The 30 Minute Climb Back To Victoria

That's what it felt like today!

On the way out it was rather gusty, but as i came off Interurban it had really picked up...and as i hit the water, look out! As i was cruising along Dallas just before Moss, i was pushing 250w, and going all of about 17kph. Normally along there i'm 40+! I could actually feel the wind blowing off my frame onto my legs...weird feeling.

For training today, i opted out of more O/U efforts today, as WKO was telling me my TSS has been too high, and my TSB hadn't rebounded enough after the weekend...plus legs were feeling chunky.

So decided to mix is up, and go out for 2hrs, and toss in some HSS (High Speed Sprint) efforts. Basically, you want to get up to speed (at least 45kph) and then get out of the saddle and sprint, and when spinning out sit and keep pushing. It's only a 10-12sec effort. I make it easy and do them at the bottom of a hill, so i can focus on the sprint portion of it. =)

I did my 'flat' loop, there's not a lot of elevation, but a few appropriate descents that allow for a sprint at the bottom (ie, not into a corner). First was just pass the uphill around Mt Doug...there's a spot where you pick up some speed. Next was the bottom of the hill past Mattick's. Then the decent on Island View (normally start my Tempo efforts there.) Bit of a gap after that, but turned onto Durrance Rd, went 3/4 up the first incline, turned and descended and sprinted there. Then the descent just past the Ob (road was clear). And final effort was the flat portion of the OBB sprint. Last one wasn't quite 100%, there was a lot of traffic and couldn't really ignore it... I intended to do one more on the waterfront, but the wind made that pointless, and i cut off Dallas Rd early on Moss St. It was just dumb slogging it out on there with no cover!

Pretty happy with my efforts. Haven't done these for a long while! All but the last had peaks in the 1150w range, pretty consistent hitting that. First effort was a peak of 1241w, 5sec was 1166w and 10sec was 1019w. Looks like my sustain was pretty good there, which surprises me!

I haven't been tracking my 10sec peaks (and this is a critical flaw of Training Peaks, imo..it doesn't track overall peaks, only for a short date range and i had to program in a couple charts to track that), but in the last month, the next highest was 966w in an OBB sprint. Happy to see i can hold over 1000w that long! Most of the rest of the efforts were mid-900's over 10sec. Last one, again, was lower, only 814w.

On each effort i typically gained ~10kph, usually starting around 45kph. On Durrance, went from 48 to 59. =)

This is fairly close to what i do on the track for a 200m effort...i'll do my jump in the 45kph range, but i'll usually get up over 60kph. All my efforts today were in the 200m range too. I wish we had access to the track...i'm guessing my 200m effort would be greatly improved, i don't recall holding quite that much wattage in the past..

Posted all my WKO data here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_23d8fsk6hc

Broke down all six sprints as well. I selected them all rather hastily, so the 'average' wattage may not be terribly useful, but the peaks and speeds are neat to compare.

Garmin file here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26602365

Nothing too exciting there..i like the funny peak in elevation for Durrance..hehe

Climbing tomorrow, and more O/U efforts on Thursday.

Do it to it!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Let's Go To The Ob (Oh Baby..)

haha - hope you get that awful song stuck in your head!!

It was a pretty nice, sunny day. Temp ~11C, although a bit of a cold breeze. Kev came out to join me in the suffering! It's been really awesome having people out to train with this spring. =)

So, same general idea as Tuesday:

2min U, 1min O, 2 - U, 1 - O, 1 - U, 1 - O (8min total)


U/Under = 260w (will bump that up to 265w next time.)


O/Over = 350w - well above my anaerobic capacity. FYI, i can hold 350w for ~5mins, and i am DONE at that point..totally esploded.

So this is a pretty challenging workout. I'm either at my 1hr threshold (265w) or well above. The point is to develop recovery, despite intensity. Clear the legs out of the nasty stuff, etc.. In the 8min effort, i'm holding 350w for 3mins, so i think this is maxing me out pretty well.

Did 4x, here's the quick #'s:

#1

Ave Wts: 298

Ave HR: 174

Ave Cad: 92

Ave Spd: 17.5

#2

Ave Wts: 296

Ave HR: 175

Ave Cad: 91

Ave Spd: 17.2

#3

Ave Wts: 301

Ave HR: 176

Ave Cad: 90

Ave Spd: 17.3

#4

Ave Wts: 294

Ave HR: 176

Ave Cad: 91

Ave Spd: 17.1

Was fading a bit on the final one... I'm holding my 260w portions very well, many were in the 270w range. Some of the 350w portions were down around 345w. The entire effort average, according to my math (5x265 + 3x350 /8) should be in the 297w range, so i'm getting what i need out of it. (32mins averaging ~300w is great!)

Note there's a 4mins rest between each effort, just enough time to get to the bottom. Max HR was 189 for the final two, and 186 for #1. Also, kept my cadence as high as possible, it was in the 80-90's for the Under portion, but i was often around 110rpm for the Over, for some addition aerobic stimulation... I must say, feels REALLY weird going uphill at 110rpm!! Much more used to grinding a bit more..heh..

All the power data here, including detailed cuts of each interval:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_20dc2kzjfg

Note i also broke down the ride out and ride back. Total ride is a bit longer, includes the four descents from the top of the Ob, plus my short warm-up and warm-down (which i excluded from the ride out and back portions.)

Also got a Garmin file:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26102972

Again, the peaks in the Elevation view make me laugh!!! ~830m of total elevation today...starting to sound like a climber. ;)

Climbed Wed night, had another good session, made it up the overhang 11a with only one stop...figured out some smoother manoeuvres, hopefully will clean it soon! Maybe tomorrow night.. Sat is OBB, and prolly another short MTB ride on Sunday.

Rock and roll!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Splish Splash

It's been mainly dry...but just enough moisture to muck things up!

Sunday - MTB

Went out for a short MTB ride with Laura W and Alex, fun times! Just what i needed. Neat to see the Garmin data:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25791527

Basically rode in, went up the Regional Trail to the 'entrance' to Shock Treatment on the far end, back in along that, up Skull, Inventive, down Little Face, up Emergency 2 to Rolly Ridge, then Crazy Horse to See-Section/Centerfold/Switchbacks, then across to T.Run, curious to see what it's about. Cruised down slowly and carefully, looks like it'll be pretty fun! Back up See-Section and across to Nightshift, Skull and out.

Here's the power data, nothing too exciting:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_18ghqk2jg6

Monday - Climb

Still climbing 2-3 times a week, had a good session with Kelly. The new 10c/d is all figured out, i might clean it in the next few tries.. Been working on the 11a overhang with big, round holds...might be able to clean that one soon as well. Getting a little stronger overall...

Tuesday - EM w/3x Over/Under Intervals

Headed up to the Observatory with Chad to do some 'easy' ones, only going up to 330w on the Over efforts (260w on the Under). Power was solid, i marked the wattage for each interval:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgdbj3nx_19hbt4kmgq

Still got cold #2, didn't feel nearly as good as i should have, but rode them out. Thursday will head back out, and do 4x, and bump it back up to 350w.

Garmin file looks kinda funny:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25963465

On the Elevation view, the peaks crack me up..haha.. Nearly got 700m of elevation in 2hrs tho.

As for the splish splash, it was actually rather sunny when we left, and on the 2nd effort the rain came down!! It lasted just as we finished the 3rd effort, then stopped...but soaked the roads. I'd taken the Ridley out since it was supposed to stay dry...grr.. Stopped in at Oak Bay Bikes to give it a bath on the way home...nice and clean now. Don't like getting it wet tho!!

So i will do these for a few more weeks, making them tougher as i progress (ie, replacing an Under minute with another Over minute), and then in April start throwing down efforts well above VO2, like the 4min on, 4min off nasties...

Until then, will be getting more comfy with life at 350 watts. =)

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

OBB Group Ride - Dumped at Dump by Cold

Felt alright this morning, didn't feel so great last night (Friday); was planning to go to the climbing gym, but my body just said 'no', so stayed at home and took it easy. I've gotten another cold of some kind, second this week..blarg! It's a relatively light one thankfully.

The ride to Mattick's and Sidney were relatively easy (broke them down, check my wattage file below) at only ~170w each. Ride through Land's End and back were a bit more work! My normalized power for 1hr was actually my threshold of 265w. 1hr TSS = 100. Ouch. (If you're not familiar, 100 is about as high as it should be able to go! 1hr at threshold is 100pts. NP will sometimes be above FTP, i hit 268w 1hr NP last weekend, TSS=102.4. AP was 233w.)

