Pics

I'm Digressing!!!

Just kidding, but I did do worse than last week by 2 places although I'm not disappointed at all with a 5th place today. The pace was fairly fast and the team worked great together today and we pulled off two spots in the top 10. Greg and Andy worked hard today and Rudy got 10th in the sprint. I got in position in the last lap to be at the front and got on Aaron Schindler's wheel coming around the the last half-lap so I was second wheel coming up the small rise before the turn in to the finish. At the top of the hill Aaron peeled off and I was stuck leading out the sprint with about 200 meters to go and that is way too long for me so I got passed by 4 guys. My sprint is coming around but I haven't done any sprint-specific training yet this year so I guess I shouldn't expect to win any sprints yet. It was a good race and I think we all felt really good at the finish and were happy with our results. Andy did great in his first race (we won't count his start at Sheboygan), and kept his nose at the front for part of the race and looked strong. Boy, if he wouldn't have been sick, who knows how well he'd be flying now. It's a long year though and all of us will get better and I think we'll place a few of us in the final top 5 or 10 in the Series. Well, that's all for now, keeping it short, it's dinner time! I'll update again after tomorrow's race, until next time...........

Race Pics

(click to enlarge)

Busy Week

This week will be a pretty busy one for me, lots to do around the house in addition to all the bike practice. Tonight I'm going to head home and hit the road right away after work, basically until sunset so hopefully I'll get in about 1hr45min to 2 hrs. The plan is to do a warm-up and then 55 minutes of Tempo work and then a cool down. I'd like to hit at least 2 hours so I'll be flying home after work to get out by 5:30ish. If I only get in 90 minutes or so then I'll probably ride a bit more on the trainer when I get back. After that I'll be doing some painting and cutting some molding for the house so that my wife is happy when it comes time for her sister's bridal shower at our house on the 29th. Tomorrow will be more of the same as I'll be flying home after work and then doing some SteadyState intervals for what hopefully will be another 2 hour ride. Thursday will be a regular ride at endurance pace and I might do part or most of it on the trainer as I'd like to get my lawn thatched on Thursday so that I can lay down some crabgrass preventer this weekend after Saturday's race. Obviously I can't thatch my lawn in the dark so I'll have to do that after work and then save the ride for the basement. We'll see how I feel though, if it's really nice out, I may just hit the bike outside. Friday will be a short ride as I have the race on Saturday so I'll just do a short ride with a few Power Intervals thrown in to get the legs fired up for Saturday.
Saturday I have the Brown Deer race and from the race flyer description it's a dead flat course nearly 2 miles in length and it appears that there is only one corner but it's about 120 degrees. The rest of the turns appear to be pretty soft turns through the park. Not sure how open it is so not sure if any wind would be a factor, but obviously being a flat course of nearly 2 miles in distance, there will be opportunities for some breaks to get away and stay away. I've never done this course before so not sure how it will play out, all I know is that this year the first two races have been won by breakaways which was pretty unusual last year. Seems everyone is in the mood to attack this year, especially after having watched lots of EuroPro races on Versus already. We all think we can emulate them but there are probably only a handful of guys, if that, that can solo away in the Master's 4/5s. It was pretty funny to see some guys attack at Madison this past weekend only to sit up or get brought back right away as soon as they hit the headwind. Speaking of Madison, Sunday's race will probably be a repeat of this last weekend. I'm sure quite a few people will try their hand in a break before a good one finally sticks. I'm going to make sure that no matter how it plays out that I'm there in the end. I don't want to give away too much though, so that's about it for strategy. After only 2 races I'm 2nd in the WCA standings for 30+ Masters 4/5 and I'd like to keep that placing or even better for the first few races before I decide whether to upgrade or try to win the point series. Right now I'm leaning towards upgrading by mid-season but we'll see. I like the guys I'm racing with now and I don't know that I really need to be in any hurry to get killed by the 1s and 2s in the other category. If I improve my power and climbing ability in the next month or two then I'd definitely lean towards the upgrade as those are my weaknesses right now, and I'd get killed in road races. Anyways, the weather looks good this week, should be a good week of riding, can't wait for the races this weekend. Until next time........

Hard Work Is Paying Off

Well, I finally got some results to speak of as I got 3rd in yesterday's Great Dane Velo Club Crit (which is more like a circuit race). I'm surprised a bit because I didn't feel all that great going in to Sunday as I was a little under the weather on Friday and Saturday with a sore throat, congestion, and body aches. I still did my normal pre-race rides and routine and when I woke up Sunday morning I still wasn't feeling the greatest but I was energized by the fact that I was racing again after a week off for Easter. I had an afternoon start so I skipped the normal race breakfast of pancakes and went with my more traditional breakfast of eggs, low-fat bacon, and then I also had some strawberry-cheese danish and a quadruple espresso, yes 4 shots! I was energized and feeling good when my teammate Glen and I arrived at the race course. After registering and walking the course we went back to the car and spent a bit on the trainers to warm up. I could tell my legs were feeling good and I was ready for some action. The race started as our races normally do, a fast pace with a few guys trying their hand, but basically staying together as we went around the almost 1 mile loop. About 20 minutes in to the race a small group formed and I went around about 20 guys and bridged up to the break and we had a nice small group of 5 of us working together. The first lap or so we kind of dangled about 15 seconds off the front of the pack but then we started working well together and and the pack was slowed down a bit by the efforts of my teammates. Dave Sapiro and I from Team Wheaton were in the break along with Aaron Schindler from Chiropractic Partners and then two other guys that I didn't know. We went from 15 seconds to a sizable gap of about one minute by the end of the race and it came down to a sprint between the 5 of us. I was struggling a bit up the hill on the back end of the course but easily caught back on as we rounded the downhill before the last turn in to the finish. It was a fairly long, slight uphill finish and I started my sprint a bit late as I went around one guy and then my teammate Dave but the line came too quickly and I couldn't catch the other two so I ended up 3rd, which I'm pretty happy with. Of course I always want to win, but I guess I was lucky enough to be in the break in the first place after missing it at Sheboygan 2 weeks ago. All in all it was a great race, we had a lot of Team Wheaton guys representing the Master's 4/5 with myself, Dave, Glen, Rudy, Greg, Chris, and Bob all showing up to give it a go. We have 2 races next weekend so I'm hoping that the form continues to progress and that I can give it a go in next weekend's races as well. Sunday's race will be on the same course as yesterday's race but run the opposite direction, either way, it's a course that suits me so I'm looking forward to it again. Well, time to get some work done here in the cubicle, but more to follow tonight about my plans for this week.....until next time.....

Not Feeling That Great

Well, tomorrow is another race and I have to say that I'm not feeling that great and it's somewhat disappointing after a good two weeks of training since the last race. I started to feel under the weather 2 days ago and it was not too bad yesterday but then this morning I woke up feeling like crap to put it succinctly. It's a cold though so I should have no problem racing tomorrow as it's not the flu so I don't have to worry about puking or anything during the race. It's mainly sore throat, head congestion, and body aches. I did ride yesterday and today, about 2.5 hours yesterday and only 1hr15mins today but today didn't feel all that great. I was barely out of the driveway and my HR was up to 150, and the first little rise I came upon caused my HR to go up to 175 and I wasn't even breathing or trying hard. The elevated HR obviously means that my body is working to fight off this cold, but I have to say that my rate of exertion didn't seem that high so I think I can still hammer tomorrow but it will be with a HR pegged at 190 the whole time. Oh well, still should be fun. It appears that we'll have 5 guys from the team at the race tomorrow to take it to the rest of the Masters 4/5 racers, so hopefully we can get a break going or at least get a good train going for the finishing sprint.
As far as tonight goes I'm just going to finish some work on the house, clean my bike up a bit, and then relax on the couch and probably fall asleep there well before 10:00. Oh yeah, I have to shave my legs up a bit as they are getting a bit stubbly. Well, can't wait for tomorrow's race, the weather looks great, at least there is no snow in the forecast, so that's a bonus. Until next time.....

