Happy Halloween Birthday To You

Oct 31.  Halloween.  The one night a year the Turk takes off her mask.  Here she poses with Matt and Anna's professionally carved pumpkins!!

We met at the bike shop for a 2 hour ride.  

Doug had to work (on his last day >-: )  

Rick rolled with us for an hour.

Terri apparently wants to take her purse on the ride.  West can fold a pair of jeans like no other man.  RP is up to something back there in his new "Golden Tunic."

I don't know what Jenny and Matt were up to in the back of the shop.  Monkey pawin' a Cervelo maybe.

We rolled across 281 out Stone Oak.  Rick is smartly placed on RP's wheel.  Craig and Jenny are hitting it hard.  Wes and Terri are commiserating about something, lolly gagging off the back.

We rolled back down Blanco Road towards Timberwood Park.  Essentially doing a short shop ride with a Leroy Scheel-Amman add-on.

Jenny wore her "devil horns."  Naughty, naughty!!!

We lost Rick at the 1/2 point.  Terri, Craig and RP brought up the rear.

The map of todays ride (minus the last 3 miles as my computer ran out of juice.)

For the interested, Slumber Pass between Timberline and Heavenly sky is the "highest point of the ride!"

Terri and Jenny immediately got into the Prosecco to celebrate the ride and the Turks birthday!!

Then the whole crew got in on the act.

Happy Halloween!!  Happy Birthday Turk!!  Officially a "Cougar" now, for sure.

4:20

Yesterday, 10/29.  19 days out from the inaugural San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon.  22 mile run in Stone Oak.  Hilly course.  Should help the relatively flat marathon seem more manageable.

The course runs thru the city then down and back thru the San Antonio missions.

The marathon looks to have maybe 200 feet of climbing.  Terri did over 1400 feet yesterday!!

I ran 15 miles, Terri 21.2.  Above the red tracing is my heart rate data for the first 15 miles, then Terri's for the last 5.2.   I threw the Garmin on The Turk when I bailed (had to make sure that she actually did the run, you know...)

You can see that the Turk's heart rate was a bit higher than mine - not too bad and still in a reasonable range to complete the marathon (San Antonio Rock and Roll.)

You can see our "lap times" each mile.  10:50-12:50.  Much of the range is due to the hilly parcourse.  Our training "goal" for miles is 11:00 miles, but that would be on a flatter course, so we are close to target.

4:20.  Terri and my goal time for this year's marathon.  We are a little behind on our training, but doing OK and yesterday Terri did her longest run (21.2 miles.)  I am a little more behind than her, and with Tour de Gruene coming up Sunday I just ran the first 15.  I plan to run 21 or so next week, 12 days out from the race.

4:20 marathon requires 10 minute/mile pace.  We've been doing our long runs in 11-12 minute miles, so that isn't unreasonable.  We'll be rested, plus the crowd (30,000 runners!!,) the flat course, the atmosphere, and the bands will help us along.  Turk and I train and will run the race employing Galloway's method- walking a minute every mile.  We end up running faster, and feeling better that way.

Stay tuned!

Saturday Shop Ride - "Pain is Weakness Leaving Your Body"

The map and route profile of the long ride from Bicycle-Heaven on Saturday am.  Quite hilly, and always spirited.  

Fast ride (for me) - 20mph average on a hilly course.  Particularly fast given the small group.

The red heart rate tracing shows where the major challenges are:

1. Mile 4 - Climbing up Canyon Golf

2. Mile 12 - Leroy Scheel

3. Mile 18 - Persimmon Hill

4. Mile 21 - Initial Spring Branch climb

5. Mile 28 - Climbing out of the Guadalupe (the next 5 miles are always spirited)

6. Mile 35 - Last, 1 mile, climb on 311

7. Mile 45 - All of the 4 rollers coming down Lower Smithson Valley

Here is my data from the ride - Red = Heart Rate, Violet = Cadence, Green = Speed, Brown = Power.

The marines use several motivational expressions to "help" each other, including the title - "Pain is weakness leaving your body."  I think that is the perfect expression for the Saturday shop ride, particularly if you are always trying to get a little bit faster on the bike.  It is arguably the ideal expression for our current economic climate and resultant challenges we face in our future.

This past Saturday we ended up with a group of around 8 riders, rather small, which made the 20mph average (including the warmup and recovery portions which top and tail the ride) remarkable to me.

