Saturday, March 30, 2013
Good "climbing" around Chicago?
The route below is the Beverly Bike - Veepak training/group ride. (as far as I know its the regular route). I've been on the xXx Racing ride up through the north burbs and although there are some decent hills, little traffic, and an overall good route. The roads there are of significantly worse quality and the hills are not quite as steep or as plentiful as in the Palos/Willow Springs area.
I've not cycled the world just yet, but around the Chicago area I've been up north - a good mix of slow rollers/hills... out south - flat FOREVER.... the city area - lakefront trail is fun and busy streets have a unique appeal, watch out for doors!!!!... the willow springs/palos area - so far my favorite, I've only been out there once but it was AMAZING! The scenery, the hills, the road quality, excellent training - I can already feel myself getting stronger from rolling up the hills in my biggest gear (great strength training!). Also I had my first trip to 40mph! What an experience, so much wind, any small shift of the bike demands attention... absolutely in the moment looking out for anything that may ruin the otherwise incredible experience that is going 40mph on 23mm worth of tire :)
Next time 50mph... and faster up the hills... :)
Can't wait to do some solo routes. There is also an area called swallow cliff which has many stairs which people run/walk up and down - I may ride to it and run up/down a few times myself... I had forgotten about that place but we passed in on the ride!
If your around Chicago, DEFINITELY study the Strava route below and use it to plan your own, tis some great riding.... and you might see me climbing up a hill or possibly flying down one!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Personal Bests, wheels or fitness? Either way a step closer to reaching long term goals!
Set alot of personal bests today! The new wheels (vuelta corsa lite) are helping alot. Whether it be the better bearings, the more aero profile, the MUCH reduced weight.... or perhaps my fitness.. probably a combo of all the above!... either way, I feel much faster now!
The way up to work was incredible, I held back so as not to walk in sweated out and too tired to walk, but STILL had some good stretches around 25mph, and this is with very low winds! I've in the very recent past not been able to hold that sort of speed without a tailwind for hardly any distance without getting winded quick!
Also at the end of my commute to work I hit a certain (.5 mile or so) stretch I like to go fast through and ended up in the 27-28mph range for the duration! I've really NEVER been able to pull that off without a strong tailwind or some sort of drafting from a car or something... and I was not totally spent at the end!
The way back was a bit rougher as I was kinda tired and didn't have a meal, but STILL a personal best on most of the Strava segments on the lakeront path... actually I had a great 27/28mph .5 mile sprint (not the same as the way up there) to start things off. The LFP was crowded, which slowed me down in some spots, but still my averages were generally quite a bit higher than ever before - some of which were under more favorable conditions! Really should have eaten, woulda helped alot toward the end of the ride!
At the end I went a bit harder to get my legs tired and tried a standing sprint under these conditions to simulate a race (although I wont be carrying a backpack of tools in a race lol). No amazing results, I think not eating had alot to do with that! BUT its good to get in this practice, as this is one place I fell short in my first race!
Wheels and fitness... I hope to improve greatly over this year and get a bike underneath me that doesn't hold me back! I think I'm getting both of those things taken care of right now - and I have my eye set on the elusive goal of a 40k in less than an hour on my road bike!
The way up to work was incredible, I held back so as not to walk in sweated out and too tired to walk, but STILL had some good stretches around 25mph, and this is with very low winds! I've in the very recent past not been able to hold that sort of speed without a tailwind for hardly any distance without getting winded quick!
Also at the end of my commute to work I hit a certain (.5 mile or so) stretch I like to go fast through and ended up in the 27-28mph range for the duration! I've really NEVER been able to pull that off without a strong tailwind or some sort of drafting from a car or something... and I was not totally spent at the end!
The way back was a bit rougher as I was kinda tired and didn't have a meal, but STILL a personal best on most of the Strava segments on the lakeront path... actually I had a great 27/28mph .5 mile sprint (not the same as the way up there) to start things off. The LFP was crowded, which slowed me down in some spots, but still my averages were generally quite a bit higher than ever before - some of which were under more favorable conditions! Really should have eaten, woulda helped alot toward the end of the ride!
