Sunday: Bear mountain Grand Fondo recon super hill ride. I got zero sleep the night before besides a 2-3 hour nap last saturday evening. The temperature was right on the border of cold and not as cold, so I was in a big debate on clothing. I finally opted for winter hat, leg and arm warmers, standard socks, one jersey with windbreaking plastic bag underneath, fingerless gloves. The start was a little bit dicey and I wished I had used my full fingered gloves, but after the first climb I was able to warm up. The first few wait ups I would get off my bike and start to get a little dizzy from not sleeping. All in all, I was able to survive, and had a good time. There are some beautiful roads up there. Oh, also, my garmin was acting up again. I don't know what that's all about, but my data looks very patchy. Also the unit turned off for a little bit and wouldn't restart. Strange stuff. I think that's why my average on gconnect is so screwy. Also also, new CP of 231W.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/163849780
NP/IF/TSS: 218W/0.942/350
Saturday: Rain. No riding. Also resting for tomorrow.
Friday: Rest day. Didn't feel like riding, so I worked on the bike instead.
Thursday: Lactate tolerance Interval type sprint things. I woke up feeling really tired, but I told myself to just do three intervals. I ended up going for 4. My power numbers seemed low, so I guess I was as tired as I thought.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/162816326
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.908/83
Interval - Max Speed (MPH) - Max Power (W) - Max Cadence (RPM)
1 - 33.8 - 946 - 122
2 - 32.3 - 948 - 120
3 - 32.3 - 1006 - 120
4 - 31.3 - 949 - 116
Wednesday: Rode the peugeot to the weld preserve to strum my banjo for a little bit. Afterward, I got ready and did the wednesday hill evening ride thing. It's nice to have a ride that pulls you inside-out.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/162583423
NP/IF/TSS: 219W/0.985/205
Tuesday: Cold and windy day. Wussed out. No riding.
Monday: Rest day. Rested.
29.3.12
26.3.12
Race: Red Hook Crit #5 - 3/24/12
I had plans going in to the race. Plans seem like a waste of time in hind sight. The original plan was to head in with my brother since he needed to borrow our mini-van to move some stuff the next day. We'd go to the race, I would race, focusing on trying to get in front and win the first lap prime, then we would celebrate, sleep, move some furniture and head back home. In reality, my brother was running late due to a ride he was leading, near enough to the last minute to get me un-nerved as I had to find out the local train schedule and figure out how to get in to red hook. I was able to get a train that got me to atlantic terminal at a few minutes past seven, met up with my brother who drove his car over to bring us to the race around 7:30, registered, got kitted up, headed over to do some laps only to find out the running race was starting, so no going on course, or crossing the course. In my mind while sitting on the train, I had figured something like this might happen, so I wasn't too worried about it. Until I found out there was no way to get over to the ferry terminal where the bathrooms were. It took me at least ten minutes to find a nice, dark, hipster or cop free corner to water the plants.
The running race finished surprisingly quick, so I did some laps around the course, trying to figure out lines and so forth and warming up the legs. I stopped early to get a spot up front for the neutral lap. We rode around the course nice and slow. I half wished the rest of the race would be nice and slow like that. I was able to maintain my position up front for the start. I ended up 3rd row, far right side, just behind the two rows of call-ups. There was some more room in the second row, but I didn't want to risk possible DQ by moving up into it. Just before the start, the spotlights went out for some reason or another, and I suddenly found it very hard to see. The race began, I aced my clip in, but between the dark, tons of camera flashes and just nerves, I found myself sliding back immediately. I think it was a combination of too great a fear of crashing, and not really being able to tell what was a part of a bike and what was just a shadow from a camera flash. this continued for the first 1/4 of the first lap, where finally things stretched out enough for me to feel comfortable. This is a bad thing, though, because that meant it would be basically impossible to move back up into contention as the gaps continued to form.
I found myself in a group of maybe 2 or 3 others, Mattie included, kind of working together to try to catch up to the next group of a couple of guys. My negotiation of the hairpin turn was always terrible, so it was always slow slow slow, sprint sprint sprint. Eventually my legs gave up, I gave up, the moto caught up, and I pulled out with a nice little case of track hack for the rest of the night. Through the night I saw Brean, Heather, Mattie, Keith (who was looking really good out there), my old friend Zachary, and some others that I've forgotten as of this write-up. I changed clothes, put the bike away, and my brother and I tried to look for a not-too crowded bar to get some drinks and food. That didn't happen, however, and the rain finally started. We drove past the after party, which was also very crowded, so we just went with some fast food and passed out for the night.
