Week 12: Nogales Bicycle Classic

Racing bicycles is a lot harder than normal people think.  One thing that makes bike racing different than other endurance sports is that in bike racing much of what happens is in reaction to other riders.  You cannot control or predict when you're going to have to do a maximum effort, or for how long.  Plus, you have no idea when you'll have to do a maximum effort again.  Put enough of those maximum efforts together in close enough succession and people break.  The strange thing is, often people break because of the unknown factor, not because they're unable.

Shane, Greg, Rich and myself at the start of the NBC.

That's why it is important to be the person dishing out those attacks, instead of responding to them.  If you can dictate how the race unfolds then it's so much easier emotionally and mentally.  You pick how hard to go, when and for how long.  You decide how to rest and when to go again.

This past week was the Nogales Bicycle Classic, my hometown "race."  It's not a sanction raced, it's classified as a Gran Fondo by the USAC.  But, in my opinion, a race is when you have two or more people riding together.

For NBC (Nogales Bicycle Classic) I had three teammates with me.  Since it was my hometown race and my anniversary, they picked me as the guy to work for.  It was my job to win, their job to set it up for me.  We had a few contingency plans for the race, but as the race unfolded, I ended up in a break away about 3 miles into the race.  Around mile 5 or 6 another rider caught me and we worked together until I started to hammer on him.  I dictated those attacks, the duration, location and frequency.  And I'm glad I did, it really sucks responding to those things!

Our plan was to break up the race on the first hill, about 3 miles in.  Shane, Rich and Greg set a furious pace up the hill and I was sitting in.  It was hard just following their wheels.  But, when I saw my friend Jacobo on the side of the road taking a video on his phone, I had to belt out, "ROCK AND ROLL!" as loud as I could.  Here's a video of that:

Steeper than it looks and I was actually hurting pretty good...but I had to belt out a little rock and roll! #aggressrides #fearthebeard #nogalesbicycleclassic

A post shared by Philip Brown (@gruveb) on Mar 25, 2017 at 5:24pm PDT

So I got away on the downhill part and my teammates blocked.  One guy got up the road and caught me.  We had a long way to go!

The thing is, I actually feel bad about how it all unfolded.  Because I had two teammates riding behind me, trying to bridge up, I didn't need to really work with Alfonso, the guy who caught me.  But if I could stay away and break him, then I win.  If we don't stay away, then we have a 3 on 1 situation and we break him.  Either way, I'm in a good spot and he's in a bad spot.

So, when we "worked together" I made sure I went a mile or two per hour slower than he was pulling.  I also made sure he pulled on the uphill portions and I did so on the downhill.  Then, when he could see me, I hung my head and looked tired.  When I was behind him I coughed and spit and coughed and coughed and coughed and coughed.  I wanted him to think I was dying.  And that deception, is what makes me feel bad.  I don't like to deceive people for personal gain, even though it's perfectly acceptable in this application.

When the time came to go, I went.  I attacked and attacked and attacked.  Eventually, Alfonso, who is recovering from knee surgery, had enough and called Mercy.  He told me to go ahead, "You win," he said.

Alfonso came in 2nd and my teammate Shane came in 3rd to round out the podium.  It was a good day on the bike!

Originally I had planned on racing the 112 mile version of the NBC, but because Tour of the Gila is about a month away I need to really dial in my training these next few weeks.  I can't totally trash myself on a brutal route and distance like that because I would miss several days of training to recovery.

Here's the gopro footage of the race:


These next few weeks I need to really dial in my diet and training, especially my sleep.  I'm not going to step on a scale until after Tour of the Gila.  At this point I need to be as strong as I can be.  That doesn't give me license to pig out, but the weight doesn't really matter at this point, nothing I can do about it now without losing power.

I appreciate your time reading and I hope it's been informative and or entertaining.

Until next time!

Oh, and here are the last two videos from last week's TBC.

Week 11: Tucson Bicycle Classic

There's something that normal people (should read, don't race bikes) don't understand about bike racing.  Their misconception is exposed in the common question, "How long is your race?"

The Tucson Bicycle Classic begins with a short time trial, or prologue, just over 3 miles long.  However, that 3 miles is the most painful racing I've ever experienced, both times I've done it!  It's all about intensity.

99 degrees, time to go!

