Almost Christmas

Tired

Today I was hoping to do a hard 3.5 hr ride on that same route I did last Saturday. Today would be my 20th day of riding in a row without any days off. I do have a few easy rides sprinkled in, such as Friday, but I've been reading more of Hunter Allen's work and he preaches riding more. Period. SO I've been trying in this off-season to do just that. Here are some pics.

Veteran's Day Ride

Thanks to all our veteran's out there - thanks to them I can ride when I want (within limits of family and work). I work with the guvmint so I had the day off. Too bad I've been pretty tired last couple of days due to training lately so I was limited to a couple of hours or so. Couldn't have had a better day - nice and sunny, probably 55 degrees or so. I'm a summer person but I'll take this.

Fall Training

Been trying to stick to a FTP building plan this fall. 2x20s seem to be working, along with some longer & harder weekend rides. Hopefully the work will pay off next spring.

Nice Fall Day

Did a 75 miler through an area east of West Point, VA along Route 14. The wind was kicking me in the face on the wa to the turnaround point but luckily was at my back for the return leg. That doesn't seem to be the norm - usually seems to be in my face the whole ride. No traffic once I get out on Rt 14 - very nice.

Tires - Vredestein Fortezza

I've had exceptionally good performance out of the Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp 700x23 tires I installed early last spring. I estimate that I have approx. 5000 miles (at least) on the set, and I have yet to rotate them, so I should see additional life. I've had absolutely no issues and only yesterday noticed a slight cut in the rear, probably due to rocks, etc. on the road and likely NOT due to some sort of quality issue.

Kudos to Vredestein.

Latest PMC

Here's my latest PMC showing down times for broken collarbone and 2 independent weeks completely off bike for vacations.

Been a while....

It's been a while since I posted...April 1st was last to be exact. Probably started due to my collarbone incident on April 10th in a race in Hampton, VA at Langley Speedway. Last turn... trying to be safe... get taken out by some SOB and wake up on the tarmac wondering what in hell just happened.

Well after a few months of getting healthy and training too much I'm only now getting the knowledge I need to be semi-successful at being a better cyclist. I'll post more soon. Here's the bike in latest iteration.

Chickens & Collarbones

Went out on a ride Sunday out of Waller Mill Park in Williamsburg - a couple other guys and me. about 40-45 minutes into the ride we rounded a downhill corner when, low and behold, a chicken darted out into the road right under the front wheel of the guy in front. The chicken was about the size of a basketball and Dave had no chance - he went down hard. The end result was a busted collarbone and thumb as well as many bruises and cuts. Not a good day. He had surgery today - a plates and 8 screws. Too bad it's not October at the end of the season.

Busch Gardens Opening Day - (non-biking)

I mentioned last weekend that my family went to Busch Gardens. I followed that trip with a misguided distance ride prior to which I did not eat properly and thus semi-bonked midway thru the ride. Here are some pics from Busch Gardens.

Skateboarding

My son, 13 years old, is an avid skateboarder. He's pretty good. Here's a couple pics from a recent skatepark outing.

Bad Combination

There's a reason that it's good (IMO) to ride in the morning, especially when it's warm. Other than the obvious temperature-related issue one of the biggest hinderances to my performance on the bike is simply nutrition, or poor preparation of such.

Today was a good example. My wife told me that I was NOT going riding but was going to Busch Gardens (I live very near Williamsburg, VA) for opening day for season pass holders. Jack Hanna was there doing a special show with wild animals. Cool, I thought. Great show. After the show we walked around the park doing stuff here and there. It started out nice but got warm and sunny quick. I stayed until early afternoon and got home around 2:15 or so. I wanted to get in 60-70 miles so when I got home I got everything together and headed out the door.....without properly eating.

About and hour-and-a-half out I started to deal with some wind, was feeling kind of dry and thirsty,legs burning a bit... a bad combination of warning signs. 30 minutes later and I realized it was going to be hard to get home. I wasn't doing loops so that meant I had 2 hrs of riding before I could eat.

