Saturday, May 14, 2011

50 Mile EM

This 50 mile EM started in the rain. I was disappointed that it had been raining but I decided that I had no choice; MS Bike could be a rain day so I had better know how to ride in the rain. Actually, the worse part was that brief time between uncomfortably wet and now soaked. Soaked is better; you no longer are waiting to get there. It's kinda like Chinese water torture; the worse part is waiting for the next drop.

Anyways, I decided to make the first trip around the loop as a measure of progress and the second as a slower ride to complete my required 50 miles. A previously fast 50 mile ride at 03:09:56 was Sept.11, 2010. (see: Hilly 50 in the rain.) All together this was a faster ride. That said, the fastest ride around this loop was August 13, 2010, the first time I used the Garmin. I started late, after work, at 7:30 PM and with little light to monitor the Garmin and lots of flies in the air, I rode like the wind at an average of 17.6 mph. It remains to be my fastest pace even while the wind may not have been much an influence. Today's first trip resulted in an average of 17.0 mph. Close but no cigar. Wet rims and thus longer braking distances and care may have contributed to a lightly slower overall pace.

Today, I realized that a ride in a hard rain is not that big a deal. It can be novel, relaxing, enjoyable, even cathartic.

In an interview found in the 21st cycling issue of Rouleur published in 2010, Team Sky rider and Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha, one of the greats in racing the cobbles shared, that when most cyclists escape the winter months and seek warmer climates he would spend weekends in the Pyrenees, unafraid of the cold and wet to sustain and improve his climbing ability.

Flecha learned to persist through inclement weather to condition his mind and body to become accustom to and embrace this cold and wet weather for it is wet roads that separate the skilled riders from the hopeful.





Weather Conditions: 0752 hours. Cool and raining. Light winds mostly from the NNE from 3.5 to 4.6 mph.
Min: 63 Avg: 64 Max: 66 ºF

Friday, May 13, 2011

County Rd A 3x8 Steady States

Not a bad ride. Didn't find the usual tightness in the chest as I started out. Was not sure how things would go given that I had updated my training from 4x6 SS to 3x8 SS. But I knew enough to expect a further challenging ride.

The first interval was a struggle to maintain the required HR zone between 156 and 161 bpm. While I hit the zone within 37 seconds, I was able to only stay there in totality for 3:35 minutes from the remaining time during the 8 minute interval. The second was much better striking the zone within 30 seconds and achieving 6:13 minutes within the interval. It was then that I remember Charmichael's point that often in interval trraining one strengthens during the workout, than the second interval often achieves better success than the first. My third and final "chase" hit at 37 seconds and I stayed there for 6:31 minutes.

"BAM!" What a difference from earlier in the week.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Paceline Practice Ride

Paceline Practice Ride Report
-Rick Metcalf

"We had 8 cyclists tonight including 3 first time ever paceline riders. Normally I don't like an east wind on Tuesdays because we ride west from the park and have to fight the wind on the return side of the ride. Tonight, with more than a third of our riders on their first paceline ride an east wind was perfect. We were an ugly sight, uneven with big gaps and anything but smooth as the wind pushed us west, but by the time we turned back east we were much better. Our 3 new riders were getting the feel of it and just in time to fight the now head wind. We were a much smoother team the last 10 miles and the new riders gained an appreciation for the effectiveness of a tight paceline. Just 6 cars tonight. We hope YOU will join us next Tuesday!"

This was my first TAB ride as a member and for the season. It was also my first paceline practice ride. Jimmie said it would help prep me for the MS Bike-to-the Bay.

The ride was mostly uneventful except for operator error with the Garmin. I improperly started the third lap for the ride home. So I corrected this by updating the time and distance home. The rest of the values don't reflect the third lap correctly. Fatigue may have lead to this spastic brain fart.