This past week I participated in the TBC (Tucson Bicycle Classic), Men's Category 4 race.  We had a huge field, 58 riders!  Most of the riders were teenagers, split up between four teams.  I was in for some punishment.  Unlike a lot of masters teams, these kids are well coached, in similar levels of fitness and willing to sacrifice themselves for their team.

Stage 1 is the short time trial, about 8 minutes of hell!  It's a tricky course, some hazards in the road, but the roads twists its way through the Sahuaro West National Monument, which is beautiful.  There's a positive elevation gain, and the second half of the race is uphill and that's where a good time is made or lost!

I used the advice from a veteran racer and the information I got from Best Bike Split (bestbikesplit.com) to come up with a plan for stage 1.  Basically, punch it at the start (totally different than a 40K TT), and then ride sub-threshold on the flats, just working to maintain the high speed, conserving momentum on the small undulations in the road over the first half of the race.  The idea is to have only burned one match, at the start, to punch that speed up high.  The rest are needed for the last half.

I maintained my speed well, didn't work too hard to do it, and when I hit the hills I had a lot in the tank.  Over the next 5 minutes though, that tank was drained!  Once the hills hit I made sure to spin smooth and quick, keeping the power numbers up high without loading my legs up with lactic acid and what-not.  At the two steepest parts I stood up to get my momentum going and spun at a high cadence and high power as each hill was crested.  I ended up getting up to 37 mph on the short stretch between the two climbs!

So, I feel that nailed the TT, finishing in 8:11 according to Strava, but 8:20 according to the officials.  Most people reported extra time added to their results, so I think that's fair enough.  My average power on the time trial was 379 watts, I'm very happy with how it went, especially since it was well into the 90 degree range, with crazy hot sunshine!


The time was good enough to put me in second place and was a good time on the day regardless of category.



Day two was the road race, three lumpy laps about 20 miles each around the mines in Green Valley, Arizona.  My grouped started last on the day and it was HOT, again!  The racing was hard, just like I wanted it to be, and I wasn't having to do the work.  Late in the race a small group of riders got off of the front and I let them go.  The thing I didn't know was that the 3rd placed rider had flatted.  He wanted to win overall, and would've been chasing this down!

After the TBC Circuit Race I was TOAST!

So I sat and watched them go, just worrying about being the guy in 1st and the guy in 3rd to try and hold my 2nd place, maybe even move up to first.  The belief I had, at the time, was that if I tried to bridge to the breakaway, I'd just end up towing the group up, which would cost me some matches and lessen my chances of beating my closest competitors.

In the end, the break had about 15 seconds, plus a time bonus and one of those in the break jumped from 4th to 2nd, moving me down to third.

To make it worse, my friend and training partner, Tim, had crashed out bad in the Cat 3 race ... concussion and broken pelvis!

Day 3 was the circuit race.  I felt okay when I woke in the morning.  I spoke with some teammates before the race and we devised a plan that involved the help of some other riders.  After the 3rd lap I was to break away with a small group and some other riders would help block, instead of chase.  But, once the race started I felt horrible.  I was dying to just hold on for the first 4.5 of 6 laps.  Once we got to the end of the race I felt fine, finished 10th with the lead group, believing I'd held onto my 3rd spot.  But, the race officials said there was a 2 second gap between the 4th and 5th rider.  Whether they're right or not, it's my own fault for not being up there.

The racing these past two weeks was very hard, hot and exhausting.  But, I had so much fun.  It's great meeting new friends, connecting with old friends, and hanging out with like-minded people.

At work someone asked me about my results.  I said I was happy with them, it's all icing.  He said, "Yup, remember where you were a year ago at this time?"

I wasn't riding at all, was barely able to walk.  So yeah, it's all icing!

Now this week is all about recovery...I need to absorb the training stress of 6 days of racing in a 10 day window, all in unseasonably hot temperatures.  This coming week is the Nogales Bicycle Classic, my hometown race.  I'm doing the 51 mile version with my new teammate Greg and maybe my brother-in-law, Gene.  It will be my only difficult workout of the week!

Anyhow, thanks for reading.  Here are some great pics from this past weekend's races.  Special thanks to Damion Alexander for his work with the cycling community and his amazing pictures!

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!

