Thursday, September 27, 2012

Season wrap-up and what's next

The season is officially over.  Well, actually the season ends this weekend but I am currently in Portland for work and will be here for the weekend so I won't be able to race.  The second half of my season was marked by mostly inconsistent training and much less racing.  I struggled to find a good level of fitness and this has led me to some thinking about what I will need to do for next year in order to improve.  Here are some random thoughts about this year and next year:

-I need to ride longer training rides if I want to be competitive in road races.  I can typically get to the last mile of a race with the group but I am nowhere once the pace starts to increase.

-I need to spend more time riding towards the front.

-I need to attack more often.  Sitting in isn't fun if you aren't there for the sprint anyway.

-I don't need to worry about my diet as much, as long as I am riding consistently, my weight stays pretty regulated.

-I need to do more hard group rides and more interval training.  Basically I need to ride harder and more often.

-the season is very long if you start racing in January.  It is also much more fun racing in August when the weather is nice instead of the rain and hail in February.  No more racing in January for me.

-leg strength stays with you for a while but cardio will disappear in only about a week.

A few more updates from the second half of the season.  I have sold off my second bike and bought a frame and components and built my first bicycle.  Nothing has fallen off the bike as of yet and I am pretty certain that my patience in building the bike has paid off.

I did race the fast &furious crit in pleasonton in August and tried my hand at attacking for the first time.  Full disclosure, this wasn't my first time attacking, but this was my first try at attacking with the intent of forming a breakaway.  I attacked about 4 laps into our race, got a gap of about 50 meters and stayed at that distance with the hope of someone else trying to bridge up and join me.  Nobody tried to join and I got burnt out riding in the wind for a lap and fell back to the group.  I finished in the field and one of my teammates actually finished second in the race.

Lastly, I am one week into my off-season but in a few short weeks I will be back on the bike and starting the long slow training rides in order to build up my fitness for next season.  During the winter is also the time when I get to do travel training rides and I know we have some epic rides lined up.  Marin county, Santa Rosa, palo alto to the coast, and mount Hamilton are all on the docket.  Even better is that I ordered the new iPhone 5 and will be using it to take pictures of the places I go.

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