No Race for Me Today

I had already mentally bailed on the North Shore road race I'd been training for specifically, so when I awoke this morning to blue skies out our bedroom window I was quite shocked and saddened. However, once I looked out the other side of the house I saw the blue patch was an anomaly. I booted up the internet, and breathed a sigh of relief that the forecast had actually gotten worse. It was too late for me to leave and make it to the start, anyway. I even already had an email from Tim and Blake on my team that included this picture:
They turned around as well. It sounds like a few others braved on and made it to registration, but the race was not to be.

So, after Emy's piano lessons and grocery shopping, I headed out for a training ride that I hoped would be nearly as hard as the race, albeit shorter in length. Unfortunately, after 14 miles of some great high cadence hill climbing, I got a flat (if you're riding on the Eastside, avoid Avondale - the bike lane is paved with broken glass right now). Since the flat used up my spare tube, and somehow ended up requiring a frustrating 10 minutes to repair (don't ask - OK, I was sweating like a pig in the hot sun and could not get the tire on the rim - quite a change from the morning weather), I opted to ride to the Sammamish Trail and do some short duration intervals - it's now time to focus on the track season. I got in a nice series of 2/1/2/1/2/1 minutes each with equal rest intervals, spinning at 120 or higher cadence, and a long 20 minute zone 3 interval at a cadence of 110 on the way back home. I felt super strong the whole ride - it's really a bummer that I didn't get to race today, since it was my only targetted road race of the season before track season begins in May.

Six Year Old's Suit Fails in 9th Circuit Nail-biter

"We are absolutely devastated. We've put all our time and resources into this case for the last 17 months", said Bill Suesalot, father of Clarise Suesalot. Clarise initiated a lawsuit against SuperKidsPartyPlace after she was manhandled and forcefully ejected from the premises on her fifth birthday for violating rule #4 at the self-proclaimed "best birthday place ever". "Her initial case was rightfully denied on technical grounds", felt law Professor Lyman Paperchase of UCLA, "but the appeal looked to have serious merit." Not surpisingly, SuperKidsPartyPlace was well represented by a team of aggressive attourneys. "Come on, rule #4 has been in place for several years", declared Willy Camembert the mid-morning shift manager, who was called as a witness, "we just can't let the kids bring their own food! Pizza and root beer is what we serve. What kid doesn't like pizza and root beer? I mean, a kiwifruit? No kid chooses a kiwifruit over pizza and root beer. How do I feel? Vindicatated, man, totally vindicatated!" Chief Judge Roberta Robertson, who has held the highest post in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals since the Reagan era said, "This was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. But a rule is a rule, and there simply is no legal precedent in place to further the appeal of Ms. Suesalot." Clarise gave a public statement after the decision on the steps of the San Francisco courthouse. "Well, we tried. Last week we settled for $1.4 million in the civil suit, which Daddy says should be enough to pay for law school for me someday. I'm glad we made 'em pay for the hurt shoulder and skinned knee I got from the door monitor. That guy won't be hurting any more kids." Court insiders and Prof. Paperchase had predicted the case might go all the way to the US Supreme Court. A similar case in Omaha may now prove more difficult for Bobby Chikenchit, who, along with three of his friends, is suing Marty McFly's, a popular fast food restaurant based loosely on the character from Back to the Future, for enforcing an age restriction on the "grab a toy on your way out" toy well. The four boys are all several years older than the maximum allowed age at McFly's, but they felt the restriction was unjust. We reached Bobby for comment on Clarise's case and he said, "That's tough for Clarise, but my lawyers and I still think we have a better legal standing. We'll know soon enough. Our case comes up in May."

