`Training Season'

Tomorrow starts outdoor training season for mountain road cycling. 

 

When I returned from Sebring in mid-February I dove into long neglected work duties and various other things given short-shrift while I focused on Sebring. 

 

Then my wife and I spent some R&R on a week in New Orleans. 

 

During that time I was changing up the gearing of my bikes from flatland riding (Sebring) to the local mountain road cycling. 

The Ti Aero has a double (50/34) up front with an 11/36 in back.  My `climbing' gear set up.  The CA2 has a 58/42 up front with an 11/36 in back.  The bigger cassette up front is to accommodate flats and long descending routes.

 

Though it remains unseasonably cold (30F) and windy (40 mph gusts) `up here' all seems to be in working order to begin a concerted outdoor training plan. 

 

Because mountain road cycling is dramatically different (easier in some ways, harder in others) than flatland cycling the body has to be eased into it.  The biggest issue is attending to smart strategies.  Low gears, high cadence on extended (6 - 17 miles) climbing.  Though it is important to build up power and strength it is equally important to build endurance.  A gradual increase in time and distance, interspersed with careful intervals, on the inclines both avoids injury and improves speed. 

 

Another key training goal has to do with bike handling skills on the long descents and fast descending switchbacks.  By `fast' switchbacks I mean just that.  Competition and performance goals require building muscle memory training.  Time, effort and calculated increases in demand. 

 

Tomorrow I'm off to do some shakedown work on the Ti Aero on nearby and reasonably level road.  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12834889

 

This is a good local out and back training road.  Ten mile section of rollers.  Park the car at mile 5 in the event of an unrecoverable mechanical problem.  Just enough vehicles (3 or 5 per hour) that might give me a lift to my car in that case. 

 

Then, in a few days, I'll do some fairly sedate long (9.4 miles) climbs with no descents: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12834961  The actual climbing is great training.  The only downside (pun) is the return to the starting point.  I can easily hit 45 mph on the descent.  And if I'm wet with sweat I have to be careful to dress right to avoid wind chill.  A very real threat.

 

Maybe five or seven training sessions on these routes before I start intensive mountain road training on these local courses: 

 

20 miles 2000 feet of  Steep Ascents and Descents

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12250476

 

40 miles 4000 feet of Steep Ascents and Descents

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12250527

 

50 miles 4300 feet of Steep Ascents and Descents

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12250594

 

And then these:

 

100 miles 7800 feet of climbing and descending

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12265508

 

Skull Valley Loop

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11306232

 

All these training routes are either right from my front door or within a 30 minute drive. 

 

Good to get back to consistent outdoor training. 

 

 

TRAINING ROUTE FOR THE HOODOO 300

If all goes well I'll want to do two simulation / training events for the Hoodoo 300 in late August. 

 

There is limited value, physically, in doing long distance simulations of competitive events.  But there is significant value as it relates to equipment, nutrition and psychology. 

 

Living in the AZ mountains makes it doable and practical to locate these simulations right at home. 

 

The route I've designed is a series of loops, mountainous, low traffic volume and has good to excellent road surface. 

 

With some planning I can stash various supplies along the route so that I can do it without vehicle support.  As well, there is enough traffic so that if I have an unrecoverable mechanical problem I can hitch hike to a local town or gas station. 

 

I'll probably do the training rides on the Ti Aero.  A double (50/34) upfront with an 11/36 in the back.  SRAM R2C levers, tiller, Railgun seat.  Given that it will be an unsupported event I'll use a Norback bag to carry essentials between `stash' locations. 

 

The Hoodoo 300 route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5022326

 

The Prescott 300 route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10204487

 

The biggest differences are:

 

Altitude: Hoodoo (10,600 ft.) v. Prescott (6,100 ft.)

• I crewed for a DF rider on part of the Hoodoo route and the high altitude makes for very, very cold nights.  These are made more challenging when the rider is wet with sweat and has to deal with fast descents.  Good wind shell clothing (and plenty of it) is essential. 

 

Climbing: Hoodoo (17,000 ft of climbing) v. Prescott (22,700 ft of climbing)

 

Meaningful Work v. Empty Distraction

The current American `culture' has been reduced to an `entertainment' culture. Everything is about distraction, preoccupation, vapid and empty addictions. 

 

We are flooded, overwhelmed and buried with things to waste our potential, our capacity for meaningful work.

 

This is deliberate. And it is perpetrated by the rich against the poor.

...

Hopeless, oppressed and depressed millions are provided with `games,' `movies,' `reality shows' that require of them NOTHING but to stay awake in a zombie-like zone of distraction. `Soma.'

 

Real work gives us a sense of engagement, meaningful expression, satisfaction. We are punished for real work.

 

"Soma." A drug for the masses.

 

Read `1984` by George Orwell.

 

"Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949.[1][2] The novel is set in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation, dictated by a political system under the control of a privileged elite of the Inner Party, that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as "thoughtcrime."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

The Plight of The Veteran

Sending people off to fight wars results in death, destruction and .... too many veterans. When you `do' a lot of wars you `get' a lot of veterans.

