Off Season

I'm sitting here in Tucson, and I'm bikeless. I wanted to bring my bike out here, but it was going to cost me $150 each way to take my bike and all of the associated essential items such as shoes, shorts, helmet, pump, etc. Compound that with the fact a bunch of relatives had their luggage lost, I decided to go with a carry-on bag and a laptop bag.

So this week is my off-season. Chuck gave me good advise a month ago: train through the fall/winter, and take forced rest as it comes. So my forced rest and off-season is a six day span in November.

The hardest part is that I am in Tucson. I'm looking out the window at the Catalina Mountain Range, where Mt. Lemmon is located. Its really hard to have the day off and to look at mountains while being bikeless. It is absolutely beautiful out here.

So Monday AM is the official start to the 2010 season. It will be fun!

Whoopie Cusion

Limited bike related content! Saturday was Halloween, and after limping home from the 7AM and 10AM rides I had to come up with a costume.

Laura and I headed out in search of Halloween costumes, and we ended up at Party City (I think thats what its called). It was a total madhouse. After inquiring about 5 different non-distinguishing costumes and being told they were all sold out, I decided to take a risk.

Me: Can you just give me an adult, male costume without a mask?

Employee: Uhhh...yeah (laughing)...how about this whoopie cushion costume.

So Saturday night I was a whoopie cushion. I blew up some balloons and put those inside the costume to ensure I appeared as an inflated whoopie cushion.

I would show a picture, but our friend Ann can't find her download cable. Its too bad, mostly because Laura looked quite cute as a corrections officer.

Imagine this photo, except with me, and with 10 balloons inside, AND with Laura next to me.

Exciting stuff!

I ate so much candy. I think I put on 3 pounds this past weekend!

PS--the 7 AM and 10 AM rides are fun.

Re-Evaluating "Base"

There are few things in cycling which people get more passionate about than how to perform base training. I've only been cycling for a little while, but I swam for 18 years before that. That background helped to form my opinion. In the fall--at the start of the season--we really put in lots of volume, and much of that volume was done at a tempo/threshold type of effort. We never showed up at the pool and cruised around at a HR of 110 BPM.

So...you might know where I am headed...

Why do so many people insist upon cruising around at absurdly slow speeds in order to establish their "base"? Doesn't this just de-train people and lead them towards becoming out of shape? What is the purpose? How does it develop tools which will be used on race day? What foundation is it establishing?

I believe "base training" in cycling has its origins in what some professional racers do for a period of time during the off-season. If you race 9 months per year, say 100-200 times, your body is going to need some time to just cruise along nice and easy before you get back into the swing of things. If you did the "Race to the Sun" and you also peaked for the UCI World Champs, then you probably raced something absurd like 10,000 km. You need to cruise around nice and easy for a while.

Since most of us are still looking to improve from one season to the next, it seems we should focus on continuing to make improvements/gains. That doesn't mean we need to kill ourselves with race intervals each workout, but it is imperative to still go at least moderately hard. I rode 100 miles once--just to say I did it--but I don't feel the need to do it again.

I think the real reason most people do these coffee rides in the winter is they are afraid to truly work on their base, their foundation. The foundation of our sport is our tempo and threshold fitness. 28 hour training weeks won't do it. Tons of threshold/tempo work will take your base fitness to the next level. Its amazing how well you can fine-tune a strong base fitness.

Want to be ready to crush it come spring? Work on your FTP. Many people don't do 2x20s, at least not regularly. They are essential, and they are hard if one is not used to performing them.

I built fitness this year with 2x20s. I love em. I need a mental break from structured 2x20s all the time; however, I still want to further fine tune my base for next year. Base training for me (at least on weekends) means 90-150 minute intervals at high tempo to low-threshold range in WKO+. 120 minutes at 300+ watts is certainly better in terms of base training than just cruising along at 200 for 4-5 hours. During the week, and on crummy weather days, its still 20s on the rollers or fun at Hains.

