Winter of my discontent

Some of you may not know this but I strongly dislike riding the trainer. The trainer is essentially a resistance wheel that you clamp your bike onto and it simulates the resistance of riding outdoors. The benefit of a trainer is that you can ride indoors and avoid poor weather but the drawbacks are many. The bike is clamped and therefore it doesn't feel very real because the bike never moves when you pedal. The resistance wheel is a poor replicator of actual riding as it is constant and outdoor rides are anything but constant. Lastly and most importantly trainer rides are boring and don't offer any of the escape that I so enjoy on outdoor rides. As you may noticed I have recently purchased lights for my bike in order that I won't have to ride indoors on weekdays, instead I can still ride after work with the lights attached to the bike (as a side note, I tend to stick to roads that are well lit on my night rides, just to be on the safe side).

The downfalls of riding at night are the lack of light and of course, the cold. We have had a particularly cold spell here in Northern California and although it hasn't stopped me from riding, it certainly has shaken my resolve to ride. I won't lie in saying that riding in the cold can be miserable and my last two rides have been particularly unbearable. I rode on Thursday evening for about 25 miles and I can admit that I was frozen by the time I got back (my bike computer said the average temperature was 42 degrees). It took a hot shower to thaw my extremities. As bad as that was, Saturday mornings ride was much worse. I had plans to go for a very long ride and left early (7:30) to take advantage of all of the light. As it was, the temperature was 34 degrees when I started to ride and despite having the warmest of my clothing on, it was certainly not enough. After an hour, I needed to stop as I was having trouble feeling my arms and they were starting to fail in supporting my upper body. I was at the point where I had gone past numb and the cold was starting to get painful. I stopped at a gas station, drank a hot chocolate, and tried to warm up. This was mostly futile and I knew I needed to turn around. I headed back and can admit that it started to warm up but the only thing that actually made a difference was that I started to ride harder in order to try and raise my heart rate and core temperature. Upon my return, a hot shower was the only remedy and I have vowed to learn that on weekends I will wait for it to warm up prior to riding.

I learned my lesson today and this morning Kelsey and I went up to napa to try a bakery that we had heard about it was delicious. It is called Bouchon Bakery and they make wonderful croissants, pastries, and sweets and after we got back I made the trek up Mt. Diablo for the first time in months. As a side note, the tour of California will be finishing on Diablo in May in what is being billed as the queen stage of the race (the queen stage is the biggest and toughest stage of the race). I rode to the junction as there was cloud cover further up and I wasn't looking to ride on wet roads any further. It was a good effort and I plan on starting to pick up the intensity from this point further.




I have included this photo to show all of the items that I carry/wear on a winter ride. From bottom to top - shoes, socks, shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, undershirt, jersey, arm warmers, thermal vest, heart rate strap, food, pump, earphones(so I can listen to my books on tape), cycling computer, sandwich bag for phone, helmet, cycling cap, sunglasses, keys, gloves, water bottles. Depending on the length of ride I will carry 1 or 2 water bottles, 1 is always full of water and the second with a drink mix (contains salt, sugar and some flavoring). I will usually try to carry some food, mostly granola bars or gels of some sort. It takes me about 15 minutes to get fully dressed and ready to ride. Considering that it takes me about 5 minutes to get ready in the morning, the process of getting ready for a ride can seem like an eternity.



I took this picture on my way down Diablo. It is starting to turn green around here and is starting to look like what I always imagine Ireland looks like.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Rain

It rained over the weekend. Not that it bothered me as I don't hate the rain like some people in California who have been spoiled by sunshine their whole lives. I actually enjoy rainy days as most people stay indoors so those of us willing to venture out get to enjoy the world by ourselves. This past weekend it rained pretty heavy for the first time since May and 8 of us went for a long bike ride in spite of it.

To be honest, I was looking forward to riding in the rain as I just purchased some winter riding gear but I wasn't looking to have go for a 5 hour ride. I also had committed to completing a Strava ride challenge. I may have mentioned this before but Strava is "fitness facebook". I upload my rides to the website using a Garmin cycling computer and they rank segments of the ride based on time versus others that have ridden the same segments. Strava will also sponsor challenges to ride a certain amount of miles over a specified time period. This past weekend was a challenge to ride at least 79 miles in one ride.

