training-core

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	7:00 AM – smoothie
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	5:45 AM
Workout Type	rest
Weather
Course	plank 3 min, 2 min each side back extensions 3x40 clam knee lifts 100 each leg side leg lifts 80 each leg twisters 40 each side – 12 lb. roman chair knee lifts 3x40 hip abductors 3x30 – 100 lb. push-ups 20
Distance
Time
Power
Results
Equipment
Clothing

Yes! Two days in a row for core, I gave myself a pat on the back for that. I'm getting all Stuart Smalley on myself.

The alarm woke me up again but I did read until well after 10 PM so there. Reading is great! Not sure at what point in my life television started to take over but the (electronic) book is back and I like it.

Push-ups were incredibly hard but everything else was manageable.

training-core | Pacific Raceways

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight	7:00 AM - 179
Body Fat	8
Breakfast	6:30 AM – cereal
Lunch	10:30 AM – 3 pieces bread w/cheese, banana, orange, almonds 1:00 PM – 3 pieces bread w/cheese, yogurt, banana, orange, tea pre-race – gel, HEED
Dinner	7:30 PM – banana, humus sandwich, water
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	gym – 5:45 AM Pacific Raceways – 6:45 PM
Workout Type	race
Weather	50, wet, pretty calm
Course	plank 3 min, 2 min each side back extensions 3x40 clam knee lifts 100 each leg side leg lifts 80 each leg twisters 40 each side – 10 lb. roman chair knee lifts 3x40 hip abductors 3x30 – 100 lb. push-ups 20 Pacific Raceways – flats
Distance	17 miles! That's right, you heard me...
Time	race – 35 min?
Power
Results
Equipment	Road Bike
Clothing	Sugoi shoe covers, bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, rain coat, OR Gripper gloves, cap

I went out with some friends last night to celebrate a birthday and ended up having three beers. My body is so lame I could feel it this AM.

Core was okay but everything was more difficult than the last time I did this routine... I guess skipping so many days is not advised if you want it to be easy. Here's hoping I can make the rest of the week before I take off for Cherry Blossom.

At Pacific Raceways it was wet. At least it was not cold and not too windy. I got all dressed up and then Dave and I rode about one lap to 'warm up'.

Michael P went from the gun. He sure loves to tell people he will do this and then do it. And frankly, it makes racing fun. There were several attacks and gave it one honest try as well and got away with one other rider but 1) I felt like crap and 2) a break is not going to stick with just one person (the other guy) working hard; on the flats it takes about three.

I rolled across the line for the first sprint and attacked after the second and tried to lead Dave out for the finish but my damn tires were sliding around on the last left hand corner so I had to slow down and then try to accelerate again at which point everyone else that was feeling better than me was going fast too. Rats.

I think Dave got one point at the finish. Starbucks and Keller Rohrback are in it to win it this year.

Technorati Tags: Pacific Raceways,BuDu Racing

training-trainer intervals

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight	7:30 AM - 174
Body Fat	9
Breakfast	5:30 AM – PowerBar, water 8:00 AM – banana, cheerios
Lunch	11:30 AM – 4 chocolate eggs, Stonewall's Jerquee, 2 oranges, water, yogurt, 4 biscuits w/peanut butter and jam 1:30 PM – yogurt, handful of almonds, tea
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	6:00 AM
Workout Type	intervals
Weather
Course	3x3 min at 100% of threshold, 3 min rest 6x1.5 min at 110% of threshold, 1.5 min rest 3x30 sec at 110% of threshold, 30 sec rest
Distance
Time	55 min
Power	320 threshold power for most of the workout, 330 for the last three intervals
Results
Equipment	Road Bike
Clothing

It was hard to get out of bed this morning and the alarm woke me up which it has not done in quite a while. Maybe it was because now I'm reading at night and staying up a little later?

In attendance at Seattle Multisport this morning were Greg K, Dean J and Steve O. We put on the obligatory Quentin Tarantino movie and got to work. Not knowing what threshold setting to chose for this new workout I guessed knowing I can do at least 320 for the 2x20 workouts.

ASIDE – I'm guessing that if you are going to be consistent your threshold setting should stay the same or slowly go up as you get fitter, right...? And this should be true no matter what workout you are doing. I mean your threshold is your threshold and ideally what you should adjust is the percentage of the threshold number you are working at.

Anyway, I guessed right. In fact I could have gone a little harder in retrospect.

I finally got my watts/kg up to around 4 during this workout. About time. Probably pathetic compared to most racers but there you go.

Funny thing, as the intervals get shorter the workout does not get any easier. :) But I was able to increase my threshold power setting by 10 watts for the last set of 30 second intervals. For a change everyone else was hating life and I was feeling pretty good. For all the wrong reasons that helped boost my motivation. :) My breathing was perhaps slightly better? It's so hard to tell.

my weight was down some but I weighed myself after working out and before breakfast – go figure.

