Here's a water bottle that I made for TT. Now, I can drink without breaking my aero position, which supposedly saves about 9 seconds in a 40k (I didn't do that science myself, but it sounds reasonable). Be patient with the sound quality. I don't know why the volume is so low in the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_XzTWJ1BTU

I'll be doing this with an aero bottle next.

A Successful Spring, So Far

Second Place at the Sea Otter Classic Criterium

I suppose it's time to catch up on some blogging. It's been a productive Spring racing season for me. Finally. I feel like it's taken 2 years to get to this point, but it's been well worth it. Last year (my first year in Cat4), I really didn't want to be aggressive. I wanted to race as many races as I could, and get a good feel for what was going on. Somewhere deep down, I knew I wasn't ready to be as fast as the guys that were winning races. So I would race, but never attack or sprint for the finish, but I still trained my ass off. This year has been the opposite. When I started training for this season (at the end of November), I knew from the get-go, that I wanted to do well this year. I was focused and disciplined all winter. During a few training races in February, I took the mindset that when it was time to pedal, I was going to pedal hard, and when I saw opportunities and openings, I was going to take them. Here's how my Spring season has unfolded so far:

Snowcone Crit #2- 16th
Snowcone Crit #3- DNF, mechanical
Carl Dolan Memorial Crit- 6th
Sea Otter Classic Crit- 2nd
Sea Otter Classic Circuit Race- 11th
Rock Lititz Tour Road Race- 27th (worked to successfully pull back the breakaway)
Rock Lititz Tour Mountain TT- DNF, took a wrong turn on the course (along with at least 3 other riders)
Rock Lititz Tour Crit- 2nd

There's still a lot more racing to come this year. I've already accomplished a few goals, so I'm setting new ones as I go. My initial goal for this season was to earn enough points to upgrade to Cat 3, but now I'm not sure if that's what I want. I may take another year to get more comfortable before going to the next level. One thing's for sure, my skills are continuing to develop each year. This year, I'm a much more patient rider...not panicking at every attack, sitting-in when I need to rest, but I'm also more confident. If I see that I need to back off for a second, in order to find a safe slot to be in, I know that I can leap-frog my way back up the chain when we come out of the turn (Rock Lititz Crit was the perfect example of this...avoiding the big crash at the end, and sprinting for 2nd).

Next on the lineup, I've got Smoketown, BikeJam, Ride Sally Ride, and Leonardtown. I'm bringing my training back down to aerobic for a couple weeks, then going in to another build period to try to stay strong for another couple months. I'm hoping for continued success in the coming weeks!

Taking a look at my PMC

With my racing season about to officially kick off, it is sufficient to say that I've been training my ass off (along with my teammates). This is the time when all the winter riding in cold and windy conditions will hopefully pay off. I've paid close attention to my Performance Manager Chart (using WKO+ software), and I've stuck closely to my initial plan for a training season, so I'm hoping for some decent results.
Recently, myself and a few teammates have been discussing the charts, so I figured I'd take some time to share what I know about them (they can definitely be difficult to understand at first). The pictures below are my personal chart from this training season so far (November 28 - April 8).

Some quick basics: The purple line is my "Acute Training Load", or basically, the recent stress load. You can also think of it as today's workout. When you upload a ride into the software, the purple line reacts rather abruptly.  The blue line is my "Chronic Training Load". It is a general representation of how fit you are. As you can see, it reacts much less drastically than the ATL. The goal is to keep the blue line trending upward throughout the season. The yellow line is my "Training Stress Balance". It shows how "fresh" I am. Notice how the ATL and the TSB pretty much oppose each other, which makes sense. The harder the workout, the greater the stress.

 If you look at the above chart, you can see that I trained for the first 3 months (which was generally aerobic base training), then had a period where my CTL (blue line) flattened out a bit. This was a rest week. Notice how all of my lines came back together as I got "fresher". Yes, I lost a tiny bit of fitness, but this is how recovery works. I should perform good here, since glycogen stores should be back up, muscles are recovered, etc. Then, you can see that I hit the training hard again, with a 4 week build period, and my CTL continued upward. Notice how the lines all separate again.

I'm currently in my second build period, and about to begin a rest/taper week to head into a big couple weeks of racing. Notice, however, that throughout the season, my CTL continues to trend upward. This is the important part. It shows that I'm gaining fitness throughout my season. If my chart would start to go downward, I would immediately know, and could adjust my training schedule accordingly. The only other thing that I want to point out (below), is that after a rest period, when my lines were intersecting, I felt amazing. In fact, I felt so invincible on my bike, that I had an incredible workout, as evidenced by the large spike in my ATL that day.

One important note, is that according to Hunter Allen (who co-wrote the book "Training and Racing with a Power Meter", raising your CTL greater than 8 points (the numbers on the right) in a week, will lead to illness or injury. I can say that I came close to that one week, and I did indeed end up sick. Thankfully, though, I already knew (from a Carmichael book, I think), that a common cold literally has no detriment to training performance, as long as you can suck it up and tolerate the symptoms while on the bike. Which is exactly what I did, and thus, did not lose any time training.
I hope this helps to make the PMC a little more clearer (to my teammates, at least). I know that Golden Cheetah has a similar chart, using different terminology, but I haven't used it enough to remember what their lines are called.

