Good Service from Saris

I forgot to post a thank you to Saris for a quick return on my PowerTap. I received my wheel back last Thursday. Turn around time -including shipping- was only six days after they received it. Assuming the same delivery time as I had getting it up there, the turn around time was one day.

That's a great turnaround, Beat my expectations. I was expecting it to take a week, with another week for shipping. I'm pleased with the timing. Great service. The PowerTap hub is completely rebuilt. That's the only level of service Saris offers for an out-of-warranty hub. It's not cheap at $300. But other than the outer shell, it's all new parts. Nothing is reused. Good thing as I needed a new freehub anyway. At first I was disappointed that the hub crapped out on me. Until une copine pointed out that it died after the rim bending garage episode. I'm thinking it was damaged in the hit, rather than a random failure.

Glad to have it back in action. I've been on the mountain bike, which feels awefully oafish on the street.

Training Works

Sunday brings me to Double Lake. I was here six weeks ago, for my first real dirt ride since being injured. Two goals for the day. First a 3hour tempo ride. Second a check to see how I'm progressing.

The legs feel marvelous today. They feel "right" today. Everything just works. Like it's supposed to. I'm riding strong. The bike's going where I want it. And the pace is OK for this early in the season.

The comparision to where I was six weeks ago... is WOW! All of the elements missing last time are in place today. Tangible proof that training works! I'm pleased with the bike handling progress and the fitness progress -so far. The season's off to a good start.

I start running out of daylight before my legs are empty! Don't want to stop! I'm feeling bullet proof today! But I must. Still plenty in the tank for next week. Looking forward to another strong week, more weekend trail riding, and some careful eating.

New Favorite Workout

I have a new favorite ride plan. Here's the plan...

Set power meter for interval average display. Ride for 2min at 100%FTP then "coast" until average watts drop to 95%FTP. Then SPRINT! the watts back up until FTP returns to average. Coast down. repeat for 10min. The rest 5min. And repeat the 10min bout two more times.

Two great aspects to this plan. First, the pedal like hell, then coast closely mimics mountain biking.

Second, I can see this really helping me with pacing. Unlike a time trial, mountain biking requires many efforts above and beyond FTP. You can't simply aim to ride at your FTP, which would be the theoretical ideal pace. Yet I always seem to end up way below my FTP on MTB rides even during races.

I learned a bit today about how to go hard on the hard parts, and easy on the easy parts. Does the learning ever stop with this sport?

Threshold for Monday

Monday... usually a rest day. But this weekend brings travel and no training. I felt recovered enough from Saturday's ride to do some threshold work today. Simple plan two (2x) 20min intervals right at FTP. Recover 10min between. All's well. The legs feel great. Actually the second interval feels easier than the first. Good indicator of fitness gained.

Saturday Endurance

Saturday's are for distance! Today's route leads to Lake Houston. This time I've got the route correct. I'm joined today by my Jane. As you can see, at this point she's probably thinking "dang I wish he'd speed up!" :) Just for the record... I did get chicked on every overpass. I'm not ashamed. Jane is a strong rider. The ride goes well. Weather's great, though a bit warm. Later, I was wishing we'd rolled out earlier. Traffic's pretty heavy on parts of this route...

About 45miles in I got overheated. And almost side swiped by a Houston Police car! Ugg. Time for an unplanned break. I felt overheated. Not bonky, not dehydrated. Just not right. Is it the heat?

Nearing home clouds rolled in, a breeze kicked up, and the temp dropped. I felt way better. Indeed it was the heat. Back home, time to cool off and eat some dinner.

My lack of heat tolerance is a bit concerning. I've got a long road of training ahead this summer. How can I improve my heat tolerance? Better figure it out!

Recovery

Recovery is theme for today. Only riding is an active recovery ride. My legs are shred and tomorrow is some a long endurance ride. Some stretching and upper body core work were also in the mix. Along the way I spy this!

A '79 Honda Mini-Trail 70. Remember these from my childhood. Chatted with the owner for a while. Makes me want one to knack around on...

