Then you will have to come to Big Bear. :)


https://i.imgur.com/KGZxR6n.jpg


Also @Racer Ex has some easy stuff on the agenda for pre-Tahoe. So if that's easy as promised, we could visit some of that, if you're game (I get it that you may not be).

The awesome thing here in Big Bear is that they actually have some easy single track stuff, so you can experience balance on the bike on narrow but not-steep trails and making your way over rideable obstacles (or walking around them). It just seems like most mountain bike trails are too steep with too many intimidating elements for newbies. Not so here. And the easy single track bits can be connected by fire roads- so a bit of fitness work thrown into the mix. It just like a dream come true for me- exactly what I need for the minimal skill set I currently have.

@Heathpack Very nice pics and I am happy that you are enjoying mountain biking so much.

There is a saying in basketball which is to take what the defense will give you. Well, when injured, one does what one can do.

Saturday a 2 hour tempo ride and Sunday a 1.5 hour tempo ride. Any constant power ride is hard for me and tempo power just makes it worse. What was interesting was that my breathing was very easy and recovery immediate after an effort. Prior to Aguascalientes, I did a couple of altitude training blocks then went to Mexico. I had zero problems with the altitude in Mexico even after my 500 meters. I do not think altitude training per se helps sprinting and in fact may be a slight negative but feeling good at altitude is great versus headaches and poor sleep.

On my tempo rides, my muscles did not like the constant force but aerobically, I felt great.

Back to SD velodrome for 3x500 meters flying efforts.

TT workout for me this morning after a day of rest yesterday. Went well. A little bit of climbing on the TT bike tomorrow, then coffee. Then rest. Then a long weekend sail/mtb trip. :D


And today was the corporate take-over. We were still hashing out contract details 15 min before the takeover. That was mega-stress but it is all settled to my liking now. :D:D:D

1:45 of Pace for me tonight

Back on the air! (I know, so what...) ;)

I spent the weekend up in Lake County in H O T weather just riding around on my Bianchi. It had no metrics, at all. I did one lap of the Lakeport Crit course, just for the heck of it. I did do a 45 mile ride on Monday, dragging (well, actually dropping...) the Tall Russian around. Easy pace, tempo. No sprints, no efforts. Sunday I went over to Willits and rode the Skunk Train (the Mendocino Forrest is just stunning).

Yesterday, I stopped at Hellyer on the way home and did the 30 lap warmup, then a 100 meter effort, and later a flying 200. Felt good.

I had planned to go back up to Hellyer tonight and race the WNTL omnium, that is until I saw the schedule and realized that the Elite District Championships are at Hellyer tonight, and that the W 1/2/3/4 field would be doing a 30 lap scratch race with sprints every 6 laps. I like a good workout, but hanging on for dear life in an OPEN field, where I am double the age of most everyone, and knowing the inevitable OTB is coming, is neither racing nor is it fun. And it's value as a workout is questionable. I'll sit tonight out.

There is an 8 AM session at Hellyer tomorrow. Perhaps I'll do that.

Off the bike today but I have hay bailing intervals tonight after work..

so I got that going for me which *isn't* nice (mucked up Caddyshack reference)

Well, I can get back on the trainer. 10-15 minutes, twice a day, easy. I'll have to do this outside because the house is too full of grandkid stuff. I'm off to Lowe's to get a big-ass fan. :)

Welcome back @revchuck. :)

http://movieboozer.com/wp-content/up...ackers-fan.jpg

???

Welcome back!

Big Ass Fan

;)

I didn't know you were a Packers fan... ;)

Welcome back, @revchuck!

SD Velo track workout yesterday. I was supposed to meet a motor pacer at this workout but due to a glitch, it was a solo workout. Interestingly, it was my first solo track workout ever in 9 years. Generally, it is a bad idea to workout solo at the track in case anything goes wrong.

I changed the workout and did - warmup, two jumps and 3 x (4x30s rolling sprints off the banking in the aerobars 2' rolling RBI) 20' RBI between sets all followed by a warm down.

Wednesday night I did a weight machine strength workout at the gym. My routine has changed, I'm still settling in. I warm up on a spin bike, ten minutes, ramped effort. Then I go into planks, crunches, Swiss ball. From there I move to the leg machines, and do eight to ten reps of each exercise. I follow those with shoulder shrugs, then repeat the machine workout. I've started adding weight to the machine, using an axiom Coach gave me - ten reps should be all you can do if the weight is right. If you can do more, add weight. if you can only do eight, remove weight. I'm right on the money. Eight to ten was what I could do.

