Summer Presque Isle TT

It was a really nice day. I had stone legs. Finished 3rd. Not much else to say. It was good to see everyone out that day.

2010 PA State TT Championship

Steve M. and Henry came over today for the race.

I did my best and my best wasn't good enough.

It's hard to look at average power on a up and down course like the one at Clark's Valley because the course rarely allows you any time at one specific power before you have to change completely. Knowing this I just rode as fast as I thought I could sustain for the duration. In the end I was extremely happy to lower my PR for the course by roughly 45 seconds. Unfortunately it was only good enough for second place.

Philadelphia Amateur TT

It was a short 8 mile, flat, out and back TT. Ever so slightly up hill on the way out but with a small head wind on the way back made both ways about even. I extended my trainer warm up from 20 minutes to 30 minutes and really felt good. The weather was beautiful and a perfect day to put down a fast time.
I started out fast putting out alot of effort but I felt good. At the turn around my average power was at a new high but I was still feeling really good so thought I might just be able to hang on to the end. I was OK until about 6.5 miles and then the pain in my legs really started. The last 1.5 miles were agony and afterwords I felt like vomiting for the next hour so I knew I put out my hardest effort.
I ended up losing Cat 3 by 15 seconds. I take solice in knowing that my training is going well and I'm hoping to peak in 2 weeks. I hit a new high for average power and found that a longer warm up may benefit me. All seems to be On schedule.
As for Steve...............................He told me that he dropped his chain at the start line and then got some early cyclocross practice when he put his chain back on and got a running mount on his TT bike. As if that wasn't disappointing enough the timers lost Steve's time. After his name wasn't listed in the finish sheet he asked them about it. They told him they didn't have a time recorded for his number. Then moments later a new time for his number appeared on the finish sheet but it was far slower (15-25%) than Steve's actual time that he had recorded on his Garmin bike computer.
On a positive note 2nd place in Cat 3 was good for $50 so we got to stop to eat on the way home and I had money for the turnpike(easy come, easy go)

Also, this was my first race that I got to travel to in my new Honda Fit. It was great and super easy to load. Unfortunately once fully loaded with gear, trainers 3 people, a canopy, and 2 TT bikes on the back the gas mileage for the trip dropped from the 35mpg that I was getting to only 27mpg for the this trip:(

Carlisle TT

Mike, Steve B. and I showed up to race in Carlisle on Sunday. Mike opted for the 20k option while Steve and I went for the 40k.

Mike was trying to show us how real men race and arrived at the start line on his road bike with clip-on aerobars. He really threw down and even with his minimalist aero setup finished with a time of 30:50

Steve and I did the 40k. Steve did his first sub 1hour 40k and finished in 58:12.

I ended up with a 54:05. Not a PR by a long shot but on an imperfect day I'll take it. It was warm and really humid. Not a "fast" day but at least it wasn't cold.

Next up for Mike and I was the South Mountain hill climb. Steve had to go home to do homework and continue on with "Real Life". The hill climb is where I think I really messed up. We started out at a really comfortable pace and I was sitting 4th in line and I believe Mike was on my wheel. After the first, flat 2 miles of the race we hit the climb and as soon as we did Mike dropped his chain. He was able to sprint back on but that effort was too much and caused him to fall back from there. I was still in the front group of 5 and going at a steady and comfortable pace. We continued like this for about 20 minutes of the race until the group surged. I didn't stay with the group because I was worried that my TT effort earlier in the day might cause me to crack in spectacular fashion if I tried to match their pace. So I setteled into my own rhythm and continued on. I eventually caught one of the 4 riders who rode away from me earlier.
I think if I had pushed the pace of the original group of 5 to where I was more comfortable then they may have not been able to surge and I may have fared better. Also, I didn't realize how close to the finish we were when I decided to go into conservation mode. I think I may have been able to stay with them if I had and then who knows how a sprint might have worked out. I guess we will never know. One thing that I do know is that I messed up and missed an opportunity. Oh well, live and learn.

