Seven More Weeks (yet another blog)

normZurawski said:
Spoken like a man who hasn't done a race with a beer table at the end!
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Touche.

Now I'll be a bit more specific about myself, and try to better answer some of your questions...

-Can you handle it?
-Are you dragging by the end of the week?
-How long have you been riding?
-etc, etc, etc...

I'm a young guy, but not new to riding by any means- been moving on wheels since I could move on feet. And when all of my friends got out of biking and into more 'hip' things, I was still pedaling around town busting shins and elbows left and right. As a kid, I would have my father out riding (quads & dirtbikes) with me by 8 or 9 every saturday and sunday morning and ride straight through until dark (with of course a few fuel breaks). In fact, I'd still be doing that to this day if both my bikes weren't out of commission! (gas gas 250 and YZ426, for those of you in the know :) ) What I'm really trying to get across is that I'm not afraid of blood, sweat, dirt, and pain. I love to push the pace! Plus, I was always a chubster as a kid/young teen so I am used to carrying extra weight around and having to work a bit harder at things.

As far as my schedule is concerned, I am out of my house by 7 and in my office until 5 or 6 m-f. The biggest hindrance in every aspect of my life right now is my lack of a driver's license (which I will be getting back on Sep 21st- that race and beer mix you were discussing hasn't worked out for me so well in the past). Before I got back into biking, I used to go to the gym (randolph YMCA, if any of you go) for about 2 hours after work every day. The Y has been closed all week, giving me a great reason to ride extra long and hard. In lieu of lifting at the gym, I usually will hop on the bike from about 6-10pm. I don't really ride with the intention of training for a future race, but rather to clear my mind of the day's clutter and to get lost in some music. At the same time, I generally push myself pretty hard every time I hop on. I guess it's somewhat impossible not to push hard while trying to road ride a 38lb full suspension DH bike, though...

As far as where and what I ride, I have lately been doing a bunch of different lines through a few basic areas near allamuchy (if you're familiar with the area), starting from and ending at my house in stanhope:

1) through netcong/roxbury and back up emmans/10/46 hill, or take lakeside through hopatcong
2) up sparta-stanhope rd to byram/sparta, then through lake lackawanna area, down waterloo and through ITC, then back through netcong to home (this is my favorite!)
3) 206 from stanhope-andover, around cranberry lake, down the trail to waterloo, figure it out from there...

At this point in the post, I'm rambling on and I've forgotten what I'm even getting at or what I'm typing about. That's usually my signal to wrap things up. My brain is too fried to do anymore work today, so I guess I will just stare at the screen stupidly until something prompts me to move or type again. Actually, I think I've got a few beers in the mini-fridge...
 
Jeff,

Then I guess the next step would be, what are you looking to do? With a 38 pound DH bike I tend to doubt you're going to be all that competitive at racing - not that it matters. If you can find the time to ride 3-4 hours a day just do it, do what you can, and keep on keeping on. You'll see improvements. If you start to drag, feel like you can't possibly eat enough, feeling like you could sleep on the floor, then it's too much.

At this point the cold weather is coming sooner than later. So you need to be able to stick with it through the winter. That's the biggest hurdle for the casual cyclist, riding through the winter.
 
A little actual content to this thing. GPS link of my rides in the last week:

1. Allamuchy first lap (GPS turned off by mistake)
2. Allamuchy second lap (the only one worth looking at)
3. Monday L4
4. Tuesday L5
5. Wednesday L4

The last 3 are useless for much of anything. I ride fast (for me), then piddle around for 5 minutes, doing like 5 mph. Rinse, repeat. The first Mooch lap I turned off the GPS by mistake. The only link maybe worth clicking is the "Tuesday L5" where you can see that I really do ride in circles for an hour. Yes I'm a retard but I look forward to the next session.
 
Yeah, I've been wrestling with the idea of winter, myself. I hope that after the thaw, I still have the same vigor for riding. Eating/Dragging along isn't really a problem for me. The bigger problem I have is fitting as many thing as I want into a given day and still finding time for 4 or 5 hours of sleep...
 
Jeff said:
Yeah, I've been wrestling with the idea of winter, myself. I hope that after the thaw, I still have the same vigor for riding. Eating/Dragging along isn't really a problem for me. The bigger problem I have is fitting as many thing as I want into a given day and still finding time for 4 or 5 hours of sleep...
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Sleep is good. Once winter rolls around there will be plenty of talk about how to survive it. I rode almost every weekend through the winter last year. Yes it's cold but you gotta suck it up. If you go out with people it's actually fun in a so-you-can't-feel-your-toes-either kinda way, and the conditions are usually awesome week in, week out.

Fair warning to the regulars: I'm armed and dangerous. Don't mention that other thread, or else!!!
 
ha ha, sounds good to me. I'm guessing there have been winter... hardships... in the past? I used to always try to take my dirtbikes out in the winter without studded tires. I didn't care that the front would wash out every 35 feet causing a crash, or that I couldn't feel any part of the last 6 inches of any extremity (yeah... especially that one...)
 
