First long ride since August.
MP3 player on shuffle
pockets full of payday bars and two bottles
fenders and 32 spoke 8 lb wheels.
echelons over the centerline on a training ride- sigh.
refusal to create a second line- sigh.
Oh well,
all good.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Season ending thoughts
Just some random stuffins'......
For a guy like me that has to train in blocks somewhat due to a hectic schedule, the WKO software and especially the PMC and TSS components were a great way to see if I was gaining fitness and not just guessing at things. I went from 70 CTL in January 08 to a peak of about 122 in September.
I held onto quite a bit of fitness through cross season and tried to spend my bank account wisely and rest only for bigger events on the NCNCA Cup.
One thing I noticed was with too much rest and a big positive TSB I sucked on race day but excelled about two days later with less positive TSB- my best races and best power numbers were generally with a TSB of 5-10.
Had the events been longer than a hour I think I would have killed it- I never really got tired , just didn't have a whole lot of hops.
I tapered down the last couple weeks to 90 and definitely lost a bit- I lengthened my season by a month trying to stretch for those last CCCX and NCNCA races and couldn't do it- my best races were in Mid December around Natz- definitely going next year.
I can hold good fitness in a race period for 6-8 weeks max, so just spending it in a more focused way will be on the agenda for next year.
One more powermeter thought- several times this season my races were marred by crashes and mechanical and driver error- if I only judged my performance on that of my competitors I would be awful down on myself- doing some tests and seeing some PB power numbers in December kept my head in the game.
My best race was one where my rear wheel went sideways in the drops at the start and I had to run for the B bike, then get going a half lap down.
I chased through the field with full mouth dribble a-goin' and got within 30 seconds of the leaders before rolling my back tubie- not a stellar result with hands in the air at the end but one I'll be proud of for a long time.
The SS A field was good hard racin all year- the best racers came out on top over the season, I think we raced each other hard all year but also rode with some class, not easy to do when you put a bunch of competitive fellows together on a little dirt path.
I got a bunch of kids out racing this year in a positive environment, several of them the LARPD was their first race, some of them have bigger fish to fry on the road, but I think going wheel to wheel at least a little bit all winter is good for you.
08 will be a complete success if a quarter of the kids take the lessons of sport and use them in their lives somehow...
A big shout out to all the compadres and my family- we went to tons of races this year, much to the dismay of the 12 year old, but loading up the barge and heading out every Sunday was fantastic.
For a guy like me that has to train in blocks somewhat due to a hectic schedule, the WKO software and especially the PMC and TSS components were a great way to see if I was gaining fitness and not just guessing at things. I went from 70 CTL in January 08 to a peak of about 122 in September.
I held onto quite a bit of fitness through cross season and tried to spend my bank account wisely and rest only for bigger events on the NCNCA Cup.
One thing I noticed was with too much rest and a big positive TSB I sucked on race day but excelled about two days later with less positive TSB- my best races and best power numbers were generally with a TSB of 5-10.
Had the events been longer than a hour I think I would have killed it- I never really got tired , just didn't have a whole lot of hops.
I tapered down the last couple weeks to 90 and definitely lost a bit- I lengthened my season by a month trying to stretch for those last CCCX and NCNCA races and couldn't do it- my best races were in Mid December around Natz- definitely going next year.
I can hold good fitness in a race period for 6-8 weeks max, so just spending it in a more focused way will be on the agenda for next year.
One more powermeter thought- several times this season my races were marred by crashes and mechanical and driver error- if I only judged my performance on that of my competitors I would be awful down on myself- doing some tests and seeing some PB power numbers in December kept my head in the game.
My best race was one where my rear wheel went sideways in the drops at the start and I had to run for the B bike, then get going a half lap down.
I chased through the field with full mouth dribble a-goin' and got within 30 seconds of the leaders before rolling my back tubie- not a stellar result with hands in the air at the end but one I'll be proud of for a long time.
The SS A field was good hard racin all year- the best racers came out on top over the season, I think we raced each other hard all year but also rode with some class, not easy to do when you put a bunch of competitive fellows together on a little dirt path.
I got a bunch of kids out racing this year in a positive environment, several of them the LARPD was their first race, some of them have bigger fish to fry on the road, but I think going wheel to wheel at least a little bit all winter is good for you.
08 will be a complete success if a quarter of the kids take the lessons of sport and use them in their lives somehow...
A big shout out to all the compadres and my family- we went to tons of races this year, much to the dismay of the 12 year old, but loading up the barge and heading out every Sunday was fantastic.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
IMG00095.jpg
Congrats Jasmin on a long series!
And congrats to Lainey for a great ride today, these girls are tuff stuff!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, January 09, 2009
Bear Creek Spire 05
Nice trip and nice rocks- just found this pic while looking for something else. Sunrise on the ridge- always wear your helmet even if you look like your growing mushrooms on top - you may want your brain.
My two favorite things I got for Christmas this year- some Qoleum Mild embro from the wife and this hat from the Vickerator.The first cap that doesn't squeeze my jughead.
Gracias.
I keep tallying up the training for 08 and boring myself writing about it, perhaps How I Spent 648 Perfectly Good Sunny Hours would be a good title........
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Whew.
The short- no excuses report on the last NCNCA race in Watsonville today-
Great course
Great people
I missed the dollar primes 3 times!
And got shot in the lip by a nerfy dart, just to add insult to injury.
Moving targets are probably harder to hit, no?
Hitting the barn kinda smarts.
I think I left my legs in 2008 somewheres.
One more to go in the CCCX finals next week, then a glorious 2 week off season.
Time to re-up
Go to the training cave
Pull out some old VHS
Put on some reindeer antlers
The legs and fitness are fading but the motivation is all there.
Great course
Great people
I missed the dollar primes 3 times!
And got shot in the lip by a nerfy dart, just to add insult to injury.
Moving targets are probably harder to hit, no?
Hitting the barn kinda smarts.
I think I left my legs in 2008 somewheres.
One more to go in the CCCX finals next week, then a glorious 2 week off season.
Time to re-up
Go to the training cave
Pull out some old VHS
Put on some reindeer antlers
The legs and fitness are fading but the motivation is all there.
Friday, January 02, 2009
LA- a few photos and no bike stuff.
The Getty Museum in W LA- we have been wanting to make it here for several years and finally got the chance- a couple easy days at my sisters' were just what the doctor ordered.74 degrees all weekend.
Mmmmmmmmmm
The gardens are spectacular even in winter.
Stunning architecture, the landscape architecture complements the buildings perfectly.
Lots of different textures in front of all that white travertine.
Nice stuff inside as well- I don't really like paintings so much but a fantastic exhibit of early photos from Yosemite and other california spots.
Little C digging the view and the photo opportunities.
Round two was the parade, I haven't been in 30 years( damn I'm old!), it was way fun.
Badass Texas Band.
The Rainbird Float- pretty nice!
Recognize this actress? Hint- S......
The SC band.
Nice stuff inside as well- I don't really like paintings so much but a fantastic exhibit of early photos from Yosemite and other california spots.
Little C digging the view and the photo opportunities.
Round two was the parade, I haven't been in 30 years( damn I'm old!), it was way fun.
Great floats, great seats, and hot dogs afterwards.
This is Julie Foudy on this float. It was full of Olympians with Greg Louganis as well.
Badass Texas Band.
The Rainbird Float- pretty nice!Recognize this actress? Hint- S......The SC band.Penn States' cheerleaders were waaay hotter.
Guess they left it all at the parade.
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