In conclusion, I am glad that my legs felt recovered from the hill rides and sprints by the day of the race. I am glad that I was able to get such a good start position. I need to work on my technical cornering, determining maximum lean angle and such. I did about as well as I had figured, though not as well as I had hoped.
20.3.12
2012.17: Build 2 Week 1
Sunday: Helped my brother move some more. No riding.
Saturday: Rested. Red Hook Crit at night. See Race Report.
Friday: Rode the track bike around the neighborhood to pretend like I was ready for the red hook crit. Mostly just rested.
Thursday: Sprints, aka semi lactate tolerance reps. Technically LT reps are supposed to be about 1minute intervals, these were far shorter. Afterward, I rested at long beach, then the weld preserve, then met up with danny at short beach.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160508887
NP/IF/TSS: 193W/0.868/114
Interval -Max Speed - Max Power (W) - Max Cadence (RPM)
1 - 32.8 - 1024 - 117
2 - 31.4 - 980 - 119
3 - 31.8 - 910 - 123
4 - 29.8 - 1022 - 117
5 - 29.4 - 895 - 118
Wednesday: Hills was the name of the game. I planned on doing the wednesday evening ride, but since the weather was so nice, I also wanted to get some more miles in by way of northport. On the way out I tried to reclaim my KOM of landing ave heading north, but it was not to be. I did get a new PR, though, so that's good. I was actually going so fast into it that I passed two cars on the winding downhill to the bridge, but I didn't dare pass the dump truck in front of them. I was hoping to draft off of it to cheat to a win, but it turned off right away into that nature center over there. Clouds and espresso in northport, got my bike good and dirty going past the garbage dump. Had a banana and a glass of chocolate milk before the second ride. I was feeling strong still at the beginning, but faded quickly once we hit cordwood. I turned off early since my legs were toast from then out.
EDIT: Apparently my first ride also gave my GC file a new, lower CP of 222W
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160177313
NP/IF/TSS: 209W/0.940/166
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160244902
NP/IF/TSS: 214W/0.964/148
Tuesday: The plan was to try for a nice long endurance ride in this beautiful weather. Instead I slept most of the day because I was still hurting from moving on sunday. My right calf is super tight, so I wasn't sure if that would affect my achilles. eventually I got out for a few minutes before dinner. It felt good to be on the bike again, even if my muscles were very tight and sore. Also, I saw that girl riding her bike up cordwood again. kudos to her.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/159959895
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.899/54
Monday: Rest day. Rested.
Saturday: Rested. Red Hook Crit at night. See Race Report.
Friday: Rode the track bike around the neighborhood to pretend like I was ready for the red hook crit. Mostly just rested.
Thursday: Sprints, aka semi lactate tolerance reps. Technically LT reps are supposed to be about 1minute intervals, these were far shorter. Afterward, I rested at long beach, then the weld preserve, then met up with danny at short beach.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160508887
NP/IF/TSS: 193W/0.868/114
Interval -Max Speed - Max Power (W) - Max Cadence (RPM)
1 - 32.8 - 1024 - 117
2 - 31.4 - 980 - 119
3 - 31.8 - 910 - 123
4 - 29.8 - 1022 - 117
5 - 29.4 - 895 - 118
Wednesday: Hills was the name of the game. I planned on doing the wednesday evening ride, but since the weather was so nice, I also wanted to get some more miles in by way of northport. On the way out I tried to reclaim my KOM of landing ave heading north, but it was not to be. I did get a new PR, though, so that's good. I was actually going so fast into it that I passed two cars on the winding downhill to the bridge, but I didn't dare pass the dump truck in front of them. I was hoping to draft off of it to cheat to a win, but it turned off right away into that nature center over there. Clouds and espresso in northport, got my bike good and dirty going past the garbage dump. Had a banana and a glass of chocolate milk before the second ride. I was feeling strong still at the beginning, but faded quickly once we hit cordwood. I turned off early since my legs were toast from then out.
