Racing takes a back seat to recovery as my ambitions write checks my body can't cash. Road riding and mountain biking events midweek tell me it is time to recover and not race on the weekend. After four races in since the middle of April and three in four weeks, it was time to back off.
Wednesday's CVC ride last time was a casual affair with plenty of opportunity to test yourself against fast riders, but also time to wait for the slower ones. So, I was expecting to be with the slower riders this time since I was still feeling the effects of Blackfly and Whiteface Races. Well it was a different ride this time. The pace was fast, the climbs were many, and the waiting did not happen for me. We climbed nearly 2000 feet in a little over 21 miles, so at more than 80 feet per mile it was a hilly ride by anyone's standards. The "kids" and other faster riders were in attendance and the slower riders elected to do another ride, but I did not realize that until we were well under way. As a result, I was dropped on every climb and got to feel what it is like to keep going when someone else has been doing the waiting. It was a good ride, and the ego hurt more than the body, but it was a sign to me that my body probably was not yet fully recovered from racing.
However, the week was young and the spirit still strong, so my plans for a big event were on at this point for the weekend. Donna and Alix were going to be away and I had charge of the house and four dogs. There was a MTB race on Sunday I could do and Donna would be home in time to care for the dogs. If that didn't pan out I could still do a long road ride or explore the trails at Spier Falls and be home in time.
But first, to start things off, I had a choice of doing a Time Trial practice with the Cambridge group or a Mountain Bike at Grafton State Park with the Capital Gang on Friday. Since I already embarrassed myself with the Cambridge group, and it was a threat to rain, I picked the Mountain Biking. As I pulled into the Grafton parking lot it was evident a downpour had occurred -- the parking lot was a lake. Additionally, it was windy and cool - around 60 degrees. But seven of us showed and we did a long ride on some good trails. I felt good and strong on the climbs and enjoyed the challenge of negotiating the difficult roots and rocks in the slippery conditions. Towards the end of the 2:20 ride, as the light waned the rocks got more difficult as we ended the ride on Water Tower trail. I slipped off a long, sharp, slippery, three-foot high knife of a rock and tipped over to my right. Unfortunately, my foot had not yet cleared a tree close to my right, so my foot remained hooked around the tree as the rest of my leg, body and bike tumbled off the knife edge. Result: right knee twisted.
So, on Saturday instead of racing, or even riding, I was recovering. Intense I+I therapy (ice and ibuprofen), plus lots of recliner time with it elevated. By the end of Saturday the knee could bear some weight if I had on a brace and I took the dogs on a long slow walk. By Sunday the leg was responding nicely and I was able to do a 22-mile ride on the Lemond covering mostly flat terrain. Today the swelling is gone, but some pain remains. I just returned from an eleven mile ride with Donna on the road bikes - nice and easy and enjoyable.
A break from the race schedule always happens - if you don't plan it, your body will.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Adirondack Mountain Weekend
Another Weekend, another race - this time Whiteface Mountain UPHILL Bike Race. Donna and I made a weekend of it as she did an ADK A+ rated hike up and over Ester and Whiteface while I rested up and warmed up and then raced up the 8-mile road to the summit of Whiteface. Mid-week I enjoyed a great Mountain Bike ride in the Norhteast Kingdom of VT during our June Conference. We ended the weekend staying at a great and peaceful B+B in Keene Valley.
Hill training on Willard and developing a better power to weight ratio were benefits of putting the Whiteface Race on the schedule. As a result my time continued in a pattern setup back in 2004 when I first did the race. My time then was 1:08. I missed in 2005, but rode again in 2006, two years later, and 2 minutes slower at 1:10. In 2007 the pattern of losing 1 minute per year continued as I clocked in at 1:11, which put me at 28 out of 41 in the 50 to 59 age group and 166 out of 245 riders overall.
After last weeks race the only riding I did before this race was a 3:40 ride covering about 25 miles of beautiful Vermont single track at the Kingdom Trails. Marty and I were the only ones taking advantage of the mountain biking paradise at our disposal. We took a lift in a pick-up so the first 2 mile climb on the highway was avoided. After dropping us at the campground, the Trail Director gave us directions for a great loop. We would climb up the right side of the toll road, then drop down Dead Moose Alley, then climb up again about 1/2 way until we hit the CCC road over to the ski area, dropping down the J-Bar run, which is the best single track I have ever been on! Then it was up to the start of Moose Alley that drops all the way down to the river. White School takes you back to the start. The weather was great and I could go hard and then wait for Marty - getting good interval workout and enjoying the scenery.
