Euro Trip and a Training Break

The Netherlands has Windmills

We just got back Thursday from a wonderful vacation in the Netherlands and the UK. The Netherlands was our first time visiting with my father and his committed life partner, not quite married, but with some legal status, girlfriend. We arrived at Amsterdam (Schipol) airport after a long flight, and were all quite tired, but it was 7:40 AM Netherlands time, so I attempted to stay awake until a more normal bedtime. Bree and Emy both napped, and they probably made the right call. Anyway, I either caught a virus, or was experiencing intense allergic reaction to something in the Dutch air. The malady stuck with me for the entire 10 days of our trip, unfortunately.

We had a nice couple of days in Gouda (pronounced HHHowda) adjusting to the time change, dipping in the North Sea, eating pastries, and marveling at how everyone rides their bike to/from work, to/from school, to/from town, and just about everywhere else. It makes me so envious that the infrastructure provides for bike travel as a first-class mode of transport, in some cases to the exclusion of drivers. Amazing! We then took a short weekend trip to visit our good friends the Knopfs, who have relocated to Marlow, UK, somewhere west of London/Windsor area.

I am hooked on euro style cappucinos

Emy reunited with her friend Molly, and they had a grand ol time for the next couple of days. Emy had her first two sleepovers, the first night, and the second night. The two of them did so well together, despite being only children and having to share all space and time for 2.5 days. We traipsed around the town, and made a super-fun trip to Legoland (dads plus girls), which is an amusement park plus lego mania. It was great - Emy and Molly were roller coaster crazy, and with it being a weekday, they got in lots of runs. Both Molly and Emy got their "drivers license" on a ride at the park. I had to encourage Emy to lie about her age (yes, I know!!!) and say she was six so she could do it. She passed and now has a license. Unfortunately, she learned to drive on the left side of the road! While Aaron and I had the girls, Bree and Jenny went in to London to see Westminster Abbey. You can read about it on Bree's blog.

Legoland taught Emy to pilot a boat and drive a car

We said goodbye to England under rainy skies in Windsor, and headed back to the Netherlands on a short British Airways flight (one hour flight, and they still give you food - BA is awesome).

We spent the next 5 days doing fun stuff in Gouda, a trip to Efteling, which is the Dutch version of a Disneyworld, but far superior in style and substance (and a distinct lack of humans in constume). Emy again took in the rides like a kid at an amusement park. She was very egalitarian - some rides with me, some with Bree, some with Grandpa Burt, and some with all of us. It was a long and fun day.

Emy Loves, Loves, Loves the Pirate Ship

The next day was a day trip to Amsterdam, with the explicit goal of not trying to "do everything" in one day. We had a nice boat tour as introduction, and then walked around the central area of the city, Madam Toussou's Wax Museum, and the famous Rijksmuseum, where we took in some Rembrandt, Vermeer, and others. Luckily the museum is under renovation, so we really could see all they had on display in a short hour. We had a great Indian dinner at my dad's favorite place in Amsterdam, and then took the train back to Gouda. The trains are also awesome. Why do we suck in the USA? Bikes and trains are perfect, and yet, we have essentially neither as an easy and encouraged mode of transport - we need some serious urban planning, and some tax revenue being spent, I say!

I really don't see it, but some say there is a resemblance

Bree rides with Lance

Did I mention there are bikes everywhere - Amsterdam has parking lots

Emy did SO MUCH WALKING on this trip, and handled it well.
Sometimes you just need a piggyback ride, though.

The following day was the flight back to Seattle, which went well, except for an hour on the runway to "cool the brakes".

We can't wait to return to both countries, this time with separate trips for each. We didn't get to see Windsor castle, which was high on my list, as the Queen was presiding over a royal Tattoo! No, the Queen was getting a barbed wire around her arm, or a celtic knot on her left butt cheek - apparently a Tattoo is some sort of military party/event. So, of the five days the castle is closed per year, one of them fell on our planned visit to the castle.

Training Break
So, I used the vacation as an excuse for a mid-season break. Yeah, I commuted by bike a few times in Gouda, but that doesn't really count. I got in three good runs on the trip to make sure I didn't completely atrophy, and they were all nice.

When we returned on Thursday, I went for a one hour ride, but between jet lag, and being completely exhausted, it was like riding drunk. It's a good thing it was 7 PM and there was no one on the trail. I was probably all over the place. Strangely enough, I still averaged a fast pace, so the exhaustion was really in my head.

I took the next day off and tried to sleep. Luckily, with the jet lag, I have no trouble getting up early to watch the Giro d' Italia streamed on the internet at 6 AM.