In the movie "Overcoming" Bjarne Riis relates that the thing he misses most about cycling, in the professional peleton, is imparting pain on other riders.  Saturdays, at the front, you can always count on Zeefe to be the main protagonist and inflict the maximum amount of pain.  

Even during the winter months when not racing you should probably do at least one really hard ride each week, and you never ride harder than when you're trying to not get dropped by a group of riders!!

Recall that performance = ability + determination.  Ability and determination have "natural" and "trainable" components.  For me, I know where the difficult points of the shop ride are (enumerated above.)  Given that knowledge, I can train and improve my ability and determination, each Saturday ride.  Going into each of these trouble spots I can make sure that I am as recovered as possible, position myself where I need to be, and try to convince my mind to get thru them, that the pace will slow down.  This type of "training" will help me the next time on this ride, and in races.

I submit that pain in life that makes life worth living.  And it is the pain in cycling that makes us stronger and lures us to the sport and these kind of rides.

Come on out Saturdays and "enjoy" the ride!!

The Circle of Pain

Thursday am's, Doug and Jeff Park roll out to Timberwood and tackle the "Circle of Pain." 1.5 mile lap, with 0.6 mile steep climb up to and past the Timberwood water tower. The Circle of Pain takes a little over 5 minutes and the climb takes 2:30-2:50.

Garmin shows all of the data except Power. We did 6 laps. I fell off Jeff Park's wheel during the last ascension (#6) of Echo Mtn. You could see that my heartrate did not recover before the base of the climb, on laps 5 and 6. When you lose your recovery, your ticket can be punched when the effort picks up again.

Ascent depiction of the 1k climb portion. Heart rate in Red, Power in Brown, Speed in Green. The tiered nature of this climb make it great for short hard efforts. You punch it on the lowest slope, then recover just a bit. In the middle you have to work really hard - Doug and Jeff mostly sit, I had a little less gear (they rode 'cross bikes, road bike for me) so I mostly stood. The last third is false flat where you have to really work it to maintain contact with your "friends."

Ascent view of the entire 1.5 mile Circle of Pain. After the climb, Jeff and Doug keep the pace high at the front, I sit on and recover.

This might be an "interesting" little addition to the Sat am shop rides.... The group that doesn't choose this option can soft pedal for about 10 minutes letting the "heroes" do the Circle of Pain then chase back on.

TdG Recon - I can't tell if I'm getting older or slower...

Today Team B-H III (Slauson and Foxworth) Myhre, Ayers and Cuda did a course recon of the upcoming Tour de Gruene Team TT.

Cuda's happy cause she got to do one lap then shop during the second lap.  She was flying today, riding as well as we've seen her ride.  Rumor is that she an Mo are coming back, a la Lance, to defend their 2 consecutive TdG victories in the early 00's.

Craig gets an adjustment, or something, from Foxy between laps.  

Jim looks all business, Foxy looks like he is up to something, which he was.

Apparently Quazimodo was rolling around in a B-H team skinsuit today.

Here's the map and route profile.  If it looks hard, it is because it is....

Jim absolutely blew up (not once but like 5 times today.)   Notice the slowly sinking lavender power curve at the bottom.  Foxy was dealing out pain like a guillotine operator today.

Crazy to see the much higher heart rate curve (in red) for the 2nd lap, to only average 3mph more.

The Tour de Gruene is a staple in South Texas racing.  We have lots of great memories of the event, including last year's near disaster when Will flipped over the bridge falling 12' on the Fourth River crossing (classic line from Will, "But the first three weren't so bad...")

Today the group went to do an easy lap, then a hot lap.  Well the easy lap was beautiful, and riding at that place you get to enjoy river road and the Guadalupe in all its glory.   The Hot Lap was brutal as Jim could barely coast behind Foxy coming in.  Any effort at all required on the pedals and he was popped.

But, hey, look on the bright side.  We will probably post a faster time on race day!!

Stay tuned.

State RR - I did get to take pix...

Dawn has broken, we have been up for 2 hours and it is just about time to begin racing.

Natedog didn't race today, so he helped us get ready and handed up bottles in the feed zones.  Here he is airing up Jim's ride, Felt F1.  Notice the Belgian style wheel selection for todays chip-sealed rolling course.  Lightweight aerodynamic deep dish carbon front (HED Alps,) with a more tradittional square section rear wheel (Shimano DuraAce w/ tubeless Hutchinson tire inflated to 90psi.)

