I need to listen

This weekend was the big weekend of the season for me, Fort Ord road race, also known as NCNCA Districts Road Race. This was my A-race for the second half of the season. A 105mi road race of pain. I was realistic in my goals for this race. I was aiming for a top ten. My stretch goal was to win the race, but I'm still relatively new to the P1/2 field and bike racing in general. Hell, last year this race was first race as a Cat 4 (I just started racing in late April of 2007, Wente RR was my first race ever).
I've been training hard the past couple of weeks. My volume has ramped up a bit, going from 1.5hr rides during the week to 2hr rides. Plus the past four weekends have had some tough racing and rides. It started with the week of the 4th of July. I had a 19hr training week that week. The next weekend I travelled to Oregon and did Cascade Stage Race, an AWESOME! race. After that it was 15hr training week with two hard races (Sisquoc RR and SLO Crit). Sisquoc RR was crazy hard. My power numbers looked like something you would see from a crit, but it was for 4 hours! Then lastly there was last week, where I had the team ride on Saturday and another 4.5hr ride on Sunday.
However, the fun didn't stop there, I got to do hill repeats up Huddart this past Tuesday. I haven't done these all year so it was really tough. I actually haven't done too much VO2max work all year now that I think about it. After those hill repeats my legs and body where dead. I didn't think it was a big deal because the next day all I had to do was a two hour endurance (Zone 2) ride.
When I went out for my ride my legs were tired to the bone. My whole body was pretty tired. Still I pushed on and got my workout done. That night after my endurance ride I started to feel sick. Thursday when I woke up I was sick - NOOOO! I tried to tell myself I wasn't sick and it was just allergies, but it didn't work.
The silly thing is I was still thinking about going out and doing my workout for the day. Thankfully I slept instead. When I woke up Friday I was still really sick. This is when I realized I might not get to race on Saturday. My plan was to sleep all day, do a short recovery ride in the afternoon to spin out the legs, and see how I felt for Saturday's race.
I did as I planned, I slept, or at least tried to, most of the day, and went out for a short 30min recovery ride. Man, that recovery ride was tough. I had zero energy. I couldn't even drop some dude who was riding his hybrid commuter bike that was loaded up like a sherpas yak. There was no way I was racing on Saturday.
I was really bummed. This is one of the races I was looking forward to all year, and now I was stuck on sidelines. At least I learned a valuable lesson, I need to listen to my body, and I need to put more focus on rest and recovery. I almost have this OCD mentality when it comes to my training. I feel like if it's on my schedule I need to get done. Now I know if I'm feeling tired or fatigued I should just take it easy.
Listening to my body more often is one of my priorities for the rest of the season and in my training in general.

Installing Hutchinson Tubeless Tires

Here's a quick tip on installing tubeless tires. Use a CO2 cartridge to inflate the tire and to seat the bead after the tire is on the rim. Getting the tire to seat properly can be a pain in the ass. Also running a sponge with some dish soap around the bead of the tire can also help seat the the tire properly.

Quote of the Day

"...life was made to live out of, not die out of. There's nothing special about death. Anyone can do that."
-Steve Berra

SRM Wireless - It's ALIVE

So I went out to Huddart Park to do some fun and exciting hill repeats. This was my first real ride using the newly adjusted power meter. I parked at Woodside City Hall and rode out to Huddart Park (hey, I had limited time to train and riding from home would have added an additional 1:45hrs).
I constantly stared at my Garmin's power display, checking to see if the power reading matched my RPE. At first the power reading seemed low, but I was still warming up and my legs were pretty tired from the previous day's strength training. Things seemed more accurate once I hit the first hill. I was really relieved.
I rode up Kings Mtn. to the Huddart Park gate. My power still seemed accurate during my ascent. However, it did seem slightly higher, maybe 10 watts, than my old SRM. That could be due to a slight bump in my fitness from all the hard training I've been doing ;)
Well I knocked out my 5 minute hill intervals. The goal of the workout was to do two sets of 1-3 five minute zone 5 intervals.
My first interval was my strongest. I just went out and hit the hill hard. I didn't look at my power meter. I just pushed myself, while trying to "unroll the carpet". I hit the the Huddart Park Gate at about 4:11 (I think my best is 4:04 at a HIT session) and kept going.
The next two intervals my legs felt swollen with lactic acid. After the third interval I was trying to think of reasons why I should call it quits, but I pushed on and knocked out the last three intevals.
My power declined a lot from my first interval, but the avg power for all the intervals were in my zone 5. I'm happy with my workout. It's the first time I've done intervals at Huddart this year. I'm especially happy my power meter is reading accurately.

