Dang, It's Cold!!

So this morning it was 5 degrees with a wind chill of -13. It sure is hard to get out of bed on days like today, it makes taking a sick day sound like a good idea so that I can stay under the covers. Unfortunately I did come to work though, no such luck on staying warm in bed, oh well. I did check the Weather Channel and it appears that this cold spell will be short-lived though and tomorrow it will be up to 29 and Saturday and Sunday will be in the mid-30s, probably windy on Saturday though, but I can fight through that. There is no way I'm spending 3.5 hours on the trainer even if it is a little windy. Soooo, last night was a pretty relaxed night of training, I did my weight work and am feeling really good with that, although my knee felt a little loose last night and today, but hopefully it's nothing. After I got home I had a good dinner and then jumped on the bike for a quick 1 hour recovery ride. It seemed like I was only on for 15 minutes, piece of cake. Tonight I will be doing a 1.75 hour ride on the trainer with 7x12 second Stomps thrown in, and then tomorrow is a rest day but I won't be doing my regular weight work because I have a vacation day so I won't be at work to utilize the facilities. Saturday is a 3.5 hour ride with 6 x 3min FastPedal exercises thrown in and then Sunday is 2.75 hours of just Foundation Miles. Hopefully the weather cooperates and I can get both rides in with no issues, and by that I mean without freezing any limbs or appendages. I'm sure it will be a struggle Saturday with the wind chill and if it's too bad I can always do a shorter route outside and then finish inside if I get too cold. I don't predict any problems though. I also have a boatload of things to do this weekend around the house so it is going to be interesting to see how I fit this all in but hopefully I'll manage without stressing myself out. I'm still working on the plumbing for my kitchen re-model and my dad will be coming over Saturday to help with some electrical work for the new garbage disposal. I've got to make a trip to Home Depot as well today or tomorrow to get more valves for the supply lines and also to return some extra stuff that I don't need. It'll be a super busy weekend, can't wait. Yeah right! Until next time..........

Is It Spring Yet?

Needless to say it was impossible to bike outside for me this weekend as we got anywhere from 10.5 to 13 inches of snow on Friday depending upon what web site you look at. Normally the snow wouldn't stop me from riding but the problem this weekend was that most streets were unsafe to ride on because of the packed, ruddy, ice that was not completely cleared up yet. If there was no traffic on the road then sure it's no problem, but I don't trust drivers when they have to drive on that stuff and manuever around it, I'd like to live to see 2007. So, having said that, I had to do my riding on the trainer this weekend and as I've said before it makes for a lot of movie watching and some mind-numbing hours. Saturday I had to cut my ride short because we got our new countertops and dishwasher and I had to go get those and do some house stuff to get those projects started. I was scheduled for 3.5 hours but only managed to get in about 2 hours 50 minutes just because we had to do alot of running around like I said and there just wasn't enough time in the day. I felt good and it actually went pretty fast as I nearly made it through 2 90 minute movies during the ride. I did have to get off for about 2 minutes to make a pit stop because I consumed at least 3 or 4 bottles because I sweat so dang much when I ride inside, even with 2 fans. My knees felt pretty good after I fiddled with my seat height and cleats per my post on Friday, I had a little pain that went away after about 20 minutes and it did feel a little awkward but after a week or two my body will get used to it. Sunday I was scheduled for 2.75 hours and I completed the entire ride and my knees and overall position felt even better than Saturday, but mentally the last few minutes were pretty tough. I was closing in on a total of about 5.5 hours on the trainer over 2 days and although it doesn't sound like too much, it's still difficult to ride inside after having ridden outside the last few weeks. I obviously have to get used to it though because it's only December 4th and there are about 16-18 weeks left of this weather to deal with, but I know it will get easier as winter rolls along. This week will be 3 rides indoors on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then as of right now it appears that Saturday and Sunday will be outdoor rides. Saturday is supposed to be 35 and sunny and Sunday is supposed to be 34 and sunny. Hopefully the crews get out and get that ice cleared off the roads. I have a rest day on the bike today but it is a weight-workout day so I'll be doing that right after work today.
I also wanted to give an update on some team news.....we got our final look at the team kit that we will be going with next year and I have to say that it looks great! It's a nice combo of a muted gold (not shiny), red, and black. Our sponsor logos are well placed on the jersey and shorts and the overall design flows quite nicely. I have a pic of the design but I won't post it now, sorry, as I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do that yet. I'll definitely take some pics when I get the whole kit in a couple of months and post them at that time. If you want to get an idea of the gold color and the logo, visit our sponsor's web site (Wheaton) under my Links section. In addition to getting our team kit I got some info on some other riders that are joining our team and I'm definitely happy to know that we are getting some guys that are not only quality racers but also nice, respectable guys that I know I'll have no problem meshing with on and off the road. I'm definitely looking forward to a great season with the team in '07. Until next time.......

Uncomfortable....Not Any More!

