feel like writing them.

Generalized updates? Sure, why not.

Training has been... okay. It's been a bit slow. I've had some trouble getting out there.

I snapped my chain Wednesday night while sprinting through a yellow at an intersection, and nearly ate it right in front of a huge truck. Bikes and More hooked me up with a new chain, and those elusive shifter parts I've been meaning to get forever.

I finally did the shifter rebuild last night, and it turns out an entire G-spring was snapped in half. I guess that explains the slippage. It took a while to get everything back together (hey, it was my first time taking one of these things apart!) but I finally got it, and now I'm running a brand-spanking new carbon G-spring carrier, and two brand new Campagnolo Red PRO G-springs. They're about twice as expensive (a whole ten bucks... come on!) and are supposedly stiffer, and give you a little bit more positive feedback on shifts. Initial response: going from one old G-spring to two of these stiff puppies, hoo boy! You can feel it, that's for sure, and it's pretty great.

The culprit:















The process:















Today (hopefully): 1 hour temp and 20 minutes at lactate threshold.

I'll try to get in 50 good miles Saturday, and do some group ride on Sunday.

State championship road race is next Sunday. I'm nowhere near as ready as I'd like to be, but hopefully I'll be in good enough form to shake things up just a bit. At least I won't be worrying about dropping cogs every time I get out of the saddle.

May 24th, 2008

Ooh, I think I messed my wrist up more than I thought...

My easy week turned into a full on rest week - partially wrist induced, and partially laziness induced. What can I say?

I got back out there today. We had a team ride down south, pre-riding the state road race championships course. Six miles and 700 feet of climbing - not too shabby for around here. I think I'll be doing six laps in about a month.

We started out with around 30 people, I think. There were a good chunk of Cycle-Logic guys, but also some other folks, a few Citrus Cycling, and a really strong guy from Naples Cyclery.

After taking a week off, I didn't have too high of hopes for completing the route with any sort of semblance of self dignity. I started out toward the front, rotated through, and then dropped my chain five times while switching to the big ring, and had to chase back on (really got fix that front derailleur...). After that, guys at the front decided to start upping the pace. I kept toward the back, not wanting to gap anybody off the back, and started coming around guys as they were blowing up (less than two miles into the ride -- well, that's not fair, there was like a 10 mile warmup first). Eventually, the group was whittled down quite a bit, and I was still with it. I started feeling a little more confident, and moved up quite a bit. I found Brett's wheel, of Naples Cyclery, just as he put in a bit of an acceleration at the front. I was able to hold it, but not help at all. Two guys came up and joined us, and we kept going. I think I rotated through once. The rest was up to the other three. I held on until about three-quarters through the third lap, when I completely blew up. I made it just over 16 miles (not including the warmup) with the lead group, at an average speed of 24mph - in the hills (subjective, I know).

All-in-all, I got in about 60 miles today. It felt pretty great. I'm definitely getting stronger, which is great to see and feel. It's time to ride even harder these next couple of weeks. I've got my work cut out for me!

May 20th, 2008

Skipped the Hipp ride today. Didn't feel like riding, and especially didn't feel like riding that hard. Rest week and all...

I also took a bit of a tumble in the Publix parking lot today. I'm not quite sure what happened. I didn't hit my head or anything, but I was just riding along, and next thing I know I was on the ground. The bike is fine. I'm mostly fine. I'm missing some skin on my left wrist and hand, both of which are a bit sore. I landed firmly on my left buttock, which is giving me some grief right now whenever I walk. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. This sucks.

May 19th, 2008

Skipped the morning ride this morning. This is supposed to be my light week, after all (three on, one off). I showed up for the night ride, and again it was just me and one other guy. We ran some intervals, about a third of a lap or so, so a little over a minute, probably less than three. I was feeling pretty good. I was concentrating on spinning, and I was spinning 39x14 (I think - it was dark) at about 33mph for a (very short) while (just over 150rpm). It was nice - fly down the front stretch, sit up and chat on the back stretch. Good times.

May 18th, 2008

I had legs of steel today! I woke up a little late, but got a good breakfast, and headed off for the Sunday late-risers ride. Eric was down in Lakeland at the state championship crit, so I figured maybe I'd actually be able to get a sprint or something.

