This year is all about learning and developing as a cyclist. I'm learning about how long it takes me to recover from things like a hard stage race, like last week's VOS. I think I'm still feeling effects of it a full week later. On Friday, for example, I had an insatiable appetite. I ended up eating 3,800 calories worth of food, all save a small bag of pretzel chips, was what I'd consider healthy food. And right now, I'm eating to hunger, to be strong, not to cut weight. So, I felt a strong kinship to my wife's little dog, who found himself in a dangerous situation where this pretzel chip bag almost cost him his life! Poor little thing couldn't breathe. Of course, I had to take a picture before rescuing him!
After digesting what happened last week I sat down and mapped out my plan from now until Tour of the Gila. I really need to work on my ability to "punch" hard on a hill and then recover at a fairly high level of effort. I also need to work on my ability to make power on my TT bike. Those are the biggest two issues I see myself struggling with that I can do something about in the next two months.
The biggest limiter I have is my weight. I'm happy to say that I'm consistently under 200 pounds now, but would like to be 180. I can perhaps drop a pound a week or so without the weight loss inhibiting recovery from workouts, but getting stronger is more important than getting lighter at this point of the season.
Some deer I spotted on the way to Pena Blanca Lake
All that said, I am only using TrainerRoad right now for intervals in the aero position. Some intervals are at Sweet Spot, but I'm also doing an easy 30 minute spin early in the mornings, too. I do these in the aero position, hoping to become more adept making power in that position and also burning a few hundred easy calories without taxing myself too much. I love TrainerRoad, but I need to get experience on my bikes in race conditions. That means, time trial bike in windy and hilly conditions and the road bike spinning instead of grinding up hills!
Tuesday I rode to Pena Blanca Lake, which has about 8 total climbs ranging from 1 to 2 kilometers in length, all with some very steep sections! Perfect hills to practice punching and recovering. I hit the hills and held 400 watts up them and then over the top I spun out and then stood up to regain speed as I went down the other side. I was happy with my workout, though I was tired from VOS.
Wednesday morning was an hour of zone two intervals in the aero position and Thursday I attacked Whipple Observatory Visitor's Center climb twice. It's a Category 2 climb, about 6.5 miles long, averaging just under 3% gradient, but that's a little misleading becaus
e there are some steep sections. I had a normalized power of 353 watts on the second attempt and had my second fastest time ever on that attempt. I just went into it thinking about punching whenever it would make me fastest and then trying to recovery without letting off the gas too much.
Friday I was a chaperone for the high school science club as we went to an amusement park, Castles and Coasters, in Phoenix, to ride the roller coasters and do science-type stuff. It was a great, but exhausting day.
Knowing I was a bit fried from last weekend I opted for an easier, but still challenging, group ride on Saturday, the Bicycle Ranch Round Up, in Tucson. I was very happy with my efforts, especially on the last big climb of the day, which is actually quite short, but still takes a few minutes. I attacked the hill and the data showed I held 790 watts for 25 seconds and then 475 watts for another 30 seconds to finish off the hill. Nobody was around me, so I just finished off the next 10 minutes of the ride at an average of 373 watts. I wish I could make 373 watts that easily on my TT bike!
Sunday was windy! I went out on the TT bike with full aero equipment, just to see how it felt. I did only three intervals, covering 40 miles (20 less than planned), but was fried. I am happy to report that the 90 mm front wheel I run from Flo Cycling is amazing. In the crazy wind I did get pushed around a bit, but never did I feel like my wheel was being twisted, even bombing downhill in the aero position with the winds swirling through the narrow canyons! I'm super happy with Flo and I will be buying a 60 mm front wheel in the future, for my road bike!
Here's a video of part of the group ride I did on Saturday. It's hosted by Bicycle Ranch Bike Shop, in Tucson. Great shop, awesome and friendly people.
This coming week I will be doing a step test on the TT bike to see where my FTP is so I can have more accurate goals and pacing. I'll be putting in a big ride over the weekend. Otherwise, just grinding it out, eating right and trying to get plenty of sleep!