Training Stats:
Elevation Gain: 4,870.0 ft
Distance: 30.91mi
Training Time: 2:01:33
Work: 1540kj

Fixing the Power

I installed my SRM Wireless Friday. The first ride with the wireless unit and Garmin 705 was Saturday's team ride. My power readings seemed to be low for the perceived effort. I thought it was either because I was fatigued (plus it was really hot), or it was because I hadn't mounted the power sensor cube correctly. The weird thing is I was using a dual set up, the wired PCV SRM computer and the wireless Garmin Edge 705. Both were giving me the same readings.
I originally mounted the power sensor over the cable guide, using one washer from a tube. That night I mounted the power sensor under the cable guide. I left the original wired power sensor in it's original place (I have glued on). When I went out for my ride Sunday my power numbers were closer to my RPE. I once again ran the dual set-up of the PCV and Edge. Both computers jived. I thought , cool problem solved. So I removed the wired set-up.
Well today when I was testing things out I wasn't getting any power reading - WTF?! I would occasionally get the Garmin to pick up the power meter, and it would register a slope, but still no cadence or power reading. Then when I reattached the wired power sensor I would get a power reading.
So I removed the wireless power sensor to see if the Garmin would pick-up the power meter; it didn't. So I figured I must have incorrectly mounted the wireless power sensor. This time I mounted it over the cable guide using two tube washers. Viola, it worked. I took my bike for a short test spin and the numbers seemed to match my RPE. Cadence was working, power was working, and I was happy.
The real test will be tomorrow when I do hill repeats. We'll see how my power numbers read while I'm going up Huddart.
So today's lesson is: If you have a Cervelo and you are installing an SRM power meter using a bottom bracket mounted power sensor, you must mount it over the cable guide to get it to read the power correctly. I recommend using two washers from in bike inner tube. You know, the ones that come on the threaded valve stems. Put two of those buggers in between the cable guide and the bottom bracket power sensor mount and run your bolt through and tighten. Problem solved.

Sunday's Ride

EDGE705
My body was feeling pretty fatigued at the start of my ride. I thought about only riding for 2hrs. I decided to climb HWY 9 and see how I felt.
On a side note, I adjusted the position of my power sensor last night. It seemed to resolve my problem with the lower than usual power reading. On my short test ride the power seemed to be reading correctly. However, I think my old SRM was off slightly because today when I was riding my power seemed slightly higher than usual. Only by about 10-15 watts. Last September we calibrated my old SRM, and the new slope actually lowered my power reading by 3% (or something like that).
Anyways, while I was riding up HWY 9 it was easier to push 300-310 watts. I don't know, it could be the bump from all the hard training from the previous weeks. Plus I always seem to ride better the day after a hard ride.
I felt pretty strong during the first few z4 intervals, then by the end I was not feeling as strong.
Once I got to Skyline I was still feeling fatigued. I considered riding to Pagemill and descending back to home. Instead to decided to descend W. Alpine and take it easy going up 84. At the bottom of 84 I decided to climb Haskins at z4. My legs were tired, but I made it to the top pushing z4 the whole way.
Then it was back down and to 84. I went up 84 to W. OLH. I just climbed in z3. From there it was down 84 and back home. I pretty much just rode how I felt back home.
Overall I had a good ride. I felt a lot better today. I think having more accurate power readings helped a lot. Yesterday it was mentally defeating to feel like I was pushing so hard and barely breaking zone 2. My body is still really tired so I'm going to take easy, or at least try to take it easy the rest of the week.

Ride Details:
Distance = 72.33mi
Work = 3211kj
Elevation Gain = 8,006.2ft
Time = 4hrs

When Generations Divide

I work in a repair shop. It's nothing glamorous or exciting, but it affords me other opportunities, like a flexible work schedule and weekends off (hey there's a lot of people who have to work on the weekends). At my work we repair, and sell, floor maintenance equipment. A lot of the equipment that comes in for repair is pretty beat up. It may not look pretty, but at least it will get the job done.
Then there's the pieces of equipment that are beat to hell and then some. I mean these things are held together with tape and twine - literally. I understand the janitorial/sanitary maintenance industry is very competitive, and profit margins can be low, but seriously, sometimes you need to invest in the tools you use to get your job done.
Then there's the customers that have had there machine for over 30 years. These customer come from an era when things you purchased were built to last; everything could be repaired. However, wow we are in an age of low cost, disposable products. Most of the machines you can buy at Home Depot are cheap, and I mean cheap in both price and quality. When these customers buy a cheap machine, lets say a pressure washer, from Home Depot and it breaks they bring it to us. We are capable of repairing most of the machines, but the problem is the machines are sold so cheap it's actually more expensive to repair the machine then it is to buy a new one.
When we tell the customer this they usually get upset. They're still stuck with the perspective that anything can be repaired, and that it's more cost effective to repair things than buy new ones.
I truly wish vendors/manufacturers would focus on quality over price, but we are in an age where we focus on price. Most of us aren't willing to pay the extra money for quality, so we get sold a low quality product at a great price. My dad always says "You buy cheap, you buy twice".
So the lesson for the day is spend a little extra money and buy a quality product.

