Fri, Jan 6 1:00 15 miles + weights

Ahhh an easy day. Great weight workout followed by an easy 1 hour spin. Good thing too as the weather was cold windy and light snow

Jan 5.....3:45 / 67 miles

After a marathon dentist appointment this morning, I finally got on the bike about 1:15. Plan was for 4 hours on the Black Mountain/ Bat Cave loop. As soon as I got down the hill from the house I knew I was underdressed...but not too badly...forecast was for 50 , so I should be ok....right?

I was definitely feeling the last couple of days in my legs today. I still got plenty of zone 2...but not as much time at AeT....and very little extended time there. After a full training block, I should be able to ride day after day with less fatigue and higher power outputs. Today...not so much.

I was enjoying the ride out to Bat Cave, but noticed that the wind was picking up and it was actually getting colder. I knew that my route was going to put me into a headwind for the last 90+ minutes....but I didn't know it was going to be this windy. I started to get cold. Even on the 30 min climb up route 74 I was getting more and more cold with the headwind. I struggled back into the gale (small ring on some of the downhills even) with my hands in pain. Somehow I managed to get into some kind of trance... and the next thing I knew I was riding through Biltmore Forest just a few miles from home.

This is one of my favorite loops...but between the fatigue and the cold it was definitely not a comfortable ride...still...mission accomplished.

Jan 4 6:15 / 101 miles

An epic day to be sure. Planned to ride with Justin England (United Pro) and Laure Franges (Victory Brewing). We were to meet at Lauren's at 9am...so I needed to be on the bike by 8:30. The forecast was for nice a nice warm upper 50's high...but of course at 8:30 it was 33 degrees and pea soup fog. As I got about 10 min away the phone rang and it was Lauren saying that Justin wanted to delay the ride 30 mins. I figured I was on the bike anyway, so I rode a loop and got to the house at 9:30. We finally got going about 10. There were 5 of us to start and we decidede to do the hot springs-doggett loop backwards from the way I did it sunday.

After about an hour and a half the sun finally came out and Lauren, Justin and I headed into Hot Springs (the others headed back for a 2-3 hr ride). We did a store stop, then headed on our way. Just about 3 miles out of Hot Springs Justin pops a spoke on his front wheel. Of course now days we all have these low spoke count radial laced wheels that ...if you break one spoke... they become un-rideable. Justin heads back to the store to call for a rescue mission to come save him...and Lauren and I head on our way.

This is a great loop...hard, with lots of climbing. We do the 30+ min climb up the backside of Dogget, then fly down the other side. As I approach the 5 hr mark I start to suffer some, but hey...it is a nice day...what would I rather be doing? Once again about an hour from home I get a flat. This time I notice a nice gash in my tire...probably from yesterday. I boot it with a Clif bar wrpper, fix the tube (I brought 2 today) and promptly notice that I am standing in a pile of dog poo.....lovely. Nothing like poo ground into your cycling cleats. Of course Lauren gets much more entertainment out of this than I do...but hey ...it is a nice day , right? After Lauren turns off for home I grovel back the last half hour into a head wind...tired...but not nearly as bad off as I was last sunday.

3 hours / 55 miles

ok...I'm still trying to get the hang of this blog thing...so bear with me on the formatting. Today was...well...here is what today was like: After getting one of the cars serviced, getting as much work as I could stand to do done..I finally got out the door at 1:15. On tap : 3 hr ride almost all @ AeT. AeT stands for aerobic threshold...usually about 20 beats per minute below lactate threshold heart rate or about 65% of CP30 power. Training at this intensity is extremely efficient at developing aerobic fitness.....it is however, a bit harder than you might imagine. Today I was killing it. After a day off the bike yesterday my HR was very responsive and I was easily riding at AeT and above the whole way. I took the hilly route to Marshall and would come back on the river. You will hear me talk about riding on "the river" quite often this time of year. Here in Asheville we have the slight prroblem of not having too many flat roads to ride on. Along the river, north to the town of Marshall is about the flattest route. At this time of year it is really important to work on steady endurance riding. Grinding up one side of a climb, then coasting down the other all day is a blast.... but not the best way to develop aerobic endurance fitness....hence , a lot of riding on "the river".

OK, so I am flying around my route for the day...it is cold...it is damp....it is drizzling most of the time, no pronblem. All those good feelings come to an end as I get a flat a little less than an hour from home. No worries...I put in my spare tube. What??@!?!@?! It is flat. No worries I have my handy patch kit...I'll fix one of the tubes. NO, the damn glue is dried up....hmmm what to do. Luckily I have phone service and call a friend who lives 5-10 miles away. Ahhh some luck returns and he is home....and agrees to come to the rescue with a spare tube. Thank you Jamie! Unfortunately after waiting in the cold and wet I get quite chilled and even though I ride pretty hard to get warm for the remaining miles, I am not in such a good way by the time I get home....tonight I am super stressed about my workload this week.....but of course I plan to ride 6 hours tomorrow, so it might be a long wednesday night after the ride getting work done.....out for now.

