Sunday: No riding again.
Saturday: After yesterday's ride I needed roughly 125 miles. The plan was to ride out to Rocky Point, do Percy's RP2IPBP-JP ride, try out Percy's new espresso machine and then ride home with whatever detours would be necessary in order to meet my mileage. In reality, I woke up to rain. So I went back to bed, waking up around 1pm, so I gave up on riding at all.
Friday: Some quick math told me that I needed to do two days of 118ish miles each in order to complete the festive 500. Why not, I figured. As such, I rode down to bellport to meet up with the friday morning Kreb ride, did the ride, then rode up to the LIE service road and over to Syosset. Along the way I met up with a guy training for a triathlon by the name of Avi. Nice guy, conversation helped to keep my mind off the fact that I was already 70 miles in to my day. He showed me a cool back way up to Pulaski. We parted ways there and I got to Roadworx to pick up some parts that I had ordered. Chatted for a while as usual, then headed back home, almost being hit by a pickup truck that didn't understand the principles of how to properly pass someone on a bicycle. What else is new. All in all it only ended up being roughly 110 miles, but still better than nothing.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/137577910
NP/IF/TSS: 168W/0.647/286
Thursday: This week is more than half over and my riding has gone straight downhill. Maybe I should have stayed in the city longer. I had signed up for this strava festive 500 thing, where I'm supposed to ride 500km between the 23rd and 31st of December. It sounded like a piece of cake based on the amount of riding I had done in the city, but now I'm pretty sure I'm fucked.
Wednesday: Nothing. Did some transverse planks at night.
Tuesday: Rode down to Penn station from the apartment. Managed to make it in time for the train, so kudos to me. Data to follow. Also, it was a solid headwind the whole way down. That part sucked.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/137350417
Monday: rest day. rested.
27.12.11
19.12.11
2012.04: Base 1 Week 4 - Rest
Well this is supposed to be my rest week after my first base set, but since training was so intermittent and since I'm in NYC, I'm planning on doing some non-rest style riding.
Sunday: Christmas day. Did the traditional J-Crew ride with Ron and company. I think we had 7 people this year, which is always nice. It was a pretty timid ride, which is also nice this time of year. I did go full bore on river road though, but didn't get any PR's or anything via strava.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136318650
No power data.
Saturday: No riding. Woke up late, packed, heading home soon.
Friday: Out to Piermont again with Andy. It was a good not-quite-training ride consisting of turning the screws on each other for most of the ride. It also was a bit of a shakedown ride for the newly installed Force crank and RD on his bike. We visted Mattie at work and had some coffee and muffins down in Piermont and then headed back along 9W. A typical NYC ride, if I do say so myself.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136045621
NP/IF/TSS: 199W/0.765/117
Thursday: Rode to Bear Mountain with Tadeusz. The ride was a lot hillier than I figured. My legs were definitely hurting by the end. Also, looking at my power numbers from GCheetah, I'm starting to think I need to re-evaluate my CP, as this ride certainly felt like it should have been above a TSS of 300. We'll have to see how long it takes for my legs to recover.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135897631
NP/IF/TSS: 187W/0.719/265
Wednesday: No riding. Went home for the day.
Tuesday: Very late start today. Like 2pm or so. As such, all I did was ride across the GWB and up the full length of River Road. It was surprisingly hilly, particularly the end. I had a weird spike in my power data, but replaced it with zeros in GCheetah in order to come to my power numbers below.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135586911
NP/IF/TSS: 210W/0.809/82
Monday: Rest day. Rested after yesterday's ride and Gil's going away party. I walked around the South Street Seaport late in the day and went to a marine supply place to price out a sextant.
Sunday: Christmas day. Did the traditional J-Crew ride with Ron and company. I think we had 7 people this year, which is always nice. It was a pretty timid ride, which is also nice this time of year. I did go full bore on river road though, but didn't get any PR's or anything via strava.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136318650
No power data.
Saturday: No riding. Woke up late, packed, heading home soon.
Friday: Out to Piermont again with Andy. It was a good not-quite-training ride consisting of turning the screws on each other for most of the ride. It also was a bit of a shakedown ride for the newly installed Force crank and RD on his bike. We visted Mattie at work and had some coffee and muffins down in Piermont and then headed back along 9W. A typical NYC ride, if I do say so myself.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136045621
NP/IF/TSS: 199W/0.765/117
Thursday: Rode to Bear Mountain with Tadeusz. The ride was a lot hillier than I figured. My legs were definitely hurting by the end. Also, looking at my power numbers from GCheetah, I'm starting to think I need to re-evaluate my CP, as this ride certainly felt like it should have been above a TSS of 300. We'll have to see how long it takes for my legs to recover.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135897631
NP/IF/TSS: 187W/0.719/265
Wednesday: No riding. Went home for the day.
Tuesday: Very late start today. Like 2pm or so. As such, all I did was ride across the GWB and up the full length of River Road. It was surprisingly hilly, particularly the end. I had a weird spike in my power data, but replaced it with zeros in GCheetah in order to come to my power numbers below.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135586911
NP/IF/TSS: 210W/0.809/82
Monday: Rest day. Rested after yesterday's ride and Gil's going away party. I walked around the South Street Seaport late in the day and went to a marine supply place to price out a sextant.
13.12.11
2012.03: Base 1 Week 3
Sunday: Got to ride up to Piermont with Brean. It was a cold day, windy, etc. But all in all, a fun ride and nice to finally get to ride with Brean on the road. I ended up riding back down to Staten Island with him and taking the ferry back over to manhattan. I met a guy on the ferry that's trying to sell some vintage italian bikes and some other stuff. Maybe I'll take a look at the wares.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135268764
NP/IF/TSS: 185W/0.71/219
Saturday: No riding. Did some work around the house instead. Eventually I headed to the city to help take care of my brother's cats for a few days.
Friday: Rode for a little near the end of the day just because I could. I felt pretty out of it the whole ride. I don't know if that's a lack of riding or something else (lack of quality sleep is a certain possibility). Either way, I almost bit it hard when I turned onto the little MUP at west meadow beach. I had my hands off the bars to unzip my jacket when a gust of wind hit me. It blew me one way, I oversteered opposite, unclipped one pedal and rolled into the sand. Fortunately, I didn't go down, but unfortunately for my nice clean drive train, I kicked up a ton of sand, so more cleaning tonight.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134829213http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135268764
NP/IF/TSS: 185W/0.71/219
Saturday: No riding. Did some work around the house instead. Eventually I headed to the city to help take care of my brother's cats for a few days.
Friday: Rode for a little near the end of the day just because I could. I felt pretty out of it the whole ride. I don't know if that's a lack of riding or something else (lack of quality sleep is a certain possibility). Either way, I almost bit it hard when I turned onto the little MUP at west meadow beach. I had my hands off the bars to unzip my jacket when a gust of wind hit me. It blew me one way, I oversteered opposite, unclipped one pedal and rolled into the sand. Fortunately, I didn't go down, but unfortunately for my nice clean drive train, I kicked up a ton of sand, so more cleaning tonight.
NP/IF/TSS: 173W/0.665/62
Thursday: It was supposed to rain today, so I figured I would just skip riding. It didn't though. It was windy, however, so I feel better about being a bum.
Wednesday: Stopped in at Roadworx for a DFU demonstration. We came to the conclusion that my achilles trouble is tendinitis from doing deep squats and my knee trouble is probably a pulled muscle from riding goofy. The prescription is just to ease into riding again. So there.
Tuesday: Based on the right leg pains I've been having, I've decided it might be in my best interest to take it easy this week. It sounds like I might have tendinitis. I'm heading to Roadworx (home of the new Guru DFU) tomorrow, so I'll have to ask Will what the heck I'm doing wrong. Maybe it's a cleat issue. Maybe I just suck at riding.
NP/IF/TSS: 171W/0.656/58
6.12.11
2012.02: Base 1 Week 2
Sunday: Woke up very sore and tired, so I just stayed inside all day and kept it easy. I felt bad that I missed out on the last CX race, but there was no way I was going to make it there and be any kind of useful.
Saturday: The knee was very painful today. I tended to that today, with a hot bath and an ice pack.
Friday: Rode over to the friday morning Kreb ride. I was running a little late, so I decided to meet the group along the way. I took woodside road out, but unsure of whether I would be able to meet up by beaver dam road, I turned up station road and went through yaphank instead. Surprisingly though, I only saw the group halfway down River road, which means I probably could have rendezvoused as originally planned. My right knee started acting up along the ride, and by the time i got home was pretty sore. It felt almost like my hamstring was tight or something. Maybe it's some tendonitis. Regardless, here's data:
NP/IF/TSS: 180W/0.692/170
Thursday: Due to a massive scheduling screw-up, the middle of my day was taken up by a dental appointment, so once again, no riding.
Wednesday: More rain. Didn't feel like doing more roller work, so nothing today. (and so it begins).
Tuesday: Did some spin work on the rollers. The usual 1 minute on by 4 minutes off. 145-155-165-155-145rpm.
Time: 25:01
EDIT-I did some calf raises, transverse planks, and standard planks at night.
