Moving On and Aging

I now have a better understanding of Lance Armstrong's book title "Its Not About the Bike." To me riding has a health and social component. It’s a place where I can work hard and use other riders to push myself. VQ is unique in that it offers both components in a non-threatening package. I am who I am, and I ride like I ride. That being said, it is not entirely true. When I first started at VQ I was very frustrated because I was the slowest. It has taken 3 years for me to improve my speed, endurance and lower my weight. Now that I am faster, lighter and stronger than I was 3 years ago I feel confident to compete in the safety of the bike gym among people who I consider friends. I have talked to many new riders who are frustrated by the same issues I was. The cruel truth about VQ and riding is this; it's time on the bike, hard work and consistency that pay the biggest dividends. I ride against myself as much as I ride against anyone else. And there is no magic bullet. It's really only partly about the Bike. Damn

Riding is also has a social aspect. One of the best parts of riding at VQ is riding inside on a cold Sunday in winter with friends who have similar interests. 3 hours on a computrainer is a long time but with friends it is a bit shorter. Unfortunately two friends are moving to other cities. Justin and Natalie are moving on. Both have good opportunities out West where they will be able to train full time. I am happy for both but will miss them.

I first met Justin as the ringer on my old man 4 TT team. The ages of the riders were 60,59,51, and 23. And good lord we needed him. The race was a technical 40K, it was hot and very windy. Justin carried our butts the last 5-10K. What a great sport and what a great time; we rode our hardest and Justin was there to hide behind when we got tired. After that we became riding buddies and I have spent several Sundays beside him killing time riding the various computrainer courses.

I don't know Natalie well; we have not ridden together much. She has qualified for Kona by winning her age group at Ironman Wisconson and she is training hard so she can win in Hawaii. Natalie is always at VQ, riding longer, doing more functional training and being a role model of what you can do when
you put your mind to it.

Good luck and take care Justin and Natalie have a great time and great success in California. You guys will be missed and the rides will be a tad less fun. Keep in touch.

Now about the aging part of riding. What I have learned about working out hard is that bits and pieces of my body keep falling off. OK, not really falling off but getting injured. Last week after a hard cross training class that included jumping around like a chimp and a million squats, which I had been doing but not to that degree, my left knee decided it had enough and began to feel achy and stiff. I was told to stretch it out and take it easy for a few days. Sure enough the knee felt great. Last Sunday I was scheduled for a 4 hour ride and my knee felt great until the 3-hour mark and then it began to ache again. I rested it again and rode submax to make sure it as fine, however there is still pain. Damn now I am off the bike for 4 days and I will see how it goes. This reminds me of the line from the book The Right Stuff; "It can blow at any seam." Well this is where I am, my two "A" races are coming up June 20 for the Horribly Hilly and July 20 for the ETape. I am worried I will be injured, I want to ride hard and get ready. My knee is saying, slow down and take it easy. I have ridden through this before, I know the cure is time and rest: I am very frustrated, but what can I do? Good thing I am off to Seattle for a family event.

So until I return from Seattle, Have a great ride.

A Whole Week Off

This past week I was visiting my son during parents weekend at his school and then hanging in New York City. We left about a week ago and I have only had limited time to workout and absolutely no time to ride. Usually during a week I will workout for 10+ hours: 2 hours (2 days) of strength, 3 hours (2 days) of LT/high stress workouts, 1.5 hours (1 day) of submax and 3.5 hours on a Sunday endurance ride. To date I have worked out or stretched a total of 2 days for 2 hours.

Because I have only exercised briefly I feel horrible; more specifically I feel stiff, somewhat bloated and achy. I understand the stiff, I have tried to stretch every day but the days are full, and I am usually tired by the time we get back to the hotel. I understand bloated, my body thinks I am going to ride soon. What I don't understand is achy. Why on a break from exercising do I feel so bad?

I have looked for the answer and I have been unable to find one, however I think I know. My body thinks I am an athlete. I keep telling myself that I am just an old guy trying to stay in shape but my body knows better. Only members of the cult of VQ, athletes and extremists exercise as much as we do. When I polled my friends not many workout more than 5 hours a week, which to them is 5 days a week. Most of my friends only workout 3 times a week; that makes me at 6 days a week an extremist.

Exercising as much as I do must mean that working out has other by -products. The most hidden of them is what I am experiencing now; my body is decompressing from the all the exercise. Needless to say I am not happy. Not only am I achy I just generally feel bad. This is a totally unexpected by product of being in good shape. What a bummer. What I expected is a feeling of bliss, what I am getting is a feeling I have to workout.

OK I am off to the bike gym as soon as I get home, but this feels like an addiction and I am going through withdrawal. There must be something wrong but I am not sure. Oh well another unexpected benefit of riding. I can’t write more I must quench my thirst for pain on an unusually hard computrainer ride. Until later……..

