climb

I sit here stealing wireless from someone, so I will keep this breif. Snow supposed to be coming soon, and I could deal with some powder.

The whole family made the climb up highlands bowl yesterday. 717 vertical feet topping out at 12,382ft, leads to a 2,500 or so vertical foot descent. Lifts and a snowcat get you to a point along the right ridge. It is a somewhat taxing effort, especially for the parents. The run down is amazing however, as we were making fresh tracks nearly a week after the last snow storm. I even managed to snap a few pictures.

be back in a week

Just when I was settling into a nice routine, my family decides its time for a vacation. I was getting used to and really starting to like sleeping till noon or so, going out for some base miles, finding something to eat, general relaxing around the house until the siblings got home from school, hanging out with them for a bit, dinner, and then out to see friends, bed, repeat.

At least we are heading out to Colorado. Hopefully we will be able to go....all the darn snow closed the airport. I hope everyone has a good x-mas, blah blah blah. I'm hitting the slopes (for the first time this year, a new record of how late in the season it is till I get on snow, usually its just before turkey day) for the next week or so with the family in Aspen and I may even remember my camera. Thats right, a place where the beer flows like water, where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon to capistrana....Ok, so I butchered the quote. I'll be back in time to tear it up for new years, see you then.

dog

I miss my dog. He left today (we leave for colorado saturday morning) and I only got to see him for a few days. He is perhaps the coolest, loudest, and at times most annoying 4lb fluffball in existence...he also has a huge tongue apparently.


Oh yea. I went to Targetraining again tonight (with my dad). Only one semi-guerrilla. We did some cool arizona cross type ride (wide open dirt road). Mostly flat with a few small rollers, and a single 1.5mile 3% or so climb. The semi-guerrilla and I took turn pulling each other (we dropped my dad about 3 minutes in) which was cool learning how to use the computers draft. Eventually we got bored and decided to do a few semi-hard efforts, keeping our heartrate below a certain percent. By no means a race, just kicking up the pace a slight bit, still easy, still base miles, just seeing how things felt. No way I was going to jack up the heartrate.

We kept together perfectly well through the first two. On the last one, about 1/2 way through it, I opened a gap on him of 25 feet. Next thing I knew my gap was over 100 feet and I was gone. He was going hard trying to catch on, but pro told me to continue my workout and not wait for him. I settled into a nice rythm for the rest of our "not overly slow section" putting out a consistent 250w and keeping the hr down, and ended up a minute ahead of him. Again not that I was racing, but after getting served tuesday, I wanted to beat someone somewhere....so what if I was 2bpm over my targeted maxhr for a brief moment? I also put out a not so pathetic 521w for a moment on one of the short little climbs, at an easy/medium effort. I have never ridden with a powermeter before, so using this is a new experience and sort of fun. I want to go back and see what watts I can put out when I am in shape and allowed to go.

pic's pt 2.....much better

No helmet-wrecking crash today!!!

After I wrote all that up yesterday, I went over to Targetraining to get some new gear. Bell Sweep R and some rudy project's and I'm stylin now. While I was there I ended up getting invited to ride with them that night. They use velodyne computrainer type things. About 4 gorrilla's, 1 pro racer, and myself showed up. After spinning for 20 minutes and getting the velodyne's calibrated (you enter some data, it spins down from speed, etc...) they all decided we were doing the simulated alpe d'huez. It wasn't a race per se, just like you weekly shop hammerfest ride isn't a race......

I started 3rd, and from the get-go was hurting bad....you know, the part that goes downhill. I got passed about 3.5 miles in by a gorrilla who had started about .5mi behind me. I had closed down nearly .25mi on a gorrilla who had started .75mi ahead of me, and was holding steady behind the gorrilla who started first. Around 7mi I was really, really hurting.

I should mention 38X23 was my gearing for this "climb". Needless to say it was terrible. One giant pain interval. I got passed by the pro who started 5minutes after me, tried to jump and draft him (you can do that in this thing, its soo cool, you all have your own tv screens, someone comes up, you accelerate to stay behind them and it drafts and gets a tad easier) but as soon as I settled onto his wheel he jumped and dropped me. We played cat and mouse for about a minute, and I was totally cooked. I finally made it up, last, but with the 2nd to slowest time, 1:17 and change. I avg'd somewhere around 175 watts, which isn't terrible, I weigh all of 119 lbs, actaully, I lost 3lbs during that ride. To be fair, I had ridden and crashed, was coming off 3 weeks off, and they are all HUGE powerful guys, who ride, alot, and are faster than me.

Anyways, I slept well last night and decided to ride with my mom for an easy spin to get lunch today. Brought the camera along. Took things super easy and spinny, let my mom suck my wheel for most of the ride, etc. etc. Best base miles of the year to date, by far.


Oh yea. Looks like the Colby team is going to have Targetraining coach us this year. I am super stoked as this is a great oppertunity for us and hopefully for them (probably not). I worked hard to make this happen, and now that it looks like it will, I am excited to be able to work with coaches and athletes of such caliber.

that didn't hurt....pic's pt. 1

After a few weeks pretty much off, I started training again yesterday. Nothing special. With chanukah being celebrated by my family last night, I got some sweet new toys....Digital Camera, ipod...thats right, it pays to not celebrate x-mas sometimes. I took my new toys on my ride with me today. The legs felt fine, but the chest part of the body did not. My HR was through the roof for how easy I was going, and everytime I would try to give it some gas, my hr jumped, my breathing got heavy, etc... I haven't panted so hard since I was doing some major backcountry skiing/climbing/trekking at altitude last winter.

At the end of the ride, about 3 miles from my house, stopping for a light, I lost my balance (one foot out) and took a digger. No one was near (cars or anything) so I got up. I got home fine, only to realize my helmet was trashed and my sunglasses that had been in my pocket were broken. I was pissed, but glad because in my other pockets, my ipod and camera were fine.

I was going to do a longer ride with alot of pictures since it was so nice out, sunny, calm, 45....new england, grow a pair already, but I cut it short as I felt awful. So this wil have to be pt. 1 of the pictures

sigh

Done with exams. Womens elite/collegiate men nat's, along with some other categories (sub35 b men?) are today, hopefully those of my friends racing do well. It feels sooo good to be done with exams. Have to pack up/move this afternoon to drive home tonight, so I can finally get some sleep and get into base miles. 6 days until colorado skiing, something like 14 to a possible cross race, and 18 or so until Italy!!!

3 down, 1 to go, and nat's.

Well day 1 of 'cross nationals should be wrapping up right around now (its dark out). Sort of wish I was there either to race or to cheer with the NOISEBRIGADE (a bunch of drunk college kids). Instead I have to take my last exam. At least I survived the first three and am not to worse for the wear.

pressure cooker

It's that god-awful time of year when you just want it all to be over soon...finals. 12+ hour days in the library are no fun, let me tell you. I know more about microeconomic theory, comparative politics (algeria, russia, and france), american gov., and italian than most people will ever care to know...

I also decided fig newtons have a secret ingredient.....CRACK!!!! Seriously, can you eat just one? Some say that are better than energy bars (certainly more eatable) or at least have most of the stuff you need, they are so damn good. I dare you to eat just one...

an observation - 3 basic tips for riding inside

A comment I hear rather often from those I know in the greater cycling community is that many people hate riding inside. It's boring, they get to hot, they go insane, etc. etc.

I however, love riding inside. Ok, maybe not as much as riding outside, but with the right attitude and a few creature comforts, riding inside can be less dreadful. Here are my basic tips, in fact, you could call them common knowledge.

1. ride with others. Having someone (or multiple people) to talk to makes the time fly. Even a measly hour inside by yourself will feel like an eternity. With two friends, you can keep a good conversation going, you won't be looking at the clock, and the time will fly by. you organize outside rides all spring/summer/fall, why not do it over the winter.

2. have tv/movies. I prefer cycling dvd's as they provide good motivation, however anything will worked. They keep you entertained. A tip from sarah is to watch foriegn films and try to translate them, anything to keep your mind busy.

3. open the window and get a fan. I don't even have a fan, but an open window (or two for cross-ventilation) can work wonders. If its too cold outside to ride, that cool air will feel great when its 5000 degrees inside. A fan blowing it on you is even nicer.

There you go. You will now love riding inside. Well, probably not. But it may be a bit better. #1 is the most important and solves most of the problems. Having a good attitude is also very important. Coming in thinking bad things won't make the time pass, however, coming in thinking, im gonna get in a good workout, break a good sweat, workout the legs, talk to my buddies, watch something, etc., will make the clock fly and the overall experience more enjoyable. Even if you and your friend don't do the same workout or time on the bike, even a bit of time talking to someone else helps. Make sure you have a towel, don't wear a jersey (makes you hot, uneccessary), have a stand near the bike to hold your towel, water, food, etc.

Another thing to try on a trainer is reading. Its not that hard to do, and you kill two birds with one stone. Read the paper, magazine, your book, textbook, whatever. Just make sure you keep on pedaling a good cadence/gear. You can really only do this for super easy base miles or recovery rides. Try all sorts of things. Be sure to mix it up (cadences, gears, etc.) like you would on the road. Ride no handed (if you can't on a trainer, you probably shouldn't be a cyclist, and rollers are pretty easy to ride sans hands as well, it just takes a slight ego bruising first). Ride with one foot (a great drill). Been thinking about tweaking your position on the bike? Indoors is a great place to do it. Access to mirrors (see how the changes look as well as feel) and tools mean you can change things easily and often, see/feel the results, and continue to tweak things instantly.

So stop complaining to me and ride inside. If nothing else, you will appreciate riding outside all the more when it gets warm out again. Or, man up, and brave the winter, just stop complaining to me either way...

what a (non-cycling) weekend

On friday night my buddy Xander broke his nose. That was no fun. I then proceeded to stay up late, sleep in and not go skiing. There was a lupe fiasco concert I did not go to.

On saturday night I went out for loundess (final weekend before exams) celebrations, stay up late, sleep in and not go skiing. There was a colby/bowdoin hockey game I did not go to.

This afternoon I rode rollers w/ Sarah for an hour and a half, easy base miles, watching disc one of the 2005 tour of flanders. Normally I wouldn't post about that, because its boring. However, I got good at no handed roller riding. At first I could barely pull my hands a few inches from the bars for a split second before grabbing them in a panic. After quite a few near falls, ride-offs, unclippings, and other sketchy moments, I can now ride no handed about 95% as well on rollers as I can on the road. I can let go and sit up at will, hold it for a few minutes or as long as I really want to about 9 of 10 times. It's really nice to be able to do that, stretch out the back, and give the arms a rest from the never ending vibrations our old team rollers that are very warped make. While most people are like "yea, so..." I am excited. Perhaps 'cross gave me some bike handling skills or at least helped out my balance.

Alex Jospe, an alum now riding with nerac, won the stedman womans B cross race saturday, then on sunday took 3rd in a group of 4 that apparently lapped everyone but the top 4. While she could probably ride elite at this point, she has no real cross bike, and destroys a mtn bike. Goes to show you its the rider, not the ride. Congrats to her.

I spent 2 hours making my cross bike pretty. My hands are black and gross, but my entire drivetrain came completely off the bike and is now all shiny. The frame got a cleaning, as did the wheels. Cassette even came off the wheel and got scrubbed out. I then did some work on sarah's bike, which actaully shifts now. In return she helped me fold laundry. I hadn't done laundry in 2 weeks and was out of clothes so I did that today, sheets, towels, clothes, bike clothes, the whole shibang. I pretty much took over the laundry room for 2 hours this afternoon. I lost one of my favorite socks (a PI grey one I usually race in), normally i'd be pissed but I have 3 sweet new pairs of HUP socks on the way so i'm just gonna hope I find it stuck onto some pantleg or something.

After I finished making my bike pretty I decided I wanted a cyclocomputer for training data, so I put the one from my road bike onto the cross bike (which i'm currently riding with road tires on it as my main bike). Realizing I didn't have any zip ties to hold things on, I resorted to using alot of eletrical tape to hold the cadence and speed sensors on, in addition to a shim made of paper and more electrical tape. It is by no means pretty, and I honestly doubt it would hold up to a mere 10 miles in the rain or on rough roads, but it should work perfectly for the 10 trainer/roller rides it will see, but it works, at least in my short test (spin cranks, spin wheel, see if data shows up).

A special thanks to mike Z. He mentioned fitchburg in a comment. From that I have had spent a good 5 hours procrastinating looking at fitchburg, green mountain stage race, and a few others that I hope to race this summer. Nothing like wasting time trying to roughly figure out plans 6 months in advance for a bike race that you don't even know the dates of.

Speaking of summer, I need to figure out somethinig to do for 2 or 3 weeks so my parents won't complain to me that I am "wasting my summer" riding, racing, and working in a bike shop most likely. I want to go on some sort of b.s. program to europe for a few weeks, I think it would be a nice change of pace. If you know of a program, let me know. Preferably 2nd week of july-1st week of august. I figure i'll ride/race the little bit of may after exams, then all of june (and work in a bike shop), and do fitchburg which if its the same time as last year is pre-july 4th. Then go to europe for a few weeks (time off). After that I'll start training for cross, do some races like green mountain and maybe a charity ride (pan-mass), and head back to school for some late season crits and then cross season.....I have my summer figured out, if only I could do the same for the spring semester with classes.

Time to hit the books, because finals are here. On the bright side, I leave for Italy in 25 days (I think), which I am really excited for all of a sudden.

bald 23C + snow = death

Thats right, the gov/econ student came up with a math equation. It doesn't use calculus or matrix's or anything fancy, but it explains something important. Bald 23C tires + snow = death. I was riding back to my dorm tonight with about 1/2 inch of fresh on the ground, and was taking some turns at a decent speed (sneakers, jacket, backpack) on pavement covered in snow and got really sketchy. I didn't go down, but my life flashed before my eyes.....well maybe not.

I rode rollers while watching 2005 liege w/ Sarah (trainer) tonight. I didn't fall, didn't make too bad of a fool of myself, got in a decent workout, and watched Voigt loose to Vino at the finish after a super long break. Darn, I need to get a DVD of Voigt going on a suicidal break and actaully winning. All the one-footed drills I had been doing thus summer/fall and alot of one footed riding really paid off, as I felt super smooth on the rollers and really noticed I was comfortable and not having difficulty, especially compared to my last attempt on them.

Oddly, it was like 45 degrees this morning, then started raining, then got cold tonight and snowed. Weird. Tomorrow is the last day of classes. This semester has flown by.

that was less than smart

About 11pm I was bored, had no work to do, and my legs ached from not having ridden for 3 days. I'm only supposed to ride 3 days a week to hold some form coming off cross before having a full week of riding and then taking some time off around the holidays and then when I head to Italy, so 3 days off wasn't a big deal, especially as I had to write a research paper, do a problem set, and take a quiz in the past 3 days.

Regardless, I felt like riding, so at 11:30 I grabbed Fleche Wallonne 2005 from morgan (thanks). The one where Voigt has a ride like, well....voigt, gets caught at like 3km and di Luca takes the win. After some computer issues and getting dialed in on the trainer I was off right around midnight. Not the smartest thing to do by any means, but I would have sat in bed for 3 hours thinking about riding or something otherwise.

I put in a good hour of hard riding, about 85-90%, like im supposed to be. Well, actually, harder than I'm supposed to be, but I felt REALY REALY good. I mean the best I have felt on a bike in at least a month. Perhaps one of the top 10 "I really feel good today" training rides of the year. I held that for an hour, but right around 1:03 I cracked. Maybe it was Voigt taking off solo from his breakway group with 55km or so to go, maybe I didn't feel as good as I initally thought, whatever. I eased off for about 5 minutes, then tried to get going again. It just wasn't really happening, and I felt more like I have in the past 2 months, "there, but not quite there." So I took down the cadence a bit, pushed a bigger gear, and worked out the legs (I felt like I was doing more aerobic workout in the first hour than power). If I can get that feeling come spring and on the road, I will have a fighting chance in 4's for sure.

I put in a good 15 minutes out of the saddle in a 10 and 5 minute effort, something I often forget to do on the trainer, and then after a week inside wonder why my climbing isn't where it should be. Right around 1:30 the race was over, it was 1:30am, and I decided it was time to shower and bed. I decided to post because it was one of the less than smart things I have done recently, I could have easily waited untill tomorrow and rode (I will have plenty of time), but I chose to ride tonight. Some digging through my floor and desk netted me enough change to hit up the vending machines for a honey and oats granola bar 2 pack and a thing of fig newtons. Add in some water and you have a little post race feast.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll take a forray at rollers, since I need to get better and riding them will be good for me. At least then I will have Sarah for company.

4's watch out, im here

I officially recieved my cat 4 upgrade for next season. I found out that collegiate races count (or at least you can beg and point to them) a few days ago, found a math major to help me count to 10, and realized I didn't have to wake up at ungodly hours over the summer if I didn't want to anymore.

So on my shiny new liscence for 2007 it says im 20 (hehe, I will be in a month and a half, thats scary), and that im a 4road, 5track, and 4ross. 454, thats good for me, since I seem to do well when my race number is symetrical. I realized this last night looking at the numbers I have pinned up on my wall (im cheap on decorations) and realized 464 was my number at NoHo, where I was 3rd collegiate and in the high 20's or so at a Verge race, coming off an 8th row start and having the first non-catastrophic race of my 'cross life. And in my ride with the B's at BRC/Slickwilly I was 232, and I did decently well there. Also, I was 345 for the bethel training series. Granted I was on and off (out of shape for the first few ones after a month off, but then pulling down a 6 and an 11 and to get some series points). I guess this means I need to get a good collegiate number and then time my pre-reg so I can get numbers I want? maybe not.

To the 4's, I'm warning you all now. I am prone to do stupid things. Suicidal break attempts in lap 1 of a crit. Occasioanlly my mind wanders when i'm sitting in and my pack riding gets a bit sketchy. On the bright side, I will be more awake with later start times, so maybe i'll be more sane. Seriously, I know I am going to get shelled in 4's, either racing 4/5, 4, or 3/4. At least I can now pick whichever category (assuming there is 4 and 3/4, or 4/5 and 3/4) starts later. That was my sole motivator for the upgrade. I am going to get shelled as per usual.

Also, I am semi-offically racing with HUP United next season for cross. It even says so on my liscence.

Finals are next week and classes are wrapping up in the next few days. To much time spent studying and no riding makes me anxious. I can't sleep, my legs ache, etc. I'm riding hard 3 days a week for short periods of time, but i'm really looking forward to post exams when I can train, go skiing, train, go to Italy, lift, train, and then go somewhere warm to train more, train, and then the season will start. I'm really stoked to train and actaully have a legitmate season of racing and see what i'm capable of when I am NOT jumping into my first race with 100 miles of riding to my name in my entire life. Good things will happen perhaps?

new hampshire

Just got back from a night spent at UNH visiting some friends on the UNH team w/ Sarah. A fun night spent watching transition, pro, pure sweet hell and also the steve prefonatain movie, nothing like a night of watchinig cycling videos w/ some friends. Got in a solid hours ride this morning with Jeff and Sarah. I got whipped on every single california sprint and the sole town line sprint, which I broke for like like a mile to go, realized I was alone, waited, then got blown past, only to catch Jeff a few meters from the line but not be able to push past him. I finally passed him about 15 feet after the line....oh well. To compensate I decided to not let him get away on any short climb, and to push the pace when I was leading the climbs. Not that we were even riding hard, but it was fun. Something I ate for breakfast didn't sit right and I stopped to puke about 3 miles from the finish. It was quite odd, I felt fine up untill.....bam, puke......feel fine a few seconds later. Oh well.