At the end I went a bit harder to get my legs tired and tried a standing sprint under these conditions to simulate a race (although I wont be carrying a backpack of tools in a race lol). No amazing results, I think not eating had alot to do with that! BUT its good to get in this practice, as this is one place I fell short in my first race!
Wheels and fitness... I hope to improve greatly over this year and get a bike underneath me that doesn't hold me back! I think I'm getting both of those things taken care of right now - and I have my eye set on the elusive goal of a 40k in less than an hour on my road bike!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
First Race/First Crit Recap and Results!
It went as so:
I biked there (about 11 miles) and I was pretty excited so I left too early... with it being cold I ended up doing a ridiculous 29 laps of warmup before the race even started - the course is .8 mile. As the race drew near I really "warmed up" and noticed I was flying by everyone else who was warming up... I wasn't getting winded, so I just kept going and did my thing. Turns out my warmup pace (on some laps) was faster than the actual race pace (on some laps).
The race was 14 laps.
Mis clipped at the beginning, caught up and passed the field on the first straight into the first turn - ended up in a 2 man breakaway right away @ a strong pace, but one I could hold. This was the pace I expected the race to be, I actually expected the pack to swarm me! After the first lap there was a big gap and I let the other guy take his pull... he lasted to around the next corner and blew up... I maintained pace around for another lap and pondered my options. The pack did not yet respond, and it was the turning point - go for it or sit up and save energy for the end.
I sat up and waited, as at this point I wasn't tired at all and figured if the pack responded I might end up dropped after burying myself - I had no idea at this point the fitness of the riders in general but I knew the area teams were well represented and some of them are known to be strong so I just played it safe.
I stayed near the front of the pack for the majority, didn't even draft most of the time because the pace was basically my normal cruising pace (see warmup pace above) and I was constantly blocked out/didn't feel like fighting for a wheel. I was kinda wishing I just woulda went for the solo breakaway at this point! I pondered going for another but I just waited.
At some point there was a 2 or 3 man breakaway and I helped pull the pack up to them after they had a good spread - this was still with a handful of laps to go, totally not needed. In doing so I got a bit tired, but far from killed myself. The teams knew what they were doing, I got off the front after the break was caught and the pace went down.
I sat in the pack till the last lap and waited for a move once the pace FINALLY picked up... the move came and the wheels I was on at that point weren't contesting at all so I had to just go at it myself after waiting for them to make a move (waited just a little too long!) I took the corner wide to get around but it was too close to the finish and the first 3 wheels were too far ahead at that point... actually I imagine someone was on my wheel as I could hear some serious AHHHHHH right behind me, but he didn't pass. Total noob mistake, i'm not sure why I stayed seated and pushed that way big gear... ah, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing... lol, lesson learned.
So, I still managed 4th!
This is on a steel bike with 2200 group (khs flite 220, 2010 model), I do keep it in good condition and just got a set of vuelta corsa lites. And perhaps much cooler is that in September of last year I was 225lbs and riding even 10 miles at a less than average townie on a single speed pace KILLED me, especially what seemed like "giant hills" (overpasses) here in Chicago. Now I'm 170 (6'1"), and fit enough to be an ill-prepared idiot and still manage 4th in a big city race with alot of guys who are on teams and are much more experienced but don't cat up for their various reasons, I feel really great about that
I'm really happy, and I KNOW I can win a cat 5 race (next one?), and I KNOW with tactics I can cat up quick!
You can checkout the ride here: http://app.strava.com/activities/45993637# If you check my profile you can see the other rides of the day (to the place + 4 more laps around the course, back home etc).
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The saga of the xXx Racing - Athletico Group Ride
Basic ride details @ the xXx site
I rode this ride last month 2 consecutive Saturdays in Feb (a month ago). The first Saturday the weather was "nice" for Feb. and quite a few went out on the long route (15-18). This pace wasn't TOO high and I spent most of my time hiding in the pack - and far as I could tell nobody was really attacking the hills... but EVERY hill I dropped back and had to catch back up. I did stay with the group until we were almost back in Chicago, but I got a flat when I was on the back and didn't say anything - so I got left behind (but we were close enough so I could find my way).
