Seeya Pappy

It's utterly shocking for me to be sitting on the train and realize it's Thursday morning right now. Things are a little bit back to normal, whatever that means. I woke up, ate breakfast, and reviewed a few Mandarin podcasts on the train to Summit. But my brain isn't quite ready for that so I figure it's about time to sum up the last 5 days.

Saturday, I don't remember what we did in the morning. Maybe went to the Chinese market up on 46. After Julia's nap we went up to see my parents at my aunt's house. They were basically tending my dying grandfather, or more accurately my step-step grandfather, my step father's step father. I got to see him for the last time still breathing, but he'd been unconscious for a week previous to that so he was more or less already gone at that point. I don't think he had walked or spoken in a month. His health had been failing for a year.

Sunday I rode my bike at Wawayanda for 2 laps of the sport race. Despite all my hand-wringing I managed a 6th place finish, which helped me hit my goal of a top 10 finish. In driving up to the race, I was thinking of Pappy, aka Budsy. I don't think I ever called him Pappy until maybe the last 2-3 years. So to me he'll always be Budsy. My step father will always be Bird. Bird's brother will always be Tubby. And their sister will always be plain old Kathleen. She used to have a nickname but I forget what it was, maybe Skitso. She was a bit neurotic.

So I tried, but I couldn't win one for the Budsy, as the silly expression goes. I had kept it all out of my mind until the very end of the race, when it was just suddenly there. There was a guy in my class ahead of me, and it was all I could think about to catch him. I poured it all out there trying to close the gap, and eventually I did. When I passed him he was toast, and I continued to give everything I had for the last 100 yards to hold him off, which I did by 5 seconds. It turns out the guy wasn't even in my class.

Then I blew up. I rode down a fire road, got off the bike, sat under a tree, and cried. Crying isn't something I do very often, unless the dark chocolate runs out at home. So I was a little surprised at myself when I found myself sobbing under the tree. Nobody likely saw me, but if they did I'm sure they would have called me a big pussy for crying after a bike race. So it goes.

I didn't know it but he was dead by then. We knew it was only a matter of time the night before, but you don't know if that's 4 hours or 4 days. Well it turned out to be 4 hours. I told him he could go, that he had a good long life, which was true. I doubt he heard me and if he did he would have told me to piss off. But that was my peace to him, I guess. We all need to say goodbye one way or another. That was my farewell. If he had made it another day I was going to head up again Sunday after the race. But after a phone call I found that wasn't necessary.

Monday we spent the day with my parents. The amazing thing about a 2 year old is that they're oblivious to this stuff, so life just goes on. Of course, that's what we need during these times. So we just hung out, Julia demanding that grandpa walk her up and down the hill incessantly that afternoon. We washed the car, ate salsa and chips, drank coffee - just stuff to do while enjoying the beautiful day. At one point I asked my mom to make me a coffee and Nat admonished me for not doing it myself. But that's one thing Nat doesn't understand about the culture. At times like this, you need normalcy. For my mom, being able to take care of her son in any way is normalcy, the way things should be.

Tuesday was the funeral, where it became clear to me that I'm the "now" generation. You know how you were young and your relatives would get together and if something needed to be decided it was your uncles who discussed it? Well that's me now, just that there are no other uncles in this picture. The older generation is gone, our parents are now grandparents, and you're the one who needs to do the right thing when it needs to be done, like spending the day drinking coffee or walking the elderly back and forth to their cars during the viewing or giving up your train seat to the old man or pregnant woman.

So that's life. It's ironic for me to write that given I ride a bike as a hobby and post pictures of 17 year old pole vaulters. But the way I see it a person can do the right thing and still be a goofball. You still need to enjoy yourself.

I also got to see 3 of my cousins that I hadn't seen in like 15 years. One is a drinking and drug using neurotic, one is a snippy little bitch, and the 3rd is just the sweetest little girl you could ever meet. It's hard to believe the first and third are sisters. I'm the oldest of the bunch by 8 years, so to me they're all still just little girls. When we're all in our 50s they'll still be the same.

So that's that, 4 of my last 5 days. To top it all off I woke up yesterday, got on the scale, and saw 200. What a kick in the balls after that weekend. So I went on red alert and ate nothing but dandelion flowers all day. It worked, as I managed to pare off 6 pounds and this morning I'm back down to 194. Talk about a yo-yo. Monday 195, Wednesday 200, Thursday 194. I think I'm going to stay red alert for a while though, because I look like a fat slut in this picture, apologies to all the fat sluts out there:



It's hard to look at that picture and think, "By golly, there goes a top 5 sport class racer. I can just see it." Christ, it's hard to look at that picture at all. That's all the reminder I need to stay on red alert. I need to get serious about paring off this vacation hangover weight. I'm starting to sound like Joel Fleischman (how pathetic there's no picture of him?) or one of the Sex in the City chicks.

Anyway, so long Budsy.

I'll Race Anything That Moves!

So another race in the books today. Here's the race recap post on the MTBNJ board:

http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?p=36010#post36010

For the 2 of you not on that board I recommend clicking and reading. It's actually worth something this time. I never really thought there was much in the way of race tactics in a mountain bike race but there certainly is. Good stuff this Monday morning.

So now I'm itching to race again. There's a race up in NY state maybe 1:45 away. I discussed it with Nat and she's basically cool with it if I can honestly say the race is worth it for me. I don't know what the course is like so I can't say. Right now I'm 50-50. I need to balance my desire to do a race that eats a huge part of the day with my need to spend some time with the in-laws who go off to Taiwan the next day.

But right now I'm itching to race anything that moves. I'm hoping I get to work and there's a special Mountain Bike Race Day going on in the courtyard in Brooklyn. I drove home like Mario Andretti yesterday as the desire to go faster temporarily consumes me. Channeling Clerks, I'll race anything that moves!!!

It's nice to see all this training pay off though I have to credit Ben with giving me 2 pieces of advice. The first was to practice my race starts as such. Go really fast for 1 minute to simulate a race start. Then fall into a tempo pace for 5 minutes. This is basically what I did. Fly out of the gate and then let things settle down after that. The guys who are faster will pass you quietly and the chaff of the field will never catch you.

The second thing is that if you catch someone, pass them immediately. There's a reason you caught them. Don't fall into the lazy trap of being complacent and going slower than you should. As simple as it sounds it happens a lot. You come up to a guy slowly and are afraid that you will pass then crash or pass and be passed immediately. But it rarely happens. The guy you caught is often times going slightly faster than he should because he heard you coming on and started pressing. So chances of him catching you are slim once you go by.

So another race in the books, this time with a good result. At most I have 2 more races in the next 3 weeks then the season is over and I can fall into the long dark winter holding pattern. I have a much bigger base than I did at this time last year and I know what I need to work on. So even if my 2007 has not been amazingly productive I've seen a nice ending at least once and I've learned a lot along the way.

Gravity Always Wins

The weather mucked up my weekend plans so I hit the road Saturday instead. I picked out a loop that normally takes me about 1:20 and change and planned to do it 3 times. What a joke. What a cold hard dark dreadfully boring joke. After 2 laps I threw in the towel because it was so beyond dreadfully boring I had to get off the bike. I think I've also verified that my stomach has jumped the shark on both Heed and Perpetuem. Not a good realization 2 weeks before the race. Oh well there's always ham and cheese or turkey sandwiches.

That afternoon I took Julia and we went out to see Terren and family and I dropped off his bike which I fixed up. I had an old chain lying around which worked well for the bike. Seems like his cassette and rings are worn just enough for that chain to work. So I threw the bike on the back, the kid in the seat, and off we went.

This is sort of a new thing we're doing, where I take Julia somewhere for the afternoon (or stay at home) and mom gets some down time. This is good for everyone, since it allows daddy and daughter to bond a little more and gives mom some child-free crack smoking time, or whatever it is she does. I'd like to think we already have a good relationship, and this is borne out by the fact when she spilled hard Friday night she clung to me and didn't scream for mommy. The one-on-one time can only help.

Another good thing this does is that it makes me feel less guilty for going on my long bike rides. So our generic weekend approach is going to be that I do one huge ride and maybe a short ride the other day. And one afternoon we take off and do our thing, dad/daughter in one car and mom in another. Then that leaves one morning and one afternoon for family time. I'm sure this will change in a month but for now this is the plan.

Sunday we went to brunch with my parents, dim sum which is basically Chinese buffet on carts they roll around. You pick what to eat and they charge you for it. So we ate like slobs then I met Woody over at Chimney Rock for a quick afternoon spin. In the warmup area which I refer to as the Playground I bit it hard on a fallen tree that was at one of the fast descents. The trail turns a hair at that point so I was absolutely flying and on an angle. The front tire cleaned but the rear caught and flung me way up and over, and I took it all on the left shoulder. Woody said the whole bike went flying in the air.

After that I was a little sore, but fine. The rest of the ride was basically pain free though pulling the water bottle out hurt. But riding the bike was not hindered at all so I figured it was all good. Well Woody took off at one point and I did another lap on the red trails. When I got back to the car it all started to come together, or fall apart. Getting the bike on the car was difficult. When I sat down and started driving away, searing pain shot through my left shoulder. Moving it at all hurt. All I could think of was that my season was done. I mean after the 24 hour race fine, whatever. But this would blow if it were to happen now.

When I got home my wife said one shoulder looked rounded and lower. Not good. Well after a shower I though it was fine, if maybe a hair swollen. I put a tank top on (painfully) and asked my parents and they said it looked fine. I could lift my arm, with some pain, but no grinding, no deformities or bulges so I ruled out a break. Woody and his nurse wife Beth came over for dinner and didn't comment that I looked broken so that was good for me. 5 hours and 4 beers later, it all felt fine if not a bit sore. This morning more of the same, a little sore but probably not as bad as it should be. Like I said last week, become an expert at falling. And apparently you need to have some crash mojo to spare because this is 2 weeks in a row I went down really damn hard and walked away with little to no pain to show for it. I gues the Pain and Suffering gods are content with the bridge fall from earlier in the year and are letting me slide thus far.