I've been having problems lately getting comfortable on the bike, if you've read previous posts then you know that it's been driving me crazy. I've been experiencing left leg drop, right hip tilting forward and some left knee pain. I tried switching back to my old Sidis last night but the screws that I had weren't long enough to accommodate the cleats and some pedal wedges so I decided to make do with my Adidas. I finally figured that the best way to figure out what is causing my issue was to set up a video camera and tape myself from the back, front, and side to see what is happening when I pedal under load and when I spin easy. Maybe I was doing something differently or favoring a stronger leg or something when I used big gears, so I finally set that up last night. I watched the video and couldn't believe what I saw, and more importantly I couldn't believe I didn't really notice what was happening previous to seeing myself do it. Basically in my present seat position I was dropping my right heel big time on the downstroke and pedaling toes down with the left foot. It was so obvious that my right leg was longer than my left that I don't know how I haven't noticed that prior to yesterday. My seat height was basically set up in the middle of accommodating both legs..... too short for my right leg so I had to drop my heel to get the correct knee angle, and too tall for my left leg so I had to pedal toes down and drop my hip to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke. The hip drop on the left caused me to bring my right hip forward, also causing me to point my right foot in towards the bike, and my left foot away from the bike. My wife watched it with me and she was also thinking I was an idiot because she noticed it immediately as well and wondered how I didn't figure this out before. Soooo, after doing some measuring I had to go with 4 pedal wedges under the left cleat to lengthen it enough to measure up with the right leg. Once I had it set up so that each leg was even I raised the seat to alleviate the heel drop and sure enough, my left hip didn't drop, my right hip didn't go forward, me feet were straight ahead and I felt really comfortable for the first time in a long while. It was a good feeling to finally, well hopefully, figure out what was going on so that I can go in to next year feeling like I'm not unbalanced on the bike.
Anyways, last night I did ride for 1.75 hours on the trainer and did 7x12sec Stomps as well. Tonight is a rest day on the bike and because of our major snowstorm I'll be skipping the weight work so that I can get home and shovel. Tomorrow is going to be an iffy day as there still might be too much snow to ride safely but I'll do my best to get out on the cyclocross bike and I'll ride for as long as I can or until I deem it too unsafe to hit the road. I might have to do all or part of tomorrow's scheduled 3.5 hours of riding on the trainer, fun, fun. If I can even get away with doing half on the road and half on the trainer I'd be happy. Sunday is probably 2.5 hours on the trainer as it appears that it will be snowing again but we'll see if the forecasters are correct. Here is a pic of the wonderful snowfall (yeah, right!). Until next time..........

Java, Java, Java!!!

Sometimes I drink a little toomuchcoffee and it becomesaproblem and I can't controlmyselfbecauseI get all jitteryand hyperand then I can't sitdownandI haveto walk around but I thinkit's good formy cyclingbecause it helpsraise my metabolismand that has gotto be good right? well this morningI was feelingreally tired and had 4shots of espresso andsome coffeehere at workand holy cow am I freakingout, it's like I have a jet engine up my butt which isreally weird but it seems tobe true so thats what I'm saying. i'm glad my chair has wheels onit because then I can roll around and that's prettyfun and withthe jet engineIcan go reallyfast. mustnot comedown......
training has been reallygoodlately and i'm doingquite well instickingto my programthanks to the weather but unfortunately i've had oneday that went bad. saturday i woke up with the worst headache I've had in whileand I can't explainwhy I had it butit hurt like helland I was boundtothe bed until the afternoon. I thinkit was from lack of coffeebut I'm not sure, youknow, caffeine headache and all. anyways, I tried to get on thebikebut couldn't do it due to my headache so i had towrite off that dayof training to illness. sunday I made upfor it by riding just over 3hours even though I wasonly scheduled for 1.75hours. it was agreat ride and it felt goodtobe out that long, that makes 4 or 5 weekends ina row that I've done 3 or more hours at least once over the weekend. last night i didweight work and increasedmy weight and decreased my reps andI can definitelyfeel that i'm getting stronger everyweek. tonight is 1.75hours on thetrainer with some Stomps thrown in and tomorrow is weights and onehour onthe bike. the weather is taking a turn for the worse, rabble,rabble, so that sucks but i'mhoping that i can still get in my long weekend of training. i always havethe crossbike and can still do some crossand trailriding and of course there is alwaysthe trainer. i'm looking forward to getting out no matter what, gotta lose some weight and get down to at least 181 by mid-december, i'mat 186 right nowYIKES! JELLO,JELLY,PUDDING,LARD! ok then, so I'm workingonthat and hope to be down to 173 by Aprilif I can. i don't knowif i can get much lower thanthat without sacrificingsome power. ok bye! gotta go have some more javato burn calories, cause I heard it raises my metabolism, so that's cool. until nexttime..................

2lbs. Heavier

I made it through Thanksgiving dinner without eating too much and according to my scale this morning I gained 2lbs yesterday. Not bad. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "Wow, elephants don't eat that much!!", I think I was at about a 6 yesterday. I did manage to get in a 1.5 hour ride on the trainer afterwards so I'm sure I burned off at least a 1/3 of the calories I consumed, well maybe. I feel good this morning and I'm sure part of it is the rest I got last night after sleeping soundly while I dreamt of giant turkeys and bowls of stuffing and mashed potatoes. Anyways, the last few days of my regeneration week have been going well and I feel great and I'm ready to jump in to my next training week. Monday, I did weights and it was a rest day on the bike, Tuesday I rode for 1.25 hours on the trainer at a leisurely pace. Wednesday I did weights again and rode for 1 hour on the trainer at Foundation Mile pace which is pretty easy. Yesterday like I said was 1.5 hours on the trainer with some Stomps thrown in to help build power. Tonight I will be doing weight work and it will be a rest day on the bike. It is my last day of weight work in the Transition Phase and I will be starting the High Volume Phase on Monday which means I'll be increasing my weight and will decrease my reps to about 10-12 with the same number of sets (4). Saturday is going to be 2.25 hours with 40 mins of Race Simulation and then Sunday is a 1.75 hour ride with some FastPedals thrown in to help build leg speed. I also have to have a second Turkey dinner on Sunday as well, as my wife's mother is having us over for a belated Thanksgiving dinner, I'll do my best not to eat too much. Well, I'll update again on Sunday after what I hope will be a nice weekend of riding outside again, until next time............