Knackered.

Owweee! Hard ride tonight. I'm knackered. Cross over intervals. Three minutes at 120%FTP, three minutes at 80%FTP, alternating for an hour. A good workout to see how I'm recovering from over threshold efforts. Not as good as I'd like. I had to break into two 30min sessions, because each interval left the HR a bit higher. I haven't trained for superthreshold efforts yet, so the lack of recovery isn't concerning. Not yet. For now... the legs are hammered. Tomorrow's an easy day. Commute or a recovery ride option will depend on the weather... tba.

Hustle.

Haaawww! Hard one today. Just short of 3hrs of fast tempo riding with 10sec sprints every 3rd minute on top. As I ride the sky looks to drop rain at any second. But it stays off. Ice bath and compression tights to kick off the recovery. Another hot one tomorrow.

The day was filled with many training related tasks. Errands to buy maltodextrin. Washing bike kits while home for lunch. Filling in the training log. Calling about my Powertap hub repair. Staging clothes at my office, so I don't have to carry them when I commute-by-bike thursday and friday. Sometimes it isn't just the saddle time that takes up the day. Effeciency helps. I should try it one day! *wink*

Quick Report

Despite a rest day on Monday... Tuesday's ride is a tough one, despite the non-aggressive plan. Four 10min threshold intervals with 4min reco between. I got through it. It's a big week this week. Hold on!

Weekend Roundup

Fueled with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a breakfast taco, Saturday finds me driving down TX 71 west of Austin...

I turn off of TX 71 onto Paleface Ranch Road...

Then a quick righthander at the George Jones Donkey Farm...

It's not until checking out minidonk.com that does the realization that "George Jones" is the name of one of the stud miniture donkeys. Not the owner of the ranch! Miniature donkeys are an odd phenomena. I suppose everyone needs a little ass in their life. *wink* Following the road I arrive at....

Todays mission... tempo or better paced trail ride, three to four hours. First lap is more recon than anything. I've never ridden here before. The trail comprises some nice single track...

Some fun rocky climbs...

Some rock gardens that challange...

And Some I don't master this day...

And a gravel pit of doom where you can sink almost ankle deep in rocks...

I'm not happy with the first lap. I'm timid and hesitant. Not riding with any flow. I hike-a-bike a lot of the trail. I'm fighting the trail with the bike, which never works. The trail is winning. I return to my truck, collect my thoughts. Consider becoming a rhodie for a few moments! HAHA! I reassure myself that it was just a recon lap. Unfamiliar trail. Next presentation will be easier. I conclude it's worth another go. This lap is far, far better. Over 20minutes faster, and I didn't press the effort. I ride all but a few spots. And at least one was because I blew the setup, not that I felt incapable. I go out for a third lap... but take a fire road bail out. I'm getting sloppy on the bike because of the fatigue in my legs. Met my goal, and then some. Now it's time to cool off.

Fun place to ride with a lot of variation. Most of the trail is under tree cover. Important for a warm day like this. This was the perfect place to ride for a flatlander. It's got all the features I'm weakest at. Slick limestone. Loose rocky climbs and descents. Rock ledges and stair steps. Hills. But it's tame enough that I can clean most of it. My focus next time: clean everything, then add speed as I gain skill and confidence.

Sunday finds me with fried legs. I have soreness in places I'm not used to being sore in after a ride. Hills are hard! So today's ride is a recovery ride. Slow, steady, and easy pace. I ramble around Austin while working out the creeks in the legs. It helps. But the fatigue remains. Monday is a day of power resting.

I need more riding like this. There's just no way to simulate this type of terrain, or improve my trail skills without actually riding it. There is no substitute. Not to mention it's way more fun! Access to good trails is a huge advantage, and the best way for me to improve my skill set. Measurable improvments just from this weekend. I need to make some hard sacrifices to ride more in the Austin/Hill Country. I guess I'll just have to travel there more. Darn. HAHA!