It was a pretty relaxed pace most of the way.. Pro City Jamie started to put on the heat at Daffodil Rd, with a very strong pull. We kept the pace up for quite a ways after that..doing a fair bit of a rotating paceline in our group which was actually pretty big (~14 riders). I felt decent doing that, tho i could tell i wasn't recovering properly and it felt like each effort was just compounding on the last.

The final straw was the small hill right by Hartland (the Dump), where i believe Scotty attacked! Looking at my power file, there's my 10 second peak of 717w, and i done blown up at that point... HR hit 189bpm a few seconds later, and my body essentially gave up.. I watched the pack pull away. They were actually only ~75m ahead for some time (up to the Ob), but i couldn't pick up the pace any. Barb passed by me, but i caught back up to her by the Ob hills. Pro City Tom fell back by the Dump, i dropped him pretty hard despite my fade...he was almost as far back as the group was ahead of me!

Barb and i worked together from there, i did a long pull up past the Ob well onto Interurban, Barb did a strong pull, and then Tom flew by on the dip before Camosun..jerk!! Barb and i continued to exchange pulls and we passed him by the sprint hill and i glared at him..haha.. (Turns out he just had a lot of momentum on the descent, thought we would latch on..he was going a good 10kph faster tho, hard to get on that!!)

Dave MacLeod was waiting for us by the light, and we chatted for a min (he said he was bleeding from the eyes from that effort..haha..) I wanted to keep the pace up, so pressed on towards the Goose.

Curious what happened in the sprint - if you're reading this and were there, post a report in the Comments section! =)

Jamie and OA Kev were waiting for me by the light, and caught me up...passing Interurban they busted up the pack quite a bit. Jamie and another (Raf?) were the front two, Kev and another the next pairing, and the group off behind them.. Similar to last week, they were caught by the pack at the sprint, but Kev managed a 5th with a last-second decision to sprint. Sorry i missed it!

From downtown i pretty much bee-lined it home along Richardson, save some legs and TSS for an MTB ride tomorrow. =)

Lotsa data for you numbers fans to peruse, here's the Garmin file:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25688602

If you're new to Victoria and looking for a good route, this is what i recommend. If you've done the ride, check it out, neat mapping info on there.

Turns out we gain almost 700m of elevation on the ride. Not huge, but pretty good.

Also, note that the power and cadence data there is from T.Skinner, my Garmin hijacked his data..haha.. Oddly, for the same period of riding, i got ~190w average, where he's at 230w...we were in the same group and presumably did similar amounts of work, so i have to suspect that his unit isn't zeroed. (IE, it's calibrated a bit high...in theory our output should be relatively close..that's a HUGE difference. I would expect that if he weighed 25lbs more than me or something..maybe he's been putting on that weight at the gym. ;)

Here's all my power data:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_17hr638tfg

Broke down a few sections as well: the ride out to Matticks, the portion to Sidney, and then Land's End and back into town.

Enjoy! Tomorrow will be out on The Big Orange. =)

PS - if you were in the sprint, tell your story!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Birthday Ride!

Gotten a little behind in the updates! Trying out a slightly different format for this one.

So today is/was my birthday! 34. Yip!

Headed out for a ride, planning to pull off a 30min Tempo. Felt good off the start. Kept an eye on my HR, it was in a good range. I've been hit with a 'low level' cold the last few weeks...my HR would really elevate riding at my EM pace..today it was down where it should be - yay!

Made my way out to Sidney the usual way, it was overcast with a threat of rain. Opted to ride the Ridley and take a chance..it was my birthday!!

Started my Tempo in the usual spot, and was tearing down Lochside, and at the corner just before the MacTavish construction, this huge, oncoming water truck crosses the road and into the bike lane and just STOPS THERE!!! WTF?? I manage to stop, although i was well over 30kph...i get around it, and pick up my pace again, and then i see what this truck was doing: soaking the road. WTFx2?! The road had been dry (very slight spitting), but this goof was driving along dumping water on the road.

I slowed down, as i don't want to get any more dirty/wet than necessary...summer bike and all. I look ahead, and there tons more water on the road. GAAH!! I'd gotten 17min into my Tempo, and was feeling GREAT. I've since checked my watts, and i had been averaging 270w. For fracks sake..

I pulled the plug there, if i were to keep going, i didn't know how much further the road was wet, and it's pointless to have a 5min break in the middle of this type of interval. Ahh well, here's the brief summary:

Ave Wts: 270

Ave HR: ~170

Ave Cad: 73

Ave Spd: 32.1kph

There was even a perfect headwind, so i wouldn't pick up too much speed downhill...gaah.. Not 100% on the HR, PowerTap head wasn't picking it up..

So one new feature of my entries will be GPS data! The Garmin Edge 500 i ordered finally came in, and has some pretty sweet features! I *love* having the big Lap/Interval functions and visual. The worst thing about the PowerTap head unit is that it only displays 3 items. I typically have Watts, Speed and Time (or Cadence.) Now i have all that data right there..hehe.. Unfortunately it can't connect to my wired PowerTap unit (what i have on the road), so no power data, but just about everything else is in this file:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25415146

If you're non-American, click on 'Metric' in the top right to make sense of it all. ;)

Lots of neat stuff you can click around on...i love the mapping and elevation features. This will be even cooler when i get out on the MTB (esp. since it IS a wireless PowerTap.)

Today i also did another Mt Doug effort. Last time i went up was Jan 21st, did it in 8min flat, averaged 310w. Today did it in 8:08, but only averaged 305w.. On the Garmin link above, it's Interval #7, if you want to check out the elevation data.

So another thing i'm doing is posting ALL my wattage data, but instead of filling up my blog, i'm going to save it in Google Docs, so here's today:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_15d6ndbwhq

You can see the Mt Doug effort, the Tempo, the Garmin section (the same period recorded as the Garmin) and the entire ride, which has me riding to the shop, and back home from there. (I don't really feel the need to include my home address. ;)

No major peaks, although my 1 and 2hr NP are pretty high, averaging 243w over 2hrs..that's a lot more wattage than i'm used to seeing over that period!

The other news: i've upgraded my Niner RIP9 mtb to the orange frame i've been lusting over for months:



It's significantly stiffer, and ORANGE!!! Hopefully will get out for a ride on Thursday...if not, Sunday. =)

Calling it a night, g'nite world! (I'll update the rest of my last week soon!)

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

"We Don't Like You Anymore."

That's the latest from my quads...hahaha..

Looks like i'm going to have to listen, today's training session is definitely a sign that i'm over-cooking it... But first:

Saturday - OBB Ride

Another lovely day, broke out the Ridley once again... It kept civil to Mattick's, and from there things picked up with a rather surge-y rotating paceline out along the farmland...not sure why people were picking it up like that...or chasing down some of the people who powered away..haha.. Ahh well.

Got to Sidney, and another strong group left from there...kept it civil until past Land's End, then things started to get spicy as we approached the airport, and it carried through until close to W. Saanich, and then it eased up again until Interurban.

Good fast paceline lead-up to the sprint, but as Steve D (visiting in New Zealand right now!) reminded me, i allowed myself to get boxed-in, and so the sprint was a non-feature on my part...some of the other guys were cooking tho!

Went for the Overpass with Ryan, but a commuter just flew onto the trail without looking our way, and i had to brake to avoid a collision...ahh well! Carried through at a firm pace until Estevan where i turned off. All the gory details:

Entire workout (195 watts):

Duration: 3:11:15 (3:22:57)

Work: 2212 kJ

TSS: 264.6 (intensity factor 0.915)

Norm Power: 243

VI: 1.25

Distance: 105.686 km

           Min Max Avg

Power: 0 1110 195 watts

Heart Rate: 102 182 153 bpm

Cadence: 25 126 90 rpm

Speed: 0 67.2 33.3 kph

Fast. Actual watts HUGE. And an NP of 243w over 3hrs...wow. The TSS reflects this. I was cooked. The peak hour was 260w NP, and 37.8kph...that's summer speeds! And a new high for TSS. Ouch.