Take 3 Ibuprofen and Call Me In The Morning

So we probably didn't get as much snow as the weathermen forecasted but it seems like a lot, maybe 6-7 inches I would guess. It's the heavy, wet stuff too so as I got home today and decided to shovel I knew that I was going to suffer tomorrow with some back pain. Last time I shoveled snow like this I was bent over for 2 days in agony. So what the heck, I figured I'd do it again. This time I took some Ibuprofen ahead of time as preventative medicine, who knows if that will help but I figured it wouldn't hurt. Hopefully all this stuff is gone by the time Sunday rolls around, I don't want to deal with the snow melting on to the course as we are racing. Not that it would be enough to make a difference as far as handling, but I just don't want to have to clean my bike again like I did after the last race.
Anyways, I did get an outside ride in yesterday before the snow came as thankfully the storm was moving way slower than they said so the only limiter on my riding was daylight. I rode down to Whitnall Park and then did an hour of loops around the course for the upcoming race and then rode home. I got in 1hr 40 minutes by the time I hit my house and figured that I'd warm up a bit by riding the trainer for another hour just to get the blood flowing through my body as my toes were frozen and my hands were pretty cold by the time I got back. When I was out on the course at Whitnall there were 3 other racers doing loops, no doubt practicing for the race as well. I basically simulated a race and did a combo of 8-9 minute intervals, hill sprints, and big gear stuff with a couple of 5 minute breaks in between a few of the efforts. All in all I was happy with how I felt and can't wait for the Whitnall race on the 28th. Tonight I am obviously getting off to a late start due to shoveling but will be on the bike in about 5 minutes and will be doing 2 hours with 55 minutes of Tempo in the last hour. I've got a movie to watch, The Good Shepard, so I'm looking forward to the ride as I heard it's a pretty good movie. Tomorrow I'll be doing just a plain ole' endurance pace ride on the trainer most likely for about 2.5 hours. Friday I've got some plans to go out with some friends and will hit the trainer for about 1 hour after work and then head out for some chow and some brew. I'm not really sure what the weekend holds yet other than the race on Sunday, basically my Saturday ride will depend on the weather. I've got a lot of work to do on the house Saturday as my sister-in-law's bridal party will be at our house on the 29th I think, so the wife is cracking the whip. Well, time to get on the bike, I'll be on it until 10:30 as it is.......until next time.........

You Have To Be Kidding!

We are supposed to get 8-10 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow, this has to be a freaking joke. It's difficult to keep the motivation up when it's 20 degrees below normal and instead of mowing my lawn I'll be shoveling my driveway.......wonder what the cost of living is in Arizona?

Happy Easter

Happy (late) Easter to everyone. It's almost 11:00 and it's definitely time for bed but can't fall asleep quite yet. It was a busy weekend and I figured I'd be tired tonight but I think all the sweets I've eaten all weekend are keeping me up, especially the cookie dough that I ate about 45 minutes ago. My weight doesn't seem like it suffered from the indulgences of Easter though as I'm still steady tonight at 178.5, about what I was on Friday morning. As I said, it was a busy weekend but I did manage to get in some rides yesterday and today but unfortunately just due to time constraints they were both done inside on the trainer. I made them difficult though with quite a few intervals, mainly PowerIntervals and Steady States. I felt good all weekend but wished I would've actually had more time in the saddle as I was only able to manage 2.5 hours both days so obviously that was way less than I had planned. I didn't count on the Easter festivities taking so much time for one, and the weather was just getting me bummed out as well. Even though it was fine for a ride today I just didn't feel like taking the time between dinners to get all bundled up to head out on a 35 degree day. I guess it just felt right to stay inside and spend more time with the family and eat as much ham and horseradish as my body could handle. Once I finished eating I did manage to get on the trainer tonight and of course I ate even more afterwards. The forecast this week is looking like crap all the way up until Sunday which is the day of my 2nd race. Thankfully the skies look like they will be clear and the temps will be below normal but a manageable 45 degrees. I'm feeling stronger this week after some really good rides so my hopes are a little higher for the next race than the 10th place I got at Sheboygan. We'll see, I'm sure everyone is stronger so there is no telling how it will play out until the racing starts. Well, that's it for now I guess, I have to be to work at 7:00 tomorrow so I suppose I better try to sleep at least. Until next time........

I Love Wisconsin

So the weather's great hey? Nothing like 30 degrees and 40 mph winds, perfect for interval training in to a headwind and then you can practically coast home with the tailwind. Unfortunately I wouldn't know because I've been riding the trainer the last two days sheltered in my basement. After work the last two days I've gone home and made dinner, cleaned up a bit around the house and then jumped on the trainer for my workouts. Tuesday I did 2.5 hours on the trainer with 55 minutes of Tempo in the last hour and I felt really good. My knee pain has all but disappeared so I can really push my workouts now at 100% without thinking constantly about the pain and being distracted from the workout. I felt really good coming out of Tuesday's workout in to yesterday's ride where I again did 2.5 hours on the trainer but this time I did 4x10min Steady State intervals. I have to say things started good for the first two intervals but the last two were more difficult. For the 3rd interval I was able to keep my heart rate up but I could tell I was losing power so I backed it off just a couple of beats. I recovered enough for the start of the 4th interval but again I felt myself losing power near the end. The key of this workout is really to keep the HR high, 92%, and I accomplished that so I'm happy about that I guess. I just need to be able to sustain that power all the way through each 10 minute interval. This is the closest workout to simulate a good race-effort breakaway so I want to be able to maintain that so I know I can do it during a race. Should take a couple of more weeks but I'll get to that point before the end of April. Tonight is a 2.75 hour ride at endurance pace, no frills, just a bit of recovery from the last two days. Tomorrow is an easy 1 hour recovery ride and then Saturday will be an intense race simulation day either on the trainer if it's snowing or somewhere around Lake Geneva or Alpine. We do have an Easter get-together to go to on Saturday but not sure what time yet, I'll have to work riding around that, so hopefully I'll have the time to get in a few hours. Well, that's it for now, can't wait for another week of racing, just training on the weekends isn't nearly as fun. Until next time.......

Back To The Trainer

Well it looks like this week is going to be another week back on the trainer unless the weather drastically improves. Today wasn't bad but it was a rest day on the bike for me so I got up on the roof with the leaf blower and cleaned out my gutters ahead of the rain that is coming. After that I had some dinner and watched a bit of TV and relaxed. I'm hitting the rack a bit earlier tonight to get some much needed rest, I've been up early the last 3 days in a row and it's starting to wear on me. As far as training goes I've got some Tempo work scheduled for tomorrow, basically a standard ride on the trainer assuming it's going to rain. I've got 2.75 hours total scheduled with 55 minutes of Tempo in the last hour and then a cooldown. Wednesday will be some weight work right after work and then I'll come home and hit the trainer for 2.5 hours with 4x10 min Steady State intervals. Thursday will just be a regular endurance pace ride of 2.75 hours after work and then Friday is just a 1 hour recovery pace ride. It will be good to get in my two hard rides early in the week then do two good recovery type rides as I'd like to make Saturday a really hard ride if the weather cooperates. Depending on what the wife has planned for our Easter weekend I'd like to get out in the afternoon after the temps warm up and do about 4.5 to 5 hours around Lake Geneva or Alpine Valley. Depending on how much time I have I might drive out to either Burlington or Lake Geneva for my start point so that I can spend more time doing the hills in the area before heading back. If I have to start in New Berlin I'll only be able to do one loop of Alpine before heading back because that is a 90 mile ride out and back and that's about my limit right now for an intense ride. Sunday we have Easter plans in the morning right away and then in the late afternoon again so I will definitely squeeze in 3 hours and probably even 4 hours in the late morning/early afternoon. The plan on Sunday is to ride to Delafield and back as of right now. Well, that's it for the week, it will be a good mix of intensity Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday and some more relaxed rides Thursday, Friday and Sunday. I'll keep you posted on the progress, until next time......

Disappointing First Race

I came in to today's race expecting to do quite well, top 5 or better based on how my fitness was coming along the last 2 weeks. I was feeling good all week and I could tell as I warmed up that my legs were feeling good and I was ready to race hard. The rain held out for our race and the course was dry for the most part although the roads were a bit narrow but not too treacherous I guess. The race started and my mistake right at the start line might have cost me the race but who knows if it would've made a difference. I kicked my right pedal as I tried to put my foot in and it started to spin so I tried to stop it to get my foot in and had trouble getting it top-side up to kick in. By the time I got my foot in the pack was already rounding the first turn and I could see 3 guys off the front. That was the race. First lap, first turn and they stayed away the whole rest of the race. I didn't think much of it as I frantically went to the front going down the backside of the course on the first lap. I thought for sure we would chase them down and I wasn't too worried that the race had gone away from me. I can't help but think that if I had my foot clipped in right away that I would've been at the front where I lined up and that I would've gone with the attack. Who knows, maybe I still would've played it safe and waited for the break to get reeled in, I can't really say now looking back. It was a mistake though and it won't happen again. I took as many pulls at the front as I could and it didn't seem that more than one or two other guys wanted too, or could, do any of the work. Later on my wife said that it seemed that I was towing the pack around the course almost the entire race and that the rest of them were out for a joy ride. Mike from LAPT and a couple of other guys from team I hadn't seen before seemed to be the only ones interested in making it a race instead of a training ride. I wish now that I would've just left the group and tried to go it on my own or just attacked them in the last lap or two but I was just so mad at that point that nobody else was doing anything that my mind was a little clouded. In bike racing you hedge your bets during the race, you have a split second to decide to go with an attack or let it go and if you make the wrong choice your race is over. I put my odds against the break and lost so that's racing I guess. Anyways, I ended up in 10th place in the sprint up the hill to the finish, better than my first race last year so it's an improvement anyways. I've got two weeks now until the next race and I'm really excited to get back out there and this time there won't be a breakaway that stays away in the first part of the race, I'll make sure of that. Well, tomorrow I'll write more about what I've got scheduled for training this week but for now here are a couple of pictures of the race today.

Finally!

Well, tomorrow is finally the first race of the year, and in spite of the weather I'll be heading up to Sheboygan and I'm definitely ready to race. I've had a decent week of training, I'm feeling light on the pedals, and I'm ready to put the hurt on some other riders. I've heard the course has some pretty narrow roads and it's hard to pass during the race so I'm going to start myself up front and hopefully stay there the whole time. I'm sure that a lot of guys will be there as it's the first WCA race of the year so the course will be pretty congested. As long as I don't go down I'd be happy, but I'd be happier staying upright and taking a win so I'm going to give it all I've got. I'm sure everyone else has done their due diligence for training so it will be tough but I'm confident in what I've done as well and can't wait to see how I stack up. If I don't end up doing well then I'll know I've got some work to do and I've got two weeks to make something happen before the next race. Well, not much to say now, I've got to do some stretching tonight, get the bike cleaned up a bit and get all my clothes ready. See most of you tomorrow, good luck!

Some Pics

Great night on the trainer....2 hours with 4x10min Steady States. No problem keeping at 92% for 10minutes and recovery was super quick. I went from 173bpm to 118-120 in about 30 seconds after each interval, which means everything is firing as it should. If I was overtrained my HR wouldn't recover as fast or even get that high. If I was undertrained I wouldn't be able to do the whole 4 x 10minutes, so I know I'm feeling good. Here are some pics of the new bike...CAAD 8 with all Campy Record Carbon and Easton Carbon components. Campy Eurus wheels. Also, some pics of the new team kit.

Now I'm Ready To Race

Well, after a few days of recovery on Sunday and Monday I was ready to pick up the pace again today and I actually felt really good considering I felt like crap on Saturday. I did an easy 50 minute ride with my wife on Sunday and then an easy 45 minutes on Monday just around the neighborhood. I think I summed up both rides when I told my wife that I was just being a "bike rider" and not a "bike racer" when I went out to ride. I enjoyed just taking the time to go slow and ride, sometimes I forget to do that and it's nice to slow it down every once and a while and remember what it's like to just ride your bike without worrying about HR or intervals. So that leads me to today when I WAS worrying about those things as I kicked it up and stopped being a rider and started being a racer again. I did 2 hours on the trainer after dinner tonight with the last 50 minutes being a Tempo workout, along with a 5 minute cooldown after that. I had no problem keeping my HR at 162-165 for 50 minutes, I was sweating like crazy in the basement but my breathing was steady and I was pedaling on air. Tomorrow I'll do 2.5 hours on the trainer with 4 x 10min Steady State intervals as I'm assuming the forecast will be correct and it will be raining. Thursday may possibly be an outside ride as the forecast is a little iffy and if so I'll do about 90 minutes outside before it gets dark and then another 60 minutes inside. Friday will be an easy 60 minute ride and then Saturday is our team presentation. We will do the photo shoot and then go on a 90-120 minute ride and I'll be doing some Power Intervals to get the legs revved up and I'm sure we'll do a couple of sprints for fun. After that we'll be grilling out and talking race strategy ahead of Sunday's race. Well, that's enough for now, I have to be up at 4:00a.m. and at work by 5:00 so it's time to hit the hay. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the new bike and our new team kit, until next time.....

Feeling Sore....But In A Good Way

Well, since I got back from Blue Mounds I've been doing quite a bit of biking but not nearly as much as I initially thought I would do while on vacation. I did get in 22 hours on the bike this week and for the most part the hours were equally split between difficult rides and recovery rides. I did my long rides in Blue Mounds and every hour of those rides were in the difficult category as I was going uphill it seemed like most of the time. 30 seconds downhill.....then anywhere from 5-10 minutes uphill....repeat. Wednesday I did a 2 hour recovery ride on the trainer and Thursday was 3.25 hours on the road at an endurance pace for the most part. Friday was a 4 hour ride out to Delafield and back and that was endurance pace as well. Yesterday was my first Drop the Doc ride of the year and for the most part it was a miserable ride as it was foggy, raining, and I also blew 2 tubes on the way to the ride from Andy's house. The actual riding part was good though as the pace was pretty fast and I didn't have any problem hanging in there, although I could tell that the wet weather and lack of stretching was affecting my left knee and hip as they seemed really tight the whole ride. The ride total for yesterday was a little over 3 hours including the ride from Andy's house and the Doc ride. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a ride today, we have some family commitments today, mainly running around dropping off cookie dough for my son's fundraiser so depending on the weather when I get back I'll decide on my ride then. If it's nice I'll do a longer recovery ride but not before I clean my bike as it's a complete mess from yesterday's ride. My chain is dry and I got mud and worms caked on every other moving part I think.
This week it's back to work, so it's back to riding for 75-90 minutes outside right after work and then finishing on the trainer once it gets dark. March 31st is our team photo shoot and get-together and then the first WCA race of the year is Sunday, the 1st. Can't wait! Now let's hope it doesn't snow or anything. Well, more updates to come this week, until next time........

Could Be Better

I spent the last couple of days in Dodgeville doing some rides around the Dodgeville and Blue Mounds area getting my ass kicked by some nice long and steep hills. I did a fair amount of mileage, 81 miles on Monday and 63 on Tuesday and I didn't exactly feel that great either day. Monday was a long 5.25 hours and the ride ended with me cold, tired, and bonking after doing some good climbing, with the most daunting climb being the one up to the tower at Blue Mounds State Park. I felt pretty good to start with and then as the climbs began to take their toll along with the 25mph winds I started to slow down quite a bit. I'm still heavier than I want to be and I could tell that my extra weight was not helping me get up hills any faster, I still don't think I'm any faster up the hills than last year either. After I got back to my car at Governor Dodge State Park I loaded up on a carbo recovery drink, changed clothes and headed to my hotel to shower and change. After that I ate a fair amount of food from Pizza Hut and sat in the hot tub at the hotel to help with my recovery. I was asleep by 9:45 and woke on Tuesday to ride with Dave on a route that would again take us back to the big climb up to the tower at Blue Mounds. I could tell when I woke up Tuesday that I was still sore and tired from Monday's ride, and I knew it was going to be a slow day for me. As the ride progressed I could tell that in spite of everything I did to recover I was going to struggle big time up the climbs. Sure enough I was dying after the first few climbs and had nothing in my legs to get up them at faster than 6-7 mph. Dave was doing really well and in spite of the 10lbs extra that he has on me he was able to put me to shame on the climbs. I know that I have a lot of work to do to get back in to my old climbing shape but I felt pretty pathetic on these 2 rides. I guess that is what I went for, to improve my climbing, and if anything I think I will reap the benefits of struggling for these 2 days later down the road. It can only help me to do these types of rides and I really can't wait to do it again once my fitness is a little bit better. I did have the new CannonDale with me and it felt really good, the bike certainly wasn't holding me back as this bike is equipped for speed. It has all carbon Campy Record components and Easton carbon bars, stem and seatpost. The one thing I really liked was the Easton flat-top handlebars, they feel great on the hands when climbing and they were great on the few flat roads when I was able to rest my forearms on the flat tops. I would recommend these bars to anyone, they are a big upgrade over the normal round top bars.
So anyways, the training will go on today with a 2 hours recovery ride on the trainer today as it's pretty wet outside and then tomorrow will be another ride of about 3.5 - 4 hours depending on the weather, which right now calls for 49 degrees and 20-30mph winds. It will be tough to fight the wind so we'll see how much I can handle. Friday is supposed to be 54 and partly cloudy so I'm looking at doing about 5-5.5 hours on Friday hopefully with less wind and then Saturday I'll be doing the first Drop the Doc ride of the year in the morning. I have some family obligations from 2:00 until 5:00 on Saturday afternoon so I may be able to squeeze some more riding in after the Doc ride but we'll see. If I can't get in another ride before then I will ride the trainer some more at night after the family stuff. Sunday is calling for a 40% chance of showers with a high of 59 degrees so if the rain holds off I'll be doing another 4.5 to 5 hours. Well, that's it for now, I'll definitely update in the next couple of days, until next time.......

Off To Dodgeville

Tomorrow morning I am off to Dodgeville bright and early with the intentions of starting my ride off at Governor Dodge State Park at approximately 9:30. I'll be doing anywhere from 4.75 to 5.25 hours and right now the weather looks pretty decent, about 46 degrees with clouds in the morning giving way to sun in the afternoon. After the ride I'll eat a big dinner, relax in the hot tub and watch some basketball. After an early night most likely I'll be up Tuesday morning and hopefully ready to be off on the bike by 10:30ish. I'll be doing about 5 to 5.5 hours and then basically will repeat the same activities of eating, sitting in the hot tub and watching some TV. If the rain holds off for Wednesday it will probably be about a 4.5 to 4.75 hour ride but with more climbing as I'm hoping to do the Blue Mounds climb multiple times. I'll be heading back home after Wednesday's ride (or Tuesday if rain is definite for Wed.) and then Thursday will be a nice rest day. I'm really looking forward to hitting some new roads and doing some climbing this week as I need to get better at lugging my overweight (178lbs) butt up hills before the race season gets in to full swing.
As far as training went this weekend, I got in 4 hours yesterday and felt really good but didn't really try to push it as I was resting up for the remainder of this week. Today I was in Chicago with my family and my parents the whole day and will be hopping on the bike within the hour to just do an easy 2 hours on the trainer. After that it I'll be finishing off the remainder of my packing for the little trip and then it will be off to bed. I'm looking forward to lots of riding the next few days, and more importantly I won't be thinking about work so that will help relieve a lot of stress. Until next time........

