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!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
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?)
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?)
Thursday, May 8, 2008
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?
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?
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
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.
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.
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.
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