EDIT: Apparently my first ride also gave my GC file a new, lower CP of 222W
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160177313
NP/IF/TSS: 209W/0.940/166
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/160244902
NP/IF/TSS: 214W/0.964/148
Tuesday: The plan was to try for a nice long endurance ride in this beautiful weather. Instead I slept most of the day because I was still hurting from moving on sunday. My right calf is super tight, so I wasn't sure if that would affect my achilles. eventually I got out for a few minutes before dinner. It felt good to be on the bike again, even if my muscles were very tight and sore. Also, I saw that girl riding her bike up cordwood again. kudos to her.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/159959895
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.899/54
Monday: Rest day. Rested.
14.3.12
2012.16: Build 1 Week 4 - Rest Week
I don't know what it is about these spring series races, but it takes me a few days to recover from them. Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe it's the completely fucked sleep schedule that results from them. Either way, a much needed (but probably not deserved) rest week lays ahead of me.
Sunday: Moving day. absolutely no riding.
Saturday: no riding. headed in to help my brother move.
Friday: no riding.
Thursday: no riding.
Wednesday: Slept in late and caught up with some SBRA guys to do the old wednesday evening ride, more or less. Again, heading out I still felt like my legs were made of lead, but after meeting up with the group, I was able to limber up and (unfortunately for everyone else) put the hammer down. Sorry guys. All in all, a fun ride, but I cut it a little close with the setting sun.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/158027232
NP/IF/TSS: 212W/0.942/195
Tuesday: The weather was beautiful. Despite being a rest week and all, I decided to get out for a little bit in the afternoon to work on the ol' tan. The usual trip to some beaches and stuff. I actually stopped at the lighthouse this time and walked around. Out on the water was a strange looking boat of some sort. Looked like a typical motorboat, but seemed to have a spinnaker hoisted on a very short mast. I couldn't figure it out. Also, the whole ride I felt very sluggish. Like I just couldn't get going. Also, my cassette was pretty noisy, perhaps too much wear, so I switched to my old 12-25 cassette instead.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157764251
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.897/159
Monday: Rest day. Rode down to Penn station to catch the train.
EDIT: I also replaced my chain and cleaned the bike at night.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157764267
NP/IF/TSS: 185W/0.824/39
Sunday: Moving day. absolutely no riding.
Saturday: no riding. headed in to help my brother move.
Friday: no riding.
Thursday: no riding.
Wednesday: Slept in late and caught up with some SBRA guys to do the old wednesday evening ride, more or less. Again, heading out I still felt like my legs were made of lead, but after meeting up with the group, I was able to limber up and (unfortunately for everyone else) put the hammer down. Sorry guys. All in all, a fun ride, but I cut it a little close with the setting sun.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/158027232
NP/IF/TSS: 212W/0.942/195
Tuesday: The weather was beautiful. Despite being a rest week and all, I decided to get out for a little bit in the afternoon to work on the ol' tan. The usual trip to some beaches and stuff. I actually stopped at the lighthouse this time and walked around. Out on the water was a strange looking boat of some sort. Looked like a typical motorboat, but seemed to have a spinnaker hoisted on a very short mast. I couldn't figure it out. Also, the whole ride I felt very sluggish. Like I just couldn't get going. Also, my cassette was pretty noisy, perhaps too much wear, so I switched to my old 12-25 cassette instead.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157764251
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.897/159
Monday: Rest day. Rode down to Penn station to catch the train.
EDIT: I also replaced my chain and cleaned the bike at night.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157764267
NP/IF/TSS: 185W/0.824/39
12.3.12
Race: NYC Spring Series #2 - Cat 3/4
Time for another Spring Series race. Numero dos was held in central park again, with a later start time of 6:45am to account for daylight savings time. Sunrise itself was only around 7:13 or so, so it was a bit dark at the start. My prep for this race went a lot better than last week's. I actually ate food the day before, finishing with some chinese food for dinner late at night. I got a decent night's sleep considering the stupid time I had to get up. I also stayed at my brother's new house, which is as yet cat-free, so no allergies. All in all, things were looking up. I also made sure to bring two bananas and a snapple for breakfast. No stone unturned, yes sir.