Jan 2nd - 0 hours / 0 miles

I did get a great weight worrkout in today. Loads are creeping up...soon it will be time for transition weights. This is the first season I am doing all weight work at mome-no gym...so far , so good

Jan 1, 2006 ! 5:15 / 93 miles

Ah yes, easy yesterday so I could torture myself today. Had a great solo ride over Doggett mtn, out to hotsprings and back through Marshall. Practicing what I preach I killed it with the zone 2 HR and PLENTY of steady time @ AeT (which for me is 145bpm). I finally got a HRM going today. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to take some screen shots of SRM files. I always forget how tough a climb Doggett is….man it is steep and unrelenting…about 25 minutes going falt out, it probably took me 30 or so today keeping the effort in check. All I could think about going up was how incredibly cool it would be to run a TT up this thing….THAT would be some pain. Unfortunately it is kind of in the middle of nowhere and not a single place to park a car near the base. I am guessing the owners of the farmhouse at the bottom would not have much interest. Anyway…what a great day for the first of the year! Sunny and almost 60. I was pretty hurtin the last 40 minutes or so. I found that I was talking to myself out loud toward the end. I must be a little deranged as I really like to do these long endurance rides alone. Sure, I like to ride with others too…but there is something about the long solo ride. I find I can really focus…and I think I generally ride harder (more zone 2) when alone.

This was a great first week of training for the 2006 season. Base 1 week 1 and I got over 22 hours of riding for about 386 miles plus two solid weight sessions. Not bad, unfortunately the weather does not look quite as amenable for the upcoming week.

Dec 31, 2005 3:10 / 55 miles (plus weights)

Solid AA weight workout in the morning. Just to let you know the exercises I am doing: 3 sets 20 reps

Fitball and various other crunches

Full Free Squats

Bent over row

Standing leg curl (single leg)

Leg extension (single leg)

Chest press (alternating incline and flat)

Lunges

Triceps extensions

Step-Ups

After lunch Cara and I headed out on the Tandem for a spin out to Marshall, a short loop, then back. We had a nice tailwind for most of the return along the river and rode 25mph plus for quite a while…nice. The tandem has 170 mm cranks front and rear. We both hate them. I know shorter cranks are not supposed to cause problems, but these things seem to always make my knees a little sore….and I have my position set up VERY close to the road bike (crank length accounted for). We want to get 172.5s for it soon.

Dec 30^th, 2005 – 4:45 / 87 miles

Finally a REAL ride. Hooked up with Justin England (United Pro) and Hugh Moran (Aerospace) for a solid endurance ride. These guys are a couple of the best climbers in the country and it is an honor to ride with them. Unfortunately Hugh is moving down to Athens GA on Sunday, so I won’t see him until the racing starts up…but hopefully I’ll be able to get some long rides in with Justin before he heads off to his team training camp at the end of January. We headed out over the climb on Rte 74 and down around Lake Lure. It was cold at the start (35), but by the time we were at the lake it was a nice 50+ degrees. I actually felt great most of the ride, but since I didn’t think it wise to get 6 hours in after just a few days back on the bike, I turned around at Bills Creek rd just past the lake. Continuing with the guys would have meant lots more climbing and an extra 1-1.5 hrs that might have put me past my current limit.

I was hoping for about 4 hrs, but over shot a little again. Man, was I feeling it after 4 hours! I groveled up the climb to the house and felt the deep fatigue that only comes after really long endurance rides…I have missed that feeling. I have found myself really wanting some metrics on the rides. I miss my SRM! I gotta get that thing fixed so I can see some power numbers….and I gotta stop being lazy and start wearing a HRM again. I have found that after 15 years of racing and training to race I can read my body pretty well…I know what I need to do, and what energy systems I am stressing at any given time…..but it sure is nice to see these things confirmed with HR and power numbers…especially at this point early in the training season. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to relate some of these numbers here as well.

Dec 29^th, 2005 – 1:00 / 15 miles

Crummy cold day. 1 hr easy ride. Adaptation continuing. Nothing else to report

Dec 28^th, 2005 – 2:30 / 45 miles (plus weights)

Got a good AA weight workout in this morning, then some work, lunch then on the bike. Thought I was going to get rained out, but the showers passed and it was sunny and windy. I actually overdressed for the 55 degree weather. Nice ride out the river and back with an excursion up Lower Flat Creek. I am feeling a few aches and pains of getting back into the training program…the usual. I id feel a bit of bother in my left Achilles. This comes about from switching from my MTB pedals and shoes on the CX bike, back to the road bike. The cleats on the road bike are a little further forward which makes me use a little more ankling. This is a good thing, but I need to re-adapt. The last thing I want is another full blown case of tendonitis. Tomorrow I will use the MTB shoes and pedals…then alternate systems until I adapt.

Dec 27^th 2005 - 3:30 / 56 miles

Wanted to get a relatively long endurance (HR zone 2 ) ride in today. I was a little too ambitious and was a little too spirited at the beginning of the ride…this caught up with me later (go figure). I wanted a 2.5-3 hr ride. I had it in my head to hit the dirt climb up Young’s Gap Rd. which I did. I forgot that even though the weather was nice today most of that road never sees sunlight….so it was a soft muddy climb…still fun though. As I approached Merrill’s cove and the last real climb of the ride, I sped by the store stop thinking “I’ll be home in an hour, I’m fine”. Not. Just 15 minutes later on the climb I started bonking. I was reduced to stopping for a coke and a snickers bar at a store just 40 minutes from home. After that I felt fine. This tells me that my body is extremely inefficient at burning fat right now…I burned WAY more glycogen than I would have on this same ride in the spring. After all working on the ability to utilize fat is one of the goals of base training. Of course my sub-three hour ride turned into almost 3.5 hours.

Dec 26. 2005 2:00 / 35 miles

Ahh the first official day of the 2006 training season. It felt good to be back on the raod bike although a little strange. The change back to road shoes and pedals is always strange…as is the 2cm longer top tube as compared to the cross bikes. Went for a nice moderate ride in the rolling hills.

testing!