It's killing me but..........

[Bigpikle]

...well I enjoyed ?! an extremely windy and often wet 50 miler today. Pretty much on the limit of when I'd dare ride my 50mm wheels as I was being blown all over the place. In fact I suspect its the last ride of the year on the summer bike and wheels

But, rode strong, enjoyed the conditions and rode a strong 50 miles without looking at any numbers all the way around. I even decided to thrash up one of the little local hills as it was a tailwind day, and I took my PB from 2'30 to 2'05 and set a new 1 min power PB of 410w without either trying or realising it until I got home. Its not an interval I ever train, so the numbers arent great, but it did reassure me that yesterdays failure was simply down to 3 days of dead legs and a lack of indoor acclimatisation. I suspect yesterday just formed a good 'opener' for today.

On another note, I recently picked up a Castelli Gabba L/S jersey in the sales, and have now ridden it a couple of times. I have to say it really does live up to the hype and is a stunning piece of kit. Its totally windproof and today I wore it down at the mid 40's today with just a summer weight s/s merino base and wasnt never cold. Its so breathable even when you are working really hard and its zipped up in the rain etc and never feels clammy even with a s/s baselayer on. First ride with it was on a day when it suddenly warmed up and with the vents open I rode a hard 90 mins and came back without so much as a sweat mark on my baselayer despite it being too warm for a jacket really. I could have done with a thin l/s base ideally today as the sleeves chill down in the cold wind but it wasnt a real issue, and the rain showers never made any impact on me either. I'm not one for hi-viz kit but decided on the flouro version rather than plain black, given its use is in inclement weather, and its a highly visible bit of kit. Coupled with some flouro over socks as well it looked pretty smart IMHO. I can see myself living in this over winter with a range of baselayers depending on the weather!

 

[jsirabella]

felt and bp, I am glad some of you guys got some nice rides this weekend. I on the other hand had a little trouble being in the CO Boulder area! But luckily I was actually right in between Denver and Boulder proper in the Denver Tech Center area which is actually on higher ground so I did not have to deal with the floods but the rain was relentless except on Saturday which was beautiful and I was able to get in about 2 hours of local riding. The funny thing on Saturday the weather was absolutely beautiful.





I just did not know where I was going but did stumble upon this bike path. I believe the riding can be as nice as Gainesville as I saw plenty of places where you can ride on the shoulder of some major roads.

I will see how long I will have off the bike soon as tomorrow is my injection day and actually on Friday my CT came back so lets see how this all works out. They are even using some injections to give some numbing around the area this time so may not be as bad as the discogram.

Till the next ride I hope you guys have some fun. At least I finished this chunk at 90 CTL and felt some numbers were starting to show some improvements.

-js

 

[Bigpikle]

Good luck JS - hope it is all a pain free success for you.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bigpikle .
Good luck JS - hope it is all a pain free success for you.


+1

 

[jsirabella]

bp & felt, ty both guys. I just finished and while sore as all heck in lower back. No meds out of the recovery room and time to watch my 12 movie disc boxset of Friday the 13th and some spoiling of myself with some bigger means starting with some pancakes!

KOPRIDE if you still lurk around here, I can not say ty enough for setting me up with Dr. Lutz dude. I owe you one.

-js

 

[Bigpikle]

Great to here. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

 

[Bigpikle]

Well after saying back in July that I'd done my last TT for the year, I ended up doing a local open 10 mile TT today. Far from quality prep as my riding the last 6 weeks has been all over the place and I've barely touched the TT bike or done any intensity in my riding, but I was talked into it by a good mate... Its a faster course than our club 10 circuit and I ended up with 23'11 which is a PB by 31 secs. Cant help but be slightly disappointed though as I should have got a long 22' if I'd really been on it and my power numbers were slightly down on my best, but the good news is that some position tweaks seem to have paid off as I was only a handful of seconds slower than my clubmate on the exact same power numbers, and he is usually a lot more aero than me with a far superior bike and wheels as well as a really good position on the bike. So, a good result in the end having taken more time off my PB and I'm sure that lots of time on the TT bike on the turbo over the next 6 months will get those power numbers back to my best and beyond.