Oracle Road Race: Race Report and Week 4 Recap

It's been an interesting week. Monday morning, while getting dressed, standing still mind you, no gyrations, walking down stairs or summersaults...nope, standing still, pulling on a sweater, I tore an intercostal muscle beneath my left arm pit. Those are the muscles that keep your ribs together ... when you injure them, it's quite painful.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I tried, without success, getting myself dressed without my stupid rib yelling at me. Friday morning I was successful! I felt proud of myself, this was an accomplishment. When I arrived at work, though, I realized I had forgotten to zip up my pants. DOH! (Luckily I had a long jacket on that I believed spared any innocence from permanent ocular damage.)

Today was the Oracle Road Race, a course that suits me well. I believed, hoped, that those guys that could match me in the criterium could not hang with me on the climbs. This scale told me I was 206 pounds this morning, yikes, but I can still climb pretty well, provided it's not too long or steep or too punchy.

Course Profile, about 54 miles, 4,000 feet of climbing.

I had a couple of teammates with me in the race, Gene, Rich S. For the omnium I was in 2nd place, behind by 7 points. So, if I won the road race, no matter what happened, I won the omnium, too. Winning came with some merchandise, and I like stuff.

The course was 2 laps, down the hill a back up. The day was windy and started pretty cold, even a small patch of ice on the road!

Down the hill was without event but our group was pretty large. Going down hill that fast with gusty cross winds in cold weather in a cat 4/5 and collegiate b/c kids is unsettling! But, we made it.

First shot up the hill was punchy. This is my first attempt at matching anything in a road race in almost 3 years and I was in trouble near the top. I decided to ease off and catch back on down the hill.

As soon as I did, I saw the cattle guard, marking the top. There's still climbing after that but it's more my style. I could see them but couldn't catch back on. They started attacking each other and were soon out of sight.

I wasn't sure, but I thought there were 2 guys in that group that were in my race. I sat up and waited for a big strong dude that got dropped before me and we worked together through town, picked up a college kid on the way down.

Here's a video of the big dude, (Scott Thompson), and I working our way through town. There were nice crowds watching the race yesterday.



I kept thinking how pissed I'd be for sitting up there if it cost me the race. But, even on the long downhill where you could see a long way ahead we couldn't see that lead group. We just weren't closing in. The headwind made it tough and they were obviously working together.

So, about half way down I stopped taking normal pulls and just went full gas for 2 minutes. Then, I saw the group ... way ahead still. I redoubled my efforts and worked hard for another 2 minutes and at the bottom of the hill we were just 25 yards behind. We caught them easily then.



I joined the pace line, there were about 10 total, including the two I brought down the hill. As I examined the two masters riders in the group I saw they were NOT in my race. All I needed to do to win was sit in and not crash.

That's what I did. Back up the hill, the two older guys worked over all of the kids. I just rode tempo up the hill and dropped everybody but the one kid I brought down the hill. Turned out he had a chance to win his race so I worked for him, well tried too. On the downhill section coming into town he lost my wheel ... I was going 53 in a 25, not sure what happened there. Anyhow, he won his race too.



So I won a cool pocket sized blue tooth speaker so I can jam tunes without ear buds when training, some Skratch labs recovery mix, some socks and a few boxes of Girl Scout Cookies! BOOM!

Some race and training notes:

1. I tried straight maple syrup as fuel during the race. I used it and water for the first half and then caffeine and a sugary electrolyte drink for the second half. My gut didn't complain and my energy felt good throughout.
2. Every time I race on hills I get at least one person that says, almost the same words regardless of the person, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a big dude ... how do you climb like that?"
3. I need more road racing experience. Unlike crits, I know what to do, but my body isn't used to it. Responding to the punchy stuff on the climb was very hard for me, even though I was well within what I could do. The second time up the hill, just doing tempo, was faster, yet way easier, than the first trip up the hill.
4. I could barely walk after the race. I have neurological issues with the muscles in my feet still, from my back injury. Hamstrings get cranky, too, but they were fine yesterday. If I suffer like that after every race, it's still worth it. :D
5. My normalized power for the whole race was 309 watts. I'm very happy with where my power is and was concerned after last week's time trial. But, a week of rest goes a long way.