Sunday - Short Ride w/Climbs

My week's TSS value was well over 600, and i was feeling fried, so i opted for a short ride. I actually haven't ridden Mt Tolmie (at least in recent memory) so opted to swing by there, and do a couple out-of-saddle climb efforts, as well as to scout it as a potential training spot.

The south side (off Richmond) is pretty steep, about the same as Mt Doug i'd say, with a short flat section. Did it in 2'52 at 330w, 56rpm. 567m.

North side (off Cedar Hill) is much flatter.. Did it in 2'53 at 318w, 64rpm. I got 634m on that side. I think the starting elevation is a fair bit higher there too. Will know when the Garmin Edge 500 i order comes in...will be neat to include elevation data as well!

Getting more used to standing and climbing. From there i got up to MacKenzie, and crossed over to Caddy Bay, and rode the 'water' back, to the end and back to my place near OBB. Started cloudy, took the winter bike just in case, closed with some sun. =)

Entire workout (206 watts):

Duration: 1:13:31 (1:14:26)

Work: 904 kJ

TSS: 96.1 (intensity factor 0.888)

Norm Power: 235

VI: 1.14

Distance: 33.383 km

           Min Max Avg

Power: 0 626 206 watts

Heart Rate: 72 181 147 bpm

Cadence: 32 114 86 rpm

Speed: 3.7 65.7 27.4 kph

In hindsight, i went harder than i should have...

Tuesday - EM w/30min Tempo

Monday was a full rest-day, no climbing.

Headed out on the Ridley again (nice day - sunny but chilly), hoping to do a 45min Tempo in the same spirit as last Thursday, where i SMASHED it! 269w over 40mins, i think that's my best sustained-effort ever done. It was 4w short of my 30min PB (273w), and i held it 10min more...nice.

So, today.. Bad omen's all the way. Legs felt like hamburger. Poor output. Heart rate was waaay too high. Met up with Kevin out on Lockside just before Maddicks, and tried to figure out what i should do.... The smart option would have been just to do a 'ride', hold my EM pace, go for ~2hrs, and then focus on my interval on Thursday.

I decided to ignore my better advice, and began my interval on Martindale. Legs got the power up alright, and i felt okay... 10mins in, still doing okay, but legs were feeling it.

It's funny...i *felt* like i was pushing the watts i needed to, although it was an effort. It looks like the right watts are coming up on the screen....but alas, i must only be looking when they're high..haha.. I decided to just do 30mins, and it came out like this:

Ave Wts: 256

Ave HR: 178

Ave Cad: 74

Ave Spd: 34.8kph

Ouch. Watts were too low, and HR was insane for that effort! My 40min effort on Thursday at 269w was 177...!!

Crap. I overcooked it.

Lesson: figure out and use the Performance Management Chart in WKO. I know the basics, but i think it can be used to help prevent this type of meltdown... Keeping an eye on the TSB value (Training Stress Balance, or 'Freshness', good WKO jargon descriptions here.)

I think i need to manage my training to try and keep it a bit higher.. This will prolly mean shorter Tempo intervals...but i think it stands to reason that doing 30mins at the right wattage is better than doing 45mins at 10-15w lower than i should be at...and feel better doing it all as well!

Here's the whole ride:

Entire workout (200 watts):
    Duration:      2:21:56 (2:23:02)
    Work:          1699 kJ
    TSS:           161.6 (intensity factor 0.828)
    Norm Power:    219
    VI:            1.1
    Distance:      71.079 km
                        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    718    200     watts
    Heart Rate:      90    188    163     bpm
    Cadence:         25    118    85     rpm
    Speed:           4.1    56.9    30.1     kph

The average HR is HUGE. Even a hard ride should be 10bpm lower.

A'ight, that's it for now... Short climb at the gym tomorrow, and the OrganicAthlete Victoria AGM in the evening, and then for Thursday......i'll keep an eye on my TSB, if it's still pretty low, i'll just go for a ride. ;)

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Call My Quads "Jack Bauer"

Call my quads "Jack Bauer", because they're gonna resist whatever torture i put them through...haha ;)

Part two of my recent updates here. I should also highlight that i've started an email list/discussion group called Vegan Power: http://groups.google.ca/group/veganpower

It's aimed at vegans who train with power, for inspiration and discussion, both about training with power, and vegan nutrition. It also features a spreadsheet that highlights all the power peaks of list members - we've got some really strong peeps on board, here's a direct link to the spreadsheet: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=ptted2SfCAQ7-eg99loC-Kg

If you're a vegan who trains with power, please join us!! Doesn't matter if you're particularly strong, or particularly weak like me - everyone is welcome, and hopefully this will help inspire you to continue progressing. =)

Anyway, to continue with the regularly scheduled blog updates:

Sat (Jan 30th) - OBB Ride

It was a wet day, my Ridley streak was broken...a record of six consecutive rides!

I sold my 170mm Campy Chorus cranks to Emile, and finally swapped my winter bike over to 165mm Red cranks (why don't Force come in 165mm..??) I have had a lot of bad experiences with FSA, so they're out of the question. Nothing wrong with Red tho. =)



There's all the bits.....



And the bike is ready for them.



The new BB systems are so easy to install..love it!



Looks great!

Felt even better...the winter bike now feels 'right' when riding it. Why 165mm cranks you might ask? Stems from the track for me...that's the length most sprinters use, and it makes for a very smooth, efficient spin. On 175's, i feel like my legs are flailing around in circles. 170's aren't too bad, but still not 'right'. 165's also work nicely in crits, as you're much less likely to scrap the pedals in corners. And finally, they're great for your TT position, as you can get lower because your knees aren't coming up as high.

Anyway..enough about the cranks... Wet OBB ride, the regular mashers were out:





Just a little damp..

Good steady pace out to Sidney, and then we carried it through Land's End and back down the peninsula. Pretty tame past the Observatory, the group kept together for the most part.

Despite feeling good, i opted not to sprint: the chain on the winter bike felt pretty slack on the cranks..and i was worried that it might slip under power.. (I replaced the chain this week, it was quite stretched.) ProCity Tom was doing a strong pull up by Interurban Camosun, i was on his wheel...he was slowing up a bit, so i took over, and started picking up the pace. My target was the base of the final hill...blow myself up by that spot...

I put down my head and jam it...i crest the first hill, carry the speed over and barrel down..speed is great, up over 60kph. I get close to the bottom of the hill and pull over to let the sprint go... I sit up... No one's there...??!! I wait another few seconds, bracing...finally i look back, and the rest are just starting to reach me!! WTF!!

Turns out when i took over the front of the pack, there were a few people on my wheel that apparently just got dropped! That created a fairly significant gap that no-one wanted to close...so i just wheeled off totally solo..hahahaha!

Lesson: look back! Had i looked back fairly on, i could have stretched out my effort, and gone for the 'long bomb'....that day i might have actually succeeded..

Ahh well. Continued back into town. Scott challenged me for the King of the Overpass, but he was in too light a gear, and i managed to hold him off. ;) Which reminds me - the previous week Mike Elkink raced me for the KotO, and took it. That gave him 2nd in the sprint, and 1st there..hehe

Kept the pace up back into town with Tom Skinner and Scotty, and went out to Estevan again. Here's the finer details:

Entire workout (188 watts):

Duration: 3:18:18 (3:26:49)

Work: 2224 kJ

TSS: 255.1 (intensity factor 0.88)

Norm Power: 233

VI: 1.24

Distance: 104.458 km

          Min Max Avg

Power: 0 1195 188 watts

Heart Rate: 93 182 153 bpm

Cadence: 26 222 93 rpm

Speed: 3.7 64.6 31.7 kph

TSS a bit short from last week's OBB ride, but still a pretty fast ride considering the weather!


Sunday - 2hr EM w/Kevin

Was planning to MTB, but plans fell through, so hit the road instead.! Kevin and i went out to the Observatory. I was happy to get in another out-of-saddle effort up an extended climb.



Kevin went back down for a second go on the last portion.



The weather was pretty good...and the roads were dry..



But i brought out the winter bike instead...i was expecting wet roads. Ahh well, i'm enjoying riding this bike much more with the shorter cranks.

Entire workout (192 watts):

Duration: 2:04:22 (2:35:01)

Work: 1415 kJ

TSS: 147.3 (intensity factor 0.847)

Norm Power: 225

VI: 1.17

Distance: 58.079 km

         Min Max Avg

Power: 0 743 192 watts

Heart Rate: 90 191 148 bpm

Cadence: 52 149 95 rpm

Speed: 3.7 63.2 28.3 kph

And that concludes my 'easy-ish' week; back at it!

