Allegheny Jet

Did a three hr tempo ride on the fixie with 3 others. One guy was on his Cervelo, one on a Tri bike, one on a vintage 10 speed that picked a gear and didn't shift and me on my 70" fixed gear. It was a decent day with 15 mph wind and 32 degrees. Our only issue occurred out in the wide open countryside. We were heading North at about 18mph on a lonely country road when a wheelchair cyclist (I hardly ever see another cyclist out there) runs a stop sign causing me and another rider to collide, neither went down. Quite the WTF moment.u

sarals 

WTF moment indeed! Do you give the guy an earful, AJ?

32 mile recovery ride today. Had to make a couple of efforts to get up some hills, but nothing that would qualify as a hammer. I felt good, even confident. I'm liking that!

revchuck 

I did my first cycling camp this weekend with the New Orleans Bicycle Club. It actually wasn't as much a camp as it was a couple of group rides in a beautiful location - Natchez State Park, near Natchez, MS, and on the Natchez Trace. We ended up with four cabins on a lake and enjoyed near-perfect weather, a little cool Saturday and picture-perfect on Sunday.

Saturday's ride started at around nine - I expected to leave around sunrise, but we sat around drinking coffee and talking instead; not a bad idea with the cooler temps (low 40s) we had. We did a ten mile warmup, then started pushing harder. We broke into two groups about three miles later, and once the "B" group coalesced, I ended up pulling for over ten minutes. I was pretty comfortable doing it, as were the folks behind me until I decided to let them in on the fun. We averaged around 19 mph with some climbing in there, but not much compared to what you Left Coasters are used to. We re-grouped at the break/turnaround point at ~33 miles, had a quick snack and started back. The return ride was pretty similar; about ten miles from the end, the B group split into 1-3 people groups and came in that way. I was about in the middle.

That afternoon and evening were dedicated to recovery, in equal parts food and hops-and-barley-based beverages. We were supposed to have a couple of presentations, one on crit cornering and the other on recovery, but neither occurred. Instead, we had a huge pot luck dinner (I supplied a slow cooker full of Great Northern beans and sausage) and ate ourselves comatose, then watched Chasing Legends. Between Friday night and Saturday, one of the six packs of Leffe I brought evaporated. Imagine that...When I checked my data, it turned out that I had done a de facto 3:43 tempo (barely) ride.

Saturday was similar. The planned ride was shorter (turned out to be 45 miles) and more touristy. We first made it out to an Indian mound for a photo, then into Natchez proper for a coffee stop. The part of the ride after the photo was good practice for Rouge-Roubaix - really, really bad pavement. The guys on carbon wheels didn't like it, but with 32 spoke wheels and 700x28 tires I found it pretty bearable. When we got onto better pavement, the speed kicked up to the low-to-mid 20s and it was nice rolling at that speed in a paceline. We took a protracted coffee stop which could've gone on longer than the 40 minutes we stayed there, because it felt so good to sit in the sun and enjoy the company. We had a couple with us - one of the racers and his athletic but not racer wife - on a tandem, and they took a wrong turn when we left the coffee shop. We had already gone down a 10%+ grade and then back up when we realized that, so we went back down and back up to find them. That part turned out fine, but it was important to me that I did both of those climbs with no problem. Last year at this time there was no way I could've done that. We headed back the same way as yesterday, breaking into two groups.

Overall it was a good weekend. I would've preferred to have gone through the presentations Saturday night, but the camaraderie easily made up for it. I found that I'll be able to do the long gravel climb that has been my nemesis. I'm more comfortable in close quarters than I've ever been. I found that I can actually push hard (relatively speaking) over hills when my legs hurt. I've still got a humongous way to go, but I've come a long way as well.

AzTallRider

Sounds like good times and great riding, Chuck.

I did my first ride on the new frame today. 2 hours at mostly low z3. Felt pretty normal, just not strong. I told Ex to feel free to start pushing my whining butt.

The new (aero) Madone rides a little bit harsher, but is noticeably faster. I'll take that trade-off. Will upload pics.

revchuck 

Yesterday was a day off the bike - way too much stuff to do. Today I did 56 minutes at recovery pace, with a 4x60 second fast pedal set in the middle. It was cool enough that my HR strap was sending bogus HR readings to the Garmin...ain't no way I hit 244 bpm. There was a brisk but bearable wind. I rode the mutt bike for this one; amazing how an ersatz conglomeration of parts can work so well.

shovelhd

Make a note of which base layer you were wearing. That's usually the culprit until it gets warm out, then it's a flapping unzipped jersey.

