Training Blog

Itty bitty Rant.

2012-03-05T08:34:00.001-07:00

Maybe it is a generational thing.

Whenever I speak with a service provider on the phone or in a store they refer to me as `Daniel.' Frankly that's offensive to me. For the previous many decades the customer would be referred to as Mr. or Mrs. `X.' I did it. They did it, too.

I whined about this in the presence of my eldest son. He's in his early 40's and he, too, found it offensive. But, he's got some of the `in your face' assets of his old Pa.

He told me about a time he was on the phone with a customer service person working to resolve a problem for him. She referred to him as `David' so often that he finally got fed up and said: "Have we had sex?!" "Do we know me well enough that you can call me by my first name?!"

I like the chutzpah!

But, in my maturity I now find myself saying: "I mean no disrespect but I'd prefer that you not call me by my first name. Mr. Fallon is better." I once had a person reply that she thought I was arrogant by saying that. So, in that instance I stated: "Fine. Don't call me `Mr' Fallon. You, and only you, are expected to refer to me as DOCTOR Fallon!!"

I know what she was thinking: "Not only is this guy arrogant, he's an arrogant p***k, too!?"

Right. I can be. I get my druthers, too, sometimes.

O.K. Rant over. Return to normal civility.

This `happens' about every six weeks or so ...

2012-03-03T22:39:00.001-07:00

The other day I installed a new carbon fiber hard shell seat Bent Up Cycles on my Ti Aero. I replaced the seat that I severely modified in 2010 while living in the flatlands of Illinois. The 2010 modification chopped off 2.5 inches at the bottom and drilled mounting holes about 1.25 inches back, allowing for a much steeper recline for flatland riding.

I don't live in the flatland anymore. On the steep, twisty roads in the mountain country of AZ less of a recline helps me descend more safely.

As I also converted from a 9spd to a 10 spd setup (50/34) it was time to take the bike out to the mountain for a shakedown. I met up with a local (DF) cycling buddy (who is 50 lbs lighter than me but about 3 years older than me).

I was carrying a 16 oz bottle of fluids - maltodextrin, protein powder and electrolyte (bite me `Hammer'), a 70 oz bladder of water, and about 7 lbs of tools, tubes and tires. He carried a 24 oz water bottle, 2 tubes and a patch kit.

The route was 54 miles that included about 4,800 feet of climbing. For the first 32 miles I made myself keep the climbing lead. Show off! I was redlining the HR.

On the descents I restrained myself in the interest of safety (too many 70 degree+ angle turns on the descents).

In the mountains the winds blow only one direction: in your face. No matter that you may do a 180 about face, the wind is still going to be `in your face.'

On the `out' leg of this route there is dismally annoying 9 mile descent averaging about 4 percent (which you have to ascend on the way back). Again, what with the headwind and crosswinds I was careful to stay under 35 mph.

We then turned SW for 4.5 miles on rollers. Given that I have less recline (don't even use a headrest any more in the mountains) I deduced that I might be able to let him hold my wheel and benefit from drafting me. He's a skilled rider. I pushed ahead in the late teens and early twenties and he was nicely tucked behind me.

At the turnaround point I suggested he lead out for a while as I was `plumbed' and he might not `understand' that. He registered shock and surprise at `plumbing,' and thanked me for the `heads up.'

We came to the first hill and I couldn't/wouldn't allow him to crest the next 4.5 miles of hills before us. Up the watts and HR!

At mile 34 of 54 I realized that my avg HR was way past threshold for the last 2.5 hours. From a `training' perspective that was about 115% of `more than enough.' I stopped the `threshold' anaerobic stuff and returned to a decent 140-120 bpm range for the rest of the route, which was almost entirely uphill. He was steady and took a big lead on me.

At the end of the training route I have about 2 miles remaining to ride home. These last two miles has me climbing a steady 8 - 13% grade before I dip down the last 300 yards to my home.

Came home. Was happily humble. Felt entirely spent. Showered and went to bed for two hours.

Woke up, uploaded the Garmin data and noted that I had the device `stopped' for about 6 miles of uphill return. I stopped to make an adjustment on the angle of the SRAM TT500 lever and failed to turn the Garmin back on.

Prescott-Kirkland Out and Back

I realllly had a good time!

Heart Rate, Tempo Training and WTF?!%$!!!

2012-02-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Old news for most of us. The other day I spent about 3.5 hours doing indoor training. Three hours was cycling on the Cruzbike Sofrider matched to the LeMond Revolution. Every half hour I'd get off the bike and do weights and core exercises for about 5 minutes. Attempting to simulate the whole body workout I get on the CB Vendetta and Silvio.

I'm not intending to bash other recumbent bikes but the RWD bikes do nothing for my upper body and core muscles. The Cruzbikes train me to have a balanced workout. My neighbors and friends learned this when they didn't expect me to be very helpful ("On that sit-down bike you must not get any upper body work.") when unloading wood and rocks from trucks. They'd struggle to lift something and I'd take it from them and make it look like greasy kid stuff.

This year I have many demands on my time and I need to balance and limit my time on the bike in training. Following some advice from some friends who just set speed and distance records for an ultra-endurance cycling event I'm doing no more than 3 hour training sessions every other day or so.

Just for kicks I went to a `training' website and entered data into their `formula' to determine my max tempo training heart rate. Nuts! If I accepted this information I'd qualify for status as the living dead.

So, here's a link to yesterday's indoor training data on Garmin. Garmin HR - Feb 27 I averaged about 120 bpm for 3 hours of cycling. Indoor training bores the crap out of me, but I've done a lot of it over the past many years. (One particular winter saw me doing 7 -8 hour sessions a couple of times per week. I fell asleep on the bike twice, catching myself before I fell off the bike).

After the indoor training yesterday I felt fresh and not in the least over-stressed. My sense is that I was a tad under the tempo range (which, for me, I'm estimating to be 125 - 130 bpm).

So, as much as I `eschew' indoor work it is a good tool in the overall training program and the overall data collection process.

400 K Brevet - What is my goal?

2012-02-26T09:28:00.001-07:00

I've done races with a support crew over hundreds of miles. I've done solo 24 hour races self-support on well marked courses. But ...

I've never done a long brevet before. I started a `short' brevet once but never got to the start line because the LBS that replaced my chain didn't secure the link and my chain fell off as I was tooling around the parking lot. It was poor planning on my part not to check the bike after I got it back from a tune-up.

My biggest concern for this upcoming brevet Gila Bend 400 km has to do with not getting lost. I don't use GPS devices for navigation. And there are times when I'm riding when I'm in a zone and tend not to look at names of places and intersecting roads. Also, sometimes the sun or lack of daylight interferes with my ability to read my cycle computer mileage figures. So my first goal is to not get lost in the AZ flatlands.

My second goal is to be smart about pacing myself. I'll be riding the Cruzbike Vendetta Cruzbike, a very fast time trial front wheel drive recumbent. This is the same bike that Maria Parker rode to the fastest RAAM Qualifying 24 hour record just last weekend. Ride Report - Maria Parker and Cruzbike Vendetta .

I live in the Prescott mountains and rarely encounter extended flat roads. Going up grade is a natural limit on speed. And I've learned the hard way to be careful when coming down descents (fierce crosswinds, twisty switchbacks). I've been `sorry' enough, so that I'm now `safe' when descending.

But the natural speed capacity of the Vendetta is a real temptation to let out the throttle and "let 'er rip!" You can't `let 'er rip' for 250 miles without a support crew; especially when the course is so flat that the temptation to `fly' is hard to resist (2,868 cum ft of climbing over 250 miles, for an average .21 degree incline! [Grade Calculator]).

So it is probably wise and prudent for me to assess the course and my effort early on to determine a smart and sustainable pace. And, honestly, I won't know what that `pace' is until I'm out on the road.

But having these two goals in mind (not get lost, not succumb to the need for speed) should make this brevet both `done' and `fun.'

Drinking, eating and heat:

I'm not worried about fluids or fuel for what may turn out to be 14 - 16 hour `ride.' Unless there is more here for me to discover I'm pretty certain about what works for me at the pace I expect to ride.

Finally, if the AZ `desert' heat is really hot I know enough to manage the pace to keep from dehydration or other heat related problems.

Lighting and mechanicals.

It gets dark when it gets dark out here. It is as important to be seen as it is to see. With a flat course there is less concern regarding the weight of lights and batteries than if I were doing a lot of climbing.

As for mechanicals: power-links, an air pump (no CO2 cartridges), several tubes, a good set of multi-tools, an extra tire, tire boots, tube repair set (no `dry' patches ... they don't last).

Clothing:

Desert sun is deceptive. Arm coolers and hand covers. Lots of sunblock.

Cold desert nights. Warmers and shell jackets.

2012 Cycling Calendar

2012-02-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Cycling Calendar - 2012

Every year I compulsively schedule cycling training and events as if I had no other life. So, this calendar is `aspirational' in nature.

In a nod to some semblance of balance in my life I've reduced training rides to 3 hours, rather than open ended `however long it takes me to do `xx' miles.' The intention here is to utilize the `intensity' v. `duration of hours' method of training.

Learning, learning, learning

2012-02-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

The profound performance of so many athletes at Sebring this year is inspiring and exciting.

In conversation with one of the winners he told me that his coach had him substitute intensity for duration. That is, train in tempo and threshold levels for a shorter period of time. Although one would be skeptical of this method it worked extremely well for him and for a few others setting distinguished records last week. He and at least one of the 24 hour RQ winners never trained for more than 3 hours during any one training session. And look at the stunning result!

Honestly, that is good news for me. The next several months have been coming at me like a tsunami. Reconstruction of our house, relocating to a temporary living quarter, being onsite as much as possible during the reconstruction, laying the tile and laminated floor on both levels on my own ... and then fitting in relationships and training?!!

I'm planning to do several ultracycling events this year. These, in and of themselves will be time and energy consuming. So I'm going to try to follow the intensity v. duration plan. There are two local training courses I am anticipating using for this work. The first is right out my front door. Over the mountain and back again. 34 miles and as many feet of climbing The other is what is called the `Air Park.' the Air Park is comprised of an industrial park and a medical complex. Spikey and demanding. One can easily spend 3 hours building both open road skills and hill-climbing power. Spikey climbs and open road course

Maybe I've clicked to a way to reduce the size of that tsunami.

Terrain ... terain ... tr ...tr... TRAIN

2012-02-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

My patient and loving wife remarked the other day "You're really training hard!"

Thickheaded Scot that I am I responded: "Not hard. Consistent. Better."

(Nothing passes without some resistance. Could be the `blood.')

Having committed to doing a 24 hour race in Texas in mid-April (Bessies Creek 24) I'm afforded an external structure in my habits and thought. Some day I'll have the courage of a Buddhist (let the present percolate into your consciousness). But for the moment I'm a willing servant to the simple distraction of a carrot in front of my nose.

Bessies Creek 24 is a 21 mile loop course that you keep riding until the 24 hours is up. BC24 has 80 feet of climbing each 21 mile loop. And I live in mountainous terrain where I climb 80 feet just to get the mail!

Racing on flat terrain is completely different from climbing 5,400 feet in 54 miles. To assume that mountainous road cycling translates effortlessly to the steady pacing of a full day of balanced and steady effort is ... a bad assumption.

So. What am I to do in my training?

Fortunately, though there is nary a level lick of road in these parts ... I've been granted a favor by my new found cycling friend, Mike Cash. Several months ago he took me out to the Chino Valley Loop. Just 12 miles north of me there is a rare high plateau in these parts: Chino Valley.

Today I delighted in several loops of about 9 miles each for just under 3 hours and 44 miles. Flat!

Flat Training # 1
Flat Terrain # 2

With the discovery of this local flat terrain added to the steeply challenging hills and mountains ... this is training terrain!

Consistency. And balanced hard work.

BC24 here I come!

Complete Blood Count: What is normal for endurance athlete?

2012-02-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

This is a great resource for those of us wanting to get a sense of perspective regarding laboratory reports we get on blood tests.

My frustration with the plethora of `data' and virtual absence of `information' with my most recent lab report generated this.

WebMD - CBC Interpretation

Lift Off!! Cruzbike Vendetta

2012-02-10T20:12:00.002-07:00

Today's training ride: Front door to Kirkland and back

For me, there has been no better training terrain than the steep ascents, descents, twisty turns and long, long, long climbs of the Arizona mountain country.

Making it more valuable is that I have been training on the incredibly well designed Cruzbike Vendetta Time Trial front wheel drive movable bottom bracket recumbent bike Cruzbike Vendetta. The terrain and the bike squeeze out every atom of skill inside me.

I feel that I have firmly conquered the control, balance, maneuverability and comfort dimensions of the Cruzbike Vendetta. I now can access the power in my legs that I've been previously been too lacking in confidence to do. I sense a growing skill and power trajectory ahead of me.

I feel more confident and comfortable on the Vendetta now that I've made one simple adjustment (decrease the recline). My descending speed and firm control on twisty turns is now only limited by safety concerns (as opposed to my earlier fear of front wheel wobble).

Again, fitting the bike to the body was the necessary decision. (I'm a real slooooow learner).

Several near term (over the weekend?) modifications of the V.

There is about 4.5" of handlebar on either side that I never used and cannot imagine ever using. I'm going to saw it off. An additional but minor benefit will be that the bar ends won't poke me. I'm not a weight weenie but I just hate looking at these unneeded stumps as I ride.
I'm going to put the head rest on `top' of the seatback instead of under the seatback. This will move the head rest closer and allow me to use it when I get very aero (which is on the flats or when I'm climbing 6+% grades). I may have to stuff the headrest sock with more shaped firm foam.
I'm going to use a spare 3" Bacchetta seat pad to replace the two folded up towels on the seatback. The stock Vendetta seatback is 22.5 degrees from horizontal. I don't know how much I reduced the angle of the seatback with the towels but I'll keep working with the B seat pad until I get it replicated to the towels. This will involve slicing and cutting the B seat pad to conform to the shape of the V seatback / seat pad. I'll likely have to cut the B seat pad in the shape of a wedge, fat side top.
The `Triangle of Power': 1. Legs, 2. Arms and Shoulders, 3. Core:

Currently I have the boom set at the 3rd fitting out of 8. I'm going to move it `in' one setting so that I can get a tighter `cockpit' feel and better control when descending and accelerating;
I'm going to experiment with extending or shortening the BB. I have an uncommonly short (so far as I can tell) amount of leg extension; it's where I get the most torque / power. It's like being in a permanent state of bridging ... I can access big watts all day and feel little fatigue;
I'm going to replace the 50/34 with the 53/39 I have on the Silvio. I think my legs and lungs are up to it on the inclines, esp. since the Vendetta weighs 21.8 lbs without pedals while the Silvio comes in around 28+ lbs without pedals. If I run out of teeth on the 53 ... it's on to the 56.

Clearing the air

2012-02-08T08:16:00.001-07:00

This entry to my blog is likely to be of little interest to most. But the issue has quite often generated strong feelings and partisan comments among recumbent cyclists.

I have four recumbent bikes. One Bacchetta Ti Aero and three Cruzbikes (Sofrider, Silvio and Vendetta).

I ride them all. I enjoy them all. My riding of these very different bikes has been very rewarding to me because I have learned so very much about the design, operation and uses of these bikes.

Of perhaps equal importance has been, and continues to be, the dialogue with both the Bacchetta online community and the Cruzbike online community. Putting aside some of the design differences of each bike (rear wheel drive Bacchetta recumbents and front wheel drive movable bottom bracket Cruzbikes) cyclists of both bikes experience and have to deal with what is, to me, the real challenge: long-distance endurance ultracycling

Here's the issue: I find myself restrained in naming the bike (Bacchetta or Cruzbike) in discussion with other recumbent cyclists. (Of course, it's not fair to praise or criticize the Cruzbikes on the Bacchetta discussion forum; it's not fair to praise or criticize the Bacchettas on the Cruzbike discussion forum).

I want to continue my friendships and mutual interests with all my cycling friends and acquaintances. And I don't want to feel defensive or worried that I'll step into a partisan trap when discussing recumbent cycling.

I continue to look forward to using each of these bikes to pursue ultracycling goals and challenges. I am certain that some ultracycling accomplishments will have very little to do with the design features of either bike. It's the engine, quite often. Not the bike.

Doctors with a `'God' complex

2012-02-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

New to this area I sought out a doc just to have one on hand in the event I needed one. This guy came well recommended by some acquaintances. I met with his Nurse Practitioner a few weeks ago Monday. She takes my history (did a decent good job) and set me up to see the doc himself that Friday.

You know the drill. They get you undressed and cloaked in a butt exposed `gown.' This of course, has nothing to do with setting the scene so that the doc is top dog and the patient is a vulnerable sot. -;

The guy comes in, doesn't even look at me. Sits at a little table and opens his laptop. Starts barking numbers and concludes: "We're gonna put you on a diet. Your BMI is too high." I tell him I lost 20 lbs in the last six months, ride 200 miles and climb 18,000 feet on a bike every week, that muscle is heavier than fat, and no longer eat meat, and refer him to the BodPod results I submitted when I met with the NP.

He ignores that and keeps looking at his laptop. Then he says that the prostate exam and full urological workup I had just last May (biopsy that showed NO evidence of enlargement or cancer) was worthless and that nothing is as good as ... and then he just sticks his index finger in the air and waves it.

I didn't respond because this was so stump stupid on his part that I was (believe it) speechless.

I tilted my head, smiled, got my Irish up and said "... and then what? A biopsy and blood work that I just had 6 months ago?!"

He then slammed down his laptop and said: "I'm not accepting you as a patient. I'm not going to argue with you."

I was, again, taken aback and surprised at the crude arrogance. Then he tells me to get dressed and a nurse will tell me what to do next.

I left a few minutes later and pondered deeply as to what this meant. Finally, I found another doc. A few days later I sent this idiot the following letter:

---

Dr. X:

I understand your prerogative to decline accepting patients.

I am in agreement with you that it is better that you recognized what would certainly have been apparent at a later time. Being most generous in my description there is an incompatibility between us.

Candidly, I was surprised and am mildly distressed at your behavior.

Having been the Clinical Director of a psychiatric hospital for abused and neglected children and adolescents I have many, many times been reminded of the importance of listening to my patients and staff.

It is my conclusion that you emphatically failed your profession in this regard.

---

So, my advice to all of us: don't be intimidated by physicians who are so arrogant that they suffer from a God complex.

From a psychological perspective such people lack confidence in their ability to maintain a interactive and candid relationship with the client / patient.

More, several recent `gold standard' research reports conclude that arrogant and self-absorbed physicians have a much higher `fail' rate and more malpractice allegations than others.