Successes and Failures

Been an interesting week of success, breakage, and fear...

My self-built wheel survived it's first two rides. The wheel is stiff and spoke tension stayed spot on. But... the Powertap hub stopped transmitting. Dead. Off to Saris for O/H. I'm powerless for the next few weeks.

It's a tough time for me career wise. Working in the offshore oil field has it's ups and downs. But with the spill in the Gulf, everyone is unsure of the future. I've never seen people more worried and down. Even post-Katrina.

This whole event has really opened my eyes to how clueless our society is, and how poor the news media is. The misinformation is like an avalanche overwhelming a very rapid and solid response by the USCG, MMS, and BP. There are many stories of heroism, innovation, and ingenuity happening daily for this event going completely unreported.

The news media and politicos are more invested in creating sensationalism, fostering a diaster mentality, and working to create villians, rather than trying to inform. It's painful to see co-workers maligned. It's even more painful to see people mislead.

I hear over and over really stupid stuff at work, on the radio, facebook, via email, etc. Educated, otherwise intelligent adults are spreading stupid rumors of stuff like a bunch of 5th graders. And suddenly everyone's a drilling and subsea expert, despite never having set foot on a drill floor or in an ROV shack. "They've heard all about it on CNN."

From an inside view it's frightening. I realize that the entire future of offshore production has turned into political spectacle. The direction of our future will be determined by the loudest special-interest groups. Politicians and protestors who appear totally clueless about the industry will be in charge; rather than engineers and scientists that are familiar with the risks, methods used to mitigate them, and proper well construction techinques.

So... this extended weekend is about shedding it all and getting into the training groove. No TV, no radio, no FB. Me, a special friend, and my bikes. And hopefully a cheery return to work on Tuesday...

Building A Wheel

These parts will become a wheel...

The first group of spokes...

The remainder of the spokes...

Oh yeah. Take the batteries out if you're building with a PT hub...
Off to the truing stand. You can see where it starts. Totally floppy...

Then after a couple of rounds of spoke tensioning...

A few more rounds it starts to mellow out. Just a bit of wobble and hop...

It didn't take very long to get it to this point...

Building a wheel isn't very hard. It's kind of relaxing in a way. Takes a bit of patience. But as long as you tighten spokes in small increments, it's not as frustrating as you might believe.

I tried to build a wheel from scratch once when I was a kid. (After taking a perfectly good wheel apart). That didn't turn out too well. But I had no idea what I was doing, nor did I have even a proper spoke wrench. That's about all you need. You can do this without even a truing stand.

I thought about adding some recommendations. But I've only got one. Read this page http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html It's everything you need to know about building a wheel. All of the advise and recommendations I concur with.

Some rim tape, tire and tube and I'm ready to go!

Transformative Machinery

Can inanimate objects transform us? Sure they can! After a long stress filled day... a bike transformed my day from bad to better.

My new bars and stem are also transformative. With the longer reach my back is flatter. My reach is better. My tight neck cured. I'm not constantly pushing back on the bars. Topping it off, my weight on the front wheel is moved in forward of the contact patch. Making the bike properly caster. Holding a line through a turn is now a matter of thought rather than worrisome and wiggly.

The program is four 10-min intervals at or slightly above threshold with 4-min between. Riding without power tonight. I use the droolometer. Threshold means slight drool from the corners of the mouth. I monitor my HR closely, too... I'm starting to see the first signs that it's time to add intensity to my training. I'm noticing that my lungs are becoming my limiter moreso than my legs. Soon it will be time for huff-n-puff intervals.

Safe to Enter?

Spent a few more days than planned away from home waiting for the fumigators to finish with the house. Finally returning home to the following posted on my door.

Unfortunately my office parking garage was NOT safe to enter. I had the bike on it's rack. It is about an inch too tall for the cross beam at the entrance. Yes, I forgot about it and drove in... *BANG* Luckily (?) the rack broke. It's much cheaper than a new frame. Or seat post even.

