Happy New Year!!!!
42 mile ride this am. Low intensity. Showing 2700+ miles since August 16 this year. If I kept this up I could hit 9 or 10k next year. Looking forward to a great next year. Cheers....!!!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Christmas Weekend Ride Recap....Ranchos
Went out and did the Ranchos ride on Saturday. I've been going on their rides for the last three Saturdays and getting pretty comfortable with the group. Lots of riders, lots of energy and pretty agressive riding. When I say aggresive, I'm talking about their tactics, not their physical riding style. I have really grown to appreciate the aggresiveness, as it really pushes me. I have been hesitant to committ to this ride as my "regular" ride, but I'm ready to commit now.
I told myself that I would take it easy on this ride and stay midpack, just to see how it works out. On most rides, especially Saturday rides, I've used quite a bit of energy making this ride my "one day/week hammerfest". I've tried to start many a ride with this group and others and tried to stay in the back, but it never seems to work out. I was determined on Saturday.
I stuck with my plan at the beginning of the ride. We headed out of NCF and North up to Champagne and onto Little Gopher Canyon. I saw there was a split occuring, but purposly didn't want to be in the front of the group. The hill was pretty short, but pretty steep also. I found myself about mid pack at the bottom and started getting into a good rhythm as this was the first climb. I passed a couple guys on the way up and had about a 50' gap to the front guys at the top. There was one guy that I was closing in on just before the crest, but I thought he would soft pedal over the top, wrong! He bridged the gap to the front group. I had one guy beside me at the top and we attempted to bridge to the front group. It was about a 3 mile shallow descent. It's one of those things thats hard to explain to a non-cyclist. This group was about 300' in front of us. I was working my ass off to catch them and just couldn't do it. I split some of the work with Dave, the guy with me. He didn't have much left in his legs, so I ended up doing most of the work and never caught them until a turnoff, where there was an unofficial regroup. As it turns out, there were two guys off the front of the group in front of me that were being chased down, thus the pace of 42mph at one point. That's what I get for being mid-pack I guess. I could've easily been up in this front group coming over the top and been with them all the way to the turnoff. Point taken, if you want to be mid pack, stay there, don't try to bridge a gap without sufficient help. It was a good lesson for me. Those gaps can be insurmountable. I used so much energy trying to catch the group that it hindered my performance for the next climb, which was up in the Fallbrook area.
I don't know the name of the street, but it looked like a short, steep pitch of a half mile or so. I actually accelerated off the front only to see around the next corner a long ways to go and backed off completely to conserve, as the previous effort had taken something out of me. As it turns out, the hill was about 3 miles long and in the 10-12% range during shorter sections, with most being in the 8% range. I made it over the top, but in no mans land between the first and second group. So much for knowing the route. I had never seen this hill before. Not knowing the route has always been a big challenge on the Ranchos ride. You really need to know where to conserve and where to go.
I ended up in good shape at the end of 60 or so miles. On the way back up Champagne, I actually felt pretty good and was up in the front at the top with a couple other guys.
This ride was the day after Christmas, so you'd think I would've been fueled, but I wasn't. Our family ate Christmas dinner at 1:00PM and had a light sandwich in the evening. So, I wasn't feeling great during this ride. That was one of the reasons for trying to stick midpack. Oh well.
I told myself that I would take it easy on this ride and stay midpack, just to see how it works out. On most rides, especially Saturday rides, I've used quite a bit of energy making this ride my "one day/week hammerfest". I've tried to start many a ride with this group and others and tried to stay in the back, but it never seems to work out. I was determined on Saturday.