Rick instructed the new guys including me to stay within 1 to 3 feet of the rider ahead. He also said that the paceline would be filled with gaps and not flow within a near constant speed. But that would improve by the second have of the ride. The wind made the ride a challenge for me in so far as I would get dropped. I couldn't feel the draft. When I was dropped the guys would pull me back to the line witch was cool. Unfortunately, he had to slow the paceline down from 20 mph to 19 and again to 18. While it help, those "huskies" kept ramping up. Oh, well. By the time we got back to the park I was just about done. However, one last short hill climb as I lead the pace did me in and I was dropped as the paceline came back around and left me "having burned my last match."

County Rd A 4x6 Steady States

Started this day SS intervals with my last failed attempt still fresh in my mine. I didn't know how the cooler air might help or hinder but I kept to my Hi-vis tank and short bibs to standout from all the afternoon grey.
The first interval was OK but a little difficult; I seem to dropout of the HR (156 - 160). It is a narrow range but that is the problem if you will this using Carmichael's training values with regards to HR zones. These value also overlap considerately. If one trains by power this is not an issue; there is no overlapping values i.e., watts.

The second interval was better and thus I was hopeful. Perhaps fatigue or over training was holding me back. I sure in time I will figure this out. Concentration is also an issue, that is, I find myself drifting with regards to HR. This may be more the cause than anything for dropping out of the narrow HR zone. I have found that just as important as the current HR is my cadence and therefore have to constantly monitor the Garmin. If I keep my cadence tight then my HR will also stay in a tight range.

The third interval was tighter but twice I dropped out of range. Not a good sign. Fatigue?

The fourth was the worse of the group. Hard to get within range from my recovery zone and once there it was hard to stay.

In the end this day's SS was better than my last attempt.



Weather Conditions: 1201 hours. Cool and overcast with the winds primarily from the ESE from 3.5 to 8.1 mph.
Min: 63 Avg: 64 Max: 71 ºF

Thursday, May 05, 2011

County Rd A Endurance Mile Ride

O'tay.... The plan was to ride 31 miles. Ya, I know an unusual number. Actually, take a base of 25 miles and increase it by 25 percent "dot,dot,dot" until week 7, the week prior to the infamous Bike-to-the-Bay and then you are about at 100 miles. So, that's the plan.

I can almost hear JimmieJ laughing-out-loud!

This was suppose to be an EM (endurance) ride but that HR would require too much effort, i.e., too slow a ride. Besides, the wind gusts made it too attractive to not attack and take advantage of a little "intervalesque" challenge.

The ride went ok. County Rd A is a little rough but it is less travelled and fewer po-po! While the wind was mostly brutal on the return from the south Wabash trail, I made every attempt to stay above 15 mph, average.

Weather Conditions: 16:46 hours. Moderate and clear. Winds mostly out of the SSW from 9.2 to 12.7 mph. However, gust were a bit much from 18.4 to 21.9 mph. Min: 61 Avg: 62 Max: 63 ºF

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

County Rd A Intervals



Father Guido Sarducci would have said this about my intervals this afternoon,
"Ah, not-ta so-a good!


 In fact "Not-ta so-a good" is now a new tag!

Actually, today's training was a sad and failed attempt. I could not reach the required sustained HR zone (156 - 160 bpm) without extreme difficulty. I did better on the 2nd interval which left me hopeful but found my effort falling with the 3rd and 4th. I believe the issue may have been fatigue, especially in my legs. The burn was not expected and I was unable to overcome that pain. The prior two days of intervals went much better.

Also, I realized that when I updated the maxHR training levels in the Garmin, I failed to also change the HR zones ranges in the Garmin causing it to overstate the zone. So a required SS at 156 to 160 bpm were reported as HR zone 4; not 3. While not a huge problem it is non the less a disappointment for this stickler of details. At any rate, this will be fixed.

On a positive note, I found a solution to the problem where once the Garmin interval training program is completed it no longer records data; press the start button to resume data acquisition.



Weather Conditions: 1615 hours. Cool and partly cloudy. WNW winds from 6.9 to 11.5 mph. Min: 56 Avg: 57 Max: 57 ºF


MXS: 20.9 mph.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Pro bike: Thor Hushovd's Garmin-Cervélo Cervélo R3 Paris-Roubaix