Word to the wise.

2012 Events and local training courses

2012-01-31T13:00:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow night I'll be at the local bike club meeting (Bike Prescott) offering a few words regarding the importance of UMCA (UltraMarathon Cycling Association) and USATF (USA Track & Field) course measurement.

With few exceptions I think the Prescott area is one of the most challenging, beautiful and varied cycling areas in the nation. We could use a few more flat roads, though. That said, being able to ride from my front door to experience all of these cycling opportunities is providential.

First, at the local industrial park near the Prescott Airport one can find a great short course for training. Lots of spikey climbs and some long stretches of flat (ascending / descending) road. A full circuit of this training course could be 5 miles or 25 miles of good road, little traffic. Prescott Air Park

Yesterday I did an out and back on a course we will be using to measure a 10K time trial route a week from today. Drake Road to Ash Fork and back on 89 My Front Wheel Drive Recumbent Cruzbike Vendetta did well on this course, despite my proclivity for collecting every conceivable reason to get a flat tire.

This 10K time trial course will be submitted to the USATF for certification. Thus, it can serve our local bike club as an event we can employ at any time (as just a neat thing for a bunch of us to do, or as a more formal event associated with local cycling competitions).

The Race Across America (RAAM) uses some of our most challenging mountain courses on their official route. Taking route 89 all the way from Congress, AZ, to Flagstaff, AZ, and beyond into the high desert (several hundreds of miles and tens of thousands of feet of climbing) RAAM and RAW (Race Against the West) racers are put to several of the most demanding and difficult sections of the entire Race. Again, for local bike club purposes, it will be easy to use smaller sections of this RAAM / RAW route for course measurement and sanctioning with USATF. Riders can test themselves over time to assess training effect, building climbing and speed skills on the ascents and descents.

Two weeks ago a group of us rode from Kirkland to Bagdad, AZ, and back. Kirkland - Bagdad - Kirkland The difficulty of the terrain, the good quality of the road, and the incredible beauty of the rocky and remote environs cannot be matched. It is an 80 mile, 7,100 feet of climbing. out and back course that could easily be added to with a 20 mile side trip to make a great 100 mile club ride. Again, the KBK course could easily be a club `Century Event' when measured and sanctioned by USATF.

And then there is low desert flatland SW of Congress (also on the RAAM / Route). 50 Mile out and back course Starting on route 60 in Aguila and going SW for 50 miles there is less than 375 feet of climbing. A stock-straight, flat, low traffic density stretch of road with two or three little towns (comprised of maybe 200 yards of small stores and gas stations). Not one stop light. Not one stop sign. Only one intersection requiring mild and careful passing.

Though UMCA race rules restrict an out and back course to 20 miles before turning back this course has immense potential for serious long-distance course record attempts. A racer could string together many, many 20 mile sections for a 100 mile, 200 mile (distance) and 6, 12 and 24 hour (time) race. Using the approved USATF course measurement method the UMCA could certify and sanction this course.

This course could easily be chosen independently by world class ultracyclists as a place to make their mark. As well, this course could just as easily be a `Bike Prescott' club event, pushing the club into national and international prominence.

Finally, I've registered for the 24 hour UMCA / RAAM Qualifier race called Bessies Creek 24 in Texas on April 14th. This is a 21 mile loop with less than 80 feet of climbing (very, very flat) on good road. It presents itself as capable of being `self support,' i.e., an entrant does not need a crew in order to race the course and do well. (Every 21 miles the racer can access food and fluids from a few coolers s/he has placed on the side of the road at the start point).

The current record holder for Bessies Creek 24 is Kent Polk who turned over 441 miles in 24 hours under very difficult conditions (intense heat and strong winds). Many racers for 2012 consider this a perfect course where they feel than can cover more than 500 miles in the 24 hours.

Thus, there is no lack for road cycling opportunities and challenges in and around Prescott, Arizona.

`Tentatively' easing into 2012 Cycling Event plans

2012-01-29T09:43:00.001-07:00

These past six months have `informed' me of how erratic my training had to be. I pretty much expected that but granted myself the luxury of being optimistic. Much of what I had intended to do in the way of `training' was interrupted by mundane but important other matters.

I have a hopeful grasp on what is practical and realistic for me in the way of training and events over the next calendar year. So the switch from ebullient optimism to practical realism ... I don't like it! (If you set your goals only so that they're `realistic' it takes all the headiness, the unknown, the surprise out of things.)

My training will, perforce, have to be local in order for me to have any sense of fidelity to a plan. And I've been fortunate enough to be introduced to a variety of training surfaces and terrain (hills, mountains, flats, short [25 mile] courses that include flats and lots of short, spikey climbs). Local short course So this permits a rational plan for development of cycling skills and physical development.

I've had bike destroying accidents on one of my recumbents that has required a great deal of expense and mechanical work. I'm not the best mechanic so it has taken time.

On the other two recumbents I've made pretty comprehensive changes in the gearing, cranks, and drive-train. Again, this has caused me to spend a fair amount of money and experience many delays due to finding the time to do the mechanical work.

At this point all my recumbents are operational and can be ridden at the point of selection.

I'm even intending to dust off my upright bike for local and short trips. I'll not need to do any mechanical work on the upright because it is, at worst, dusty.

In my next post I'll offer some detail as to the local training courses and a few of what I call `performance events.' `Performance events' are what the training is all about.

"Great Leader" Sports Nutrition Products

2012-01-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

I just ran across a piece I wrote a few months before my RAW 2010 attempt. Somehow my email address got out to the world of snake-oil merchants and I got so fed up I posted this, below, to a few cycling related discussion groups:

GREAT LEADER SPORTS NUTRITION PRODUCTS

"Expensive Urinite:" Improve your speed 300% while keeping your heart rate under 85 bpm. Scientifically formulated and tested at a secret underwater independent North Korean humility `Great Leader' sports lab. Trust us!

Easy to swallow, non-chewable, tasty seaweed flavored powder dissolvable in simple yak milk. 16 oz irradiated `repurposed' nuclear centrifuge cannisters @ only $175 each. Money back guarantee if you live that long.

"Swell Gel:" Dance up hills in happy bliss doing `silly circles' around your grunting competitors. All ingredients in Swell Gel have been personally and individually used by "WADA" scientists and carry their official ` thumbs up with a wink' photo. Unlike other sticky, gooey, gag-me-with-a-spoon gels Swell Gel is snorted by riders. No sticky white residue.

"Secret Power Suppositories" For the `daring' competitor, the one who isn't cowed by wussy WADA rules or spy camera crews. Enormous weiner sized slick suppository jam packed with EPO, epinephrine, testosterone, and a veritable plethora of fast acting 'roids. Nobody will know that when it looks like you're just scratching your crotch you're actually inserting a "Secret Power Suppository" up your keester.

Guaranteed NOT to grow an inch of hair on your shoulders and arms by the end of a Stage.

Be the first to finish, knowing that when you get off your bike and your knuckles are dragging at your feet you'll have a long night of bike groupies wanting to know you better.

Amaze your friends when your voice drops from falsetto to alto.

And we promise not to insult your intelligence by selling for dollars what you could buy at your grocery store for pennies. Because WE KNOW you want one of our "GREAT LEADER" T-shirts to prove to your buds that you're one serious, baaaddddd-ass cyclist!

What is the `baseline?'

2012-01-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

I started getting serious about cycling around 1996, as a way to not get too unbalanced with my job.

Periodically I'd complete a training or competitive event and feel sore, beat up and fatigued. I'd wonder if my `age' (50, at the time) caused me to be less resilient and to experience limits and physical consequences that I would have shrugged off 20 years earlier.

I'm no further down the road with this question, sixteen (16) years later, now that I'm 66.

As I increased the challenges and cycling demands on myself I'd feel the `consequences' from these efforts. And still I'd wonder: "Would I feel this beat up if I were 25?"

Last Wednesday I rode with a group of really great people through some exceptionally demanding Arizona terrain. Eighty-one miles (out-and-back) and 7,100 feet of climbing. This was difficult but the distance and cumulative climbing didn't cause me to have to reach deep into my physical resources. However, there was a ten (10) mile section on the return leg that was nothing but uphill, grades between 4% and 11%.

Kirkland to Bagdad, AZ

This `blog' is entitled `Training Blog' because that is how I approach my cycling. I'm not a recreational cyclist. My deficiencies in life include being somewhat of a hermit, somewhat of a `driven' personality with enough insecurities that scare me into having to `prove myself' at almost everything I do. Cycling, for me, is an almost `ultimate' form of staying sane and not letting the demons overtake me.

So, on that ten mile stretch of road I demanded that I `pound' it, climbing at the highest gear and wattage sustainable. There were several times when I said to myself `prudence suggests that you not `redline' it, Dan.' But then there was `Bad Dan' who said `you HAVE more so you must GIVE more. Otherwise you're just another old fart on a bike ride.'

And I did give more. I could literally feel it coming from the marrow of my bones. And I heard that little homunculus inside of me was saying: "If this is the last thing you do you have to do it."

Still, I was passed by two riders. I rationalized being passed by discounting those two riders: "Classic cycling bodies: lightweight, thin and experienced. One of them weighs 80 lbs less than me and is riding a `feather' bike. You're `the Man,' Dan. You're training on your 28 lb, loaded up fwd recumbent. THEY couldn't do what you do!"

But that isn't the point. The point is "why, when you know this is going to deplete you, are you letting yourself be so unwise?!"

Today, the third day after that ride, is the first day I feel like I'm among the living.

Would I have been able, at age 25, to do what I did last Wednesday and not feel completely drained?

I don't know.

But I DO know, that at age 25 I was still `over the top,' doing things that were way too demanding and unwise.

So .. the more things change, the more ....

- d

Local Cycling and Training Opportunities

2012-01-08T18:55:00.002-07:00

I barely adhered to my intention of making this a `recovery' week.

Last Sunday I completed what amounted to a 110 K time trial in Phoenix. Phoenix Invitational . It had been a long time since I was on terrain that didn't include miles of annoying downhill coasting and miles of slow but challenging and demanding slogging uphill. Being able to apply sustained watts over 110 K of flatland was welcome and quite taxing.

On Wednesday, after two days of being off the bike I rode a 53 mile, 5,700 ft of climbing course (Garmin data: P'cott - Kirkland - P'cott . Though I purposely stayed at nothing more than 60% max it was still 4 hours and 45 minutes of raw effort. Felt the symptoms of overtraining so I elected to take the next day off and take it easy on other training sessions the rest of the week.

My friend Mike wanted to get some miles in on his new recumbent so he chose a local training area that, initially, sounded mighty tame: an industrial park with easy loops and flat roads. About the only thing easy about it, I found out, is that it is `local.' That is, only a few miles from home.

I accompanied Mike to the course and immediately saw the potential of this area. The City of Prescott put in the infrastructure for an industrial park near the airport just before the recession hit. So, the roads are excellent, there are barely 10 - 15 small plants and warehouses. Ninety-five percent of the area is utterly vacant. No traffic.

This could be the core of several local club events, e.g., family fun rides, longer timed events (time trials, criterium).

In my own mind I'm already planning some ultra endurance training sessions ( 6 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour). I can park my truck and loop past it every 12 miles if I wanted to. Keep dry clothes, fluid, food, equipment, etc., in my truck Plenty of water at numerous locations. If a problem arose I could get a `spousal rescue' in 20 minutes by cellphone.

The next day I rode this course on my own for about 2.5 hours. Steep (14%), short (50 meters) climbs everywhere you turn. About 10% of the course is actually flat.

Here's yesterday's Garmin data: Jan 7 - Local trainng course

Today I rode another 3 hours in the course. Great potential for training, competitive events (Time Trial, Criterium). Here's today's Garmin data: Jan 8 - Circumference of Training Course - 12.2 miiles

And then a few more hours of `free style' use of this training course: Jan 8 - Using the course for hill training and time

A Spring Classic ... for the fun of it

2012-01-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I joined a great group of local roadies driving to an invitational in Phoenix. Sixty-five miles and just a tad over 500 feet of climbing. I've done flatter routes but that was flat.

In my maturity I've come fully into my miserly ways. Living in Prescott I cannot imagine doing what I used to do often several times each week in Chicago: driving 100 miles to ride my bike. And though there are great adventures all over the southwest the sense of `weirdness' overcomes me when I send money to people 100 miles away to give me a map, a water bottle, sign liability waivers. And then spend 3 figures in gas money to drive for four hours ... to ride my bike.

!?*@##!!!

And here I live in Prescott!!

So I'm resigned to the `loneliness' of the hard core ultra cyclist. That is, poorly paraphrasing Eddie Merckx, when asked how he came to be so dominating a cyclist, he responded: "Ride a lot."

I'm making up routes and courses that are low traffic volume, good road, challenging and with the occasional water spiggot every 40 or 50 miles.

Here's one from my front door:

Prescott to Bagdad: 67 miles
Bagdad to Yarnell: 56 miles
Yarnell to Congress: 10 miles
Congress to Wilhoit: 29 miles
Willhoit back to Prescott: 17 miles.

Total miles: 178
Likely climbing: 12,000 feet

Start half an hour before daybreak to be advantaged by daylight.

No fee.
No sag.
Self-support.
No club affiliation.
No course `certification' or `sanctioning.'
YSYD (you're stopped, you're dropped).
No rando organization.
No getting your card stamped or signed.
A complimentary burial on the side of the road for DNF'ers.
No T-shirt.
No goofy set of safety pins with a number on some sheet of linen.
No subsequent internet hounding by profit-mongers wanting to patronize you with "Hilly Hell" mantras.

Who will know you did it?

You. Only you.

Not so Bad news and some Very Good news

2011-12-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well, let's start with the ...

Not so Bad news.

Sebring is out for me this February. The logistics and cost just don't justify it. 5,000 mile round trip driving (I'd be taking two bikes and lots of gear so onliest way I'd do that is with my trusty Ford Ranger). Gas, lodging, food, etc., would put it easily into the $3K range. I can (and will) put that money to much better use in my neck of the woods.

Very Good news:

I'll be getting two `Time' and `Distance' courses measured out here to be considered for official sanctioning for the UMCA.

Time courses can be used for 12 hour and 24 hour events;
Distance courses can be used for 100 mile, 200 mile events.

The Prescott Cycling Club will be heading up the course measurements and submitting them for sanction and approval. We're expecting to complete the measurement process within the month and submit the data and materials to UMCA.

Each course

Has almost no traffic;
Few and no intersections;
Is flat;
Almost straight as an arrow;
Has an excellent shoulder (wide, no rumble strip, minimum road debris).

Course # 1:

50 miles: Aguila to Brenda, AZ, on Highway 60.

This course is almost entirely on the RAAM / RAW route. In the AZ desert, with elevation from to 2160 feet to 1350 feet above sea level. The temps are what you would expect: 100 - 110 F range 8 months out of the year. Tolerable the other 4 months. No snow. Ever.

Only two or three intersections going west and one intersection coming back east. All can be navigated well by a crew that drives ahead to make the transit safe and fast. A few towns (3?) from start to finish on the 50 miles. Aguila is about 60 miles from Phoenix.

Course # 2:

25 miles: Paulden to Ash Fork, AZ, on Highway 89.

This course is not on the RAAM / RAW route and climbs from 4400 feet to 5100 feet through National Forest on good and well maintained roads. At these elevations some snow can sometimes be a factor but it is also a more temperate climate all year long. The thing about the `National Forest,' though, is that the terrain is mostly scrub desert. No intersections. Again, this could be both a `time' or `distance' course. Ash Fork is about 40 miles straight west on Interstate 40 from Flagstaff, AZ.

The road cycling community in the Prescott area is active 12 months of the year. And more and more serious cyclists are seeing the terrain and climate as being ideal for training.

Also, Prescott is considered one of the premier mountain bike locations in the country. What with the mountains, several National Forests and well maintained roads and trails it is nothing less than a hidden jewel.

--------------

If Muhammad can't go to the mountain then the mountain will have to come to Muhammad.

When I consider the time and money I would sacrifice to drive from my house to Sebring ... I'd rather build a Sebring out here.

You'll be hearing more soon. Stay tuned.

The `b'ness' end of things

2011-12-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was out for along ride in the lower elevations. Rolling desert rocky terrain below the snow line, waaay out into the unpopulated AZ ranch country. Fewer than 3 vehicles on the road per hour.

Rolling along after mile 25 on an out and back I needed to find a place to do my `b'ness.'

I spot a break in the Juniper and Cottonwood trees and brush to the side of the road and pull over. As I'm crouching my way through the brush it opens up into a completely empty green and brown grazing pasture. The pasture is only about 50x50 meters and abuts a steeply rising rocky hill for about 800 feet. A quiet `spot' of beauty in nature.

There is a wide gate to this fenced in area. The gate has a heavy lasso-type rope holding it closed against a strong post with firm barbed wire in either direction. I look around carefully to assure that no one is there and that there are no horses or livestock that will charge at me.

I open the gate and move off to the left about 10 yards behind a copse of big Manzanitas. I proceed to do my `b'ness.'

As I'm gazing at the immense beauty and noticing the utter quiet and silence my attention falls to the copious evidence of horses having done THEIR b'ness here, too.

When I'm finished and get myself all ready to return to the bike ... it hits me:

I turn to see if MY b'ness is bigger than the HORSES b'ness!

Once again I am confirmed in my ability to hold my own against mother nature's best :)

Confidently and filled with utterly pointless hubris I let myself out of the gated pasture and resume my biking.

I'm still feeling `proud' of the `b'ness' end of things.

Irrational and myopic ... but so, so human.

(I wonder if there will be a horse that returns to the grazing pasture and ... does the same thing).

Real World Training

2011-12-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

If you could be exceptional at either `intelligence' or `persistence' (not both), which would you prefer?

Sounds like a question I'd get from St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. I'd probably get sent to hell `Express' for trying to negotiate a little of both.

I'm about 70 % persistence, 20 % slack-jaw stump-stupid, and maybe 10% intelligence.

When my clients saw all the degrees on my wall I'd try to lower the shock factor by telling them: "I'm educated waaay beyond my intelligence." And, frankly, I think its true.

I just kept going to school. Didn't - WOULDN'T - stop. I went to middling colleges and universities and they were happy to take my tuition as long as I didn't present as a potential embarrassment as an alumnus.

Back to Training.

After several depressing days of indoor training and a few shocking days of absolutely lethal outdoor training in the freezing, windy, icy, twisting mountain roads I figure out a real world training prospect for the cold months. Drive down to a lower elevation and train.