Since I was now somewhere deep in Jersey City, completely clueless as to how I actually got there the night before, my brother offered to drive me over to the race and actually spectate, too! After stopping up at the old apartment to pick up my left leg warmer that I had forgotten the week before, we got down to the park with plenty of time to register, piss, and warm up. Some short confusion followed as to which group of riders milling around was supposed to be the 3/4 field, but we got it all worked out. AVD attached a camera to one guy's bike, which delayed the start a little, but I didn't mind. More daylight. I should mention that at this time of day it was balls cold as usual and pretty windy. Heading home after the race, we saw some decent chop on the hudson, so I'm putting it at about 18ish mph out of the SW.
Apparently there was one crash at the roll-off, but I didn't see it. My brother told me about it afterward. I guess some guy ran into the guy in front of him and fell over. It could certainly be worse. The field itself was around 50 guys or so, I would say, so I was figuring on a little bit slower and safer race. The first lap involved a Cosmic rider attacking on harlem hill, followed by a bit of a lull. I didn't realize at the time that cosmic guy had been reabsorbed, so I made a little attack of my own to see if I could catch up. Immediately I saw the pace motorcycle and realized I'm dumb. Fortunately, another (possibly the same) cosmic rider attacked and bridged. We traded a few pulls, a kissena and one other rider bridged up. I went backwards into the field again thinking about how pissed I would be if the breakaway won and I couldn't stay in it. I stayed around the middle of the pack chatting with a couple of guys. Average pace of lap one: 23.2mph.
Laps 2 and 3 pretty much followed this format: I sat somewhere between the top 1/4 and all the way at the back. I would kind of float back and forth depending on how much I was hurting at the time. The race itself seemed pretty tame. I think it was lap 3 that I found myself behind a really good Toga rider. Real smooth. It was a nice change of pace from half the sketch-ass riders in the field. Avg speeds were 23.7 and 23.9 mph, respectively.
The final lap I'm pretty sure was started with me sitting lantern rouge or damn near. I sat here until harlem hill. The squiggly road before the bendy road before harlem hill saw one kissena rider laid out on the ground with everyone taking evasive action each way. I think this was unintended jaunt into the jogger's lane number one. Along harlem hill, I worked my way up toward the front of the field, sitting roughly in the top 1/4 through to horseshit alley. By the bottom of cat's paw, I was in the top 10-15 I would say, sitting on the left-hand side. As I was starting to pick up the pace to begin winding up the sprint, however, what i'm assuming was a leadout rider for some team swung hard to the left right in front of my, going straight into the joggers lane to sit up. Why anyone would be stupid enough to think this was a good way to pull off after your turn at the front is beyond me. They didn't look at all, and damn near took me out. As it was, I had to swing wider into the jogger's lane (unintended jaunt #2) to avoid him taking out my wheel and then getting around him. Then amazingly enough, after getting back onto the road and starting my jump again, ANOTHER rider from another team (this time I think it was a Scotto's Pizza rider) does the same thing (#3), forcing me into the jogger's lane to avoid another crash because he's also a fucking imbecile who doesn't feel the need to look over his shoulder before launching his bike across the road into the jogger's lane that he is not allowed to ride in. It was completely mind boggling. After this, I just said "fuck it" and sat up. My legs felt dead enough, and having to stop and start twice like that because of completely unsafe and unnecessary riding was just too much.
In conclusion, local racers need to learn how to do a legit leadout (you don't need to move more than a foot to the side and FUCKING LOOK FIRST). Pack finish for me. Gotta love the spring series.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157176295
NP/IF/TSS: 246W/1.092/123
Since I was now somewhere deep in Jersey City, completely clueless as to how I actually got there the night before, my brother offered to drive me over to the race and actually spectate, too! After stopping up at the old apartment to pick up my left leg warmer that I had forgotten the week before, we got down to the park with plenty of time to register, piss, and warm up. Some short confusion followed as to which group of riders milling around was supposed to be the 3/4 field, but we got it all worked out. AVD attached a camera to one guy's bike, which delayed the start a little, but I didn't mind. More daylight. I should mention that at this time of day it was balls cold as usual and pretty windy. Heading home after the race, we saw some decent chop on the hudson, so I'm putting it at about 18ish mph out of the SW.