Snowcone Training Series #2: 2/11/2012

Snowcone Training Series #2

2/11/2012

This was the second installment of this year's Snowcone Training Series. It's a criterium held on clean asphalt roads that are closed to traffic, in an office building park area. I missed the first one, and there's not many races this early in the year, so I was pretty eager to go. Leading up to the race, I felt like crap. I was just finishing up a tough training week, I had been under a lot of stress at work, and woke up with a sore throat and headache.

I drove down with a friend/teammate, Matt,(which was awesome), and we arrived in plenty of time to get dressed, get the bikes ready, and warm up. It was cold (about 38 degrees) and spitting rain. Riding around the course to warm up, I felt horrible. My head was "foggy" and my legs felt weak, but soon enough we were at the starting line, ready to go...there were 61 people in the field.

Once the race started, everything felt great. My head was clear, my legs felt nice and strong, and for some reason, the song "Feel Good, inc." by The Gorillas, was stuck in my head. Overall, the racing was smooth and fun. There was the occasional guy not holding his line through a turn, but that's pretty typical, and didn't seem to cause too many problems. Towards the end of the race, somebody took a turn too wide and clipped the concrete curb, which sent 2 guys rolling into the grass, but to my knowledge, that was the only incident. 

With about 5 laps to go, Matt and I were sitting in about the top 25% of the field, and we were both feeling pretty strong. I was starting to think that I was actually going to contest the finishing sprint, which I typically haven't done in the past. However, with 3 laps to go, I pushed down to accelerate hard on my right leg, and immediately felt a sharp pain in my lower back. Matt was beside me and asked me how I felt, so when I told him that I was hurt, he went to move to the front. At this point, my plan was simple: keep my speed high enough to not need to accelerate hard, and hang on until the finish.

On the final turn, Matt got boxed in and had nowhere to go for the sprint (a lesson that I learned last year), and I held steady on the outside for about 16th place (after reviewing the video).

This was the first chance I've had to race with Matt. He looks solid, he's strong, and he seems to have the ability to stay firm in his lines, and in the pack. This was also the first time that I recorded a race using my GoPro HD. I put some working gauges on it (using a cool program called Dashware), and put it on YouTube. Here's the link: Snowcone Training Series race #2 video

Hains Point "Slayfest" 2/7/12

Hains Point "slay fest" aka "The Noontime Peloton" is a pretty neat phenomenon. Every day around lunch time, local racers meet on a 3.2 mile loop of road that sticks out into the Potomac river to ride some laps. The groups are random, with riders ranging from pro to Cat 5. There's some pretty strong riding, powerful attacks, strung-out fields, dudes in aerobars, and chicks that ride on the front. It's a pretty eclectic scene. One side of the loop can see speed upwards of 29 mph and beyond, and the other side is usually somewhat windy. The road is also occupied by runners, speed skaters, tour buses, casual riders, and the occasional homeless person. Add to that, the fact that the police randomly choose days to target cyclists for not stopping at the stop signs, and it sounds like the worst-nightmare-of-a-group-ride that you could imagine. However, somehow, it all works. It usually goes off without a hitch, and best of all, it's always a great workout.

Today I went to Hains Point with the intention of just doing a 2x20 threshold workout. Once I realized that I was right on time for the Slayfest, I decided to abandon my own workout and ride laps with the fast guys. This is the third week that I've begun to open up my legs a little bit and push above my calculated FTP. I've been working out aerobically at an FTP of 234. Today's numbers show me that I'm progressing well, and starting to make some gains in power.

Below is a link to the ride file loaded to Garmin Connect.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/147918962

Well, February is here, and usually by this time I'd be complaining about how much training I haven't been doing. This year, however, has been awesome.
I got a new bike...actually an entirely new setup (a custom spec'd 2012 Specialized Tarmac SL4, with Mavic Cosmic Carbones)(pictured with the old stem which has been replaced with a new S-works stem)

I spent a great deal of time staying aerobic throughout November and December, and even half of January. In fact, it wasn't until after attending Hunter Allen's power clinic that I decided to start ramping up the intensity in my workouts. For the past couple weeks, I have added a sprint day to my training week, and I even threw in a day of small climb repeats, using a little course that I put together to train for the Sea Otter Classic circuit race.
The team that we started last year is going well, and a few of the dedicated members have been meeting weekly for some winter training. Hopefully once the weather warms up a bit, we'll see the rest of the crew.
So, I've got my new bike, I've been training well, the only question is whether or not it will pay off. Well, we'll see soon enough. I've registered for an early season "training" race in 2 weeks. In the last one of these series, the fields had over 70 riders each, so it should be action packed. This will also be my first opportunity to use my new GoPro HD in a race. I've been playing around with it, and using a program called "Dashware" to add custom gauges to the video.
My big goal this year is to earn enough points to upgrade from Cat4 to Cat3. To do so, I'm going to try to finish at least in the top 10 at every race. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Share the road, much?

My local state laws state that in order to ride my bike on the road, I must 1) wear a helmet, 2) have a warning light, and 3) stay as far to the right as is safely possible.

Here's bit of video that I captured on my new GoPro HD2 the other day. As you can see, I'm riding as far to the right side of the road as I can be. I am also wearing a helmet and using a flashing red light on my bike (which you can't see in the screen, of course). Watch how much of a hurry the white pickup truck is in. Then, watch as he forces another car off the road, because he passes on a solid line, on a blind rolling hill. The raw video shows his license plate CLEARLY. I contacted a friend of mine who is a sheriff's deputy, but unfortunately, it's impossible to prove who was driving the truck.