I have gone through a life-changing experience, the magnitude of which is just slightly overshadowed by my marriage and my children. That's right, the Neti Pot!
I spent the majority of week 7 sick and in bed. I missed work twice and was completely useless the days I did work. For the first time since March of 2016 I had to take medication. First, decongestants, and later, antibiotics. But I'm glad to have access to such things. I'm not anti-medication by any stretch, I've just been healthy enough to not need any for almost a full year.
One thing I've learned is not to take opportunities for granted. While sick, I could still ride and had already paid the money to race at Valley of the Sun. I figured I'd see how day 1 went and if I felt the same or better on day 2, I'd participate, and then again for day 3 the same.
For those that don't know what Valley of the Sun is, allow me to explain. VOS (we'll call it), is a 3 day stage race where lowest cumulative time of the three races (stages) determines the winner. It's Arizona's biggest race, attracting people from all over North America. Day 1 is a time trial, where you race a distance for time. There is no drafting off of other riders (which means it's a true test of strength). Day 2 is a road race with a climbing finish, which favors smaller riders. Day 3 is a criterium, which is fast and flat, which favors bigger riders.
Sick or not, Thursday after work I loaded up the car to head to my brother-in-law, and teammate, Gene's house in Phoenix. Gene was racing with me, Men's Category 4. That's a developing level cycling category, not beginner, but not advanced either. It's often a mixed bag, with some guys that have topped out and will be there forever, with some guys who are "sandbaggers," and stay there because it affords easier winning opportunities, and some guys that are just moving through on their way to high categories.
I think I'm in the last group here. I just moved into Cat 4, have potential to be a good bike racer, but need to learn to race and have some things to develop along the way.
Weather was to play a big role all weekend. For the time trial (TT), on Friday, the weather was very windy. If memory serves, the wind was 22 - 25 mph with gusts 35+ at race time for me. The course was 7.3 miles out, slightly uphill, with the wind being helpful. Then, 7.3 miles back, slightly downhill, with the wind making life suck.
My game plan was to hit 380 to 390 watts on the way out, and 340 to 350 on the way back. I know that if I'm healthy I can hit those numbers. I also knew, at the time, that I was going for broke trying to do it sick. If I went too hard, I'd be slower than if I was far more conservative. But, VOS is training for me and sick or not, I'm going for it.
People lined up for miles on the sides of the road warming up!
I could NOT hit my numbers, not even close. Based on what I know I can do, this was my worst performance ever in a time trial. I was 2 minutes slower than my conservative estimate. But, that was good enough for 2nd place on the day in my category! How lucky is that? Pretty much any other category and I wouldn't be top 10! Craziness.
The situation did upset me though because I want to see where I stand with riders in other categories. I want a measure of how I'm progressing and the VOS TT was my best chance to do that in 2017! But, there's nothing I can do about it. Even healthy, things could happen. I know of some friends that got flats on the race, so their day ended even worse than mine! Gene got a cramp in his calf so bad, that he had some muscle tearing! Bring what you have race day and see how it goes!
My visor after the race...this is the inside of it!
Going into day 2, the road race, I was 30 seconds down from 1st and about 20 seconds up from 2nd place. The winds were in the high teens, swirling, and it was raining most of the day. With temperatures in the mid 50's, and being sick already, this proved to be a miserable day for me. To make matters worse, after the race I realized I had forgotten my change of clothes at home and was staying at the race for another 4 hours to help out my teammate Tim! I was able to borrow a pair of shorts from my 135 pound brother in law so at least I was able to get out of my wet kit, but I started with a fever after I got done shaking for a solid hour sitting in the truck with heater blasting! But I'm getting ahead of the story ...