I popped a spoke on the rear wheel of the DumpTrucker so I need to either rape a wheel again or go to the shop and get one. The last time the shop gave me the wrong size so I may just pull one out of another bike. What I really need is some spare spokes, especially since I'm bound to pop one at the 24 hour race. The squeaking is gone so it must have been the swingarm-bb shell bearings I changed last week. Shifting is fine. Rear suspension probably a little soft.

I mixed Accelerade and Heed yesterday and that seemed to work OK. I felt better at the end of the ride than at the beginning. I also locked out the suspension on the climbs and holy shit what a difference. The "pro pedal" doesn't work like it's suppose to. After that I locked it out on pretty much any climb, at least the rear shock. The 2 major differences I notice are that the bike is much more repsonsive to my pedal stroke and my traction is a ton better. I don't spin out the rear tire nearly as much as I used to, actually not at all. I really need to make that part of my normal routine, locking and unlocking the rear. The front doesn't seem quite as big a deal since I don't stand on most of my climbs anyway.

By the end of the week I should have everything I need for the bike build. On Friday night I found a new set of Deore shifters/brakes for $50 including shipping on eBay. So all I really need to do is work out the stem length and I'll be good to go. I think having that together for the 24 is a bit of a stretch but you never know.

Apologies for the hastily written entry. I have training today which is sucking up my free time. Seems like all they want to do is send you to training anymore. Nobody actually works these days. I have training Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Exactly what they're training me for is a good question. I'm not even sure anymore.

Bloated and Full of...

Oh boy I'm still tired from Saturday's ride today. 4 hours of roll time out of 4:15 total time plus bad conditions really beat the hell out of me. Sprinkle in a little head cold and Sunday was a whole lotta nothing. Ride link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3553160

I did most of the second half of the 50k, climbed Cardiac, then tried to take the white trail back but somehow got lost and ended up on the tail end of the first half of the 50k to end the ride. So basically I packed in all the hardest parts of the race on a day where the trails were a complete mess. Thank god for the GPS or I'd still be out there.

The first hour of the ride was tough, probably the hardest stretch of the entire race course. It took me over an hour to do 5 miles, which is pretty poor. There really are no free miles in that section. It's a tough draw. I had also kept the Blue Grooves on and had them at 40 PSI which was bouncing me around like crazy. After an hour I let a bunch of air out of the rear and it got a lot better. Not sure where that stands now, maybe 30-35 in the rear? I need to check. I forgot that Allamuchy needs a lot less pressure than most places. Even at the Rattling Creek race last week 40 was perfectly fine. At Allamuchy it's like riding a jackhammer.

The good thing is that I think I'll be fine with the Blue Grooves for the race. With less pressure they seem to do well and I always have the Resolutions as a backup, among any number of tires in the basement.

By the end I was walking anything and everything. When I got home and weighed myself I had lost 10 pounds on the ride. Working out the math results in my needing to drink something like 55 ounces of water an hour in this heat. Blah, that's a tough chore. But the alternative is running into the severe dehydration realm which a 5% loss in body weight starts to do. So I'm dropping a ton of performance because I sweat way too much. I posted a question about it on MTBR and got some good conversation here:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=325580

There are a few things to takeaway from that. One is that this is a long and sometimes painful process. Another is that most of these lessons are learned through experience, sometimes the hard way. I have a lot of tweaking to do with salt/electrolytes, calories, and fitness. But my weakest link in all of that is hydration. Obviously that's a major task right now.

So I'm on a rest week now. I took yesterday off because I was shot and starting to feel that sickness coming on. Plus my abs, chest, and triceps were really sore from all the jackhammering. It feels like the sick starting to fade already but it's still there, so time off is a good thing. If I don't get better through today I'll stay home tomorrow. I was going to take Monday through Friday off the bike but with Sunday an off day I may take off through Wednesday and go for a short spin Thursday. Then Friday off, maybe an hour Saturday then the Darkhorse 40 on Sunday. I'm still very undecided on that race though.

On one hand it's a chance to do a 40 mile race but on the other hand I'm not sure it does much for my getting ready for the 24 hour race. After this weekend it seems to me I'm not really beating myself up enough to be ready for that race. All indications are that the Darkhorse race is an "easy" 40 miles that a lot of roadies do. Does that help me?

My alternate option is to go to Allamuchy again and do a pair of big loops. That would give me a chance to hit the car in between and refuel as needed. It would give me a good chance to test my lap strategy in terms of salt/electrolytes, calories, and hydration. I would be a better park to be riding since that's where the race will be it will help me learn the park better. And it won't cost me $45 like the Darkhorse will. I could even do 3 laps of 90 minutes each to get an even better feel for the whole race and my routine. Plus it will only cost me half a day where the Darkhorse will cost me almost the whole day.

I sound insane but I think I've just convinced myself to bag the DH40 and do this. It will also give me an opportunity to let Woody ride and whoever else wants to since my pace won't be that fast. Slow and steady, loops begin at 6:00, 7:45, and 9:30. Now all I need to do is put together a good 90 minute loop, starting with Cardiac since the race always climbs out of the boy scout camp. But then so does white. I could go up and down white to start and end every lap.

My bike is in pieces on the basement floor after riding it through that mess Saturday. I'm trying to make sure I don't drop a million dollars on maintenance so I took it apart to clean it well. This off week gives me a good opportunity to use some of my down time to do that. Plus I get to learn more about the bike. Maybe I can try changing out the rest of the bearings if I have enough time as well.

Some Monday morning feedback from last week.

Steve

"LOL - Nice one 3rd. party. I have a very strong suspicion of who YOU are, so be careful - I now have full control."

Indeed he does! In true "inmates run the asylum" fashion Steve now runs the site with Jake and I'm a moderator. What next? Fred for governor?

Jake

"try to live moderately
i only eat when i am empty
beer is not poison"

I'd say that Jake's training for 2007 has gone the way of the Dodo. And he sucks at haiku.

Terren

"Multiplying ft/m with your pace (m/h) gives vertical feet per hour. It might be worth tracking. In true nerd fashion, I've been tracking some numbers of my own, now that I have a heart rate monitor. I multiply my avg heart rate (beats/min) with my pace (minutes/mile) to get beats/mile which turns out to be a pretty useful indicator of overall fitness (it's been slowly trending down), and fairly consistent despite workout intensity. It would work just as well with cycling as with running, although since you track speed, not pace, the calculation would be different but easy enough to work out. And Norm I've been silent on the weight issue more or less to help keep your spirits up. I know how much of a motivating factor it is for you to try to catch up with me - and how depressing it would be to see the finish line actually receding into the distance."

Good thought on the vertical feet/mile. That's probably useful for roughly similar hilly routes but I don't think it really does much when you throw in flat routes. Once you get going faster in the flats air resistance is everything and vertical feet don't register at all, but then wind also plays a huge role. Obviously I need a power meter but at a grand or more no thanks. There may be a power calculator online that would do the trick at least for rough comparison.

There is no finish line Terren. The race goes on forever. My strike date is December 26th. Be ready for the call. Even if I have to bike for 5 hours without water on Christmas day you're going down! Well for one day at least. Then I can slowly gravitate towards 300 again, right after I get out of the hospital.

Today's FGI: 191

A bit of a step back but normal for a Monday. After the ride Saturday I ate like a horse. Then yesterday my body was pissed at me, so I ate a lot again. After 189 Saturday and Sunday, a 191 Monday is actually out of the ordinary. It would usually be higher by a pound or 2. I would credit having enough salt on Saturday's ride for that but it's much too early in the experimentation game to say for sure. In any event I start Monday like I start every week, bloated and full of shit.

Title Goes Here

Today's generic title is brought to you by the fact I have no one expression that precisely sums up my weekend. A lot of different things come to mind. Here are a few:

Disappointed
Shit Happens
Out Of My League
My Cat's Breath Smells Like Cat Food
There's Always Beer
Something Will Always Go Wrong

All of them convey some thought of how my weekend went. I think of all of them, I keep going back to the last one. No matter what, it seems like something doesn't go the way I had planned or hoped. Enough of the vague language. Let's get to specifics. First the (half) ride link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3494608

I arrived at 7:15 Friday night and things went well enough from the door. Did my registration, talked to a few people including Mike the promoter, then found my way to a cabin which cost all of $5. The cabins at the girl scout camp were nice, recently built structures with mattresses and electricity. The girl scouts here have it better than the boy scouts in Allamuchy. I slept well.

Woke up at 6:00 which gave me plenty of time to eat breakfast, have coffee, and get ready for the 8:45 meeting. Nothing of note, everything fine to this point.

At 9:00 we started, the second MASS race I've done with a start as expected. The course started with a huge climb up a fire road. This was one of the 2 major climbs of the course. I think the majority of the first 5 miles was fire road, much of it climbing, and some of it excessive because the course was poorly marked and many of us missed a turn. You can see the nub on the map of the ride. When we finally hit the singletrack it was nice and tight, albeit rocky. At the first real technical section I almost went OTB as I was too tentative. I managed to catch myself and was OK after that.

This course is made for my bike, for a change. A lot of rocks on the singletrack which is made easier with the dual suspension. I still stood for a lot of it because I try to be on the more aggressive side with this stuff. That would come back to hurt me a bit later.