Ready For The Rest Week

I finished my cross bike and took a ride on it this weekend and it's pretty fun to ride through some grass and mud. If you've been following my posts you'll know that technically it's not a cross bike but really an old Pinarello road bike with cross tires. That is good enough for me to go out trolling in the mud and I took it out this weekend in the Root River Parkway and went through some fields and on some trails for a little fun. After I got home I took it through the yard and jumped some ditches and ran with it for a while over some brush piles. My wife snapped a picture of me running across the yard because she thought I was crazy.....in reality I'm just like every other bike geek. Anyways, I did 2.5 hours on Sunday for 6 hours total over the weekend and 10 hours for the week. I feel great and this week I will be ready to do my recovery week, which really isn't needed physically but mentally it's nice to take a little break on the bike. Basically my rest week means like 8.50 hours on the bike instead of 10. I'm feeling great overall and I'm just reeeeeeally looking forward to next year already. I think that if I train the way I want too and stick to my program of gradually working up to 18-20 hours per week that I will be able to do very well in the Cat. 4s to start and then the 1/2/3s after that. I feel stronger each week and I think that I can be back to where I was previously by 2008. Most of the articles I've read said that by the 2nd year most former elite racers can be back to top form, but I don't think they are accounting for the fact that most former elite racers now have lives and families to deal with. It's easy to get back to top form after 2 years when you can ride 20-25 hours per week but that's not feasible with a family and full time job. I think I can be really good next year and by 2008 I can be competitive in the Pro/1/2 category and by that I mean I can win races. I've done it before, I know I can do it again. Anyways, tomorrow I only have to do 1.25 hours (it is a recovery week after all) and then Wednesday I will do an hour and also will do weights. So, it's an easy week and I'm looking forward to the mental break, especially riding the trainer all week. Well, until next time.........


Is that Sven Nys....noooooo, it's just me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tired And Ready For Rest

Today I did my longest ride since my attempted 24-hour ride (which was only 10 hours), and completed a 3.5 hour ride from New Berlin to Waukesha to Mukwonago back to Waukesha and then back to New Berlin. It was a pretty hilly ride with about 2,700 ft. of climbing along the way but that was before I added about 6 more miles at the end because I was a little short of my goal and was at about 3hrs 15 min. I completed my entire ride and now have to do 2.5 hrs tomorrow but the weather isn't looking too good in the morning so I'll probably sleep in a little bit and then squeeze in the ride during the afternoon. I'm pretty wiped out now and can't wait to get to bed, which I'll be doing in about 5 minutes, so that I can get about 9 hours of sleep. I didn't do too much today, rode right away at 8:00 this morning, toiled around on the tractor in the yard and then did some house work. Oh yeah, I baked a loaf of banana bread as well, and it turned out great, it's almost gone already. I'm feeling good overall, surprisingly I haven't gotten sick from riding outside in the cold the last few weekends and the weather doesn't look too bad for next weekend as of now either. I'm a little less worried about the weather next weekend than I am about all the crazy X-mas shoppers that will be clogging the roads, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the weary shoppers and will probably have to dodge a few. Well, not much too say, I'm tired, so it's time to hit the sack. Tomorrow will be a short ride compared to today and then next week is a regeneration week so I'll be cutting back on the bike and getting some much needed rest after putting in some decent time on the road in the last 3 weeks. Until next time.............

Biomechanic Mess!

I think biomechanically I am a mess. I can't seem to get a comfortable position as of late on the bike. Either one leg is shorter than the other, I'm dropping a hip, I have supponation or pronation, I'm pigeon-toed, or something else is just plain messed up because I'm always fiddling with my cleats and pedal wedges. Last week I took out the pedal wedges that I've had in all year to see if they were the cause of some recent knee pain. Well, I have to say that after a week I have no more knee pain but it seems that I'm always trying to shift my weight on the seat to lean to the right. I feel like I'm dropping my left hip so I keep shifting to the right and then because of my left hip drop my right foot is pointing inward and I have to adjust my cleat to allow for my foot to point in. I just don't get it because I've never had these problems previously. It seems that I can't get square on the seat. I tried to put the wedge back on one shoe to see if my left leg is shorter and maybe that is why I'm dropping that hip. I noticed my seat was pointing a bit to the left and I centered that a little better and that may have helped but I can't tell until I ride more. If this keeps up much longer I'm going to drive myself crazy adjusting my shoes all the time.
Anyways, the last few days I've completed my rides as scheduled and have done 2 days of weight work as well. Monday was a rest day on the bike and I did do my 4 sets of weights. Yesterday was 1.5 hours on the bike and I did that with 5 reps of PowerStarts which help build explosive power. Today I just did my 45 minute Recovery Ride and also did my 4 sets of weights. I feel really strong aside from the freakin' hip, knee, foot issue. As I approach the December 1st date of one year from when I started training last year, I am just in so much better shape that I'd have to say I'm starting at a fitness level that I would've had in about May of this year. That puts me about 6 months ahead of last year going in to my one year anniversary of being back on the bike in terms of fitness. I didn't feel good until about August of this year and hopefully that is what I will be feeling in April of next year. I'm anxiously counting off the days until next Spring, only like 4 and a half months to go! God, I hope it goes quick. Well, tomorrow I will be doing 1hr 45 mins on the trainer and then Friday is a rest day and I'll have some long rides again this weekend. I'll update on Friday night with my schedule for the weekend and hopefully the weather holds out so that I can get in some good riding outside. Until next time.........

