mje

Here are some resources:

https://sites.google.com/site/grandj...-junction-area
https://www.facebook.com/GJCycling

beatlebee 

Thanks!

happybday29475

Fruita MTBing is awesome...more accurately described as Mary's Loop area trails...features some of the best MTBing Colorado has to offer. Some would argue better MTBing than Moab. Just north of Fruita, the next freeway exit....maybe 15 minute drive from GJ. Also 18 road which is northeast of Fruita. Both are very well known MTB areas whose great reputation does not exceed reality! Make sure you do Mary's Loop area early in your stay, because you're sure to go back many times...

Dalai

Surfed a number of years after I retired from climbing. At least with rock climbing, the climbs are there just may be wet from rain or seepage.

Surfing spent many a day driving from break to break, sitting for 15-20 minutes watching sets roll in or pray for waves to roll in only to move on to the next one and do the same before finally getting frustrated and driving all the way back to the first break as that was the best of a bad lot that day. Or worse after all that to just drive into the nearest town to wander through the surf shops as it wasn't worthwhile getting wet at all!

This is awesome news Heathpack. You are fortunate to live so close to a world class indoor track; a very rare luxury for an American. Even if you don't want to ride the bunch events, I think with your attention to detail you display with your TTing, you will excel in the pursuit.

beatlebee 

I'll be sure to check out Mary's Loop/Fruita/18 Road. Thank you.

Heathpack 

@Dalai, yes that's what I understand, pursuit would most likely be my thing at the track. I have to pop fitter a follow-up email, he was going to put together a list on candidate track bikes for me based on my TT fit. I'm seeing him Sat before my track session, so maybe he'll be able to get the shopping list to me then. We'll see.

(Also: I hope your wife is feeling better.)

Fun Nightcrawler ride for me this morning- all four of us rode together, which is a rarity these days. It was the Wednesday thing I've done for the past few weeks- some big gear stuff, then high(ish) cadence stuff. Had fun pedaling fast again. A surprising lot of fun. And coffee/chatting afterward. Very fine morning indeed.

happybday29475

So it begins...

See you at nats 2020?

Heathpack 

Really? Four years? Its going to take that long?

Hermes

Pffffftt. Worlds 2017 and 2018 VSC silly boy.

sarals 

Sea Otter over the weekend. I did NOT race, but as fate would have it, I should have. The WM 35+ field had several folks I know, all 55+, and we could have had a good time. In fact, they told me I SHOULD have been out there! I did do a group ride with a team from SoCal (B4T9), test rode a couple of bikes (no, no, NO), and kept things on the low key side. The gospel according to Ex "Rest"!

Today I rode a "mock" TT, a 30 minute TT effort, with the first 15 minutes planned to be around 5% lighter than the last 15 minutes. I actually rode the first 15 harder by 5% than the second 15, mostly due to the headwind on the way back. I used a closed road along the coast, and turned it into a 4 mile out and back. The course featured a couple of sharp little pitches, lots of rollers, and sort of meandered around. I warmed up on the ride out to the place, and then did a countdown start. The legs were heavy today, and the lactic came early. Still, I stayed in it, and managed a negative split. I PR'ed several segments, including the outbound leg, but I was off of my standard for the distance by a fair amount.

I'm doing a for-real TT on the 30th, a Beat the Clock (MEA is already signed up) on the (Cleave!) World Famous Canada Road. I'm looking forward to that!

revchuck 

Still in recovery mode from Tucson. My schedule called for yesterday off and a ride today and I swapped days due to forecasted heavy thunderstorms today. Of course, it rained most of my ride yesterday, and the storms have passed to the south of us this morning so it's nice out. It feels weird not getting ready to ride. I don't mind riding in the rain, it's the clean up afterward that bugs me.

Yesterday's ride was short, divided into thirds, Z2/Z3/Z2. 1:13, TSS 63, IF .72, 739 kj. Only 200 feet elevation gain...dang, that feels flat!

