Everyone is sick but me

Well, not really everyone just Shay and Ade. At first it seemed like they both just had a cold, but Ade's cough keeps getting worse. So far I've been spared, but who knows. I hope I don't get it soon since I have to fly to NYC for a couple of days on Tuesday.

This week was a recovery week riding. I took full advantage and only rode Tuesday for 1/2 hour. Friday I did a recovery ride, then back to work on Saturday and Sunday. After last weeks road race I'm starting to feel pretty good about the upcoming season. I really need to start hitting the dirt though, especially since Angel Fire is the first race and it has some crazy down-hills.

Shay is kicking it on his bike, says he wants to take of the training wheels. He needs to get better, but soon. I took the self portrait when I was with Shay on a ride. Should be wearing a hat with that bald head.

Saturday afternoon Shay went for his first big bike ride. We started from our house and planned on riding all the way to the water fountain. The ride takes me about five or six minutes when I'm heading out so I figured he could handle the whole thing. Here he is about two blocks from the house.

About a mile from the house Shay hit his first single track. He was riding strong at this point.

But we had to call in the sag wagon prior to the fountain as he was getting tired and it was 80+ degrees outside. The fountain was crazy, must have been 30 kids running around getting wet. Most of these pictures show Shay in his new red shoes.

Before hitting the singletrack with Shay I went up to Apex. Spent a lot of time riding and re-riding sections to work on the bike skills. Haven't been spending a lot of time on the dirt and with the first race a month away it is time. What amazes me is how little movements can make a difference between having fun and crashing. There were a couple of sections where if I moved just a little, readjusting my center of gravity, I was clearing. When I was riding to far forward I kept crashing.



Raced on the road today. Rode fairly strong and threw down in the sprint either winning or finishing second in the main bunch. Five guys had gotten away on the last climb and we could never catch them though. It was a blast to sprint like that, really different than the mountain bike. Not sure where the burst of speed came from, but somehow it happened.

Easter Sunday

Well its been a crazy week here, but now it's Sunday afternoon and finally starting to chill a little. Got in some good riding during the week, most of it on the trainer early in the morning, but you gotta fit it in where possible. It's been really crazy at work so I have been riding home, instead of driving with Ade, but the 1/2 hour ride is more transportation than training. Saturday afternoon I went out for a hard 2 1/2 hours. The hardest part was the wind. This picture of a flag only begins to show how bad it was. I spent the entire time by myself fighting a head wind or a cross wind. I've got to say this is one of the most windy springs I remember.



I went out this morning for a short ride with some power intervals. Trying to keep the ride time down since it was Easter so I went to the road behind my house with a three minute climb. Great place for intervals, especially when you see some of the neighbors.

Shay had a blast with Easter. He found all his eggs, then Re-hide them to add to the fun. It was a great day so Ade and Shay headed to Starbucks and the fountain by our house while I was riding. I met them after my ride and we all soaked in sun before going to my aunt's for Easter lunch, where we soaked in the sun more. Shay was wild all day, hard to believe he had tubes put in his ears again on Friday and was knocked completely out for it. The effects of the drugs lasted about two minutes.

Sunday

Went for a ride today at Red Rocks and Green Mountain. It was the first mountain bike ride since TC so it was nice to get out on the dirt. Ran across some deer on the trail, you can't quite see them but there were about 10 of them.

Here are some pictures of various sections of the trail, and a view of Red Rocks theater. Always a great place to hang out.

The ride today was pretty hard, tried to keep the pressure on the whole time. I did a race simulation (on the road) yesterday so was pretty tired already. It always feels good though to get in the tough efforts. After riding Shay and I went to the zoo. I think he has more fun playing on the statues then actually looking at the animals. Here he is playing with some polar bears. Getting ready to BBQ, it's about 80 outside and grilling is a must.

Hard work

Well after getting my ass handed to me the last two weekends on the road I've finally started to bust out the intervals for this year. It's always hard those first few efforts and I'm feeling it today. Tuesday I rode for about 1.5 hours with 2 sets of 12 sprint intervals. It was a great day, with temps in the mid 70's when I left work. The heat and intervals killed me but starting to get some sun.

Wednesday I did some longer intervals in the morning on the trainer. Didn't feel to bad after those, but I added in a run at lunch and rode home from work. By the time I was home my legs were dead. I got up this morning to ride the rollers and the legs were still dead and I was stiff as hell. Rode for 1.5 hours to loosen up the legs. Hopefully the recovery ride will help.

