revchuck 

sarals 

revchuck 

Well, I did that 125-mile ride yesterday. The weather was gorgeous - 50 when we started and about 70 when we finished. The first quarter of it was literally at recovery power; the ride leader was unsure of the capabilities of some of the riders and also wanted to do all the pulling, so I puttered along in the draft wondering when my HR was going to break into triple digits. After the first break, we picked the pace up somewhat and started rotating pulls. It moved the needle from "boring" to "delightful." After another break at the halfway point the pace picked up further, moving the needle from "delightful" to "dammit, I gotta work!" My pulls were in VO2 max territory and I used my 150 bpm cutoff to decide when to pull off - I can go that hard, pull off and recover and repeat for quite a while. We took a last break at the 96-mile point in a place called Cocodrie, which is about as deep in the swamp as you can get, and finished it out at about the same pace until not far from the end. At about the 112-mile point I started thinking about the three-hour drive home and how sore my legs were and pulled off to wait for the slower group (we had split into two groups). Of course, about a quarter mile after that the fast group stopped at an intersection to wait for the ride leader, who was the only one who knew the route and was shepherding the slower group. Once joined, we started out again...and I remained with the fast group anyway. We did dial it back for the last 6-7 miles or so and finished all together.

It was a good ride, if somewhat flat; my shortest recovery ride in Tucson had more elevation change. It was my longest ride since May and confirmed to me that I'm just about back to where I was prior to my crash. I'm pretty happy with that.

Allegheny Jet

Nice Sara, now heal up!

Allegheny Jet

That is a lot of mile revchuck! Nice to hear you are back from an injury.

Racer Ex 

Yes indeed!

Just finished filling out my PT paperwork. There's a fairly wide spread between the answers for "What can you currently do?" and "What are your goals?" I am up and about on crutches a lot more the past week or so, it's leaving me pretty tired and I'm sleeping a bunch.

Saw on Facebook one of my local friends went skiing in the morning and mountain biking in the afternoon. We're having one of these great Fall periods (pun incidental) where the lower trails are clear and buffed and the slopes have a nice base thanks to some early storms and cold nights that allow snow making.

As Charlie Brown used to say: (sigh)

Voodoo76

Last week marked the start of structured training. Testing this week. Promptly got sick on Thursday Going on 5 days off and marginally better. Every day has been 70 and sunny.

Heathpack 

We went to Sedona for Thanksgiving week, took the mountain bike.


The scenery was epic:





I went exploring, so cool wondering what's around the next curve:








The condo was pretty conveniently located for mountain biking, lots of trailheads within a 15 min ride. Condo is between where I am with the bike and the rock formation way in the background.





Watch out for yuccas overhanging the trail:





This trail looks lovely but the riding in Sedona is HARD. This was the day I said F Sedona! But really it was awesome.





Mostly the trails were through incredible desert scenery.





The whole thing was magic, even though it was freakin hard. Last day I rode at sunrise.





Next year we might go back.

sarals 

The scenery certainly was epic! Magnificent.

That was a cactus bite?

sarals 

Today, OFF. Saturday and Sunday, Hellyer. I've been there twice since Worlds, and the last time I was there was in a mentor capacity. I didn't make any efforts that session. I planned to keep it "under control" on Saturday, do the thirty lap warmup in 80 inches, and then make some efforts after the requisite warm down/recovery period. I put a 47/14 (90 inches) on Eve (my Giant has a name, yes, as in "The Three Faces of..."), had the trispoke on the front and the Zipp 950 on the rear. I tried a flying 200, mostly working the ramp up and then the launch off the banking to get a feel for it. As I suspected, the cadence was low - 108. After another rest period (sit when you can stand, ride when you can walk - sprinters creed), I went out and did three 100 meter jumps from the rail with three lap RBI. Better. My last act of violence (I saw Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri today - I'm in a mood!) was a rolling start 150, then one more 100 meter jump.

I did not plan to go back up to the track yesterday, besides the weather forecast looked grim. Yesterday morning I received a phone call from BJ telling me she was going up, the forecast had changed, and right after that I got a text from one of the supervisors telling me she "needed bodies, please come!". It's nice to be wanted! So, I loaded the track bike back in the car and drove up. I did a ten lap "sprinters warmup" in 90 inches - the bike was configured as it had been when I brought it home the day before, because I hadn't planned to ride it right away. Oh, well. I then did the warm down/recovery, and did three 100 meter jumps from the rail with three lap RBI. 113 RPM, 30 MPH! Ahhh. After another recovery period, I went back out and joined two riders for a five lap "moderately paced" team pursuit, exchanging every half lap. Then, I called it a day and went home, beating the rain.

I just the love the track! Is it time for Worlds yet?

sarals 

I had a couple of really good days on the road. Today is a rest day. Wednesday I did some three minute intervals X 4 with 2 minutes RBI. I actually did them as hill repeats, which worked nicely. Yesterday I rode an hour and thirty two minutes with BJ. We did our usual loop, which features a four mile long climb, which I did in the big ring (53). As I've said before, her driveway (actually it's a road) has a 24% pitch for about 150 meters, and that is always a test of where your fitness is and how tired you are, because it's the very last thing you encounter on the loop we do. I got up it in 53/28, not like Sagan did Libby Hill, but I did get up it.

Oh, the gym workout I did on Tuesday was very good. The weights are increasing, and my back has been behaving (I've been so very careful with it!). I'm hoping to get versed in using the truss for squats the next time I go. It's a rather imposing looking "piece of kit", and I don't want to get involved with it without proper instruction and good form.