The snow line is about 5,000 feet. I trained on rolling and challenging upgrades of 6% for 6 miles at 4,000 feet today. It was windy, cold and wet. But manageable due to the absence of crazy twisting descents and icy roads. It was also in the mid-40's.

Dressing for the wind and wet requires `shell' clothes and some thin wool jerseys. Made all the difference.

Training at lower elevation

More tomorrow.

Vocabulary lesson

2011-12-11T19:07:00.001-07:00

I didn't expect to get a vocabulary lesson in my training ride today. But I did.

Mid-day it was relatively warm (50's) and brilliantly sunny day up here in AZ mountain country. I got out for a training ride at 1:30PM. At it's height the sun is low on the horizon, just 10 days from the solstice. It gets dark fast.

I rode south, up a smooth and twisty road (White Spar/89) into the Bradshaw mountains in the Prescott National Forest. The road hangs off the eastern side of the mountain.

Melt Ice: At 6,100 feet the sun is intense on the snow. The snow is piled in berms on the east side of the road and it covers the forest and sheer walls on the west side of the road. When the sun beats down on the snow it melts and water washes across and down mountain roads. When it hits the road it is a barely visible shade of grey as it freezes again

Shadow Ice: When the road is already wet from melting snow but the setting sun, low on the southern horizon, casts patches of spikey shadows on the wet road. The shadow water freezes thin and slippery while the sun exposed road is dry and firm. It makes for a corduroy pattern of icy road and dry road.

Sand Slip: In Illinois they spread salt on the icy road. Out here they use sand and pumice. Sometimes the sand/pumice mixture has the same color as the road. It requires eagle eye vigilance on climbs, descents and turns so that you don't slip out and go down.

Sand Mine: That's when all three of the above conditions apply. The road looks just a little sandy but it is actually ice thinly covered by sand/pumice.

Update: 12/12/11:

Cloudy and raining today and nobody out this way thinks its o.k. to ride in this weather.

So ... I rode.

Us hardy mid-westerners don't really know the difference between sunny and warm, and wet and cold.

I added a few words to my vocabulary today:

Rockslide;
Sleet/rain/snow (all one word);
Fog;
Mountain wind;
Windchill;
Hypothermia.

When I got home I realized that, though this is Arizona, it is winter and I'm riding in mountains. I immediately got into a tub full of scalding hot water for half an hour.

Time to swap the sandals for shoes and toe warmers.
Balaclava.
Rain gear.
Big honkin' flashing lights and irridescent ribbons all over me and the bike
long pants
shells over my gloves
helmet cover.

So, what is this language with so many new words: Mountainese?!

One learns `road handling skills' in such conditions.

Or not.

Too much

2011-11-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Over the last several days I've put in a fair amount of miles and lots of climbing. At least half of that is in the Prescott National Forest. The other half is what geologists call the `transition zone' between the high Grand Canyon plateau and the low Phoenix desert. Lots of sky, mountains, rolling hills. Vast panoramas of drop-dead gorgeous terrain.

Today's training comprised 70 miles and god-knows how many thousands of feet of climbing. The contrast between the beauty of the natural environment was held in stark relief against the many never-before-seen by me roadside shrines to motor fatalities; the dead skunk, dog, cat, critters, and their bloody remains smeared across the road; the monstrous RVs pulling trailers of off-road 4-wheel toys; and, finally, another tragic automobile accident with almost certain fatalities. The accident appeared to involve a car that went off the 2 lane road and down a steep embankment, rolling over and over before coming to a stop. Multiple State Patrol vehicles, fire engines, ambulances and a helicopter. Traffic backed up in both directions for a mile.

The contrast makes my head hurt.

Skull Valley Loop clockwise - Silvio

2011-11-21T12:25:00.002-07:00

I had planned on riding from Prescott to Congress and back yesterday but didn't have time to do it. So, I switched to the Skull Valley Loop clockwise instead. Skull Valley Loop clockwise - Nov 20

Although I find the 8 miles of descending on White Spar from Mile Marker 298 to Kirkland Junction boring and frustrating the 18 mile ascent from Kirkland to the top of Iron Springs Road makes up for it.

Since I just had the new SRAM Rival groupset installed on the Silvio a few days before I hadn't had the chance to `dial in' the shifting, handlebar rotation setting, the position and angle of placement of the brifters on the handlebars ... I did that on the bike while going over the Bradshaw Mtns on White Spar. A later than expected start and the time spent on dialing things in put Congress out of `reach' yesterday.

As much as I tell myself to hold back on my training ... I did it again. I climbed the 18 miles from Kirkland to the top of Iron Springs Road in the 53 big ring upfront and the 30 and 32 rings in back. My RPMs were easily into the 60's and my speeds sometimes got as low as 5.1 mph on the 9% and 11% grades. I told myself during the ascents that I was doing `hill repeats,' but just longer and without the `repeats.'

The Silvio is a dream to ride. On the ascents, on the flats and on the descents.

Gearing setup for Cruzbike Silvio

2011-11-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in Prescott last July I was running SRAM Rival groupset with a 53/39 up front and a 10 speed 11/28 in the back. I found it too `high' for the hills, making it very difficult to ride. So I switched to a compact 50/34 and an 11/32 in back.

Four months later I feel more confident of my climbing strength and ability so I've returned to the 53/39 up front but am changing the rear 10 speed cassette to an 11/32.

Tomorrow I'm off to Congress and back. About 88 miles and 9,500 feet of climbing. I'm feeling pretty carefree about the climbing with this groupset. Part of the reason for my confidence has to do with the nature of the climbing. Most of the ascents range between 4 - 6% for looooonnnnnnggg miles. Those are grinders and they are `doable.' It requires endurance and pacing.

Where a smaller, less challenging gear setup comes in handy is when there are spikey inclines of greater than 10%. Unless one has `flying' inertia from a descent that `pushes' you up most of a steep incline the compact crank is well-advised.

Pictures of the terrain on which I train

2011-11-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

The first is a link to my Picasa picture albums showing, first, the short and steep roads I use for `Hill Repeats' and, then, pics of the 34 mile, 4,600 feet of climbing out and back, up and over, course from Prescott to Wilhoit. Prescott to Wilhoit and back

The second is the latest Garmin data and graphic of the Prescott to Wilhoit and back course. Garmin - Prescott to Wilhoit and back

Season and transitions in training

2011-11-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

Second week of November in the Arizona high country. Living close by a ranging national forest and what geologists call a `transitional zone.' Prescott is a smallish town on the edge a growing metropolitan area both east and north of us.

Nights are cold and dark. Days are typically sunny and warm. If and when it snows it tends to melt away within a day or three.

Gone are the days when starting a training ride at 7:30am promised 70 degree temps, pushing into the 90's by midday.

Hill training several times a week for two or three hours. Following loops into the national forest and back. In the gym cross-training for several hours a couple of times a week. One or two long rides into, through and out the other side of the forest every week.

Outdoor training includes both front and rear wheel recumbents, and the upright Airborne Zeppelin ti bike. Indoor training includes Concept 2 indoor rower, the elliptical and a recumbent bike on the LeMond Revolution indoor trainer. Calisthenics, situps, pushups and pullups.

Consolidation, strength and balance are the training goals for the cold months.

The Cruzbike Vendetta can CLIMB!!

2011-10-23T09:10:00.003-07:00

What with all the changes in my life (closing my practice, retiring, selling our house, packing up and moving, settling in, etc) I didn't really get a chance to start riding the Cruzbike Vendetta until September 16th, just 5 weeks ago.

Living in mountainous terrain, now, we can't go 10 feet from our house without going uphill or downhill. And thanks to the fact that I've been riding the Silvio in this terrain for the previous 5 or 6 weeks I did have some `mountain' legs already developed.

I'm providing five links to some significant mountain grade climbing that I've done on the Vendetta since September 16th. Suffice it to say that the Vendetta is a speed and climbing powerhouse:

85 miles, 9,500 feet of climbing: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125123252
54 miles, 5,319 feet of climbing: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115505299
35 miles, 4,664 feet of climbing: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115868830
48 miles, 4,205 feet of climbing. Note that there is one 3 mile section of road where the grade is more than 6% with no break ... and THEN it get's steep: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/121868663
68 miles, 6,402 feet of climbing: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/123317836

Over the next few months I'll be taking the Vendetta `down' to the desert for some flatland Time Trial runs on a 56 mile section of the RAAM / RAW route (Aguila to Salome, AZ and back). I've already done a short 20 mile spin on this course in 111 degree temps and was `slipping' through the air at 23 - 25 mph without even breathing hard.

More to come.

Training Focus: Sebring 2012 on Cruzbike Vendetta

2011-10-22T07:00:00.003-07:00

70 miles, 6,401 Feet of Climbing. Out and back. Significant improvement in handling descents at high speed on mountain grades. Learning a few techniques and just putting in the time and miles. Goals: aerobic range; bike handling; climbing; time; distance. For most of the 70 miles I stayed in big (50) ring up front, though cadence on some climbs was probably as low as 60.

Compact upfront. 11/32 cassette below. Geared for mountain grades.

Sebring will likely have a 52/39 upfront and an 11/28 cassette below. Sebring is flat.

Prescott to Yarnell Out and Back

Heading into winter and exciting riding

2011-10-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

October 19th and I'm feeling like I'm just getting started on my cycling season. Last year at this time I was putting on the weight, dealing with rain, wind, cold, traffic, urban density and congestion. This year I'm working my training plan and tracking significant week to week improvements.

I've never had the opportunity to focus on cycling as much as now.

Today I got in a 20 mile 1,800 feet of climbing training ride `after' I did the finances, met with the plumber and made some phone calls. And I got back in time for a fried chicken lunch with our neighbors in our Common House. Our cohousing neighborhood and community ...

Took a nap, reviewed the training plan and confirmed that I'll be attending some great cycling events here in the SW this winter.

I'm stoked about the 200 K brevet (Heart of Arizona) with the Bullshifters Cycling Club this November 5th;.
I'm focused on training for strong and fast hill climbing in a rational and thoughtful way;
I'm targeting the Sebring Bike races in Florida next February 18th and 19th, the 24 hour non-drafting RAAM Qualifier event.

These are just a few of the great things I can train for and accomplish with `performance' in mind (not just `survival.')

I'm fortunate and lucky.

Ownership and attribution

2011-10-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

I just sent a comment to the spam folder. The author of the comment did not identify him/herself and made claims without attribution of sources. Finally, this person made personal insults (not to me).

One of the reasons I blog and welcome comments is to further dialogue and questions. Unsubstantiated claims and uncivil comments that do nothing to support dialogue will be deleted.

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those with one. Those having an axe to grind or who are working out issues for which they should seek treatment can start up their own blog or pedal their tripe to listserv's that allow it.

If you don't like what is said here don't read it.

The `Sweet Spot'

2011-10-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

After an 8 day forced restriction from anything involving my left knee I returned to cycling about a week ago. I twisted my knee moving 50 lb bags of rock and dirt in some home landscaping. Had nothing to do with the bike.

I kept repeating the advice of more experienced and learned cyclists than me: `resting' is as much a part of training as `riding.' Well ... they are correct.

Before the knee injury I was anxious to prove to myself that I'm more than a match for the local mountainous terrain. We relocated from the midwest flatlands in July and I wanted to shorten the learning curve (and make it steeper and more demanding). Well, I have done that and I feel both confident and ready for bear. At this point I can relax into a thoughtful training program that is sharp and to the point.

The Cruzbike Silvio and Vendetta are the best climbing bikes I've ever ridden. Others are good, too. This is just my experience. Mastering the front wheel drive process, having come from a rear wheel drive history, took some time in the twisty, curvy, steep mountainous grades of my new location. I made many mistakes, most of which simply retarded my comfort level on the bike.

For the past several days I've been training (Silvio and Vendetta) on the same 33 mile rolling course. Skull Valley - Wilhoit - Skull Valley Out and Back No spikey mountain twists, ascents and descents.

It has allowed me to experiment, especially with the Vendetta, in getting the most out of the steeply (23 degrees) reclined seat and the very maneuverable and responsive front wheel drive.

Late in my ride yesterday and all day today I had the experience of finding my `sweet spot' with the Vendetta. I had earlier been unconsciously`fighting' the recline by pushing myself up higher in the seat. It's what I had been used to with the RWD bikes. When I tried, in the earlier part of this year, to experiment with one of my favorite RWD bikes by making significant modifications to the position of the handlebars, the location of the seat, so that I could be more reclined ... I kept knocking my knees against the handlebar. Worse, my view of the road before me became even more restricted because the riser and handlebar stuck up right in front of me. Just couldn't see well.

Being a `masher' on the RWD bikes I was used to shifting up into a higher gear and applying powerful pressure on the pedals for fast acceleration, especially when going downhill or when I wanted to sneak up on a person in front of me and pass them so fast they couldn't grab my wheel and draft behind me.

Sudden, powerful `mashing' on a FWD bike is probably going to push the wheel too far left or right and generate a wobble. Wobbles `BAD.' So I've learned, in these situations, to shift into a high gear, test that I've got solid engagement with the pedals and drive train and gradually apply wattage so that I can achieve the same thing on a FWD as on the RWD. Same result, just different way of doing it.

When employing this technique I can literally ride the white line on the side of the road for dozens and hundreds of yards, all the while accelerating or climbing at a fast clip.

Having mastered the skill of fast acceleration on my Vendetta I began sitting deeper in the recline, further centered over the front wheel. My hips drew closer to the bottom bracket as my pedal stroke caused my knees to rise higher to meet the pedals. (To complement this `sweet spot' I adjusted the Movable Bottom Bracket to bring it closer and a little higher). This has `tapped' what I have come to know as my most powerful stroke and the greatest stamina in using it - my `sweet spot.'. Just as important, I've also found myself feeling much, much, much more centered, balanced and stable on the bike. And because the Silvio and Vendetta don't restrict my legs in a `cockpit' surrounded by handlebars I don't have to deal with an obstructive riser and handlebars.

I feel like a bullet. Really: A BULLET.

I've had a few moments on my RWD bike where this was possible. But it wouldn't last because I couldn't get the seat close enough to the bottom bracket. Worse, I couldn't see the road ahead of me because of the riser and handlebars.

I'm going to stick with the `periodization' training plan I'm developing, focusing on several events in the next four and five months. But at this point I feel like I've hit my `sweet spot.' And patience, persistence, discipline to the training plan and the Silvio and Vendetta will take me certainly to many Personal Bests and probably to several record performances.

Another Roadside Shrine

2011-10-02T16:51:00.001-07:00

Coming north on White Spar Road (89A) from Wilhoit to Prescott, AZ. As one leaves Wilhoit there are signs warning drivers of dangerous mountain curves and grades ahead for the next 14 miles.

Here is a Garmin recording of one of my training rides on White Spar between Wilhoit and Prescott. Wilhoit - Prescott: Road Shrine Row You can zoom in to see for yourself the twists, inclines and descents. For most of the route the road hangs off the side of the mountain with a wall on one side and a steep drop off on the other side.

Seven weeks ago I had just turned around at Wilhoit to return to Prescott on a training ride. Less than a mile up the road I saw several people, motorcycles and a few cars at the lip of the cliff on a 90 degree ascending (4-5%) turn. A motorcyclist had miscalculated his speed and the angle of the turn and rode right off the cliff, falling about 20 yards into a steep ravine filled with brush and cactus. Foolishly his mates pulled him out of the ravine. As I stopped to offer some aid it was apparent that this fellow was nonresponsive and quite likely dead.

A few weeks later I noted a `road shrine' cross and fake flowers planted in a pile of rocks.

Today I was barely out of Prescott and into the mountain grades to Wilhoit when I was passed by 3 or 4 emergency vehicles and an overhead helicopter. About two miles up traffic was stopped. I rode past the stopped traffic to see the helicopter slowly ascending and on the way to some hospital. The police turned me back stating that they would be taking pictures and surveying the site for some time to come.

About an hour later I concluded the road should be clear and resumed my training ride to Wilhoit and back. As I passed the scene of the accident I saw the destroyed motorcycle and metal and plastic on both sides of the road. There were no tire skid marks. But there were several fresh white gouges in the road. And I am assuming that the motorcyclist was going downhill too fast for the curve, oversteered, lost control of the bike and s/he and the motorcycle went end over end until they came to the road barrier or mountain wall. It was a bloody mess, with two squad cars parked nearby.

Returning later to Prescott past this accident scene I saw a tow truck attempting to collect the many pieces of motorcycle.

I myself have gone down twice on this same road at speeds greater than 35 mph. Lots of road rash. Some stitches. About $800 of total damages to the bike.

Those of us surviving our bad judgment have a deep respect for the dangers of the road.

I'll be looking for another road shrine at that location soon. How deeply sad.

Truth ...

2011-09-30T16:27:00.001-07:00

So, I asked my wife what she wanted for her 67th birthday a few weeks ago and she demonstrated, again, why I love her so much: "Well, I sure don't want to spend money!!"

But I gave it a lot of thought and realized that we relocated from Chicago literally one day after our newest grandchild was born. And my wife was silently yearning to get all `gramma' ish with her. So, I collected all the frequent flyer miles and she was off for 10 days with our sons, DILs and grandchildren.

She's in heaven.

I stayed home, working on design plans for the renovation of our home and doing community work. I decided that it was best to let the left knee calm down and rehabilitate by not doing much in the way of cycling or heavy landscaping around the house.

Imagine that! I exercised rational and mature restraint!!! The very idea of me being restrained and mature is a scary thought. But ... maybe it's a side-effect of age.

So today I took the Cruzbike Silvio out on what I thought was going to be a nice sedate 16 mile out and back in the national forest. I had not ridden that section but it is a gorgeous series of `relative' rollers after the heart-stopping spiky mountain grades.

After 4 miles in this `gorgeous' setting ... there I am, pushing up 6 - 11% inclines again. Being the `new Dan' I exercised restraint and geared down and spun up the hills like a proper codger --- I HATED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Returning back the last 8 miles of deep descents I persisted in being rational and restrained and didn't exceed 38 mph --- I HATED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I'll do a few hours on `known' flattish road, easing my way back into a proper training regimen.

HA!! Two Speeds

2011-09-27T02:28:00.001-07:00

Speed # One: All out race!
Speed # Two: Dead stop!

Conclusion? Delusional thinking and denial of the reality of dealing with time and anxiety.

Ha!!!

I just spent the last hour reviewing journal articles on `denial of aging.' I've even got a book on that subject waiting for me at the Prescott Library.

With the wife gone for a week and being relatively immobile while the knee heals up I've spent waaaaay too much time `thinking.' Such a waste! Not my best `muscle,' i.e., from the neck up.