At around mile 11 we hit the first checkpoint. I was averaging maybe 7.6 at that point which was as I had hoped. The goal was 6 hours which would be an 8 average. The big climb to start pulled that down and I was also looking for a negative split on the day. So I was well within my hopes at that point. My stop was almost exactly 5 minutes, also as planned.

Somewhere at mile 8 or so I ran through a yellow jacket nest and got stung twice, once on the left calf and once on the right ankle. After that my left calf was doing all sorts of fucked up things. Half-cramps and half-twitchy, it didn't like the sting though it seemed to settle down after about 30 minutes.

At mile 13 I got my first flat, front tire. Kenda Blue Grooves. I had changed out the rear tube the day before which I found flat when I was getting ready. I was running 40 PSI. This added 10 more minutes of down time, total of 15.

At mile 16 I got my second flat, front tire again. At this point I assumed my race was done because I was going on my last tube at the 1/3 point. I checked the tube and found a small gash. No snakebite pattern so it wasn't a pinch flat. I ran my fingers on the inside of the tire. Nothing. The first flat was a slower leak. I felt it getting soft for a while and it eventually got sloppy so I had to change it. I didn't look for the hole because it was a slower leak. The second was much faster. Having lost a little juice here, this stop cost me more in the 15 minute realm. Total stopped time 30 minutes, already double what I had planned for the day.

So I got moving again, trying to take it as easy as I could on the rocks. Coming into checkpoint 2 there was a 2 mile downhill which you can absolutely bomb down. Absolutely. Bomb. Not even thinking about the flats, since I had gone 9 miles flat-free, I did what begged to be done. I bombed.

Enter flat #3. I didn't find it until I had refilled my bottle, my camelbak, and had a few snacks and drinks. I got on the bike and it was flat again. Front tire again. Who flats the front 3 times in 1 year, let alone 1 ride? In the 16 months I've had the bike I've gotten 4 flats before these tires. All of them in the rear. In 42 miles I've gotten 4 flats on these Blue Grooves, 1 rear and 3 front.

So I stared into space for a little then admitted my reality and threw in the towel. Some days it works for you. Some days, well it just doesn't. This day just didn't. That's the way it goes.

So how did I feel? Well with all the standing on the technical stuff my muscles right above my knees were really starting to get tired around mile 15 so I had to take it a bit easier on the technical and try a little more smooth and steady through the rocks. That seemed to work as I felt better after that. I didn't cramp, though my legs were pressing at various points.

My fueling was good as I was taking in about 250 calories per hour. The Perpetuem works so well that for 2 hours after my ride I still felt really good, like getting on a bike wouldn't have been a chore at all. After that I started to fade a little. But I think I had enough of the right calories and salt.

Water was still low. I did the ride, then drank a quart of water on the ride home, and still weighed 4 pounds less when I got home compared to when I woke up Friday. I sweat like a monster, more than anyone ever. When people say they are heavy sweaters, they haven't seen me. I literally lost 3 pounds yesterday mowing my grass for an hour, and I drank a quart of water. So I think my water intake needs to be better still.

But I think pacing, calories, and salt/electrolytes were all good. I just need to work on the water a bit and go from there. When I called it quits I was at a 7.9 average on the day (according to my bike computer not the GPS which seems to estimate low in the woods). So I was sticking to my pacing plan very well. My overall time would have suffered because I added 25 minutes changing flats and would have tacked on another 10 at the next stop had I kept going.

At this point I have to consider tubeless tires. While it's not a slam dunk I do need to think about it. I'm concerned that it just won't hold up to the way I ride. Then again, neither did tubes this weekend. But before now it was fine. Something to think about.

So even though I think I would have finished, I really don't know. On Monday morning I'm still disappointed. The course profile showed that coming out of CP2 there was a huge climb then it gradually went down for a long, long time. I really wish I could have stuck around long enough to see how it all would have worked out.

So yes I'm disappointed. But I also know that this is the way it just goes sometimes. If I don't get another flat all year I will have paid my dues all in one weekend, though I suspect that I'm going to find a thorn or defect in the tire. It does seem like something always does go wrong. But at least this time it was mostly out of my hands. Sometimes all you can do is throw up your hands. And drink beer.

Another thing that strikes me is that Maurice was being really kind when he said something to the effect that you need to get better at the short XC-type stuff before you tackle the enduro stuff. Translation: You're out of your league. Nothing could be more apparent on Saturday morning as I stood around with these guys. I have more body fat than any 3 random guys there combined. Sure there are a few loads like me that try but bail after 20 miles. But for the most part the guys that finish are all really, really strong riders. Even the guys who come in 50th are far, far stronger than I am. So I need to fully understand this when I go out for these, that I'm really riding totally solo, not against the field.

What does this mean for the rest of the season? Well I drank beer Saturday and took yesterday off the bike. Then I drank beer last night and I'm off the bike today. On the drive home I asked myself what I was doing it for: classic disappointment questions. Without question this was the most fun I've had at a race yet, at least up until the run of flats. And even after the second flat it was still really enjoyable. But when you get it sucked out of you by a wrong turn and 3 flats, it puts a damper on the whole memory.

I decided on the ride home that the Darkhorse 40 was a silly race to bother with. I don't know what my reasoning was at the time but it didn't seem to make sense then. But then yesterday I took apart the headset and fork on the old Trek and adjusted it because it was too tight. I raised the handlebars so the cockpit is almost the same as the Stumpjumper. Now if only I could get a wider set of handlebars I would be all set there. I'm going to swap out the WTB Velociraptors and put on either the Kenda Small Block 8s, the old Specialized Resolution Sports, or the pair of Panaracer Fire XC Pros Kirt gave me. I'm leaning to the Resolutions right now.

Then I'll take that out Saturday and see how it feels, probably at LM because that resembles Stewart more than any course around here. Meanwhile I'll probably put the Small Block 8s on the Stumpjumper and run them at like 50 PSI, then I'll firm up the suspension and maybe take that out Sunday to see how we do. Or maybe I'll pester Walter or Jake into letting me borrow one of their bikes for the race. Then I'll make a decision on which bike to run. I may wait until race day to register just so I have the option to bail if it rains.

Yeah so I guess I'm not giving up entirely. I gotta say I'm seeing more and more 29ers out there these days. I'm really starting to get interested in that now, I have to admit. My wife guaranteed I would have a new bike within 2 years. She may just be right after all.

So yes I was disappointed but I'm not giving up on the sport. At least not yet.

Just About Nothing

Well the week is just about over and I have nothing else to talk about. I worked out all of the details yesterday so now all I need to do is put it all together and pack the car at some point tomorrow. I have the whole day working from home to do that.

So that's that. Other than sleeping as much as I can (8 hours last night) and eating well there's really not much else to do. Not looking forward to the drive because I'm bound to get caught in traffic somewhere along the line. But it is what it is. And since the promoter reiterated today that you can't get there before 7:00, it probably works out well. Drive is 162 miles in 3 hours.

I mentioned yesterday I was pretty tired, and on the way home that was pretty evident as I had trouble staying awake. A day later and I feel better, much more excited about the weekend now that I'm on a day off. While I won't be 100% fresh and rested by Saturday I'll be close enough which is all I'm looking for.

Steve

"the problem with multitasking is get get many things done wrong more quickly than it takes to get one thing correct. i didn't mean no light, what i meant to convey was a solid light instead of blinking. ask sean, i remember reading in one of his posts or ride across the country blog, about that. right now, i am just regurgitating second hand information while reading a contract (which i can't afford to get wrong). anyway good deal about the light, besides being a safety item, it is also the law."

Law, shmaw. I don't need no stinking law. I'll have to ask Sean but I did look online today and couldn't find anything. Damn hippies shouldn't be riding at night anyway. The light I have has like 6 settings and I choose the one I would call "scattered". It's not a steady blink but a rapid sorta mess of blinking. Think bird shot.

I wrote out my race checklist with Scottie Pippen last night which I should publish at some point. I debated playing ball at all so I asked my wife who unhesitatingly replied: Yes! My yesterday addition was a bag chair so that when I wake up at 5:30 I have somewhere to sit for the next few hours. The camping really is minimal but there are still going to be damn near 12 hours to burn between the register and the race. Maybe I should bring a book. War and Peace. Great way to prep for a race.

I seem to have settled on 192 as my stable weight for the race season. Some fluctuations in the 190-193 realm but 192 or 191 is where it always ends up at the end of the week. On one hand it's disappointing since I did see 182 on the scale one day but on the other hand my average weight then was 185. The 182 was merely a low point. Plus this is at least 10 pounds lower than my "operating weight" last season. At this stage 10 pounds a year is the best I can hope for and still keep a heavy riding load.

So put me in the camp of people who have now experienced a slight rebound from off-season weight loss as well as not being able to lose weight in-season. They say you store a lot of water and "waste products" in a time like this and I'm inclined to agree, especially since I basically packed on this 5 pounds on my sick week. I didn't really eat 17,500 extra calories that week. So it seems I'm retaining water and "other" stuff, whatever that exactly means.

People that go on juice fasts (jumbo shrimp) see weight loss in the 5-10 pound realm in as little as 3-5 days. Apparently this is water and waste. Alright I can buy that but what the hell is your body doing storing up this "waste" in the first place? As it is I eat a clean, minimally processed diet. How is it that my body feels the need to retain water and extra shit? Seems pretty fucking absurd to me. Perhaps the theory is flawed.

I'll try to bring the camera out to the race this weekend but I'm bad at pictures. I can't take the blogs where a guy will post 12 pictures of his mundane road ride so I shy away from them. But a good smattering of pictures makes any story that much more enjoyable. Also, if I bring my wife's camera and break it she'll be pissed. How do you bring a camera on the ride and be sure it won't get beat up?

Getting humid but not too hot. Should be good for the weekend ride. Over and out. May or may not post tomorrow as I will have no train time to waste away. Enjoy the weekend.

Ducks

Third Party brings up a good point about something I might have forgotten in my race prep. First and foremost I need to thank my wonderful wife for allowing me to go out and do the race this weekend. Making coffee and a bagel - fine, half a bagel - doesn't cover the amount of rope she's giving me in the next 5 weeks. For those of you scoring at home, that's enough rope to ride about 190 miles (all off road) in 3 different states over 5 weeks. Goddamn that sounds like a lot. So even though she doesn't read anymore I'd like to thank Nat for being such a great wife and mother.

I must be growing up or something because I ironed out all the details of this race already. I'm pretty much set to go, save for a few precious details like the fact I'm sitting on a train and it's only Wednesday. So here's the play-by-play, skip ahead if you get bored because this ended up being pretty involved:

Work from home is already arranged. At 4:00 I head west, young man. Route 78 gets sketchy as you get to PA so I cut out on exit 7 in NJ and pick up again in PA because there's usually a backup at the toll booths when you cross the river. Aim to hit the girl scout camp at just about 7:00, which is what time it opens for people to show up. Directions already printed. I should send them to the blackberry to be sure. Or I can publish the address here and call someone if need be. Here's the address:

88 Hemlock Road
Halifax, PA 17032

Who wants to be my directional backup?

The race is at the girl scout camp, which is also where the camp sites are. Talk about convenient! For better or worse, the girl scouts will have been removed by then. You can get a bunk in a cabin for $5 or a tent site for $10. I'm opting for the tent site which should prove to be slightly more quiet. You can check in for the race Friday night between 7:00-9:00. I'm already registered so that should be straightforward. After check in I do the tent then crash out for the night.

Wake up at 6:00 and eat breakfast, then maybe try to find a cup of coffee. Get ready with the bike and so on then find a small corner where I can sit and take it all in. Pre-race meeting at 8:45. Race starts at 9:00. Smart, steady pacing starts at 9:01. One line in jest, but really all the other plans are secondary compared to that one. I may want to break out the old HRM again at some point to learn to pace better. But not this weekend.

There are 3 checkpoints (CPs) not 4 which means it will be slightly harder to get away with only bottles. I'm going to mount the lower cage and put a small bottle there but not sure if that will be useful or not. I may need to strap it down. Something to consider. I will pre-bag the Perpetuem and refill the bottle at each CP. The big bottle will have 400 calories which is good for about 90 minutes. The small will have 400 as well but will be a backup. I will only refill that if I need to. In all I will take 3 bags in addition to pre-filling the bottles for a total of 2000 calories. I don't think I'll use that much but an extra bag of powder costs me an ounce or 2. Probably have 72 ounces of water in the bladder, figure that gets topped off at CP2.

In theory that's 1600 calories and 214 ounces of water over 6 hours for a total of 265 calories and 36 ounces of water per hour. The calories is about right but I won't need that much water. The bags will be pre-salted and I'm going to pop 3 Endurolytes at each CP and maybe 3 at the start line.

I'm really thinking out loud here. This isn't exactly interesting copy or anything. Breakfast is TBD but figure at least 6-8 cups of water and a moderate-to-solid breakfast 2-3 hours before start.

From start to CP1 is predominantly uphill so figure 1:45 realm for that. From CP1 to CP2 to CP3 is standard rolling so expect 1:30 for each of those legs. CP1 and CP3 are the same spot, so from CP3 to the end is predominantly down, they estimate 30-60 minutes for the last 8-10 miles. I'll play it safe and say 60 minutes. Add 15 minutes in theory spread across all 3 stops and you have a 6 hour target. That's not a goal, per se, because I don't want to push myself to cramping and I really have no idea what the course is like. The goal is to finish. But if I come out of CP2 in 3 hours I'm probably going to keep that 6 hours in mind.

After the race I hit the car, change into something that smells less, do the recovery drink, grab some water, then look for free food and, if I'm lucky, a nice cold beer. Maybe hit the road in the 4:00-5:00 realm and home by 8:00 latest, more than likely smelling awful.

So that's that. Details in the book, camp arrangements done. Registered already. Traffic detour worked out though you can never beat traffic. Now I just need to take care of the normal ride prep, the camp, and the cooler of food. Then I'm good to go. Right now, all those ducks are lining up nicely.

Today's ride was tough. No cannons, no shots, no fire, no snot, and certainly no shaving cats. Felt good from the go but it went downhill from there, my residual fatigue of riding hard 4 or the last 5 days starting to catch up with me. I did the long swamp loop which can be a bit of a black hole because a lot of it is flat so it begs to be ridden faster. Mentally you always think you're going too slow. 45 minutes into it I was good and done, ready for a few days off. So today I'm not quite as excited about this weekend because I'm pretty tired right now. Thankfully I've been at this long enough to know that this will pass and by the end of tomorrow I'll be worked up again.

I think being tired today tells me that 4 days a week on the bike is plenty. As I sit here I can't help but wonder how I was keeping up 5 days a week for so long. My rides now are more "complete" for lack of a better term. I ride hills then keep tempo with whatever the road throws at me. I used to do more intervals which are hard when you do them but then you rest completely in between. The "experts" say intervals are actually fairly easy to recover from in one day. Maybe my "complete" rides are more stress than I think. Who knows. I'm tired right now, I do know that.

Looking ahead to after the 24 I may look into the Ross method of 3/4 brutally hard days in a row followed by 3/4 days off to get ready for the 50k. That could be interesting for a few reasons, one of which is that by then the sun won't be rising until 5:50 and as I approach the race that will move towards 6:30.

ChrisG

"Definitely my pleasure to ride with you, Norm. Thanks as well for offering up the comparison of the three parks. I find it hard to believe myself that I've never ridden CR and LM, but I'm sure that will be changing before the season comes to an end."

By all means let me know and we'll make it happen. Of course with our schedules that might take the rest of the year to work out. Plus I need to get down to Allaire one of these days. I've been there before but it was also many years ago and all I remember was sand. And we need to do that 50k primer as well.

Steve

"Blinker in the rear? I think sean once mentioned that becomes a zone-in for drunk & tired drivers. Shave in the shower. Smoke 'em if you got 'em."

Never heard that before. I was riding at dusk last year and someone pulled up to me and told me I was going to get killed, that they could hardly see me. In fact the driver didn't see me, his wife did. So I went out and got a blinker. Haven't had any close calls since then. I can't imagine that not having a rear light makes more sense in any situation unless you're stealing corn from the local farmer's market. But again, what do I know?

I used to shave in the shower but I usually wait too long so I would make a big mess. On top of that I don't have a mirror and it ends up taking me longer and I waste more water to boot. I really should just shave at night but I get lazy.

George

"Norm...you never cease to provide the humor my friend! Too funny. I have now had my daily chuckle thanks to your insightful, yet hilarious discourse! On another note... Do you bring clean clothes to change back into for the ride home? Maybe have showers there? If not, bring a gallon/jug of water, some soap, and a towel or tow, or lots of baby wipes! So you can clean up a bit, and not feels so grimy on the ride home. It always feels longer going home, doesn't it? I can't think of anything else, you pretty much have it covered. Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Airplane...they were just awesome movies for sure. Oh yea, I do love Office Space...lol. If you could just pack the car the night before, that would be great...mmmmkay?"

I had planned on bringing a change of clothes but some wipes isn't a bad idea at all, especially for the nether regions which get lathered with Udderly Smooth before the race. Some throwaway water is also a good idea to wash off the legs at the very least. Might as well throw in a towel too. Good call, thanks.

Is the drive home longer? You know, I don't think so for me. I'm spent by then and it gives me time to just sit and be, to think, and most of all relax. At least for the first hour. By the end of a ride that long I'm usually stir crazy. But for some of it I get complete and utter down time which is a rare commodity for a bike-riding father of a 15 month old.

Fire away. Corrections and suggestions welcomed, as always.

Trees and Roses, Smell 'Em

Ever since the week I was sick and didn't ride for 5 straight days things have seem to come together in several different ways, probably mostly in my head but physically as well. There was the cash-in on my forced rest week, which seems to have been a peak about 12-14 days after the rest. Then there's the added bonus of realizing that sometimes less really is more.

English please?

What I'm saying is that I had a great weekend of riding. I met up with Chris down at Hartshorne on Saturday morning and he gave me the tour of both Hartshorne and Huber. It was a really nice ride but what struck me the most was that Chris just absolutely loves to ride his bike, and to ride and talk with other people that ride their bikes a lot. The ride was good but the conversation was even better. Ride link here:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3386574

Chris asked me to how Hartshorne compares to Lewis Morris and Chimney Rock, as he's never ridden either and wants to check out both at some point. Technically speaking Chimney Rock is tougher and Lewis Morris is easier. For climbing Lewis Morris is tougher and Chimney Rock is easier though of the 3 parks I would say the fire road climb at Chimney Rock is the toughest of the lot. I generally don't include that in my normal loop though because there's singletrack that runs parallel to it.

Here are ride links from the other 2 parks:

* Standard Chimney Rock loop
* Lewis Morris, 2 race laps from 2006

As you can see Hartshorne has the most climbing of the 3 on a feet/mile basis but I'm going to throw out the caveat that in my experience the more a course has short ups and downs, the less accurate the GPS is with its vertical calculations. Given that, I would guess Lewis Morris actually has a bit more vertical, but the climbs are all pretty much non-technical. You can see from the graphs that Lewis Morris has bigger but less frequent spikes, Hartshorne has a lot of small spikes, and Chimney Rock has less frequent but medium sized spikes.