I guess being new to the sport means I don't accept the norm as gospel truth. Maybe I will fall apart on my bike at 2:01 into Jeff Cup, but I sure wouldn't want to try to get in the break after cuising around at 200 watts for miles on end with weight lifting holding me up.

What does base mean to you? If you lift weights in the fall/winter, how often do you perform 2x20:00? If you didn't lift, could you get an extra tempo workout in each week? What do you during your base?

Up next...quantifying your base/foundation...

20K in 25:05

Closed out my season with a low-key 20K TT back in San Diego. I grew up out there, and it was great to see my parents. They haven't been able to see me compete in anything in quite some time, so I think they really had fun watching.

I won the Cat 1/2/3 race going away, which is great. I ended up officially in 25:10; however, my computer said 25:05, so that is what I'm going with. The starter got distracted prior to my countdown, and he sent me off late. It didn't matter though, and I certainly wasn't going to be "that guy" who disputes 5 irrelevant seconds.

I hit the taper perfectly. I felt really fresh; however, I almost ruined the whole thing in the first 5 minutes, when I came out of the gate way too hard. I ride with power, so I knew it was too much, but I really couldn't back off. First 5 minutes were 387 watts, the next 15 were only 350, then the final 5 were 368. Overall was 360 for 25:05. I think one of the best preparation training sessions for going out too hard in the TT was a Tuesday noon ride a few weeks ago with Chuck Hutch, thanks Chuck!

Position is really good right now, CDA is approximately .217, and that is without ever going to the tunnel. Although I do lose 25-30 watts from my road position. I need to work on flexibility, I think. I trained smart this year: 8 hours per week average for the last 6 months. Pete Cannell coached me last year, and I basically followed/executed his training methodology this season on my own, thanks Pete! He really knows his stuff.

If I didn't mess up the pacing, I think I could have gone sub-25, which would have been sweet.

I'm thinking big for next year. Not taking 5 months off the bike like I did from Nov '08 through March '09. I might start with VOS Stage Race out in AZ. Its a time based GC, so that is good for me.

Its getting chilly outside, so its time to bring it back indoors. Lots of emotion rollers training with workouts of 45-75 minutes.

Fat Policeman: "You Cyclists are Arrogant"

Last night was an easy/recovery cruise ride. The weather was great, and it was a fun night/afternoon to be on the bike. Despite the great weather, not many non-cyclists were down at Hains Point.

I rode with Mike Streans for a bit, nice guy. We discussed many things, ranging from politics, to bike training, and to cycling genetic abilities. Fun stuff. He peeled off to ride with a very nice lady in an NCVC kit.

At that point, I saw Matias. We cruised around discussing cycling, triathlon, and world domination. At one point, Matias said something I couldn't quite make out. It turns out he said "Police".

Despite not heeding his warning, I still slowed to single digit speed. There wasn't a car in sight. I rolled. I hear the roar of a moto engine, and realize what I have done. We rolled through one of the dreaded stop signs right in front of a fat policeman.

He rolls up next to us yelling, "You cyclists are arrogant!" I thought I was going to get a ticket. That would have been my first ticket ever! My 12+ year streak of ticketless driving (riding too?) was about to end.

Fortunately, he must have been headed back to the Global HQ for the Park Police, and his shift was ending. He rode off after repeating his "You cyclists are arrogant" statement three times. He must have been late for dinner.

I have nothing against policemen. By and large, they are great. I know there are some officers of the law in the peloton. But there really is no need to harass some cyclists who are out having a good time on a nice night. There weren't any other vehicles around. He was just on a power-trip. Hopefully he doesn't treat tourists that way too.

Aerohelmets, Skinsuits, and Latex

This past weekend I tried out some new toys. I purchased a generic skinsuit from Voler, some shoe covers, a bunch of latex tubes from Michelin, and a set of Bonty Race X Lite TT Aerowing tires. I tested out the stuff along with the new position tweaks and documented on camera (except no skinsuit)

Everything was put to the test at DC Tri's annual TT down at Hains Point. I managed to navigate the 5 loop course, dodging some runners, cars, stop signs (sans stopping), and other fun objects to complete it in 33:24 or 34:06, depending on where the course stopped. Last year it was 4.9 laps, and this year it was 5. Either way, its right around 28.5 mph. Wind was fairly strong out of the N. Position seems to be working quite well. Shooting for 29.xx out in San Diego in on 10/11.

