Last week my coach was pleased with my pre-crit intervals so we made a deal. I can do the crit, which is a lot of fun but I get to do intervals beforehand. For the month of April I have 4x5min on the menu before we race. I started out and knew it was going to be tough. I was hitting the wattage numbers but my PE was high. I was hoping I'd feel that tingling in the legs and feel better after that but it never came. The second effort was ok, and the third one just sucked. I wasn't holding any power down the backstretch. I also wasn't able to maintain my normal high rev cadence during the intervals. I had hopes for the crit being better.
The first lap arrived and who is off the front other than Mr. Gimp Shoulder Rich. After his crash on Saturday's Monumental 110 miler I wasn't expecting that. A few guys bridged and I decided to close the gap solo. I could not do it, I got to within a few seconds but I still felt crappy. Fortunatly I found my spin and I ended up doing ok during the crit. I wasn't playing at the front like last week, but I spent a good bit of time there. I went with a few moves, but nothing was sticking.
I tried an attack at one point, but no-one went with. I just don't command enough respect to draw people with me yet. I knew I was not going to last long if I just tried to ride at FTP so I sat up.
The power data is really close to last week and the speed was a good bit higher (I've got 25.65 after the neutral lap). I guess that if I can do that on a day where I just feel like crap then I'm not doing too bad.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Long, Fast, and Wet
If you had told me in December that I would do 110 miles at 21.1 mph with 3000 feet of elevation gain I would have given you a blank stare.
I met a few others at Ladd's house yesterday bright and early, and set out to meet another group. (Sorry for taking too long Ladd) It was a lively ride with everyone taking strong pulls. I took a few pulls that I felt good about, but did not go overboard. I was really impressed by Gordon's pulls, it was like riding with the energizer bunny. I kept wondering why he's still a Cat4.
Around mile 85 miles in we came to a few "climbs", as Ladd called them. They were steep, 500m, big ring, power hills. I responded to the first 2 attacks and then fell off a little bit coming to the regroup point. Ouch, those hurt!
The last hour was pure misery, we rode in the driving rain just trying to get home. It was made worse by Rich getting crashed. It sucks to end a good ride in that way.
The PowerTap took on some water about 2 hours in and the current wattage reading started bouncing around like a pinball, so I'm not 100% sure about my data. I tried zeroing it with no luck. In the last hour it stopped reading anything and it only has 103 miles of data. I'm going to seal it up so I can ride in the rain. The data I do have shows an Avg Wattage of 169W and 2961kJ. I'm proud to have seen my first 3000kJ day!
I met a few others at Ladd's house yesterday bright and early, and set out to meet another group. (Sorry for taking too long Ladd) It was a lively ride with everyone taking strong pulls. I took a few pulls that I felt good about, but did not go overboard. I was really impressed by Gordon's pulls, it was like riding with the energizer bunny. I kept wondering why he's still a Cat4.
Around mile 85 miles in we came to a few "climbs", as Ladd called them. They were steep, 500m, big ring, power hills. I responded to the first 2 attacks and then fell off a little bit coming to the regroup point. Ouch, those hurt!
The last hour was pure misery, we rode in the driving rain just trying to get home. It was made worse by Rich getting crashed. It sucks to end a good ride in that way.
The PowerTap took on some water about 2 hours in and the current wattage reading started bouncing around like a pinball, so I'm not 100% sure about my data. I tried zeroing it with no luck. In the last hour it stopped reading anything and it only has 103 miles of data. I'm going to seal it up so I can ride in the rain. The data I do have shows an Avg Wattage of 169W and 2961kJ. I'm proud to have seen my first 3000kJ day!
Friday, March 27, 2009
My Legs are Still Sore
Wed I did trainer sprints and decided I like my bike too much to do something like that ever again.
Yesterday there was a lull in the rain so I headed out to the crit course for some 8 minute intervals. Rich was doing a really long LT workout so I hopped on his wheel and did 16 minutes at 210W and 112RPM, little ring the whole way working on cadence. Then I moved over to my workout. I was slated for 5x8min. I did 292W, 285W, 278W, and totally imploded during the 4th and finished in the 260s. I haven't done this workout before but I liked it, it's not as hard as a VO2 workout, but it is faster than a threshold workout. And it's fun to ride at 290W. It did put quite a hurt on my legs though, and they have a good bit of that dull ache right now.