Looks like some unseasonable warm weather moving in so hopefully a chance to get some good miles in over the next week. Fingers crossed!

 

[maxroadrash]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bigpikle .
Good news on being back on the bike and continued weight loss. I'm envious as I hit 77kg now and really ought to be 74-75kg ideally. Power is up but I'm sure the extra weight is slowing me back down...

Slightly torn on what to do for the next tranche of riding now. I was focused on increasing volume and keeping a lot of SST/threshold work going, but had an idea to do the 14 day VO2 booster programme by Jesper Bondu Medhus

http://www.training4cyclists.com/how-to-increase-your-vo2-max-in-14-days-vo2-max-test/

I have all of his plans which mostly include lots of SST work, but this is a little different. With 2 days a week away with work I was thinking I could stretch the plan over the next 3 weeks and simply remove the easier semi-recovery days, as I'lll be forced to rest anyway, and substitute more of the 'on' days. This would take me to the final race on the 21st. Problem is I think it will be a low TSS plan and while I could ad in a weekly longer ride to increase the TSS each week, I dont think it will enable me to hit my original plan of getting my CTL right up there again before winter. The weather looks goood for a while now and I cant help but think thats an opportunity to get outside and ride more, nit less with these intervals...

I cant help but over-think all this stuff all the time. I really just need a plan and then commit to sticking to the damn thing and seeing it through! Time to sleep on it tonight.


BP-
Thanks for pointing me to this one. I tried it and it worked wonders. What do you think of his other plans? Best, Max

 

[Bigpikle]

^^ I cant honesty comment as I havent completed them. The other plans contain lots of SST work, which he advocates as very powerful and effective due to less chance of not completing the sessions. One thing that struck me about them though is the fairly low volume - shorter length intervals and not that many - so I was always worried about not getting enough work done. He does however balance that by saying 'do more if you can' so encourages people to add volume where appropriate.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Coastal Cruising

Some scenes from the last few days cruising along Hwy 182 (Perdido Beach Blvd) during this time of rest. Short ride today with storms rolling in.

Pictures here: Orange Beach Visit

 

[jsirabella]

felt, Beautiful pics dude, I am jellin, lime green. (some of the many phrases I pick in the biz). But isn't Florida just amazing and seems like Alabama does not disappoint. How you could not be riding all day, every day out there is beyond me. The lanes are just so perfect. Huntsville was nice for it also but a bit lonely though.

I hope you are chill-laxing and enjoying the trip.

bp, sounds like the sessions never end and kind of like myself there really is no off season I c. Hope the training goes well and you are lucky with the nice weather. NYC the last few days got into the 40s, the mornings are cold.

The recovery road is doing pretty well for me right now but no jinxing it. On Saturday I did one hour on the CT with just turning it on and felt I still needed time. Today I did 90 minutes and got an 80 CTL out of it and felt pretty good. Most important I do not feel the need to wear my support belts through the day and lots more time of healing to go. Atleast a good 2 weeks or so...

On a side note, yesterday brought all my old campy parts, the surly and breakaway in for all the moving of parts around. Should be ready by Thursday and I will probs p/u on Friday mid-day. Real excited to finally have all the parts on the right bikes for the type of riding the bikes are intended for. The surly should be a real good cruiser, put a 12/28 cassette, strong mavic wired PT hub and single 42 chain ring. The breakaway, all campy with road gearing and aero wheelset finally.

-js

 

[jsirabella]

Just thought I chime in and express my bike fixing woes...

As part of my incentive to do the back treatment and have to go to Japan, end of October I bought a Surly SS on ebay which I was going to strip down and make into the ultimate commuter/hotel touring bike. I was pretty much taking most of my shimano dura ace setup from my ritchey and transfer to the Surly and than take the left over campy chorus that was just gaining dust for a couple years now and put that on the ritchey! I was like finally I have the right wheelset and parts with the right bikes and even keep my Rocky Mountain CX bike unscathed.

