Still sick

Took the day off work. I want to rest up so I can get back on the bike.

I will be headed to Chicago tomorrow (yep, skipping other day at the office), so I wanted to get all the rest I could today. I won't be back on the bike until Saturday. Not sure if I will do my long ride on Sunday or Monday.

Time, weather and health will make the call.

I'm Sick... :(

I rode 1.5 hours yesterday. I felt pretty bad; tired and I had a weird buzzing in my ear. I started to feel a tickle in my throat. Woke up this morning with a cough and a stuffy head. It's gone downhill all day.

Bummer. The training was going well. Things will have to slow down a bit. It could be worse, since next weeks is supposed to be an light week anyway.

Oh, well. There is still plenty of time 'til Iowa.

Quick Update

Did 1 hour on Christmas. Did 4 hours today. The weather was very outdoor-friendly, with air temps around 34F and a pretty good headwind.

The holidays have messed with my ride plans. This will continue untill next week. I'll get in what I can, but it will be less than perfect.

Joe

Back at it

Just got done with 1.5 hours on the trainer. It felt good to be back on the bike. Trainer time is never fun, but it is necessary this time of year. I felt a bit guilty riding inside, since it was above freezing here for the first time all month. But I had the trainer all set to go, and my outdoor gear was scattered all over the place, so up on the trainer I went.

On the plus side, my wife was on her trainer next to me. It's better to have someone to talk to while riding the non-moving bike. And we got to watch a Lance Armstrong special on the Travel Channel. I know liking Lance isn't very "core" these days, but I am still a fan.

Getting in the hours over the next day is gonnna be complicated, but I'll do what I have to do. I'm pleased that my form seems to be progressing nicely. I have one more hard week, and then I get to enjoy my first easy week. After that, I start adding outdoor hill work during the week, and adding another short day of riding during the week as well.

It only gets harder from here. But suffering now is better than quitting in Iowa.

Joe

Confession

I missed my scheduled ride yesterday, and I wasn't able to make it up today. It is going to be very hard to fit in those extra 90 minutes this week. Lots of family commitments and work issues to be addressed.

It's a bummer.

I will be back on the bike tomorrow. 1.5 hours on the trainer with medium resistance. I will be doing my long ride on Sunday instead of Saturday to accomodate Christmas festivities.

After the first of the year some significant nutritional changes will kick in; that is to say I have to quit eating cookies! I plan to enjoy eating for the rest of the week.

Joe

Sunday Ride and Gear Guide #1

Sunday was an easy ride; one hour on the trainer. Not too much to say about that.

I was thinking that some folks might be interested to know what kind of gear I use when I ride 4+ hours in sub-freezing temperatures. Over the next few days I will post some info on that topic.

What a fine, fine day!

I did a nice 4-hour ride this morning. I was on the bike at 9:30 AM and safely back home at 1:45 PM. I had a light tailwind on the way out, which made for a very relaxing start. Of course, that meant that the ride home was a bit more energetic!

It was important that I was home before 2 PM, because that is when registration opened for Trans-Iowa V.2. My sense from the reading the internet boards was that this race would fill up fast. And so it was. The race is now filled; it took something less than 4 hours to fill all 70 spots.

I had a moment of rage this morning when I checked the boards and found that some people were able to register for the race last night because of a screw-up at active.com. Jeff Kerkove, the race promoter, slammed that door pretty quick. Near as I can tell, the rest of registration went smoothly.

Anyway, back to the ride. It was cold, about 24F, or around 16F with windchill. I was very comfortable, both with the temperature and the effort. My feet got cold, but I am slowly working out how to keep them warm. I didn't really have any problems for the first three hours or so. Since my longest training ride will only be six hours this year, I think I can make sufficient adjustments to keep the toes warm that long. Some slightly warmer weather would also be welcome...

So, I got in a good training ride, and I got registered for my first big race of the year. All in all, a pretty good day.

Joe

Trainer Time

I did 1.5 hours on the trainer on both Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday was low speed, high resistance. Tonight was less resistance and higher legspeed. Both sessions kicked my butt!

I am doing 4 hours on Saturday with my friend and teammate Nate. We will both be riding singlespeeds. It will be a nice, long, and slow basebuilding day. I'm thinking about what to do for food. Last Saturday, my food (Perpetum from Hammer Nutrition) froze solid after about an hour in the cold. Maybe a peanut butter sandwich? Maybe a bagel? Only time will tell...

Joe

Quick Lunchtime Update

I did the Kiss Cross race on Sunday. I think I was 2nd from last to finish. Clearly, 'cross is not my thing. I also failed to win the Slingshot frame in the drawing. :(

All in all, it was a good week of training.

Joe

Chilly!

It was about 17F this morning at 9:30 AM as I set out for my 3.5 hour ride. I did 2.5 hours solo and was able to make it back downtown to meet up with the Singlespeed Nation folks for the last hour. My solo time was done on back road with a steady pace of 15 MPH. The Singlespeed Nation ride included more stop and go riding, with parking ramps, snow-covered sidewalks and a sledding hill (!) to keep things interesting.

One bad thing to note-I got a flat tire! Flat tires are never fun. A flat tire in the cold, after riding for 3 hours and 20 minutes really sucks! The SSN ride was heading for the coffeeshop at this point, so I just sent them on their way and fixed the flat on my own. Then it was home for some tastey steak fajitas! Mmmmmm good!

Tomorrow I have a one hour ride on the schedule. I might try to make it to the last Kiss Kross race of the season. We rode the course during the SSN ride; it's short, but there is a ton of snow on the ground. We'll see how I feel.

White Industries

I just got word that White Industries will be provide some product support for me this year. This is very exciting; I used the ENO Eccentric Hub and ENO Freewheel in 2005 and LOVED them. Hight quality products that work in any weather--exactly what is necesary to succeed in endurance racing.

Training is going well. My legs and lungs feel strong during my short weekday rides. I'm looking forward to my long ride on Saturday. It looks like the weather should cooperate, with temps in the high 20's and limited snow. I also hope to do the Single Speed Nation ride http://www.singlespeednation.blogspot.com/ on Saturday, and maybe the KissCross http://www.kisscross.com/ race on Sunday. We'll see...

Early Season, Slow Start

Rode Sunday for an hour. Ran 3.5 miles Monday.

Spent a couple of hours on Sunday fixing flat tires and putting together the backup bike. I now have two fully-functioning mountain bikes! No more long trainer sessions.

Anger...

Rode for an hour on Friday. Rode for three hours today.

Today's ride was supposed to be three hours outside. It was cold this morning, around 23F. However, there was some sunshine and the winds were manageable.

I was running a bit late getting my gear together, but I was ready to ride by 9:30 AM. I was checking the the air in the tires and realized that I had a flat in the rear! This sucks, as I was already 30 minutes behind scheldule.

As an endurance ride, I should have been able to switch to my backup bike. Unfortunatly, my backup bike is in pieces in the workshop. Grrrrrr....

I decided to cut my losses and ride inside today. That means I did three hours on the trainer. Not a fun way to spend the morning.

At least my legs felt good, and I was able to keep the heart rate in the proper zone.