5.12.11
Race: LI Cyclocross #2 12/4
Today was race number two of the LICX series. I had said that I would help set up and possibly race, but I was very tempted to just stay home and sleep through it, as I got minimal sleep throughout the night. However, my current aspirations to not be an asshole prevailed and i dragged myself out of bed. After having a minimal breakfast due to bugs eating my chocolate chips (stupid bugs), I rode to the course and got to work. After set-up, I did some warm-up laps of the course trying to think of any excuse not to race. This is what I came up with:
-Too tired
-Not enough nutrition
-Sore from roller racing
-Should probably help as a course marshal
-Poor shifting
-Forgot my race license
Of course, Gregory and Chris convinced me to still give it a go, even if to ride easy. I did another lap and felt a little better and then lined up for the start. I started mid-rear of the pack, as I had no aspirations to do well at all. The start of the first lap up until the barrier I was able to make up some ground, however, but then over the next lap or two, I started dropping back again. My lower back started killing me and I decided to throw in the towel after the third lap. I went through half the race, which was good enough for me. In hindsight, had I kept up with it, I probably would have done better than I thought, but whatever. There's always next week.
28.11.11
2012.01: Base 1 Week 1
I never get used to the feeling of writing the first post of each training year.
Total Time: 07:02:25
Sunday: Helped out at LICX race number two. See the above race report. Here's the data coming and going, however:
Total Time: 07:02:25
Sunday: Helped out at LICX race number two. See the above race report. Here's the data coming and going, however:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132784963
Saturday: Still sore, late start, so just a short ride. I didn't bring my gloves, since I thought it wasn't too cold out. Must just have been a warm air bubble around my house, because I was freezing as soon as I left.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132460213
Saturday: Still sore, late start, so just a short ride. I didn't bring my gloves, since I thought it wasn't too cold out. Must just have been a warm air bubble around my house, because I was freezing as soon as I left.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132460213
NP/IF/TSS: 166W/0.639/41
Friday: My legs were pretty sore from the previous night's activities, so I just rode a simple recovery/base ride to the lighthouse and back.
Friday: My legs were pretty sore from the previous night's activities, so I just rode a simple recovery/base ride to the lighthouse and back.
NP/IF/TSS: 169/0.649/64
Thursday: Raced in the city at nyvelocity's 'Drink Floyd' CRCA Junior fundraiser roller races. I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but completely as well as I had expected, so no loss there. I more or less ended up 5th, behind two national champs and big Al and his teammate. But really, if you think about it (il)logically, since Al and his teammate were sharing the same shoes and bike, that's basically like one person, and pros really are in their own league, so naturally I came in second among the local amateurs. Thank you, positive spin. In reality, I was very happy to be out of the running by the time I did, because for a little while after my 3rd round, I thought I might pass out and/or die. Fortunately, a short time of wretching on the floor and clinging to walls and I was good as new. Insert a useful lesson on proper nutrition and not overexerting yourself here. Here's the gconnect data:
Thursday: Raced in the city at nyvelocity's 'Drink Floyd' CRCA Junior fundraiser roller races. I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but completely as well as I had expected, so no loss there. I more or less ended up 5th, behind two national champs and big Al and his teammate. But really, if you think about it (il)logically, since Al and his teammate were sharing the same shoes and bike, that's basically like one person, and pros really are in their own league, so naturally I came in second among the local amateurs. Thank you, positive spin. In reality, I was very happy to be out of the running by the time I did, because for a little while after my 3rd round, I thought I might pass out and/or die. Fortunately, a short time of wretching on the floor and clinging to walls and I was good as new. Insert a useful lesson on proper nutrition and not overexerting yourself here. Here's the gconnect data:
Seeding TT:
1k Rounds:
500m Rep:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132220237
Wednesday: Did some acceleration and max cadence work on the rollers to prep for roller racing tomorrow night. We'll see how that goes.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132220237
Wednesday: Did some acceleration and max cadence work on the rollers to prep for roller racing tomorrow night. We'll see how that goes.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131985787
Tuesday: Endurance ride with a stop at the Kreb Cycle to pay for a friday night race that I didn't have cash for at the time. Upon leaving, I heard a clicking by my front tire which I couldn't wipe away with my hand. Turns out it was a carpet tack jammed into my tire. My natural reaction was to pull it out to see how long it was, but this of course meant my tire deflated immediately, and I had to walk back to the shop which was fortunately right down the street. I changed tubes at the shop so I could use the floor pump instead of my C02 inflator and continued on my ride. I abbreviated it slightly on account of the delay as well as an excuse to check out some less traveled roads.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131767561
Tuesday: Endurance ride with a stop at the Kreb Cycle to pay for a friday night race that I didn't have cash for at the time. Upon leaving, I heard a clicking by my front tire which I couldn't wipe away with my hand. Turns out it was a carpet tack jammed into my tire. My natural reaction was to pull it out to see how long it was, but this of course meant my tire deflated immediately, and I had to walk back to the shop which was fortunately right down the street. I changed tubes at the shop so I could use the floor pump instead of my C02 inflator and continued on my ride. I abbreviated it slightly on account of the delay as well as an excuse to check out some less traveled roads.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131767561
NP/IF/TSS: 159W/0.611/132
Monday: Rest day. Did some rock climbing with Dave for an hour or two.
Monday: Rest day. Did some rock climbing with Dave for an hour or two.
2012: A Look Ahead
The next season is upon me. I look to it with indifference and a lack of motivation. I think it was the extra time off that I took this year, but I just do not even want to begin the training regimen. However, the fact of the matter is here we are, so training must occur. I've decided that my main focus for next year will be track racing. I'm hoping to go to more wednesday night races, as well as a few (or more) tuesday night t-town races. Perhaps if the season goes well, even some Friday nights. Oh Friday nights. The big league.
Here are the goals that I've come up with for this season:
1. 1:15 Kilo - This is the same time as I foolishly chose two seasons ago. Let's hope I can come out ahead this time.
2. Top 5 at Kissena Opening Weekend and State Championships. Don't fix what ain't broke.
3. Qualify for Elite Track National Championships. I have my eyes to the stars this year. Of course I'll have to change this if they don't have qualifiers again. In that case, I'll probably switch to qualify for all races at elite nats (via a Cat2 upgrade).
The A races that I've chosen so far are Opening Weekend at Kissena and NY State Champs. In addition to this, I have the elite international omnium nationals and standard elite nationals dates on my calendar. My training plan is still a little fuzzy as to what I will do to peak for these after opening weekend, but I'll just play it by feel.
Here are the goals that I've come up with for this season:
1. 1:15 Kilo - This is the same time as I foolishly chose two seasons ago. Let's hope I can come out ahead this time.
2. Top 5 at Kissena Opening Weekend and State Championships. Don't fix what ain't broke.
3. Qualify for Elite Track National Championships. I have my eyes to the stars this year. Of course I'll have to change this if they don't have qualifiers again. In that case, I'll probably switch to qualify for all races at elite nats (via a Cat2 upgrade).
The A races that I've chosen so far are Opening Weekend at Kissena and NY State Champs. In addition to this, I have the elite international omnium nationals and standard elite nationals dates on my calendar. My training plan is still a little fuzzy as to what I will do to peak for these after opening weekend, but I'll just play it by feel.
17.11.11
2011.51: 11/14-11/20 - two weeks left
Well there are only two weeks left until my 2012 season. I'm still having trouble getting motivated for the riding in the cold. Hopefully once it hits I'll just learn to deal. But I sure won't be happy about it. I haven't been riding much lately as I've been getting over an achilles tendon problem after doing two long rides a couple of weeks back. I'm starting to think maybe I'll post my rides as those little embedded strava things. maybe i'll stick with gconnect, but embed as well. The times are changing.
Thursday- Did 3x10 squats, then some pushups.
Wednesday- Transverse planks, crunches.
And here, I'm going to test this embedding stuff. Here's my ride to bear mountain that destroyed my achilles:
NP/IF: 173 / 0.66
30.10.11
2011.49: A look back.
Here we come to the end of the season. I actually still have a few weeks left, but I'm just bored, I figured I would get this out of the way and move on to prep for 2012. So how did I do this year? Let's take a look:
Season Goals:
-1.16.5 kilo
-Top 5 Opening Weekend and States
-Top 10 cat4 road race
As for the kilo, my fastest time was at States this year with a 1:16.11, so hooray for me! 1-0
Opening weekend I managed first overall after winning the kilo with a 1:17.41, the team sprints with Andy and Siraaj at 1:31.33, the points race, and the miss and out. I also had a second place in the scratch and third in the match sprints. Good job me, that's half the goal.
At states I was able to get second overall with a first place team sprint with Colin and Alan at 1:28.28. I also got second in the kilo with the 1:16.11, as well as third in sprints and second in the points race. All of this I attribute to only 8 1/2/3's showing up. Regardless, this means my goals are now 2-0. woo-ha!
Goal 3? yeah, fuck goal 3. I didn't do a single cat 4 road race. I registered for one. But I didn't go. 2-1, I'll still take it.
Notable other accomplishments for this season include:
-Upgrade to 4 on the road. hey, it's a start
-Upgrade to 3 on the track. Riding with the big boys.
-First overall at the International Omnium
All told, I'd say this was another successful season, and I look forward to 2012. Thanks to all who helped me out this year.
2011.47-49: Weekly recap
So what have I been doing lately, you ask? Well let me tell you. nothing. Actually, that's a slight lie, two tuesdays ago (10/18) I went to Kissena to do some work with my aerobars as well as some flying 200's. I used a 50x16 gear, so nothing race pace. Mostly just trying to find a better line. Here's the data:
Feel free to analyze that until your heart's content. And then let me know what the data says, because I still haven't even looked at it. I've been too busy since then with a sore throat turned sinus infection. It's been kicking my butt so much.
I finally got out on the road on 10/28. It was the first really cold day here. I rode with Ron and Art of SBRA. Not much to report, all three of us had a hard time with the ride at one point or another.
You know what? I was going to do a seasonal recap of 2011, but I'm going to save that for its own post.
4.10.11
2011.41-44: 9/5-10/2
um...Well hello there. I seem to have had a blog at some point. I guess I should get back into this.
But in reality, what has been happening in the past few weeks? Not much. I've been riding the fixie occasionally. Then I did this bike tour in mid september. It was pretty cool. Then I didn't ride at all. So there's that. Looking to the future, I'm going to say don't really expect many updates until next year's season starts up again. There's been some talk about maybe doing some fall training sessions at the track, so I'll try to hit those up. I think next year I'm going to race track more or less exclusively (which isn't much different from this year), but with the goal of going to nationals. And hopefully doing well there. Up until next season starts though, I'm still planning on taking it easy, maybe doing some sailing. Time will tell. Just keep looking here occasionally. There'll be some updates soon.
1.9.11
2011.40: 8/29-9/4
Sunday: nothing probably.
Saturday: Rode with Soap and his brother in law Nelson. nelson is training for a century, so we did a long ride. It was hard and windy. I think I might have broken his spirit. I sure hope not. He'll do fine.
Time: 03:56:19
Distance: 60.26mi
Speed: 15.3/32.3mph
Cadence: 85/134rpm
HR: n/a
NP/IF: n/a
Friday: nothing.
Thursday: I haven't been able to sleep well at all, so I just gave up and rode in the morning today. Went to Cedar beach, hoping I might run into a guy I used to work with. Didn't see him, but it was still a good ride. According to strava.com, I did the east broadway climb in exactly the same time as the last time I rode it. which is suprising, because last time I blasted up the start and died at the top, whereas this one I just chugged up slowly the whole way. I thought for sure this time would be much slower.
Time: 01:34.15
Distance: 29.27mi
Speed: 18.6/38.4mph
Cadence: 91/126rpm
HR: 154/190bpm
NP/IF: N/A
Wednesday: rode the peug to the local marine supply to find out they still didn't have power. I figured I was close enough to setauket to check out the hardware store, so I rode there. Apparently they must have moved, because there was no hardware store where I thought it was. Since I was in setauket, I figured I would just ride on to Port Jeff to try to get some boat parts there. Parts were ordered and I rode home, with a stop at west meadow beach. No data for any of this though. I figure maybe 20ish miles or so?
Tuesday: Looked at and bought a sailboat. It's a long story. No riding.
RACE: Kreb Friday Night #10 - 8/26
This was the last Friday night race of the season. I figured I might as well do it, since I also did the first race. Closure and all that. I decided at the last minute to switch to my race tubs again, since there wasn't much point to lugging around my relatively heavy ptap wheel without being able to get some power data from it. This made me a little late and I had to rush out the door.
I made it in time, but realized I forgot to stop at the bank to get money for the race fees. Chris was kind and let me race on an IOU. I did the A race this time, with a relatively low turnout. I doubt even 10 guys. 16 laps in total, I believe. Everything started fine, and was going along de rigeur. I tried to make a few breaks work out, but it wasn't to be. Eventually at 8 to go, a prime was announced. I for some reason led that entire lap from the bell around. At the hill Gregory jumped in between me and one other guy, which was honestly impressive. I attacked after him and got a good gap going, but I always forget there's a flat section between the top of the hill and the turn for the finish. Eventually, by the time I hit the finish line two guys sprinted past me, but I still had a gap in front of everyone else. Again, I didn't eat much that day, so I got dropped trying to get back on the group. I warmed down for a few laps and then sat and watched the finish sprint. Ben was there as well, able to do the B race. I think he finished in the money. Congrats Ben!
2011.38: 8/22-8/24
Sunday: hurricane. of course, after it was over, I went down to cordwood beach on my bike. lots of wet leaves and a pretty steep downhill is kinda scary. I ran into soap and his girlfriend at the beach though. go figure.
Saturday: nothing. Final prep for hurricane irene.
Friday: did the last kreb race of the season. see race report. Went in to the city afterward for soap's girlfriend's birthday party.
Thursday: Ptap started out working, but seems to have stopped partway through the ride.
Time: 01:16.11
Distance: 22.47mi
Speed: 17.7/37.7mph
Cadence: 89/123rpm
HR: 160/188bpm
NP/IF: N/A
Wednesday: nothing. Last day at the track, but....eh. I took out my ptap batteries and put them back in thinking maybe just the contacts weren't clean. They're supposed to last for 400 hours of riding, but I've only had that wheel for 200.
Tuesday: Helped Ron with a ride that he was doing for his spin class. Climbing class. Afterward, I rode to another SBRA ride up in setauket area. I had switched back to my powertap wheelset, but my power data was intermittent. I think the batteries need to be replaced or something. I'll get to that eventually. Also, Ben was on the second ride. Holy moses, he rode me into the ground. And he has a separated collarbone or something. In my defense, I was running out of energy because all I had for breakfast was 1 banana. Also, I found out there's an artesian well at west meadow beach. cool.
Time: 04:02:44
Distance: 68.84mi
Speed: 17.0/36.9mph
Cadence: 86/148rpm
HR: 153/192bpm
NP/IF: N/A
22.8.11
RACE: Kissena Twilight Series 8/17
I know I'm on a roll here with updating this blog, but...eh, i'll finish this later. Have some data:
EDIT: the full report. more or less.
Alright, so we're near the end of the season, i'm about cooked. Karl didn't seem to be feeling much more excited about racing than me. We get to the track and do the usual routine.
The first race was a nine lap scratch. I saw Jared warming up and figured he would be the stiffest competition, but just before racing tadeusz showed up as well. He had some bike problems in the first race though, not sure what that was about. I don't really remember much about what happened anymore, but I was able to barely outsprint Jared for the win. Hooray.
Second was a 3 lap point-a-lap. On the first lap I tried to outsprint tad, but he edged me out by a wheel. For some reason instead of keeping the pace hot, I swung uptrack to get back to the group. I didn't really see any action after that. I think the sprint in the previous race toasted me.
The final race was a 7 lap tempo. Again, don't remember what happened anymore, but I didn't really play a big role.
All in all, I managed to get second overall for the night. I'll take it.
2011.38: 8/15-8/21 - Something or other
Sunday: nada.
Saturday: Another short ride to the lighthouse. I was having trouble riding hard. Suddenly my gut would just burn. Like heartburn, but more stomach level. gut-rot, i guess. Maybe I need to start doing crunches again or something.
Time: 01:51:42
Distance: 32.69mi
Speed: 17.6/37.7mph
Cadence: 86/175?rpm
Cadence: 86/175?rpm
HR: 156/190bpm
NP/IF: N/A(still got the race tubs on. i'll change eventually)
Friday: Thought about doing the Kreb race, but there was a constant threat of rain and thunder if I remember correct-like.
Thursday: After finishing Andy's bike, we did a short ride around the area to loosen up the legs and diagnose any possible problems with the build. Fortunately, none were found, though I think we went a little hard in the beginning. Andy was hoping to do Rockleigh crit later that day, so he didn't want to go too crazy.
Time: 00:51:46
Distance: 13.86mi
Speed: 16.1/39.1mph
Cadence: ...n/a? musta had a sensor issue or something. weird.
HR: 137/181bpm
Cadence: ...n/a? musta had a sensor issue or something. weird.
HR: 137/181bpm
NP/IF: N/A (race tubs)
Wednesday: raced at the track with Karl. See the race report if it ever gets written. Afterward, I headed back to my house with Andy to help him build up a new road bike. We hit a couple of snags with FD clamp sizes and crud like that. The usual, so we finished it the next day.
Tuesday: Rode around with my race tubulars on my bike. Risky, but I am lazy. Too lazy to change wheels and brake pads. Short ride, nothing much to talk about.
Time: 01:18:56
Distance: 23.30mi
Speed: 17.7/38.0mph
Cadence: 88/118rpm
HR: 160/187bpm
NP/IF: N/A
9.8.11
2011.37: 8/8-8/14 - Race Week 3??
Well I seem to have fallen into a bit of a slump again. I don't really have any big races left and so I'm just riding for fun when I can, but nothing structured or with any motivation. Which is fun and all, but I just don't want to start next season too far out of form. And I'd still like to do well in the wednesday track series. This heat is really kicking my ass though. But on the other hand, is it really so bad to just relax, take an easy ride to the beach and sit with my feet in the water? Who knows.
I do have some races on the radar that interest me. This weekend is Tokeneke classic, a pretty cool road race in CT. I might see if I can get up there just to see how my climbing legs are nowadays. There's also Green Mountain Stage Race, but that thing is like $200 to register for. Also, I could potentially do Elite Nationals for track. There are no qualifiers this year, you just have to be a cat 3. So I might do that. I'm still up in the air on that one, just because I know I won't podium or anything and so I don't want to just be wasting everyone's time. It would be cool to go just to gain experience at another track though. And who am I kidding? I'd love to tell people that I went to elite nats. Beyond that, I'm going to do some touring in September with a friend along the Katy Trail in Missouri, so I guess I should keep some fitness up for that.
Sunday: rain, rain, go away. It poured and poured. And when it stopped it poured some more. No tokeneke for me. No road race this year, looks like.
Saturday: nada. went sailing with my Uncle aboard his piratical ship.
Friday: Rode to syosset to pick up some new tires that I had ordered. Had a headwind riding in to syosset, so I went hard to minimize time losses. I was looking forward to the fast return home with the wind. Well, I guess I went just a little too hard on the upwind trip, because I hit the wall pretty hard on the way back. I actually had a slower average speed with the wind than against. I had to stop in king's park to pick up some snacks from 7-11 so I could limp home. boo.
Time: 02:08:52
Distance: 41.06mi
Speed: 19.1/37.5mph
Speed: 19.1/37.5mph
Cadence: 93/122rpm
HR: 171/192bpm
NP/IF: 190w/0.731
Thursday: Decided to ride to Northport with Soap in order to check out a new cafe. The caffe portofino. Good espresso, nice atmosphere. I love northport. and hate consistent capitalization. Anyhow, on the way there soap was complaining about a wobble in his front wheel on the downhills. Turns out the sidewall on his front tubular was bursting. whoops. I let out some air and we limped back home for him to put on his front wheel from his track bike. Headed back out without problem this time. Well not for me, at least. I think soap almost died on a few of the climbs. Gravity's a bitch.
Time: 02:25:40
Distance: 36.80mi
Speed: 15.2/37.7mph
Cadence: 81/125rpm
HR: 145/190bpm
HR: 145/190bpm
NP/IF: 180W/0.692
Wednesday: nada.
Tuesday: Did some AE intervals at night. Could only manage a 6 and then 5 minute interval at 250W
Monday: rest day. Rested. because I've been training so hard and all....
1.8.11
2011.36: 8/1-8/7 - Race pt.2?
Sunday: bummed around the neighborhood for a little. no data.
Saturday: short ride to the beaches. nothing to write home about. hopefully next week i'll get back into training again.
Time: 00:58:16
Distance: 17.03mi
Speed: 17.5/33.9mph
Cadence: 88/113rpm
HR: n/a
NP/IF: n/a
Friday: watched other guys race tandems at t-town.
Thursday: nothing. on vacation headed to pennsylvania. Was planning on racing tandems at the track tomorrow, but found out Steve couldn't make it. boo.
Wednesday: apparently nothing again. I think I was aiming to hit the track, but it got rained out.
Tuesday: nothing. lazy.
2011.35: 7/25-7/31 - Post-Race
Well here we are again. My second A race is done, so now I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do with myself again. Steve had been talking about doing tandem track nationals, so I might have that coming up. Otherwise, I am eligible for regular track nats this year. I'm just not sure if it'd be worth it for me to head out there just for the experience, or if I'd just be wasting everyone's time. I'll have to ask Colin what he thinks. In the meantime, I'm just gonna take it easy for a little. Possibly do some road races.
Sunday: nothing. man, i'm lazy.
Saturday: Felt the need to ride again. I felt really tired and slow the whole time. Maybe this whole epic road race idea is not so smart. I did get to take some little side trips though, so it worked out well in a just-riding-around-for-kicks kind of way.
Time: 02:26:40
Distance: 43.39mi
Speed: 17.7/28.9mph
Cadence: 90/118rpm
HR: 161/180bpm
NP/IF: n/a
Friday: also nothing.
Thursday: nothing.
Wednesday: Rode out to Port Jeff to do some hills and stuff. Created some new Strava KOM's.
Time: 01:41:09
Distance: 29.13mi
Speed: 17.3/37.8mph
Cadence: 85/127rpm
HR: n/a
NP/IF: n/a
Tuesday: no riding. job interview. what a waste of time.
Monday: Rest day. rested.
26.7.11
RACE: Kissena NY State Track Championships 7/24
The weather was unbearable. Stupid hot, stupid humid. I had to get up at 5:45 in order to get to the track on time for the 8am start. I decided to go with my new winning pre-race meal plan of beer and steak, but since I wasn't going to start drinking or grilling that early in the morning, I just had to drink and eat a lot the night before. It made for some pretty dodgy sleeping.
So there I was. Hot, hung over, tired, and ready to race. The attendance ended up being far lighter than any of us expected. Al Barouh apparently decided it wasn't worth his time, which i can't blame him, but it bummed me out. I was really looking forward to the competition he would bring.
The first event was the team sprint. I had talked to Al about getting a team together to try to give Colin a run for his money. Unfortunately, since Al didn't come I ended up on Colin's team. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? The team consisted of me starting, Alan Buday second, with Colin as the anchor. Needless to say, with a stacked team like that (and me!) we won the gold. Also, we were the only cat1/2/3 team. Whatever, it's still a victory to me. The official time was 1:28.28, which I'm pretty sure is damn fast. During my part of the sprint though I really felt like my start was sluggish and I wasn't getting up to speed quickly. From what I've heard though, we all started smoothly and stayed together, so I guess it was good enough.
Next was the kilo. Since we were in no rush for time because of the light turnout, we all started on the backstretch in order to finish on the homestretch. I felt like this was my best executed kilo yet. The start felt strong with a nice easy transition to seated after around 160ish meters in. I continued to hold the pace easy until the last half lap, where i really had to motivate myself to finish. I don't think the pace dropped really, it just hurt a lot more. Official time was a 1:16.11, which I think is right around 29.5mph avg. It's nice to still be improving on my kilo time. Sometimes I wonder what I'll do when my kilo times stop getting better.
Wrapping up the first session was the points race. Alan ended up combining the categories to make a cat 1/2/3/4 points race at 25 laps, 5 sprints. The 4's were scored separately though. Most of the 1/2/3's started at the front of the rail, myself being the exception, starting a little behind where the gate is. That's what I get for being slow to get up there. The group pretty much stayed together until the first sprint where Colin started to go off the front. Two other guys went and then I tried to bridge. I caught up to them and then jumped up to Colin who looked like he was slowing down for me to catch up. We traded pulls with one of the other two coming up for a little bit. Colin let me win one of the sprints, which was much appreciated. He told me about a lap and a half before the sprint though, so I just stayed in front until the sprint. I don't know if that's what Colin wanted or expected, but it's just what I thought I should do at the time. This kinda put me in the red though which wasn't helped by Colin wanting to lap the field. I told him I didn't have anything left, so he just motored on ahead and passed a few guys. I had a good gap to the third place guy, so I just spun my way to the finish.
This ended the first session, which I think was around 11am or so. Session 2 wasn't until 2pm, so Karl and I drove around looking for some food. The heat was really getting to me by then, so I really wasn't hungry at all. I just got a large iced coffee, which I think was a terrible idea because the caffeine really made me feel like crud. I also got a double cheeseburger in mcdonalds as we sat in the A/C, but I only ate half of it. On the way back to the track, Karl bought us two bags of ice to keep us cool, which I think really did the trick. By the time session two started I was starting to feel slightly alive again.
Session two started with flying 200's to determine seeding for the sprints. I decided to step up my gearing to a 50x14, which I think is around 96" or so. Karl and I both used the same gearing (same rear wheel, actually) to achieve similar 200 times of 12.66 and 12.60 seconds, respectively. I think the gear really helped me knock off a second from my time last year, which was a 13.55.
My first sprint was against Colin. He had the obligation to lead, so I just sat behind waiting for his jump. First lap was pretty uneventful, with him slowing down in turn 3 to try to get me to pass. I was almost expecting us to try some trackstanding. He continued to lead, with some little jumps in turn 1. We both jumped about the same time, I came downtrack first and into the sprinter's lane, but he was able to pass me and come right around. I tried to at least keep pace, but he kept on pulling away through 3&4. On the plus side, I think I hit my fastest cadence on the track so far at 145rpm.
After this was supposed to be the scratch and the sprint finals, but during the cat4 scratch the skies opened up and sweet, sweet cooling rain came down. We held out until the 4's finished and then it started really pouring, so Alan called off the rest of the events. I really wasn't that upset about it and spent a good amount of time running around in the rain cooling off. And busting my ass sliding into the gate trying to hold it open for some guys coming through.
The official medal tally is:
Gold: 1 - Team Sprint
Silver: 3 - Kilo, Points, Overall
Bronze: 1 - Match Sprints (Based on flying200 time)
In addition, this also completes two of my 3 season goals. Those being a top 5 finish at both opening weekend and states, and a 1:16.5 or faster kilo time. All in all, I'd say this was a great result for me. Just sucks that more people couldn't have come out.
EDIT: In case you're wondering how Karl did, he rocked the cat 4's. Won the team sprints with Andy and Steve, won the Kilo with a 1:17.21, won the points, won the match sprints, 3rd in the scratch, first overall. Now he upgraded to the 3's with me. Hooray Karl!
Also, full results are here:
25.7.11
2011.34: 7/18-7/24 - Race!!