Interview for The Onion

No, I didn't actually interview the be a part of the pillar of journalism that is The Onion. However, while listening to the episode of This American Life, Tough Room, in which the world inside the editorial room of The Onion is exposed, I was inspired. For the past few days, I have been dreaming up Onion-ish headlines. Here's a few - mind you, these are draft headlines and could probably use some massaging:

• Area Man Seen Dressing to the Left
• Local Watch Repairman Dies at Exactly 11:57 PM
• Area Woman has Proof Elvis Potato is a Fraud
• Police Crackdown on Violence at Camp for Blind
  
• Local Priest Pushes Abstinence at Nursing Homes
• Area Farmer Cries "The Shit Just Grows by Itself!"
• Area Botanist Found Naked with Venus Fly Trap
• Rare Disease Upgraded to Uncommon
• Latest iPod Killer Actually Kills iPods
• McCain: "Global Warming is no Worse than KKK"
• 4-H Hazing Really Getting out of Hand

Go ahead, give me a few of your ideas. I'll post my favorites.

Training for a Hilly Race

So, next weekend's race is a hilly circuit race up in Bellingham, the North Shore CR. Since I haven't really been doing any specific hill training, other than just including some on my regular rides, I got in two hill rides this past week. The first one included repeats of Winery Hill and Hollywood Hill with a backpack loaded with weight - about 10 lbs of random stuff including a big ziploc full of walnuts courtesy of my boss. On my second repeat I got a bit spooked when a car slowed down next to me (I was thinking about slamming on my brakes to dodge the 7-Eleven Big Gulp projectile I imagined was headed my way), but when I looked it was just my pal and teammate Z smiling and yelling "Go Cucina Fresca!"

I did these repeats with easy spinning on the flats, and then brought the heart rate up to 160 bpm on the climbs. Here's the profile (Winery is on the left, Hollywood on the right) - I went back and forth like a marble between the two peaks:

That was Thursday's hill ride, and even with the loaded backpack it wasn't too hard.

So, I needed to step it up for the next hill ride. The North Shore race for cat 3's is 7 laps of an 8 mile course with a total elevation gain of 4080' over the 56 miles. I needed to invent a course that would be similar in distance and elevation, ideally with more elevation gain and less rest in between climbs in order to tax the system greater than expected in the race. I used Bikely, my favorite course plotting mashup, and plotted up what repeats of "Zoo Hill" (SE 54th St. - Cougar Mtn Zoo in Bellevue) with a descent on Lakemont Ave would yield. Lo and behold, it is roughly 7 miles:


with plenty of elevation per lap:

In fact, each lap of my course has roughly double the gain of each lap in the North Shore race.

Saturday, I rode to the course as a warm up, with the intention of 4 repeats, and a goal of sub 15 min ascents of Zoo Hill on each lap. This time is based on the 14:17 I managed in the Cougar Mtn TT race last August, where I was not nearly in as great of shape (I'd only starting riding again in late May), and had no water bottles or extra stuff. Still, I felt it was an attainable goal, since I am definitely in better shape now!

My first climb up took 13:43, assuming I recalled the exact finish line point, and each lap was under 15 minutes without too much difficulty. Also, the descent only provided about 6-8 minutes of rest in between repeats of the climb. The second lap felt even faster, but I didn't check my time. I varied my gearing - the first lap I shifted more, and stood up more, while on the second lap I stayed seated in the 39x25 and spun for all but the short 20% gradient on one switchback. I kept the same heart rate limit of ~160 bpm, although I topped that on a couple of the switchbacks, and was usually in the 150's. After the fourth lap, I was not wasted, but definitely hungry (one Clif bar definitely was not enough), so I stopped at the Starbucks on Lakemont. Fueled up by a double espresso and an apple fritter, I headed through Issaquah and took East Lk Sammamish back home with the most fantastic tailwind.

Stats for the ride:
Distance: 54.2 miles
Time: 3:14:00 (door to door)
Elevation Gain: ~5000 ft, with 4800 ft on the hill repeats, according to Bikely.

I'm pleased overall with the ride. I'll have to include this in my training repertoire, and I am definitely looking forward to this year's Cougar Mtn TT. Maybe I can improve my time by a minute or more over last year!