Pretty Wiped Out

This weekend was not the most conducive weather for riding but definitely good enough to get outside and complete my rides that I had planned. Yesterday was pretty chilly but warmed up enough, to all of about 38 degrees, to get in my 3.25 hour ride which actually ended up about 3hrs 10mins so I was 5 minutes short, oh well right? I did 50 minutes of Race Simulation, basically in the form of Power Intervals but no sprints or anything with a big gear, I took it easy on the muscles and worked the lungs a little more. I won't do too much in the way of Race Simulation or Intervals throughout the winter, most likely only once a week or once every two weeks probably. Today was just a Foundation Mile ride of 2hrs 30 mins which I completed almost exactly to the minute without really planning it that way. It was a nice ride but it had a couple of good size hills along the way and I can tell I have a long way to go to be in hill climbing shape again. I purposely kept it in really easy gears but I could still feel the burn although I'm not really worried about that right now. I'm looking forward to Spring to do some really good hill workouts to improve that area of my riding. Right now I'm just concentrating on getting in the miles and building my aerobic base and some power for the workouts to come in late Winter and early Spring. Tomorrow is a rest day on the bike but I will be doing some weight work with about 4 sets of leg presses, leg curls and leg lifts. This is my last week of Transition lifting and then I go in to the High Volume Phase next week with slightly higher weight and less reps. I'm pretty wiped out tonight from riding as I think riding in the cold definitely takes more out of me and the 5hrs 40mins in the 35-40 degree weather made me pretty tired right now. I'm probably going to get to bed an hour earlier than normal tonight but not before I have a beer I think, after all that riding I deserve one! Time to eat dinner, have a beer and then hit the recliner. Until next time..........

Beautiful Weather And I'm Stuck Inside

Well, today was a beautiful day and I didn't get to enjoy any of it as of course I'm stuck sitting in a cubicle all day. It is supposed to rain Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday and turn cool with highs only in the upper 30s to low 40s. I have rides of 3.25 and 2.5 planned for Saturday and Sunday and right now it's not looking good for riding outside but I'm hoping there is a little block out of each day where it isn't raining and I can get out. I know it's November and it's supposed to be crappy outside but it's always nice to hope that it will stay warmer longer than it should. Either way I'll be getting my riding done, unfortunately it may just be done inside which will be pretty boring for a 3 hour ride. Let's just say it's going to have to be pouring or snowing heavily for me to get stuck inside.
My training has been going well but I really haven't done much since my last post on Sunday. Monday was a rest day on the bike but I did do my weight work and felt really good doing that, no knee pain or any other issues. Yesterday was a ride on the trainer for 1.25 hours with 5x15sec Stomps. I felt great again last night with no knee pain so I think I shook that issue that aggravated me for a couple of weeks. Tonight I'll be doing weight work shortly and then doing just 45 minutes on the bike to keep the legs loose. Tomorrow will be 1.75 hours with some FastPedals thrown in I think. Friday I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with some friends, I'll just need to make sure I don't eat too much. Well, not much to say for now, I'll update again after Saturday's ride to let you know how that went. Until next time.........

Good Riding This Weekend

I'll start off with some team news before I write about my rides this weekend as we had our official Team Wisconsin/Team Wheaton Franciscan Health Care banquet on Saturday evening. First of all, it was a great evening of food, beer and lots of discussion on where the team is headed in term of budget, number of racers, sponsorship....all that good stuff. We also had a nice long 2 hour discussion (at least is seemed that long) on what our racing outfit would look like. As of right now our outfit is going to have a jersey the color of the gold Vuelta leader's jersey and then of course our sponsors' logos will be on the jersey with the Wheaton logo right in the middle. It appears that we are also going to go with black shorts this year which I don't really care for, but the majority ruled on that choice. So it will be black shorts with a white and gold panel with the Wheaton logo and name down the side. Once I get a copy of the design I'll post something on this site. Right now it appears the team will have somewhere in the range of 35-40 riders with most of them being road riders and some mountain bike riders are on the team as well. Going in to the meeting it appeared there would be about 22-25 riders but there has been a decision, at least tentatively, to merge with another team and take on 10-12 of their riders. It seems certain that the merge will happen and once it does I'll probably post some comments on that as well. Just a quick plug for some of the sponsors that were announced as well...Ben's Cyclery will be our new bike shop sponsor, Vittoria tires is tentatively set as our tire sponsor, Clif is also returning as our food/gel/tasty treat sponsor, and Safway. All in all, it was a good meeting and I'm sure there will be plenty more to talk about in the coming months.
As far as riding goes....Friday evening I did my weight work, basically my normal 4 set Transition workout and it was a rest day on the bike. Saturday I was up and out on the bike at 8:30a.m. and did a 3 hour ride out to Waukesha and the surrounding areas and despite the wind and colder temperatures it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Today I did 2 hours 20 minutes, 10 minutes short of my scheduled ride..oh well. The weather was gorgeous compared to the last few weeks and I would have loved to have gone for 3 or 4 hours but I'm sticking to my training plan for one, and secondly today was my wife's grandpa's birthday and we had to go to his party at noon and we didn't leave there until 4:00. I actually took the opportunity to ride down to the party in Waterford and that was a good way to get in my ride and still make it to the party. I really can't complain about this weekend as I had scheduled 5.5 hours outside for Saturday and Sunday and I did almost that amount and obviously could've added the extra 10 minutes but it wasn't worth it. Tomorrow is just a rest day on the bike but I will be doing weights.
Here are some pictures of my new Cannondale, still being built, and my Pinarello cross bike, still being built as well.