Sunday: the race! the A race, in fact. known as: STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS! woo-ha! See the race report. Also, post-race I rode around with danny on the fixed gears. Major jungle butt was happening, possibly soon to turn to saddle sores. At least we were able to soothe our woes with delicious pumpkin spice beer from harvards. Is it almost fall already?
Saturday: Same as yesterday. by the end of the day my copious amounts of aloe seemed to have taken the edge off the pain on the sunburn. Hopefully I can wear my skinsuit tomorrow without screaming in agony. Also, in the evening I went to Danny's for some grillin' and drinkin'. Probably a terrible idea for before states, but it's not like I was going to sleep well anyhow.
Friday: Stupid hot and stupid sunburned don't mix. Stayed inside and cried. While watching le tour.
Thursday: went to the beach with soap. Got stupidly sunburned. Turns out when they say UV rays are still really bad even on a cloudy/foggy/hazy day, they're telling the truth. Who'd have thought. Also, I neglected to mention that yesterday I rode Aria, the PedalForce as I got fed up with my fork problems on Gigi the Guru. I'm going to either have to re-epoxy the aluminum insert on my alphaQ or otherwise just buy a new fork. The bike was just handling so poorly without being able to properly preload the headset bearings.
Wednesday: No racey-racey. Probably should have gone in order to fine tune for states, but...eh. Rode out to the lighthouse again, then stopped at West Meadow. I actually got off the bike this time and waded in the water for a little. It was honestly a really great day. One of those real lazy summer days. Sitting on the jetty watching the boats come in and out. Thought I saw a cute girl a little further down the beach with a cruiser bike. Turns out looks can be deceiving from far away. Whoops. Story of my life.
Time: 01:35:51
Distance: 27.98mi
Speed: 17.5/35.7mph
Cadence: 85/144rpm
HR: none
HR: none
NP/IF: none
Tuesday: More resting. Just for good measure. I think I went boating with danny. Good times. Note to self: Don't run out of gas in front of the ferry as it's powering out to Connecticut.
18.7.11
RACE: Kissena International Omnium 7/17
The weather was hot and windy. Fortunately Joe Brennan had some extra tents that we put up to keep the riders out of the shade. Joe also had chips and cold sodas/water for everyone. He definitely puts on a good race. I got there right around 9ish and helped set up a little. Racing started a little late as apparently there was some confusion about start time among the officials. No worries, I hardly even noticed.
The first race was a flying 500m scratch race. I think it's one of Joe's crazy races. I remembered from last year that if you're in the back, you'll never make up the distance, so I made sure to stay toward the front. I jumped on the home stretch and just tried to hammer the full lap. My wheel jumped twice in turn 2 again. I don't know what's going on with that. I think it might be partially because of the wind direction. Anyhow, got to the line first. Hooray.
Next was a Keirin for the flying 500 qualifiers. Kim got the spot behind the moto (does that have a name?). I sat behind and to the side of her. Kinda half wheeling between 1st and 2nd place. I tucked in until the moto pulled off and then attacked. I don't remember where on the track I attacked, but I was able to get the win. I guess I should pay more attention to this stuff.
The third race was a miss and out. This again was a modified format race with two neutral laps to start. The first lap was super slow because we weren't sure if the race had started yet as we never got the whistle. Eventually the race started and I slotted in to the front. I've started racing miss and outs like this now, as when I try to sit toward the back, I usually get boxed in. Suprisingly, I was able to sit up front for the whole race and get the win in this one.
After this was a 15 lap points race combined between the 1/2/3's and the 4's. It was nice to have a bigger field for this one. First sprint I jumped early and really had to work hard to hold my lead. After that I just kinda pulled up and cooled the pace off a little. The two other sprints held a similar theme with me having to go hard to hold off one of the cat4 guys and then pulling uptrack afterward to try to recover. On the last sprint I was able to get keith to lead me out which really helped. Otherwise had he pulled up, I would have had to lead the entire last lap.
The final event of the day was a standing start 400m. I was hoping for a fast start as the wind was behind me, but I felt so sluggish. The start was looong and then holding that pace felt really labored. I guess it was just so much hard riding earlier in the day combined with the wind. Regardless, I posted a pretty good time, 2nd for the day.
This put me in first for the omnium, and another job well done. After this I headed to the All-American Shootout Roller race thingy with keith, where I proceeded to get schooled by pros. Always a fun time.
RACE: Kissena Twilight Series 7/13
This report is once again looking back into the mists of time, so I'm sure it will be lacking in most, if not all, the details. I remember it was balls hot. Possibly slightly windy as well. This would be my first night in the 1/2/3's. Only 4 showed up. Al B, Joe B, Andrew W and me.
The first event of the night was a Miss and Out. Since there was only 4 of us, the format was changed slightly to have 2 neutral laps, pull, pull, neutral again, sprint. Pretty sure that was how it went. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure I sat up front again to make sure I didn't get pulled for some stupid reason. This ended up with just Al and me. I rode up front, going up high on the banking. Al made his move and I tried to jump after him, but I wasn't really on the ball. He got a good gap that I just couldn't close. 1st to him, 2nd to me.
Next was a 7 lap Tempo. Al got the first two sprints, then gave me the next sprint. Sprint 4 I was able to nip him at the line bringing us even in points. That sprint was enough to put me too far in the red however, so I fell back for the next two, with about a 10m gap behind Al. The final sprint I tried to bridge up, but some quick math in my head showed I wouldn't have the points to beat him at 8 to 6 with 3,2,1 available at the line. I rolled in for another second with first to Al again.
The final race was supposed to be a feature of some sorts. Unfortunately some random thunder and rain put an end to that. Karl, Steve and Andy rode a quick team sprint to prep for states and that was that.
13.7.11
2011.33: 7/11-7/17 - Peak
Sunday: Did the Kissena international omnium and then headed to the Morgan for some pro invitational roller races. Fortunately I was able to get in on the invitational part, not so much pro. See the race report for the int'l omnium, but i'll post here about the roller race since it wasn't official. There were lots of big names there: Giddeon Massie, Andy Lakatosh, Gibby Hatton and a few others. Al Barouh and I were holding up the local contingent. My first heat I went up against lakatosh and i forget who else. About midway through the sprint I started hearing "whoa! whoa!" and thought something had happened so i cut my effort. needless to say i came in last on that one. Second heat I made sure not to stop halfway through. Forgot who i was up against. maybe al and someone else? Regardless, came in last again but at least held my dignity on this one. The final round I was able to do was against Giddeon. just two up. What a blast that one was. I went all out for it and my sunglasses actually fell off my head and just stuck in my fork, melting the earpiece a little. Just for facts and details, first round I was on the red rollers held up by scott demel, second was the middle rollers, blue i think. held up by mr. hatton. Final round were the green? rollers held by Dave Perry. What a great night though.
Heat 3: forgot to turn on my garmin. boo.
Saturday: really short spin workout on the rollers to prep for tomorrow. not much to see here:
Friday: did the Kreb ride for once. Surprisingly, it didn't suck. Though I did get a flat. In the parking lot before I left. What a pain. The rest of the ride was uneventful however. It seemed like the big riders were more focused on the climby section than the motorpace section at the end.
Time: 03:24:05
Distance: 65.34mi
Speed: 19.2/35.9mph
Cadence: 92/135rpm
HR: 153/194bpm
NP/IF: 191W/0.737
Thursday: nothing. resting or something.
Wednesday: raced at the track. see the race report that may or may not exist at some point. No other bicycle usage of note.
Tuesday: on vacation. nothing.
EDIT: this is a lie. I rode in the evening.
Time: 01:18:31
Distance: 21.84mi
Speed: 16.7/37.8mph
Cadence: 83/215 rpm (pretty sure that one is wrong)
HR: 160/190bpm
NP/IF: 197W/0.759
2011.32: 7/4-7/10 Build 1/2 Week 5
Sunday: more nothing.
Saturday: Couldn't sleep, so I got up early to do my sprints that I wanted to do thursday. I guess they went alright. I can't really tell. They sure seem slow, though.
Sprint - Max Speed - Max Power
1 - 31.2 - 904w
2 - 30.7 - 891
3 - 30.3 - 876
Friday: think i did some calf raises. that's all. I was going to do the kreb race, but it was storming hard by me. Apparently not further out on the island though.
Thursday: Tried to head to the beach to do some sprints if it wasn't too busy. Almost got crushed twice by a cement truck. The guy decided to pass me on a sharp blind turn with a dumptruck coming the opposite direction. Then he slows way down, so I pass him. Then he almost hits me again further down the road yelling out his passenger side window at me. I tried to get the police involved but of course they were nowhere to be found. The Nissequogue police aren't interested in helping anyone, just lining their pockets with money from tickets. Anyhow, the beach was crowded, so I gave up on the sprints, just rolled home pissed off.
Time: 00:42:23
Distance: 12.38mi
Speed: 17.5/37.5mph
Cadence: 87/121rpm
HR: 169/198bpm
Cadence: 87/121rpm
HR: 169/198bpm
NP/IF: 211W/0.812
Wednesday: nothing. lots of nothing.
Tuesday: Got up early to ride with ron. Good ride out to port jeff. I forgot how much east broadway hurts.