The next Saturday I said... I'm GOING to finish this ride!!!! Well, it was extremely cold, the high was about 20... and only 2 others were daring enough to even attempt the long ride (the bulk of the group turned around at the cafe)... I went on the long route and this time not only was the pace higher but I was behind 2 little guys so it was far from hiding in a pack! I could barely keep up, and again on the hills I was getting left behind and had to keep catching up... after a food break in the middle of nowhere, the pace REALLY picked up, we were cruising 25-28mph and I was suffering like no other time - this was after I'd already put in about 60+ miles. I held on and we were almost back to the cafe where we were going to warm up... but with maybe 2 miles to go my pants (yea I didn't have tights yet) got caught in the front derailleur and I had to stop... the other 2 kept going and it took me a while to get everything running properly... that was a tough trip back, freezing, got lost and I was totally whipped!
Well I took a few weeks off from the ride (3 to be exact) and trained on some hills and got some tights. In this time I got a tighter geared cassette and learned how to use it to maintain my cadence... I also really focused on diet and I've been about 99% vegan since that last ride where I got dropped. Also notable is I joined Strava which has helped me to do some strong intervals and put on the miles to get to places others have ridden. And perhaps worth mentioning is that I've now been comfortably around 170lbs in this time, I think the first ride I was 180-185 and the next I was a few lbs lighter.
Today was the big day! I had already had a 70 mile ride earlier in the week, and a good paced ~40 mile ride yesterday... whereas the 2 other times I had a day off before and was 100% fresh. I debated going or not last night as I was pretty tired and my first race is coming up next week.
The ride started with about 20 people, then broke down to a group of about 10-14 after a stop at the cafe up in highland park. Early in this ride 4 riders broke away up front and the rest held a more steady pace... I held back for a while thinking we would soon regroup, but soon the riders were in the distance and pulling fast! The bulk of the group just didn't want to catch up, so I decided to break out of that group and sprint until I caught the faster 4. I caught up pretty quick, and I think this sparked them to go even faster cuz a min or so after that the pace REALLY picked up and the group behind got totally dropped but I held on!
We did wait and regroup at a stop sign after a sprint, and I'm not sure when or how (I was focusing on the guy in front of me or when I was in front focusing on keeping the pace!)... but a good chunk of the riders dropped off after that and there were 7 left. The pace stayed high, and one guy split off to go his own route.
Not too long after that one guy totally ran outta gas after the group got a little split up (I don't remember exactly what happened to cause the split) and we had to sprint to catch the front guys who were really movin - that moment WAS tough and I was feeling it too but I had enough to regroup and hold on, this was a good ways into the ride so I could understand the tired legs.
This was the strongest of the bunch a "ride of attrition", and I hung with em to the end at a really strong pace, definitely the highest of the 3 times I've been on this ride - took my turns in the front (admittedly not as long or fast as a few of the REALLY strong riders cat 3/cat 2!)... and overall it was a blast! Not only did I not get dropped at any point, but I pulled up some hills and didn't 100% catch an attack up a particularly steep hill but after hesitating/watching the guy fly up the hill after gaining some momentum I did manage to pull past the bulk of the group and have enough in the tank to hold a good pace to be the first to catch the guy in front. Just a few weeks ago I remember someone went strong up a particular hill and I was dropped off the back of a relatively struggling bunch!
And a sort of a highlight... somewhere in there a random cyclist joined the group - a pretty strong guy who held on no problem. I was right behind him, and when he got to the front he attacked! I wasn't sure if the group wanted to follow so I hesitated and looked behind, they knew what was up and whatever was said I got on it to catch him, and did! He held a high pace for a while and then settled back to the strong pace we were at before.
This is great, I had alot of fun and I FINALLY finished the ride! I would have likely finished the first week as the pace wasn't so high, MAYBE the second week... but with this being the toughest ride of them all I am very satisfied with the results!
My legs are burnin a bit, but I feel great! I could ride some more and still hold a good pace if I absolutely had to... but, yea, break time :)
You can review the ride on Strava (from the Wicker Park meetup spot north, where I stopped the ride so I could check the time, I don't think I had to do that and now it doesn't officially say I rode 100 miles consecutively, but you can also see the prior 11 miles as its uploaded as well)...