So what does it all mean? No idea. They're all in the same general class of difficulty with both Chimney Rock and Hartshorne being the more enjoyable of the 3. Lewis Morris is almost like a dirt track park which drains well and is a great winter ride as well as being a good place to just mindlessly pace yourself or try out new tires and the like.

So the good vibes from the Saturday ride spilled over the Sunday:

(no ride link, motionbased is still uploading from last night)

I went out and did my Mendham loop but extended it, got lost, and jumped over the hill instead of returning home on 512. I added the huge hill after Mendham which would be the big ass spike on the graph. Then I went left and left but missed the next left on Ironia. Soon enough I realized I was lost so I zoomed out on the GPS map and turned on the next road which pointed me in the right general direction and found my way soon enough. On the return I usually do the head-down and plow-it-out ride on county road 512. Instead I went up and over the hills, opting for peace and quiet, not to mention awesome scenery and that second big ass spike on the map.

I toned it down a little for this ride and tried to pace better on the hills. I'm going to need to do that Saturday if I hope to finish and not be in a world of hurt. I also opted to ride on the nice roads and this is probably one of the most beautiful loops I have ever put together. I'm going to work on a 40 or 50 mile ride that loops as many of these nice spots together and hopefully do a group ride this fall.

It was a great ride because I stepped back to enjoy it a bit more than usual. There were plenty of hills to keep me honest so it's not like I went out there and tooled around on a light cruise. Good stuff, good weekend. Thanks for the perspective Chris.

This post seems kinda vague so let me summarize. Enjoy yourself out there.

As I was grinding up some of the hills yesterday I was thinking that I really do need to dial it back on my pacing if I want to finish these long rides. My pain tolerance is probably a bit higher than average which makes me often think that I'm not going as hard as I am. But then it's not so high that I can ride through cramps or my muscles just giving up the ghost for the day. I rode at a sensible pace yesterday that will be perfect if I take it with me to the race Saturday. 48 miles sounds like a lot of mountain biking but with only 5000 feet of vertical it's a pretty tame climbing course overall. As long as I pace myself I should have a good ride.

Really looking forward to this weekend. I should have the details all ironed out today. Walter's sensible comment will be discussed tomorrow.

I played a little one-on-one with Michael Jordan last night and he beat me, as usual. After that I picked up with Pippen for a second game. I played ball a few times with Pippen last week and was thinking that maybe Pippen had as much run as Jordan but after last night, no such thing. Jordan is still the king and they can both beat my ass any day.

Rain rain rain rain rain rain. I hope this crap clears out today so I can get out there the next 2 days.

Race Weekend

In every race I have ever done there has come a point in the race where I declare, usually in a good amount of agony, "I'm never doing another stupid race again."

Until yesterday.

Let's start from the top, which isn't what those of you with short attention spans will want but you can skip to the bottom if you wish. The weekend didn't start with flying colors as I slept poorly Friday night and struggled to wake up Saturday morning. My 50 mile ride plan went on a diet and came out as my lean and sexy 38+ mile loop in reverse which I started around 7:00.

I shot out of the gate which often worries me because a) I should need to warm up, and b) it probably means I'm going to have pacing problems later. Well I tried to take it easy but inside of 20 minutes I was up and over a 17 average and by the time I got to Far Hills 9 miles away I was at 18. I kept at it and took what I had until the 1:15 mark when I was up at 18.4 for the ride.

"What am I doing?" I asked myself, literally out loud. Does this make sense to keep banging this out for the whole ride? I backed off for the last 50+ minutes and dropped down a bit and ended with a 17.9. Ride link here:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3314744#

The idea was to go out and get a fair distance ride and throw in some hard efforts but not go crazy. For the most part I accomplished that only because I came to my senses at the right time and toned it down. My high-end was off, without question. Steady climbing and tempo were really on though.

The rest of the day was proper nutrition, proper hydration, and not overdoing it with yard work or anything that would just tire me out. Overall that plan went fine.

All that was left was the race. Now I have to admit I knew what the course was going to be this year. I had gotten my hands on a race map and I knew that a) the course was run in reverse, b) it was shorter by probably 3 minutes, and c) there was actually a tiny bit of connecting trail being used that I may have ridden once but that I was unfamiliar with. All in all I thought it was a good change because it took out the toughest climbs and made the nasty rooty downhill a climb instead. The same general rule of a negative split still applied though.

Race day was just normal wake up, blah blah blah. I think something happened with this particular race such that I no longer get juiced up and nervous for these things. I slept well, didn't really think about the race at all the day before and didn't lay in bed thinking about it either.

I think my morning ritual needs some fine tuning, though I hesitate to use the word "ritual" when it's just a training race. I did my toast, eggs, and cheese breakfast and drank enough water but not crazy amounts. Felt fine but not amazing. Got there too early and had a banana, some water, and chugged some instant breakfast before the race.

I did 15 minutes of trail to warm-up then spun around a little more. Given that this was going to be a 2 hour race I didn't want to put too much into it because that's a lot of time to make up lost ground early on but also a lot of trail to string yourself out on. So played it conservative all around as my helpful readers suggested last week.

Lined up with Jake, and we continued to bullshit until it was our turn to go. The horn sounds and I turn what I would call a warm pace into the start. Within 15 seconds I am passed by probably 25 people if not more. These guys come absolutely zooming out of the box which, given the nature of the course, is pretty fucking stupid if you ask me.

We go up yellow, then up orange, then down and up orange again. This levels off and then we start to climb purple. No matter the direction the course goes up more on the first half. On the purple trail I start picking them off, not one by one but like 5 at a time. I'm totally in my own race at this point. I don't pass people because they're there, I pass them because my pace is just faster. And of course some of them have blown up already.

First lap went well to that point. The start of these races always uses more energy because you have to navigate through the guys who really don't ride well. So you simply use more energy doing the same pace. I should have kept this in mind but I didn't, and on the back 2 miles of the course I sort of let it eat me a little bit. I was gummed up behind maybe 5 guys and these morons were riding their brakes on all the downhills scrubbing away speed for no good reason. So at the very end, at the hairpin turn before the wooden bridge, I passed the lot of them as well as a handful in front of them. Major power move to blow past them and then a few more guys ahead of them. A few guys followed me there.

Well this was stupid. I came across lap 1 at maybe 36:30 a bit winded and started on the climbs again. Some of the guys had repassed me on the fire road and when I hit the second part of orange I knew I had to dial it back on this lap or I could be in trouble. As I went up switchback it was painful and I wondered how the hell I was going to climb that thing again a third time.

In all the second lap was pretty uneventful. I ended up going back and forth with a group of maybe 4 guys on the second half. We kept passing each other and ended the lap with them out ahead of me. I didn't want to make the same mistake as lap 1 so I took it easier. Lap 2 I was at 1:14, pulling 37 minute laps for the race.

The third lap I let it just come to me. I passed the group of 4 guys on the purple climb for the last time, never to be seen again. They had collectively gotten caught up with each other and were all blowing up in unison. When I passed them they were probably going about 3. After that I was basically solo for the next 3 miles until I caught up with a Marty's team guy who was stopped on the last steep climb. He clipped in before me and I followed him up the hill. At the top I passed him, my last kill of the day.

Or was it?

Being a local team guy he must have known the course and of course I know the course also. He jumped on my wheel and tried to follow me down the steep descent. I could hear him back there but I had opened a gap fast. The rollers hurt so I took it easy to leave enough for the last mile. He was back there and trying to catch me, but there was no way in hell I was going to let him catch me.

I bombed down the end of yellow to the bridge where I had made my mistake passing before. In general I think it's a waste to look back because it only slows you down but I glanced sideways as the trail turned 90 degrees then 90 again. I saw him back there not that close but not totally dead yet either. I ran the rollers aggressively and dumped out on the fire road, where I gave everything I had in an effort to gap him as much as I could.

It worked, and when I crossed the finish line and stopped pedaling I cramped up. The balls-to-the-wall ending left my legs shot and they did exactly their job then said, "Fuck you we're done." Fair deal, you guys did well this day.

So there it is. I like it. The bike did well but again it's not a race bike as it's far too heavy. I ended up in 76th overall of 155 or so who started, I think 31st in my class. Nothing special but a fair showing.

Good stuff. I have to say I'm kind of bummed that there isn't another H2H race until September. Of course I may be doing distance races every other week for the next 6 weeks so my plate is full enough right now.

Tune Up Tuesday

I finally got my elusive vacation day on Tuesday which was a nice break to the monotony. My plan was a pretty basic 5 part day:

1. Sleep in
2. Spend time with family
3. Ride Lewis Morris
4. Get a haircut
5. Mow the lawn

It all went well until step 5, which was replaced with "fill the bird feeders" because it was so hot out. At one point I saw 100.2 on the thermometer. Just a brutal day yesterday.

I took the reassembled Stumpjumper to Lewis Morris with the intention to do 2 or 3 laps. I don't warmup or anything I just go, keeping a pace from the door. I think the last time I did laps at LM I was pulling 43 minute loops. Well that apparently was a long time ago as my first loop was 36:30 and the second 39:30, roughly. I cut it off after 2 because it was well over 90 degrees at that point and I wasn't looking to blow a fuse. Ride link here:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3267198

The extra 1:30 was going to/from the race loop. I have to be honest that I was astonished that I was able to pull that fast of a first lap, especially since it was a warmup. It hurt more than the second but then it was 3 minutes faster. If I had tacked on a third lap I probably would have kept about the same pace as the second lap, in the 40 minute realm, and I would have been pretty shot. The goal this Sunday is 2 hours. Anything better than that is gravy. That might seem like a lock given Tuesday's ride but I have no idea how it all shakes out with the 70 or so riders that will start at the same time I do.