AzTallRider

This stuff pretty much eliminates jersey flap and other HRM contact issues. I use it in the winter months. Once it warms up, I just wet the contacts with a finger to get things going until perspiration takes over.

Hermes

Nice camp Chuck.

BTW, I rode my Bontrager Race XXX lite carbon wheels with 23 mm tires in the Madera Road race which features 6.6 miles of very rough road with no problems. The farmers move heavy equipment on these roads which breaks up the pavement. A couple of racers lost water bottles but nothing bad. These are conditions where big powerful guys rule. Lighter riders get tossed about on rough pavement. That is one reason most winners of Paris Roubaix are bigger men. Carbon versus 32 spoke 28mm tires is interesting but this race is decided right after the rough road over a set of rollers. Right before the end of the rough road, racers like to attempt breaks and crush the rollers to gain advantage. This is where lighter equipment and faster wheels help (a little).

Hermes

1.5 hours of TT tempo. It was a drop dead gorgeous day with little wind and temps in the upper 60s. You can hate me.

revchuck 

shovel and AZTR - Thanks for the info!

Hermes - I just put those tires back on. All my wheels are 32 spokes/3x, it just worked out that way. Those are actually race-specific tires; Rouge-Roubaix (March 10th) is 106 miles long and has ~20 miles of gravel, plus at least that much really bad pavement. I don't expect to be a factor in that race, but the selections typically take place on the gravel sections, since that's where the climbs are too. Me, I just don't like getting beat up. I plan to transfer them after the race to my '87 Centurion Ironman, since the original 105 brakes on that bike are comfortable with tires that big.

valygrl

will do. snowing here. 1:30 endurance on the trainer in the basement.

sarals 

Back from San Francisco. 1 hour in spin class. Easy stuff, as ordered!

Hermes

3 hour tempo ride to meet MEA for a San Bruno ride. Another beautiful day.

Racer Ex 

Long ride today. Bandaged finger hurt on the bumps but I was going OK. 3 hours in after climbing GMR and GRR I threw down on an uphill sprint with Marvin on my tail. Felt pretty good, over 1000w average for the effort.

AzTallRider

Sure. Attack the big guy on the climb.

revchuck 

1:25 today, mixed intervals - 5x30 second VO2 max w/30 second RBI, three minutes RBS, six minutes at LT, three minutes RBI, repeat two more times, then ten minutes at tempo, remainder at endurance pace, the whole thing bookended by a .5 mile 6% climb over a bridge on the Intercoastal Canal. IF = .99. I don't feel quite as tired as the numbers indicate. I have a feeling my coach is going to bump up my FTP again.

Esteban58

Chuck... That's a good thing, right!

shovelhd

With an IF of .99 for 1:25, they should order a test.

revchuck 

Yes and no. It shows I'm the strongest I've been, but it also means the workouts will get harder. Wasn't it Greg Lemond who said, "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster?"

Shovel - Hush, dammit, she might hear you!

If I were in the middle of regular training, she probably would. However, my first A race is in a week and a half; last night was my last hard workout, I've got the regular fast group ride Saturday on which she's limited me to two hours, and it's taper time from then until the race. The week after the race is JRA time, no power meter. She'll do the following scheduling based on the race results. I'm sure a test will come soon after.

shovelhd

Taper week is a great time for a test.

VanceMac

Did a handful of 500m intervals at the track. It doesn't take many to start feeling worked.

AzTallRider

Did an hour of pace tempo, along with some strength intervals. Starting to feel almost normal, though not very strong.

sarals 

Day off today. I'm STILL feeling last weekend in the legs. How long with THAT last, I wonder?

Tomorrow, X2. And back to work. Yay.

Hermes

Probably a week. When I did the Madera Stage race and did the TT and crit on Saturday and a 50 mile road race on Sunday and I did well in the race, it took a week. Interestingly, I remember one of the elite cat 1 women commenting to me that she felt Madera in her legs into the next weekend. It is all about how deep you go, how much fitness you have and how well you plan and execute your recovery - ice bath, massage, proper eating, stretching, foam roller and etc.

Hermes

Welcome back. How is your breathing?