I have developed a routine for driving up to the race, resting and then warming up before starting the race. This year I park again at the Post Office and took a nap in the shade. As I was waking up a car pulled into a space near mine and starting setting up. I looked at the car and it was a Toyota Supra Turbo - 1991 with 191,000 miles on it, so I had to tell him about Jesse's Supra. Tom and Bridget were from Rochester and he had a beautiful Titus frame built up with mountain bike components. The handlebar had bar ends that formed 'antlers' to the inside and had bar end shifters on them. He had back issues and had the bike custom fitted and built. Tom is a 9 year veteran of the Mt. Washington climb, but doing Whiteface for the first time. We had a good time talking and Bridget offered to take a jacket up to the top for me. I got about an hour of riding before the start and then waited for the 'real' start with Tom and other older riders.
Each year the first two miles are a killer. I get to start in the last wave, 15 minutes behind the first wave, so the warm up fades and the body needs to kick in again when the gun goes off. I used the 34 x 11:21 gear combo and was in the 21 most of the time. When I checked back in my training log I saw that last year I had the 11:23 sproket on. This year's gearing had locked me into grinding hard and not spinning. The thought has been that if I have lower gears available I will not spin fast enough to keep the speed high enough. But, I thought I had used the 11:21 last year. The down side is when you are locked into the lowest gear right from the start, with the ability to shift higher only coming after the 5 mile mark when the road levels off some from the 8% average grade, it plays with your head.
Donna cheered all of us on from the hood of her Crown Vic at the 4-mile mark. She told me I was looking good, but I answered, "I don't feel good!" Actually, I was just starting to feel better. In fact I stood and passed several riders that had fallen off the wave ahead of me just after passing Donna. The course eases up just a tad at the Toll Station and then goes back into the 8-10% grade until the 5.5 mile point. I passed a few riders that had mechanical and physical issues before catching some that had fallen off the earlier waves.
With about 1.5 miles to go you can see the top, and it is always a mental anchor. It is hard to believe I am going to pedal up to that point in the time that is left. I have the computer set to give me the race time and distance, but did not look at the time until I had only a few minutes left. I did look at the miles as I climbed. At this point I always struggle to keep the effort high enough. I use the heart rate monitor to make sure I am pushing hard enough, but not too hard. The right amount of effort is between 160 and 165 beats per minute (bpm). If I go harder, I will blow-up; lower and I will regret not going harder. I looked at the monitor at this point and saw that I was doing 157, so I tried to dig harder. Lower back pain has kept that from happening at this stage the last two times and this time is no different. Standing and sitting helps and eventually you start to hear the cheering of the crowd at the finish.
The finish is always around one more bend in the road than I think it is. As a result when I hear the crowd I push to over 170 bpm and can not sustain it. But, it serves the purpose of passing a few right at the end. As I finally do round the last turn the road pitches up to make you really work to hit the finish. It is a long straight climb and now you can let it all out. Heart rate topped out at 175 as I hit the finish line with several riders that see-sawed back and forth with me the last mile or so. The worst part is that you immediately have to dismount the bike and walk in the order you finished so they can properly record your placing.
A mere 30 seconds after feeling like you are going to explode and collapse, you feel great again. In fact better than great, y
ou feel awesome! I get back on the bike and slowly roll up to the end of the road and look out over Lake Placid and the rest of the mountains. Soon the cool air on top and the soaked clothes combine to make you very cool. I get some water, Gatorade, bananas and oranges and then start looking for Tom and Bridget. Before I find them, I spot Dan, who leads our winter spinning class, crossing the line. After I get my jacket and talk briefly to Tom I start the descent - the funnest part! You hit 40-plus MPH really easy and there are large pot holes that can throw you down if you are not careful. After stopping a couple of times to admire the mountain top views I start really going fast. The last 4 miles are great as there are fewer potholes and turns to worry about so you do not have to scrub off any speed. Finally I get down to the car after hitting a 48 MPH max speed for an extended time. I change at the car and then drive over to find Donna at the post race dinner. We found John from last week and Dan and visited after we ate.
Donna was also pretty spent after her strenuous hike, so we both welcomed the comfort of the Trails End Bed and Breakfast in Keene Valley, about a 20 minute drive from the race finish. We quickly showered and hit the large comfortable bed in our large and airy room. Great place and breakfast in the morning was only surpassed by the post-breakfast nap until the 11 am check out time forced us to leave. A great finish to a great weekend. We drove home after stopping at Chapel Pond to look up at the great rock ledges.