Lined up and ready to race.  Park and Foxy are serious.  Jim seems to be unaware of what is in store, he looks happy!!

Far right, our friend Slade from Houston.  Slade has ridden the shop ride a few times with us, strong rider.  The remarkable thing about Slade is his impeccable taste in bikes (which you would expect from a Jeweler.)  He has 2 bikes, a Slipstream/Chipolte Felt F1 (like Jim,) and a Black/Silver Cannondale System Six (like....Jim!!)

Here is Nathan handing a bottle to Jeff Park, a strong member of our "sister" team Team Solar Eclipse.   I shouldn't be taking this picture, I should be in the field riding.  Unfortunately midway thru the 2nd lap I dumped gears while hitting a bump and unshipped my chain, jamming it between the 12T cog and the frame.  I had to stop for 20 seconds to work it loose, and simply didn't have the talent to chase back on.

The course today benefitted from a longer loop - 12 miles inplace of 8.5 miles.  Added a few more rollers and opened the course up a bit.  Nice addition.  Right at the top of the loop near Washington we made a 120 degree turn, thru gravel.  The pack rode thru there at about 7 mph then sprinted back up to speed.  Here is where I made my mistake, dumping gears while out of the saddle sprinting and hitting a bump unshipping my chain.   Lesson #1 - always be smooth.

You can see that the course was reasonable for my physiology today, until I had a mechanical and had to chase for 6 miles.  I would get to about 10 seconds, then the road would tilt upward and it would be 30 seconds.  This happened 3 times.  Finally after 6 miles the elastic snapped, I was at the feed and climbed off the bike.  Boo Hoo.  Lesson #2 learned.  When you are in trouble, and riding with someone, ask for help.  I shoulda shouted out for Foxy.  The 2 of us could have easily gotten back on.  Alone, I didn't have the talent.  We always say "no" we don't need help when we flat or on the side of the road or whatever when we ride.  Say "yes" get some help and then continue the ride together!!

This was the intimate women's 1/2 field about 10 miles into their race today.

7 miles to go, Chappell Hill is the destination.  Man, if only that wheel truck had motor paced me for 60 seconds 20 miles earlier, I would have gotten to enjoy the full day of racing.

4 miles to the finish, the road tilts upward and the attacks begin in earnest.

These 2 came off just a couple of miles before the finish.  The Tenzing rider on the left (riding Cervelo Soloist natch) spent at least 40 miles off the front,  mostly in a 2 man, ultimately in a 4 man break.

Last hill with about 300m to go to finish line, the race is really hotting up now!!

Foxy, looking stylish and collected immediately post race.  Pulled off a top 14 today!

First time I'd seen one of these signs, for motorcycles!  Usually you see a bicycle on these.  Brings me to a concern, I wonder if motorists see these signs (the ones with bicycles on them) and feel that they are directed negatively at cyclists, like "clear the damn road and let us cars, the intended vehicles for these here roads, pass!!"

Saw this on the way home.  First time I'd see one of these "early warning devices."

For this bridge.  I always thought the signs on the bridges were a bit silly.  If you were close enough to read  the clearance height and you were driving, wouldn't it be too late?

Great race.  Definitely do this race out of Chappell Hill, when it rolls around if you do the Saturday shop ride regularly.  It will prepare you perfectly and the course is easier than the shop ride course, medium or long.  

Back to marathon training and Tour de Gruene TT preparation.

Shift smoothly and when you need help, let someone know!!

Thanx for reading.

State RR - Recon

Tomorrow is the state road race out of Chappell Hill.  Jim reconnoiteured the course today.  He and Doug will race the cat 3's so they will do that 8.4 mile loop 5 times - Jim just did it once today, so he rode 35 miles.  Tomorrow's race is 75 miles.

The course is very undulating.  Very similar to the Saturday shop ride.  Jim thinks the course is actually easier.  Course, he wasn't racing today...

Neat things you can do to breakdown and dissect your ride.  Here we look at only the "loop."

And here we look at the out and back, with the loop removed.

The Garmin gives you up to 8 different things to look at and you get 2 screens.  It is very easy to change what you're looking at, even while riding.  This is Jim's "primary" screen with speed, average, heart rate, power, grade, last lap (will be most useful tomorrow during the race, generally cadence is displayed there,) distance and ride time.