Apparently there was one crash at the roll-off, but I didn't see it. My brother told me about it afterward. I guess some guy ran into the guy in front of him and fell over. It could certainly be worse. The field itself was around 50 guys or so, I would say, so I was figuring on a little bit slower and safer race. The first lap involved a Cosmic rider attacking on harlem hill, followed by a bit of a lull. I didn't realize at the time that cosmic guy had been reabsorbed, so I made a little attack of my own to see if I could catch up. Immediately I saw the pace motorcycle and realized I'm dumb. Fortunately, another (possibly the same) cosmic rider attacked and bridged. We traded a few pulls, a kissena and one other rider bridged up. I went backwards into the field again thinking about how pissed I would be if the breakaway won and I couldn't stay in it. I stayed around the middle of the pack chatting with a couple of guys. Average pace of lap one: 23.2mph.
Laps 2 and 3 pretty much followed this format: I sat somewhere between the top 1/4 and all the way at the back. I would kind of float back and forth depending on how much I was hurting at the time. The race itself seemed pretty tame. I think it was lap 3 that I found myself behind a really good Toga rider. Real smooth. It was a nice change of pace from half the sketch-ass riders in the field. Avg speeds were 23.7 and 23.9 mph, respectively.
The final lap I'm pretty sure was started with me sitting lantern rouge or damn near. I sat here until harlem hill. The squiggly road before the bendy road before harlem hill saw one kissena rider laid out on the ground with everyone taking evasive action each way. I think this was unintended jaunt into the jogger's lane number one. Along harlem hill, I worked my way up toward the front of the field, sitting roughly in the top 1/4 through to horseshit alley. By the bottom of cat's paw, I was in the top 10-15 I would say, sitting on the left-hand side. As I was starting to pick up the pace to begin winding up the sprint, however, what i'm assuming was a leadout rider for some team swung hard to the left right in front of my, going straight into the joggers lane to sit up. Why anyone would be stupid enough to think this was a good way to pull off after your turn at the front is beyond me. They didn't look at all, and damn near took me out. As it was, I had to swing wider into the jogger's lane (unintended jaunt #2) to avoid him taking out my wheel and then getting around him. Then amazingly enough, after getting back onto the road and starting my jump again, ANOTHER rider from another team (this time I think it was a Scotto's Pizza rider) does the same thing (#3), forcing me into the jogger's lane to avoid another crash because he's also a fucking imbecile who doesn't feel the need to look over his shoulder before launching his bike across the road into the jogger's lane that he is not allowed to ride in. It was completely mind boggling. After this, I just said "fuck it" and sat up. My legs felt dead enough, and having to stop and start twice like that because of completely unsafe and unnecessary riding was just too much.
In conclusion, local racers need to learn how to do a legit leadout (you don't need to move more than a foot to the side and FUCKING LOOK FIRST). Pack finish for me. Gotta love the spring series.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157176295
NP/IF/TSS: 246W/1.092/123
7.3.12
2012.15: Build 1 Week 3
Sunday: Spring Series race #2. See race report. Didn't do any other riding.
Saturday: No riding. Headed into the city for another Spring Series race again tomorrow.
Friday: Rode to PT for the last time. There they explained that they wished I had gotten better, but it was most likely my fault. Thanks guys. Between this and my quack doctor, I don't really have any faith in sports medicine anymore. What a waste.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156286965
NP/IF/TSS: 210W/0.933/67
Thursday: Was planning on riding to Roadworx (purveyor of fine bicycles and accessories), but drove there instead as my achilles was still being a dick. I picked up some new bar tape and a chain for the guru, and some aluminum drop bars for the track bike for red hook. I'm planning on using those for red hook so I don't risk destroying my carbon track bars in a crash. Really, I hope I don't crash at all, as I would then have to pay for these bars, but they would cost less to replace than my track bars.