Hill training on Willard and developing a better power to weight ratio were benefits of putting the Whiteface Race on the schedule. As a result my time continued in a pattern setup back in 2004 when I first did the race. My time then was 1:08. I missed in 2005, but rode again in 2006, two years later, and 2 minutes slower at 1:10. In 2007 the pattern of losing 1 minute per year continued as I clocked in at 1:11, which put me at 28 out of 41 in the 50 to 59 age group and 166 out of 245 riders overall.
After last weeks race the only riding I did before this race was a 3:40 ride covering about 25 miles of beautiful Vermont single track at the Kingdom Trails. Marty and I were the only ones taking advantage of the mountain biking paradise at our disposal. We took a lift in a pick-up so the first 2 mile climb on the highway was avoided. After dropping us at the campground, the Trail Director gave us directions for a great loop. We would climb up the right side of the toll road, then drop down Dead Moose Alley, then climb up again about 1/2 way until we hit the CCC road over to the ski area, dropping down the J-Bar run, which is the best single track I have ever been on! Then it was up to the start of Moose Alley that drops all the way down to the river. White School takes you back to the start. The weather was great and I could go hard and then wait for Marty - getting good interval workout and enjoying the scenery.
I have developed a routine for driving up to the race, resting and then warming up before starting the race. This year I park again at the Post Office and took a nap in the shade. As I was waking up a car pulled into a space near mine and starting setting up. I looked at the car and it was a Toyota Supra Turbo - 1991 with 191,000 miles on it, so I had to tell him about Jesse's Supra. Tom and Bridget were from Rochester and he had a beautiful Titus frame built up with mountain bike components. The handlebar had bar ends that formed 'antlers' to the inside and had bar end shifters on them. He had back issues and had the bike custom fitted and built. Tom is a 9 year veteran of the Mt. Washington climb, but doing Whiteface for the first time. We had a good time talking and Bridget offered to take a jacket up to the top for me. I got about an hour of riding before the start and then waited for the 'real' start with Tom and other older riders.
Each year the first two miles are a killer. I get to start in the last wave, 15 minutes behind the first wave, so the warm up fades and the body needs to kick in again when the gun goes off. I used the 34 x 11:21 gear combo and was in the 21 most of the time. When I checked back in my training log I saw that last year I had the 11:23 sproket on. This year's gearing had locked me into grinding hard and not spinning. The thought has been that if I have lower gears available I will not spin fast enough to keep the speed high enough. But, I thought I had used the 11:21 last year. The down side is when you are locked into the lowest gear right from the start, with the ability to shift higher only coming after the 5 mile mark when the road levels off some from the 8% average grade, it plays with your head.
Donna cheered all of us on from the hood of her Crown Vic at the 4-mile mark. She told me I was looking good, but I answered, "I don't feel good!" Actually, I was just starting to feel better. In fact I stood and passed several riders that had fallen off the wave ahead of me just after passing Donna. The course eases up just a tad at the Toll Station and then goes back into the 8-10% grade until the 5.5 mile point. I passed a few riders that had mechanical and physical issues before catching some that had fallen off the earlier waves.
With about 1.5 miles to go you can see the top, and it is always a mental anchor. It is hard to believe I am going to pedal up to that point in the time that is left. I have the computer set to give me the race time and distance, but did not look at the time until I had only a few minutes left. I did look at the miles as I climbed. At this point I always struggle to keep the effort high enough. I use the heart rate monitor to make sure I am pushing hard enough, but not too hard. The right amount of effort is between 160 and 165 beats per minute (bpm). If I go harder, I will blow-up; lower and I will regret not going harder. I looked at the monitor at this point and saw that I was doing 157, so I tried to dig harder. Lower back pain has kept that from happening at this stage the last two times and this time is no different. Standing and sitting helps and eventually you start to hear the cheering of the crowd at the finish.
The finish is always around one more bend in the road than I think it is. As a result when I hear the crowd I push to over 170 bpm and can not sustain it. But, it serves the purpose of passing a few right at the end. As I finally do round the last turn the road pitches up to make you really work to hit the finish. It is a long straight climb and now you can let it all out. Heart rate topped out at 175 as I hit the finish line with several riders that see-sawed back and forth with me the last mile or so. The worst part is that you immediately have to dismount the bike and walk in the order you finished so they can properly record your placing.