Here
I rode this ride last month 2 consecutive Saturdays in Feb (a month ago). The first Saturday the weather was "nice" for Feb. and quite a few went out on the long route (15-18). This pace wasn't TOO high and I spent most of my time hiding in the pack - and far as I could tell nobody was really attacking the hills... but EVERY hill I dropped back and had to catch back up. I did stay with the group until we were almost back in Chicago, but I got a flat when I was on the back and didn't say anything - so I got left behind (but we were close enough so I could find my way).
The next Saturday I said... I'm GOING to finish this ride!!!! Well, it was extremely cold, the high was about 20... and only 2 others were daring enough to even attempt the long ride (the bulk of the group turned around at the cafe)... I went on the long route and this time not only was the pace higher but I was behind 2 little guys so it was far from hiding in a pack! I could barely keep up, and again on the hills I was getting left behind and had to keep catching up... after a food break in the middle of nowhere, the pace REALLY picked up, we were cruising 25-28mph and I was suffering like no other time - this was after I'd already put in about 60+ miles. I held on and we were almost back to the cafe where we were going to warm up... but with maybe 2 miles to go my pants (yea I didn't have tights yet) got caught in the front derailleur and I had to stop... the other 2 kept going and it took me a while to get everything running properly... that was a tough trip back, freezing, got lost and I was totally whipped!
Well I took a few weeks off from the ride (3 to be exact) and trained on some hills and got some tights. In this time I got a tighter geared cassette and learned how to use it to maintain my cadence... I also really focused on diet and I've been about 99% vegan since that last ride where I got dropped. Also notable is I joined Strava which has helped me to do some strong intervals and put on the miles to get to places others have ridden. And perhaps worth mentioning is that I've now been comfortably around 170lbs in this time, I think the first ride I was 180-185 and the next I was a few lbs lighter.
Today was the big day! I had already had a 70 mile ride earlier in the week, and a good paced ~40 mile ride yesterday... whereas the 2 other times I had a day off before and was 100% fresh. I debated going or not last night as I was pretty tired and my first race is coming up next week.
The ride started with about 20 people, then broke down to a group of about 10-14 after a stop at the cafe up in highland park. Early in this ride 4 riders broke away up front and the rest held a more steady pace... I held back for a while thinking we would soon regroup, but soon the riders were in the distance and pulling fast! The bulk of the group just didn't want to catch up, so I decided to break out of that group and sprint until I caught the faster 4. I caught up pretty quick, and I think this sparked them to go even faster cuz a min or so after that the pace REALLY picked up and the group behind got totally dropped but I held on!
We did wait and regroup at a stop sign after a sprint, and I'm not sure when or how (I was focusing on the guy in front of me or when I was in front focusing on keeping the pace!)... but a good chunk of the riders dropped off after that and there were 7 left. The pace stayed high, and one guy split off to go his own route.
Not too long after that one guy totally ran outta gas after the group got a little split up (I don't remember exactly what happened to cause the split) and we had to sprint to catch the front guys who were really movin - that moment WAS tough and I was feeling it too but I had enough to regroup and hold on, this was a good ways into the ride so I could understand the tired legs.
This was the strongest of the bunch a "ride of attrition", and I hung with em to the end at a really strong pace, definitely the highest of the 3 times I've been on this ride - took my turns in the front (admittedly not as long or fast as a few of the REALLY strong riders cat 3/cat 2!)... and overall it was a blast! Not only did I not get dropped at any point, but I pulled up some hills and didn't 100% catch an attack up a particularly steep hill but after hesitating/watching the guy fly up the hill after gaining some momentum I did manage to pull past the bulk of the group and have enough in the tank to hold a good pace to be the first to catch the guy in front. Just a few weeks ago I remember someone went strong up a particular hill and I was dropped off the back of a relatively struggling bunch!
And a sort of a highlight... somewhere in there a random cyclist joined the group - a pretty strong guy who held on no problem. I was right behind him, and when he got to the front he attacked! I wasn't sure if the group wanted to follow so I hesitated and looked behind, they knew what was up and whatever was said I got on it to catch him, and did! He held a high pace for a while and then settled back to the strong pace we were at before.
This is great, I had alot of fun and I FINALLY finished the ride! I would have likely finished the first week as the pace wasn't so high, MAYBE the second week... but with this being the toughest ride of them all I am very satisfied with the results!