Wednesday: Supposed to be in the mid to high 50s today. I planned on a ride to Greenport, but didn't wake up in time. I still headed out though, as I was hoping to work on the tan a little. Sadly, despite being warm temperature-wise, the wind was still bitterly cold. I left my knee and arm warmers on pretty much the whole ride. I wish I had my leg warmers on, but I seem to have left one of those at my brother's place. I stopped in South Jamesport to eat a sandwich I made, then stopped in at the local post office to inquire about where to get a coffee. I was told to try Duffy's Deli in regular Jamesport, and so I did. It was nice to warm up a little, and the girl at the counter was super friendly and pretty cute. She even asked about my racing and everything. Needless to say, that's as far as the conversation got, because I suck at conversing. There was a strong headwind on the way back, so I hammered most of the way and managed to miss the turn off of 25 for bicycle route 25. Suddenly on a 5 lane highway with no shoulder to speak of was a bit of a shock to the system, but I managed to survive despite being buzzed by a couple of cars including a jeep with a "life's good" spare tire cover. Go figure. I stopped at Whelan's Surplus to order some dog tags with emergency phone numbers and stuff and then started to bonk pretty hard right before stony brook, to the point where I actually had to stop on the side of the road to eat some skittles I had bought at the deli. My achilles was starting to act up a little bit by the end of the ride, actually, so after showering and eating some dinner, I made sure to ice it up. Man, this is one long ride synopsis. I guess it was a busier day than I thought.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155828853
NP/IF/TSS: 178W/0.790/315
Tuesday: Originally planned to do some AE Intervals, but I just couldn't get the motivation. The best I could do was half-ass my PT exercises at night. I also went for my follow up visit with the sports medicine doctor. He had me hop on my right foot three times and pronounced my tendinitis cured. I'm pretty sure I could have done that the first visit, too, but whatever. I'm just happy I won't have to be shelling out the money for this stuff anymore.
Monday: Rest day. Rode to PT and then thought about going to the lighthouse, but instead went straight home to pass out for 6 hours. I guess I haven't fully recovered from the weekend yet. I feel like something else big happened today, but I don't know what that could have been anymore.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155828856
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.898/64
Saturday: No riding. Headed into the city for another Spring Series race again tomorrow.
Friday: Rode to PT for the last time. There they explained that they wished I had gotten better, but it was most likely my fault. Thanks guys. Between this and my quack doctor, I don't really have any faith in sports medicine anymore. What a waste.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156286965
NP/IF/TSS: 210W/0.933/67
Thursday: Was planning on riding to Roadworx (purveyor of fine bicycles and accessories), but drove there instead as my achilles was still being a dick. I picked up some new bar tape and a chain for the guru, and some aluminum drop bars for the track bike for red hook. I'm planning on using those for red hook so I don't risk destroying my carbon track bars in a crash. Really, I hope I don't crash at all, as I would then have to pay for these bars, but they would cost less to replace than my track bars.
Wednesday: Supposed to be in the mid to high 50s today. I planned on a ride to Greenport, but didn't wake up in time. I still headed out though, as I was hoping to work on the tan a little. Sadly, despite being warm temperature-wise, the wind was still bitterly cold. I left my knee and arm warmers on pretty much the whole ride. I wish I had my leg warmers on, but I seem to have left one of those at my brother's place. I stopped in South Jamesport to eat a sandwich I made, then stopped in at the local post office to inquire about where to get a coffee. I was told to try Duffy's Deli in regular Jamesport, and so I did. It was nice to warm up a little, and the girl at the counter was super friendly and pretty cute. She even asked about my racing and everything. Needless to say, that's as far as the conversation got, because I suck at conversing. There was a strong headwind on the way back, so I hammered most of the way and managed to miss the turn off of 25 for bicycle route 25. Suddenly on a 5 lane highway with no shoulder to speak of was a bit of a shock to the system, but I managed to survive despite being buzzed by a couple of cars including a jeep with a "life's good" spare tire cover. Go figure. I stopped at Whelan's Surplus to order some dog tags with emergency phone numbers and stuff and then started to bonk pretty hard right before stony brook, to the point where I actually had to stop on the side of the road to eat some skittles I had bought at the deli. My achilles was starting to act up a little bit by the end of the ride, actually, so after showering and eating some dinner, I made sure to ice it up. Man, this is one long ride synopsis. I guess it was a busier day than I thought.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155828853
NP/IF/TSS: 178W/0.790/315
Tuesday: Originally planned to do some AE Intervals, but I just couldn't get the motivation. The best I could do was half-ass my PT exercises at night. I also went for my follow up visit with the sports medicine doctor. He had me hop on my right foot three times and pronounced my tendinitis cured. I'm pretty sure I could have done that the first visit, too, but whatever. I'm just happy I won't have to be shelling out the money for this stuff anymore.