Low Cadence Climbing Intervals

I had to start my workout early to get this one done (6am). It always
seems harder to do a workout this early. I guess it takes a little
extra time to warmup and get the sleep out of the legs.
I did this workout at my usual spot - Hwy 9. I wasn't expecting my
power numbers to be anything special since I haven't done this workout
for a couple months; I was right, my power wasn't where I would have
liked, but it was still close to my threshold power. I try to aim for
high zone 4 on these intervals.
I was pretty close to calling it quits after my fourth interval. I
managed to talk myself into doing " just one more" interval. I kept
doing that until I completed all six intervals.
Overall I had a good workout. I pushed through to get all the
intervals cometed, and I was done by 8am - awesome! Legs felt just ok.
They're a little fatigued, but I'm guessing that was due to the early
morning workout.

Tuesday Sprint Workout

I wasn't looking forward to this workout. I wasn't in the mood for sprints. I wanted to ride, it's just I didn't feel like doing much high intensity stuff. My body was feeling pretty fatigued. I was pretty close to just skipping the sprints. I was prescribed two set of 2-4 30 sec. uphill sprints.
I managed to will myself to do the minimum, two sets of two. I didn't put out too much power, but I felt like I was able to get some decent speed going uphill. The hill I chose was Sand Hill Rd in Palo Alto. My coach always used this road as an example for the type of hill for these workouts, so I thought I'd give it a try.
It was not the safest place to do a workout. It's a heavily traveled road, especially during rush hour which is when I was out there.
I realized I need to work on my jump from low speeds. It was difficult to figure out which gear to jump in. I'll post my workout stats later once I have a chance to go over the data. A quick check on my SRM showed I didn't even break 1000watts. However, that doesn't mean I didn't hold 900watts for the whole 30 seconds ;)
TSS=135.9
IF=0.825

San Luis Obispo Downtown Crit

Wow, this crit was a blast. It's the most fun I've had racing a four corner crit in a long time. The course was a little less than a mile long, had a slight up-hill on the back-side of the course, and a slight down-hill on the finishing straight. The only sketchy part is when you went through the courtyard of the mission. There was a slight chicane that pinched riders on either side.
The race started off fast. Right after the whistle blew they announced we were on our first prime lap. It didn't take long for the usual suspects to launch off the front. I tried to bridge up to one break, but decided to sit up instead of towing an additional teammate of a rider that was already in the break. Anyways, I'm not sure my legs could have made it that far. I have to stop second guessing myself and just go for it. The worst that can happen is I pop and have to sit in for the rest of the race. I really need to try and be more aggressive.
After my half-assed bridge attempt I drifted back towards mid-pack to recover. Then some how I ended up at the back of the pack. I slowly worked my way back up. The best place to do this was on the down-hill. Most people wanted to stay out of the wind and recover.
I didn't do much until we had 10 minutes left in our race (it was a 75 minute race). I slowly started working my way up to my teammates who were towards the front for a majority of the race. I did a good job of holding my position near my teammates, that is until I almost got stuffed in a barrier going through the mission on the second to last lap. I had to slam on my wussy breaks and lost about 10 spots.
I almost got back up to my teammates, but my legs were pretty tired going up the slight-hill on the last lap. I don't think I could have done much even if I had made back to them.
I foolishly started my sprint out of the last corner, which was probably 500m from the finish line. I made it halfway before I had to sit down. I probably would have kept going if I knew that prizes went 20 deep -ooops.
I ended up finishing 26th. Not too shabby for my 3rd p1/2 crit. I'm slowly learning.

Wish List July 20th 2008

Rapha Softshell Jacket size Large












Rapha Grand Tour Gloves size small






Rapha Merino Socks size Large









Rapha Merino Base Layer
Both sleeveless and sleeved sized small



The Rapha Guide to The Great Climbs of the Pyrenees













SRM PowerControl VI Head Unit












Rapha New Stowaway Jacket, Black, Size Large

Cascade Classic Stage Race

Cascade Classic Stage Race, E2

33rd (6hrs 40min; 4min 37sec back) of 106

Teammates: Bo H., Ryan P. and Amy Lo (our team mom/Directeur Sportif)

A really small contingent of us decided to make the trek up to beautiful Bend, OR to race in the Cascade Classic Stage Race. The three man team consisted of Bo, Ryan, and myself. The Cat 2 stage race was three days long with four races: TT, crit, road race, and a circuit race. Below is my race report.

Stage 1 – Skyliners Time Trial

This course was a 14mile, out and back TT course that undulated upward from 3800ft to 4600ft.

I got in a good warm-up. However, I think I might have started my warm-up a little too early. By the time I was done I still had about 20mins to my start time. Usually I like to have 10, but they said it took 10mins just to get to the start line.

When I went off I was feeling okay, then I started to feel pretty crappy. I couldn't hold my usual power. I was struggling just to hold high zone 3 power. It felt like I was back at Sattley. I didn't think we were that high up, but it felt like I was racing at altitude. It probably didn't help that my gearing was a little heavy for the hilly (uphill) course. I probably should have gone with an 11-26 instead of my 11-23 (I have a 42,54 on my crank). Having some extra gears would have helped me spin more and not mash as much. On some of the steeper portions I felt like I was grinding my gears.

Another mistake I made was fixating on passing my 30 second-man. I was close to catching him on one of the steeper pitches, and pushed harder than I should have to get past him. Just as I passed him we were both passed by the guy who started 30 seconds back on me. This was a blow to my mental game.

On the way back I was hurting. It was extra hard for me to keep pushing zone 4 power downhill. Mentally I was out of it. I was having trouble getting into the zone. I guess I wasn't prepared for this type of reaction from my body. I ended up finishing 1:48 back (19th) from first place.

Stage 2 – Downtown Crit

29?C

This crit was in beautiful downtown Bend. The roads were for the most part nice and free bots dots. The course was "L" shaped with a sharp, slightly off-camber, turn on the back side of the course.

Originally our race was to be 40 minutes long, already short for a Cat 2, but they shortened even more to only 30 minutes long. I figured this would make the race really fast since we were only racing for 30 minutes; I was wrong.

The crit started off pretty slow. I was surprised to see so many people braking in all of the corners. I felt like I was in a cat 5 race again. Well at least that weren't as many sketchy riders as in a Cat 5 race. I did a decent job of holding good position towards the front and staying out of trouble. One guy crashed in front of me on the off camber turn. He clipped his pedal and over corrected. Luckily I was able to avoid getting tangled up with him.

There was a break off the front and I made a half assed bridge attempt with another guy, but I decided it wasn't worth expending the extra energy. The stage race wasn't going to be won on the crit, and the race wasn't long enough for any upgrade points. So I sat-up.

I finished safely with the lead group. I didn't expend too much energy. I could have conserved more by sitting towards the back, but there were some sketchy riders and it wasn't worth the chance. Both Bo and Ryan finished safely with all their skin intact.

Stage 3 -Cascade Lakes Road Race

This 74 mile course started out at about 5,300ft at Wanoga Snow Park immediately climbing to about 6,100ft before descending for what seemed like the whole race to last 20km where we climbed from 4,400ft to 6,300ft.

The race started out quickly. We did the first climb at a pretty good pace. After the first climb it seemed like we were descending for the rest of the race. There were a lot of small rollers, but nothing that would cause anyone to get dropped. The hard part of the race was moving up. The roads were narrow, and having the center-line rule "strictly enforced" plus a gravel shoulder made it really difficult to move up. Both Ryan and I were able to aggressively maintain our position towards the front, while Bo chose to sit towards the back and catch a free ride. Ryan and I wanted to be near the front so we could watch for breaks. However, there were very few break attempts.

At one point I got bored and decided to try and get in a break. One rider attacked and I immediately jumped from the other side and caught his wheel. Two others bridged up, but only three of us were working. We started to get a good sized gap, but one of the GC contenders decided to reel us back in.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. Things started to liven up once we hit the base of the climb. The final climb was a stair step climb that covered around 20km. On the first part of the climb I went towards the front to push the pace a little and see what would happen. The pack stretched out quite a bit, but came back together once the grade eased up.

At the base of the next incline there were a couple of attacks. I was able to go with them. Then there was another set of attacks at the base of the next incline. That's when I started to cramp in my calf muscles. I don't know if it was lack of salt or lack of food, but it really messed with me. I managed to go with the surges, but I wasn't able to hold the pace. It felt like my calves were going to lock up. I'm not sure I would have been able to hold the pace even if I wasn't cramping. It seemed like I couldn't get enough oxygen. I looked down at my power meter and saw my power in zone 2 while my heart rate was high zone 4. At that point I went into survival mode. I was riding just to finish the race and hopefully not lose too much time.

My calf continued threatening to lock up causing me to ease back and even stop peddaling at times. It sucked to watch riders pass me. Then I saw Wolverine (Bo) pass me. It was good to see that Bo was looking strong, and riding with the main group.

Eventually I was able to settle into a pace. I caught a group of five other riders. I was happy to see that all five riders were from the NCNCA district. All of us were suffering pretty badly. We all traded pulls to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. Our group finished 2:46 back from the leader. This caused me to move down to 38^th on GC. Bo on the other hand finished 1:41 back with the second group. I guess Bo had the right idea of hitching a free ride to the climb.

I was disappointed with my performance, but I also understand this isn't an A race for me. At least I had beautiful scenery to look at while I blew up on the climb.

Circuit:

We rode to the start of the race for my warm-up. My legs felt a little sluggish, but I guess they always do. That's why you need to warm-up - right?

Our goal for today's race was to sit in and try to conserve energy because this was going to be, or so we thought a race of attrition. We drove the course the day before. In the car the hills seemed to be really steep. That wasn't the case when we started racing.

I knew positioning would be key throughout the entire race. We were on very nice, but narrow, roads. The head ref told us he wasn't going to allow any this "flirting with the yellow line" and he would DQ people who crossed it.

So I spent the first 20mins of the race working my way up to the front. Once I was near the front I made sure to pay attention to what was going on with surging riders, and worked hard to maintain good position.

The first lap was pretty uneventful. I think everyone was opening up their legs. The second lap a 10 man break went off at the feed zone. I attempted to bridge up with two other riders, but one of them wasn't working. And after about two minutes I looked back to see the pack single file and catching back on. The break was eventually caught at the beginning of the 3rd lap. We all stayed together for the rest of the third lap.

The fourth lap the pace was steady, but not hard. One guy went off the front. No one wanted to take up the chase, or attempt to bridge. He eventually got a gap of almost 2mins.

The pace was pretty mellow up the feed zone climb. I was really tempted to attack, but I decided to be patient. Then up the KOM climb the pace went hard, or what seemed to be hard after 4 laps. All I could think of was holding the wheel in front of me. I made it over the KOM climb with the main group. I was able to recover some while moving up on the descent just after the KOM. I knew I had to be near the front going into the first round-about. So I bombed up the side and managed to get good position. After the first roundabout we had 1km to go. There was one more little kicker hill before the last roundabout. I got boxed in on the kicker, but I forced my way through some holes to get good position going into the last roundabout. Going into the last roundabout I was about 15th. Unfortunately I got stuck behind a guy who blew coming out of the roundabout and had to sprint around him. I ended up passing 6 people to finish 9th.

Overall I had a great time at this race. I would highly recommend doing this race. We were lucky to stay with a super cool host family who opened up their house to us and treated us as if we were family. It was really nice to see the Bend community as a whole come out to welcome/support this race. I'm already looking forward to doing this race again next year.

A huge thanks goes out the Tien family and especially Amy Lo for taking care of our team. Thank you all so much!

Thanks for reading!

the completed project

This is the completed build of the Cervelo R3-SL. It's sweet!

An Awesome Video

MACAFRAMA Trailer from MACAFRAMA on Vimeo.

It's amazing what these guys are doing on fixed gear bikes. Just madness I tell you!

Canada Rd

Canada Rd is just an awesome place for training. We are so lucky to have stretches of road where we can just hammer for 10 minutes without worrying about stoplights or stop signs.
I was out there this morning doing a TT workout. That's when I realized just how lucky we are to have this jewel. Even during "rush hour" traffic there were few cars traveling this road. The best part is it's close to Woodside. After my ride I stopped at Woodside Bakery for coffee and a brownie. Hey we need to indulge every once in a while - right?

Goals

Recently I was lacking motivation to train. I was going through one of
those low points in the season where you ask "why am I doing this?" .
It's weird how that attitude sneaks up on you. One day your feeling
good about training and riding your bike, then you wake up one morning
with this sense of dread at the thought of riding.
In an effort to kick that feeling I re-evaluated my goals; actually I
created some goals. I found my lack of motivation was coming from not
having any real goals to work towards.
So here are my goals for the rest of the road season:

1. Do well in the Cal Cup races
2. Continue to learn about racing in the P1/2 field
3. Finish with the lead/main group at University RR
4. Finish University RR
5. Race aggressively
   
6. Make it through the rest of the season
7. And...my stretch goal is to win the SF Giro (I won last year as a cat 4)
   

Now I'm feeling a lot better. I'm once again having fun on the bike, but that could also be attributed to the new bike ;)

A work in progress

I'm almost done building up the new frame. I still need to cut the steerer tube, run new brake cables, and adjust the derailleurs.

Here's what I've done:
New frame - obviously
New chain rings
New pedals
New chain
New shifting cables
New hoods

I have a new white Ritchey stem, but I'm not sure I like the aggressive angel. Plus it didn't look as good as the black. I might get the wet black stem. It would probably look better.

More pics to come.

Motivation & Discipline

Discipline and motivation are what is needed to be sucessful in most aspects of our lives. Wether it's amature cycling or moving up the corporate ladder, we need to practice discipline while trying to stay motivated. However, this is where things become difficult.

We need to show discipline in many different ways. It could be anything from waking up at 5am to do our strength session, to foregoing that piece of chocolate cake or extra glass of wine. We make small sacrifices everyday trying to bring us closer to our goals. But what happens when our discipline starts eating into our motivation?

There has to be somewhat of a balance between motivation and discipline. I've seen, and experienced, being too disciplined. What I mean by "too disciplined" is focusing too much on achieving our goal. Tunnel vision sets in, and fun seems to leave the tunnel. We focus on doing the workouts at all costs to achieve our goal. Some of those costs include fatigue, skipping time with family/friends, and missing out on just enjoying the day.

So how do we find a balance? The reason I ask is because I'm still trying to find out for myself. I'm guessing the best way to do this is to keep it fun. We can be disciplined, but we have to ease up every once in awhile and enjoy ourselves. Our training world won't come crashing down if we take a mini-vacation every once in a while.

This is something I'm going to try to learn to do. I don't think it will be easy, but training never is.

I think I have a problem

I swear, I can quit whenever I want.

Don't ask me why, but I love these drinks. I go for the sugar free drinks because, well, they're sugar free. I wouldn't want my teeth to fall out. I don't even really drink them for the supposed energy they provide. I just like the taste.

These energy drinks are way over priced. They range anywhere from $2.19 +crv to $2.59+crv. That's frackin expensive! I guess we all need our vices. It's what makes us human - right?

While I'm on the topic of energy drinks I'll rate them.

• Redbull - the originator of the energy drink. These taste great! The regular (with sugar) is the one of the best, if not the best, tasting energy drink on the market. There sugar-free drink takes a while to get used, as do most sugar-free drinks, but once you do it's really good. Where Redbull falls down is in value. You get half as much drink for the same price as most other energy drinks on the market. I would prefer to drink Redbull sugar-free, but I'm American; I want MORE for my money- dang nabbit!
  
• Monster - I surprised to find out Monster has the second biggest market share for energy drinks. I'm not a fan of their regular drink. There sugar-free, or low-carb drink as they market it, is just okay. It takes longer to adjust to the taste than others. It tastes a lot sweeter than others, and at times has almost a vitamin-like taste.
  
• Rockstar - Third largest energy drink (in the US) and the most conservative. Did you know that Rockstar was founded, and is ran, by the son of conservative talk show host Michael Savage? I guess you do learn something new every day. Anyways, this is my drug...I mean drink of choice. I really enjoy the taste of the sugar-free drink. However, I still like Redbull sugar-free better. I haven't had the courage, yet, to try the 24oz. drink. That's a whole lot of drink.
• Full Throttle - This is Coca-Cola Co.'s venture into the energy drink market. The regular drink is my second favorite, regular Redbull being the first. The sugar-free drink is pretty crappy. It's too watered down. The only good thing is you can usually find really good deals on Full-Throttle because it's a Coca-Cola product. So they price pretty aggressively to gain market share - I assume.
  

I know in a few years they're going to come out with a study stating that drinking energy drinks will cause you to grow a third nipple, or something like that, but for now they are my guilty pleasure. Hey, at least I'm drinking sugar-free. I guess that's like saying I only smoke lights ;)

A little Q&A

Below are some questions I was asked for our clubs sponsorship newsletter. I'm not sure why they chose me, but I was a little fatter....I mean flattered. So I actually put some thought into my answers.

- What is your athletic background, what got you interested in the sport, and how do you think that helped in your success here?

In high school I played rugby. Straight out of high school I went into the Marine Corps. Physically the Marines was easy, but mentally it was super tough. In bootcamp they pushed us to our limits, and then kept pushing some more. They didn’t care if we could no longer do the exercise, all they wanted to see was that we were still trying even though our body couldn’t do the effort. This type of training has helped tremendously with cycling. It has helped me with pushing myself to, and beyond, my limits.

I came into road racing by way of triathlon. I was doing ½ Ironman distance races, and one full Ironman, when I realized I like the bike leg a lot more than the swim and the run. So I joined Alto Velo to give racing a try.

- How long have you been with AV and what made you want to join the club?

I am going on my fourth year as a member. I joined the club because everyone seemed really friendly.

- You moved from a 5 to a 3 in the matter of year, then took 1st in your second race as a 3. What would you say was the biggest factor in realizing that success?

The biggest factor was putting in the training hours, and having an awesome team to race with.

- Recently you upgraded to race with the P 1/2's, could you describe that transition from 3's?

Physically the transition wasn’t as bad as I thought. The racing is a lot faster, especially in crits. It took a little while to adjust to the higher intensity and the longer races. The goal of my first P1/2 race was to just finish with the pack. I guess that’s a common goal with new upgrades. Now I see the P1/2 races as just another race.

The biggest change in the P1/2 field is the team aspect. Most of the people who win races have a strong team supporting them. I’m really lucky to be on a cool team with such great riders. They’re teaching me a lot about tactics and race strategy.

- What are your goals for the remainder of the season?

I plan on winning the Cascade Stage Race (the cat 2 field). Winning a stage race has been a goal of mine all season. I also want to win a P1/2 race, as well as a cyclocross race in the “A’s”.

- What (if any) advice would you give to up and coming riders?

Race smart. You don’t necessarily have to be the strongest or fastest racer to win. It helps to be a strong rider, but your chances of winning are dramatically reduced if you waste your energy and race foolishly. Pay attention to what going on. The best way to do this is to be near the front. I always like to tell people be near the front, but not at the front.

- The season here in California is exceptionally long, what do you do to keep motivated to keep racing?

That’s a great question. I’m still trying to figure that one out. One thing I’ve found that helps is to indulge yourself once in a while. Take a day off the bike and go out. Eat or drink whatever you want. I’m not saying to drink a whole bottle of Chianti or eat a whole cheesecake, but enjoy yourself.

- Last question, what do you do for fun off the bike?

Fun off the bike? I like hanging out with my dogs (not my homies, but my pets) and my fiancé. We’re pretty dorky. We’re currently hooked on the videogame Rock Band. I play the drums and she sings. We both really horrible. I guess that’s what makes it so fun. I also like taking pictures of bike racing. My favorite races to shoot are cyclocross races. Blood, sweat, dirt, pain; what more could you ask for?

Room for Cream?

Why isn't there a happy medium in the space between room for cream and
no room for cream. It seems no matter where I go for coffee, usually
Peet's or Starbucks, they ask "Room for cream?". If I say yes they
only fill the cup 3/4 full; if no they fill it so full any slight tilt
of the cup will cause it to spill.

So the dilema is, do I want coffee to spill in my car, or do I want a
medium coffee in a large cup? Decisions, decisions.

Notes on Sattley

Here are some of my notes on Sattley;

• It takes around 2.5hrs to get to Auburn from the Bay Area
• The Bootlegger is a decent restaurant in downtown Auburn
• Don't stay at the Motel 6. The Comfort Inn looks like a better hotel
• It takes 1.45hrs to get to Sattley from Auburn
• There's a Starbucks in Truckee to get your morning brew (Donner Pass Rd & 89 S)
• Sattley is cold in the morning. Be sure to have enough clothes for your warm-up
• There's a slight incline at 8km and another around 13km
• Make sure you re-torque all your bolts because the expansion seams can jar your bars
• The expansion seams are worse on the way back
• There's a good Mexican food restaurant in Truckee for the return trip. It's called El Toro Bravo. It's at 10186 Donner Pass Rd. just after the Grey Hound station (heading away from Sattley)
• The drive home is long
  

Dunlap TT

This was my first my first time doing a TT of this distance (31km). With six turns, two left and four right, the course could be considered technical by some. We got to the race site with plenty of time to get ready. We were almost too early because I was filled with all this nervous energy with nothing to do.
The first thing I did was to make sure I set my watch to the race clock. I've missed my start time before at a local low-key time trial, and it's not fun. I made sure to pin my number in the most aero way possible, not really, but I'm sure there's people out there who have figured the most aero way to pin their race number.
I hopped on to my trainer for my warm-up 1:15 before my start time. I wanted to make sure I got in a solid warm-up. It seems it takes a lot longer for me to get warmed-up these days. I guess it's old age.
I jumped off the trainer 15 minutes before my start. I threw on my disc wheel, helmet, and headed for the start. I did a couple of laps up and down the cross street before lining up at the start.
At the start I made sure not to go out too hard. I kept my power a slightly lower than my FTP for about 3mins. Then I slowly started to pick it up. I made sure not to go too high. I tried to keep it around my FTP (for my TT's). Just as I started to pull up on my 30sec man I was passed by the guy 30secs behind me. This is when it became a cluster. My 30sec man started drafting off of the guy who just pass me. Then I passed both of them. This is when the constant passing started. Me and the guy who started behind me would pass each other every once in while, all the way to the finish.
Mentally I was feeling good. I was pushing myself, but not too hard because I didn't want to blow myself up. I think I played it a little too safe. Halfway through the race I noticed my power start to drop, but then I would pick it back up.
Not knowing the course made it a little difficult to know when to start pushing harder.
I started to push harder after the final turn. I was still battling with my -30sec man. I finally passed him for good at the 1km mark. This is where my calf muscle started to twinge like it was going to cramp. At the 500m mark is where I started to run out of gas. However, I continued to push on. I wanted to stand up to sprint but I didn't want to cramp, plus I'm not sure I had any gas left.
I finished with a time of 42:09. I placed 14th of 31. The winner, Roman Kilun posted a time of 39:XX - that's fast! I feel I pushed myself hard. I also feel I might have been a little too conservative during the middle of the race.
I'm excited for Sattley. I wonder how much more painful the extra 9km will be. Plus we'll be at a higher altitude so that means less oxygen and less power.

An Awesome Commercial

Will Ferrell Bud Light Commercial - Watch more free videos

Looking good

YAY! It looks like I'll get to ride outside tomorrow. It will be my first time doing Spectrum this year. I'm looking forward to riding with the rest of the team. I'm just hoping there won't be too many sketchy riders out tomorrow.

It also looks like I'll get to ride outside today after all. I thought I was going to have to ride my TT bike on the trainer. That would have been interesting.
I'm not too excited about today's workout. I have 1.5hrs in zone 1 with some pedaling drills. These workouts tend to be boring. At least I get to be outside.

Assos ClimaJet Breaker

I recently received the Assos ClimaJet Breaker as a gift. I had a chance to test out the jacket/breaker for about a month now. At first I wasn't too impressed. The jacket wouldn't breath and it was really difficult to get on. The cuffs are really tight. If you're wearing gloves it becomes a struggle to get the sleeves over the gloves, and especially the cuffs of the sleeves. This makes it difficult to get the jacket on, or off, while riding. It takes a while to get used to the process of putting the jacket on and taking it off while riding. It helps to have a thin, to no, gloves while putting the jacket on or off.
Now back to my other gripe. I would start to sweat a lot whenever I put wear this jacket. At first I thought this jacket was made of some super material that kept wind and water out while allowing it to breath. Well that's not the case. Yes, the jacket is made of a "highspeed, low drag" material, and it does an excellent job of blocking the wind and keeping you dry in light rain. However, protecting you from the elements has it trade-offs. It loses it ability to breath. Here is what the Assos website says:
"Attention however! The climaJet protects from the outside, but this also means that the moisture transfer from the inside towards the outside is slowed down; this regardless from how breathable the wind and/or rain breaker material is. Consequently, we recommend not using shells (regardless of brand and make) when riding hard for a longer amount of time because the body will sweat more, dehydrate and in the process loose essential minerals. This will cause cramps and loss of power. To reduce and minimize this effect, we have incorporated lateral air vents for efficient cooling and evaporation."
After reading this I realized what the jacket is designed for. It's a great jacket to wear at the start of the ride, while you're still warming up. It's even better to wear on long cold descents. The jacket is NOT good for hard rides or interval workouts.
I wore my jacket the other night on a nice easy recovery ride. I wore over my longsleeve jersey and it kept me comfortably warm in 50 degree weather.
In conclusion, I recommend this jacket as an additional fall (or winter if you're on the West Coast) layer. It does a great job of protecting from the wind and light rain. However, it's not designed to worn on long hard rides; it will cause you to sweat - a lot. It can be difficult to put on and take off while riding. Overall, it's a great jacket. That is, if you can afford the $240 price tag. Like I said, I received mine as a gift.

Positively False (a review)

I'm just finishing up Floyd Landis' book Positively False. The first 3/4 of the book is really good. It has the usual biographical format: the early years, the struggle, the victory/triumph. This book add an additional element - the excuses. The last part of the book is about how WADA/USADA are evil anti-athlete organizations who are only interested in unfairly prosecuting accused athletes.
One of the on-going messages throughout the book is how Floyd has irritated the different cycling organizations; leaving the reader to believe they may have it out for him. For the most part you believe what Floyd has to say. It sounds like WADA/USADA is only out to crucify Floyd.However, already knowing the outcome of his case makes it hard to fully get behind the Floyd cause.
Overall the book is a decent read. If you're a cyclist you'll like a majority of this book. It kept me interested for most of the book. It was written really well, and felt as if Floyd was dictating his story to me. After reading this book I found new motivation to get out on my bike and train harder.

Trainer Life

Well, I'm on day three of my trainer hell. Last night's workout wasn't too bad. I actually had a prescribed workout to do. After a 10 minute warm-up I did 15sec zone 7 sprints every five minutes. I was a little disappointed I didn't break 1000watts. I probably could have gone harder, but I was afraid of jolting the bike from the trainer.
Today I got together with some of the guys from the 1/2 team and we all suffered on our trainers together. It made the time a lot more bearable. I also got a chance to ride rollers for the first time. They took a little while to get used to, but once I got going it was pretty fun. It's a lot of easier to spin at higher RPM's on the rollers.
After the class I went straight to the bike shop and bought myself a pair. I went with the SportCrafter ZRO rollers. I originally wanted the Kreitler rollers, but they didn't have them. These looked pretty good and at a great price. I will write a review after I've used them for a while.

Integrate Performance Fitness

I'm happy to see Al excited about his new business. He recently took over the lease at the location he where he was a trainer. Now the place is looking better than ever. He's painted the walls, had a new logo designed, and launched a new website: http://www.integratefitness.com/.

I really want to see him succeed. I think he does a great job of putting us through "muscular discomfort". My body has adapted to most of the workouts. However, I still get sore, but just not as long. I highly recommend checking out one of his Functional Strength classes. The classes are one hour long, with about eight people per class. It's a great workout that will challenge your body and make you sore for a couple of days(But in a good way).
His classes changed the way I look at training in a gym. We use weights with some exercises. The weights are usually integrated into movements are bodies would make if we were cycling or running, so there's none of this bench press or leg curls type workouts.
I've been going twice a week now for three months and I'm noticing some results. I'm feeling more powerful and more flexible. My girlfriend has noticed I've become more a little more muscular. I guess I've gone from a skinny dork to a skinny dork with some muscle definition.
Definitely check out one of his classes. Here's the website again:
www.integratefitness.com
and the address:
2624 Faytette Drive
Suite D
Mountain View, CA
94040

(The location is set back off the street inside this little commercial business park. Don't look for some fancy looking gym. The quality is with the talent on the inside.)

A Wet & Cold Weekend

I guess I get to look forward to riding my trainer this weekend :( I might venture out in the rain, but I'm busting beating a cold and don't want to make things worse. Plus there was recently a memorial ride for someone who had died on New Year's day. It was two years ago and we were experiencing another bad storm, similar to the one we're in now, and the high winds broke a branch which landed on the rider. There's no reason to risk death or injury just to get in my prescribed workout. I'd rather suffer on the trainer. It may time to invest in some rollers to help break things up. Do one hour on the trainer, then .5hr on the rollers, and repeat. It will also help to get a good movie, maybe Eastern Promises.