Those who ride with me know my propensity for wanting to slow down here, speed up there (OK, very rarely the speed up part), and trying to be vigilant about my heart rate. I read the books; Friel, Carmichael, etc. and am on-board with the idea of periodization.
I also have precious few hours to ride each week. I have a team, Cyclisme, that I love to ride, race, hang out and train with. Hence a slight dilemma. To get what I think I need, which is a good solid endurance base and the loss of a few pounds, I need some Long Slow Distance this winter. My big chunk of riding time comes on Sundays, with our team training rides. I've been a bit grumpy at the start of these rides (we're only two weeks in, so I have plenty of time to get less grumpy), grousing that we're going too hard, too fast, too high HR. Last week Charlie made a helpful comment that really made me remember though, that HR is a distinctly personal trait, and on a group ride I need to be mindful that just because I'm at 165 on an incline, some other folks are cruising at 140 or so, and someone else may be at 180!
So, this winter I need to be super diligent about riding on my own, either indoors on rollers, or outside with lights early am before work, or evening after work. Now that I've typed this out, it really doesn't seem like as much of a dilemma as I thought. By the way, for anyone who can make it to Dishman Community center in N. Portland, on Thurdsays between 4 and 6 PM, John Benenate is running the Rollers 101 program, which is a great opportunity to ride the rollers with a successful and experienced coach. See here for more details.
I need to embrace the team group rides for for the fun that they are, even if I do get caught up in the moment and end up riding harder than I wanted to. When I really got structured with periodized workouts last spring, I had a great late summer and fall of racing. I think that I will improve with a more solid "foundation" period this winter with lots of base miles, a little weight loss and good structured rest.
I read the following on Argentius' blog, and thought it was a good reminder for us:
"One of the easiest and most common mistakes newer riders make is failing to adequately rest. I think it's right up there with failing to adequately train. You miss some workouts, you cut your hours short, and to somehow "make up" for this you train longer or harder on the times you are supposed to be resting. We've all done it. The behavior of a competitive endurance athlete has a disturbing number of parallels to an addict.
Humans are all addicts to their habits. They are oddly hard to change, even the healthy ones. That's why there are so many runners that don't listen and blow themselves to pieces. At least, their joints, ligaments, and cartilage are all in ruins. Then they start cycling. Periodization is NOT a habit. It's completely contrary to whatever internal motivational forces drive us to do the same thing, the SAME thing, every day. I didn't appreciate at all how HARD this would be when I started training."
Greg
Monday, January 14, 2008
Rock Creek Ride
Team Cyclisme met Saturday January 12th at Starbucks SW 6th & Jackson. 10 of us seemed a pretty good January showing. We did some slow climbing, some nice paceline work, some frisky fast bursts, all in all a good team practice ride. Charlie, Greg, Chris S, Jeff, Tony, Csaba, Mike, Dave, Fergus, and guest Sasha were all present. JB supported, fed, encouraged and coached from the van.
I really like Rock Creek Road. The bumpy descent from Old Cornelius Pass, the gurgling creek, the horses, the fog. We decided that the Mile 4 sign on the false flat after the descent will be our sprint sign for future rides on this route.
Everybody please remember to add long splash guards to your fenders for upcoming rides. It sucks being in the paceline getting drenched in the face and chest with road skime because the rider in front of you hasn't a proper rear fender attached to their bike. A splash flap on the rear fender hanging to 6-8" off the pavement works wonders for your teammates and fellow riders.
Greg
I really like Rock Creek Road. The bumpy descent from Old Cornelius Pass, the gurgling creek, the horses, the fog. We decided that the Mile 4 sign on the false flat after the descent will be our sprint sign for future rides on this route.
Everybody please remember to add long splash guards to your fenders for upcoming rides. It sucks being in the paceline getting drenched in the face and chest with road skime because the rider in front of you hasn't a proper rear fender attached to their bike. A splash flap on the rear fender hanging to 6-8" off the pavement works wonders for your teammates and fellow riders.
Greg
Monday, January 07, 2008
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rollers 101 Returns to Dishman!
DISHMAN ROLLERS EXTRAVAGANZA
Rolling at the nexus of "inner city youth," Fiona
Grahm found herself off the front where the pugilist
meets the cyclist. Thursday evening. On the Rollers,
in a hallway.
Pursued by a rider named Armstrong, she pedaled with
one leg and no hands, yet her lead went unchanged.