I stuck with my plan at the beginning of the ride. We headed out of NCF and North up to Champagne and onto Little Gopher Canyon. I saw there was a split occuring, but purposly didn't want to be in the front of the group. The hill was pretty short, but pretty steep also. I found myself about mid pack at the bottom and started getting into a good rhythm as this was the first climb. I passed a couple guys on the way up and had about a 50' gap to the front guys at the top. There was one guy that I was closing in on just before the crest, but I thought he would soft pedal over the top, wrong! He bridged the gap to the front group. I had one guy beside me at the top and we attempted to bridge to the front group. It was about a 3 mile shallow descent. It's one of those things thats hard to explain to a non-cyclist. This group was about 300' in front of us. I was working my ass off to catch them and just couldn't do it. I split some of the work with Dave, the guy with me. He didn't have much left in his legs, so I ended up doing most of the work and never caught them until a turnoff, where there was an unofficial regroup. As it turns out, there were two guys off the front of the group in front of me that were being chased down, thus the pace of 42mph at one point. That's what I get for being mid-pack I guess. I could've easily been up in this front group coming over the top and been with them all the way to the turnoff. Point taken, if you want to be mid pack, stay there, don't try to bridge a gap without sufficient help. It was a good lesson for me. Those gaps can be insurmountable. I used so much energy trying to catch the group that it hindered my performance for the next climb, which was up in the Fallbrook area.
I don't know the name of the street, but it looked like a short, steep pitch of a half mile or so. I actually accelerated off the front only to see around the next corner a long ways to go and backed off completely to conserve, as the previous effort had taken something out of me. As it turns out, the hill was about 3 miles long and in the 10-12% range during shorter sections, with most being in the 8% range. I made it over the top, but in no mans land between the first and second group. So much for knowing the route. I had never seen this hill before. Not knowing the route has always been a big challenge on the Ranchos ride. You really need to know where to conserve and where to go.
I ended up in good shape at the end of 60 or so miles. On the way back up Champagne, I actually felt pretty good and was up in the front at the top with a couple other guys.
This ride was the day after Christmas, so you'd think I would've been fueled, but I wasn't. Our family ate Christmas dinner at 1:00PM and had a light sandwich in the evening. So, I wasn't feeling great during this ride. That was one of the reasons for trying to stick midpack. Oh well.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Mountain Biking, etc.
Went out mountain biking on Sunday afternoon. I have neglected the mountain biking, as road biking goals have taken the place of the 2-3 mtb rides per week. I have been riding the mtb maybe once per month lately. I decided to go ahead and put the Garmin 705 on the mtb for the ride. I've wanted to do this for quite awhile, but was always concerned with losing one of the sensors or worse, crashing and killing the unit itself. What the heck, I really wanted to see the stats on one of my mtb rides that I've been doing for over 15 years now. I rode over to the trail head, 10 minutes each way, then hit the lap on the garmin and rode one loop the normal way and one loop reverse, which is pretty harsh. I didn't do any record pace, just wanted to set a baseline and get it on the computer. When I got home and downloaded the ride I was pretty shocked. These trails have many climbs that are 19% + and one part at 24%. It was 2245 feet of climbing in 12.1 miles. Now we know why mountain bikes have the third chainring. On my road bike I usually do somewhere between a 2:1 and 1:1 ratio for miles of climbing vs thousands of feet of climbing, so this mtb ride data was quite shocking. This ride is very challenging today and has been over the years on different bikes including a Bridgestone MB-S and a GT Zaskar. My current mountain bike is a Turner Flux that weighs right around 25#s. So now that I have the data, I put the Garmin back on the Trek and went out for 61 miles this morning. Just some low intensity miles keeping the hr below 160, most of the time. I'm going to start back into my intervals tomorrow, as I've been slacking off without a cadence sensor. I got a new battery for the cadence sensor and hr strape and all is well now. Looking forward to another 60 tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and another 60 with the group on Saturday. Ranchos or NCCC? Not sure yet, we'll see how the pain meter wants to be tickled Friday evening. Happy Holidays.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Ranchos Ride on Saturday