We Have a Winner, and April Totals

Friday night was the first track racing of the season. I was pretty relaxed, as I wasn't expecting much other than to be better than last year. I had ridden the new track bike on Thursday to make sure my position was good, and that the bike was functional, but was dismayed to discover that the 15 tooth cog it came with was awful. The chain would skip, bounce, and sometimes feel like it was going to lock up on me (not a good prospect with a fixed gear!). Luckily (sort of), another teammate was having similar issues with the same new bike, and when our friend John set him up with a nice Phil Wood cog, the true problem was discovered.

I cut my ride at the velodrome short and made a stop at our sponsor, Sammamish Valley Cycle. They had two 15 tooth cogs, so I scored one, and my team mate with the same problem got the other. Here is my new ride, with the road bike above and behind:
I don't have a lot of track bike experience to compare to, but the Fuji is awesome compared to any other track bike I have ridden. I pedal, and it goes.

Back to Friday night
We had three races slated - a 10 lap scratch race (10 laps, first one across the finish line wins), a 10 lap snowball (progressively increasing points, 1 pt to the winner of the first lap, 10 points for the last lap, winner is the one with most accumulated points), and a 4x4 points race (sprint every 4 laps, 4 places deep for points, winner is the one with the most accumulated points).

In the scratch race, the most basic of track races, I broke away on lap 4 and held it for a couple of
laps, after which my teammate John took off. He didn't quite realize that he had a good gap, and didn't continue the move for long (which I think he regrets - he was looking great, especially for a guy recovering from a broken elbow). I managed to sneak in for 3rd in the sprint. Those initial scratch races are hard - I always feel like I am "still warming up", and our first lap after a neutral lap was at around 28 mph. Still getting 3rd was my best result in a track event since 2000!

In the snowball, John and I had discussed making a move for the 6 point lap, and trying to keep it going as long as possible, trading off for the 6, 7 , 8, 9, and 10 points on the remaining laps. He, however, wasgetting mixed up in some of the earlier sprints (and managed to take one of them), while I bided my time in the pack. I attacked solo just after the sprint for the 5 point lap, and managed to get a solid gap by maintaining 34 mph for about a lap and a half. From then on, I just put my head down, kept the heart rate at 178 bpm and churned. I managed to get the 6, 7, and 8 point laps, and while the pack was closing on me, I eeked out the 9 point lap as well - mathematically, I could not be beat. I discretely pumped my right fist as I crossed the line, and after that I just pulled up track to watch. This was the first track race I'd won since 2000, so I was basking a little bit :-)

In the 4x4, both John and I tried to get involved in the sprints, with no long solo breakaways this time. I got the first sprint (5 points) by just keeping the pace at the front fast enough that no one came around me, and was out of the second sprint, recuperating. Then both John and I were in a break of four for the 3rd sprint, and I got 5 points, with John getting 3 (which means we went 1-2 in that sprint), and then I hung in there in the pack, but was pretty tired for the last sprint, and so looked John.

In the end, I had a 3rd, 1st, and 2nd, so I took the omnium by a substantial margin, which
sure feels good compared to last season. John also slotted into 9th for the night, which again is pretty darn good for a guy who can't even pull up on the bars for a sprint.

It feels great to win!


April Totals
April numbers are a bit lower than March, which is by design, since I am focusing on being solid on the track. That means I do more sprints and shorter length intervals, and less long steady riding. Each ride is more intense, on average, so there just aren't as many hours in, since I also increase the number of rest days to accommodate the intensity. Oh, I also bumped up the running miles in order to be fit for a soccer match:

April Total Training Log

Bicycle
Time: 33:34:00
Distance: 604.7 miles
Longest Ride: 50.0 miles, 2:47:00
Rest days: 7

Running
Time: 3:15:00
Distance: 21.0 miles
Longest Run: 9.0 miles

April/May 40 km TT test
Today, even though my legs were pretty tired from Friday, I decided to notch up another 40 km TT test on the loop around Lake Sammamish. If you recall, my best time so far was 1:08:00. Today, even though the TT ended with an uncharacteristic north headwind, I managed 1:07:00! I would have gone even faster, but I didn't decide I was doing the TT test until I was 5 miles in, and felt good enough to give it a shot. Might have been able to post a time under 1:05:00...

Point of all this is that I am going well right now. I have one more Friday night of track racing before we take a 10-day holiday in The Netherlands to visit my dad and London to visit our friends. I'll be bringing the running shoes, but it will be good to take a bit of a break.