Such was the case when the BBC prodigy Fiona Graham
shared the glory of roller riding with Golden Gloves
Champion and undefeated pro boxer, Cedric Armstrong,
at the Knott Street Boxing Gym, Thursday night.
"I came to help other kids learn to ride the rollers,"
said Fiona, "I never thought I would teach a pro
boxer."
OBRA clergy of all cloth were lending a hand in the
central hallway of the venerable community center that
is Dishman, when Rollers 101 commenced at 4PM.
Cat 3 phenom, Carl Choltus shared his carbon fiber
ride with a boxer named Jose'. Meanwhile, Sasha Lasey
pumped up the tires for lanky middle schooler, Adam
Mobutu, while big Kierin bumper, Chris Deardorff
adjusted the wheel base for 12 year old Janesha Sims.
Dr. Tony Ohotto built a stationary rig for the
smallest BMXer, while Dr. Jeff Gerwing pushed tour
CDs, found lost alan wrenches, and passed out water.
(or lost alan wrenches and passed out from no water)
Lilliane Gerwing and a little seventy year old man sat
on the bench nearby reading "Major Taylor."
The community center Director was so impressed, she
offered us another 8 weeks on the spot.
Rookie Dave Wingard showed up in his work clothes just
in time to clean up and carry rollers to the car.
Tim Bergmann and his daughters were waiting at the
Green Onion when we all arrived for dinner.
Now, I am not saying that cycling is going to become
bigger than boxing, but if it did, it might be because
of "Rollers 101" at Dishman Community Center, on
Thursday Nights.
Thank you everyone!
jb
Rolling at the nexus of "inner city youth," Fiona
Grahm found herself off the front where the pugilist
meets the cyclist. Thursday evening. On the Rollers,
in a hallway.
Pursued by a rider named Armstrong, she pedaled with
one leg and no hands, yet her lead went unchanged.
Such was the case when the BBC prodigy Fiona Graham
shared the glory of roller riding with Golden Gloves
Champion and undefeated pro boxer, Cedric Armstrong,
at the Knott Street Boxing Gym, Thursday night.
"I came to help other kids learn to ride the rollers,"
said Fiona, "I never thought I would teach a pro
boxer."
OBRA clergy of all cloth were lending a hand in the
central hallway of the venerable community center that
is Dishman, when Rollers 101 commenced at 4PM.
Cat 3 phenom, Carl Choltus shared his carbon fiber
ride with a boxer named Jose'. Meanwhile, Sasha Lasey
pumped up the tires for lanky middle schooler, Adam
Mobutu, while big Kierin bumper, Chris Deardorff
adjusted the wheel base for 12 year old Janesha Sims.
Dr. Tony Ohotto built a stationary rig for the
smallest BMXer, while Dr. Jeff Gerwing pushed tour
CDs, found lost alan wrenches, and passed out water.
(or lost alan wrenches and passed out from no water)
Lilliane Gerwing and a little seventy year old man sat
on the bench nearby reading "Major Taylor."
The community center Director was so impressed, she
offered us another 8 weeks on the spot.
Rookie Dave Wingard showed up in his work clothes just
in time to clean up and carry rollers to the car.
Tim Bergmann and his daughters were waiting at the
Green Onion when we all arrived for dinner.
Now, I am not saying that cycling is going to become
bigger than boxing, but if it did, it might be because
of "Rollers 101" at Dishman Community Center, on
Thursday Nights.
Thank you everyone!
jb
Monday, October 08, 2007
Alpenrose Cross Crusade photos
These photos are courtesy of Bob Libby http://canisstudio.com/cycling/cross/100707-alpenrose
The New Bike
So here it is! Kona Major Jake, Alpha Q fork and post, FSA stem, King headset, Ultegra/DuraAce shifting, IRD brakes, DuraAce/Mavic tubulars, Tufo Elite 34 tires. About 17.5 lbs.
Thanks to everyone who put the deals together to make this happen.
Greg
Alpenrose Cross Crusade
Here's Chris Cross' race report:
It was a good race and a bad race today at Alpenrose. I lined up
front and center. It's nice to race Masters A since the field size
isn't crazy huge and we lined up only 10 minutes before the start.
I got a good fast start and headed into the first dirt in a
comfortable 5th. I lost some places during the first lap, but was in
the lead group in the top 10 after the first lap. Things went well
for a while. I was gaining time climbing out of the parking lot, but
losing time going to the bottom of the parking lot. Gotta work on
that.
