Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Ok, I'm ready.
After a few weeks of not really thinking about training I have finally gotten bitten by the bug. I went for a nice long tempo ride yesterday and had a great time. After weeks of lethargy and dispassionate rides I finally feel some inspiration. I'll keep the structure off for still a while and then begin to properly organize my time at the start of next month.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
CALL HOME. CALL PIZZA.
Ok, I’m going to sound the luddite alarm. Beware! The following text makes me seem like the grumpy old man complaining about the invention of the abacus or pacemaker.
The new DA electronic group is cool, but really – I mean just really. Ok, I understand this is cycling and that we buy all kinds of stuff for any kind of nominal gain (I love my carbon fiber brake levers!). And that’s totally cool. The electric group has a couple of major advantages with perfect, faster shifting and never needing to adjust the trim on your cables. I like that, really I do. But isn’t there something lost in that kind of perfection? I mean, we ride and race bicycles for god sake! A sport where the raw fundamentals are relatively unchanged, a sport where the terrain of the Paris-Roubaix is protected and the race itself is one of the most covetous prizes in all of cycling. Is this shift (‘scuse the pun) the same as making the leap from downtube shifters to brifters? Or, from DA to Red? Or is this working group a signal that cycling is falling down the rabbit hole of technological ridiculousness…or ridiculous technology?…whatever. To sound old and crotchety I must ask the same damn question every other stone wielding hominid asked when bronze was first tooled. What the fuck is next? Will we be able to program our shifting based on our power profile of the race course so then all we need to do is pedal and not ride up the RD of the pedal pusher in front? Or, to take an evil slant I like to be one of the first to bemoan a crazy scenario where if this technology becomes wireless, will I…ahem, I mean someone, be able to hack into a competitors group and exact a kind of 21st century version of team Cinzano brutality we all fear most? Or will the suffering we all love and hate take on new meaning?
“HAL, let me in…shift me to my 11 HAL. HAL?” Monday, July 28, 2008
Chicago Criterium
Chicago Crit, 7/27/08
Race #14
12th/70ish (125 spots were sold, I don’t know how many people showed up to race)
Pre race BG: 167 (30 min after eating a granola bar, 18g)
Post race: 133
My blood sugar was way more stable and I felt pretty good. Nothing unusual or different, but I was able to ride to the course and that bit of activity helped calm me and stabilize my BG. Too bad not every race can be this close to home. I was fortunate to meet Bob Schrank of Team Type 1 and we got to have a really nice chat before his race. I was surprised to learn that there are FIVE Type 1 diabetic racers in the Chicago area. I know two, the other two I'd like to meet.
Gaining position. Check. Holding position. Fail.
I liked the course. It was long enough and somewhat technical enough to make it interesting. The turns and the bend at Congress forced me to plan my advances up the field.
One goal was to stay up front. I didn’t. Another was to work on positioning in the pack. On this I was able to do something. After two or three laps I was able to read the pack and determine how to move up and when; I did this rather easily on the outside. Once I got near the front I quickly lost ground and was midpack again. I must be a bit more aggressive in holding position.
I’m walking away from this knowing that I can finish 12th. If I learn to position myself better I can win another race before the season ends. I’m getting that same feeling I got after the second Great Dane, that I’m underperforming. I’m happy about that because I am regaining some race confidence and this will lead to progress.
SuperWeek madness.
There has been so much racing in July I don’t know how to manage my training during this thing. Well, I know what I need to do to prepare for next season, and I’m kinda excited about it. I mean, if I can do this well this unstructured, with a little more focus I can make some serious gains. A coach, however, would be really nice…so would a SRM or Powertap.
Results.
Dean, Can and Jonathan raced the 5s and had a great time. Vanessa (8th) raced the women’s 4s; Brian did the masters 1-3; Nate won (again) the Masters 4/5 and also won a prime in the 4s race; Alex (7th), Ernie (8th) and myself (12th) did well in the 4s.
Race #14
12th/70ish (125 spots were sold, I don’t know how many people showed up to race)
Pre race BG: 167 (30 min after eating a granola bar, 18g)
Post race: 133
My blood sugar was way more stable and I felt pretty good. Nothing unusual or different, but I was able to ride to the course and that bit of activity helped calm me and stabilize my BG. Too bad not every race can be this close to home. I was fortunate to meet Bob Schrank of Team Type 1 and we got to have a really nice chat before his race. I was surprised to learn that there are FIVE Type 1 diabetic racers in the Chicago area. I know two, the other two I'd like to meet.
Gaining position. Check. Holding position. Fail.
I liked the course. It was long enough and somewhat technical enough to make it interesting. The turns and the bend at Congress forced me to plan my advances up the field.
One goal was to stay up front. I didn’t. Another was to work on positioning in the pack. On this I was able to do something. After two or three laps I was able to read the pack and determine how to move up and when; I did this rather easily on the outside. Once I got near the front I quickly lost ground and was midpack again. I must be a bit more aggressive in holding position.
I’m walking away from this knowing that I can finish 12th. If I learn to position myself better I can win another race before the season ends. I’m getting that same feeling I got after the second Great Dane, that I’m underperforming. I’m happy about that because I am regaining some race confidence and this will lead to progress.
SuperWeek madness.
There has been so much racing in July I don’t know how to manage my training during this thing. Well, I know what I need to do to prepare for next season, and I’m kinda excited about it. I mean, if I can do this well this unstructured, with a little more focus I can make some serious gains. A coach, however, would be really nice…so would a SRM or Powertap.
Results.
Dean, Can and Jonathan raced the 5s and had a great time. Vanessa (8th) raced the women’s 4s; Brian did the masters 1-3; Nate won (again) the Masters 4/5 and also won a prime in the 4s race; Alex (7th), Ernie (8th) and myself (12th) did well in the 4s.
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