My Hovercraft is Full of Podcasts

good read. i hope you didn't kill utah. he's supposed to come and fix my bike at lunch.

i should probably give him something. maybe socks. 🙂

oh- i just got my hands slapped over at mtbr. that idiot is still over there talking smack. lou naturally let him have it.
 
That dairy section always hurts like hell...I guess it is a bit of a false flat and a climb after that bridge.

Out of the shop I pull for like 10 minutes to start, which is hard into the wind. Utah pulls too and feels how much it sucks. The wind is brutal. Somehow after the next light I'm pulling again. Usually Jim would help but why is it always Utah & I pulling for the first 15 minutes every week? None of the other guys seem to want to. Again, Jim was hiding, and started to inch up front and I yelled at him not to because of BK this weekend.

Through the 4 way stop and Utah is out front again. I'm trying to help him become a better roadie so as we pitch up the hill I tell him to take it easy a bit. He's burning a bit of a match here, while everyone hides before that first climb. I tell him to set his pace because nobody wants to jump yet. So do what you need to in order to remain comfortable.
Click to expand...

ya by the time we got to the condos I was in full afterburner mode. The adreneline of pulling the full group along certainly does help with the pain though...and its like you always say, were out there to be in the pain cave, so F it. I do try to ease up a bit into that climb...if I look down and im still doing over 20, I know ill having nothing for when Sellers and the gang go around me.
 
Damn I love the new features on Training Peaks now. Have not looked at these in quite some time. You can click the peak power values to see where it happened. Pretty neat.

My 30sec max came in that surge on the kicker at the end of Liberty Corner.

All the power numbers support that this was my hardest effort of the year. Almost 30 minutes in L5/L6, highest max power of any of the A rides. Hard to believe this is the 5th one. Jump on now, they don't get any friendlier from here.

I need a best practice guide to analyzing this data though.
 
Thanks to u an Utah for pulling everyone and fighting the headwind at the start of the ride up Valley rd. Thats a thankless job no one wants. Everyone want to attack up hill or go for a sprint, burning matchs in the first 10 minutes of a ride sucks. You guys were the work horses last night.

Thanks for lasagna, making it to the dinner table is always very satisfying.
 
pooriggy said:
Thanks to u an Utah for pulling everyone and fighting the headwind at the start of the ride up Valley rd. Thats a thankless job no one wants. Everyone want to attack up hill or go for a sprint, burning matchs in the first 10 minutes of a ride sucks. You guys were the work horses last night.

Thanks for lasagna, making it to the dinner table is always very satisfying.
Click to expand...

No problem on both counts. I do notice that everyone else hides when it's hard & not glorious. But then, this is why Utah and I end up being as powerful as we are, I imagine. These rides are there to make you stronger, at least that's what I use them for. I hope to never get popped off, but last night was real close, and putting out the effort needed to hang on just forces my body to adapt.

I still need to learn how to eat during the day on Tuesdays. My schedule is much more demanding now, I can't just show up and hang with the top guys like I used to be able to. I tend to get home on a bit of an empty tank. Having to be out the door at 5:30 am starts me in a hole. Need to work on my nutrition a bit.

Today was an utterly useless day at work. It's really quiet this week, I guess a lot of people are on spring break so the parents are off. Makes it easy to not really want to pick up too much work.
 
I agree. Thank you and Utah for doing the thankless job of pulling into the headwind on Valley while I played paddycake with the fellas in back. I found myself in that position a few times last year. Part of being a roadie prick is knowing when and how to hide and I was happy to be hiding last night. I wish I was rolling with the PT last night but I'd guess last night had higher numbers than any of the previous A's I've done recently. Also, thanks for the Lasagne and the feesh!
 
This morning was raw, holy crap I was freezing by the end of it. I tried out my new bib tights and they're interesting. Fully blue & orange from head to toe now. Not sure what that means. Also gave the M winter jacket a spin, even though I thought it was going to be overkill. Fits well, though the pockets are up a bit higher which is hard with my bum shoulder. I'll survive.