Finally...An Update

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, life has been a little frenetic. Well, I've been sticking to the program for the most part, but I've had some re-occurrences of knee pain so I'm a little peeved about that. I thought all was well but after I got back from Florida I think the lack of stretching and riding caught up to me. I jumped on the bike Sunday after not keeping up with my stretching routine the whole time I was gone and I think that affected my knee and hips. I did ride Monday but skipped Tuesday as I fiddled with my position again. I rode again last night for 2 hours on the trainer and felt a little better as I rode pretty easy. Tonight I'll be doing medium duty work with weights and then will ride for 2.75 hours on the trainer. Tomorrow I'll do another 2 hours on the trainer and then Saturday I'll be doing 4-4.25 hours. I have to be in Germantown Saturday for my son's school activity so I'm going to ride from Germantown to New Berlin after it's over and my wife will drive the car home. I picked a route that goes from Germantown over to Holy Hill and then south to Pewaukee, over to Mukwanogo and then up to New Berlin, it's about 76 miles. Sunday I have to go to Chicago with the family for something at the Science and Industry Museum that we bought tickets for a while ago. I'll ride for about 1.5 hours in the morning before we go and then 2 hours after we get back.
Next week I'm on vacation from work and was hoping to have good weather so I could ride quite a bit, but it looks like we are going to get some rain and thunder storms. Monday and Tuesday look o.k., with temps in the low 40s and only a slight chance of rain on Tuesday. I'll be staying overnight in Dodgeville and will ride for at least those two days around the Blue Mounds area and if the rain holds off I will stay overnight Tuesday as well and ride there on Wednesday. After what will hopefully be 3 good days of riding I will only ride for about 1.5 to 2 hours on Thursday as I'll use that as a recovery day and I also have appointments at with my doctor for an adjustment and then I'm going to the Bike Doctor for a fitting in the afternoon. I'll also probably get a massage after the fitting as well. Friday if the rain holds off I've got a ride planned from New Berlin to Whitewater and back, exactly 100 miles. We'll see what the weather holds for the following weekend but after my hundred miler on Friday I'm only going to do about 2 hours on Saturday. Sunday will be another 5 hour ride from New Berlin to Alpine Valley and back.
Well, things aren't going exactly as planned and I don't feel nearly ready enough to race on the 1st, but I just have to keep riding and hope that everything falls in to place. All I have to say is I can't wait for the nice dry weather of summer, March weather is usually not a lot of fun to ride in......until next time...........

Playing Catch-Up

Well, I'm back from Florida, it was good to be in the warm weather but now I have lots of catching up to do. I had a hell of a day at work as I had to go through all of my voice mails and e-mails and return calls and update all of my projects. At home, I'm making sure all the bills are paid and reading my Sunday paper still and going through all the regular mail. As far as the bike, I got a few new parts while I was gone so I have to throw those on the new bike. I did get a chance to ride yesterday but not as long as I had hoped because our flight was delayed getting back. I only had time to ride for 2.5 hours before sunset but it was a good ride although I could tell I'd been off the bike for a few days. I suffered on a couple of hills but I pushed the pace the entire way, as evidenced by my average heart rate of 165 for the ride. I was cooked afterwards but it felt good to finally be outside again, hopefully the weather keeps up. Tonight I got out after work for about 1hr 15minutes before it got dark, thankfully I brought my light with me to light the way for the last 5-10 minutes as darkness crept in before I knew it. It was an easy ride and normally today is a rest day but I figured it was nice outside so why not enjoy it. Well, I still have some phone calls to make, and some laundry to do. I'll get back in to the swing of things as the week progresses, so you'll be seeing some regular updates this week. Until next time............

In Florida

I'm in Florida on business so not much to say other than it's warm down here, about 80 degrees. We had a long day yesterday so I didn't get in a walk or any other physical activity. Our Suites have a b-ball court but no fitness center, hope to play basketball after work today for a decent workout. I've avoided the beer so far, only one Jameson on the rocks last night, that's it. I ate a healthy dinner but then failed on dessert, strike 1 was a piece of caramel cheesecake. So I'm not feeling too bad, I'll try to make it to Sunday without getting 3 strikes, we'll see. It's hard not to eat something when it's free, especially something as good as cheesecake. Until next time......

Nice Weekend.....

.....Well, kind of. I didn't ride outside yesterday, stuck to hitting the trainer down in the basement because, for one, it was a little bit windy and the temps weren't all that great, and secondly the wife wanted me to do some cleaning around the house during the day. We had some running around to do as well so it was just easier to hit the bike in the evening. As I mentioned yesterday morning I planned on doing another 3hrs30min last night and I did just that, and unfortunately I couldn't start until 7:00 so I finished at 10:30, which made for some difficulty falling asleep as I was wide awake after my ride. I will be doing another trainer ride tonight after work, only 3 hours though just due to time constraints as I have to have some time to get ready to leave for Florida on Wednesday. Tomorrow will be 3.5 hours total but it will be one in the morning and 2.5 at night. So when I leave for Florida on Wednesday I won't feel too bad about not being able to ride while I'm down there as I'll have done 13.5 hours in the 4 days prior to leaving, not too shabby. Well, other than that, my weight was down to 176.5 as of this morning, that's the lowest I've been since about 1997 so I'm feeling pretty good about that. Now that I have virtually no arm muscle pretty much anyone could beat me up, but I'll just kick them if it comes to that.
Lastly, the powers that be are meeting today to determine if cycling in the Professional ranks will continue as we know it because no one can play nice and they all want to take their ball with them when they leave. I mean, c'mon, is it really worth ruining the racing season to prove a point? Maybe it is but I think the one thing that the UCI and the race organizers are completely overlooking is the solidarity of the riders. When push comes to shove it's ultimately the riders who will decide what's best for themselves, not the UCI or the ASO. Let's hope that they get this squared away so that we don't have to watch Paris-Nice or Le Tour with watered down French Continental teams.......until next time........

Is It Spring Yet?

Right now it's 17 degrees and fairly windy so I'm hoping that it warms up a bit so I can get outside today but we'll see. The roads still aren't the greatest but I've got my cyclo-cross bike so I'm not worried about getting my bike dirty, just more worried about the drivers that won't give me room because there are no shoulders on the road at all due to the snow. I'll give it an hour or so and then decide whether or not to hit the trainer again today or bundle up and go outside. Anyways, yesterday was a good day, on the trainer of course, with a ride of 3hrs 35min with 45 minutes of Tempo in the last hour. Everything felt really good yesterday, a rarity of late, and I'm ready to put my knee troubles behind me now I think. Today I'm going to do another 3 hour 30 minute ride if I hit the trainer otherwise I'm hoping for about the same if not a little less on the road. I'd be satisfied doing 2.5 on the road and another hour on the trainer if the temps decide to go up. It's 4 weeks from today until the first race, I want to be ready but I'm not going to push it to try to be 100% for the first race of April. Right now I'm planning my peak for July, basically for the same reason everyone else peaks in July, Superweek number one, and also for the State Crit and State TT Championships.
This week is going to be a crappy training week as I'll be in Florida for work from Wednesday until Sunday and I'm staying in a suite complex that doesn't have a fitness center so I can't even ride an exercise bike. Even if I were to rent a bike, there is no where I can ride in the area that we will be in, it's all interstate and 4-lane roads. I'll ride today though for 3hrs30min, tomorrow for at least 3hrs, which is normally a rest day, and then Tuesday I have my son's Court of Honor for Boy Scouts so I'll do an hour in the morning before work and then 2.5hrs at night afterwards. Sunday I will be back home at about 2:00 so luckily it's also the first day of Daylight Savings Time so I'll have plenty of time to ride outside. Well, that's it for now, time to go check the temps and maybe hit the road. Until next time.....