Somewhere in the middle of the race (25 minutes?) while descending
behind the velodrome, an angry bee decided to land on my left thigh
and start stinging. I was in full speed descend mode so there was no
way I was going to let go of the bars to swat the bee so I had to
rely on cussing and trying to blow the bee off. Neither worked. I
wasn't able to get rid of the bee until just before the pits.
Later while railing down the off camber left hand corner before the
big runup, I washed out and flew over the bars. I landed hard on my
head and shoulder then flipped and slid off the course. It took a
little bit to take inventory of myself to make sure I wasn't
injured. I was sore and shaken, but ready to go on. My bike was
not. I rolled the front Tufo off the rim. (overdue for a regluing
job that was already scheduled to start tomorrow). I didn't have a
rolling bike and was 50' PAST the pit. I shouldered the bike and ran
all the way through the velodrome, past the 6pack, behind the
buildings and down the descent to get back to the pit. Running with
a bike on pavement in Sidis is not recommended. It's way slower than
riding. I got lapped in that time.
At the pit, I got the new bike and was happy to be pedaling again
after all that running. The next time I rolled up to the bottom of
the runup I washed the front wheel out AGAIN and flipped over the
bars. No damage this time so I got back on and kept going. The
last time I rolled past this section I was much more tentative and
had no issues. I ended up much closer to the back of the field than
the front.
After the race, I took inventory and here is the damage: Forehead –
Bruised and scraped. Left thigh – swollen with bee venom. Atmos
helmet – destroyed. Tufo flexus – off the rim. A bike shifters –
twisted. A bike front brake – cable damaged. B bike shifters –
twisted. B bike handlebars – twisted. Nothing that can't be fixed
by next week!
All said it was a terrible finish after a good solid start. When I
put it together, I'll do well. Hopefully top 10.
It was cool to see so many Cyclisme and Yakima guys out there. The
crowd was huge. I heard something like 985 riders signed up when I
was warming up.
-CX
And here's Brotha Corndog's:
Brotha Corndog's race report does not involve any dangerous creatures nor over-the-bar excursions.
Rolling around before the race I'm concerned that my 2:1 gear ratio on the single speed will be too low on a fast and tacky course. After a false start we're off in a cloud of dust. OK, OK no dust as it was on pavement but there was mental "dust" from the lovely smell of cow excrement on the back side of the course. I went fast there because of the stink. I cheered GreGobrian at every turn where he would be coming towards me on a section where the route loops back on itself. He felt to be "in range" yet the distance wasn't perceptively closing. We played cat & mouse over a few laps and ran the six pack side-by-side which was pretty cool. Shortly thereafter we split on the steps as we were essentially still side by side. OK he was ahead but I was happy to let him pull. I chose the right steps while Greg went left. In front of me was a tiny junior carrying his bike rather slowly. I had little choice but to wait calmly as he summited the mountain. The day I barge some little kid is the day I stop racing. Now Greg is long gone and I get to cheer him on again as he is around the next switchback as I approach it. Coming into the velodrome I try the move where you pop onto the banked track for a better line heading to the infield. Swell idea until I eat it on the cement. Nothing big but I'm certainly not rolling forward. I spring up and remount, losing perhaps one place.
BELL LAP
It's not easy to suffer for one lap and yet it *is* easy to suffer for one lap & I turn on what gas I have left. After the long downhill there's a gently arcing right hand uphill that has a really good line if you stay right. I come up on GoBrian at that spot and hit it passing him and one other guy. It was a spot that felt smooth and good and essentially is the kind of moment that makes me like cyclocross. I looked forward to this section every lap. So much of cyclocross is kind of binary where it's either dead easy ridable or just not. And then there are sections that are so slippery and tight that it seems like there's little speed difference between someone with basic bike handling skills and pro-level technique given equal horsepower.
Then the only thought left was, "Dude [yes I duded myself], in five minutes the suffering ends." so I just buried it to the line.
It was a clean fun race. So clean, I put the bike away & did nothing to it. The traction was tasty and the usual bumpy crap section next to the parking lot was muted due to the soft earth. I'm usually don't really groove on this venue but it was really great today.
-bc
It was a good race and a bad race today at Alpenrose. I lined up
front and center. It's nice to race Masters A since the field size
isn't crazy huge and we lined up only 10 minutes before the start.