This coming week I will be increasing my volume of training and doing some FTP testing. I'm curious if I'll have any growth in that 20 minute range. I know I'm way stronger in short term power, so regardless of the results, I feel I'm headed the right direction. Still, I have a long way to go, which is what motivates me.

Thank you again for reading, I hope it's been entertaining and perhaps informative.

PS: I will create a video of GoPro footage to go along with the race, but it'll take a few days.

Training Week 1: Where's the f'n Cholula, a Call-Out, and a Shootout

Sometimes, when you're training hard, you get a little hangry.  Yesterday afternoon I was home alone after a pretty tough day on the bike and a long day in Tucson.  I was making some chicken burritos, had been wanting them all day.  Problem was ... the salsa was all gone.  No biggie really, I can always drown chicken burritos in Cholula.

I open the cabinet where the Cholula lives and did not immediately see it.  I looked for, I don't know, 75 to 80 seconds, at least before dropping an F-bomb.

Where's the effin cholu ...

and then I saw it.  My tone changed and I said, sweetly, "Oh, there you are," happy as can be.

This week I learned a couple of things.

1. Learn from your experiences and adjust
2. Stick to the plan

Clear?

This week was supposed to start off with a fitness assessment, an FTP test.  The tests come after a recovery week, an easy weekend and a day off.  The past few times I've done this I just couldn't complete the test.  My body just wouldn't respond.  So, the past few times, I'd abort the test and try again the next day or perhaps the day after that.  The retest would go smoothly.

This round went just like the others.  I set out to do a 20 minute effort, but only got around 8:30 done before I just couldn't do anymore.  I rested a bit and tried again.  Same thing happened.  Between the two efforts I was trashed.  The next day I was having some nerve issues (from my back injury, causes random cramps), and was tired from these tests.  Instead of listening to my body and taking an easy ride, I decided to try an FTP test again.  It went worse, even though I was more conservative.  

Even so, I was able to use the first eight minute effort to come up with an FTP of 370 watts.  That's a lot of juice, but I really think it's too low for my current level of fitness.  But, I'll roll with it until the next test comes around in a month.

The following day, Thursday, was my first day back at work after winter break and a "sweet spot" interval workout in the afternoon, which followed the early morning session at the gym.  Three intervals, ten minutes each at 310 watts average, separated by four minute rest intervals.  They were hard, but appropriately so.  So I know for sure that 370 isn't too high.  But, I was so shot from the previous two FTP tests that I feel my performance that day and on the easy ride Friday suffered.  So, adjust the plan based on experience, then stick to it!

Saturday I rode my first Shootout, the Early Version.  I called it the Old Man variety and was corrected ... there aren't many old men in it, I was told.  It's just earlier than the Big Boy Shootout.

Anyhow, I went and wanted to push myself, a lot.  I wanted to blow up, recover, blow up and recover and repeat that throughout the day.  I did just that.  I went off of the front, frequently, chased down breakaways, tried to win the sprints even though I'd been working hard all day, and had a great time doing it all.

I took some video of the day with my GoPro.

Sunday I went for the first long endurance ride.  It was right at 4.5 hours and I managed to stay in zone 2 pretty consistently throughout the day.

In all, I had a successful week of training and my nutrition was spot-on as well.  I'm not sure how much weight I'll have lost, but I'm focusing on strength and letting the weight take care of itself.  I'm heavier than other riders, even when I'm thin.  But I'm strong, so I'll play to the hand I'm dealt!

The chalk taped to the whiskey ... the KOM Kill List in the background

In the title I mentioned a call-out ... and I have to say, I've never been called out with such style before!

See, I created a KOM Kill List ... wrote it out on my chalk board.  The KOMs I wish to reclaim are written in white chalk and when I take one back, I cross it out in red.  My friend Cedric has many of these KOMs and does not like when I take them back.  He often will go out immediately and try to get them back.  Sometimes he's successful.

So, he gave me a bottle of whiskey yesterday.  Taped to the bottle of whiskey is a brand new piece of white chalk.  "You're going to need it," he said.  That of course means that he's going to get a lot of KOMs from me, so I'll need to do a lot of writing on my board.

As fun as Strava-battles are, especially with Cedric, I have to stick to my training plan.  I cannot go out and wreck myself and then ruin the subsequent days of training so that I can get the pleasure of using the red chalk.

Until next time...and thanks for reading.