We started out heading down the Hawthorne trail, and then turned south, into the wind, on CR325. With my rear shifter/derailleur all messed up, this bumpy road shifts my gears around like no other. It's a pain to ride. I've vowed never to ride it solo again. One of the guys was having a bit of trouble, so Justin held back to make sure he knew how to get home, and Dustin held back to help Justin chase back on. This is where things got hairy. The remaining group of three had taken off up the road, and I chased up to them to let them know Justin and Dustin were chasing back on, and asked us to hold up a bit for them. No problem, we all sat up and cruised for a bit. I'm not quite sure what happened next, if somebody mentioned the word 'gap' or 'hammer' or not, but we were cruising at about 24 all of the sudden. I was at the front (though I did not initiate the acceleration, I think we all know I've got an inability to control myself and not follow them) when we came to a right turn onto a different county road. Somehow, Dave was on my wheel, and we got about a 30 foot gap through the corner. I was ready to ease up and regroup, but Dave said, "Let's just hold them off until the county line." It seemed like a good idea to me, but the county line was about five miles down the road, and all into the wind. At least the guy's behind us didn't have a group size advantage on us.

Dave and I worked pretty well together. His breath was getting more and more ragged after each pull, so right before the final left hand turn, and about two miles to go to the county line, I attacked when he pulled off and he blew up. I took the sprint (my first in a group ride, I think!) and had a wonderful solo celebration, and put it in the small ring, soft pedaling to catch my breath and wait for the others.

The rest of the ride rounded out pretty normal. There were three more sprints and I got lucky three more times, and I felt great doing it.

Things are coming together nicely. I've just got to keep up the hard work, and hopefully I can make some things come together in just a bit.

May 16th, 2008

For some reason, I thought I could finish up a ride at 8:00pm, go to sleep, then get up at 8:00 the next morning and ride tempo for two hours. I can't.

I got a decent warmup, but just wasn't feeling too great. I ended up cutting it short, and made it a 35 mile loop instead of the planned 40. I held a good tempo pace for about 20 minutes, but then gave it up and rode more of an endurance pace for about ten minutes. I figured I'd give it a go at tempo again, as the wind had switched around to my back, but it was a no-go. After about five minutes, my legs weren't having any more of it, and I dialed it back down for the remainder of the ride.

I've switched my work schedule around so I'll be riding Friday afternoons instead of Friday mornings from now on. I'll see if that gives me enough of a rest to get a good workout in or not. If not, I've got no qualms making Friday into a nice, easy day.

I still feel pretty bad from the ride though. I'm going to take tomorrow off. My girlfriend just got paid at her new job, so she's taking me out for margaritas tonight!

May 15th, 2008

I did this North ride tonight. It ended up being a bit more of a Cycle-Logic ride than I thought it would be. There were eight guys total, with seven of us wearing the orange and grey (okay, well, I was wearing white and black, just because I still feel kind of weird wearing the team jersey outside of team rides and races - I'll get over that by next week, I'm sure).

We ended up doing about 30 miles, but with only eight of us, there was no place to hide, and I did a pretty good amount of work, if I do say so myself. I held the pace pretty high before the first sprint, and didn't have the legs to try to contest anything, so I sat up and just tried to get up the hill. After the re-group and quick (half a mile tops) recovery time, we picked it back up and started taking pretty good pulls again.

Had a great time getting ready for the final spring. I was sitting on some guy's wheel, I think his name was Robert, and Gerry finished up his pull and came right up beside me. Thinking he was just slowly sliding back, I kept my spot. Slowly but surely, I noticed Gerry putting me closer and closer into the grass on the edge of the road. For some reason, I find it really funny when people bump me off wheels. It turned out Robert's was the wheel to follow though, and I'm sure I would have just been another obstacle to get around for Gerry, as he took the sprint and finished pretty strongly.

It was a great group of guys and a great workout. I can't wait until next week.

May 13th, 2008

I did the Hipp ride tonight. It was pretty rough. I didn't realize that at this point, they were doing the entire long route - including Dungarvin road. Luckily for me, the guys at the front didn't feel like going too hard, so I was able to keep up, just hanging at the back. It ended up being about 50 miles, with a 24 average. I was only in a bit of trouble toward the end, when crossing Payne's Prairie with a fairly tough crosswind, and no room to set up an echelon, and as such, no wheel to follow. I hung in though, as everybody was winding up for the final sprint.

I'll take tomorrow off!

May 12th, 2008

I skipped the ride this morning. Oh well. Deal with it.