I should also say here, that about 30 minutes prior to this video, I was nearly hit...as I was SITTING STILL at a stop sign. A full size pickup blew the sign as he was turning right, and almost clobbered me. Luckily, I saw him at the last second, and refrained from moving forward. His window was down, so I yelled, "I guess you missed the stop sign?"...to which he replied with a middle finger. HA! Suddenly, I'M the asshole, because this guy couldn't take the time to stop at the sign. *...sigh...*

Some of the residents in this area are apparently opposing the "Share The Road" signs that have been placed throughout the 2 neighboring counties here. I can't imagine that it would bother somebody THAT much, as they drive past the yellow signs, that they would want them taken down. Surely, none of these people have read the state driving laws to see whether or not they have a leg to stand on in regards to opposing cyclists on the road.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Usually, ringing in the new year comes complete with making all kinds of ridiculous new promises to yourself. If you really work hard, maybe you make it to March before your new promise is a thing of the past. Even still, I can't help but resolve to make some sort of change each year. Usually it's something along the lines of "stop procrastinating", or "become more organized", or "finish everything I start"...blah, blah, blah. This year, however, I want to be a better bike racer. Simple enough. All I need to do is read some books, listen to a few seminars, eat better, train harder, get a new bike, and go to more races. The only problem is, I've already done all that. Well...almost.

Since the end of the last racing season (which ended on a terribly sour note...), I've read and listened to enough physiology to make even the most educated professors vomit, I've purchased my dream race machine, performed more base training in the last month than I care to shake a stick at, and I've even added some pretty healthy choices to my diet. With a little luck, I might just make this my best season yet. The only thing left to do is go to a crap-load of races.

There's a pic of my new Tarmac SL4 frame. Now, if I can just find some quality components....

Pre-ride essentials. Sync iTunes and eat some carbs. This is a honey and fig rice cake, as made from the new book "The Feed Zone". Check it out. My last 2 rides have included this tasty gem beforehand, and orange-coconut macaroons mid-ride. I've been really pleased with the fuel they've provided.

Recently, I've gotten into making blender drinks (the non-alcoholic type). Here is today's concoction: fresh chopped pineapple, pear, banana, mango, and blueberry. I just fill to the level of the fruit with water, then blend, and voila! It sure beats having to take the time to eat all of that (I've usually separate it into 2 drink bottles...one for now and one for later). In the background, you can see the green bowl with my pre-wrapped rice cakes that I made the other day.

After a few months worth of lifting weights and general aerobic fitness, things are back into full swing for me. I'm in an aerobic period and currently targeting sub-threshold intensity levels. Something that I found that has been working well, is 2x20 type workouts. I'll list a sample below. I was amazed at how difficult it really was to complete the first time...just goes to show how specific bike training can be. 

15 min Warm-up:  easy aerobic pedaling
5 min All-out effort: 100% FTP 
20 min interval: sub-threshold 88-94% FTP
10 min recovery pedaling
20 min interval: sub-threshold 88-94% FTP
Recovery pedal, cool down, or finish with high cadence drills
*the 2 x20 intervals can be replaced with 3x10, 3x12, 3x15 depending on current fitness...but strive for 2x20

I'm also in the middle of purchasing my new ride for next year. I figure 2 years of crit racing a Kestrel Talon (fully built with power tap wheel comes in around 22 lbs!) is enough. I have already bought a set of new Mavic Cosmic Carbone SR's and a Quarq Cinco power meter. I previously ordered a new Tarmac SL4, but Specialized pushed the back order
back another 2 months, so I ordered just the frame to build. There has been no response from the factory yet, so I figure they have about a week to at least contact me before I just go with something else. I'm not a patient person.

Other than that, I am just waiting for some races to start hitting the schedule. I am attending a power clinic by Hunter Allen in January and hopefully racing the Sea Otter Classic in April...all on my quest towards Cat 3. Maybe with the new iPad that I got for Christmas, blogging will be a little bit easier!

What a year. I spent the racing season doing what I'd like to call "getting comfortable" in the Cat4's, and training my ass off for what was undoubtedly the most poorly organized and over-hyped event that I've ever been a part of (the 2011 World Police and Fire Games). During my local races (with the exception of the MABRA state criterium championships), I spent most of my time hanging with the pack, not contesting the finishes, or really making any big push at the finish at all. I was amazed at how insanely fast Cat 4 can be. My personal opinion is that there is a fine mix of true Cat 4 level racers, sandbaggers, non-upgraders, dopers, and people passing through on their way to higher categories. The Cat 4 races this year were faster than the 3/4 races that I did, and were only surpassed by the speed and difficulty of the racing at the world games. I even overheard a group of guys who were waiting to start in the Cat 1,2,3 talking about how they had never seen Cat 4 fields strung out so much. With that said, I'm ready to train a little harder to finally see how well I can do in these fields.  In fact, one of my goals for this next year is to race well enough to upgrade to Cat 3.

After the beginning of September, I was lean, fit, and tired of training. My hips were hurting and I was all but forcing myself to continue training. Don't get me wrong, I was still very much enjoying riding my bike, but I was definitely ready for a rest period. I took a couple weeks off, and started running short distances here and there, and eventually started doing some weights and strength training.

Looking forward to the next racing season, I'm pretty excited. I feel good, I'm ready to train hard, and I've got some fun races on the calendar. I've got a new bike on the way (new Tarmac SL4), some new wheels (Cosmic Carbones), and even a new team to race and train with (Team Integrity). Yep, things are looking good.