Tuesday - EM w/35m Tempo

Felt good, and thought i did a good job on the Tempo workout, but unfortunately the numbers weren't so good:

Ave Wts: 257

Ave HR: 167

Ave Cad: 71

Ave Spd: 33.9kph

Only 257w!! I tried something a bit different: i braked when the speed picked up, to ensure i kept under 75rpm..

Funnily, i don't think i can sustain power on the pedals and brake at the same time...i'd start to brake, and the power would just drop... Ahh well...

Good effort for the ride overall tho:

Entire workout (220 watts):

Duration: 2:32:09 (2:36:03)

Work: 1992 kJ

TSS: 194.9 (intensity factor 0.88)

Norm Power: 233

VI: 1.06

Distance: 79.431 km

          Min Max Avg

Power: 0 840 220 watts

Heart Rate: 94 182 160 bpm

Cadence: 27 122 86 rpm

Speed: 4.1 59.9 31.5 kph

Thu - EM w/40m Tempo with Chad

Chad made it out again, and i seem to have better Tempo sessions with someone in front of me, so especially happy to have him along. He motored off to do his own effort for the 40mins, but took a while to get out of my line-of-sight, so he was a carrot in front.

This time i didn't brake, and if my cadence got over 75rpm, so be it. I'd just maintain the intensity (trying to hold 270-280w.) And the result:

Ave Wts: 269

Ave HR: 177

Ave Cad: 75

Ave Spd: 36.4kph

Cadence was a tad high, but the power was AMAZING. That's the most watts i've held for one 'effort', that's for sure! (I've done 'harder' workouts, holding 300w for over 30mins, but there were a few 1min rests in there too.)

Pretty pleased with that. It was interesting to note that when my cadence got below 70rpm, my power just dropped.. As expected, lower cadences are killer for me.. I'm much better, but still not great. Also neat to note that Peak 20min was 270w, and Peak 30min was 269w, so it was pretty consistent.

Let's hope i can keep this up for a few more weeks...i was pretty smashed after this, and it'd be nice to get a few more solid efforts like this in. Will be aiming for 45mins after this...

Entire workout (210 watts):

Duration: 2:43:09 (2:46:48)

Work: 2047 kJ

TSS: 204.9 (intensity factor 0.871)

Norm Power: 231

VI: 1.1

Distance: 85.126 km

          Min Max Avg

Power: 0 752 210 watts

Heart Rate: 74 182 158 bpm

Cadence: 27 124 86 rpm

Speed: 3.7 61.4 31.5 kph

That's for tonight, gonna hit the hay, group ride tomorrow! Hoping the roads are dry and will get back on the Ridley. =)

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Ensuring A Dry and Warm Winter

I think i figured how to make the winter dry and warm in your area - load up on new cold weather gear, and grow a beard.



Well, that's about all that's different this year, yet it's been remarkably dry and warm! I've taken out my new Ridley Noah a record six consecutive rides before last Saturday..and twice this week so far. Got a ton of riding in through January as well - nearly 44hrs spent on the bike! That may actually top what i was riding some months last summer...feeling really great regardless.

Also made a new home for the Ridley, running out of potential spots to hang bikes in my pad:



Got some catching up to do, last week was an 'easy-ish' week, just did a few 'steady' EM-paced rides with no big efforts... Let's see where we left off - this will be a two-part blog.

Wed (Jan 20th) - Climb

Will just do just one summary for the climbing: had a couple 'rough' weeks, didn't seem to be progressing much...hands not feeling like they're really recovering.. Keeping at it, working on easier routes and doing some laps and climb-downs to try and increase strength. Still working mainly on 10c's & d's.

Thu - EM w/30min Tempo and Mt Doug

Went up Mt Doug again, did it standing up the entire way...seems like it's the way to do it....i went at it pretty hard, averaged 310w and got to the top in 8min flat. Cadence was so low, ~56rpm..i think standing is required. As far as what might be my potential fastest time... I should be able to average 340w, and that ought to get me closer to the 7min timeframe, but i doubt i'll be cracking 7mins.





Chad and i atop Mt Doug (actually that was on Tuesday, previous blog entry, d'oh!), continued out to Sidney, and did a 30min Tempo interval:

Ave Wts: 257

Ave HR: 169

Ave Cad: 72

Ave Spd: 35.5kph

HR was quite high for that wattage...so i suspected i'm in need of some rest, which prompted my easy-ish week.

Deets for the rest of the ride:

Entire workout (211 watts):

Duration: 2:29:03 (2:36:01)

Work: 1870 kJ

TSS: 189 (intensity factor 0.875)

Norm Power: 232

VI: 1.1

Distance: 74.281 km

         Min Max Avg

Power: 0 951 211 watts

Heart Rate: 74 189 158 bpm

Cadence: 28 122 82 rpm

Speed: 3.8 58.1 30.1 kph

Sat - OBB Ride

Good solid pace from Land's End to Interurban, i somehow ended up on the front of the group on the climb past the Observatory....weird being on the front, but pretty much ensures i'll be in there for the end!

The sprint was a big group, and i was near the back in the final stretch...pulled out to move up just before the hill and then it exploded! Dan Skinner, Craig, Scotty and Mike E launch, and i'm hot on their heels, but can't make up the ground...still, 5th in that company isn't shabby.

Been riding a bit further as well, i normally turn off at Richmond, but instead continue around the water to Estevan. If i turn off closer, it's usually around 98km. This way i'm doing over 100. ;)

Entire workout (187 watts):

Duration: 3:15:52 (3:37:35)

Work: 2187 kJ

TSS: 261.5 (intensity factor 0.898)

Norm Power: 238

VI: 1.27

Pw:HR: -1.9%

Pa:HR: 4.32%

Distance: 105.65 km

           Min Max Avg

Power: 0 1221 187 watts

Heart Rate: 78 188 151 bpm

Cadence: 24 128 89 rpm

Speed: 3.7 66.3 32.5 kph

I think that's the highest TSS i've gotten for a Sat ride so far...we've really been moving. An NP of 238w over 3.25hrs is also HUGE for me. I'm feeling much stronger later on in rides, which is a big change for me. Normally i get progressively weaker and weaker through a ride...i seem to be gaining some 'depth'.

Monday (Jan 25th) - 1hr Ride w/Chad

Skipped riding on Sunday, pooped and rainy to boot. Talked Chad into joining me, and just did my 1hr Power Hour loop. Nothing too crazy, obviously went fairly easily, good way to start my 'easy-ish' week. ;)

Entire workout (160 watts):

Duration: 1:17:55 (1:22:15)

Work: 744 kJ

TSS: 55.4 (intensity factor 0.656)

Norm Power: 174

VI: 1.08

Distance: 34.926 km

         Min Max Avg

Power: 0 496 160 watts

Heart Rate: 67 152 121 bpm

Cadence: 28 114 84 rpm

Speed: 3.8 57.2 27.1 kph

Max of 496w - i meant business! ;)

We stopped at the top of King George Terrace:





Yep, it's teh suck to be in Victoria in January.

Tuesday - 1.5hr EM

A weird day....it was totally dry as i was getting ready to head out. Hop on my bike, the sun is shining, and it starts to sprinkle!! Drat!

Plan was to ride out the Goose to Lagoon Rd, and do that loop, but the further i got out of town, the wetter the trail...gah..so turned around by the hospital and took the water back in..just a steady pace.

Entire workout (199 watts):

Duration: 1:38:57 (1:41:48)

Work: 1172 kJ

TSS: 103.6 (intensity factor 0.795)

Norm Power: 211

VI: 1.06

Distance: 48.392 km

         Min Max Avg

Power: 0 589 199 watts

Heart Rate: 79 171 143 bpm

Cadence: 20 126 93 rpm

Speed: 3.7 51.4 29.5 kph

Thursday - 2hr EM w/Kevin

Kevin was able to make it out, and we headed out along the water, and did the Lagoon loop. It's actually pretty nice, and we're taking the new paved Goose out to Colwood. I think this'll be a fairly regular ride for me if i'm not doing any intervals...nice change of pace.