Easton Carbon stem and handlebars Campagnolo Eurus wheelset Old school Pinarello - check out the Scott drop-in bars! Ready for mud and snow!

Training

Oh yeah, I wrote about other stuff yesterday but didn't tell you what I was actually doing on the bike. Please read yesterday's post but in addition to that here is what I'm doing on the bike....

Yesterday - did a 1.25 hour ride because I had to cut Tuesday's ride a tad short because of my knee pain. I was scheduled for just a 30 minute spin but added the extra 45 minutes to make up some time.

Today - a 1.75 hour ride with 6 x 12 second Stomps, although I may nix the Stomps if my knee is too sore. Either way it's going to be 1.75 hours but maybe just spinning easy.

Tomorrow - a rest day on the bike but I will be doing weights.

Saturday - 3 hour ride with 5 x 3 min Fast Pedal exercises. The weather is supposed to suck but as long as it's not raining in the morning I'll do my ride, that's why I have all that cold weather gear. If it's raining, then I'll be doing 2 hours 25 minutes inside as that equates to about 3 hours outside. I'll have to find a long movie.

Sunday - 2.5 hour ride at Foundation Mile pace. Right now there is no rain in the forecast so it will be an outside ride.

I Hate The Offseason

Why is it that during the offseason, when you are actually doing less work on the bike, that weird things like knee pain, and back pain seem to pop up? I know a couple of people that are suffering some sort of knee pain since they tapered in September and October. I have been bugged by a left knee pain that seems to have cropped up for no particular reason. The only thing I can think of is that my pedaling dynamics are different on the trainer than they are when I ride on the road. On the road I probably sit a little off keel on the seat and the bike adjusts under me (that's probably why I wear out the left side of my tires...hmmm). On the trainer the bike is locked in to place and doesn't adjust under me so I'm guessing that in some way my pedaling technique or motion is being affected leaving me with the knee pain. Last year I obviously didn't do any road riding before I started on the trainer in December so I didn't have that period of adjustment and therefore had no knee pain. I've been riding the trainer for the most part since the beginning of October and that's about when the pain started, hopefully it goes away soon after my body adjusts. I might switch to the rollers more often for days when I don't have to do specific workouts so that my pedaling motion will be more like the road. I have to do specific workouts on the trainer though because I can't get much resistance on the rollers.

I had hoped to have some pictures up today of my Pinarello build but I had to bring in the rear wheel to Wheel & Sprocket to get trued up so it isn't quite together right now. I still have to get a seatpost as well and I'm just going to get a cheap no-name seatpost when I go to pick up my wheel as this is just my winter "cross" bike. I will still ride my Specialized throughout the winter as much as I can but if there is any snow on the road or I want to test out some trails I will definitely be testing out the knobbies on the Pinarello. Once the winter comes to an end I will finish the build on my new CAAD8 frame by stealing a few parts from the Specialized and I will start riding the CAAD8 in the early Spring. The CAAD8 will still be all Campy Record Carbon but I've upgraded a few components over the Specialized so this bike will be lighter, more responsive and a little less harsh in ride quality. In addition to the Record components I'm going with an Easton carbon stem, Easton carbon flat-top ergo handlebars, Easton carbon seatpost and to top it all off I've got the new, lighter Campy Eurus wheels. The Eurus' are definitely an upgrade over my Bontrager Race Lites, saving about 200 grams or more and they are way more stiff so they'll be more responsive. I got them in black to offset the shiny silver of the frame, they look great and fast too. I'll post some pictures of the CAAD8 along with the Pinarello tomorrow or Saturday. Until next time..........

Root River Ride

The last few days have been pretty uneventful as far as training goes but I've been super busy at work and at home. I had to work at 6:00a.m. on Friday, today and also tomorrow so that is really cutting in to my sleep time and I'm only getting about 5.5 - 6 hours of sleep which isn't enough for me. Friday night I didn't do any riding or lifting as we went out to dinner with friends and we were out pretty late. It was a normal scheduled rest day anyways so I really didn't miss anything. I probably didn't help myself though either with those 5 beers and the fish fry. Saturday we had to be at a wedding in Wausau by 1:30 so I was up early and we were on the road by 10:00 and didn't return until 1:00a.m. Sunday morning. I got to set the clock back though to midnight so I did get an extra hour of sleep which I really needed. Sunday morning I was up really early and did a ride through the Root River Parkway and brought the camera with to take some pics of the nice fall colors....what's left anyways. Here are some shots from Sunday....