My aerboic period started this past week, and I completed my first FTP test for the year...just in time for the winter weather to start screwing things up! Hopefully, things will continue to feel as good (physiologically) as they have recently, and I'll have some good race reports to share. My first couple races on the calendar should be the crit at Richmond, then the Sea Otter Classic in California.

Selling this bike

The 2011 World Police and Fire Games: A terrible disappointment

Here is a copy of my letter that is being sent throughout the WPFG organization, as well as to the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management (a department in the NYC mayor's office):

To whom it may concern,

I am a professional firefighter/paramedic and competitive road cyclist that recently participated in the 2011 World Police and Fire Games that were hosted by the city of New York. To say that they were an atrocity is an understatement. This event saw nearly 17,000 registered athletes from around the world. I can honestly say that I have never been a part of an event that has been so disorganized and mismanaged. While it’s true that the weather (Hurricane Irene) had an effect on the games, the issues listed below are completely human in origin, and could have been either avoided or corrected if any attention to detail had been put forth. I am embarrassed to have been the hosting country for these events, and I have apologized to several international competitors on the behalf of New York City, although it is clearly not my responsibility to do so. This unfortunate outcome reflects poorly on the World Police and Fire Games organization, New York City, and the United States of America. I am personally considering not attending future WPFG events, and I can only imagine that international competitors are of the same opinion.

The credentialing system was a joke. Prior to the opening ceremony (for months), we were told that athletes and guests WOULD NOT be allowed to enter any WPFG venues unless credentials were presented. We were required to pay for guests’ credentials. NOT ONCE were we required to show them, and the majority of the time, athletes and guests were not even wearing them. Also, if the events are free and open to the public, why were our guests required to pay to be credentialed? It was a complete waste of money for us. We were also assured that by taking care of our credentials via the internet prior to arriving at the Javits Center, we would be “Fast Tracked” through registration. Some athletes waited as long as 4 hours to be “Fast Tracked”, and one of my teammates even had to return another day. This process needs to be fixed prior to the next games.

The disorganization was evident weeks, if not months before the opening ceremony. The cycling events changed venues and dates multiple times, and  the official schedule did not come out on time as promised. The WPFG Connect Platform  and the Facebook page were riddled with comments from competitors who had already paid a great deal of money, and then were finding out their sports had changed dates/times a mere two weeks prior to the start of the games (at the time, this had NOTHING to do with the weather). To compound the issue, volunteers had still not received their assignments or locations/times even as of the opening ceremony.

Once the opening ceremony was held, events began to be listed as “canceled”, understandably, due to the weather. After the storm had passed, slowly we received information about new dates and venues for events.  The time trial was the first cycling event to take place, which was held at it’s original location. This location was unsafe and unfit to serve as a time trial course. There were weeds growing out of cracks in the pavement throughout the course, and the turns had sand on them. Clearly, no attention had been given to preparing the course prior to having bicycles race on it. Start times were changed without notifying athletes, and the bus that transported athletes from the Javits Center to the venue was 2 hours late, causing an enormous confusion at the start. Expensive bikes were carelessly stacked onto a trailer, causing damage to several of them. To make matters worse, no official timing system was used, causing some athletes to either receive incorrect rankings, and one of my teammates was not scored at all. One of the event coordinators actually took an athlete’s personal time that was recorded using his own bike computer as an official time. The worst part of the time trial was the fact that there were NO restrooms present. ELDERLY SPECTATORS AND YOUNG CHILDREN WERE FORCED TO SQUAT IN THE BUSHES TO RELIEVE THEMSELVES. This is embarrassing for everybody and unacceptable.

During the criterium, we were notified the day before about the new venue. The event coordinator from the mayor’s office stated in a casual conversation that the WPFG knew about the change 4 days prior. This is a serious lack of communication, especially since the beginning of the race was delayed approximately 1 hour because the police force on Coney Island was not ready to secure the street for the event. Cars were towed from the course, although there was no signage or prior warning that a race would be taking place. This is not fair to the owners of the cars. Another frustrating issue concerning the criterium  is the fact that an “out and back” format was used for the course – different from any criterium that any of the athletes had ever been a part of, and certainly not a typical criterium course. Thirty minutes prior to the start of the race, the officials still did not know where the course was going to be. We even had a “false start” of sorts, when the officials began the men’s “open” class, but then the racers were forced to stop by the local police captain, because he was not ready to begin, which delayed the race ANOTHER 25 minutes. These delays and multiple starts are detrimental to athletic performance, as nutrition and fuel are very closely calculated to insure maximum performance. I would like to inform you that my teammates and I worked extremely hard during this race, and performed well, however, there have been no official results posted for that event.

The cycling road race that was held in Central Park on 9/2/11 was a complete failure. First of all (and once again), the race was delayed for over an hour while the organizers worked to secure the course. Secure is a loose term here, as the course was anything but closed (to begin with, the police officers in the park had no idea that there was a bike race that day, and thought that we were there to get in line for the Mary J. Blige concert. Who has the right mind to schedule these two events on the same day at the same venue??). The race was given a 0600hrs start time, but we were sharply advised after registration that the race could not begin until sunrise. If that is true, why would we be given a start time that is at least 30 minutes prior? To compound my frustration, I was nearly hit by a garbage truck that veered onto the race course, the fitness path users intermingled with the race packs, and there was a collision involving the racers and a pedestrian that resulted in injuries and damaged equipment. The road race started so late that the men’s “open” race was shortened 12 miles, which seems minor considering all the other issues, but it is still unfair to make that change at the last minute. Once again, my teammates and I worked very hard during this race, and to date, there are still incomplete results for this event.

