Hermes

Good luck with VanceMac. He is a monster.... does not weigh much, good profile and strong like bull.

VanceMac

Ha. I have a long commute to work on my excuse arsenal... it's so HOT here! It's so dry, I can't breathe. That 6-hour drive gave me calf cramps.

Cleave

Yes VanceMac, I am planning to be at Roger's Session on Thursday. Will probably ride with Roger's group with an 84" gear and the motor game with the same gear until 20 to go.

AzTR, you're going to ride up a hill with VanceMac? Good luck! I think there was one time when I stayed near him on a climb. (Notice I typed 'near,' not 'with.')

sarals 

Heyyyy, all! I'm home from Clear Lake with training news. I've finally cleared my noggin and was able to have a good time. What do you know, my performance IMPROVED. Worrying about it, was I? Ha! I did a new FTP for Ex, and I think - THINK - he may like this one. It was Steady Eddie, fairly smooth cadence, okay power, very little heartrate movement, and I was COOKED at the end of it! My interpretation of the PT data was that it was good, I've yet to hear from Ex. I also got my first bono-fide bike fit. The saddle on the Bianchi was "running me out of town on a rail" (I think rails are more comfortable), so I went to the LBS in Lakeport, and Jeff fitted me to a Specialized Oure 155, and then fitted the bike to me. Oh, my. So that's what I've been missing!! The 53cm Bianchi 928 frame is just right for me, although the 100mm stem may have to be replaced with a 90mm. The bad news is that the crankset - which belonged to my six foot four inch boyfriend - is 175mm, and it's too big for five foot four me. So, I'm looking for a good FSA SL-K or Campy Chorus (with BB) 170mm crankset, but I'm not in a huge hurry. One will come along.

I'm ready. Let's get going here!

Oh - my training partner won gold at the games in Utah yesterday! I am so stoked for her!!

Hermes

Word.

shovelhd

Chorus and Record cranks here:

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showth...ghlight=chorus

revchuck 

Dang, if they were 175s, I'd be on them like white on rice!

sarals 

Whoa! Thanks, Shovel. I might have to take advantage of one of those.

sarals 

Sold. Drat!

shovelhd

Gotta move quick. I will keep an eye out for you. I'm always looking for good used stuff whether I need it or not.

Cleave

Sara, I've got a Campy Record aluminum crank (170 mm) that I can sell. Used, but good condition on the arms. Let me see what I can do about chainrings. I'll send you a PM.

shovelhd

Bingo!!

sarals 

Yes!!

AzTallRider

Hello Boys and Girls, and welcome to Strength Week on AzTR TV!

Our lineup for the week has garnered great reviews, starting with Tuesdays 1 minute overgear intervals, combined with pace work, followed by a session involving intimate contact with Barbellella in TRWW ("The Room With Weights". Wednesday brought us the Emmy nominated musical My TT and Me, where we followed our hero down the Arizona Canal, dodging pedestrians and dogs on leashes, as he did 30 minutes in his tallest gear, grunting Green Day tunes the whole way. We hope you didn't miss his Strava KOM! After that ride, we got many comments on the Tabata Core Strength workout he did, most of them in the vein of "Tabata? Core? Who knew?"

This morning's Sprint Session let the Tall guy show off his peak power (fortunately not recorded due to his Power Meter being on the way to Spearfish, South Dakota) as he dodged raindrops. More of that this afternoon, so set your DVR's for the afternoon session, then tune in for another R rated evening session in TRWW-Too!

Friday will not be telecast, as our subject will be nursing his ("No, of course they're not sore!") legs and pounding carbs in preparation for the group ride Saturday, which features a guest star ("What, you call that a hill?") imported from California. Be sure to watch AzTR as he recovers from that show with a bottle of wine on Date Night, Arizona! Strength week concludes Sunday with the highly anticipated Tour de Scottsdale! Watch in horror as 1,000+ cyclists dust off their bikes to test their limits and their highly honed bike handling skills against people who sometimes actually race... in real races! Don't miss the mayhem! Cheer on AzTR as he attempts the impossible feat of sucking Mr. Freaky Fast's wheel in a post-date-night state of hungover dehydration! Can he avoid last year's fate of ignoring in-ride nutrition? Of blowing up with a third of the 'race' left to go? Of being passed (seriously!) by local one-legged wonder Todd?

Don't miss the exciting conclusion to AzTR TV Strength Week!

VanceMac

Haha, this will be a fun TdS for you! At least you will be far in front of the sea of freds. I'm hoping my wife is, too. Even if she IS one. And I'm glad Saturday won't be a hammer fest.

Allegheny Jet

I'll be in PA at the cabin this weekend with 6 other couples. We get to ride, eat, re-hydrate and generally have a good time. We have Direct TV, will Tall Rider TV be on satellite?

