Training Log Archive: Mahuan!

Easy late evening Polecat with Mike. Felt good getting out. Cold seems mostly gone now and I'm feeling better.

Ponderosa state park stroll.

Prerode the Jug Mtn course with Darren, Lorien and Jocelyn. Great, fast and smooth course with some of everything--smooth fire roads, jeep track, tight singletrack--technical in sections and fast and sweeping in others. A number of steep climbs. Opted not to ride on Sunday as my head cold had worsened.Wish I could have raced but felt run down and thought it wiser to rest.

Note: I don't however think preriding the day before on the singlespeed is practical. An easy spin around the course on a geared bike is much more realistic as the singlespeed is too taxing on muscles and joints. Need to get the NRS into action.

Shovelling and moving dirt. Feel unmotivated to ride.

Idaho City.

As always, really fun course and a great time. Finished 4 out of 6 in the singlespeed category with a time of 1:32, 8 minutes back from the winner (no Dik or Toby at this one). Overall top expert Jerry Long finished in 1:15 close behind the top pro, Zack Vestal.

It was hard to be DFL in overall expert 35-39 category (field of 15), but still only a couple min back from experts Mike Burkhart and Steve Gustafson, and not last in singlespeed.

To contend for the winning expert time of 1:15 I would need to increase my pace by 17%. This may not be possible, but certainly a number of factors other than base fitness, skill and mental attitude played a part in reducing my speed by several percentage points. These include:

-Crappy sleep and marathon emotional stress day Sat with A depressed
-Inadequate warm-up = poor start that certainly cost several min
Generally feeling stressed and somewhat burnt out over the past 2 wks
-Not enough singlespeed specific preparation, esp prolonged steeps
-Lack of adequate nutrition and hydration day prior and morning of
-Pre-race nervousness
-Broken seatpost bolt and lost saddle 2 mi +/- from the finish.
-Possibility that 2X1 may be too big for certain courses (check w/Toby)
-Possibility that lower air pressure added rolling resistance
-Possibility that Smoke/Dart large treat tires added rolling resistance

I'd estimate that:
The start cost me at least 4 min
The other factors (broken seatpost, fatigue, etc) cost me at least 4 min

That puts me on the singlespeed podium with a time of 1:24, all else being equal, and it puts me 8 minutes back (11%) from the overall expert winner

Easy walk with dogs

City loop: memorial ride for Jim Chu, Tom Bettger and Kevin Pavlis.

Yoga good

Polecat loop-de-loop. Saw sukow and jen and 3 or 4 other riders. Nice ride. Beautiful overcast day with 70 deg temp or so. Trails in excellent condition, just a bit loose.

Note: Belly's been growing a little. Been eating a lot and drinking beer. Whatever the case, it's nice to actually gain a little weight instead of just losing it. Now, just got to build it into muscle and maintain. Think I wasn't getting enough protein to completely replenish my muscles for awhile. I seemed to be losing muscle mass, in the upper mostly but lower too.

C • Belly growin' 2

Angela's yoga class. Felt tight and a bit edgy.

LP200 with Mark, Liam and Paul; Heather drove. Lots of fun! Not sure of exact time splits for everyone (incl me) but we finished in 10:13/17.7 mph. (Winning time 8:09/22.1 mph.) Liam did great, and insisted on riding an extra stage--Galena, and we all four finished together. He's a climbing machine!

Paul, Mark and I all rode over 100 mi and we each got a good climb too. Our transitions were chaotic and we had to chase after one another a few times...but so what. Liam the energizer bunny finally ran out of steam on the last leg (along with a couple guys on tt bikes drafting us for 15 mi). But no crashes, bonking, flats or mechanicals and almost 100 percent good cheer.

Rain, hail, and some lightning even--but it wasn't too cold and we were alright. Lots of wet and stinky in the car tho! Heather got to make up for bailing as a rider by being a first rate driver and team support.

Nice accommodations, hot tub, sushi and beer. First rate event. Great to have Liam and mark out there. Rolled back in style in Marks rented escalade and made space for Toby too. Couldn't have been a better weekend.

Angela's yoga class. Louie came. Felt good. I so need it.

Reveling shamelessly!

Spanked Mark hard on the climbs today, and didn't even feel 60 miles in my legs from yesterday. He brought his x bike with him from Sacramento. He and Heather and I rode kestrel/sidewinder up and back/redsands; I was on the singlespeed.

I collected finally on the vow I made two years ago when he made me retch and barely hang onto his wheel for an hour:
--He would pay, especially if I ever saw him on a mtb, and I would be merciless

The victory was even sweeter since he's been talking smack about riding with professional cyclists. Even at the beginning of the ride he was talking about being in a 28mph paceline with some pro or another. Given that and the way he gloated when he worked me over, I was merciless and I feel no remorse at all, only pure pleasure.

I really do have Mark to thank in a lot of ways for motivating me to get back in shape and pushing myself a bit again. My other two vows:
--Never again would I get so fat and out of shape;
--Never again would Mark work me over

Heather's not at all in shape for cycling. She would have been really miserable on the LP. Mark and Liam will be great.

Feeling good in general. Finally slept a lot last night. Good sleep's been really hard to come by. Appetite is really lagging as well. Maybe I need some medicinal MJ?

Note: Forgot my inhaler today, but lungs were ok. At one point I slowed down after a hard effort and my lungs tightened and I started to get that gasping and panicky feeling, so I sped up again and slowed gradually and that felt alright again.