After the chaos that was the racing on Friday, I decided to attend the cycling road race that was held on 9/3/11 as a spectator, to see if there were any improvements. Although the race started much more smoothly, I witnessed several activities that would be considered cheating, including racers using “aero” bars (a 9% speed advantage over drop bars), and male riders (not wearing bib numbers) pacing and “pulling” a female racer that was competing. Due to the lack of supervising during the race, these things went unnoticed, and are not fair or acceptable for any competition, especially for games of this magnitude.

To date, full results for the cycling events have still not been published. An email that was sent from the email address of the WPFG, stated that “we are not professional athletes, although some of us like to think we are”. This is an arrogant, rude, bold statement. This statement is clearly made by a non-athlete who does not know what it is like to train for 2 years for an event (also, considering there WERE, indeed, professional, semi-professional, and retired professional athletes in attendance). Athletes that attended these games trained and prepared day and night, through illness and injury, and spent a great deal of money not only in preparation, but in attending the events, only to have comments like the one above made. To not fully or adequately score an event is unacceptable. First, second, and third places are NOT the only ones that matter. Every athlete needs to know how their efforts have paid off, especially on an international stage. I personally feel that I wasted my entire competitive season in preparation for the 2011 WPFG, and at this point, I may never know how my performance measured against my colleagues from around the world.

I would also like to address the behavior and comments of Mr. David Somerville. He behaved and spoke unprofessionally and rudely each time that I encountered him.  At one point, while I was racing at Friday’s road race, he became involved in an argument with my wife. An act that my wife is willing to dismiss, but is still worth mentioning, as it is not the behavior that a representative of the WPFG should display. He also continuously made comments that undermined the importance of properly scoring an event such as, “I don’t know why somebody is bothering me about 15^th place” or “The hard part is done now, we’re only going to score first, second, and third place”. He also laughed at the lack of organization when it was mentioned by competitors , and refused to answer questions regarding the reasons that events were not being scored fully/properly. Clearly, Mr. Somerville does not take the sport of cycling seriously, and should not be included in future WPFG cycling events.

Overall, the 2011 World Police and Fire Games were a negative experience for me. The mission statement on the WPFG website stated  “to provide the best possible sporting venues combined with world-class officiating”. What a complete sham. I truly hope that you can understand my disappointment, as I targeted these events for 2 years, only to have them handled as a joke by those in charge of organizing them. It only takes a glance at the WPFG Connect Platform message board, or the Facebook page to see that the majority of the athletes that were in attendance, regardless of sport or discipline, were disappointed and are angry. The World Police and Fire Games and  the city of New York should be ashamed and embarrassed, and a formal apology is warranted.  A city that bid to host a games of this magnitude (and knew YEARS in advance) had plenty of time to prepare for it, complete with contingencies in place, and the WPFG organization should have overseen the operations more closely. Both parties KNEW and advertised that this would be the largest games ever, but treated it (and the athletes) as if they were unimportant and second-rate. I may never attend another WPFG event, and I will be more-than-willing to share my experience with others.

Sincerely,

Jason Stottlemyer

Firefighter/Paramedic

Athlete #3669

8/20/11- Another attempt at "The Great White Buffalo" route

A few weeks ago, a friend/teammate/training partner and I came up with a route that looked and sounded like a good ride. We took a ride that he has done in the past, that is very scenic, and winds through some of the nicest back roads in the county, then we added a loop that I ride sometimes, through some of the back roads in the southern end of our county. The total course is just over 60 miles. In theory, it's a great ride. I say that because, in 3 attempts, we still haven't been able to complete the route in it's entirety! During our attempts, we've amassed 2 flats, 1 crash (with a broken derailleur hanger), and 1 "bonk. Yesterday, I figured I'd give it another try...solo this time. I ended up running out of fluids around mile 47, and had to shorten the ride and head for home. So it still hasn't been finished!

Since I got my power meter, nearly a month ago, I've been collecting and evaluating as much data as I can. Slowly, I'm learning some of the more technical things, such as TSS, ATL, CTL, Intensity Factor, etc. Here's a few things that I found interesting from yesterday's ride (and my fitness).

Using PowerAgent software (which I LOVE and is FREE, downloaded from CycleOps website), I'm able to "segment" any part of my ride and save it as a new interval. I compared my last attempt (with a total group of 3 riders to share the work load), with my solo ride yesterday until the same spot where the crash occurred. Here is a chart with the interesting facts:

So, basically, in order to do the same work alone, my HR was nearly 20bpm higher, I had to maintain a higher average power (although I had some more powerful bursts with the group, as evidenced by my normalized power...which is what I think drove up my TSS and Intensity Factor). Just goes to show how much working as a group and drafting really does save energy. With a group of 3, my HR was 11% lower, and my Norm. Power was 4% higher. So, in short, I did more work with less energy.

I love seeing this raw data, because the numbers always tell the truth. I can't tell you how much material I've read about riding, racing, and training, but it's nice to see the numbers for myself...from rides that I personally did. I'm not sure when The Great White Buffalo will finally get slayed, but it's already proven to be a useful route.