Market Street Road Race

I had a great time at the road race today. Here's the email report I sent to my team, plus a picture (warning - exposed skin):

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With ominous and brisk weather a select few stalwart cat 3's of Cucina Fresca, many of whom wanted to join the Master's race, headed out for a romp of 6 laps of the famous course. OK, I had never ridden it, but others had, and someone else referred to it as "classic". I apologize for not knowing everyone's name, or last name in some cases. I was joined by Don, Mike (Hart, I had to ask when he said his name was Mike), Brian (?), Rob, and one other rider approximately the same size as Don. The only real "plan" we had in place was - let's hope nothing happens until at least the halfway point, after which if there's a break, at least one of us will try to get in it. We had no designated leader, per se. Heck, this was my first road race in 5.3 years, so I wasn't going to start beating my chest!

After the neutral rollout of a couple of miles, we past the start/finish and rolled around the course for a first lap average of around 27+ mph. Some kids were anxious. I just remember grinning and thinking about how much I missed this action - I yelled, "Now we're racing!" which elicited a few sarcastic laughs. We returned to the hill up to the start/finish, and a small group splintered off. I was too far back to really identify anyone in the break other than a Carter/Subaru - we can pick on them for the red, but you can't miss it, even when it is way up the road. I was wishing we had a bigger tomato on the back...

I ignored this group, since there was a lot of racing left. Thankfully the pace let up a bit, but for some reason people were now starting to freak about the pot holes. Let me tell you - there were a lot of pot holes. Combine that with a lot of "I don't want to ride over a pot hole", and the inevitable happened. The dude in front of me slowed suddenly, and then swerved right into my front wheel. I went down quickly, along with a couple of others right behind me, but jumped up just as quickly, and managed to rejoin the group thanks to a bit of adrenaline. I stayed near the back for the next lap to lick my wounds. I asked the guy behind me if my shorts were ripped, but he said they were just dirty. My left cheek sure hurt, though.

I saw Rob who was missing his bottles - he lost them when he hit a pot hole. I only had one bottle, so there wasn't much I could do, and he soldiered on. I was about to mention that Paolo Bettini goes for 5 hour rides with no water or food as training, but I'm not sure it would have helped.

A couple of laps went by without incident, and we mostly just cruised while 5 or 6 Wines guys were at the front. I was asking around if they were blocking, since we weren't exactly flying, or if they'd missed the break, but no one around me knew. I also asked our guys if they knew if we had anyone in the break, but Mike said he was up near the front when the group went off, and he was pretty sure we weren't in it. It did seem like were pulling them back, and a rider from the break would drop off every so often. We passed the 3 to go lap card, the halfway point, and I started trying to work closer to the front. We caught the break on this lap, and another small break went off, but they got caught too. There was another crash near the back of the field, but none of us were in it. The next time through the start/finish, they rang the bell, which elicted much confusion - everyone knew we were supposed to have another lap. But we didn't argue.

I moved to the front, as I saw Brian Venable (a.k.a. Venny) was getting itchy, and he's one of the few strong 3's I know of (not on Cucina Fresca, of course). He went, with two others, and I bridged. We were joined by a couple more, but despite my urging, we didn't get organized fast enough, and the pack was right there. Another guy went from First Rate, and I was on this wheel, but again, we didn't get anywhere. Some guy with Sega on his shorts went for a solo flyer, which lasted for a long time, and Venny bridged. But, we caught them after about a mile. Then there was another much bigger crash - some guy in front of Don swerved and bumped his wheel, he managed to stay upright, but I hit his rear wheel hard and just barely stayed up. Somewhere behind us the chain reaction sounded pretty big, but we were full on in flight for the finish now. We rounded the hard turn, went up the final hill at a pace brisk enough to shell a lot of riders - Don, Don sized guy, and I moved up the right side right near the edge, and we were in the top 20-30 coming up the false flat to the finish. I got stuck behind a couple of riders who were "going backwards" and lost contact with the top 10. I think all told we had three in the top 20, but none of us cracked the top 10.