IBOHUNT

3x10 at 115% w/ 5rbi and a bunch of pace work ... this time not interrupted by a helicopter ride; always a plus

TSS 150

sarals 

ALWAYS a plus!

Yesterday, recovery ride. I rode the Bianchi, which has the Garmin Vector pedals installed. They're left side only, and they're the early version, with the silver "pod" thingie. Either they're way off in measurement, as in reading too high, or I was drilling it harder than I did in the TT the day before. I had a TSS of 58 for a 38 minute ride! Huh? The TSS on the previous ride, with the PT hub, was 82 for 63 minutes, with a 30 minute TT effort (at race pace) in there. Somehow, I think those pedals are fibbing...

Hermes

I have the Garmin Vector Pedals. Version one with the silver pods are sensitive to torque. So one needs a torque wrench to tighten the pedals to 25 foot pounds of torque. Next, the pods need a washer between the pods and the pedals to make sure that the pod surface does not touch the pedal. Finally, when achieving final torque value, the pod must be close to 90 degrees to the crank arm.

If required for one pedal, the angle the pod must be set. This is done once every time the pods are installed but may have to be redone if the power values are off. I do not know why...chalk it up to Gremlins. One sets the angles by removing the batteries for 20 seconds and then replacing them. Slowly spin up until you hit 90 rpm. During the spin up, there is zero power on the display and then sometime after approximately 80 rpm, power starts showing. One then does a static calibration similar to other PM with the cranks positioned parallel to the ground.

The other thing to check is the crank length. If you look under bike details in the display, you can find the crank length. It must be set to your exact crank length on the bike.

The other thing to check is the firmware. You have to download the Garmin Vector program. Install the dongle from Garmin and launch the software. Then remove the batteries from the Garmin pedal and wait 20 second. Then replace the battery and have the computer software search for the pedal. The software will find the pedal and inform you of the current version and if an update is needed. Do the same for the display head unit.

Now the angle may have to be set again. I am not sure if setting the angle is required for a single Vector pedal. Good luck.

The version 2 pods work much much better and the power meter is significantly better and more reliable.

revchuck 

Recovery ride this morning. Really pretty day! 1:25, TSS 32, IF .48, 592 kj.

Heathpack 

Well, I was supposed to ride three 20 minute intervals at 105% on the TT bike this morning. But I didn't feel like getting up early. Then when I did get up, I felt sore and stiff and actually didn't want to ride- very unusual for me. I stretched a little and ate a little and still felt 'meh' about riding but decided to give it a try. By now it was late enough (7am) that commuters would be out on my normal TT interval road and I'd be sure to hit traffic lights, so I rode out of town into a canyon that I thought would work.

Ten minutes into the first interval, all I wanted to do was turn around and go home, even though I was fine on power. I told myself to just finish this one and the see how I felt. Then I ran out of road after 15 minutes. It did not occur to me to just do a TT turn and finish the interval on the road I just came into the canyon on. Rode around in the canyon a little to get my 5 min RBI and still didn't feel like riding my bike.

So I decided I'd just ride out of the canyon and hit my power target for however long that took and then call it a day. That was pretty sweet, 3.6 miles on an ave -2% grade, held my 105% power for 7 minutes at a speed of 27 mph. It is always fun to go fast. But when I got to the stoplight at the end of the road, I was ready to be done and just rode home.

Weird for me to lack motivation. Normally I leap out of bed at 4am and hop on the bike and off I go. Whatever. We've been working pretty hard lately. Its a shame to miss the training effect of any workout but you have to listen to your body and brain, overall its just much better in the long run.

Also weird that yesterday I was just super hungry all day. I've been eating pretty well (as far as nutrition goes) but last night when I got home from work, I just felt like having an enormous dagwood sandwich. I wound up eating half a chicken parmesan sub from the deli, which is not the type of thing I eat these days. Someone at work asked me if I had lost some more weight and I realized that I hadn't weighed myself in a while. This morning, I finally got around to it and discovered that I've lost 2 more pounds. Which for me is now 50 pounds down from my high of 5 years ago. Woo hoo. Although my take on that is that I've maybe not been eating enough. I need to pay a little more attention.