A mere 30 seconds after feeling like you are going to explode and collapse, you feel great again. In fact better than great, y
ou feel awesome! I get back on the bike and slowly roll up to the end of the road and look out over Lake Placid and the rest of the mountains. Soon the cool air on top and the soaked clothes combine to make you very cool. I get some water, Gatorade, bananas and oranges and then start looking for Tom and Bridget. Before I find them, I spot Dan, who leads our winter spinning class, crossing the line. After I get my jacket and talk briefly to Tom I start the descent - the funnest part! You hit 40-plus MPH really easy and there are large pot holes that can throw you down if you are not careful. After stopping a couple of times to admire the mountain top views I start really going fast. The last 4 miles are great as there are fewer potholes and turns to worry about so you do not have to scrub off any speed. Finally I get down to the car after hitting a 48 MPH max speed for an extended time. I change at the car and then drive over to find Donna at the post race dinner. We found John from last week and Dan and visited after we ate.Donna was also pretty spent after her strenuous hike, so we both welcomed the comfort of the Trails End Bed and Breakfast in Keene Valley, about a 20 minute drive from the race finish. We quickly showered and hit the large comfortable bed in our large and airy room. Great place and breakfast in the morning was only surpassed by the post-breakfast nap until the 11 am check out time forced us to leave. A great finish to a great weekend. We drove home after stopping at Chapel Pond to look up at the great rock ledges.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Race Number Three - Blackfly Challenge
A New Year's resolution was to compete in more bike races this year. So far I am on schedule with the Battenkill-Rubaix, Saratoga Duathalon and now the Blackfly Challenge completed. Next weekend it is the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race. We have so many great opportunities to participate in races close to home that it would be shame to let them go by. Having a training purpose to riding and the added effort of racing both enhance fitness and keep the juices flowing. Some other races on the horizon include Putney Moutnain XC MTB race, some time trialing events and local KOM (King of the Mountain) event.
"The Blackfly, Beat em or Feed em!," is the motto of this 40-mile one-way destination race from Indian Lake to Inlet, NY through the Moose Plains in the Adirondacks. Donna and I both signed up in the Sports Masters categories. With over 200 participants in all categories, there were plenty of others crazy enough to pedal hard through the Adirondack woods in the heart of blackfly season. The race was well-organized with people handing out water every 10 miles or so. The route was flat and fast on paved and dirt roads for part of the ride, and loose, sandy and hilly in the middle. One long hill with about 8 miles to go was a killer for many, including myself, as cramps set in. After recovering on a nice paved descent, there was one last section of twisty single-track that I was able to take back some riders on.
I started off fast near the back of the mass start field and worked my way up drafting groups on the paved roads. I would catch onto a pack and then recover, and then sprint up to the next pack and do the same - leap frogging up until the packs thinned out and dirt and hills took their effect. Once about 15 miles into it I was pretty much by myself. There would be a few riders that would trade positions back and forth with me. I use the Margaretta (high sodium/salt) Cliff Shots and a couple of GU gels along with two water bottles in the cages on the Epic - no hydration pack. I took the water at the stations and slugged it down on the fly and then used the rest to cool off. At about 25 miles I felt good - before that I worried that I may have spent too much too early, but the eating and hydration was working. I passed a lot of riders that were falling off the lead packs at this stage. In the long flat sandy sections I especially was able to take over riders that were not physically or mentally up to that work.
My high spirits were soon dampened as I passed the 10 miles to go mark. As I stood up and pumped over a rise with the front shocks locked-out my quads locked-up. Here we go again, just like the Battenkill-Rubaix, cramps the last 10 miles of about a 3-hour effort. The timing couldn't be worse for this course because the longest and steepest hill was at hand. I put it into a low gear and just spun up the hill slowly with a few riders passing me back now, including John from Norm's spin class. John and I had been leap-frogging each other the whole race. I thought I had passed him for good back at the sandy section, but he now passed me on the hill and looked strong. Others were in the same predicament I was. Finally at a break in the climb I took in another gel and finished off the last of my Gatorade. It took effect within a few minutes and when I pushed I did not cramp. So, the last 5 miles I was able to push hard, but there was a long descent that benefited everyone. When I turned into the woods for the final mile of single track I was cooking and over took about 5 riders, but not John who finished just ahead of me.
