Saturday, January 17, 2009
Mr. Winter go away
Wow what a cold week. I was really glad I got out and rode on Sunday the 11th before the sub-arctic air moved in. Bill Harper and I hit the gravel roads north-west of town on the mountian bikes. The road were in great shape.
If you have never ridden the gravel roads on a mountain bike in the winter you are missing a great chance to get some fresh air. If the temps are below 30 the frozen roads make for some great riding. The air is fresh and with no leaves on the trees you can see all kinds of wild life. We came down a hill and the field on our right was filled with wild turkeys. There must have been 100 of them. They ran/flew across the road and went into a wooded area on our left. You just don't get to see that kind of stuff from a car.
Tuesday this week Greg, Wiford and Bill Harper came out for the Tuesday night sweat-fest. I had announced that this week would be a ride-till-you-die test. All three of them have done it before but this was the first time this year. This test is really an anerobic threshold test. The test consists of 30 second intervals that increase in resistnce until you can no longer ride. It is like a stress test. The two offical goals are to see if you can have a lower heart rate then the last test results at a given wattage output and to determine the heart rate that you should be doing intervals during training sessions. The un-offical goal is to go further then the other riders.
Plans are taking shape for the first big training ride of the year. The Sebring 24 in Sebring Florida is February 14th-15th. Right now there are four of us going together. Wiford, Larry Ide, Paul Carpenter and myself.
Paul lives in the Chicago area and holds the record for the Race Across the West. He is also the top Big Dog for mileage the last two years with over 20,000. This will give me a chance to pick his brain on some strategies during the long drive donw and back. Larry is from Monmouth and is better none as Crazy Larry for what he eats on long rides. His diet usually consists of a 20oz bottle of Coke each hour and many candy bars. In June of last year he rode 3000 miles and then last fall he won the Last Chance 750 mile race in Colorado with a time under 50 hours. The race is draft legal so it will make for a little more fun then the other 24 hour rides I have done.
The weather looks decent for Wednesday maybe I will be able to get out and ride the road bike if the roads are not too sloppy.
If you have never ridden the gravel roads on a mountain bike in the winter you are missing a great chance to get some fresh air. If the temps are below 30 the frozen roads make for some great riding. The air is fresh and with no leaves on the trees you can see all kinds of wild life. We came down a hill and the field on our right was filled with wild turkeys. There must have been 100 of them. They ran/flew across the road and went into a wooded area on our left. You just don't get to see that kind of stuff from a car.
Tuesday this week Greg, Wiford and Bill Harper came out for the Tuesday night sweat-fest. I had announced that this week would be a ride-till-you-die test. All three of them have done it before but this was the first time this year. This test is really an anerobic threshold test. The test consists of 30 second intervals that increase in resistnce until you can no longer ride. It is like a stress test. The two offical goals are to see if you can have a lower heart rate then the last test results at a given wattage output and to determine the heart rate that you should be doing intervals during training sessions. The un-offical goal is to go further then the other riders.
Plans are taking shape for the first big training ride of the year. The Sebring 24 in Sebring Florida is February 14th-15th. Right now there are four of us going together. Wiford, Larry Ide, Paul Carpenter and myself.
Paul lives in the Chicago area and holds the record for the Race Across the West. He is also the top Big Dog for mileage the last two years with over 20,000. This will give me a chance to pick his brain on some strategies during the long drive donw and back. Larry is from Monmouth and is better none as Crazy Larry for what he eats on long rides. His diet usually consists of a 20oz bottle of Coke each hour and many candy bars. In June of last year he rode 3000 miles and then last fall he won the Last Chance 750 mile race in Colorado with a time under 50 hours. The race is draft legal so it will make for a little more fun then the other 24 hour rides I have done.
The weather looks decent for Wednesday maybe I will be able to get out and ride the road bike if the roads are not too sloppy.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
It is Official I'm In
Well the RAW sign-up opened today. If you signed up today you saved $300 and got your name in a drawing for a Titan Flex frame and fork.
I have been able to ride outside two of the last three days and hope to get out a few more times this weekend. Maybe January won't be as bad as December for outside riding and I can start to get in shape.
Reading Paul Carpenter's write up about last year's race has me a little nervous and re-thinking my time goal. There is a lot of climbing that will keep the pace down. I will really have to do some serious hill repeats to be ready.
I have been able to ride outside two of the last three days and hope to get out a few more times this weekend. Maybe January won't be as bad as December for outside riding and I can start to get in shape.
Reading Paul Carpenter's write up about last year's race has me a little nervous and re-thinking my time goal. There is a lot of climbing that will keep the pace down. I will really have to do some serious hill repeats to be ready.
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