The race was three laps, just under 17 miles each. There are about 3 kilometers of climbing and the rest is wide open down hill. The terrain and the wind make the race rather dull for 14 miles of each lap because without a crosswind, which can be used to get away from other cyclists, there's nowhere to attack. People tried anyway, but nothing stuck. The second lap had a KOM time bonus at the finish line of 10 seconds. I had hoped that a break would form then and perhaps I could join in and work with that group to catch the leader and hop into first place. If not, I'd wait to do an attack on the last lap.
I had a couple of people reach out to me before the race with encouragement and advice, which is way cool. These guys know what they're talking about, too. One guy is a Cat1 pro rider currently, who before this did a lot of track riding and was an international level triathlete. The other person is a retired world-tour rider. Believe me, when they offered me advice, I listened!
The small mountain we did laps around during the race.
The advice was basically about positioning, patience, timing of work and making an attack that just brutalized the field. "Make it a blood bath!" I followed the advice perfectly in the road race, until the last part. I just didn't have the legs (or maybe it was the lungs) to punch.
The weather proved enough to keep everybody very cautious, people slowed down for obstacles, called everything out and didn't use these things as opportunities to attack. It was like a friendly group ride in that respect! I just hid from the wind until the second lap and stayed position near the front to watch for a break to form. A small one had, but when I bridged up to it, the others shut it down.
On the last lap, going up the hill, I just didn't have the legs to do anything meaningful. I was left doing exactly what I was told not to do, surfing wheels hoping they'd respond to the meaningful attacks at the end. I was left reacting instead of instigating and it cost me some time. But, I kept 2nd place in the GC! I was 8th in the race, but really never figured into the outcome of the day in any meaningful way.
After the race I got pretty sick. I couldn't get warm, and once I did, if I stepped out of the truck for more than a minute or two, I was right back where I started. I'm a burly 200 pound man, I don't get cold! So while I sat in the truck shivering, Gene, who tore his calf in the time trial and further injured it in the road race, forcing him to abandon, stood out in the wind and rain and handed water bottles off to Tim! I felt like a schmuck not helping out! I did get a few videos of various groups going by and was able to cheer on some friends, at least in my mind, as they raced.
Here's a video of the Pro/Cat1 group on their first lap:
A kid ready to go in the kid's race! Criteriums are so fun to watch!
After we got home and ate some real food I felt a little better. I tucked in early Saturday night and slept well. I woke up Sunday morning feeling okay, but still sick. I was in second place and was sure that even sick, I could ride wheels and finish in the pack and probably hold onto second place. Sunday was a criterium. Criteriums are short course races that are fast, punchy and tactics are key. Crashes are frequent in criteriums and the day called for, you guessed it, more rain! Those things, in combination with advice I failed to execute on Saturday, started a seed of understanding that blossomed during the race.
The criterium was in downtown Phoenix. Criteriums are awesome to watch. There is great people watching and the races are exciting! Here are a couple of pictures I took on the day.
Cycling problems #TanLines
The course is wide open, except one turn that gets a little pinched, and the course is fast. I hit 41 mph and averaged just shy of 26 mph on the day. For the first three to five laps I was responding to other people being aggressive. I didn't chase, but I followed wheels and hopped around, moving up, sliding back, moving up and so on. It was hard. As I did this I thought about why taking initiative is important. Reacting is sometimes harder than dealing the punishment.
When the first prime lap came around, if you finished 1st or 2nd on the prime lap you get prizes or money, I decided to go for the win. The effort lined my pocket with $50. Not only that, I got away! I had a glimmer of hope that if I could get some help and stay away that maybe I could move into 1st place in the GC? I was away for a couple, maybe three laps with one other rider. Eventually a 3rd guy joined us and then the group decided that was enough of that nonsense, and brought us back.
When the time is almost finished the race goes from a countdown of time to a count down of laps. With three laps to go there was another prime lap. Here's a video of me getting that prime, too. These were my first ever primes, I've only done a handful of criteriums, never tried to get them before.