I will see you on the road.

PS: I just finished riding a submax. I feel bad, slow and fat. Double bummer.

Inside riding successes

The winter/inside season is ending quickly and it is time I access my winter progress. However before I do that a few words about winter training. I like the indoor season for many reasons. I have access to many great riders so I can look at their form, ask them questions and I never get dropped, a fact that always inspires me. A few weeks ago I was able to ride next to, and talk to Bryce, an accomplished long distance rider, and ask him a ton of questions concerning my upcoming races and got some pretty good advice. Inside workouts are also easier to accomplish, as opposed easier to do, which they never are, because inside there no car doors to avoid or traffic to dodge and there are absolutely no potholes so I am able to totally concentrate on my cycling goals. The final benefit is that I am able to watch myself in the mirror while I ride. I can see if I am moving too much and practice on keeping my body still. This skill is still elusive and is taking up a ton of my time.

Bottom line: I had a great winter season. I think I am stronger both in watts and mentally. I have a better idea of what my strengths are and I know what I can accomplish. Solvang had a very positive effect in my training but I have been able to hone those lessons inside.

The major lesson I learned this indoor season was mental toughness. When I changed my mantra from “rotation/hydration” to “I know I can, I know I can” my riding greatly improved. I don’t think the mantra made me a better rider but it did give me more confidence, which has made all the difference in the world.

Letting my mantra take all the credit for my improvement is not totally fair. I am a stronger rider. My weight to power ratio is slowly increasing. I can tell I am getting stronger because I can outlast many people on climbs. I may lose ground on the flats but I can make up time on the climb. Of course weight/power is an exact term and success is a relative term based on that day and the ride, but my spirits are high and I am feeling good. What a great way to start the outside season and with the weather warming…..

I will see you on the road.

The Noise of Training

One of the things that strikes me about training indoors is that the sounds are distinctly different from outside. Outside there is the sound of the wind, the sound of cars passing, and bike noises like the sound of the gears turning, wheels cutting through the air and the bickering/talking of riders communicating.

Inside, on the trainers the sound is completely different. There is the mega-blare of the music and the sound of the computrainers. Being an older rider, ok a more mature rider, I like the 90's sound or music with a good beat. Some of the younger riders like a dance beat: sounds like disco to me and makes me want to put on a white skin suit. The music sets the tone and the background for the other noises. It also can help or hinder a ride. One day as a joke the SPA channel was put on during a particularly hard section of a ride. Nothing is more disheartening then listing to calming music when you need power. Needless to say after the joke was sprung the channel was quickly changed.

The second most prevalent sound during a ride is the sound of the computrainer. Computrainers have their own distinct sound. Mostly it is the sound of rubber on a metal wheel. But as the rider increases speed and spools up the device to 25mph or higher the sound is unmistakable. At 25 plus the computrainers begin to sing a high pitched whine that says to all around, "I am going fast, so fast that the apparatus may blow apart; disintegrate while I am under full power; so lookout."

When I hear the whine of the computrainer under full power I always look around to see who is riding hard. I then glance at the screen to check their speed and watts. I am always amazed by how much power people can produce and how fast they can go inside. I realize that power inside and outside are very different but watts is watts and speed is cool.

That is one thing I miss when the season moves outside. The whining changes and becomes the sound of the riders whining and not of the equipment telling you you are fast. The equipment is always better.

See you on the road.

Shopping for a new bike with The Wife

Ruth, The Wife, has a 15 year old Terry woman's specific bike. A very nice steel bike that weights about 25lbs. In its day it was the cats pajamas. Now that I have been riding, training like a mad man and have a pretty fast machine Ruth has been to intimidated to ride with me. To solve, well not really solve but to begin to solve the problem, we started looking for a new steed that would make Ruth want to ride and would make riding fun.

Ruth had her criteria. The bike had to be fast, "a real rocket", and look cool. (Color was important.) I wanted a good groupo and decent wheels so Ruth would not be fighting the bike as well as the wind. We started with the Trek woman's specific bikes. The Treks were all nice, some fit better and some were prettier.

However, as we shopped for a bike it became apparent that we were looking for different bikes. I wanted something that would make our rides more about riding and less about our abilities. Ruth wanted the feeling of speed and color.

It took a while but I finally got it. I had to listen to Ruth. This was her bike. I had some say but it was still her bike. Once that concept sunk in the process went fast. What did Ruth want, did the store have it in color and size. I then got to put my 2 cents in for parts and bingo-bango Ruth bought a bike. She bought a red, looks more creamsicle to me, Cannondale Lady Synapse.

Moral of the story, listening is not as easy as it sounds. Ha, I bet every husband has learned that a dozen or more times.

Ruth and I will see you on the road.