Technorati Tags: Seattle Multisport

Independence Valley RR

Sleep	7
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	5:45 AM – yogurt, jam, hot cereal 7:30 AM – cereal drive to race – banana, PowerBar, pretzels, Coke
Lunch	post-race – the rest of my race bottles,2 hard ciders, pretzels, water
Dinner	7:30 PM – greens, red sauce, cheese, breaded eggplant, water, piece of pizza
Workout Food	1.5 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, gel
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	1:20 PM
Workout Type	race
Weather	upper 40s, maybe 50, some rain, some wind, warmer and dryer as the race progressed
Course	19.5 mile rolling loop with two hills
Distance	60 miles
Time
Power
Results	Masters 30+ Cat 1-3 2nd official results
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-25 – this gearing felt good
Clothing	Sugoi shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, wind vest, think long finger gloves, cap

Two years ago it snowed at the top of the hills during this race and last year it was wet and cold from start to finish. Yesterday was a beautiful day but of course the forecast turned south for today. It's like a tradition.

Then when we arrived there were holes in the sky and I could see some blue... We were all panicking about what to wear, one minute we had on three layers and a raincoat and then it would warm up and everyone was talking vest or no shell at all. One minute people had on winter gloves and the next fingerless. Ah, the trials and tribulations of bicycle racing.

In attendance were Greg K, Ryan D and Dave H who had tried to race earlier in the 50+ event but got a flat on the first hill and so was unable to finish. I was selfishly glad. Our field was about 24 but it felt bigger? Masters racing is warping my perspective.

I worried about the first hill in the loop. I have been climbing like crap and am still heavier than I'd like to be so was piling the stress on myself. On the other hand I was getting slightly more confident in my ability to chase back on after getting dropped. :) As we rolled out I got to the front and decided to just stay there as the pace was not fast (19-20 mph) and this way I would be at the head of affairs when we started to climb. It worked the first time. I faded all the way back and gritted my teeth over the top and rejoined just before the descent began.

On lap one the descent was very wet. We exercised caution but I still coasted by other riders and was in 10th or so by the time we got to the bottom. I stored that piece of information away for later.

As we rounded the corner at the bottom there was an acceleration which Ryan followed. All of a sudden he is summersaulting into the ditch! DAMN. He was our climber and appeared super motivated today, this is not what was supposed to happen. As we zoomed by I saw him sitting up so was hopeful that his injuries were not too severe. In the confusion Dave snuck off the front and no one followed him.

Here are some highlights from the next two laps.

• Greg and I went with anything that looked promising/threatening.
• Todd G put in some strong efforts and pulled the bunch around some.
• I almost got dropped on the easy hill and then really almost on the second hard hill.
• For some reason I was in the front group the second time up the easy hill and we had a gap on half the field...! We should have exploited that.
• I tried an attack rounding the corner at the base of the descent from the second hard hill to no avail.
• The course got drier and drier as the weather got warmer. Nice.

As we approached the hard hill for the third time I was worried. I started in the front but it was not enough. Everyone went by me much sooner than I wanted them to and suddenly there are two groups up the road and I am riding in second to last spot well behind the second group. I managed to catch Alex R (Garage) over the top and Andy L (Cucina) and Andrew M (Bikesale.com) came with me. The four of us chased and managed to catch back on after maybe five miles. Whew.

For the last half lap or so I had caught occasional glimpses of Dave up the road which was not good news and sure enough, just before we caught the pack the pack had caught Dave. And not two miles after we caught the pack the official car pulled us over and neutralized our group so that the Cat 3 peloton could get by. I guess they had made up five minutes in the last 50 miles.

I barely made it up and over the last hill. I suck.

But I did and then there were some attacks. I went after one and we passed the 3s back and pulled the entire masters field with us but finally the officials asked us to sit up and let them go ahead and this time we slowed long enough that there would be no catching.

After that Andrew took off a couple of times and so did Alex as did Greg A (Apex). I went with Greg and we had a gap for a bit but it didn't last. When Andrew went again no one responded. I hesitated for a couple of seconds but was near the front so finally launched myself up the right side of the road and managed to get away clean. I managed to bridge fairly quickly and we immediately fell into a rhythm and our gap grew.

ASIDE – for some reason I actually felt better off the front with Andrew than I did in the bunch. No idea what was up with that.

At one point I looked back and two riders (Mick W and someone else) were trying to catch us up but I kept the speed up as waiting for help is risky when the pack is not far behind.

With about one or two miles to go I tried to attack Andrew but he got on my wheel pronto. I could tell he was super tired and I should have gone again right away but unfortunately I was pretty damn tired too. As we neared the finish I kept pulling hard and eventually chickened out and lead out the sprint. Andrew came around me easily and won by a healthy margin.

I'm very happy with this result. I could have DNF'd several times and didn't and instead kept looking for opportunities. Congratulations also to Greg who got 2nd in the pack sprint after Alex managed to escape close to the end. He also encouraged me on the climbs.

Technorati Tags: Independence Valley,road race,Thumbprint Racing,FareStart powered by Cobalt Mortgage

When did department store become vintage?

A couple of days ago a friend of mine sent me some pictures of a bike he saw on his commute.

There are so many classic (read: vintage) feature here...

• Brightly colored plastic beads on the spokes.
• The stamped tin(?) basket that looks substantial but can't really hold anything heavier than a sweatshirt.
• The vinyl couch of a saddle. With springs!
• Metal fenders, all class for sure.