Monday night turned out to be a bit of a bust too. Only one other guy showed up for the ride, which would normally just be fine. But we both wanted to ride at different speeds, and I felt bad riding off from him too much. After about ten miles, he had a mechanical issue, and I was ready to call it quits.

It wasn't a total waste though - I had a good time and got a pretty decent workout.

May 11th, 2008

It's ludicrously windy today. If I do anything, it'll be two hours tempo on the rollers in the back yard. I can't take it for a fourth day in a row.

I've finally worked out my training schedule for the first part of summer:

Monday AM: Anaerobic intervals (1m, 3m, 5m) - 1.5 hours - skip this if I raced over the weekend
Monday PM: Informal group ride around campus, medium pace - 1 hour

Tuesday PM: Hipp ride, 50ish miles, fast paced

Wednesday: Off

Thursday PM: Northwest Ride, 50ish miles, fast paced

Friday AM: If racing, 1.5 hours easy with several hard efforts
If not racing, 20m intervals rounded out with SST, 2.5 hours

Saturday: If racing, race
If not racing, moderated paced ride, sub-tempo, 2 hours

Sunday: If racing, race
If not racing, tempo ride, 2-3 hours


I'm targeting a four day stage race at the beginning of July, so the apparent lack of rest and back-to-back moderately difficult training days should get me up to where I need to be.

I still plan on doing three weeks on, one week off, so this is my 'on' schedule. On the off weeks, I'll still be riding, but with an additional day off, little tempo work, and nothing above threshold. We'll see how it goes!

May 10th, 2008

Went out today with a couple of buds. Got some good recovery in! We all headed out, just spinning around, having a good chat. Ended up with about 35 easy, easy miles, and it felt pretty good.

May 9th, 2008

My legs were feeling surprisingly good today, after yesterday's ride. I headed out for a good ride, trying to hit that sweet spot just in between sub-tempo and tempo. As uncontrollable as I am, my average heart rate ended up smack dab in the middle of my tempo range, of course.

It was ridiculously windy once again. I headed out to Dungarvin road for the first time in about three months. It's really amazing to me how different I tackle the rollers out there now than when I first started riding. Back then, these were the biggest hills I'd gone up, and I struggled up them just a bit (okay, maybe not struggled, but they definitely got to me a bit). Now, I'm feeling a good deal stronger on them and powering both up and down much faster than I used to. Some wahoo from the Hipp ride painted 5k, 1k, 500m, 200m, and a sprint finish line toward the end of the road, so I decided to be a joker and have a little race with myself. I'm proud to say I won.

All-in-all, the ride ended up at almost exactly three hours, and just over 57 miles. (Did I mention it was windy?)

May 8th, 2008

Hoo boy was it windy today! I headed southwest to start, and - you guessed it - the winds were coming straight out of the southwest at 18mph and gusting to 28. Unfortunately, it was the kind of wind that even when I was heading northwest, somehow came around from the side and still put the hurt on.

Nonetheless, I got a good ride in. Started out with a nice, thorough warmup before turning southwest and starting the first of two 20 minute intervals, sitting right at threshold. The first one went off without a hitch (only had to drop to the little ring once into the wind and up a hill) and I sat just at LTHR, give or take two bpm in either direction, for the duration. I always have a bit of trouble with the second interval, and it was suggested by a friend of mine, Ken, that I'm not recovering enough in between the two. To try it out, I slowed way down for the 10 minute rest. I had a very slight tailwind for this portion and managed to recover so my heart rate was down to about 110 bpm, which actually left me feeling pretty fresh. The second interval had some slight musical malfunctions (I was using my iPod and several carefully selected songs to time the workout), but I figured it out and managed to actually finish the second interval, while keeping my heart rate up near threshold (a first for me - my second interval usually sees a drop of about 10-15 bpm from the first). I then finished the ride up just sub-tempo, after a bit more recovery.

Everything was feeling pretty good. I had taken another spacer off of my steerer tube and dropped my handlebars down about another half inch, so I was worried sitting in the drops for 20 minutes at a time would be a bit uncomfortable, but everything worked out and I've got no complaints.

All in all, about 45 miles and a little over two hours and 20 minutes. Did I mention it was windy?

