I only wear black bibshorts for a reason!

(like a size 13 with custom boat-width soles and high-volume upper. think the Canyonero song)

Man, you got me by a 1/2 size.

getting your name on that plaque would have been a nice little bonus

I'm guessing a size 61 right and a size 48 left.

I was only kidding about why I avoid P123 races. I avoid them because they're too hard.

However in the spring series the P123 races start at 2:15. Field sizes are down to about 40-60 from 90-100 in 2010 so not a lot of shelter,. It's 4:00-4:15 before the races finishes, it's 30-40 degrees, windy, sometimes raining, and just all around miserable. Some Cat 4s, who just finished the 3-4 race at 2:00 or so, have been around since about 9:30 AM because that's when the Cat 4 only race starts, so they just want to get out of there. P123 field blows apart after 30 minutes, dribs and drabs, and only those with a super vested interest in the race stick around.

"Super vested interest" includes things like "the guy in the chase group drove me here" or "my son is in the break" kind of vested interest. Other than staff and the officials everyone else usually gets out of there.

In the summer it's different. The headline races are fun to watch, impressive, weather is nice, not bad hanging out and watching, etc.

This morning, a couple hours with some 7-8 minute efforts. This afternoon, the Wednesday night ride with lots of random efforts. Nice guest appearances on the ride by TKP who went the distance, and a local retired euro pro who hitched on for a few miles. Gorgeous night. 270 TSS for the day.

2 hours this morning, JRA + commute. Leg and energy felt better than yesterday, hit a few short climbskinda hardish. Debating the hilly road race on Saturday. I want to do something tomorrow to test the leg and guess if I'll be good to race. Maybe go back the 4' hill and see if I can get sub 4 on an all out effort, or maybe do the group ride and see if I'm hanging on or attacking/rotating.

Our local shop/team ride had to change it's route due to road construction. The new route had some horrible road surfaces that left me with a broken front spoke. The wind was pretty horrible tonight and to top it off i got stung by a bee on the inside, upper thigh, right where my leg rubs the front of my saddle. That made the ride home extra fun..... Tonight was not my night.

Folsom Bike race ride. Hurt as per normal and finished with the chase group.

Recovery ride 37 tss, no gifs.

No; why do you run p12 races last.

Good 'ol South River Road. Can't wait for next Wednesday!

Come up the road a bit and get some hills on Wednesday. There is usually a handful of you guys up here.

Hills and I don't get along. I also work downtown and don't get off until 6 so the Folsom ride is not really an option for me.

Is the plan to ride that route next Wednesday before the team meeting? If so, I'll be in the follow car.....

Usually the "best" race is last.

For me, in the Series, it's also for training. I put the easier race first, so people can go for places, then the second/harder race they can enter later, so they can train.

5, Jr, 4, W, M45, 3-4, P123.

4s, M45s (Cat 1-4), 3s, Women, even Juniors, they can all do two races. One or two women will start 3. Many of the P123 is pack filler Cat 3s, maybe half of them.

So, Masters is easier than 3/4? :)

was reminded today of how terrible the first hard efforts after a couple off/easy days feels.

Would anyone do a club hill ride today if you had a race on Sunday (in my case Purgatory)? I need the work, but don't want to drain myself too badly.

Heh, no, but the guys that do Masters will often aim for Masters then do 3-4 or P123 for training. And using up legs doing the 3-4 race before the admittedly harder Masters would mean that the 3-4 Masters would get shelled much quicker.

Maybe I'll change things up. I dunno.

Yeah, this. Don't change the order, I like it the way it is!

Anyone have any experience with overtraining?

Yesterday I did some short intervals, 2x5'x5' 40/20s. Normally, i would do 3-5 of these, but I want to be well rested for a race on Saturday.
One thing I noticed was that my HR was very depressed however physically I felt pretty good.. breathing felt normal, legs felt normal. Would the decreased HR be a sign of being overtrained? I did some sweetspot on the trainer 2 days ago I noticed the same. I know it may be hard to diagnose this through a message board, but if anyone can share their experiences with overtraining/fatigue it would be great.

Usually 3 days before the race is the last one where you go hard if you want. Then off, easy/openers (whenever I feel unexpectedly horrible the day before a race I usually feel pretty good on race day), race.

I don't do road races and I haven't gotten ready for any kind of road race in a while. I have this fuzzy recollection that when I was really fit I avoided riding too much during the week because I could only get worse. I did just enough to keep my legs loose. On the other hand I'd train through races if I felt like I was making progress.

Decreased HR can certainly be a sign of some fatigue and you will tend to have your average HR for X number of watts decline a bit over the course of a training block but that's NOT the same thing as overtraining. If you feel fine, you're probably fine. HR is not nearly enough data to decide that you're overtrained, and most of us don't actually end up with overtraining syndrome which is an actual condition. What most people call "overtraining" is just an excess of fatigue from insufficient rest.