The Kid vs. The Machine Part I

The Machines version of events will be posted later.....


Blog of a VO2 max test with Joe from Peak Fitness at Bicycle Heaven in San Antonio, TX
To begin, I’m writing this nearly a week after my test, which occurred on Friday May 23, 2008, thus I’ve had a bit of time and a few races to reflect upon my experience. Coming into the test there were a few thoughts that were running through my head prior to ever stepping on the bike: 1) I sure hope my legs feel good today 2) There is a strong possibility that this is going to be uncomfortable at times 3) I wonder if I prepared in the proper fashion 4) I hope everything goes alright. So with these thoughts in mind, I began my day before the test with breakfast a full 2 hours before the test and a few glasses of water. I then drank a fair quantity of additional water following a realization that I may not have been extremely well hydrated. This I will attribute mostly to my body’s incredible ability to sweat at all times of the day and in all situations, which I like to refer to as my super cooling system.
Back to the test, I arrived at Bicycle Heaven at 10am and met Joe from Peak Fitness, who is extremely courteous upon first impression. He finished the set up of his testing equipment, while I prepared for a nice leisurely ride in the park/ shop. I then mounted the bike and began to pedal; however, a few moments in I found another advantage to having the test done at the shop; Matt informed me that I needed to raise my seat height by nearly an inch. With that corrected, I began to warm up again and a sense of foreshadowing soon overtook me when Joe had me do intensity jumps while warming up. (Keep in mind my general warm up involves slowly pedaling around while finding various people to talk to.) I was also burdened by the thought that I may have drunk too much water in the period leading up to the test and holding it in the reserve tank will be its own challenge.
The test begins with me pedaling very easy and maintaining a fairly low heart rate for the first number of minutes; however, as I learned far too many times, the good times don’t last forever. The testing equipment also involves a snug fitting mask that when applied to my face made me extremely cognizant of every breath I took. (All due respect to the Police) The wattage required to pedal gradually increases during the test and at some point my legs began to tell me, “This hill is quite long, do you think you’ll find the summit soon.” This thought corresponds with a jump in heart rate and a recalculation of my first impression of Joe. He is now Joe, the calm cool computer wielding torture aficionado. The sweat was now pouring out of me at a rate unseen by many city water systems and I’m breathing so heavily into the mask that I think I have a legitimate shot at sucking my face inside out. Then as the intensity increases and my legs begin to scream, “YOU SUCK, JACKASS,” I’m overcome with an epiphany. This oxygen deprived tidbit of wisdom is: “I bet they have you stop eating 2 hours before the test to make sure you don’t hurl in this evil mask.” As my heart rate begins to reach its max, I continue thinking to myself that this pain could all be over if I just let my legs stop spinning and I sure wish I had something to chase up this imaginary hill like rabbit or other woodland creature. However, I am a bit of a masochist and choose to get out of the saddle to push through the pain. Finally, Joe completely redeems himself and tells me the test is over.
In general, I feel that the testing was an excellent tool to help guide me towards my ultimate goals because the empirical data provided me with solid structure on which to guide my intuition and unregimented style of training. My numbers were by no means off the chart, but this is merely one test in a series of many and what truly matters to me in cycling is if I can continue to have fun and perform at my highest level possible.
Cheers,
Ryan M. Wohlrabe
P.S. I want to make sure Matt from Bicycle Heaven and Joe from Peak Fitness know how very thankful I am for all of their help and support