I don't have any pictures of my actual new bike yet, but here is a picture from the Yeti site, mine is still pretty stock, but once I finish changing everything out I'll post some pictures of the real bike.
I'm hoping to get in a mountain bike ride this weekend, as I haven't been on the mountain bike since TC. We'll see as I'd like to get in a big week as well and travel time to the trail cuts down on ride time in the real world. Especially this time of the year with Shay playing soceer. If not maybe I'll leave work early at some point next week.

damn its been awhile

I've really been slacking on this blog, seems to me to be cool though computer guys usually are slackers so I fit right in. Been doing a lot of riding up until about two weeks ago. The good news is I feel I have a great base in now I just need to round out the fitness. I always seem to go through this phase in early spring where the motivation to spend time on the trainer is gone, but there isn't enough light to ride after work yet. Good news is the time change was Sunday so I can start riding after work and skip some trainer time.

I went to Moab in early March for the COMotion training camp. Got in a few days of long rides on the mountain bike. The new Yeti rocks, but I have to admit it is not a great way to break in a new saddle with two 4.5 hour rides in a row. My ass took a couple of days to recover. I've also had the Yeti hidden in the basement since TC, working to lighten it up for racing. I got some new wheels just for racing and those wheels will knock about 1.5 pounds off the bike. Also bought some SRAM X.0 twist shifters to replace the paddle shifters. Cost was about $60, but weight savings is in the 90 gram range. Overall the bike will be about 2 pounds less then the original set-up. Cost was less than $500 so seems like a good investment.

I've done a couple road races the past two weeks to help work on conditioning. I'm clearly lacking in high end fitness but it is good to get out and put in some race miles. I made the initial lead group in Sunday's race, but didn't have the juice to stay with the leaders. It was a super windy day and as soon as I got dropped there was no chance to catch back on. Ended up working with a strong chase group that fell apart in the last 2 miles as each of us hit our limits. I put in a sprint at the end after a guy who had been drafting me the last 2 miles attacked on the finish climb. We were fighting it out for 21st, but I had my pride and couldn't let a guy who didn't do any work at the end beat me. The effort should pay dividends later and hopefully by May I'll be ready for the mountain bike season.

another cycle of base done

Another week of base done and man am I feeling it. The past three weeks have been 12, 11, 12 hours of training each with some building intensity. The intensity hasn’t been crazy, but definitely building each week. Saturday I went out for four hours and did my first significant climbing in a long time. Rode to Lookout and up. The first ride up Lookout every season is always a hard ride. I can’t ever really find my rhythm so it is a lot of stand, sit, stand, shift, sit, stand, shift type riding. The gears get a workout even if I don’t. I felt like I was riding pretty well though, given the time of the year. I started the climb with another rider and put about six minutes on him by the top. Not sure how good of a rider he was but he was hanging with me for the first part of the climb then just past the “M” really started to fall back. On Sunday I went out for about 2 ½ with a tempo effort of 50 minutes. It was hard to get flowing after the work from Saturday. The nice part was getting home and testing out the new furniture we bought. We got a new couch, love seat and recliner for the house. I must say the recliner will be getting a lot of solid work after long days on the bike. It was great to just sit back and not move. I put a blanket over myself and when Ade got home she said I looked like an old quadriplegic covered up and propped up on the recliner.

I’m looking forward to the recovery week this week before my last cycle of base. The legs will get recovered then I’ll ramp up some big miles again. If I can get the weight down over the next few weeks I’ll be feeling good for the upcoming season. Plus by the end of the last base phase I should be getting my new mountain bike. That will make the training for the season a little more fun. New bikes always help with the motivation, not sure why but they make riding fun.

What happened last week?

Another week down and the few remaining issues with the new bike have been resolved, thanks to Jason and Steve at Pedal Pushers. The week of training was somewhat light in terms of days, but I ended up with almost 11 hours for the week. The long ride on Monday followed by a 3 hour ride Saturday made up for some lost days in the middle of the week. Sunday I started out on my own for a 2 hour ride and ran into some teammates after about 45 minutes. I rode with them for another 45 minutes before heading home.

It was good to ride with people but this time of the year fitness levels seem to vary a great deal. Chong must have eaten to many fruitcakes at Christmas because he kept falling off even on the little hills we were riding. I shouldn’t talk to much though, since when the season comes around he is racing Expert and I’m riding Sport. I’m also looking forward to getting back in the gym and lift again. It’s been about three weeks but I can tell the work has been helping my fitness so I’ll head back in today.

Tomorrow I’m going to have to start riding the trainer in the morning again. I’ve been somewhat lazy with doing this the past few weeks. It is hard to get started at 4:30 in the morning, especially the first few days. After that it isn’t so bad but that first week can be hell. Hopefully I’ll make it tomorrow.

It's been over a month

Well, it’s the 5th day of 2006 and training is well underway. December was a solid month of riding and training in a lot of ways; however, the miles were a little low between travel for work, Seamus getting sick, me getting sick, bitter (record) cold, and of course the holidays. Add in bike problems and the miles I did ride may have been as much as many other riders. The good news is the bike problems have led to a new road bike for me with a new mountain bike on the way.