When you have lots of questionable wars the guys coming back as veterans feel used and defensive ... and pissed off. 

As they get older, and when the society to which they return treats them like shit, they're angry.

That is, they rally around other pissed off guys, they romanticize their shame and they seek simple targets for their hurt and anger. 
 

Easy pickings for little hitlers like Trump, Cruz and Rubio.
 
The plight of the veteran.
 
Too many decent men and women thinking that they did something noble only to discover they were played for suckers.
 
Draft 40 year olds to fight the wars.
 
Send 18 year olds to schools, good jobs and the Peace Corps.
 
Return this nation to the principles upon which it was founded.

Cross Training (When You Don't Really Want To)

Three weeks ago I pulled a muscle (left gluteus medius) by `sitting too much.'  (Don't ask). 

 

Wisdom is knowing when it is not smart to try to `work through it.'  Even though I sort'a tried.  The onliest way to get this behind (pun) me is with rest and consistent exercising of the affected muscle.  (Just `rest' is like shutting down the power plant while you change a bulb). 

 

In this blog post I'm describing a few workout variations with the elliptical machine.  They have more to do with balance and gait than `power.' 

 

Next time you're on the elliptical consider trying these.   

1. After a few minutes of easy `walking' remove your hands from the elliptical `arms.' 
2. First hold on to the vertical bars for a few minutes and get used to holding your upper body stationary. 
3. Then keep your eyes focused on something stationary while you remove your hands from both the `arms' and the vertical bars. 
4. Hold your arms at your sides, ready to grasp the vertical bars or `arms' if you feel unsteady;
• Clasp your hands together behind your back;
• Clasp your hands together and hold them over your head;
• Let your arms move back and forth at your side, as if you were walking on the elliptical.

Doing this recruits little muscles in your legs and hips, improves the `connection' between those muscles and your brain.  The more you are able to use the elliptical in this manner the more improvement you may expect in terms of gait and balance.  In my situation it is gentle rehabilitation of the muscle while it heals.  Stress and strength training comes later. 

Another variation: The Elliptical Moonwalk

Holding on to the elliptical arms or vertical bars start `walking backwards.'  You will find that this is both somewhat odd and difficult.  Be gentle and take your time.  Don't push it if you feel any pain in your legs, knees or hips.  Keep at it for a few minutes, extending the time you `moonwalk' in successive training sessions.  Your legs will strengthen, balance and gait will be improved.

 

 

 

Not Worth It

IMPORTANT CAVEAT

The context of these comments refers to open road cycling, in general.

The RAAM organization is a  source of outstanding venues for endurance road cycling.  They continue to advance and promote the interests of the sport of ultraracing.  I have both experienced and observed a strong receptiveness to `user' feedback on the part of RAAM management.  Some of the events they offer are among the safest and well-managed cycling events in the sport. In no way should the reader interpret my comments as detracting from the RAAM organization.  In no way has any party or organization influenced the personal opinions noted below.  

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

God knows I have done and continue to do things for `glory' and ego satisfaction.  

But I read something the other day (about a scientist who won a Nobel Prize) that brought on one of those `smack my forehead' moments.  

When asked about how he felt about winning the Nobel Prize - the money and prestige - he said it didn't even cross his mind.  In fact, he didn't enjoy the trip to Stockholm to get the Nobel Prize and preferred to stay "back home, in the lab, doing my research."  

"I love doing difficult things because I learn so much.  The knowledge is what makes it so valuable to me.  I think I make a difference in other people's lives.  It's important.  But I don't manage the money very well, anyway.  Never could.  I don't use it."  

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

Think of all the people who get hit, injured and/or killed on a bike. 

It is simply a dangerous sport, recreational activity.  We get hit by trucks, cars, motorcycles, animals (hitting critters when we're screaming down hills), dogs, junk on the road.  

I'm o.k. with taking these `reasonable' risks.  I love cycling.  Even though I've got scars, broken bones and probably hearing loss (motorcycles) because of it.  

But I won't do most long distance open road cycling events.  No matter how safe I attempt to be there is no protection from texting drivers, hostile drivers, impaired drivers.  

In the heat of race competition I saw too many people taking stupid, stupid, stupid risks.  Risks that put their own lives in jeopardy.  Worse, risks that put other drivers and crew members in jeopardy.  

I didn't know that before I was an ultracycling race official (2012) or an ultracycling crew chief (2013).   I was excited about it.  I thought I was `important.'

Risking my life like that is just not worth it.  The `glory' of it ... nope.  

What `knowledge' is gained in such an effort?  Not much.  Not worth the risk.  

There have been medical personnel measuring every conceivable aspect of ultraracing `over public roads' events.  One or two papers may actually have been written and published in journals.  But, to my knowledge, there is no money being spent by medical or psychological research entities on it.  

So.  Plenty of `glory.'  Almost nothing new in the way of `knowledge.'  And one giant heap of death and danger for it.  

Helps me make thoughtful judgments about my own cycling challenges ahead.