I preached two mantras in my clinical practice as a psychologist: "Action Defines Us" and "Behavior Precedes Awareness." One of my patients even went out and got me a ball cap with those phrases emblazoned on it as a retirement memento.

Take my own advice: Think less. Do more.

A good deal of the reason I am so active with cycling is so that I can wear myself out. (DSM-IV-TR diagnosis: Cyclothymia. Just a tad short of all out mania). Just a different way of dealing with the same anxiety that creates alcoholics, zealots, workaholics and others among us burning up excess psychic kerosene.

The challenge of `retirement' is in being able to integrate life's accumulated wisdom and the strengths it brings, and a relative certainty about the trajectory of the future having an ultimate downward slope (unless of course I'm on a 4% downhill descent into Wilhoit on a 75 degree angle left turn doing 36.4 mph on a posted 25 mph speed limit ... then the slope is a right angle, straight down. I got lucky and am here to tell about it.).

I really did feel pissed that I came in behind 51 other people in the recent Skull Valley Loop Challenge. Angry, in fact. I gave myself no `slack' for probably being among the 3 oldest people racing. Some of it is good fuel for motivation. A lot of it is denial of `inherent' athletic/genetic limits and limits imposed on me as a consequence of age.

Transition. Age and the time to think about it carefully and with acceptance and courage. A denial of it ... thinking that "I'm different and I'll prove it" can prove futile. And `resistance is futile.'

Of course, we all know that the only people without stress in their life ... are dead!

Sermon over.

Chondromalacia and Plantaris Muscle / Tendon

2011-09-25T23:29:00.001-07:00

Left knee. Had nothing to do with cycling.

Definition of chondromalacia patella: (By Mayo Clinic staff)

The cartilage under your kneecap (patella) is a natural shock absorber. Overuse, injury or other factors may lead to a condition known as chondromalacia patella — a general term indicating damage to the cartilage under your kneecap. A more accurate term for chondromalacia patella is patellofemoral pain syndrome.

The plantaris muscle / tendon definition is so tortuously medical-wordy that I won't even try it here. Essentially, it is a tendon behind the knee that is missing in 7-10% of the population and has little purpose or consequence. However, when, for whatever reason, it is inflamed or damaged it causes pain and swelling.

I was schlepping 50 lb bags of dirt and rocks for some landscaping of our house and I pivoted on my left leg, generating these two conditions.

In 1989 I had arthroscopic removal of torn meniscus / cartilage in my left knee. I'd run about 8 marathons at that point and ... that's what happens to some of us. The cartilage gets damaged. Since then I've been totally pain free (ran another marathon 9 days after the surgery). But when I flex that left knee I'd always hear a few clicks and grinds.

Today I rode the bike 34 miles and climbed about 4,000 feet with nothing more than a slight sense of tightness.

When walking it is painful to straighten the left leg because of the plantaris muscle. And the patella problem is resolving with NSAIDS, careful stretching, alternate heat and cold compresses, a knee band that sort of stabilizes the patella. I used one on the Race Across the West and the slight initial pain literally vanished in less than 12 hours, never to return.

Training will probably be on flat stretches for a while, avoiding too much power strokes on inclines. Though, I still climbed faster than all my buddies today, and without pain.

Prudence, however, suggests reduction of climbing intensity. So, for the next few / half dozen training sessions I'll be a flatlander again. Probably a wise change of pace.

Attention `Excess' Disorder

2011-09-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

In graduate school we had to learn how to diagnosis mental disorders. There is a `big book of mental disorders' that all credentialed folks have to use. The unanimous experience of I and my classmates was that each one of us had at least half a dozen diagnosable serious psychiatric disorders!

Decades later... no different. We were right.

These past two months of cycling in `valhalla' (Prescott, AZ) with more time to ride and train than I've ever allowed myself I've violated my notional dictum: `Be a fanatic about living a balanced life!!' In otherwords, I'd frequently overtrain by doing too much, too hard, too fast. Fortunately, I've been able to `listen to my body' and recognize it in a day or two and back off.

This last `go-round' with overtraining left me wiped out, empty and flat all day after my early morning training ride. I liked the training ride. I `hated' feeling flat the rest of the day. And, of course, my `psychiatric disorder' raised it's ugly head and I started blaming myself for stepping into this familiar hole again. Then I started making lists of things I have neglected. Finally, I took two naps instead of just my usual one -- this so that I can pile on the self-loathing for being such a slug and a sloth.

This morning I looked at my Training Plan and realized that I had abandoned any forward looking Plan two weeks ago. Instead I was just using it as a Riding Log.

So now I'm going to do what I am supposed to have been doing all along:

Identify cycling events that I want to train towards;
Anchor my training to these events;
Set short and longer term goals;
Follow the `Periodization Training' method that has served me so well;
Live a frigging `balanced life!'

Training my vestibular system

2011-09-20T11:34:00.003-07:00

The Vendetta is a steeply reclined front wheel drive time trial recumbent bike with a head rest. I'm not used to allowing myself to be so steeply reclined and have been feeling nervous when doing so. Like so many things when you start out there is period of awkwardness that time and training can reduce or eliminate.

Today I did a 35 mile 4,664 feet of climbing twisty inclines and declines mountain grade training ride. I'm feeling much more confident and in control with the front wheel drive system. So, on the 17 mile `out' end of the training I simply allowed myself to practice and train my skill level in this area.

9/20/11 - Vestibular system training

On the way back I decided to carefully work on the fully reclined position with my head fully supported by the head rest.

The first observation was a sense of disequilibrium. That is, I felt as if my center of gravity was `off,' and it affected the certainty of my steering. The second observation was that a slightly different group of leg and back muscles were recruited for creating power in the pedals.

As time passed and I gained extended experience on the inclines and descents ... at relatively slow speeds ... I began to feel less unstable and more comfortable. By the end of the 14 mile return I literally didn't notice that I was making full use of the head rest.

Cruzbike Front Wheel Drive Training Focus

2011-09-16T21:11:00.006-07:00

Coming from the flatlands of the American prairie it was pretty much an uninvestigated assumption that going fast under any and all conditions was the mark of a powerful athlete. The faster you can go, with or without a tailwind, the stronger and more skilled rider you are.

But now that I've relocated to the American southwest -- with low basin deserts and high mountain ranges -- at the cost of a great deal of road rash, some stitches and an embarrassingly expensive destruction of bike parts, I've got a firm working knowledge that going `fast' is sometimes the mark of an unwise cyclist.

At this point in my training in the Arizona mountains on the recumbent I'm aware that my real goal -- vain, egotistical attention seeking of approval -- is to be able to be a commanding recumbent cyclist in both the basin and the range. That is, to express physical athleticism, endurance, skill and knowledge on the recumbent in both the baking desert and the ceaseless climbs in the mountains.

I'm drawn to this goal because of my natural physical limits (I'm not a sprinter and I'm not the fastest cyclist) and my capacity for disciplined pursuit of achievements others avoid.

The rear wheel drive high racer recumbent `stick' bike is a great platform for both the basin and the range. Current and popular repute gives carbon fiber recumbents (Bacchetta and Carbent, to name a few) the front row as flexible and worthy platforms.

I think the `popular' repute of the current crop of well-known performance RWD stick bikes is limited and does not credit the Cruzbike Vendetta (and the Cruzbike Silvio, though this platform has a weight disadvantage) with the design features that can best the Bacchetta and Carbent stable.

Bacchetta and Carbent sell a lot of bikes. Good bikes. I've got a Bacchetta. And it is clearly understandable that those owning them put them to a lot of good use. And the mere ubiquity of these recumbents for both casual and competitive cycling is persuasive to the cycling community. In fact, I'd venture to say that many owners of these bikes are literally `tribal' in their attachment to these bikes. (Part of human nature wants to `belong' to a larger identity).

The Cruzbike Silvio has many solid accomplishments to support the conclusion that it is a `contender.' But many cyclists resist becoming skilled at riding a front wheel drive bike. It's `different' and the average RWD recumbent rider mistakenly (I think) concludes that `if it ain't broke don't fix it.'

The absence of evidence is not evidence of its absence.

The fact that the Cruzbike Vendetta has only been sold in a limited (50?) quantity since late April of 2011 means that it hasn't been tested enough to accumulate evidence.

Over the next year I'll be training and competing almost exclusively on the Cruzbike Silvio and the Cruzbike Vendetta. I'm intending to generate evidence as to the worth of the Vendetta as a solid all around versatile performance recumbent -- both on the flats and in the mountains.

Just as it takes time to develop a skill at anything I will need time training in the mountains on these front wheel drive platforms.

So, I consider it a worthy challenge to be a strong mountain recumbent cyclist riding the best performing recumbent bicycle. The feature that causes others to resist building skill on front wheel drive recumbents is the very feature that `drives' me in my training. It's hard. It's scary. And the learning curve may include many painful, embarrassing and punishing `failures.'

But, hey! I know the Cruzbike Vendetta is better than the other recumbents because I've both ridden and competed on them.

And I'll prove it.

Skull Valley Loop Challenge - Prescott, Arizona

2011-09-14T23:46:00.001-07:00

Skull Valley Loop Challenge Garmin Data

The heart rate data are completely wrong. There were power lines that screwed with the HR. And halfway through the race the `grade' function on the Garmin stopped working.

The last time I did this route was June 17, 2010 -- (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37612893). Climbing gain was 4,079 feet. Still, this beats previous Personal Best by 49 minutes. I was the only recumbent in the event and finished 52st among `around' 150.

I liked it. It was fun. I used some muscles that connected to my coccyx that I didn't even know were there. Coccyx muscles?!!

Big Bad Bagdad!!

2011-09-04T11:40:00.003-07:00

Training in the Arizona deserts and mountains is humbling. In the midwest there was a farm or a town within spitting distance of most anyplace I was training. If my unconscious carcass was off to the side of the road I'd probably be noticed within an hour or two by some passerby.

Here, though, the natural threats are dramatically more profound, if not actually lethal.

First, there are the descents and twisty turns. I was baptized in this danger a few weeks ago by foolishly speeding down a twisty mountain grade at 35.1 mph (posted vehicle speed limit: 20 mph) when I let the bike get out of my control (spooked myself by a crease in the road) and destabilized myself, going down HARD, damaging some bike components and getting lots of bloody and painful road rash. I'm lucky I didn't kill myself.

The other danger has to do with the dramatic climatic and terrain conditions. A few weeks ago I left Prescott in the AM when it was 66 degrees. I rode 44 miles south and descended about 3,000 feet, arriving in Congress, where the temperature was 104.

The solar radiation of the sun at this altitude is dangerously intense, certainly burning the skin and risking pain, injury if not cancer (melanoma).

What humidity?! Sitting on my front porch, in the shade, for an hour results in passive dehydration. Training uphill, into the sun, with no wind for fifteen minutes means that I have to drink a quart of liquid with electrolytes. Training on a relatively flat surface of slight descent can `trick' me into forgetting to hydrate. Both conditions can cause loss of consciousness or severe disorientation, making cycling even more dangerous.

Twenty miles between dirt roads leading to ranches three or four miles off the paved roads constitutes a relatively densely populated area :) So-called `towns' amount to one store and a few dozen mobile homes off on the side of a hill. Today I had to plan for a source of water (post office has an faucet out behind, near the dumpster) in the likely event that the one store in town was closed.

Things `eat' you out here. Not little `bites,' like with a bug or mosquito.

No. They friggin' EAT you. Javelinas, mountain lions, coyotes, critters of all sorts that might consider my conscious / unconscious carcass found bounty. And don't sit down on the side of the road. Snakes. Spiders. Scorpions.

Tires. The road surfaces just eat up road tires. I've already had one tire literally split apart at the middle of the tread due to the heat of the road and the roughness of the pavement.

These were just some of the things in the back of my mind over the past week as my training distances and challenges increase.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bagdad is a copper mining town 68 miles from my front door. A two lane state road `terminates' in Bagdad. There are three little one-horse towns between my house and Bagdad. The road to Bagdad is paved and passable but it follows some very significant changes in geology, climate and terrain. From table top mesas to `bottom of the earth' canyons. Not a 10th of a mile of straight road to nor from Bagdad. Descents and ascents and descents again, ranging 3,000 feet at a lick and 30 to 45 degrees in temperature difference.

I'll be in a brevet to and from Bagdad in a short time.

So, this morning I was working on the Silvio and adding long-distance `worst case' gear and equipment so that I could `probably' survive a trip to Bagdad.

Big, good week.

2011-09-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here it is Friday, September 2nd, and I know that I've got at least four good months of training ahead of me. No more of this `dash' to squeeze in as many events as possible before the ice and snow get here.

This week is Week # 6 of the evolving Training Plan. I've still got two days before I close out this week and already I've ridden more miles, hours and climbed more feet than any of the previous weeks. And I'm not tired!

Because of the distances and climbing I've done so far this week I've trained every other day. Again, trying to be careful about overtraining.

Monday I had planned to do hills and mountains but wound up going north toward Ash Fork to get in some flat miles. Mistake. Intense traffic. All kinds of crap on the road. Got a flat tire. Four and half hours, 3,451 feet of climbing, 60 miles. Nice to get in the miles but I felt like I was riding on a crazy highway ... which I was.

Wednesday I rode from Prescott to Congress and back. Ten hours, 9,504 feet of climbing and 9 hours of riding, with one hour off the bike for food and hydration.

Today, Friday: Good workout. 5,170 feet of climbing over 45 miles. I feel like I'm cheating when flying on the descents but later, on the climbs, I'm paying cold hard cash. Stayed in 39 front ring and 23 rear ring on all climbing (except the two 11% and 14% `pops' at the very end of the training ride). Cadence was typically in the 40's. Climbing HR usually in the teens(except for those last two `pops'). Training goal was to develop capacity for long (4.5 hours) solid grinds, i.e., endurance. Good week of training and rest.

Here's a link to the rides. Page back to see the rest. 3 Training Rides this week

Four Week Block Data

2011-08-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

Elevation Correction is a Garmin setting that I had inadvertently disabled when I was training in the flatlands. I recently discovered this function and applied it to the training over the past four weeks and came up with a significantly different number. I'm correcting the climbing figures below. ("Garmin Connect selectively applies corrections to depict a more realistic representation of your elevation experience.")

WEEK 1:
Hrs trained: 7.33 hours
Miles: 79.26
Feet of climbing: 8,510

WEEK 2:
Hrs trained: 11.6 hours
Miles: 133.3
Feet of climbing: 13,525

WEEK 3:
Hrs trained: 16 hours
Miles: 162.5
Feet of climbing: 17,379

WEEK 4:
Hrs trained: 13 hours
Miles: 158
Feet of climbing: 14,760

Very unlike previous training in the midwest my 4-week block miles are down (533) and my climbing is up (54,174). That averages to 101.6 feet of climbing per mile, or an `average' 1.92% incline. Grade Percent Incline And Downgrade Calculator

Ugly butt ....

2011-08-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, but I've been thinking of that post `title' almost all morning as I climbed from Skull Valley to the top of Iron Springs road. It was `ugly' but ... I did it.

Every time I do that section I say to myself ... "but it shouldn't be so difficult. I've done it before and I MUST be in better shape by now." NOT!

Skull Valley Loop Clockwise

Temptation .....

2011-08-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

Got a late start (12:15pm) at the hottest time of the day (92 - 93). Up, over and back over the mountain again. Rushed back home to finish a project before I had to attend a meeting, eat a late dinner and ... crash!

Training is coming along really well. But I constantly have to reel myself in from doing too much and risk overtraining. A real temptation when you find yourself making significant improvements ... makes me want to push it even harder. BIG mistake ... that, so far, I've avoided making.

Up, over and back over the mountain ....

Skull Valley Loop Challenge - Prescott, AZ - September 11

2011-08-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Skull Valley Loop Challenge

The Skull Valley Challenge is a 55 mile loop with over 4500 feet of climbing. More than half of the loop takes place on some of the most difficult climbs on the RAAM / RAW route (Kirkland Junction - Skull Valley - Prescott).

This is my Garmin data for the Skull Valley Loop in June of 2010: Skull Valley Loop - June 2010

Many a RAAM / RAW racer report that it was the most unforgiving section of the race.

I'll see you there!

On track. On the edge.

2011-08-14T18:10:00.001-07:00

These past 3 weeks of summary data:

WEEK 1:
Hrs trained: 7.33 hours
Miles: 79.26
Feet of climbing: 6,954

WEEK 2:
Hrs trained: 11.6 hours
Miles: 133.3
Feet of climbing: 10,826

WEEK 3:
Hrs trained: 16 hours
Miles: 162.5
Feet of climbing: 14,028

At the end of the first week I felt very fatigued and sort of shocked at how difficult it was to train. I expected the fatigue and was alert to not overtrain.

At the end of the second week I felt fatigued, too. Lots of naps. But it was dawning on me that my gearing was not right. Too many high gears, too few low gears.

Now, at the end of the third week I am pretty much on top of the fatigue and realize that this next week needs to be a week of relative rest. Fewer hours of training.

Yesterday I switched out some gears (from 11-25 to11-34 cassette) on the rear wheel of one of my bikes and rode a triple crank (60-39-30). My training ride today was significantly improved because of it. Lots of climbing, mostly in the 4% - 7% range with some 11% - 14% climbs.

Previously on the longer 7% climbs my speed would be paced in the 5 mph to 6.5mph range. Now, with the improved gearing I'm steady in the 7 - 7.5 + mph range for long periods. Tangible proof of improved fitness and better gearing.

Pacing was good. Within my capacity. Fatigue was not as overwhelming as it was the previous two weeks.

My `ego' is an enemy of my (remaining) `brain'

2011-08-13T12:57:00.001-07:00

This morning one other hardy soul showed up for the trip from Prescott to Skull Valley and back. There is a one mile climb with 4% - 8% grades and then a blazing 7 mile series of descents in the same range. Coming back up those 7 miles would have been murder.

I chose the Cruzbike Sofrider with the 8 speed setup; 44 tooth cog upfront with the 11-32 in back. By the time both of us got to the top of the hill that starts the 7 mile descent I was fried and informed my riding mate that I wasn't going to do the downhill. The 44x32 combination with a bike/gear weight of 40 lbs and my own 195 lbs ... too much to consider a 7 mile return climb. My riding mate was sympathetic and so we turned around and rode some local routes with less challenge.
I should have chosen the 16 gear Cruzbike Sofrider option:

16 SPEED OPTION
2 x 8 speed; 34 / 48 teeth on the front, and 11 to 32 teeth on the rear sprocket cluster (11,13,15,18,21,24,28,32) driven by 160 mm cranks. Gear-inch range: 26 to 107. Gain ratio: 2.1 to 8.5.