Monday: Rest day. Rode to PT and then thought about going to the lighthouse, but instead went straight home to pass out for 6 hours. I guess I haven't fully recovered from the weekend yet. I feel like something else big happened today, but I don't know what that could have been anymore.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/155828856
NP/IF/TSS: 202W/0.898/64
6.3.12
Race: NYC Spring Series #1 - Cat 3/4
Sunday was the first spring series race for 2012. This series is what I consider to be the start of the racing season in NYC though there are a few CRCA and NJ races just before. As these races are at the asscrack of dawn, I went with a proactive approach and stayed with my brother up in washington heights the night before rather than getting up at 3am to drive in. Saturday was spent preparing, getting kit together, making sure the bike was in prime shape and pre-filling the release forms and whatnot. What wasn't done, however, was eating. I had a very light breakfast and skipped lunch entirely. Why, I can not recall. Either way, I caught the train, and got in to Penn around 8pm, met up with my brother and his wife, and we went out for a nice dinner. They were doing a 5k race the next day, so we went out to Coogan's to have a nice big meal.
Having not eaten much earlier in the day, I was starting to feel the drinks I had with the meal by the time we got back to the apartment. Now restless, I watched some TV and helped with some tasks around the house as I slowly saw the clock tick past midnight. Eventually I headed to bed, setting the alarm for 5am. I think I briefly touched on sleep before I found myself laying in bed wide awake with a cat sitting on my legs. This was how I spent my night until 4:45am, when I gave up and got ready to race.
I figured since I didn't eat much yesterday, I would have a good sized breakfast. Opened the fridge: no bread, no milk, no orange juice. Well crud. I ended up with just a glass of water with some strawberry syrup in it for good measure and a crushed granola bar I had left over in my bag. I got dressed, headed out and rode to the race. I stopped at a grocery store near 90th street to buy a banana and then went into the park.
Registration was painless, pinned my number, chatted with some of the guys I knew, hit the head one last time. Alan and Sandy showed up and let me store my extra gear in their dog walker stroller thing they have. I love it when they're at races. Warmed up with paul from the kreb team and then toed the line. We were told that the field filled up, so there would be 150 cat 3/4's racing today. shit. I lined up next to Mattie, and we talked about our odds of survivng the day. Behind me a few rows was Chris from the Kreb.
The race started without a hitch and we were off. I tried to stay mostly near the front. The field felt very nervous, with lots of extra yelling and braking, stupid moves and people throwing their bikes all over the road when attacking. Despite this, I felt pretty calm. I knew there would be crashes, so I figured I should just stay attentive and deal with them as they come. The first one I saw was right at the start of harlem hill, if I remember correct. Looked like someone chopped someone else's wheel or something. They were on the left, and I was on the right, so it didn't bother me. Around this time I found myself at the front riding up the hill at a good pace. We hit the top and I felt like I was still riding with the same intensity, but suddenly I found myself sliding straight back in the group. I knew this was trouble. I knew it was from no sleep and little food. I knew my only bet was to just sit in the group. So that's what I did, tailgunned for the rest of that lap. My garmin says our average for lap 1 was 25.6mph.
Past the start/finish line and we're on to lap 2. I'm still just barely hanging on, staring at the wheels in front of me. Up harlem hill, down again. Along the backstretch I start feeling a little better after a gel, and I manage to work my way up enough to find Chris. We talk for a little, I mention how I'm barely hanging on. This is around the SW corner of the park, right where the road necks down before turning up horseshit alley. I know this is a bottleneck. I've known that since the first lap I did on the course. Why others don't know this, I have not a clue. All of a sudden everyone is shouting "BRAKING!" and a pile up is starting in slow motion. I stay up, despite guys falling down in front and flying over the curb behind. The damage is done, though. I'm stuck trying to get around two guys untangling their bikes, and suddenly I'm gapped. I try desperately to join on to other groups of riders trying to bridge back up, but my legs just aren't there. I still try the best I can and finish lap two with my head down trying my best to reconnect. Average speed: 25.7mph.