Note the clips to hold the cable housing to the frame tubes. And yes, that housing does run end-to-end for damn sure. Back then it was just another way to cheap out the product, now companies try to tell you it's to increase performance and keep out the gunk.

Nothing could be more classic than the bandana wrapped around the handlebar or holding up the kickstand. And somehow purple seems an appropriate color.

Back when this bike was sold by Sears and Roebuck it was billed as affordable. And I guess the name was supposed to inspire 'freedom' and 'wind in your hair' and all that I-am-an-American-who-eats-freedom-fries-and-no-one-can-tell-me-what-to-do stuff. When I worked in bike shops about many years ago we called this kind of bike disposable. Invariably it would cost more to properly fix than it would to buy a new one. Hell, half the time fixing it was not even an option. Now I'm seeing them advertised for over two hundred dollars! Ouch.

Technorati Tags: Free Spirit,vintage bicycle

training-core

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	6:30 AM – smoothie
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	5:30 AM
Workout Type
Weather
Course	plank 3 min, 2 min each side back extensions 3x40 clam knee lifts 100 each leg side leg lifts 80 each leg twisters 40 each side – 12 lb roman chair knee lifts 3x40 hip abductors 3x30 – 100 lb push-ups 20
Distance
Time
Power
Results
Equipment
Clothing

Okay, no wine last night, that is a start.

The side plank was incredibly hard today for some reason. It was not just my core that was stressed, it was my shoulders. Otherwise it was a good workout and it felt great to be back at it. Yesterday my back got really sore quite suddenly so I should probably make more of an effort to be regular about these workouts.

training-commute | trainer

Sleep	7
Waking HR
Body Weight	7:00 AM - 181
Body Fat	6 (this can't be right of course...)
Breakfast	6:30 AM – cereal
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	trainer – 6:00 PM
Workout Type	intervals
Weather
Course	trainer – 2x20
Distance	commute – 9 miles
Time	trainer – 55 min
Power	1st 20 min interval – 320 threshold/288 actual 2nd 20 min interval – 320 threshold/288 actual
Results
Equipment	Time Trial Bike
Clothing

Still no impetus for the gym today... but I'm loving drinking wine with dinner.

At Seattle Multisport we did another 2x20 workout today. Attendance has been falling off and tonight it was just Dean J and me. With the race coming up Saturday I did not want to empty myself but I also wanted to start out a little higher than previously and I think I achieved what I wanted.

Breathing is STILL not normal but I'm learning to live with it.

Based on perceived effort I think I could up the watts by 10 for both intervals if I was rested like I was today.

Technorati Tags: Seattle Multisport,2x20

training-commute

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day
Workout Type	fun ride
Weather	upper 50s, sunny and windy in the PM
Course
Distance	20 miles
Time
Power
Results
Equipment	Town Bike
Clothing	baggy shorts, short sleeve active T, long sleeve active T, cap

Today was my first time taking the long way home. And I didn't need a light or leg coverings! Nice.

For some reason I have been way too lazy to drag myself to to the gym in the morning. All the wine last night probably did not help any. :( But the weather was spectacular today so made sure to ride to work and then take the long way home via Discovery Park, the Magnolia bluff and Myrtle Edwards Park.

I love this route. There are a couple of hills that you have to struggle up on the single speed – especially with tennis shoes and platform pedals – but it's such a cool tour of so many Seattle neighborhoods.

training-core | commute | Pacific Raceways CR

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	gym – 5:30 AM race – 6:45 PM
Workout Type	race
Weather	upper 40s, maybe 50, light breeze, dry
Course	plank 3 min, 2 min each side back extensions 3x40 clam knee lifts 100 each leg side leg lifts 80 each leg twisters 40 each side – 12 lb roman chair knee lifts 3x40 hip abductors 3x30 – 100 lb push-ups 20 (barely...)
Distance	commute – 9 miles race – 20 miles?
Time	race – 40 min?
Power
Results
Equipment	commute - Town Bike  race - Road Bike
Clothing	race – knit shoes covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, long finger gloves, cap

In attendance were Dave H, Steve O and Nelson J.

First of all huge props to BuDu Racing for putting on this series year after year. It's fun, there are a variety of courses and I can't think of a safer track to ride on.

The first couple of races at Pacific Raceways are always on the flats and kinda short as there is not much daylight. Tonight they told us the time would be 'until we decide it's too dark' and off we went. Keller Rohrback was out in force and so of course I was keeping an eye on them.

My power has been in the toilet this spring so I was not confident I could attack and sustain it with little or no help but what are you going to do? I can't sprint and this was flat with two primes and a sprint at the end so you have to try.

The first sprint came pretty early and I just did not have a plan so rolled across the line. I was more awake for the second sprint and got near the front and when Dave went I was sure not to accelerate but everyone else kinda sat up as well so he did not have much of a challenge. Works for me.

I did get in one break that had some promise but you really have to drill it on this course to stay away and not everyone in the move could so we only lasted about half a lap. I also got away once with Dave but that was never going to be allowed.