In other news: I'll be spending most of May and June in San Diego with fellow Paracyclist Matt B. It will be a regular gimp-fest in his house. He offered a couch and it makes sense because Para Track Nats are at ADT in L.A. I'll be 2 minute from the beach, riding distance from Palomar Mountain, have access to 2 Velodromes, and the group rides are supposed to be pretty insane. I'll get pummelled into shape and I'll be able to get my technique work on the Velodrome for the Pursuit.
On the Pursuit front, things are going pretty well in terms of power. I threw down 367W for 5 minutes (6.1W/kg) at the Forest Acres Crit. The literature suggests I need 370-400W after the initial acceleration to go 3:43, so it looks like I'm on track so far.
Yesterday there was a lull in the rain so I headed out to the crit course for some 8 minute intervals. Rich was doing a really long LT workout so I hopped on his wheel and did 16 minutes at 210W and 112RPM, little ring the whole way working on cadence. Then I moved over to my workout. I was slated for 5x8min. I did 292W, 285W, 278W, and totally imploded during the 4th and finished in the 260s. I haven't done this workout before but I liked it, it's not as hard as a VO2 workout, but it is faster than a threshold workout. And it's fun to ride at 290W. It did put quite a hurt on my legs though, and they have a good bit of that dull ache right now.
In other news: I'll be spending most of May and June in San Diego with fellow Paracyclist Matt B. It will be a regular gimp-fest in his house. He offered a couch and it makes sense because Para Track Nats are at ADT in L.A. I'll be 2 minute from the beach, riding distance from Palomar Mountain, have access to 2 Velodromes, and the group rides are supposed to be pretty insane. I'll get pummelled into shape and I'll be able to get my technique work on the Velodrome for the Pursuit.
On the Pursuit front, things are going pretty well in terms of power. I threw down 367W for 5 minutes (6.1W/kg) at the Forest Acres Crit. The literature suggests I need 370-400W after the initial acceleration to go 3:43, so it looks like I'm on track so far.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
TNWC
I made it out to my first Tuesday Crit of the year this evening. I had 3 min intervals on the plate beforehand; I was supposed to do 5, but I did 3. I did 304W, 314W, and 318W. Not too bad, and neg splitting the whole way.
The crit started up about 15 minutes later. I was talking to Mike during the neutral lap and ended up at the back. I took the next few minutes to get to the front where I spent most of the evening. I went in a few breaks, helped chase a few down, and generally hung out with the fast guys. I definently didn't do the most work, but I did more work and saw more wind than I have ever seen at one of those before. It was freaking fun out there at the front!
The crit started up about 15 minutes later. I was talking to Mike during the neutral lap and ended up at the back. I took the next few minutes to get to the front where I spent most of the evening. I went in a few breaks, helped chase a few down, and generally hung out with the fast guys. I definently didn't do the most work, but I did more work and saw more wind than I have ever seen at one of those before. It was freaking fun out there at the front!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
An Upgrade Point!
Baby steps; that's how I make progress in this bike racing thing. Let me tell you, it feels good to be moving!
Saturday's race was in the mountains, and although we did not climb any of them, they made the course interesting. We did a ?6 mile? loop 6 times. It was mostly downhill and flat on narrow, twisty roads (the mountain influence) and each lap punctuated by a hill that was about 1km long. The finish line was just 150m past the crest
I sat near the front the first 2 laps and kept my wheel out of the wind. Each time up the hill I dropped into the little ring and kept a high cadence. The pace was light enough that my heart rate was dropping. I didn't like this, this meant the bigger guys were not being put into enough difficulty and the hill not long enough to split the field at this easy pace.
Lap3 was the start of the animation. The lone woman (Amity) in the field worked her way to the front, which was my que to go to the front as well. Riding with Casey has taught me that when a woman races with the men, she means business. I also figured she's a Cat2, maybe on a pro team, knows how to ride, and will probably make a move. Her presence was visibly upsetting some of the guys (stupid boys), which was pretty funny. They were freaked out by a girl leading their race. So she attacks, and me, carbone wheels guy, and tall guy in red kit go with. We each pull through before the pack reels us in since you can't let the girl get away. Coming into the hill I was 4th wheel and asked Amity, "do you want to shatter the field?" She said she needed a little rest so I pulled through and set hard tempo up the hill. About 3/4 of the way up I was ready for someone else to set pace, but I looked back and the whole field was 50 feet behind. They just let me ride away. I was caught on the downhill and sat in 'till lap 5.