Training with my Cycleops Power Meter and using PowerAgent software

Since starting my adventure into competitive cycling, I have read just about every bit of material in regards to training that I could get my hands (or eyes) on. I've also had many conversations with "elite" or "experienced" racers, and I've bought quite a few books. I even participated in a performance-cycling based study on caffeine, that took place in a performance lab, complete with blood draws and VO2 max testing. I knew, early on, that the ultimate method of training was with a power meter. According to many of the online forums and local cycling communities, you're simply not training efficiently, or to your maximum potential...unless you have a power meter. I think I made the common progression during my training, going from riding a lot, then adding a heart rate monitor, then GPS, then cadence, and finally power. What I didn't know, was how much of a difference it would actually make in my training, and how fun it would be to evaluate the data. 

When I first got my power meter (Cycleops Elite+ hub in a DT450 wheel), I linked it with my Garmin Edge500 (which was easy enough...just find the Garmin owner's manual online and follow the instructions) and got to work. My wife bought me the book "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" by Allen and Cogan, and although some of the material is quite scientific, I've managed to decipher a good bit of it. I immediately performed my FTP test (Functional Threshold Power), which basically tells you how much power you should be able to maintain over the course of an hour. It's an interesting number, but it doesn't tell the entire story. From that number, you can determine your power "zones" for training...you can also draw from it your LTHR (Lactate Threshold Heart Rate).  (I should mention here that I think it's important to train throughout the year using periodization, so that you have some meaning to your training, that is...a method to your madness). After that, it's necessary to determine your "power profile". This is interesting, because it's where you learn your average power outputs for various increments (15 sec., 1 min., 5 min., etc.). THEN, you need to go one step further and learn your power to weight ratio. First, convert your body weight into kg's (divide your weight in lbs. by 2.2), and then divide the average power numbers by your weight in kg. After doing this, I made a chart in excel. It looks like this:

This way, when I retest each month, I can see where I've made my gains. Knowing the numbers in your power profile is crucial, in my opinion, because I know where my strengths are, and which type of rider I am (all-rounder, sprinter, climber, TT specialist, etc.). In my case, this is a classic presentation for an all-rounder. You can see that my numbers aren't amazingly spectacular, but I've finished as high as 6th at the local Cat 4 races, which means that I've at least learned some tactics along the way. At any rate, knowing these numbers allows me to either exploit my strengths (for me, this would be my 5 min. effort), or work on my weaknesses (my sprint and 1 minute efforts). Working with power has also taught me to better push power all the way around my pedal stroke, and I'm looking forward to my next test. 

The next thing I'd like to mention is training software. I've tried quite a few. I have a Garmin, so I actually do like Garmin Training Center (which came with my device), and there's always Garmin Connect which is free online. It allows you to see the basics like average and maximums for power, heart rate, cadence, speed, elevation, etc. It also shows the map and distance for your ride, which I like. I've tried Strava, which I can't get the hang of, and doesn't seem to have the amount of displayable data that it's Garmin counterparts have. I've also toyed with mapmyride and ridewithgps, which I think are great for ride-mapping and route-finding, but little else. I had a trainingpeaks account for a while (the premium version) which was great, but it's tough to justify another monthly payment to use it. The free version of trainingpeaks works well, but there's limited features. A software that I have really begun to enjoy is PowerAgent, which is downloadable for free on the Cycleops website. What I've been doing for the past few weeks is downloading my training file into both Garmin Training Center (for the mapping, etc), and then into PowerAgent for the detailed analysis of my intervals, etc. What's GREAT about PowerAgent, is that I can look at a number that's called "Normalized Power". Average power is ok, but it's not completely honest. Sure, if you perform 500w (watts) for 30 seconds, then 1000w for 30 seconds, you average would be 750w. HOWEVER, because of the amount of work that you did to maintain the 1000w, you body may have done the same amount of work that it would take to maintain, say, 800w for that minute. Confusing? Think of it in terms of a car: if you drive your car around the city, there are many points of acceleration, cruising, braking, whatever. You may average 25mpg over the course of that tank of gas, but there were times when your car did more work and probably only averaged 20mpg, and then times when it cruised and did less work, maybe maintaining 28mpg. In the end, although you averaged 25mpg, you placed additional "wear and tear" on your car when you accelerated or stomped it through the city. So, "Normalized Power" is more valuable than average power, especially since it's impossible to maintain a perfectly steady output of power throughout your ride. Also, something that I recently discovered with PowerAgent, is the ability to "segment" or isolate a portion of your ride. If you click and drag on any portion of the detailed graph, the software will figure out your numbers for that section that you chose. Pretty awesome. This means that if I wanted to see my averages, etc, for a certain part of my interval, I can get it...even if I didn't hit the "Lap" button on my Garmin.  PowerAgent has far more data than I'll probably ever use, but it's nice that if I decide to learn it, it's there. And for free.

I can't wait to continue learning...and training. 

I increased my training, and all I got was this stupid saddle sore.

With the World Police and Fire Games just around the corner (8/26-9/5), to say that I've stepped up my training would be an understatement. After taking a 6th place Cat 4 finish at my last crit, I decided that my training has been working, and my confidence was starting to solidify. Following that race, I was left with a 6 week "build" period to get me ready for the games. I've added roughly 50 miles per week to my training, and I've structured my weeks much more than previously this year. My typical week, now, looks like this: Sunday- 3hr. Tempo ride, Monday- Anaerobic (superthreshold) intervals, Tuesday- Recovery Ride, Wednesday- Group Ride or Race Pace Ride, Thursday- Threshold Intervals, Friday- Juniors Practice, Saturday- Long Ride or Rest. 