My legs are burnin a bit, but I feel great! I could ride some more and still hold a good pace if I absolutely had to... but, yea, break time :)
You can review the ride on Strava (from the Wicker Park meetup spot north, where I stopped the ride so I could check the time, I don't think I had to do that and now it doesn't officially say I rode 100 miles consecutively, but you can also see the prior 11 miles as its uploaded as well)...
Here
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Getting so much stronger!!!!
This is really great! Now that I've had Strava for over a month I can really gauge my progress!
This is very exciting, as I keep knocking out personal bests and achieving various King of the Mountains all around Chicago! The segments are EXCELLENT as interval training! The results are painfully obvious as I review my rides, very cool indeed! I really love being able to analyze each ride and see how progressively I've grown more capable of going faster for longer periods of time... just a month ago I had trouble holding 20+mph for long durations... now I've averaged over 20 mph through a 20 mile *city* ride with lots of slowdowns/stops - that means most of my moving time was 20-25mph!
I hope this pans out into real races... I'm still getting stronger and 99.9% of my riding is solo so its tough to guage right now!
Checkout my profile on Strava: http://app.strava.com/athletes/1611804
This is very exciting, as I keep knocking out personal bests and achieving various King of the Mountains all around Chicago! The segments are EXCELLENT as interval training! The results are painfully obvious as I review my rides, very cool indeed! I really love being able to analyze each ride and see how progressively I've grown more capable of going faster for longer periods of time... just a month ago I had trouble holding 20+mph for long durations... now I've averaged over 20 mph through a 20 mile *city* ride with lots of slowdowns/stops - that means most of my moving time was 20-25mph!
I hope this pans out into real races... I'm still getting stronger and 99.9% of my riding is solo so its tough to guage right now!
Checkout my profile on Strava: http://app.strava.com/athletes/1611804
Giro's Train Like Taylor Challenge
Just completed the Giro Train LIke Taylor (Phinney) challenge!!! Great riding, woulda been easier if this March wasn't so so cold!
Was a great couple weeks - Lots of KOM's, lots of PB's and I'm so happy to be able to see clearly the progress I'm making! Among the highlights is covering the 6.9 miles from one of my friend's house to the other in 18:33 - A year ago I was amazed that it took me less than 30 minutes!
From Strava:
03/02/2013 — 03/17/2013
Was a great couple weeks - Lots of KOM's, lots of PB's and I'm so happy to be able to see clearly the progress I'm making! Among the highlights is covering the 6.9 miles from one of my friend's house to the other in 18:33 - A year ago I was amazed that it took me less than 30 minutes!
From Strava:
03/02/2013 — 03/17/2013
Do you have what it takes to train like Giro athlete Taylor Phinney? Last December, Taylor shared all the rides from his Santa Barbara, California training camp,
giving us all an inside look at what it takes for him to achieve his
goals. Now, it's time for you to put in the work so you can achieve your
own!
Between March 2nd and March 17th, Giro, Strava and Taylor Phinney are challenging you to train like Taylor, with the goal of putting in at least 31 hours and 51 minutes of riding in sixteen days*.
Over this period of time you’ll be challenged to dig deep and push the pedals hard. To give you some extra incentive, Giro will be giving away a pair of Giro Empire™ shoes in a custom Strava colorway to five lucky winners drawn at random. Visit Giro's site to enter the giveaway and see a mock-up of the shoes.
*While Taylor's training camp lasted only eleven days, we thought it fair to give everyone else five extra days to make it happen. That said, we're pretty confident some of you will be finishing in eleven days (or less)!
Between March 2nd and March 17th, Giro, Strava and Taylor Phinney are challenging you to train like Taylor, with the goal of putting in at least 31 hours and 51 minutes of riding in sixteen days*.
Over this period of time you’ll be challenged to dig deep and push the pedals hard. To give you some extra incentive, Giro will be giving away a pair of Giro Empire™ shoes in a custom Strava colorway to five lucky winners drawn at random. Visit Giro's site to enter the giveaway and see a mock-up of the shoes.
*While Taylor's training camp lasted only eleven days, we thought it fair to give everyone else five extra days to make it happen. That said, we're pretty confident some of you will be finishing in eleven days (or less)!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Computrainer 41k!