AzTallRider

Alas, until we get the big sponsor contract, it's web only.

sarals 

AzT, I have a similar week laid out for me. BX and STR. The gym doesn't open tomorrow until 0800, and I'll be at work by then. So, it's STR/BX at the Improv (my garage) at 0530 tomorrow (with water bottles as the dumbbells and a small cabinet as the box). That should be, umm, entertaining!

By the way, my FTP is 133. I told you all I sucked....

AzTallRider

One's FTP does not determine whether one sucketh... Thou doth not sucketh.

sarals 

Thou art a gentleman, and knight (and a fierce rider)!

shovelhd

Agreed.

Just get to work.

Red Rider

I must be done racing because I found nothing to write about except the walnut harvest is in full swing, and the workers on the edge of the orchards were friendly and supportive. Still, lovely weather and grateful to get out.

Hermes

z1 z2 endurance ride today. It was a gorgeous day, sunny with temps in the upper 60s. My goal was keep force on the pedals and power within a range. Plus, I worked on posture on the bike and tried to relax everything. I was passed by a lot of Freds and even though I did get a slight twinge to chase them down, I did not. It is pumpkin festival this weekend and people were riding horses everywhere in Woodside, CA. It is always cool to see the horse and they are on the side of the road on horse trails. However, they throw up a lot of dust. I was riding in and breathing the dust and I was thinking what other particles are in the dust off of horse trails. Some may think it is organic and natural. I think it is horsesht!.

sarals 

Yes sir!

AzTallRider

I had a very enjoyable group ride yesterday with VanceMac... nice smooth ride that ended up at 70 miles. He got to do the popular "Rio Verde Loop", with an extension up to "The towers". Nothing really steep, but a fair amount of altitude change that gave us some work and some fun fast stretches. I certainly didn't push his capabilities on the climbs, and he was gracious enough not to ride away from us.

Today I did Tour de Scottsdale, a 70 mile "Citizen's Race". These events are, IMO, the most dangerous thing you can do on a bicycle, short of following A'Jet on a mountain bike, or riding on the freeways in Los Angeles. I only had one close call today, when a couple of guys who should know better tried to move up as we entered a 'cone-controlled corner', something only a non-cyclist would create. I was bumped twice, but we all stayed up. Other than that, I kept really on-my-toes, and made sure I was never boxed. If it got dicey, I went off the front of our group until things settled down. Oddly, it's the climbs that bring out the worst in folks, undoubtedly because it bunches people up. But we also had guys charging around the pack, then cutting abruptly onto the front of the paceline, and then slowing down. Yeah... that makes sense!

But anyway, my plan was to "pay forward" the help Ex gave me last weekend by helping a teammate achieve his coach set goal for the day, which was to finish in 3:15-3:20. One of the shop guys (a climber) had said he was doing that, so I offered to help out, saying I'd do the early pulling, since my Pinot Noir fueled body might not last the 70 miles. So I show up at the shop, and the other helper is sick, and not riding. Clay and I rode to the start, got setup, waited through a mangled rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, and headed out. It's mayhem when 1,800 people are starting, and the early part is narrow, and neutralized to 20mph. I looked back, heard an "I'm with you, Jim", and I just went with the flow, being conservative but trying not to lose too much ground. As we hit the open road though, I looked around and there was no Clay. I finally pulled to the side, and tried to find him as people flew by, but no luck. Having lost at least 100 places, I decided to just ride, and hope we found each other as things thinned out. I never saw him, but it turns out he met his 3:15 goal. I'm glad - if he hadn't I would have felt bad.

Having lost the lead pack, I settled in with the group around me, and as I said, focused on keeping the rubber side down. There were two teams in the group, and one guy I know. I did my fair share of pulling, especially in the faster sections. I finally faded a couple of miles from the end. Pretty sure I just didn't bring enough calories. I had one flask of slightly thinned honey, but finished it before the final climbs, and needed more. They were handing gels out as we passed a station just before the last of the climbs, but I was on the wrong side of the pack and didn't want to crash someone out trying to get a gel. So I soldiered on, but kept slowing.

It's clear I've stepped up my game considerably recently, both mentally, and in the strength of my legs. In sections where in the past I might be dropped, I was right there in front. I worked through a (Barbellella induced, no doubt) cramping quad, and some shouting from legs that I used to listen to. I finished 6th in my age group, at 2:57. Same Men's winner as last year (Mr. Freaky Fast).. in around 2:34. Women's winner does the metabolic testing at Faster, and she was riding a Cervelo S5 the shop put together for her for the 'race'. She wasn't far behind him. She "chicked" many hundreds of guys. Both of them race NRC.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad result for something I didn't treat as race (since it's not), and prepped for by riding 70 miles and enjoying date night... it was fun to not get stressed and just ride something like that. I managed to leave my computer at home, charging, so after I stopped glancing down at an empty mount, it meant my eyes were up where they needed to be.

Looking forward to a recovery week this week.