Still Feeling Good

I rode again last night and my hips and knees felt really good but a minor inconvenience came up with sitting on my seat as a result of the change. Since I am now sitting straight or balanced on my saddle I am now sitting on both sit bones, whereas before I was leaning left to reach with my left leg since there was a discrepancy. Now that I am sitting straight I am sitting on my right side as well, which it appears I'm not used to as it is a little sore today. It seems that my right sit bones haven't touched the saddle in at least a year as evidenced by the soreness today and also the obvious leftward lean of my saddle. So now I just have to get my right side used to sitting on a seat again, which I don't mind doing since everything else doesn't hurt at least. I ordered a new seat yesterday that doesn't lean left so I won't have to keep scooting myself over as I gradually slide left while I'm riding. Anyways, I rode for 2.5 hours last night on the trainer of which 30 minutes was Tempo work and I felt great. I had no problem keeping my heart rate up and most importantly I had no knee problems with the bigger gears. Tonight the wife and I have to head to the tax guy to get our taxes done so the riding time will be limited unfortunately. We have to head to Lake Geneva to get them done (it's free so it's worth it) so I'll only be able to do about 90 minutes by the time we get back. I'll probably do one of my CTS DVDs though to make up the lack of quantity with quality. Tomorrow will be an easy 1.5 hours and then Saturday looks to be an inside ride due to the weather so I'll be doing 3.5 hours on the trainer. Sunday is still looking good with temps right around 30-32 with partly cloudy skies. The plan is to ride from New Berlin to Burlington to my parents house and then to Alpine Valley and back home. Should be 85 miles and about 5 hours including a quick pit stop at my mom's house to say hello. I've got my fingers crossed that the weather holds out. It appears that the weather will be getting better next week so hopefully that bodes well for the long term outlook for riding.

Other than that, not much going on, just bidding on a few parts for the new bike, counting the days until the first race one month from today, and waiting for that warm weather to get out on some long rides on the road. Until next time.....

My new straight saddle! My bike is silver, my team kit is red, should look good....

Problem Solved?

I went to see the doctor (also licensed chiro) today about my knee and turns out I had a completely twisted hip that was pulling my left leg up and back causing an on-the-bike leg length discrepancy of 1/2 inch. I got adjusted and that took care of the leg length issue and straighted out my hips. What was happening was that my left hip was being pulled back and up so the top of my left leg was being pointed outward from the hip to the knee. In my pedaling motion I was trying to keep my foot straight so the bottom of my leg from knee to foot was pointing in. Obviously when part of your leg is going one way and the other part is going the other way there is going to be an issue. Basically my leg was being twisted by my asymmetrical hips. So with that supposedly being solved as I walked out of the doctor's office this afternoon I couldn't wait to get on the bike tonight. I took out the wedges that I had built up under the left cleat to compensate for my short left leg and started to ride away. I rode for 2hrs 45 minutes and was virtually pain free, it was really great to finally be able to ride the bike again without constantly thinking about the knee pain. Now I have to see how long this will last, the doctor said the adjustment should be permanent but I may have to go back eventually. He said it may have been caused by any sort of trauma or just the way I've been sitting in a cubicle for the last 10 years. I did have a good crash last year on the bike, slipped on some ice this winter, but that's about it for trauma so not sure quite what did it. I'm happy either way for right now. Well, I'm keeping it short, gotta get some sleep. Until next time.......

Still Feeling Good

So after Saturday night's ride I put some FlexAll cream on the knee and took a couple of ibuprofen and everything felt great when I woke up on Sunday morning and I was ready to ride again. I did some errands and cleaned up a bit around the house and then got on the bike in the evening after dinner. I stretched quite a bit and then jumped on the trainer for 3 hours, a little less than I wanted to do but it was already pretty late by the time I finished so I wasn't disappointed to skip the last 30 minutes. I put some more FlexAll on the knee and again took some more ibuprofen and all was good. I kept a fairly high cadence again and kept the gearing pretty easy so I didn't really stress the knees too much at all. I feel really good this morning and can't wait to test out the knees again tomorrow as today is a rest day on the bike. I will still be doing some stretching and light weight work tonight in the fitness center concentrating mainly on stretching out the hamstrings and doing some weight work with the hips and I'll also be doing some ab work. The rest of the week will be spent on the trainer as we got dumped on this weekend with about 10 inches of snow so the trainer schedule looks like this: Tues. - 2.5hrs, Wed. - 2hrs, Thurs. - 2.5hrs, Frid. - 1hr, and then I'll decide what the weekend holds after I get a better idea of what the weather is going to do. I'll also be doing weights on Wednesday and Friday in addition to tonight's workout.
Other than that the racing season is coming up pretty quickly, only a month from Thursday will be the first race and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not really worried too much about how the first race is going to play out, everybody will probably be in about the same form and I'm sure most of us will just use it to see where we are at compared to everyone else. Considering that the first race is only a month away I'm disappointed that I still haven't been able to get on my new bike yet but I still have a couple things left to buy before I can put it together. I'm going to need a new rear derailleur and also brakes for the new rig so I have to start looking on eBay to find them otherwise I'll have to go to Ben's Cycle to order some if nothing pops up. I can't wait to get the new bike on the road, it would be nice to ride it at least a couple of times before the first race! Well, that's it for now, until next time......

Getting It Done

Well, I've been away for a couple of days but it was a good break to actually get things done around the house and to re-assess some of my program. The last few days have been pretty busy and yesterday was actually a really good day for me as I accomplished a lot on the house and also managed to get in a long ride. Since Wednesday evening I've managed to clear up some of the nagging things around the house and still stick to my program for the most part. There are still quite a few things to do around the house but those will get done over time and I'm willing to put some of the things off for a while just so I have a good balance of house time and biking. Just to give a history, we bought our house in New Berlin two years ago this month and although it's a very nice house at a bit over $200,000 we still needed to put a lot of work in to it because the previous owners neglected quite a few things and did a half-ass job on the few things that they did upgrade. So I've been re-doing the kitchen for a while now and will basically re-do the family room, living room, bedrooms and the garage. Obviously I'm not going to re-build all those rooms but basically upgrade the carpeting with slate or better carpeting, re-paint the walls, add more insulation, re-do the baseboard molding....those kinds of things. We've already put in all new windows in every room, and new exterior doors and storm doors. So as you can see, it's a lot of work and that's the reason I've been stressing out a bit. We'll be here a while though so I've decided not too worry too much about it any more.
Anyways, in spite of all that I've managed to get some weight work done and get in some bike practice. Thursday evening I went to the fitness center after work and did a lot of stretching for my knees and hamstrings and did high rep/low weight sets on the weight machines. After I got home I rode on the trainer in an easy gear for 1 hour 45 minutes at an easy pace just to take it easy on the knees. Friday evening I did the same stretching and weight work routine and then went out to dinner with some friends. Yesterday wasn't really a good day to ride outside so I hit the trainer in the evening for a 3 hour 30 minute ride. Yeah I know, so much for taking it easy right? Well I actually rode an easy gear again just to keep the knees feeling good and really had no problems at all. The point of the ride was just to get some good hours in the saddle and I did just that so I'm happy. Today I'm planning the same thing, 3.5 hours on the trainer this evening after a trip to Home Depot to get some supplies. I'll take it easy again and hopefully have another relatively pain-free ride. Tomorrow is a rest day on the bike but I will do my stretching and weights again and then will hit the bike again Tuesday. Well, in spite of the weather, my motivation is still right up there, I just have to maybe take it easy with the big gears for a week or two and then I'll get back in to the heavier workouts. I'm going to the doc on Tuesday to have some structural stuff checked like leg-length discrepancy and pelvis asymmetry so maybe he'll find something.
I've got to get going here pretty quickly though, my other teamates are putting me to shame with a nice 80mile + ride this past week out by Alpine Valley and Lake Geneva. Look out for Team Wheaton this year! Well, time to brave this snow and get to Home Depot, until next time........

Is It Worth It?

Sometimes I don't think that all the money, pain, and time I invest in cycling is worth it, not when it seems like it creates strains in other areas of my life. Right now I'm at a point where I'd almost just rather quit than to try and juggle all the time and needs of cycling around my family life. I also have really bad knees, especially the left one, that give me constant pain that is becoming more difficult to deal with and I'm not sure I want to deal with that anymore. I have been really motivated to ride this year and really want to race but a lot of other things aren't getting done because of the time I have to, or want to spend riding. My wife is in nursing school right now and between working part time, classes, studying, and clinicals which start in two weeks, she is really not available to help out as much as she used to. I have to take up a lot of the slack at home and taking our son to his activities and making dinner and all that good stuff. It's difficult to take care of that stuff and then have to ride at 8:00 at night until 10:00 or 10:30 and then get to bed at a reasonable time.
Basically it's just a matter of not enough hours in the day and the fact that I've made cycling a priority and neglected other things. I'm sure I can fix the knee issue eventually so I'm not too worried about that, although last night was difficult to ride. I did manage 2 hours on the trainer but my left knee was hurting pretty bad, I rode just to spite the pain, and was pretty much pissed off the whole time I rode because I can't get rid of it. It's all starting to wear on me a bit and I've got some decisions to make. I'm not sure I'm going to bike the rest of the week, I just need to catch up on a few things around the house, maybe I'll re-evaluate things next week and see where to go from there. Until next time.............

