Bedroom. Dresser. Under your copy of Outliers.

Thanks.

Glad to read you are okay. That weather was crazy!

Rode Trail Ridge Road from Grand Lake on the 12th - couldn't figure why there was so much oncoming traffic until told by one of the motorists that this was the only road out of Estes Park. I had planned to ride to the Falls Rd entrance station return but was absolutely freezing and soaked by the time I got to the start of Old Fall River Rd and turned there!

Still rode Mt Evans on the 13th and Pikes Peak on the 14th before escaping to the heat in Arizona...

Wow, good job Dalai. ARizona sounds pretty good right about now.

Great ride with a group of six strong riders. Off season fun rides and the PT head is not on the bike. Took this about 45' into the 2 hr ride as we were crossing a lake that connects two roads. Weather was 68 degrees, no wind and great post ride brews and food.

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/r...psa264993f.jpg

I too had a GREAT ride with the group today. I rode the Bianchi which has power-none, and I was having fun. No pressure, no numbers, just going fast, taking pulls, sitting on wheels, and smiling even more than I usually do.

I needed that!

I found a "duh" problem on the TT bike this afternoon. The Open Pro wheel with the PT hub has a 25mm tire on it. Yeup, you guessed it - the interference fit between the tire and the "aero" seat tube would close up when the wheel was under load, and the tire was rubbing on the frame. NO WONDER I was struggling so with that thing! It would coast and go downhill normally, but apply the power, and the tire would rub just enough to wear my little self out!

I'm putting a 23 on the wheel, the tire needs changing anyway.

ditto...

Lost week with heavy work and other commitments. I am just going to call it a recovery week. Actually, I am just going to call it a recovery month.

I'm noticing racing seems to do that to (us).....

Upgraded!

Dear Mr. Jet,

The following request to change your Road category has been approved and processed by USA Cycling:
billflecher - 2013-09-17 13:48
Member: Allegheny Jet
License: Track Racer
Request to change category from Cat 4 to Cat 3

Member Explanation/Resume:
Allegheny Jet UASC #277014 Up grade to Track Cat 3 request

I've been doing the same. The Allez (with the PT) now only goes out when I need the power info. The local group I ride with now has a wide range of skill/strength levels, so I can have company when I want to push it...or when I don't want to push it.

a bit under the weather today. feeling a little headache, sore throat. meh.

HEY all, I'm finally going to dip my toe into CX. I'll pick up the CX bike this Friday. There is a local CX training series on Tuesday nights.. any tips ... as you guys know.. I've been racing crits and TT's and actually have some good fitness. Just looking for some tips to get over the first CX jitters

Practice dismounts and remounts.

Yesterday was workout in the gym and an easy spin on the trainer. Today, I met my wife for lunch and a ride up Mount San Bruno. It was a gorgeous day and perfect for climbing.

San Francisco in the distance

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...psfe98ca26.jpg

Across the bay is Mount Diablo

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps9f3cb6c9.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps36e314e4.jpg

Not one of my better days training yesterday. The workout was to do the mid-distance TT warmup my coach gave me, and then do four sets of descending intervals - 60/45/30/15 seconds, all out, 1:1 work/recovery times, three minutes RBS. The warmup went fine. The first set went okay, but hurt... it was supposed to anyway, no biggie. Beginning the second set, it felt like someone just pulled the plug. I did the first two intervals and pulled over and stopped - didn't want to try simultaneously barfing and breathing during a VO2 max interval. My stomach settled and I started riding again. After ten minutes, I tried again - nope, nuthin'. I was like the Enterprise running on impulse power, working just to stay in the middle of my endurance power range.

Discussing it with my coach this morning, she told me the first minute was the third highest power minute this year, and not behind the other two by much. She thought that it might have been due to coming off a recovery week and the resulting heavy legs; we couldn't come up with another explanation. I'm just chalking it up to "one of those things." I did an hour recovery ride this morning, and felt fine.

Short intervals tomorrow, then a couple of easy days, then the Senior Games TTs Sunday. I'm looking forward to those.

Congrats, AJet.

This... ,is very important to cross racing.


Colonelmom - You can find plenty of how-to's on Youtube. I would also add that you should learn how to carry your bike both up stairs and over barriers. One technique uses the shoulder carry and the other the suit case carry. Starts may not be such a limiter in the smaller women's fields. Bike skills take time to develop if you don't have a mtb background. Don't worry about anything for your first race, just have fun and watch the other races.

I've done about 30 cross races over the past 6 years and know that it is not my best race discipline, far from it. I will add that in my opinion cross races are either like some crits where you never get a recovery during the race and the pace just goes and goes after every turn, or a TT race where your rhythm gets disrupted again, and again and again. Pick one of the two that you can most tolerate in a race situation and race with that frame of mind.

Good idea doing the local cross practices. In the area I live in three different teams have open weekly practices where they practice skills, mounts, starts and do "hot laps". I went to a practice a few weeks ago that had at least 40 racers including young juniors, women and men of all category's.

Good luck in your TT's this weekend.

Yikes!!! If I do a 60" all in sprint I would need much much longer than 60" before the next onslaught of all in effort. I have had to do workouts with a 1:1 recovery but they were at race pace intensity for the 2 k Pursuit. The sets were 6 x 30" @ 30-32 mph with 30" recovery with 10' recoveries between the 6 minute sets. But... I'm a sprinter and my needs/constraints are different.

I am not a sprinter.

Like I believe THAT... ;)

Colonelmom - good on ya, gal! Have fun!! Me - STILL not gonna bite!

Kadria had us off the saddle climbing for 1 hour, for the whole spin class session, yesterday. She was mad at herself for riding poorly the day before, so we got the brunt of it. "Add some more!" to me is an invitation to a full turn on the friction. I had the friction all the way up for most of the hour, and was OTS for a good 45 minutes. Of course, those spin bikes are sort of optimized for standing, the fit is so far off otherwise. I really felt it when the session was over, I didn't have a lot left.

Today I'm going climbing for real with my girlfriend Barb. She'll kick my little butt, too!

It's the mix'em up season with no training goals. Yesterday I rode the MTB to the trails, did almost 2 laps then rode back home via roads for 2:45. Today I rode the fixie with the freewheel hub for 1.5 hr.

Yup. Rode to work this morning on a long detour route that I would often use for 2x20's but this morning I took my Garmin off and stuck it in my pocket. I'll also hit the gym this afternoon.

The TX/LA area is getting some rain. I did a 60 minute recovery ride in a light rain, first time I've ridden in the rain for a while. It's supposed to rain straight through tomorrow night, so I get to do it again in the morning. Monday, the fenders are going on - it'll be officially winter, screw the dates. :)