With 1.5 laps to go the KR train was assembling so Dave and I got behind it. Some guy was absolutely clinging to Jim F's (KR) rear wheel and would have needed to be pretty agro to take it away so I opted not to. This is just PR after all. As it was one time Jim swerved and I had to as well or hit his rear wheel and I felt someone contact my rear tire... Not a good sound. Luckily they did not fall down. Whew.

As we came down the drag strip for the last time Dave was behind me and Jim was in third place but the guys on the front were not going fast enough so I just went around them and took the lead. I pulled around the left hand corner and onto the finish straight and finally Jim and then Dave went by me. On the flat Jim is usually faster and he was again tonight but I think I did the right thing as Dave got second place and it prevented anyone else from potentially coming around and making things less safe or less predictable.

So no points for me but on the up side the couple of efforts I made felt slightly better than last weekend.

Here is what happens when you forget to turn your GPS off when the race is over:

Technorati Tags: Pacific Raceways,BuDu Racing

training-commute

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day
Workout Type	active recovery
Weather
Course
Distance	9 miles
Time
Power
Results
Equipment	Town Bike
Clothing

Rode to work, rode home, realized that climbing Capitol Hill is not really 'active recovery'.

My legs felt pretty heavy today.

training-ride

Sleep	7
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	6:00 AM – cereal
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, PowerBar, gel
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	7:30 AM
Workout Type	endurance
Weather	upper 30s to upper 40s, light breeze, sunny by the end
Course	Black Diamond
Distance	78 miles
Time	total – 4:31 moving – 4:18
Power
Results
Equipment	Road Bike
Clothing	knit shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, heavy vest, Polypropylene gloves, OR Gripper gloves, cap

I think this is my first training ride on my nice bike! What fun.

I hooked up with Dave H for a 'long ride' and we did just that. We ate, drank and much of the time we rode it was actually side-by-side which was kind of fun. Dave pushed the pace on every incline which hurt me especially going up Jones Road... later on I was better able to stick with him. On the flats we just took turns pulling and did not force it.

Towards the end of the ride I had a bad patch and Dave took some super pulls. Luckily I recovered somewhat cruising through May Valley.

This was just what the doctor ordered! I have not done any longer back-to-back rides this winter so to race yesterday and then to ride today was fantastic. Sure, I was pooped when I got home but I was not destroyed and the weather was fantastic. At some point I took the vest and outer gloves off, that was nice.

Tour de Dung RR #2

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	1.5 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, gel
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	2:20 PM
Workout Type	race
Weather	mid 40s, dry, mostly cloudy, light wind
Course	Tour de Dung 12 mile loop
Distance	60 miles
Time
Power
Results	Masters 35+ Cat 1-3 9th official results
Equipment	Road Bike
Clothing	knit shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, Polypropylene gloves, cap

I think I like AM races more than PM races, you are not gone the entire day...

I have done well here in the past getting a win and pretty much always top-10 but I was unexpectedly nervous today as my training has not been what it was the past two years and my breathing is giving me problems. Oh well, right? I really wanted to race again and it was not wet so I was also psyched to get going. In attendance was Corrie M and I think the field contained about 40 riders.

We started out and Todd G drug us around for the first few miles in what I can only guess was an attempt to warm up. After he pulled off the attacks started and continued for the next 1.5 laps.

It looked like KR, Garage and Audi had the numbers so I made a point of going with every attack that contained two of these teams; no way was I going to be able to cover all the moves so you need a plan.

A little over two laps in I got in a move approaching the hill that looked promising but the pack was inching closer and then on the hill Todd put in one of his monster accelerations that not only caught us but passed us. I could not go with that and by the top of the riser it was all strung out and gaps started to open up. By the time we rounded the corner into the headwind seven riders were off the front. And damn of all the teams I was trying to cover weren't represented including Todd. :(

I tried to catch my breath but the gap was slowly opening up so I had to go NOW. On the first riser I gave it everything I had and jumped away. One Cucina rider came with me and good thing as I was not able to close this by myself. It took three pulls by each of us to bridge and when we finally got there I was totally gassed and had to sit on for a couple of miles. Looking back I made the right call as we were riding away from the pack.

I got back in the rotation soon and for the most part we worked well together. There were a couple of times where the rotation would stop and twice I closed the gap as did others.

With less than half a lap to go (3 km maybe?) we saw some riders pulled over with cars and Phil M was waving us to a stop. Turns out there was a big crash at the finish of a woman's race and the road was totally blocked so while they waited for the ambulance to arrive we had to chill for safety reasons. And chill we did, literally. It was not that cold but when you are wet you start freezing pronto. We were all also experiencing a severe case of open-quads-pour-in-concrete and there were many jokes about how it was going to feel once we got started again.

Not only did we get pulled over but our pack, the Cat 1-2 break and the Cat 1-2 pack as well. It was a big party. Finally, they let us go again. And they released us with the same gap that we had when we stopped.

Ouch... cold legs for sure. So, what to do? I can't really sprint and there were at least three great sprinters in this break. I thought of going NOW but my legs were just not up for it so I waited. As we rounded the last corner I was in second place and behind me people started to watch each other so I figured now was as good a time as any and my last chance so I jumped just before the 1 km sign.