Decided to ride with the Ranchos group on Saturday. I really wanted to go ride with NCCC, but with Saturday being my only day that I go out and hammer, I thought that Ranchos would be a challenge. My thinking was right. The rides with Ranchos are very energetic, if I must say. They do a good roll out for about 3-4 miles before things get exciting. Yesterday, we went from the start point@ North County Fair over to Del Dios, then Rancho Santa Fe, Twin Oaks, then up to Gopher Canyon and back via Champagne and Center City Pkwy. Things got pretty sporty on Del Dios Southbound. The group split into a few different selections. I was up in the front group all the way into Rancho Santa Fe, where we had to regroup with a turn or no turn decision. I was really putting in a lot of effort with this front group. Next we went into RSF and over San Elijo and up Twin Oaks. I never look forward to Twin Oaks, as this hill has been a nemisis of mine since the early days of riding with NCCC. I used to just watch Joe and Dan ride away from me on this hill, going in either direction. I was in the front group on the way up from the West side, then an acceleration from two guys. I started to go with, but their pace was such that I believe I would've blown up. I had been watching my heart rate and it was up at the 187 range consistenly on this climb and the run on Del Dios. I was feeling good, just putting out a lot of effort. For those of you who think the guys in the front of the group rides aren't putting in a lot of effort and strategy, I say come out and ride with Ranchos. They may not have been at 100%, but I think they were close and so was I. I made it over the top of Twin Oaks at the front of the second group, although I did sit up and soft pedal at the top thinking there was a regroup waiting for folks who wanted to go up double peak, not! We then headed all the way up twin oaks into the gopher canyon area. I'm not sure of the exact road, but it cuts through a private road and heads up at about 15-16% at the end. I had been in the front group and watching the first two guys working very hard approaching this steep part at the end. As they stood up, I stayed in the saddle and spun right past them to the top. I know this sounds menial, but knowing how this group approaches the Saturday ride, it should be appreciated. I felt really good and continued on the rest of the ride towards Champagne. Champagne runs along the 15 freeway next to Lawrence Welk village and is a long grind of a hill. It's actually not that long, maybe two miles and the grade is only 5-7% I believe, but for some reason it's never any fun since the pace can be pretty quick. We ran into a group of Adam's Avenue guys, who I actually met last week and hooked up with them all the way up. I was pretty tired by the top and we cruised back to the mall via Center City Pkway and "Chris Horner's" secret path.
My garmin said that we did just shy of 4000 feet of climbing and 53 miles with an average speed of 18 mph. I always feel good after the Ranchos ride, but know beforehand that it's going to hurt.
My garmin said that we did just shy of 4000 feet of climbing and 53 miles with an average speed of 18 mph. I always feel good after the Ranchos ride, but know beforehand that it's going to hurt.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Week Before Christmas
Been a mellow week for biking so far. Just a 20 mile ride on Tuesday and a 40 on Thursday. I'll try to get in 35 or so this morning. Been pretty busy at work this week, which is a good thing.
My cadence sensor has given up the ghost for now on the Garmin 705. I'm hoping it's just a battery, but it makes my interval workouts a little more difficult. Once you get used to having all of the cadence information, it's pretty frustrating to do the intervals right.
Looks like I'll be doing the Ranchos ride this Saturday. That's always a hammerfest. I think I'm going to take it mellow. So easy to get caught up in the front of the pack thing. Feeling like steady miles.
Waiting for the Sun to come up and I'm on the bike. See ya!
My cadence sensor has given up the ghost for now on the Garmin 705. I'm hoping it's just a battery, but it makes my interval workouts a little more difficult. Once you get used to having all of the cadence information, it's pretty frustrating to do the intervals right.
Looks like I'll be doing the Ranchos ride this Saturday. That's always a hammerfest. I think I'm going to take it mellow. So easy to get caught up in the front of the pack thing. Feeling like steady miles.
Waiting for the Sun to come up and I'm on the bike. See ya!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Borrego Springs Camp Review
Back home in San Diego after the Borrego Cycling Camp. I had a great time and met some really good people. It was a pleasure to ride with others who were really experienced and very helpful. Not helpful in a question and answer way, but in a way that you could observe their actions throughout the miles on the bike, with such varied terrain and weather. Some people were from the East Coast, some from Northern California. Although I was only on the bike for two days (Wed & Thurs), I did rack up almost 300 miles if you count the ride on Tuesday morning before I headed out to the desert. 17,000 feet of climbing. I think I was pretty much at my limits for the week. I have never done a 100 mile ride to begin with. Plenty of 70-80s, but not a 100 miler. I've also done lots of climbing, but never 8800 feet on the same day as the 100 miler. I know that increasing mileage too fast can be a bad thing, so I feel really good about the camp. Base miles were the goal. No hammering. I stuck to this both days. I kept my heart rate down around the 80-85% range with the exception of a couple moments.
