Last week was a really good week culminating with 9 days straight in the saddle. work outs included tempo work, spin ups, and long steady rides. Saturday's 3 hour ride felt much better then the previous week. I stayed at a 141 bpm avg including marsh/hartwood marsh.
On Sunday, my avg stayed at 117 bpm riding with Desiree. My legs are feeling good but a much deserved day off the bike was warranted on Monday. With my day off, I was able to finish building and tuning my time trial bike. I switched it to SRAM and thought that I was having problems tuning it. The indexing for the rear derailleur was falling into place well when going through the gears on the bike stand. However, when test riding the the neighborhood, it is apparent that the indexing is much more sensitive than shimano is that i'm much more accustomed to.
Now another hard week ahead to get ready for my first race on March 6th.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
happy valentine's day (single's awareness day)
It was a nice Sunday Valentine's day waking up without an alarm and starting off with hot chocolate chip pancakes. Desiree and I then went for a 3 hour ride where I was able to stay in a zone 1 for a nice recovery.
That afternoon when we were getting ready for church and the events of the evening, it was time to exchange gifts. I gave her her card and when she opened it, there was an odd look on her face. I said 'what?' It turns out we got each other the same exact card. What are the chances.
We met up Anh Vu and Darcey at church and we had a little fun valentine's gift for them, and they provided us with homemade truffles. They were soo creamy and smooth and yummy. For dinner, Desiree and I enjoyed an fantastic dinner at Season's 52 where she got the seared tuna and I got the pork tenderloins. The dinner was topped off with their shot glass desserts!
What a great way to end a wonderful weekend which started off with Chris joining us for the Olympics opening ceremony get together where he has to excuse himself a little after 10PM because Desiree and I fell asleep. Oops? Sorry Chris.
That afternoon when we were getting ready for church and the events of the evening, it was time to exchange gifts. I gave her her card and when she opened it, there was an odd look on her face. I said 'what?' It turns out we got each other the same exact card. What are the chances.
We met up Anh Vu and Darcey at church and we had a little fun valentine's gift for them, and they provided us with homemade truffles. They were soo creamy and smooth and yummy. For dinner, Desiree and I enjoyed an fantastic dinner at Season's 52 where she got the seared tuna and I got the pork tenderloins. The dinner was topped off with their shot glass desserts!
What a great way to end a wonderful weekend which started off with Chris joining us for the Olympics opening ceremony get together where he has to excuse himself a little after 10PM because Desiree and I fell asleep. Oops? Sorry Chris.
longer rides
Last week proved to be another good week for training with exception of some sour weather. We had some rainny days which forced me to get a workout in at 6AM or take a day off the bike. I guess that's much better than the current weather in Atlanta up at my moms. Snow?! It's pretty crazy when 49/50 states have reports of snow?!
Saturday was to be an easy zone 2-3 with a muscular endurance focus- 3hour ride. I rode with the Saturday Windermere group from the elementary school to clermont and back. However, when we hit 561A, I went up the back side of Sugarloaf and around back onto grassylake when the group continued and just hit grassylake.
I took the trail back to Desiree's house and with about 7 miles left in the ride, I was exhausted. My legs were pretty tired. My conditioning was fine, but I wasn't used to putting 3 hours on the saddle yet. This is not my focus with steady tempo to build up my muscular endurace. Just a couple more weeks and I think I'll be ready to race.
bring it on!
Saturday was to be an easy zone 2-3 with a muscular endurance focus- 3hour ride. I rode with the Saturday Windermere group from the elementary school to clermont and back. However, when we hit 561A, I went up the back side of Sugarloaf and around back onto grassylake when the group continued and just hit grassylake.
I took the trail back to Desiree's house and with about 7 miles left in the ride, I was exhausted. My legs were pretty tired. My conditioning was fine, but I wasn't used to putting 3 hours on the saddle yet. This is not my focus with steady tempo to build up my muscular endurace. Just a couple more weeks and I think I'll be ready to race.
bring it on!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Treat for a solid week of training
After Saturday's interval training, I got the end the training week with a special treat. Lightning game with Desiree, Anhh Vu and Darcey. The 4 of us went over to St. Pete to see our cousin and his kids, and our dad. afterwards, we headed over to the St. Pete Times Forum where the Lightning were facing off with Calgary. One of my best friends from high school, Ian, hooked the 4 of us up with tickets to the game and showed us around the arena. It was a great game and to top it off, the Lightning won in OT.
On the way home, we we're talking about heading to the cape to see the shuttle launch. It was a good thing that nobody was ultra gung-ho about going b/c the shuttle didn't take off. I chauffeured while everybody slept.
Good Times!
On the way home, we we're talking about heading to the cape to see the shuttle launch. It was a good thing that nobody was ultra gung-ho about going b/c the shuttle didn't take off. I chauffeured while everybody slept.
Good Times!
another solid week, just not ready yet
Last week was another solid week in the saddle. Sunday- Thursday and Saturday.
Sunday I did the windermere ride and decided to cut my participation in the ride short b/c it was getting alittle dangerous. As usual, the hammer was put down and the pace jacked up and I was in the break. I moved from mid pack to 4th wheel up taco hill. Here we split the group and there were about 8 of us in the break. After the climb, the 8 of us are killing it down Marsh when a small group that left before us are riding 4 wide and cause us to react and figure out how to go around them. At this time I was sitting in 3rd wheel when the two guys squeeze their brakes and almost run into each other to try and get around the small group that we were quickly approaching from behind. One of the guys steers his handlebars hard left to prevent running into the other guy, and unclips to avoid going down and ends up in the oncoming traffic shoulder. At the same time, a truck was trying to go around our break and nearly took out the guy that shot into the shoulder. I was like "wow, that was too close." The pace then slowed for about the next mile before the pace picked up again and again I was part of the break. When we got to Hancock I decided to turn onto Hancock and make my way back home. Windy, cold, and almost a really bad accident... Crazy Sunday ride. I had a solid performance, however, it made me realized that my conditioning and fitness isn't race ready yet.