I held them off for 500 m. :) When I got caught and everyone slowed again but it was impossible for me to recover and so when the sprint launched all I could do was watch as everyone passed me and I rolled across the line in last place.

Good times, at least I made the move. My legs did not feel super, my breathing is still problematic but I'm happy considering. At least my back was fine.

Technorati Tags: Tour de Dung,Sequim

training-core | commute

Hours Sleeping	6	Time of Day	gym – 5:15 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	active recovery
Distance	9 miles
Weather	dry in the AM, wet in the PM, mid 40s
Course	plank 3 min, 2 min each side back extensions 3x30 clam knee lifts 100 each leg side leg lifts 70 each leg twisters 30 each side – 12 lb roman chair knee lifts 40/40/30 hip abductors 3x30 – 100 lb push-ups 20
Results
Equipment	Town Bike
Clothing

I really like riding to and from work, yes I do. It was dry this morning but rained on the way home and I didn't care.

And it felt good to do some core work two days in a row.

training-core | trainer

Hours Sleeping	6	Time of Day	gym – 5:15 AM trainer – 6:00 PM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	water
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	intervals – 2x20
Weather
Course	plank 3 min, 2 min each side back extensions 3x30 clam knee lifts 100 each leg side leg lifts 70 each leg twisters 30 each side – 12 lb roman chair knee lifts 40/30/30 hip abductors 3x30 – 100 lb push-ups 20 1st 20 min interval – 310 watts threshold/279 actual 2nd 20 min interval – 310-400 watts threshold/279-360 actual
Results
Equipment	Time Trial Bike
Clothing

First day back post-Maui. Man, I felt dead for a bit when we returned... and still kinda did today.

I could not drag myself to the gym yesterday but did today and it was good. Checked the core box and then took the TT bike to Seattle Multisport for what I suspected would be a moderate workout. I started the warm-up and first interval at a threshold setting of 310 watts and we do our intervals at 90% of that. It felt okay except for my breathing. WHEN WILL THIS GET BETTER...?! I swear, I do not recall ever feeling this before and it's frustrating; like I can't properly fill my lungs and I end up yawning and gasping and sitting up just to get enough air. Is my body just not processing/carrying oxygen as efficiently as I want it to? Am I literally not getting enough air and my airway is somehow obstructed? It's bugging me.

Anyway, except for the breathing thing my legs felt okay considering I had just put in a relatively big block of miles for me. So I decided to start the second interval at the same setting and was hoping I would be able to increase the resistance.

10 minutes in I upped the threshold setting 10 watts. I upped it 10 watts every minute for the next six minutes and then stalled out – I was working hard and did not want to have to lower the resistance! I rode minute 18 and 19 at 390 watts and then upped it to 400 for the last minute. Ouch.

I certainly did not increase my cadence at the end like I usually try to do – I simply was not able to. :)

After cooling down I turned to Steve O who was riding next to me and said something like, "Man, I just can't seem to breath properly during these workouts..." He said, "I can tell." Nice. I must have been panting up a storm.

Although 360 watts sounds like a lot my watts/kg were not even close to Steve's until about five minutes to go. That just proves how much harder fat guys need to work in order to get up those hills.

Technorati Tags: 2x20,Seattle Multisport

training-ride Molokai

Hours Sleeping	5	Time of Day	9:00 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast	5:15 AM – cereal
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, Pop Tarts, Gatorade, water, root chips
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type
Weather	low to upper 80s, sun, wind
Course	Molokai, HI
Results
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-25
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless undershirt, sleeveless jersey

Today was extra credit! Last year I heard Donnie A talk about this island off the coats of Maui and how the riding over there was pretty good so I suggested we go and Greg A and Dean J were up for it. Yes!

I didn't know it but Dean was feeling les than stellar but in true form he gamely tried to come along anyway.

We drove to Lahaina and caught the 7:15 ferry to Molokai. The boat ride took about 1:45.

By the time we got there Dean must have already been feeling like crap but we started off heading east to our first destination as I was still not aware of just how bad he felt. There was a stiff headwind all the way which did not help Dean out any... he stopped pulling but still was having trouble. At mile 16 there is a mini grocery store/sandwich shop and he pulled the plug here and told us he was just going to rest until we returned. Rats.

So Greg and I carried on. Around mile 20 the road got more interesting. Up to this point was just flat, windy and had it not been 80 and sunny it would have been a pretty gross ride. Now the road started twisting and turning along the sea shore and we got to ride over some tiny bridges and the width shrunk pretty dramatically as well. Fun stuff.

Around mile 22 the road started to climb and it climbed all the way to mile 25. The surface was perfect and it continued to twist and turn so I was already looking forward to the descent. On this climb we met a buy from OR who was also heading up the hill so we slowed and talked all the way to the top. This guy from OR told us that from here it was two miles down to the park at the end of the road and that it was 18 percent! "First gear triple steep" is what he called actually. Well, this is what we came for so Greg and I forged ahead. OR dude stayed where he was.

We started down a steep hill (not 18 percent) and after rounding two turns the road tipped up... a lot. As we're laboring and sweating we were wondering just when this 'descent' was going to get easy. It took about half a mile. And oh my god was it spectacular.