So my big plan for today is to lay around and eat and maybe go get a massage or a pedicure if I feel up to it. Or maybe not, I might just lay around all day.

Follow up fit on the TT bike tomorrow morning, I don't even know why I scheduled that really. And Track Session #2 immediately after (fitter is conveniently at the Velo Sports Center). Fun climbing ride on Sunday, I'm not sure who with yet, I have some good options though.

Hermes

Did a VSC track session last night. 80 lap warmup with the last 20 laps a motor burnout. 4 x 1 1/2 lap full power standing starts (500 meter starts v pursuit starts) and then 3 x 750 m motor windup with a solo effort the last 250 meters. For TSS hounds, it was 127 TSS.

Overall left / right was 52/48. Usually, it is 49/51...so pretty much balanced but not always the same and varies from effort to effort. Plus the 4 standing starts may have skewed the balance since I start on my left foot. The reason for that is to keep from going up track which is a speed killer. So yes, but yet another skill to learn in track...starting with the left foot.

My wife did the sam workout but did 3 x 8 laps with the motor riding 3 on the motor and 2 solo.

For the newbie trackies, here are the charts power and cadence. Warmup was 90 gear inches and efforts were 92 gear inches.

Overall workout - note speed is wrong too low. No speed measurement so I am not sure where Garmin gets this from.



Warmup final cadence was 120 rpm.



1 1/2 laps with standing start



750 meter with motor windup last 250 solo. Max cadence solo 125 rpm on last effort.

Hermes

Took a spin to Corona Del Mar to check out the ocean. Lots of boat on the water.

IBOHUNT

3x20 @ 105% with the intervals in the sticks; that hurt. Total 2:20 on the bike
TSS 191

revchuck 

Dang, IBO, that hurts just to think about.

Coach said "moderate to easy" today, but I felt too good though I didn't go that hard overall. 1:56, TSS 106, IF .71, 1106 kj. Spent a lot of time ~80 watts while the other guys warmed up.

IBOHUNT

Being 2 days after a 3x10 @ 115% that did hurt @revchuck. You over the climbing bit now?

revchuck 

Yup, I'm back home in Louisiana. I just checked my data for this year - last week's climbing made up about 40% of my climbing so far this year.

Heathpack 

Terrible session for me at the track yesterday, I wound up walking out early wondering if I was ever going back.

The day started great, with a session with my fitter. I wanted to talk about hand position, because I'd read if you get you hands up higher its more aero and improves head position (which is a problem of mine). Problem is, my bars are not very adjustable, I was starting to wonder if I needed new bars, so that put the cable-burying project on hold. The answer is that yes, a higher hand position is substantially faster for almost everybody, it was worth trying. We just tilted the bars for now (which ruins their aero-ness but is still likely a net gain power-wise) and eventually if I like that we can make some angled spacers which will have the same result but allow the base bar to be flat and aero again. I also wanted to talk about my skinsuit. Since I've lost weight, wrinkles have appeared. I wan't sure if I needed to buy a smaller one, or if I should alter this one, or if I got a smaller one which one I should get. Verdict: I need a smaller size now. Fortunate thing is that he is working with a US National team member next week on some aero testing. Various manufacturers are sending skinsuits and helmets in her size. Which just so happens to be my size. He can hold off on sending the stuff back to allow me time to come down and try some stuff on next weekend. Sweet. We also talked about track bikes, but that seems pretty premature after track session #2 , so I've put that process on hold for now.

The track session was just a cluster. There was a junior race that afternoon, so there were three young girls up from San Diego looking to get certified in 1 day. Plus two older teenagers from Tijuana doing the same. Plus their parents and entourages. Language barrier for the Mexicans. Then three guys with track bikes just looking for the one-day certification. And one guy who doesn't even ride a bike looking to try it out (he never even got on a bike yesterday, there was no way). Plus me, the only one with no track experience who was actually wanting to learn something.