I'm debating between letting it go for the first 5-10 minutes to get some separation from the chaff versus just doing my thing and letting it all fall where it will. The first 3 miles of the course is most of the climbing so there are plenty of places to pass but also plenty of places to blow. Aside from a 2 hour goal my other goal is to not cramp and to give it a solid but consistent effort. Blowing in the first 3 miles is not the best way to do that.

The downside with just starting free and easy is that you will bottleneck when the park road hits the singletrack, especially since you need to pull a turn that is sharper than 90 degrees in that transition. Whatever, I'll play it by ear the day of the race.

The one striking thing I noticed about yesterday is that my bike climbs like a dump truck. I love the bike but seriously it's just not a race bike. It does the job and on the flats and downhills it's a great bike. But that's a lot to lug up all of those hills at LM. And of course standing just eats up my energy as the squish squish squish does its thing.

But you know, failing that elusive winning lottery ticket I won't be buying a light race bike any time soon.

This morning I went out and climbed some hills. Nothing special just got out and did my thing. The pace is pretty unremarkable and I don't really have an answer for that. By the time I was warmed up the hills started. And I never really cashed in on the downhills as I actually took a wrong turn and got lost. Ride link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3272016

No riding the next 2 days because I think rest is something I don't do enough of right now. And with these temperatures I really don't want to dig too deep of a hole. Maybe I'll pull a 2-3 week high volume stage in a few weeks but last time knocked me out for a week and left me flat the week after that. So I'm just trying to enjoy my time on the bike as best I can which translates to 4 days a week right now.

Jake

"you and your esoteric jargon. ;)"

I gots mad game, or snacks like Rod Woodson. Don't ask.

Ignoring my esoteric jive, Jake is also running on Sunday and I hope he does well. He's been obsessing about this for a few months now and finally the week of truth is here. My advice is just to pace yourself and aim for a negative split on each lap. Your second half of each lap should bump up your average. The first half is where you build your potential energy to release later. Think of it as a roller coaster. Up until that top of the switchback you're just click-click-cliking your way up to the top. Then let go but do so wisely.

ChrisG

"Finally sorted out some password confusion. Hence my lack of presence here lately. Full marks on the "ambivalent" vs. "indifferent"."

Well I'm glad someone appreciates it. And good to have you commenting again. Hope to see you at the LMC this weekend or the Lebanon 52 next weekend. What are your thoughts on warming up before a race as well as race start strategy?

George

"Lollapalooza! 1993 I think...right? I was there too! That is too funny man. I remember Janes and Pearl Jam, and NIN. It was a great show on the main stage. Wow...that was a blast from the past Norm."

Well I think one of us was either drinking or smoking or ingesting a little too much something or other back then because I'm pretty sure Pearl Jam was the second year (1992). I only went to the first year (1991) and I don't remember Pearl Jam. I guess I could just look it up and verify that I'm correct. But I'm on the train so that will have to wait.

I do seem to remember there was a no-show at the show we went to but I don't remember who. I think Siouxsee and the Banshees were on right before Jane's but not sure if they played or not. I do seem to remember being bored out of my skull for some of the show so good bet that they played. But then who didn't play?

They really should have box scores for this stuff like they do in baseball. I can go look up what Sixto Lexcano did on June 3, 1983. They should have the same sort of thing for concerts.

You know I think Living Color also played at that show and I think they were outstanding too. Yeah I really need to look this up when I get to work. All I can say for certain is that Ice Tea kicked serious ass, as did Jane's and NIN. And the Ice Tea and Perry Farrell whitey/nigger sing-off (whatever I hesitate to use the word duet there) was just fantastic. Or maybe it sucked and the drugs were great.

So I checked it out and apparently Fishbone was there too but I don't remember that. Pearl Jam was indeed the second year. Vaguely remember the Butthole Surfers and Rollins Band but not the Violent Femmes at all. And another thing I see is that Lollapalooza has turned into a mass freak event. This year there are no less than 125 scheduled bands currently. What the fuck man, that's just inane.

Wednesday. Ho ho hum. It looks like pea soup out there and feels worse. Stay cool.

Fixed

I guess if I was a big Nine Inch Nails fan I would have used the title Broken last week. I think naming these blog entries is a bit of a chore so don't read too much into them. Half the time it has nothing to do with whatever I'm talking about and the other half I have to stop myself from putting Pig Shit or some other inane expression as the title. It's just whatever comes to mind. Anywhere there's my nod to NIN. I saw them at the first Lollapalooza. Good show - especially Ice Tea, NIN, and Jane's - very vague recollection of it all. Now I go to Waterloo Village to park my car for the 24 hour race. It's the same field. Ironic how things change over time, huh?

So I think I'm better now. Not sure what did it but I had a good week of riding which was topped off by a great weekend. On Saturday I did a big 53 mile Califon loop with almost 4800 feet of climbing. Managed to keep a 16.5 for that which was a fantastic roll. Link here:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3252577

I'm really starting to see some of the high end stuff come out now. On the return home I was really pounding some of the short rollers. At one point I was going uphill doing 28 mph. Pretty wild stuff for a genetically limited fat white boy like myself. On Saturday I went to Lewis Morris with Woody on my old Trek full-rigid bike. Two things of note came from this:

1. That bike is a piece of shit. Let me qualify that by saying it really is old and needs some work. It's setup all wrong and feels awful. The bars are both too narrow and too low and possibly over-extended. The headset is beyond shot and the brake levers are positioned all wrong. Grip shift which I hate now. And of course cantilever brakes which squeak squeak squeak all the way down any hill and provide ample stopping power at the best of times. I'm really uncomfortable on that bike and can't descend well at all. I have no confidence on it either. It needs some work but...

2. It climbs like a bike possessed. Now I'm sure some of this has to do with my whole "high-end coming together" thing as well as the fact that I more than likely peaked last week. But jeez hills just aren't the same with this thing. At the end of the ride yesterday on the last climb I just threw it down to see what I could do and utterly lost Woody in no time.

I totally understand why people drop some nice coin on a light race bike with suspension. If I mixed the best qualities of the 2 bikes - the downhill ability of the squishy and the climbing of the rigid I don't think it's a stretch to say I'd be able to compete in the top of the sport class immediately. Well maybe it's a little stretch but probably not much. The more you ride the more stuff like this makes a difference. How much do you want to spend on a bike though?

In any event now I want to setup the old Trek properly which will be an offseason project. And of course I might eye up a lighter set of wheels for the full-squish for Christmas. Getting ahead of myself I know. This is what I do. We all do.

Here are my links from last week's rides:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3201887
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3205678

Nothing from yesterday's ride at LM because it was computer free. Just to clarify, Steve asked:

"i was reading the update for the darkhorse gallop, and with the short course, it could potentially be as "physical" as kvsp, fwiw. what do you consider a "fair amount of climbing"?"

It would probably be more accurate to say a good amount or even a lot of climbing. For me a lot is an average of 100 feet per mile. That's sort of the Mendoza Line for "a lot" of climbing for me. The Hillier Than Thou century is 10k of climbing in 100 miles. Or something like 11k in 108 miles. Either way it's a lot so when I ride I always compare against that. My last 2 road rides were:

Wed: 34.74 miles, 2826 vertical, 17.1 average, 81.3 feet/mile
Sat: 53.33 miles, 4790 vertical, 16.5 average, 89.8 feet/mile

Pretty happy with those ride averages. It would probably be an interesting study to keep tabs on average inclines for my rides and how my speed correlates. On the other hand it's a PITA. I was hoping to be able to approach a 17 average Saturday but after the Bissel climb I knew that was out of my range. I started at 16.6 and by the end of the climb was at 15.5. So that was a killer hill to blow out the average that much.

I'm finding lately that it's just better training to ride as many hills as possible. Since most of the mountain biking in north and central Jersey is hilly it translates better. There's never a perfect correlation between the road and the trail but I think the best way to make it close is to ride hills, a lot. So I always keep an eye on the amount of vertical. Unfortunately there just aren't a lot of long climbs in the area.

So biking was good this week even if motivation was a little lacking at times. Felt better overall and I don't think it's far-fetched to say those 8 beers at Vinny's set me back tremendously. I just can't live up to my nickname anymore. That's OK because drinking is an expensive and unhealthy hobby.

I was so unthrilled with the Trek yesterday that I came home and worked on the bearings in the linkage for Julia's entire hour and 40 minutes nap and managed to get the old ones out, the new ones in, and put the bike back together. I would have given myself a 3% chance of doing all that during the nap so it was a major score on that front. Very excited about that.

I needed to partially rebuild the bearing I couldn't get out. As a unit the bearing presses out easily. But when it falls apart and nothing is left but the outer race, forget it. Nothing I did made a difference in trying to get it out. So I popped one of the others out, took it apart, carefully rebuilt the stuck race and popped it out like butter. Was able to press them all back in with the vice and a socket to seat them fully. Sweet!

So hoping to take tomorrow as that elusive vacation day I haven't been able to get. Looking to sleep in, hang out with the family a bit, then hit LM again with the squishy bike. The race at LM is this weekend and I want to run a few laps with the reassembled bike to see how it feels. I've only ridden a mountain bike twice in about 5 weeks so I may ride both Tuesday and Saturday, though not sure I can mentally handle 10 race laps in an 8 day span, so more than likely be on the road again Saturday. If I am off tomorrow the blog will be silent for a day as I never get time to sit down and write at home. Also need to get a haircut and mow the lawn so my off day is pretty busy before Monday even begins. Things just keep on growing around here. Weeds in the flower bed, my hair, the grass, the long list of bike repairs and upgrades, my gut...the list is really endless.