I did a *thorough* check of the seatpost and frame for cracks. No damage evident. The scary thing about carbon... it doesn't always show stress until it fails. And I had no idea how much force it takes to break a bike rack. I didn't have a good feeling about this.

Then I spun the back wheel. It had a good wobble to it. I have a good sense of what it takes to bend a wheel. I've seen bigger whops from hitting potholes. So, I rest easy that the frame and seat post didn't take a hit harder than what they're designed to take. A relief.

I tried to true the wheel. I got it pretty close to straight. But... the spoke tension was pretty huge one one side, and way loose on the other. Time to rebuild this wheel. Tonight I disassembled it, and am awaiting delivery of a new rim, spokes and nipples....

And if that wasn't enough... I replaced brifters...

Added a longer stem and new bars...

These are to relieve a problem with the elbow and lower back that have been niggling since my accident. Need a bit more reach to straighten the back, and allow the arms to flex. I really like the new cockpit. The new Ultegra internal cable routing is a lot neater.

Progress.

Long ride plan tonight. I roll out and head for my proving grounds. A small detour by my house, which is under a gigantic tent. Interesting site. Looks like a circus has taken over. HA! Tonight's first hour is high tempo ride with a 10sec sprint every third minute. This goes really well. My sprints feel strong. My heart rate's where it should be. All is well.

The next 90min are spent at mid tempo power. Steady state this time. It'll be almost 10pm before this night is done. It all goes well... but my butt begins to hurt near the end. A pretty minor complaint. My elbow and back are a bit sore, too. I have a solution on the way for those issues... Tomorrow's an easy day. Active recovery ride, and some rejuvination stretching. Turning into a good training week.

Embracing the Chaos

I am displaced. My house is being gassed for termites. This has me in a hotel Tuesday through Thursday nights. This brings about a set of chaos. Packing. Being in an unfamiliar envionment. No cooking facilities. As I gathered all of the numerous items required for training I realized... the life of a cyclist is not easy. But it is worthy. As long as training is worthy, I'll take the added efforts and chaos it brings to my life. Happily.

Riding from my new temporary residence is not easy. It's in the Galleria area. That means one thing -- TRAFFIC. I manage to find a route to River Oaks with minimal time spent on trafficy streets. Still... there is a gauntlet that must be navigated. But I do it anyway. Last night's ride is a good one, Tempo Crossovers. Simply ride for 90min alternating between tempo (75%FTP) and threshold (100%FTP) every three minutes. It's a great workout that targets and teaches good pacing.

Long ride on tap for tonight...

Befelled by Another Flat

... this time it's me! Today's effort was supposed to be another set of threshold intervals. This time 20min long at 90%FTP. After the last two days of threshold work the legs just laughed at me. I barely made 10min into the first intervals before the legs just shut down.

Today was to be the third consecutive day of threshold work. This was a training mistake. I'm pretty well versed in planning my weekly training load. But... I'm not so good distributing my load within the week. My training load over the week was well within reach. However, I targeted too much load back-to-back. Now I'm forced to rest during my prime weekend training time. Expensive goof.

I need to be more careful in my day-to-day planning. I don't know enough about planning rest on subsequent days following heavy efforts. Is there a 'rule of thumb' for recovery following a known Tss? A research topic for the weekend...

Flats Solved

I'm nervous leaving the house today. After three flats on the previous ride... I spent some time finding the cause. My suspect: bad rim tape. My solution: new Velox rim tape!

Nerves (and spare tubes) are on hand for roll out. Short warm up then a nice workout. Set up at 80% FTP with a 20sec 200%FTP sprint interval every third minute. A fun program. On finishing that effort I rack onto the trainer to do a set of pyramid intervals. I do five sets (5x) of three reps. For the first set, reps are each 3min long @ 110%FTP. For the second set repsare 2min long @125%FTP. For the third set... reps are 1min long at 180%FTP. The fourth set is a a repeat of the second. And the last set is a repeat of the first. One minute recover between reps and three minutes between sets.

