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.