One Foot Out of the Bucket

I'm no longer on death's doorstep today. Maybe still on his front yard on the way out of town which is the right direction. I'll make sure to crap on the lawn before I head outta Dodge.

When it rains it pours and last night Julia was breaking through a new tooth and her gums were bleeding. From 10 to 11 she woke up every 5 minutes which killed my sleeping, especially since that's when my medicine was in full effect. I need to time that better so medicine and bed time coincide. For the record it's 11:00 pm on Wednesday night as I start this post. You would think I'd be sleeping but no sir that's just not in the cards right now. Hopefully I can get to sleep soon and finish it off on the train.

I didn't go to the doctor but I called and they confirmed that Advil and a nasal decongestant was the solution last time. They wouldn't give me a prescription over the phone. So I went the DIY route and took 4 Advil and a Sudafed every 4 hours. By 2:00 I was feeling a new man. Thoughts of self-molestation gone entirely.

The problem, which I had in 2002 according to the doctor, is such. Basically you have sets of overlapping muscles covering your skull. The front ones are sinus muscles and the back ones are the ones that run down your neck and back and so on. When you have sinus problems it pulls the front muscles one way. When you are overtired or stressed it pulls the back muscles the other way. The result is a conflict which for some is a sinus headache. For me it feels like someone is nailing an ice pick into my head periodically. I consider it in the same ballpark as bad toothache pain. In other words, awful, sometimes worse.

After I became a new man I spent some quality time on my 4 different bike projects. So when I said I was going to start doing this myself I guess I really mean I'm going to do all of it myself, not just most of it.

The big result of the day was getting the SS back to being rideable. What I previously referred to as my SS was a former geared bike that had no derailleurs. So I had a bunch of gears on it but just stuck in one. I removed 2 of the front rings and broke apart the old cassette with a grinding bit to get the gear I needed. Then I spaced the gear accordingly. The last touch was the Surly Singulator which is being used in push down mode because there's too much chain slack. Lenny gave it to me free which was a bonus. He had bent the spring which explains why the push down never worked for him. I worked that out and got that out of the basement around 4:00. Then I raised the seat, lubed the chain, and now we're back to 2 fully functioning bikes. I need to do some work on the cockpit because it's all out of whack with what I like to ride. I'd like new bars, preferably riser bars, and some better grips if it passes as a legit bike. No reason it shouldn't but I'll need to ride it a few times to see.

The full-suspension Stumpjumper went on the DL Tuesday when I took the rear linkage apart and found the bearings on one side shredded. Gary has the kit for 50 plus 45 labor but at this point I can't afford it anymore. I found a full bearing set online for 40, so I'm going to buy that, their recommended grease (or is my Phil Wood good enough?) and have it shipped to me for 52 dollars total. If I'm in over my head I can always bring it to one of the shops.

That basically bags my KVSP race. One more H2H off the radar to be replaced by Ringwood. Not a big deal since a race off a sick week is probably a bad idea.

The road project right now is 2 part. I need to repack my hubs but I don't want to take them apart and find the races of the hubs grooved which would render the hub shot. So I decided to unlace my old Rolf wheel that came with the bike and try to bend the rim back to true a little bit. I did it but it wasn't easy. Those Rolf rims are heavy duty which is expected on a wheel with fewer spokes. I laced the spokes back up and now I need to get my truing stand which should be coming this week. I usually just use the bike as a truing stand but we're going big time baby!

When that's done I can swap the wheels and repack the existing hubs. I may leave the Rolfs on there since they are oh so much more sleek. As the year goes on I will probably look to build myself up a nice light set of wheels but that's just off the radar for right now because light rims equal money and right now money is still an object.

That leaves the old Trek full-rigid geared mountain bike which was, up until yesterday, a trainer bike. But since I'm done with the trainer for the season I took it off the stand and pulled the rear wheel off. I got the slick off the rim and found a Velociraptor read tire to throw on but then it was dinner time.

There are a few things to work out on that bike but until I get the SJ back rolling that and the SS will be my primary off-road rides. I don't think either of them will see time this weekend since I will likely be all on the road.

So that's how the stable looks right now. More or less as sick as the old man, I suppose.

I like reader feedback so I will post my last few comments here and reply.

Steve

"next time buy a trance and spend the 100 bucks on the keep it rolling program. 5 years, wear & tear replacement, baby. Expect to drop about $150 for tools if you choose to go that route. BTW, what team do you race for?"

While I would never buy a bike solely on the maintenance program, that surely makes it pretty darn attractive. I find it insane that they offer that since the drivetrain itself would blow that 100 fee out of the water in 2 years. Not everything I had done would have been covered but most of it would. I still think Gary should have tried to get me a new seat post from Specialized. Still not happy about my experience there. When I told him about the problems he said, "Sorry." Not much customer service there. Can you tell I have soured on my shop? Am I repeating myself? Sorry, I'm just not a happy customer. I'll stop now.

I'm covered on the tools as I have a mostly complete Park set. I just need a few parts here and there. The team I race for is p9 SortsGroup, which is that EdgeCrusher racing team that got lit up on MTBR. The guy who put the team together approached me and asked if I'd be interested. It's usually not my thing because I hate to be tied down to anything but I said sure, why not.

ChrisG

"IMO, a "holding" week followed by a "rest" week will not put you into a slide. Not with the way you've been training. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you'd reap benefit in a couple of weeks, perhaps just in time for a lengthy goal event..."

Yeah I don't really know what I was thinking when I wrote that. Perhaps the initial stages of my sickness setting in. Mentally I was thinking rest week followed by a rest week, but a hold week is plenty. At this point it's moot anyway since I've been off the bike 3 days and the chances of me going for a ride when I get home from work are slim. I'm thinking rest week then hold week next week so I don't jump into it too fast from being sick this week. I just hope being sick doesn't offset any gains I might have made.

Terren

"Misery loves company... I overdid it on Monday and now have a summer cold."

Are you riding or jogging or going to the gym or what? What did you end up doing with the sports drink? Either way I hope you feel better soon.

Jake

"my head was all clogged up today along with not sleeping b/c riley was up at 5A. anyway, get well."

Thanks, and sorry you've been caught as well. I guess it's that time of year. Isn't today the first day of summer?

That's about all I have, which is plenty to read really. Not sure if I'll be on the bike before the weekend or not, but I hope to get 2 solid rides in this weekend.

The Poor/Pain House/Cave

Today is Choose Your Own Title day. Your main options are pretty limited though. I will walk you through each of the 4 possibilities.

The Pain Cave

I'll go with this one first since this is going to be a cloud over my whole day and, as it pertains to you, will explain why this post is going to be lackluster at best. I'm burning right now. Yesterday took much more out of me than I suspected at the time and the accumulated training stress of 3 weeks has me sitting at the mouth of the pain cave. I'm sure I have a week and 2 days of mojo left to work my way through to the end of it. But it's not going to be easy, especially topping it all off with a race.

Sitting on the train I feel like I've been dragged down the street tied to a snowmobile, without the pseudo-soft base of freshly fallen snow. Thinking is a bit of an effort today and I can only imagine how next week is going to feel.

But this is what it's all about. This is where you make your gains and why you set build periods. It allows you to dig a hole for yourself that your body can later overcompensate for and become stronger. And by setting the light at the end of the 4 week build tunnel I have something to look forward to, a rest week that end with the 4th of July celebrations when I can party like it's 1999 if I so choose to (Not really - alcohol is awful for you). Having that end point there allows you to get on the bike when you really don't feel like it.



So the question you might ask is, Is this fun? The answer is still yes even though I admit yesterday's ride was a tad much. That was a tough effort and enough things hurt that I can say that no, yesterday I pushed past my limits a bit too much. Other than that though, yeah, so far so good.

One upside is that I can, and do, eat as much as I want. It's actually fairly difficult to maintain a balance in my diet right now because I get so ravenously hungry at times I just eat whatever I can find fast. That's rarely a bag of carrots.

The Poor House

So I picked up my bike from the shop yesterday and I had to pay 371 dollars in exchange for the work they did. I can't begin to describe how astounded I am at this number. Like I said in a previous post, didn't I just buy this bike 14 months ago for 2 grand? How it is that the seatpost and headset are toast already? That's 145 right there. Throw in other odds and ends and it adds up quickly, as my stunned wife can attest to as well.

So no more bike shop for a lot of this stuff. Nothing against the bike shop of course, Gary and Tony are great guys. But I've now dropped 700 dollars into the bike since I bought it which is 35% of the price I paid for it. That's more than I spend to maintain my car every year, and that statement is not an exaggeration at all, whatsoever.

I have this mental block about tearing apart a new bike which is why I bring it to the shop. But at these prices I think that block just fell off my brain. None of this is rocket science it just takes time and experience. Tony said he had the bike on the rack all afternoon Tuesday which amounts to a lot of time for me, a guy with a full time job and a 14 month old daughter. Plus I don't have the experience to be able to disassemble, diagnose, and reassemble the bike that fast. And I don't have all the parts I need on hand to pull it all off. But at these prices I'm going to need to.

A perfect example is brake pads. Front and rear pads plus labor comes out to almost 60 dollars. Wow. And. Wow. Given that the team I ride for is suppose to be giving me 3 sets of free Galfer pads combined with the 4 minutes it takes to change them, that's 60 dollars that just magically disappeared from my wallet for no good reason. 311 is still a big number but it's much nicer than 371.

The seatpost breaking is inexcusable and should be covered by Specialized. Quite frankly they should be embarrassed to be using such a poorly engineered part. I have the old post and will ask the neighbor to weld it so it won't rotate anymore. The fact that it's actually 2 pieces which begs to eventually rotate is really bad engineering. I guess I really should contact the company and bitch about it and see if they float me a new post. Or I could wish in one hand and shit in another and see which fills up faster. So anyway 90 more dollars for a new Thomson post that I should not have been spending. 221 is still a big number but much better than 371.