Yesterday I was looking at some of my peak power numbers (1/5/20/60) and set the time span for the past 2 years. A few things popped out:

1. Damn my power has gone down in the past 1.5 years
2. At the end of 2010, I was a goddamn animal (at least with power)

It was a bit sobering, but last year was a mulligan I suppose. I was putting up solid power numbers in March, which is probably a result of 2 things:

1. The big winter in Taiwan
2. WFH still
3. The 10 Banchbrook races
4. SMD I can't count

In addition to getting punched in the gut with the work situation last year, I didn't have data for the cross season. And in 2010 I did most workouts with the road bike, while last year I did not. So in the fall, all my power data was recovery, so it looks worse than it is.

Anyway, it still looks like shit. But it's on the steady rise in the last 3 months, which is good. It totally explains why the A rides at the end of 2010 were slaughterfests. I remember after 1 of those rides Jim predicting I was going to do well in cross that year. Also, Esnes was in Ironman mode so there was no controlling influence to keep the ride friendly. We beat the piss out of each other from the word go. I'd love to get back to that sort of form. So not even close to that now, it seems. But getting better.

This morning I did 2x20, at 4:45 am or something.

1. 312w
2. 300w

I was just practicing the A ride starts as the "out" part of the set was into the wind. This wind can EaD, I'm so sick of it. It just makes the whole raw part of this weather suck worse. Those numbers are not great, but at this time of day that's about all I can muster. Of those 40 minutes, it looks like about half is L3 and half L4. I wonder if I would be more productive to do 3x10 but get the power firmly in L4.

Ted?

So, formal training for Thursday, just for Jeremy. Something black and furry ran across the road on my first set. Didn't get a good look.

Anyone else bothered by the lid of these caps that impeded your vision? I also tried the new winter cap and while I like it, I'm not a fan of the vision impairing thing. Being able to see is kinda critical in this line of business. The lid sort of encourages you to roll it up and wear your helmet wrong. Can someone do a study of people who wear helmet caps with lids versus improper helmet wear? I need an intern. In short shorts.

Happy birthday Lou.
 
Interesting? Thats all you have to say on the bib tights? I think they are the second best piece of clothing. First being the CX skin suit.

Hats can be tricky. Make sure the thing is on your bean right and not too far forward. But the champion hats have narrow and long brims. I dont care too much for their hats honestly.

Ill buy Lou a coffee today.
 
This morning I did 2x20, at 4:45 am or something.

1. 312w
2. 300w

I was just practicing the A ride starts as the "out" part of the set was into the wind. This wind can EaD, I'm so sick of it. It just makes the whole raw part of this weather suck worse. Those numbers are not great, but at this time of day that's about all I can muster. Of those 40 minutes, it looks like about half is L3 and half L4. I wonder if I would be more productive to do 3x10 but get the power firmly in L4.
Click to expand...

Man that sounds awful....dont think I have ever done 20's in the dark...they would probably start at 190w and maybe end at 193

Wyoming_Wind_Sock.jpg
 
Agree the wind for the past 2 weeks can EaD. Off the Hudson and over the GW has been brutal.
 
Thankfully this morning there was no wind to speak of so I got to go out in my short sleeves and bib shorts and work on my tan. Goddamn I'm funny, right. Right?

Today was a recovery ride. In the past I've been doing the podcasts on recovery days but I just didn't feel like it today. Obviously I've been inspired to write more lately so maybe I don't have as much to say? I'm sure it will come back eventually. I gain/lost interest in shit randomly, it's just how it goes. You know you do that too.

But it was cold today. I did the same get-up as yesterday but took the winter gloves because my hands were frigid yesterday. Is it a state of mind? I don't know, but Utah thinks so. To me, it just seems colder now than when it was 20 out. Maybe you put up that mental wall and forget about it. Or maybe the bib shorts and new winter jacket just don't do much for me. Not sure. It was cold, that's all I know.

