shovelhd

No DSQ for you.

revchuck 

AzTR - Glad to hear things are coming back together for you!

shovel - That weren't no Fred ride.

Hermes

Attended an open session at VSC and did a few laps with my wife's pursuit team. Prior to starting, another racer and I worked one hour on one of my wife's team members track bike changing the gears. It was a Felt TK2 with Omnium cranks. It was set up in a 48/14 (92.6 gear inches) and was too big. We wanted to replace the chain ring. However, the bolts that were used required an allen wrench on each side of the crank arm. We got the ring off and put on a different one. The bolts and nuts bottomed out so that the chain ring was loose. We had to take it off and one guy suggested turning the ring over. Essentially, we put it on backwards that increased the thickness. We were then able to get the nuts tight. The chain ring that came with the bike was a little thicker than the Shimano, Sugino or other chain rings. Just cheap parts.

Track bikes, wheels and components come in two flavors - cheap and not serviceable and expensive but it works. There does not seem to be an in between.

I served as timer and called out splits and counted laps for the women as the practiced pacing and exchanges. The gear change was perfect.

Racing tomorrow.

Hermes

Azt, Glad you are making progress.

Racer Ex 

Pouring rain in Reno in August. And cold. Watched the 1/2 field ride through 6" of water in places on the course.

It takes a lot to make me glad I wasn't racing.

Yep, that was about it.

sarals 

Sprint intervals and power intervals today. The fit on the Look is getting closer, I can make power on it and not die. I'm riding it because I'd like to race it Saturday, but if I can't get it dialed in, then the race will be aboard the Cannondale.

I was unable to hit anything like 700 watts on my sprints today. My best was around 560. Just an observation!

revchuck 

Last hard workout today prior to next weekend's stage race. It was scheduled as 2:30 at endurance pace with a ten minute SST interval, five minutes RBI, then 5x5' threshold+ intervals with decreasing RBI of 5, 4, 3 and 2 minutes, then another ten minutes of SST sometime after the end of those intervals. I got through the first SST and the 5x5s, and that was it...too whupped for the last SST, cruised back home with my power on the border between recovery and endurance pace for most of the time. TSS 160, IF .78, 1650 kj.

My guess is that 40 hours/week on my feet in the bike shop is raising my non-bike TSS to the point where it's impacting my training. Since I had spent the previous seven years as a cube rat, I hadn't noticed work-related fatigue impacting my training. Just going to have to deal with it...and find a way to sit more at work!

Racer Ex 

To the top of Geiger Grade and back down along with some of the usual group ride shennanagins. The only TT bike in the group. Needed an 11 small cog on the descents. At the point where altitude is hitting me pretty hard. Might be up to 6 hours this month!

valygrl

Did the UHC Pro Challenge Experience (cue Jimi Hendrix...) yesterday - 100 miles, 7500' climbing. ROde it with my teammate and her boyfriend, pretty fast. Heading into a hard training block ahead of my end of season A-Race.

AzTallRider

Don't hurt yourself, Ex, or you won't be able to move boxes.

That sounds like an awesome ride, vg. Did the UHC team participate?

Allegheny Jet

Taper workout yesterday for the 500 TT after the MI State Masters Track TT's on Saturday. I will do the 500 TT the day after the 2K Pursuit so the workout was to have me be a little beat up after the prior day's efforts. (Idid have plenty of lung cookies to clear out from Saturday's pursuit) I was assigned two countdown standing starts and two flying 300's in the aero position via Hillbilly Motor Pacing using a small hill to get up to speed. Feeling pretty good one week out from Nats.

valygrl

No UHC team presence. There was a team race component with some ex pros, if you did the 50 mile route, and a KOM thing with timing chips, but I didn't take part in that. The whole fondo race century thing doesn't appeal to me.

It was sponsored by UHC and Smith glasses and had the best swag ever - pivlock glasses for the first 200 entrants.

In return, you got to ride several miles of >11% dirt.

revchuck 

Dang, valygrl, that's some nice swag!

AzTallRider

UHC does their winter training here, with wind tunnel work and fittings at "Faster", the shop I ride for. Now and then, there are opportunities for a elect few to ride with the team, but I haven't had that chance.

Why is it always "gravel climbs". Isn't just plain "gravel" enough?

shovelhd

Gravel is the new black.

revchuck 

Gravel comes without climbs?

Allegheny Jet

Another reason to add a new bike to the herd.

valygrl

It's so much worse when it comes with descents.

this was hardpack dirt, not gravel, thankfully. There was some nasty loose squirmy downhill gravel later in that ride.

Hermes

Fred rides always have gravel.

valygrl

Today was my annual (weather-permitting) round trip from Loveland to the top of Trail Ridge Road. 115 miles, 9000' climbing, topping out at 12,100' elevation. Weather permitted this year, it was fantastic. 10 of us rode.

I am now officially Very Tired.

revchuck 

That's an epic ride, lady!

Allegheny Jet

Reading about your ride makes me light headed. That is some serious climbing. My brother in law is currently racing in the Breckinridge Epic MTB Stage Race (I think that's what it's called) this week. He told me they rode past snow piles when they were over 12,000' today.

Hermes

Nice VG. More climbing than I would go for but definitely epic.

Hermes

Sunday I raced the LAVRA TTs but my real training accomplishment was pressing a 50 pound bike stand over my head and carrying it up the bleacher stairs from the track below. These are the bike racks that are about 6 feet long and consist of a steel pipe support at each end by a steel pipe. We could then hang our bikes on the rack while we worked on them and waited our turn to race.

sarals 

I climbed about 300 feet today on my training ride. I'm not tired. Good thing.