Training Log Archive: veinbuster

It was up to -16C before I went out. I briefly considered snow shoes just for their claws on the ice but opted for just boots. The plan was to survey the conditions on the path after a flash freeze hit the flood waters. The path is closed, but you only know that from the ends, not from the back yard.

The flood water froze right to the ground before it receded. The result is treacherous and it was slow going in spots. The river ice was quite interesting in that it froze at the top of its banks and as the river went down the top ice collapsed and another layer formed. There is no way of be sure how thick it is in any given spot. There was some very appealing ice art. I don’t have a convenient way to get photos from my phone to my web site, but added a sample to Facebook.

I didn’t see a single creature while I was out, which is a shame because it really is a nice day, or maybe the peacefulness is why it is such a nice day.

What a day.

After chaos and rage, a short walk about in -14C. Mostly just getting fresh air, but I did notice that all of the flood water froze solid at the bottom of our hill. Super slick and probably 15 to 20 cm thick.

C • Chaos and rage 3

Day 3 soloflex
Dips really weak today

Sufferfest: hell hath no fury

4 stage race

1 tempo
2x 20 minute hill stage
3:30 TT

Power drooped a bit in the second long stage

Power: avg-221, max-417

After another runaway chase and 4 appointments I found a few minutes to burn some energy. I played a video, but didn’t follow its guidance beyond 5 minute queues to do a spin burst. I was interested in seeing if my normal video high end was really my top.

Generally when sprinting on the trainer I ramp up cadence and then pump up resistance maxing out in the 120s. Today I left resistance constant for a power of about 200 at my natural cadence and just spun as fast as I could. The front wheel jumped off twice but here are my cadence marks for a 10 second hold: 153, 160, 163, 155 (bounced the front wheel off the stand), 162. It didn’t really push my heart. I might try another time at a different resistance level.

Day 2 soloflex and free weights

Day 1 soloflex and free weights

Today’s snow was mostly a non-event. A few cm of very wet heavy snow, or so it seemed shovelling.

The flight risk old was largely catatonic today so I risked going out for a bit longer. I headed up the river to Holland Landing. This was the most demanding snow I’ve ridden in yet. The heavy snow over a healthy base of powder made it easy to bog down and just spin out. In places where there had been some traffic any move off the pack was an event in balance. Towards the north end there was a stretch where only one person had been out with a dog. I spent most of the trail time on the fat end of the chain ring.

Near the north end I met an old guy searching for someone in a black coat. I feared the worst after our walkabout last week so charged up to the end of the trail. As I headed back the black coat was visible 100m behind the green one and it was just another old guy who had paused to look at something and then taken the opposite side of a short loop.

At that point I noticed I had been out a bit long and headed back in my own tracks which made a bit better pace, in spite of the fact that downhill lines and uphill lines aren’t generally the same.

Soaked on return.

C • Snow conditions 4