We had set out on the ride at 7:30AM and it was lightly raining. After about 10 miles it started to rain in earnest and soon enough we were all fairly soaked. As a side note, I am pretty certain that their is no such thing as "water-proof" in cycling clothing. If it rains, you will eventually get wet. It stopped raining for just over 1 hour and then as we headed back it picked up again and didn't stop until we got back. The last hour was pretty miserable as we were all starting to get cold and just wanted to get rid of the road grime and warm up.


Just before my shower I took this picture and adjusted the color with Instagram. Below is a picture of a bicycle I found on a different blog, I think it looks pretty awesome.


I am currently in Washington state visiting with family and when I get back I will have to clean up the bike from the rain and continue fixing my backup bike to take back to PA.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Night riding

Just thought I would share a photo I took from my ride yesterday evening. It isn't the most clear picture but it is a palm tree lit with Christmas lights.

I also wanted to keep everyone informed of my training. I logged over 100 miles over the weekend and have continued my night rides on week nights. The plan is to continue this for the next few weeks and then to gradually build intensity into my rides. I won't race in January but I will most likely start in February with a few races to speed up my fitness level.

A quick story from my ride this weekends ride. While near the top of Patterson pass a teammate of mine ran over some glass on the road and instantly flatted. He pulled over to fix the flat but was having trouble finding puncture in the tire or tube. After a few more minutes we looked over at his bike to discover that the other tire was flat and that he had mistakenly thought the flat was on the front and not the rear tire. After a quick switch we put the front tire back together and had a new tube in the rear. Needless to say he was embarrassed from the mistake but it allowed for a nice break in the middle of the climb

A few photos from recent rides

I have started my training for next year in earnest and just in time as the race schedule was just released. I took a few photos on my ride Sunday and yesterday and wanted everyone to see. I have also just started my darkness rides and have added lights to make sure I am seen at night.

More end of year stats and an opinion

What do the following numbers represent:

199

231,004

3,242

They represent the total number of hours, vertical feet, and miles I have ridden this season.  During this year I have joined strava as a way to track my rides and fitness.  Plus, it is a great way to see what rides my teammates and competitors are doing as well.  I still plan on adding more miles this year as I start training for next season with long slow rides.  In an effort to keep these long base mile rides interesting I have decided to start listening to books on tape.  I joined audible.com and just purchased Destiny of the Republic, a book about James Garfield, the 20th president of the US.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to express my opinion of the Lance Armstrong doping case.  Although Lance has yet to admit to doping during his career, the evidence is now overwhelming to point to the fact that he and his team all used performance enhancing drugs on their way to winning 7 Tour de France titles.  About a year ago I read a book called Lance Armstrongs War which detailed his 6th Tour de France win and the overwhelming feeling I got from the book was that he was as competitive an athlete as has ever lived, always looking for an enemy and ruthlessly dispatching each one.

His desire to win was legendary and I do believe that he had the ability to win a Tour de France without the use of EPO and other drugs, how many tours can never be proven.  I also am of the opinion that most if not all of the grand tour contenders during this era all doped so nobody is clean and deserving of the Tour de France wins.  So what should anyone believe of the pro cycling going forward.  I am of the belief that some will always try to cheat to win and that they will be caught over time trying to do this.  The statistics seem to show that almost all cheats are out of the pro peloton and that there is a new generation of cyclists who are sick of being labeled as cheats and want to win cleanly.  

I am interested to see where the Lance case will go in the coming months but it seems like he will have all of his wins stricken from the record and will most likely be pushed out of his involvement with Livestrong as well.  Unless he comes clean he will most likely never be accepted in the athletics community again (when was the last time anyone heard Barry bonds mentioned).

2 weeks of gluttony + Yosemite

Yes, I have officially labeled my off-season "2 weeks of gluttony".  I have enjoyed not going on any rides for the last two weeks and I have enjoyed eating (and drinking) whatever I can get my hands on.  I have gained weight and better yet I have finished my weeks off the bike with the desire to start training again.  The plan for the rest of the off season is long slow rides with some climbing at a very slow pace mixed in.  The goal is to build a really strong endurance base so that I can have more strength at the end of races next year.

I also wanted update everyone on my newest bike.  I bought the frame in August and proceeded to buy the components to piece together the rest of the bike.  By the end of August I had went to a bike fitting to get the best position for me on the bike and then used this info to build the bike.  After a month of riding the bike as I had built it and adjusting a few shifting issues, I can now report that the bike is awesome and ready to race.

Now a few pictures from Kelsey and my trip to Yosemite National Park.  Enjoy.

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.