The extra time in the saddle has been great for my legs, but unfortunately, not so good for my "nether" region. I've developed a small "saddle sore" that I think has the potential to be rather bothersome. Luckily, it seems like they are very easily treated. Basically, keep it clean, dry, and rub some Oxy10 on it. Maybe some chamois lube for the ride to reduce friction...and the best part of all...sleep in the nude!!! 

I've learned several secrets so far along the way during my cycling endeavors, and it looks like I'm going to have more soon.

2011 MABRA Age Graded Criterium Championships

Chasing up the hill

7/9/11 - Raced at the MABRA Age Graded Championships. I was a bit nervous for this race since I am a brand new Cat 4 this year, and this race was 35+ Cat 3/4. I  knew the field was going to be fast. Just prior to the start, after warming up on the trainer, I did a few laps on the course to keep my legs warm and to check out the turns. The course looked great. Nice and smooth, not many obstacles (potholes, sewers, etc), nice clean turns, and an uphill that seemed like it was going to be just steep enough to be tough.
From the start, the pace was high. The first 2 laps averaged over 27 mph. After having such a poor performance at the Tour of Washington County, my strategy was to sit in the pack as much as I could, and conserve energy.  With the speeds of the group, there wasn't much conserving going on, and my HR stayed in the 170's most of the time! I did manage to find a spot that didn't seem to move backwards often, and I managed to hold my ground fairly well. in the latter half of the race, on a tight left hand turn, one rider misjudged and hit the outside curb, cartwheeling into the grass. The pace quickened on the final lap (over 28mph average)...and my top speed hit over 37mph! After the final turn, I stood up and sprinted past a few guys and finished 22nd overall. After checking the results, I was the 6th placed Cat 4. I'm definitely pleased with that result.

Post-race analysis: recently, I've been focusing on my diet BIG TIME. After performing poorly at the Tour of Washington County, I was pretty pissed off. It seems the fruits and veggies, and increased protein intake is working well. Also, in the training regimen, I added more interval rides which have been awesome. Also, about a week ago, I tore my wheel hubs apart and cleaned and lubed the bearings (after about 4500 miles) as well as the bottom bracket, and it seems like I can truly feel a difference (maybe it's all psychological, who knows).

Looking forward now, it's time to set my sights on the World Police and Fire Games at the end of August. I'm going to stick with my current training regimen and diet, and hopefully continue to feel this good.

Memorial Day weekend/BikeJam 2011 (Patterson Park, Baltimore)

Well, despite how many crashes there were throughout the day of racing, despite myself and 2 of my teammates getting shelled off the back (for different reasons, but off the back, nonetheless...) and our 4th man getting wrapped up in a nasty little crash himself, our junior's team getting a flat, a crash, and a DQ for gearing...today was pretty awesome.
I know...I know....this is a blog about racing, but indirectly, it's because of the racing that the day was so good. If it weren't for going racing today, my son never would have had the chance to hang out with this guy, who gave him a hat, signed it, and gave multiple high-fives and even took a picture with him. Without going racing today, our juniors team wouldn't have gotten all those free Slurpees, made their own stickers, played on the moonbounce slide, watched the trials riders, or listened to the live bands. We wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to walk up in the pagoda at Patterson Park, and check out the 360 degree panoramic view of Baltimore, including the Inner Harbor.
And, without going racing today, I never would have parked behind a Marine Corp veteran of the war in Iraq. A veteran who I've seen on multiple occasions throughout the Mid-Atlantic circuit. A veteran who continues to race, despite having lost his leg during the second taking of Fallujah (read this...skip to the Iraq War 2003). A veteran who took the time to walk up to me, introduce himself, and begin a conversation. Of course, we began with talking about the day's race and what happened. He candidly joked about his prosthetic, and let me hold the "racing leg". And then he shared with me the story of how he arrived at the point in his life where he needs to wear the above mentioned prosthetic. The story, and his willingness to tell me (a complete stranger) about it, was amazing. In a 20 minute conversation, I learned that he was in the "passenger" seat in a humvee, as his platoon was leading the way, and that not only did they drive over the explosive device that took his leg (and  his platoon leader's life...in the same vehicle), but that they also were ambushed TWO MORE TIMES as they tried to evacuate themselves (and other wounded) from the city. Amazing. I didn't really know what to say. We made small talk for a few more minutes, and then I politely thanked him and we agreed that we'd probably see each other next weekend at the race, and we went our separate ways.
As I drove away, I thought about the conversation. I went over almost every word in my mind. I know it's memorial day weekend, and I've ALWAYS been a HUGE fan of our military (in fact, had I not been DQ'd during my entrance physical, I probably would have made it my career), but today really made me think about our guys (and gals) that fight for our country every day. Maybe they're fighting for our freedom, and maybe it's some political bullshit (or as Carlin would say a "prick measuring contest"), but it doesn't really matter. The fact is, that we have the bravest people on the planet fighting for and protecting the USA. It's a thankless job, and you can guarantee that our government doesn't show them the respect that they deserve. The guy that parked in front of me today get's to sport a Purple Heart license plate, but I wonder what else he got in return for his leg? I'll bet it wasn't much. And today, he continued to give...so to him, and everyone else that either is currently serving or has served in our armed forces....THANK YOU....seriously.