Anyway I decided to go to a higher end mechanic shop here thinking I should be doing well. Anyway it seems that my requests have pretty much given the poor guy a brain tumor at the shop. It seems that while the frame for the Surly SS is the same frame, the bottom bracket, chain and chainring will not work with my (what I thought was clever) request of keeping it single speed but using my PT mavic wheel with a big cassette 12/28 for anywhere around here. Need a bottom bracket, different chain and he claims a 44 chainring instead of the 42 to work. Than the current brakes which are V will not give great braking power on the thinner wheels and wanted to go with the CX brake style (mini-V) but says he can get the brakes to work.

I went to see him today and I promised him a nice fat tip cause it seemed like he needed it as I was really putting him through the ringer with my requests. Than needed new bar tape on both. endless...

The only funny thing was that once I told him the Surly was the commuter, he kept trying to do everything cheaper which I understand but that bike is really going to take the brunt of the training and I really do not want to get stuck anywhere...

Well anyway I have a feeling another call on Tuesday which is when it should be done cause I brought a whole bunch of other parts to finish the job which I could tell looking through the bag was not happy for him. Also he was really hating the cable system on the ritchey and replacing it all which I was confused why he needed to do it but would be nice t have re-done anyway.

-john

 

[ambal]

Quote: Originally Posted by Felt_Rider .
Coastal Cruising

Some scenes from the last few days cruising along Hwy 182 (Perdido Beach Blvd) during this time of rest. Short ride today with storms rolling in.

Pictures here: Orange Beach Visit


Those are some great pics FR. Nothing beats a good storm rolling in across the coast.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Quote: Originally Posted by ambal .

Those are some great pics FR. Nothing beats a good storm rolling in across the coast.



Thanks and the best part it really never rained while I was out there and never saw any lightning. We did get to enjoy sitting on the Condo balcony later that day and watch the storm roll through quickly. I had several days of getting out for an early morning ride.

Back to structured training this week.

---------------------------

js, hope you get the bikes all situated soon. I bet that Surly is going to be a nice commuter once the mechanic gets it set up for you.

 

[Bigpikle]

Looking forward to seeing pics of the Surly when its done. I got my old converted singlespeed back on the road the other day and got some miles on her again. I have a plan in the back of my mind to use my PT hub and build it up as a single speed wheel so I can get some useful data as I ride? If I could just get my Crudguards to fit properly as well then it might make a good winter hack.

Stil struggling to get my CTL to stay above 70 though. Its 69.9 as I type after a day riding back and forth to get my car serviced, but I need to get the volume up and keep it going. Really hoping I can keep my head down and make October a good month.

 

[bgoetz]

Dang, this thread has died! You all must be as busy as me, LoL. Well training is going pretty well, I have been doing a fair amount of MTB specific work mixed with a steady diet of 2x20. The thing that I have really noticed/done differently in this block is focus on allowing myself to recover to the point where I can get a quality workout in and keeping workouts consistent throughout. I really thought I understood the need for balance and how my body felt, but I am surprised at how this approach has changed my focus with regards to why I train. To say things have been going well would be a understatement, I would say I am hands down stronger than I have ever been on all levels. Since I find that in MTB there is a greater need to complete high wattage efforts while seated, all of my efforts are done seated, which actually has really gone a long way to making me stronger. This week of all weeks has felt like a break through week, Saturday I raced, Sunday I decided to take off the bike and allow a good recovery, Monday I went for a 1.5hr spirited aerobic ride with a friend (65TSS), Tuesday I completed 9 AWC intervals all seated and mostly going by feel (all intervals turned out to be mid-500 AP), Wednesday I did 9 3x3 VO2 again all seated and by feel (all intervals were 370-400 AP. So yesterday the plan was 2x20 @ 90%, which I have been averaging 330ish. I really expected to struggle given the hard week, but I am not sure if it was in induction of the VO2 workouts or what, but I felt great! I blew past 20min and just kept going until I literally had to make myself stop @ 45min @ 330. So I think I found that balance is good and VO2 when done consistently in the greatest volume I can manage at one dose is also good. So I am now 3 weeks out from Iceman and am feeling good about where I am at. I am wondering if after yesterday if a dose of AWC/VO2 the couple days leading up to it might be good (as opposed to easier low volume)? Any thoughts? Dave?