Last night I attended the Thursday Night Sprinters Session at Hellyer. It's run by Bob C, and it is fun! Track Sprinters are My People! It's interesting that we tend to utter the same things about racing on the road - negative remarks about hills, negative remarks about sprinting from the field, negative remarks about hills. Yep, My People! Anyway, on the docket last night were 125M accelerations, which simulated a jump made in a match sprint. Those were done as follows: three riders, in trail, two laps, go on the second lap; roll into the cool down circle for three laps, then back on the track for another effort, and then rest. We did three sets of these. My legs felt great! I saw the highest peak power I've ever seen in a rolling start effort, and my cadence in the effort was sitting comfortably at 128 - 130 RPM. I was riding a spinny gear, 86 inches, for sure, but I'm building cadence right now and I'm now reliable at keeping it high. For the last effort, I did a full flying 200 for the second sprint, and that felt marvelous! I love sprinting!

@Hermes and @sarals, great track workouts, except for the flaky motor guy.

We're over at Catalina, I just did a short flat opener type ride yesterday.

https://i.imgur.com/H0qjCSc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/tNqejz4.jpg

Two rides so far. The hardest part is setting up everything outside; I live in a nice neighborhood, but not nice enough to leave the bike set up outside. I get on the bike from the right side because my left leg is the messed up one. There's a bit of discomfort at the top of my left leg, probably due to the healing hip flexor, but it's not bent as much as when the PT works on flexibility, and the discomfort goes away as I get warmed up. I've been keeping the power at the top of my recovery range, and venturing into endurance pace range is comfortable. My position on the bike is comfortable too, so I won't have to change anything when I get back on the road.

I'm pretty pleased with how this is working out, can't wait to get back on the road. :)

I've got a goal to train toward - El Tour de Tucson, done in the context of a week there.

@Heathpack, "idyllic" comes to mind. And thank you!
@Hermes, I watched a YouTube video last night taken by a rider on SD during a race. The surface looks really nice! The broad turns remind a lot of Hellyer.
@revchuck, good news! You're coming around quickly, wonderful!

Me - gym this morning. 0600 is early, and it takes a while before my body wakes up enough to really work, and there is no accelerating that. Push too hard before it's ready, and things hurt. And, things that hurt can get hurt, like my back. I'm slowly increasing the weights on the machines. Up to 45 pounds on the calf lift, and 25 pounds plus carriage weight for the leg press. When I do a two leg press I can go to 50 pounds, and I can JUST do ten reps. As it should be!

@sarals We are very happy to have SDV open for business. It is more oval than Hellyer with shorter straights but a couple of degrees more banking.

We all agree that some of the really bad sections of the track are better after the resurface but there are two spots in the pole lane that may cause one to bounce off the pads in the aerobars. There is a sweet spot just above the pole lane that is pretty smooth.

The rail is lower and there is more wind.

I find the track very slow based upon power and speed but of course, the same for everyone.

Helpful hint from Heloise:

Always lay your MTB left side down to avoid accidental damage, dirt, or debris to the shifting mechanisms.

Thank you Heloise! Although sometimes doing it your way will be less photogenic. Looks are important too, you know.

Rode with the buffaloes yesterday. Saw two up on the hillside and had the impression they were fairly far off the road. Then I came around a switchback and realized Buffalo 1 was only 20 ft off the side of the road, yikes. Lost track of Buffalo 2 until I heard him bellow. Turns out the buffaloes who appeared to be standing next to each other from my vantage point on the lower switchback were actually on opposite sides of the road. I stopped to let Buffalo 2 lumber across to his cow and the he plunked down of the edge of the road to give himself a dust bath.

Just laid there awhile, staring at me swatting at the biting flies. Then a few more dust baths, more biting flies. I eventually decided it was probably safe to ride by while the buffalo was on his back, rolling in the dust.

Those suckers are huge.

Buffalo 1 up on the hillside from lower switchback:
https://i.imgur.com/mvuX90m.jpg

Buffalo 1 from upper switchback, once I passed Buffalo 2
https://i.imgur.com/nGIK01x.jpg

Buffalo just finishing his dust bath:
https://i.imgur.com/NYQBdUw.jpg

So, he just shuffled off?

@Heathpack, you're messing with those bison, again?

;)

That STR workout at the gym yesterday exacted payment today. My legs weren't exactly sore, but they did hurt! Specifically, the isolated muscles the machines are designed to work spoke up rather loudly about how displeased they were that I was asking them to shovel some coal into the boiler this morning. They stung! Ouch...

:roflmao2: