103 k..1.5 km of vertical..74 km/hr MAX

4 hour 20 minute epic road ride today. Climbed Caesar's head in dense fog....again with Tommy taking the climb about 30 sec ahead :) Freakin cold descent with a 74 km/hr max speed in a fog that felt like snow. Finished with 103 k and feeling pretty tired.....but beer and wine must be drunk :)

Tomorrow...Pisgah mountain biking.

SC Day 4

I've decided to bypass the usual "data" component of this blog. One, partly because I am the only one of this four man/woman crew who do not have a Garmin. After hearing the daily data from the Garmin to include 2000 ft of vertical climbing, real time degree/pitch of roads etc, the data from my polar just doesn't seem to cut it...I've got a real bad case of Garmin ENVY.

A summary to date...Fil and I arrived Friday after making an overnight stop in Winchester Virginna. Stayed at a Days Inn and fueled up with a Denny's Skillet....dirrrrrty but good. The drive was pretty much uneventful with us arriving just shortly after Carmen and Tommy. They were all geared up and thought a ride was just what we needed ;) and it was. Our introduction to SC with a 50 k "mellow ride" riddled with rollers, beautifully paved roads, and some mangy dogs that really had us guessing as to who would be treated for rabies. This should have been a mellow ride BUT there were a few challenges..... ;)

Day 2, Fil and I decided to pull the shoot on the ride as it was literally raining cats and dogs...blech...Day 3 made up for it though. A beautiful climb of Caesars head had us all identify that we are....in a word......strong riders. It was a true treat to have a group of 4 see, catch and conquer a gaggle of riders that were also climbing Caesar's as part of a Carmichael training camp.....also fodder to identify and reiterate our bullet proof legs and lungs ;) First true descent and smiling ear to ear..

Day 4, the road bike was the weapon of choice again. A little out and back with some great climbs and descents were had. Just shy of 3 hours of riding yesterday, 4 hours day previous and feeling like it's a great day for a mountain bike ride...that is the plan. Dupont Forest. Will add pics and some data later. Mr. Hanrahan should have all the data from his fancy schmancy Garmin that I will link to later...right now it's coffee and a "session" to get things going ;)

BTW.....all those sessions in the garage.......paid off........IMMENSLY :))

Feeling ilke a caged ANIMAL

The weather turned out freakishly bad last monday which was scheduled to be the LAST ride pre SC trip. As such, I've just been procrastinating packing and.....we leave tomorrow. It's not like I'm prepping for a 24 hour SOLO. We are driving and staying in a house. Daily rides enable LOTS of time to prep and tinker in between.

So, had the new casette put on the road bike two nights ago and decided to run through the gears with the bike on the stand.....quickly found this was not working out too well...probably from the fact I ORDERED A 9 SPD VS A 10 SPD CASETTE!!!! Panicking aside, TI cycle's Marck Dwyer came to my rescue and lent me a 13-26 Record casette. Super nice and above the call of duty. These guys are true cyclists. His coworker just got back from SC, stayed at Table rock and couldn't say enough about the roads, expecially the SIDE roads there.

Plan....pack tonight and try and sleep....pumped. Pre-trip massage scheduled at the end of my work day (which I have shortened) to enable a quick getaway with Fil by 1 pm tomorrow.

Blog entries from here on in will be full of pics and DATA baby

March 19th Marked as First Road Ride

I can\t stop grinning. Fil sent me a text yesterday to set up our first road ride of the season. It's been a long...I MEAN LOOOOong winter in the garage/basement and was really looking forward to that first test of true fitness. Shawn also bit the bullet and joined us on his retro Eddie Bauer Tri bike. I can't say enough...HOW HAPPY i am about my pre season fitness. We had some fun letting the bike rock and roll underneath us for a mellow 50 k. I could have ridden waaaay longer but it was just enough for first outing. Stats were good as well...kept avg HR below threshold so it was a true aerobic workout.

As I'm flying solo with my youngest, oldest daughter having a weekend with mom and friends in TO at a princess party/shopping trip...Emms also decided to POWER nap for almost 4 hours in the car after picking her up from Gram and Gramps house (for ride). Off to TI cycle to pick up my MT rear wheel that was dished off the charts (now rock solid) and back to the G Aaaaaa Rage to tinker. New cassette put on the road bike for climbing and Mountain bike final preps as well. Hope to spin on the mountain tomorrow...weather dependant and Fil, shawn and I are going to rip some hill intervals on Monday.

SC baby...SC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quick Update Sunday to today

The last week has been a blur....Sunday and Wednesday got some indoor spins in. Usual stuff, with the best to come.....Training tire is OFF, road tire is ON and I am just dancing with the idea of getting a road ride in either tonight or on wknd.....ahhh but here comes the challenge....Wife is taking our oldest to TO for a princess castle party thing which means me and little emms are alone Friday and Saturday....so, if a spin is going to happen....Sunday or TONIGHT is the time. It's 3 degrees and with the windchill.........bloody cold. I'm Going to SC NEXT WEEK where the temps are warm and fuzzy. Unless the sun god him/herself smacks me with some warm rays on Sunday aft...I'm going to let the body "rest" in anticipation of some full on wreckage borderlining overtraining while in SC.

It is St. Patricks day after all AND, once again, I have to remind myself..... I DON'T GET PAID TO RIDE/RACE. That being said..sum up here at work and go home and tiker with the bikes, get the hop out of my rear wheel on my mountain bike and go over the road bike to ensure I haven't rusted out any bolts from pouring gallons of sweat all over it this indoor winter season.

Next winter.....SOLD on a CHEAP SS to just get out and RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDe

more saddle time...giddy up

Frank and Molly joined for a 5:30 aerobic 3 basebuilder tonight. Frank shared some absolute HORROR stories of being DUPED by not one, not two, but THREE bike shops recently but balanced that out nicely by notifying he is the proud papa of a Trek 2.1 road bike that he picked up at the bike shop. Molly was flying high as she shared she was about to go to Costa Rica for a week and me........nuthin :(

We pedaled and sweat buckets, insane amounts of fluid while adhering to the firm parameters of Monsier Troy. MAN...I CAN'T WAIT TO RIDE SOUTH!!!!!!

Stats:

1 hr 30 min
Avg HR 133 bpm; Peak 158 (threshold is 157)
Total Cal 1059
Avg CAD 88; max 110

Can't really complain with the above data...primo aerobic workout. Wow...only four more scheduled stationary, dust inhaling, coach troy ear ringing sessions left until a full on 6 days of NOT spinning pre SC...is that really possible? We'll see...I'll use that time to prep the bikes :) BTW purchased the following:

Egg beaters SL 3's for the Trance
SRAM 11-34 mt bike cassette
veloce 13-28 road cassette (recommended by Tommy)
bib short...can't have enough
teflon shifting cables (4)
cold weather foot covers
Big old buckets of Hammer Perpetuum Caffe Latte, Recoverite, Heed melow melon, and an orange flavour

I think I'm ready ;) and Jenson only takes about 2 days to deliver if anything else comes to mind

And Mark if you're reading this....lesson learned...you've got great prices...expect to see me more this season ;)

He's Baaaaaack

Fil has blessed us with his presence after being in BC soaking up all that POW on some super fat skiis for the last couple of weeks. Mr. Gilmour also made a strong appearance (still think this guy has a duplicate bike set up at home) and Molly, of course, was in attendance for a good hour spin tonight.

Was feeling a little apprehensive and did hold back or felt like I was holding back during tonights session as I'm getting over this lingering cold...not getting worse and feeling better every day. Good to flush it out with a little Suffarama. Think I need to crank up my tension as tonight felt.....too good.....almost cheating good. Also keeping an eye on my left knee as it is getting a little "tweaky". May get Molly to provide her professional opinion on tracking issue probability and play around with some Mcconnel taping for Friday's session.