I got a good fast start and headed into the first dirt in a
comfortable 5th. I lost some places during the first lap, but was in
the lead group in the top 10 after the first lap. Things went well
for a while. I was gaining time climbing out of the parking lot, but
losing time going to the bottom of the parking lot. Gotta work on
that.
Somewhere in the middle of the race (25 minutes?) while descending
behind the velodrome, an angry bee decided to land on my left thigh
and start stinging. I was in full speed descend mode so there was no
way I was going to let go of the bars to swat the bee so I had to
rely on cussing and trying to blow the bee off. Neither worked. I
wasn't able to get rid of the bee until just before the pits.
Later while railing down the off camber left hand corner before the
big runup, I washed out and flew over the bars. I landed hard on my
head and shoulder then flipped and slid off the course. It took a
little bit to take inventory of myself to make sure I wasn't
injured. I was sore and shaken, but ready to go on. My bike was
not. I rolled the front Tufo off the rim. (overdue for a regluing
job that was already scheduled to start tomorrow). I didn't have a
rolling bike and was 50' PAST the pit. I shouldered the bike and ran
all the way through the velodrome, past the 6pack, behind the
buildings and down the descent to get back to the pit. Running with
a bike on pavement in Sidis is not recommended. It's way slower than
riding. I got lapped in that time.
At the pit, I got the new bike and was happy to be pedaling again
after all that running. The next time I rolled up to the bottom of
the runup I washed the front wheel out AGAIN and flipped over the
bars. No damage this time so I got back on and kept going. The
last time I rolled past this section I was much more tentative and
had no issues. I ended up much closer to the back of the field than
the front.
After the race, I took inventory and here is the damage: Forehead –
Bruised and scraped. Left thigh – swollen with bee venom. Atmos
helmet – destroyed. Tufo flexus – off the rim. A bike shifters –
twisted. A bike front brake – cable damaged. B bike shifters –
twisted. B bike handlebars – twisted. Nothing that can't be fixed
by next week!
All said it was a terrible finish after a good solid start. When I
put it together, I'll do well. Hopefully top 10.
It was cool to see so many Cyclisme and Yakima guys out there. The
crowd was huge. I heard something like 985 riders signed up when I
was warming up.
-CX
And here's Brotha Corndog's:
Brotha Corndog's race report does not involve any dangerous creatures nor over-the-bar excursions.
Rolling around before the race I'm concerned that my 2:1 gear ratio on the single speed will be too low on a fast and tacky course. After a false start we're off in a cloud of dust. OK, OK no dust as it was on pavement but there was mental "dust" from the lovely smell of cow excrement on the back side of the course. I went fast there because of the stink. I cheered GreGobrian at every turn where he would be coming towards me on a section where the route loops back on itself. He felt to be "in range" yet the distance wasn't perceptively closing. We played cat & mouse over a few laps and ran the six pack side-by-side which was pretty cool. Shortly thereafter we split on the steps as we were essentially still side by side. OK he was ahead but I was happy to let him pull. I chose the right steps while Greg went left. In front of me was a tiny junior carrying his bike rather slowly. I had little choice but to wait calmly as he summited the mountain. The day I barge some little kid is the day I stop racing. Now Greg is long gone and I get to cheer him on again as he is around the next switchback as I approach it. Coming into the velodrome I try the move where you pop onto the banked track for a better line heading to the infield. Swell idea until I eat it on the cement. Nothing big but I'm certainly not rolling forward. I spring up and remount, losing perhaps one place.
BELL LAP
It's not easy to suffer for one lap and yet it *is* easy to suffer for one lap & I turn on what gas I have left. After the long downhill there's a gently arcing right hand uphill that has a really good line if you stay right. I come up on GoBrian at that spot and hit it passing him and one other guy. It was a spot that felt smooth and good and essentially is the kind of moment that makes me like cyclocross. I looked forward to this section every lap. So much of cyclocross is kind of binary where it's either dead easy ridable or just not. And then there are sections that are so slippery and tight that it seems like there's little speed difference between someone with basic bike handling skills and pro-level technique given equal horsepower.
Then the only thought left was, "Dude [yes I duded myself], in five minutes the suffering ends." so I just buried it to the line.
It was a clean fun race. So clean, I put the bike away & did nothing to it. The traction was tasty and the usual bumpy crap section next to the parking lot was muted due to the soft earth. I'm usually don't really groove on this venue but it was really great today.
-bc
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