Spring 2010 Presque Isle TT

If a picture is worth a thousand words than this post says alot. I'll try to get some kind of race report up in the next day or two. Until then enjoy these.

NJ Rte 29 35k ITT

Sunday was a supremely nice day for a TT. It started really early (@3:45am) for the 3 hour drive to NJ. I was the driver for the first part of the trip but I had my sister, Lisa, take over the driving for the last 30 minutes so I could catch a power nap. We were at the race with plenty of time for me to spend goofing off beforehand because Steve's start time was an hour before mine. This worked out nicely because I was able to spend some time talking to Skip R. about his RR DQ from the day before.

Steve got his required looooooong warm up completed with plenty of time to spare and then commenced to crush the dreams of many of the Cat4s who showed up at the race.

I started off fast but I was able to limit my first few minutes and avoided spiking my power output to try and save something for end of the race. I ended up setting new high points for power and beat my time from last year at this event. This shows me that things are well on track for the race in Erie (at least that's what I think it means)

I ended up 1st Cat3 and 2nd Overall. I really got destroyed by the guy who one:) Oh well, better luck next time.

Dismal Dash 2010

Steve and I went to Suffolk, VA today to do the Dismal Dash 40k ITT. It was my first race with a power meter so I was looking forward to seeing if it would help or hinder me. It was an eye opening experience to say the least.
Steve went off first (on his brand new TT bike which will not have it's official unveiling until the Presque Isle TT in April). He was set to start over 1 hour ahead of me so I didn't even have to start getting ready until he took off. He was lucky to ride earlier because the conditions got worse as the day went on. He made it to the finish just as I was lining up for my start.
I started as usual trying not to go out too hard at the beginning to avoid blowing up before the finish. The Power Meter(PM) really helped here so that I limited my power output during the first few minutes of the event. There was a head wind on the way out to the turn around so my goal was to hammer the first half of the course and then try to limp home for the return trip with the wind at my back. With the help of my PM I did just that but I ended up hammering the first half just a little too hard which caused me to limp just a little too much on the return trip. I ended up having a full on asthma attack at the 35 minute mark, just after the turn around. After the asthma attack was subsiding just a bit the inside of my thighs started to get that twinge. You know the one I'm talking about, the one right on the verge of cramping. I was able to spin lightly for a few minutes and it eventually passed. I ended up wheezing the whole way through the finish line until I could get my inhaler.

Steve ended up finishing 5th in his first race as a Cat4 only two days after his upgrade and even more impressive is that he was riding a bike that he has only had since early this week.
I ended up finishing 5th overall and 2nd Cat2. Not too bad for the first race of the season. I can tell I definitely need to get some linger TT rides in outside now that we have some nice weather. I could really feel it on the return trip (the asthma and cramping problems didn't help too much either). I'm really looking forward to dissecting my performance looking at the power file later tonight.

Race for Humanity Road Race

I did my first road race of the season today (part of it anyway). It was scheduled for 68 miles but I only made it 7.5. This is the point that I wrecked while going downhill at somewhere close to 30mph. I'm kinda messed up as is my bike. Tomorrow is a planned day off the bike for a trip to Busch Gardens Tampa but I promise I'll be back riding on Monday. The good news is I was hanging in pretty well in the men's combined Pro/1/2/3 field before my crash. This is odd for me since usually during road races I attack off the back soon after the race begins. So I did manage to fine some encouragement in this mess.

AG3R Winter training camp in Florida

So I guess it's just me but that's still the name I'm gonna stick with. I got here yesterday evening and didn't do anything but go to sleep. Today was spent eating pancakes (all you can eat from IHOP), shopping for a new car (to make it easier to get me and my gear to and from races) and going for a short ride in the warm and sunny weather that Southern Florida has to offer.

Do it now!

Get on your bike and ride!

Thankful for 2009, looking forward to 2010

Cycling is a never ending pursuit. After my last round of power testing (highest power yet) I was still disappointed because I thought I could have/should have done better. This led me realize that, now more than ever, it's all about the journey and not the destination. Even though we're always dreaming of bigger and better there is so much to be thankful for right now.