May 6th, 2008

I road down to Ocala today to see my sister. I thought it was about 50 miles or a little more, but it turned out to be a bit shorter - just over 40. My plan was to ride just a little below tempo (LSD anyone?) for around the first 2oish miles, and then when I hit the hills, pick it up to right around tempo for the last 30 or so. Due to my mis-judgment of the distance, it ended up being split about 50/50 though. It was a good time. I love riding in one direction and not going back, but I think I would really hate touring. I also love the hills midway between here and Ocala, but hate that it's 20 miles to get to them.

I was feeling pretty good though, despite the ride yesterday. The whole ride came in just over 40 miles, and right around two hours. Tomorrow's a rest day, including a trip to Cici's Pizza with the sister.

May 5th, 2008

I started out with a nice seven mile or so warm-up to get the legs all loosened up before really cranking it out with a set of four 5 minute intervals with five minutes of rest in between. Ooh boy, that was fun in that sick, demented way we all know. That took me right to around mile 22 or so. After my final rest interval, I kicked it back up and finished the last 30 miles at tempo/zone 3/whatever you want to call it.

I was feeling pretty good - like I'm back to where I was about month and a half ago. That's a relief. Now I've just got to keep my focus, and work out my plan for the summer.

All-in-all, around 55 miles and a little over 2.5 hours.

May 4th, 2008

Had a delightful recovery ride with a few guys today. Nobody seemed to have much of an ego, so the pace thankfully stayed pretty low. Just about 30 miles or so, nice and easy.

May 3rd, 2008

Let's focus on some good things: I have about a month and a half until the state road race championships, and about two months until Fitchburg. That's plenty of time for me to have a nice, long, steady build period up to a peak.

That's all just another way to say that Sugarloaf Mountain sucked. Thirteen hundred feet of climbing per lap, and about 3.7 laps. There were some pretty big rollers, and then one 'big' (for Florida) climb.

My main focus for a while now has got to be confidence in the pack. I started out in the top 20 or so (of about a 70-person pack), but quickly found myself moving straight backwards, as I was leaving gaps on the wheels in front of me that were quickly filled by more aggressive racers. My problem is that I don't trust anybody. I've got to get it to sink in that nobody out there is trying to crash, and they're not going to do anything intentionally stupid, so just hold a wheel and quit worrying. I mean, it's not like I haven't crashed before - I've gone down hard and broken bones, etc. - so what am I so afraid of?

Anyway, bringing up the rear of the pack, the accordion effect wasn't too bad, but after every hill, I was having to go around all the people who had blown up and close the gap back to the pack. Not fun. By the time we got to the long climb, I'd spent over half my time in the wind. Coming around people on this was a pain to say the least, and nearly dangerous on several occasions. I managed to chase back on just after the decent, but I was feeling pretty toasted. By the end of the first lap, my average heart rate was 188. I probably shouldn't have looked at my computer.

I stuck it out for one more lap, which consisted of much of the same. I had a few close calls with a bonehead who kept bumping me off wheels, then blowing up right in front of me (only to recover, chase back on, bump me off, and then blow up again). The second time up the climb, I started getting bad tunnelvision and was having some less-than-normal pains radiating out of my lower left abdomen from front to back.

I gave a half of an attempt to chase back on, on the descent, but quickly sat back up as they kept opening the gap on me.

I then got lost and couldn't find where we parked.

In short, it sucked hard. I've got a lot of work to do.

May 2nd, 2008

There was a whole heap of drunken traffic surrounding the University of Florida graduation ceremonies this weekend, so I opted not to risk it. I set the rollers up in the backyard so I could work on my tan and spun my legs for a while with a few spin-up leg openers.

Sugarloaf is tomorrow. 42 miles, 4,000 feet of climbing or so. We'll see how it goes.

May 1st, 2008

Headed out for a quick recovery ride with my buddy who got smashed by a car a few months ago. It was just an easy spin, out and back for an hour or so on the Hawthorne trail. It's nice to see Brendan back on a bike.

April 30th, 2008

This morning, I headed out for my favorite 35 mile loop - cut through campus to 23rd, then down to Williston, over to Wacahoota Road, down 441 till you hit 234, then finish up on the Hawthorne Trail. I use up to Wacahoota for a long warm-up, generally, and then really go for it after that. This morning was one minute interval morning - six with four minutes of rest in between. It's the first time I've done proper intervals in about two months, so needless to say it hurt a bit, as it should. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, save for a couple of ladies barricading the Hawthorne trail just around a blind corner and sending me into the dirt.

