Week 9: Tour of the Gila ... Fun & Fatigue

The most common question non-cyclists ask about racing is, "How many miles was the race?"  It's the same misconception that leads people to think that the best runners must run marathons, since that's way longer than a 5K!  While distance causes problems, of course, it's really about intensity.  A 30 minute criterium can be much harder than a century ride like El Tour de Tucson.

Elevation profile of the Whipple Climb

The intensity in training has been causing me problems.  I've never trained with intensity before and am shocked at how long it takes to recover!  On Tuesday this week I did a triple ascent of a local Category 2 Climb called Whipple.  The route starts at the desert floor and climbs up to the Whipple Observatory Visitor's Center, about six miles and a thousand feet of climbing.  What makes it difficult is the nature of the road ... it's NOT smooth at all.  Also, it's very exposed and the wind is always an issue.  Beyond that, there are a few places that get steep, but over all it's a gradual climb.  A good time up the climb is 30 minutes.  On Tuesday I did it in 26 minutes the first time, 25 and change the second and 25 and a little less change the third.  I was FRIED!

Not until Saturday morning did I start to feel a little recovered from Tuesday's effort.  That's okay though, that kind of climbing will help me at Gila!

I'm a high school math teacher, which means I have to work two jobs.  My second job is as a math teacher at a community college, where I work a couple of nights a week.  My typical rest day from training is on Monday, which so happens to be one of the days where I get off of work at the high school and then go work until about 9 PM at night at the college.  Not much rest!  

At the base of the Catalina Mtns looking down on Tucson

This has been how I've been working in rest for a few months now, but this week, I began to feel frazzled, harried and rushed.  I couldn't sleep and was feeling burned out.  So, Wednesday I did just a short spin on the trainer, Thursday a short workout (had a dinner function to attend anyway) and Friday, still feeling fried, I did nothing.  Saturday I went to Tucson and did the Bicycle Ranch Ride, again, but today, Sunday, I slept in, took a nap and went out for a late lunch with my wife.  I'm feeling much better, if not a touch sore from Saturday.

This coming week is spring break at the college, and the next week is spring break at the high school.  After life returns to normal I need to decide if I need to take Sunday as my rest day instead of Mondays.  There's a good chance that's my best bet right now.  My body is not used to this type of physical stress and it takes time to get adjusted to such things. But, I'm riding stronger than before my injury (except maybe on the TT bike) and having a blast doing so!

Might be time to trim up a bit!

The highlight of the week came on Saturday, during the Bicycle Ranch group ride.  The shop owner, Steve, and one of the mechanics, Joe, joined in the ride and always make sure that people know the route, call out obstacles and then they take a look at anybody's bikes that might need some adjustments after the ride.  Plus, the orange juice and bagels are an absolute God-Send after a hard ride!

This week, my teammate and training partner, Tim and I decided we'd work some tactics on the ride.  The first half of the ride is defined by about 15 minutes of climbing, which concludes at the Dove Mountain Resort.  First to the top, wins.  The plan was that we'd just make sure to shut down any breaks and follow the aggressive riders up the hill.  With about a mile to go I'd put in an attack and Tim would surf wheels until I was caught, then he'd counter-attack.  It worked perfectly and was so much fun!  Here's a video of the ride:  

This coming week will be a lot of fun.  Friday night I'll be doing a criterium, first one at night, and it's on a go-cart track!  Saturday is a 20K time trial (I'm still unhappy that I haven't dialed in things on the TT bike, and have no idea how to pace myself yet on a TT), and Sunday is a road race.  I'm registered in the Men's Cat 4 races for the whole shebang.  Hopefully I can win the omnium!

The following week is the Tucson Bicycle Classic stage race, where I'm also racing Cat4 Mens, and the next weekend is my hometown race, The Nogales Bicycle Classic.  Looks like I've got a busy schedule coming up!  I'm up for it, excited to race and hopefully I can get some good results.

Thanks for reading!