The old road bike was showing its age and everything started when I decided to replace the rear derailleur since the old one was seven years old and didn’t really shift anymore. When I installed the new derailleur I couldn’t ever get it to shift correctly which led me to notice the frame was out of alignment. I did some searching and found a new frame on the internet to buy. Of course this led to the need to buy multiple new parts over the course of December including a new headset, bottom bracket and ultimately a new crank and shifters. So what had started as a cheap fix, a new derailleur, has turned into about $500 worth of frames and parts to get a bike going.

Ade would probably kill me for this, except for one unfortunate ordeal that happened on December 23, the old Fuji frame broke. I had left work early to try to sneak in a ride after a week off and something felt wrong. I looked over the bike and realized the rear chainstay had broken so the new frame that was sitting in the garage became a clear necessity.

The new rig is finally up and running and I’ve put in some solid miles on it now. Right around New Years I put in two four plus hour rides and a couple 2 ½ hour rides. I am finally starting to feel the fitness come around and am getting ready for the season. Since I started base (on some levels) in November I may now be in my last phase of base; however, since training has been somewhat sporadic at times I may add one more four week block of base, lasting through mid February. Given that the first mountain bike races of the year are in mid May the lack of intensity early shouldn’t really matter.

November and no SNOW

So, We're all moved in at the new house. Most boxes are unpacked, thanks Ade, pictures are on the walls, and both cars fit in the garage. If that isn't moved in I don't know what is. Sure the walls are all builder beige, but paint will happen sooner or later. As for the bike, well the first week of base is done. A total of 8 hours of riding this past week (plus an hour in the weight room).

Three of the hours were pre-dawn rides in the basement. This year for a new adventure I bought rollers and have the trainer sitting. The first day was nerve wracking and crazy, the second I had to stop to drink, the third starting and stopping with no support and I could drink while riding. Rollers sure are different than a trainer but add some "fun" to riding inside. My goal for the winter is to ride no-hands on the rollers. Wish me luck.

And the good news is...good weather in Denver. Saturday I got in a 2 hour mountain bike ride and Sunday a 3 hour road ride. Saturday was at Green Mountain which will be the primary mountain bike spot for awhile, since snow melts quick there. It was windy as hell. I actually had to walk a few sections for fear of crashing while riding. I got in an awesome workout and felt dead tired later. A few pictures from the day...

A storm blowing in:

The view of Denver from the top of Green Mountain:

This is one of the few technical sections at Green Mountain, tough to see in this picture, but ass to wheel for 30 meters.

Sunday was a long ride to Cherry Creek. Felt tired the whole time from yesterday's mountain bike ride and cheap red wine. That's what base is about though, long hung over miles, kind of like a stage race.

Halloween and no riding

Well, we close on our new house tomorrow, so it should be easy to remember when I bought it. Ade's birthday is Tuesday and we've got hell a work to do to move later in the week. Needless to say riding hasn't been happening. Not a big worry though I had planned these few weeks completely off to handle the house stuff and take my mind away from riding. I did buy a set of rollers for training this winter so I'll be posting on those injuries soon. Word on the street is the MSC will be a much smaller series this year. No Moab and no events by the Maverick team included. Moab not happening is a bummer. That is where I did my first mountain bike race and have been to that race every year since 1996 (except 2001). Maybe someone else will pick it up and put the race on.

The Cycle Cyndicate crew will be running all the MSC races this year so the organization should be top notch. Those guys always have their shit in line and put on good races and have great courses. COMotion is also getting ready for the season, trying to get the roster set and find sponsorship money. We're moving along with it and have some ideas on new ways to increase money. We'll see what happens over the next few weeks, but I'm hopeful we'll have a solid budget this year.

I've got to get back to packing.

Man work keeps me busy

So I took a new job at the company I've worked for about a month ago. I've been at the company for almost 8 years and I'm now running the department I started in, with about 30 people who report to me. The new job is great and has been a huge learning experience, but free time is limited and the hours are long. So how does that effect my training? Not really sure, especially this time of the year where training is so reduced anyway. I've been working out according to the schedule I've put together in conjunction with my "semi" coach (I don't pay him and he doesn't provide a full schedule, more a sounding board for what I need to do).

I've been hitting the weight room a lot this fall and that seems to be keeping me in shape, hell I've actually lost the weight I gained in August when I was out of the country for work. I think the increased strength/muscle in the upper body is the key benefit at this point. I've also been running a few times a week, slow but steady.

