Bike the Drive and Truths

I have truths I live by. Some are truths, some are mostly true. Here are 2:

1. On the bike; some days I am good and other days I am awesome.
2. Half the battle of winning a race is just showing up. (This is my coaches saying that I have adopted.)

Today is the great Chicago mass chaotic ride called Bike the Drive. For you non-Chicagoans it is the one day a year where Lake Shore Drive is closed to all traffic except bicycles from 5:30-10am. LSD is a 30 mile loop stretching from Hollywood Blvd. in the North past downtown to the Museum of Science & Industry in the South, 15 miles along side the shores of Lake Michigan. Its 8 glorious lanes of concrete & asphalt in various shape ranging from totally smooth to pot holes that will taco your wheel in a second.

Approximately 10,000 riders pay forty bucks each for the privilege to bike the most beautiful city street in America. There are all kinds of riders from toddlers in Burleys to octogenarians on ultra plush riding machines, from novices to racers, from the physically fit to those who should have consulted their doctor before participating in physical exercise. There also is a myriad of bikes from racers to cruisers, from recumbents, to tandem recumbents, to tandem's of all kinds pulling a tag-a-long or a Burley. (That is one long bike.)

Bike the Drive is chaos in the guise of a bike race. Most riders are casual riders and their job is to provide obstacles for the riders who want to go fast or if you are a leisure rider the ride is a causal ride mucked-up by riders who think this is a 1 day bike race. My goal was to continue my training for the Etape and the Horribly Hilly. That meant that I wanted to complete 2 circuits, 60+ miles before the drive was reopened to cars.

I left my house at 5:30am with my friend Ed and we headed to the Drive. There was a strong wind from the North, 12-15mph, that was pushing us along. Once we hit the drive we were able to open it up and ride at a fast pace, 22-25mph, because most riders were just starting and we joined the ride at one of the apogees. It took exactly an hour to get from my house in Evanston to the Museum at the Southernmost point of the ride, a drive that can often take 1 hour or more in a car. Its amazing what you can accomplish with a little wind and some open road. However once we turned North we began to pay the price for our speed and pedaled right into the teeth of wind, 14-17mph. My friend Ed tired quickly. He fell off the pace twice and Ed told me that he had biked 2.5 hours the day before and was recovering from Saturdays ride.

Half way into the return loop Ed dropped off and I continued alone. Because I am training for 2 hard rides I decided to have a no-draft policy and just ride my ride. I kept my cadence high to work my aerobic system and made sure I kept the workload at a sustainable level, 180 watts or less. The return leg into the wind took 55mn, which was a good time.

I really began to feel good on the return leg with the wind at my back and began to ride hard. I passed other racers, other racers passed me and we would encourage each other. At one point a saw a friend, Troy, on a tandem with a tag-a-long. He had modified the tandem to allow his daughter to reach the pedals. We were riding hard when we reached a little hill and Troy yelled back to the kids, "ok I need some help, everybody pedal," at which point everyone came out of the saddle stood on the pedals and rode in unison. It was a fantastic and beautiful site. I told Troy he needs a photo of that, it was so cool.

Soon Troy pulled off to meet some friends and I continued on along feeling really strong. Because I was moving fast a group formed behind me drafting off my efforts. The code of biking allows for people to draft as long as everyone helps. However today no one was offering so I decided to shatter the mini-peloton by sprinting. I felt really evil as I powered ahead and the group just floundered. What a great feeling.

I rode strong for the rest of the ride. I motored by riders into the wind. I began to feel that I had really improved then I remembered my coaches saying, half the battle of winning is just showing up. Bike the Drive is a mixed ride with skill and weekend riders. I was just in a group where I could shine. Well down a few pegs but still an accomplishment.

Now for the facts. Total miles 78; total calories 2218; total time 4:40:06. My nutrition/hydration method is working well. I did 300 calories an hour with electrolytes. I tried 1 GU but I really did not need the extra sugar and caffeine during the ride. I think this is partly due to my loading before the race. I was told to eat more protein then usual. I had a great dinner the night before and that really sustained me. I was able to refuel after the ride at a fantastic after ride breakfast at the Ringwoods. What a great way to recover with bagels, smoked salmon pancakes and friends. Thanks a ton Michele & Ken.

The only downside to the ride was my left knee which began to stiffen at the 65 mile marker. It could have been the breakfast stop or it could have been the fact that i pushed myself the entire ride. Whatever the reason it feels better a day later. I will have to do extra stretching and be careful to let it heal.

Until the next Bike the Drive see you on the road.

New Shoes and nutrition update

I have been looking for new racing shoes for a long time. The major difficulty is that I have a small wide foot. With normal shoes if I find a pair that fit I buy'em, even if I don't necessarily need shoes, because I can not always find shoes that fit. I have tried many different types of cycling shoes, Sidi, Specialized, Lake, Bontrager. The biggest problem I have is that my size is out of stock and there is no delivery date, then I have to ask to have the shoes ordered and I feel guilty if I do not buy the shoes.