The Blah's of Winter

It's February in Wisconsin and that means the weather can be crappy or it could be good enough to ride, and in most cases it is both in a single day. Well, this week it appears that it will be nice through Thursday with temps of 38 and 39 degrees for Wednesday and Thursday and sun both days. That doesn't help me at all as I'm confined to a cubicle those days and of course when the weekend comes it is going to be crappy....at least that's what they are saying now. It appears the weather is going to take a turn for the worst on Friday and be a snow/rain mix from Friday until next Wednesday. I really wanted to get to Devil's Lake this weekend but I think now I'm going to tentatively plan to stick around here instead and hope that the weather breaks at some point on Saturday long enough to ride for 4 or 5 hours. I'm not willing to drive 3 hours round trip just to get in some big hills when it could be raining the whole time. If need be, I'll just have to hit the trainer Saturday and then do some work around the house. We'll see what happens though, the weather here changes every other day, I might get lucky, but I think either way I'm sticking around here now.
Anyways, yesterday was a good day of training and it was the last day of my regeneration week and I'm feeling good and ready to rock for the next 3 weeks with some heavy riding. Yesterday I went to CrankDaddy's Bike Shop to ride the Computrainers with my friend Dave and once I stopped being pissed about all the freeway construction we actually had a pretty good ride. Rode for about 90 minutes there and then I came home and rode for about another 40 minutes on the trainer at night just to clean out the legs. We picked a course on the Computrainer with a good size hill and I tried to go up it at a fairly quick pace and the cooldown after that wasn't the greatest. I figured I'd ride a little extra at night just to get the blood flowing and clean out the junk in the legs. They feel great today so it was probably a good idea. Tonight is weights and I'll be upping my weight I think another 10lbs and will still stick to my 4 sets at 7-9 reps. Tomorrow is 2.5 hours on the trainer, Wed. is 2 hours, Thurs. is 2.25 hours, and Friday is a 1 hour recovery ride. Like I said earlier, I'm hoping to do 4.5 to 5 hours on Saturday and 3.5 to 3.75 hours on Sunday.
So on another note, how about that Tour of California prologue yesterday? Pretty cool how Jason Donald almost stuck it to the big boys, it looks like Levi is in great shape though and will be tough to beat. I think the deciding stage will be the TT, maybe one of the true TT guys like Zabriskie or Cancellara will come to the front, should be fun to see.
Basically the next week will be watching the ToC, riding the bike and working on the house. The last few weekends I haven't done as much as I should be in getting my kitchen complete. All the big stuff is done, it's the little stuff that I've been neglecting like finishing the molding, the backsplash, and finishing up some electrical stuff. I've either been busy or just too tired after work, but I really need to get it done before Spring as once the weather gets better I'll be outside biking all the time!
Until next time..........

Not Much Going On......

It's been a pretty slow week for the most part as it's been a regeneration week and my riding has been on schedule but of course the volume has been pretty low. I'm feeling pretty good overall but have had some fit issues again on the bike, not sure what is going on again but I'm having a bit of pain in my left knee and don't really feel balanced on the bike. I'm going to see a structural specialist next week to get my back cracked and have my symmetry checked and all that good stuff. I know I have a leg length discrepancy and I have some hip drop so I hope to get those remedied.
As far as riding goes I did 2.5 hours on the trainer today while watching The Departed, which was a really good movie so it was easy to ride and it made the time go by quickly. Tomorrow I'll be doing 2 hours on the Computrainer at CrankDaddys and then Monday is a rest day. I'm starting 3 weeks of a good training block on Tuesday and then I'll get a break when I go to Florida for work the week of the 7th I believe. Well, it's time to go to bed, not much going on now, it's a pretty slow time of year as I'm just riding and waiting for racing to start. Until next time.............

Not Much Going On......

It's been a pretty slow week for the most part as it's been a regeneration week and my riding has been on schedule but of course the volume has been pretty low. I'm feeling pretty good overall but have had some fit issues again on the bike, not sure what is going on again but I'm having a bit of pain in my left knee and don't really feel balanced on the bike. I'm going to see a structural specialist next week to get my back cracked and have my symmetry checked and all that good stuff. I know I have a leg length discrepancy and I have some hip drop so I hope to get those remedied.
As far as riding goes I did 2.5 hours on the trainer today while watching The Departed, which was a really good movie so it was easy to ride and it made the time go by quickly. Tomorrow I'll be doing 2 hours on the Computrainer at CrankDaddys and then Monday is a rest day. I'm starting 3 weeks of a good training block on Tuesday and then I'll get a break when I go to Florida for work the week of the 7th I believe. Well, it's time to go to bed, not much going on now, it's a pretty slow time of year as I'm just riding and waiting for racing to start. Until next time.............

Slippin' and Slidin' and Hurtin'

I'm in a bit of pain today as I slipped yesterday in my company parking lot and wrenched by back when I was trying to catch myself from falling. I did manage to stay upright but when I stiffened every muscle in an attempt to keep from landing on my ass I caused a bit of pain in my lower back. It hurts most when I'm standing so it's a good thing I sit all day at work and I get to sit to ride a bike. I was able to ride bike yesterday as scheduled and luckily I didn't have to do any secondary exercise like fast pedaling or intervals. I've had a heating pad on it all day at work today and I'm going to try to lift weights tonight but we'll see how that goes, I might quit in pretty quick order if my back starts to spasm again. I'll be riding the bike tonight as well, and shouldn't have any problem with that but I'm a bit worried about the Muscle Tension intervals I'm supposed to be doing as I use my back muscles quite a bit for those. Again, I'll ride but the MT intervals may have to wait until tomorrow night. Tomorrow I have 30 minutes of Tempo scheduled so I'll probably move that to Friday and do my intervals tomorrow, we'll see how I feel I guess.
I've been keeping an eye on the weather and Saturday is supposed to be 28 with a chance of snow, so I'm keeping an eye on that and might be able to get outside on Saturday. Sunday I'm going to be inside no matter what as I'm going with my friend Dave to CrankDaddy's to ride the Computrainers, I'm really looking forward to that as I've never done the simulator before, should be fun. Next week the weather really takes a turn for the better with temps in the mid to upper 30s so I'll be looking forward to riding outside again if I don't get out Saturday. I'm hoping to do 4-5 hours on the 24th at Devil's Lake assuming that we don't get anymore snow to mess up the roads. I've got a nice route around Devil's Lake that has 4200ft. of climbing for 65 miles with two 600ft. climbs and two 300ft. climbs which is better than anything we'll find out here. I've got to start small before I start repeats up Blue Mounds next month so Devil's Lake is a good place to start in a week or so. Well, I've got to stretch to see if I can manage lifting weights otherwise I'm heading home to eat and ride the bike. Until next time.............

Under The Weather...Riding Anyways

So I rode Saturday outside for a couple of hours and then inside for 1.5 hours on the trainer immediately afterwards and I think riding outside got to me a little bit, because I'm a little under the weather. I started feeling a little crappy Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning with a very achy body, headache, and sore throat so I decided that as much as I wanted to hit Lake Geneva it was in my best interest to medicate and go back to bed. There is no sense in riding a day in February when it's freezing outside and then missing a week because I got even more sick. I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon and was feeling a bit better Sunday night but still went to bed early because I was still pretty wiped out. I had a scheduled vacation day today from work so I slept in a bit, got up and ate some breakfast, and then went back to bed until lunchtime. I started feeling better by then for the most part as the aches went away but the sore throat remained a little bit. I decided that since I didn't have anything in my sinuses or chest I should probably make up some of yesterday's ride by hitting the trainer. I was going to just start slow and then decide how far to go based on how I felt and as I was riding I started to feel pretty good so I rode for 3 hours this afternoon. I'm still an hour short of what I was scheduled for yesterday, but at this point I don't care, it's better to just recover from whatever little ailment I had yesterday and move on. This is another regeneration week for me so it's going to be any easy week anyways which will help me get back to 100%. Tomorrow is going to be 1.5 hours on the trainer, Wednesday is only an hour, Thursday is 1.75 hours, Friday is an hour, Saturday is 2.5 and Sunday is 2. That's the general program for the week, I'll update each day's specifics as the week goes by. After this week's rest week I've got a couple of big weeks scheduled and then the week of March 5th I have an involuntary rest as I have to go to Florida for 4 and a half days for work. Well, time to go sit in the recliner and rest up a bit, until next time.............

Cold Is Not Fun....