This evening after work, I rounded out the day with a second 30 mile ride, just cruising at tempo. I hit a few hills around town, but didn't venture too far away. Finishing up, I could definitely feel that I'd ridden this morning. I didn't feel like complete crap, but I felt decently close to it - or at least close enough that when I found a Five Star Pizza advertisement hanging on my door when I got home, I gave them a call. We'll see how that works out.

Tomorrow's a rest day. Yeah, I know I say that a lot. I've got a bit of cleaning, sewing, and life to catch up on. As an added bonus, I don't work until 7:00 at night, so I've actually got all day to be productive (which we all know will never happen...).

Sugarloaf in three days! I've got a ride down there already.

April 29th, 2008

I found a sweet deal on some rollers, so I snagged 'em while I could. Granted, it's mid-season and anybody still rollers probably needs to be slapped, but hey.

So, instead of heading out on the road last night, I decided to give it a go. After a few close calls, I started to get the hang of it. I ended up riding for about an hour (hey, it was kinda windy outside, okay?) doing 3 minute intervals, spinning out in 53x11, and then resting (still on the rollers) for four minutes. I had a bit of fun.

I'm not looking forward to living someplace where riding rollers is a necessity though.

April 26th, 2008

I seem to have hit the on-a-day, off-a-day cycle again. After yesterday's ride, I was feeling a bit sluggish today. I went out for 55 miles with a fairly low average of around 19 mph. I completely petered out when I hit a bumpy, false-flat road around mile 40, but got a bit of a second wind when I turned onto a smoother road. I've got to stop letting stuff like that get to me, and learn to just push right through it.

Sugarloaf in one week! I'm starting to feel like I'm getting back on form again, and it should be a blast.

April 25th, 2008

Today, there was supposed to be a "Gentlemen's Race" on the Hawthorne trail at 3:00. Being the only gentleman I know, I suppose it's appropriate that I was the only person to show up. Instead of hanging my hat and heading for home, I decided to give it a go and race myself.

The trail runs (out and back) at just over 30 miles (30.32 according to my computer, to be exact). I ran the whole trail in a time of 1:22:12, for an average of 22.13 mph on a regular road setup. I've estimated my lactate threshold heart rate to be right around 180, and completed the ride with an average of 175. I'm not sure how accurate my estimate is, but I should be going into the Sports Institute at Shands to get that and my VO2 max tested soon, hopefully.

I felt pretty good, but was definitely glad when I could see the end of the trail.

April 23rd, 2008

40 miles solo today. It sucked. I won't even tell you what my average speed was. I just couldn't find a rhythm at all. I'm taking tomorrow off I think. We'll see how I feel. School is basically over for about three weeks, which is nice. I guess it's time to grab a beer.

April 22nd, 2008

I had planned on doing the Hipp ride this evening at 6:00. It's a big, fast group ride, and they do around 50 miles on Tuesdays.

I could feel myself starting to wimp out around lunch time. There's only one sure way to make absolutely certain you're locked into riding later on: call your friend Dan and ask him if he wants to go out for two hours or so at 5:30.

He did.

We ended up doing about 40 miles, and took a small dirt road near Micanopy that neither of us had ridden before. It was fairly wash-boarded for about a mile, but then spat us out onto the most beautiful one lane country road I've found yet for another two miles before hooking back up to CR329.

Once back on Williston Road, we hooked up with the end of the Team VetMed ride and hung with those guys for a bit. They seemed like a good group of people, and I'd never seen or met most of them before.

All in all, it ended up right at 40 miles, and just under two hours. I felt a little off, couldn't quite get in the groove, but I can feel my legs coming back to me. Just since Friday I'm feeling a whole lot better.

It Begins

Dear Michael Arena,

The following request to change your USCF category has been approved and processed by USA Cycling:
mikearena - 2008-04-21 16:14
Member: Michael Arena
License: Road Racer
Request to change category from Cat 5 to Cat 4


Well, I guess that about sums it up. It's time to start cracking down. My early season peak (that's what I'm calling it) has come and gone. I've spent four weeks off the bike, save for races the past two weekends that have hurt entirely too much. No more taking it easy.

I've got ten pounds to lose and some strength and endurance to build back up. It's starting right now!

Or maybe tomorrow. Sugarloaf is in a week and a half. Two months to Fitchburg.