As it turned out my 2:41 time was good enough for 4th place out of 22 in the Sport 50+ age group and 65th out of 220 total riders. When I hit the finish line my cramps returned - especially in my upper hamstrings. I biked to the car and refueled with milk and peanut butter and jelly. I moved the car closer to the finish area and found Donna as she just finished. She was delighted to have beaten the 3-hour mark, which earned her third place in her age group. We met up with Gary, who actually beat me out of third place by a couple of minutes and talked with John and their friends. We enjoyed the soft seats of our portable camp chairs and rested and refueled as they tabulated the results. We gathered up our gear and car we left in Indian Lake and headed home. Still lacking enough food to replace the calories we expended, we had to stop in North Creek to buy, make and eat some turkey sandwiches.
Another fun race event that reminded us why we love to do races and why we do not get obsessed over them. They are fun and make for good training and it is good to see how you compare to others that are into the sport. If all the training was just for racing, then you would get burned out and bummed out if you did not do well. When the racing is an enhancement to improving your fitness and fun - then it is just that - fun.
"The Blackfly, Beat em or Feed em!," is the motto of this 40-mile one-way destination race from Indian Lake to Inlet, NY through the Moose Plains in the Adirondacks. Donna and I both signed up in the Sports Masters categories. With over 200 participants in all categories, there were plenty of others crazy enough to pedal hard through the Adirondack woods in the heart of blackfly season. The race was well-organized with people handing out water every 10 miles or so. The route was flat and fast on paved and dirt roads for part of the ride, and loose, sandy and hilly in the middle. One long hill with about 8 miles to go was a killer for many, including myself, as cramps set in. After recovering on a nice paved descent, there was one last section of twisty single-track that I was able to take back some riders on.
I started off fast near the back of the mass start field and worked my way up drafting groups on the paved roads. I would catch onto a pack and then recover, and then sprint up to the next pack and do the same - leap frogging up until the packs thinned out and dirt and hills took their effect. Once about 15 miles into it I was pretty much by myself. There would be a few riders that would trade positions back and forth with me. I use the Margaretta (high sodium/salt) Cliff Shots and a couple of GU gels along with two water bottles in the cages on the Epic - no hydration pack. I took the water at the stations and slugged it down on the fly and then used the rest to cool off. At about 25 miles I felt good - before that I worried that I may have spent too much too early, but the eating and hydration was working. I passed a lot of riders that were falling off the lead packs at this stage. In the long flat sandy sections I especially was able to take over riders that were not physically or mentally up to that work.
My high spirits were soon dampened as I passed the 10 miles to go mark. As I stood up and pumped over a rise with the front shocks locked-out my quads locked-up. Here we go again, just like the Battenkill-Rubaix, cramps the last 10 miles of about a 3-hour effort. The timing couldn't be worse for this course because the longest and steepest hill was at hand. I put it into a low gear and just spun up the hill slowly with a few riders passing me back now, including John from Norm's spin class. John and I had been leap-frogging each other the whole race. I thought I had passed him for good back at the sandy section, but he now passed me on the hill and looked strong. Others were in the same predicament I was. Finally at a break in the climb I took in another gel and finished off the last of my Gatorade. It took effect within a few minutes and when I pushed I did not cramp. So, the last 5 miles I was able to push hard, but there was a long descent that benefited everyone. When I turned into the woods for the final mile of single track I was cooking and over took about 5 riders, but not John who finished just ahead of me.
As it turned out my 2:41 time was good enough for 4th place out of 22 in the Sport 50+ age group and 65th out of 220 total riders. When I hit the finish line my cramps returned - especially in my upper hamstrings. I biked to the car and refueled with milk and peanut butter and jelly. I moved the car closer to the finish area and found Donna as she just finished. She was delighted to have beaten the 3-hour mark, which earned her third place in her age group. We met up with Gary, who actually beat me out of third place by a couple of minutes and talked with John and their friends. We enjoyed the soft seats of our portable camp chairs and rested and refueled as they tabulated the results. We gathered up our gear and car we left in Indian Lake and headed home. Still lacking enough food to replace the calories we expended, we had to stop in North Creek to buy, make and eat some turkey sandwiches.
Another fun race event that reminded us why we love to do races and why we do not get obsessed over them. They are fun and make for good training and it is good to see how you compare to others that are into the sport. If all the training was just for racing, then you would get burned out and bummed out if you did not do well. When the racing is an enhancement to improving your fitness and fun - then it is just that - fun.
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