Well, maybe it's a little fun especially when you get to use a cyclocross bike and cruise through the snow on the Root River Parkway. Today I rode outside and it was pretty cold, but not uncomfortably cold as I bundled up quite well and managed to ride for 2 hours outside before heading home to ride another 1.5 hours on the trainer. Really the only reason that I came home was that my waterbottles froze after 20 minutes and I had no water, which is obviously important in spite of the fact that I wasn't sweating too much. I went from my house down to the Root River Parkway to find a snowed over trail so luckily I had my cyclocross bike and I just kept on going. I was not sliding too much as I kept my ass planted on the seat and the knobbies did the rest biting in to the snow quite well but I have to say my upper body got beat up a bit from all the ruts made by pedestrians. I rode on the Root River Parkway over to the Botanical Gardens and did a loop around that part of Whitnall Park and then made my way through some neighborhoods and back on to the trail eventually to head home. I got back to my house after 2 hours and my bottles were frozen solid, so I grabbed a new bottle, changed clothes and jumped on the trainer for another 1.5 hours just to warm up and get in a longer ride. So today's total was 3.5 hours which was 15 minutes short of my scheduled ride time but I'm just happy to be warm. Tomorrow it is supposed to be fairly cold in the morning and warm up to like 20 by noon and then a high of 27 by 3:00. There is a chance of flurries in the morning but that shouldn't stop me from heading out to Lake Geneva where hopefully I'll do 3 laps around the lake, for about a 4 hour ride. The cold affects my knees quite a bit and the hills are the bone-grinding steep kind so if my knees hurt after 2 laps I'll do some flat miles away from the lake to save whatever I have left so that I'm not limping like a baby by the end of the ride. I'm bringing my Camelback tomorrow to avoid the whole frozen waterbottle thing, so I'll have no problem in that regards, and I'll keep a couple of bottles wrapped up in the car as well for my last lap as the CB will probably be empty after the first couple of laps. Well, that's about it, time for some sleep, hopefully to rest up for a nice ride tomorrow. Until next time..........

Blogger

So I switched to the new Blogger version, I noticed that it had this morning's post showing as Thursday, but it is from Friday. When I refer to tomorrow in the previous post it means Saturday.......just an FYI

Ride Outside?........Just Maybe

So the weather guys are saying that Sunday could possibly hit 24 degrees and that means I'm riding outside for sure. I think I'm going to have to head out to Lake Geneva and if the weather holds I'll be doing 4 hours, 3 loops around the lake, about 75 miles. At least I have that to look forward to this weekend as it appears that Saturday is only going to be about 15-17 degrees, just not warm enough to ride outside for me, but we'll see, maybe I'll drink a bottle of JD and go out anyways. I can see that by the end of next week it appears that the temps are going to go up again to the upper 20s and low 30s so I'm excited about that. So anyways, last night was not quite the night I expected for training as it was my friend Jason's birthday and he is going to be gone this weekend so last night was the only night we could celebrate. I hate to say it but I skipped training last night and went out for dinner with him and his wife and my family. I missed riding the bike but friends take priority and it's nice to take a little break every now and then to spend time with them. I had a couple good size beers last night as well with dinner so that didn't help in the weight loss area, but I'll work that off this weekend as I will be riding a lot and have a lot of work to do around the house that will help burn some calories as well.
Now that I skipped last night's training, let's move on to the stuff that I won't be skipping out on, as far as I know anyways. Tonight is weight work with my friend Dave, and then I'll be doing a fairly easy one hour spin on the rollers. Tomorrow I'll be doing 3.75 hours most likely inside but if I can manage getting out at all tomorrow I'll certainly try, like I said it's going to be cold. I might be able to suck it up for and hour and a half or two hours outside and then move inside for the remainder but we'll see. Sunday it's going to be a little better and I will most certainly be riding outside, hopefully for about 4 hours barring any change in temps. So that's about it, can't wait for the opportunity to ride outside again after a couple of weeks indoors, and if I don't get outside you might see me get a little crazy by next week. I'll update again tomorrow with a post that hopefully says I got outside for at least a little bit otherwise I'll be posting some rant about the trainer again. Until next time......

Dare I Say It?

I rode the trainer today for 2.5 hours and felt great, I actually didn't mind riding it for some reason, what the hell is happening to me?! I think it's just because we got the practically 100%, set in stone WCA calendar today, and that got me a bit motivated to know that the first race is less than 60 days away. I got home, ate, and then after about 20 minutes jumped right on the trainer, ready to ride with not even a second thought of what I was going to watch on TV. Normally I pick out a movie but tonight I just winged it and watch some different shows and actually put on some music-on-demand channels to listen to some tunes. I did a decent warmup and then rode Tempo for 40 minutes, and then did a little more riding at normal pace before cooling down. The time went really quick and I felt really good. Tomorrow was supposed to be a ride of 1.75 hours with some weights but instead a couple of us have decided to go over to a teammate's house to do some LT testing and maximum absolute power testing on a CycleOps, I'm really looking forward to that. My numbers probably won't be that great but it's just going to be good to get some solid stats to relate to what I've been doing since I don't have anything at home or on my bike to measure power (watts). We can then use those measurements to track our progress as we do some more training in the next couple of months which is obviously a little more scientific versus just saying I "think" I'm stronger or not. Depending on how long it takes I'll probably come home and ride a bit more just to clean out the legs as our efforts will be pretty difficult and I'd hate to be sore and have dead legs the next day. Thursday is 2.25 hours on the trainer at Endurance Pace, no secondary workouts. So, it's late, have to get to bed, until next time.........

My Pal Erik Bruekink

So yesterday as I sat on my trainer for the 3rd hour I thought back to a question that Adrian Karsten or John Eustice asked Erik Bruekink during the 1990 Tour De Trump, "how do you deal with the boredom of riding for so long day after day?"....Erik's response was, "what das dat meeeean, bordum?" Well, I'll tell you Erik, it means riding on a trainer in your basement for 3+ hours in front of a TV screen but you aren't moving and you sweat like crazy and there is nothing to watch on a Sunday afternoon except old DVDs that you've already seen 20-30 times. That, my friend, is boredom.
I did manage to ride 3.25 hours on the trainer yesterday and unbelievably I did not die from boredom as I though was possible in my post on Friday. So my weekend total was 6.25 hours, not quite the 7 hours I had hoped but oh well, it was all I could do to stay sane. I hear the trick to putting up with the sanity of riding inside is to get a cool CompuTrainer. Well, they cost $1500, so minus the cash I have set aside for bike stuff this year, I only need another, um, $1500. Maybe next year I could put that in the family budget.
So anyways, tonight is weight work and a rest day on the bike. I'll go home, eat a good dinner after weights and then relax for the remainder of the night. I'm looking forward to going to bed tonight for the light show that my dog puts on in the dark. He usually sleeps on the bed at our feet and when the lights are out and he moves, the static electricity creates a really cool light show and of course freaks him out a little bit. He also gets up in the morning with his hair sticking straight up, threatening to shock anything that gets near him, it's pretty fun to run away from him as he unknowingly zaps me every time he gets next to me. Yeah, it's not that exciting but when it's this dry and cold, there isn't much else to get excited about right? Until next time.......

Sweating Buckets....Inside

So it's been about as cold as they said it was going to be, right now it's -3 with a wind chill of -26 so needless to say I did not ride outside yesterday and will not be riding outside today. I had a pretty enjoyable day yesterday, I got quite a bit done around the house and rode on the trainer for 3 hours in the afternoon. It was a long 3 hours and that was about my limit for boredom as I hit 3 hours exactly and jumped right off, more than happy to be done for the day. I did a bit of Tempo work, about 40 minutes worth and the rest was basically at Endurance Pace. The rest of the evening was spent by the fireplace with a good book and a bottle of vino, I actually stayed up pretty late, until about 1:30 which is the longest I've stayed up in about 2 months. I got up a little later this morning, about 9:30, and had a nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes and a peppermint latte. I've got some logs going now in the fireplace and will start some housework shortly and then will probably ride later in the day, starting right before the Super Bowl. I'll ride during the game and will do another 3 hours today, hopefully it will be a close game and I won't think too much about the trainer. Today will be another short Tempo workout, 40 minutes again, and the rest will all be Endurance Pace.
In the next few weeks I'll be concentrating mainly on getting in some miles and doing some Tempo work and will also be increasing the weight on my lifting days starting tomorrow. The 10-day forecast looks pretty crappy with no temperatures even close to 20 degrees until at least next week Sunday, hopefully that will change as the week progresses otherwise it will be another weekend of riding inside.
On the team front, we should be getting our new team kits hopefully within the next month, which would be great especially if the weather doesn't change much. I've got a winter riding jacket and some winter bib shorts coming and they would definitely come in handy sooner than later. We are also having a team get-together on Friday, the 16th so if anyone from the team is reading this and thinking about skipping out, please go and catch up with some of the old guys and meet the new guys. This team is somewhat rare in that we haven't met as a team in any capacity since November of last year, on all my previous teams there was at least a bi-monthly meeting, if not monthly. I know it's a bit different with a team of mostly Masters racers because they all have jobs and families to attend to, but I don't think it's asking too much to meet once every, what, 3 months. When you join a team you make a commitment, and it's not like this team asks for a lot so hopefully everyone who doesn't have a previous commitment that night will show up....that's my two-cents. Well, time to get some stuff done around the house so I'm ready to ride later....until next time..............