Finally I found a pair that I like. It is the Lake CX330. The main advantage of these is the closure system. Instead of a lock and velcro closure the Lake shoe uses a BOA system. Boa is a cable that interlaces on the shoe and is tightened by turning a ratchet on the heel. The Boa effectively holds the entire foot more evenly. I have found the shoe very comfortable and I am getting good power. My only complaint is that there could be more arch support. However to solve that issue i am putting special orthotic inserts. More on the shoes as they get broken in and so far so good.

Now to update my nutrition situation. As you may recall my plan last week was to have my nutrition and my hydration in the same bottle. I mixed Nuun with Carbopro for electrolytes and calories. I also did gels at the 2 hour and 3 hour mark. The plan worked well. The only issue I had was when I put too many calories, 600, in 1 bottle. The excess of calories upset my stomach, but when i stopped using the drink everything went back to normal. So this week my nutrition for the 80 mile ride is the same. Nuun and Carbopro with gels. If this works I have my plan for the ride.

My riding is going well. I hope to see you on the road. Next blog riding in the A/B group.

Chris Horner's Giro Race Blog

I just read Chris Horner's blog on the Giro. Here is part of it. He is a great racer and what he eats every day is amazing. I will try some of his diet but because I am not racing everyday I will do less. Until then see you on

Chris Horner speaking: http://blog.oregonlive.com/horner/

In another facet of the Tour of Italy, I thought I would give you my calorie count from one of the past two epic stages. This should begin to explain why, as each day passes, the desire to eat becomes harder and harder.

Yesterday - about 6,500 total calories

Breakfast: 1,100
Bowl of cereal with two yogurts in it, an omelet with 3 eggs and ham, bread with jam, and hot tea with about 6 tsp. sugar.

Before race: 430
PRC (pre-race Coke), candy bar (normally a Snickers).

Race: 2,455
Two race bars (SIS), 6 or 7 mini Cokes (65 calories each), two Clif shot blocs, three small euro sandwiches, 3 to 5 gels, and two Snickers.

After race in bus: 650
Sandwich, two Cokes, candy bar.

At hotel: 450
Bowl of cereal with milk and honey, crackers.

Dinner: 1,300
Salad, pasta sauce, meat and potatoes, dessert

After a while, it gets hard to choke down that much food every day! But at least we have a great staff and a great chef to keep things tasty and interesting.

Training Eating and Bonking

My heavy training for the Horribly Hilly and the ETape is in full swing. I have done most of my traveling and now its time to concentrate on training. I did my first long ride outside last Sunday. The goal was 4+ hours. The weather was very odd. At first it was sunny and warm. Then after 30mn it became overcast and cold and began to rain. After the rain it was windy and a mix of tepid or cold. I have not ridden in such variable weather since I got caught in a snow squall two years ago.

My feed plan was to ride for 90mn, no energy drinks just electrolytes, then begin to do 300 calories an hour for the rest of the ride. I decided to use less food because I am still trying to shed some pounds. Unfortunately I discovered that I had a bad nutrition program. I was fine until the 2 hour mark then I bonked hard. My legs felt heavy and I had a hard time keeping my cadence up. I was definitely peddling squares not circles. Dennis, my riding partner, had to pull my sorry butt back from Wisconsin. (It really was a time of suffering for me.) I was able to pull for part of the time but I was not in my best form.

My new feed plan is too eat a breakfast of oatmeal and a protein 2 hours before the ride then I will have 2 bottles both with calories and electrolytes. I will start with the calories as the ride begins. I will also include caffeine at the 2 hour point in the form of a Coke. This seems like the best new strategy. If this does not work it will be onto plan 3,whatever that is. I am glad I have a chance to get the nutrition and hydration correct before my races. It looks like my initial ideas have really missed the mark.

Today I had a really fun ride. I rode with Robbie V and learned how to corner. We did 2 10 lap crits on a 1/4 mile course. The first crit was turning only right the second was turning only left. I had a great chance to learn about pressure on the pedals and steering. The saying "time on the bike with people more skilled" is truly correct. I plan to do more Tuesday rides with the Robbie to increase my skills.

Hopefully as I improve i will become more efficient. Until then. see you on the bike.

Allergy Season Has Arrived

Spring is finally here. The trees are in full bloom and there is pollen everywhere. For those of you who do not have allergies I wanted to give you a quick insight into what allergies are all about.

My head feels like a giant wad of cotton, my eyes are rivers, I am constantly sneezing, plus I've saved the worst for last, I am low energy. For hyper-guy low energy is truly an anomaly. What am I to do? How can I do 7 things at once, how can I ride? Well the answer is easy, this too will pass, caffeine is a great pick- me-up and spring is an awesome time.

However the real problem is that my riding goals seem harder to accomplish. The LT workouts have become more difficult and at the same time I have become spacier. At times I am dizzy and I have to stop my ride for safety reasons. Other times I am able to ride but I have a hard time breathing, moving my heart rate over my LT. So if it is not one thing it is another.

I think the answer is simple. I will listen to my body but I will also adapt my ride to how I feel that day. On the dizzy days I will do submaxes, on the watery days I will ride LTs but carefully. The work can still be done but now it is more variable.

I would write more but today is a dizzy day and its time for my 1 o'clock caffeine buzz. See you on the road.