I make a decision and figure I'll just try up until harlem hill. Maybe the curves and the rollers can work to my advantage. Sadly, it was not to be, so after cresting the top, I sit up and spin my way back around to the finish line where I sat and watched the finishes of the other races, picked up my stuff from Sandy and met up with Mattie to check out the Grant's Tomb course. From what I've heard, the grand total was 5 crashes, at least 3 in the 3/4 field, and one in the cat 5's that required medical assitance which I hear caused quite a mess from people trying to sprint around two ambulances at the base of the cat's paw climb just before the finish.
All told, I think just about everything that could have gone wrong did, short of a mechanical issue. That's racing, I suppose.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154862662
NP/IF/TSS: 235W/1.044/89
Having not eaten much earlier in the day, I was starting to feel the drinks I had with the meal by the time we got back to the apartment. Now restless, I watched some TV and helped with some tasks around the house as I slowly saw the clock tick past midnight. Eventually I headed to bed, setting the alarm for 5am. I think I briefly touched on sleep before I found myself laying in bed wide awake with a cat sitting on my legs. This was how I spent my night until 4:45am, when I gave up and got ready to race.
I figured since I didn't eat much yesterday, I would have a good sized breakfast. Opened the fridge: no bread, no milk, no orange juice. Well crud. I ended up with just a glass of water with some strawberry syrup in it for good measure and a crushed granola bar I had left over in my bag. I got dressed, headed out and rode to the race. I stopped at a grocery store near 90th street to buy a banana and then went into the park.
Registration was painless, pinned my number, chatted with some of the guys I knew, hit the head one last time. Alan and Sandy showed up and let me store my extra gear in their dog walker stroller thing they have. I love it when they're at races. Warmed up with paul from the kreb team and then toed the line. We were told that the field filled up, so there would be 150 cat 3/4's racing today. shit. I lined up next to Mattie, and we talked about our odds of survivng the day. Behind me a few rows was Chris from the Kreb.
The race started without a hitch and we were off. I tried to stay mostly near the front. The field felt very nervous, with lots of extra yelling and braking, stupid moves and people throwing their bikes all over the road when attacking. Despite this, I felt pretty calm. I knew there would be crashes, so I figured I should just stay attentive and deal with them as they come. The first one I saw was right at the start of harlem hill, if I remember correct. Looked like someone chopped someone else's wheel or something. They were on the left, and I was on the right, so it didn't bother me. Around this time I found myself at the front riding up the hill at a good pace. We hit the top and I felt like I was still riding with the same intensity, but suddenly I found myself sliding straight back in the group. I knew this was trouble. I knew it was from no sleep and little food. I knew my only bet was to just sit in the group. So that's what I did, tailgunned for the rest of that lap. My garmin says our average for lap 1 was 25.6mph.
Past the start/finish line and we're on to lap 2. I'm still just barely hanging on, staring at the wheels in front of me. Up harlem hill, down again. Along the backstretch I start feeling a little better after a gel, and I manage to work my way up enough to find Chris. We talk for a little, I mention how I'm barely hanging on. This is around the SW corner of the park, right where the road necks down before turning up horseshit alley. I know this is a bottleneck. I've known that since the first lap I did on the course. Why others don't know this, I have not a clue. All of a sudden everyone is shouting "BRAKING!" and a pile up is starting in slow motion. I stay up, despite guys falling down in front and flying over the curb behind. The damage is done, though. I'm stuck trying to get around two guys untangling their bikes, and suddenly I'm gapped. I try desperately to join on to other groups of riders trying to bridge back up, but my legs just aren't there. I still try the best I can and finish lap two with my head down trying my best to reconnect. Average speed: 25.7mph.
I make a decision and figure I'll just try up until harlem hill. Maybe the curves and the rollers can work to my advantage. Sadly, it was not to be, so after cresting the top, I sit up and spin my way back around to the finish line where I sat and watched the finishes of the other races, picked up my stuff from Sandy and met up with Mattie to check out the Grant's Tomb course. From what I've heard, the grand total was 5 crashes, at least 3 in the 3/4 field, and one in the cat 5's that required medical assitance which I hear caused quite a mess from people trying to sprint around two ambulances at the base of the cat's paw climb just before the finish.
All told, I think just about everything that could have gone wrong did, short of a mechanical issue. That's racing, I suppose.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154862662
NP/IF/TSS: 235W/1.044/89
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