A challenging workout. Flat free!

The Ride from Hell

A simple plan for Tuesday's ride. Three (3x) 20min intervals right at or slightly above FTP. Turns into an epic exercise. It starts before I even leave home. My rear tire is flat. I patched this tube last Friday. I think this is a slow leak as it gradually went flat over the weekend. I toss it in the garbage. I hate finding pinholes. New tube, and out the door I go.

I get through the first interval feeling quite strong. This provides good correlation to my recent threshold test. My training really is working! As I round a bend the bike feels unusually twitchy. Bouncy almost. I look back and... I've got a rapidly deflating tire. I quickly change it and off I go. I'll use the flat change as my rest interval. As I start out my tire catches in a gap along the sidewalk where I was reparing my tire. I fall. Not hard. No injury. Just a scraped up calf.

"Rub some dirt on it Princess!" I tell myself. I wind up for the second interval. Less than five mintues in... another flat! Sad times...

Hmm.. Maybe there's something in the tire. This time I caaareeefully inspect the tire for anything stuck. I don't find anything. I'm out of tubes. But I do have insta patches. I carefully locate the leak, apply the patch . The bad luck streak isn't over. I snap a tire lever putting the tire on.

Searching for the non-existant puncture source, and patching a tube takes a while. I'm on a short time schedule. My plan is to ramp back up, complete one more 20min interval and call it good.

About four, maybe five mintues in... I start to have that "not so fresh feeling". Am I bonking? I push for another minute or so. Yup. I'm bonking. Light headed. Unclear thoughts. Nausea. Whole thing. I'm a bit confused. My nutrition was good today. I brought a carbo-loaded sports drink on board, consumed about half of it to this point. No reason to be bonking but I can't deny what I'm feeling. I quickly douse the half bottle of sports drink and head for the house. Softly. Impishly. Pedaling as lightly as I can. Making matters worse.. my tire is losing air! It's a race between my rapidly bonking legs and a flatening tire. Why all the flats? I suspect there's a problem with my rim tape.

The score for today: One (out of three) 20min interval successfully completed. Three flats. One broken tire lever. One fall. One bonk. The result... one day off of the couch and riding in the sun. Even when it's a bad on the bike... It's a good day of life!

Sick or Not?

Spent the last couple of days in a funk. Felt unmotivated and lethartic. Even passed on a trip to NOLa for JazzFest. This is all quite unsual for me. Fell asleep quite early last night. And slept almost 14 hours! Definately not normal. But I felt much better today. Was I just run down? Maybe. I felt fine today. So... let's ride as planned!

Today's selection is a road ride. Tempo pace, in the new (higher) zone. I head out bound on a mostly out-and-back route with a slight tail wind. Constantly reminding myself, don't burn it all. Riding back will be harder. I took a new route through the Spring Branch neighborhood, that avoids much of the Memorial Villages. I like this route better. In the Villages you have to ride the sidewalks. City ordinance. Ichk.

I make it out to Barker Reservoir, and take the bike path around to Barker Cypress, spin around and head back. The wind's channeled along the levee, and gives a free boost. Fun!

On my return route I decide to take the trail through Terry Hershey Park.

I'm quite apprehensive about this. I'm not superstitious, but it seems every time I take this route something bad happens. On this trail I have */broken a chian */suffered a ride with three flats */and broken my elbow. How could anyone break their elbow on this?

Fooling with the cell phone! At almost the exact point where I fell... my phone rings. I didn't even consider answering it, even though I suspected it was someone I wanted to talk to! Bad Karma.

True to form, there is a slightly negative experience. As I near the Beltway I discover the trail closed. And ripped up. Unrideable. It's a long walk. So I end up sneaking through a nearby neighborhood. Getting quite disoriented on cul-de-sac streets. "Just follow the Garmin" I remind myself, convinced I'm going the wrong way. I make it back to known territory and polish off the ride with a nice upwind effort back home.

Today's route...

A quick ice bath, snack, and bed. What will tomorrow bring?