The road surface was still perfect asphalt. There was some debris in places but no big deal. On the downhill side there was a two foot high rock wall and there was no center line. The road made some TIGHT turns but it was no problem as we were going really slow trying to enjoy the view while not riding off of the cliff. I felt like I was in Vietnam. We were descending into this deep canyon, lush with jungle foliage and a 500' water fall at one end and an idyllic lagoon at the other. There were a few bamboo(?) huts partially hidden in the hills and that was it. At the bottom is a tiny church, a toilet, no potable water and a dirt road. So cool. Then we started back up. Slightly less cool.

Honestly the first mile was not so bad, it was only about 6-8% but the second mile was mostly 12% with pitches of 16% and 17%. Ouch. At the top we met OR dude and descended back to the ocean. Once we finished the descent here is what that twisty road along the shore looked like.

Did I mention the headwind coming out? Hello tailwind coming home! In short order we had dropped OR dude and then we pulled up to the store that Dean was still sitting at... poor guy. We picked him up, connected with OR dude again, dropped OR dude again but then had to slow as Dean was NOT feeling so hot. Still. No worries, we took it easy into town where it was time for a snacks and drinks. Dean elected to find a shady spot to feel miserable in (there is only one boat going home so he unfortunately had to wait) and Greg and I took off on our second loop.

This time we headed west and climbed up to the top of the northern cliff that overlooks the ocean and the former location of a leper colony. The path down to the lookout was paved so we rode it. It was so cool I filmed it going back up.

By now Greg and I were SO done with riding. And climbing. And the heat. We rolled down the hill, soldered through the last three miles of headwind and then somehow found the energy to sprint for the city limit sign. :) Greg won.

We grabbed Dean and got some pizza and beer and had a feast under the shelter of a canoe club awning down by the water. On the ferry ride home the winds were much stronger than in the AM and the boat was pitching quite a bit. Dean was leaning over the railing most of the ride back to Maui. I was sitting on the top deck and frequently got splashed by spray which put a nice salt crust on all my clothing, my shoes, my helmet, you name it. On the up side we also saw tons of humpback whales! I have never seen any whales in the wild before and here they were frolicking and breaching and slapping the water – amazing.

Here are all the pictures and video.

Technorati Tags: HI,Maui,Molokai

Maui Cyclery TT

Hours Sleeping	5	Time of Day	7:48 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast	5:15 AM – plain non-fat yogurt, jam, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	race – water ride – large bottle w/3 scoops Perpetuem, tons of water, PowerBar, bread pudding
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	race
Weather	low 70s to mid 80s, dry, sunny, relatively calm
Course	race – just above Paia post office to six miles up the road
Results	TT – 28:21 Jeff – 28:18 Aaron – 27:45 ish
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-27
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless undershirt, short sleeve jersey, cap

After not enough sleep Aaron S and I stumbled around the kitchen looking for something to eat that was 1) appetizing and 2) not too heavy so it would be assimilated by the time we started the race. He had some leftover oatmeal and I had some yogurt.

After 'breakfast' we hopped on our bikes in total darkness and rode north to meet Jeff D at his condo. That was about seven miles. From here we all rode out to the start of the race which was about another 13 miles. We got to Maui Cyclery promptly at 7:00 AM where we met about 25 other riders. After Donnie A explained the race we rolled to the start which was a few blocks up the street. All three of us (Jeff, Aaron and me) were starting  back-to-back and we were riders number 16, 17 and 18 so with one minute intervals there was still a bit of time to kill. Finally it was time to go; I got held at the start and started out of the saddle, shifted up twice and then sat down and tried to settle in to some kind of pace.

Ouch... after three hard days and after sitting around for 30 minutes my legs were screaming! My mouth was also ultra dry as the wind was right in our face.

Except for about 100 m this was all little ring. The headwind was mild to strong and sometimes I had to shift down not because of the increase in slope but because of the increased strength in the wind alone. At least three times I found myself going too hard and had to back it off to pace myself but overall I was not taking this race too seriously... In fact, as I passed one woman who looked like she was really bogging down I gave her a little push.

Several times I saw Aaron up the road but each time I thought I was closing on him it was really just some other rider that I was passing.

After spinning out my legs on a side street and grabbing some bottles and food from the car (thanks Greg and Dean for driving it up here!) we joined all the competitors for what we thought was going to be a chill ride around the high country and back to the shop. Unfortunately just five blocks up the road this guy practically highjacks us and leads us back up he volcano...

In very short order I was sick of climbing. And let it be known. At one point I actually asked Greg for the car keys and was about to turn around but somehow talked myself into continuing. We climbed for way too long and then descended for way too long (which meant we would be climbing on the way back again) and I was getting more sour by the minute. This guy kept promising us that the hill was, "Just takes 15 minutes to climb" and that the coffee shop (our destination) was, "Just over the next roller" and in true cyclist form he was out-and-out lying each time. By the time we finally got to the coffee shop I was about to receive the not-fun-to-be-around award and it would have been deserved.

I sat down and was not going to eat anything but then Greg insisted and so I got some bread pudding and damn if that did not hit the spot. I also drank two bottles of water. I was a much happier camper on the way back but the jokes about how short (read: long) the hill was or how few (read: many) minutes it would take to get back abounded.