The headset, well I'll take that one I guess. It seems that the quality of the frame is such that some of the parts are junk, the headset being one. Apparently it was wet and rusty, which is why I'll take it because yes, I have washed my bike with a hose. That 55 plus the labor is on me, to a point. Why anyone would build a bike without sealed bearings all over is a little confusing. I would have just plunked down the cash for the Chris King headset ($150, 10 year warranty) but this thread makes me thing the CK headset on the Specialized bike is a questionable idea. It seems that I'm lucky my bottom bracket (non-sealed) wasn't toast as well. So in that respect I guess 371 is better than 421.

Then there were little things like the spoke I replaced before the race, maintenance of both shocks, bending the disc back to true (as best he could). I did maintenance of the rear shock last year but didn't replace the seals. It's not hard I just didn't have the parts to put new ones in. If I'm smart I order a rebuild kit now so I'm ready to do it this fall or next spring. I'm a little daunted by the front shock though I suppose I shouldn't be.

Oh and the bushing on the rear mount of the rear shock has been replaced 4 times now. I'll let that statement speak for itself.

That's enough for now. It always feels good to vent and if either Gary or Tony are reading this, no offense to you guys it just blows me away to have a $700 yearly cost to maintain the bike. I do well enough at my job but that's impossible to keep up.

The Poor Cave

Where I will be living without the wife and daughter if this level of spending keeps up.

The Pain House

Jump up jump up and jump around!

Walter's GPS Tuesday

I'm loathe to submit 2 blog entries in one day so this will be a dual post on 2 almost unrelated topics. The first is my initial assessment of the Garmin Edge 205 GPS. The second is my Tuesday ride notes. First I will get into the GPS, since it's really Monday late afternoon on the train as I write this.

I bought a Garmin Edge 205, the one without the heart rate monitor and cadence sensor. I've done heart rate training in the past and I'm done with it. The cadence sensor would be nice to have but not for double the price. I can always buy one separately if I want.

To best illustrate what I think of the 205 I will describe my actual experiences. This post may be somewhat long so consider yourself forewarned.

The first time it failed me I don't have a solid explanation for why. I was trying to retrace the 50k race course and when I hit the "do course" button nothing happened. The course never showed up so Brett just led the way. Looking back I may have done something wrong so I the "GPS failure" might be user error. But I'm not sure either way.

The second time it bagged me I was trying to follow a course at Mahlon Dickerson and the reception got so bad that it could no longer tell me which trail I was supposed to take. The reception was down to something like 100 feet of accuracy which does you no good when you're trying to follow a precise trail. It worked perfectly for an hour and change and eventually it zeroed in on where I was so I was able to use it to get back to the car. Plus, I picked up some trails I knew by that time so it all worked out.

Third time I tried to upload a course only to find out when I got on the road it had failed. Apparently you can only hold so many courses and I was using too much memory. I had failed to note the upload didn't work.

I have not yet successfully followed a course in the woods. I have created road rides on bikeroutetoaster.com and that has worked flawlessly. This goes with the territory of course since roads are rarely packed so close as trails are.

After some headache getting the Garmin Training Center and MotionBased Agent to work with the GPS on the PC, they have worked flawlessly as well. I needed to back out to the previous release of Training Center but I finally got it to work. I also love the ability to upload the course and view the details on motionbased.com. I especially like the elevation profile.

The virtual partner is great if you want to race yourself, or someone else for that matter. Without question this is a good training aid if you use it properly. However if you race yourself every day you're going to blow up, plain and simple.

I haven't really explored too many of the other features like the lap stuff, marks, or waypoints. I'm sure there's more but I consider that offseason material you can use to explore and so on. When I'm out there now my intention is usually to haul ass so stopping to mark waypoints isn't exactly what I'm doing right now.

In terms of screen details I find it solid, not really lacking in anything. It doesn't tell me the temperature but I don't need a piece of electronics to tell me if it's hot or cold out. You probably also need to understand me as a consumer to better understand my point of view. I bought it as a specific tool and I'm using it for that purpose. Sure it might also make coffee but I could care less, I didn't buy it to make coffee. Sort of like my cell phone. I use it as a phone. It has games and Internet and shit but that's not why I got it. I needed to use it as an alarm one day so I explored my options and found it had an alarm. Same deal with the GPS. I haven't had need to use it for the bells and whistles so I'm not familiar with what they might be.

Speaking of alarms, it apparently has all sorts of alarms so you can have it beep at you every hour or 15 minutes which could be helpful in making sure you eat or drink enough on the long rides. It also has workouts which to me seems in the realm of tits on a bull.

To be fair I will address the bad experiences I've had so far. Case 1 could have been user error so I'll cede that's likely what happened. Case 2 is the nature of GPS. You really should only use it as a helpful tool and realize that it's not going to be dead on balls accurate all the time. Case 3 was my not knowing to look for an upload failure. I'm sure it was obvious but I just clicked it away.

At this point I'm comfortable with the limitations and quirks of the unit. If you ask me if I'm happy with the purchase the answer is a resounding yes. It adds yet another cool dimension to a sport I already enjoy. Do I need it? Well who needs anything these days? They have fucking sweaters for dogs and we're discussing the utility of a bike GPS?

Now to specifically address Walter's situation, since, like I said in a previous post I'm all about customer retention. The real question is nothing, 205, or 305. Now I think the nothing option speaks for itself. Any iota of rational thought will lead you to the conclusion that you do not need a GPS. But then I have 4 bikes and I think Walter has at least 3 so obviously rational thought is out the window. I am reasonably sure neither of us has a sweater for our bikes though so we're not too far gone.

The question then becomes 205 or 305. The difference is heart rate and cadence I think, and maybe some other bells and whistles I would never use anyway. If you see yourself ever actually "training" the 305 might be a good investment. I learned a lot about myself with the heart rate monitor and it was a good tool to have. Cadence is also a neat thing to have the ability to view.

On the other side of the coin, you can train effectively without heart rate and cadence but the details of that are another post entirely. Personally, I think even if you might want to get serious about training in the future the 205 is the better choice at its price point. You can always buy a heart rate monitor or cadence sensor separately at a later time (but not integrated with the Garmin unit).

Then it becomes a matter of nothing versus the 205. Without question some of the reason I like the 205 is because I train. But if you want to map out road rides to do, or use it to learn any number of mountain biking parks, it can be a real good investment. At the end of the day it's not terribly expensive, I think I paid 135 for it. If I use it 27 times it comes out to $5 per usage. Of course that's too much but as much as I ride (100+ times this year already) that cost per use drops really fast. And I do really like it so far, even with the 3 screw ups I've had with it.

By this point you're either dead asleep on the keyboard or you've made your decision already. I hope something I said in there triggered what the right answer is for you. If you have any questions, just shoot me a PM and I'll expand in a future post. If nothing else, buy me a beer for spending the last 40 minutes banging this out on the way home.

Well now, that really long post doesn't leave much room for how my ride went this morning. So I'll try to make it short and sweet. Shouldn't be too hard since my thumbs are bleeding from all the typing. I should also be able to tie in how I used the GPS on today's ride. Integration baby!

Tuesday is my L5 day which means short 3-8 minute intervals. Two weeks ago I did sprints and didn't much care for them. Last week I did 24 minutes of climbing in 12 hills and didn't much care for that either. Translation: I'm still looking for the best L5 workout.

Today I tried "The Hills: Home of the Pod People." It really is called The Hills. I don't know if they have a subtitle like that or not but if they don't, they should. I hit the ground (road) running (riding) early (at 5:06) and blazed (not literally) my way to the base of the first climb. It took 24 minutes to get there which I thought would press me for time, but in reality gave me exactly what I needed to warm up and cool down on the ends of the workout.

I did 5 repeats of varying length on both sides of the climb. I think it went something like 6, 9, 5, 5, and 5 minutes. The last 3 are my zeroing in on the perfect set, since you more or less want to have each climb the same length and rest time less than the climb time. I also like 5 minutes as an interval length for reasons beyond the scope of this already verbose entry.

An aside for those of you who might actually start doing intervals at some future point. Give yourself a full rest between sets to start. So 5 climb, 5 rest. Short rest periods is not a good introduction to this. Also be warned that people who add intervals to their training have a 50% dropout rate. Having said that they work like butter on a warm bagel. Interpret that as you will.

In all 30 minutes of climbing in 42 minutes is pretty aggressive. My rest periods were something like 4, 3, 3, and 3 minutes. Times are not precise because I just started the next climb at the bottom, so the rest interval was whatever it was, 2:30 or so for some of them. I'm in week 3 now if this 4 week build so I'm going to start really pounding on myself over the next 12 days to close out the 3rd and 4th build weeks.

In keeping with the spirit of the GPS theme I will show another way I use the unit on today's ride. Since my aim today is to climb and then get back to the house in time to get to work, I used the GPS as a clock and a timer. At the base of the hill I would hit start and at the top I would stop it. That gave me a running total of my climbing time as well as showing me what "real" time it was, both on the same screen. I knew I had to cut it off and start for home by 6:15 so having both of those fields on the same display right there is valuable. Apparently you can customize the display but whatever.

Today is about as perfect as it all gets in terms of both training and the usefulness of the GPS. I felt good on the bike with my legs responding well today. On the far side climb I hit 18.5 at one point which is decent for a flat road let alone an uphill. The GPS was extremely useful in keeping things well defined, a pretty key concept when you cut things as tight as I do to catch the 7:25 train to Hoboken.

Full stop. That's quite enough.