The gate to gate sections averaged 350 watts at 29.0 mph. The sections between stop signs were a tad slower, but watts were the same. Given my large former swimmer shoulders, that means the aero position is coming along pretty well. The course in San Diego has no turns, so that should help to boost speed and watts a little bit.

Fortunately, fitness is returning after being quite sick. Earlier in the week, there is no way I could have done ~34 minutes at 350. Hopefully wattage will be back soon enough.

I think I'm going to test out a Giro Advantage 2 and/or a LG Rocket, because those are a little shorter than the Kronos helmet I have now. A slightly shorter helmet will likely work slightly better, as it will be even with my back. Think those might fit a little better?

Matias and I have a bet. We are going to guess each other's times for our races. I'm doing a 20K TT, and he is doing Ironman Hawaii. Whoever is off by a greater percentage buys the other a beer. I honestly don't know if I am supposed to guess my time or his. Good thing is either option results in a beer.

Oh yeah, fast clinchers with latex tubes are just ridiculously fast. There is a discernible and quantifiable improvement in speed. Earlier this year I was racing on Michelin PR3s with butyl. Bontys with latex seem to be about 0.5 mph faster...or 15 watts, pick your poison.

My brother--Patrick--had his maiden voyage this past weekend on the new surfboards we purchased. I secretly scheduled this late season TT as a reason to get back out there to get some good surf.

Savageman was this past weekend. First time not participating for me. There is some beautiful and challenging riding out there! I hope to return at some point for sure. For posterity's sake, here is video of the wall from last year in 2008:

Some of the related videos are really classic. They demonstrate just how steep and torn up that road is!

Is the Tues/Thur Hains Point noon ride still speedy? I might bust out the TT stuff for some good/strong efforts.

I need to figure out how to make these posts less boring. I like numbers and data, but I'm not sure that is what readers (are there any?) are looking for!

Sick Fitness

Things were (note past tense) going great up through quite recently on the bike. Bike fitness was at an all-time high, at least for FTP. Two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to win Strasburg as well as Gundel on back to back days.

Here are two photos from Gundel, which I like:

Yeah, I should be sprinting in the drops...next year...I promise. Got an upgrade to 3 too, so that is cool.

Unfortunately, the flu (ie sick fitness) hit me really hard this week. I've been on the bike the last two days, but they have both been just totally weak. Went to do a tune-up ride today, but I found myself hacking away out on the ride. No dice.

This blog might link to GamJams.net now, but it might not. I have to figure out exactly how to make that happen. I have to install some site tracking scripts and stuff, not really sure how to do it. However, it can't be hard if all the other guys figured it out.

No pavo (turkey day) for me this year. My sole focus currently is a 20K TT out in San Diego in October. I grew up there, and it is a great reason to visit the parents. Maybe I can do some surfing the day before the TT; that sounds like the perfect tune up ride.

Patrick and I picked up two of these type of soft top surfboards(below) for when we are back in San Diego. The place was going out of business, so we got both boards for $160 total--that is an amazing deal. I used to be able to surf a short board quite well, but those skills have atrophied now that I am land-locked. Soft long boards are great. They are very bouyant, and they actually turn fairly easily. They are perfect for us when back in town, especially if we have friends who want to learn to surf too.

I want to try some cross stuff too. I should be crazy fit from an FTP standpoint in October, so I might as well see if I can put that FTP + triathlon flying dismount skillz to the test on a cross course. I'm sure I will just make a fool of myself, since I'm not much of a technical guy, but it sounds like a good excuse to fill cycling water bottles with beer ;-)

How fun does this look?!?!