After finally getting back we hit the beach and I let all this stress wash away.

Technorati Tags: Maui Cyclery TT,Donnie Arnoult,Go Cycling Maui

training-ride Hana

Hours Sleeping	5	Time of Day	8:30 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast	plain non-fat yogurt, jam, oatmeal, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	1.5 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, large bottle of Gatorade, PowerBar, peanut  butter and jam sandwich
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	hills
Weather	upper 70s to low 80s
Course	Twin Falls, Maui to Hana and back
Results
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-27
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless undershirt, short sleeve jersey, cap

Last year when we tried this ride we got rained out and had to abort about 2/3 of the way to Hana. Not today. Today was another fantastic day on Maui and although the roads were a little wet at first the second half of the trip to Hana was dry and most of the corners had dried out by the time we returned. Nice. This road has one my favorite signs of all time.

In case you can't read that number at the bottom it's 30, THIRTY MILES of the best damn road there is.

But oh were my legs beat from yesterday... it took ages for me to get rolling and even when I did it still felt like someone was pouring lactic acid into my quads for about 20 miles. The way home was better. So much so that when Greg surged I went with and then countered. The last few miles were pretty racy and I did okay.

Hana itself if beautiful. I could see spending a few days there some time. We had lunch on the Hana Beach Park.

Once back at the car Aaron and Greg got whole coconuts with the tops cut off and a straw for $5! It was delicious. We took the empty coconuts home and split them open and ate the meat with dinner.

Driving back we stopped at Hookipa Beach and watched some amazing wind and kite surfing. Wow. This place is great.

Technorati Tags: HI,Maui,Hana

training-ride up Haleakala

Hours Sleeping	4	Time of Day	8:15 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast	5:15 AM – cereal, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, large bottle of water, PowerBar, peanut butter and jam sandwich
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	big hill
Weather	70 to low 80s, dry, sunny
Course	Haleakala
Results
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-27
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, rain jacket, cap

Fun, fun, F. U. N!

We were so hoping for nice weather on this day and we got it. big time. From the very beginning the mountain was clear on top and as we climbed the temperature pretty much stayed the same. It did cool off some as we ascended but it was always extremely comfortable and in fact the few degree drop in temperature was a  boon near the top when you are working hard. On the descent we started in arm warmers and jackets but took them off at the visitors center (7,000 ft) and never looked back. By the bottom it was HOT.

On account of the Tsunami aftershock threats we decided to park a few blocks up the hill rather than at the traditional parking lot across the street from Maui Cyclery. Once we got kitted up and rolling we took it nice and easy for a bit.

For some reason I was feeling much better today. I have been having trouble breathing and then I got a cold but today it pretty much all went away. I rode on the front and basically never left there.

At the bottom it's pretty humid and then as you climb it gets more and more arid as you leave the vegetation behind. Somewhere around 7000 ft I noticed that I was breathing much easier! And instead of it getting harder, I was able to take in deep, slow breaths all the way to the top. Strange.

As we climbed Aaron and I slowly detached ourselves from Greg and Dean. Jeff was somewhere in the middle. We regrouped at the toll booth/visitor center (7000 ft) but then as we started back up we formed those same groups pretty quickly. Around 8000 ft I slowly pulled away from Aaron, not sure if I sped up or if he slowed down but by that point you are just going your own pace and there is very little room for adjustment. As I passed 9000 ft I was alternating  between the 39x25 and the 23 still feeling super.

9,000 ft.

The last kicker from the restrooms to the lookout is always a bitch; SO hard. You are maxed, usually in your lowest gear and then the roads kicks up. A lot. Ouch. But summiting is such a great feeling! I stopped for a quick photo at the 10,000 ft sign and then proceeded directly to the top.

Then everyone showed up and we got the group shot.

Then we headed down. Oh man... this descent is indescribable if you have never done it on a warm day and with dry roads. You never go that fast but the corners (banked) and the pavement (smooth as a baby's bottom) make it the best long descent that I know of. Bar none. Greg spent some time and put it to music, here is the last bit of the climb and the beginning of the descent.

And here are the glorious switchbacks through the grassy hills close to the bottom.

Once down it was smoothie time! It's always fun to feel the temperature climb as you get lower and lower and today it got hot. But I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Technorati Tags: HI,Maui,Haleakala

training-ride

Hours Sleeping	7	Time of Day	8:00 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast	6:45 AM – oatmeal, jam, plain non-fat yogurt, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	nuun
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	active recovery
Weather	upper 70s to 80
Course	Kihei to Makena and back
Results
Equipment	Road Bike
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless undershirt, sleeveless jersey, cap

Recovery ride! Jeff D, Aaron S and I spun around Kihei for a while and chatted up a storm. I tried to drink both of my bottles but only made it through one.

The houses down here are amazing, and they range from 3-40 million dollars. Wow.

Riding south.

Riding north.