I was a little concerned at the start of my second day. We had planned on the Borrego Loop which was 80 miles. As it turned out, we ended up doing the Borrego Loop opposite of what the route sheet had printed up. This meant that we would start with the climb out of Borrego via Montezuma Grade. It was 11 miles and 4000 of climbing. I wouldn't have been concerned about it other than the previous days 100 miles and 8800' of climbing. This was going to be a good test of my body. I was conservative at the base of the climb and as it turned out, conservative to all the way to the top. I was surprised to be in the front group as we crested the top and went into Ranchita. Probably the highlight of the two days was staying with the lead group on this climb. I was able to do this and keep my heart rate down. I never went anerobic and felt great the whole climb. One thing that was bothering me was that I only had a 25 rear cog for my lowest gear. It had been reccomended by my coach that I get a 27 atleast for all of the climbing. I was unsuccesful at getting one before camp, so I went with the 25. It was definitely a bit of a hinderence on this climb. Not too noticable on the previous day. We ended up going into Santa Ysabel via Mesa Grande, another climb that would hurt a little.
I came home on Thursday morning via the Montezuma grade. This time driving the RV, towing the Toyota truck. That climb took a lot of time to drive, let alone ride up. Great couple days at camp. I was able to measure my fitness and strength with other riders. Pretty much everyone out here were in some form of racing or another. Some pros, category and age group racers. Everyone and I do mean everyone was great. I'm looking forward to going back next year and being able to spend the full five days on the bike.
I was a little concerned at the start of my second day. We had planned on the Borrego Loop which was 80 miles. As it turned out, we ended up doing the Borrego Loop opposite of what the route sheet had printed up. This meant that we would start with the climb out of Borrego via Montezuma Grade. It was 11 miles and 4000 of climbing. I wouldn't have been concerned about it other than the previous days 100 miles and 8800' of climbing. This was going to be a good test of my body. I was conservative at the base of the climb and as it turned out, conservative to all the way to the top. I was surprised to be in the front group as we crested the top and went into Ranchita. Probably the highlight of the two days was staying with the lead group on this climb. I was able to do this and keep my heart rate down. I never went anerobic and felt great the whole climb. One thing that was bothering me was that I only had a 25 rear cog for my lowest gear. It had been reccomended by my coach that I get a 27 atleast for all of the climbing. I was unsuccesful at getting one before camp, so I went with the 25. It was definitely a bit of a hinderence on this climb. Not too noticable on the previous day. We ended up going into Santa Ysabel via Mesa Grande, another climb that would hurt a little.
I came home on Thursday morning via the Montezuma grade. This time driving the RV, towing the Toyota truck. That climb took a lot of time to drive, let alone ride up. Great couple days at camp. I was able to measure my fitness and strength with other riders. Pretty much everyone out here were in some form of racing or another. Some pros, category and age group racers. Everyone and I do mean everyone was great. I'm looking forward to going back next year and being able to spend the full five days on the bike.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Borrego Springs - Mt Laguna and back
Today was a great day on the bike. Rolled out @ 7:30am on our way to Mt Laguna. The ride was supposed to go to Salton City and back, but since I missed yesterday's ride due to weather, I thought I would go with a small group up to the mts. It was a spectacular ride. It was probably in the mid 40s when we left borrego, with the temps expected to be in the 30's at Laguna. I've never ridden with any of the other 5, so I was pretty cautious. Also, I know that there is another 80 or 100 coming tomorrow. I tried to keep the hr down around 80%max, as the whole idea here is to build base miles. With 8300 feet of climbing on the 100 mile route, there were times that the hr was above 80%, but I tried to minimize it. Lots of ice on the road up towards Laguna. The last 10 or so miles. Not bad on the way up, but had to be very careful on the way down. People in cars would stay behind us for long periods of time, for the most part giving us plenty of room. More than one car was taking pictures of us. Probably wondering what nuts would be out riding with ice on the road and these temps. Great experience!