Allegheny Jet

Working on strength building for sprinting next year. Today was short grunt sprints both seated and OTS followed with sets of weighted walking lunges in the driveway. The off the bike work is now showing up via watts produced on the bike. Somehow one of my seated rolling sprints from 6-8 mph in a 53/16 gear generated 1,017 watts for 10" and a OTS interval generated 1,147 watts for 10". A few of early efforts were sloppy as I was riding too hard and not riding fast. After discussing that issue with myself on a slow roll recovery I reset my head to "fast and efficient, not hard!"

On another slow roll recovery I pondered how fat I would be if peanut butter melted in my mouth.

Hermes

Boy, I need a new power meter. Mine seems to read low. This is the beauty of meters versus weights. A weight has the weight stamped on it whereas a meter could read low.

Allegheny Jet

Now that I have two fused ankles I was able to do weight work that exceeded pedaling.

Hermes

Thursday was an SDV workout that included warmup, accelerations (seated and standing) jumps (seated and standing) and one 1/4 lap standing start. Next was a 6 lap hard effort and then 10 minutes of 30on/30 off followed by a 20 minute interval of 6x (4 laps of z3 and 1 lap of z2). I worked the entire power curve and had the velodrome to myself.

Track power is interesting in that achieving bigger power numbers for me is about the transient response of the power meter and the gearing chosen. I do a seated jump in a warmup gear. I roll up to almost a track stand at the start of the home straight on the blue band. I jump using my left foot start accelerating rolling onto the track and I keep going up the banking until I come to the rail in turn one.

At SDV, this is pretty easy and does not generate big power numbers. Contrasting the same jump (technique) at Velo sports Center where I climb up the 45 degree banking to the balustrade in turn one and my power is 300 watts more.

Also, typically, I hit bigger power numbers in bigger gears such as when I do a flying 100 in 100 gear inches versus 94.

Hermes

Saturday was a 2 hour constant power endurance coastal ride. It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 60s.

Allegheny Jet

Tonight's Tuesday night group ride was hard. It was very windy with temps dropping from 39 to 33 during the 28 mile ride. Only three guys showed up leaving plenty of pulls for me to do! I survived and probably will find a nugget of positive somewhere down the road. On the other hand I still had my usual two tall micro brews and a burger post ride.

Hermes

A'jet Ug...northern Ohio weather...I remember it well.

SDV workout yesterday with standard warmup, accelerations and jumps. 2x10' (3'/2' over/under) followed by 20' of 4 laps at the relief line and one fast lap. The temps were in the low 70s.

Bandera

It actually snowed ~2" here, a 30 year record, a few nights ago.
The county spread the nasty "chip" used to create our famously horrid "chip-seal" surfaces on every bridge to provide some semblance of taking action in this amazing "emergency". Naturally this did little or nothing to prevent widespread panic among the inept locals who rammed each other with zeal and abandon like playing high speed bumper cars with F150 pickups in a whiteout.

The roadster is in the garage with the battery tender on, the old pickup will perform haulage duty and the winter/wet bike's Gatorskin 28's were tested and found sturdy enough today on a low effort ride. I'll be loading the truck up w/ the big stiff broom and donning the bright reflective cycling vest to sweep clear the two local bridge's shoulders that I crunched across riding today instead of waiting for hell to freeze over and the county de-chipping them.

-Bandera

Racer Ex 

Chip is not sand. What were they thinking?

When we first got to McKinney we had snow. Coming from the Sierras I was greatly amused at the assurance of people that H20 in a different thermal state would produce the same frictional coefficient for their tires.

The expressions as they careened through intersections and some of the lawn landings were priceless.

Bandera

Thinking is not a big deal around here in County Officialdom circles while expediency is:
"We need sand but we have this great ugly pile of chip intended for the annual rural road-ruining project so that will do."

I vastly underrated the political "pull" of the denizens of the gated community located just beyond bridge #2.
All was tidied-up and as spic and span as little old bridges over creeks can be this AM.
Can't have the local wallas trophy wives' Mercedes getting all dinged up by errant chips now can we.......?

That being said not having to crunch along through that mess on the winter/wet bike, or sweep it up myself was:

-Bandera

Racer Ex 

It's not the trophy wife. She gets a new car every year. It's the ex who is stuck with the three year lease who complains to the ex husband who doesn't want hear it who makes the call.

Allegheny Jet

I don't live near any trophy wife enclaves or ex-wive neighborhood's of anger that I know of. When it snows in my area they just throw tons and tons of rock salt everywhere. Sometimes prior to any snow my concrete cul-de-sec looks like a fresh layer of gravel was put down. Nothing like having your brake or shifter cable seize up when you go to take the bike out for a ride later in the winter. I just automatically wait until April to replace all cables and housings.

We got three + inches of lake effect snow along with topping out at 25 degrees today. My night ride is cancelled so I did a nice WU on the bike, then 2 full on "circuits of death", followed with 10' of cool down on the bike.

sarals 

Is it time for Worlds yet?

radripperaj

Hey Jet,

I have a question about your fused ankles. My doctor tells me I will need one on my right ankle in the not too distant future. I race cyclocross and wonder how much that will affect my ability to do so. I read in another post where you talked about racing CX. Do you feel the fused ankles hinder you much with CX or any other type of riding?

Thanks for any info,
AJ