This week, the instructor was late and a little flummoxed by the odd assortment of people in our session. I tried to get some help setting up my rental bike but he was too busy, literally told me there was "no time" for that. I couldn't find the bike I rode last week, it wasn't there. Instructor divided us into groups and was going to send me out with the adults and then at the last minute decided to have me ride with the girls from San Diego, two older girls around 13-14 and a little girl 9-10. I actually wanted to practice starting and stopping again before we got into riding and I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of riding with these girls. Who knew if they's be strong enough or have enough endurance or be fast enough?

He had me at the end of the line of girls and then when we went to roll off, the little girl almost fell over. He ran to catch her, blocking my access to the track. I stopped, he was annoyed that I stopped and yelled at me to keep going. I was pretty irritated at this point and told him the session was a little too chaotic, I was going to leave. He backed off and let me just do my thing for a bit. I practiced starting and stopping, rolled around on the apron a bit and then joined the girls riding on the blue band and the pole line. One girl was strong but the other one vacillated her speed quite a bit, she slowed down in the corners enough that I was worried she'd slide off the track. I didn't want to ride anywhere near these kids. But the instructor kept yelling at me to close the gap. Finally I could not take it any more and rolled off the track, I needed a break.

One of the "helpers" commented that he thought my saddle was too high, so I lowered it. Instructor sent me out again with the girls to ride some laps on the blue line. The weaker girl was even more variable in her speed and I could not relax riding behind her. My legs felt really heavy and pedaling the bike was surprisingly hard. I managed to create enough distance from the girls that I was riding alone and eventually the instructor stopped yelling for me to close the gap. But it was not fun and exhilarating like last week, just totally a grind.

I rolled off the track again and the instructor was being mellower now, came over and asked me what I wanted to do. Did I want to go out and ride with the adults? Ride by myself? What? The problem was at this point that I really didn't want to do anything. I wanted to leave. Eventually, he talked me into going out by myself and riding 3K on the blue line. One lap of that though and my legs were so heavy, I just gave up and rolled off the track. In retrospect, I think my saddle was too low after that guy told me to lower it. And maybe this bike was geared in a bigger gear, because my quads are pretty sore today and I probably rode only 15 minutes or so yesterday.

Around this time, the littlest girl slid off the track in the far corner and crashed. The instructor rode off to scoop her up and that was it for me, this was just a cluster. I packed up and left and didn't even say goodbye to anyone because they were all dealing with the crashed little girl (who was fine, I think).

Felt kind of on the verge of tears the entire way home, which is extraordinarily unusual for me, I'm usually super even-keeled about everything to do with cycling. I think it was just that after last week it seemed like there was this bright promising world of track out there to explore. And after this session, I'm not even sure about going back. I really just need to process it all and wrap my head around it. Decide how I feel.

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happybday29475

Bummer.

Once I decide in my head that something is a cluster (whether warranted or not), it's pretty hard for me to get on track (pun intended).

Also, it sounds like this might be an example of it's not what you're doing but who you're with...this group sounds like it would have been a challenge to not be dysfunctional.

Heathpack 

Thanks, it was a crazy mix of people for sure.It would be nice if they just ran true beginner sessions for people who want to learn, and seperate out the people with track experience who just want the certification.I'm already feeling better about it. I really want to go next weekend and try the skin suits & helmets with my fitter. Since he's at the VSC, I'll be heading there anyway, so I may as well do track session #3 . So I'm just going to pretend none of the cluster stuff happened.

Nice ride today, around 50 miles/3500 ft climbing. This was a JRA for me, which really hit the spot. The only agenda item was some high tempo climbing. The main climb was 9 miles, not steep (~ 3%), and I just put it into gear and pedaled away on my power target for 40 minutes. It was repetitive & mindless and just very calming. Beautiful day & great company. Huge calorie deficit too- 1770 cal burned on only 375 cal consumed. I was dragging at the end though- big unexpected headwind on our descent back into town. Had I realized we'd have the wind, I would have eaten a little more.