Lesson? Either ride early so you can control you nutrition or take some stuff with you - you will pay if you don't do either of these. Let's just hope it doesn't mess with me tomorrow on my ride.

Short Spin Ride in the Sun

Got out this afternoon for a short spin ride in the late afternoon sun. It's soooo nice to not be locked away in the basement doing a 2 hr Zone 2 base ride. May have a few more left but at least there's potential to get outside.

Warm, Sunny Weather

Wow, finally some nice weather. Sunny and 70s. Awesome. Need to make sure I use sunblock tomorrow.

Weekend Riding

Had some great weather for road rides this weekend. Saturday was fantastic and I even think I got a little sunburn. Did 70 miles on a route from home (Toano) up to 155, down to 5 into Williamsburg and back. Sunday was cooler and some weather rolled in just as I got within 2 miles of home - ride was about 55 miles. Route was from home out through West Point and Shackleford then up 14 to Truhart. Wind kicked up halfway through ride and made it a hard effort. All in all a good weekend. Nearing end of base training.

Snowball Crit 2 Pics

Here are a few pics from the Snowball Crit 2 held on 3/7 in Chesapeake, VA. The event was put on by Virginia Beach Velo.

Snowball Criterium 2

Did my first race in a number of years (we won't mention how many) at the Snowball Criterium 2 in Chesapeake, VA. Nice event, nice course, although a bit shorter than I'd prefer. I raced Cat 5 and my plan was to simply see what it was like racin in a group. I forgot about how most of the guys don't really comprehend bike handling so it was scary at times. Heard a few pedals strike the pavement but luckily they were all behind me and if there were crashes I didn't see them. I did plan to pull as much as I could as I don't see the point of waiting until the end of the race to try and outsprint the field - I'd rather be strong enough to pull away from the front. AT least that's the plan for the future. I'll post pics if I can get some from somewhere - I didn't take any.

Garneau Sonix Build

The new build is coming along. The new bike is a Garneau Sonix 6.4, all carbon. Nothing super-fantastic but should suit me for a while. I have been sick since Monday so the timing to get this built was great. I finished it up enough to do a 1 hour workout in Zone 2 to get the blood moving again. Here are some pics:

Sunday Stonehouse Ride

Good turnout today for a Sunday ride out of Stonehouse Country Club parking lot. Today's ride was a bit on the shorter side at just over 2 hours. Intensity wasn't too bad but the last hill always is considered as the sprint zone.

About an hour or so after returning home my wife talked me into an hour spin class at Ironbound gym. The spin class was quite a bit harder than I expected as I already had tired muscles from today's and yesterday's rides. I've never been to a spin class before and it is almost totally different than riding on the road. On the road, especially this time of year, you're doing certainly extended efforts at a given power whereas in the spon class we were essentially doing very short intervals, and it was generally uncomfortable. I do see a benefit, though, as it requires nearly instant recovery as you must react to drastic changes in what you're doing.

Here are a few pics from today's ride:

Saturday Bike Beat Shop Ride

Some of the local riders join a ride out of Bike Beat in Williamsburg, VA. Ride is normally just under a couple hours or so. Sometimes that pace is pretty solid. A good example is yesterday.We had one of the stronger riders in the area, Justin Raynes, with us. He's prepping for a near-term race so was pushing some high-intensity stuff. That actually felt good right up to the point when it didn't. I've been concentrating or really nothing but Zone 2 base since mid December with no interval work at all. That should start very soon in March (to some extent). Anyway, my fitness is returning although I have a long way to go. Prior to August 2009 I was off the bike for over 10 years - I say 10 years as it really is longer that than but if I actually say how long that is, I'll feel older than I already do. Here's a pic on the way to the ride:


Here are some pics of the old LeMond Zurich I've been riding along with one of the new frame, a Garneau Sonix 6.4. I plan to get that built up today and get on it tomorrow for the first time.