During my time off the front and getting those primes the advice I received really clicked. When I was making the race a blood bath, I dictated how hard we went, for how long and so on. When I let off the gas, everybody just relaxed a bit. It's one of those things that you learn by doing ... can't read about it, watch it or be told and really get it, kind of like playing an instrument. But it clicked!
On the back half of the second to last lap, for the first time of the day, things got sketchy. People were twitchy, not holding lines through corners and of course, all of this, when the speed started picking up. So with one lap to go I took off. I didn't expect to get away, but the safest place to be is on the front and I just needed to finish the race to keep 2nd place in the GC. So, that's what I did. I kept the pace high and with a quarter lap to go, some attacks took off and I just surfed wheels into the finish, coming in mid-pack and securing my 2nd place overall.
I felt proud of 2nd in GC after the criterium. Before that, I didn't feel like I'd done anything to deserve it. That doesn't make much sense, but it's a feeling, not a thought...they often don't make sense.
Still, it was a great weekend of racing with a favorable result. But, big picture, I got some great practice getting ready for Tour of the Gila. The logistical part of racing stage races is tricky, and I was pretty organized and had my food and equipment in order, so that went well. Also, my training is coming along well. I have not done any sprinting, 100% effort work yet, actually ever in my life, and that's what I'm heading into next. So, I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead.
In all, I won $120, a tube of chamois cream and a case of Gu gels. The thing I was most excited about winning, however, is this:
I don't have any races for a few weeks so I can get in a solid block of training. Gila is about 60 days away so I'm going to start getting into some intense training, the stuff that really hurts. We're talking max short efforts, little to no recovery and do it again ... repeat for an hour or so. You know, the kind of workouts that might make me reconsider my goals.
The next big race is the Tucson Bicycle Classic, another highly competitive stage race. I'm excited about it! Until then, thanks for following along.
A group of my students were interviewed, on camera, regarding what it takes to be successful in the challenging two year course that I teach. Their responses were shared with a room of administrators and teachers. A member of the audience was the parent of one of the kids interviewed.
After the video the parent observed the irony in the advice given by their child. The inferred message was, "If she knows that's what you're supposed to do to be successful, why does she struggle with it?"
We had a good hearted laugh at the observation.
But, later, I was thinking about it. I know exactly what my limiters are (the things that hold me back from fulfilling my potential) in all areas of my life. I can give excellent advice on what to do in response to those limiters. However, that doesn't mean that I don't struggle with them and that those areas do not still cause me issue.
Then I replayed my own advice to my students regarding study habits. The advice: There's an element of learning that cannot be compressed ... time. It takes time to learn and develop and attempting to rush things, compress those things into limited time, only compounds and delays the desired results.
I know this is true because I have, and continue to, suffer the consequences of attempting to do things at the last minute, or putting things off when there's no cause to do so ... other than to engage in the satisfying act of procrastination.
I have 6 of these in my spine.
Next week is my first big test to see how I'm progressing for Tour of the Gila, the Valley of the Sun stage race. I believe with my cycling profile my best chance of winning, or placing well, is to win the time trial in day one. And this is what brought home how ironic the advice to my students regarding compressing time/procrastinating is.
A few weeks ago I did a short 20k time trial and discovered that I need to spend a lot more time in the aero position on my time trial bike. This is true of all cyclists, probably, but with my back injury and the neuro-muscular issues that resulted, it's especially true of me.
After the race I sat down and adjusted my training plan...it looked great on paper. However, I failed to execute it almost entirely! DOH!!!
I have been working on flexibility and increasing mobility, but have not spent enough time in the aero position like I had planned.
I use TrainerRoad for my early morning TT intervals
This past Wednesday I got on the time trial bike, on the trainer, and had the same issues I experienced in the race a few weeks ago. So I am concerned not only how I'll perform on the time trial, but how the time trial will leave me feeling for the following two stages!