 

[jsirabella]

bg, Yeah it does seem that this thread has gone a bit dead. if not for us few this thread would be officially dead. It seems the only threads that get any real action are the ones where AOG posts and than the usual rhetoric ensues. Since I did not have much to post with my recovery from the procedure and was working a bit on writing I was not too interested in those threads to really come as often.

For myself I finally got the Surly together the way I like and more important I am at the point where I can get on the bike. So far only indoors and yesterday I did 90 minutes with 1 hour at 190 which for me is not bad since it has only been about 3 weeks now. I have not ridden outdoors but willing to venture either today or tomorrow. Would like to do it today. Here are some pics of the Surly which I setup behind one of the sets here in the studio.



All good to report in that the repaired CT works wonderfully and I just love the feel of steel especially on the cranks. I am not sure but they feel a bit longer than my other cranks. He did a good job the mechanic but he messed me up with trying to make the brakes work with the thinner rims. He made the brakes so tight to the rim that it was very tough to remove them even with the brake release so I switched my front wheel back to what came with the Surly.



He did the most work here with putting a 44 on it and a 12/28 cassette, new chain and new bottom bracket to make it all work. It is a bit different with one chain ring and the large cassette but I like different and it just feels so smooth. Doing 190 with the 44 was a breeze and when I pedal with the steel cranks, it just feels that all the power goes right into the bike. I have carbon crank arms on my other bikes and always feels a bit soft for some reason. I have to move the rack and water bottle cages over to it later today if I take it home.

I love this setup so much cause it finally has the right type of wheels and setup for haulin and over the months I will be able to save $50 a week in gas plus $13 a day in tolls taking the GW! And I get in about 50 miles a day in riding with ~100 TSS scores each way.

On the back side I was pushing it too hard initially and should have done nothing for the first two weeks but I was feeling so good that I was sitting around too much with none of my usual support belts and paid for it on a flight back from Fl. But the last three days I rode and was feeling pretty good so now to get back to the 90 CTL before the weather goes completely terrible here and stuck indoors. Right now it is back down to 60...

bg, seems most take off in October which is terrible for me with all the candy!! Got my favorite time of year with candy and pies. Keep up the great block of training and want to hear more race stories this coming year. You had some good ones. Wish more people would share those around here.

-js

NOTE: The seat is not broken nor the stem. With my back issues and trying to take it easy especially now that is how I set it up to make sure I feel pretty good. You can imagine how it feels after two hours but as time goes on I will hopefully level it out a bit more. The COBB saddle while great was just too hard and this old saddle from my original TREK 5000 still feels the most comfortable of the lot.

 

[bgoetz]

Well Iceman should be a cool experience, there will be quite a few real legit pros in attendance (Sam Schultz won last year). All my racing experience tells me that hopes for a top 10-15 finish can be gone in the first 5 minutes of the race. So my only story may be lining up next to those guys and the brief period of chaos that ensues.

 

[alienator]

For myself I finally got the Surly together the way I like and more important I am at the point where I can get on the bike.  So far only indoors and yesterday I did 90 minutes with 1 hour at 190 which for me is not bad since it has only been about 3 weeks now.   I have not ridden outdoors but willing to venture either today or tomorrow.  Would like to do it today.  Here are some pics of the Surly which I setup behind one of the sets here in the studio.

I had to put ice on my groinal region after seeing the seat angle in that picture.

 

[jsirabella]

Quote: Originally Posted by alienator .


I had to put ice on my groinal region after seeing the seat angle in that picture.
The only way I can get it to that angle is by putting the seat post in backwards (not sure if right term). It is scary to look at but it is not as bad as it looks. I was always thinking of developing a seat that has almost no back or absolute min on seat bones. Also the skinner the better.

Some have told me that may be time to put the bike riding to pasture if you have to go that far to ride but I enjoy it too much and not really that bad. I have also made sure I can still perform when called upon if you know what I mean.

-john