I took along a couple bananas, 4 gels, two bottles of Heed, with a baggie full of powder for the refills. I felt good all day, other than after the break @ Laguna. It was a little hard to get back in the saddle after a thirty minute rest. I kept high energy all day and finished off the ride with a great climb up Yaqui pass and a great paceline back down into Borrego.
It's nice to be able to measure my fitness with some other riders. No egos today, everyone was great. Everyone that I was riding with today races (pro & amateur), so I felt good with being able to keep up and have some left at the end of the day. Also, got to do some pretty quick descending coming out of Julian back down to the desert. Picking lines is pretty easy after the car racing stuff, so I'm pretty comfortable keeping up with everyone.
Was quick to get back to the rv and get some food in my system. A bottle of water and heed, bowl of pasta with meat sauce, and a pizza for dinner. Lots of water too. Not too often do I do that. I got a Pepporoni and Pinneaple pizza from Carlees in town. Great food. I haven't ate the whole thing yet, but I'm sure I will.
Don't know what to expect tomorrow, as I've never done back to back 100 mile rides. Tomorrow's ride should be a little less climbing, so a little relief there.
I took along a couple bananas, 4 gels, two bottles of Heed, with a baggie full of powder for the refills. I felt good all day, other than after the break @ Laguna. It was a little hard to get back in the saddle after a thirty minute rest. I kept high energy all day and finished off the ride with a great climb up Yaqui pass and a great paceline back down into Borrego.
It's nice to be able to measure my fitness with some other riders. No egos today, everyone was great. Everyone that I was riding with today races (pro & amateur), so I felt good with being able to keep up and have some left at the end of the day. Also, got to do some pretty quick descending coming out of Julian back down to the desert. Picking lines is pretty easy after the car racing stuff, so I'm pretty comfortable keeping up with everyone.
Was quick to get back to the rv and get some food in my system. A bottle of water and heed, bowl of pasta with meat sauce, and a pizza for dinner. Lots of water too. Not too often do I do that. I got a Pepporoni and Pinneaple pizza from Carlees in town. Great food. I haven't ate the whole thing yet, but I'm sure I will.
Don't know what to expect tomorrow, as I've never done back to back 100 mile rides. Tomorrow's ride should be a little less climbing, so a little relief there.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Base Camp Borrego Springs
I've had cycling camp on my calendar for a couple months now. My coach, Rob Panzera of Cycle Camp San Diego, is putting on a camp out in Borrego Springs this week. I've scheduled my clients at work around this week, so I could head out and get in 300+ miles this week. And wouldn't you know it! The biggest storm of the year hits San Diego on Sunday Night. I've been watching the weather the last week or so and saw this one coming. My plan was to take our RV out and stay in the Borrego Camp Ground at the base of Montezuma Grade. Most of the people going to this camp are probably from places where the weather is terrible this time of year and traveled to southern California knowing how good our weather is year round. Ouch. Although we have got a couple inches today in San Diego and Borrego, it looks like tomorrow will be okay for me to head out to Borrego. There was no way to make it out today. Winds are still gusting to 60-70mph in the mountains on the way to the desert. Not a good plan for a 35' rv towing a toyota truck. My plan is to go for a bike ride here in San Diego in the am, as I couldn't get to Borrego early enough to get settled into the campground and meet the group by 8. I will head out early afternoon. About a 1:30 drive with the train in tact. I'm really looking forward to this camp.
The goal of the camp is to continue building a strong base. There will be lots of miles and climbing, but with low intensity. As far as I can figure out, the stronger the base, the stronger the top of the pyramid during the racing season.
I'll try to post from Borrego each evening, as this is somewhat of a get away for myself. Work has been hectic (in a good way) for quite some time now and it's time for me to get away for a little solo time.
The goal of the camp is to continue building a strong base. There will be lots of miles and climbing, but with low intensity. As far as I can figure out, the stronger the base, the stronger the top of the pyramid during the racing season.
I'll try to post from Borrego each evening, as this is somewhat of a get away for myself. Work has been hectic (in a good way) for quite some time now and it's time for me to get away for a little solo time.
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