Today I did some weight work, 4 sets of 15 reps on the leg press, leg extensions, and leg curls. I'll do that 3 days a week for 4 weeks and then I'll move on to a heavier weight and less reps for another 4 weeks and then finally I'll go to heavy weights and low reps to build strength. Tomorrow the plan is to do a 1.25 hour ride and I believe I have to do 5 sets of 3 minute Fast Pedal exercises. MI3 just came out on DVD so I'll have to go rent that and watch Mr Katie Holmes blow stuff up. Should be a good time. Adios, until next time..................

Riding The Knobbies, Kind Of........

This time of year is pretty boring as far as life goes, so it is even more boring to write about and for anyone who has to read this. There are no bike races here or abroad, unless you like reading about the results of the latest cyclocross or 6-day race. Although I have to mention that I have been getting hooked on checking cyclocross results just to see if Ryan Trebon won again. That guy is like 6'4" tall and just full of raw power. It's been an interesting battle between him and Tim Johnson this year but Tim isn't doing so good right now. That should change once the weather gets worse as Tim is more of a technical rider and should be able to handle Ryan in the snow and on the more technical courses. I'm looking forward to the National Championships, should be interesting to see who pulls that off. I'm also excited to finish my own little cyclocross setup with my old Pinarello that I mentioned the other day. It really isn't a cyclocross setup but more or less a road bike with Hutchinson Cross Pro tires, which I have to say look pretty cool on the bike. I put them on last night and they are 700x30 with knobbies to give that motocross look and surprisingly I have plenty of clearance with my standard road fork and chainstays. I got a new chain the other day for the 8-speed setup and am waiting for my new 8-speed cassette to arrive any day now. Once I get those on I'm just waiting for a little snow so that I can go fly around the yard, all I need now is some barriers so that I can do some dismounting and running. Now I can ride year round and on limestone trails as I don't have a mountain bike and was too nervous to take my skinny 700x23s on limestone before. I did buy some Conti hybrid 700x32s last year but they didn't work so well on some trails that I went on in West Bend. Now with the knobbies I am good to go. I can't wait to do my first tail slide.
Other than that, I've been riding as scheduled but missed my weight day yesterday due to some scheduling conflicts with family activities. I will make that up by lifting tonight in addition to my 1.5 hour ride. Tonight, as mentioned, is a 1.5 hour ride on the trainer and I will be throwing in 5x15 second Stomps to help build power in the saddle. Basically you start at 15-20 mph and then just mash a huge gear (53x12) for 15 seconds, recover 5 minutes, and then repeat. Hopefully there is something good on TV tonight otherwise I'll have to go get another movie at BlockBuster to watch during the ride. Tomorrow is supposed to be another weight day but I'll skip that and just do some stretching instead. I'd rather lift on a ride day because I actually feel better on the bike after lifting so that will help with tonight's ride. My wife and I are also supposed to go out tomorrow night for dinner with some friends so I have to be home right away after work and won't really have time to lift. Saturday we are heading to Wausau at 10:00a.m for my cousin's wedding and I'm not sure if I'll squeeze in a ride before then, although I will try to get up and get at least a 2 hour ride in before we leave. If I have too many beers Friday night then that could be troublesome. Sunday's weather is looking decent so I should get in my 2 hour ride with no issues. Well, that's it for now, until next time..................

I Love Rain and Wind!

Yeah right, I hate rain and wind, but it seems there is a lot of both lately and according to the forecast I have some more of the same to look forward to in the next 10 days. My work schedule prevents me from getting home and riding outside as it's dark about 20 minutes after I get home so I've been stuck riding the trainer and rollers during the week. I though that this weekend would be good enough for me to get in a ride outside but when I woke up this past Saturday at 6:30 a.m. to go ride I guess I didn't realize that it's still dark out at that time. I had some coffee and a bagel and waited until about 7:45 to make sure that it was light out and then I threw on all my cold weather clothes and headed out for what was supposed to be a 3 hour ride. I got about 10 minutes down the road and it started to rain, being the wuss that I am I decided to turn around because there was no way I was going to ride in upper 30 degree temps and rain for the next 3 hours. I'm a bit of a wuss now as in my old riding days I used to ride for 3 or 4 hours in a constant downpour and didn't mind a bit. Now if it even looks like rain I stay inside and ride the trainer, it's part of getting older I guess. I'm not getting paid to ride and it's supposed to be fun, so I can pick and choose my riding days now, not like before when I had to ride no matter what the conditions. Anyways, I got back and rode for 2 hours on the trainer with about 60 minutes of Race Simulation thrown in to break up the monotony. I was supposed to ride for 2 hours yesterday as well but my mom had already bought tickets for the whole family to Fright Fest at Six Flags so we headed down there at 9:00a.m. and didn't get back until 7:30p.m.. I was so tired and nauseous from flying sideways, upside down, and well, every other direction on the roller coasters that I didn't get my 2 hours in before bed. I had scheduled today as a weight lifting day and as a rest day on the bike so now it will be weights and then 2 hours on the rollers instead. Tomorrow I'll do my normal 1.5 hour ride on the trainer with a few Stomps thrown in as well.
Here is a random thought....I was reading an article today from Ron Kiefel on Pezcyclingnews.com and for those of you who don't know who he is, he is a former 7-11 racer from the 80s and also rode for a host of other teams in the early 90s as well. Well anyways, it wasn't the article that caught my eye but the pictures of the bikes that made me think about the good old days of steel frames and 32-spoke wheels. I have a Pinarello Treviso Columbus SL frame with Campy Omega 32 spoke rims (maybe 36?) and I love riding that bike because it is so comfortable. It is equipped with Campy Chorus 8-speed (15 years old) but right now it's having a little trouble shifting due to some worn out cogs on the cassette. I just ordered a new (old stock) cassette for it and a new chain so that I can ride it over winter so I don't mess up my good bike. I also ordered some 700x30 Hutchinson Cyclocross tires for it as well so that I get some good traction in the snow if needed. Soooo, here's my thought, there should be at least 2 or 3 road races or crits during the year that are "vintage" races in which everyone brings their crappiest pre-1990 bike if they have one and they can't be fixed up, you have to ride them as is, no greasing them up or anything, and we go race them for like 20 miles. Mine only shifts in to two gears right now, 39x12 or 53x12 so that is how I would have to leave it. I want to hear all the squeaks and crunches as we all ride them. Dry chains, tire rot, frozen rusted cables, it's all good. The best part is, if the steel stem and seatpost are rusted and now bonded onto the frame, you can't adjust them, all the better for everyone else. I know some of you may not have a "nice" crappy bike like my Pinarello so Sears Free Spirits and the like are more than welcome. So get out your old Motobecane, Eddy Merckx, Fuji, Bianchi, Masi, Raleigh, or Pinarello and let's go ride some time. No lubrication or non-steel parts allowed, cause that's how I roll. Until next time.........