Entire workout (197 watts):

Duration: 2:04:47 (2:08:43)

Work: 1465 kJ

TSS: 133.1 (intensity factor 0.803)

Norm Power: 213

VI: 1.08

Distance: 59.751 km

              Min Max Avg

Power: 0 890 197 watts

Heart Rate: 74 173 146 bpm

Cadence: 24 126 92 rpm

Speed: 3.8 67.2 28.9 kph

Will pick up last weekend's OBB ride in the next post. =)

Happy February!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Four Rides in Five Days

*phew*

Been a solid few days of riding! Got a little catch-up:


Monday (Jan 11) - Climb

Been slacking off in keeping track of my climbing...mainly working on the tougher 10c's and d's.

Tue - Ride w/30min Tempo

Just out of interest, looked back to last Feb/Mar to see what i was doing for my Tempo workouts, and i was holding ~255w. So up 10w a year later, not too bad!

Tuesday was MISERABLE - it held off until i got to Martindale, but when i began my interval, it just started to dump..it was weird, the rain splashing in my face was REALLY distracting!

I've managed to find a good 'loop' tho..basically following in the OBB route to the stop sign in Sidney, then turn around there and head back out Lockside, up through part of the old TT course, then turn around at the stop sign there. At my Tempo pace, it takes 20min to do a full loop...not ideal, but it works.

The Tempo effort this day was a bit lacklustre:

Ave Wts: 255

Ave HR: 163

Ave Cad: 70

Ave Spd: 35.4kph

Full ride:

Entire workout (218 watts):

Duration: 2:23:20 (2:35:01)

Work: 1859 kJ

TSS: 189.3 (intensity factor 0.894)

Norm Power: 233

VI: 1.07

Distance: 75.242 km

           Min Max Avg

Power: 0 721 218 watts

Heart Rate: 67 175 155 bpm

Cadence: 30 120 86 rpm

Speed: 0 56.7 31.7 kph

Kinda strange, but it was a pretty fast ride, averaging nearly 32kph..

Wed - Rest Day

Opted to take the day off, climbing didn't work out. OA meeting in the evening too. Rest days are good.


Thu - Climb

Got in 2.5hrs, felt pretty good, improving on the climbs i'm working on.

Fri - 1hr Ride

Well, under an hour really... Day started awful, full rain, etc.. Afternoon got pretty nice. Didn't have a lot of time, but knew i'd feel gross on Sat if i didn't get out and work the legs a bit, so did a short ride when it was pretty nice:

Entire workout (204 watts):

Duration: 50:39

Work: 618 kJ

TSS: 68.5 (intensity factor 0.902)

Norm Power: 234

VI: 1.15

Distance: 25.029 km

          Min Max Avg

Power: 0 1253 204 watts

Heart Rate: 73 189 158 bpm

Cadence: 36 222 93 rpm

Speed: 3.9 54.5 29.7 kph

Worth noting: did a couple short sprints, and nearly topped my 1sec and 5sec PB's!! I have no idea why my legs are still able to turn over this kind of wattage, but they're able to pull it off for some reason...i'm not gonna complain! ;)


Sat - OBB Ride

Bit of an odd day, it was pretty dry, so took out the Ridley on a group ride for the first time. Lots of peeps from the Burnside group turned out, kinda odd. I rode with many of them out to Sidney, a few good efforts in there. They didn't want to wait for the rest of the groups to turn up, so left..i opted to stay. Formed a 'firm' group to ride with, and continued on.

Oddly, when we got around the airport, we caught the BSiders, and there had been a crash.. Turns out Anatolli dislocated a hip...ouch..hope he heals up quick.

Our group continued on, and we were then in the 'front', so the sprint was our..haha.. Did a fair bit of work along W. Saanich to try and break things up a bit, and on Interurban...solo'd for a bit, as did Mike Elkink, although Scotty shut him down just before Camosun. Group was together for the sprint..

There were a couple peeps in front of me, leading the charge, i felt them slowing down as we hit the hill, so i swung out wide, got out of the saddle for a few pedal strokes to jam up the speed, and sat to get up the hill..crested the top, no one near me, so got out of the saddle and continued to huck it..odd being out there alone!! Line was closing, but then Mike and Scotty flew by w/15m to go...no was i was going to be able to pick up any more speed...bleh.... '3rd'.

Apparently i split away and launched pretty quickly..but couldn't hold those two smaller guys off, who have much favorable power-to-weight ratios going up that hill... Worth noting that i held 900+w pretty steady, for nearly 20 seconds...so i did *something*! haha

Turns out my 3rd was really 6th tho, as there was another small group that had taken off ahead of the BSiders before their crash. D'oh.

Entire workout (180 watts):
Duration: 3:08:52 (3:28:37)
Work: 2016 kJ
TSS: 242.4 (intensity factor 0.882)
Norm Power: 229
VI: 1.28
Distance: 98.904 km
          Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1086 180 watts
Heart Rate: 79 190 147 bpm
Speed: 0 63.5 31.6 kph

Cadence magnet got bumped at start, so no readings. Peak hour NP was 253w, about normal.. I did a fair bit of work in our group.

Sunday - Hilly Ride w/Kevin

Managed to catch him before he headed out! Was supposed to go for a MTB ride, but it didn't materialize.. Kevin wanted to do the Up'n'Over (Ross-Durrance) so we headed out towards Saanich. Felt a hilly ride was appropriate if skipping the usual MTB ride. ;)

Roads were dryish, so took out the Ridley again. =)

Fun to do the U'n'O, it's been a long time since i last rode it, and it seemed much shorter and easier...how odd. Kevin started with a pretty firm pace, so i just stuck to his wheel...but as we were getting to the top his lack of time on the bike was oozing out, and i found myself powering away...unexpected, but it will likely be one of the few times this occurs!

Love that section tho, beautiful road and nicely enclosed in the forest. =)

Ripped back into town along Millstream and back on the Goose near Colwood (it's paved out there now, surprisingly!) Rode back in and around the water. Great day, and fun to spend it with Kevin.

Entire workout (194 watts):
Duration: 2:32:43 (2:46:41)
Work: 1772 kJ
TSS: 211.1 (intensity factor 0.913)
Norm Power: 237
VI: 1.22
Distance: 71.458 km
          Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1191 194 watts
Heart Rate: 85 184 144 bpm
Cadence: 23 136 87 rpm
Speed: 3.7 52.9 28.2 kph

Interesting to note that my Peak 60min Normalized Power was 265w, which is actually higher than what i've got for my 1hr Threshold... I've suspected it's gone up, and of course Normalized Power isn't a perfect calculation...but i'm going to bump it from 260w to 265w...i think that's a safe bet.

Monday (Jan 18) - Climb

Rough night at the climbing gym...pretty knackered from the riding...hands just hadn't recovered...made the most of it, 2hrs out...

Tuesday - Ride w/35m Tempo with Chad

Gotta keep bumping my Tempo workouts up! Today Chad joined me. He pedalled on ahead to do his own workout, which was nice as i had a carrot in front of me to chase. We also rode up Mt Doug - i've been curious to see how much of it had been repaved...the descent is much improved, but near the bottom is still like a battlefield, having to dodge numerous potholes.

Solid effort today, managed over 34:56:

Ave Wts: 264
Ave HR: 167
Ave Cad: 72
Ave Spd: 35.9kph

Happy with that! It's such a weird workout, pedalling at 70-75rpm..legs get maxed out, but i'm hardly breathing any heavier despite the bigger watts.. It's funny because as i'm going, it looks like i'm in the 280-300w range a lot, but when you get it home and download it, it's another story.. Still, i'm holding 10w more over 35mins that i could last year in late Feb. That's pretty solid.

It was such a nice day, there was a steady breeze, but it felt WARM. 13C out, had leg warmers on, but just arm warmers, a jersey and vest. Very unusual for this time of the year.

Legs feel shot right now...mission accomplished!

Entire workout (211 watts):
Duration: 2:47:49 (2:57:50)
Work: 2109 kJ
TSS: 218.1 (intensity factor 0.886)
Norm Power: 230
VI: 1.09
Distance: 83.138 km
          Min Max Avg
Power: 0 683 211 watts
Heart Rate: 81 176 151 bpm
Cadence: 32 122 82 rpm
Speed: 0 63.2 29.9 kph

That's a pretty long ride for me for a weekday! As i was riding home along the water, i actually felt like extending my ride...very unusual.. After 2hrs, i'm usually itching to get off the bike. I'm insanely happy with my Ridley Noah! It's really something else to ride. =)

So, that's four rides in five days...TSS is getting up there - hopefully i can sustain this, and when it comes to doing even harder workouts, i can maintain the through the summer...

