Linz and I left behind the snow and cold this morning to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa in Naples, FL. We landed to 80 degree weather and after a nice lunch and a glass of wine Linz laid out and got some sun while I built my road bike up that I sent down last week and headed out for a quick 23 miles. It feels strange wearing shorts and short sleeves, but I'm sure not going to complain about it. I'm hoping to get in a lot of mileage over the next five days (and a lot of good meals too I'm sure, I am at Grandma's). Barry Roubaix is 8 weeks away!
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Thursday, February 3, 2011
Hello Florida
Monday, January 24, 2011
A Perfect Saturday Night
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Winter Continues...
2011 Mileage: 279
Sunday was my worst ride of the year to date. It was bitter cold and my feet went past numb to actually hurting. I was with a good group of guys from the team (Chris, Ron and Neil) and although the company was great we were all so cold by the time we hit mile 25 we all just wanted the ride to end. We altered out route to go past Chris' house at around mile 35 and what was supposed to be a short break to regain feeling in our extremities turned in to beers and burgers and scrapping the rest of the loop. It was probably for the best considering I could also feel my IT bands getting tighter with each pedal stroke. With the ride back to the shop from Chris' we had 40 miles on the day.
I seem to have everything figured out on these cold rides except for my feet. They get cold after about an hour and numb after two. I'm gonna try borrowing some bigger shoes from a friend that I can fit some more layers in and see if that will solve the issue.
Monday was spent with Linz, mostly eating and xc skiing. Not riding on Monday was a good decision, both for my body and marriage since we hadn't had a day like that together in way too long.
I got the XTC 29er put together as a great winter bike and new bikes to ride always equates to new motivation for me. I'm actually hoping to start commuting again at least a couple days a week to squeeze in some more mileage. The Florida trip is also right around the corner and I've found some group rides and planned some routes for while I'm down there. The key is to ride really early so that I'm home before Linz is up (and she likes to sleep in on vacation so that should work out fine).
Sunday was my worst ride of the year to date. It was bitter cold and my feet went past numb to actually hurting. I was with a good group of guys from the team (Chris, Ron and Neil) and although the company was great we were all so cold by the time we hit mile 25 we all just wanted the ride to end. We altered out route to go past Chris' house at around mile 35 and what was supposed to be a short break to regain feeling in our extremities turned in to beers and burgers and scrapping the rest of the loop. It was probably for the best considering I could also feel my IT bands getting tighter with each pedal stroke. With the ride back to the shop from Chris' we had 40 miles on the day.
I seem to have everything figured out on these cold rides except for my feet. They get cold after about an hour and numb after two. I'm gonna try borrowing some bigger shoes from a friend that I can fit some more layers in and see if that will solve the issue.
Monday was spent with Linz, mostly eating and xc skiing. Not riding on Monday was a good decision, both for my body and marriage since we hadn't had a day like that together in way too long.
I got the XTC 29er put together as a great winter bike and new bikes to ride always equates to new motivation for me. I'm actually hoping to start commuting again at least a couple days a week to squeeze in some more mileage. The Florida trip is also right around the corner and I've found some group rides and planned some routes for while I'm down there. The key is to ride really early so that I'm home before Linz is up (and she likes to sleep in on vacation so that should work out fine).
Monday, January 17, 2011
A Day Off Together
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Visiting Grandma
2011 Mileage: 213
It has been an eventful first week of the year as far as riding goes. I already have two long rides under my belt and I have been feeling good. Sunday we had 9 people meet at the shop for a 60 mile loop. Three of us made it the full loop and we did it in just over 4 and half hours on the bike with a couple breaks on top of that.
The shop is also closed on Monday's until March so I took that day off to head out to Fenton (on the bike) to go visit Grandma for Lunch. Lucky for me she lives right by The French Laundry and the food from there is amazing, I even took a cinnamon roll and bug bar for my food for the ride home. We had a long and enjoyable two hour lunch and it also gave me a chance to regain the feeling in my toes before I headed back out. On the way home I paid a visit to my Grandpa at Great Lakes National Cemetery and made it home just before dark with 70 miles in just over 5 hours on the day.
Tuesday morning I attended another of Lindsay's 6am spin classes and it seemed to work the soreness right out of my legs because I felt great all day yesterday considering I had spent almost ten hours in the previous two days in the saddle.
I also finally have something nice to put together for the rest of the winter. An XTC 29er frame came in to my life yesterday so I should be able to put together something nice for the rest of the winter and maybe the team will stop laughing at what my winter bikes look like.
Beyond just riding my bike I have also started to do a little preparation for 2011 by way of race schedule. I have posted a tentative 2011 race schedule on the right (along with my results from 2010). I am trying to develop a 3-peak season with peaks at Lumberjack 100, Ore to Shore and Iceman (and then try to maintain through 'cross season). Kate and I are in the process of putting together a training regimen but right now the plan is ride... a lot. My first peak is my first hundred miler so I do need to be able to go hard for 100 miles. I am also hoping to add some local Tailwind races in to this schedule as time allows but for now these are the races that I am making priorities. It is always tough to balance time to both run a shop and race.
It has been an eventful first week of the year as far as riding goes. I already have two long rides under my belt and I have been feeling good. Sunday we had 9 people meet at the shop for a 60 mile loop. Three of us made it the full loop and we did it in just over 4 and half hours on the bike with a couple breaks on top of that.
The shop is also closed on Monday's until March so I took that day off to head out to Fenton (on the bike) to go visit Grandma for Lunch. Lucky for me she lives right by The French Laundry and the food from there is amazing, I even took a cinnamon roll and bug bar for my food for the ride home. We had a long and enjoyable two hour lunch and it also gave me a chance to regain the feeling in my toes before I headed back out. On the way home I paid a visit to my Grandpa at Great Lakes National Cemetery and made it home just before dark with 70 miles in just over 5 hours on the day.
Tuesday morning I attended another of Lindsay's 6am spin classes and it seemed to work the soreness right out of my legs because I felt great all day yesterday considering I had spent almost ten hours in the previous two days in the saddle.I also finally have something nice to put together for the rest of the winter. An XTC 29er frame came in to my life yesterday so I should be able to put together something nice for the rest of the winter and maybe the team will stop laughing at what my winter bikes look like.
Beyond just riding my bike I have also started to do a little preparation for 2011 by way of race schedule. I have posted a tentative 2011 race schedule on the right (along with my results from 2010). I am trying to develop a 3-peak season with peaks at Lumberjack 100, Ore to Shore and Iceman (and then try to maintain through 'cross season). Kate and I are in the process of putting together a training regimen but right now the plan is ride... a lot. My first peak is my first hundred miler so I do need to be able to go hard for 100 miles. I am also hoping to add some local Tailwind races in to this schedule as time allows but for now these are the races that I am making priorities. It is always tough to balance time to both run a shop and race.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Hello 2011
Final 2010 Mileage: 5,417
2011 Mileage: 58
Well I've been unable to finish a post over the last month. Lots of fun snow riding but never the time to blog about it. Oh well. I ended 2010 with a cold and rainy 32 mile ride. This put me at 5417 for my mileage for the year. It was only a little over half of what I had originally set as a goal for 2010. Another oh well. With the move back to Michigan and starting racing again the goals sort of shifted and race performance became more of a priority.
I also need to mention that 2010 ended with an awesome surprise, a visit from Per and Jo. Linz was in on it but I had no idea they were coming until a car with Vermont plates pulled in to our driveway. It was for less than 24 hours but it was still so great to see them and definitely made me wish they lived a little closer.
I'm in the process of putting together a 2011 race schedule and schedule it around the six weddings that Linz and I will be going to this summer. I have figured out that I want to set up my peaks for the Mohican 100 on June 4th (my birthday), Ore to Shore the middle of August and then Iceman the beginning of November. I'm also looking to do Barry Roubaix and Paris-to-Ancaster as Early season races. Other than that I'll just have to see how things progress. I'm also not planning on setting a mileage goal for 2011 for two reasons. First, well obviously that didn't work out to well for 2010. Second, I want to focus on racing and training more so than actual mileage, the mileage will come with that. Speaking of mileage, I've put in two rides so far this year putting me at 58 miles.
On another note Lindsay (my wonderful wife) taught her first spin class this morning and at the very same time I attended my first spin class ever. It was fun to see her in action and she really is an excellent instructor. She is tough but motivational and I am really proud of her for doing this. Hopefully she'll get back to updating her blog too now that she has classes to right about.
2011 Mileage: 58
Well I've been unable to finish a post over the last month. Lots of fun snow riding but never the time to blog about it. Oh well. I ended 2010 with a cold and rainy 32 mile ride. This put me at 5417 for my mileage for the year. It was only a little over half of what I had originally set as a goal for 2010. Another oh well. With the move back to Michigan and starting racing again the goals sort of shifted and race performance became more of a priority.
I also need to mention that 2010 ended with an awesome surprise, a visit from Per and Jo. Linz was in on it but I had no idea they were coming until a car with Vermont plates pulled in to our driveway. It was for less than 24 hours but it was still so great to see them and definitely made me wish they lived a little closer.
I'm in the process of putting together a 2011 race schedule and schedule it around the six weddings that Linz and I will be going to this summer. I have figured out that I want to set up my peaks for the Mohican 100 on June 4th (my birthday), Ore to Shore the middle of August and then Iceman the beginning of November. I'm also looking to do Barry Roubaix and Paris-to-Ancaster as Early season races. Other than that I'll just have to see how things progress. I'm also not planning on setting a mileage goal for 2011 for two reasons. First, well obviously that didn't work out to well for 2010. Second, I want to focus on racing and training more so than actual mileage, the mileage will come with that. Speaking of mileage, I've put in two rides so far this year putting me at 58 miles.
On another note Lindsay (my wonderful wife) taught her first spin class this morning and at the very same time I attended my first spin class ever. It was fun to see her in action and she really is an excellent instructor. She is tough but motivational and I am really proud of her for doing this. Hopefully she'll get back to updating her blog too now that she has classes to right about.
Monday, December 6, 2010
End Of The Race Season
2010 Mileage: 5195
Sunday was Springfield Oaks CX, the Michigan State Championship CX race. Saturday afternoon I started feeling like I was coming down with a cold so it was home and early to bed Saturday night and I actually woke up feeling pretty good Sunday morning despite the snow flurries outside. I got over in time to pre-ride a couple laps of the course before the C race and it was a pretty tough course with a whole bunch of off camber turns, the barriers placed on an uphill section and a flyover (steep stairset followed by a quick ride down). It was actually a fun course which was an awesome change from the bloomer race. During the C race I cheered Kate and Andrew on (Kate took 3rd and Andrew crashed out) while I was getting ready for my race next. As soon as they were off the course I went out for one more lap to try and get comfortable on the off camber corners. It was amazing how muddy they had gotten during the C race and how everything else was frozen.
I lined up 3rd row and even had to push my way up to there. It is amazing how early people are lining up at these races. The gun went off and my legs felt pretty good. I was mostly passing people and although sketchy at times I was taking the corners with one foot out and was able to save myself. My legs felt pretty good and my lap times were actually getting faster each lap as I was able to take the tougher sections with more speed. I had worked my way up to around tenth place when I crashed in one of those slick corners and a recovery would have been quick but I had knocked my front wheel out of line and had to stop and knock it back in to place. I watched five people pass me as I fixed my front wheel. That (my fifth of six) was by far my slowest lap and it came at a time where I was really picking up momentum and working my way up. I made three of the spots back as my last lap was my fastest and I really felt like I left it all out there. I ended the day in 12th place out of 31 starters. The legs felt better than bloomer and even with the crash it was a better day for me. I then got to get bundled up and drink beer while I watched the next two races. Not a bad day at all.
That cold has now come back to hit me full force but that's alright, no races 'til March. Prep starts as soon as I shake this cold though and its time to start the long slow miles again and work on the base. Too bad Per won't be around to join me on those rides this year.
Sunday was Springfield Oaks CX, the Michigan State Championship CX race. Saturday afternoon I started feeling like I was coming down with a cold so it was home and early to bed Saturday night and I actually woke up feeling pretty good Sunday morning despite the snow flurries outside. I got over in time to pre-ride a couple laps of the course before the C race and it was a pretty tough course with a whole bunch of off camber turns, the barriers placed on an uphill section and a flyover (steep stairset followed by a quick ride down). It was actually a fun course which was an awesome change from the bloomer race. During the C race I cheered Kate and Andrew on (Kate took 3rd and Andrew crashed out) while I was getting ready for my race next. As soon as they were off the course I went out for one more lap to try and get comfortable on the off camber corners. It was amazing how muddy they had gotten during the C race and how everything else was frozen.
I lined up 3rd row and even had to push my way up to there. It is amazing how early people are lining up at these races. The gun went off and my legs felt pretty good. I was mostly passing people and although sketchy at times I was taking the corners with one foot out and was able to save myself. My legs felt pretty good and my lap times were actually getting faster each lap as I was able to take the tougher sections with more speed. I had worked my way up to around tenth place when I crashed in one of those slick corners and a recovery would have been quick but I had knocked my front wheel out of line and had to stop and knock it back in to place. I watched five people pass me as I fixed my front wheel. That (my fifth of six) was by far my slowest lap and it came at a time where I was really picking up momentum and working my way up. I made three of the spots back as my last lap was my fastest and I really felt like I left it all out there. I ended the day in 12th place out of 31 starters. The legs felt better than bloomer and even with the crash it was a better day for me. I then got to get bundled up and drink beer while I watched the next two races. Not a bad day at all.
That cold has now come back to hit me full force but that's alright, no races 'til March. Prep starts as soon as I shake this cold though and its time to start the long slow miles again and work on the base. Too bad Per won't be around to join me on those rides this year.
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