So I finally took a spin on the computrainer @ Kozy's on Milwaukee. Long story short, I want to do a sub hour 40k... and since its freezing cold outside/I live in the middle of an urban environment I can't just go out and hammer it for a full hour... its more like stoplight to stoplight.
I wish I didn't have to ride 15 miles to get there, but I suppose this is good for a "warmup"... although in this weather its more like a "freeze".
I asked for a flat course... and I got a course with 2 BIG hills and a handful of smaller rollers - the rolling hills were still bigger than anything around Chicago! The big hills each with at least a mile climb @ 5%+ grade... this was killing me! The decents threw off my power average, I kept running out of gear and had to pedal like crazy to try and keep my power numbers up (I wanted to try to maintain a high average power).
Well, I ended up with a 244 watt average, and finished in one hour ten minutes... but then I decided to look into the profile I was riding under.
I am about 77kg... the profile was set to 133kg! The computrainer uses the weight input to adjust resistance, especially in the climbs. This means I would have gotten through the climbs much faster, and overall been quicker... thats 170lbs compared to 293!!! Thats like running the 40k with someone riding on my handlebars.
Exactly the difference, I duno, but given the size of the hills, I can imagine it may make up for the 10 minutes and get me under an hour. I'd also bet my average power numbers would be higher since I'd be spending less time in the climbs and overall less time on the course.
After the 133kg 40k, I setup a profile for myself @ 77kg... and did a quick 3 mile course (my hour was up at this point + I was totally beat!)... In this 3 mile course I averaged 290 watts, and didn't have too much trouble holding in the 300 watt range. I was told weight doesn't matter to the power numbers, maybe I just got a second wind?
Next time I'm going to do a truly flat course and get a real FTP measurement with the parameters setup properly. My goal is to get into the 4.0 watts per kg range, which would be 308 watts. I know what it feels like to hit 300 watts and hold it, and I'm certain I can hold it for 20 minutes... and with some more training I know I can get to a point where I can pump out that sort of power for an hour or more... which I think becomes more of a reality when I can get more into the 350 watts for 20 minutes range - which I really hope I can, a 5 watt per kg (385 watts) reading would be amazing! Not sure how long I could hold that much power now, probably just a few minutes.
I wish I didn't have to ride 15 miles to get there, but I suppose this is good for a "warmup"... although in this weather its more like a "freeze".
I asked for a flat course... and I got a course with 2 BIG hills and a handful of smaller rollers - the rolling hills were still bigger than anything around Chicago! The big hills each with at least a mile climb @ 5%+ grade... this was killing me! The decents threw off my power average, I kept running out of gear and had to pedal like crazy to try and keep my power numbers up (I wanted to try to maintain a high average power).
Well, I ended up with a 244 watt average, and finished in one hour ten minutes... but then I decided to look into the profile I was riding under.
I am about 77kg... the profile was set to 133kg! The computrainer uses the weight input to adjust resistance, especially in the climbs. This means I would have gotten through the climbs much faster, and overall been quicker... thats 170lbs compared to 293!!! Thats like running the 40k with someone riding on my handlebars.
Exactly the difference, I duno, but given the size of the hills, I can imagine it may make up for the 10 minutes and get me under an hour. I'd also bet my average power numbers would be higher since I'd be spending less time in the climbs and overall less time on the course.
After the 133kg 40k, I setup a profile for myself @ 77kg... and did a quick 3 mile course (my hour was up at this point + I was totally beat!)... In this 3 mile course I averaged 290 watts, and didn't have too much trouble holding in the 300 watt range. I was told weight doesn't matter to the power numbers, maybe I just got a second wind?
Next time I'm going to do a truly flat course and get a real FTP measurement with the parameters setup properly. My goal is to get into the 4.0 watts per kg range, which would be 308 watts. I know what it feels like to hit 300 watts and hold it, and I'm certain I can hold it for 20 minutes... and with some more training I know I can get to a point where I can pump out that sort of power for an hour or more... which I think becomes more of a reality when I can get more into the 350 watts for 20 minutes range - which I really hope I can, a 5 watt per kg (385 watts) reading would be amazing! Not sure how long I could hold that much power now, probably just a few minutes.
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