I'm learning that no matter how big the rings up front I spin out around 32-34 mph downhill. From that point on it's all road handling skill and gravity.

And, as a flatlander, I'm used to a relatively low cadence (85 - 95) and big rings (60/39/30) upfront. Here?! It's all about getting to the top of the climb without killing yourself. That means my cadence should be in the 95 - 110 range; lower wattage, more strokes.

As I haven't installed the SRAM 110 BCD crank or the 52/36 Q-ring setup on the Cruzbike Silvio yet I contacted the folks at Q-Rings and asked if I could return the 52/36 rings and have them ship me a standard compact setup, i.e., 50/34. Keep the 11-32 10 spd cassette.

Mountain riding is a `whole 'nother way of thinking.'

And if I let my ego deflate me ("you failed this morning, Dan") it would just slow down the learning process ... which I'm not going to let happen.

Two Speeds: Race and Stop

2011-08-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

The plan was to ride the 34 miles and 3,700 feet of climbing to and from Wilhoit. But I sensed even before I started that I was on the edge of the dreaded `over-training' factor. So, ten miles into the ride I turned around and came home. Two minutes after I got in the door an enormous monsoon storm roared and exploded overhead for about 45 minutes. Instantly the temp dropped 20 degrees. The experience of these past four weeks has been intensely physical, tangible, sensual. Among the many changes I expected on retirement the one that is most poignant is that from semi-sedentary daily life to full-on physical intensity interrupted by complete and total sleep. The metaphor I have used to describe my life has been that I have two speeds: race and stop. Strange to enter the domain of the elderly and find that it is no longer a metaphor. It is reality.

20 miles = up and down

Classic: Skull Valley Loop

2011-08-10T22:28:00.002-07:00

It wasn't pretty ... but it WAS: 4,519 feet of climbing in 56.29 miles.

Skull Valley Loop - 08-10-2011

I was fit for about 40 of those miles. The rest were done with a pact with Satanl that if I finished I'd name all my future children after him. HA! Future children?!!

(Re)Balance

2011-08-07T21:59:00.001-07:00

Almost a year ago I entitled a post `Balance.' Had to do with balancing job, family, training, private time, time to do nothing. I didn't and still don't know anybody who can do it all well.

Now that I'm retired I have a new set of factors that don't include `job' and a few other things. The transition, for a type A kind of guy, needs to be considered well in advance or you'll experience the `Wiley Coyote Syndrome,' i.e., the absence of demanding schedules and professional adulation will make you feel like you ran off a cliff and the bottom dropped out from under you.

Action Defines Us. And it requires structure, initiative and determination to re-manufacture relevant meaning in one's life.

I'm experiencing two important discoveries. First, spending more time training on the bike takes a toll on my post-training energy. At this point in my training the naps become more frequent and my sleep is deeper and more satisfying. Second, I'm tempted to put non-training things off until later. Part of that has to do with the post-training fatigue. A fair amount, though, has to do with a sense of anxiety about `change.' I don't entirely understand, yet, what that anxiety is about but it's getting clearer and clearer --- that's what maturity helps with: one works on a thoughtful `response' instead of just `reacting.'

More later about this topic but it is as relevant to my training as everything I've done in the past. Training has to be what you WANT to do, not something that is an addictive distraction from floating anxiety.

Can't learn if you don't try ...

2011-08-06T15:07:00.001-07:00

Everything carries some risk.

Those of us who think they avoid risk are, in fact, risking the possibility of a good outcome to an anxiety producing stimulus. Those of us who withdraw from recognizing this, those of us who make our world smaller and smaller by trying to eliminate anxiety live truncated and sad lives.

So, our task is to attempt to improve our judgment as to what constitutes a calculated risk for an outcome that is worthy. How do we improve our judgment? By taking risks, becoming experienced, getting some knocks along the way that motivate us to exercise better judgment the next time.

Today I did what is becoming my usual training run. A 35 mile up and over out and back course with lots of hills, turns, burning sun and threatening wind and thunderstorms. An excellent training course.

Navigating a 2 mile descent to the turnaround point there are many twists and turns in the road. Today I encountered a `crease' in the road surface at one of the turns while doing 35.1 mph (according to the Garmin) and feathering the brakes. My wheel drifted in and out of the crease in the road and I went down, sliding about 15 yards to the sandy shoulder of the road. I got three nice, red skin burns (aka `road rash') destroying my shorts and an arm `cooler' in the process. Mountain training course - Crease in Road

What did I learn?

To be alert to that curve and crease.
That I made a good decision in buying cheap riding shorts at Walmart.
That when something like that happens it is best to take an inventory of your body first, the bike next.
To do whatever road repairs necessary to safely finish the training course.
To finish.
To finish!

A fellow in the group with which I was riding was coming back up the mountain and was good enough to stop and offer assistance. I asked him if, when he got within cell phone service, he could call my wife to get her to come get me. He made sure I had food and water and took off. I got the bike back on the road, rode to the turnaround point and started back up the mountain. When he got to the start point (Safeway) he drove back, halfway to Wilhoit, in his car to assure I was o.k.. He offered to drive me back.

What a great fellow! Again, he assured I had food and water and even offered to give me `a push' as we were on a 6-7% incline. I thanked him profusely but declined the offers. As for the push I told him that my `ego' wouldn't allow me to accept it. We shook hands and I assured him I would `pay it forward.' I took off and as he drove past me he honked and I waved.

Perhaps more importantly, today, I learned that I need to begin to modify my training program to include short uphill intervals. I was passed by a handful of DF cyclists while climbing the 4 mile elevation to a `rocky top.' Though I am improving my endurance I need now to carefully but deliberately begin intervals.

I'll review my plan to include this 4 mile 3% - 8% series of steady inclines so as to ... go faster.

A good day!!

Dearth! Calamity.

2011-08-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

Not as in `Darth Vader.' Dearth means there is a relative scarcity of something.

There is a `dearth' of recumbent cyclists where I live. Almost, in fact, an utter absence of bent cyclists.

I can understand why, of course. Today, on what is becoming my frequent training run, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104259159 I did 34.75 miles and climbed 3,277 feet at an altitude of 6000 feet. Most of the course was between 4% and 8% grades (out and back so I got what I gave) in just over 3 hours.

When I think of doing 34 miles in just over 3 hours when living in Illinois I'd have probably just sold my bike and taken up recreational drinking til the end. But today there were as many 5 mph uphill grinds as there were screaming 36 mph descents.

--------------------------

During my training today I encountered packs of recreational motorcycles, two and three at a time. They looked like they were loaded up for long distance riding and it appeared to be a motorcycle club probably out of Phoenix going north.

As I returned from the `out' limit of today's course I was going up the Bradshaw Mountain two lane road with numerous switchbacks and sheer drop-offs to the right. About 3 miles into the return I noticed a fellow standing at the bend of a switchback, stationary. Who is that? Why is he just standing there?

As I neared the sharp bend to the left in the road I then noticed about 12 motorcycles, two SUVs and lots of fellows clustered near the edge of the cliff. I was wondering: "What?! Are they taking pictures of the valley below?" Until I got closer and realized that there were two feet sticking up from a stretched out body.

I pulled over and was prepared to help if possible. No need. At least, as I write this there seemed to be no need.

One of the motorcyclists was either taking the ascending switchback too fast or he was not paying attention. In any event he just drove right off the road - no skid marks --, off a cliff and into a ravine about 100 - 200 feet below. His mates saw this and came to his aid ... at least, this was certainly their intention.

His motorcycle was deep down in the ravine among the rocks and brush. He was apparently brought out of the ravine and laid out on a flat section of road. The fellow attending to him was asking him to tell him the day, what date it is. He was laying there motionless, his eyes open, unblinking and dilated. No response. Motionless.

The fellow I saw at the corner of the switchback was calling for help on what must have been a satellite phone (because there is no cell service in this remote location).

I hope that my conclusions about what I saw are incorrect, that he was just dazed and unhurt. But further up ( 30 minutes!) in my ascent into the mountain road came four emergency vehicles including an ambulance.

Pay attention, mates.

45 miles, 3800 ft, 4 hours

2011-08-02T19:10:00.001-07:00

Going south from Prescott the rider has two choices. One option is to take 89A; the other is to take Iron Springs Road.

89A to Wilhoit has more ups and downs and turns. The rider does have to deal with 6-8% grades but rarely for more than half a mile before there is a `false flat' offering a short respite.

Iron Springs to Skull Valley and back is a course that is dramatically different. Briefly out of town one hits the top of a hill (6,014 ft elevation). From there it is 12 miles of almost full-time decline to Skull Valley. And the rider has to `pay for it' on the return.

The route south to Skull Valley took about 1:25:00. The return took almost twice as long (2:30:00). No false flats. Common inclines of 4-8%, reaching 9-11% briefly. When I am riding a 2% incline I have the sensation that it is `flat' and that I can stop pedaling now.

The reward for getting back to the top of Iron Springs road from SV is an almost 1.5 mile series of declines to the more populated Prescott area ranging from 4-9%.

Today, on the descent I reached 48.2 mph into a headwind.

Heart and lungs doing well. So are the legs.

Here is the Garmin data from today's training ride.

Skull Valley via Iron Spring Road

Training is on track

2011-07-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

Plan was to ride from my house to Wilhoit and back: 35 miles. Nothing special, just over the mountains and back. Got to Wilhoit and was tempted by the 7 mile downhill to Kirkland Junction on new pavement.

Current gearing is o.k. for the 4 - 9% grades along this route. But got totally squeezed almost empty with the 11 - 17% grades I ran into. Thats why the gearing changes needed.

P'cott to KJ an back

Note my observation about Garmin.

I'm changing my gear setup for the hills and mountains

2011-07-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

As a caveat, I am not a mountain bike owner or rider. No off-road dirt trails (yet) for me. So the gearing description that follows relates to recumbent road bike riding and racing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm changing my gearing setup to accommodate the hill training.

Currently I'm running a SRAM Force 53-39 130-BCD Q-Ring setup up front with an 11-28 ten speed cassette in the back.

I'll be switching to a SRAM Force compact crank 52-36 110-BCD Q-Ring upfront and not changing the rear cassette.

Essentially, I'm giving up one tooth (from 53 to 52) on the big ring to gain three (from 39 to 36) on the small ring. The smaller the `small' ring the more likely I'll be able to climb hills with inclines in the teen percentages (i.e., 13% - 18% incline) when needed (for example, switchbacks on mountain roads, i.e., Mingus Mountain and from Sedona to Flagstaff, etc).

As well, the smaller `small' ring may be helpful when grinding up mile after mile of 7% - 11% inclines. (Yarnell Grade, Iron Springs road to Prescott from Skull Valley).

I could opt for a long-cage RD that would permit an 11-34 cassette but ... I just don't want that pizza pan size ring back there.

A comment about (what I consider to be) the relatively small big ring.

In the past, when my training and racing terrain was mostly flat with a few short 6% inclines every now and then, I would want to keep my pedaling RPM lower (85 - 95) when I had a tailwind. This RPM range suits my weight to power ratio.

My front big chain ring had 60 teeth. This allowed me to frequently exceed 30 mph for extended periods of time. (On one race [Race Across the West - 2010] I found myself averaging 40+ mph on a flat and glass smooth road with an 18 mph tailwind. This went on for more than 15 miles).

Now that my training and racing terrain is mostly hills and mountains ... I don't need a 60 tooth big chain ring. When descending even 3% declines my speed approaches 40 mph with the smaller front big chain ring. Short of the TdF these descending speeds keep me well in the competitive range.

If and when I'm racing ultra distances and have a follow vehicle and a crew it might be smart to have two bikes to accommodate both flat terrain and mountainous terrain. One bike would be geared for the flats (big front chain ring). The other bike would be geared for long and steep inclines.

Spit!

2011-07-28T11:28:00.001-07:00

There's a little spit of a hill as I turn east off a 6% incline road on the way home from a training route. It's only about 20 yards long but it's a 13%er. I've done it before but not this year, on the Cruzbike Silvio, yet.

Back Door Route with 'L'il Spit'

Had a fairly good 1:15:00 training ride this morning and was feeling pretty `open' to trying this `spit.'

As I turned into the hill I downshifted to what I thought was my lowest gear and just muscled up the hill. Fortunately there were flats and declines for quite a distance before I got to another long (60 yards?) and straight 11% climb. When I got to the top of the `spit' I looked at the chain ring I used to get up that hill and, to my pleasant surprise, I wasn't in the lowest (28) ring.

That was neat.

Short, steep and fast ...

2011-07-28T03:19:00.001-07:00

Twenty miles. Eighteen hundred feet of climbing. 48.6 miles per hour.

On my "unrideable" Cruzbike Silvio front wheel drive recumbent.

Definition of Fun Training

Perspective thoughts ...

2011-07-23T16:31:00.001-07:00

As I peck out these words I'm sitting in our home, looking out over a few dipping valleys and buttes toward the horizon filled with taller mountains. Sunsets are crimson along the rim of the full horizon. The temperature is around 81, humidity 30%. Rolling thunder in the distance though there is just a mild overcast. The `monsoon' months of July and August. Cools off and the humidity drops in September. Sweater season starts December for a few months. Some snow at times amounting to several inches but it all melts away in days. A few really cold nights (7 degrees) just to remind us that we're 5,625 feet high.

There could not be a more dramatic difference from Chicago just less than 10 days ago. Our Chicago friends report temps in the 98 degrees and humidity to match. "It's hard to even breathe here." Chicago reported the most rainfall in any 24 hour period in recorded history yesterday: as much as 7 inches in some places.

Here, `home' in Prescott, we're finding that the altitude adjustment is subtle but progressing nicely. Afternoon naps a must.

Taking off from our front door yesterday I rode just under 13 miles in 1:14:00. This works out to an average incline of 2%. But it doesn't reflect the fact that much of the route was comprised of 4 - 8% inclines, reaching into the double digit inclines on several occasions. On the way back I reached 41.3 mph on a slowly twisting downhill stretch. Friday Training Ride

THEN:

My `job' required me to be sitting 11 hours per day.
I sat another 2 hours commuting no less than 75 miles each day to and from my practice. Fuel for my pickup was rarely less than $450 each month.
And when I needed to train for long hours I'd have to pack the bike into the pickup and drive 105 miles, round trip, to the flat and rural farmland roads.
I rarely saw the front of our house because the garage was in the back and I had to drive everywhere.
Shopping and going to stores required navigating heavy traffic almost all times of the day.
Sitting in our back yard we couldn't hear one another speak because of the airline jets flying in and out of O'Hare Airport, the freight train and commuter train lines (2!) half block away, and two major interstate highways half a block away.

NOW:

I don't commute at all.
We can't move 10 yards from our home without going uphill or downhill.
Everything is within 4 miles of our house (downhill).
I ride from my front door to train on both hills and flats.
Our second story porch faces the west and we sometimes whisper so as not to disturb the humming birds nearby.
Cars and vehicles are quarantined/restricted to a nearby parking area, leaving the meandering road in front of our home free for people to walk, sit in the small park in front of our house, sometimes stop and chat with one another.
My first night here I woke up because it was too quiet.
We saw a handful of shooting stars last night.
My body is adjusting to the reality of not sitting for half the day; I'm sometimes tired, even sore. But less and less each day.
On days when I'm not training on the bike I'm doing errands and getting our house together, climbing hills, carrying things, walking to and from the city center, Farmer's Market, etc....

Though this is a more substantial physical experience than I had anticipated ... it makes all the sense in the world. I have my body back all day, every day. And there is no time, mileage, urban barrier to keep me from doing what is needed or wanted.

Modified my Training Plan - Next 5 weeks

2011-07-22T08:44:00.002-07:00

Like everything I've done in my life I've set goals that are about 50% too big. I did that a few weeks ago with my AZ training program. Yesterday's experience (felt wiped out) helps me `inform' my thinking so that I don't overtrain (and miss out on the rest of life).

Because the terrain around Prescott is hilly to mountainous it requires some `grinding' up 6% - 9% hills for at least half of every training workout. Far less `gliding along' even though there are lots of downhills. (Interesting, the downhills really demand riding skill improvements ... essentially making them almost as difficult as the uphills).

So, I'm focusing less on Miles trained and more on Time and Intensity.

Next week I've got 11 hours scheduled, the next 12.5 hours, next 14.5, next 18 (which may be too demanding).

The temptation to take advantage of the wonderful training opportunities here requires real discipline.

There is that `balance' thing in life. Not to mention the fact that `overtraining' plays more havoc than `undertraining.'

And, though I hate to say it, being 65 yrs old may have some impact on my physical ability to recover one day to the next.

Attacked by tumbleweeds ...

2011-07-21T14:58:00.001-07:00

After a few hours of shakedown and dialing in the gearing I managed to get out for 25 miles of gently rolling hills (max 3%), out and back today. First time on the bike in probably 3 weeks. Rode the high plateau road from Chino Valley to just past Paulden and into the northerly section of the Prescott National Forest. Great road, good shoulder. Still when out in the AZ high desert and heat I use tire liners between the tire and the tube to add that extra margin against flats.

I certainly need to get back into regular training because I was feeling a little tired at the end of the ride. Fortunately, it is very likely that this will be the most consistent and potentially challenging training I've ever been able to do in my life.

A pretty stiff westerly wind whipped up something I've never encountered before: an `attack' of tumbleweeds being blown across the road. Started looking for Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey ...

Training Program Starting ... `Pudding' Level

2011-07-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

On a scale of 0 - 10 I would rank my current level of fitness at about "point 5," that is, .5, that is ... less than one (1).

We're mostly moved in and have the essentials arranged and operating now that we've moved from the flatland (Chicago) to the mountains (Prescott). Add to that the 5,000 difference in elevation of Prescott there is that to consider, too.

While I still have a half a page of `to do's to accomplish today I'm going to begin riding the Silvio Cruzbike. Only 2 hours to start. Taking some relatively sedate back roads with less than 1500 feet of climbing.

The `formal' training program starts Monday, August 1st. But I feel that I'm in such `primitive' fitness that I need to get something going now or I'll be a puddle of tapioca by the 1st.

Arrived

2011-07-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

House in Chicago is now history to us. Arrived in our new home in Prescott yesterday in time to take a quick nap, enjoy a glass of wine with our neighbors and watch a brilliant, explosive sunset over the mountains.

Funny ....

2011-06-30T20:08:00.001-07:00

When reviewing the dozens and dozens of posts I've written in this blog over the past 18 months this is the one that has gotten the most hits:

Use of External Catheter for Racing (or just convenience)...