2009 was a great journey:
some of the moments that stick in my mind
Tour de Latonka
52:37 40k ITT
4th place ITT in VA with food poisoning
1st place ITT in PA
Riding a 40k ITT at the oval in a torrential downpour
doing an MTB race the next day and beating Dirty Mike in an off road race for the first time ever
my best time ever in Ironcross
riding to Ohio with Steve and JohnieB for a cross race in Akron
All of the great/cold/muddy times had with team mates at cross races this fall
Winning the Tour of Lancaster TT
The list could go on, it was a great year for racing and spending time with teammates, new and old

Plans are already underway to make 2010 the best year yet and I can't wait.

Super Hottness Simpkins Aero Brakes

These brakes are supposed to save between 3-5 watts as opposed to regular brakes. I don't know if they do but they sure look cool and work well.

Training, all mixxed up

I've been trying some new things with my indoor trainer season this year. (the indoor trainer season started earlier than normal due to my shoulder injury) For the last week or so I've had a rough time completing my workouts at the prescribed wattage output. Then today after another workout in which I was unable to meet the correct power I set out to figure out why. Then I found it was a very simple problem with my math. When I was figuring out the power output for my steady state intervals I figured out my workout range 10 watts too high. Now 10 watts isn't much but it changes the workout completely. Hopefully now things can get back on track. I was just working too hard during the intervals and not allowing myself enough time to recover before the next hard set.

Rethinking winter training

I guess it's not winter yet but since I hurt my shoulder I've been advised to stay inside and ride on the trainer (and I have for the last month).
Now, if you know me and talk to me then it is inevitable that the subject of "bikes" comes up often. I often talk about bikes and about the fact that I spend alot of time riding and training. Yet it seems like even though I talk with friends often about training theory all of the time I rarely ever talk with them about specific intervals they do, when they do them and how long they rest between them. I haven't had many of these particular conversations until lately with Dirty Mike. Once I started my winter training early this year he asked me "What workouts do you do on the trainer?" I told him about the one workout I do everyday, all winter, for the last 3 seasons. Then he asked "Why? I've never heard of anyone doing anything like that."
"Because I read about it in an article about it once. I think it was in Bicycling Magazine," I said.

Then I started my quest to find out where I had read it and why I did it. I reread much of what I have read in the past and some new things. I even bought Carmichael's new book. What I found was what I had thought originally. I was essentially doing steady state intervals at lactate threshold-LT (as described in just about everything Carmichael writes) which are effective for raising LT but not much good for increasing max power. I found that even though this method of training was pretty good for increasing TT power it probably isn't ideal. So now the difficult part begins. What should I be doing instead?

2010 Specialized S-Works shoes

Long story short, I love these shoes. I had a pair of the S-works shoes a few years ago and didn't like them very much because although they were comfortable they made my feet fall asleep and I switched back to my trusty Shimano shoes fairly quickly. I think part of the reason I like these new shoes is because they are supremely comfortable like the old ones but they are more adjustable because of the 2 ratchet devices on the shoes this year. Also, these shoes are extremely light. You might say, "who cares if the shoes are light?" Well, in a world were people are willing to spend upwards of $1500 to save that much weight in a set of wheels it actually makes these shoes seem like a bargain. It's no wonder these shoes are showing up all over the pro peleton with some pros even defying their teams shoe contracts to wear them.
Pros:
1:Supremely comfortable
2:Super light weight (450 grams for the pair vs 650 grams for my old Shimano shoes)
3:Very secure ratcheting mechanism and much easier to adjust on the fly than traditional straps or Velcro. (the 2010 model features a ratchet that blows everything else out of the water)
4:These shoes look much better in person than the pictures show (much to my delight because I thought they were ugly from all of the photos I had seen)

Cons:
1:None so far:)

My Halloween Socks

I can't believe it's Halloween, I've got these socks and I'm have to work so I can't do a cyclocross race with them. This is ridiculous!

I did my T-max interval testing this afternoon and wore these socks to celebrate. Then I went to Taco Bell to get my free black taco (like trick or treating for kids of all ages)