Technorati Tags: HI,Maui,Kihei,Makena

training-ride West Maui loop

Hours Sleeping	6	Time of Day	8:00 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat

Breakfast	6:45 AM – oatmeal w/plain non-fat yogurt, jam, egg, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, peanut butter and jam sandwich, slice of banana bread, Coke, apple
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	flats and hills
Weather	low 80s, sunny, windy
Course	West Maui loop clockwise
Results
Equipment	Road Bike
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless jersey, cap

My back blew up today... that has not happened in a long time. :(

In attendance were Ryan D, Jeff D, Aaron S and Greg K.

The day was great. Better than great. Clear skies, windy but not ridiculous and that perfect temperature where you are hot but not dying. We did this loop last year but drove out of town and this time we decided to ride from the condo for the manly option.

The first section is along a highway but you have a wind assist for a good portion of this and we were clipping along at 23-28 mph most of the time. Plus there were relatively few cars and the shoulder was clean so it was as good as it was going to be. After stopping at the Kapalua golf course to hit the head and top off on water it is on. You pass a "Road Narrows" sign and instantly the road does indeed narrow and it starts undulating and twisting and turning. YES.

I did not feel stellar but Jeff sure was feeling frisky. The instant we passed this sign he scooted up the road accompanied by a whoop and although I could not keep up it was exactly how I felt. :)

Some of the rollers are harder than others but most are quite manageable with the exception of one 'wall' and the last climb after the banana bread shack. As we rolled into the wall I was in front and suddenly Jeff goes sailing past on my left out of the saddle. No way was I going with that but I managed to crest that climb in second place where Jeff was waiting by the side of the road. With a bee stinger still in his eyebrow! He said he got stung just as he was accelerating. Luckily Dean came to the rescue with his Leatherman.

At the base of the last climb is a green shack that sells the usual dried fruit and typical Hawaiian foods but in addition to all the average stuff they also have some very non-average banana bread – it's SO good. And it's warm. After gorging and hydrating we set off on the last ascent at a very leisurely pace. I still got a side ache half way up.

But it is so worth it because 1) the banana bread was super delicious and 2) next up is one of the best descents around. As dramatically as the road changed from smooth to bumpy on the ride north it now turned from cracked and rocky and dirty to glassy. And the corners are banked. And there was no traffic in front of us. And it was sunny out. And I had a huge smile on my face.

By now I had already stopped twice to stretch my back and it had not helped very much. After this descent not only was my back giving up the ghost but my legs were trashed. I started to come off the back on the flats and had to grit my teeth to stay in contact. Not fun. About then Jeff went to the front and pace went sky high. Lucky for me Greg got a flat and I had a couple of minutes of respite.

Upon entering town we were all overheated and so stopped for Cokes and shade. Nirvana. Then we really dialed it down and spun the last seven miles home. Whew. It's beautiful here but this was not my day.

Technorati Tags: West Maui loop

training-ride

Hours Sleeping	7	Time of Day	8:20 AM
Body Weight		Body Fat
Distance	43 miles	Power
Time	Moving – 2:19	Speed	Moving – 18.3 mph
Total Ascent	4006 ft	Max	Speed – 41 mph

Breakfast	6:30 AM – orange juice, oatmeal, egg
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	banana, apple, large bottle w/3 scoops Perpetuem, half a peanut butter and jam sandwich, large bottle of water
Injuries
Therapy
Workout Type	lots of hills ridden at a moderate pace
Weather	mid 70s to low 80s, sunny, dry
Course	Maui high country (Kula) down Hwy 37 to the end of the good pavement and back
Results
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-25
Clothing	bib shorts, sleeveless base layer, short sleeve jersey, cap

Our first ride in Maui and we tried to pick a route and distance that was not too severe but it kinda made us tired.

Last night on our spin this guy pulls up next to us in a truck and starts to chat us up. His name is Shawn and he rides and he was super excited to join us for a ride so we said sure, why not? See you tomorrow at 8.
We roll out and right away we're bombing one of the best descents I have ever been on. You can't go that super fast but there is no need as the twists and turns make 30 mph feel like 50. The surface was dry, there was no debris and I was in heaven.

After a bit the twists and turns cease and the road is really pretty straight but continues to lose elevation until you are down by the water. Even though you are losing elevation there are a LOT of wicked little pitches that put all of us in our smallest gears.

At the ocean the road surface changes from nice asphalt to what can only loosely be described as a patchwork of pavement. It's like someone threw handfuls of liquid road down all over the place and it is bumpy as hell. I rolled down to the parking lot with Shawn just to see around the corner and Greg, Aaron and Dean stayed back. Here we all grabbed a bit to eat and then headed back up.

And going up is pretty much what you are doing all the way back to the car! On the way down you are riding into a headwind that was about 15-20 mph today so heading back it's almost like having a hand on your back the whole way. The feeling is deceiving though, you are cruising along and think you can motor up the next hill so you get out of the saddle and then the steepness hits you and your legs die and you practically come to a halt. Ouch. Repeat.

The last nine or so miles are pretty solid ascending but we were not trying to set anything on fire so it was just a sweat bath. With the heat and tailwind everyone was seeing sweat rivers running down their legs and into their eyes; we were all remarking that it was the first time any of had perspired like this in ages!
We stopped at a deli a few miles from the car and got refreshed and finished off the ride. Nice.

Technorati Tags: Kula,Maui,HI