The rest of the week was pretty good. It rained on Monday and I needed to get in a recovery ride so I spent it indoors on the trainer to spin the legs out. I hate being on that thing and haven't been on the trainer for over a year. However, trainer + The Hangover (movie) makes time by much faster.
I got in 2 interval workouts and steady tempo for the other days. As posted a few days ago, I'm back training on the Felt and it feels different, but good.
Sunday I did the windermere ride and decided to cut my participation in the ride short b/c it was getting alittle dangerous. As usual, the hammer was put down and the pace jacked up and I was in the break. I moved from mid pack to 4th wheel up taco hill. Here we split the group and there were about 8 of us in the break. After the climb, the 8 of us are killing it down Marsh when a small group that left before us are riding 4 wide and cause us to react and figure out how to go around them. At this time I was sitting in 3rd wheel when the two guys squeeze their brakes and almost run into each other to try and get around the small group that we were quickly approaching from behind. One of the guys steers his handlebars hard left to prevent running into the other guy, and unclips to avoid going down and ends up in the oncoming traffic shoulder. At the same time, a truck was trying to go around our break and nearly took out the guy that shot into the shoulder. I was like "wow, that was too close." The pace then slowed for about the next mile before the pace picked up again and again I was part of the break. When we got to Hancock I decided to turn onto Hancock and make my way back home. Windy, cold, and almost a really bad accident... Crazy Sunday ride. I had a solid performance, however, it made me realized that my conditioning and fitness isn't race ready yet.
The rest of the week was pretty good. It rained on Monday and I needed to get in a recovery ride so I spent it indoors on the trainer to spin the legs out. I hate being on that thing and haven't been on the trainer for over a year. However, trainer + The Hangover (movie) makes time by much faster.
I got in 2 interval workouts and steady tempo for the other days. As posted a few days ago, I'm back training on the Felt and it feels different, but good.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
guess who's back...back again
After about 2 months out of commission, the argyle steed is back. My Felt F1 Sprint bike was on display in my garage because of a broke seat collar (fortunately).
Back in October, I was doing a normal easy ride on the Felt when I heard a crack. I continued to ride the Felt and every time I would go over a bump, it felt as if there was a crack in the rear triangle of the bike. After I got my repair stand, I was cleaning my bikes and noticed on the Felt that the seat collar broke at the screw. The crack that I felt was the seat post sliding down into the seat tube. However, it had been so long since I'd actually performed a deep clean of the bike that there was an abundance of corrosion preventing the seat post to move drastically down the seat tube. It took 2 people and some extreme elbow grease to pull the seat post out. Now she is all fixed and was ridden today for the first time in a long time. Thank goodness I have my Cervelo R3.
Upon clipping in and getting situated on the saddle, there are immediate difference noted between my 2 road steeds. The R3 is a more of a climbing specific bike and is setup for this purpose. The stem is 10mm shorter than the Felt and is also set in the positive position making for a more upright and comfortable position for climbing.
The cockpit of the Felt is set-up for racing with an aggressive position: 100mm stem set in the negative position. It's meant for quick accelerations with power felt immediately and up to speed with 1 1/2 pedal strokes. It's not the best climber, however power is transferred directly to the rear wheel from the pedals making climbing comparable to the R3 but with different characteristics. We got re-acquainted today test the agility and cornering, pick-ups and climbing. It was topped off with beautiful morning sunrise. What a great way to wake up.
I will now be spending most of my training and saddle time on this bike as it will be my primary race bike.
She's back... finally!
Back in October, I was doing a normal easy ride on the Felt when I heard a crack. I continued to ride the Felt and every time I would go over a bump, it felt as if there was a crack in the rear triangle of the bike. After I got my repair stand, I was cleaning my bikes and noticed on the Felt that the seat collar broke at the screw. The crack that I felt was the seat post sliding down into the seat tube. However, it had been so long since I'd actually performed a deep clean of the bike that there was an abundance of corrosion preventing the seat post to move drastically down the seat tube. It took 2 people and some extreme elbow grease to pull the seat post out. Now she is all fixed and was ridden today for the first time in a long time. Thank goodness I have my Cervelo R3.
Upon clipping in and getting situated on the saddle, there are immediate difference noted between my 2 road steeds. The R3 is a more of a climbing specific bike and is setup for this purpose. The stem is 10mm shorter than the Felt and is also set in the positive position making for a more upright and comfortable position for climbing.
The cockpit of the Felt is set-up for racing with an aggressive position: 100mm stem set in the negative position. It's meant for quick accelerations with power felt immediately and up to speed with 1 1/2 pedal strokes. It's not the best climber, however power is transferred directly to the rear wheel from the pedals making climbing comparable to the R3 but with different characteristics. We got re-acquainted today test the agility and cornering, pick-ups and climbing. It was topped off with beautiful morning sunrise. What a great way to wake up.
I will now be spending most of my training and saddle time on this bike as it will be my primary race bike.
She's back... finally!
another solid week
Last week was another week of great training. Mon-Thursday and Saturday in the saddle. Good miles and consistent riding. Still a little cold in the morning and I did have one day where again, my gloves wore gloves and my shoes wore socks. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Race season has begun and it's time to get serious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)