Arizona Mountains Training Plan: August to December 2011

2011-06-27T10:11:00.001-07:00

My training plan for the next several months is shaping up. To accomplish the ultracycling speed and distance goals that I have will take between 12 - 18 months of focused and disciplined training. This is the first installment of the kind of training I expect to accomplish in the Arizona mountains.

The rural desert mountains and warmer southwestern climate provides me with at least ten months of the year of challenging terrain and `doable' outdoor weather. (Unlike the central midwest where big cities, snow, ice and blizzards for 5 months of the year destroy any possibility of consistency and growth of strength and endurance).

The Garmin links below provide examples of the mountainous terrain:

Prescott to Flagstaff - mountainous terrain to the north

Prescott to Congress - mountains to desert to the south

Skull Valley Loop - local mountain terrain

And below you will note the `work in progress' training plan I have to start with.

Training Plan and Schedule - Aug to Dec 2011

The current (short term) training plan is rooted in a near term event goal, i.e., el Tour de Tucson on November 19, 2011. You will notice that I've sketched out only 4 weeks of the four month training plan. I think it is prudent to apply the Periodization Method to training. And I am certain that the specific day-to-day training tasks will be varied but in keeping with the Periodization strategy.

Here are a few of the local training courses I have developed and plan to do as my fitness and endurance improve:

Local mountain and desert long distance encurance training courses

"Unrideable."

2011-06-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

That is what the owner of a west coast recumbent shop said about the Cruzbikes.

Why does that flippant remark always come to mind when I'm flying along on my Silvio?

Today I rode through some NW suburbs of Chicago (Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Mt. Prospect) and encountered police blockading residential streets, the sound of chainsaws, entire trees pitched over at their root level. Bad and windy weather last night knocked down limbs, branches, trees. Power was out for prolonged periods for 270,000 houses.

And there I was on my `unrideable' Cruzbike dodging stumps, logs, emergency vehicles, slippery roads. While I rode there was a continuous downpour of rain requiring me to take my glasses off.

I must be a mutant. "Unrideable."

Maybe unrideable for him! But I wouldn't remotely consider anything but the C'bikes when flexibility and quick handling is needed.

Climbing with your whole body

2011-06-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'm slooowly getting some semblance of conditioning back now that I have more time to train and ride.

Out in the rural Illinois prairie over the weekend on my Silvio. Capacity, consistency and training results in improved performance.

My primary reason for going with Cruzbike's FWD platform is so that I can gain access to the top half of my body when riding the recumbent.

On the RWD recumbents climbing would frustrate the heck out of me. I couldn't use my upper body and I'd watch the DF / standard upright cyclists pass me like I was a road sign.   RWD recumbents make me feel `stuck.'

DF / standard upright cyclists could rock their bike back and forth, pull on the handlebars, stand on the pedals as they rotated their position on the bike to match the challenge of the hill. When they became exhausted they'd just sit back in the saddle and slowly crank until their energy returned. And then back at it they would go.

The route I followed yesterday had several 4 - 7% grade climbs that amounted to about a 1/4 mile of climbing at a time.   So I decided to `use' my upper body to hammer up these hills.

Never on a RWD recumbent have I been able to climb a 4+ % grade at 18.6 mph for hundreds of yards at a time.

What a refreshing change from making my legs and hips `carry' all the load.

I found myself pulling the handlebars, leaning out of the recline position, and putting my whole body to work in powering up the hills. All the parts of my body that have been neglected in RWD recumbents now came in to play. Shouldering into the pedals was / is a new recumbent experience for me ... and I love it!

I have a lot of work to do in building grip, arm, shoulder and core muscle sets so that I can more readily achieve the uphill speeds I managed yesterday.   Nice to have a cycling platform (Cruzbike FWD) that has the potential of returning my effort with performance.   Can't wait to get the Vendetta on those Arizona hills and mountains.

Here's a link to my Garmin data: 70 Miles in Rural Illinois

Dan

Cruzbike Vendetta - First production run already sold out!!

2011-06-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

That's astonishing. This Front Wheel Drive Movable Bottom Bracket Time Trial Recumbent bike is light years ahead of the rest. And apparently the seriously cycling-minded literati have clicked to this and the entire first production run is already completely sold out!

Cruzbike link

Listening to those whom I call `theoretical cyclists' over the past eight or nine months say things like "it's unrideable," etc ... just reminds me that talk is cheap.

Going to be some healthy results posted in the near term methinks.

Climbing the ladder ... i.e., the `Cruzbike' front wheel drive ladder

2011-06-17T16:46:00.001-07:00

O.K. So now it's mid-June and several (but not all) obstacles to training have been eliminated.

First, it's not winter or frigid. Second, the `job' is out of the way and I don't have a meteor crater in the middle of my week to deal with. Third, though I don't have the `open roads' right out my door that would permit long and `clean' training rides I can still get in 35 - 55 miles per day of `city' (stop, start, stop, start ...) bike time.

I won't really be able to maintain fidelity to a training `plan' until around the first of August. Between now and then we have to pick up and move from Chicago to Prescott, settle in for a few weeks. Immediately after we're settled in we'll get `tight' with the property renovation plans and schedule for the work to be done. We'll rent a place a few doors from our place while the work is being done. But there will be nothing that will get in the way of me implementing a dedicated training plan.

The plan will be rooted in goals. Goals will include both `effort' and `results.' `Effort' will entail physical activities that will both strengthen and balance my body. `Results' will focus on events with time and performance expectations.

I'd like to be capable of a competitive result on Solo RAW 2012 this time next year. Whether it all comes together (crew, money, equipment, etc) so that I am an entrant only time will tell.

I have both of the top front wheel drive recumbent Cruzbike models. That is, the Silvio and the Vendetta. These cycling platforms allow for the use of the upper body when climbing and accelerating in a way that no rear wheel drive recumbents offer. This means that I have to work on strengthening my core, arms, shoulder and chest muscles in order to take advantage of the unique potential of the RWD platform.

So, for the next three or four weeks I'll be working on my upper body and getting in 4-6 long city rides each week.

August 2011. The plan becomes real.

The deed is done

2011-06-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

Retired today. Lots of memories. Lots of sadness. Will miss soooo many good people.

The King is dead.

Long live the King.

Just figured this out

2011-06-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today is Tuesday. For the past six months I've been working 3 day weeks: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

Long about on Tuesdays I'd go to the weather website to gander what the weather will be for my days off: Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now that the warm(ish) weather has arrived I'd be wanting to plan my cycling on the days off.

So, today I went to the weather site. Mixed forecast for the days off this week. Then I noticed that on Monday the forecast was warm and sunny. DRAT! I said to myself.

"But wait! There's more!"

Then I recollected that ... I don't work next Monday. Nor next Tuesday. Nor Wednesday. In fact ... I don't have a job to go to forever and ever and ever.

Yikes! I'm retiring tomorrow.

I like that.

Nice to `like' things.

Entropy

2011-05-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

I don't really have anything of import (as far as `training' is concerned) to say in this post but I guess I just wanted to emphasize and/or record this for posterity.

I'm in `crap' shape!

Last year at this time I was doing back to back 140 mile training rides for the Race Across the West. Now, after doing 55, 25 and 18 miles over the past three days I'm shakey in the hand afterwords. This is the consequence of not training over the past seven months.

I don't know to what to attribute the stark contrast in level of fitness. Some people say that it is a natural consequence of being and older athlete. We're less resilient. But I really don't have much to compare it with. When I was in my late twenties and thirties I did lots and lots of miles as a runner, completing more than 8 marathons.

I'm inclined to conclude that it is less `age' than it is not training.

I do know that this has been one of the most inclement winters in my memory for Chicago. And I've been much more conservative with my time and effort, not wanting to haul the bike 100 miles round trip in order to get out on the open road.

It will be good to have the time, weather and terrain that will offer no excuse for not getting out there to train.

I just HATE that steep climb into some mid-level of fitness every spring.

I'm Lucky

2011-05-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Five weeks ago I went for my annual check up with my doc. We've known eachother for the past 25 yearrs and we've always enjoyed keeping one another current about events in our lives: kids, work, vacations, etc. My doc as tight as a drum when it comes to being both `professional' and personable. Exceptionally thorough.

So, the doc finds I got a lump on my prostate. WHAT!!?!!! Me?!!! I'm an ultra endurance bulletproof pain machine athlete!!

Doc has that `serious' look on his face. A week later my doc's concern is confirmed by a top notch urologist. I'm scheduled for a biopsy.

In the meantime I'm talking very confidentialy to a few others while on a laser-focused information gathering process. All of them confirm that early diagnosis is the key to successful outcome. All of them praise my doc for being so diligent in literally pestering me to come in every year.

Went in for the biopsy last week. Took all of 15 minutes and was utterly and completely painless. Half way through the procedure the urologist says "How you doing, Dan?" I reply: "Fine. You?" He looks up and says: "Well, I'm a little behind right now." Me: "Is that supposed to be a `pun.'" And we share a little grave humor.

Today the urologist calls me. I see his name on my phone caller ID and gird myself for `whatever.' He starts out with: "Good news, Dan. No cancer!"

I was less impressed with the fact that the biopsy was negative for cancer than I was with the urologist's sensitivity to what must be going through his patient's mind when he gets such a call. He didn't beat around the bush, give me a 5 minute preamble about medical this and medical that. No. First words out of his mouth: "GOOD NEWS, DAN. NO CANCER."

My advice to all reading this.

Avoid the typical meat and potatoes, high fat western diet;
Don't do what I did and eat the worst of everything in the deluded belief that `if I'm a monster cyclist I must not be subject to any of the laws of mortality.'
Be vigilant about medical attention and care; especially if you've got a genetic (family hx) vulnerability and/or if you're an older person.

This was a wake up call that was given to me by people who cared more about me than I cared about myself. No question about it: I'm lucky!

Lance v Goldman Sachs

2011-05-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

The government dithers over whether or not cycling is dirty (grand juries, subpoenas, etc) and whether Lance doped. Of course, nobody likes cheaters.

But when the Secretary of the Treasury (Paulson) gave banks $700 billion without any direction as to what they were to do with it ... where are the grand juries, subpoenas and indictments for the Wall Street thieves who took the money and gave themselves millions of dollars of bonuses?!

One percent of Americans own 95% of American wealth. Predatory mortgage lenders, supported by impossible to understand derivatives traders, remain employed, well paid and have happy future prospects. The rest of Americans think that they can be Wall Street investment bankers and consider critics of Wall Street `socialists.'

Democracy is `on the books' in America. But `Capitalism' impoverishes all but the few oligarchs.

Lance, please keep doing what you do for cancer research. If I got caught every time I broke the speed limit I'd be in a prison ... receiving socialized medicine until my last day.

10 Minutes of Terror

2011-05-19T19:36:00.001-07:00

Stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia - Saturday, May 21, 2011

As it turned out the Race Organizers concluded that this section of Stage 14 was too dangerous and they developed a less dangerous and more safe route. Wise decision.

Our new location ...

2011-05-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Starting in the early '80s my wife and I were drawn to the idea of living among a community of people sharing our values. Knowing, however, the dismal history of `utopian communities' we were cognizant of the dangers of cultism. (Look it up).

The cohousing experiences in Denmark really appealed to us. Read more about cohousing at this link: Cohousing

Returing, in 2002, from a week long conference in Seattle we took a side trip to a location we'd visited in the '80s in Arizona. We found a fledgling cohousing community in Prescott that really appealed to us. We were there for a day and a half. Just before we left to fly back to Chicago from Phoenix we had coffee with a few cohousing residents. In 15 minutes we decided to purchase a house in the community and get serious about moving there as soon as possible.

As it turned out on our return to Chicago I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to join a community based group private practice of psychologists ( Hoover & Associates ). My `dream job.' My wife's enjoyment of her own work as a geriatric social worker ( CJE Senior Life ) would have been a major loss, too. And then there was the fact of our boys, grandchildren, family and friends. We decided to stay in Chicago and rent out our place in Prescott.

Now that we're both retired (wife last year, me this June) we're making the move to the remarkable community of people in Manzanita Village ( Link ).

We will sorely miss our children, grandkids and friends in Chicago. And we are intent on having them come and stay with us often, frequently, for long periods of time and lots and lots and lots more :)

I'm chomping on the bit to have more time to train on the bikes. There are so many new and interesting people, couples and families who have moved to the Village that we're both excited to have more time to socialize, share and work towards the values of `community.'

I will not miss the misery of Chicago traffic, congestion and weather. My wife, though, has a capacity for appreciating Chicago that I simply can't match. We will both miss our family.

Another page in life to turn.

The Athlete's Delusion

2011-05-16T09:50:00.001-07:00

One of the delusions that ultra athletes typically entertain is that of being `bullet proof' because of the intensity of our physical training. We delude ourselves into assuming that we `burn up' anything that can negatively affect us. We conclude that we generate untouchable health benefits with our activity. We compare one another's `resting heart rate' or `recovery time to lowest heart rate' after an all-out effort. Some of that is accurate. But some of us purposely try to push the limit, caring little about what we eat and drink.

I'm one of the latter. Or, at least I was until last month.

My taste buds have always been pretty much non existent. That is, I really don't care what I ingest as long as I'm not hungry and have energy. The things that I would eat would make Annie and our kids roll their eyes and shake their heads. The only criterion I had with regard to food is that it didn't try to eat me back.

My genetic heritage predisposes me to atherosclerosis and high blood pressure. As the intensity of my summer training falls off the Chicago winters see me gaining 20 - 30 lbs, with all the associated risks. My eating, drinking, work schedule, exercise and sleeping habits are completely erratic 6 - 7 months of every year.

Some good friends related to me the wisdom of changing my eating habits:

One thing that has made a dramatic difference to us in the past couple of years is learning of the need for greens in our diet. In reality we should be eating about 1-2 lbs. of greens a day but we can't eat that much salad, so we make and drink two fruit/green smoothies a day. We learned this from reading the book GREEN FOR LIFE and THE GREEN SMOOTHIE REVOLUTION by Victoria Boutenko.

We start with 3 cups of water, 3 cups of any kind of greens (kale, chard, spinach, leaf lettuce, beet greens, etc.) pushed down into the water in the Vita Mix blender. Then add 2-3 pieces of cut up fruit (Usually banana, apple, pear, orange, melon, etc.) Top off with a cup or so of frozen berries (black, blue, straw, rasp, etc.) to fill the blender to the top. I sometimes add a little Agave sweetener or some dried raisins, cranberries, prunes or apricots. Blend until smooth.

We drink one smoothie in the morning before breakfast and another before lunch or mid afternoon. Because it contains so much fruit, it should not be mixed with grains like cereal or toast as fruit digests much more rapidly than grains. If you mix them, it ferments and causes gas. Because the smoothie is liquefied it can move almost directly into the blood stream for quick energy. Then, a half hour or hour later, your system will be ready to digest something else. The color of the smoothie changes depending on the kind of fruit you use. Sometimes they're light pale green, sometimes darker green, sometimes tan, sometimes red or plum or purple depending on the berries. Awesome. When we're traveling, we pick up quarts of Naked Juice or an equivalent from a grocery story. Our kids now know to have them in the refrigerator for us.

Since we've been eating this way, we've both had more energy, lost weight, no longer suffer from constipation, have clearer skin, sleep better, feel lighter and have lowered our cholesterol significantly. Mine dropped from 230 to 189 in a matter of months, with the other numbers falling into place as well. (Husband's) is even lower, having dropped about 40 points as well and he is now off virtually all his heart and blood pressure medication! Doc says he doesn't need it.

We take a few supplements: B12 (to make up for lack of meat), D3 for sunshine, Calcium Citrate for bone strength, Fish Oil to help keep cholesterol down, 1 baby aspirin for heart health, and a multi-vitamin. We used to take more, but have cut back as we've learned which whole foods give us what we need.

Since getting some borderline blood test results last month and finally being scared into recognizing my mortality - in spite of my athletic `prowess' - I've elected to eliminate meat and dairy products from my diet. It's been almost a month since I've been all vegetarian (with some tuna fish in water) and I've not missed it at all. NOT AT ALL.

Being the cheap Scot that I am it is also gratifying to note that our food bill has been cut almost in half.

Just sayin'.

Three Weeks off the Bike

2011-05-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day in more than 3 weeks that I've been outdoors on the bike. A series of things that interferred and/or took priority.

I'm struck at the literal sadness I feel leaving the patients constituting my private practice. My sense of admiration and respect for others has literally blossomed over the past decade. Perhaps that is one of the dividends of living through one's own troubles; so that it increases empathy towards others' with their own troubles.

At the same time, there is that phenomenon referred to as `compassion fatigue.' When the `helper' finds that he is too ready to step in and do the hard work that the `helpee' needs to do in order to build stamina and resilience ... it is time to take a break.

I was taking a `power nap' at my granddaughter's birthday party yesterday and was awakened by her giving me a hasty little kiss on the cheek. Then she ran off with half a dozen of her little birthday friends screaming like the happy and fortunate little children they are. Are all little children exploding with joy in the present moment of one another's mischievous presence? That giggly little peck on the cheek seemed to sum up my grattitude to be alive now.

Do people much younger than me experience the warm fulfillment that I feel in my family? My wife, sons, grandchildren, daughters-in-law? I've never felt this before. Is it time, experience? Age?

Perhaps my experiences at this point in my life are tangible proof that one can screw things up, make stupid decisions, behave with blind impulsivity ... and still be graced with simple satisfaction in the love of others. I believe it. But I find it hard to `accept.' Pinch myself awake.

Oh! And it was warm and sunny today when I rode my bike.

I must be psychotic ...

2011-04-15T18:13:00.004-07:00

... because I smelled something coming from my computer when I read a recent thread about the yet-to-be-delivered Cruzbike Vendetta on the Bacchetta bike forum. Bacchetta Vendetta link

I think it was the smell of `fear.'

I own a Bacchetta Ti Aero and I've ridden and raced it and several other recumbent bikes. I wouldn't take five figures ($) for my Bacchetta Ti Aero. In fact, it was John Schlitter's magnificent RAAM recumbent victory in 2006 that `convinced' me to buy my Bacchetta.

Yet I have some serious objections to aspects of it's design (e.g., the stovepipe-high riser is first among the few objections).

Of the twelve or so postings to the Bacchetta list thread about half of them were made by Bacchetta employees dissing the `Cruzbikes' and the front wheel drive platform. [Update: I've been informed that those describing themselves as `Team Bacchetta,' in fact, are not employees. A few of them, though, are Bacchetta dealers. Cruzbike, on the other hand, sells directly through the internet and only a very, very few dealers are willing to sell Cruzbikes because they don't make much of a profit.]

One fellow actually admitted that he had ridden a `Cruzbike' once and had a hard time going in a straight line. He blamed the bike!!