His secondary screen shows more "average" stuff - speed, heart rate, power and "navigational" stuff - altitude, amount of climbing, direction and time of day.  As mentioned this stuff is easy to change on the fly.  A couple of weeks back Jim realized that he had his "lap" counter set to miles, so during the first lap of the driveway crit in Austin changed his "lap" counter to mark at start/finish.

The roads are typical Texas roads.  Nice, narrow, chipseal.  Today Jim had a chance to enjoy the view.  Tomorrow the view will be mostly the wheel ahead.

Lots of cows.  (Remember we are near Brenham, the ice cream capitol of Tx.)

And horses.

Ranches.

And Farms.

This "cowgirl" is getting ready for the Thanksgiving season, riding a Turkey!!  Hey, wait a minute...

Dairy Farm road, since we are near Brenham, of course.

Not sure of the significance of the McCain/Palin sign at the foot of Peculiar Hill, but it interested Jim anyways.

If you have trouble getting your S.O. interested in supporting you at a race, towns like Chappell Hill have lots of crap to look at and shop for for the non-rider...

Of course you will stop at a Chappell Hill Meat Market.  Probably a different kind of meat market than we saw last week in Vegas.

Prerace meal ready.  We'll see how tomorrow pans out!!

Thanx for reading!!

Do You Wanna Climb?!?!?!" "Yeaaaa...."

We all have our own "favorite" training loops around us in the Hill Country. From Bicycle-Heaven we like to do the "short shop ride" and throw a few extra hills into it. This is such a great ride because you get a little of everything. Climbs and descents, neighborhoods and ranches, breakdown lane on major connector and back roads along a dry river. You will see deer, cows and horses. You will generally see a cyclist or two.



Today I went out for a 2 hour ride before work.




You can see the undulations of this 30 mile loop. With no climbs over 7/10 of a mile, you can punch the climbs and get a hard training effort out of it.

"Laps" 2/4/6/8/10 were the climbs that I intervalled. Keeping the power between 400 and 450 watts. A great measure given by Ascent software is VAM, the measure of climbing in meters or feet per hour. I did the 0.2mi Water Tower climb at a VAM off 4500 (feet/hour.) This was only a little below what Simoni did on the 6 mile Mt Zoncolan climb in the Giro a few years back (1850 m/hr or around 6000 feet/hr.) VAM is a great thing to monitor while training (like power) say on certain climbs out in Vanderpool to assess your performance gains.

Birds eye aerial view of the ride, courtesy of Ascent software.




Lap 2 is the big hill up Canyon Golf 7/10 mile. 465 watts avg, 3550 feet/min. Steepish sections. Makes the first few miles of the new shopride rollout challenging.

Lap 4 is the climb up to the Timberwood Watertower. Today I went up the steep side, only 2/10 mile. 504 watts avg. 4502 feet/min. I missed the turn to come towards the climb, which is a much better, harder and longer climb.

Lap 6 is what we call the "Cat 4 climb." 2.2 miles, (372 watts average, 1691 feet/hour) from the Cibolo Creek crossing on Bulverde Road (a mile after the longer shop rides splint off.) Undulating with flat and steep sections. You can really challenge yourself (and riding companions) on that hill.

Lap 8 is the back side of the Canyon Golf climb riding back towards the shop.

Lap 10 is "Big Bertha" the big climb in Stone Oak. This is the climb of the infamous "21 club" where you have to average 3 minutes up and 1 minute down for 21 laps to "join." I came up in 3:04 today (405watts average, 3346 feet/min,) so still have a long way to go before facing that challenge.







A great, sub 2 hour training ride (plus its beautiful.) These are the rides you can use to push your fitness upwards efficiently. This particular route adds a few climbs to the already challenging short shop ride on Saturday ams. By doing the watertower climb in Timberwood you add that climb, plus the 2 short climbs on Blanco road. I came back thru Timberwood, but the shop ride brings you back to Stone Oak Parkway on Bulverde road so you have 2 more decent climbs before the big hill coming that way.

On the other hand, this is also a ride you can do really easy, in a little over 2 hours and enjoy all that cycling has to offer. What a great sport.



For the interested, the title is a play on the opening lines of The J. Geil's Band song "Southside shuffle." If you haven't listened to J. Geils in a while, dust off an .mp3. Great music and great riding music.