Team Dynamics

Well, I got back from Florida and rode on Sunday, Monday, and yesterday evening to make up for my lost time when I was down enjoying the warm weather in Tampa. I actually didn't get to enjoy the weather that much as we had to work from about 8 until 6-6:30 every day including Saturday. I gained lots of weight as well, eating all that great seafood and desserts. I certainly can't turn down free dinners, so I made the most of them, eating all that I could. Anyways, my rides have been fairly short, 1-2 hours, and are basically maintenance rides to keep up the fitness through October. I still throw in the Fast Pedal sets, and some Race Simulation on Saturdays just to keep it interesting but for the most part it is easy pedaling. I am also playing with my foot/cleat position to alleviate some leg length discrepancy and supponation. I have some Lemond Pedal Wedges that I use between the cleat and shoe to either add height or straighten out my leg motion, and so far it is working well. I also think I have a hip alignment issue in that my back muscles are pulling my right hip forward a bit and I have read some things on that and can probably alleviate that by tilting my seat a bit to the right but I should probably go to a chiropractor as well to straighten myself out. I didn't have these issues in the past but I'm sure it's just part of getting older and sitting in a chair for about 7 hours a day. Soooo, that aside, the plan for today is to do some weight work, 3 sets of 12-15 reps, all leg work as I get plenty of arm work doing stuff around the house and I don't really want arm muscle anyways. I won't ride today but will be riding tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow I believe is a 1.75 hour ride with some Fast Pedal sets and then Saturday is 2.75 or 3 hours with 45 minutes of Race Simulation and Sunday is 2.25 or 2.5 hours, can't remember exactly as I don't have my program here at work. I'm feeling great, I'm plenty motivated and lovin' riding right now.

In other news, there are some changes on my current team, Team Wisconsin, that have impacted some decisions I have to make for next year. I don't really want to say too much about it now but basically some of the team has split to form their own team which I don't think will impact the core group too much as it appears most of them are mountain bikers. If most of the core group stays which it appears they will, then the decision is a no-brainer, I'll definitely stay with the team. If some of them leave that helped to get me on the team in the first place, then I'll have some decisions to make. I really like the direction we are heading for 2007 with the new sponsor Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare so if all stays kosher, it should be a good year. I only did two races with the team as I signed up late in the year but the team seems really well organized and has some riders with great potential. I know for one that I will be training lights-out this off-season in order to be competitive in the Master's 1/2/3 category by May or June. I'll be waiting to see how things play out in the next couple of weeks and then we have our team banquet on November 4th so we'll get to learn a little bit more about what's planned for '07. The next few weeks will be pretty interesting on the bike and off the bike...........Until next time.