Actually the bib shorts are warm. My legs & mid section are fine. They're reasonably comfy but the knee area fits a bit weird. I'm used to the straight up tights which are not reinforced. These keep me warmer, but there's some fairly heavy stitching right in the knee area that feels a little unnatural right now. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Anyway, the ride was of no interest. I went slow and just burned calories and didn't talk to anyone. There was really nothing of note on today's ride.

I'd say in general there's not a lot going on in my head right now, which I guess is a good thing. Well, there are 2 things which are annoying me. First is that the team clothing order needs attention. There were some things wrong and only like 1/4 of the people got their stuff. So I'm sure more will pop up in the days to come. Hopefully some of the stuff is just mixed up bags but I know how that goes. I asked the rep what the deal is on corrections and in his usual manner he has not yet replied.

Second is the Mooch race, which I put on BikeReg but had to back out by a week to open for reg. I'm reasonably confident that things will work out but I'm not totally comfortable moving forward on it as-is. Just making sure to do my due diligence before I jump in and pull the team into something we weren't totally ready for. Again, confident that it will be all roses in August. Hopefully we can open reg next week. But it's still a "thing" I need to worry about.

Frankly, I'm sick of worrying and giving up my weekends for this stuff. Truth, yo.

Battenkill is this weekend. Yeah I threw away the $$ but like I've documented before, it's Julia's birthday stuff. I'm not sad to be staying home this year. I suspect everyone will go up there and hurt like hell, since that's the point. I look forward to the recaps. Hopefully we get some good stories and nothing at all like last weekend in Newark.

I looked over some of my power data this morning over the last 2 years and it's not quite as bad as I suspected. That's good.

Saturday will be 3 hours on the road. I may do some 2-5 minute work in there. I think that's where I'm really poor right now, though I can't say for sure if that's the case. Working up to shit still. More or less it will be a 3 hour tempo ride though. After that we have a few circus hoops to jump through, culminating with the birthday party from 2-4.

Sunday may be the 2-5 stuff I don't do tomorrow, but my legs will likely not like that. So it may be a 2 hour medium pace ride just to burn calories. Next week is rest week but I want to do the A ride, so I'll sort of swap my Sunday & Tuesday. Take it easy on Sunday then go hard Tuesday, then easy Wed-Sat, with a possible race in Sunday down in Fair Hill. That's forever away though.

Ok I gotta get to work.
 
Norm said:
Fleece bib tights, no chamois, over the bibs.
Click to expand...

The past two morning were chilly, but not bad. At this point just annoying and I am ready for them to be done. The March warmness didn't help however, I wore knee warmer most of the days this week. The fleece bib tights will be good to the low 30's and then they STB.
 
stb222 said:
The fleece bib tights will be good to the low 30's and then they STB.
Click to expand...

You mean they don't work well below 30?

This new winter jacket is annoying. These companies go a little crazy trying to vent shit in 45 different places. So I'm going downhill back to the house today and random spots under my arms start to get overly cold. Why do they need to overthink these things? Just make it warm. No matter how much you vent it, if I'm working hard I'm going to sweat a lot.
 
I was just thinking this morning how nice it will be to ride in shorts and short sleeves. Monday morning looks like a possibility.

And my Rapha jacket fn rocks.... As it should for what I paid.
 
Norm said:
You mean they don't work well below 30?

This new winter jacket is annoying. These companies go a little crazy trying to vent shit in 45 different places. So I'm going downhill back to the house today and random spots under my arms start to get overly cold. Why do they need to overthink these things? Just make it warm. No matter how much you vent it, if I'm working hard I'm going to sweat a lot.
Click to expand...

Well, they will work, but you knees will likely get cold in the below 30*. Windstopper tights are a must for me under 30
 
Wow, it's Monday already. Where was I? I guess it was Friday and Kev had cold knees. I don't own any windstopper leg stuff so I guess it's all relative.