Time: 01:18:30
Distance: 23.26mi
Speed: 17.8/38.5mph
Speed: 17.8/38.5mph
Cadence: 86/114rpm
HR: 147/189bpm
HR: 147/189bpm
NP/IF: 215W/0.817
2.7.11
2011.31: 6/27-7/3 Build 1/2 Week 4
Sunday: nothing.
Saturday: Figured I would go for a long easy ride instead of my usual harder rides. The thinking was that maybe I just need some base miles or something. Well I don't know what I need, but it sure wasn't this ride. Felt like I couldn't put down any power the whole time. I don't know what's going on. My gut felt like crud, too. Like it was just made of stone. I wish I could just get past this.
Time: 04:01:39
Distance: 75.51mi
Distance: 75.51mi
Speed: 18.7/32.5mph
Cadence: 92/141rpm
HR: 156/183bpm
NP/IF: 173W/0.654
Friday: nothing. trying to rest.
Thursday: Tried riding again today. The sunburn isn't feeling too bad. It just kinda hurts when my jersey flaps around. Another dig coming in to the beach. I still felt very tired. Almost hollow feeling. It's weird. Maybe I'm not getting the right nutrients or something.
Time: 01:53:43
Distance: 34.20mi
Speed: 18.0/39.5mph
Cadence: 87/125rpm
HR: 158/185bpm
NP/IF: 204W/0.772
Wednesday: Yesterday I also spent some time on danny's boat, so now not only do i still feel like crud, I'm also sunburned. As such, no riding. no racing. no nothing.
Tuesday: still not really feeling it. I don't know what's going on. Went to the doctor as a walk-in, but he just prescribed some sleeping pills and said if i didn't feel better in 3 months, then I might have a problem. what a guy....
Time: 00:45:35
Distance: 13.81mi
Speed: 18.2/32.3mph
Cadence: 85/116rpm
HR: N/A
NP/IF: 200W/0.758
27.6.11
RACE: T-Town Masters & Rookies 6/27
I have finally gotten the chance to race at trexlertown. The track is just how I expected it to be. Fast, smooth, short. The facilities are great with showers, warm up areas, great officials and employees. The riders weren't what I expected though. I guess it makes sense as this track is really one of two world class venues in the US, but it still surprised me a bit. A lot of the guys just seemed very "roadie". By this I mean the guys at kissena are like a big family. Everybody talks to each other and is friendly to each other. We'll help each other bring their stuff to the track and back to the parking lot. This is one of the main reasons I love track racing and really don't care much for road racing. At road races everyone is out for themselves and that's it. Nobody talks to each other, nobody helps each other. That's how it seemed at T-town with a good handful of the guys. Don't get me wrong, I still talked to a few guys and we had a great time. Bottom line, you can't take this shit too seriously. Also, a lot of the guys rolled their bikes around instead of carrying them. Really, that's just not track.
Anyhow. So the weather forecast said 30% chance of rain from 7am until the next day so I really wasn't even sure if there would be racing, but this was basically my only chance to get out on a saturday before my track upgrade goes through. I went in to NYC on friday to stay with my brother. Helped him clean his apartment and drink his beers. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. I got only a couple of hours sleep before it was suddenly 7am. Time for business. Quick breakfast at George's would be the only food all day until I got home. Met up with Andy, headed to jersey city to pick up the others and off we went.
We got to T-town around 11:30 I would say. Registered, got number 432 which I think is my easiest-to-remember number thus far. Got changed in the locker room (a locker room!), then got warmed up.
The first race was a 15 lap (5k) scratch race. As usual, I found myself near the back and began to filter up through the pack. I found myself at the front pretty quick and decided to jam. Off the front I go, with nobody else bridging or coming with. around and around and around. Maybe I should just sit up? I set the burner to simmer and just keep on turning the pedals. Finally another guy bridges up to me, gets to the front and just slows down. Obviously has a teammate back in the group but I really didn't care. I was just tired of being by myself on the front. Nothing else to say about the rest of that race. Rolled in with the pack. I definitely felt like I was spinning out in my 90" when the heat was on.
Next was a Super Sprint Elimination. I think that's what they called it at least. A Devil's Scratch is what we call it at kissena. Miss and out until 10 guys left, then a 5 lap scratch. I alternated between staying up at the front uptrack a little and hanging near the back almost playing the devil. I just made sure there were less than 10 riders in front of me when we got to the start/finish line. I didn't get eliminated, which is always a good thing. I might have even placed in this one. I don't really remember. at around this point in the day the sky cleared up a little and it just became a hot, humid mess. I think I lost some of my brain cells to heat damage and that's why I have no clue what even happened in most of these races.
The third race was a 15 lap (5k) points race with 3 sprints. I think I was just about the last guy on the rail starting, so it took me beyond the first sprint to get in a good position. Nothing exciting for the first sprint, I think I got 1st in the second sprint and got pipped at the line for 3rd in the last. I don't really know if the placing went more than 3 places deep or not, so I might have gotten points for 4th, might not have.
This concluded the omnium and I ended in 4th overall. This meant I could do the A feature - A 36 lap scratch! Fortunately for me, they decided to shorten it by 2k to just a 30 lap scratch. The race started out casual as most longer races do. I think a couple of breakaway attempts. Nothing stuck. Finally two got away and it looked good. I got to the front to try to start bringing them back and next thing I know I look back and I have a gap between me and the rest of the field. So now there's 2 ahead, me in no man's land and the pack behind. I accept my fate and just get aero. Full steam ahead, trying to bridge. I finally get there with about two or three to go. Rest up a little, bell lap, look back and there's the pack. ffffuuuuuck. I sprint around the other two hoping to keep up some momentum to pull myself to the line, but it's no good. Soon after the pack just blows by me and I roll in.
All in all it was a fun time. looong day though. I finally got home around 9pm. The guys I was with said some of the other racers were talking behind my back about my skinsuit and helmet. I just don't see where that has any place in racing. Whatever.
23.6.11
2011.30: 6/20-6/26 - Build 1/2 Week 3
Sunday: Got pretty sunburned on my neck yesterday. Sat around without a shirt on all day today instead of doing something productive like riding.
Saturday: Raced at t-town. see the race report.
Friday: nothing. rain, then headed to Kreb (the Poulidor of bike shops) to ask many questions about track racing and pick up some new non-grip keo cleats.
Thursday: AE intervals today. Tried to maintain 250W. Looking at the data in hindsight, my HR seems low. Maybe I should have tried for a higher power. Only did two intervals at 6 minutes each. 4 minutes rest between to make the math easier.
Time: 00:25:02
NP/IF: 208/0.789
Wednesday: rainy looking, but I had to get to Roadworx (the shop that all other shops aspire to become). Felt good and strong. No pain. Was fast. Always a good thing. Got new cleats, new stem for the track bike and some tubes. The usual.
Time: 01:58:26
Distance: 40.82mi
Speed: 20.7/39.5mph
Cadence: 97/235?? that one seems wrong...
HR: 173/191bpm
NP/IF: 218W/0.826
Tuesday: rested today instead. Kinda rainy and stuff I think. still pain in the right hip and left knee.
Time: 01:30:09
Distance: 25.85mi
Speed: 17.2/36.0mph
Cadence: 85/117rpm
HR: 149/186bpm
NP/IF: 205/0.777
17.6.11
RACE: Kissena Twilight Series 6/15
Legs felt a little tired from doing squats the day before. Karl was tired, too, I think. One way or another we figured there would be a good turnout and as such, some upgrade points. Karl was all for me trying to win in order to upgrade. There in fact were a bunch of new people who showed up, some of which fast. Weather was warm and dry. started off with no wind, small gusts from time to time though. I put on a 90" gear this time around just to see how it would go. Comparing to last week's race doesn't really show any noticeable difference. slightly slower average cadence, slightly higher average speed.
The first race was a 6 lap tempo. I started off a bit back, so spent the first few laps catching up. At that point I just kept on going and attacked off the front. Stayed ahead for two laps, then came in 3rd in the final sprint to get one more point. This left me in second. I had a mean track hack after that one. I don't know what that was all about.
Next was a win and out. The first one I haven't won first on. Must be losing my touch. I got second place pretty easy though, so no worries there. I think Steve got first, so that's all good. Karl won the final sprint for 3rd.
Finally, a 4 lap point-a-lap, I started out in the right place for once, missed the first two sprints, but got the last two. This got me the win and the omnium. hooray.
The A feature consisted of a devil's scratch. I decided to try my luck at setting tempo at the front until all the riders to get pulled were pulled. Eventually however, alan and colin went around me and took over. I sat on the back trying to out-edge anyone else and this worked until the last person to get pulled. There was a mixup as to who got pulled at second to last and I sat up, but then found out it was someone else. I sprinted back on, but got pulled the final lap anyhow. I wasn't really feeling it at this point, so it was all good. I forgot how Karl did in the feature. I think he sat up because he was just as confused as me.
I think this might be my worst race report to date. I just don't really know what to write. I did get enough points to upgrade. That's probably worth mentioning.
14.6.11
2011.29: 6/13-6/19 - Build 1/2 Week 2
Sunday: Rode to syosset with a little extra loop to go down snake hill road. Missed the turn and went a little further, but whatever. A note: the road around to Caumsett state park sucks. Massive random holes in the shoulder. I felt like I was having knee tracking issues while I was riding. I think it's from my cleats being horribly worn. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and change them.