Shit....5 more sessions and it's kick back and recover for prepatory reasons...Blah blah blah...heart rate average was 149 and blah blah blah..I want to ride OUTSIDE NOW

Vitamin C, Echinacea, advil and Recovery and Technique

Am feeling the onset of another "cold" coming on. Hoping it doesn't manifest itself into something evil...don't think it will but will play it day by day. Managed to get an hour of some mild aerobic recovery spinning in. Just finished some prep work for work tomorrow and looking forward to a heavy slumber...nighty night

Almost Tantric....seriously

Today we (Molly Shawn and I) committed to a 2 hour session of HAVE MERCY in, what is now no longer a garage, but a spin studio. We weren't too sure of what to expect....did we have enough fitness behind us to session this video without extreme suffering. I could sense the anticipation from all of us, almost holding back for the first 30-40 minutes. It really didn't take long to get into the groove. Still find it odd that I can get psyched up for a spin session that really doesn't simulate the freedom of actual riding......at all......but it still happens ;)

Molly doled out some caffeinated shot blocks like a neighbourhood drug pusher and that's when it happened. An hour in and three shot blocks with 50 mg of caffeine we felt sufferring turn into an adrenaline charged hammerfest. We were literally growling and screaming during the final 15 sec building intervals....crazy man....almost insane actually. Stats are pretty impressive...MAN i wish I could track wattage..

2 hr 10 min
Avg HR 153 bpm sweeeeet for this session
Peak HR 185 bpm yup, from the 3 x 15 second builds at end of session
Min HR 109
Total Cal 1657

Still jacked from those shot blocks....may bypass purchase of these as I'll have enough caffeine in Cafe Latte compliments of Perpetuum that ARRIVES tommorrow as well as my products from JENSON...its going to be a gooooood day :)

Plan easy aerobic spin tomorrow night, Wednesday intensity anaerobic, Friday....something long...Sunday (wouldn't it be nice to say outdoors?????...maybe)

Ugh... Two more weeks

A successful week of making the Campagnolo veloce cranks rotate at varying speeds against variable resistance. Puddles of hard earned sweat riddling the garage floor and the incessant sound of coach Troy haunting my vestibular system has resulted in none other than consistency. I really need to thank Molly for absolute ABSCENCE of any hesitation to commit to three or six straight sessions of this twisted preseason prepatory exercise we call....."spinning". Never did she miss a scheduled session and took all of a nanosecond to commit to this Sundays "Have Mercy" session. Kudos to Shawn as well forbattling his work and budding musical career to fit in a Monday and Friday session this week with reported commitment to also attend this Sunday.

Both heart rate monitor computer and or straps are in need of battery replacement so no juicy stats.....just a confession of a successful session of "Uphill Grrrrrind" for an hour inclusive of warm up and col down. My theory now is that as fit SSS increases.....man the suffering is getting more jntense Diego the body and minds will to push it longer and harder. Can't wait to test this pre season fitness.

Big week coming up.......

Mental Toughness?!?!?!

This was the name of the vid we decided to put in for tonight's shession. Molly and Randal in attendance. We all appeared to have some weird gremlins going on with our heart rate monitors and stripped the straps off 20 minutes in...strange..Felt good to be "naked" as fil calls it..without the HR strap constantly reminding you of your output. Left knee was a tad "tweaky" tonight so with three plus weeks left until I vamoose to SC, decided to be mellow and back it off a bit. All in all a good amount of mental toughness was had to endure an 1 hr 40 of total spin time. Stats unimpressive as HR data was skewed so bigest stat was avg CAD of 87 (tempoish) and max of 148 during the progressive 15 second interval spins at end of session.

Man.......plan is to stay the course and commit to this Friday, Sunday and following week of M, W, and Friday and then......taper down for the "Camp". Oh yeah, bought a trailer load of gear from Jenson and Hammer Nutrition Canada yesterday....euphoric ;)