Only one way to find out ... and good, bad, or indifferent, I'll use to the results to inform my training and practices, eventually. ;)
This past week of training my training was not on-point. I work two jobs, had extra duties with one job and am fighting a cold. I did get one great ride in Tuesday, testing myself on a category 2 climb called Whipple, here locally. A good time up that hill is under 30 minutes. I had my second best time of 25:06, but my best time ever was with a 20 mph tailwind! The attempt this week had essentially no wind at all. Afterwards I did three 10 to 12 minute sweet-spot intervals. Here's my ride on Strava.
Saturday my friend and teammate, Tim and I, did the Shootout again, this time tacking on McCain Loop and Gates Pass (beautiful out there), for about 95 miles of hard riding. To make matters worse, we were both sick.
On the first half of the ride the speed was so intense and I covered moves just fine, but I could NOT recover. I popped very early. I was mad because I know I'm stronger than that ... and while I'm sure it happened because I was sick, it didn't make me feel better (physically or emotionally)...see what I did there????
A group of about 9 or 10 other dropped riders joined up with me, same guys I'd left the week before, and I had trouble keeping up with them, too!
We eventually caught back up with the group when they stopped to get water and what-not. I was shaking and decided that I might just roll back into town super easy. But, I ate some food and that helped. (I think I need to eat just before this ride takes off.) Tim and I went inside to get water and when we came out, the group was gone, already heading up Helmet Peak Road. We rushed to catch them and caught a LONG left hand turn on green only light.
I was pissed, but felt better after eating. I told myself that I didn't care what else happened on the day, I was going to do everything in my power to bring them back ... and Tim did more than his fair share, too. We caught them, but it was 12 minutes of insane work. Tim said he was doing 350 watts just to hold my wheel (we had a cross wind). In the end, I had a huge PR on Helmet Peak and Tim was about 20 seconds of his PR, which came in a Shootout in 2014, that he remembered well. Most of this work seen in the graph to the right was done trying to catch the group.
On the way back into town it got really punchy, a couple of guys attacking the pace line even though we were going 35+ mph. One attack I reeled in, the others I just let others reel in. But, towards the end Ben Kanute (olympic triathlete and super nice guy) put in a real hard attack and he got away. I bridged up to him but nobody else could come with me. I worked with him a bit and then he asked me to do another pull but I was done. I could've ridden his wheel all of the way to the end, but I'm new and I didn't want to make an ass of myself (...should also read, continual goal of mine!)
Sunday I ditched my planned TT workout, even though I need some time in the aero position, to try and allow myself to kick the cold I'm fighting.
Best news from Saturday's ride: Both hamstrings are firing again. The right side had been getting super sore because the left side wasn't firing. But the isolation exercises and PT movements I'd been working on have gotten the left side working again. I know it's weak, both posterior chains are weak compared to the quads still, but they're all firing again. I can't get lax on those therapy sessions! (I've got a lot to learn about how to manage this humpty dumpty body of mine, but I'm taking my lessions seriously.)
Also, I found the best pair of bib shorts ever. They're Craft Night Glow...designed for long distance summer riding. I didn't have a single moment of discomfort even though Mission Road is horribly bumpy!
In other cycling news, I had a very flattering experience. The team I am a member of, Aggress, has asked me to be their team president! I feel honored that my peers think enough of my character to ask me to help develop and build the team. I am very much looking forward to the challenge and experience.
Now to pack and plan for Valley of the Sun. I'm going to relax the position on my TT bike from what it was, hoping to compensate for my lack of ability to make power in the tucked position. Hopefully it won't cost me too much. Tune in next week to see how it goes!
Thursday I did an FTP test, kind of. I was fresh, in the right frame of mind and very motivated to get accurate results. The Valley of the Sun stage race is in two weeks and if I win the time trial I stand a chance to win the stage race. But, the time trial requires accurate FTP. Some way into FTP test #1 I grazed a chunk of cholla cactus laying in the road. A needle grabbed the tire and the cactus flew up and impaled itself in my left hand. I had no idea what had happened. FTP test over. I regrouped, checked the tires and tried again, but eventually resigned myself to trying again this week.