Time: 02:57:52
Distance: 57.35mi
Speed: 19.3/38.2mph
Cadence: 91/162rpm
HR: 165/191bpm
NP/IF: 202W/0.764
Saturday: nada. legs hurt.
Friday: Did some intervals. 2x6min with 3 min rest. Tried for a third, but couldn't handle it.
Time: 00:27:01
NP/IF: 210W/0.790
Thursday: nada. forgot that I was supposed to do stuff.
Wednesday: Track racing, see the post for that. I was going to ride to syosset beforehand, but my shoes were still soaking wet from the rain yesterday.
Tuesday: Woke up early to ride with Ron on the YGTBK series. The weather had said we wouldn't get rained on until 11am, but suprise suprise, around 6ish the rains began. All in all, it was still a fun (yet wet) ride. Also, riding down 347 in the rain without a shoulder is scary. very scary.
Time: 00:59:20
Distance: 18.66 mi
Speed: 18.9/34.5 mph
Cadence: 98/175 rpm
HR: 153/178 bpm
NP/IF: 176W/0.661
Also! I did some squats today. The usual 3x10reps at X amount of weight. I don't know, look it up. 85lbs or something? In addition, I did some calf raises.
RACE: Kreb Friday Night #1 6/10
I'm not really in a race report writing mood, which probably was pretty obvious as this is five days overdue. So let's just get to it.
Drove to the race. Driving is really boring. Wasn't allowed to do the A race, so I stuck with the B's. I had put in for my 5>4 upgrade, but it hadn't been approved yet. In fact it got denied the other day. How stupid. I mean really, do the 10 races really need to be verified? It's not like 5>4 is really a major upgrade or anything. Like has been said by better bloggers than me, a cat 4 is just a cat 5 who's done 10 races. But I digress.
My plan then, since this race was another cat 5 waste of time was to just go hard often and always. I was able to toe the line at the very front, so as soon as the race started I went straight into go fast mode. 28mph on the front stretch, less on the back thanks to wind and that hill type thing. I don't think too many people appreciated the hot start to the race, but hey, "hell is the rhythm of others".
There was a prime. I attacked early, one guy bridged and attacked me. I couldn't respond so I sat up. No point in getting spit out the back after having missed the prime. Found out in the end that the other guy got dq'd, so that prime would have went to me had I not sat up. What a bunch of crap. Instead it went to one of the Rocky Point guys, of which there were 3. Their team tactics basically consisted of "hey, let's all attack at the same time, with nobody blocking". You know, cat 5 stuff. they'll figure it out eventually. The Kreb womens' team were making good moves though. Nice tactics and all. Unfortunately, this didn't fit in with my tactics, which were to bring back every attack, and then counter attack.
Eventually the race neared an end. It couldn't have come soon enough. I forgot how long non-track racing is. Makes you wonder why anyone would do it. So with 2 to go, the A field passes us. Then as usual, they slow down and we're stuck trying to figure out if we should pass them or not. We eventually give up on being nice and pass them again. Being ego filled A's, they bitch and then try to pass us again. Nevermind that we're nearing the bell lap at this point and they still have 6 to go. What a joke. Most likely if the B field had just been started earlier, we wouldn't have seen each other.
Final lap, I find myself at the front. oh well. Rocky point winds up their train and i believe gets 1,2,3. Someone else at 4, i'm sitting pretty for 5 with a good gap to the rest of the field so i cool it down. Some CRCA guy sprints around me taking 5th, i get 6th. I don't know how to feel about that. On one hand I should have been paying more attention. On the other hand, pipping me at the line for 5th is pretty amateur.
That's the race. I'm starting to think fast Alan has a good point that you could get just as good training without paying $10. We'll see if I do any others this season. Maybe this is why it took me 5 years to put in my upgrade.
Time: 01:02:55
Distance: 25.72 mi
Speed: 24.5/37.7 mph
Cadence: 94/127 rpm
HR: 180/196 bpm
NP/IF: 246W/0.946
11.6.11
2011.28: 6/6- 6/12 Build 1&2 Week 1
Alright. So. I feel like I start most of my blog entries with that. I'll have to work on my post introductions. Anyhow, what's important here is that State Championships are actually a month earlier than I thought they were. As such, my plan is to do a stupid 5 week Build 1/2 combo madness thing. Then some peaking. Then some racing. Hopefully with some winning involved.
Sunday: Nope. nothing.
Saturday: Not a thing.
Friday: Kreb race. See race report. No other riding or training was done.
Thursday: Decided on hill repeats for today. Only 3 repeats, as it was starting to look very stormy. First repeat was seated on the hoods, next standing on the hoods, finally standing in the drops. Just to see what the difference would be. Were I smart however, I would have made separate lap splits for each one so I could actually analyze the data quickly.
Time: 00:43:29
Distance: 12.44 mi
Speed: 17.2/33.4 mph
Cadence: 80/125 rpm
HR: 161/188 bpm
NP/IF: 224W/0.841
Wednesday: Did not do any track racing. Felt kinda tired. and it was getting hot.
Tuesday: Rode twice today. First did Ron's you got to be kidding me ride, then rode to Art's ride to Cedar Beach. Despite having not eaten breakfast and only having one bottle of water, I felt strong through both rides. To be fair, I did have a small snack, espresso, and coke between rides at the local bakery.
Time: 03:21:54
Distance: 63.99 mi
Speed: 19.0 / 40.5 mph
Cadence: 91/143 rpm
HR: 157/193 bpm
NP/IF: 206W/0.774
Monday: I could have sworn I rode, but I don't see any evidence of it. Shrug. In that case, rest day. rested.
2.6.11
RACE: Kissena Twilight Series 6/1
So as you might have read from the main weekly synopsis, my preparation for tonight's racing was less than ideal. Or at least you would think so. Lots of beer and lots of steak combined with lots of rushing to meet with Karl leads to a not very clear mind going into your first race for the night.
The first race, by the way was a Win and Out. Probably one of my favorite races. Karl was still tired from destroying lesser cyclists out at Somerville, so he was all for leading me out for the win. It worked flawlessly, with me taking the win and karl winning the sprint for second.
Next was a 5 lap point-a-lap. I don't think we really came up with much strategy for this one, but basically I took a flyer for 4 or so laps and then sat up for the final lap. Or maybe I took third in the sprint, I don't really remember. Regardless, the important thing to note here is that I won and Karl took second. Hooray us!
Oh look. A chariot. pfft. Karl won, I gave it a try, then rolled in with Brean for 6&7th place.
At this point Karl made sure to bring to my attention that even though I won two races, he ended up with more points than me and won the day's omnium. Well. I blame that damn chariot race.
Time for the A feature. 5 of us cat 4's were able to give it a go with the fast guys. On a quick side note, Brean did the B feature and really rocked it. For as much as he was complaining about being tired, he sure made that win look easy. Back to the A feature, it was a 12 lap scratch. I made a few digs trying to shake things up a bit. Nothing stuck and I ended up on the front with a lap to go. I figured since I was in bad position, I probably would get creamed, so I just hunkered down and set the legs to full steam ahead. I figured if they were going to outsprint me, I might as well make them work for it. Al and a Mengoni rider that I forgot the name of started winding up their sprint on the backstretch. I caught it out of the corner of my eye and dropped it into overdrive. Through I don't know what kind of motivation, I was able to catch up and outsprint Mengoni, but couldn't make it to Al. After that I took a lap around the track thinking I was about to faint and actually almost crying from the effort.
2011.27: 5/30-6/5 - Base 3 Week 2
Sunday: quit my job. As such I was able to ride.
Time: 01:18:47
Distance: 23.34 mi
Speed: 17.8/38.0 mph
Cadence: 87/124 rpm
HR: 151/180 bpm
NP/IF: 186W/0.699
Saturday: nothing. tired from work.
Friday: rode for a little with Danny before work. no data. probably around 12 miles, with espresso and pizza. very euro.
Thursday: Did I ride? I don't think so.
Wednesday: With a threat of rain for the evening, I wasn't sure what my cycling plans should be. I decided not to ride during the day, just in case I would race. I also was feeling lazy. Met up with dave, bought some beer and a nice ribeye and proceeded to pig out until it was time to head to the track. Met up with Karl and rocked the racing. See the race report above.
Tuesday: was going to go climbing with Dave and Ahmed, but Dave brought up the excellent point that it was too nice of a day to spend inside a hot gym. So I rode to Roadworx (bike shop of kings) to pick up some sweet new bits and bobs. All in all it was a decent ride. Took it easy. Certainly didn't set any new CP levels on this ride. Felt sluggish in the RPM department. I just couldn't tick the pedals over at more than 100ish rpm, spending most of the time around 93-95rpm. Time trial mode, I guess. Regardless, here's some data:
Time: 02:10:44
Distance: 41.20mi
Speed: 18.9/36.9mph
Cadence: 92/144rpm
HR: 168/191bpm
NP/IF:
RACE: Kissena Twilight Series 5/25
So apparently I never wrote this race report...whoops. As this is a week late in being written, I'll have to delve deep into my memory to dredge up all the juicy details - which means most of it will probably be wrong.
If memory serves me well, the weather was possibly nice. Perhaps sunny, maybe warm. Who really knows. Not this guy, that's for sure.