Off To Florida....for work :(

It was a busy weekend and I got in a couple of rides and also did about 15 hours worth of house work, mostly on Sunday, which of course was a beautiful day. Saturday I had to do some work on the driveway, coach my son's soccer game, which we won 6-5 after being down 5-2, and then I finally rode about 2.5 hours. It was a sunny day, temps were probably upper 60s and the wind wasn't too bad. It was an EM day with about 30 minutes of Race Simulation which basically consisted of a couple of 2 minute intervals simulating a breakaway, about 10 telephone pole sprints and about 3 or 4 hill sprints, well, almost sprints as one of the hills I do is about 3 minutes long. I felt pretty good overall as being the "offseason" I didn't really try to push it too much and I kept the cadence high and tried not to wear out the legs too much, mainly working the lungs. Sunday was another sunny day, definitely a bit windier, but that didn't take any of the fun out of what may be the last nice day of the month. I rode for about 2 hours, and just kept it at an easy Foundation Mile pace, no big hills and no sprints or anything like that. It was a very enjoyable ride and I just checked the 10-day forecast and it looks like it may have been the last nice weather ride as the temps are going to dip and they are even calling for snow showers on Thursday with lows of 28 degrees. Fortunately for me I will be in Florida, leaving here at 7:00a.m. and arriving in Tampa around 11:30 or so. It is going to be in the upper 80s and low 90s the whole time I'm there until I leave on Sunday. The unfortunate part is that I'm going on business and won't have my bike nor will I have a chance to work out as the suite complex that we are staying at doesn't have a fitness center. My company is paying for a nice suite with kitchen, couch, big bathroom, king bed, etc., but the dang place has nowhere to work out, which is just crazy to me in a place like Florida where everybody has to be skinny to lay on the beach. Oh well, can't do much about it, but I'm pretty disappointed that I will miss 3 riding days and 2 weight days. Maybe I can put the coffee table or something over my shoulders and do squats for a weight workout, and even though I hate to run I can bring my running shoes and jog around the parking lot. The only thing they do have is a basketball court and in that heat 30 minutes of hoops is a pretty good workout, so that could be good cross-training. I'll figure something out I guess.....in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the Wisconsin weather, I can't wait to come back to it on Sunday...yeah right. Until next time.........

Rolling Right Along

Well, I am rolling right along this week, on the bike, and well, on my fatty stomach as well. I've biked 3 times this week so I'm sticking to my schedule but I've also eaten way too much this week. I think I've gained 5-7 lbs. but my scale is broke so I don't have the luxury of checking, oh darn hey? Training on the bike will be easy over the winter, but I think some natural hibernation instinct is kicking in and I'm starting to store fat for the winter, honestly!! I'll really have to try to cut back on the food, otherwise my training is doing me no good at all. One of my weaknesses this year was hills as I did lose about 27lbs after I started training, going from 210lbs to 183lbs, but that still was a little too heavy. I want to be at 173lbs to start next year, and if you add the increased power that I'll attain over the winter my power-to-weight ratio will be waaaaaaaayy better than this year. I was 183lbs and in all honesty, 5-6 months of training doesn't really build a lot of power, not enough to race any higher than Cat 4, that's for sure. With this year's base of 5,500+ miles and counting and all the weight training and riding that I'm starting now, I'll be at a much higher level next year, definitely capable of competing as a Cat. 3 or higher. By 2008 I fully expect to be back to where I was when I quit cycling in 1996, although I'll be 12 years older so that is a negative, but hey, there are lots of 30+ guys kicking butt out there. Cripes, Lance is my age and he could probably win another Tour or two if he wanted. I'm looking to win a WI Cup race, so that's comparable right, well o.k., a little bit less difficult I guess....but not by much. Anyways, it's getting late and I'm pretty tired already and have to get up at 7:00a.m. on a Saturday to work around the house, I have lots to do before I have to go coach my son's soccer game, and it's team picture day so I have to actually shower before going. After the game I'll be doing my scheduled ride of 2.5 hours, it looks like it will be a beautiful day for a ride, can't wait. Until next time..............

Riding For 2007

Well, it's been a pretty uneventful week, and I don't have a lot to say since my last post since I haven't really done much in the last week other than gain some weight. I am finally starting to feel better as I had been feeling pretty fatigued and just plain under the weather the last 3 weeks. I attribute a lot of it to the below normal weather conditions we've been having and I think I was a bit rejuvenated by yesterday's beautiful, sunny day. I actually got out and rode for about 2.5 hours which is more than I've ridden in the last 2 weeks combined. It felt great to be out in the sun again and the warmer temps but it doesn't appear that it will last long as it was already storming overnight and it looks like quite a bit of rain and some cooler temps later in the week. Next weekend looks o.k. though with temps in the mid to upper 60s as of right now, so I should get out for a couple of longer rides Saturday and Sunday.
As for my training for 2007, I've officially started it today and will spend the next 16 weeks in the Foundation Period basically building up a good aerobic base for the harder training that will follow. Today I will do some light weight work, basically just maintenance work, as unfortunately my first day of the program starts with a rest day on the bike. Tomorrow will be my first on-the-bike day and then Wednesday will be weights again. I will be doing light weights for 3 days and riding for 4 days for the month of October, then I will switch to riding 5 days in November and then 6 days starting in December for the remainder of the Foundation Period. My weight work will gradually increase throughout the period as well going to higher weights and less reps as I progress. I'm really looking forward to see how I progress for 2007 versus this year as I now have a good base whereas I had exactly 0 miles to build on last year. I'd really like to do well in the first few races of 2007 so that I can upgrade right away to help out the team, as the majority of our team will be in the Master's 1/2/3 category. We'll see how that goes I guess.

Well, I did celebrate the last day of my "off-season" yesterday by consuming 3 bratwurst loaded with onions, ketchup, mustard, and lots of kraut. I also had almost a whole bag of Doritos, 4 beers, 2 shots of whiskey and some other miscellaneous chips and dips. I figured I was going to start my healthy eating today so I had to splurge yesterday so I wouldn't binge during training. Other than gaining about 4lbs. and feeling a little hung over this morning, I think it was a good year-end feast. From now on it will be good wholesome food...and a little bit of beer as that has carbs in it right? Until next time...........


I do love the bratwurst...mmmmmm...