I'll throw this out to those who find the lingo confusing. It's just lingo. There's a lot to keep track of and many coaches and authors create their own lingo to help you keep it organized.

The old quote "Ride lots" is a good recommendation for a beginner/non-racer. At some point you may want to take things to the next level. That's when you create a training plan and get cozy with the lingo.

You don't have to get into the lingo to get faster but it is helpful to understand how to improve as quickly as possible. There are several books about cycling training that are good reads when you are ready to take the plunge. Friel's Training Bible and Chris Carmicheal's training guide are good places to start. I read them when Heart Rate training was all the rage. Now it's about training with power meters but the principles are the same.

In a nutshell, organizing your workouts will allow you to increase your fitness more quickly than just riding many miles. While it's not for everyone, it certainly is helpful to those who want to take their fitness to higher levels.
 
Good post Ben.

To this:

BiknBen said:
In a nutshell, organizing your workouts will allow you to increase your fitness more quickly than just riding many miles. While it's not for everyone, it certainly is helpful to those who want to take their fitness to higher levels.
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I would also say the organization helps you squeeze the most gains out of your time, which is important for a guy like me who is out of the house 11 hours a day for work and comes home to a 16 month old daughter. I think Fred is probably wasting his time if he goes too crazy because he can throw out 3 hour road rides in the middle of the week. At this stage I don't even get 3 hours all week combined.
 
Looks like the end of the season will be extended 1 week to Ringwood.
 
Ya i think if i got all wacky with this training stuff I would not be having so much fun on the bike. I had a program over the winter that i was going to attempt to stick to. That worked for about two weeks then i ripped it up and threw it away.

I am trying to have a greater variety of workouts however. Hopefully that will help. But im just going to keep riding.
 
ArmyOfNone said:
Ya i think if i got all wacky with this training stuff I would not be having so much fun on the bike. I had a program over the winter that i was going to attempt to stick to. That worked for about two weeks then i ripped it up and threw it away.

I am trying to have a greater variety of workouts however. Hopefully that will help. But im just going to keep riding.
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Like I said, if you can go out for 3 hour rides in the middle of the week then you're all set. But that "general riding" approach will only get you a limited "return on your investment." The intervals are going to make you a stronger rider. And in some respects, they are oddly enjoyable. Hard to explain.
 
Completing a workout were you just pushed yourself to the limits can leave you feeling very satisfied, its almost enjoyable in some wierd way. I like interval training...well sometimes. I should do it more. Id rather climb stupid hills than do intervals.

BTW read your blog for about an hour and a half tonite. Man! Good stuff. C is for cookie...
 
I rearranged this weekend a bit. Today I did Lewis Morris with Jake:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3825809

Basically sprinted up the climbs and spun once I got to the top, or rode in circles as Jake did his thing on the hills. Wanted a little more of a high-end workout today but also wanted to be off-road. I really enjoyed today's ride. Whoever said that if the trails are boring, you need to go faster, is right. That route actually turned out to be a pretty good mix of trails. We hit the new trail in both directions. Broke another spoke today.

Tomorrow the plan is to get some nice steady saddle time in at Chimney Rock.
 
mu plan tomorrow i s to no et gete nearlyh as drungk as todya. 3rd bithday parties ruel. ok. i need to stop tyiping soon. less gooder typing skillz.
 
To quote Ben, OK terrific!

Nice steady saddle time my ass. So future teammates Kirt, ChrisG, and Maurice met me at CR today. Arch Enemy JimG (Team Bulldog) joined along as well as team-less Matt, who has apparently registered for the board but doesn't post and doesn't really read. So feel free to make fun of him, won't see it :)

Anyway link here:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3832193

Nothing special on the roll time, or mileage, or average but trying to keep up with the group is an interval workout in itself. A lot of slow rolling and stopping and do-overs in between. But when we were on hills or technical, or downhill the group hammered pretty solidly. At least for me. After yesterday's ride that was an effort for me.

Then I rolled a second smaller loop with Neen and my friend Woody, who never even register so no problem making fun of him as well. Link:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3832194

Kept that slower and more steady and said screw it, my legs are toast. Sent the 2 of them on their way and tied things up a little on the red trails and called it a day. I forgot to turn on the GPS until the first blue loop climb was over.

Pretty tired now. My bike feels like shit again right now. I think the fork was rebuilt differently than it previously was, and it's a lot stiffer than I had it. So I need dial that in a little better before next Sunday. The dust cap popped off on the rear shock, so I may need to take that apart and reassemble. My front shifting is also tweaked since the 24 HoA ride. Details details.

No idea on tomorrow. Mr. Weber may give me a call for a road ride but I'm not sure I won't be hurting when I wake up. But then as they say, no pain no gain.

Woke up at 186 this morning, first time I've seen that weight since June 10th.
 
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