Tomorrow, prolly a rest day. Thursday will be another Tempo session, maybe 40mins. Climb Fri, OBB Sat, and hopefully MTB on Sunday. Yip!

Have a great week! =)

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

2010 Training Has Begun

Just rolled through a solid patch of training, and i can now say that my training plan for 2010 has officially begun!

I'm happy to say that i've managed to carry a lot of my fitness over from the fall/winter, although it wasn't really 'intentional'... Through December, my plan was to ride when i felt like it...i didn't do any intervals, or any big efforts besides a few Saturday rides, but whatever i did, i'm feeling pretty solid right now...hopefully that's a good thing!

Here's how the last few days played out:

Wednesday - Climbing Gym


Another session with Kelly, felt surprisingly good! Started working on the 10d's....owie.

Thursday - 25min Tempo

So this is the 'beginning'...i dipped my toe into the water with a 25mins Tempo session (in the CTS training program, Tempo workouts are lower-cadence, long efforts. 70-75rpm, and go from 25-60mins, 80-85% of Field Test power.)

It's a good workout for building up leg strength, muscular endurance, sustained power, etc.. The power range i'm aiming for is 270-280w. It might be a little high for me, i haven't done a field test in ages, but i've got a pretty good idea where i'm at. It's hard to do as subscribed, not because of the workout itself, but finding a long stretch of flat or uphill terrain. Once you're going downhill, your cadence goes up too much.

Typically i start these at the bottom of the hill on Martindale (takes me ~40mins to get there, good warm-up), and then ride out to Sidney. Unfortunately, i usually have to stop at the lights passing through Sidney, but that's about 20-25mins of the interval, and quality ride-time there. Once across the highway, will continue either out and around, or up towards Panarama, depending on how long i need to go for. I can get a full hour in somewhere around Brentwood.

Anyway, my 26mins Tempo interval looked something like this in the end:

Ave Wts: 265
Ave HR: 169
Ave Cad: 71
Ave Spd: 33kph

And the full ride:

 Entire workout (227 watts):
    Duration:      2:17:54 (2:20:34)
    Work:          1863 kJ
    TSS:           194.9 (intensity factor 0.925)
    Norm Power:    240
    VI:            1.06
    Distance:      70.951 km
                        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    812    227     watts
    Heart Rate:      87    182    160     bpm
    Cadence:         27    126    89     rpm
    Speed:           0    59    31.0     kph

Felt really solid riding, got out on the Ridley as well...it's feeling REALLY good to ride. I was pretty happy with these numbers. Damn fine bike.

Note that i got a new PB! My 2hr PB has gone up from 233w (on July 1st) to 236w.

Friday - Rest Day!

Opted to take it off completely...phew!

Saturday - Brain Train and Partial OBB

Sat morning the PCC offered a free seminar on training with power, it was pretty rudimentary, but i was keen to see what they had to say.  As i suspected, i was already familiar with virtually the entire presentation, but i did get a few tips, including one that i've already been doing: keeping the HR strap on...it's a good idea to check to see if the HR is too low (or high!), as indications of under-training, or over-training. Watts are amazing of course, but sometimes it's helpful to keep an eye on the other data too.

So i rode out to the PCC, which was ~35mins, and from there at 11am cut back across to Interurban and rode the route 'backwards' to meet up with the OBB ride.

Caught the first smaller group that had taken Wain Rd in Sidney, rode with them a few min, then turned around, and went back to ride with the 'main' group, and it was big with lotsa strong peeps! Nice to see!

I was feeling pretty darn fresh, so i discounted myself from contending for the sprint...

When we got up around Hartland, Emile took off of course.. Steve Bachup was sort of floating in the middle...i was several bikes back so i watched him launch off...no one else was responding, so i figured i'd give it a go. Sprinted away, and quickly found myself on Emile's wheel.  Sat there for a moment, noticed he wasn't moving *too* fast, and i was still feeling peppy, so i pulled up past him and led him (and Steve, who had also bridged) up the hills past the Observatory. We had a sizeable gap, tho Mike Elkink was chasing and obviously wanted to play.

At the top Emile took over again, and i pulled off, and onto Steve's wheel...blech! No fender extender!! I hung back a few feet to avoid the spray at 50+kph down the hill. We turned onto Interurban, and i believe Mike had bridged up by then, the group was a ways back.

We worked around a bit more, but i was getting grossed out by the spray (Mike was another guilty party!), and so pulled out of the group and eased off to wait for the main pack. By Camosun Interurban, they were caught up, and so i began another pull, to bridge them up to the leaders.

We hit the corner leading into the first hump, and i look back, and no one's there!!! The group is charging towards me ~50m back! WTF? I did a pull for nothing..hahaha..  I just kept riding, and they all bomb past... Didn't see who won the sprint, but i'd guess it were Mike, he's a very strong sprinter.

Continued in and around the water, and up to the Uplands to try and get a few more miles in for the day. A fair bit shorter, km-wise, but the TSS for the day was up there with an easier OBB ride:

 Entire workout (203 watts):
    Duration:      2:24:59 (4:32:27)
    Work:          1749 kJ
    TSS:           199.5 (intensity factor 0.913)
    Norm Power:    237
    VI:            1.17
    Distance:      72.036 km
                       Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    1132    203     watts
    Cadence:         25    131    90     rpm
    Speed:           0    62.7    30.0     kph

Sunday - 3.5hr EM w/Kevin

Kevin Park's back in Vic, yay! Got out for a great ride with him, nice to catch up. Also got to show off the Ridley..hehe.. Rode the main 'Burnside' loop, cutting early onto Wain Rd to keep it from getting too long. Looking forward to more rides with Kev.  =)

This was also the first 'metric century' ride on the Ridley, over 100km. Felt great!! Legs starting to feel tired in the final hour, but that's to be expected (and somehow held solid watts..peak hour was actually the final hour! Averaged 222w for that period.)

Entire workout (194 watts):
    Duration:      3:33:08 (3:48:52)
    Work:          2475 kJ
    TSS:           245.6 (intensity factor 0.833)
    Norm Power:    217
    VI:            1.11
    Distance:      104.318 km
                        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    922    194     watts
    Heart Rate:      88    176    145     bpm
    Cadence:         25    126    91     rpm
    Speed:           3.7    58.1    29.5     kph

It's amazing how much doing a 10min cool-down does to drop the numbers! If i select the 100km before i end the ride, the numbers look like: 3:21, ave 199w (219w NP), 29.9kph. 10mins can really drop the #'s!

Anyway, nice to get a long ride in on the bike! It's gonna be a wicked summer.

Planning to climb this afternoon, another Tempo session tomorrow, maybe 30mins, climb on Wed, 35min T on Thursday, and then prolly rest...

Oh, i've also had my PowerTap (SL wired) for over 3yrs now! The rim has held up amazingly well, i got a ceramic-coated Mavic OpenPro. The ceramic is wearing off a bit in one spot, but otherwise that's 3yrs of solid training and racing...not too shabby.

I was thinking that they could *easily* devise a way to turn a wired PT into a wireless.. All you'd need is a transmitter that has a 'fin' (that reads the hub) and a cadence sensor, both could sit on the non-drive chainstay, and that could take the signal and transmit it via ANT+. A little unit like that could turn any wired PT into a wireless...i'd *totally* buy one or two of those things.... Anyway..

Keep it rolling!!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

A Week And The First Ride

*phew* Busy week! Took the Noah out yesterday, here's some catch-up reporting:

Tuesday (15th) - Climb

Climbed 3hrs w/Kelly, started work on some 10b's. Feeling pretty good!

Wednesday (16th) - Rest Day...plus..

I was actually planning to get out for an MTB ride, but Alyssa was keen on riding out, and i didn't want to on the cold, rainy day that it was...so i lingered around the house....good thing, as early in the afternoon an email from Scotty at OBB popped up in my inbox, with a photo attachment....i'll give you one guess which frame i've been waiting 9 months for that had arrived. ;)

I was actually half-naked, about to get in the shower (bet you appreciate that detail), but threw on some clothes and hoofed it over to the shop. WOOT! I was very excited. Drooled over it for a while, compared the sizing to the Blue, matched-up nicely.

That was pretty much the day there. =)

Thursday (17th) - Ride w/Emile

Decent day, made it out 2+hrs with Emile. I was worried he'd crush me, but near the Wallace Rd turn-off (heading away from town) i'm motoring along and look back, and i'd dropped him! When he catches up he says "you're going too fast!" HAHA! One of the only times i'll ever hear that from Emile. He wasn't feeling great and had a head cold the next day, but we eased off a bit, and he also just drafted a while. 2nd half of the ride was a bit slower, good start tho.

PowerTap details:

Entire workout (195 watts):
Duration: 2:14:38 (2:29:55)
Work: 1556 kJ
TSS: 150.2 (intensity factor 0.822)
Norm Power: 214
VI: 1.1
Distance: 64.681 km
          Min Max Avg
Power: 0 853 195 watts
Heart Rate: 77 183 153 bpm
Cadence: 26 120 91 rpm
Speed: 3.7 60.4 29.1 kph

Friday - Climb

Headed to the gym with Mical Dyck, who had an awesome session, matching me route for route for several climbs. Impressive as she has only been climbing a couple times in Oct, and not since the spring before that..i'd been back on the wall five times over the last three weeks, building up. She's an excellent climber, very strong and smart, picking up the routes very quickly. Nice to have another great climbing partner, she'd get back up to working on 11a's in no time if she weren't to be taking off for work!

My session was good, the main goal was to complete the final two 10a's that had stumped me, and i did it! What that means: NEW SHOES! Next visit i get to break out my FiveTen Jet7 kick-ass climbing shoes. =)

Saturday - OBB Ride

Decent number of people out, maybe 30. It was the first ride that was a fair bit slower! Even through Land's End we hardly picked it up (although just enough to drop Alex - sorry buddy!)

Much bigger group for the sprint.. Emile took off the front just before Camosun. No one responded...i was a few bikes back, and i believe blocked in a bit, and had taken a recent pull... A few people pulled off the front and Dave MacLeod decided to give chase, and he did a spectacular pull, bringing us within striking distance of Emile at the hill at the bottom of the sprint.

I was actually feeling pretty good, and Dave was starting to blow up, so i jammed out to the left and started up the hill, seated. Craig Richey had been in front of me (and behind Dave) and he stood up as i was passing him, he started to crank it and WHAM! I looked back and he was sitting on his top tube!! The rest of the sprint wasn't much, i basically coasted up to the line, Emile had slowed quite a bit, so i 'won', although we were all looking back to make sure Craig was okay, which he was..chain had fallen off the big ring. He also broke a cleat in the process, but fine otherwise.

I also took the King of the Overpass, not even challenged..so a double-crown ride for me. ;)

The numbers, as you can see, an easier ride, measly TSS of only 222. ;)

Entire workout (166 watts):
Duration: 3:12:51 (3:31:22)
Work: 1909 kJ
TSS: 222.6 (intensity factor 0.835)
Norm Power: 217
VI: 1.31
Distance: 98.293 km
         Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1027 166 watts
Heart Rate: 81 188 144 bpm
Cadence: 20 131 88 rpm
Speed: 0 65.2 30.7 kph

Sunday - MTB

Got picked up by Alex (thanks again!!), and met with Jamie and Alyssa at the parking lot (they rode out, i didn't want to with the rain!)

Fun day of riding, did my regular loop, rode pretty well overall but we were taking it pretty easy. Noticed that i was still pretty sore from the climb on Friday - it really takes it out of my arms and back!! At the end of the day, it looked something like this - surprised by the difference from AP and NP:

Entire workout (163 watts):

Duration: 1:32:16 (2:43:39)

Work: 901 kJ

TSS: 113.7 (intensity factor 0.86)

Norm Power: 224

VI: 1.37

Distance: 15.386 km

           Min Max Avg

Power: 0 1023 163 watts

Heart Rate: 70 178 145 bpm

Cadence: 30 201 77 rpm

Speed: 3.8 34.4 10.3 kph

Monday - Climb

2.5hrs with Kelly, first day back in the Jet7 shoes - they feel SO AWESOME. I didn't want to start wearing them right away because the soles have very sharp edges, and i didn't want to wear them down floundering around as i got my form back..so i set the rule of having to clean all the 10a's before wearing them.

Good session, worked more on the 10b's, and started working on a couple of the c's.

Tuesday - Ride - RIDLEY RIDE!

Oh wow. First thing i can say: it was worth the wait. This bike is freaking AMAZING.

First thing i noticed as i'm headed to the Switch Bridge to meet Chad is that when the bike gets around 40kph, it just wants to go faster. It really flows through the air...

Getting out of the saddle uphill feels SOLID. I'm noticing how sloppy other parts are, like my front wheel.

The Lizard Skins bar tape is AMAZING. Very comfortable, and the tactile sensation is PRIMO. LOVE IT! I'm buying boxes of this stuff. And the orange looks hot, esp. now that i've swapped in a black Conti GP4000. And nice matching bar plugs too. Stylin'!

Over the jittery stuff the bike surprised me - it actually soaked it up, and i was pretty comfortable! I was expecting the stiffness to be too much, but the high-frequencies are nullified nicely.

Final 'a-ha' moment was riding up Ash Hill, i kept seated, and amazingly i could feel each pedal stroke going straight to the wheel. Normally it feels like energy is going into the cranks and BB and perhaps the chainstays or seatstays are flexing, but this just felt SOLID. All my work was going into making the wheel spin. Very nice.

The fit is great, i'm going to try raising the seat a hair, and slide it forward a wee bit, but otherwise i'm pretty freaking happy with it!!! I can't wait for the summer to race this thing!!

Otherwise a good ride with Chad, hope i didn't bore him with all my surprised expressions and fawning over the bike..hehe..

Entire workout (201 watts):

Duration: 1:57:07 (2:03:06)

Work: 1403 kJ

TSS: 152 (intensity factor 0.886)

Norm Power: 230

VI: 1.14

Distance: 57.035 km

          Min Max Avg

Power: 0 875 201 watts

Cadence: 29 136 90 rpm

Speed: 3.7 64.6 29.4 kph

Didn't put on the HR strap, was in a hurry, running late!

Wed (today) - Climb

Felt pretty good, got out for 3hrs w/Kelly and Mical. Made more progress on the 10b's and c's i've been working on...should be able to clean some of them in the next session or two...figuring out the tougher bits, and letting my fingers catch up.

Pretty fried again, my back and fingers still ache as i type!

That's the last few days, it's been an exciting week!! Looks like tomorrow will be another dry day, so hoping to spend some more time on the Ridley, might do my 'Hour of Power' route to compare numbers.

Friday, got an easy/fun/social MTB ride planned, aiming to hit all the trails we normally pass on (Green Ribbon, Sofa King, etc). 'Big Bike' day as some say.

Saturday is the annual Boxing Day TT - again, if it's dry, i'm hoping to ride the Noah out! First race! Eeep!

And Sunday ought to be another MTB ride.

Happy Winter Salsa everyone!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

Falling From Fourth

Ahh...'cross on the island is over..went out with a high and low. The course we designs for CrossVega was AWESOME. People raved about it. Low was that i went into the race sitting 4th overall in Intermediate, and after being unable to perform, plus a flat, i've probably dropped to 10th or so...nuts. Anyway, catching up on the week:

Saturday - OBB Ride


Still wasn't feeling very great, cold still lingering. Headed out on the OBB ride, planning to ride an hour and a bit. Funny group, rather small, and we had *two* flats before leaving Oak Bay!! I realized i was still feeling like crap. Fraaaack..not looking good for Sunday. I stuck with the group to Mt. Doug, then turned left on Shelbourne and cruised back home. Power deets:

 Entire workout (166 watts):
    Duration:      1:03:14 (1:11:33)
    Work:          622 kJ
    TSS:           64.1 (intensity factor 0.784)
    Norm Power:    204
    VI:            1.23
    Distance:      27.911 km
                       Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    590    166     watts
    Heart Rate:      82    180    148     bpm
    Cadence:         32    138    91     rpm
    Speed:           3.9    66    26.7     kph

Not much power, and even this was draining.

At noon headed up to Shawnigan Lake School with Jen, Roland and Katie, and met up with Norm, Chris, Dan and Ian Craib to set up the course.  Below is the 'general' map.

There was some wiggling in the whiteish bit in the middle, and the field on the lower right was my domain...and i turned it into an epic, challenging sequence, features some tight turns off the top, up a small rise, which drops into a mud pit, then back up immediately (which got quite slick) and then a short straight into 'The Flush', basically a mini whirly-whirl. Another short stretch on a trail to the three off-camber V's. The first most rode, the second was a challenge, and very few could ride the third. Then another short straight, a tab more elevation, and then a drop in an S bend corner that was also very challenging, with riders slipping out and unclipping with great frequency...the goal there was to slow riders before the chute into the woods, which was a fast downhill - it woulda been a bit nuts to have riders hit that with speed!

From there was the downhill, which became a river overnight (it was mostly dry Saturday, i swear!) That river hid many sharp rocks which caused most to flat...myself included. In the woods was a short 'singletrack' technical section, and then out onto a road section that continued downhill. From there, back to a trail which had a very technical riser/berm, and tight turn back to the main trail, that led to the stairs. Best placement for stairs, imo as well, as you were fully recovered by the time you hit them. Long set too, but i actually managed okay on them.

That continued with the uphill..up a road, then a short cross over to more wooded, rocky trails, and up and up and up...into the bottom of the rugby field, some more climbing getting ABOVE the rugby field, and then around it..ugh! Once back nearly where we started circumnavigating the field was the real mud...it just got worse each lap, real wheel-sucking stuff..haha.. A 5 meter drop and short stretch before the barriers (just two), another downhill on the road, and then back up to the lap/finish point.  From there a long uphill road to the grassy field. It was a LONG freaking course, nearly 3.5km by my estimates. Awesome to ride tho.

Sunday - CrossVega!

Ahh.. The Island Championships...double-points for the series too, and i'm flattened by a cold. I had a decent first lap, stuck with the front through the grass:





I think one person might have snuck by on the stairs:



After that it went downhill on the uphill. Several people eased by as i had no high-end to power up the climb...so sad..trailed the group around the field and then lost contact on the road..



(Thanks to Mical and Danielle for these shots!)

And basically kept moving backwards from there all race.. The grassy field allowed me to bridge up to a rider a time or two, but that was about the only momentum i could manage.. And then i flatted to boot..haha..



Other riders had good races tho, Geoff Pendral won our race, Roland pulled off another impressive 4th place finish, securing his victory of taking the entire series! (And then he raced Expert later on too, what a maniac!)

Teammate Jen had a rough race too. Battling it out with Glenowyn for a couple laps, but then flatting as well as a few mechanicals. Still, she managed to hold onto 3rd for the Open Women's field, awesome work Jen, nice job representing! =)




The event finale was pretty swell, with TONS of awesome prizes for the draws, and nearly everyone must have walked away with something. Gotta thank Vega, Green Cuisine (vegan chili and corn bread for racers!) and Pink Sugar for helping with prizing for OA. =)

It was bittersweet as well, as the series was finished...wouldn't be seeing so many faces, especially Normon and Wendy, who have done SO much work to make the series happen. Norm won the Top Organizer's award from CyclingBC this year, and rightly so! Cross on the Rock is a golden, magical event, thanks to these two!

My own pics of the Masters/Womens and Elite race, plus details on course features can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/davenoisy1/20091122CrossOnTheRock6CrossVega

Tuesday - Training, 350w/5min Effort


Wasn't sure how i'd feel, or if i'd be able to do anything on the bike. Plan was to head out to the Observatory, do a short effort on the way, and see how that felt and go from there..

Off the top i didn't feel too great, legs a bit achy, but a few minutes in it started coming together, and by the time i was on Interurban, i felt mostly "normal"! Legs were pushing the watts they should, and felt lively. YAY! A little late, but glad to feel good.

Around Camosun i put some pressure to the pedals for a minute, and it felt fine. HR and breathing increased at a normal rate. Okay, on to the Observatory for a 350 watts and 5min test (hopefully one and the same!)

I've been curious to see how my power compared to when i started doing my 350w intervals.  My first test saw me holding 350w up to the first switchback in under 4mins, but failure at that point. Wasn't able to carry on.  Also, my 5min PB was 341w, although that was from a year ago...i never have a reason to give my all for 5mins! It's either much shorter (5-30seconds) or 20mins+. (Were i racing track, my 5mins would be much more relative..) Anyway, i had my recent benchmark of ~4mins.

Started off, felt pretty good. Held the watts with relative ease...and managed to feel this way until the steep bit before the switchback...by then was breathing fairly heavily, but far from done. Upon looking at my data, i had actually hit that point around 3'30, and had been holding 360w!

I powered as much as i could while corning the switchback and then back uphill...close to the top of the first stretch i could feel myself beginning to fade, but i wasn't going to give up.  Got out of the saddle and maintained as much as i could sustain...i was going to get myself to the buildings..... Still 20m to go, and i was DYING. Breathing so hard, legs very unhappy, i crested the section, sat down and tried to continue pedalling, and there was nothing. That was all i had....

I didn't know what i'd done, i didn't switch over to the timer, so i wasn't sure i'd even ridden 5mins. I cooled down for a minute up there, breathing heavily (a worker there commented!), and then pointed downhill, and made tracks back for home.

So turned out i HAD ridden 5mins, so there was a chance to break my previous PB...and i did, yeah! I managed to average 350w - woohoo! I'm pretty happy to be hitting a PB this late in the season, and esp. after a crappy weak of non-training and illness.. I suspect i'm capable of more, but i think this was the one timeframe i hadn't gotten a PB in this year, so nice to complete that. ;)

Here's the full session details:

Entire workout (201 watts):
    Duration:      1:31:44 (1:34:54)
    Work:          1096 kJ
    TSS:           118.2 (intensity factor 0.882)
    Norm Power:    229
    VI:            1.14
    Distance:      44.426 km
                         Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    863    201     watts
    Heart Rate:      78    190    159     bpm
    Cadence:         25    124    94     rpm
    Speed:           3.9    56.1    29.3     kph

And here's the 5mins breakdown for shits'n'giggles:

Peak 5min (350 watts):
    Duration:      5:01
    Work:          105 kJ
    TSS:           15.2 (intensity factor 1.347)
    Norm Power:    350
    VI:            1
    Distance:      1.668 km
                         Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           106    492    350     watts
    Heart Rate:      133    190    183     bpm
    Cadence:         52    99    82     rpm
    Speed:           12.5    26.9    19.9     kph

Funny to think i burned up a banana doing that. =P

I had also pinned 190bpm for the final 30 seconds..owwie.. Funny to think that in previous years i'd spend quite a bit of time in that range...much less this year, doing more TT stuff, etc.. I think if i could maintain this effort to the top, i would finish around 6'15..far from any record, but i'd be happy with that! Holding 350w for another minute+ would be quite an achievement...i was DONE at 5mins.

Coming Up

Will jump on the bike for a short ride tomorrow. Planning to head to the mainland for Saturday and Sunday which feature the final BC Cup and Provincial Championships for cyclocross, it'd be fun to see what the events over there are like.  For the Provincials, i'd have to race Elite, which will be hilarious, i'll be lapped by most of the field, but hey..heheh

After that my season is FINISHED!! December will feature less time on the bike, and more fun-oriented, including lots of trail time on the RIP9. Also, will be heading back to Crag X to climb - really, really looking forward to that!

A few quick links:

CYCLOCROSS WORKOUT
US Cyclocross Champ Ryan Trebon's Workout - Adjusted for You
http://www.trainright.com/articles.asp?uid=4700&p=4694
Funny to see that a pro is doing pretty much the same workouts as myself! Although i was doing mine a bit harder, spending time quite a bit above my Fieldtest output, but slightly below SS for the 'under' (260w v 270w).

VeloNews: Clinchers for Cross
http://velonews.competitor.com/2009/11/bikes-tech/clinchers-for-cross-three-good-choices_101423
I'm of course a huge fan of the Mud tire (esp the original green Mud). The Wolf is also pretty solid for racing in these parts.

And more pics from Sunday:

Rita's Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Missdragonfly1/CyclocrossShawniganLake

Jamie's pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jam1ec/sets/72157622868380514

Regan's CrossVega Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reganpringleshoots/sets/72157622859138448/

Happy Thanksgiving to the US readers!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============