As for riding I fit in what I can. I went for a road ride last Saturday and felt good. Road home from Boulder, including a lap on the famed Morgual Bismark course from the old Coors Classic. Hell of a lot of traffic in some places but a good rolling ride. Sunday I rode Apex, which tends to be my go-to mountain bike ride. Felt good and didn't kill myself on the technical sections. I brought along a camera to take pictures, but alas forgot to check the batteries until I got there. As you can see from the site the camera didn't work. I'm planning to hit a mountain bike ride again this weekend and will try to get pictures then. After this week I'll take 2 weeks completely off the bike. The break is mostly for my mental well being as it seems that a couple weeks off at some point in the fall is needed. I'm scheduling this break to coincide with our moving into the new house so I'll be pretty busy without riding.

Snow and cross training

Well Denver got its first snow storm the past few days. Sunday started out cool, then turned to rain, then by evening snow. It snowed well into Monday with 6-10 inches depending on location. I managed to sneak in a ride on Sunday morning while the weather was still good. Didn't even get rained on, but I guess that's what happens when you leave the house when it is still dark. I was home after a two hour spin by 8:30 and went to breakfast with Ade, Seamus and my mother-in-law who was in town for the weekend. After that shopping and home to work for a few hours.

Monday was weight lifting, which as a cyclist is a humbling venture on any given day. The building I work in has a weight room that employees can use for free. This is great as I can sneak in weights during lunch, but clearly there are drawbacks. The main drawback being there are always a few people from the office who can see me struggle to bench 95 pounds. I can say that the three weeks of lifting I've done are paying dividends, I can actually almost see muscles in my arms, but alas I'll never be stronger than most people in the gym.

Tuesday was a long (for me) run, 40 minutes in cold weather. It wouldn't have been so bad except I forgot tights and a long sleeve shirt so it was running in summer gear with snow melting on the ground. The running kills me since I do it so little, but it is nice to mentally be off the bike for a short period and still feel like I'm getting a workout.

Rainy Sunday and My car

I travel to most races in our second car, a 1993 Nissan Sentra. The car is nothing fancy, starting to rust in a few places, no radio, and a short in the electrical system that causes the door open light to stay on all the time. But the car gets great gas mileage and has never left me in need on the open road. Yesterday, as I was running errands around town the car hit 100,000 miles. Something about that number made me feel good. I know I've got at least one more season of driving to races in that car. I also know that on every trip I'll make it to the race and back with no problems.

My wife can keep driving the Subaru, which is clearly safer with Seamus in it, until we get a new car, then I'll retire the Sentra but she'll always be there with me. After driving thousands of miles throughout the west without a radio I've had more time to think and be free in that car than any where else in the world.

Getting ready for the season

Okay, so the 2006 season is still months away, and in reality I'm not really focusing on training right now, but I'm starting to think about the season ahead, along with everything else that goes on in life. I've been racing mountain bikes in Colorado for a long time, racing on the road here before that. Unfortunately the cold hard reality is I'm never going to be great. I don't have the genes, nerves, time or skills to be a great racer. I ride and race because it is hell a fun and a great challenge. Beyond lack of physical skills is the fact that I work as a "professional" in the financial industry, have a wife and four year old son (Seamus) that take time and energy too. Racing is for fun, but the priority (even if my wife would debate it at times) is on my family.

For the 2006 season I'll be racing in Sport 35-39 for the first time. The last two seasons I finished 5th and 6th (2004/2005) in the Mountain States Cup (www.racemsc.com) in Sport 30-34. Even though 2004 had a better overall placing I think I rode better in 2005. I was stronger and could actually stay with the leaders during races. The 2005 season had a stronger field in my category, with a teammate of mine Brian Costello dominating the early part of the year (six wins in seven races) before he moved up to Expert and started placing in the top 5. The winner of the series in 2004 raced Expert in 2005 and never was close to Brian in the races later in the summer, so I take 2005 to have been a harder year to do well.

Beyond the racing my wife and I are building a new house, which is why my focus now is not on training. We'll be moving in to the new place in early November and then I'll figure out when to start to train again. Until then I'm focusing on making sure the house gets done, and we get all the new stuff Adrienne (my wife) wants for the place. I'm also helping the team I race for (www.comotionsports.com) get our sponsors lined up for 2006 which takes time away from riding. We won our third successive team title in the MSC in 2005 (my first year with the team), so we should have some good luck keeping (and getting more) cash sponsors. It is always a huge effort though to contact people and get them to give up money to sponsor an amateur mountain bike team, but we try.

I did make it out on the mountain bike this morning. Put in about 2 hours at White Ranch near Golden. The ride was good and early fall in the early morning is always a great time to ride, especially since tomorrow is suppose to be crappy weather. Given that I've only been getting in 1-2 rides per week since mid-September I felt good. Maybe all the running and weight lifting I've been doing is paying off. Over the coming months I'll cover what I'm doing (and not doing) for training and let others follow yet another cyclists journey on the web.