May 21, 2009
I took the Time Trial bike out in preparation for the weekend TT. It was the first time I had been on it this year. I did a good warm-up then a pretty hard effort to see what kind of speed I could generate. I felt very sluggish and was not happy with the numbers. I could only hope that the race day jitters and adrenaline would give me a significant boost.
May 23, 2009
Time Trial
Race day! I had to leave the house at zero dark thirty to make the TT start at 7:32 am. I got there; registered, got my bib number drove the course. The profile looked like a steady incline to the turnaround with a steady descent back to the finish line. WRONG! There was no flat area on this course at all. It was either up or down. The road consisted of roller after roller. Glad I saw this before I got started. I wanted to get at least a 30-40 minute warm-up. I quickly heard that the officials were running about 40 minutes behind. That was fine by me. That gave me a little more time to prepare. I warmed up on the road in and around the small town square. I rolled up to the line with about 3 minutes to spare. I was a little nervous and sweating. Good and warm. I got my last drink of water before being held upright for the start. I was clipped in, ready to go. The route was 11 miles long. I wanted to do it in less than 27 minutes. Not a great time, but a good first TT effort for the season. I finished 14th with a time of 25:45.
Criterium
The course was in an industrial park. It was a ‘P’ shaped course that consisted of 5 turns. One of those was a 180 degree, SHARP left turn. I found out quickly that the inside line was NOT the one to take. You had to slow so much it was hard to get started again. This was not a place to get left behind. Everyone was out of the saddle and hammering out of the turn. I could gain some spots out of the turn and into the next turn which started up the only climb on the course. It was a climb that you could shift into a smaller gear and spin up while seated. Once up the climb, there was a left turn that started you down hill into a fast left turn heading toward the start/finish line and that tight 180 degree turn. I could make up ground on this section too. I was proud just to hang with the group, not get lapped and finish without being completely wasted. I finished 27th out of a field of 33. Not a great finish, but improvement since I wasn’t lapped.
I spent the rest of the day taking pictures of my team mates in their races. I got some great shots for our website.
Sunday
I was scheduled to start the road race at 8:25 am Sunday morning. I woke up at 7:55 am. It was a 60 mile drive and it was raining. There was no way I could make it. My power had gone off in the early morning hours and my alarm clock failed to go off and wake me. I rolled over and slept in.
Monday
I had been emailing an “almost local” cycling coach over the last few days and today was the day I was going to enlist his help, advice and knowledge to try and get me to the next level. He had gotten great results with some other racers I know. I hope it will work with me as well. So, he sends me my workouts via email and I send him the power files recorded by my power meter during the workouts. Today was an easy spin day, just an hour and a half of easy spinning in an easy gear. No worries, all was right with the world.
Tuesday
Today I had to do a lactate threshold test to get a baseline # to build from. I had to do a good, solid warm-up followed by a 15 minute, all out, hard effort on a climb. I got caught in a torrential downpour ¾ of the way up the climb. I kept going. I did not want to stop in the middle of this effort. I made it the 15 minutes and turned around. I was already soaked to the bone and getting chilly. The descent was going to be far from fun. I pulled into a pull off and sat underneath a low hanging branch from a tree and waited for 15-20 minutes for the rain to slack up. It finally did, a little. I headed back down the hill ever so carefully at 30-35 mph, with a steady grip on the brakes. The last ¼ of the hill was bone dry, but windy. The storm had not made an impact here at all. I was getting blown all over the road on the way back to my vehicle. I saw that the storm cloud was ahead of me and going in the same direction. I pulled into a service station and got under the awning to let the storm pass. I did not want to ride back into it again. It had been like riding in my shower, only colder. Once I got back on the road, I was on a straight road with an intersecting road on the right. A car was coming up to the intersection as I was about to pass by. This little teenage girl, on her cell phone, no doubt, never looked my way and proceeded to come on out and turn left, which would put her going in my direction of travel. When she finally looked up and saw me, her front bumper was literally 8 inches from my left thigh. I had nowhere to go, as I had already taken evasive action and moved as far to the side of the road as possible. I think she wet herself from the expression on her face when she made eye contact. She immediately swerved left and slowed as I moved passed. She stayed way back for a while then finally sped past. That’s the closest I have come to being struck by a motorist. I hope I’m never that close again!
Oh yeah, the rain fried my iPod. It is trashed. I tried everything to get it going again, but it has played its last song. Father’s day gift idea…
Wednesday
Today was a Zone 2 easy spin day. I had to keep my power output around 140 watts. It seemed almost a dragging pace, but I got used to it and it was a very good recovery, mind clearing ride.
Thursday
Today I had to substitute Friday’s workout for todays. I got home very late, had only about an hour to squeeze in a ride and try and beat the thunderstorms that were predicted. I did a 20 minute warm up followed by 10 sets of single leg drills. Then I did a moderate cool down back to the house. I felt very good. My legs were good today, very strong. I kept wanting to shift to a bigger gear, but I held fast and stuck to the program. There will be time for that tomorrow. I have LT intervals tomorrow. FUN!