Time To Hibernate

So the cold air mass is here that we've been hearing about all week and temps are going to dip to single digits for highs this weekend and -5 to -10 for lows overnight. Obviously for me that means that I won't be riding outside but will be staying inside all weekend. I'm trying to think if there is any reason at all to venture out of the house this weekend and I can't think of a single thing. Other than cycling I'm going to sit around in front of the TV and fireplace and just relax this weekend. I've got a book I've been wanting to read for the last few weeks and I think I'll just prop myself on the couch with the fire going and some beer and read for a few hours at a time. My wife won't mind because I'm sure she'll be right next to me studying for one of her nursing classes, and of course our needy dog will be between us as well.
Well, on to the biking stuff.....my riding has gone exactly as scheduled this week and I'm feeling great! Tuesday I did 2.25 hours on the trainer, Wednesday was weights and 1.75 hours on the trainer with 6x5min Muscle Tension intervals, Thursday was 2.25 hours on the trainer with 40 minutes of Tempo, and tonight will be weights and a 1 hour recovery ride. I feel great overall right now, no pains in my knees, no muscle soreness, and surprisingly I haven't been sick in a long time.....no colds, no flu, no sore throat, so I must be doing something right. Tomorrow I'll be doing 3.75 hours on the trainer (hopefully I can do that without dying of boredom) and then Sunday will be 3.25 hours on the trainer with 50 minutes of Tempo (if I'm not dead). I'm not looking forward to riding for 7 hours on the trainer this weekend but I've got plenty of movies and lots of bike races that are on the DVR, I should be good to go. Well, hope you all stay warm, until next time.....


Frodo can't wait to sit by the fireplace!!

I Love The Trainer

I'm kidding.....I hate the trainer but it appears I will be on it for at least the next two weeks straight due to work and the weather so I'm convincing myself that I love it. During the week I work until 5:00 so obviously riding outdoors won't work and this weekend the temps are only supposed to hit single digits and maybe the teens for highs. That means that I'll be riding indoors this week, this weekend, next week, and then the first chance I get to ride outdoors would be next weekend, the 10th and 11th. Hopefully the weather will be nice that weekend as I'm sure I'll have major cabin fever and will have to ride no matter what the conditions are outside. So anyways, this week will be trainer rides consisting of 2.25 hrs tonight, 1.75 hrs tomorrow with Muscle Tension intervals, 2.25 hrs on Thursday with 40 minutes of Tempo and then a 1 hr recovery ride on Friday. Saturday is supposed to be 3.75 hrs outdoors but if I have to move it indoors I'll probably lower it to 3 or 3.25 just to save some of my sanity as I'll have to do it again on Sunday, which will probably only be 3-3.25 hrs as well. I did my weight work yesterday and felt great doing that and so far today my legs are ready to go for tonight's ride. Starting tonight I'm going to try to incorporate some more stretching on a daily basis before and after my rides and also will try to do some ab work on a daily basis which I normally avoid. I'm pretty flexible but I've been doing some reading and found some cycling-specific stretches that I'd like to try out so that's why I'm going to add more stretching to my normal routine. I still have knee issues occassionally and will try out these new stretches to see if they help alleviate some of the pain. Other than that, I'm happy to report that I have not yet gotten sick from my venture out in to the snow on Saturday, I was holding out hope that I didn't kill myself too much and weaken the immune system and it seems that I'm still 100% healthy. I've been taking Zinc and drinking lots of Green Tea since then so maybe that helped. Let's see, what else..... my weight is staying steady, still at 183 as of this morning but I can tell I've defined my muscles a bit more so I'm guessing I've lost some fat but replaced the weight with a bit more muscle. I think I can still lose about 8-9 more pounds to be at racing weight for this year which I hope will be 174-175, but we'll see, I'd be happy with 177. Well, that's it for now, until next time.......

Snow Be Damned....I Rode Anyways!

So I had a choice to make today to either test my mental toughness with 3.5 hours on the trainer or test my physical toughness by heading out on a 20 degree morning that called for snow and winds of 10 to 20 mph. So what do you think I chose? Riding outside of course!! I hate the trainer, I consider it a necessary evil and today I just thought that I'd rather fight the snow and wind than the boredom of the trainer. So I got up at 6:30, ate some pancakes with Blueberries and after letting that digest for a little bit I got all my gear together. Layer by layer I put it all on until I was sweating buckets inside the house, which meant I'd be perfect outside. I put on 3 tops plus a jacket, arm warmers, tights, leg warmers, shorts, two pairs of socks with TT booties over the shoes and neoprene winter booties over those. I also took my Camelback to keep the water warm, I hate it when my water bottles turn to slush. I headed out from New Berlin towards Mukwonago and then over to Waukesha and Big Bend before finally heading home. The first and really the only body parts to freeze during the ride were my toes in spite of the 2 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of booties. My face got a bit wind-burned but it really didn't feel all that cold. I didn't see any other bikers during the ride but saw quite a few runners, hmmmm, maybe they are hardier than bikers, at least I was out there representing us. Sooo, anyways, the grand total for today's ride was 4 hours and 1 minute, yes I was crazy enough to ride for 4 hours today in this crap!! I'm really glad now that I'm home to think that I completed my 2nd 4 hour ride already this year, like I said previously my first one didn't come until July I think last year. That's why I said 4 hours and 1 minute previously, I had to make sure I went over that 4 hour mark. All in all, I have to say that the cold definitely made the ride more difficult, I could tell that it sapped my muscle strength quite a bit as my body was trying to keep itself warm. I'm happy I did it though and now I have the rest of the day to do what I want, no worries about having to ride the trainer later. Suckers! Just kidding...seriously. Anyways, I got some great pictures when I got back of my bike because of course when snow hits metal and starts to melt in these temps it freezes pretty quickly. I also sweated right through to my jacket and by the time I got back it was frozen solid in the front, I had to pull it over my head and it actually stood on it's own. Well, tomorrow might be too cold and snowy, 16 for a high and I'm sure I'll have to test my mental toughness tomorrow instead. Until next time....

Still frozen after a couple of minutes in the house

Sweat + cold = frozen jacket standing on it's own.

Want some of this?!....riding ninja style...nice windburn!

I Like Scotch...yum, yum, yum

So I've decided I'm going to start drinking heavily, starting today, like right now...at work. If Tuesday was the day from hell, well, yesterday was the day from f***ing hell! I got stuck at work yesterday until 8:00 and by the time I got home, then ate dinner it was way to late to bike and still get to bed at a reasonable time. I was supposed to do 2 hours yesterday and 1 hour today but I'll do 2.5 hours tonight on the trainer instead to make up for missing yesterday. I'm not even going to speculate now on what I'm doing tomorrow as it's supposed to be about 25 degrees and snow is supposed to start at about 2:00. I could get up early and ride before the snow starts but it will be about 15-20 degrees in the morning so that might be too cold. Most likely I'll be stuck riding the trainer for 3 hours+ but we'll see. Sunday is out for sure as the high temp is going to be 16 degrees and some snow. We got so spoiled in December that this weather is just disappointing even though it's the norm for out winters. Can you all start driving around a little more so this global warming thing speeds up a bit! Well, that's about all I have to say for now, back to work, hopefully today is a short day and I get out of here at 5:00. Until next time.........

Arctic Air Mass??

So I look at the WeatherChannel.com tonight and it says that we have a big Arctic Air Mass hovering over us, that can't be good right? It's definitely going to be cold though but nothing unusual for Wisconsin in January, 17 for a high tomorrow and 9 for low overnight, I guess that is a little cold but it's not like it's below zero or anything. Saturday is calling for a high of 24 and some sun, so I might actually get in a ride outside but I'll definitely have to pick a sheltered route, which might mean trying Lake Geneva again. As I've mentioned previously it is sheltered with lots of trees for a good windblock, so it makes for a good route on bad days. Anyways, it's only Wednesday and still a couple of days until then so I'll just wait and see.
Sooooo, after working late yesterday and riding until late last night I didn't get much rest before I was up for work again this morning and I was pretty wiped out for most of the day. I did make it through the workday though and then did my weight workout with my friend Dave and then came home for a big plate of spaghetti. After eating dinner I got a nice second wind and was raring to go on the trainer, which you'll probably never hear me say again as I hate the trainer. Anyways, I did my scheduled ride of 1.75 hours and did 6x5minute Muscle Tension Intervals and that felt really good, no pains and I felt pretty strong. Tomorrow I'll be doing 2 hours on the trainer and I'll be doing 30 minutes of Tempo work during that time as my secondary workout. Friday I'll be doing weights and just a short 1 hour recovery paced ride on the rollers. I prefer doing the recovery rides on the rollers because I'm just going at a nice easy pace and I get to actually move around a little bit and without the need to do any secondary workout I have no need for the trainer resistance. It's great for the handling skills as well, I like to do my no-hands riding and standing up on the rollers and doing things like taking my shirt off while riding or something to build the bike skills. Not that I'd have to do that during a race, but you never know......
Well, it's obviously late and unfortunately riding late and staying up too long is becoming a habit I need to break pretty quickly....hopefully starting tomorrow, until next time..............