I wasn't really surprised that the chatter from `Team Bacchetta' guys had nothing to do with the Cruzbike Vendetta. They were all in a lather comparing Cruzbike's second-line bike (the Silvio) with Bacchetta's first-line bike (the Carbon Aero 2).

They then began beating their chest proclaiming superiority during a few moments of a 12 hour race when their CA2 racers apparently went faster for a while against the ONLY Silvio racer. As it turned out, that solo 2nd-line Silvio racer (Maria Parker) took overall second place for women on recumbents against a horde of other female racers riding the 1st-line CA2. Not too shabby, I would say.

I'm looking forward to a head to head race among equally skilled and fit racers on the Cruzbike Vendetta, the Bacchetta CA2 and the Carbent on challenging (not flat!) courses. That will have to wait because the production model Cruzbike Vendetta will not even be shipped to new owners until sometime in May.

So, I'm somewhat tickled by the conspicuously failed argument on the Bacchetta thread as to the superiority of their top-line bike to a competitor's bike that has yet to be delivered. I guess y'a gotta find a way to sell your bikes though: even if you have to stoop to specious arguments.

What I was saddened by and surprised at was the conspicuous cheap shots at Maria Parker, owner of the UMCA woman's 100 mile and 12 hour recumbent speed record on both the Cruzbike Silvio and a very early prototype version of the Cruzbike Vendetta.

Something stinks. And I don't think it is my computer.

Update: Training and Events

2011-04-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

It's 80% `time' and 20% 'cheap Scot.'

I've just had to bite the bullet and recognize that I'm not willing to take the time away from other areas of my life for the purposeof training for the spring schedule of events I've lined up.

I prepared a spreadsheet of cycling training, events, miles travelled, time spent driving, cost of food, etc., for the 6 weeks of training and events from April 17 to May 22nd and came up with a cost of $ 1,427, 2,823 miles travelled, consuming 62.1 hours of driving time and 249 hours of time training and racing on the bike. None of this includes the many, many hours of reduced energy and sharpness I need for my family and work.

So, I'm going to ride from my house in Chicago on the least dangerous roads as often as possible. I may participate in the Balltown Classic.

With the rest of my time I'll devote to family, my work, getting the house ready to sell, showing the house to prospective buyers, packing up to move to AZ no later than July 15th, and finalizing the renovation plans for our house in AZ.

Better to do important things well than to do them poorly.

Talktalktalktalktalktalktalk. And more talk.

2011-04-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

I used to belong to several bike listserve discussion groups. I quit a few and got kicked off a few. From one precious list I both quit and was later banned. Sort of proud of myself for that.

Its been months since I surfed these groups so I just finished checking them out again.

Vapid.

Empty.

Nothing there.

The same few guys arguing the dimensions of the head of a pin and willing to sell their mothers to prove it.

I was bored, I guess.

I guess they are, too.

Angry

2011-04-10T13:18:00.001-07:00

After a long cold winter, and committed to not making things even more depressing with insane indoor training ... along comes the slow start of spring's warm and agreeable weather.

Last September I rode 360 miles in 24 hours and felt great afterwords. Today I rode 61 miles in 4:40 and feel twitchy, deeply fatigued and ... angry. Angry that I have to climb this painful wall of getting fit again. Takes months just to approximate the fitness I had last year.

City - Silvio

Getting out of Chicago, the grim isolation of winters.

Anger is a good source of motivation.

I'm very, very motivated!

Pacing, restraint, planning, no-small-goals ...

2011-04-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

This blog is called the `Training Blog' for a reason. I'm fortunate to be associated with a group of cyclists known as the Big Dogs Ultra Cycling, who, in turn, are part of the Ultra Midwest, LLC. Ultramidwest Link.

If you've gone to the websites above you'll note a member log of daily mileage, etc. You'll see names of some of the worlds most accomplished and motivated cyclists. At the Ultra Midwest website you'll note the impressive series of endurance and racing events organized and directed by Joe Jamison and Dave Parker (and many, many volunteers).

Many of us Big Dogs are `aspirational.' That is, we aspire to accomplish our best results while we balance life's other demands and passions. Many of us are `inspirational.' That is, we've individually accomplished exceptional cycling feats. And then the majority of us keep a healthy discipline of doing our best to stay fit and use Joe and Dave's Ultra Midwest events as goals and benchmarks.

Ultracycling is an addiction. Certainly there are articles and psychological profiles that describe the `driven' commonalities of ultracyclists. As a psychologist the best I can come up with is `they're very different, one from another; and they're very similar in that they are kind of crazy.'

I am ramping up my training now that the weather has broken and returned home today after a windy 40 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Entering my home my wife said "And how was it?" I was aware of a sense of grave mischief in my response, with a restrained intense smile "Very, very real!"

And I think that that sense of `real' is the source of our driven motivation to ride for hour after hour, in all sorts of weather, alone most of the time, aware of fatigue, pain, and myriad other perfectly good reasons to stop!

All day and every day, just beneath my focus on work, finances and family, there is that smoldering consciousness of the bike, the road, training. These are anchors around which I allocate my energy, my daily chronology. Everything becomes linear as I move the pieces of the `plan' for this or that cycling event and challenge.

Three months and counting before I can ride the bike out my front door and into mountains, deserts and plateaus.
Three months and counting before I can schedule a typical training day as being 60 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing.
Three months and counting before the `Training Blog' spawns a `Performance Blog.'

Start of the season in the midwest

2011-04-03T10:07:00.002-07:00

Yesterday a good friend and I drove from Chicago to just west of the Ill/Iowa border to participate in the first of the UltraMidwest brevet series. It was a 200K brevet. It was a great experience. I continue to realize how important it is for me to try new things in bicycling. If I can credit myself with anything over the course of time it is a patient but persistent curiosity.

A few discoveries.

First, the long, cold winter combined with my unwillingness to put up with the grim boredom of indoor training has significantly reduced my stamina and strength. I completed 100K of the 200K brevet. This was the right decision. A serious training plan should not be undone by ego-driven excesses. I'm fit and able for a challenging 100K. To have done 200K would have resulted in an actual setback in fitness and stamina.

Second, I rode the Cruzbike Silvio front wheel drive recumbent bike. The Iowa terrain was rolling, with long hills from 4% to 9% grades. Having just returned from the Arizona hills and mountains (9% - 15% grades) on the diamond frame Airborne Ti Zeppelin I have a good basis for comparison of climbing demands and performance. I believe that, at my current level of fitness, the diamond frame and the front wheel drive recumbent are equivalent in climbing. (But I prefer the recumbent bc I don't have to pretzel my body -- bending/hanging over the handlebars, shoulder fatigue, strained neck, numbness in hands from bearing the weight of my torso on the handlebars).

Third, nothing substitutes for power (watts) and stamina. I take no real credit for long rides on flat terrain in average conditions. I consider those `bike rides.' (Actually, I consider mere `bike rides' an abusive and selfish waste of time given the fact that I have a family (wife, children, grandchildren) and that I value the time I spend with them, and feel guilty for not being more present in their lives.) Power and stamina get me up long and steep climbs faster and allow me to accelerate on reaching the top. Stamina permits me to keep a 20+ mph pace on average terrain and in average conditions. A fierce tailwind is nice but we all know our heart rate drops by 30-40% unless we've got a 65 tooth front ring and a 10 tooth rear ring.

Here is a link to my Garmin 705 data for the brevet: Brevet Data

A few things:

When riding on a recumbent on hilly terrain wear cycling shoes that have rubber soles and have recessed cleats. I've found that there is nothing worse than having to stop and start on an incline. With exposed cleats and/or plastic soles I slip and slide, making it hard to start. Equally, if I'm on flat terrain I can wear my Sidi shoes without the recessed cleat.
I have a set of Q-rings on my Cruzbike Silvio FWD recumbent. What a remarkable difference from the typical circular front chain rings! Much more efficient acceleration and power transfer.
I have a very high end rear wheel drive recumbent bike. In my experience with the Cruzbike FWD and the RWD recumbent the FWD recumbent is far superior in climbing.

[In fact, I should have more of an experience base on which to compare all three platforms (upright diamond frame bike, recumbent RWD bike, and recumbent FWD bike) after we move to the mountains and hills of Arizona (Prescott area) mid-Summer this year].

When riding the FWD recumbent the rider will find greater power and control by vectoring the `push' and `pull' of clipless pedals. This virtually eliminates the complaint from some that FWD recumbents cause the rider to have to counter steer the handlebar.
Another advantage I experience on the FWD recumbent is being able to use my arms and midsection when I climb inclines. I'm able to create a much stronger `triangle' of power among my arms, core and legs. When on the RWD recumbents I may as well send my arms and core muscles out for lunch while my legs are stuck doing all the work. Granted, that climbing on the FWD recumbent takes more work ... but that only makes sense because the rider is able to get more speed up inclines.

(This has been a sore point with me. RWD bent riders with closed minds argue that FWD bents require more effort when climbing inclines. Well, of course they do!! FWD bents are faster than RWD bents because they allow riders to use their whole body, while RWD bent riders may as well be asleep from the waist up).

15% grades, bright blue sky and standard upright bike faults

2011-03-31T10:19:00.000-07:00

This past week of training in Prescott, AZ, was just this side of blissful. Makes returning home to Chicago feel like punishment for having done something sinful. But, if that is the equation I'm all up for a future of wanton sin and wickedness!

I"m adding links to some of the Garmin data for three of my training rides. What a delight to ride right out my front door, climbing three or four 15% grades and just as many 9% grades just to get to the open mountain and desert roads with sedate 6% - 8% grades as common.

Although I enjoyed the chance to ride the Airborne Ti Zeppelin upright road bike and confirm that I'm no less fit or capable on it than I have been for so many years in the past ... the difference between it and the recumbents was emphatic.

After two or three days of scrunching over the handlebars, craning my neck to see ahead of me, having a death grip on the handlebars lest I hit a bump and go flying off a mountain road ... no comparison. I missed my recumbents. Also, I noticed that I was slower on the upright bike. Slower going UP the hills and much, much slower going DOWN the hills.

I'm glad I can endure hours and mile after mile of pain and suffering that the road bike permits me. But my ego no longer requires proof that I have veritable world class capacity for self-abuse. Hell! I learned that countless times over the course of my life.

Agreed! Confirmed! I'm head and shoulders above all of mankind in terms of capacity for agonizing self torture. My conclusion? I'm a blockheaded slow learner who needed multiple demonstrations that I'm expert at pain and suffering and better than every other soul on earth at it. (Thank you, orthodox religious indoctrination institutions in my youth!!!)

If I lived in the middle ages I'd aspire to becoming a saint by being burned at the stake just to show others I could do it. For that matter, I'd try to survive being burned at the stake just so they'd give me a wack at the `rack.' Or, a chance to be hung upside down and shot through and through with arrows. Or, nailed to a cross and left on a hill to die a slow agonizing death. Or, ... or.... or.....

So, here are some of the Garmin links.

Just so's you all know ... if I were on the bent I could have doubled and tripled the mileage! Easily.

March 25

March 27

March 28

Ha! And people think endurance cycling is masochistic!!

2011-03-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you what is masochistic! Being a passenger on a commercial airline for 3 hours is masochistic.

I once had the opportunity to spend more time than you would believe in a maximum custody federal penitentiary (in my early 20's). (Graduate school was worse, by the way) I'd do it again do it all over again to avoid last year's commercial flights to and from Italy. On the way back I was wishing I had followed in Savonarola's footsteps in Florence!

I several times have raced on a bike for 24+ hours through the broiling southwest deserts and the teeth chattering freezing cold, up 15% grade mountains and down death-defying mountain switchbacks. I'd do FIVE such events in order to avoide being a passenger on a commercial airline for 3 hours.

The round trip this past week from Chicago and Phoenix and back had me so scrunched up that at one time I had the tray in front of me down and my legs crossed over it just to get them stretched a little ... and I'm not a short guy with skinny legs. I must have looked like Mahatma Gandhi if he had done weight training. Lucky I didn't get arrested by TSA for suspicious behavior.

In my profession I have access to the kind of pharmaceuticals that could render me the consciousness of a celery stalk for 3 or 4 hours without any long term detriment. For THAT I don't have the (choose one:) a) courage; b) stupidity; c) self-hatred; d) intelligence; e) forgiving self-love.

I guess I could write myself a `letter from a doctor' that informs the airline staff that I have an `anxiety disorder' about flying so that they assign me a spacier bulkhead seat lest I erupt into an extended panic-induced screaming jag at 35,000 feet. But ...

I guess I could pop to pay for a first class seat. Though I'm certain that my blue collar class consciousness would probably have me eating a few cans of beans and a box of prunes a few hours before the flight just to make my fellow first class aristocrats gag every time they take a breath for 3 hours. It'd almost be worth the criminally high airfare just to commit a high altitude revolutionary act. WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT A FEW HOURS OF SLEEP WHILE LAUGHING YOUR ASS OFF.

pleasant surprise

2011-03-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Out in Prescott, AZ, for the past few days. Though it is a bit on the chilly side for Prescott the 60 degree daytime temps are perfect for cycling. I have two bikes here. One is a somewhat bizarre road bike frame that I bought from Nashbar about 4 years ago. Aluminum with odd dimensions. Outfitted it with Ultegra gruppo and some good cyclocross wheels. Brooks saddle. The other I just shipped out here. Airborne Ti Zeppelin with similar Ultegra setup. Compact crank (39/50) upfront with a 9 ring 11/34 cogset in the back. Mavic Kysirium Equipe wheels.

I haven't ridden a road bike in about 2 years. But I've put many miles on the road bikes in this area in the past. So yesterday I assembled the Airborne and took off for a mighty hilly 20 miles in the mountain roads south of Prescott. 20 miles and 1800 feet of climbing.

At first I felt unsure and lacking in confidence for two reasons. First, because I've not put in a lot of miles on the indoor trainer this winter (attending to other matters). Second, I've been focused on recumbent platforms in the past two years and have pretty much let the upright road bikes collect dust.

To my pleasant surprise I found my riding power and road bike handling skills have not diminished much, if any. Certainly the endurance is not there, but that is to be expected.

Today, on my second 20 miler I returned feeling the old road bike rocking and out of the saddle accelerations come back to me with a vengeance. I still had to feather the brakes on some of the more exciting downhills, but I recognized the old realization that climbing hills requires leg strength and power ... which I am happy to accept continues to be with me.

Looking forward to some good training over the next few days. Tomorrow an early morning 20 - 30 miles and then a trip to Jerome, AZ, for a get together over mid-day dinner with lots of good AZ friends.

All in all it's nice to feel better than competent on the several platforms I enjoy: upright road bike, rear wheel drive recumbent, front wheel drive recumbent. I feel, happily, `at home' on the bike and am looking forward to much more performance related accomplishments and lots of variety.

Extinction is in my future

2011-03-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

Honestly! If the baby jeezuz offered me the option of choosing between eternal hell or eternal life in Chicago in perpetual winter it would be a no brainer: HELL!!

The winter of 09/10 saw me spending enormous amounts of time and money to train outdoors no matter what the weather. Crazy insane preparation for RAW 2010. I seriously neglected many other areas in my life to get ready for RAW.

This past winter, though, I have been compelled to attend to other priorities. Though I did do some indoor training of moderate quality it was not something to be proud of. And I'm o.k. with that. I did very well with the other priorities.

So today was a sunny Saturday. Temp was in the 40's. Prairie winds always in the high teens. Drove the 107.5 round trip distance to train on the open prairie farm roads.

Though I did fine I'm not remotely in as good a fitness (endurance, strength) as I was this time last year. And THAT is what has really got me irritated.

Living in the frigging tundra where you have to dress like the Michelin man, drive for hours, spend $30 on gas and tolls just to attempt a quality outdoor training experience ... and THEN contend with the loss of fitness due to the cold and snow!

Climbing the late winter, early spring training wall ... year after year after year after year. Anybody ever heard of Sisyphus?!!!

G'bye Chicago!! G'bye tundra!!

And good riddance.

BTW: oftentimes the reason a species goes extinct has to do with that species' inability to accomodate climate change. Hence my reference to becoming extinct. If I had to stay in Chicago I'd take up single malt sport drinking.

Just ordered the Cruzbike Vendetta

2011-03-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

All the bicycle platforms that I have are important to me and occupy a particular performance determined niche. I'm very much looking forward to using the Cruzbike Vendetta recumbent on my UltraMarathon Cycling Association `Double' (West to East and back again) Cross-State (Indiana) Record attempt on May 21st.

I'm expecting great things in the western mountain states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, etc) with the Cruzbike Silvio.

I currently hold the UMCA `One Way (West to East) Cross-State (Indiana and Illinois) Records for a recumbent cyclist. The `One Way' records were completed on a Bacchetta Titanium Aero recumbent in 2009.

http://www.cruzbike.com/
http://www.bacchettabikes.com/
http://www.ultracycling.com/records/staterecords.html

Heavy FWD vs. High Zoot RWD

2011-03-17T18:00:00.002-07:00

Last Friday I did my usual 15 mile rural circuit on a very heavy comfort FWD Cruzbike Sofrider. Two days later I did the same circuit on my RWD Bacchetta Titanium Aero.

The FWD Cruzbike Sofrider weights 15 lbs more than the RWD Bacchetta Ti Aero.

I handled the hills on the FWD Cruzbike Sofrider faster than on the RWD Bacchetta Ti Aero (John Schlitter took the 2006 RAAM recumbent victory on the Bacchetta Ti Aero).

I don't care what bike gets me up the hills faster. I just want to get up the hills faster.

FWD is better on hills than the RWD.

NOTE: The Cruzbike Sofrider is on the low end of performance bikes in the Cruzbike range of bikes.

Saturday I'll be doing the same 15 mile circuit on the FWD Cruzbike Silvio. The Silvio is in the `performance' range of bikes.

When the FWD Cruzbike Vendetta (TT bike) gets here (early May) I'm expecting better performance.

FWD vs RWD. For me? FWD. Better application of physical resources: upper AND lower body.

Can't argue with physics.

Work, love and play

2011-03-12T21:17:00.012-07:00

Freud. One of the few things he got right. Notice Freud didn't include `job.'

How immensely fortunate I am to be able to have a life where I have the luxury of even considering these distinctions. Succinctly, why am I not devoting my life to the poor and the desperate in the streets of Calcutta?! Equally succinctly, I should be. But I'm too selfish. I'm not afraid. Just selfish.

But that's another story.

Now that I'm transitioning to being a `welfare queen,' living off savings and the largesse of other institutions I have the indecency to admit to my derision for `jobs.' I needed the job to make the money.