I took the Time Trial bike out in preparation for the weekend TT. It was the first time I had been on it this year. I did a good warm-up then a pretty hard effort to see what kind of speed I could generate. I felt very sluggish and was not happy with the numbers. I could only hope that the race day jitters and adrenaline would give me a significant boost.
May 23, 2009
Time Trial
Race day! I had to leave the house at zero dark thirty to make the TT start at 7:32 am. I got there; registered, got my bib number drove the course. The profile looked like a steady incline to the turnaround with a steady descent back to the finish line. WRONG! There was no flat area on this course at all. It was either up or down. The road consisted of roller after roller. Glad I saw this before I got started. I wanted to get at least a 30-40 minute warm-up. I quickly heard that the officials were running about 40 minutes behind. That was fine by me. That gave me a little more time to prepare. I warmed up on the road in and around the small town square. I rolled up to the line with about 3 minutes to spare. I was a little nervous and sweating. Good and warm. I got my last drink of water before being held upright for the start. I was clipped in, ready to go. The route was 11 miles long. I wanted to do it in less than 27 minutes. Not a great time, but a good first TT effort for the season. I finished 14th with a time of 25:45.
Criterium
The course was in an industrial park. It was a ‘P’ shaped course that consisted of 5 turns. One of those was a 180 degree, SHARP left turn. I found out quickly that the inside line was NOT the one to take. You had to slow so much it was hard to get started again. This was not a place to get left behind. Everyone was out of the saddle and hammering out of the turn. I could gain some spots out of the turn and into the next turn which started up the only climb on the course. It was a climb that you could shift into a smaller gear and spin up while seated. Once up the climb, there was a left turn that started you down hill into a fast left turn heading toward the start/finish line and that tight 180 degree turn. I could make up ground on this section too. I was proud just to hang with the group, not get lapped and finish without being completely wasted. I finished 27th out of a field of 33. Not a great finish, but improvement since I wasn’t lapped.
I spent the rest of the day taking pictures of my team mates in their races. I got some great shots for our website.
Sunday
I was scheduled to start the road race at 8:25 am Sunday morning. I woke up at 7:55 am. It was a 60 mile drive and it was raining. There was no way I could make it. My power had gone off in the early morning hours and my alarm clock failed to go off and wake me. I rolled over and slept in.
Monday
I had been emailing an “almost local” cycling coach over the last few days and today was the day I was going to enlist his help, advice and knowledge to try and get me to the next level. He had gotten great results with some other racers I know. I hope it will work with me as well. So, he sends me my workouts via email and I send him the power files recorded by my power meter during the workouts. Today was an easy spin day, just an hour and a half of easy spinning in an easy gear. No worries, all was right with the world.
Tuesday
Today I had to do a lactate threshold test to get a baseline # to build from. I had to do a good, solid warm-up followed by a 15 minute, all out, hard effort on a climb. I got caught in a torrential downpour ¾ of the way up the climb. I kept going. I did not want to stop in the middle of this effort. I made it the 15 minutes and turned around. I was already soaked to the bone and getting chilly. The descent was going to be far from fun. I pulled into a pull off and sat underneath a low hanging branch from a tree and waited for 15-20 minutes for the rain to slack up. It finally did, a little. I headed back down the hill ever so carefully at 30-35 mph, with a steady grip on the brakes. The last ¼ of the hill was bone dry, but windy. The storm had not made an impact here at all. I was getting blown all over the road on the way back to my vehicle. I saw that the storm cloud was ahead of me and going in the same direction. I pulled into a service station and got under the awning to let the storm pass. I did not want to ride back into it again. It had been like riding in my shower, only colder. Once I got back on the road, I was on a straight road with an intersecting road on the right. A car was coming up to the intersection as I was about to pass by. This little teenage girl, on her cell phone, no doubt, never looked my way and proceeded to come on out and turn left, which would put her going in my direction of travel. When she finally looked up and saw me, her front bumper was literally 8 inches from my left thigh. I had nowhere to go, as I had already taken evasive action and moved as far to the side of the road as possible. I think she wet herself from the expression on her face when she made eye contact. She immediately swerved left and slowed as I moved passed. She stayed way back for a while then finally sped past. That’s the closest I have come to being struck by a motorist. I hope I’m never that close again!
Oh yeah, the rain fried my iPod. It is trashed. I tried everything to get it going again, but it has played its last song. Father’s day gift idea…
Wednesday
Today was a Zone 2 easy spin day. I had to keep my power output around 140 watts. It seemed almost a dragging pace, but I got used to it and it was a very good recovery, mind clearing ride.
Thursday
Today I had to substitute Friday’s workout for todays. I got home very late, had only about an hour to squeeze in a ride and try and beat the thunderstorms that were predicted. I did a 20 minute warm up followed by 10 sets of single leg drills. Then I did a moderate cool down back to the house. I felt very good. My legs were good today, very strong. I kept wanting to shift to a bigger gear, but I held fast and stuck to the program. There will be time for that tomorrow. I have LT intervals tomorrow. FUN!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment