I Have Been Pedaling Watts!

Happy new years, sports fans! =)

Hope you all got out as much as me over the holidays! I was getting out 5-6 days a week, which was pretty sweet, nice to get out with friends this much. Lotsa longer rides, 3-4+hrs.

Also entered in the annual Boxing Day TT out on Happy Valley Road, final race of 2006! I was in 1st place for all of about 20 seconds, until a couple other riders rolled in behind me..i got a 23:39, taking 30 seconds off my time from last year tho, which was nice. By the end tho, i finished 4th (or 5th if you count the tandem, sneaky Pat needs help! ;) Steve Baird was on fire, posting a 19:27, and Stephen Price demonstrated his fine form with a 21:22. Full results posted here, and for the geeks out there, here's the PowerTap TT file for me. (Just a big GIF image.)

Of course, it's far from being a remarkable performance! However, getting this feedback is pretty handy. For example, i hit 833 watts at the start, but why would i need to do that when my average is only 270w? So my start was too hard, and you can also see that i went out too hard, noting that the power line (yellow) keeps dipping lower and lower to the end...if i rode a bit easier at the beginning, i'd prolly be able to sustain more towards the end.. My HR and cadence remained pretty steady tho, it's not like i was slacking! I'm definitely looking forward to more of these in the summer, and it's been helpful for my continued MuscleTension workouts!

On that front, i'll be continuing them next week, then take a week or two off, and do another intense 3wk session, then roll out into Tempo riding, continuing the muscle-building. It's actually been working, my legs are definitely bigger.

The OrganicAthlete / veggie sports meeting went well! A few people i know who couldn't make it, but the peeps that came out were totally keen, and it's looking like we'll be starting an OA chapter here in Victoria - yay! Expect to see more green on the streets in the upcoming months! Now if i can only get them on the track too..hehehe.. Let me know if you'd be interested in joining! We've got runners, triatletes and bike racers, and will be organizing training runs/rides, as well as continued discussion about nutrition, etc..

There's some WICKED racing going on over in Burnaby, lots of uber-speedy elite riders tearing up the track...i originally planned to go, but in the last couple weeks, i've had absolutely no speed in my legs...and no desire to pick up the intensity, so i decided to go along with that and pass on this. Unfortunately, i think that means no more track events until we start here in April. Anyway, check out the action on the amazing new Canadian cycling website, Roadie.ca. I've been posting in the Forum there as well. =)

On a fun note, check out this vid of this fellow doing some wicked 1-legged roller riding: http://teamchainreaction.com/video/hungerford/

I think i'll have to work a bit in order to do that..haha..

That's about it for now, stay warm and dry!!