Oftentimes I was simply stealing some of the money I was being paid for the ostensible `labor.' I'd be physically present but always with an eye on the clock.

But far more often I was putting into my work four or five times the `worth' than what I was being paid for.

No complaints. I had choices.

The years in the pokey taught me how to `generate' tons of money if and when I wanted to. Could have boosted truck loads of the electronic crap that people buy to entertain themselves. Could have been a shyster lawyer. Could have been an investment banker.  Just chose against those options. The money isn't worth it.

I guess I have a conscience.

I've done a lot of work in my life that I loved doing because it felt like play. TRIPLE SLAM!!

But I usually pissed somebody off doing it. Viet Nam and draft resistance. Union organizing. Disassembling a viciously destructive `child care' organization. I'd do them all again but better this time.

I like work. Jobs suck!

I found myself taking jobs out of fear of not having the money to take care of things that money requires. But in the last twenty or so years I've had wonderful work to do that, coincidentally, provided me with money. A big `plus' sign on that end.

It's hard for me to actually believe that there are really wonderful people in my life who actually love me ... but I believe it enough to accept it.

I think I've been a self-absorbed over-focused jerk most of my life. But my wife, sons and grandkids have forgiven me. I think its because they know that I have sacrificed a lot in the `micro' for the interests of mankind in the `macro.' I think its because they know I wasn't actually mean to them.

As for love ... I'm short on showing it and long on getting it. More a sin of `omission' than a sin of `commission.' A coward's way, actually. I am trying to do better and I suspect I will. But kind of late in the game to start paying attention to giving back what's been so often and long given to me.

Pretty much a wuss when it comes to one on one intimacy. People generally scare me. And, like too many kids growing up where family discipline meant blood and teeth on the floor, my survival response was to `fight' instead of take `flight.' "Ready! FIRE! Aim!" Pretty indiscriminate. Scares people back. (Sounds like the psychological profile of a hermit.)

A shrink once told me that I was `counterphobic.' That is, I would attack anything that scared me. That works sometimes. But there are A LOT of people and things out there that are so big and tough that they can squeeze and crunch me into a little wad of snot. As I have too often discovered.

It was what it was. And I'm still alive.

And all the threads in life now seem to be winding round one another (in the near term) to create a decent prospect: `retirement.'

I'll probably be a lot more sociable to people who fear/think I have just one speed: crude, conflictual and confrontational. That's an easy one, frankly. Should be pleasant surprise for them.

------------------------------------
So why have I rattled on about all this stuff on a blog entitled `Training.'

That is where `work' enters the focus of this blog.  Given that work, love and play have always inhabited the same place in my life ... cycling is now going to be my work.

My wife described me as having been `uber focused' all my life. I have described myself as having an `Attention EXCESS Disorder.' I'm really, really organized. (Organizational ability can often be a great substitute for real intelligence.) And when I believe something is worthwhile I'm really, really focused and disciplined.

I'm going to put all of that focus, energy, discipline and organizational talent into my cycling.

Work. Love. Play.

Back from the Dead

2011-03-11T20:27:00.002-07:00

Sunny, windy and in the 40's in the prairie flatlands of Illinois today. First time out in about 5 months. I feel like I came out of a cave into a bright blue new day. The link says it all. Link -> Garmin

I'm gettin' desperate to be intense!

2011-03-06T19:46:00.003-07:00

Indoor work. If I had steel discipline I would know just what to do every day, every workout. Heck, I've got more than a few ruthless training spreadsheets I could follow. But I don't feel guilty or obsessed with the need to suffer for five or six months of the year.

So, in the interest of spicing things up in the basement today I pulled out an old steel Battaglin road bike frame (damn good frame! - Indurain won the TdF on it a few times) that I bought about 15 years ago. Popped on a rear derailleur, seatpost and saddle. Threw on some pedals, a few wheels, tubes and tires.

Then I took the CompuTrainer equipment out of a storage box, fired up the computer and monitor.

Put the CompuTrainer, computer, monitor and Battaglin together. Tightened up all the working parts, set a 20 mile course with mostly inclines, plugged everything in and `started' to race the metal man on the monitor.

I didn't calibrate the C'trainer but wound up recording steadily in the 180 watt range after a few minutes. I think my cadence was lower (85) than in the past (95) and don't know what that is all about.

Did that for 30 minutes and was flooded with some of the joy of the road bikes (the body is freer to move around, rock the bike back and forth) and much of the reason I've switched away from road bikes to recumbents (scrunched up shoulders, sore wrists and neck strain).

The heart rate (Garmin 705) accelerated to the 150 BPM range almost immediately. Much faster elevation than on the recumbent. This is because, on the `upright' bike the body is vertical and the heart has to push against gravity. Felt some `weak spots' in my legs (specific to road bike positioning). And I got a good lesson on the benefits/deficits of riding the road bikes. I wore a set of shorts with a chamois expecting to get some mild saddle soreness or tissue abrasion. Apparently thirty minutes on the bike isn't enough to do that. Thankfully.

After the 30 minutes on the Battaglin and Computrainer I switched over to the recumbent Bacchetta and the Lemond Revolution windtrainer with the inertial flywheel. I immediately felt more `comfortable.' That is, shoulders, wrists and neck ... I felt the stress just completely `not' there. Without those distractions I found I could put more power in my legs.

On the recumbent the body is mostly parallel to the ground. There is almost no verticality and gravity that the heart has to push against. Therefore, I find that I can generate more `power' for every heart beat.

I made a commitment to myself to keep the BPMs on the recumbent as close as possible to the BPMs on the upright. It took a lot more effort but I was able to get the heart steadily into the 140's with a few flourishes into the 150 and 160 BPM range at the end.

Did the recumbent for 60 minutes. The sweat was pouring off me again.

All in all a nicely consuming intense workout that didn't see me climbing a wall of dreaded boredom in the basement.

Here's the heart rate data from the Garmin. You can see how things changed after the first 30 minutes on the road bike, with the last 60 minutes on the recumbent.

Garmin Data - 90 Mins on March 6th - Heart Rate Only

Experience

2011-03-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

Flood warnings yesterday and sub-zero windchills today, with snowfall. Another day in the basement on the indoor trainers.

Realized that the various bikes I have offer a real range of cycling platforms and experience.

I continue to use the traditional (upright, diamond frame) bikes: Airborne Titanium Zeppelin and Litespeed Titanium Vortex Compact.

I've got a wonderful rear wheel drive recumbent classic speed machine: Bacchetta Titanium Aero.

And I have two (soon to be three) front wheel drive recumbents: Cruzbike Sofrider, Cruzbike Silvio, and soon, the Cruzbike Vendetta.

This variety should be fun to operate and test in the Arizona mountains soon.

A Balanced and Rational Spring Training and Competition Schedule

2011-03-02T11:17:00.002-07:00

As the tilt of the earth's northern hemisphere tends toward the sun and various cycling venues in the upper midwest are announced I'm thinking along the lines of modifying my training and racing plans.

The April 9th Illinois UMCA Cross-State back and forth attempt is coming up short on the crew side of things. Getting a crew is always a bit of a struggle and this attempt would pretty much use up 2.5 days of a person's time. Half of Friday to drive 150 miles south, all day Saturday and then the drive back up north again Sunday. That's quite a commitment. It doesn't look like it's going to happen.

The May 21st Indiana UMCA Cross-State back and forth attempt looks solid. I've already got two crew and I've got a number of guys who've given me a tentative `yes' to this. It's a one-day (Saturday) commitment.

As much as I've avoided Randoneurring in the past the schedule, location and climbing potential in these events looks good to me now. In Iowa the Quad Cities Randonneurs has a good progressive 200K, 300K, 400K and 600K schedule. I've registered for the full Brevet series.

Here in Chicago the local RUSA group starts their events just north of the Illinois border in Wisconsin. It isn't likely that the Chicago RUSA has the climbing challenge that Iowa has but the event schedule is accomodating to my training and record attempt plans.

If Calvin's Challenge 12 Hour Race on April 30th in Springfield, Ohio, were closer I'd consider it. But the 600 mile round trip commute puts it out of contention.

I've registered for the Ultra Midwest Balltown Classic 200 (miles) again. May 14th. I hold the record for being the only recumbent to finish that event, it has very challenging climbing, and it would be satisfying to beat my old Bacchetta record on the Cruzbike Silvio or Vendetta.

The following week, May 21st, would be the UMCA Indiana Cross-State record attempt. And if I keep to the training and event schedule attached I should be able to do very well on this ridiculously flat course for 300 miles, with a crew, etc....

Then there would be a 600K brevet two weeks later (June 4th) in Iowa.

I've registered for the 2-day (109 miles Saturday, 90 miles Sunday) for total of 200 miles in the weekend) casual invitational Tour of the Mississippi River Valley (TOMRV). I've done TOMRV a dozen times and it's a fun and relaxing distraction.

If all works out as scheduled I could cap things off a week later (June 18th) by doing the National 24 Hour Challenge in Michigan. Again, it would be a UMCA event and, of course, non-drafting would be expected.

That would `tap me out' before we had to prepare for the move from Chicago to Arizona in mid-July.

How many times does it take me to learn this?

2011-02-28T10:16:00.004-07:00

Although my life's work and my profession has been in the `helping' professions I keep having to learn the difference between my public self and my private self. RADICALLY different.

I can be very, very social, sociable and, in most cases, even likable. It's sort of like being born tall, or with brown eyes, or with a birthmark. Not something I had to work at: it just is.

At the job I fit in and am often considered a valued member of the group, team, or, in my current incarnation, Professional Practice. It's damned hard work, too. My desire to `help' and make things better is genuine and meaningful to me. But at the end of the day I'm pretty emptied out. Maybe not physically, but certainly emotionally. I have barely enough `social' energy to pet the friggin' dog. I'm not mean, but I am mute!

In my personal, or private, life I'm quite different. I'm not in the `helping' mode. I'm just an average citizen. In fact, there is a part of me that wants to keep a civil distance from all but close family. My natural temperament. I'm sort of uncomfortable in social situations. Strange, isn't it. Contradictory. But pretty common among the species.

Now, how does this relate to cycling? In past experience it has gotten me mixed up and confused.

I cycle to achieve and accomplish difficult things. It's pretty serious with me, if not actually grave. I show up to race and/or endure and finish. Pretty two dimensional. Not much of a social thing. In fact, I don't and have never felt like I `fit in.' Proof of that is that I don't even `try' to fit in. I sort of put my social skills in a nice little box and leave them there. And leave them there. Did I say `leave them there?!'

When another cyclist says something with which I disagree I typically don't respond (anymore). I've learned that most of the cyclists I've known aren't interested in questions, they're anxious to opine, offer their one-and-true conclusions. If I question, or even disagree, it becomes a basis for more emotional arguing or dismissal. Social coexistence requires being brain dead.

In the recent few months I initiated some intended dialogue about bicycle design and performance on a few bike email discussion lists. In some cases there was civil dialogue. In most, however, there was crude ridicule, baseless dismissal, and insult. My initial response was to assume that I just didn't `say' it right, so I attempted to be deliberately delicate and tactful, complimentary of responders, and ... just tried to get my point across with fewer big words, (uncomfortable) humility, etc.... It went nowhere. More ridicule, more soapboxing.

When someone is not rational, has no evidence to support their argument, uncivil, caustic or even hostile I've had two responses: fight or withdraw. Sometimes I've recognized the futility and I'd just withdraw. Other times I'd get really pissed off and let them have it right back ... in spades!

The fighting has always gotten me gummed up with self-reproach, asking myself: "Now why did you have to rip them up like that?!" (I have learned exquisite surgical verbal dismemberment skills.) So, I hope I've learned this better this time.

I hope I now recognize what I've not learned many times in the past: don't talk to a wall expecting the wall to dialogue.

Don't expect much. Be surprised and happy to get more when it occurs. Really, that's a better description of my personality dynamic and temperament.

It's actually going to be easier and more fun for me to do cycling. I can show up for the race, be civil and a good `neighbor,' do the race and go home.

Admittedly, I'm inclined to express my (precious) hurt feelings and resentment by wanting to beat my competition. Productive outlet.

What a difference

2011-02-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Looking at my Garmin data I noted that on the same date last year (2010) I rode on the indoor trainer for 5 hours and 18 minutes. It was a `loping' training session as the performance goal (RAW 2010) was long distance endurance and not speed.

This year I'm finding it soooooo depressing to spend hours on the indoor trainer. Though, when I do get on the bike I'm pushing intensity and not loping. Different performance goals this year. Some well informed sports trainers say that short intensity is better than long loping. I partially accept this because there is just no way to know what your body will do after 12+ hours of racing -- unless you do it in training. I don't think you can train short and expect to race long.

I decided to `trick' myself into finding ways to put in more time on the indoor trainer. I take my Garmin 705 unit off the bike mount and situate it near different training machines. Since, of course, it is meaningless to measure `miles' when training indoors I'm only measuring heart rate.

Today I started out on the Concept 2 rowing machine for 30 minutes, moved over to the Sole elliptical for another 30 minutes, and finished off on the recumbent bike LeMond Revolution wind/flywheel trainer. Looking at my heart rate data there is a steady rise in BPM from the rower, to the elliptical to the bike. Which is the way I like it.

I have a Racermate CompuTrainer but I haven't put it to much use this year. The advantage I would have with the CompuTrainer is that I could measure watts on the bike. But last year was quite a pain in the tail with the C'trainer for two reasons.

First, it requires a rear wheel to be pressed down on a electromagnetic load generator. At least once a week I'd blow a tire and tube in the midst of a full-on power session. There is nothing more frustrating than having to interrupt an intense training session to change a tire. It is especially problematic when there are other demands on my time, e.g., work, family, sleep, etc.... Most times I'd just end the training session and change the tire later.

Second, the C'trainer requires attaching several electric cords and power sensors to the bike. This takes time. Another problem I had last year along these lines was when I wanted to take the bike for weekend outdoor training sessions. I'd have to undo all the cords and connections only to put them all back on the bike for weekday indoor training.

Frustrating

2011-02-26T20:42:00.001-07:00

Winter months keep me stuck indoors. Can't keep much of a consistent training program when it is all grim suffering on the indoor equipment. Even snow-shoeing requires getting in the truck and driving miles and miles to a `forest preserve.'

I used not to mind putting on 10 - 15 lbs in the winter because, as a casual cyclist, I could count on taking it all off by May or June. As a competitive cyclist I need to be race ready by March. City winters retard fitness and performance capability.

These last few months in Chicago ... are very, very frustrating.

It's Official

2011-02-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Mother nature set an historical February record for snowfall in Chicago.

Snowing now.

Two days of February to go.

That is, if you don't count the Pleistocene. A gaggle of millenia ago I'd be tapping this out under a mile thick of ice.

Grim choice

2011-02-25T07:13:00.002-07:00

Even though I've long ago reached my psychological limit of indoor training this year it looks like I'll be pushing that limit as far back as the national debt. The plan was, over the next three days, to load up the bike in the pickup and drive the 90 mile round trip west to Burlington, IL, and do 3 hours of outdoor training.

Two to three inches of snow fell last night. Temperature in the high 20's. Steady winds of 10 - 15 mph. Flat, prairie expanses easily double the predicted `steady winds' to double the force. Thirty percent possibility of more snow or freezing sleet/rain.

I've got the bike all `wintered' up with packs of tools, extra clothing, lights, etc. I've got my winter clothing gear carefully selected to withstand zero windchill and wind. I've got the 15 or 20 chemical foot and hand warmers. I've got the liquids and solid food stashed and ready.

But, though it appeals to my heart ("get the hell out of the friggin' basement!") it doesn't pass the "effective training" test in my head. Not to mention the 6+ hours I'd spend commuting over three days, the gas, money and tolls I'd waste in driving close to 300 miles of round trips, or the additional 3+ hours I'd waste getting dressed and undressed, the sopping wet clothes washed and dried again for the next day's training. And then there is the virtual abandonment of my wife and family. I'm not even gonna think about what would happen if I had a mechanical problem on the bike!

So, for the next three days I'll be spending 9am to noon pushing watts on the indoor trainer in the basement.

Another point: some people consider it `training' when they pedal their bike indoors while watching TV or a DVD movie. That's not training. That's exercise.

When I train I watch (when I open my eyes) nothing but the heart rate and the clock, with goals for each. In otherwords, my indoor training is not mitigated by a deflating distraction. It is just grim grim grim business. It's a chance to think too much (analysis) or to recognize how little I think for such a long time (dissociation).

Here's how I rationalize this: one only knows real pleasure when one has grim pain against which to compare it. (If you think too long and hard on that idea it could get us into a whale of trouble!)

UMCA Cross-State Illinois / Indiana Solo Speed Record Attempts this April and May - Crew and Officials Welcome

2011-02-23T11:30:00.008-07:00

I currently hold the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA) West-to-East Cross-State Solo Recumbent bike speed records across Illinois and Indiana. The total distance for each State is about 150 miles.

Crew members and UMCA Officials willing to volunteer to support me in these attempts are welcome. Experience is not required. This would be a good way to learn about and gain experience in endurance racing. If you or anyone you know might be interested in crewing or officiating for either of these UMCA record attempts please contact me: psychling@comcast.net.

On Saturday, April 9th, I'm going to attempt a `double' cross State speed record (West to East to West) across Illinois. It will probably take me 15 - 17 hours. We will arrive in Alton, IL on Friday evening, the 8th. We'll start Saturday, the 9th, at nautical sunrise (6:33am), race to the Illinois / Indiana border just west of Terre Haute, IN, turn around and race back to Alton, IL. I will provide the cost of lodging and food, the race follow-vehicle and all the lights and signage. The total racing distance is about 300 miles.

This is a link to a DeLorme Topo Illinois course route and profile:
https://picasaweb.google.com/psychling/IllinoisCrossStateRecordUMCAApril262009#

On Saturday, May 21st, I'm going to attempt a `double' cross State speed record (West to East to West) across Indiana. Since the Indiana course is so close to my home we'll just leave from my home in Chicago on Saturday morning at 3:00am, start the race at nautical sunrise (5:30am) and get back home around 10 - 11pm. I will provide food, race follow-vehicle, lights, and signage. The total racing distance is about 300 miles.

This is a link to a DeLorme Topo Indiana course route and profile: : https://picasaweb.google.com/psychling/IndianaCrossStateRecordUMCAMarch292009#

YouTube video of 2009 finish of Indiana Race Record:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE5HJFYSOcc

My plan, of course, is to slam the door shut on the speed record for both types of bicycle platforms, traditional and recumbent.

I'll be racing on the Cruzbike Vendetta and will have the Cruzbike Silvio as a backup.

Cruzbike Silvio