I had an average of just over 24 mph including the neutral, so we were somewhere in the vicinity of 25 mph for the actual 45 miles of spontaneously shortened racing, thanks to the missing lap. The initial field size was somewhere around 50-60, I think.

I think some guy from Wines must have won - there were a group of them in front of my car afterward. I asked them if they had a guy in the early break, or if they were chasing. They all laughed and one of them said, "We were chasing our asses off - that's pretty sad that it wasn't fast enough for you to be able to tell the difference!"

It was fun, except for the crashes. I'm sitting on my right cheek only right now, but I'll heal. Dr Emy got me all patched up.

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Here's the aftermath of the crash. There's a bit more higher up, but you never know, someone might be reading this at work...


Update: I was wrong about Cucina Fresca not making the top 10 - "Don sized guy" is Bill Zimmerman, and he was 9th. Don was 13th, and I got 18th. And, the field size was 80 riders! Not bad for my re-entry to the peloton! Results here (Excel spreadsheet)

Emy Totally Gets It

I asked Emy if she wanted to watch a bike race and she enthusiastically said "sure", so I hooked up cycling.tv to the big screen and we watched the finale of Saturday's Paris-Nice stage. The stage of Tirreno-Adriatico was now on, and Emy got so excited that she ran upstairs, and when she came down she said she was "dressed for bike racing", including her "helmet" (which rather than her actual helmet was a floppy sun hat). She asked if she could ride the trainer - "That thing you and Mama ride your bikes on while you're watching." We said yes, she could, but it wouldn't have any resistance.

Here she is, riding the trainer - my super cool daughter:

A Few Millimeters Makes a Difference, and the 40 km TT Test for March

I noticed that after the two time trial races I was inordinately tired in the quadriceps and not so tired in the hamstrings, which runs pretty counter to what most racers report, and to what is ideal. So I decided to make a position change. I first moved my right cleat backward 2mm (foot forward 2mm relative to the pedal) since I'd been feeling a bit too "on my toes" with the right foot - I switched over to Speedplay pedals AND got new shoes last Summer, and have been tweaking the cleat position ever since. And, I moved my saddle back from a setback of 5.4 cm (distance between the front of the saddle and a plumb line running through the center of the bottom bracket) to 6.0 cm, and lowered the saddle by a couple of mm. This should, in theory, emphasize the hamstrings, glutes, and calf muscles more than the previous "high and forward" position. The difference is shocking, in a very good way. I'm not sure I could have used this position last year, but since I have been diligently stretching every day, and can now get my knuckles on the floor doing the classic "touch your toes" stretch, it isn't a problem. And geez - I am so much faster, and I am not nearly as tired in the legs after a hard ride. Mind you, my position before was acceptable, and maybe even "correct" for the velodrome, but the improvment in my speed, power, and comfort is amazing.

Case in point - the 40 km TT test for March
In last month's 40 km TT test, I managed to keep my HR at an average of 150-155 bpm for the 40 km loop around Lake Sammamish from our place, and completed 40 km in 1:13:00. Friday this last week I did a "race simulation" training ride, as I wasn't going to be in a race this weekend (I had planned on one today, but between a sick daughter and a sick cat, it just wasn't in my mind) - after a ride in the morning before work, and a warm up after work, I did two 15 mile loops with two long hills, one gradual, and one steep at a zone 3-4 HR of 150-168 with only some recovery on the downhills. For both loops, I managed to maintain 26-30 mph on the flats, and I climbed the gradual (5-7%) hill between 17-20 mph - these numbers alone indicated my new position was an improvement. In fact, on the flat sections, I was averging better than in either the Icebreaker or the Frostbite TT (oh, if only I had known to change my position sooner!) for over half the length of either TT, with no aero equipment.