Connect tells me the first race was an unknown distance snowball. I remember I didn't really feel too strong that day, so we were mostly gunning for Karl to kick ass. If looking at the results and my memory serve me correctly, the plan was for me to attack early, then Karl counter attack after me. I don't remember the early laps, but it went something like I won lap X, brean won X+1, then karl won X+2 through N-1, with steve winning lap N, where N is the last lap. sound sciencey enough for you? This left me in 4th with karl in 1st.
Next was a Chariot, still stupid, still hate 'em. Karl won. hooray for him. I got 5th.
At this point, I realized that since only the top 3 went on to the A feature, and I was sitting pretty tied for 4th, I needed to make some moves. The third race was a 5 lap tempo race. This time Karl and I tried opposite tactics, with him attacking early, then me countering. Somewhere along the way, I ended up with steve with a gap over the rest of the field. Being the poor teammate that I am, he pulled me around the track and I would pip him at the line each sprint. This got me the win, Steve 2nd, Karl 3rd and put me into the A feature.
By the time the A feature rolled around, I finally felt like I had found some legs. This was a 15 lap points race with 3? sprints. One way or another Karl, Colin and I ended up with a bit of a gap. Colin took the first sprint, he gave me the second and I don't know what happened at the last sprint. I feel like the results ended up being Colin, Thadeusz, myself. Really, I have no idea.
I think this race report is mostly factual. Hope you enjoyed reading it.
27.5.11
2011.26: 5/23 - 5/29 - Base 3 Week 1
Sunday: nothing again. same old.
Saturday: nada.
Friday: nothing. rested after yesterday.
Thursday: time for a good old fashioned 'epic' ride. Rode to the SBRA spring century. Met up with Art and Tom. Good ride, very foggy though. I still managed to get some sun though, apparently. My garmin died before I got home, so I don't have the complete data. I was only maybe 3 miles away from home though.
Time: 09:04:38
Distance: 162.38mi
Speed: 17.9/40.4mph (i'll have to check that max)
Cadence: 87/164rpm
HR: 136/165bpm
NP/IF: 153W / 0.576
As a short aside, all these numbers seem suspect. allow me to look into it.
Wednesday: Was going to ride with some SBRA guys, but woke up too late (as usual). Rode by myself in the afternoon instead, then went to the track with Karl. See the race report for the track stuff. Here's the earlier ride data though:
Time: 02:14:43
Distance: 39.15mi
Speed: 17.4/36.3mph
Cadence: 90/123rpm
HR: 165/195bpm (interesting...)
NP/IF: N/A - still had the race wheels on
Tuesday: nada.
24.5.11
RACE: Tour de Parc 5/22/11
I'll just put it plainly: I was hoping, if not expecting, to do much better. keep that in mind as i complain about everything ever.
I woke up feeling not very well rested at all (I slightly destroyed my netbook with all my power and training data the night before) looking out at a cold, gloomy day that by all forecasts was supposed to be sunny and warm. I was planning on going out to breakfast with the parents after the race, so I just had a small bowl of cereal and called it good. Got to the race, got hassled by the registration staff who also were too lazy to even help to pin a guy's number. Pre-rode the course. It was a very short tear-drop with a single kinda-technical 180* turn. You would think as a promoter you would have the common courtesy of at least sweeping the only technical turn on the course. They made sure to have the giant inflatable start/finish line up, but not a damn broom to sweep up the gravel and leaves littering the inside line to the turn.
The race started. The usual sketchy lower cat riders. Nobody knows how to take a good line through that 180. Always within the front 10-15 guys. Made a small dig just to get the legs firing a little better. The pace settled around lap 4 and stayed steady until around lap 8. This is where I hit the wall. I just went straight backward. Sitting at the very back of the front group, I was able to finesse my way back up to top 10 in time to hit the little hill on the bell lap, but then faded back again and sat up as there was no point to try to contest for 1xth place.
Chatted with Percy for a little after the race. Well at least I tried to, I was mostly unable to breathe and hacking up a lung at that point while feeling lightheaded from bonking. Breakfast was delicious though.
Time: 00:25.41
Distance: 9.78mi
Speed: 22.9/32.4mph
Cadence: 96/176?
HR: 180/192bpm
NP/IF: no power.
21.5.11
2011.25: 5/16-5/22 Base 2 Week 2? sure.
Sunday: Tour de Parc crit. see race report above.
Saturday: no riding. Such a beautiful day, but I was just too beat after work. I'm really getting sick of this shit again.
Friday: no riding. work. and threats of rain again. I'm sick of this weather. Put on my carbon tubulars in preparation for Sunday.
Thursday: no riding. no rain today for once, but I ended up helping a friend with his boat, and then fixing my boss' bikes.
Wednesday: no riding. constant threat of rain.
Tuesday: no riding. work and rain.
14.5.11
2011.24: 5/9-5/5/15 Post-Race nothingfest
Here's a rundown of what I've been doing. I'll get the gconnect files there eventually.
Sunday: probably nothing. who knows.
Saturday: Rode after work. Felt spunky. yes, spunky.
Time: 01:39:52
Distance: 30.18mi
Speed: 18.1/37.9mph
Cadence: 88/123rpm
HR: 151/184bpm
NP/IF: 213W/0.801
Friday: Rode for a little bit after work with soap. Didn't ride with my garmin or anything, so no data.
Thursday: Greentrek ride in the morning. Nobody showed up, so I did the ride by myself.
Time: 00:45:42
Distance: 12.95mi
Speed: 17.0/30.6mph
Cadence: 89/121rpm
HR: 145/178bpm
NP/IF: 189W/0.710
Wednesday: Was going to race, then I remembered I was supposed to ride with the regional VP of where I work. So we went riding for a bit. I think it was a pretty good ride. who knows.
Time: 01:51:59
Distance: 33.02mi
Speed: 17.7/37.5mph
Cadence: 90/153rpm
HR: 153/190bpm
NP/IF: 184W/0.690
Tuesday: Rode after work. Almost got hit by an 'A&E Factory Service' van. I was going to call them up and complain, but apparently they have horrible service anyhow, so I'm sure they wouldn't care. What a bunch of dickbags.
Time: 01:17:39
Distance: 22.51mi
Speed: 17.4/36.6mph
Cadence: 87/120rpm
HR: 151/190bpm
NP/IF: 200W/0.753
11.5.11
RACE: Kissena Opening Weekend 2011
Alright, the race came and went, and now it is finally time to sit down, consult the garmin data and write up a race report. The weather could be described best as "perfect". Low 70's I believe, with light winds both days. The second day actually had little to no wind for a while. There was a threat of rain for saturday, but fortunately it held off except for a couple of drops during one or two races.
Saturday: the day started off with the Kilo. I was planning on running a higher gear this year - 90". After warming up in my 83" gear though, I started second guessing myself. For some reason it just seemed really hard to turn over. I switched to the 90" anyhow and just resolved myself to potentially blow up completely. As it turns out, turning the gear over ended up fine and I was able to hold a pretty consistent cadence to the end to bring in a time of 1:17.41, which is almost a second faster than last year's opening weekend time of 1:18.28.
Next was the Team Sprint, which I did with Siraaj and Andy. Since Siraaj was trying to stay fresh for match sprints, he went first, Andy second and I was the anchor. All in all I think our team did pretty well for having never done this event together before. Siraaj had a smooth start and got up to speed quick, Andy was able to hold on for the second lap, and I powered my way home. The winds were definitely picking up a bit during this event as both Andy and I got blown up track a little on turn 2 one of the times around. We finished with a 1:31.33, which was enough for first place.
Afterward was a Points race. My original strategy was for Andy to lead me out before the first sprint, then try to stay off the front to certain victory. Needless to say that didn't happen. In fact, I don't really remember what did happen, but it involved me mostly riding semi-smart and winning the first two sprints (pretty sure that happened at least) and then second at the last sprint. This left me in first for that and first overall for the first day. That is a massive use of the word first.
Sunday: Sunday started out with me being dehydrated and sluggish from a combination of the previous day's racing and drinking with my friend the night before. The first race was a scratch. My parents watched, which was nice. Since I was a marked man, I ended up sucking a lot of wind up front, but that's alright. The nature of the game. In the end, I came in second.
EDIT: almost forgot, there was a coffee prime. I won. hooray coffee!
Afterward was the qualifying round of Match Sprints. I narrowly managed to not have to deal with racing the repechage with a well timed bike throw. I think it was my favorite match sprint yet.
Open track time, followed by a Miss&Out. Since there were only 7 cat4's at the track for day two, and since one of them was Siraaj who wanted to stay fresh for the rest of match sprints, the miss and out was only 6 laps long. Managed to pip Brean at the line with a stealthy attack.
More open track time, followed by the semi-finals for sprints. I gave it to Steve to help him gain some omnium points. It's amazing how much easier sprinting is when the outcome has already been decided. We made it look good though.
Finally there was the Finals for the sprints. In my case, I was up against Brean for 3rd place. He got the obligation to lead, I sat right on his wheel until he looked away for a second. Attacked, got a gap, you know the drill.
Conclusion: All in all, I won a bunch of races, won some bags of coffee, had a good time. Still haven't beat my season goal of a 1:16.5 kilo. Might have to go to T-town for that.
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