Now this year is all about learning and much of that happened this past week (beyond watch out for cactus in the road)! It might be a breakthrough week for me really. See, sometimes when things do NOT go as planned they're of greater benefit than when things go perfectly as expected. That's what happened with me, all week!
Mt. Hopkins and behind it, Madera Canyon, in the background
Saturday I went with my teammate Tim, who is also doing Tour of the Gila with me, and attempted to do the Big Boy Shootout and Madera Canyon, totaling 100 fast miles with about 5,000 feet of climbing. (To be my first 100 mile ride since 2014!)
I'd done the slower variety of the Shootout a few weeks before and only had trouble when I put myself in difficulty with intention. But Saturday there were a lot of young pro riders looking for a workout and they had me in difficulty all day long.
Long story short, I discovered how much my inexperience is costing me ... I really need to learn how to ride in a group. I'm not unsafe, if anything, I'm too cautious. I kept getting scrubbed off of wheels I wanted to follow and ended up in bad positions all day. Then, at one point I decided to take off my gloves, but thought it best to slip towards the back to do so. I ended up on the wrong side of a split in the group. I waited to let those in front of me bridge the gap, but they couldn't. By the time I decided to do it, the gap was significant. UGH! I had to work for a long time before catching back on.
As it turned out a large group was deviating from the Shootout route and heading up Madera Canyon, too. Madera Canyon is a category 1 climb, most of the elevation gain in the last 3 miles. The last 3 miles average 7% gradient, but there are long stretches of 10% plus with no rest. For a big boy, like me, this is brutal.
One of the hills near my home I ride up every day.
For the Madera climb I used Best Bike Split to create a Garmin Power Course, which I had loaded on my Garmin 520. It worked really well. Once the pace up Madera got to where I was hitting 400 watts just to hold wheels, I dropped out and followed the power suggested by Best Bike Split. I ended up with a PR by almost 8 minutes! But, it cost me. I had the BBS pacing set at a 0.88 IF (that means very hard, and on the heels of 90 minutes of hard riding already).
On the return leg of the ride back to town I ended up getting cramps in my left leg, suddenly, without warning. It was very strange. Upon reviewing the data collected on the day I saw that I had an imbalance between left and right leg power, 46% to 54%. So I need to address this before it leads to injury!
So I learned I need to work on riding in fast groups as well as flexibility and strength in my left leg (weakened by the back injury). But, I also learned that BBS can have a great application even in a group ride or race! I also worked on nutrition timing, which worked very well. I'll share about that another time.
Cedric climbing out of Pena Blanca Lake on Sunday with me.
Sunday I went on a long ride from my house to Patagonia Lake and then to Pena Blanca Lake. The route is just shy of 70 miles and just shy of 5,000 feet of climbing. Great practice for Tour of the Gila. Although I was tired from Saturday I decided to test myself on a couple of difficult sections. I smashed by previous best time on a tough section where I used to train frequently, but hadn't ridden at all since 2014 (post surgery). That put a smile on my face!
I collected a handful of KOMs on Strava Sunday, even though I had fried legs. Funny how finding your limit, like I did Saturday, can help push that limit! It's a great thing.
So while I got my butt handed to me Saturday, I realized that I've come a long way on Sunday. That's cycling for you!
Last thing to share: I put together the video from the Oracle Road Race that happened last weekend (week #4). Here it is. Thanks again for reading.
This year is all about learning and developing as a cyclist. I'm learning about how long it takes me to recover from things like a hard stage race, like last week's VOS. I think I'm still feeling effects of it a full week later. On Friday, for example, I had an insatiable appetite. I ended up eating 3,800 calories worth of food, all save a small bag of pretzel chips, was what I'd consider healthy food. And right now, I'm eating to hunger, to be strong, not to cut weight. So, I felt a strong kinship to my wife's little dog, who found himself in a dangerous situation where this pretzel chip bag almost cost him his life! Poor little thing couldn't breathe. Of course, I had to take a picture before rescuing him!