Saturday I did an easier ride with one long hill, with a high cadence, and today it was time for the fitness test for March.

I dressed lightly, with arm warmers and leg warmers, knowing I was bound to get warm on the short hills - plus it was in the 50's with only a mild South wind. I did the same easier first 10 minutes as last month's test, and then wound it up to whatever speed was comfortable with a heart rate of 150-155 bpm. Today the speed at 150 bpm was 2-3 mph faster than last month, and even after 20 of the 24.8 miles I knew I was going to blow away my old time.

I completed the 24.8 miles (40 km) in exactly 1:08:00, five minutes faster than last month! So, the training is working, and the position has improved. It's also very nice knowing that if I allowed my HR to rise closer to race levels, I could break an hour for 40 km, solo.

The next race is this coming Sunday - the Market Street Road Race (PDF file). I can't wait!

Overall averages for February
I had planned on getting closer to 12-15 hours per week, but realized the only way this was going to happen was if I cut out running one day a week. I cut out the running for two weeks, but after the advice of a teammate who is wholeheartedly into cyclocross, I have added it back in. This means I will probably only manage 10-12 hours a week on the bike, but that's fine, especially if my primary goals are at the velodrome and in the fall. The numbers are lower than last month, but hey, February only has 29 days this year!

Bicycle
Time: 33:21:00
Distance: 596.9 miles
Longest Ride: 68.9 miles, 3:59:00 (while sick)
Rest days: 7, including illness

Running
Time: 1:01:00
Distance: 7.5 miles
Longest Run: 2.5 miles

Icebreaker or heartbreaker

Sunday was the Icebreaker TT, run by our team. As far as I could tell, the race organization was flawless, and I'm not just saying that because it was my team running the show.

So, I worked desperately to correct my mistakes from the Frostbite TT a week ago:

I pinned number on the night before, by stuffing a pillow in the skinsuit (sort of looks like a decapitated quadriplegic cyclist)

I managed to get in enough warm up - I spun easy for 16 minutes, brought the HR up to 155 for 5 minutes, back to an easy spin for 5 minutes, and then a 2 minute hard effort in the big ring to a HR of 165 before a final 5 minutes of super easy spin. I was sweating, and my heart was quickly responding to the changes in effort, so I knew it was a decent warm up.

The course was fun - I've never been on the Green Valley Rd, even though my team has done training rides that included it in the past.


Here's me suffering in to the finish. A teammate described my helmet cover as though I look like an English butler with a Bowler. I'm not sure that is a compliment.

However, all didn't go as well as it could've. I went out perhaps a bit too hard to the cone at 5 miles, and when I turned around and discovered a slight head wind plus a slight uphill grade, my speed plummeted from 28 to 23 mph. I managed to keep it above 23 mph for the way back to the finish, but never exceeded 24.5 mph except in the last 200 m. Oh well. I wasn't last this time, so that's an improvement! My goal was to finish under 24 minutes for the 10 mile course, but I blew that by 30 seconds.

In the scheme of things, I have to remember that I only started riding the bike again last May after a many year hiatus in which I did little or no riding, and only some running. So, the top-10 finishing Cat 3 rider in me is still working its way to the surface. Hopefully I will be back to my old self, or close, by the end of this season - in time for Cyclocross!

My teammates are all wonderful people. I forgot how nice it is to hang out after a race and just gab, complain, and dream big for the upcoming race season. I sure picked a good group to join.

The night before I was prepping the bike, and thanks to my talented wife Bree and Hot Tea Apparel (which is Bree) I have an awesome apron to wear while getting greasy and dirty with the bikes:


Today I got in 15 miles on the bike and a 20 minute 2.5 mile run. It was wet. But, the rest of the week looks sunny and dry! My next race isn't for two weeks, and it's a road race, so I'll have to adjust the training a bit.

This weekend it is time for another 40 km test TT around Lake Sammamish. I'm betting I will be faster.