Training is on track

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

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.
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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. 

Perspective thoughts ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

Arrived

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.