Once again, I tried to hurt the field by setting hard tempo up the hill, and once again, they let me ride away.
So now it's the last lap and the field is swarming, setting up for the last climb. I had to move up, so I shot some gaps and got to about 20th at the bottom of the hill. I passed a bunch of people, but didn't have the legs to get more than 9th. But 9th earned me one point towards my Cat3 upgrade, only 19 more to go!
Well, my plan to rip legs didn't quite work. The hill wasn't long enough to create a sense of urgency when I rode away. I may have gassed myself a little too much on lap5, and I should have been closer to the front at the base of the last climb. I am pleased with my effort. I rode hard, and I raced, and have my one point, and I will get the rest!
Suday's race was at BMW. It was flat and windy, I got a great workout, the end.
Saturday's race was in the mountains, and although we did not climb any of them, they made the course interesting. We did a ?6 mile? loop 6 times. It was mostly downhill and flat on narrow, twisty roads (the mountain influence) and each lap punctuated by a hill that was about 1km long. The finish line was just 150m past the crest
I sat near the front the first 2 laps and kept my wheel out of the wind. Each time up the hill I dropped into the little ring and kept a high cadence. The pace was light enough that my heart rate was dropping. I didn't like this, this meant the bigger guys were not being put into enough difficulty and the hill not long enough to split the field at this easy pace.
Lap3 was the start of the animation. The lone woman (Amity) in the field worked her way to the front, which was my que to go to the front as well. Riding with Casey has taught me that when a woman races with the men, she means business. I also figured she's a Cat2, maybe on a pro team, knows how to ride, and will probably make a move. Her presence was visibly upsetting some of the guys (stupid boys), which was pretty funny. They were freaked out by a girl leading their race. So she attacks, and me, carbone wheels guy, and tall guy in red kit go with. We each pull through before the pack reels us in since you can't let the girl get away. Coming into the hill I was 4th wheel and asked Amity, "do you want to shatter the field?" She said she needed a little rest so I pulled through and set hard tempo up the hill. About 3/4 of the way up I was ready for someone else to set pace, but I looked back and the whole field was 50 feet behind. They just let me ride away. I was caught on the downhill and sat in 'till lap 5.
Once again, I tried to hurt the field by setting hard tempo up the hill, and once again, they let me ride away.
So now it's the last lap and the field is swarming, setting up for the last climb. I had to move up, so I shot some gaps and got to about 20th at the bottom of the hill. I passed a bunch of people, but didn't have the legs to get more than 9th. But 9th earned me one point towards my Cat3 upgrade, only 19 more to go!
Well, my plan to rip legs didn't quite work. The hill wasn't long enough to create a sense of urgency when I rode away. I may have gassed myself a little too much on lap5, and I should have been closer to the front at the base of the last climb. I am pleased with my effort. I rode hard, and I raced, and have my one point, and I will get the rest!
Suday's race was at BMW. It was flat and windy, I got a great workout, the end.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Hmm
I found a way to eek out a tiny bit more speed from my sprint today. Seems that weighing 134lbs (61.1kg) lends itself to being pretty areo. Good times!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
2 Years
This past Thursday was my 23rd birthday which is the two year mark for me being on the bike. Two years ago I walked into Outspokin' knowing I wanted a bike and not much else. It's been a lot of fun, and I feel like I'm finally out of the total newb stage, and into the sorta-newb/sorta-experienced category.
While I have since realized the ride on that aluminum Trek 1500 was pretty harsh we shared a lot of miles and good times. I'd say it was a pretty good 21st birthday present. It took me around the tri-state region to race and even took me way out west to Colorado.
Here's to many more years on a bike.
While I have since realized the ride on that aluminum Trek 1500 was pretty harsh we shared a lot of miles and good times. I'd say it was a pretty good 21st birthday present. It took me around the tri-state region to race and even took me way out west to Colorado.
Here's to many more years on a bike.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Greenville Spring Series #4
Cold temps and rain caused the race to be called off. The flier says "rain or shine". So Evan and I bundled up and headed to Donaldson Center unaware of the cancellation. The only real thing to say here is that while Embrocation (icyhot without the icy) is wonderful for cold racing, it is terrible if the only thing you are doing is sitting in a toasty car for 45 minutes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)