Fort Ritchie Crit 5/7/2011

Yesterday was the 2011 Fort Ritchie Crit in Cascade, MD. The weather was nice and sunny by the time the Men's Cat4 started at 3:30 in the afternoon. There was a little wind, but certainly nothing like what we saw at the Carl Dolan and Chantilly races. I haven't seen the race results yet, so I'm not sure how many started in the field. For our team (Capital Region Fire and Police Cycling), we actually had 3 of us there. It's not much compared to teams like NCVC or SynFit, but considering we're only in our second year as a team, I'm glad to see that we're getting out there. In the above picture, that's me chewing on my earphones cord (really, just keeping it out of the way of my hands), Dennis in the middle, and Steve on the far end. Dennis raced the 3/4 earlier in the morning and took 8th, and this is Steve's first year back racing after a few years off. Both are normally very strong. My strategy for this race was simply to keep touch with the pack. After getting completely dropped in Chantilly, I figured it was a good goal. Overall, the race was pretty quick-paced and the competition good. Of course, I could point out several guys that need to do some serious work on holding their lines, or having better spacial-awareness, but it wasn't overly treacherous. I managed to hang on throughout the race, sometimes finding myself sitting in the top five or so, and then going all the way to the back...but I never lost touch. Steve flatted maybe on lap 5 of the 60 minute race, and by the end, Dennis had nothing left in the tank (after racing earlier). I could have pushed a little harder and finished a little higher at the line, but with the Richmond crash still fresh in my mind, I'm still getting used to fighting for my position. It was a fun race, with music playing all day, and the occasional announcing by Joe. Next on the schedule is BikeJam on 5/28, followed by Ride Sally Ride, and the Tour of Washington County.

**edit** Just looked at the results, and I finished 26th out of the 40 that started. I'll take that at this stage of my Cat4-ness.

2011 Carl Dolan Memorial Race (Cat4/5 field)

Today was my second race as a Cat 4. After yesterday's performance in Chantilly, I set 2 simple goals. 1) Stay upright. 2)Stay with the pack. Both missions were accomplished. We started out with a full group of 75 (per the official at the start line). From the "go", we settled pretty quickly into "group mentality". I would have liked to have seen it string out a little more, but I won't complain. The wind was brutal, probably gusting in the 30-40mph range. There was also a hill just prior to the start/finish, which was both a help and a hinderance. It sure sucked to race up that thing every lap, but if nothing else, it also prevented anybody from getting away. The picture above is from our first "Prime" lap (about 3 laps in). That's me in the red and black jersey on the left, in front of the group. I didn't stay in that position long. Most of the race, I managed to stay in the top 30% or so. On the final lap, I hung with the leaders, but had to jam the brakes to avoid what I thought was going to be a crash, so I lost momentum going into the hill. It actually probably only lost me 2 or 3 positions, and I finished 28th overall.

The course was good, open, and fast. there was only one real turn, which was a fast right hander. If it weren't for the small patch of wet gravel on the inside of the turn, it would have been perfect. Maybe next year it will be completely dry...and without all the wind.

RGS Chantilly Crit 2011, etc.

Today was the 2011 RGS Chantilly Crit. It was also my first Cat 4 race. First of all, I have to give credit to the organizers and registration volunteers for helping me out. I upgraded mid-week last week, and I was already registered for the Cat 5 race. So a big thank you to them for getting me switched to the right class. Let me say that going into today's race, the weather outlook was less-than-optimal. The weatherman was calling for severe rain and wind. For once, he got it right. The men's Cat 4 race started at 1015, and the rain was definitely coming down. The wind was also horrible on the back side of the course. Anyone caught alone on the hill (without a draft) would surely be left to fend for themselves. We started with a registered field of 72. I'm not sure how many, if any didn't show, but I know the field felt fairly large. I wasn't nervous a bit (which is a nice change for me!). I had my sunglasses on for the first 2 laps, hoping to shield my eyes from the rain, but they quickly fogged and I had to toss them to my son as I rode by. I hung on until about the 10th lap or so, and then got caught exactly where I didn't want to be...off the back, up hill, in the wind. Woops. I tried to catch back on for about a lap, but soon realized that the group was just riding away from me. At this point, I decided just to ride at my own pace, and get in some good laps. Every few laps, I caught and passed the occasional guy that got shelled off the back like I did earlier. Eventually, I caught up with and rode to the finish with a group of 4 others, so I did have the opportunity to work with some other guys and ride it *somewhat* like a race. Drafting, however, was near impossible, since there was so much water coming off of everybody's wheels. Click on the picture above, and you'll see what we were dealing with! I cruised into the finish in a cool 44th place, no worse for the wear. Coming off of the big crash at Richmond a few weeks ago, I'm just glad I stayed upright. Not to mention in my first Cat 4 race. In the rain.

So afterwards, when I was back at my truck getting some warm, dry clothing on, I couldn't stop laughing about the race. I had so much fun riding in those conditions. Even though I got shelled off the back, I was happy with my ride. I haven't done intervals in probably 5 weeks, and I don't have much leg power right now, but my lungs feel awesome. Even with my HR in the mid 170's, I didn't struggle to breathe at all. My target events aren't until August, so I'm not too worried just yet. I did, however, realize how much I enjoy this sport! I may not have the lightest bike, or the biggest legs, but I can promise that I'm having just as much fun as the next guy. AND I'm in pretty good shape for 34 year old guy.

Tomorrow we're racing the Carl Dolan Memorial. The winds are forecasted to be gusting to 40mph. Wait, I said I liked this sport, right??