Saturday

Not having a Battenkill to race, I did my own sort of thing where I lined up a series of hard efforts and hit them hard. Some Strava sections that I wanted to go for (got both of Allen road, missed out on Roundtop 2nd place by 1 second) and others that I just did. Like I threw in a 15 minute section in the middle and tried to hold 300w. I put in a few climbs, then did some of the A ride loop to check that far section out a bit. That's the Dairy Farm.

The Dairy Farm is painful I see because it goes down, really fast, then is a false flat for a long, long time. So if you're going to attack on the rollers coming into Whitehouse, you better have a big gap. In Whitehouse the road is not great for a getaway, then coming down by the Dairy Farm the pack will be able to get massive speed not even trying. Your gap will be destroyed in no time. Then you have a mile gradual climb to punish you. I felt that last week, now I know why.

I then snuck to Pottersville, took 4th on a climb out there (Sellers owns that) then headed up to Ravine Lake where I planned to try the Peachcroft Climb. Midway up there was a guy with a flat, so I stopped to see if he was ok. That shot that effort.

I ended the ride with a 3 mile effort across the swamp. This was my nod to the end of the BK race. I averaged 24 mph which pales in comparison to Jim's 28+. Strava tells me I was able to hold 306w for that last 7 minutes. I have no idea what that means.

Ilya said he ended up with 224 TSS for the race, I did 202 for this ride. So it's a reasonable training ride considering it was solo. Objectively, if I did the race this year I think I would have struggled to hold as long as last year. I don't think I would have made Meeting House. Though if I knew I was doing it I might have been teasing out that 3-5 minute range a bit more. And ridden a little more, though I'm not sure where that time would come from. I'm under no delusions I would do that well.

After that we had the birthday party. It went extremely well. Then I drank 3 beers at night and went to bed.

Sunday

Up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:30 for a 1.5 hour ride. I took out Clapp for KOM on some obscure section. Given the day before, I was a bit surprised to see that. There just aren't enough people riding this section for it to be high on the list of ridden roads. I lined up Roundtop again but my legs told me to eat shit. Overall a decent ride. But not too long.

Then we were off to the city, American Girl Doll store. I was expecting the worst. Major props to ChrisG for the parking tip. Timeline:

9:30 - leave house
10:30 - in city
10:40 - at store
11:10 - $300 later, we're done
11:15 - hanging out at Rockefeller Center
11:30 - pizza
12:00 - at the parking garage
12:10 - in the car
1:10 - home
1:12 - I'm on the couch

That's a goddamn win if I've ever heard of it. $16 to park, and the grandparents covered all but $40 of the $300 spent at the store. We picked up lunch, they got parking.

Oh, Mass Transit Sucks

NJ Transit to NYC from our town to NYPS would have been $115, plus the subway 2 ways, for a total of something like $130. The trip one way would have been close to 2 hours. So we would have left the house at 10:00, got there at noon, and would have hit the middle of the awful part of the day there. Best case we're home by 4:00. Total of 2.5 additional hours, subway riding required, and of course having to carry all the boxes. And a lot of money.

Since we have the carpool thing in EZ Pass, the tunnel was $3.50. We parked for $16. Figure gas was maybe $15. So we're talking more convenience, less time, and roughly 1/3 the cost. Kinda sad.

That afternoon was peewee practice. The awesome picture is on FB. I can't get to it at work so can't link it. Many of you have seen it already.

Monday

Tired, as always. Rest week though I'll go and hide in the A ride tomorrow. I like the ride, so always want to do it.

Ok, punched this out real quick before my 1:00 with The Most Annoying Man on Earth. Wish me luck.

Oh and it's Julia's birthday today. Robin is coming over randomly. Hope she likes shrimp.
 
we're having shrimp for dinner too. and since i have meetings in the city tomorrow, i'll get hammered so i smell like a charter boat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom